President's Day Weekend Glamping and Crockpot Oatmeal

Over the long weekend we took Levi on his first camping trip. Well, it was more like glamping (Glamourous Camping: or just not in a tent) because we stayed in a yurt. We stayed in the yurts at Nehalem State Park, which is on the Oregon coast. We went as part of a larger group of friends to celebrate a birthday. The yurts made it easier to camp in the winter, but also with a baby. We were treated to an ice cold but bright and sunny weekend. It was a great getaway.

Within the group we took turns cooking meals. I was assigned breakfast for about 20 people. With a new baby I knew there was no way I was gonna get up and cooking for everyone before 8am so I researched make ahead breakfasts.

 (The eyebrows come out whenever something new is being processed - the sound of the waves this time!)

I settled on crockpot oatmeal.

Here is the recipe I used, but I basically dumped 4 cups of dried oats into the crockpot and filled the rest with water. Set on low over night. (Yurts have plugs!) In the morning we were treated to the creamiest, most delicious oatmeal I have ever eaten! I am hooked. I served it with a buffet of dried fruit, cream, brown sugar, cinnamon, and candied nuts.

If you need a quick, cheap, healthy (depending on how much cream you add) breakfast, please consider crockpot oatmeal.

On a similar note, here is Mark Bittman's take on McDonald's oatmeal. Very interesting - how to pack tons of crap into healthy food all the while marketing it as healthy.
Also, our local FoodDay discussed grain breakfast cereals here.