Quick Blueberry Coconut Oatmeal with Toasted Almonds

I absolutely love oatmeal and am convinced that I will probably be eating it every morning even when I am 80. The possibilities with it are endless, and it almost ranks up there with dark chocolate and freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. That’s pretty high.

Every so often, I get the urge to play around with my oats, and lately I have been loving this combo. I used quick oats for this recipe, simply because of a time crunch (I usually prefer old fashioned oats), but any oat will do. The coconut oil in it makes this breakfast extra creamy, the blueberries and cinnamon give it a perfect sweetness while the toasted almonds up the texture and just make it feel plain fancy.

Here’s what you need:

1/2 cup of oats (quick or old fashioned)

1/2 cup of unsweetened almond milk (or liquid of your choice)

1/4 cup frozen blueberries

1 heaping tsp unrefined coconut oil

1/8 cup almond slivers

cinnamon to your liking

Beging by toasting the slivered almonds. Pour into a dry saucepan and toast on medium heat for about 7-8 minutes or until slightly browned. Stir often and don’t burn (ick!)

When the almonds have been toasted, prepare the oats by placing them in a microwave safe bowl. Cover with unsweetened almond milk, or liquid of your choice, then top with frozen blueberries. Place in microwave and cook according to the directions on the oatmeal container. This is usually between 1:30-2:30 minutes.

Remove from microwave and stir in the coconut oil, almonds, and cinnamon (to your liking), which for me, is a ridiculous amount. Ridiculous.

Then you are ready to go! A perfect breakfast, if you ask me. How do you fancy up your oats?

–Ashley

Weekend Happenings

Oops. This is definitely a day late. Too much painting and grocery shopping going on yesterday.

But it was definitely a good weekend.

My new favorite night time treat-dark chocolate and the best coffee ever//Painting the living room-we are knocking the house out, people-if you are looking for a true light grey go with Sherwin Williams Repose Grey. Looked at roughly 104,398 greys, and this one is the best ever!//Yardsale Saturdays with some great girls-plan on spray painting that beautiful $1 lamp//The best bunless burger in the history of bunless burgers//Weekend workouts-for the past few weeks, Nate and I have been trying a new “team workout” every Saturday-great way to change things up a bit and sweat my booty off.

Hope your weekend was wonderful! –Ashley

 

DIY Easy Wedding Box

We are still currently in the process of moving into our house. A slow process it is, and sometimes I can’t believe the amount of things we have. So much so, that I find myself feeling a wee bit overwhelmed at times.

The need to simplify is real, people. I want to condense, donate, and live simply.

While rummaging through boxes, I was noticing that things from our wedding kept popping up here and there, all at random, no organization to them whatsoever. These are things that are precious to me and that I would like to keep with me for a long, long time. Just like the hubs, who I gladly remind every so often the exciting fact that we get to be together forever. Yay for him! (JUST KIDDING, yay for us!)

Anyways, I figured I would just hop on over to the nearest craft store and stock up on a few supplies that would help me achieve this goal. After a quick 20 minutes of fun craft time, a pretty little wedding box was born, and I couldn’t be happier!

Supplies:

Metallic Gold Paint

White Photo Box

Circular Sponge

 

You should totally make one! Or make one for your friend! Tis’ wedding season, and I am sure said friend would love it!

Either way, it is a fun way to spend an afternoon if you have some crafting energy that needs to break free. Have fun!

–Ashley

Oh and if you happen to be eyeing that adorable wedding invitation, you should check out this site. One of my best friends, Jill, is super, crazy talented and designs a whole lot of awesome goodies. You should check her out! :)

Aunt Life

Life has been full of a lot of good things lately. It’s been keeping us busy, that’s for sure. But the best thing that has happened over the past week and a half, is that we became Aunt and Uncle, and my wonderful SIL and BIL (who I am just so proud of) became the best parents to the sweetest baby boy.

On Saturday, we were able to take a trip to go visit them and get in a few hours of quality snuggle time. It was the best feeling, and I loved staring at that sleepy little face the whole time. And then Nathan held that baby.

