Overnight Oats

I got the idea of Overnight Oatmeal from Vegan MOFO - Vegan Month of Food. All across the blogosphere, vegans are joining together throughout the month of October to share lots of great vegan foods and recipes. Check out www.veganmofo.com for info, as well as a daily summary of some of the best foods and fun being shared! I'm trying to post five times per week during this month. So we'll see how it goes!
Overnight Oats are eaten cold, in the morning, after being prepared the night before and stewing all night long in the fridge. Here are the ingredients I used for my first bowl:


1/2 c rolled oats
2/3 c soy milk
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp ground flax seed
1 small banana, mashed up

I just combined all those ingredients in a bowl, stirred it up, and popped it in the fridge, uncovered.
In the morning, I mixed it up again and took a bite.

MMMmmm! The banana flavor really sets into the oats. It's not like my hot morning oats, where some bites have banana in them and some don't. And it's nice and sweet and creamy, as well as nutty from the flax seed, and just a little bit crunchy. No cooking required! Actually, I think the idea is that it resembles oatmeal mixed with cold yogurt and fruit. The flax seeds create a gooey-binding texture with the soy milk, like yogurt.
I had planned to put maple syrup on in the morning, but the sweetness was so perfect that I didn't want to touch it. I added just a small spoonful of peanut butter, but that's it.
I've got lots of ideas for variations, which could be added at night or in the morning I suppose: various kinds of nuts (walnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds), chia seeds (which work like flax seeds to make that yogurty texture), pumpkin puree, molasses, maple syrup, agave, other fruits....

Sometime I've also gotta try Baked Oatmeal, which my sister Bethany has gotten me excited about. Now that the weather is getting colder, hot oats in the morning is sounding very enticing!