If you’ve been following my journey, you will know by now that MBV loves a good old brunch. During the lockdown, I made a quarantine brunch and shared the recipe with you all.
I was recently gifted, by Wellness Lab, a Matcha Latte Mix, and what did I do? I decided to make some matcha pancakes! So today I will be sharing with you how to make green matcha pancakes.
What is Matcha?
I would say that Matcha is a finely ground powder some know it as processed green tea leaves. When added to food, it has a real taste of green tea. Matcha is also known, to be consumed, in East Asia.
So how does one make Matcha Green Pancakes! Check out the ingredients and steps below:
Pivoting your brand was and still is essential to many travel content creators. Many of us can agree that during this pandemic we have had to think and find new ways of travelling.
This was and still has been a very difficult time for travel content creators. Cancelled and delayed trips, not being able to travel has really weighed in on many of us. As a travel blogger, everyone knows and understands how much I LOVE to explore the world. So what does one do when you are not able to travel and visualise the world?
You pivot.
Instead of surrendering to uncertainty, I decided to create my own way of travelling and experiencing the world and this had to be through food. I have always enjoyed trying new food, especially when travelling so it only made sense for me to tie food and travel together and it is why and how the Cooking and Travel Talks live show began.
What is Cooking Travel Talks?
Cooking Travel Talks is a live show via Instagram. During the one hour segment, I cook a dish from around the world and encourage others to join in with me by sharing the ingredients. The idea is simple. I want to take my viewers through a journey to taste and learn about a destination around the world in less than an hour.
So far we have learnt and tasted to make a dish in the following destinations:
Latin America – Arepas, Plantain with Mango Salsa and Black Beans
Barbados – Bajan Bread and Butter Pudding with Vanilla Rum Custard
If you have missed the lives head over to my Instagram and you will be able to make and taste these dishes yourself.
There is no right or wrong way on how to pivot, but while you are here I wanted to share a few tips on how to pivot your brand/s.
1. What are your passions?
I remember being at my first ever travel conference at WITSummit and Lola Akinmade giving a speech on discovering our true passion for travel. At the time I wasn’t sure why I really enjoyed travelling, I knew that I loved to experience the culture and explore. The idea of escape was something that dawned on me a lot but it wasn’t the right answer.
The idea was to find my true passion and answer the question – Why do I love to travel? Lola explained that finding our true passion for travel would enable me to discover my niche. At the time I didn’t know the answer when I was asked, which truly annoyed me – lol! It only took a whole lockdown for me to discover that one of my other passions and love for travelling was tasting and discovering new foods.
Use this time to find and discover new ways of experiencing travel without actually travelling. #CookingTravelTalks
2. Listen to your audience when pivoting
During the lockdown, it was much easier to speak to your audiences – through various social media tools (Twitter, Instagram being my personal faves).
When a close friend of mine suggested to me to go ahead with food and travel thing I didn’t know where to start. The first response was for me to put in in prayer and write in my journal about it. I then decided to ask relevant questions to my audience. This helped me decide how to strategise my new project. I asked simple questions such as, how often, what dishes and the time I should do my live. Asking these questions was extremely helpful not only did it give me the tools to make the right decision in developing my new pivot – Cooking Travel Talks but it also let me know what my audience was looking for. Now that I have finished season 1 I plan to gain feedback from my audience.
Find ways to engage and listen to your audience. After all, they are the most important people when trying to pivot your brand. #CookingTravelTalks
3. Don’t be afraid to learn something new
For those of you that have been watching my Instagram lives, I am sure you can tell I do not come from a food background nor do I have any qualification in this area. And if I am even more honest I haven’t always been the most confident person in the kitchen. I didn’t allow this to stop me. Every time I bring someone on to my live I not only learn about a new dish and a bit about the destination but most importantly I learn new techniques of how to cook when I’m in the kitchen.
Although we are slowly coming out of the so-called ‘lockdown stage’ we are still in unprecedented times and none of us really know what lies ahead. Even though MyBreakingViews has technically pivoted, it doesn’t mean this will be it. I am still constantly thinking of new ways of how I can make Cooking Travel Talks better and more appealing to my audience.
I have many ideas already which I have jotted down. Some of them include purchasing tools such as lighting and a camera, but honestly, I have other plans for my new project and I can’t wait to grow with you on this! Take out a journal and write down what you love and what you would like to do with your brand.
