Hello wonderful readers. I’m going to apologize now if this post falls into the lacklustre category – I think I may be coming down with something, and I’m a little at odds with life right now. Although I’m enjoying going back to school, and excited for the ultimate outcome & career change, I’m really missing “being an adult”. Just all those little things – having my own space, my own kitchen, control over the tv…stuff like that (although, I do enjoy having my laundry done for me – thanks mom!). I even sort of miss living far away from my family, which I never thought would happen. It’s just the idea of the current situation for the next 3 1/2 years is bothering me. I know it makes no sense to move out on my own, get student loans, and spend all of that money on rent/food/bills when I don’t NEED to, but sometimes my sanity thinks I do. What can I say, I’ve always been the independent one, and right now I feel like anything but.

Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, let’s get down to Friday’s happenings. AKA – Marianne’s complete waste of a day.

I was up and at them before 6 am, chowing down on a nice bowl of cereal.

• Nature’s Path Mesa Sunrise
• puffed kamut
• puffed brown rice
• shredded coconut
• pomegranate arils
• unsweetened vanilla almond milk

Plus a glass of cranberry pomegranate juice.

I made the epic journey out to school for my one, 50 min biochemistry lecture, and then back home. I had to sprint to get the bus home, to avoid waiting 30 min for the next one. The driver had just closed the doors as I made it there, and was nice enough to open them back up for me. Then I fell asleep on the bus, only to wake up just as we were going past my house. Damnit! I managed pull the cord so they stopped at the next stop, but I had to hike back up my hill. At least I didn’t wake up at the bottom of the hill.

After all the unexpected exercise this morning, I found myself back in my pajamas and back in bed for a nap. I planned on a couple hours, so I could get up, make lunch, go flog from resumes, and get a few other things done. Too bad I slept from 10:30 am – 3:30 pm. No joke. And the first sign that perhaps my body is fighting off some sort of illness, because I never nap like that.

Before my crazy nap, I snacked on one of the Super Charge Me Cookies I made last night.

And after my nap, I had the last cornbread muffin (those didn’t last long).

I was hungrier than that, but knowing dinner would be just around the corner, I figured I’d just hold out. I set up camp on the Lazy Boy massage/heated recliner and watched TV until Take Out Friday was served.

Since pizza was last week….

…Chinese food was on the menu this week.

We had all the usual suspects – chow mein, fried rice, beef chop suey, almond chicken, sweet & sour pork, spring rolls.

It’s time like this that I wish I was back on my own – I like to order different things every time  I get Chinese, generally with more veg, but my family is so set in their ways, you just can’t deviate from the standards.

The fortune cookie after the meal.

Sign #2 I might be getting sick? This did NOT sit well in my tummy. I was chugging water like it was going out of style (it seemed overly salty this time), and had a general feeling of crappiness that I don’t normally get. Bah. I went back to the lounger for awhile, then made my way to the gym in hopes of sweating out the icky-ness. It worked relatively well. At least I didn’t feel like a sack of crap when I got back home.

So what did I go and do then? Made popcorn. What? I had a craving.

Just some plain popcorn with a little butter drizzle. Simple enough, tasted good, still gave me angry belly. Bah. I don’t have time for sickness!

There was more TV watching and general laziness. Of course, now I’m completely awake since I slept half the day away, so I’m not in the mood to go to bed yet. But I want to get things done tomorrow, so I’m going to try and force myself to sleep. I shall leave you with a picture of Sienna, trying to help my mom pick out a dessert recipe for the dinner party they are going to tomorrow.

Night!

This is another bargain at £2.93 for a 300ml bottle and it is also buy one get one free, woohoo! They also do this in a body butter (but i prefer lotions) and there are others if you are not a coconut fan.

What they say… Created with natural coconut oil, known for its skin conditioning properties, combined with shea butter, for softening and moisturising, to nourish the skin and provide the essential moisture it needs to leave it feeling soft. It is dermatologically tested and is suitable for vegetarians and vegans (not to eat obviously lol).

