Super Moist Banana Nut Loaf

Let's start with a little note before we preheat our oven for this one - Where in the world have I been all this while? Well, to cut things short, I had been to you-seriously-cannot-be-this-lazy kind of a town. Yeah, so let me be brutally honest and agree with you if you think I've become so hopelessly tardy with my food blog. But, I still am trying to revive it and in that attempt I do hope to keep you entertained, engaged and satisfied with whatever little I share every now and then.

Now jumping into the Super Moist Banana Nut Loaf here...

Let me give you some time to jump in.

Done jumping?

This was my first baking adventure after a really, really long break of almost two and half years. And, then I took really, really long to post it, too. Good heavens, I made this sometime in summer and am posting it here in winter. But, well at least I am posting it, after all!

So yes, I made this one day to satisfy my sweet tooth and to serve up to a couple of relatives who dropped by for tea one evening. Ripe bananas come together in the oven with toasted nuts into a delicious, aromatic experience you too can feel, just after one bite into this loaf!

Cupcake Mania | Buttercream Frosting Recipe and Icing 101

There's really nothing much to be said on this post. I made this for a couple of close friends when we all met up at a new vacation home in the Poconos, that one of them had bought.

It was celebration time, so cupcakes were the perfect answer.

I baked over 3 dozen egg-less cupcakes. One batch of plain vanilla, one of vanilla with chocolate chips and one of good ol' chocolate. I then made blue, white and brown buttercream frosting and decorated them.

Here's the super simple recipe to the best and most popular frosting on this planet!

Buttercream Frosting Recipe


Ingredients
1 Cup Unsalted Butter/Vegetable Shortening, at room temperature
4 Cups Confectioner's Sugar, sifted
1 tsp. Vanilla Essence (Or any other flavour that you want to use, like almond, pineapple etc.)
2 - 4 tbsp milk (Or more depending on the consistency of icing you want in the end)

Other
Icing Colours (optional; as desired)
Electric Hand Mixer (Using a whisk would just take you much, much longer)

Icing Notes

1. Using Vegetable Shortening in place of butter will ensure you have pure white buttercream frosting

2. In order to make dark brown/chocolate colored frosting you will need to substitute one cup of sugar with cocoa powder. If it turns out too thin, add more sugar since sugar stiffens icing.

Method
- Place vegetable shortening/ unsalted butter and vanilla essence in a large bowl
- Add sugar about half cup at a time and mix using the hand mixer/whisk until all the sugar is well blended
- Add milk, one teaspoonful at a time to thin the icing to desired texture and mix well
- At this point the buttercream frosting is ready and you can colour it with desired icing colours

Icing Texture Guide
a) Very Stiff/Minimal Milk usage -This type of icing takes effort to spread because of its extreme thickness. It is best for icing flowers and decorations that need to hold their shape
b) Medium Consistency - This type of icing spreads when pressure is applied but still holds shape. It is best for cake borders and icing patterns
c) Thin Consistency - This type of icing spreads very easily and is perfect to cover cakes

Adding Colour to Icing
- Icing colour comes in the form of gel. If you plan on using liquid food colouring, remember that the liquid can thin out the consistency of your buttercream icing.

- Use toothpicks to pick colour from the icing gel tub and then dip into the buttercream icing. Mix in the colour using a rubber spatula.

- If you need to add more colour, always use a new toothpick to pick the icing colour gel

I hope you found all this information helpful. I am no professional at this stuff, but all this is based on what I've read, learnt and experimented with.

And, to end this post I'd like to share a picture that I personally love the most, even with some flaws in the frosting/frosting technique.

Drool on!

Kodbale | Savory Rice Flour Rings

I've been missing in action, I know. No wonder they call it the holidays out here. Diwali followed by Thanksgiving, I've been doing nothing but cook, eat and repeat!

Do you have memories associated with food? I do. Especially with kodbales. I'm in awe of all those tiny shops in India that churn out these kind of fried snacks, pack them in cellophane bags and sell them. They put a tiny white placard with the name of their store in tiny-er letters, along with details like the price and weight - all the ink smudged and oh-so-soggy with oil after having been snugly wrapped in along with the fried goodies. These little things were'nt fancy like well packaged, loudly colored snack boxes we get today, but they certainly made many memories. As a part of a after-school snack, or just something to much along on holidays,movies or picnics, they were always a hit.

