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Thursday, March 1, 2012

Frugal Friday--Oatmeal

Earlier this year I had coupon for a free bowl of oatmeal from McD's.  I'm not a big oatmeal fan, but I thought I'd give it a try one morning.  Turns out it was exceptionally good.

One morning last week J and I stopped in for another bowl to share as we finished our drive to school and work.  It was different (I thought everything at McD's was supposed to be the same), but still very good.  It was $2 for the bowl.

I remembered reading a recipe for Overnight Oatmeal and thought, you know I bet I could make some really good oatmeal just like this and do it for less.  So I stopped in an my local Sprouts for some steel cut oats.

K made steel cut oats for us in Chicago one year for Girls Club, and I didn't care for them then, but perhaps my taste buds have changed.  That trip was a few years ago.  Look how young we were!


We were a crafty bunch that weekend.  J (far right in the back), remembered that we had one bedroom/one bath, not much hot water, didn't have much sleep though we never get enough sleep when we are together regardless of location, and we all remember Chicago being a great time.  L (the one who thinks her hair looks funny), thanks for going to school there so we could come and visit you.  Nana, thanks for paying for all of our tickets to get there and back.

Oh, is everyone else still there?  Good.  Let me focus again.

Anyway, as we drove home I told J that I thought we could make our own oatmeal for less.  Since they are starting to learn multiplication I took this opportunity to tell him that the oatmeal we bought this morning was $2 for each bowl and the kind we could make at home would make enough for six bowls.  He quickly calculated $12.  Then I told him that I had spent $1.46, less than $2 buying the ingredients for the stuff.  "Wow, we saved $10?"

As soon as we got home he was excited and told L, "Dad, we saved $10 when mom spent $1.46."  He responded with, "She's like that."

Anyway turns out everyone in the family likes this oatmeal and the best part is that it cooks overnight in the crockpot.  I can put it on at 9pm before I got to bed and it's ready nine hours later when we are ready for breakfast!

So thanks to Family Circle, here's the recipe.  There's no link for it, sorry.

Overnight Oatmeal
3 c milk
3 c water
1 1/2 c steel cut oats
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 c brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon (optional)
2-3 diced cored apples

Spray crockpot with cooking spray (this does work better than butter).  Combine remaining ingredients and cook 9 hours on low.

Oh and J thinks this tastes better than the stuff from McD's!  How's that for for a frugal tip!



1 comment:

Anonymous said...

K here - Steel Cut Oats are whole grain royalty. They have a nutty awesomeness that rolled (regular) oats can't touch. Additionally, they help fill you up and keep you satisfied longer. This means you snack less and eat less overall which leads to even more frugalness in your grocery budget.