This smells absolutely gorgeous, i am a big coconut fan anyway so i’m biased but it does leave my skin feeling so soft, even softer than well-known brand lotions. So i will be lathering this on this winter to protect my skin from the nasty cold! And it is a bargain because it’s a big bottle and if it works who cares how little it costs! After all we need to save our pennies for christmas!

Curry!

I have discovered a glorious new spice, fit for stomach pleasing and chopstick yellowing.

Curried Rice with Tuna

I have to confess, before making this meal, I was completely ignorant of all things curry. Outside of my (regrettably) few flirtations with Indian restaurants, curry and I just never moved in the same crowd. After a very happy meeting last night, however, I am happy to report that we are now poised to become bosom buddies  My friend was very kind to bestow upon me a big bottle of curry powder and a can of tuna, both pretty pricey, and I decided to make the curried rice for myself, my friend and her sister. It was incredibly easy and delicious. Here are the haps:

1. After soaking the rice for a few hours ahead of time (cuts down on cooking time, a good thing when you are cooking on a gas stove, but not necessary), I cooked it as usual.

2. While the rice was cooking, I cut up some raw onion and tomato. And the easiness only gets easier from here.

3. When the rice was done, I strained it and then stirred in: the chopt onion and tomato, some curry powder, some black pepper (from a grinder! amazing!), one can of tuna in sunflower oil (stir the oil in too) and some salt (also from a grinder! the luxury!).

4. Then we ate it and enjoyed.

I rarely measure anything, but I would guess the amounts of my ingredients were:

3 cups cooked rice

¼ cup chopt onion

¼ cup chopt tomato

1 t pepper

1 t salt (beware, you Amuricans. I eat a ton of salt here because of all the sexy sweating I do.)

2 T curry powder

More delicious inclusions could be some pepe (somehow curry powder), more veggies (always a good thing) or beans.

This was delicious and was given high marks by Ghanaians with discerning palates.

Coconut Curry

I loves me some serious coconut here, so I decided to bring old and new friends together in this meal. I made it for an American friend and a Ghanaian friend. The American friend was more enthusiastic, which is okay considering all you readers are probably American. Here are the haps.

1. Cook rice.

2. Saute chopt onions, green onions, coconut and cabbage in small oil. When cooked to desired cookedness, add curry powder, black pepper, salt, small sugar and the milk from the inside of your coconut.

3. When both sauté mix and rice are done, mix the two together and enjoy. Eat with a big chunk of coconut for intensified pleasure.

Curry. Case. Closed.

So, you thought I was ‘just’ a counsellor. You thought wrong, biotches. Oh, didn’t you know? I went to Get A Degree Overnight University and am now a registered pediatrician.

Yeah. Because there are no appointments until next Tuesday, even for 15 week old babies with eczema and fucked up rashes. WHO NEEDS CONVENTIONAL DOCTORS?? Not when I can do my own home visits, natch.

Smear some barrier cream on those tummies. If it works for their ass/willy/hoo-hah IT WILL WORK ON THEIR SKIN. Yeah. Rub it in. Rub it in real good.

Oh, her cheek looking bright red? Her forehead still have that vulcan ridge of thick dry skin? Well…..FUCK IT! Your wife will go to the chemist on the way home from work and buy all the cream that yourself, in consultation with Dr. Google, has decided she should be prescribed.

Slap some steroids on his face. Oh, sure, they thin the skin, but what the fuck, right? I mean, his face immediately flares back up into eczema the second you stop using the steroids, no matter that you are smearing him in thick layers of gasoline-smelling cream every hour. And he woke up this morning with broken, scaly skin that may or may not start oozing? STEROIDS.

So. We’ve got a combination of the ass cream, some mild topical steroids, hardcore expensive creams, no doctors appointments for miles around.

Dr. Existere will fix this shit, she’ll fix it reeeeeal good. When TMD brings the new creams and bath solutions home – because the bath shit prescribed last week has caused red bumps and braille messages to appear on two tummies – we will see which one works and then I will tell the doctor what he/she should be prescribing us. Because who needs respect for the medical profession?

