Hi everybody, I am very very Happy, Guess why, before that, I would like to first apologize to Radhika and Farah for not posting on time for my Blog Hop Wednesdays.  I had written to them a while ago before the BHW that I would be posting a bit late, I was all alone, should I say Home alone for 3 weeks as my kids went off for their Hols, and I really did not know what to cook or bake and thinking about how I could live without them when they are not with me anymore!.

Well, after that  every thing changed I couldn't believe that my Mom at last decided to come and visit us after all these years we had been pestering her to come and of course Dad wouldn't come so no question of asking him, She was not ready to come here all this way, a long flight  and she wasn't going to come alone that was my big problem, she was totally scared,  I have to thank my H who had the Lion share in brain washing my mom in coming alone, Thanks to him, I am really so happy..., at last one of my family is here, Kids are really thrilled and I have asked me to retire from the kitchen as they want their paati ( Nan ) to cook and feed them, as she is the best cook ever according to them and my cooking is OK!!.
Yes my Mum is here Yay!!, everything happened quickly, I had a very busy weekend till today :), I am more relaxed today mum is settled in and we all hope to enjoy her short stay here.  After a long time we have a wonderful sunshine here for a few days, hope it continues.., All my friends, family & neighbours keep telling mum that she has brought sunshine to us from India.
Well, coming back to this recipe, I chilled and served this delicious smoothie, with a bit of twist and made it a bit healthy by adding some toasted nuts and flax seed. Thanks to both Radhika and Farah for an other smoothie, I have a few more I need to post.., I Chose this smoothie because of my Prunes, I had bought loads of prunes, so I am trying to use them in many ways, as my kids don't like to eat them as it is !!, using them in  many ways is the only way I can think of using them.
I don't have to say for fellow foodies the goodness of smoothies.., A wonderful complete delicious drink to start your day...,  keeps you energetic and a healthy one too.. what more do you need....

PRUNE, BANANA AND APPLE SMOOTHIE

INGREDIENTS:
2 Bananas
3 Apples ( medium sized )
12 Californian Prunes
2 tbsp Flax seeds powder
3 tbsp of Toasted Nuts
3 Cups Milk
1/4 Maple syrup
few Ice cubes

I had toasted some nuts on pan, Almonds, Pistachios, Cashewnuts & Walnuts. I added 3tsp of Brown sugar for my kids smoothies as they wanted it a bit more sweeter.

METHOD:
Blend Prunes, Flax seed powder and Apples ( peeled & cored ) until smooth then add peeled & chopped Bananas and blend again, Now add milk blend them well again.
Add Ice cubes and refrigerate for 1/2 an hour and serve them chilled topped with toasted nuts.

sending this to Radhika's Blog Hop Wednesday , Radhika had assigned me to Farah of A mum's Journal, she has a beautiful space, I enjoyed going through her blog, I usually love to bake something but this time I had to choose something else, just because of the prunes everytime I went to her blog, I kept going through this recipe again and again, I kind of get stuck with it. I added some apples with it, I had got exactly three of them and if I didn't use them I would loose them, as I was loaded with apples from my friend who came to say hai to mum!!..  So here is this lovely recipe, hope you like it and make it...

Sending this to Ayesha's cook eat delicious desserts - milk, started by Raven

The post Prune, Banana & Apple Healthy smoothie appeared first on My Veg Fare.

EGGLESS APPLE, CINNAMON AND OATMEAL COOKIES

Hi everybody, how have you all been doing ?, I was down with fever, cough and cold just like the English weather, Drastically weather here has changed to a wet, cold days already, I feel so uncomfortable thinking of all those cold days ahead, but never thought so soon!. My plants do not know how to cope with this silly weather which keeps changing just makes me miserable.

This recipe I made is a last minute decision, I was still looking through her blog wondering what shall i bake, I loved her site and her writing, The first thing I thought about her was hats of to her, with three boys Oh! my God!, how does she manage, I have one son and he is so naughty, these boys don't seem to know how to sit quietly for just a minute. what else do you want to know about her ?, Her hubby is a Chef and they have a resturant which is already a talk of the town!, maybe someday I might visit them!, check it out here for full details and you would really enjoy, The couples are a gorgeous pair.

Bloggers of course you would definitely want to visit her, she has got lot of giveaways and lot of things happening in her little corner as she calls it.
I told lot of things about her, let me introduce you to her she is Cara from Boys made me do it  , you must be wondering what is all this about, well, it is this Monday! SRC Reveal day, Oh! yes it's already a month!, Angela who is co-hostess of The secret Recipe Club assigned me to this blog. Amanda, the fabulous women started this club which has grown like a wild fire is not able to manage on her own has now got co-hosts to help her with this project, She is such a sweet heart, is ready for any help needed, I want to thank both of them to have allowed  me to enjoy this lovely theme with them.

Coming back to the recipe, I chose this as my kids love cookies, and this was a healthy version except for the butter, and I love oatmeal, My kids wanted me to try this so here I am with this recipe...
I have halved the recipe, If you want to check the original recipe is here.
She adapted this cookies recipe from her friend Krystal who in turn adapted from Joy the Baker.

APPLE CINNAMON OATMEAL COOKIES EGGLESS

INGREDIENTS:
1 Cup Oats ( old fashioned quick cooking oats)
1/2 cup
2 tbsp Wheat Germ
1 Apple (I used Royal Gala)

1/2 Cup Brown sugar
1 tsp Vanilla essence
1/2 tsp Baking soda
1/2 tsp Baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Ground cinnamon
a generous pinch of nutmeg
10 gms Walnuts
20 gms Chocolate chips
1 tbsp Lemon Juice
1/4 cup Butter
1 Egg ( I just omitted it)

METHOD:
preheat oven to 350 degrees/Gas mark 6
In a large take all the dry ingredients, baking powder, baking soda, salt, two flours, cinnamon, and nutmeg and mix well together.
In an other bowl, beat sugar and butter until fluffy and creamy,( If you are using egg add at this point and beat well together to light and fluffy and do not add lemon juice and apples at this stage add them at the end with nuts and chips but do not forget to add lemon juice to apple and set it aside until use),  then add lemon juice and finely chopped 1 apple mix well together, this is important chop the apples and mix immediately so the apples don't loose colour!
Then to this mix add chopped walnuts and chocolate chips.
Line two baking sheets with butter paper and with a spoon spread the dough on to the sheet with space apart,
and bake them for 15 to 20 minutes I baked mine to 20 minutes as I wanted it to be bit on the crispy side. Even then it wasn't too crispy but tasted great.

VERDICT:
My kids loved it and I felt happy as they were healthy and I had used fresh fruit in it, What else do you need in it 🙂

The post Eggless Apple, cinnamon and Oatmeal cookies appeared first on My Veg Fare.