Easy and healthy breakfasts

I am a breakfast eater.  I think about what I am going to eat for breakfast the next morning while I am trying to fall asleep at night.  I could eat breakfast food for dinner almost every night, so, therefore, I do not understand people that say, "I just can't eat first thing in the morning."  I am so hungry when I wake up, I have to eat first thing, before anything else.  Due to the fact that I get up pretty early- around 5am- I usually keep it pretty simple, like cereal and fruit, peanut butter toast, oatmeal, etc.  Now that I have a little person growing in my belly and making me even more ravenous in the morning, I have needed to add a little more substance to my breakfast routine. 

I subscribe to the magazine Eating Well and receive tons of emails loaded with great, easy recipes that usually have affordable and easily accessible ingredients.  A recent email was dedicated to quick and easy healthy breakfasts- just what I need!  A lot of the recipes talked about veggie omelets, scrambled eggs wrapped in a tortilla, etc.  I don't know about you, but I'm a little too lazy to get out the skillet and scramble a couple eggs in the morning.  The less dirty dishes, the better!  Needless to say, when I stumbled upon a recipe for Overnight Oatmeal, I was intrigued.  You basically through everything in the crock pot before going to bed and wake up to warm, creamy oatmeal in the morning, NO HASSLE!  I followed the recipe exactly and I would definitely make a few suggestions. 

1. This recipe uses no added sweeteners.  I would recommend mixing in some vanilla extract for the cooking process and maybe even some honey afterward, if you prefer a sweeter oatmeal. 

2.  This makes a ton of oatmeal.  Try splitting the recipe in half, unless you plan on feeding an army. 

3.  Spray your crock pot with cooking spray, or better yet, spend $2 on a box of four crock pot liners.  I don't use them for everything, but they are great to have around for certain recipes that are a pain to clean up. 

4.  Make this on a weekend or if you time that morning to clean up and package leftovers.  I did not use a liner and did not clean my crock pot up right away and it was covered in mossy green mold within a couple days. 

5.  The recipe calls for chopped, dried cranberries and apricots.  I think dried apples, cherries or blueberries would be equally good.  I also added a little milk and slivered almonds to mine right before eating.

6.  Steel cut oats are super healthy for you.  Eat them.  They will keep you regular.  We could all use a little of that, right?  :)

Overnight Oatmeal (Eating Well Magazine, Winter 2004)

8 cups water
2 cups steel-cut oats
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup dried apricots, chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste

Combine all ingredients in a 5-6 quart slow cooker.  Put on lid and set temperature to low.  Cook 7-8 hours, or until oatmeal is creamy.  Enjoy!