Good Morning Everyone! It’s 6 am and I am awake. There is a simple explanation for that, considering that I am the hardest person to wake before 8 am usually. I’m awake because I needed to check on my Overnight Oatmeal.
SO my kids will eat two things in the morning that are healthy, eggs (any way I can make them) or Oatmeal. And I hate that if I leave the oatmeal to my husband to make they end up a bit blocked by the end of two meals. He has a tendency to make it dry and fast, I however like to take my time and make it smooth and creamy like my mom made it when I was a kid. Sometimes we would eat oatmeal every morning. And it got me thinking; can I make it that creamy in the early AM just to be sure it was ready for everyone, including the Hubbs? And can I make it any other way so I don’t have to stand over a pot to make sure it doesn’t burn or boil over and make a mess, when I haven’t even had my morning coffee.
Enter Pinterest! I looked online for a recipe and thats when I learned about a marvelous thing called Overnight Oatmeal. The thing is, most of the recipes called for steel cut oats, or just letting oats and milk sit in a jar overnight in the fridge for the cold effect. But I was trying to find something I could do in the crock pot that would be creamy and warm and just a tad sweet for my seven year old and two year old. SO I combine a few ingredients and tested out a few times, my family didn’t mind being test subjects for a week … I came up with a pretty simple and easy plan of attack.
I make about two cups of oats (rolled are fine, just not instant) I used two cups of milk and two cups of water, possibly more if I want it super creamy, (I do - Hubbs doesn’t) I add things like brown sugar (not a ton) cinnamon, a dash of vanilla, sometimes maple syrup if I don’t want brown sugar. I add Craisins, or dried fruit, I can also add fresh fruit but I would wait till the morning for that so it’s not all mushy. Any seeds or nuts are fine too. I combine all the ingredients into the Crock Pot a night just before I go to bed (I go to bed super late, after everyone else) about midnight. I put the Crock Pot on the KEEP WARM setting (not low or high - tried both and just cooked too fast, I had a few Pinterest Fails) By the time my husband wakes up to start his morning routine, at about 5, he just turns it off and removes the insertable pot and places it on the heat proof surface to stop the cooking process. Then we all have warm DELISH creamy oatmeal.
I hope this helps you on those crazy sleepy mornings as much as it helped me :)