Greetings beautiful Hive people. Another month has passed by quickly. How do you all manage to be so active on Hive? I just don't seem to find the time for it.

Owning a business seems to take up a lot of my time. Though I have had my bakery for a while now, over the past few years we have grown so much and are now thinking of getting another mobile truck operational. So it doesn't seem like my life is going to get any quieter.

For the millionth time in Cambodia, we are also again forced to find a new home. My neighbor is building a birdhouse for birdnest production on his roof! We all can’t believe he is doing this as this is a quiet residential area. But this being in Cambodia, there are no laws and he doesn’t seem to give a fuck.

Luckily it’s not my house so I can just move on, though I really don’t look forward to moving again. I love our house and had hoped that we could stay here until we moved to Portugal. That might happen next year if my hubby finds us a nice property. He is planning to go to Portugal in March or April to look for a niece piece of land or renovation project for us to buy.

Although we are still dreaming about going to South America, we decided to do a few years in Portugal to live a little closer to the family and spend more time with them as our parents are getting older. Family is important and we have been living in SE Asia for over nine years now. Though part of me doesn’t want to leave, nine years has been enough. Time for something new.

But let’s talk food…

HOMEMADE GLUTEN-FREE BUCKWHEAT BREAD

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Though all the bread that we sell in our bakery is vegan, none of it is gluten-free as gluten-free flour is super expensive in Cambodia. Although there is a huge community interested in gluten-free products, no one wants to pay close to $5 for a loaf. And that's about the price we're looking at when we want to make it commercially viable.

If you've been following my posts for a while, you might remember that my husband has an autoimmune disease and that gluten and dairy are a big no-no for him. So while I sometimes sneak smashed avocado rye toast into my diet at work, I don't take any of the bread home.

But since my husband loves bread as much as I do, I started making buckwheat bread at home. It’s super easy to make and we have come to really love the flavor of buckwheat bread.

INGREDIENTS (MAKES ONE LOAF)

450 g or 16 oz buckwheat flour
10.5 fl.oz or 350 ml water, lukewarm
2 Tbsp oil (any kind of neutral-tasting oil)
2 tsp dried yeast
2 tsp raw cane sugar
1 tsp Himalayan pink salt or sea salt
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 chia eggs (1 egg= 1tbsp of chia seeds + 3 tbsp water)

Directions

I live in the tropics so there is no need for me to activate the easy. If however, you live in a cold climate you can activate the yeast by adding the lukewarm water, yeast, and sugar to a bowl. Mix well and let sit for 5-10 minutes.

Make the chia eggs by mixing 2 tbsps chia seeds with 6 tbsps of water. Let it sit for a few minutes. Then add the oil and mix again.

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In a mixing bowl, add the flour and the salt.

In another bowl add the water, yeast, and sugar. Mix well. Then add the apple cider vinegar and mix again.

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Add the chia egg and the water yeast mixture to the flour and mix well until you have a thick sticky batter.

Pour into a pre-oiled mold. Cover with a towel or bag and let it proof for 1-2 hours or until doubled in size. Proofing time will depend on the climate you live in.

FYI: before proofing you can sprinkle seeds on top. I usually don't do this as it interferes with proofing. Since buckwheat has no gluten it is already difficult to double it in size, adding seeds creates even more resistance and your bread might not proof well enough. A solution to make it more fluffy and for better proofing is adding psyllium husk, but I haven't found this yet in Cambodia.