Yogurt PANCAKES

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Pancake day is a pretty good excuse to make and scoff pancakes,isn’t it?

I think Darek (aka man with obsessive pancake eating disorder) finds every little excuse for mixing the batter,all that frying and flipping.Guess what was the first meal he cooked for me?Guess what he says when I ask him what he fancies to eat?Any idea what his favourite food is?Yes!PANCAKES!He always says that if there was a competition in eating pancakes he would win it,no doubt.I’ve seen what he is capable of and witnessed a stack of 30 pancakes disappearing mysteriously.Believe me,this man is not lying.

No surprise that every year we celebrate a Shrove Tuesday(that’s tomorrow!!!) with a big batch of home made pancakes.I don’t mind,tho.Β  πŸ™‚

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I had so much fun when taking these photos.I think the involvement of chocolate has a lot to do with it.Don’t blame me.I just like to play with chocolate.A lot. πŸ™‚

Last year I had a fantastic opportunity to be at Jonathan Gregson‘s studio while they were taking photos(read:masterpieces) for Will Torrent’s book – Chocolate at home.I knew there would be a lot of chocolate involved,but guys,I died about 100 times and went to chocolaty heaven.My eye orbits came out of their sockets every 5 minutes,and I had to poke them back when nobody was looking.Since that day,I never looked at chocolate the same way.It’s not just chocolate-it’s a piece of art!

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The print visible on the image was a gift from Jonathan and it’s the prettiest and favourite thing in my office πŸ™‚ Turns out to be damn good prop too.

HUNGRY YET? Here is the recipe πŸ™‚ Enjoy xxx

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Raw chocolate pudding(Healthy,super easy and the most delicious!)

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I’m sooooo thrilled to share this recipe with you that I literally can’t sit up calm,I feel like screaming and shouting,dancing and jumping,all at the same time πŸ™‚ (what makes writing this post pretty awkward!).

Ohhhhh!!!GUYS!!!!THIS RECIPE is a stellar!It’s like all my chocolaty dreams came true the minute my taste buds sampled this pudding.It tastes so naughty,it’s almost impossible to believe that there is not even a tiny gram of naughtiness in it.Yep!That’s right!Perfect chocolate pudding made only with healthy,wholesome ingredients.Insane,right?

It takes minutes to whiz it in a blender(Another bonus!),unless your blender is old and decrepit(like mine),but you are too sentimental to replace it(like me)If this is a case,mash the bananas with a fork before you add the rest of the ingredients,otherwise it might be difficult to blend πŸ™‚

The recipe comes from Green Kitchen Stories.I can’t get over how amazing these guys are!I just changed the proportions a little bit.

Right,enough has been said.Take a look at the photos,while I’m scoffing another bowl of this awesome mousse πŸ™‚ Enjoy xxx

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RECIPE:

serves 2

INGREDIENTS:

2 large bananas (ripe)
4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tablespoon smooth almond butter

PREPARATION:

Whiz it in a blender until smooth and try not to eat it all straight away πŸ™‚

Top it with:unsweetened cocoa powder,dark chocolate flakes,favourite nuts and fruits(I don’t normally buy raspberries in February but I couldn’t resist them for this shoot) πŸ™‚

NOTE:

Almond butter gives the thickness to this pudding.If you feel you’d prefer it to be a little thicker just add additional tablespoon of it.

If your blender is similar to mine-old and decrepit and you are very sentimental and it’s still working,you might want to mash the bananas with fork first,otherwise it will be difficult to blend πŸ™‚

Savoury MUFFINS with smoked salmon and sun dried tomatoes

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I am addicted to few things….
Being obsessed with my husband is pretty obvious-he is the funniest,the most loving and caring person I know (not to mention that he’s dead handsome too!).
Then,there is my hunger for travelling,discovering new places,feeding my curious eyes with new,exciting views and collecting memories.World is just too beautiful not to get hooked on it.
Another thing I get utterly excited about is tea.Drinking 15 (HUGE) mugs a day and a pounding heart every time I walk by the tea aisle in the shop clearly indicate that tea is one of those things I can’t imagine my life without.It’s part of who I am.
Last but not least is(of course)…….breakfast.Finger licking gooooood breakfast πŸ™‚

While the mornings are still cold and dark in February,every day I’m faced with a real dilemma…..get up and prepare something exciting for breakky or stay in bed 10 min longer(I know it doesn’t make any difference!) andΒ  make a quick porridge…….My warm bed had been winning way too often recently so I thought of a new solution.I’ve started making breakfast the night before.Ingenious!
I can stay in bed longer and eat delicious breakfast at the same time.Happy me. πŸ™‚

These muffins are just perfect breakfast or lunch to make ahead.They can be warmed the next day in the oven for couple of minutes or eaten cold.Ether way they are absolutely delicious!

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RECIPE:

for 6 muffins

INGREDIENTS:

150 g self raising wholegrain flour
175 ml natural yoghurt(room temperature)
1Β  egg(room temperature)
65 g butter,melted and cooled
0,5 teaspoon freshly ground sea salt
100g smoked salmon,cut into smaller pieces
6-8 sun-dried tomatoes,chopped
sesame seeds to sprinkle with

METHOD:

1.Preheat the oven to 190C.
2.Sieve the flour into one bowl.In a separate bowl place egg,yoghurt,butter and salt.Mix all the ingredients until smooth.Then add salmon pieces and sun-dried tomatoes to the mixture and tip it over the flour.Stir with a wooden spoon,the mix should look lumpy and may have the odd fleck of flour still visible but don’t be tempted to over mix the batter.Muffins don’t like too much attention :)
3.Place the muffin cases into muffin tray and fill each one with batter.
4.Sprinkle over with sesame seeds and bake for 25-30 minutes.

NOTES: To prevent muffins from sinking,take them out the oven straight away,let them cool down for 5 minutes and then remove from the moulds and place on the rack to cool down.

You might also want to serve them warm,to do this simply put them in preheated oven for couple of minutes.

Serve with favourite salad and creamy cheese.

Enjoy xxx

Bea