I've tried recreating kodbales at home and this recipe works like a charm always. I made these during Diwali, as a part of the festive spread offered to Goddess Lakshmi. Ever since we got to the US, this has indeed been a mandatory snack because of its easy, although slightly time consuming, preparation.

I think this recipe is good enough, but somehow they did not turn up as crunchy as I intended them to be - Just about 95% there. Any suggestions are most welcome.

Creamy Mushroom Farfalle with Steamed Veggies

Ever come across a moment in life that changes the way you see a certain thing, person or sometimes even a situation? Among other larger such 'moments-of-change', to me is hidden this one moment that revolutionized the way I saw a little button of a thing - Mushroom. And, such was the theme for last month's Free-Spirit Bloggers. It was chosen by none other than Anupama of Love and Lentils. 

Anupama challenged us to pick out a food/ingredient that we steer clear of. Something we've never liked as a child or even as a grown up and cook with it. Not to forget she asked us to have fun doing so. Here's my story keeping in mind this wonderfully challenging theme.

It would seem normal for a pure vegetarian to state he or she did not like mushrooms because of its taste and texture. But for me, being a meat-eater did nothing towards how I saw mushrooms until very recently. I must thank my very close pal, V, for introducing me to this way of cooking mushrooms. V found this recipe in some cookbook, apparently. Now, there's almost nothing to hate and everything to love when I think of mushrooms.

I love pasta, but I never for once imagined it would gain a new dimension of taste when you throw is a dash (or more, ahem!) of cream and mushrooms. I was so in love with it the day I ate it and now, I make it for lunch at least once a week (cutting back on the cream of course!). I must add my son loves this as much as I do. So, all you moms looking for a fresh new perspective on pasta - This is IT!

What's even more awesome is that you can club this with a side of fresh steamed veggies and voila what do you have? Creamy Mushroom Farfalle with Steamed Veggies!!

Pasta leaves me stumped when it comes to showing off its ability to adapt and absorb any flavour you toss it in. And this recipe is a winner, hands down. In fact, if you love mushrooms, but not pasta you GOTTA TRY THIS. You will come back to me and thank me, telling me this was your 'moment-of-change'.

Baked Coconut Bites - Modak Makeover (Egg-less)

To say Lord Ganeshji is the most adaptable would be an understatement. He's been disguised into so many avatars by us humans every year when Ganesh Chaturti comes along. Ambedkar Ganapati, Cycle Ganapati, Computer Ganapati... I mean seriously?! God really has patience with us humans for all the antics we show him.

With all that said, every year, we all serve him with the one thing that's considered his favourite food - Modak. I personally love modaks, too. I made them for Ganesh Chaturti (and forgot to click pics to post it here, but will make it for you all again soon!) and they were over in the blink of an eye even with a minor glitch in them.

But here's what happened. I ended up having extra Modak filling. Plus, like I mentioned earlier about the slight mistake I'd done - I had used shredded dry coconut instead of grated dry coconut and my filling turned out to be very dry. Still, I'd say the modaks tasted good because the jaggery/gud melted when the modaks were steamed.

So, what do you do when you have left-over Modak filling? Of course, eating it up as is can be one idea. But, how about transforming it into something else? Like these crunchy baked coconut bites?

Now, we're talking. And, you agree don't ya? These coconut-y bites are so easy to make you could even use your gooey modak filling for the same as well. Just add more flour to aid in binding. I know Ganesh Chaturti was over two weeks ago. But hey, won't you just make that filling again to eat these crunchy munchies??

Hurricane Cupcakes | Egg-less Mocha Cream Chocolate Cupcakes

Did you know a woman named her child Tsunami because he was born when the natural disaster occurred? Well, I know its personal taste, but, really?! I thought it was bordering on absurd. I mean tsunamis are dangerous, to say the least. 

But when hurricane Irene decided to spend the weekend with us not too long ago, I was thinking of things more than dangerous. With hurricane warnings all over town, packed grocery stores, no bottled/packaged water and no flashlights available anywhere, Ms. Irene sure had pressed the run-for-your-life button in all of us along the East Coast.

Now, where was I? Yes, the woman who named her child Tsunami. Well, I did something sorta similar. But, before you get ideas and think I renamed my son 'Irene' and categorize me as a maniac...listen up!

I decided to celebrate that we survived Irene. No power outage, no flooding, no evacuation orders, no broken homes around our area and to top the list we were still alive! Oh yes, go ahead and call me a chicken all you want, but, I was freaked out.