Continue to pivot even when you have already pivoted. There is nothing wrong with change. #CookingTravelTalks
I hope you enjoyed reading this post and if you are still figuring out how to pivot your brand send me an email info@mybreakingviews.com. Two heads are better than one and we might think of something mindblowing.
Otherwise, stay tuned as I will be sharing short write-ups of the destinations I have tasted! Oh, and did I mention there will be a Cooking and Travel Talks Season 2! Hahaha yes, stay tuned!
Below I have shared some of the dishes my audience have made with me.
Bajan Bread and Butter Pudding
Hurricane Cocktail
Salt and pepper Prawns
Suya
Nasi Goreng
Have you pivoted your brand? Do you have any tips you can share? Leave in the comments below.
So today is our first Black Pound Day (Saturday, June 27). With everything that has happened in the last few weeks, I think this is a day that we can and should take the time to support our community. And I think the best way to do it is through food! Why? Because everyone enjoys eating.
What is Black Pound Day?
Black Pound Day (which will be a monthly event) encourages people to buy products from Black business owners in the UK. It was set up by Swiss a former So Solid Crew member!
Below I have put together a list of Black-owned restaurants that are currently open for takeaways and delivery in the UK.
A Birmingham Black-owned la carte restaurant that focuses on using amazing ingredients from all over the world that emphasises on the Caribbean, Asia and India foods. I will be certainly trying out this restaurant if I’m ever in Birmingham.
London wide Black-owned restaurants with a branch in Dubai. Enish serves a diverse range of Nigerian food. I visited this restaurant at the beginning of this year and enjoyed it. If you are going, I would suggest trying some pepper soup or even the suya!
A Black-owned restaurant based in Bristol. It servers traditional Caribbean comfort dishes. I’ve personally never been, but it looks like a good shout for whenever I may be in Bristol.
A London Black-owned business that makes vegan mozzarella, mock meats and dough pizza. I usually do vegan for a month every year so at least now I know I have somewhere to try.
A London based restaurant that offers a mix of savoury soul food with creative desserts & cocktails. Despite leaving so close to this place I still am yet to visit and enjoy!
Last week I had my first Cooking and Travel and Talks Live where I made suya. I have to say despite all the nerves I think it went very well. I shared stories of when I have visited Nigeria, had the afrobeats in the background and engaged with all my audience. All in all, it was an hour of just good vibes.
I would say that Suya is a spicy meat skewer, like an English Kebab (but spicey and sexier). It originates from the North of Nigeria and is a popular dish in the West of Africa. Suya is usually thinly sliced meat marinated in various spices and then grilled or barbecued. The dish is served with extra helpings of dried pepper mixed with tomatoes and sliced onions in a newspaper.
I was impressed to see how many people joined in with me to cook on my first live! Many people missed the first live and have asked for the recipe, so I have jotted down the ingredients and instructions with some clips of the live on how to make suya.
When did I first have Suya?
Believe it or not, the first time I tried Nigerian Suya was when I was a vegetarian. Yes, some vegetarian. I travelled to Nigeria as an adult and was constantly looked down on for not eating meat, but for some reason, I was swayed by the smells of Suya and ever since I never went back again.
Ingredients you need for Nigerian Suya
1kg Beef or chicken
1tsp Paprika
2tsp Salt
2 Maggie Cubes
2tsp Garlic Salt
15 Wooden Skewers
2 Tomato
1 Onion
3tsp Oil
You can buy your suya spice (suya pepper) in an African food store. I would always suggest washing and seasoning your meat with paprika, salt Maggie and garlic salt overnight. Below you can watch how I prep to make my suya.
Pre-heat your grill for about 180 degrees Celsius (375 Fahrenheit)
Soak your wooden skewers in cold water (this ensures that the sticks do not burn during the roasting of the Suya)
Add your oil and massage into your meat (this ensures that the meat doesn’t burn during roasting).
You may want to cut your meat if it’s too big. I would suggest to cut them into small pieces so that when you thread them on the sticks, they will not flap too much.
You will then need to thread the fillets of beef onto the skewer sticks.
Add your suya pepper/mix into a wide dish and dab the threaded fillets of beef into the spice so that the beef takes up as much of the spice as possible. Note: If you’re not keen on spice only add a little bit.
Place all the now spiced beef onto the oven rack and put in the grill to roast. As you will see in the clip below.
