Author: Kaluhi (Page 28 of 65)

Ice Cream & Cardamom French Toast

June 16, 2017 / Kaluhi / 12 Comments

I usually treat myself to something nice when my day or week or month has gone especially well and I have exceeded all my goals. I celebrate and congratulate myself each time I achieve something dope! A monthly treat may be something like a new perfume (I have my eyes on Giorgio Armani – Si) ,a book I have been dying to get my hands on or a dress I have been eyeing for a long time. A treat for a day may be a gorgeous moist black forest slice or anything I am craving. Usually it is some ice cream. I am not a sweet tooth, so when I crave ice cream, it comes hard. One night, I treated myself to some ice cream. After few bites, I was off to bed and the next day, I decided to finish treating myself since sleep interrupted my session the previous night. Instead of just having ice cream again, I thought to myself ‘what would happen if I incorporated my favorite ice cream into a dish?’ Curious as to what would happen if breakfast and dessert were combined? Well, the most beautiful ice cream and lime zest French toast would be conceived! <3. Hope you fall in love with this one as much as I have!

Chicken and Mushroom Creamy Pasta

June 13, 2017 / Kaluhi / 21 Comments

I went through the whole of last week with baited breath since I just could not wait to FINALLY watch Wonder Woman!! I even avoided watching trailers and snippets as I did not want my movie experience to be ruined. I love all Marvel movies, and I knew this one may become my favorite one of all time! I had not been to the movies in ages, and I had not seen my girlfriends for quite some time and I decided to combine the two. And it was the best decision I made. I needed that break; break from life and break from work, and it was worth every second! We laughed so much, talked about….. well, everything, bore our fears, hopes, hearts to each other (sounds dramatic! I know.. :D) and everything in between. There is absolutely no way I would be who I am without my girls!! After our wine and some samosas, we went ahead and watched our movie. And no better movie to watch with them than one that celebrated the magnificence that a woman is! Let me tell you guys, if you are yet to watch Wonder Woman, please do yourself a favor and go ahead and watch it! It lives up to the hype!!

When I got back home, I wanted something delicious yet easy to make. With what I had in the fridge and in my pantry, this beauty was born! My creamy chicken meatball and mushroom pasta is a very simple dish (yay!), so easy to make (yay!!!!) and of course so delicious! If you love both pasta and chicken, and maybe mushrooms too, this one is for you!

My Current Three Favorite Smooothies

June 9, 2017 / Kaluhi / 30 Comments

I talk about food a lot (obviously! :DD). As someone who loves eating, food is often a topic of conversation. I was having a food conversation some days back with one lady and she happens to be raw vegan. I personally find that way of life very healthy but on the same token, quite challenging to live by 100%. One needs plenty of dedication! I was in awe of her! She made it seem so easy! She made it seem as though those juicy plums or that leafy cabbage could indeed solve all the world problems. I listened as she spoke on and on, once in a while getting distracted by a beautiful birthmark she had on her neck, and you could tell that she was neck deep into the raw vegan lifestyle. She then asked me which smoothies I loved. For a moment, I hesitated. I hesitated because I did not think my smoothies would live up to her standard. But I went ahead and told her taking comfort in the fact that we are different and like different things and that was ok! To my surprise, she was actually really feeling my smoothies! That got me excited and actually saw that as a stamp of approval from the fruit queen herself! She was going to try them but of course switch some ingredients to be more inline with her lifestyle, but I will share them with you just as I like them :)). Here are my three favorite smoothies.

Cinnamon Pancakes with Lime Tree Tomato Sauce

June 6, 2017 / Kaluhi / 4 Comments

In our home, like most homes, we always have fresh fruit in the house. Considering we live in a country that a bounty of fresh fruit and vegetables, we take full advantage of that. My sister had brought home some tree tomato (tamarillo) after her visit to Naivasha. It is one of her favorite fruit and she buys them in such large quantities. My mom insisted that everyone have four after our meals so that they do not get spoilt. “Kila mtu achukue nne nne!!” (Everyone should have four!”) She would insist. Because we were soooo many, and we did not want them to get spoilt, I decided to incorporate them in my salads and in some of new recipes I was developing. These cinnamon pancakes with lime tree tomato sauce were then conceived! Ever wondered how a hug would look and taste like if it were food? Well, search no more! It would look and taste like my cinnamon pancakes with tree tomato sauce.

Ginger and Coconut Milk Matoke

May 23, 2017 / Kaluhi / 26 Comments

“Would you make a matoke recipe without spices?” One of my readers requested of me way back in 2014. I love getting requests from you guys and a good chunk of my recipes are inspired by your suggestions but this particular one made me hesitate a little. Quite a challenge that was! I am a girl who loooooooves her spices and loves her food with lots of flavor and character, but nevertheless, I took this up. The result was pretty good, but still, I think spices would have brought out the flavors much better.

I always say there are more than a million ways to prepare one dish. That is why it is just not fair to your self to eat a meal prepared the same way for 70 years when you can enjoy it in many other ways. You get? One of the meals I totally love due to their versatility in the kitchen (besides potatoes and rice) is matoke. There are many ways you can prepare it one of them being my ginger matoke masala. Today’s recipe is very similar to this one I made in 2014, as per request of one of my readers. So with inspiration from that #KRecipe form 2014, here is an upgrade of the same with layered rich flavors: My ginger and coconut milk matoke.

Lemon and Poppy Seed Cupcakes

May 16, 2017 / Kaluhi / 10 Comments

I love eating delicious things with company I enjoy! The day I made these cupcakes I had the GORGEOUS Lyra Aoko come over and also shoot the entire baking process and have this as out first collaborative project. I love how she thinks and I an so captivated by her creative process. So for someone as awesome as her to say she wants to capture my creative process, there was no way I was going to say no! I am ~~borderline~~ obsessed with her and I am not even gonna hide it! You remember when I told you that she is one of Kenya’s greats in this post. Check out her blog, get inspired by her Instagram, follow her on Twitter and also subscribe to her YouTube channel. All images for this post were captured by Lyra Aoko. <3

For both of us, this was work, but it did not feel like it because we are both doing what we love! We went through the morning creating, all the while talking about life, our careers, our families, boys (duh!) and literally everything else. The outcome was great! I made a few missteps first time trying this, maybe due to getting too immersed in our delicious conversations, but I retried the recipe and found my errors and I will show you how to get it right when you give this a try! :))

Garlic Kuku Kienyeji (with homemade spice blend)

May 12, 2017 / Kaluhi / 32 Comments

My mom is obsessed with her chickens! Each time she comes back from her visit upcountry, she has to bring new chickens with her. I do not like them because of the work involved rearing them. I would prefer if we kept just three at a time, but she wants us to have a whole brood with us. Recently she brought 3 new ones, which later got anxious because of the new environment, panicked and retreated to the hedge. So ~~my mum and I in unity and strength~~ I had to chase them down, catch them and get them to their pen. It is never an easy task! My mum was laughing the whole time while I was doing the hard work. This city girl just couldn’t keep up!! But eventually, all three were caught and secured in their pen. Keeping chickens is such a hassle, which I would rather not indulge in. But all this is made worthwhile by knowing the feasting that will come after all the trouble will be unforgettable. And my sweat paid off when I dug my teeth into this kuku kienyeji (free range chicken) recipe that I made with a homemade spice blend. I shared sneak peaks with you on twitter and InstaStories over Easter but today, the long wait is over and I will share the recipe with you! You will loooooove this one!