Although I’m not an oatmeal-for-breakfast person, I try to eat oatmeal regularly, because it’s healthy for you. It’s high in fiber and complex carbohydrates. Besides, it’s low in fat, so you can add in as much healthy fats as you want (in my case, mostly peanut butter). But, as I said, I’m not a fan. I find it somehow disturbing to eat because of its slimy texture when cooked. So to make the oatmeal more interesting and healthier, I do the following..

First of all, I don’t cook my oatmeal. Instead, I use a popular technique: overnight oats. I mix 1/4 cup oats with 1/4 cup milk. then I add 1/2 teaspoon spice of my choice, 1 tablespoon flax seed and some stevia or honey for sweetening. I put this mixture in the freezer and let the oats soften in milk over the night. When I wake up, I add a blob of nut butter, a blob of jam and 2 tablespoons of granola.

Last week, I made myself an oatmeal bowl with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and peanut butter.

And today, I had my oatmeal with 1 teaspoon cocoa powder, 1/2 teaspoon instant coffee, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, a blob of coconut butter and a blob of my beloved rose jam:

Did you know that when I was a child, I didn’t like to have breakfast? I used to only drink a glass of milk in mornings, and then crave for the entire day. Then when I was a freshman in university, I used to eat fatty pastries every morning with a big cup of sugared tea. Yuck!

But now, I’m older and I know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and not only it keeps you full for hours, it is also helps you maintain your healthy weight. I can easily say that when I don’t have breakfast, I tend to binge on any food I can find that day.

So, breakfast is good for us and we have to have it everyday. But it’s not easy huh? For some people, having a breakfast early is not tempting. My sister, for example, cannot have breakfast very early. That is of course not true for me. But I have another problem. Since I like to sleep, and am therefore usually rushing for work in the mornings, I definitely don’t have time to have a decent breakfast. Fortunately, these two breakfast preventive situations have one single solution: “pre-made breakfast”.If you don’t like to have breakfast early, just prepare it in the morning. Or, if you are like me and don’t have time to eat, just prepare it and eat on the way or when you arrive at work. But preparing takes a lot of time too, what if we don’t have time for that? Well, you can make some of the work the night before, and just assemble or cook in the morning. That easy!

Today, I’m starting a weekly challenge: “Pre-made Healthy Breakfast Challenge”, or simply PHBC. For one week, I’m going to have a different healthy breakfast every day, and post it here with recipes. And believe me, they are all too quick to prepare since I’m a lazy person.

And I’ll probably take the photos using Instagram or Hipstamatic. I just don’t have time for taking DSLR photos in the morning!

So, we start with pancakes…

Did you see Katie’s vegan red velvet pancakes? Oh, they are so good! So yesterday, I decided to have them for my next breakfast, and prepared the batter before I sleep. I changed the recipe a little bit, made the batter, put it in a container, put that in the freezer and slept.

When I woke up, I took out the batter, and saw that it was thickened too much. So I added a little bit of milk and cooked the pancakes. Then I spread some rose jam (killer!!!) and my homemade peanut butter on top. I put my pancakes in a container and eat them on my way to work.

Also, I managed to grab the leftovers of my sister’s lactose-free milk:

Day one completed!

Overnight Chocolate Pancakes with Peanut Butter & Rose Jam

adapted from Chocolate-Covered Katie

makes 2 pancakes

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons whole-wheat flour
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon oatmeal
• 1 tablespoon flax seed
• 1/2 tablespoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 teaspoon stevia (or 1 tablespoons honey or any other liquid sweetener)
• optional: 2 teaspoons chocolate nibs

For topping:

• 1 tablespoon peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon jam (I used rose jam but blackberry jam works the best)

Directions

Mix all the ingredients, and store them in the refrigerator overnight.

On the morning, if the batter is too dry, add 1-2 tablespoons milk. Then, cook both sides in a lightly oiled pan for 2-3 minutes.

Spread peanut butter and jam on top.

Put them in a container and take to work!

These bars are like granola bars, but they’re also like fruit&nut bars. So I call them just “oatmeal bars”.

I don’t like those granola bars with a sharp honey taste and lots of oatmeal. And I wanted to make something for the late mornings, when I’m late for school and don’t have time for breakfast (Actually, I’m “always” late for school, but that’s another story). These bars are something that you can just take (and your tea mug) and leave home.

Nutty Oatmeal Energy Bars

makes 12 big, 20 small bars

Ingredients:

• 2 cups oatmeal
• 1 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• ½ cup honey
• ¼ cup pistachios
• ¼ cup hazelnuts
• ¼ cup almonds
• ¼ cup raisins
• ¼ cup chocolate-chips (use ½ cup for sweeter bars)
• 1/3 cup flaxseed
• 5 tablespoons coconut flakes
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder or baking soda
• ground nutmeg
• pinch of salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 155 degrees C (310 degrees F).

Chop the nuts coarsely.

In a bowl, mix all the dry ingredients.

In another bowl, whisk together the egg, oil and honey.

While stirring the dry ingredients, pour the egg mixture onto them.

Pour the mixture into a mid-sized pan and press the tops by using a spatula to make it firm.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until cooked.

Cut into squares (or bigger rectangles), and store in an airtight container.