Crockpot Apple Oatmeal

I made this recipe for breakfast, and it was a big hit in our house. Zachary, our one year old, was the biggest fan. The recipe came from the dietitian at the Newton HyVee last fall, and I didn't get around to trying it until this week.  With a three, two, and one year old to feed, cold cereal doesn't cut it, so we end up eating a lot of eggs.  It was wonderful to have something hot and ready when getting out of bed on a cold morning.

I did do a little research yesterday before throwing in the crock pot last night.  Recipes online for overnight oatmeal insisted that Steel Cut Oats be used.  Quick oats or Rolled oats would overcook an turn into porridge - looking mess.  So I bought Steel Cut Oats, opened them, and felt they looked like something you might feed your horse on a cold morning, and not your kids...

When I was little I would pick apart the head of oat plant in the field, unwrapping the grain from the dried leaf it was wrapped in, leaving what looked like a rolled up grain of rice.  These Steel Cut Oats looked just like that, but chopped once or twice.  I felt a little Laura Ingalls Wilder-ish using such an unprocessed looking grain.  But she wouldn't have had a crock pot, or non stick cooking spray. 

I have a few pictures of my younger brother Karl harvesting oats in 2006 I took when we were visiting Iowa from Grand Rapids the summer after Brian and I graduated from seminary.  Steel Cut Oats don't look much different than the ones in the back of his combine hopper.

This recipe is one we are going to be making a lot.  It will be fun to let the boys add raisins, sprinkles, or chocolate chips.

I also added water to the HyVee recipe, since I was using steel cut oats, and had an in inkling they would use more water than regular oats.  I'm glad I did.  The consistency was wonderfully creamy.  I was surprised that the oatmeal stayed creamy all morning.  Zach had seconds at ten in the morning before his nap, and they were still creamy.  Quick oats or instant oatmeal would be pasty, which is one problem I have with making instant oatmeal for my kids.  It has to be eaten in a certain time frame before it turns into pasty-crusty mess that no amount of maple syrup or milk can fix. 

This recipe had apples and pecans, which softened nicely so that the kids could eat.  I'm sure that you could make your own substitutes of different nuts or fruits.  In the picture, you can see I added some mixed fruits and nuts to mine.  I also added a little half n half while I was adding it to my coffee.

HyVee Crockpot Apple Oatmeal

3 C water
1/2 C brown sugar
1 T butter
1/4 t salt
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t vanilla
1 C Steel Cut Oats
1 C finely chopped apple
1/4 C chopped pecans

Spray inside of 3-4 quart slow cooker with non stick spray.  Combine all ingredients in slow cooker and mix well.  Cover and turn on low.  Cook over night or 8-9 hours.  Stir well before serving.