You will then need to twist your meet regularly to ensure it doesn’t burn. The meat should take around 20-30 minutes to cook but do bear in mind that this depends on how thick your beef meet is.
While your suya is roasting, cut your onions and tomatoes and place them into the newspaper.
Remove meat from sticks and add to the newspaper
Finish off with adding some more suya spice to the meal and enjoy!
Below are some pictures of people that cooked with me on my first Cooking and Travel Talks Live! I would like to thank everyone that joined in and cooked with me!
I hope you enjoy your suya – if you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask me! And if you would like to cook with me on my next live then follow me on Instagram where I will be sharing what I will be cooking next!
Many of us are in quarantine right now and are missing out on brunch with the girls. I have a collab with a few other bloggers and have decided to show you how to enjoy a quick quarantine brunch.
The ingredients for fluffy American pancakes:
1 cup (120g) all-purpose flour
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 pinch of salt
1 cup (240 ml) milk
2 Tablespoons melted butter or vegetable oil
1 large egg
We all enjoy fluffy pancakes. I think they are also a great idea for a quarantine brunch. Follow these easy steps below:
First, mix all the dry ingredients.
Then mix the wet ingredients in a separate bowl.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and mix (do not overmix).
My secret: let the batter sit for a minute or two. It will allow the baking powder to activate and make your pancakes fluffy.
Heat oil or butter in a skillet and once hot, add a few tablespoons of the batter, making sure they don’t spread out to the outside.
Cook for a minute, until fluffy. Flip, and cook for another minute.
The ingredients for toppings (this is optional)
1 tablespoon of maple syrup
2 bananas
10 strawberries
5 slices of bacon
To make your pancakes a real quarantine brunch you have got to add the toppings. However, as stated above you can enjoy your pancakes without the extra toppings
Tip: cook the bacon in the over at a low temperature, that way you can focus on everything else.
The ingredients for the egg
Milk (30 ml)
4 eggs
A pinch of salt and pepper
Butter for frying
Wisk eggs with milk together
Add salt and pepper
Fry in some butter for taste
Please note the measurements specified are for two or more. You would need to increase the amount for more the one person!
I hope you take some time to create your own quarantine brunches. There will certainly be more quarantine bunch recopies on MBV’s so be sure to subscribe for the next one.
Thanks to DiyWithJoyce, I have got back into thebaking and have been experimenting with new food. I don’t know if you know, but ever since I was a kid, I have always had a liking to baking and making cakes. And while I am not travelling, I usually like to keep myself occupied with other things like making banana bread.
I remember as a child making lots of fruit cakes, don’t ask me why because I hated a fruit cake and still do now, but I was good at it. I also made a right old Victorian Sponge, M&M cookies and little old muffins – these were my specialities. It’s a shame I didn’t really stick to it because who knows where I would be with it now. As I got older, I guess I lost interest and stopped baking as much. I can’t exactly remember why I stopped, but I didn’t pursue it thoroughly, and I think I just lost the confidence.
I have recently moved into a new place and decided that I would like to get back into baking cakes again! Lucky me, my auntie was nice enough to gift me with a weigh scale, and so I decided to make banana bread. If you are already a baker yourself you will know that there are a million in one way to make banana bread, so I thought it would be good to share how My Breaking Views made this amazing banana loaf!
ingredients:
banana x2 (soft)
150g butter softened, plus a lil extra for the tin
150g caster sugar
2 eggs, beaten well
150g self-raising flour
1 tablespoon of peanut butter
1 tsp baking powder
You may need time to prepare your ingredients, so I would suggest giving yourself around 15- 20mins. Don’t rush it you want this to come out really good! Pre-heat oven your oven 180C/160C fan/gas 4.
It will roughly take around 40 –45 mins to bake at around 180C.
Mush your bananas I do this with a fork, but I know there are more exclusive tools which can be used.
Soften butter & peanut butter. I only eat crunchy PeanutButter, but I am sure you can use any PeanutButter. I usually add this to a bowl and put it in the microwave for like 15 seconds, I wouldn’t suggest this, but it does make it easy to mix!
Add sugar to butter with Peanut Butter (Remember the peanut butter is optional).
Make this mix nice and fluffy.
Add the flour and eggs
Butter your tin
Add mixture into your tin
Place in the oven
Let it Cook
& Enjoy
And mix! Hopefully, your mixture looks something like this:
And it’s as easy at that!
Hope you find the recipe easy and if you find time to make it, share a picture in the comments section below.
