Wednesday, 3 September 2014

Back to School, and Overnight Crock Pot Oatmeal


Yesterday was the first day school.  So far so good.  For two days in a row I've been unusually well organised, in part thanks to breakfast that cooked itself overnight in the Crock Pot.  


And because I'm still mourning the end of summer, I have more summer photos to share.












Wiarton.  Home of Wiarton Willy, the groundhog that declared six more weeks of winter after we'd already endured the longest winter ever.








We had a hockey practice last night, and I picked up my first spiced pumpkin latte of the season to sip at the rink.  Truth be told, I didn't really enjoy it.  The kids might be back to school, and the nights might be getting cooler, but I'm not ready to embrace all things pumpkin yet.

These three headed back to class yesterday.  


College classes started today.  University next week.  So cliche, but they really do grow up way too fast.


Overnight Carrot Coconut Crock Pot Oatmeal

2 cups rolled oats (NOT quick cooking oats)
1 cup shredded carrots
1 tbsp butter*
1 tbsp coconut oil*
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup shredded coconut
4 cups water
2 cups milk
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt

Combine all the ingredients in a crock pot.  Set on 'warm' and cook for 8 hours.  Stir before serving.  Top with milk, brown sugar, coconut and/or chopped nuts.

* I've discovered that sauteeing the shredded carrots in butter and oil (or ghee if you have it) brings out the natural sweetness of the carrots and minimizes the 'raw' carrot taste.  I saute them until they become pale in colour, but not long enough for them to brown.  You'll notice they no longer smell raw, at this point they're ready to add to the crock pot with the rest of the ingredients.  This step is optional, so only use the butter/oil/ghee if you choose to saute the carrots first.  The oatmeal tastes great whether you choose to add the carrots raw or sauteed to your crock pot.  

Need another overnight breakfast recipe?  Try Overnight Oven Baked French Toast.





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72 comments:

  1. I hope you gave that groundhog a kick as you went by. Not that I'm advocating cruelty to animals, but he deserved it.

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    Replies
    1. Didn't get a chance to deliver a well deserved kick...but I did give him my very best stink eye ;)

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  2. Great summer photos. Very cool.

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  3. Yum! I love the idea of using my crock pot to wake up to an already made breakfast! Pinned and tweeted. :)

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  4. Yes! Saving this. I made some pumpkin crock pot oats a couple years ago and have been meaning to look up another crock pot oatmeal recipe again. And now I have one ;)

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    1. Pumpkin crock pot oats... that would be good! Thanks for visiting Megan!

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  5. Ugh! I am not ready for Summer to end either. My husband and I are total opposites when it comes to our seasons. I love Summer. He loves the cooler weather and is rejoicing that he gets to wear hoodies and beanies again. Poop! Thanks for sharing these shots with us. I am totally going to look at doing breakfast in the crockpot now. :D

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    1. I'm not ready to trade in flip-flops for hoodies quite yet! Thanks for visiting!

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  6. Loved looking at all of your photos, Jenn! I don't want summer to end, either! And the oatmeal sounds amazing! What a great idea to cook in the crockpot overnight! Pinning this!

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  7. I'm not ready for pumpkin either. My mom got me a pumpkin spice latte over the weekend and it sat in the fridge for three days. Usually it wouldn't last three hours. I guess it's not time.
    The crockpot overnight oatmeal looks DIVINE. I love the coconut and carrots.

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    1. I tried it again this weekend. I figured being at the rink would help, but I still wasn't feeling the pumpkin spice. It doesn't help that it's been hotter this past week than it's been for most of the summer.

      I'll try it again when I have to stop wearing sandals :)

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  8. MMM that recipe looks so good! I love the down to earth hometown feel I am getting from your photos!

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    1. Thanks Natasha! Most of the kids liked it...but you know that you can't always please everyone, and some of them opted for cheerios instead :)

      It was an interesting trip, very rustic, and I loved the whole back to nature small town setting!

