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Ah…what bliss. I’m home, y’all! I feel like I’ve spent more time traveling this year than I have spent at home, and while all the travels have been very enjoyable and rewarding, there really is no place like home and I’m ready to stay put here for awhile. Well, if you can call three weeks “a while.” I’m going to be spending about two weeks in Holmes County, Ohio, selling South Carolina peaches at my grandparents’ retail stand in July. Who knows – maybe I’ll even be able to meet up with some of you all! I hope to keep some of my cookbooks on hand out at the stand with me, so if you want to come purchase a copy or just say hi, I’d love to meet you! Click here to see The Peach Barn on Facebook and find the address and all those good details. I should be working there July 11-22, but feel free to shoot me an email through the contact form here on my blog to confirm that I’ll be in the vicinity if you plan to stop by.
So where have I been lately? I was at Shenandoah Christian Music Camp in Harrisonburg, VA, for one week, then I went on a weeklong choir tour with the touring Chamber Choir for a week after that. We made stops in Kansas, Texas, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Virginia, and I finally made my way back home on Monday. The whole experience was very encouraging, educational, and refreshing – albeit intense! I met lots of intriguing people, participated in numerous deep conversations, and practiced sub-vocal consonants under director Lloyd Kauffman until I could sing, “God, bread, hallowed, fed,” distinctly enough to work as a speech therapist.
When I travel for extended periods of time, I often take my own breakfast with me for multiple reasons. The first is that it’s just easier. Breakfast at music camp is served at 7 am. I’m more of a night owl than a morning person…. I prefer a few extra minutes of sleep over eating a drawn-out breakfast in a cafeteria and feeling bad for not carrying on a decent conversation because I’m not fully awake yet. The second reason for my preparing my own breakfasts is that I like to start the day off with something that won’t make me feel gross. Depending on the cafeteria breakfast options, my day could start out with a stomachache and go downhill from there, and who likes to sing with a stomachache??
So this year I did my usual routine of making a bunch of overnight oatmeal packets to take with my to music camp, but unfortunately I didn’t even use them while I was there. I was staying with three other girls and when I got to camp, I found out that I had the only vehicle at the house so it was my responsibility to make sure everyone got to breakfast. Thankfully the cafeteria was really good about having reasonably healthy breakfast options. (They even had Oikos Triple Zero Greek yogurt on hand!) Once I got into the routine of getting up early, that part wasn’t so bad either, and I usually ate fast enough that I could grab wifi and catch up on some blog notifications before chapel at 8 am, so that was a positive side to the whole deal.
Since I didn’t use any of my overnight oatmeal packets, I thought I would take advantage of them to put this post together and give you an idea for a make-ahead travel breakfast. As you’ll see in the printable recipe below, I have eaten a minimalist version of these oats as well as a “fancier” version. Take your pick depending on your facilities.
Do you have any favorite make-ahead travel breakfasts? I’d love to hear about them in the comments below!
As always, check out the Notes section of the recipe for extra info. Check out the links in and below the recipe to see the products I use and recommend. Some of the links included in the recipe and blog post are affiliate links, which means that if you make purchases through these links, I make a small commission to help defray the costs of running this blog (at no extra charge to you). Thanks for your help!
You may also enjoy:
- Starting THM
- my recipe index
- my recipes grouped by fuel type, allergy info, and theme
- all my breakfast recipes
- Easy Chocolate Oatmeal – a hot chocolate oatmeal
- ½ c. old-fashioned oats (use gluten free if necessary)
- 2 T. whey protein powder or collagen
- 1 T. cocoa powder
- ½ tsp. glucomannan (slightly rounded)
- ⅛ tsp. salt
- ⅛ tsp. THM Pure Stevia Extract Powder
- Measure the dry ingredients into individual sealable plastic bags or containers. The recipe above makes one packet, so simply add those ingredients to as many packets as you need.
- The night before you want to eat your oatmeal, add one packet to a pint-sized glass jar, put a lid on it, and shake it to evenly distribute the dry ingredients. Add 1½ cups of liquid; I like to use a combination of water and almond milk. Put the lid on the jar again and shake it well to combine the dry and wet ingredients, then refrigerate overnight to thicken.
- Minimalist version: use all water and don't even refrigerate. Eat oatmeal at lukewarm temperature in morning. I have done this.
- My favorite version: use whey protein powder instead of collagen for a creamier result and mix with 1 c. water and ½ c. unsweetened almond milk. Refrigerate properly.
Suggested products:
- Whey Protein Powder
- THM Pristine Whey Protein Powder
- Great Lakes Collagen (Amazon)
- Great Lakes Collagen (iHerb)
- THM Integral Collagen
- Glucomannan (Amazon)
- THM Pure Stevia Extract Powder
- Defatted Peanut Flour (Amazon)
My kids and I love these overnight oats! I will try it with cocoa powder next! And a sidenote, I was pleasantly surprised to see Holmes County, OH mentioned in your post as that is near where I am from! The Peach Barn is fantastic:)
Yes! My grandparents run that! Great place. 😉
These are great! Personally, I like it with 1 cup of liquid vs 1 1/2 cups. I would love a cinnamon apple version. I’ll have to experiment. And the Peanut Flour option sounds delicious!
