Oatmeal in the Crock Pot

November 2, 2010

As the seasons change and the weather gets colder, I have a growing desire to make warm, hearty foods for breakfast. To me, a hot bowl of oatmeal before heading off to school on a chilly morning gives kids a sense of comfort -- not mention enough energy to carry them through to lunch. Back when I first had Kenya, I discovered my crock pot, a wedding gift that had sat unopened in our closet through two moves. After years collecting dust, it quickly endeared itself to me and became my best friend in the kitchen. It’s so easy and efficient to use, I think I try to find a way to make everything in it. Oatmeal is one of the things I wanted to make in it for the longest time, but it wasn’t until last week when the weather finally got cooler here (and Kenya took to draping himself with a blanket at the kitchen table), that I felt truly motivated.
Plus, with my husband leaving for work everyday before 6am and the kids and I not eating our breakfast until around 7:30am, I loved the idea of preparing something the night before that, no matter what time each of us fed ourselves in the morning, would seem totally fresh and special. As hard as this all may sound, it was one of the easiest breakfasts I've ever made. All I did was toss steel cut oats and the other ingredients into the crock pot, stir it up and 8 hours later we were enjoying a perfect nutritious meal to start our day. The added benefit was that the kitchen smelled so amazing in the morning that even the kids stopped to remark, "what's for breakfast, Mom?"
I've now made this recipe five days in a row, so there must be something about it that everyone loves!

Oatmeal in the Crock Pot  (Serves 4-6)

• Total Time: 5 hours,

Ingredients

• 1 cup steel cut oats
• 2 cups water
• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preparation

1. 1. Place the first 4 ingredients in a crock pot and stir to combine.
2. 2. Cook the oatmeal on low heat for 5-9 hours (the amount of time can vary depending on your crock pot. Some crock pots that don’t have non stick surfaces can get hotter then others).
3. 3. Stir in desired accompaniments and serve.
4. * I like to let the kids squeeze in their own honey to get them involved and swirl in a bit of extra milk to cool it down for them.

Accompaniments: honey, maple syrup, walnuts and or raisins