ut oh

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We got cable TV again.  We’ve been without it for 8 months.  Hence the “ut oh.”  I hope it doesn’t suck me in too much!  We got a really good deal, although dealing with Comcast was a pain in the …… !!!! The main reason we got cable, was so we could get The Big Ten Network, for Ohio State football.  Big game on Saturday!! GO BUCKS :)

Okay…so uh, not to talk about TV more but I just have to.  I put on The Food Network, obviously, and Iron Chef’s secret ingredient was OATMEAL.  Are you kidding me?  Amazing!!  Alton Brown did the best explanation of the different types of oats [steel cut, scottish, rolled, quick].  It was fabulous.

And now to MY oatmeal. 

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I told you I’d let you know when I tried this!!  It was very sweet with a delicious gooey fig texture + lovely cocoa flavor.  I used about 1T, which is the max I would use for 1 bowl of oats.  Loved it but wouldn’t buy it at full price [$5.99].  I snagged it for $2.99 and I’ll savor every last drop.

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The method for cooking this bowl was a little crazy.  It was a mix of steel cut oats and whole oat groats.  They typically take about 20+ minutes to cook, so I thought I would try speeding things up by “cooking” them in the fridge overnight. 

  • 1/4c steel cut + oat groat mixture
  • 1c almond milk
  • 1.5T chia seeds
  • 1/2c pumpkin puree
  • 1t vanilla
  • 1/2t cinnamon
  • shake of ginger + nutmeg
  1. Mix together, stick in the fridge overnight.

I probably could have eaten this in the morning, but it would definitely have a crunchier texture than using rolled oats.  It has been chilly in the morning [yay!!], so I decided to cook them.

Mixing them overnight definitely sped the process along. 

  1. Add about 1/4c more almond milk and cooked over medium for about 8 minutes and stir a few times, until it reached the desired consistency.
  2. I also added 1/3c walnuts for more sustenance! [also because I was out of nut butter]

You can’t see the nuts because they’re mixed in [except for the little pile on top].  I looooved having the nuts mixed in.  I think I had one with almost every bite.

Yum!

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I mixed in the fig + cocoa spread and it was the perfect touch!  I’m trying to figure out a fun way to incorporate it into a baked good.

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The dogs did a lot of this today. 

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Lunch was full of ORANGE.  And it was oh.so.fabulous.

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I baked this sweet potater for about 1 hour at 375* and then mashed it up a bit with butter, s+p.  I cooked a sunny-side-up egg and plopped it on top.  It goes amazingly well with sweet potato and creates a delicious sauce when you break the yolk.

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Also had a BIG side of local cantaloupe with Greek yogurt and the rest of my chocolate avocado pudding from yesterday [which is one of the tastiest + healthy treats everrr!].

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Maaaaaaaaail tiiiiiiiiiime.  I have been waiting for this!!

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Oh yes oh yes.

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A camera bag!!!  And not just a camera bag, but a really pretty, well-made, camera bag!  I first saw this over on Jenna’s blog a month or so ago and fell in love.  I chose a different pattern though and just love love love it.

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The bag is made by photographer, Robyn Porteen.  You can find her shop on Etsy [and she just added a bunch of new bags!].  Her bags are just gorgeous and so well crafted.  The price tag is hefty, [~$110] but you get what you pay for.  I have been searching for a cuter, more purse-like camera bag for awhile and Robyn’s are perfect.  I have seen some other nice bags, but they are even more expensive and not handmade.  I like supporting a small business owner as well. 

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I was able to buy this thanks to a birthday gift from my grandmother.  I couldn’t appreciate it more and neither can Chris or my his camera.  I am guilty of putting it in my purse, filled with other random objects.  Oops.

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This bag is only 1’ long but holds 1 dSLR and 2 lenses.  Plus it has a lot of bonus pockets and comes with a cute coin purse.  I love that I can stick my cell phone + wallet in this, and ditch my purse when I bring my camera out.  I’ll let you know how I’m liking it once I start using it.  It is SO MUCH better than the gross, odd-shaped, bulky, black camera bag I was using before. 

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Okay, back to food.

I tried making walnut-butter for the first time today.  Walnuts are definitely one of my favorite, if not my favorite nut.  I love how soft + buttery they are.  I could drown myself in unroasted, unsalted walnuts.

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Weeeeeeeeeeeee

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It’s definitely a work in progress.  It didn’t cream like I thought it would.  I figured because it’s such a soft nut, it would get nice and smooth.  I could have added a little oil, but chose not to.

I added, cinnamon + vanilla + a few drips of local honey. 

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It’s definitely very edible, but not recipe worthy yet.

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And then I made coconut butter, which I haven’t had in my life for far too long.  Coconut butter is usually SO simple to make.  It literally takes about 6 minutes with 1 bowl scrape, to process into butter.

However today, it just wouldn’t cream.  I used the same coconut and processed for WAY longer.  No dice.

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So, I added a little coconut oil to get it going, which helped.  I also threw in 1t vanilla to the mix, just for fun.  Again, very edible, but the texture isn’t quite right.  I’ve never had to add coconut oil to get it nice and smooth.  Oh well!!

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Time to catch some zZZZzzzzz’s :)

Night!

Ashley