35 Ways with Speckled Eggs

It's the season of hot cross buns, cream filled chocolate eggs and shameless chocolate overdoses. But sweetheart, you can even keep your decadent Lindt bunnies - just spoil me with a bag of Speckled Eggs to go with my cup of tea! After all, it's no secret that happiness is really egg shaped with a chocolate-candy coating and jelly centre.

After stumbling across a couple of innovative ideas with speckled eggs on another blog, I took the matter a step further and compiled this list of over 30 ways to make the most of these pastel munchies. So I'll essentially be stuffing my face with speckled eggs every day for the entire month of April - which is a lie, but wouldn't that just be living the dream?

NOTE: You can find all the recipes and step-by-step DIYs on my Pinterest board HERE.

#1. Birdie egg cupcakes // #2. Egg carrot cake cupcakes // #3. Egg nest vanilla cupcakes

#4. Meringue nests // #5. Coconut marshmallow nests // #6. Speckled egg & chocolate shards

#7. Speckled egg brownies // #8. Chocolate coated pretzel nests // #9. Speckled egg spoons

#10. Mini chocolate egg mousse // #11. Cup puddings decorated with speckled eggs // #12. Pancakes & eggs

#13. Speckled egg cake // #14. Speckled egg decorated cake roll // #15. Egg & Kit Kat Cake 

#16. Speckled egg muffins // #17. Biscuits decorated with speckled eggs // #18. Eggs inside a biscuit // #19. Robin's egg biscuits

#20. Eggs in melted white chocolate // #21. Rice Crispy squares // #22. Speckled egg popcorn 

#23. Rice Crispy eggs with (you guessed it) eggs inside! // #24. Speckled eggs and peanut butter // #25. Mini eggs on hot cross buns

#26. Wreath // #27. Tree // #28. Surprise doorknob nests // I have no idea how these would work, but I want it.

#29. Speckled egg nails // #30. Mini egg-shaped cookies // #31. Tea & speckled eggs - BEST!

#32. Pretzels topped with icing and eggs // #33. Eggy milkshakes // #34. Speckled egg ice cream

And last but not least, the best way to enjoy these nibbles?

#35. By the jar!

Happy Easter, blokes and bunnies ♥

Freezable Waist-Friendly Munch Muffins

I hardly consider myself a health nut, but who doesn't love a guilt-free treat - especially during winter time when those incessant munchies kick in! So this weekend I Googled "low calorie muffins" and came across a recipe for fat-free sugar-free banana cinnamon muffins that supposedly clock in at under 100 calories a piece.

While it might sound way too good to be true, you can tell by the ingredients list that these muffins fall squarely into the health category and, believe it or not, they don't taste like cardboard! I adapted the recipe ever so slightly after the first batch, and I can say with certainty that I'll definitely be making these again.

You'll need:

• 400 ml oat bran (I didn't realise this was a thing until I discovered it in the cereal aisle)
• 2 tbsp cake flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp bicarb
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tbs sugar (optional - I added this to the 2nd batch, for the benefit of my sweet tooth)
• A pinch of salt
• 2 medium ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/2 cup apple sauce
• 1/2 cup plain fat free yogurt (I used a small 175ml tub)
• 2 egg whites
• 1 tsp vanilla essence

Now to get baking:

1. Preheat the oven to 400-degree Fahrenheit.
2. Mix all the dry ingredients together in (ya, you guessed it) a bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the mashed bananas, apple sauce, yogurt, egg whites and vanilla.
4. Add the banana mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
5. Allow the batter to rest for about 5 minutes so the bicarb can work its magic. 
6. Spoon the batter into 12 muffin cups and bake for about 15 minutes.
7. Leave the muffins to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

Enjoy 'em with tea and, if you're in a cheat mood, add a lashing of chocolate spread or jam ♥

Recipe adapted from Ambitious Kitchen.

For the ♥ of Popcorn

When I felt winter nipping at my ankles this morning, I couldn't think of anything better than curling up on the couch with a big bowl of crunchy popcorn deliciousness ♥ A while ago I did a post for Momtrepreneur on various moreish toppings - so positively scrumptious, it's definitely worth a reblog. 

• Feel good treat: Cinnamon, icing sugar and a variety of dried fruit, seeds and nuts.
• Simple savoury: Parsley, paprika, salt and a drizzle of melted butter.
• Eastern munchies: Cumin, coriander, a pinch of cayenne pepper and a sprinkle of salt.
• Greek inspired: Parmesan sprinkles with parsley, garlic salt and a drizzle of olive oil or balsamic.
• Hot & happening: Butter and (sweet) chilli sauce melted together and drizzled over.
• Onion & chives: Dried or fresh chives and a dusting of white onion soup powder.
• Gourmet: A mixture of lemon juice, black pepper, rosemary and salt tossed into the popcorn.
• Caffeine addict: Coffee powder, icing sugar and melted golden syrup or butter.
• Palate cleanser: Lemon zest, chilli powder and a sprinkle of salt.
• Italian lovin’: Oregano, basil, parsley and garlic salt with a drizzle of olive oil.
• Meaty man: Barbecue spice and small crunchy bacon bits with melted butter.
• Oriental bite: Wasabi salt or spice with a splash of soy sauce and sprinkle of dried nori.
• Chocolate frenzy: Cocoa powder, icing sugar, mini marshmallows and melted honey & butter.
• Old faithful: A sprinkle of fine salt and a dash of vinegar with parsley just for fun. 

