OVERNIGHT OATS

For an extended while, our plan for August was to require care of our front room . We planned to strip the wallpaper off the walls, take apart the uber ugly inbuilt cupboards, patch and paint the walls and therefore the woodwork and have the first wooden floors, that we were lucky to seek out under a horrible carpet, restored by professionals. But as we talked about doing all that we suddenly realised that what we actually want to try to to also is have a touch more of an open space living arrangement downstairs.


To achieve that we need to partially knock down the load-bearing (unfortunately) wall between the living room and the kitchen diner and the only logical time to do that is now, before we spend hours redecorating our foresaken (it has not been touched in 25 years apparently so you can imagine how bad it is) living room.

So it’s back to the drawing board for us – we will have to watch Netflix on my computer while sitting on two deckchairs in the middle of the living room for a little longer than initially anticipated. It sucks, but we think it will be worth it in the long run.

I am currently on a mission to find an experienced and reliable builder to carry out the works and a nice internal door that will dictate the extent of our demolition. We also need to move a radiator on each side of the wall into a new position to accommodate the new door, so it will be a bit of an upheaval, but it’s now or never and we are ready to get our teeth into it. Hopefully we'll have a mostly finished front room in time for Christmas – fingers crossed.

This is probably the simplest ‘recipe’ that you have ever seen me do, but this is genuinely what I have been having for breakfast all summer, ever since it became too consider cook porridge, so i assumed i might share. What i really like about this recipe isn't only how cooling and nourishing it's , but also how quick and straightforward it's to place together, how portable it is and how there are no stubbornly dirty pots to wash up afterwards.

INGREDIENTS

• 60 g / 2/3 cup jumbo* rolled oats (GF certified if needed)
• 8 g / 1½ tbsp ground chia seeds (1 tbsp whole)
• 240 ml / 1 cup almond milk
• ½ tsp cinnamon (optional)
• maple syrup, to taste (optional)
• approx. 150 g / 5¼ oz summer fruit, per portion

METHOD

1. The night before (or at least a few hours before), combine oats, chia seeds and almond milk in a bowl. Mix well to combine and place in the fridge overnight to thicken.
2. Give the bowl a good stir. Divide between 2 bowls if making two portions.
3. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sweeten with syrup if desired.
4. Top with fruit and consume.