Reason #18,458 why I love my slow cooker: Better than yo’ momma’s slow cooked banana oats

When I was a kid, my mom used to make the most amazing oatmeal. No one liked eating it but me. I remember all the kids whining .. “Oatmeal? NOOOO!!” But not me.

I’ve made countless bowls of oatmeal but never as good as hers, so today, I asked her how she made them. She said all she did was follow the recipe on the oatmeal box…but I knew there had to be more, so I had to bombard her with questions.

Me: “Mom, there’s no way you just followed the recipe. Did you use milk?”
Mom: “Oh yes I used milk. The recipe called for water so sometimes I used both water and milk, but mostly I used (whole) milk.”
Me: “Ok so what else did you do?”
Mom: “Well, I boiled my milk, and then I would put a cinnamon stick in there for flavor, and then I’d add some salt…and then when everything boiled, I slowly added the oats and stirred everything together…you know, there is a recipe on the box.”
Me: “Yes mom I know there’s a recipe on the box. I know how to make oatmeal. I wanted to know how you made YOUR oatmeal.”
Mom: “OH Oh, ok. So yeah, I’d add the cinnamon stick and the salt, and I’d boil the milk and add in the oats…”
Silence
Me: “ANNNNDDDD??”
Mom: “I’d let them cook on low for a while. Oh, and then I’d add some butter in at the very end for some extra flavor.”

Light bulb! Then I thought about it…

Me: “But we put butter on top of the oats after you served them to us too.”
Mom: “Mmm Hmmmm.”

I don’t know if it was the butter or what, but like I said, her oats were GOOD. I don’t have the patience to wait all day for my oats to cook. She would cook them for an hour or so. Wanna know how I make my oats 99% of the time? I put a half cup of oats in a microwave safe bowl and bring it to work. Once at work, I take about a cup of water and cut up a banana, and throw the whole hot mess in the microwave for 3 minutes. Stir in PB. Eat.

Until last night.

I thought, maybe – JUST maybe – I can get thick, creamy oats by using my slow cooker!

Better than yo momma’s slow cooked banana oats

• 1/2 cup Steel cut oats (2 servings)
• 2.5 cups water
• Cinnamon sprinkles (about 1 tbsp)
• 1 banana, mashed
• Dash of sea salt

Throw in your slow cooker and cook on low overnight. Wake up to a banana cinnamony bliss.

Now I know you’ve made oatmeal before, so you’re probably wondering what the big deal is. It’s just a nice way to spin my childhood memory of my mom’s oatmeal into my crazy hectic and pathetic morning routine. Scoop and go? Yeah, I’ll take that.

Put your oats in a slow cooker and do it up. I promise you won’t regret it!