Click here for image references and check out the original post here.

Healthy munch-a-lots

Lately my taste buds have been very much obsessed with these fuss-free teatime bites:

Click here for photo sources.

Top left: Frozen grapes
- Exactly it sounds - grapes popped into the freezer overnight for natural frozen fruit "candies".

Top right: Pea mash
- 1 cup of cooked peas mashed together with a small knob of butter, salt, a pinch of garlic (optional), a dash of lemon juice and freshly ground black pepper. Spread on toast or crackers.

Bottom left: Frozen yogurt blueberries
- Fresh blueberries dipped in honey-sweetened plain yogurt, frozen to the point of deliciousness.

Bottom right: Butter bean spread
- 1 can of butter beans, drained and blended with 2 tablespoons of soya sauce, a teaspoon of parsley and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Ideal as a carrot dip or cracker spread.

Monster Cookies

So on Thursday I posted a simple thought on Twitter:

Which led to a full on Twitter war between myself and some office mates, ultimately turning into this:

That brings us to today: The Big Agency Bake-Off. Following a miserable attempt at baking soft-centered cupcakes, I settled on Monster Cookies instead - the most mouth-watering American biscuit that my lovely Utah confidante, Miss Eryn, first introduced me (or rather my taste buds) to last year.

Not only do they taste like fairy mud cakes, but you can whip 'em up faster than you can say "those cupcakes were a disaster, now what?" What's more, one spoonful of dough morphs into a cookie that's as big as your face. No jokes.

Epic Monster Cookies 

Clockwise from top left: My Monster Cookies / SJ's Hidden Center Cupcakes / Leah's Banana, Chocolate & Coffee Cupcakes / Taryn's Walnut & Banana Loaf. PHOTO: SJ Vincent 

INGREDIENTS:

• 400 g jar peanut butter
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 8 tbs canola oil
• 3 large eggs, beaten
• 4 and a half cups oats
• 1 tbs vanilla essence
• 2 tsp bicarb
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 4 x 45g boxes of Smarties

HOW TO:

• Mix the peanut butter, sugar and oil together in a bowl until it forms a smooth paste. 
• Add the eggs, oats, vanilla and bicarb and mix it up again.
• Add the chocolate chips and 2 packs of Smarties and mix one last time.
• Heat oven to 360°F.
• Mold heaped tablespoons of batter into round balls and place on a greased baking tray. While they might be deceivingly small, don't bake more than 6 cookies at a time.
• Using the last 2 packs of Smarties, adorn the cookies with 3 or 4 extra Smarties and pop 'em in the oven.
• Bake for 12 to 14 minutes. Note: They will look somewhat runny in the middle when you take 'em out the oven, but let them cool for 5 minutes and watch as they set before your eyes.

There's no denying that these cookies are the death of all diets, but if you can shove your guilt in the back cupboard, these cookies will put a smile on your face. Guaranteed.

5 Happy Healthy Snack Ideas

I've been trying really hard to be good as of recently, because summer is around the corner y'all, and all that comfort food hasn't exactly friendly on my growing love handles (cue dude eye-roll). 

But between work and play, who has time to slow-cook an organic turkey breast while whipping up a homemade pesto with a list of ingredients that's as long as my cell phone bill? So instead I've been experimenting with quick and healthy combinations that aren't half bad on waist or palate:

Apple, plain fat free yogurt, cinnamon and sweetener.
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Hummus (the roast pepper variant is divine!) with baby carrots or uncooked mushrooms.
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Egg baked in a red pepper "basket" and topped with avo.
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Cooked chickpeas and tuna with any type of herb, vegetable or a dash of olive oil if the cupboard's empty.

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Crackerbread topped with fat free cottage cheese and a slice of smoked turkey or roast beef.
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Ya, I know it's not exactly rocket science, but it does the job and keeps me chirpy. 'Cause if there's one thing I can't stand about dieting, it's the constant "I'm so hungry I could eat my keyboard" feeling - happy tummy, happy camper!

"Aha" Treats

Do you ever look at an idea and go "aha, that's so freaking smart, I could've thought of that!" and then you spend hours agonising over why you didn't think of that? Well, that happens to me at least four times a day, usually when I'm on Pinter... I mean, working. Usually when working. Hard at work, and most definitely not hopping on to Pinterest to see what's new.

