Cooking Show: Oatmeal is NOT Boring!!

We recently filmed a cooking show with an oatmeal theme.  Good old-fashioned oats!

It seems like refrigerated oats have been an overnight sensation (see what I did there? tee-hee) for the past few years.

I simply can not reconcile cold, chalky refrigerated oats with the warm, creamy oats that I love. Don't even try to convert me. You may have managed to convince yourself that your overnight refrigerated oats are creamy, but if I truly want something cold and creamy I will reach for yogurt, thank you very much.

I've tried to embrace overnight refrigerated oats but I had to finally jump off of that bandwagon because one person's creamy is another person's chalky (hint: that other person is ME).  

Overnight oats in a slow-cooker, however?  Yes, please!!

Slow Cooker Apple/Cinnamon Steel-Cut Oats

Chop a couple of apples (no peeling necessary!), toss them into your slow cooker, measure in the remaining ingredients (no further prep work required) and stir.  Set your slow cooker to LOW and when you wake up your breakfast will be warm and waiting for you!  Give it another quick stir then add some nuts, raisins and a swirl of maple syrup.

Slow Cooker Pumpkin Spice Steel-Cut Oatmeal

Same minimal prep as the Apple/Cinnamon oats, but rather than chopping apples you need the special skill of opening up a can of pumpkin puree. Measure all of the ingredients into the slow cooker, stir, and let it cook while you sleep.

All that is required of you when you wake up is to stir it again...

...and add a few toppings.  Chopped nuts and raisins add nice texture!  Stir in a bit of brown sugar for sweetness, or add a swirl of maple syrup.

If you prefer your oats in the form of a muffin instead, we've got you covered!

If you're like me, you probably don't have time in the morning to bake a batch of muffins for breakfast.  I bake these muffins whenever my schedule allows and freeze them!  Pull them out of your freezer as needed, defrost them in your microwave (it only takes less than a minute), and now you have another quick (and warm!) breakfast item to add to your repertoire.

Chocolate-Banana Oatmeal Muffins

Packed with protein (thanks to peanut butter), these muffins get their sweetness from bananas and honey and are free of processed sugars. They can be gluten-free as well if you use gluten-free oats!

Applesauce Oatmeal Muffins

These are my favorite muffins!  Oats, applesauce, raisins...so much yumminess in one muffin.  Click here for the printable recipe.