How I make them starve…

Or the real confessions of an honest mum who tends to make her family starve until the perfect photo of their food is first carefully taken. Plus a few breakfast ideas of my ultimate favourite morning treat: overnight oats (for dummies! aka known as the morning dish that aaanyone can pull off).

I’m not a professional chef and I’m not a professional photographer. But I’m a mum (usually on the go) enjoying running a blog, constantly planning events, raising a rowdy fun toddler, cooking for what it feels like an entire army, cleaning a tiny house (which in cleaning time it seems it’s rather a chateau), and a photography true lover yet I’m learning along the way that life itself is not someone’s exact recipe you need to follow in order to get a successful dish. I therefore encourage you, cool mums and bumps, to get creative with this cooking process, throw in some fun ingredients, take a photo or two along the way, send a tweet if you really must, but never never let them starve as often as I do it.

Yet I must say it was fun for a while. I loved getting my hands busy with creative kitchen cooking projects, but things have changed since I’ve become a mum. Before the sudden arrival of the tiny human who had been filling our days with both joy and hard work ever since, all days were pretty much the same: when I felt I created a masterpiece as big as Da Vinci’s ‘Last supper’, my better half pretended to understand my genuine urge of wanting to share it with my online community peeps (although he was practically dribbling worse than a teething baby right next to my busy clicking camera, complimenting all photos while hoping this would put a stop to the insane session and leave the plate alone for its true and only peckish master). But no, the more I created, the more time I wanted to spend immortalising food…

Nevertheless, everything changed shortly after that one day we came back from the hospital with a third tiny version of us who was completely dependent on us and my two sore nipples. I then found it harder to focus on photographing my perfectly shaped chef-d’oeuvre dish. Not only because I had less time on my hands, but because there stood two tired new parents trying to make sense of this frenzy roller coaster called parenthood no one prepares you for. Two seconds later, here stood a new grumpy, slightly overwhelmed, tired version of my better half who lost his patience on waiting for his food which very often happened first to be seen by thousands of Instagram followers before he was having his first bite.

But there go the breakfast ideas which don’t need any time sacrifice from your behalf! There recipes look good, feel good and taste good. No guilty feelings (unless you’re not sharing, then yes, you might feel quite guilty for like 5 seconds!) as all work is done one night prior. And yes, you’ll have more time on your hands to get a few clicks before feeding your army.

P.S. The leaves below do have a story. Although they may not be edible, I felt I had to involve my toddler son’s huge efforts of bringing everything he can find on the streets here into my very own kitchen dish making. (I wouldn’t call it an exact recipe as I, myself, don’t tend to follow any measuring rules or a strict list of ingredients).

Overnight oats for dummies. With a twist.

Ingredients (feel free to add or replace things)

Organic oats
Chia Seeds (I pretty much overuse these!)
Almond milk (not compulsory, you could go for regular milk, but this is what I recommend for a sweeter stronger flavour)
Your choice of yogurt (don’t have to stick with diary)
Coconut flakes (optional); or walnuts
Popped quinoa (I sprinkle some on anything, but again…pretty optional)
Your choice of berries or other fruits
A touch of Manuka honey (preferably under 20+ for a more subtle flavour anything over 20+ is both very pricey and comes with a stronger bitter taste ); can easily be replaced with maple syrup
Cinnamon if you’re a fan…

Method (easy peasy…)

Ok, you can’t go wrong with this. I don’t really keep count of measuring stuff as you yourself will quickly get the hang of it after your very first trial. Get a jar and fill just half of it with organic oats. Add your milk so they get properly soaked, 2-3 spoonfuls of yoghurt (the more you add the creamier it gets). Add chia. Put the lid on and get it in the fridge until tomorrow morning.

Ok, now you just woke up and you’re really curious to see what you’ll end up with after applying your creativity skills. Get the berries ready, cut them into pieces or add

Popped quinoa chia berries oats

Just add on top everything you get your hands on: fruits, popped quinoa, almond flakes, the choices are endless! Then, if you still have the patience, get it by the window and use the warm colours do their job in order for you to create the best photo. Then Instagram it if your better half is not already late for work.

Walnuts & berries autumn oats

I almost didn’t want to eat this once I got this presentation. Yes, my better half had to wait until I finished clicking too many versions of the same dish…Not fun for him, but it’s really hard to work with dried leaves!!

Hot chocolate oats

Initially, I wanted to get a glamorous chocolate jar of overnight oats, but I ran out of cocoa. I, therefore, used 2 teaspoons of hot chocolate instead and the result was just as appealing as the presentation below.

Banana & cinnamon creamy oats

My toddler loves this. Banana and a mix of berries can make a great mix. Sprinkle some cinnamon and you’re good to go. This must be the easiest treat there is…Very successful among toddlers!

If thirsty for more creative fun ways to enjoy motherhood and its perks, follow Allmumstalk Facebook page or you can get lots of colourful ideas from my Instagram#allmumstalk (I’m such an Instagram junkie!). Cool mums tweet, so throw at me your tips if braver (#allmumstalkhere)! 😉