But, we really lucked it out don't you think? And, yes, the oven was still working. So why not bake? I mean you could not go out, no traffic allowed on roads, trees ripped apart, heavy winds, flood warnings and you certainly don't want to see more of the graphic hurricane representation but you do want to eat good food. That's when I whipped up these egg-less mocha cream chocolate cuppies with my friend, DS. We had a great time baking, frosting and eating 'em up.

Need more inspiration than a hurricane to bake these? Try these cupcakes and top them off with Chocolate Ganache (Recipe here), fresh cut strawberries and mint.

Before I proceed to the recipe, I'd like to let you know that this recipe originally belongs to my friend Madhuri Kumar. It's an egg-less, butterless 5 minute chocolate cake made in the microwave. I have lost count of the number of times I've made it.  Need I say more to have you enter your kitchen?

Strawberries and Cream Popsicles

100 posts and 2 years. And, as if that wasn't reason enough to celebrate, I bought myself a Popsicle maker. Pretty obviously, I had to inaugurate it. And, I did. 

May 2010 was when SSTT entered her third year of life. Woot! I never believed I'd come this far with my blog. But, yes I have. Within two years, I've gained a lot more experience in blogging, many more co-blogger friends and certainly learnt so much more in the kitchen. At this moment, I was seriously considering deleting some of my initial posts (my first post being a simple version of Bhel Puri) because they all look so pathetic. Later, it struck me that I'd rather not. It is only when I have those old, badly written, terribly structured and picturized posts (not that I'm very good at pictures even now, but, I'm learning!) that I realize how far I've come in this culinary journey. Of course, thanks to all you readers out there and most certainly to all those of you who go ahead and try the recipes I share with you on SSTT.

Definitely, a little something to celebrate ought to be sweet. With temperatures soaring, all I could think of was a frozen treat. My little sonny enjoyed it to the hilt; I just had to take pictures of him gorging down these strawberries and cream popsicles.

You can even see the little orange bowl in which he loves to keep his munch-ables, whilst eating anything.

Desi Style Savory Whole Wheat Onion Cheddar Muffins

Another one of my original baking experiments that turned out great and ....I can already see the faces light up! I know I've bored you savory food lovers enough with all my cakes and sweet muffins. So, this time I've given you mirch-masala people something to drool about - and, that too, from the oven! Literally killed two birds in one shot here.

To make things better, I've added Indian spices to give these muffins a desi feel without losing out on the wonderful combination of onion and cheddar cheese.

Do you need more reason to try this one? Ok, here's one. Having this bake in your oven makes your home smell like you've made freshly baked bread. Not heard of anyone who loathes this one, eh?

Skillet Toasted Spinach Mushroom Sandwich

The sun is peeking out, the wind is warming up. Spring is in the air...and that's what you're hearing everywhere. So, I won't be repetitive!!

Hah! That was such a mean way to start a post. But, all said and done this season does inspire you to 'get-fresh'(?)! With so much of feeling-good-about-the-day happening, I could not stop myself from dishing out something easy, healthy and filling for lunch. I just put together some spinach and mushrooms with a couple spices in a pan to make a delicious filling and slathered it along-side a wee bit of cheese (just to bind it all together) on a whole wheat flat bread. Voila! Lunch for two, under 20 minutes!

And, who is the two we're talking about? My sonny boy and me of course. This was a hit with him. I added extra cheese on his sandwich because these kids sure know to burn their calories. Fast!

Potato Mozzarella Baskets

There are moments in life when you tend to do the most ridiculously stupid things. And, as I type this post, I am doing just that. You're thinking I am out of my mind saying something so absurd? Oh, well...no, I've not yet got myself that insane. 

But, you would sure consider it insane for a person to sit at half past twelve in the wee hours of the night and start writing a post on her blog, wouldn't you? Why? She wanted to watch the clock step forward by an hour. Who? ME! Yeah, daylight saving starts tomorrow and I wanted to see when exactly this happens. My little boy and the big man of the house counted their sheep and are fast asleep in their beds and here I am having a ball watching the clock. The cable-box clock (which I'm staring at) and all those other automatic clocks in this part of the world would go one hour ahead at a certain point in time tonight... So, I hear myself croon the old Spice Girls number (with a twist in lyrics, though)...."Tonight is the night...When two become(s)...three!" Okay, I really am going bonkers out here. I should probably get to writing what I'm here for.

