Breakfast magic

I have many a post to catch up on here, but right now I'm consuming a delicious chocolatey breakfast (for the second morning in a row) that needs documenting! I got a massive bag of bananas from Hulme market for £1 on Monday (end of day stuff), which has prompted this spell of semi-decadence. I've made this concoction before, but never for breakfast, and it was surprisingly sustaining. Normally even a big bowl of porridge and raisins leaves me starving by 12 (lunch is at 1 at work), but yesterday I wasn't really much more than peckish by the time lunch came round.

So, breakfast chocolate-peanut-banana milkshake. You'll need a blender! Throw in some soya milk, some oats (do these first so the oats can soak while you assemble the rest of the ingredients), a sliced banana, one teaspoon of unsweetened cocoa powder, a drizzle of maple syrup or other liquid sweetener of your choice, a small handful of raisins and a spoonful of peanut butter. Blend. Adjust quantities of chocolate/banana/peanut to taste. (Yesterday I got carried away with the chocolate and had to add another banana to balance it out...)

Yummy yummy yummy! And not altogether unhealthy either.

Basilicious!

That's what I should call the smoothie I made this morning when I finally write that cookbook.

Two kiwis, one banana (all slightly too ripe for eating but perfect for smoothies!), three large basil leaves, a dollop of plain soya yoghurt, a splash of water and some raisins for good measure. It could probably stand more basil as it was a very subtle flavour, but I didn't want to overdo it on my first try and ruin the whole thing!

I've also heard that pineapple and basil is something of an experience, so I shall have to keep my eyes peeled for reduced pineapples!