Basil-Mint Lemonade.

SUMMER IS HERE! Well, its been here for a while but I'm still screaming because it's not over yet. Now, if you know me, you know that I am always looking forward to summers, regardless, the time of the year and to be honest I'm not ashamed of it. I look forward to summer because I love staying indoors on hot days sipping on a drink. I don't know about you but the reason I stay in is because I live in a very humid city and getting out during the day in the month of June is nearly impossible, so, I curl up with a book and a lemonade waiting for the sun to set. That being said, I'm here to share my favourite lemonade recipe, the one I sip quite often.
Keep in mind that this recipe yields one serving, so, double, quadruple, if needed.

Basil-Mint Lemonade:

Recipe:

1. 5 basil leaves ( I used Thai Sweet Basil);

2. 10 mint leaves;

3. 1.5 cups or 355ml of cold water;

4. 3 tablespoons ground up sugar;

5. 3 tablespoons worth lemon juice.

Procedure:

1. In a food processor, add in: basil leaves, mint leaves, sugar, lemon juice;

2. Blend until cooperated;

3. Pour out in a glass of choice and add in the water;

4, Add ice if needed.

I hope you love the recipe and find it soothing in this heat, until next time!

Vegan Milks: Almond, Rice, Oat.

Veganism is a lifestyle many are adopting nowadays and it is catching on everywhere, even, here in India. I have a few friends who have named veganism their primary lifestyle about a couple of months and probably, their main problem with their lifestyle is the lack of availability of non-dairy milks except for soy-milk. If you haven't tasted soy-milk, you wouldn't know that it tastes absolutely disgusting, so, here I have three delicious non-dairy milks for my vegan and lactose-intolerant friends.

1. Almond Milk: 

Recipe:

1. 1 cup almonds;

2. 4 cup water+ extra to soak. 

Procedure:

1. Soak almonds overnight;

2. Blend almonds and 4 cups of water in a blender, till frothy and creamy;

3. Store in airtight container for 3-4 days.

2. Rice Milk:

Recipe:

1. 1 cup cooked white rice;

2, 2 cups water.

Procedure:

1. Blend rice with water in a blender until creamy;

2. Store in airtight container for 2-4 days.

3. Oat milk:

Recipe:

1. 1 cup oats;

2. 2 cups water.

Procedure:

1. Blend oats and water together in a blender until creamy;

2. Store in airtight container for 2-4 days.

I hope you give these delicious vegan milks a try and enjoy them too! until next time!

Student Series: 3 School Breakfast Ideas!

Hey guys! I know it's been a while since I've posted and I apologize for the very long over haul but I had my reasons. I can't really mention what but I promise you'll get to know of it soon, so, stay tuned!

This weeks blog is going to focus on school breakfast ideas. A while ago (long while) I shared two school lunch ideas and I promised a school series and here I am!
Breakfast before school for me was a very alien idea. I am one of those people who doesn't immediately get hungry in the morning, therefore, I skipped breakfast (I couldn't even look at food in the morning) and massacred everyone in school by being hungry and mad for no reason. As time passed, I realized that all of these unpleasant interactions were caused by an empty stomach and that resulted in me forcing myself to eat breakfast in the morning, usually, cereal and milk. Gradually, the idea of early breakfast did not disgust me and I started to enjoy eating while catching up on the latest music videos. This, however, was the silence before a storm. I am a person who gets bored easily and you can imagine me getting bored of the plain old cereal.
The thing you must know about me, is that, I can't be bothered with cooking or prepping in the morning. Partially because I'm a night person and partially because when was at school, I had to wake up at 6:00 A.M. and that wasn't ideal for me to be energetic or fun.
So, I started prepping my breakfast the night before, but don't worry! These recipes still take ten minutes and are absolutely delicious.
Here are my three favourites:

1. Pre-Packaged Smoothie.

Now, the thing about smoothies that makes them adore worthy is their versatile nature. You can add in whatever you like and leave whatever you don't.

The idea of pre-packaged smoothie is simple. You just add in your favourite fruit(s), greens, and frozen yogurt cubes* in a resealable bag, pop it in the freezer the night before and just roll out of bed, throw in the contents of the bag in a blender with half-cup of liquid and boom! no more Monday morning blues.

My Favourite Recipe For A Smooth Smoothie:

1. 1/2 non-dairy/ dairy milk;

2. 1/4 cup washed and shredded spinach;

3. 1 large mango; cubed;

4. 1 cup pineapple;

5. 2 large yogurt cubes.

Procedure:

1. Put everything in a resealable bag, except for the milk and freeze overnight;

2. Add liquid to blender with contents of the bag and blend.

*frozen yogurt cubes: Just scoop some yogurt into ice cube trays and freeze overnight.

2. Energy Bites:

These are absolute life-savers, trust me. Imagine waking up on a Monday, skipping breakfast, slumping your way to school and remembering you have Economics as your first class. Well, that was the situation for me. 

These energy bites are what helped me through every Monday morning Economics class and actually made me pay attention in my classes rather than counting the minutes to lunch break.

Recipe:

1. 10 pitted dates ( I use Barni dates);

2. 1/2 cup oats;

3. 3 tbsps cocoa/cacao powder;

4. 2-4 teaspoons water.

Procedure:

1. Put all the ingredients, except for water, in a blender and blend;

2. If the mixture is dry and doesn't come together add in 1 teaspoon of water at a time, until it is roll-able consistency;

3. Roll it between your palms to form bite-size balls.

3. Crudites;

You cannot get simpler than crudites. Crudites are French appetizers involving sliced raw veggies with a dip. 

You can just chop up some of your favourite raw veggies and serve it with hummus or my delicious yogurt dip.

Veggies I used: Carrot, French beans, Cucumber, Red Bell Pepper and Celery. You can cut the vegetables and make the dip the night before and store them in different air-tight containers. Now, all you have to do is put it all together in the morning in just a few minutes.

Recipe (Yogurt Dip):

1. 1/4 cup of yogurt;

2. 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder;

3. Salt to taste.

And those are all three breakfast ideas. I hope you'll give these a try and enjoy them just as much as I did back in high school.

Until next time!