Last night as I cleaned up the kitchen and thought of this morning's early breakfast for the family, I thought I'd try a crock pot oatmeal recipe. I found the only dried fruits we had (apricots and cranberries gone) were raisins and dates and some candied ginger, if that counts. So daughter and I conferred and came up with this:
CROCK POT BARLEY OATMEAL
1-1/2 cups steel-cut oats
1/2 cup pearled barley
5 or more cups water
1/2 cup raisins
1/3 cup snipped dates
2 slices candied ginger, snipped up
teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Combine all ingredients in crock pot and cook on low for eight hours.
Verdict: Good. The recipe is corrected for a better guess on the water, as my four-plus cups resulted in oatmeal too dry and stuck to the top edges, so this morning I added a cup or so of milk. It was still dense and sticky, but nicely chewy. The family added butter and sugar to theirs and I added some applesauce to mine.
For the future I think I'd enjoy adding some frozen fruit on top just before cranking it up, to slow the cooking a bit, and using "lighter" dried fruits like apricots or dried apples. I will definitely try this again, and I like being a bit adventurous with the barley!
What a fantastic idea! I love the idea of adding barley. Maybe some wheat berries would be good too, and very nutritious. This has me thinking of a few variations that I need to try. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteAlicia