I wanted something different for breakfast this morning. Something warm and cozy.
I reached deep into the kitchen cupboard and what did I find?
“World Champion Oatmeal”!
Well, if that doesn’t do it, I don’t know what will!
The directions instructed me to boil 1.5 cups of water then add 1/2 cup oats (for 2 servings). After a few near catastrophes involving lots of foamy oat water boiling over onto the stovetop (I am still getting the hang of cooking on electric!), we settled in for 10 minutes of gentle simmering.
As the champion oats worked their magic I broke out the plum and munched on some…crumbs. It was much better today! I think the wine and dinner and bourbon whipped cream all contributed to dulling the overall flavor last night. Today is was tasty and nicely textured.
I also dipped into my kitchen experiment from yesterday afternoon, homemade almond butter! At the bulk bins yesterday Kath mentioned that she was going to make Ashley’s recipe for Pumpkin Spiced Almond Butter and I thought that sounded like an excellent idea.
Except I didn’t have time to roast the almonds and I am awful at following recipes.
My food processor whirled away for at least 15 minutes as it creamed raw almonds, molasses, maple syrup, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt.
But it just wasn’t happening.
Every two minutes Kath and I would get all excited that the butter stage was finally upon us but no such luck. The mixture remained cookie-doughlike. So I added a bitty bit of light olive oil (the only oil I had on hand). Nope. A little bit more olive oil. Still resembles cookie-dough, a greasy cookie dough!
Maybe I needed to push past that point but I was bored and gave up. It’s kind of tasty…for greasy cookie dough. I should have trusted Ashley and followed directions!
Back to breakfast.
Steel Cut Oats topped with nutmeg, cinnamon, a few globs of the almond dough, and almond milk.
Loved the texture of the oats but it got a little watery with the almond milk. Next time I am thinking of going savory, like grits, and topping it with a fried egg. Maybe next Sunday!
We woke up to a dusting of snow and a blue sky! Unfortunately, the snow is nearly melted and the sky is clouding over. 🙁
The plan for today is a workout, some housework, and studying.
My first week of MISSION: Balance (or Work.It.Out, as I have started referring to it) went fantastically! It was a great week of exercise, just the right amount and variety! To finish off the week I will do 10 minutes of Pilates, 20 minutes of strength training, and a run (4 miles probably) today.
I am still a little sore from BodyPump on Friday! My pecs were SO SORE yesterday from all those chest presses and pushups! I guess I need to do more of these exercises in my regular workouts. The thighs and glutes were just a little tender but yesterdays walks and yoga helped loosen them up. Today I am ready to run!
Do you get sore from your regular strength training? Do you like being sore (as a reminder of the work you did)?
I made Ashely Pumpkin Spiced Almond Butter too. It tastes amazing, although I did mine in the VitaMix and it’s definitely not as smooth as store bought almond butters nor does it melt on hot oats (not sure why that is).
I like to be a little sore after strength training, but not to the point where I can’t sit down or walk. haha
I was a little nervous about burning out my food processor so I probably under-processed it. The VitaMix might be better equipped to handle all those nuts!
I just have to tell you, I cannot wait to make your Plum Crumb. It’s on my list of “things to bake first” after finals are over and I’m home for break 🙂
Love it! The spring form pan made it look pretty but it didn’t cut very well, you may want to use a baking dish instead. Or individual custard style dishes would work smashingly!
just made almond butter too!
olive oil = cook dough.
coconut oil = genius
🙂 good luck!
Is it an emulsification issue? Thanks for the tip!
Aw, sorry the nut butter didn’t work out for you. Nuts butters are super finicky!! I’ve roasted the nuts w/maple before and then added the other ingredients like cinnamon/vanilla/salt all at once. That will also give you the nasty cookie dough nut butter. You have to roast the nuts, then butterize it, then add the other ingredients, then butterize again…haha…quite the process! 😉 I’ve never used the Vita-Mix for nut butter but haven’t heard the best results. Hope it works better next time!
I should have followed your recipe! The mistake I made must have been adding the syrup too soon. Your butters look AMAZING and I’ve heard from a nut butter expert that they are delicious. I’ll give it another try and follow your expert instructions to a T!
P.s I have plans for the almond dough and it involves rum so no worries 😉