Pizza Sauce | Baby Friendly Pizza Sauce

Hola People! 

Its been just a few days short of a year since I penned something down here for you all! Thanks to some of my loyal readers who wrote in frequently to check on me. Means a lot.

Life has been hectic on so many aspects outside this little blog of mine and hence I was missing in action here. 

Let me quickly fill you in on what all has been happening in the last one year that I have been absconding 

• My little sonshine turned two last month. He keeps me busy all day with his curiosity and cuteness! 
• I have discovered a new found passion in early learning activities for my boy and hence have been deeply involved in creating a whole bunch of early learning activities and DIYs for the little guy. We both have been loving this and I love that I am able to give him my full time and attention during this inquisitive age. If this is something that interests you, do have a look at what we have been up to here: Sonshine Mumma! 
• By chance and beautiful turn of events, I have landed up starting a little venture that I am immensely passionate about. I create Memory Quilts with baby clothes, sarees and tees. A new found hobby, sewing has been taken to new heights and being a one person army behind this, I am still trying to cope with the demands of juggling between all these different aspects. However, am slightly proud of what I have been able to create so far in the last 6 months. Again, if any of this interests you, I would love you to have a look at my page Sew Mini Moments.

Phew! Am done, I promise.

So amidst all these various beautiful things happening in my life, food blogging sadly went down the priority scale! But now I hope to be back if not as often as before, at least maybe once a month!

To break the long silence here, I have with me a super simple pizza sauce that I tried just today and loved it so much that I decided to blog it! It is baby friendly and I used this to make tiny pizzas for my boy and has been approved by the toddler foodie! 

This is a basic sauce with minimal spice, which you can pump up the spices of, if you would like a bit more of a chilly kick. I have leftover and I am planning on making some pasta with this tomorrow! 

Basil Pesto with Almonds

Basil is such a fragrant herb that it gives every dish it is added to, a beautiful aroma and freshness. This pesto sauce is nothing but herby deliciousness. I have been meaning to try making my own pesto sauce for ages and have been putting it away for no solid reason, that I can think of! But am so glad that I finally made myself go for it and make this yummy sauce at home a couple of days back.

It is super simple and quick to put together with the simplest of ingredients. If you get your hands on fresh basil leaves, the rest of the ingredients would probably be right in your pantry.

You can use up this sauce right away, after you prepare it or can freeze and store it for up to 3 months! Well, I love such stuff which make cooking on hurried days a breeze.

I made a batch and intended to make pasta a few days later. I in fact transferred the freshly made pesto into an airtight container and shoved it away into the freezer only to take it out a few hours later to make Pesto Pasta!! Teehee... couldn't wait too long to make my much awaited pasta with this delicious sauce, could I!? :P

Go ahead and do yourselves a favour. Make this scrumptious pesto and treat yourselves to some pasta or slather it on toast and enjoy its herby, creamy goodness! :)

Beetroot Chutney | Tempered Beetroot Puree

This is another one of those not-really-a-recipe kind of a recipe :) With beetroot as the star ingredient, simplicity is the main character of this dish. In fact, this is one yum way to feed yourself the healthy wonder vegetable - Beetroot!

 

Actually, I landed up with this one purely by accident! I was making myself some Beetroot Raita and ended up with some additional beet puree than  that is required for the raita. Upon wondering what to do with that little bit, I tempered it with a simple tadka and voila... it tasted great! :) Here is how you can make yourself some of this healthy chutney...

Beetroot Raita | Beetroot Pachadi

 

This is really a no-brainer recipe. I don't know if this can even be termed a 'recipe'! But well, it is a dish that was conceptualised and dished out in my kitchen and served along with our meal one day. We all found it pretty interesting and what tops it all is the fact that this raita has only pros... and cons, none at all! So there... that is something to make it qualify as a piece of information to share with you all :)

 

Its funny how some of our food preferences change over a period of time. It was the runny colour of beetroot that kept me off it till now but these days, it is this very rich colour that the vegetable imparts into everything it is added into, that attracts me towards it :) As I said earlier, I have been trying way and means to include beetroot in my diet, for its obvious health benefits. As we grow and manage our own kitchen, with wiser insight into the nutition aspects of food and the focussed care on what we eat, I guess the food preferences do change for the better!

 

So in my odyssey of cooking-with-beets so far, after Beetroot Parathas a definite keeper, this Beetroot Raita is another one to add on to the list. This teams up great with simple curd rice.  You can sprinkle some boondi or sev on top for some added crunch!

 



Vanilla Sauce | topping for cakes and desserts

Okay, so you have some guests coming over and you have quickly whisked up a cake for them. You really really wished you had more time on your hands to dish out some fancy dessert but alas, its only a sponge cake you had time for...... 

........or so you would have thought until you came across THIS recipe for a super simple easy-peesy vanilla sauce that gives your humble sponge cake (or any dessert) an extra oomph!! Oh yes... trust me on this! :) I am talking out of experience :D

A week back, at a friend's place I had the opportunity to taste vanilla sauce. It was my first time and I fell in love with it! I was amazed by its simplicity. It was divine when served along with the yummilicious apple pie that she had baked for me :) :) I made a mental note of the recipe... little did I know I would have to put it to use so soon!! 

A few days back, I had some guests over for dinner and after battling it out in the kitchen for a straight three hours trying to put together the main dishes, I had very little time to sort out my dessert. But I had made up my mind to serve out a pretty looking dessert as I had a tiny tot amongst my guest list and I did not want to disappoint the sweet loving little one. So here is where my new-found recipe came handy. I had baked an eggless chocolate walnut cake the previous night and kept it ready and waiting for the next day's dessert. And after the three hour battle, it took me just ten minutes and 4 simple ingredients to put together this yummy concoction. With a dash of colourful sprinklers on top, the simple sponge cake transformed into a fancy dessert. Oh yes, the little one was delighted! :)

For quick dessert make-overs or for those who are not too fond of the heavy creamy frosting on cakes... this recipe is a sure keeper! 

How to make Peanut Butter? | Homemade Crunchy Peanut Butter

Okay, here are some facts - [1] Peanut butter is super simple to make at home [2] Homemade peanut butter is way healthier than the shop bought ones [3] You need just 3 basic ingredients - peanuts, oil and honey - to make your own peanut butter at home... and most importantly [4] Peanut butter tastes simply YUM! 

So aren't these reasons enough for you to hop right over to your kitchen and make your own batch of peanutty yumness?  :) 

Peanut butter is commonly available in two variations - creamy and crunchy. My personally favourite is the one with some crunch. Those crunchy little bits of peanuts hidden away in the creamy butter is just the way I like mine. I am sharing the crunchy version here. Just do away with the crunch part, if you like yours simple and creamy. Alrighty, I am not holding you back anymore... lets jump right into the recipe :)

Tomato Thokku | Tomato Pickle

Every time we visited Chennai, a bottle of Tomato Thokku from Grand Sweets was a must buy! We just loved the delicious taste of this south Indian pickle specially the one available in Chennai. Be it with rice, Idlies, Dosas or Chapatis, this accompaniment goes well with it all. The only problem with this bought out pickle was the oil content. It was a bit too oily and due to this, our frequency of purchase reduced but the craving did not stop!

Just yesterday as I was browsing through the net for some recipes. I bumped into this beautiful blog with simple to follow recipes and mouth watering foodie pics. The Tomato Thokku recipe in particular, in Rakskitchen tempted me to such an extent that in less than a day I have a bottle full of my favorite pickle ready as the aroma of it still lingers in my kitchen. Tasting almost the same and with much less oil content, I am so delighted to have found this recipe :)