We are oatmeal LOVERS

Well, in this house, we LOVE oatmeal. I don't mean your instant oatmeal ... I mean your good ol' old fashioned, takes forever to cook, oatmeal!

Mornings aren't always a GREAT thing in this house, but they ARE getting better. A few reasons is I have things ready to go so when kids get up it is boom, boom, boom and then they are awake enough to have competent conversations with them (as in I don't go insane trying to communicate what I need done and they don't get mad cause mom is frustrated). The only downside to mornings is yummy breakfasts take FOREVER to get done. I am NOT a fan of this unless it is a Saturday morning when we have a lot of time. The kids eat their good breakfasts at school because I would rather know they are getting a healthy breakfast over a bowl of cereal because I don't have time to do eggs, pancakes and fruit. One of the kids favorite breakfasts is oatmeal. We do it a lot during the summer and breaks because they enjoy it so much. I have NO idea how I got so lucky to have kids that have no problems with oatmeal. Maybe it is because I don't do plain oatmeal, but I also keep it healthy. We experiment with different fruits and different recipes. I was shown a recipe a few days ago that I decided I would HAVE to try this morning since kids didn't have school. It was a HUGE hit so I am sharing it with you ... of course it has been edited the way *I* like! Also, after price shopping, I learned it is MUCH cheaper to buy oats in bulk so I will need to buy another container so I can buy a few pounds a week until my supply is up there. The best part of this meal is the fact it is made in a crock-pot so you can start it right before bed and it is waiting for you in the morning ... as long as you have a crock-pot that has a keep warm function. For our family, this works because I stay up until midnight and then the kids are up around 7am.

Crock-Pot Oatmeal
2 c milk
1 c water
1/4 c brown sugar
1 TBS butter, melted
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 c steel cut oats (if you use old fashioned, then eliminate the water)
1 c peeled & chopped apple
1/2 c chopped dried fruit (we used cherries this morning)

Spray the inside of the crock-pot with anti-stick spray. Mix all ingredients in the crock-pot. Set crock-pot on low and cook for 7-9 hours. *note, do NOT use any quality of oats less than old fashioned as you will end with soup - blech*