Monday, March 4, 2013

Fruited Irish Oatmeal (Slow Cooker)

Last year, St. Patrick's Day was on a Saturday, which made for the perfect opportunity to make some Irish-inspired food (and some green milkshakes) for my family.  I came across this recipe using steel-cut oats in the slow cooker - it was perfect!  I hit up the bulk foods section at our local grocery store (huge cost savings, especially on the mango and syrup) and threw it together the night before.  We awoke to a wonderful, hot meal that the kids loved, and you can't go wrong with the health benefits of steel-cut oats, which are rich in B-vitamins, calcium, protein, and fiber.  Plus, we had plenty of leftovers to heat up for breakfast during the week!

INGREDIENTS:
  • 2 cups steel cut oats
  • 1/4 cup golden raisins
  • 1/4 cup dried mango 
  • 1/4 cup cranberries
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1 cup apple juice
  • 1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 5 cups water
Optional toppings:
  • milk
  • chopped nuts
  • maple syrup or brown sugar
DIRECTIONS:
  1. In a 3-1/2 or 4-quart slow cooker, combine oats, cranberries, raisins, apricots or mango, cinnamon, and salt.  Add maple syrup, water, and apple juice.
  2. Cover slow cooker and cook on low setting for 6 hours or on high for 3 hours.  (I have actually cooked for longer overnight and it was totally fine.)
  3. Serve oatmeal with brown sugar or maple syrup, chopped nuts, and milk, if desired. Serves 8-10.
Note: This oatmeal is great reheated or it can be frozen.  (It does make quite a bit.)


Difficulty: very easy
Time: 5 minutes prep, 6 hours in slow cooker
Source: www.betterrecipes.com

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