Goooood Saturday morning to you!!

No sleeping in today. We’re off to the house in 30min to work all day. Our good friends Ann + Kurtz are coming up to help [yaaaaaay], which will be so nice. My uncle will also be helping us again today too. If it wasn’t for my uncle’s help and guidance, I don’t think we’d be able to do all that we’re doing! Thanks Uncle Pete!!

I wanted to talk about breakfast this morning.

{typical}

Well, as you know, lately I’ve been hooked on buckwheat bakes. You rarely see a bowl of oats in the lineup anymore, when that was what I used to eat every.single.day.

I realized something.

Like I said the other day, I don’t like Chia seeds in my oats. It get's way too goopy and gelled for my liking.

Flax isn’t as bad…but

EGG WHITES are the BEST!!

Adding 1 little egg white to a batch of oats will give you the fluffiest, creamiest oats, you will ever imagine.

My suggestion is to use this with Scottish oats. It works with rolled, but the egg doesn’t combine quiiiite as well. If you don’t remember, Scottish oats are just Steel Cut [or whole oat groats] ground down about 1/2 way to flour. You can grind oat groats or steel cut oats in your blender, coffee grinder, etc. It actually doesn’t work too well in a food processor.

You can SEE how creamy it is!!! It’s the most magical texture ever, right up there with farro porridge!

I’ve done this egg white trick before, and used to do it all the time, but I had forgotten about it. You can use 2 egg whites, but some people don’t like seeing bits of the egg white in their oats. I’ve never tasted actual “egg” in my oats when I do this and you get a nice protein boost as well!

It was so delicious, I made it 2 days in a row.

Savored every bite. Both bowls.

Creamy goodness.

The couple chocolate chips are from Love Grown Foods Cocoa Goodness granola. Just 3 or 4 melted chocolate chips are completely amazing in a bowl of oats!

Creamy Scottish Oats

1/3c Scottish oats [ground from steel cut or oat groats – check your bulk bins!]
3/4c unsweetened almond milk
1/2c water
1/2 banana, sliced thinly
1t vanilla
1/2-1t cinnamon
1 egg white

toppings:

toasted coconut
walnuts
double chocolate chip cookie dough almond butter
Love Grown Foods cocoa goodness

Over medium heat, add oats, milk, water, banana, and cinnamon to a pot.
Whisk to combine.
Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to simmer, whisking ever 1-2min.
When it is almost to your desired oatmeal consistency, add in the vanilla and egg white and vigorously whisk to combine [about 20xec]. *Depending on your stove + type of pot [stainless or non-stick] it will take 7-10min to cook. You want to add in the egg white in the last 2min of cooking.
Let sit for ~2min and pour into your bowl.

*If you do want to make this vegan, just add 1T ground flax meal in at the same time you would add in the egg.

Prepare to be amazed!

Okay.

On to house happenings.

The lovely people at Moen, emailed me a few weeks ago asking if I would like to review their spot resistant line of faucets in our new kitchen.

Ummm…YES please!

They said these faucets were great for foodies that love making messes in the kitchen.

ME ME ME! I haaate when the sink + faucet get all spotted.

I got to pick out the faucet and love the gooseneck look of it!! It came the other day and I can’t wait until we can actually use it. Hopefully, in the first week or 2 of April!

Thanks Moen!!

I went to the house yesterday, to paper off the wood floors, since we will be painting. We do not want any spills on the new floors! It was also keep them nice and scratch free and we trek in + out a million times. It took forever to paper these floors!!

So long wood floors, see you in a few weeks!

Some of our painting supplies! I picked up Olympic brand paint at Lowes for primer, ceiling and baseboard paint. This paint is no-VOC, which I am so excited about. It was really affordable too!

My uncle told me about a technique using that screen below and a 5 gallon bucket that should make painting go much more quickly. I’ll keep you posted on the method!

