Slow Cooker Spiced Oatmeal: Ease The Transition Back to School

It’s Wednesday morning and we’re into the second week of back to school. I’m navigating the usual first-term conundrums and schedules, and like many of you my slow cooker has found it’s place on my counter-top for the season. I came out of the gate strong last week, but already I can feel my enthusiasm waning.

During September we will share our old favorites and new additions to add to your shopping list and remember that your slow cooker can be used for wholesome breakfast dishes too like this Spiced Overnight Oatmeal recipe.

+ Don’t forget to stock up this week on our Sampler Pack to help get started, with $10 OFF! SEE POST FOR DETAILS.

My kitchen wingman, Graham, has returned to the office 5 days a week and most weeknight dinner admin falls on me. We have time on the weekends to plan, and with two perfectly capable kids in the house our approach includes the following:

• Endeavor to plan together on the weekend for a regular food delivery late Monday afternoon. If this lasts it makes work night supper easier and gives us flexibility to be ad-hoc on the weekends and visit the markets. Online ordering apps are so easy to use now and have only got better during the pandemic. Features such as one-click to add and remove items to an existing order are a life saver.
• Maintain what feels like the relentless tasks of having the girls (1) – unpack the dishwasher each morning before school (2) take care of the ancillary tasks around dinner in the evening and (3) pack their own lunches. It is helping to strengthen their independence and is finally starting to stick after years of perseverance! It is a painful journey, but absolutely worth it.

This week I’m taking us back in time to a post we wrote in 2016 all about our Oatmeal Breakfast Bar, and nurturing family connections over the breakfast table. Some of our families don’t meet over dinner, working shifts or irregular schedules can make it tough. The post includes mention of our friend Katie Morford’s second of three cookbooks, Rise & Shine, which had just been published. 5 years on and it’s still within arms reach of my kitchen!

Slow Cooker Oatmeal Breakfast Bar

“Rise & Shine, the recently published and perfectly formed breakfast book written by our friend Katie Sullivan Morford of Mom’s Kitchen Handbook, brings a whole new world of do-able breakfast recipes to life. Katie delivers her culinary vision of “better breakfasts for busy mornings” into our kitchens. 

Her chapter on Granola, Oats and Breakfast Grains introduces some serious flavor packed combinations such as apricot and ginger (I used ginger marmalade,) dark chocolate chips and raspberry, all designed to send you off to work, school or play with a bounce in your step. These are all delivered with “carbohydrates that count” such as whole oats and ancient grains. 

This book has got me out of an oatmeal rut. I dived right in and made savory overnight oats, topped with quick microwave wilted spinach and mushrooms. From Congee in China to Scottish style salted oatmeal, savory grain breakfast dishes pop up across the globe.

I would make these recipes as wrote, on the stovetop. However this year our school mornings just got earlier and I need breakfast on the table by 6.15am. This 8 hour overnight oatmeal adaptation frees me up to sit at the breakfast table with my girls. We put our slow cooker twist on Katie’s suggestions and built our own breakfast oatmeal topping bar in the kitchen, putting a little fun back into breakfast as well as maintaining the integrity of the oatmeal. 

I set up the toppings, the night before, next to the slow cooker and the girls enjoy building their own bowls.

Rise & Shine is not only packed with delicious recipes such as spinach and feta frittatas and breakfast sandwiches to make your mouth water, but on p156 we get a mention with Katie’s adaptation of our slow cooker cinnamon French toast! “

Print Recipe

Basic Overnight Oatmeal

Ingredients

Basic Recipe Ingredients

• 1 cup steel cut oats
• 4 cups water
• 1/2 cup half-and-half

Sweet & Spicy Oatmeal - use basic recipe above plus

• 2 tsp cinnamon or mixed spice

Katie's Savory Oatmeal

• 1 cup steel cut oats
• 3 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 2 cups kale or spinach torn up
• 4 chestnut mushrooms sliced
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt
• ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp butter

Instructions

Basic Recipe Instructions

• mix the oats, water, half and half
• cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours/overnight

Sweet & Spicy Directions

• mix the spices into the oats, add the water, half and half
• stir, cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours/overnight

Katie's Savory Directions

• mix the oats, water, milk & salt
• cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours/overnight
• mix the kale and mushrooms in a small bowl with a tsp water, cover & heat on HIGH in a microwave for 30 seconds
• top the savory oatmeal with the kale, mushrooms, butter and season with pepper and sea salt
• toppings
• brown sugar, maple syrup or ginger marmalade
• mix chopped apricots and toasted almonds
• freeze-dried raspberries and dark chocolate pieces
• chia, flax and hemp seeds

Code is valid until September 30th. Supplies are limited.

Zen Moment