I hate starting the day racing around. Mornings set the tone for the whole day and when they start off hectic, that feeling never seems to go away. But getting two small kids up and ready for school in time to leave the house by 6:30am means that most mornings chaos is unavoidable. One way that we cut down on the frenzy and make sure our kids start the day off with a healthy breakfast is Overnight Oatmeal.
I use a two quart crock pot for this dish. Right before we go to bed, we add a cup of slow-cook, steel cut oatmeal with 4 cups of water. When morning rolls around, the oatmeal is hot and ready. My 6 year old likes her oatmeal with a sprinkle of brown sugar and a splash of milk and my 5 year old prefers a scoop of apple jelly on his; either way they start their day with a belly full of warm food and we didn’t have to scramble to make it happen.
February 18th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Jenna don’t forget that you lose many of the benifits of oatmeal by using instant. This trick gives all the benifits of steel cut oats with the same convenience of instant. ChefBud
February 18th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
that is awesome. yet another reason to go find my crock pot!!!
February 20th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
This an excellent idea!
I heard about the process somewhere but i never attempted it, since i was afraid it would come out to mush and watered oatmeal.
What about using steel cut oatmeal?
Would I have to add more water since the oatmeal is more dense that the regular Quaker Oats?
February 20th, 2009 at 6:18 pm
Steel cut oatmeal is what i recommend for this dish. Follow the standard package directions even though you are cooking it in the crock pot. The usual ratio is four cups of water to one cup of oats.