How to Make Any Stove-Top Recipe in the Refrigerator

Remember eight months ago when I got a kidney stone? Yeah, well, it happened again. I won’t bore you with the details, but the pain was awful enough that I couldn’t bother to work on a new post yesterday/today.

I did, however, manage to come up with something. If you haven’t noticed, the baked oatmeal recipes have been much rarer lately. That is because I’ve been making refrigerator oatmeal instead, which essentially allows me to enjoy stove-top oatmeal without waiting for the oatmeal to cook on the stove!

It also occurred to me that I’ve been taking all my favorite recipes and just making them in the fridge. I figured instead of posting each of them as overnight recipes, I would just post a how-to for how to take ANY of my stove-top recipes and convert them to an overnight masterpiece.

1. Stick to half a cup of rolled oats. Another excellent option is quick-cooking steel-cut oats. I’ve had great success with the Country Choice Organic brand. If using this option, use only 1/4 cup oats.

2. Use only 1/2 cup of liquid. Almond milk is perfect. Do NOT use all water.

3. Chia seeds make the final product creamier and pudding-like, but it’s not necessary, especially if you’re using banana (which also yields creamy oatmeal). A small spoonful is all that’s needed. Alternatively, you can use flax.

4. Combine all listed ingredients at once and shake, shake, shake. Exception: if you’re working with fresh berries or chocolate chips, I sometimes hold off adding them until the morning.

5. Chopped dates work beautifully as a sweetener in refrigerator oatmeal because it has all night to absorb the sweetness. Consider replacing any honey, maple syrup, or agave with a chopped date! Any dried fruit will also help.

6. Frozen fruits work great in overnight oatmeal (better than in stove-top, in my opinion).

7. You can eat these cold, but I rarely do. Typically, I transfer the oatmeal to a real bowl, add a tiny bit of water if the mixture is too solid, and microwave for a minute and a half. Perfection. 🙂

And yes, I know this recipe has “LAZY” written all over it. Cut me some slack; I’m a little preoccupied trying to get a spiky little rock out of my body!