We're big oatmeal fans.

Alton Brown had an oatmeal episode of Goods Eats some time back. I believe that he explained that "steel cut" are chopped, uncooked oats, "old-fashioned, long cooking" oats are rolled (squished) oats that have been steam-cooked to an extent and "instant" are rolled oats that have been steam-cooked completely.

Alton's "Overnight Oatmeal" recipe is our absolute favorite:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/a...ipe/index.html

We use whatever dried fruits we feel like using but I think our favorite combo is half raisins, half dried cranberries. We use fat-free half & half and sometimes add a few tablespoons of flax seed that I grind in our never-used-for-coffee grinder.

I make this recipe several times every week. The leftovers keep very well for a couple of days. A little zap in the microwave to warm it up is all it takes.

I have found, however, that our old (30-year-old) wedding gift crock pot works the best. Our newer crock pots, I swear, are hotter than the old one and tend to scorch any low-liquid food I make in it. The old one makes a perfect batch which is ready to eat in the morning. Since finding this recipe I've used our old crockpot more than in all the years that we've had the thing!