Steel Cut Oats - Crock Pot Style

Here is a picture of all the things I use to make oatmeal in the mornings (except for the bananas). I took this picture so that you could get an idea of how big my Crock Pot is. It is a 1.5 qt. size. You can find one at Target or online at Amazon. It works great.

I read this tip the other day. If you have a large Crock Pot, you can make this recipe (or any recipe for a small Crock Pot) and put it into a small oven safe bowl and sit it inside of your big crock pot and it will work.
Here is the recipe for all of you. This is one serving.

At night I put these things into my Crock Pot:
1 shake of salt
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
2 Tablespoons of dried cranberries
1/4 c. of Steel Cut Oats (not pre-soaked)
1 c. of water

I put the lid on and leave it until morning.

It takes about two hours to cook - so plug it up two hours before you plan on eating breakfast (or lunch or supper - just in case you happen to get addicted to it.)

I stir it. I have forgotten to stir it and it didn't make a difference.

After I dip out the oatmeal, I add these things to my bowl:
1 teaspoon of honey
1 Tablespoon of walnuts
1/2 of a banana sliced up (Then I eat the rest. Or if Michael is eating oatmeal, we share.)

I only really measure the oats and water. The rest of the ingredients are approximate measurements.

Enjoy.

Ticonderoga

We took a trip to the 'other' Walmart in Ticonderoga.

We were told that the drive was beautiful, but this was just overwhelming.
This was the "Kissing Bridge" in a nearby park.
No, we didn't kiss in the bridge - Michael is still coughing.

This is a beautiful waterfall to the left of the bidge. Check out the sign we saw there.

Birthday Fun

Today is my birthday. I am not posting this so all of you will know that. (Who wants everyone to know they are ANOTHER year older?) I just had to share this story with you. It cracks me up just thinking about it. Michael actually took a picture of me this morning – still in the bed – I am NOT going to post that one! Hannah took this one of me a little while ago. She always wants to take pictures of me. My hair was finally washed and dried and I was willing to let her take one.

Anyway – back to the story. Hannah announced last night that I was to have breakfast-in-bed this morning because it was my birthday. She wanted her Dad to set her alarm clock to ring at 4:45 in the morning so she could wake me up and sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to me at the exact time I was born. (I’m sure it was such a good idea to share that bit of information with her.) Her Dad and I both agreed on a ‘no’ answer for that one.

I woke up around 5:15 and got up to go to the bathroom and get the morning started like normal. Hannah, with her hair all down in her face, got up and followed me there. She said, “Mama, you are supposed to stay in the bed and have breakfast-in-bed.” I said, “I know honey, I just needed to use the bathroom and I am going straight back to bed. It is too early still for you to get up and make breakfast.” So, she went back to bed and I got back in the bed and told Michael the conversation that had just taken place.

Now, I am going to fill you in on a little background of my morning breakfast. I eat oatmeal. I do not eat oatmeal from a little package, thanks to a very dear friend of mine (and I know he is smiling right now). I eat Steel Cut Oats. I cook them in the crock pot for two hours. I prepare half of what I do to them the night before so they can soak overnight. When I get up at 5:00 in the morning, I plug the crock pot up and let the oats cook while I have my time with the Lord, exercise and shower before the girls get up. I am the one who prepares breakfast. Hannah helps get the table set and I get mine and Michael’s oatmeal ready. After it finishes cooking, I add raw honey, walnuts and bananas.

So, since we all fell back asleep (except for Michael, he was studying). Michael came to wake me up around 6:55 to ask me to fix the oatmeal before Hannah got up because he has NO CLUE how to ‘fix’ the oatmeal. (The definition of ‘fix’ in NC is different from the definition in NY.) So, I was sneaking around in the kitchen this morning trying to fix the oatmeal and not wake up Hannah. I hurried and got back in the bed and acted like I was sleeping. As soon as I laid my head back down on my pillow, I heard her getting up. She went straight into the kitchen to prepare breakfast. Now, she thinks her Dad is a genius because ‘he’ already had the oatmeal prepared. So, they woke Cari up and came and ‘surprised’ me with breakfast-in-bed – complete with singing and a beautiful card.

Hannah was upset because she didn’t get to give me a gift. But, one day she will realize the meaning of Psalm 127:3 – Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward. She is my gift. Thank you Lord for my children.

Needs

We have been here a little over a month now. True to myself, I have already started packing up stuff that I don't need that I brought. My mom is shaking her head up and down as she is reading this (I am sure). Aside from God, my husband and my children, my mom knows me the best and she knows how much joy it brings me to simplify.

I thought my simplicity journey began when I was about seven months pregnant with Hannah. I started to clean out a closet that was packed with stuff I didn't use in order to make room for all the cute little clothes and more stuff I 'needed' for our new baby. I thought I was simplifying, but I only replaced the stuff with more stuff.

Then when Cari was still being formed, I was cleaning out a second closet – to stuff with more stuff.

Getting rid of stuff to buy more stuff is not simplifying.

Looking back, I realize exactly when it began. When we sold the first house we built, we moved into a smaller space. To be a little more descriptive, it was in my cousin’s basement. Now, for all of you who are imagining cement block walls and a cement floor – you are mistaken. The basement was finished with carpet and vinyl flooring, finished walls, a lay in ceiling, laundry room, full kitchen and bathroom. This might be more than you wanted to know, but you are still reading, so I will go ahead. The girls’ bedroom was behind a quilt that we hung up to separate their room from the rest of the house. Our living room consisted of our entertainment center, a couch, a chair and an end table. Our bedroom wasn’t a bedroom. Our bed was in between the living room and the kitchen – yep, you guessed it, right under the dining room chandelier. When I say ‘room’, there weren’t any walls, just an open space leading into the next open space.

Needless to say, the space was smaller than we were used to. So, when we packed up to moved, we only unpacked the things we 'needed' and left the rest in boxes.

When we finished building our second house, I packed up the stuff in our basement/home and moved in. We unpacked just those things and eventually moved all the rest of our stuff into our new basement and it sat there unpacked for months.

I realized just how much stuff I had and how much stuff I didn’t need.

I soon started to clean out that stuff. We had a couple of yard sales and gave a lot of it away.

Little by little, our possessions started to dwindle down to just what we 'needed' – or so I thought.

We moved again and brought into my mom and dad’s house ‘just what we needed’ and still, when we moved here, we left some of those things behind. There are still boxes upon boxes of things in their basement waiting on me to get rid of.

So, we moved here and brought just what we ‘needed’. And if you came by to visit, you would see four boxes in my bedroom already of things packed back up – things we did not need. Michael and I have already been pointing out things to each other. These things will be brought back to my mom and dad’s house – to be stacked with our other boxes of stuff in their basement and await their departure.

Which brings me to my final thought – 1 Timothy 6:8 – oh and maybe a washer and dryer (smiling - it might not be 'needed' but it is very much appreciated!)

Picture Day

Today is picture day at the BI. He looks so good dressed up.

I am so blessed to be his counterbalance.