The days leading up to the winter break are possibly one of the best days of the year. The cheer, the spirit of giving and the happy vibe reminds me of how the world is actually meant to be. I also wonder why more people can’t be this way all year round. Anyway here is my idea of 3 top things to do this weekend.
New, Not-New Breakfast
Keeping up with weekend tradition at my house I cooked a lot (you do know that my kids call me Mrs. Cook-A-Lot. It kind of reminds me of some old jolly character from an Enid Blyton fairy-tale). I made a pretty popular but not-new breakfast “banana and chocolate chip pancakes”.
The trick is to add the bananas after the wet ingredients but before the dry ingredients do they don’t become too chewy.
Here’s how to do it really quickly.
One egg whipped with a regular fork with sugar. Then add in the mashed banana. Mix and add one cup of flour and enough milk to make a batter. I don’t add butter but instead shallow fry the pancakes in olive oil. Yes olive oil- don’t faint just yet. I feel the butter burns too fast. I add the chocolate chips once one side is cooked and flip on to cook the other side.
Soooo easyyy. And a great variation for brunch at my house coz mama wakes up too late and Mr. K and Mr. S have soccer games mid-morning every Saturday. The pancakes get devoured in no time and keep their tummies full for a long time.
See the recipe on my Instagram.
Hot Soup the Hot Way
I also made tom yum soup which is my favourite soup and I’ve yet to find a place that makes an equally delicious version as I’ve had many times in Asia.
So I’ve brought it upon myself to make the perfect bowl. I use Campbell’s Everyday Soup in the Coconut and Tomato flavor. It forms the perfect soup base, has no additional oil (unlike the soup pastes found in stores) and I just add water, ginger, lemon juice, lemon rind and chilli flakes (chilli is optional – but I can’t survive without it J). I also add protein and veggies to it. Traditionally only mushrooms are added but I add any vegetable that I have on hand and that will stay robust in the soup a.k.a no spinach or a vegetable that will turn to mush too soon. I have added broccoli, cauliflower, peas, egg-plant, mushrooms and large chunks of zucchini. The best was broccoli and mushrooms. For protein I often add shrimp (beheaded) or cooked chicken (just because I want to save time and not cook the chicken in the broth). The soup broth
is a bit sweet so add salt per your taste.
Weekend Spa Date
And of course how can I forget my (self created and self indulgent) spa date that happens every weekend. I “bumped” (literally) into Lush Cosmetics at the mall and was left speechless by their face mask
s that smelt and felt so natural. I used their “brazened honey” mask on my face. It smelt of turmeric and ubtan which it has. If you don’t know what ubtan is here is how the Internet describes it
Ubtan is made using turmeric, gram flour, sandalwood powder, rosewater and milk. It is believed to provide a flawless skin and glowing complexion.
Well I guess that’s enough to make me want to use the mask every day (because I can – wink wink).
That’s all from me folks. Catch you next time.