These little baskets get their inspiration from Nita Mehta's Mushroom and Olive Baskets, which is a recipe I found in one of her books on Baking. They're super easy and fun to entertain kids (and adults, alike). What's the best part? You can get your children to help in making this (and theory has it that they enjoy eating their food once they know they made it). I  can almost hear you saying "Oh we know 'theories' don't we? But...but...but this certainly works. My son enjoyed peeling the potatoes, placing those little coriander pieces to garnish. And yes, he gobbled these down once they were out of the oven. So, get hold of your toddler and get into the kitchen to share some fun times.

Dark Chocolate Ganache Covered Mocha Mousse Pastry

Remember my Oreo Peanut Butter Mousse Dessert that I planned to make for my cousin brother's family? Well, I ditched that whole idea. Not because it was not good, but simply because I decided to make something even more sinful. Even more drool-worthy. I mean, peanut butter is good, but chocolate is excellent! So, I traded the Oreo base for a rich chocolate cake and cut it into layers, doused it in a home-made non-alcoholic coffee liqueur and topped it off with dark chocolate ganache. Before you think it sounds so difficult, take a peek at what it looked like in the end.

This is SO worth every minute you spend making it....you will thank yourself that you tried making something on these lines. This was, quite literally, my first best chocolate cake ever. The recipe is a keeper if you think about making just a chocolate cake/cupcakes. And as for the liqueur, mousse and ganache...they just found their way into my cake and livened it up, like props for a great stage performance!

I urge you to go through the entire recipe and pick up all the ingredients before you start. You dont wnat to be half way through and realize you missed out something. No way! Also, Since this recipe is a bit long drawn I would like to break it up into parts, as below:

1 - Baking the Rich Chocolate Cake Base (Make this a day or two prior to when you want to make the pastry and store in refrigerator)
2 - Method to make non-alcoholic coffee liqueur (This and following two items, to be made on the day that you are ready to make the pastry and assemble it together)
3 - Cake assembly
4 - Method to make mocha mousse
5 - Method to make dark chocolate ganache and cover the assembled cake

Get ready for the joy ride. Just don't get bored half way through, for what you see below, is what awaits you!

Roll those sleeves up. Get in!

Black Forest Cupcakes

What's better than good food and great company? Well, it is pretty simple - Good food, great company and LOTS of chocolate. And, what makes all this even better? Serving all this to a bunch of wide-eyed toddlers eagerly waiting at the door as you walk in with a box of freshly baked and frosted Black Forest Cupcakes. Pure joy, I say! That is precisely what I did for my little sonny S, when he moved from his playschool to prep-school early this September. I know, I know it is over a month now - How in the blue blazes did I not post it so long? Oh well, better late than never, eh?

The kids (and the class teachers) enjoyed this treat. I sure wish you would, too. Go on and make them. These gorgeous babies are only a whisk away!

Kiddie Fruit and Veggie Raita

They say parenting is all about being selfless and getting priceless rewards. In the process of being an incarnation of all these qualities, we end up emptying gallon after gallon of patience. I might sound like a horrible mother saying so, but I would say you must be blessed and lucky if your toddler gobbles down everything you stash on her plate - Veggies and fruit, included!

My sonny boy S is not a fussy eater really (knock on wood!), but just like all you mom's out there I like to go an extra step to make sure he gets his daily dose of fruit and veggies. So, to balance out the patience and nutrition equation I decided why not throw in almost everything I had on hand into his snack bowl with some whole milk yogurt and some chaat masala? Makes for a great side at lunch/dinner time or wonderful simply as a snack! (Talk about getting in that much needed calcium)The crispy texture of the fruit and veggies combined with the smooth notes rendered by the yogurt can tickle even the picky-est of tastebuds for sure.

Make this once and do NOT lie to me about the number of spoons you shoved down your throat before you passed the bowl over to your little one!

Strawberry Shrikhand

This summer saw a lot of mangoes enter our home. Crate after crate, one after the other! And, there's almost no guessing who downed a major portion of the fruit. I ate mangoes as a part of breakfast, lunch, at snack-time, dinner, dessert, cooked, in-the-raw...and just every time I caught the tantalizing aroma of them ripening on my countertop. So, quite obviously bidding adieu to the king of fruit was'nt an easy task.

