This will be one of the worst photographed posts I ever put up, and for that I apologize, but…it’s really hard to hold a loaded crockpot in the middle of the kitchen where there’s light and still have a hand left for the camera. Also, oatmeal’s pretty unphotogenic.

This basic recipe is super flexible, and allows for a whole lot of warm, comforting, tasty breakfasts that come together fast.

Ingredients:

Grease the inside of Crockpot. Throw all ingredients inside Crockpot and mix well.

Cover, and cook on low overnight, 8-9 hours. If you have a new (last few years) crockpot, then just putting it on ‘warm’ should be enough – new crockpots are apparently much hotter than old ones. Stir before serving.

You can change this pretty much any way you want. I did one with 1/4 cup peanut butter, 1/4 chocolate chips, and banana instead of apple. The texture of the banana was slightly weird after cooking overnight, but the flavor was really good.

I normally don’t eat oatmeal that didn’t come heavily pre-flavored, as I find it tremendously boring, even with sugar, but with this method there are plenty of flavors, and they really get into the oats so it’s not boring at all. This makes enough breakfast for 3 or 4 people or mornings.

Crockpot Oatmeal

From Mr. Breakfast.

• 1 cup quick cooking oats
• 2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter – melted
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup finely chopped apple
• 1/2 cup raisins and/or dates
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or almonds

Grease the inside of Crockpot. Throw all ingredients inside Crockpot and mix well. Cover, and cook on low (or ‘warm’) overnight, 8-9 hours. Stir before serving.

Improvise improvise improvise!