1 cup steel cut oats
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup dates, chopped
4 cups water
1/2 cup half and half
2 tablespoons honey

Spray inside of slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. Combine all ingredients except half and half and honey in the slow cooker, cover and cook on LOW for 7 to 8 hours. Stir in half and half and honey, and serve.

If you like more texture in your oatmeal, you can toast the oats before cooking. Place them in a shallow layer on a cookie sheet and toast them at 350 degrees F. for 15-20 minutes, stirring once during cooking time, until oats are a darker gold color. Let cool completely before you combine with the rest of the ingredients in the recipe.

Stir well before serving. 4 servings

Gail's notes: I skipped toasting the oats but did use steel cut oats; I think I read they hold up better in crockpot for overnight. I didn't measure the honey I put in because I was trying to finish out a jar so I probably added a bit more. I didn't have dates so used dried plums instead. Do NOT do what I did! I fixed this the night before, turned on the crockpot to low and realized very early the next morning it was not plugged in! I dumped it all in the west bend slow cooker and cranked it up to 5, the highest, and cooked it for about 2 hours or so.....it was still really good!