Heart melt. Heart overload. Heart everything.

It is one of the coolest feelings, being an aunt.  I am so excited not only to love on that baby throughout the years but to help guide him to know more about Jesus.

He’s awesome, and has definitely made life brighter :)

Thankfully, life is about to slow down again (which makes me want to raise the roof), so I am pretty pumped to be back on here doing my bloggy-thing.

I hope y’all are doing great, and have a wonderful wednesday!

–Ashley

Recently Loved Pins.

Pinterest has easily made it’s way into my nightly-wind-down routine, and since we’ve bought this house, my pinterest use has sky-rocketed. I am sure you all can relate. It is a gold mine of good ideas, and this is what I am currently loving.

This gallery wall from live creating yourself

A list of 7 non-toxic plants for your home, from a beautiful mess.

These delicious croissants with proscuitto and gruyere, from alexandra cooks.

This black bathroom from design sponge.

Creamy asparagus, walnut and lemon pasta from Food52.

These good words from take a moment and smile.

Hope you have a wonderful Wednesday! Nathan left to go on a business trip today :( But thankfully, my mom is coming into town to stay with me, so it should be a really good girls week! I may be taking a day or two off from the blog to be with her, but I will see you soon!

–Ashley

Summertime To-Do List

So, yesterday I came across a fun Summer To-Do List on this lovely blog, and just had to do one of my own. I dream about summer all year round, thinking of what I want to bake, make and do once the silly cold decides to high tail it’s way out of Memphis. Not much of a winter fan, here. I would much rather spend my days running around barefoot.

That being said, I am also a big to-do list fan. Cross it out, check it off, and it feels so good. So, let’s combine the two, shall we?

1. Get plugged in, in Memphis. aka: volunteer

2. Bake a pie from scratch. Like this one.

3. Try out some freelance writing

4. Go to the beach often. very often.

5. Get a J.O.B. Finally feeling settled from being back from Switzerland. Now it’s time to do work.

6. Read some good books. One Thousands Gifts and Seven are on the list. More suggestions, please!

7. Play tennis again. The one sport that my husband and I are evenly matched (thank goodness!)

8. A tan is always welcome

9. The house. Yes, the whole house is on the to-do list. furnish, paint and beautify.

10. Sign up for another mud run. We do one every year, and they are a blast!

11. Host a cookout

12. Make these berry s’mores pronto. I mean, look at them!

What’s on your summer to-do list?

Have an awesome day!! –Ashley

 

 

 

Homemade Whole Wheat Tortillas

Usually on Mondays, I love to dig into what we did on the weekend. Those are actually my favorite types of posts to write. Ones that document our day to day, where even the smallest, simplest memories become special. But sometimes I feel the need to put down the camera, and be more in the moment, you know?

That’s what this weekend called for. Nathan and I both needed a weekend of rest, and rest is what we got. We ran some errands, did a killer team workout on Saturday (not really rest, I know, but still so good), spent time at the pool and watched some NBA finals. I love that guy. It was an awesome weekend.

Last night, though, I decided to throw on my apron and make some whole wheat tortillas to go with a dinner that I am taking to a couple and their sweet new baby, tonight. Oh, baby snuggles.

I have made these tortillas twice, and they are simply the best. SUPER easy and quick to make. Good for you. And durable….meaning that all your burrito/fajita goodness doesn’t fall out everywhere as you try and take a bite. That’s the worst.

They are just perfect, and I think you’d really like them!

source

3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

3/4 cup whole-wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup oil (grape seed oil, canola oil). I used melted coconut oil.

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons boiling water

In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder and salt. Then add the oil and mix with hands until well-dispersed throughout the flour mixture.

Add boiling water and continue to knead until water is incorporated. The dough will be slightly wet and soft. 

Cover with plastic wrap and allow to sit for 30 minutes- 1 hour.

