OVERNIGHT OATS
I first got into this whole "cooking/baking thing", as my dad so begrudgingly calls it, back in July. I had been living at home for about two months and had just started a marketing job in the town over from where I live. And while living at home after college certainly has its perks - bulking up your savings account, spending time with family, playing with your two adorable doggies- it wasn't the event packed, fun filled life I had grown accustomed to in college. I knew if I wanted to maintain my sanity, I was going to have to take up some sort of hobby.
Enter @rcorrera
Since the dawn of Myspace, I have been super into social media - every time those peeps down in Silicon Valley spew out some new social media platform, I'm on it, following and liking and favoriting and pinning like it's nobodies business. I have also always loved to bake (although I haven't always been very good at it), and I had noticed an upward trend of people posting the things they were eating on Instagram, and I thought hey, that looks pretty fun.
So off I went to the grocery store to buy ingredients for my first creation, and although I didn't know what it would be, I knew I wanted it to be eye catching and unique, something that would make people first say "What is that" and then "Oh my god, I want that". I decided on a Lucky Charms Cereal Cake. I followed the same recipe as if I were making Rice Krispie treats, but used Lucky Charms cereal instead. I melted butter and marshmallows, mixed in the cereal, and formed the mixture into a cake like circle shape. I added some frosting swirls around the edges, garnished with some charms (hearts, stars, horseshoes etc...), and threw some rainbow sprinkles on for good measure. I brought the cake out to my back porch because natural lighting is the shiz, snapped some pics on my phone, decided on a clever caption, and posted it to my account on Instagram. And guess what. People loved it.
That was the day a cake making, rainbow sprinkling, picture taking monster was born. I didn't look back for a second. I made s'more stuffed cookies, six layer rainbow cakes, cookie pizzas, pumpkin whoopie pies, the list goes on and on. People kept "liking" and I kept baking. So what was the problem you ask? As happy as my parents were for me that I had found something that I was so passionate about, the constant supply of baked goods in the house was making it pretty difficult to maintain anything even remotely resembling a healthy diet. It's fair to say that I was approximately one tray of cookies away from being evicted.
I knew I didn't want to stop cooking/baking, but I also knew I couldn't keep making cakes and cookies every day (seriously, like every day). The question was: Are there healthier dishes out there that are just as aesthetically pleasing as say, a a fruit loop covered donut?
After doing some browsing on the World Wide Web I found the answer to my question, which was very simply, yes. I found pictures of yogurt bowls overflowing with bright beautiful fruit, toast smeared with avocado toast and egg, and one of my now personal favorites, overnight oats.
If you are unfamiliar with the concept of overnight oats, be prepared to be t-oat-ally blown away. Sorry, I had to. No but really, overnight oats are awesome and everyone should know about them. For a multitude of reasons
1. They're super easy to make
2. An endless array of add-ins make's them a versatile food
3. They're easy to take on the go
4. They're healthy and a great way to start your day
5. Taste. So. Good
While there are endless ways to make overnight oats, here is the basic recipe:
1. Equal parts rolled oats and liquid (yogurt, milk, etc) mixed together.
2. Add in any sugar, honey, spices, cocoa, or dried fruit that your heart desires.
3. Refridgerate in a sealed container overnight.
When you take it out of the refridgerator the next morning, the liquid and flavor of anything else you added will have soaked up into the oats to create a bowl of awesome.
4. At this point you can add any fresh fruit or nuts you would like to the top.
5. Eat.
6. Live happily ever after.
Here is one of my favorite creations thus far- Cherry Vanilla Overnight Oats
In conclusion! While I haven't ceased making/taking pictures of baked goods, as you can see if you follow me on Instagram (follow me on Instagram), I have found a way to form some balance between eating healthy and making insta-worthy dishes. I've started bringing a lot of the less-than healthy things into work which is great because it gets them out of the house and because who doesn't like the girl at work that brings Nutella stuffed blondies in for everyone.