Breakfast to me is more than just the most important meal of the day; it’s the most delicious. Frequently, the sole reason I look forward to starting my day is that it means I get to wake up and eat breakfast. Since starting college, my love for breakfast has been put on the backburner because of my crazy mornings and tendency to sleep through alarms.

This year, I decided I would actually make more time for breakfast since I would be living in an apartment off campus and would have access to a kitchen. I knew that I wanted what I ate for breakfast every day to be filling, healthy and delicious without requiring an extensive cleanup process. It was when I came across overnight oats and chia pudding that I knew I had found my solution.

What initially made overnight oats and chia pudding appealing to me was the simple fact that they are extremely easy to make. It takes about 5–10 minutes to make them, and although some of the ingredients can be pricey, they will last a relatively long time. I’ve begun to rotate between eating the two every week so I make sure to always have the ingredients in my fridge. That is why my advice is to always keep almond milk, coconut flakes, dark chocolate chips, chia seeds, Greek yogurt and honey on hand in your kitchen. However, the most important item to keep on hand is Mason jars so that your overnight oats or chia pudding can be stored properly.

####Coconut chocolate overnight oats

Ingredients for one serving in a Mason jar:
— 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
— *1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
— handful of chia seeds
— *1/2 cup rolled oats
— small handful of dark chocolate chips
— 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
— 2 tablespoons of honey

*can be adjusted based on preference of the desired consistency of the overnight oats

Directions:

Add all of the ingredients into a Mason jar and mix together. Store in fridge overnight, eat in the morning, and enjoy!

####Raspberry chia pudding

— 1/2 cup of unsweetened lite coconut milk (I bought mine from Lucky’s Market)
— 1 tablespoon of honey
— 1/2 cup of unsweetened coconut flakes
— 1 cup of raspberries
— handful of chia seeds
— 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract

*requires blender

Directions: Put the coconut milk, raspberries, coconut flakes and vanilla extract in the blender and blend until smooth. Next, pour the mixture into the Mason jar and add the chia seeds. Place in the fridge overnight and eat in the morning.