The one dish that we prepare at home without amiss every summer is Mango Shrikhand or Aamrakhand. This is a wonderful combination of mango puree and sweetened hung yogurt, blended with aromatic spices, saffron and pistachio. It find's its roots in the Indian state of Maharashtra, where this mouth-watering sweet treat is served mostly with puris (puffed-up, deep fried whole wheat dough circles).

As mangoes seem to be slowly vanishing from market stands, I decided to twist things up a bit and make the same dish using the fruit that was still in season - Strawberries! Of course, I skipped the spices and other additions because the berries and their seeds passed on enough flavouring and texture to the hung yogurt all by themselves. Try it out and you will know what I mean.

Oh and yes, I decided to take this to a whole new level with a simple change in the basic recipe. Read up to know more!

Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

Summer's is slowly winding down. Although the humidity has'nt given up, if you take a hard look at the trees outside you cannot miss the random yellow or orange leaf, hushing in autumn. And that, my pal, is enough excuse for me to not turn off the oven!! When you get hooked to baking, this is what happens. All you need is an excuse. Tee hee.

Weather is just one of the umpteen number of factors (read excuses) that automatically make my hand clasp the whisk and the oven mitts. These days it's my toddler! He's begun enjoying muffins after having eaten them at his playschool. Thank God for that...and that too right in time when I bought my new muffin pan, which I inaugurated by baking a batch of Carrot Muffins. This time around I decided I will pack in a punch of anti-oxidant rich blueberries.

The very idea of feeding him something as wholesome as a muffin that's home-made, with whole wheat and fruit, every morning with a cool glass of milk or juice for his breakfast has totally captured me. And, I am sure it sounds interesting to you too, does'nt it?

Oh, and I simply had to throw in those dainty, red raspberries for the picture. They're so photogenic, I tell you...they livened up the frame almost instantly!

Super-soft Low-fat Eggless Whole Wheat Carrot Muffins

Over time, baking (to me) has become both an obsession and therapy. I bake when I am happy. I bake when I am sad. And, sometimes (almost all the time, really) there needs to be no excuse for me to bake. Just the joy of having the wafts of something miraculous happening in my oven gives me a high that I would think no drink could! But, this time around I did have an excuse to bake. I bought a new muffin pan (and why do I feel like a kid confessing he/she secretly bought a new toy? Haha!). Just as you guessed, it did not end at that. I had to use it the very same day...and that's exactly what I did.

These muffins to me are very special. (Bahahaha! I know you're like say something new..who does'nt like muffins?!) Well, I have a solid reason this time around. I've always wanted to master baking. I know I am still thousands of miles away from it, but I sure want to get there - and what a delicious run it is indeed! After I started blogging and associating with so many people who really push the limits to how much you can do, my food-adventurous-side really got all fired up! Everytime I baked (until yesterday), I would take a look at some recipe online at least to make sure I knew my measurements right. But, these muffins happen to be my very FIRST experiment with baking where I have not taken a single peek at anything - online or otherwise. I had my heart in my hand as the oven did its work, and boy, was I happy at the end of it all!!

Now, with all that said, I would be a really stupid person if I do not give credit to Madhuri for having introduced me to just how delicious baked goods can be without eggs. Thanks babe! In this recipe, I've used flax seeds to replace eggs. I still remember discussing the goodness of these seeds with another friend of mine who suggested I could even add them to making chapathis etc. My instant response was, "Chapathis? No WAY! I do not want to waste them like that when you can bake with them!" *devilish grin*. And if you've been an avid follower of SSTT you'd have noticed the Microwave Chocolate Cake (Thanks to Madhuri, all over again!) I had mentioned that I was going to experiment on it. I did just that. I traded the all-purpose flour for whole wheat to keep things as healthy as I could. Also, this time I did not use the microwave and the results with the regular oven, as you can see, were fantastic, too!

I bought the muffin pan yesterday, baked these yesterday, clicked the pics today and posted it out here too! That should tell you just how excited I am about baking. LOL! Okay, let me stop jabbering and give you the recipe, NOW!