Thanks for all your hard work with creating your recipes! I’ve loved all the ones I’ve tried!
I’m glad you’ve found a way to make it what you like! A cinnamon apple version would be pretty simple! Cinnamon (and even some cloves and nutmeg) in the dry packets, leave out the cocoa powder, and add chopped apple when you add the liquid. It’ll be kind of crunchy the next morning since you’re not cooking it. Sounds yummy!
Is there a cinnamon option? I’m not a huge chocolate fan.
Feel free to omit the cocoa powder and just add cinnamon to taste. 🙂
Do you eat it cold or heat it up in the microwave?
I usually eat it cold, but you could probably heat it up if you prefer. The glucomannan will probably get more “glue-y” when heated, though.
Can’t wait to put a few together. Any other variations? I’m not too creative 🙂
I’m not either. 😛 I love the chocolate so much that I usually stick with that. You could try a peanut butter version with defatted peanut flour in place of cocoa powder.
I made up a bunch of these packets with defatted peanut flour instead of cocoa powder and they turned out great! I was about to have a baby and wasn’t sure if she would be sensitive to chocolate like my other ones…otherwise in my opinion chocolate makes everything better. 😉 My husband actually likes the peanut butter version better though. Either way, I LOVE having these on hand for a ready-to-go breakfast in the morning before all my little ones wake up! These packets have also been a morning-saver for my hubby since I’m not very good at getting up early to make him breakfast when I have a newborn. Now I can have it ready the night before. 🙂
I like to add cinnamon and cayenne powder to get a taste similar to Mexican Chocolate
Would Xanthum gum work instead of Gluccie??
They’re generally interchangeable, but I haven’t personally tried it in this recipe. Worth a try!
LOVE Lloyd K!! He’s an awesome choir director and person!
This looks delicious- can’t wait to throw it together for the morning
PS: If you don’t want to use glass, a plastic peanut butter jar works well. The 18 oz. size will hold 16 oz of liquid (to the very top). Just use a lid with a rubber seal so it doesn’t leak. A regular size canning lid fits. I prefer this in my lunch bag.
Hi Jeannette! Thanks so much for the tip!
I really like these! I was surprised by the pudding texture, but I don’t mind it. I appreciate having a quick breakfast option for early work mornings. I have made several flavor adaptations, using freeze-dried fruits and also peanut flour. I just made 10 bags, of 5 flavors!
Also, someone mentioned making single serve muffin (or bread, or dessert) recipes in baggies like this. One thing I’ve started doing is typing up the labels in a document. I put the name/type of muffin, and finishing instructions in columns so they are narrow. Then copy & paste to make several on the page. When I print it out, I snip them apart and use scotch tape on the container. Then I won’t forget anything, which I’m prone to do. Save the document for future use, and you only have to type it out one time. Ever.
Thanks for the great ideas, Jeannette!
Do you just add the cold liquids or do you need to heat them first? Thanks for this great idea!
No heating necessary! I prefer to eat it cold, like a pudding. If you want a hot recipe, I recommend finding one that doesn’t use glucomannan (this one, for example: https://www.briana-thomas.com/easy-chocolate-oatmeal/), since glucomannan tends to mask flavor when heated.
This is such a great idea! I’ve done a lot of traveling this summer and already have more trips planned.
This recipe is genius for an easy and really cheap breakfast! Thanks, Briana!
If I have access to a microwave…I make the dry mixture for hot chia porridge from chrissybenoitinlove.com…just add water if I don’t have access to almond milk. Vanilla or maple extract is also optional. It makes a nice change from eggs or oatmeal. It could als be eaten cold..as the chia thickens without heat. Love reading your adventures in food and abroad Briana!
That recipe was actually from ahomewithpurpose.com.
I do this for my mug cakes. It really makes things easier for quick snack without dragging everything out of the cupboard. I write on the bag what they are and what ingredients it needs along with microwave time. I also use little bags for nuts. I can easily over do the nuts so it’s nice to have them portioned out. I also use little disposable dip containers or baby food jars for stuff for smoothies and drinks.
Great ideas, Savanna!
What can you use instead of Glucomannan? I can’t seem to find it in the stores and buying it online is not a good price for me at the moment. I want to make this for my trip to Florida this coming August. Love your post and blogs.
Hi Laura! Xanthan gum should work instead. You can find that at a lot of local stores these days.
What a great idea!!! I will use this idea!!! I just went on a trip with my family to see extended family who live several hours away. My survival “packet” was Bust a Myth banana cake made into muffins that I baked before we left. We had coolers so I could keep them fresh in the cooler and grab 2 for breakfast or 1 for a snack. I also keep take string cheese or on plan beef sticks and apples for breakfast or snack.
Great ideas! Thanks for sharing!