Me: Do you want to do something crazy?
Husband: I think we’re too old for crazy. But sure.
Me: Want to make popcorn and stay up late and watch a whole movie?
Husband: Or how about we make popcorn, scroll the movies for 20 minutes while we eat our snack, not agree on anything, then we realize our snack is done, and we go to bed.

He knows us too well and we were in bed by 8:30.

For all the freedom we have during this isolation with no set schedule and no outside responsibilities, we sure don’t take advantage.

We are officially adults. We see the value in sleep and we take all we can.

And I’m totally okay with that.

My very first program has just finished and it was all about healthy habits and healthy eating. It was so wonderful to be able to share our knowledge with others! I really truly want to run another program soon. Connecting with others about something I’m so passionate about made me feel like “YES. THIS IS WHAT I’M MEANT TO DO.”

One of my favourite self-care actions has and always will be sleep. It will always take top priority for me.

What’s your favourite form of self-care? I endlessly love to learn about what makes others tick.

I also, of course, love to hike. I have been loving all of this family hiking time!

And so has this guy.

One of the other things that my family has been loving is all the new recipes that I’ve been toying around with.

I want to share with you one of their favourites from my program.

It’s pretty amazing in these still chilly mornings.

It does take an hour to bake, so I suggest getting at it as soon as you wake and then having raw fruit to break your fast while you wait. Which is an amazing way to wake your body anyways.

It’s a definite hit with the tiniest tiny.

Baked Lemon Berry Oatmeal Pie Serves 4

1 tbsp ground flaxseed
3 tbsps water

1 cup almond milk
Juice of half a lemon (about 2 tbsps) (zest the lemon first before juicing!)
1 tsp vanilla
¼ cup coconut oil, melted

½ cup unsweetened applesauce
2 tsps baking powder

1 ¾ cups oat flour*
½ cup teff flour**
Zest of two lemons
Pinch of salt

2 cups frozen mixed berries
Honey, for serving

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven the 350F. Grease a 12-inch glass pie pan or an 8x8 baking dish. I use coconut oil.
2. Mix the flax and water in a small bowl and set aside.
3. Mix the almond milk, lemon juice, vanilla, and coconut oil in another bowl and set aside.
4. Mix the applesauce and baking powder in another bowl (hopefully you aren’t running out of bowls at this point) and set aside.
5. Mix the flours, lemon zest, and salt together in a large bowl. Make a well and add in all the other ingredients, including the berries, working quickly to try to retain some bubbles in the applesauce.
6. Dump the mixture into pie pan and smooth flat.
7. Bake for about an hour until the sides start to brown and the top is cracking.
8. Slice into pieces, drizzle on honey, if you desire, and enjoy warm while discussing the places you want to travel to in your wildest dreams.

Note

The texture of this is soft. Think gooey rich brownie with bites of berry seeds. If you wanted extra texture, you could keep half a cup of oats un-ground and mix those in.

*You could definitely purchase oat flour, but to make your own in a blender is super simple and much cheaper. Just blend as much oats as you need flour. 1 cup whole=1 cup ground.
** If you don’t have teff flour, you could just add half a cup extra oat flour. But do try to source it (I have found it in the natural foods aisles of both Superstore and Save-On) —it really adds to the tangy flavour of the pie and then, hey, you have another grain in your cooking repertoire!

This is heavenly. I was forced to make it two mornings in a row by my family.

I hope you all enjoy this. We definitely do!

Now we’re off to go exploring. These spring mornings in the new-day sunlight are amazing.

I hope you are all able to find beauty in your day— it’s there for the taking when you look for it <3