      So glad you stopped by!

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  9. I haven't tried crock pot oatmeal, but I really should. It would make our mornings so much easier.

    Visiting from the Come Bloom link party. If you're looking for new parties to link up to, there's one live at Gingerly Made. I'd love to have you over!

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    1. It really is soooo easy....thanks for visiting!

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  10. Love your summer photos! The ones of the lake remind me of the lake my parents live on in MI. The oatmeal recipe sounds really good. I am thinking I will have to half it though as I am the only one that will probably eat it out of the 5 of us. My kids don't care to try oatmeal. I got into making the overnight ones in the crock pot last year and love them. Thanks for the recipe.

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    1. Thanks Kimberlee! I think up-state Michigan and northern Ontario are very similar.... must be all those trees and lakes!

      Some of my kids like oatmeal, some don't....I ended up eating a fair bit of it myself :)

      Thanks for stopping by!

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  11. Oh how lovely your summer was. stopping from Foodie Fridays (A cuppa for my thoughts)

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  12. This is super duper clever, looks yummy! So easy too!

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  13. Yum! this looks really great

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  14. I pinned this! I need to try it!

    Thanks for joining the Link Up this week! Don't forget to enter to win a $25 Starbucks giftcard! :)

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  15. I love your summer photos! I'm still in a bit of denial here. And thank you for the crockpot recipe. I could use some help in the mornings! Thanks for sharing it with us at Foodie Fridays!

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    1. Thanks Michelle! I'm thinking this denial phase may last a few more weeks :)

      So glad you stopped by!

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  16. Jenn, your post and photographs brought back such lovely memories of summers in Canada when I was growing up! I remember Wiarton Willy too! Your Overnight Crockpot Oatmeal sounds like the perfect breakfast for this time of year. Thank you so much for sharing with us at the Hearth and Soul Hop!

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  17. OH yum!! That looks so yummy.

    I love Wiarton Willy!

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    1. Thanks Alexis!

      I love Wiarton Willy...sometimes...but I sure didn't love him much this year!

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  18. Delicious breakfast and I love the photos, it looks so peaceful

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  19. It is always so hard to leave our summer place, your photo's are great! I love waking up to a great overnight Crock Pot. Hope you are having a great day and thanks so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.
    Come Back Soon!
    Miz Helen

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    1. Thank you! You are so right Miz Helen...it is very hard to leave our summer place.

      I'm glad you stopped by :)

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  20. It's so sad the summer has ended, I hope this winter isn't as bad as the last. Thanks for linking up at the Bloggers Brags Pinterest Party.

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    1. Oh Monique, I don't think I could bear another winter like the last one we had.

      Thanks for stopping by!

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  21. I love anything with golden raisins, I don't know why but golden raisins are so much better than regular raisins... headed to your overnight french toast now! Pumped to be your newest follower!

    tattered to taylored

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    1. Agreed Taylor, golden raisins rule!

      Thanks for visiting...and following!

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  22. Replies
    1. Oh Melissa, so do I!

      Thanks for visiting :)

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  23. Love your recipe. I would be honored if you would come by and share at Foodie Fridays party this week starting Thursday 9pm EST. Hope to see you there!
    Blessings,
    Shari
    http://puregracefarms.com/

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  24. Handsome boys! Love how you added carrots! Thanks for linking up with Real Food Recipes!

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  25. Jenn, I'm pretty excited to try this recipe.
    I love putting carrots in everything: in stir fry, raw, cooked and pureed into yeast bread, cooked into smoothies, shredded into Carrot Cake Pancakes, into soups that didn't call for carrot.
    Thanks for sharing another way to eat my favorite veggie! It looks wonderful.

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    1. Julie, this is perfect for a carrot lover like you! I was trying to go for a carrot cake kind of vibe :)

      Thanks for visiting, I hope you love it!

