Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I know I’m a day early, but I wanted to share this oatmeal with you so you can make it on St. Patrick’s for your family. There’s no denying that it’s green enough and there’s no artificial color to be found. The secret ingredient is spinach.

Where did the Irish/piña colada connection come from? I knew I was going to make a piña colada oatmeal and I wanted to have some big tastes to mask the hint of spinach. (Before you start worrying, it really is just a hint.) This is like if a green smoothie met a pineapple oatmeal and they had a tasty baby – this oatmeal.

I decided not to add shredded coconut to this oatmeal, but you can add 1/4 cup shredded coconut if you don’t have coconut extract. I just decided not to have green oatmeal with that texture. It’s hard enough to get green foods eaten in my house, but yours may be different.

Slow Cooker Irish Piña Colada Oatmeal

2 to 3 servings

**This recipe uses a smaller slow cooker that’s 1 1/2 to 2 quarts

• 1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill steel-cut oats
• 2 cups Unsweetened So Delicious Coconut Milk
• 1/2 cup minced pineapple (fresh, frozen, or canned)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon coconut extract
• 1 to 2 tablespoon(s) sweetener of your choice

green mix-in:

• 1/2 cup Vanilla So Delicious Coconut Yogurt
• 2 cups fresh spinach

The night before: Spray your crock with some oil to help with clean up later. Add everything but sweetener and green mix-in. Cook on low over night (7 to 9 hours). Blend the green mix-in ingredients in a blender until it’s a purée  then store in the fridge overnight.

In the morning: Stir your oatmeal well. It may seem watery at the top but if stirred it should become a more uniform consistency. Stir in the sweetener and green mix-in. You may not use all the mix-in, it depends on how thin or thick your oats are.

**See Page Link on Menu Bar to get to Slow Cooker Oatmeal FAQS