Also arriving on my doorstep was this amazing package from Mythic Paint! But more on that soon! I need to scarf down breakfast and meet the guy delivering our new fridge!

I’m so excited to really get things started today. It’s gorgeous outside and will be fun to open the windows and let the breeze come in. Plus having friends to help is always more fun. :)

Have a great day!

Ashley

*My thoughts go out to all of those who were affected by the earthquake in Japan.

It’s been awhile since I’ve had a bowl of Scottish Oats. These are my favorite type of oats to make. I love how creamy they get but still have a slightly crunchy texture from the chopped up oat groats. I used to buy Scottish oats, but then realized you can make them at home from steel cut or whole oat groats [check the bulk bins]. It is definitely a money saver if you grind your own at home. I use my blender, which works much better than my food processor for this task.

Today I added 1T fresh ground flax meal as well. I’m hooked on grinding anything I can at home. It makes all the difference when you’re using flax-eggs for baking.

This bowl was stellar, but didn’t hold me over as long as my beloved buckwheat bakes.

In the mix:

1/3c Scottish oats

1/2c water

3/4c unsweetened almond milk

1t cinnamon

1t vanilla

1/2 banana, whisked in at the beginning

Topped with:

banana

jelly

walnuts

coconut butter

cocoa-nut almond butter [obsessed!]

Perfection in a bowl!

About an hour after breakfast, is when I started experimenting with socca crackers. The first batch was sweet and the second, savory. I think I slightly prefer the cinnamon sugar, but I still couldn’t stop eating the savory either!

I just love sesame seeds! This dough is awesome for topping with seeds because it’s really wet, unlike typical cracker dough. You just sprinkle on top, bake and they stay in place.

Sesame Socca Crackers [~48 crackers]

1/4c raw buckwheat flour [ground from raw buckwheat groats]

1/4c + 2T garbanzo flour

1/2c water

1T safflower oil

1T tamari [or soy sauce]

1/2t garlic powder

black pepper

sesame seeds [to top batter]

Preheat oven to 375*

Whisk all ingredients together [except sesame seeds], until there are no lumps.

Line an 8×12” jelly roll pan with parchment paper [or grease the pan well – I used the oil/flour combo spray].

Pour batter in pan and spread evenly to the edges of the pan.

Sprinkle on sesame seeds.

Bake for 20min until the top is cracked and edges are browned.

Remove from pan and place on a cutting board.

Cut into desired cracker size.

Place crackers on a larger pan [or cookie sheet], so there is space in between them.

Bake for 3-5min, flip and bake another 3min. Watch carefully so they don’t burn.

They will crisp as they cool.

Loving the light, flakey texture.

Loving the slight garlic, sesame, tamari flavor.

Loving the CRunch!!

I thought these crackers would be perfect atop a salad. I made an Asian vinaigrette to go along with it.

Tamari Vinaigrette [serves 1]

1T olive oil

1t tamari [or soy sauce]

1t honey

1T rice vinegar [I use this brand]

1/8t toasted sesame oil

1T fresh lemon juice

black peppter

Whisk together with a fork until combined.

*I used wheat free tamari.

The sweetness + juiciness from the oranges paired really well with the other flavors + textures.

Top with chickpeas or tempeh and avocado for a fabulous, filling salad.

Chris had Monday off, which was really nice. We relaxed a bit and also went appliance shopping. We have our dishwasher, washer/dryer, and gas range all picked out. Guess which appliance I’m most excited for?? hint: it has nothing to do with cleaning ;)

We will hopefully be closing on the house in less than 2 weeks now! So much to do!! I’m still deciding on kitchen design as well. I thought I was set on option #1, but have been refining the look a bit. We’re still going in the same direction color-wise, but I’m looking for a different backsplash and possibly a different counter. The cabinets will still be white and the floor will be some sort of gray/charcoal tile. I was checking photos of the backsplash I picked, and found numerous photos that are making me want to run + hide.

Not the exact color, but the style is the same. [source]

Eeek!