No Fancy Shmancy [Recipe: Churro Balls]

I’m afraid this is going to have to be a short and quick update. Almost as quick as it takes to bring random nondescript pantry ingredients together to become what is possibly the easiest fix for a peckish tummy with only so much time to spare while her little one catches her (cat)nap. In fact, it took such a short time to bring these from stove to plate that I was convinced enough to do a repeat act the very next afternoon. In my defence though, I had some leftover cinnamon sugar from the first day, and my momma taught me never to waste a delicious thing food. Another thing she taught me? The best things in life never had a need to be fancy shmancy; so whilst the purist in you can grab the piping bag and have pretty long churros, the rest of us can easily enjoy the same crispy-on-the-outside-chewy-on-the-inside churros in a simpler, no-fuss, pop-in-your-mouth way.

one of those days [Recipe: Strawberry & Nutella Stuffed French Toast]

Have you had one of those days when you feel like it’s absolutely imperative to start the day on a sweet note, but a nondescript french toast dusted prettily with powdered sugar just simply won’t cut it? Yet at the same time, a voice;- Skinny Conscience, I believe his name was;- tells you no one gets away with having chocolate for breakfast, without having judgmental peering eyes, and the inevitable guilt to last till lunch time. And then you wonder who to listen to; the enticing sweet palate you had found yourself waking up with, or the aforementioned nagging voice raining on your sweet parade.

And then, an a-ha light bulb moment: well, it isn’t technically considered having bad, over-the-top decadent chocolate for breakfast, if it involves some sort of fruit, does it?

Let’s just say I had one of those days, and I don’t know if it was the half-baked reasoning I had conjured, or simply because these stuffed french toasts were that good, but guilt was the furthest from my mind. In fact, just between you and me, I’m already looking forward to the next time I welcome a day-old bread. Thick crusty bread enveloping juicy tangy strawberries, perfectly juxtaposed with occasional bursts of sweet melted chocolate-hazelnut spread;- if that’s not tantalising enough for you, I really don’t want to know.

Starting the Day Right [Recipe: Apple-Banana Oat Smoothie]

These days I find myself reaching out for a smoothie almost every other day, albeit not consciously for health reasons as it is for the sheer convenience of it all. My mornings are usually rushed, so when I do find the time to make myself breakfast, or brunch more likely, I try to fix something quick and filling that will tide me over till after lunch hour. While pancake breakfasts are still my favourite, there are days when a perk-me-up needs to come in five minutes or less, and that’s where smoothies come in.

My first homemade smoothie was a blueberry-yoghurt, whizzed in a spur amidst whines of the heatiness and humidity the pregnant me felt one late afternoon. I remember watching the mister try to lick the bottom of his paper cup, and thinking to myself, how could I not have made smoothies sooner! And from then on, as they say, the rest is history. In my case, history involved transitioning to frozen bananas (in place of ice cubes), adding organic rolled oats (for thickener and galactagogue), and enjoying green smoothies (with spinach) once a week.

There really is no need for a recipe actually, but I just thought I’d share one of the easiest smoothies I love. No yoghurt, no additional sugar; just the delicious natural sweetness of fruits, coupled with the creaminess of rolled oats to set you off on a great start to your day.