I love steel-cut oatmeal. The problem, though, is while I’ll gladly spend hours on a tomato gravy or making macaroni, I have no desire to watch a pot of oatmeal for almost an hour. This means I usually only make oatmeal on days off where I have nothing else to do. Since we bought the house, that means… never. I make it never.

So when I saw on Pinterest that you could make steel cut oatmeal in a slow cooker, it piqued my curiosity. The recipes there have things like cream (too rich) or carrots (just… no. I love carrots, but no) so I’m posting my own, simple, boring, delightful, tasty recipe.

Recipe:
4 cups water
1 cup steel-cut oats
(I tripled this with no ill effects, in hopes that since I didn’t use dairy in the recipe the oatmeal would last in the fridge)

Cook on low for nine hours

Add salt and a splash (less than a teaspoon) of fat-free milk and whatever fruit you want (I guess you could even add carrots, but if you do, please don’t tell me. I will judge you.)

The Good News: It tastes every bit as good as the stuff on the stove, plus you wake up to breakfast-y smells.

The Bad News: One half cup has seven PointsPlus values. Which doesn’t stop me. My Trader Joe’s O’s and milk amounted to about four PointsPlus. This is more. To be fair, a true serving of steel-cut oats is only 1/4 cup, but it just looks so… tiny. I had a half cup this morning and did everything but lick the bowl (my face wouldn’t fit).

The Verdict: There’s no way I’m not making this and eating it, although I guess I’ll try and see how I do eating only 1/4 cup. I’m the first to admit I have issues with eating in moderation. Weight Watchers has been great for me in that respect – I’m eating the same things, just less of them – but I still get a little start every now and then when I see how high some of my “healthy” foods are in PointsPlus values.