Strange, yet familiar, back-to-school feelings have been making their way into my brain lately. It has been 4 years since I graduated with a master’s degree in social psychology and I’m convinced I will forever feel like a student this time of the year. Sometimes, I wish I could do it all over because I’d do things a bit differently. For starters, I wouldn’t settle for a major that I wasn’t completely in love with and secondly, I would’ve fed myself better and not beat myself up so much. I loathed my body in university and now when I look back on pictures I think, damn, why was I so hard on myself? Live and learn.
When I entered university, I wanted to become a registered dietitian, but I was lacking a few science courses. Instead of delaying university for a year (and not getting to go with friends), I decided to major in psychology even though nutrition was my true passion. Knowing my passions now, I would’ve majored in photography/food styling, culinary arts, or waited a year to pursue my RD. The thing is, I didn’t really figure out I had a passion for photography until many years later, which just goes to show that you have to figure some things out as you go. Things always have a way of working out one way or another. If you don’t get it right the first time, you certainly aren’t doomed (this took me a while to figure out).
Anyway, I came to tell you about portable snack ideas and got a bit side-tracked.
Lately, I’ve received several questions with a similar theme – what are some portable vegan snacks that I can bring to work or school? I figured it was time to put a post together on this very subject.
Here are some of my favourite portable snacks:
- Crackers + veggies (e.g., celery, carrot, pepper, & cucumber sticks) & hummus
- Nut or seed butter, jam, & whole grain bread or crackers
- Endurance Crackers & hummus/nut butter
- Energy bars like Last Minute Protein Energy Bars or Larabars
- Fruit – bananas, apples, peaches, grapes, etc (I love to pair apples with PB for extra protein)
- Vegan Overnight Oats – very portable! I bring VOO on road trips and make it in hotel rooms
- Homemade Trail Mix like my Go Go Glow Mix or simply throw nuts & seeds together with dried fruit
- Crispy Breaded Tofu Strips with dipping sauce like ketchup or sweet and sour sauce
- 5 Ingredient No Bake Date Squares
- On the Glow Basic Oatmeal Squares
- Homemade muffins
- Dark Chocolate Cherry Energy Bites
You can add this mini baked oatmeal to the list now too!
I love baked oatmeal and when I make it, I often find myself eating leftovers for a snack – straight from the fridge! So, I thought – why not make mini baked oatmeal purposely for on-the-go snacks? These mini mason jars (125ml/4.2 oz) are the perfect size for a snack and they won’t take up a lot of room in your bag. I picked mine up from Canadian Tire. You can find different sized mason jars at many home hardware type stores, as well as Wal-Mart.
It only takes 5-10 minutes to whip up the recipe and then it’s into the oven for 20-25 minutes. Cool completely before putting on the lid and placing in the fridge. Now you have 6 grab-and-go snacks ready for the week ahead. Well, actually, you have 5 snacks because you’ll obviously eat one right out of the oven!
Fill your mason jars like so. You want to leave some room for toppings.
After baking, you can enjoy them plain…
Or add your favourite toppings just like you would with regular oatmeal. Here I added almond butter and jam.
Other topping ideas:
- homemade chia seed jam & nut or seed butter
- Finely chopped fresh fruit
- Pure maple syrup
- Granola
- Sliced banana
- Protein Peanut Butter
Last night I also discovered this can be turned into dessert. Serve it warm with a scoop of non-dairy ice cream for a healthy dessert. Just throwing that out there.
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Portable Baked Oatmeal...Snack Size!
Yield
6 servings
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Ingredients
- 1 cup rolled oats (use GF oats if necessary)
- 2 tbsp chia seed (or ground flax)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- pinch of fine grain sea salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup almond milk
- 1.5 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1 peach (or other fruit like apple or banana), chopped
- 1/3 cup walnuts or pecans (or use seeds for nut-free), chopped
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grab 6 mini mason jars (125ml/4.2 oz) and remove lids. Alternatively, you can use 8oz jars and make 3-4 servings.
- In a large bowl, mix together the oats, chia seed (or ground flax), cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and baking powder.
- Add the almond milk, vanilla, and maple syrup and stir until combined. Fold in the chopped fruit and nuts.
- Keep stirring the mixture so some of the milk will absorb. Divide the mixture between the 6 mason jars (about 1/3 cup mixture each), leaving about 1.5 cm at the top. If any milk remains at the bottom of the bowl, divide it between the jars. Gently push the oatmeal down with your fingers.
- Bake at 350°F for 22-25 minutes on a small baking sheet, or until slightly firm and golden on top. Allow to cool completely for about an hour or longer. Add any toppings you desire, place on lid, and into the fridge.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)Want another in-a-jar recipe? Check out my Mini Peanut Butter Cups In A Jar.
I’ll leave you with Sketchie’s latest hobby…camping in his new cat “tent”.
As always, he’s thrilled to have his picture taken for the blog.
