Slow Cooker Oatmeal

When I was young, I loved waking up to the smell of breakfast being made. There's nothing quite like getting out of bed and enjoying some warm, tasty, homemade breakfast. In steps adulthood to crush the dreams of ever waking up to a warm breakfast pretty much ever again. Or, at least until my son is old enough to bring me breakfast in bed. Isn't that why we have kids? Moving on...

So, when I saw this pin, I looked forward to trying it. Granted, it's oatmeal, so I didn't expect it to have much of a smell, but it's still waking up to a warm breakfast and I love the idea of not having to cook first thing when I wake up, but still have the luxury of a warm, freshly made breakfast.

The recipe doesn't actually go to a link, so I'll just write it out here:  "Throw 2 sliced apples, 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon in the bottom of the crock pot. Pour 2 cups of oatmeal and 4 cups of water on top. Do NOT stir. Cook overnight for 8-9 hours on low."

This was not stirred, but the water did move things around a bit when I put it in. I only used one apple as I have discovered I am not a fan of apples in my oatmeal, but I wanted to give this recipe the benefit of the doubt and tried it again. 

This morning when I woke up, my son and I made our way downstairs to eat some breakfast. (As I think I've stated before, my husband is not a fan of breakfast, so he opted to not eat any oatmeal and settled for a small yogurt instead.)

I added some milk to it and a little white sugar and took a bite. Then I offered a bite to my son. He immediately went over to his daddy for a bite of yogurt. Apparently, this dish did not satisfy his hunger. I can't say that I blame him; it did not satisfy mine either. The brown sugar and cinnamon were still on the bottom of the crockpot (except for the little bit that I scraped and put in my bowl) and the dish was very bland. Granted, oatmeal generally is bland; however, this tasted  as though it did not have any flavor to it at all. The apples were very tender like applesauce, which I would assume is very good if I liked apples in my oatmeal. Turns out, even when they are cooked this way, I'm still not crazy about them in my oatmeal. Huh. 

My quandary now is - if I had stirred the ingredients (as the directions said not to), would the brown sugar have been more taste-able? I'm not sure of the answer. And, honestly, I don't intend to find out. Oatmeal takes practically no time to make in the morning and this just dirtied up a bigger pot than necessary. So, I'm thinking I won't make this one again. Maybe with other ingredients it might be better, but as it is - I'd say this one was a thumbs down and I will go back to making my oatmeal in the morning where the flavor has not been totally cooked out. 

Good thing I still had Loaded Breakfast Biscuits in the freezer to tide me over until lunch! In conclusion: say no to slow cooker oatmeal (at least this recipe) and say yes to...yogurt? Or Loaded Breakfast Biscuits. Or Cold Pizza. Or, whatever your fancy may be.