Overnight Oatmeal

This is really good oatmeal. You put it in the crockpot when you go to bed and when you wake up it is ready. We did it everyday while on vacation. The only down side is we couldn't figure out how to not make it stick to the side of the crockpot. We also used dried apples instead of dried apricots and made a half portion.

Servings: 8 servings, 1 cup each
Prep: 5 mins
Total: 8 hrs

Ingredients
8 cups water
2 cups steel-cut oats, (see Ingredient note)
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup dried apricots, chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste


Directions
1. Combine water, oats, dried cranberries, dried apricots and salt in a 5- or 6-quart slow cooker. Turn heat to low. Put the lid on and cook until the oats are tender and the porridge is creamy, 7 to 8 hours. Stovetop Variation Halve the above recipe to accommodate the size of most double boilers: Combine 4 cups water, 1 cup steel-cut oats, 3 tablespoons dried cranberries, 3 tablespoons dried apricots and 1/8 teaspoon salt in the top of a double boiler. Cover and cook over boiling water for about 1 1/2 hours, checking the water level in the bottom of the double boiler from time to time.

Tip:
Ingredient Note: Steel-cut oats, sometimes labeled "Irish oatmeal," look like small pebbles. They are toasted oat groats - the oat kernel that has been removed from the husk that have been cut in 2 or 3 pieces. Do not substitute regular rolled oats, which have a shorter cooking time, in the slow-cooker oatmeal recipe.

Nutrition Facts
Calories 193, Total Fat 3 g, Monounsaturated Fat 1 g, Sodium 77 mg, Carbohydrate 34 g, Fiber 9 g, Protein 6 g, Potassium 195 mg. Exchanges: Starch 2,Fruit 0.5.
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet