(apples from our neighbor’s tree. so purtyful!)

Thank you for all of your suggestions on barley! CR readers are a trove of amaaaazing information and ideas! I think I will be printing up all the suggestions and stashing them in the pantry beside our barley. 🙂

Last week I made a variant of this barley apple crockpot cereal. Wow. GOOD stuff. I threw it in the crockpot right before bed, and then fed it to the Striderling for breakfast. He ate three bowls of it. It made enough leftovers for him to have it for breakfast for several days running; it becomes increasingly thick the longer it sits, so I usually stirred in a tiny bit of milk after reheating it. The boy continued to adore it and I think it’s going to be added to our regular list of breakfast options. I am sooo not a morning person and with a husband on night shift, I’m even more inclined to sleep as long as possible in the morning, so a breakfast ready and waiting in the morning for several days straight is a major win.

You should take a look at the original recipe, because she’s got very good spice measurements, but here’s what I did:

* 1/2 c. barley

* 3 c. water

* 2 chopped apples (I didn’t bother peeling them)

* 1/8 c. brown sugar (next time I want to try molasses or maple syrup instead)

* generous portions of cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice

Low for 8ish hours.

It’s not the most beautiful looking cereal in the world, but it’s definitely a stick-to-the-ribs and nourishing one!

I’ve got some frozen peaches and I may try those next time, along with a dash of vanilla.