So, it's getting chilly.
Well, just chillier than it has been.
One of my least favorite things to do is wake up and go downstairs and start the coffee and breakfast. It's cold, it's dark outside, and our breakfasts are really boring.
Don't get me wrong - I'd love to eat buttermilk blueberry pancakes and bacon everyday, but alas, we don't have the time, energy, money for all that.
So, we decided to get a little creative. T told me about something along the lines of an overnight oatmeal. I immediately started pinteresting to find out more.
Ok, so an overnight crock-pot oatmeal. It sounded perfect.
The first attempt wasn't great. Or even good. I mean, we ate it every day til it was gone, but it just didn't quite.... it just wasn't good. So, I fiddled with the recipe a bit. And we have a winner.
Overnight Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal - Crockpot
Ingredients:
3 apples - sliced and cut into small chunks
1.5 cups milk
1.5 cups water
1 cup of steel cut oats
2ish tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter
.5 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons ground flaxseed meal
salt
dash of nutmeg
Directions:
Chop up apples and put in large pyrex measuring dish/cup.
Add all the ingredients on top of apples. Stir well.
Place pyrex dish in crockpot. Fill crockpot with water to near brim.
This is one of the reasons I can totally get on board and cook this way forever - because the clean-up is so easy. I love my crockpot and use it at least once a week, but I loathe cleaning it. This is so much easier.
Cover with aluminium foil - my dish is too high to use my crockpot lid, but after I cover the pyrex with foil, I still set the lid on top.
Set your crockpot on low for about 8 hours.
Go to sleep.
Wake up and be grumpy about having the make the coffee in the cold and dark morning.
Then remember that breakfast is already cooked!
Rejoice!
Scoop into bowls and eat well.
I just cover the pyrex and stick in fridge and eat for a few days after warming in the microwave (it doesn't take long to eat it all at my house, with my hungry boys!)
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| Why yes, I will eat you this morning! |
You can top it with anything else yummy.
Milk, brown sugar, butter, dates, you name it.
Not sure how other fruits will fare, but I will tell you that my first attempt involved strawberries, but I think because they are 'mooshier' than apples, they broke down quite a bit in the crockpot.
I hope your mornings get better with this delicious oatmeal. :)
In Christ,
Julie
