Cranberry Orange Slow Cooker Oatmeal

Hi friends!

This is how big of a dork I am. I cut the top of my foot in a freak shaving incident (i.e. shaving while running late in the morning). The shoes that I normally wear as house-shoes hurt when I tried to put them on. Of course I didn't want to have TWO cold feet, so here's my dorky solution.

Hey, whatever works, right? My morning improved when I smelled the delicious breakfast that was waiting for me! My favorite type of muffin or scone is cranberry-orange, and since I've been obsessed with anything oat related for breakfast lately I decided to combine the two.

Cranberry Orange Slow Cooker Oatmeal

Inspired by Healthy Slow Cooking

makes 2-3 servings

What you'll need:

1/2 cup steel-cut oats

2 cups milk (I used unsweetened almond milk)

1/3 cup craisins

1/2 tsp vanilla paste (or pure vanilla extract)

1/2 tsp pure almond extract

1/2 to 1 tsp orange zest

1/8 tsp cinnamon

sweetener to taste (I used agave)

Toppings: I used a little more almond milk, craisins, and pecans. This would be great with slivered almonds though.

Preparation:

Spray a small crockpot with some oil to help with clean-up later. Add in all ingredients except sweetener and cook overnight on low (7-10 hours). You will wake up to a house that smells amazing! Give the pot a stir, dish out, and add your toppings. I added the agave before tasting, so mine was a little on the sweet side. I didn't factor in the sweetness of the craisins and orange...oh well, it was still DELICIOUS!

Please excuse the iPhone 4 photos. The camera could not be located at such an early hour.

You must make this recipe! So easy & sooo good.

The ABCs of Me

I thought that a great way to start this new blog would be to answer the ABC's quiz that I've seen going around. Enjoy!

A - Age: 29

B - Bed size: King - it gets crowded with me, the hubs, & two dogs

C - Chore you hate: Cleaning the bathroom.

D - Dogs: My babies! Bella, a 5 year old Vizsla and Jasper, a 4 year old Weimaraner

E - Essential start to your day: A yummy breakfast.

F - Favorite color: Right now, purple.

G - Gold or silver: Mostly silver, but I've been loving gold accessories lately too.

H - Height: 5'6.5" -ish

I - Instruments you play: Over the years I took piano, flute, cello, violin, & voice lessons. With a mom that teaches people how to teach piano, you have to have a bit of a musical background :)

J - Job title: Senior Tax Accountant...so exciting.

K - Kids: None, but would like a couple in the future.

L - Live: Denver, CO (Love it!)

M - Mom's name: Sylvia, which is also my mother-in-law's name!

N - Nicknames: I don't really have any. Lame, I know.

O - Overnight hospital stays: I had pneumonia 3 times growing up. Two of those times I had to spend about a week in the hospital.

P - Pet peeve: When people sniff & snort all day instead of blowing their nose or taking some allergy/cold meds...I sit next to a guy at work that does this every.single.day. So gross.

Q - Quote from a movie: "They were cones!" (The Wedding Singer)

R - Righty or lefty: Righty.

S - Siblings: One younger brother.

T - Time you wake up: Around 5:30 on weekdays & around 8 or 9 on the weekends.

U - Underwear: Oh my, but we've just met ;)

V - Vegetables you dislike: Raw carrots, unless they have a lot of dip on them.

W - What makes you run late: Wardrobe choices & reading Facebook, Twitter, & blogs.

X - X-rays you've had: Teeth, chest, finger, foot.

Y - Yummy food you make: I've just started cooking, but I make some great oatmeal breakfast bakes.

Z - Zoo animal favorite: Penguins!