A Great Winter Breakfast

I'm happy to pass along this little gem for those of you who want a hot breakfast, but don't have the time in the morning to make one, especially in the winter. Try making steel-cut oatmeal in your crockpot overnight. Four parts water (can be part apple juice, part milk or soy milk) to one part steel-cut oats; cook on low for about 8 hours. If you add flavorings like salt, cinnamon, brown sugar and vanilla, it will smell divine in the morning--maybe enough to get you out of bed without the alarm.

You can even get creative and add chopped apples, dried berries or raisins to the night-time mixture. I like to top the oatmeal with fresh fruit (blueberries or bananas are great) and walnuts and just a bit of soy milk. So delicious! And chock-full of fiber and antioxidants, plus it'll stick to your ribs and keep you full of energy all morning. Small crockpots (1.5 quarts) work best, but large ones will do fine--be sure to spray the inside of the crock with nonstick cooking spray before adding the ingredients and cleanup will be a breeze.

Why steel-cut oats? They taste the way oatmeal should taste--so much better than the stuff in little packets. The problem with steel-cut oats is it can take close to 45 minutes to cook them properly. This way, they're ready when you are. That's my tip of the day!