Hearty Slow Cooker Breakfast Sludge

     Before we go any further, let me make one thing very clear: this recipe looks like shit. Literally. It looks like something scraped out of a diaper. At second glance it also resembles fake vomit. Possibly real vomit. However, it smells wonderful and tastes great. On a cold day, you can't go wrong with a steaming bowl of this stuff. It's hearty and warm and filling. Maybe just close your eyes while you eat it.

Hearty Slow Cooker
Breakfast Sludge

Ingredients

• 3 cups oats, uncooked
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 very ripe bananas, sliced
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup peanut butter (chunky or creamy as you desire. We used creamy)
• 21 ounce can banana cream pie filling
• 6 cups water
• 1 teaspoon almond extract

Directions

1. Coat a slow cooker (at least 2 quart) with nonstick cooking spray (coat the inside of the slow cooker. The bowl specifically. Don't spray all over the outside. Unless you want to)
2. Chuck all the ingredients in there and stir it up.
3. Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours (just stop cooking when it's at a consistency you like. Make sure to stir it every few hours to make sure it doesn't fuse to the pot).

Good times!

Loaded Oatmeal Cookies

     Sometimes you find recipes in odd places. This particular recipe came by way of a book I found at a garage sale last fall. When I dropped fifty cents on Southern Recipes and Legends, I didn't expect to find any real gems. Mostly I thought the legends would be fun to read. Once you get past the shaky editing, you start to find some recipes that are genuine winners. A particularly good one was for Bonnie Doone Plantation Thanksgiving Cookies. That's a hell of a mouthful to say. The cookies are also a hell of a mouthful. They are packed with all sorts of goodies. There's chocolate, oats, cranberries, raisins, walnuts (if you want them). I wound up renaming them Loaded Oatmeal Cookies. They are super easy to make and the recipe yields over 3 dozen cookies. As always, any notes and changes are in blue.

Loaded Oatmeal Cookies
aka Bonnie Doone Plantation Thanksgiving Cookies
via Southern Recipes and Legends by Nancy Rhyne

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 2-1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup raisins
• 2 cups cranberries, pitted and mashed slightly (we substituted 1 cup of craisins)
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1 cup melted butter
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (omitted)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375F (190F, Gasmark 5)
2. Combine all ingredients (I certainly hope you have a Kitchenaid or something similar, because this batter will be stiff. Mixing it by hand is going to be a chore). 
3. Drop by teaspoon (I assure you, you don't want to do this. Go by tablespoons. You'll still end up with 40 or so cookies) onto a greased cookie sheet. 
4. Bake for 10-12 minutes (this is pretty accurate. Do not go by the consistency of the tops of the cookies; they will be very soft right out of the oven. Lift one up and check the bottom. If it's golden brown, it's done. The cookie will set up once it cools off).

Good times!

Slow Cooker Breakfast Concoction

     It is said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I know that The Wife and I make it a point to try to have something for breakfast every day. This can be challenging for us during the week. Normally we end up having toast or a piece of fruit. During the winter, it's nice to have something warm and filling. That's what lead to this recipe. It looks like absolute crap, but it smells and tastes great. There's plenty of good stuff in there to keep you running until lunch. If you don't feel like making my apples, you can get away with regular sliced apples and just add more apple juice to replace the syrup. Other notes are, as always, in blue.

Slow Cooker Breakfast Concoction

Ingredients

• 2 cups granola cereal of your choice
• 1 cup old fashioned oats
• 2 cups Spiked Apples
• 1/4 cup syrup from the apples
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup golden raisins (it's not a big deal if you use non-golden, I just liked the uniform color of the dish)
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup apple juice

Directions

1. Spray slow cooker (the inside, not the outside. This is a critical distinction) with nonstick cooking spray. 
2. Load all ingredients into slow cooker and stir to mix.
3. Cook on LOW for 5 hours. Check it and stir it occasionally. If it starts to scorch, add more apple juice or milk.

It looked better BEFORE I cooked it! At least it tasted good!
Good Times!