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Any reformed cereal addicts out there? Of the pour-cereal-in-bowl-douse-with-milk-eat-and-run variety? I used to eat a lot of cold cereal; you know, like Peanut Butter Cap’n Crunch, homemade granola (here’s a healthy version), and Cinnamon Life. There’s just something about the ease of making a breakfast like that combined with the joy of eating something cold that early in the morning (I love to eat cold things in the morning) that makes for a real winning combination that I miss now that I’m trying to eat healthier. The good news is that this recipe I’m sharing with you today is something that only takes a handful of ingredients, is made ahead the night before and eaten cold in the morning with milk, and it reminds me of one of my favorite cereals.
I got the muesli idea from Chocolate Covered Katie, one of my favorite food bloggers (Trim Healthy Mamas, a lot of her recipes are easily adapted to plan). I’m not sure what muesli is exactly, but I do know that it involves oats, milk, and yogurt; is refrigerated overnight; and is often eaten cold the next morning. Sounds good to me. So I tried it with Greek yogurt because that’s what I had on hand. Bad idea. Greek yogurt is far more sour than regular yogurt, and even my mild homemade variety came through a little too strongly when I tried it in a muesli recipe I threw together. Since I happen to like cottage cheese better than Greek yogurt (cottage cheese haters, don’t hang up on me yet), I decided to use it in a non-traditional muesli. And ditch the fruit, because it just wasn’t working for me. Cinnamon Life immediately came to mind, so I chose ingredients that I thought might replicate the flavor. Add some Truvia in the morning and pour a little almond milk over the top like “real” cereal and I have a winner.
It totally reminds me of Cinnamon Life cereal. That stuff isn’t usually crunchy anyway, at least not if you put milk on it, so the texture’s pretty much the same. Speaking of texture, if you mash the cottage cheese up with the rest of the ingredients like I have instructed you in the recipe below, you won’t even notice there’s cottage cheese in there. The Truvia added on top right before eating gives you a little bit of the sugar-crystal crunch phenomenon that occurs with unhealthy breakfast cereals. All in all, this bowl of goodness takes care of some cravings.
Eventually I’ll probably play around with a “real” muesli recipe that takes regular yogurt, but for now, this is my new favorite breakfast. (For a quickie peach version suggestion, check out this post.)
Question of the day (comment below!): what’s your favorite breakfast cereal?
- ½ cup old-fashioned oats (use gluten-free if gluten is a problem)
- ⅓ cup low-fat cottage cheese
- ⅓ cup unsweetened almond milk
- Dash salt
- Dash vanilla extract
- Cinnamon to taste
- 1 packet (3/4 tsp.) Truvia or THM Super Sweet Blend to taste
- Additional unsweetened almond milk for serving
- The night before, combine the oats, low-fat cottage cheese, unsweetened almond milk, salt, vanilla, and cinnamon in a bowl. Mash the ingredients together with a fork to kind of crumble the cottage cheese bits (you won't even know it's there). Refrigerate overnight.
- The next morning, sprinkle a packet of Truvia on top and top with more unsweetened almond milk like you would cereal. The Truvia sweetens the muesli perfectly and adds a little bit of that sugar-crystal crunch that you get from bad-for-you cereals.
Suggested products:
- Truvia
- THM Super Sweet Blend can be purchased from the Trim Healthy Mama online store.
So this is like overnight oats but with cottage cheese? Just trying to wrap my brain around the difference. Thank you for all your delicious recipes!!☺
Yes, but the oat to liquid ratio is also different. This is thicker, and then you top with some almond milk and sweetener. 🙂
Can this be heated up in the morning if the cold version is not what I’m wanting?
I personally would not try that because I don’t like the sound of hot cottage cheese. 😛 And the texture would be much more like oatmeal. If you want a hot oat cereal you’d probably be better off making one of my oatmeal recipes. 🙂 You can browse through my Breakfast recipes here >> https://www.briana-thomas.com/indexes/complete-pictorial-recipe-index/breakfast/
If you had to guess how much cinnamon you used, what would you say? Approx 1/4 tsp? a pinch? I am unfortunately “recipe bound” until I’ve tried something once. 🙂
I’m sorry, but I really don’t know. A hearty shake? I’d say start with 1/4 tsp. and add more if you want to. I like cinnamon. 🙂 Taste it and adjust!
Hi Briana, just confirming that this is an E breakfast? Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipes!
Yes ma’am! (PS – all my recipes should be marked with their THM fuel types in the recipe descriptions)
This answers a question I have had. So you can eat soaked oats the next morning without having to actually cook them?
Absolutely!
This is very yummy! I’m just finishing my bowl. Thanks for a super easy, delicious recipe!
I’m glad you liked it, Sylvia!
Briana,
This is wonderful! I am so happy to have another easy E meal. Delicious! Thank you so much!
Just made this tonight and put it in the fridge for in the am. I can’t do dairy so I didn’t use the cottage cheese. Will give you an update in the am. 🙂
It was very tasty!!!! strawberries or blueberries would be so good in it!!!!! 🙂 Thanks again.
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Do you think it would be possible to use steel cut oats? That’s all that I have. I wasn’t sure if it would be too crunchy.
Thanks
Kim
I’ve never tried steel cut oats, so I’m not sure how they compare to regular ones.
You would have to cook steel cut oats first. They will not soften overnight.
I really want to try this. I happen to miss eating Cinnamon Life and I will be nice to have a alternative.
Thank You.