When the time is up, break apart dough and form 1 1/4 inch balls. You should be able to make 8-10.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Lightly flour a surface and roll each ball into a flat tortilla using a 6 inch rolling pin if you have one. //the tortillas may not be perfect circles, if they are, I am really impressed!//

Transfer your first tortilla to the hot skillet. Let sit until bubbles start to form. Then flip. When bubbles form on that side, remove from skillet, transfer to plate, and cover with a tea towel. Repeat until there is no more dough :)

Serve hot. Or refrigerate up to one week in an air-tight container or ziplock bag. Or freeze. Lots of options.

So, there you go. Homemade tortillas! Easy peasy. –Ashley

Making Me Smile.

a bowl full of melon. hello summer.

snacks and brainstorms.

some father-son bonding.

flashy gold nails.

baking in our new kitchen.

job interviews.

shirt- Target//skirt- Forever 21 from last year//belt- Forever 21 way back when.

It’s been a really great week. A lot going on, and a lot accomplished. And now for a few days of a lot of rest. Have a wonderful weekend!–Ashley

A Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie

This week we’ve had a few fun things happening. One, our nephew will be coming soon!! yay!! Two, a good friend came in yesterday to stay with us from out of town, and three, we are pretty much done with painting the kitchen cabinets! (holla!) No more plastic wrap, a fridge in the middle of our kitchen, or painting awkward cabinet corners. We are ELATED. 

With so much goodness, I thought chocolate chip cookies were in order. And lucky me, I stumbled across the greatest recipe. I am convinced that these are the best chocolate chip cookies ever. Bakery worthy, even.  Big, soft, chewy, chocalatey, with a slight crisp on the outside. Everything a cookie was made to be. And oh my gosh, I ate like 13 of them. Baking went something like make a dough ball, eat a dough ball, make a dough ball, eat that dough ball.

Plus, they were really simple!

From Smitten Kitchen

2 cups white/all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325.

In a medium size bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt.

In a larger bowl, beat melted butter and sugars until well mixed. Add in the vanilla and eggs and continue to beat until it forms a creamy mixture.

Mix in the dry ingredients until well combined. Then, with a wooden spoon, stir in the chocolate chips.

Drop cookie dough on a well-greased cookie sheet, keeping a few inches in between each.

Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Remove from cookie sheet and allow to cool (or break one on “accident” and eat it because you can’t have a broken cookie…)

 

Pour yourself a big glass of milk, and enjoy! So, so good.

–Ashley

Online Shopping//Favorite Purchases

I am really not much of an online shopper. Nor am I much of a mall shopper. I am though, what most people call a Target shopper. And that about sums me up.

However, lately I had been hearing about some awesome online companies that offered not only eye-catching pieces, but well-made and durable pieces. After spending some time browsing their websites, I bit the dust and ordered my first (I think?!) online clothing purchase from a store called Sevenly!

Muscle Tank //Necklace from H&M a long, long time ago

This tank top has quickly become one of my faves. The minty color is so pretty and the material that they used is the softest. I could live in it every day and be a happy camper. Not to mention, the company itself is such a great one! They have new items in the shop every week that correspond with the charity they will be giving to that week. $ 7.00 of your purchase goes to that charity. It’s basically a win-win. Cute clothes and good cause.

Another brand I have been really impressed with is Everlane.

 

weekender bag// men’s white v-neck

Nathan had been wanting a good weekend bag for awhile now. He will be going on a good number of business trips this year, so it was time to say buh-bye to that gym/weekend bag and upgrade to something a little bit (or alotta bit) cooler. He found this bag on Everlane, at a pretty affordable price, I’d say, and got it for his birthday not too long after. The bag itself is made from thick canvas material, and extremely durable. The leather straps are my favorite part. I also ordered him one of their v-neck tees on a whim, and he loved it! Fit him perfectly and great quality. Pretty sure he had a good birthday.

So many awesome things from these stores. I love a good find, and these are two very good ones :) Happy shopping!

-Ashley

 

//this was not an ad, just my own personal opinion on some really great products//