Name: Pina Colada Overnight Oats
Yield: 5 servings
Ingredients: 2 cups old fashioned oats; 2 cups 1% milk (or any non dairy milk); 1/3 cup shredded coconut; 1 cup diced fresh pineapple; 1/4 cup brown sugar; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract; 1/4 cup chopped walnuts or macadamia nuts; 8 ounces vanilla or plain Greek yogurt

January is National Oatmeal Month, and although the thermometer might be saying it’s winter, one taste of these easy Pina Colada Overnight Oats, and you’ll be transported to a warm, tropical place.

Have you ever noticed just how much the sense of smell is linked to memory? Cinnamon and nutmeg take you right to Thanksgiving, pine transports you right to the day you put up your Christmas tree, and for me freshly mowed grass is Saturday morning in the summer. Sometimes in the winter when I need a little “mind vacation” I might or might not have been known to sniff sunscreen. Coppertone especially takes me way back to my teens, and Banana Boat just takes me any place warm. I know, I’m weird like that.

We’ve been having a pretty mild winter here in Scottsdale, but I’m guessing most of the country is wishing they had a plane ticket to someplace warm right about now. So today I’m treating you to a little vacation for your taste buds. Most people don’t think to eat pineappley – coconutty things in the winter – kind of like you don’t eat pumpkin spiced foods or chocolate-peppermint bark in the summer. Why is that? So I made this Pina Colada Overnight Oats, and just the smell of it made me feel like I was sitting around the pool at a fancy resort. OK that might be pushing it a bit, but it did smell and taste like maybe it was really warm outside. Like maybe we could all sit outside and eat it on the patio. In the sun.

I might have mentioned a few times that I love oats for their heart healthiness and their ability to lower cholesterol levels. I try to eat oatmeal almost every day. I usually don’t make overnight oats as much in the winter – it’s a summer food for me because I prefer cold cereal in the summer, and I love that I can make a big bowl once a week, and breakfast is done. I’m not sure why I don’t do it more in the winter, because all l I have to do is scoop my portion into a bowl and heat it in the microwave. Summer taste, with the winter warmth. Perfect!

I always put lots of “stuff ” in my oats – fruit, nuts, milk and yogurt. Makes it full of flavor and a protein packed breakfast that holds me for hours.