creamy dreamy

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I’m definitely hooked on cooking my oats with water or water + almond milk.  I can’t get over how delicious and strong the oat flavor is.  By strong, I do not mean harsh.  It’s very smooth, nutty + slightly sweet.  I absolutely love it and am not missing my 1tsp of cinnamon I was dumping in it before.  I’m also much preferring the banana on top, rather than mixed in. 

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Today I made steel cut oats, with half water + half almond milk.  Steel cut oats are such a fun change of pace.  They take a bit longer to cook, but have a fabulous texture.  Crunchy + creamy…a breakfast dream!

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Simple Steel Cut Oats [serves 1]

  • 6T steel cut oats
  • 3/4c water
  • 1c unsweetened almond milk
  1. Combine ingredients into a pot and bring to boil.
  2. Stir + reduce heat to simmer, stirring occasionally, until desired consistency is met. ~12-18min

Toppings:

This mini pie dish was scraped clean.  You’ve gotta try the water/milk only cooking method.  Obsessed!

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I’m trying to make time this week, to stock up on some staples, while we’re without a kitchen at the new house.  We move on Saturday, but most likely won’t be in full-working kitchen mode, until the 2nd week [or so] of April.

I was already running low on nut butters, even though I made 2 batches last week!  I did give about half of the nut butter to friends though.  One of my favorite nut butters, also one of the simplest, was my salt kissed cashew butter.

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I wanted to make that again, but with a sweet twist.  I’m totally loving the local, raw clover honey I picked up a few weeks ago.  Honey perfection!

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Back-lit photo love.(6 of 15)

cashews + honey + salt + vanilla

That’s all you need! 

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Salted Honey Cashew Butter

  • 2c raw cashews
  • 3T honey
  • 1/4-1/2t fine grain sea salt
  • 1/2t vanilla extract
  1. Preheat oven to 325*
  2. Line a pan with parchment paper.  Trust me, you want to do this.  Do not use wax paper or foil.
  3. Spread cashews on the pan and toss with honey.
  4. Spread into a single layer on the pan and roast for about 15min.
  5. Turn once or twice, while cooking, and remove when golden brown.
  6. Let cool no more than 5min.
  7. Scrape into your food processor and turn on.
  8. Process + scrape as needed until buttery.  ~12-15min
  9. Add in salt + vanilla and process again until smooth.

*This took quite a long time to process because of the sticky honey.  If it’s been 15min and it’s still not smooth, you can add 1/2-1T of oil to help smooth it out.  This nut butter was very thick, but creamy + smooth.

*I use an 11c food processor.  If you have a 7c, I would not process more than 1.5c of nuts.

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This almost tasted like sugar cookie dough or chocolate chip cookie dough without the chocolate chips. 

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Love the sweet + salty contrast with a delicious thick texture.

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To stock up even more, I made my all-time favorite nut butter.  I haven’t made this in months! 

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This is my Roasted Maple Cinnamon Almond Butter.  I think this has been my “most made” recipe by YOU guys! 

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I forgot just how delicious it is!

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My next-in-line favorites are as follows:

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My food processor is my favorite kitchen tool.  Yes, I love it more than my Vita-Mix.  Shhh, don’t tell! 

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There wasn’t much to do at the house today, so I stayed home and got a HUGE to-do list 85% done.  I also hit the gym and lifted legs.  I’ve been working out about 4/5 times per week, instead of 5/6.  It’s been really important for me to de-stress by working out.  It’s not always convenient to fit it in the schedule right now, but I feel so much better when I do.  Like I’ve mentioned a few times, my appetite has increased from all the extra movement, so I’ve definitely been eating more.  I haven’t been to the pool in over a week, but will get back to that once we’re moved in.  The rental house is about 50% packed.  I just started the kitchen, which is always the hardest.  I’m so excited that we won’t be packing again for quite some time!  Back to painting tomorrow.  The kitchen drywall + a few other patches are complete, so it’s time to get busy.  Crunch time!!

Recipe page is updated!!

Ashley