Ingredients

3/4 cup Whole Wheat flour
3/4 cup brown sugar (tightly packed)
A pinch of Salt
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp Vanilla extract
3 tsp roasted and fine-ground flax seeds mixed in 1/2 cup warm water (Or two eggs. If you opt to use eggs increase the quantity of the whole wheat flour by a fourth of a cup i.e. 1 cup)
Between 1/3 - 1/2 cup Whole Milk
Between 1/3 - 1/2 cup Cooking Oil (I've used Sunflower)
1/2 Cup grated carrots

Method
- Preheat oven to 350F
- Spray/Oil muffin pan and set aside
- Sift the whole wheat flour into a large bowl
- Add brown sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda and stir well
- Toss in the vanilla extract, oil and whole milk and mix well. This batter will be very thick
- Now, give a slight stir to the flax seeds in the warm water and add them to this batter
- Add grated carrots
- Whisk for about 5 minutes
- Line prepared muffin pan with paper baking cups and pour batter into each, upto about 3/4th of the cup. (I have used a pan that has a 1 3/4 inch (4.5cm) base diameter)
- Bake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes off clean out of the center of a muffin
- Cool completely and serve

Makes 12 'I-want-one-NOW' muffins.

Go ahead and bake them in dozens...then stock 'em up in your fridge. Warm them up for a couple seconds in the morning and you will no excuse to skip breakfast ever again!

Soft Sour Cream Cookies

If you have been following my posts lately, you'd have noticed the Sour Cream And Veggie Dip. Needless to say, I had sour cream left after I prepared this. I wanted to make something different and I could sense the baking ghost haunt me. And much to my interest, one of Food Network's popular chefs made these unique Southern American style of cookies. Not South American, but the southern reagion of the USA is where she hails from. From the past few years of my watching her shows, I've learnt that they have a lot of country style recipes that she shares. I thought I will try my hand at these...and share them with you. They turned out great...and if there was one thing that really intrigued me it was how the cookie would taste once baked. Would it be sour? Would it be sweet? Who knew! I simply baked! Much to my surprise, my little one who normally does not like sweet goodies, enjoyed this one. So, I can assure you it will be a hit with your kids. Go ahead and try it out...

Ingredients

1.5 Cups All purpose flour/Maida

1/3 Cup Sour Cream
1/2 Cup Confectioners Sugar
1/3 Cup Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
1 Egg, lightly beaten
3/4 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt

Method
- Preheat oven to 350F
- Cream together sugar, butter and the egg until fluffy
- Add sour cream, flour, baking powder and salt
- Mix thoroughly to make soft, pliable cookie dough
- Pull out small portions of the dough and make balls of about 1/2 inch in diameter
- Press slightly with the palm of your hands to flatten
- Place on greased cookie sheet and sprinkle sugar on top of cookies before baking
- Bake for about 12 minutes at 350 degrees. Do not overbake as these are supposed to be soft and not browned. Apparently, the cookies will turn out to be hard if overbaked - So keep an eye!

Makes 2 dozen soft cookies

Roasted Oat-Almond Smoothie

Smoothie and Lassi lovers rejoice - for your favourite drink has now scaled new heights.

I happen to love oatmeal. Yogurt finds its way into my daily diet, too. And invariably when we go grocery shopping my eyes do not miss out on the flavoured yogurt and frozen treats section. Key-Lime Pie flavoured yogurt caught my attention at once. It did taste good but had me thinking way beyond just eating flavoured yogurt. So, this luscious drink was born. It is thick and creamy with delicious notes of oats and almonds to make your taste buds dance.

Here's a drink that you can comfortably do a bottom's up without your guilt going up, too!

Ingredients
1/2 Cup Yogurt/Curd (I've used the low-fat variety)
1 tbsp Almonds
2 tbsp Rolled Oats
1 tbsp Sugar (You can opt to use honey or artificial sweetners, too)
2 tbsp Chocolate Syrup (Optional)

Method
- Roast the almonds and oats on a low flame until fragrant
- Blend to a powdery texture
- Whip this roasted oat-almond powder into the yogurt
- Add sugar and whip to a smooth texture
- Pour the chocolate syrup at the base of a glass
- Top with oat-almond smoothie
- Serve chilled

SERVES 1

A healthy drink to start your day if you do not mind skipping the chocolate! And, if you do use chocolate, make sure it is sweet because some syrups can be bitter. Add sugar/honey to sweeten the same to make a perfect snack-time drink or dessert. It is great to serve kids too!



This smoothie is travelling the miles from New Jersey to Namma Bengaluru to participate in Madhuri's Serve me Some...Juices, Shakes, Smoothies event. I hope you like this one, gurl!

