Clearly I’m on an oat kick. From the bars I’ve been making to this tasty breakfast, I can’t seem to get enough of oats. I suppose that’s good, since they are considerably healthier than any number of other cravings I’ve catered to over the years.
So my latest oat fix came from this recipe, which is more of a true breakfast item than a potential snack. While I found the original recipe here, naturally I couldn’t leave well enough alone. I also think there’s plenty of room for variation, and its tasty enough I’ll want to do just that. I also wanted to lighten it up but with more of a natural ingredients approach. I’m not a big fan of artificial anything in the food I cook.
Do you have one of those smaller slow cookers, the kind really intended to either keep dip warm for a small party, or to cook exactly enough cocktail sausages for the same small gathering of friends? Mine is a 1 1/2 quart cheap one I bought after the first one I had met an early demise involving a screwdriver, too much curiosity, and way too much free time. Anyway, this is a real recipe that will make ideal use of that slow cooker! And here you thought it just worked for dip and cocktail sausages. Nope, this time you can cook something gasp healthy in it!
So dust off that smaller cooker, or if you’re single or a small family like us, go get one. It’s the perfect excuse and they’re cheap. Like $14 on Amazon kind of cheap. Just a suggestion for other recipes you may try in this cooker – it will overcook or burn foods faster than a regular slow cooker. At least that’s been my experience with the two I’ve had.
This recipe is also an excellent opportunity for those who don’t do a lot of cooking to impress overnight guests with their culinary skills, or at least they’ll think you can whip up a good breakfast!
On to the recipe…
Fruity Oatmeal
Ingredients:
2 cups milk (skim, 1%, or 2%, I used organic skim and it works well)
1 cup rolled oats (not instant or quick-cook)
1 cup sliced peaches, canned is ok but avoid anything that says “in syrup” on the label
2 tbsp light brown sugar
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp honey – use the good tasting stuff here, try to get locally sourced if you can
1/4 cup chopped nuts – walnuts or pecans are good
1/2 tsp cinnamon (sweet kind, see my previous No-Bake Bars recipe for a few details about Cinnamon)
Heavy pinch of kosher salt
Directions:
Mix everything in a bowl. Pour into the slow cooker. Cook on low for four hours. Dish up and eat!
Seriously, it’s that simple. If food tends to stick to the sides of your cooker, spray it with a little cooking spray before pouring in the ingredients. I didn’t need to in mine. According to the original recipe this can be cooked for 8 hours on low as well, but I’d use oats with a bit more chew for that, such as steel cut oats.
This will make enough for four generous servings, or about 5 to 6 smaller portions. So technically this is more than just two of us will eat in one sitting, but we can eat it in two or three days, and it reheats exceptionally well.
If you’ve got a busy week ahead, make this on a Sunday afternoon and you’re good for a few days of quick, healthy breakfast, or if you must share with someone, maybe just a couple of days. If that’s the case, make some No-Bake bars while this is cooking in the slow cooker!
Sorry I don’t have pics for this one. My brain is not alert enough yet at breakfast to think “Oh yeah, I need a picture of this for my blog.” Besides, oatmeal isn’t exactly photogenic.
Half the recipe 