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  26. Jenn, beautiful pictures and handsome boys, I love this overnight crock pot oat meal love it. thanks for sharing with Hearth and Soul blog hop. Pinning.

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    1. Thank you Swathi....and thanks for pinning :)

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  27. Sounds tasty and so healthy. I love all your pictures - thanks for sharing them. Thanks for sharing on Real Food Fridays.

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  28. love those carvings! totally awesome! beautiful photos, I am ready for cooler weather but sure will miss summer too :) Thanks for the overnight carrot and coconut oatmeal! sounds like a great assortment of flavors and plan to make this. Well, sorta, I am out of coconut and I want to make it tonight for tomorrow. But otherwise, going to try this recipe! Thanks for sharing with us at snickerdoodle sunday!!

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    1. Thank you!! It was amazing to see what she could do with a piece of wood and a chainsaw!

      So glad you stopped by :)

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  29. Happy school year to all children of the world and goodbye summer! Beautiful photos! Thanks for coming and linking up at The Weekend Social. All posts get pinned in our pinterest board! Please be sure to come back next week starting Thursdays at 9PM EST on culinaryflavors.gr ! I hope to see you there!

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  30. Thanks Michelle, so glad you stopped by!

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  31. Your oatmeal looks incredible! I can't wait to try it. Thanks for linking up with "Try a New Recipe Tuesday." Hope you can join us again this week. http://our4kiddos.blogspot.com/2014/09/try-new-recipe-tuesday-september-16.html

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  32. I love all your summer photos!! I need to start using my crockpot more for breakfast!

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  33. Love your pictures. Thanks for sharing with Adorned From Above's Link Party. Have a great week.
    Debi @ Adorned From Above

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  34. Love your pictures! Thank you for sharing the crockpot oatmeal recipe. Can't wait to try it for my family!

    Amy @ http://www.livinglifetruth.com/

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  35. This oatmeal sounds yummy and I love that it's prepared ahead of time. Thanks for sharing with Creative Spark Link Party.
    Glenna @ My Paper Craze

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  36. I'm usually not one that likes oatmeal, but this looks delicious. It may just change my mind about the stuff! Thank you for sharing at the Merry Monday Link Party!

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  37. I've never tried overnight oats...may need to check this out. I love coconut! And your summer pictures are so pretty :)

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  38. It's still Summer until Sept 22... so don't mourn it yet. Great pics. Love the carrots in our recipe. Pinned. Thanks for coming to Weekend Bites ( formally Foodie Friday.)

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  39. We are just heading into our summer, so it's nice to see some pictures of warmth coming though to remind me what's to come!!

    This crockpot sounds like a delicious recipe to wake up to in the morning.

    Thanks for linking up to Marvelous Monday on Smart Party Planning.

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  40. Yum! I like the added carrots to this overnight oats. It sounds like it would make a great fall breakfast. Thanks for sharing on Merry Monday. Pinned.

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  41. I've always wanted to try overnight oatmeal. When we get some cooler temps, I'm on it! It's the carrot component that grabbed me.
    Thank you for linking up!

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  42. This looks so good! And adding veggies to breakfast is something I've been trying to do more of lately. I will definitely be trying this soon! Thank you so much for linking up to Creative K Kids Tasty Tuesdays. I will be pinning this to my own personal breakfast board as well as the Tasty Tuesdays board. Hope you have a great week!

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  43. What a great idea. This is a wonderful breakfast. That water is so pretty. You have great photos. Thanks so sharing this over at The Southern Special...Yeah, they do grow up too fast.

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  44. Hi

    We have a travel trailer and would love to visit the outpost in the pics. (Thanks for sharing) Is there a park near there to park out trail or w full hook up? Btw. Thank you for the wonderful recipes!

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  45. Hi Jenn,
    I love your beautiful photos. Some of the scenes are breathtaking. Thank you for sharing your healthy and delicious Overnight Crock Pot Oatmeal recipe with us at the Healthy Living Link Party! I am pinning and sharing!

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