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Greetings beautiful Hive souls! Another fantastic day is upon us and it just got better through a lovely cup of chai tea paired with a matcha granola breakfast bar that just came out of the oven.

Though it should be the rainy season in Cambodia, we are treated to yet another sunny, dry day. While enjoying my morning cup of tea on the terrace and soaking up some sunshine vitamins, many parts of the country are flooded as we speak. So my heart and thoughts go out to all those people. I hope everybody is safe and not too much damage has been done.

The past few weeks have been very busy again. We are preparing to welcome our friend in a few weeks. Instead of the three of us moving to Portugal while planning our move to South America we have decided to stay in Cambodia for another year or two.

We made this decision as South America, especially the regions we wanted to move to, is struggling with violence and political unrest at the moment. So for now, this is not the best place to be even though the three of us have been dreaming about buying a piece of land in the Ecuadorian Andes mountains to start our off-grid adventure.

Due to the instability, earlier this year we decided to move to Portugal to have a home close to family and explore South America to find a beautiful and safe place in the Andes to build our new life.

But yet again we have to put our plans on hold as Europe has been weird too these days… That’s why we decided to stay a little long in Cambodia. We’ve got a good thing going on here. The bakery is doing extremely well and my husband is super busy working as a freelancer from the house.

So instead of burning through a lot of the money we just saved to build out our dream, we decided to save a little more and stay here a little longer. The friend we were going to start this new adventure with happens to be a baker too so he will be joining our team in a few weeks, taking the bakery to the next level. Not sure what this means yet… maybe a second location is in the making… we’ll see!

That’s what has been happening in our life the past few weeks. What have you all been up to? Let’s catch up over another cup of tea and granola bar, shall we?

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HOMEMADE MATCHA GRANOLA BARS 🍵

What the heck is matcha powder and why should I add it to my granola bars more often?

Matcha is finely ground powder of shade-grown and specially processed green tea leaves. Thanks to using the whole leaf and the grinding process, matcha green tea delivers ten times the amount of antioxidants than your usual cup of green tea.

Don't overdo the amount of powder or you will end up with something that tastes rather bitter and disgusting. When added in the right amount, however, it gives these bars a rather, lovely green taste.

Plus, it's so good for you. Eating or drinking matcha daily can have a positive impact on your energy levels and overall health.

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INGREDIENTS (MAKES 12-15 BARS)

2¼ cups mixed raw nuts, I used a mix of almonds, cashews, and walnuts
⅓ cup raw pumpkin seeds
⅓ cup raw sunflower seeds
1½ tbsp poppy seeds
¼ cup maple syrup
¼ cup desiccated coconut
1 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil
1-1½ tbsp matcha powder
Pinch of Himalayan pink salt

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DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 160C or 320F. Line a baking pan with baking paper.

Roughly chop up the nuts. Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Mix well until all nuts and seeds are evenly coated with the maple syrup.

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Press the mixture firmly into the baking pan.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Our until nicely browned. Allow to cool completely before taking it out of the pan and cutting it up into bars. While it cools down the bars will harden.

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