Think you don’t have time for a nutritious breakfast on weekday mornings? Sure you do! You just need Pay Chen’s method for tasty and delicious no-cook oatmeal!

Here are a few of Pay’s favourite “food hacks” to make life easier and, we think, more delicious!

• No-cook oatmeal: Grab your oats and liquid (whether it be milk or whatever you prefer for your oatmeal) to put in a bowl, but remember the ratio is 1 to 1! Keeping it equal keeps  it balanced and then you can top it with whatever ingredients you like with your oatmeal and mix it all together. Put it in a jar and pop it in the fridge overnight to let the oatmeal soak in all the liquid. By the time you get to the fridge, it’ll be ready to eat! You can also heat it up for a few seconds.
• A cookie inside a cookie: You can try ready-made dough or make your own for this delicious treat. Take another favourite store-bought cookie like an Oreo, and sandwich it between two slices of cookie dough. Close up the seams and bake it in the oven according to the package directions.
• Hot pastries: Store-bought crescent rolls can help you make this sweet dessert. Create a pinwheel design with the dough (Pay shows how in the video clip below) and put a little cream cheese in the centre, then top it off with some jelly. Fold it inwards and bake according to the directions on the package.
• Create perfect cheese rounds with dental floss: Cheese can get a bit soft once it starts to get warm in the room. Instead of using a knife and fingers to slice, you can use your dental floss to hook under the round of cheese and wrap it around, pulling on both ends of the string to create a simple and clean cut.
• Pancake bears: Grab your pan with some oil on it and pour pancake batter into a squeeze bottle. Once it’s hot, create the outline of your bear face on the pan. Let it cook for a minute and then fill in the holes. Once you’ve flipped it over and cooked the other side, you have your pancake bear!
• Cheesy bread: It’s easy to dress up that bread for your meal, and it can also be a dish that allows your dinner party guests to participate in the making. Score your loaf of bread lengthwise and widthwise so that it resembles a checkerboard, and add ingredients such as shredded cheese, bacon, and green onions to the pockets you’ve created. Pop it in the oven at 300F long enough to let the cheese melt. Voila! Delish! See Pay make the cheesy bread here.

Courtesy Pay Chen 

www.paychen.com

@PayChen