Oats are a staple pantry item in our house. With a daughter who swims most mornings they are the perfect, portable breakfast solution. Served in one of two ways. Depending on the season. A thermos of steaming hot porridge. A cooling flask of bircher muesli. Fortunately she adores oats but I still try to make her breakfast interesting with different add in combinations of fruit and nuts each day. High in fibre this truly is the breakfast of champions. Filling with a low GI it sustains the body with long lasting energy. And if you believe the marketing hype on the back of the pack, oats are “a superfood for a super you”.
Whilst preparing oats in some form or other really has become part of my daily routine, I haven’t been eating them as much as I probably should. Over the past month or so I have been noticing posts popping up all over the internet and blogosphere about Overnight Oats in a Breakfast Jar. I may be a little slow on the uptake but suddenly it has occurred to me that this new fad is nothing less than Bircher Muesli packaged up in a jar. Reminding me of the maxim – everything old is suddenly new again.
Mulling over this realisation it hits me. Bircher Muesli is the perfect meal solution for the 5-2 challenge. A no fuss meal that is very easy to prepare. No cooking required. My personal preference may be to have my first meal at midday on a fast day, but I see no reason why it shouldn’t be oats. Incredibly filling but low in calories at approximately 200 calories per serve, it even leaves room for a more substantial evening meal.
With 400 calories to a whole jar, I’m thinking it might be an easy way to easily knock over two meals. Lunch and dinner. Send the rest of the family out for a take-away meal and spend my evening relaxing. Sometimes we all need a break from the kitchen. The more I think about it the more appealing this idea becomes. It is exactly what I intend to do today.
My fasting day will look like this. With room for an additional small indulgence if I so desire.
| Breakfast | 2 cups of tea |
4 |
| Lunch | Overnight Oats in a Jar with Berries |
200 |
| Mid Afternoon | 2 cups of tea |
4 |
| Dinner | Overnight Oats in a Jar with Berries |
200 |
| 2 cups of tea |
4 |
|
| Total Calories |
412 |
Checking back through my blog I notice that I previously posted my original bircher muesli recipe last Spring. Here it is again. Reinvented as Overnight Oats in a Jar. With raspberries for their antioxidant properties. Adapted for the 5-2 challenge. Complete with calorie count.
Overnight Oats in a Jar with Raspberries
The calorie count for this recipe has been updated and is now correct. In the original post I inadvertently misread the energy value for 1/2 cup dry oats as representing 1 cup. A combination of my deteriorating eyesight and the very small print on the back of the pack of my Uncle Toby’s Oats. Apologies for any inconvenience or confusion. Obviously the calorie count is now a little higher. To compensate you can reduce the amount of oats used in the recipe to 3/4 of a cup and apple juice to 1/3 cup, keeping the quantities of all other ingredients unchanged. This will bring the total calorie count for the jar to 467 calories or 234 calories per serve. Or do as I will do from hereon in. Limit myself to only one serve of this delicious bircher muesli on fast days.
One jar (550 calories)
Serves 2 (275 calories per serve)
Overnight
1 cup dry rolled oats (306 calories)
½ cup apple juice (or freshly squeezed orange juice) (30 calories)
1 teaspoon honey (20 calories)
1 tablespoons currants or raisins (70 calories)
1 tablespoons slivered almonds (20 calories)
a sprinkling of mixed spice
Next Morning
1 small Granny Smith apple, coarsely grated (skin on) (40 calories)
1/4 cup yoghurt (35 calories)
a generous squeeze of lemon (2 calories)
1/2 cup raspberries, to serve. (30 calories)
COMBINE rolled oats, apple juice, mixed spice, dried fruit and nuts in a jar or bowl. Stir together to combine.
CHILL overnight (or for at least two hours).
NEXT MORNING stir in yoghurt, grated apple and lemon juice.
SERVE topped with raspberries.
The Paddington Foodie 
This is a stunning picture!
Thanks . Photography is not exactly my strong point. It’s good to know I get it right sometimes.
Wow. This looks too delicious. I’m going to try and make these. I’ve been trying to watch my weight and this recipe will definitely help.