Muesli Topped Blondies Drizzled With Chocolate & Hazelnut Syrup

I hate junk mail. Yes, I HATE the very fact that people waste paper in the name of marketing and it collects in my letter-box every week. But nonetheless, I have to sit and sort out all the leaflets, brochures, pamphlets, mailers and letters that gather consistently over time. It is hard to do so without noticing what each of it says, lest I toss something useful onto the paper-shredder. It was during one such rampage that my eyes fell on this recipe. Yeah, and you were beginning to wonder if I have lost my mind...writing about junk mail on a food blog. No, not yet! At least, not when it comes to baked goods.

So, where was I? Yup, the recipe. It held my gaze for a long moment and the very next instant (no prizes for guessing) I knew I was going to bake it. "Sweet Treat - World's Best Blondies...and Simplest, too" - the title read. I love brownies, but I had never really heard of blondies. After I did my bit of online research I learnt that they are just like brownies, except that they are flavoured using brown sugar instead of chocolate. Splendid, indeed! But I had no chocolate OR brown sugar on hand..and still wanted to try these so bad. So, I went ahead and experimented using confectioners sugar and the outcome is what you see below. Hmmm..perhaps, I should have called them 'Whities'? I will let you decide.

The original recipe calls for adding dark chocolate chips and M&Ms. I altered it a wee bit and topped these babies with toasted muesli and drizzled chocolate and hazelnut syrup.


Ingredients
1 Cup All purpose flour (Maida)
1 Cup Confectioners sugar
1 Egg, lightly beaten
1/2 Cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 tsp Vanilla Essence
3/4 tsp Baking powder
1-2 tsp Milk (if required)
1/2 Cup Muesli (or just a mixture of rolled oats and nuts)
2 tbsp chocolate syrup (I used Hersheys)
1 tbsp Hazelnut spread
A pinch of salt

Method
- Toast the muesli for about a minute on a low flame and set aside
- Preheat oven to 350F and prepare an oven-safe baking dish with non-stick spray/oil
- Melt the butter in a non-stick sauce pan pour into a large mixing bowl
- Add sugar to this and stir
- Toss in the lightly beaten egg and vanilla extract and whisk
- Add the flour, baking powder and salt to the above wet mixture and mix to a smooth texture
- Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish, sprinkle the toasted muesli evenly over it and place in preheated oven
- Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean
- Allow to cool and cut into 1 inch squares
- Before removing from the baking dish, spoon the chocolate syrup and hazelnut spread into individual zip-top bags and push the contents in each bag to one corner to remove any air bubbles
- Snap a tiny portion (just a very small hole) of the same corner and pipe the syrup and sauce in alternative lines (or get creative and do your thing!)
- Enjoy!



Makes about 40 decadent mini cake-like blondies.

TIP - Add more butter if you want to render a gooey, fudge like texture to your blondies

Wheat Bread Veggie Pizza

With a toddler running the house...er, I mean, running around the house, fixing quick meals is of prime importance. I have read in umpteen number of places that kids imitate us - even when it comes to eating. And, I have observed that my son does eat better when we eat the same thing together. So, while I am trying to whip up lunch for my bundle of energy, I try to make the same item in two different ways - one high calorie for the brat and one (boo hoo) low calorie for the mom! So, when it comes to bread pizza I had to think twice. Pizza was a yes. Personally, I cannot imagine anyone not liking it! But I did not want to compromise on taste...and hence I did what I had to do. Want to know more? Read up!

Ingredients
4 Slices of bread
2 Cups Choice of veggies - Julienned/Chopped (I have used broccoli, red bell peppers, red onions, tomatoes, green beans and carrots)
1 Cup - Shredded Mozzarella cheese (I have used low fat variety)
4 tbsp Tomato ketchup
1/2 tsp chillie powder (optional)
Oil/Cooking spray
And, of course, some salt to taste!

Method
- Stir fry all the veggies (except tomatoes) to a crisp texture
- Preheat oven to 150F
- Spray/Spread oil on a oven-safe baking tray/dish
- Lay the bread slices over it
- Apply one tbsp. of tomato ketchup on each slice and spread evenly
- Divide the stir fried veggies into four portions and spread over the bread slices
- Sprinkle salt and chillie powder
- Top up with cheese
- Place in oven and bake until cheese melts and bread gets slightly toasty
- Serve hot

SERVES 2

You could add more cheese for the kids, like I have done. The first image is that of the slice that I fed my lil sonny (with more cheese), the second (less cheese) for moi!

One slice of this makes a perfect snack to refuel kids. So, this savoury dish is on its way to the Kid's Delight - Wholesome Snacks event, hosted by Srivalli of Spice your Life.