Banana & Nutella American Pancakes

So to me, nothing is better than waking up and thinking about breakfast. My new timetable at college means I don't start college till late afternoon so I thought I'd take full advantage of that this morning. Now I know I have put a pancake recipe up on here before, but this one is slightly different in that is much more of a breakfast pancake with Nutella and Banana, meaning getting though a few of these will set you up for the day!

Ingredients: Makes 4-6 pancakes

135g of Self Raising Flour

1tbsp of Baking Powder

1/2tsp of Salt

2tbsp of Caster Sugar

130ml of Milk

2 Ripe Banana's

1/2tsp of Vanilla Paste or Extract

1 Large Free Range Egg

2tbsp of Melted Butter

4tbsp of Nutella (plus a little extra at the end)

6-7 Strawberries cleaned, hulled and halved.

 

Equipment:

Whisk

Frying Pan

Bowl

Scales

Sieve

Measuring Jug

Method:

1. Start by measuring out your flour, salt, sugar and baking powder and sieve all together.

 

2. In a separate bowl, measure out your butter and melt that in the microwave, leave it to cool on the side while you measure out your other ingredients.

3. Measure out your milk.

4. Crack your egg into a separate bowl in case any shell gets in, add this to the milk

5. Add your Vanilla Extract or Paste as well as your melted butter.

6. Mash your banana up with a fork and add that to your milk with the melted butter.

 

7. Add this to your dry mixture and whisk until combined. Be careful not to over mix as this can make the pancakes tough.

8.  Add your Nutella to the batter and whisk till combined.

 

9. Now put your pan on a medium heat and add a small amount of butter to the pan.

10. Add small amounts of batter to the pan, leave to cook for about 2-3 minutes on each side until you see bubbles appear on the surface, then flip. Cook again for about 2 minutes on that side. Transfer them to a plate whilst you make the next batch.

11. While you wait for your pancakes to cook, you can chop your fruit and have that ready to top your pancakes.

 

12. Add some of the Nutella to a bowl and melt it in the microwave ready to top your pancakes.

13. Add the fruit to the pancakes and top with the melted Nutella and serve.

These really are amazing pancakes, you can top these with whatever fruits you like or you could swap the Nutella with something like blueberries, maple syrup or even white chocolate. Having a solid pancake recipe and customising it to how you like your pancakes is a great way to have a change for your breakfast!

 

Thanks very much for reading, you can follow me on any social media sites, my links are above. Also as ever, if you make these pancakes, do let me know how they turned out as I love seeing your photos and hearing how they turned out for you.

 

Luke.

Cookies & Cream Mint Mocha Milkshake

I'm thinking about starting a Milkshake series on my blog as my Starbucks Frappuccino Recipe went down so well. Milkshakes are my thing, there is something about being able to essentially make any flavour milkshake and customise it however you like them that makes me love them so much. I thought you couldn't get any better than the American classic Oreo Milkshake, but after some thinking I created the Cookies and Cream Mint Mocha Milkshake. I'm not just saying this but this milkshake genuinely has everything you could possibly want in it.

Ingredients: (Makes 1 large milkshake)

4 Big Scoops of Vanilla Ice Cream

6-7 Oreo Cookies

50 - 70ml of Milk (I use semi skimmed)

Whipped Cream

4 squares of Aero or Mint Chocolate

2tbsp of Chocolate Sauce (extra for topping)

2tbsp of instant coffee or a shot of espresso.

Equipment:

Blender or Liquidizer

Glass, Mason Jar or Milkshake Glass

Straw

Spoon Measurements

 

Method:

1. Start by making your coffee, I do this step first as it gives the coffee time to cool while you start with your other ingredients. I use a Rich Roast coffee which gives a strong coffee flavour. I added just under 100ml of boiling water. You can completely miss out this step if you don't like coffee.

2. Put 6 - 7 Oreo cookies in your blender, I used 7 as I like mine to be really Oreo'ey' if that's a word...probably isn't, then just blitz that up.

3. You are looking for a fine dark crumb.

4. Take 2tsp worth of the crumbs out the blender and put it aside in a small bowl for later.

5. Scoop out your vanilla ice cream, I bought soft scoop but if you are using a more firm ice cream, take it out the freezer a  little early so it blends easier.