So delicious. And so good for you. I can’t believe how filling it is. Definitely keeps any hunger pangs at bay. I feel quite virtuous eating this.
It looks like a delicious breakfast! I also eat always oats with raspberries in the morning, great post.
Raspberries are one of my favourite fruits. So versatile. I especially love them with dark chocolate. Not today though.
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This looks great, but where are you getting your calculations for the rolled oats?
I use Lowan oats which are pretty average – a cup of raw rolled oats = 452 calories.
I make a porridge of 1/4 cup (30g) rolled oats (116 cals) plus 1/2 cup of raspberries (27cals) and a small piece of preserved lemon peel at 5 cals (just because I like the flavour which I think balances the raspberries without the addition of sugar). That makes about 3/4 cup of porridge and adds up to 148 calories.
This muesli looks really delicious but I think it is more likely to be around 350 calories per cup rather than 200 calories. It might be prudent to reduce the amount from 1 cup to 3/4 cup if it is the only thing you will eat, twice a day… and that will still put you just a few calories over the 500. But better than 200 over.
Oops I’ve just checkered the back of my pack of Uncle Toby’s Traditional Oats. 1/2 dry cup of oats is 152 calories. So 1 cup is 304 calories which then makes the calorie count per jar 551 calories or per serve 276 calories. Thanks for your comment I’ll amend the post accordingly.
You’re welcome. Wow, big difference between Lowan oats and Uncle Toby’s oats… I wonder why such a huge difference when it’s all oats? Which makes me then think what other foods have huge differences between brands? It could make a lot of difference when trying to restrict to 500 cals.
Calorie count probably depends on whether the oats are the traditional, fortified or quick cook variety. Any food that has been processed to even a small degree seems to have a greater calorie count. I was stunned to learn that farmed seafood can have as much as a 20% higher calorie count than wild species. Something to do with all the hormones fed to the fish. I have been trying to stick to whole foods as much as possible on fast days.
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Hi I got all excited about 200 calories per serve of Bircher, are you sure on 300 calories per 1 cup of oats?
I was under the impression it was 600.
Cheers 🙂
Hi Adrienne
In Aug 2013 I am mended the calorie count of Bircher muesli in response to melamie66’s query to 275 calories per serve as follows
Oops I’ve just checkered the back of my pack of Uncle Toby’s Traditional Oats. 1/2 dry cup of oats is 152 calories. So 1 cup is 304 calories which then makes the calorie count per jar 551 calories or per serve 276 calories. Thanks for your comment I’ll amend the post accordingly.
A couple of things to take into account – the dry vs wet measurement of oats, and the brand (I use Uncle Toby’s Traditional which has no additives and is relatively unprocessed. Also what you use to make up your oats also counts – for example a cup of whole milk has close to a 150 calories so I cup of oats made up as porridge with one cup of whole milk would have 454 calories. Hope this helps.
haha…I too went and double checked where I’d been getting my info and I’d been going off calories for one cup which had said weighed 150g!! Since a cup of my oats weigh close to 100g I am actually more in line with your calories….so I am excited, can’t wait to make these oats!
Thanks for following up 🙂
I love this muesli but reading your daily meal plan I think you have forgotten that you are supposed to have 12 hours between meals on fast days, Annette
I’ll have to check that out. Usually I have 15-18 hours from my last meal the night before and first meal on a fast day. Then I have my 500 calories for the day spread over a 6-8 hour window before not having anything to eat until at least mid morning next day. I’ve always fasted on the basis that it did not matter in what combination you consumed your calories as long as you didn’t exceed the daily calorie limit. I’ll have to check back to the 5-2 diet guidelines on that.
yes, my understanding was that the research is not clear on whether it matters whether you spread the 500 calorie limit over the fast day or whether you choose to take it in one, two or three meals.
But for stickability over the long term, I think it would be the plan that works best for you.
I’d have to agree.. Everyone ive spoken to seems to have a slightly different approach. At the end of the day it seems to be entirely up to the individual. Haven’t been able to find anything yet that suggests fasting in between each meal.