Slow Cooker Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal

Happy New Year! It's time to get our healthy eating habits back on track...

If you were visiting the Wilde Kitchen last month, you may have been overwhelmed by the huge quantities of sugar around.  All the cookies, candies and desserts really have wreaked havoc on our usually healthy eating habits!  It's time to get back to basics and fill our bellies with fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

With the new year comes going back to work too!  I'm commuting again and that means I take my breakfast on the go.  Last year around this time, this slow cooker oatmeal became my go to breakfast. I picked up the basic recipe from Monica at The Yummy Life and have tweaked it a little to add some more fiber and flavor.

I prepare a batch of this oatmeal during the weekend and enjoy a warm breakfast each morning on the train. Depending on how I'm feeling will change up the garnishes I add.  Sometimes it's dried cherries or raisins. Some days I like walnuts, others I toss in sunflower seeds. By Thursday I just feel like adding a whole bunch of brown sugar and cinnamon.  You can really make it your own!

One Year Ago: Granola Bar Muffins
Two Years Ago: Iceberg Wedge & Blue Cheese Dressing
Three Years Ago: Chocolate Cookie Sandwiches

Slow Cooker Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal

Adapted from The Yummy Life

1 1/2 cups skim milk
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup steel cut oats
2 Fuji apples, peeled, cored & diced
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons wheat germ
2 tablespoons ground flax seed

Dried cherries, chopped walnuts & chia seeds for garnish

Lightly coat your slow cooker bowl with cooking spray.  Add all the ingredients except garnishes and stir to mix.  Turn slow cooker on low and cook for 7 hours.

Eat immediately or...

Divide oatmeal between four containers.  Place in the fridge until it's time for your daily breakfast.  When it's time to eat, remove one oatmeal serving from the fridge and add dried cherries and 1/3 cup milk.  Microwave for 1 minute.  Stir and microwave for 1 minute more.  Add 1 tablespoon chia seeds and 1 tablespoon chopped walnuts and stir. Let sit for 5 minutes to allow chia seeds the time to hydrate.  Enjoy your breakfast now or on the go!

Chobani Protein Drink

There is a whole secret world happening behind the scenes (or shelves) of the grocery store.  From Frozen Pizza to Bleach and even delicious bacon, there is an army of people who work to get the products you love on the shelf of your local grocery store - even more work to get you to buy them!

Boyfriends job title is "Food Broker."  In his role as food broker, he plays the middle man between the manufacturers of products and the grocery store buyers. From planning Sunday ads, to fighting for eye level placement on the shelf, it is his job to make sure the brands he represents get into your shopping cart.

I'm sure you also realize we live in a highly digitized world.  Manufacturers, grocery stores and brokers alike use the massive piles of data available to them to help sell to us, the consumer.  Here are some fun facts about how we spend our precious dollars at the grocery store.  I was surprised at quite a few of them!

- The average monthly budget for groceries is $311
- 37% of U.S. Shoppers use technology for grocery shopping
- Half of shoppers decide what to have for dinner the same day

Do you make a shopping list before going to the store, here's how the average U.S. shopper writes it:
- 45% write the product type
- 6% write the Brand name of the product
- 1% write the Brand name and specific type
- 29% write a combination of the above
- 19% don't typically write a shopping list

When you go to the grocery store, do you go alone?
- 46% Shop alone
- 32% Shop with their Spouse/Partner
-10% Kids under 5
- 8% Kids 6-12
- 6% Kids 13-17
- 5% Adult children
- 3% Other relatives
- 2% Friends
- 1% Roommate
- 1% Someone else

Next time you go to the grocery store and stand in front of that shelf of yogurt, you will have a new found understanding of all the work involved to get it there!

Help show your support of BF's job campaign by tweeting Chobani:

Let @pitchCHObani sell me @Chobani yogurt so @WildeKitchen keeps posting delicious Chobani inspired recipes #InterviewOverYogurt