WHAT A great idea for my kids lunch. I can’t take glass into work for security reasons..but they can :-) mason jars can withstand lots of heat…boiling them to process when canning in rolling boil on the stove is super hot :-) make sure it’s canning jars, not recycled store jars. Just sayin’. For me for portable snacks I always make my signature green bars, containers of hummus and veggies and wholegrain crackers…and green monsters in a thermos :-)
Lovely idea! I haven’t seen mini mason jars yet but I’ll be on the lookout now!
I also finished my M.A. in Psychology without really thinking it through. I have dabbled with the idea of getting another degree in a health/nutrition field but I settled with obtaining my personal training license, for now!
love these mini oatmeals…i can also identify with the ‘wishing you knew back then what made you tick’ as it’s only in the last couple of years that my love of photography and nutrition has really taken off also…combined with my love of being active (but that has never changed) crazy thing is my degree and job is as an architect…currently working to that change all that though :-)
How do you recommend reheating these? Microwave? Oven? I’d love to make a batch and have these for breakfast every morning. Great idea, by the way :)
You could probably reheat them either way. I don’t bother, but I cant see why it wouldnt work! Just be sure not to dry them out so maybe bake them for a couple mins less.
Ooh, this looks good!
Quick question: I have celiac and I react to GF oats… do you know of a substitution that will hold together like oats do? I’ve been waiting to make trail mix, but can’t seem to find a good alternative…. TY :).
Have you tried barley, or quinoa flakes?
Celiacs can’t eat barley, which also contains gluten either. Quinoa flakes would work.
This looks perfect! It will be the perfect afternoon snack between work and dinner!
Mmmm, that looks great! What a good idea and addition to my lunchbox! And now my cats are demanding tents of their own.
What about freezing them in the mason jars, recommended? if yes, would you freeze before or after baking? Great, great idea~
I was wondering the same thing. I just popped a couple into the freezer (cooked) so I’ll see how that goes and update the recipe in a week or so. I can’t imagine it will be a problem.
Food in jars is just automatically cuter – therefore it tastes better :)
And totally convenient, too! Score! And in snack size, not massive jumbo huge bowl size, which is perfect for 5 year olds as well as moms. :)
Haha totally! As much as I’m almost a minimalist, I think I’m going to break my rule… as a bit of an organization junkie, I think the promise of lining up identical-sized jars in my fridge may just be enough to overcome my laziness when it comes to packing lunches.
I majored in English because I didn’t know what I wanted to do. When I graduated, I thought I wanted a MA in psychology but decided to wait. In 1.5 weeks, I start the (long) journey to take all my science classes and get my MS in nutrition in like, a million years. My mom went back to school at 42 to get her masters in counseling – it’s never too late!!
Totally agree! Congrats to you both! I’ve toyed with the idea of going back to school to get another degree sometime. We’ll see! Life has many twists and turns…
oops – actually she had me at 42 – she went back to school at 46 – plenty of time!
Brilliant. :) This sounds like a great change from my typical go-to snacks.
I can’t wait to make these! Do you know how long they will keep in the fridge? They don’t look too freezer friendly but if they are…let me know!
Thanks,
Tamara :)
This is great! I’m continuing on with my PhD programme in September and this will be great! Thanks!
These Look awesome!
The problem I have with most snack ideas ( such as hunmus) are that the majority of me need to be refrigerated.
So if your a student or traveling that can be very difficult.
I sometimes take an ice brick but they also take up a lot of room and are also quite heavy.
Love the idea of baked oatmeal for a snack though!
I really wish we could go to college/university later in life! It is cruel to expect teenagers to decide what they want to do the rest of their lives! I’m 26 and still trying to figure it out! : )
That oatmeal looks great and perfect as a snack to bring to work. I’m a teacher so school is officially in session!
How cute are these oatmeal snacks!! :) What a wonderful idea, i just have to find mini jars like the ones you have. You know I think snacks are actually the hardest “meals” for me because aside from carrot/ bell pepper sticks and fruit, i don’t take anything else out. Will definitely try this :)
These are so adorable! I can’t wait to try them when I head back to college this weekend. :)
It’s so strange to be in this phase of life. Although I’m supposed to already have my future career all figured out (according to supervisors and job recruiters), there are a lot of days when I wonder if I’m truly passionate about what I’m doing…and, to that effect, if I’m not passionate about this, then what else? Where does a hobby end and a job begin? haha
Let’s chalk that one up to living and learning I suppose.
Anyway, thanks again for the recipe! :)
I have a degree in Geology and I hate working outside. Brilliant, huh? And this is after I changed majors about 6 times. If only we could turn back time……….
By the way, I love the site. I am steadily reading through all your past posts. Very fun and informative.
I’ve been getting busier and busier lately and have actually found myself skipping breakfast in favor of more sleep. It’s terrible I know! Thanks so much for this idea though. It’s fantastic!