i make no promises to keep that lady at bay once chase wakes up {crockpot oatmeal recipe}

{there's nothing prettier than huge white snowflakes in chase's red hair.}

...

so winter finally came today,
and i couldn't be happier!
there's something about the big white flakes that just puts me in a good mood.
the whining and the tantrums and the running around from one carpool to the next just don't get me as agitated by the end of the day,
because at least it's snowing:)
not to worry, summer weather due back this weekend.
70 something and sunny.
so today,
i'm enjoying this little glimpse of winter.
one that's been all too absent this year in general.
and a quiet house with chase napping upstairs,
and the big kids eating snow and laying on the tramp bundled from head to toe.
they came to the back door after 10 minutes saying they were cold and needed hot chocolate.
i couldn't let them see the fear in my eyes.
be the duck.
that's what i did.
cool and calm on the surface,
paddle like hell underwater.
so i casually suggested they set off to scout out who else was out in the hood.
praying with all my might that they would go for it.
and by some miracle they bought it.
thank goodness chase was napping or the whole thing would have failed for sure.
so now they're off walking around on the wet sidewalks.
probably eating snow,
and losing gloves and stuff.
it's making wednesday great.
and my crazy pregnant lady brain a little more calm.
at least for now...i make no promises to keep that lady at bay once chase wakes up;)

...

-crockpot overnight apples 

and cinnamon oatmeal-

Ingredients

• 2 apples, peeled, cored, cut into tiny pieces {think cubed carrots in the can small}
• 1& 1/2 cups milk
• 1 & 1/2 cups water
• 1 cup uncooked steel-cut oats or reg oats {NOT quick oats}
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar (or substitute maple syrup or other sweetener)
• 1 & 1/2 tablespoons butter, cut into 5-6 pieces (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon ground flax seed {i didn't have this so i left it out}
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Optional garnishes: chopped nuts, raisins, maple syrup, additional milk or butter

Directions

1. SPRAY PAM in your crock.

2. Add all ingredients (except optional toppings) to your crock. Stir, cover, and cook on low for approx. 7 hours (slow cooker times can vary). 

**NOTE: i didn't want to stay up until midnight or wake up and check on it in the middle of the night because AINT NOBODY got time to wake up in the middle of the night for oatmeal when the newborn isn't even here yet, so we took a chance and put it on the "keep warm" setting for 9 hours and it worked like A CHARM. the apples were still a little crunchy, so i'm sure it could have cooked longer, but it tasted perfect and everyone licking their bowls and asking for more, sooooo, i think we just got lucky on the first try and don't get scared off if it takes some experimenting before you get the cook time right. i think the key is less is more, better safe than sorry, you know the drill.

3. Spoon oatmeal into bowls; add optional toppings, if desired. Store leftovers in refrigerator. Freezes well.

**How much did it make? it felt like 1 cup of oats wouldn't be enough. like i stood there in my kitchen for 5 minutes making sure i was reading the recipe right because i couldn't imagine that 1 cup was possibly enough, BUT, low and behold one batch with 1 cup of oatmeal indeed DID feed 4 of my gibson's and 1 of my contractor dave's. max gibson wouldn't even give it a try. i assure you she missed out! so what i'm saying is, it fed 5 people pretty darn well. double if you have more people or you want leftovers. found this little ditty on pinterest of course. all hail pinterest. the end.