 

6. Add that to your blender with the cookie crumbs.

7. Now add your chocolate sauce. I use around 2tbsp worth but you can add more if you really like chocolate.

8. This is where you can change the recipe if you want. I like my milkshakes really thick so I don't add that much milk but if you like them a little thinner add more milk.

9. Now its time to add your cooled coffee to the blender. I added the full amount and I found that it was just the right amount without it being too strong.

10. Blend that all up so the mixture is smooth. Should take about 20 seconds.

11. Now its time to add your mint chocolate, I added 4 chunks but you can add more or less depending on whether you like mint chocolate but trust me, peppermint and mocha go really well together.

12. Whizz all that together and pour into a glass. I drizzled mine with chocolate sauce to make it look good.

13. Top with a layer of whipped cream, again add more of less if you really like cream.

14. Now it's time to add the cookie crumbs you saved from earlier. Add them to the whipped
cream making sure it coats all the cream.

15. Finish with a final squidge of chocolate sauce and you're done.

16. Just add your straw and enjoy.

And that's it, its so simple to make but the end result look really professional and the taste is even better. If you make this milkshake you will know how well everything goes together. When I go to Starbucks I sometimes order a Peppermint Mocha Frappuccino and this is really similar but with the thickness and taste of a milkshake. You can't go wrong!

As ever, f you make this recipe, be sure to tag me in any photos you take as I love to see them. My social media links are at the top of my blog if you want to tweet me a picture or tag me in it on Instagram. I hope you have enjoyed this and let me know in the comments if you liked it or if you added any other flavours. I have 2 more shake ideas to come so keep an eye out for those.

Thanks for reading,

 

Luke.

School/College Survivial Guide

So it's that time of the year again where everyone hears the dreaded words "school" or "college" I know there are some of you out there who actually enjoy going to school or college, strange...strange people...only kidding. It is something that has to be done and we've all either been through it or are currently going through it. I just completed my first year of A Levels and I remember when I was about to start a new sixth form I didn't have a clue what to take so I went and spent £30 on stationary in Tesco and ended up using about 1/2 of it. I'm here to help those people out there with a tick list of everything I needed in my last year of college and what are the essential items to take to college.

First thing I would say is weight...and I don't mean how many doughnuts you ate over the summer holidays...I mean how much your bag weighs with all of your things in. At our college we aren't lucky enough to have lockers so whatever we take in our bags has to be hauled around for the full day. So I'd say pack light, only carry the necessities and you'll be grateful when it gets to around 2pm and everyone looks like they're carrying a tone weight and you're doing just fine.

My bag is a utility ruck sack from River Island, it was in the sale from £30 to £15. It is huge inside which you also will learn, go for practicality rather than style. Don't take a bag that looks good and you can barely fit a notebook in. Pick something that is both functional and will go with anything you wear.

I have short listed 4 categories that I feel are essential to any school or college bag: Stationary, Utilities, Snacks and Entertainment.

Stationary:

It's something everyone needs whether you're going into your first year of school or doing your last year of college, you always will need the basic stationary utensils. I remember in school how annoyed the teachers used to be when students didn't have a pen and all be it funny to see them get angry, I wouldn't recommend it on your first day with them.

Stationary Tick-list:

A4 ring binder

A4 refill pad (lined or square depending on subjects)

Subject Dividers

Sticky Notes

A5 notebook

Good writing pens

Pens, Pencils, Ruler, Rubber, Sharpener

Paper Clips

Tipex

 

This may seem like a lot but trust me, all of it is essential. Get yourself a large A4 ring binder that has plenty room to fit all of your notes and hand-outs from the teachers in it. In my first year at college I took one big file and had 4 separate ones at home so I only needed to carry the things I needed for that day rather than 4 different files. I really liked this file as it wasn't your usual standard one colour A4 ring binder.

Tesco: £2.50

Now you have your ring binder, you need paper to take all your notes down. I go for the Refill Pads from Oxford as the paper quality is great and they have a margin and holes already punched so it can go straight into your folder. This then leads onto file dividers, these are critical for staying on-top of things. Divide each subject up with a divider and label that subject, then you can separate all your notes and hand outs so they don't get mixed up. 