Anyhoo, these treats certainly evoked an "AHA" moment when I first laid eyes on them, and you can bet your left pinkie that I'll be giving one or two of these a try over the weekend.

Have a good one, lads & ladies! *hugs

Yes, those are in fact cookies.

Breakfast biscuits

Boudoir Fingerbiscuit Matches

Dipped in food colouring! So simple =)

For image references, check out my Pinterest board.

When in doubt, buy marshmallows

So tonight I'm playing hostess for our church group. For an after dinner treat, I decided to bake cupcakes from scratch. OK, that's a lie. Let's just say I had a little help from Snowflake. Nudge-nudge, wink-wink. Anyhoo, when it came to icing the "homemade" lovelies I encountered a slight hiccup: Making icing is such a mission! OK, that's a lie too. I'm actually forbidden by law to make icing from scratch for as long as my brother and I share a flat, putting him at risk of getting stuck with the dishes. That's when I remembered a little golden tip a friend of mine once let me in on at a braai: After the cupcakes come out the oven, place a marshmallow on top and put it back in for a couple of seconds. And that my dear friends, is exactly what I did...

(Excuse the poor quality pics. My camera is still at my... Oh no wait, that's a story for another time.)

Was it successful? Heck, who knows! We'll let the troops decide tonight.

I can quit whenever I want. Seriously.

Lately I've been in the mood to just go a little crazy in the kitchen, and so I started scouring Pinterest for cute food pics. Big mistake. At first it started out as a hobby... but then it became a regular thing. The other night I woke up half hanging off the side of my bed and typing Pinterest keywords on the laptop on my nightstand. I'm even speaking and thinking in keywords, explaining things in verbal step-by-steps and wanting to take pictures of EVERYTHING I eat just so I can pin it.

It's bad guys, but so totally worth it. Here's what's on my menu for the next week:

Cream cheese carrot pots

Hey!?

Eggs in peppers

Awesome, right? Right!? Now you need to excuse me, 'cause I just thought of a new keyword.

All pictures via Pinterest

Crêpes de YumYum

So tonight my brother and I are hosting a home group meeting at our quaint little garden flat which means I'll be cooking. Now I know what you're thinking: "Cue Jaws themesong! Duuuuh-dum, duuuuh-dum" - now whoa, whoa, hold your stallions for a second. I might not be able to follow a recipe, but I've got tonight covered, beasties. Trust me.What's on the menu, you ask?

PANCAKES!

Red, upper case, bold, italics and underlined.

See, what I love about pancakes is:

1) They're warm and wonderful, perfect winter belly-warmers
2) They might not seem like much, but they pack quite a punch and you can seriously feed an army with a batch! Seeing as our home group mostly consists of monster-appepited (that's a word) dudes, I need to be prepared.
3) They're pretty hard to mess up, whether you read the recipe or not.
4) You can put ANYTHING in, on and around them! So even though Jack, Joe and Jonty might not eat tomato or Steve, Stan and Stewart sneeze like freight trains when they eat pasta, with pancakes no one will go hungry.

Observe:

Leek, mushroom and cheese

Mexican jalapeno and cream cheese

French mushroom, ham and goat's cheese

Bacon, brie and chives

Chicken, leek and wild mustard

Creamy salmon

And EVEN FOR DESSERT! Banoffee

Strawberries, white chocolate, almonds and caramel

Chocolate and raspberry cream cheese

And my personal favourite... Surprise!

So, pancakes it is! If your taste buds are perspiring ever so slightly, I sincerely apologise. To make up for it, here's a recipe for pannekoek that's so simple your goldfish can make it with one eye shut and both fins tied behind it's tail. Oh no darling, don't mention it - you're too welcome!

Ingredients

3 cups of all purpose flour
3 eggs
oil for frying
3 ml salt
15 ml baking powder
4 cups of milk or water

Directions

Sift dry ingredients together. Add milk or water and beat well. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. At this point the consistency of the batter should be runny, but not watery. If you're starving, get cooking! However if your taste buds aren't near the point of exploding just yet, let the batter stand for about an hour. Trust me, it's way more scrummy that way!

When you start baking, heat the pan 'til it reaches quite a high temperature (later when they start burning slightly, you'll know to turn it down a notch Trust me). Add a little oil, and by a little I really-eally mean a little. Like a drop. Once the pan is hot, start baking, one ladle of batter at a time. Once the side begins to lift slightly and the centre is cooked, flip it! If you're a beginner, I suggest sticking to spatula flipping for now. One step at a time, little grasshopper. Once the other side is all golden and perfect, slide it out the pan and fill it with any of the above mentioned goodies... or good ol' cinnamon sugar and lemon juice. Sigh.

All pictures via Good to Know