Cinco de Mayo seemed like a fitting time to share with you one of our favorite taco recipes. I know you’re probably thinking how can a Cauliflower & Chickpea Taco be anyone’s favorite idea of the beloved tortilla wrapped little gem. But stick we me for a minute and I think you’ll see why. I mean, if I can get my carne asada taco/ all meat-loving husband on board with these, I’ve got faith for you too. Perhaps you’ve already had this latest taco creation somewhere but haven’t given it a try at home. Well this recipe is super easy and doesn’t take too much time to throw together but is so so good.
I’ve just realized I’ve been sitting on this post for over a year. It was written but never made it past the draft category. Well I’m sorry about that because I think I’ve been depriving you of one of my favorite recipes that is on constant repeat in our house……
Not sure about you, but I love granola.Whether it’s by the handful as a snack or with some milk or yogurt and berries, I won’t turn it down.Store bought granola can be great in a pinch but it usually contains way too much sugar and other stuff I often can’t pronounce.Add the fact that, here in Istanbul, the choices for decent organic granola or any other cereal for that matter are slim pickings.And the littles like a bowl of cereal every now and then in addition to their other morning favorites like oatmeal or pancakes.So, I make a fresh batch almost weekly.Homemade granola is so fast and easy to make and beats the store bought stuff any day.And what’s better than knowing that exactly what goes into your kid’s breakfast is free from added preservatives or unnecessary sugars?Read more
Aside from the obvious, pulling-at-my-heartstrings kind of stuff that I’m really missing during lockdown, one that is still close to my heart but I think I can (possibly) live without for the duration of all this is my beloved Starby’s (as my littles like to say.) I know, the famous coffee chain is a love it or hate it type of thing for many people. I’m definitely in the former category. But not just because their coffee. I used to not even like the flavor of it unless it was masked in one of their fun seasonal offerings like the eggnog latte, psl (pumpkin spice latte) or the cinnamon dolce (a fav of my mom & dad’s.) But now, besides having a favorite drink amongst every rotation, while living in Istanbul, it has become so much more than that.
Sometimes you just need a bowl of stick to your ribs, succulent meaty pasta. And this Simple Instant Pot Beef Ragù does just the trick but with some added perks. It doesn’t have a long list of ingredients, which means not much at all to chop and the Instant Pot does most of the work for you. The result, you end up with a fork-tender, shreddable meat and tomato sauce in under an hour. But even if you don’t have a pressure cooker, you can still make this, be pretty hands off and have dinner in about 2 hours of low and slow cooking.
One of the perks of quarantine life in our home, and I imagine probably in many, is that our days start a bit slower and somewhat later. The monkeys are still up at the crack of dawn, (that part hasn’t changed) but now they have lots of time to play together rather than Mr. T needing to rush out the door for school. And that means, breakfast can also be at a bit more of a relaxed pace, (if you don’t count our always hungry 3 year-old repeating how starving she is.) Well lucky for her, more time in the morning equals more time for pancakes. Lot and lots of them. In all forms imaginable. (Which usually btw, makes little Miss Sparkle happy enough to muster up a little patience.) One of our current favorites- these Whole Wheat Oatmeal Pancakes I want to share with you today.
These breakfast treats are fluffy and light and have a subtle irrisistible sweetness with the most perfectly crisp edges. I dare you not to finish the first one right off the pan when just intending to ”taste it” for quality control purposes. (I got called out on it by the kids who found their way to the kitchen by following the sweet pancake scent which had wafted through the air all the way to the back bedroom.) I promise that’s usually not my style, I do try to always serve them first, ahem. ( After all, if you’re gonna eat a pancake, you gotta have the syrup right?) But not these guys, don’t get me wrong, the addition of some maple syrup really takes them up a notch, but they are really quite impressive on their own.
