Peaches & Cream Overnight Oats Parfait

Overnight oats or muesli is my absolute staple breakfast food, and the only thing that stops me from eating a bagel every morning.  I will never, ever be a person who actually takes the time to make breakfast before work except on the rare, unicorn morning. Enter overnight oats, here to save the day. They're ideal because you can (quickly!) mix them up the night before, and then grab as you run out the door.  You may be doubting me, because cold oatmeal sounds both weird and boring, but just take a chance with them if you haven't already.

 My longtime favorite has been this recipe from Joy The Baker, but if I don't start changing up my flavors, I'll go running back into the toasty arms of my beloved bagels slathered in cream cheese.  While I ate my breakfast last week at my work desk, I was struck by inspiration for a new variety, and it is better than I anticipated! Reminiscent of a yogurt parfait, but with more heft and less being-starving-twenty-minutes-later.

A few notes: I tried really hard to give measurements here, but for me it's really an unscientific process of what fits in a mason jar and looks like it'll be a good ratio. Kefir, if you don't already know, is a yogurt-like substance with the consistency of a thick liquid, making it a good fit to replace some milk and add some probiotics to your overnight oats. It even has more probiotics than yogurt does!  The oats soak it up really nicely, but if you don't have Kefir, I'm sure you could stir together some plain yogurt and milk before pouring it over the oats.  I was surprised by how good this was with these simple ingredients, but other add-ins that I think would be delicious would be unsweetened shredded coconut, pecans, almonds, a touch of brown sugar instead of honey, or maybe a pinch of nutmeg. The beauty of overnight oats is their flexibility.

For two mason jars of overnight oats:

1 cup oats
2 peaches
2 tablespoons chia seeds
1/2 cup Almond milk (or whatever your preference)
1/2 cup Kefir
Honey

Set two sealable jars in front of you.  Peel and dice peaches. Alternate filling with diced peaches and oats, stirring as you go and splitting evenly between the jars.  Add 1 Tbsp chia seeds to each, stir.  Add almond milk, stir.  Drizzle with honey to taste, stir. Add Kefir, stir (stirring is key since the Kefir is a little thick, some of the oats may miss the nice liquid).  You want the liquid to cover the oats, plus a little extra, since the oats will soak up what's there. Seal and place in your fridge overnight, or at least four hours.