Biscuits au Chocolat, Chocolate and Biscuits Log, and more...

Hellooo? Anyone there? I could swear there is echo in here! 
Yes, yes, I know. How did I ever have the nerve to abandon you like this, stranded all alone in the past - oh so beautiful - spring season? oh the cruelty!
I hope you're not very mad at me for not posting anything during three full months.
Because if you are, well I brought you a super yummy chocolaty recipe with meee! No? Ok maybe if I explained? 
Ummm, how can I say this? 
I've been busy hugging toilets. 
I've been irresistibly attracted to pickles and cream, TOGETHER.
I've been driven to flooding apocalyptic tears by a flower who refused to stand up straight in the vase.
I have stopped walking. Instead, I'm now waddling. 
I've been sort of cooking a bun in the oven for a few months now. 
YES! You got it! I'm pregnant with our first baby!
This mama's kitchen's attitude is getting stronger and bigger by the day!
  

Allow me please to have my five minutes of pregnancy glory (more or less, depending on how fast you read), and I promise I will leave you alone with this (maybe). 
As many pregnant women, veteran moms, and surviving husbands/partners would testify, early pregnancy is kind of a crazy 360 degrees roller coaster on steroids, on a bad hair day. Yeah, makes you kinda wish Iron Man was your best buddy huh? 

So with all these phenomenal changes, happening at an even more phenomenal speed, I barely had any energy to cook, or the guts to smell any food for that matter. 

Not to mention that my intellectual capacities have packed up and left to some distant exotic island (Lost anyone?), leaving me with a note: "Good luck with the pregnancy thing and all, call us when the baby is out!"

I also wanted to spare you my crazy food combinations which would have put off even the most adventurous eaters of you out there from ever visiting the blog again.  

lookin4... Dangerously Rosso

 red is hot...

red represents power...

(hence the red carpet for very important persons)

red also symbolizes happiness in some countries...

forget about you getting red when you get angry...

think about yourself being happy when you drink it ;-)

Ladies and Gentlemen, let me introduce you to "Dangerously Rosso"

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Every year, I have my color "trends" & 2013 seems to be a red (& yellow) year for me.

Maybe, it started after I got my hair dyed reddish bronze (initially I was attracted by flashy red strands...), 
or when I got this sexy red Risoli coffee maker from Rita for Christmas (would have loved to say "as I got this sexy red Ferrari from Bradley Cooper" haha) 
or when I bought myself this beautiful red Staub pot (perfect partner to make Rita's lemony spinach stew by the way)...

Or am I simply lookin4 something hot - guys - yes, always ;-)

or lookin4 power (erm.. some more energy in the morning would be a nice to have, for sure)

oh well, I know.. I am lookin4 happiness!

So, here I came up with this flame red smoothie, just in time for the strawberry season to bring you some energy & happiness (sorry hot guys are not included in this recipe! go out to find them yourselves... Ladies, according to Wiki, Bradley is single at the moment lol)

Lebanese Lentil Pilaf - Mujaddara, with Lebanese Cabbage Salad

Once upon a time, in a land not so far away, there was a little Lebanese girl with long curly hair, who lived in a big apartment with her mum, dad, two younger brothers, and occasional pets such as street cats, lost puppies and fallen injured migrating birds. 
She and her brothers went to one of the city's nearby schools like every other kid in the neighborhood , and like everyone else, their mum picked them up in front of the school gates everyday at 2PM. On the way back home, the first question that would pop up in the old family car was: "Mum!! What's for lunch today?"

 
Now it might come as a shock to you to learn this, but the little girl a long time ago, is me! *Gush!*
And the one who popped the question in the car, every single day, was also me! *Louder gush!!*  
You see our mother takes things to heart when it comes to feeding her family. She is a working mum who always, always took time to prepare homemade, healthy meals for us kids every single day since we were born. Never did she feed us out of baby food jars when we were little, and never did she feed us take outs when we were older. The food on our table was, and always will be, made by her own sweet, loving hands. It quickly became a standard for us three, as we now strongly object to any idea of buying pre-made holiday pastries, or time consuming mezze bites. That would be utter absurdity! Heresy!  
And now that I have a family of my own, I can say that I truly am my mother's daughter!

Pasta with Shrimp and Creamy Tomato Sauce

Nothing says "lazy weeknight dinner" more than a good old bowl of pasta. Recently, pasta has become my go-to dish when I am running short on time, or simply too tired to cook an elaborate dinner after coming back home from a long day at the office. Sometimes a girl's got to have some rest!

On typical days like this, my brain usually switches to auto-pilot mode, with the phrase "eat out / order in" flashing in red neon on top of the closed doors to the "today's home cooked recipe" section of my mind. 
Then happens the inevitable; husband asks what's for dinner. I mechanically repeat the line flashing in my head, and then it happens. He looks at me with his glistening eyes widened in painful shock, his lips slightly tremble and he says in a sad, disappointed voice "So you're not cooking for us tonight?" The sound of his heart breaking is so loud I could actually hear it. 
 

lookin4...Warm Apple & Sweet Potato drink

New to the "Drink With Attitude by S." monthly posts? Read more about it here! 

 

What an exciting feeling to start something new i.e. something that you never thought you were ever gonna do, or you never thought you would be "able" to do... let me go even further, something you would just enjoy watching other people do..!!

Here I am (hello everyone!), writing this draft text (that will not be at draft status by the time you would be reading it) for my first recipe. 

I could blah blah very long but I know the real recipe part will not be read anymore so let me go straight to the point (not that I am not inspired by writing down stuff and perhaps? make you smile a tiny bit).

☆ You feeling cold? →　get dressed first

☆ You lazy? →　get your couch ready

☆ You lookin4 a warm drink that is neither a hot coffee nor a warm Darjeeling? →　read this recipe and go get the ingredients

Introducing: Drink With Attitude by S.

Cook With Attitude is welcoming a new and exciting addition: Drink With Attitude by S.! 

S. is a very dear friend of mine, and has been for many years now. And I have to say, she makes the best smoothies/cocktails/drinks I have ever tasted! 
She has generously agreed to share her original recipes and creations on Cook With Attitude with monthly posts in the "Drink With Attitude by S." section.
I bet you're just dying to find out more about her aren't you? Well this must be your lucky day because S. is here to tell us more about herself and her excellent recipes. On to you S.!

☆ Hola ☆

Welcome in the Drink With Attitude world of mine :D

I usually do not speak much about my private life in public, not that I have a celebrity-like privacy to protect, but being a bit shy (yes, I am, believe it or not) and not as expert as Rita in terms of cooking, let me just say that I got a little bit of experience in the beverage world...
So for all the ones who love making their own fresh juices & smoothies, I hope to bring you some ideas for your breakfasts, brunches and afternoon breaks :-)

In each of my posts, you will find a laziness VS awesomeness indicator that will help you to pick the right recipe depending on your mood...

Basically, when the "laziness" indicator of a recipe has got a high level, it would mean that it won't take you long to prepare it.
Easy to understand, no?

So, let's deep dive into the recipes....☆☆☆

I would be happy if you could share your feed-backs and comments to the below email address whenever you feel like it :

lookin4sab@cookwithattitude.com

P.S: Keep on following Rita as well on www.cookwithattitude.com :-))