Two Lives, One Lifestyle

I’ve seen the oats in a jar idea on several different blogs so I don’t know who gets credit to for this brilliant idea, but I tried it for the first time today and it was fantastic!  Way easier than trying to wash out peanut butter residue before recycling it.  As I got into the eating more real foods groove, I started grinding my own almond butter (which I never had before food blogs entered me life) and left my Simply Jif by the wayside.  The ingredient list isn’t lengthy but it does contain “2% or less of: fully hydrogenated vegetable oil…”  This means no stirring in a layer of separated fat as with natural peanut butter, but hydrogenated oils haven’t exactly been linked to fun potential side effects.  However, I hate to throw away food and the past week, I used up the remainder of the Simply Jif and had an almost empty jar that was perfect for “Oats in a Jar.”

To start, over medium low heat I simmered

• 1/4 c. oats
• 1 c. water
• 1 tsp. cinnamon

This took about 15 minutes. I like to use a lot of liquid and cook slowly because it adds volume to the oats.  When it was almost done, I added half a banana and a tablespoon of raisins.  Poured the whole lot into the peanut butter jar and added a few walnuts and butterscotch chips on top.

While I was waiting on the oats, I boiled some whole wheat angel hair to have for lunch with leftover sauce.  I packed that up with a salad.

Happy almost Friday!

Katie