Life is Great

I never thought I'd see the day I'd tell you about a drink, much less a healthy drink. Not that drinks are not worth talking about, I just don't make a lot of them - other than coffee, the occasional Milo and the very often ginger tea - all of which I'm sure you have your own awesome methods of whipping up. Something beneficial, good for breakfast, body and soul, really - have you seen my recipes? Not exactly a list where this shake would fit in but I can't help but to put this up, even if it means I need to open up a whole new category for it.



Breakfast at home was always a weekend luxury until a week ago, after I went for a surgery to remove this. While being under house arrest for two weeks is really nothing compared to hopping around on crutches for a month after a fracture (where I was last year and thus Life is Great turned into a food blog), I'm still working from home and the calling for an easy breakfast was stronger than ever. When your ankle swells up after half an hour of walking and standing, even fried eggs over buttered toasts seems like a (small) chore. I wanted something I could put in my mouth in under five minutes - because when you're working from home, chances are you'd still be in your jammies 10 minutes before logon time.



So over Twitter one day while my friend Jordan started going on about steak pies in the middle of fasting month, I was reminded about his infamous 'supershake'. The only possible reasons I could think of for which a shake could justify such a heroic prefix would be that it (a) flies, (b) owns a Batmobile or (c) calls for super foods. Blueberries, as much as I love them, I never successfully made an AM smoothie I liked (I think it was Martha Stewart's yogurt, milk and honey - too tart for my taste). Oatmeal, the only way it would make its way to my stomach would be through some form of chocolate drink. Not that cooked oatmeal with some fried onion, scallion oil and anchovies wouldn't appeal to me but that would take way more than five minutes.



Blueberries and oats belong in a cookie very well but alas, even for me, cookies don't equate breakfast. So in this shake, they make friends with some banana and peanut butter. My weight watching friend Ash made his version with whole grains and sugarless peanut butter while I jacked up mine with some super chunky Skippy. The sky is the limit on how you could tweak this drink to your heart's desire - more bananas, less blueberries, instant oatmeal, rolled oats, other grains, skim milk, full fat - you get the picture. I, of course, committed heresy by adding two scoops of my ice cream but this really wouldn't come as a surprise to you, would it? (In my defense, it was right next to the ice tray when I opened the freezer.) I hope I can still call this a supershake after that, surely the blueberries and oats wouldn't mind.



7 Links Project

If you've been around food blogs lately, chances are you've already seen this meme being passed around. It has been so long since I've done one (during Life is Great's pre-food blog days) I never thought I'd see the day I'd do a food meme but like the drink, things happen. You only need to be tagged. While I find it weird to go on about your own stuff, it's perhaps a good chance for some reflection and navel gazing moments, so here goes.

Most Beautiful Post - The Carrot Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting. It's all about the icing on the cake and some sugar art isn't it? A humble carrot cake or not, slap on some angelic frosting and instantly it looks like a million bucks.
Most Popular Post - The Pandan Chiffon Cake. Of course after Masterchef Australia featured Ms G's version by Dan Hong it went slightly out of control but it still trumps the Red Velvet the last time I checked.
Most Controversial Post - Sadly I can't find one to fit this, though it'll be exciting if someone pipes up full of anger with shaking fist and all about my recipes wouldn't it?
Most Helpful Post - Again the Pandan Chiffon Cake, judging by the number of readers who have tried it.
Post Whose Success Surprise Me - Nigella's Spanish Chicken with Chorizo and Potatoes. I never thought a tray of dump-it-all-in chicken with some potatoes and sausages would get so much attention, but then again, is it food like this we secretly crave all the time?
Post I Feel Didn’t Get the Attention It Deserved - The recent Ground Spiced Chicken. I was chuffed with the photos and how the post came out. Vijay did such a great job with the onions and a tribute to his mother. Recipes from home always have a special place in my heart.
Post that I am Most Proud of - The Cantonese Savory Glutinous Rice Dumplings/Zongzi (粽子). It took me days to make, cook and shoot this but I would've never done it if all my stars were not aligned. I regretted making only ten.

Jordan's Blueberry Oatmeal Breakfast Supershake
Recipe from Jordan MacVay.
Yields 4 cups.

• 1/2 cup ice cubes


• 2 very ripe bananas


• 4 ounces fresh blueberries


• 2 tablespoons peanut butter


• 1/3 cup instant oatmeal/rolled oats


• 350-500 milliliters milk


• 2 scoops mixed berry ice cream (optional)


• 2 tablespoons honey (optional)

Place all the ingredients into a blender and blitz on high speed for a few minutes. Serve with optional garnish of banana slices and some frozen blueberries with a drizzle of honey.