Building Beautiful

Pear and Almond Steel-Cut Oats in a Slow-Cooker - Wake up to a Warm, Perfectly- Cooked, Healthy Breakfast!

I don't know about you, but I often find it difficult to eat a healthy breakfast. I usually only leave myself enough time to toast a piece of bread and make an instant coffee...not exactly the best (or most exciting) start to the day. I started to think about ways I could eat a healthier breakfast without having to sacrifice those precious moments in bed when you are still sleepy but awake enough to feel the bamboo sheets on your skin (because I know myself and I know that if a healthy breakfast means no bamboo sheet time, then I will likely be eating dry toast forever). During my search for a better way, I came across some recipes for steel-cut oats cooked in a slow-cooker overnight and I thought I would try it out because, well, it's kind of a brilliant idea! Over the past week, I have made Apple Pie Oatmeal, Mixed Berry Oatmeal, Pear and Almond Oatmeal, Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal, and Banana Bread Oatmeal. Below, I have documented the Pear and Almond Oatmeal...it literally takes less than 5 minutes to prepare.

Pear and Almond Steel-Cut Oats in a Slow-Cooker

Serves 2

1/2 cup steel-cut oats
1 cup milk
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 pears cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1/4 cup dried cranberries
large pinch of cinnamon (optional)
1/4 cup brown sugar or maple syrup (you can use less or none at all if you prefer)
Milk for serving if you like

Grease the slow-cooker (make sure you do this). Put ingredients in a slow-cooker. Set it to cook for six hours on low. Most slow-cookers will automatically shift to a Keep Warm setting so you will have warm oatmeal when you wake up!

(Every slow-cooker is different...if you find that the oatmeal is too runny for your liking...cook it for 6.5 hours next time...if it's too dry, cook it for less time.)