I then would suggest getting a pack of good writing pens and a notebook to write down any things you need to do or things you cant forget. I go for an A5 notebook and in there I write anything I need to finish, homework, due dates for essays etc. It seems it's becoming quite a tradition for me to buy comic book style notebooks but they're that cool its hard not to. I also choose rollerball pens rather than inky ones so the ink doesn't smudge etc.


Notebook: Tesco £1.50
Pens: Sainsbury's £1

Highlighters are now your new best friend. Seriously it sounds stupid but you will be shocked with how much paper teachers will try and drown you in and you need to filter through what is important, highlight it and then you can see what you need to remember. I chose two kinds, a thin kind for smaller texts and a larger kind for highlighting large amounts of texts. I also like how the large ones come in a tub so they don't go flying around in your bag.

Small Highlighters: Bic ASDA £1.50

Large Highlighters: Sainsbury's £2.50

Here is everything that I take in my pencil case. I take 2 pens and 2 pencils because chances are you will loose them even though you try your best not to your friend will forget their pen and you'll have to lend them one and never get it back. Trust me, this is how it goes.  I then pack a red pen for self marking as well as a ruler, rubber, sharpener and Tip-Ex for any mistakes I make...I make a lot of mistakes in my work.

 

Utilities:

USB memory stick

Tissues and Hand Sanitizer

Chewing Gum

Travel Pass Holder

 

It may seem a little extreme to carry hand sanitizer but honestly I read an article about how dirty schools and colleges were and if you're eating your dinner with your hands...well you get the picture. Also tissues are a must because you never know when you will spill something on yourself or be attacked by the constant flu bug that goes around college and have to sort out a runny nose. Probably went into too much detail there...Moving on!

 Again, another must. Chewing Gum probably isn't allowed in your school or college but unless you want to greet your friends with 'whatever you ate for dinner' breath, I'd pack some. Just make sure you get rid of it in the bin before lessons.

Gum: Primark £1

 Now this is only relevant if you get public transport to school or college. I get the bus so I bought this rather nifty Harry Potter travel pass holder that keeps my bus pass and tickets in.

Travel Pass Holder: Forbidden Planet £4

And finally for utilities, a memory stick, this one is an 8GB memory stick and honestly is invaluable when it comes to doing work at college and finishing it at home. I do Photography so when I do photoshoots, I can transfer the photos on here and then I have access to them on the college computers.

USB Stick: Sandisk £10 ASDA

Snacks:

Snack Bars of choice

Bottle of water

Fruit

Juice Container

 

I have a BIG appetite as you can probably tell from my posts and can eat for fun. So its always a good idea to pack some snacks in your bag for when dinner time is far away and you need something to keep you going through that boring lecture on the history of English Language.

Mini Lunchbox Loaf: ALDI 99p 5 Pack
Fruit Flakes: ALDI £1.50 5 Bags

Now this little gadget is great if you want to have a change from drinking just normal water. I take a refillable juice bottle to college and use the water fountains to fill up my bottle and squeeze some of this in and it instantly turns it to juice. It's fantastic!

Robinsons Juice Squeezer: £2 ASDA

Entertainment:

Book

iPod

Headphones

 

Having some thing in your bag to keep you entertained in your college free's when you're meant to be studying or on your journey to and from college or school will seriously make a difference to your day, these things are invaluable.

 

I always pack my earphones and my iPod Nano so that I'm just a few clicks away from my favourite music. It's great if you just want to block out everything and get stuck into your work or if you're on the bus waiting to get home for your dinner, music is essential. I've been loving George Ezra's album, it's great to work along with.

 Also I would recommend packing a book, for when you're up to date with all your work (never happens) or you're bored waiting for your next lesson, having a book is great to make the time pass by. I recently bought 'The Perks Of Being A Wallflower' and am yet to start it but it's meant to be really good.

And that...is it. If you have gotten to the end of this post, well done! I hope this has been a little bit helpful to show you what I take in my college bag or has given you some ideas for what you should take. I hope that whatever stage you're at in education, you enjoy it as much as you can and hopefully this post has made things slightly easier with thinking about what to take to make your time at school or college a little more bearable. 

Thanks for reading,

 

Luke.