CrockPot Make-Ahead Apple Pie Oatmeal

Ingredients

• 2 large Granny Smith apples, seeds removed and coarsely chopped
• 2-3 T Stevia in the Raw or other sweetener
• 1 T brown sugar
• 3/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3 – 3 1/2 cups water
• 1 1/2 cup rolled oats
• milk or soy milk for serving

Directions

Cut apples into pieces and remove the core with the seeds; then chop apples into pieces. I made the pieces different sizes so some apples would dissolve slightly while others stayed chunky. (No need to peel them.)Spray the CrockPot crockery container with nonstick spray. Then add the apples, sweetener of your choice (I usedStevia in the Raw), brown sugar (or more sweetener), cinnamon, and salt.Add from 3 to 3 1/2 cups of water, depending on how thick you want the finished oatmeal to be.Stir together and cook on high for 1 hour and 15 minutes.Add oatmeal (I used Bob’s Red Mill Extra Thick Rolled Oats) and stir ingredients together, then continue to cook on high for an additional 45 minutes to 1 hour and 15 minutes, depending on how soft you’d like the finished oatmeal to be. (I would start checking after 45 minutes.)Serve hot, with milk or soy milk.This oatmeal can be stored in the fridge overnight and reheated in the morning. You may want to add a little water when you reheat it, then microwave for about 1 minute or heat for a few minutes in a small pan on top of the stove.I haven’t tried freezing this, but if anyone does try it, I’d love to hear how it works. (Edit: Ruth from Cooking with Veggies reports in the comments that she makes a similar recipe with steel cut oats and it freezes beautifully.)