Not when you’ve got two babies who apparently were born with such delicate, sensitive skin that unless you are using cream made of pure gold, it will not be good enough for them.

I WILL FIX IT.

You shit your pants, getting poop everywhere? Yes, it took me twenty minutes to clean you, and I just now remembered that I left shit smeared on the changing mat, a shit covered outfit thrown on our nice new neutral coloured carpet, piles of shit soaked cotton balls on the nice wood changing table. Who cares? The poop is mostly off your skin, and hell, let’s just slap a lot of cream on your cootch JUST IN CASE. Barrier creams can solve anything, can’t they? They work on Mommy’s pimples, they will work on your cootch that is rubbed raw from all the shit everywhere. MOMMY FIX IT, YO.

She fix everything. No questions. No lack of confidence.

You refuse to burp? Well, fuck a doodle doo, I’ll just throw a bib on you until you fall asleep in an upright position, and then rip it off once you are asleep. You will wake up in an hour and throw up, but shit, dawg, we need to air out your paper-thin neck skin covered in that ugly, ugly rash. FIXED IT.

And you, little girl? Overnight nothing fits you? And there are no clean big girl or big boy outfits? No clean scratch mitts for him? Eh, fuck it, yo. I’ll just smell these scratch mitts that I found on the floor to see if they smell like gasoline cream, because if not it’s probably okay for him to suck on them. I’ll do laundry, MOMMA FIX IT.

Oh? Cradle cap? The one thing the gas lotion fixes. Slap it on, glue your fine blonde hairs to your head with all this gunky greasy cream. There you go. Now you look like Mama if she doesn’t shower, and your cradle cap has softened into a yellow goo. FIXED.

Giant booger in your nose, girl? We’ll wait until you throw up out of your nose, as that will push it close enough to the edge for me to be able to hook that little fucker with my pinky finger. And when I pull out that rubbery inch long piece of brown snot, I will hoot in pleasure, screaming my victory much like an old man who catches a big fish in the sea. SNOT FIX.

You won’t sleep? Crying? Mama will pick you both up and sort of juggle you around on her lap/tummy, praying to god your head won’t snap back and break your respective necks at any point. She will rock back and forth and ooze positive thoughts in your direction until you slumber. SLEEP FIX.

I FIX IT ALL. I am a pediatrician, and I won’t listen to you if you say I’m not. Now, back to the rash problem…..

Coconut Queen (103 MB download)
Soak up the sun while building your very own paradise empire! As the island’s much-awaited Coconut Queen, you must make the island of Lui Lui a popular tourist destination or risk its demise. With the help of brawny native gents, build and customize your tropical resort to earn your title as queen.

It’s true, the baking bug hit me again this evening. But you’ll just have to read through this post to see my latest kitchen creation. I`m such a tease

I started off my morning intent on featuring something I cooked up last night – Pumpkin Butter!

I used this recipe, only switching out the water for some unsweetened applesauce, and adding a glug of maple syrup, since I was a little short on the brown sugar needed. I cooked it on the stove top on medium-low heat, and it took FOREVER to cook to a nice, spreadable consistency.

What better way to feature this delight than on a bowl of piping hot oatmeal!

I whipped up a pretty basic oatmeal combination that I knew would compliment the pumpkin butter nicely.

• 1/2 cup oats, milk, water
• 1 banana, thinly sliced
• splash of vanilla
• 1 tbsp flax seed
• peanut butter drizzle
• blob of homemade pumpkin butter
• end of a bag of chocolate chips

Gratuitous close-ups!

With a glass of refreshingly tart cranberry pomegranate juice.

Although it lacks the exact consistency of Trader Joe’s famous Pumpkin Butter, it was still delicious. I’m hoping it will keep, otherwise I’ll be eating it by the spoonful so it doesn’t go bad!

I had a little extra time to enjoy my morning, since I didn’t need to pack a lunch. I was participating in a focus group on the new common study area in our faculty building, to see what students like about it, and what could be improved. To bribe us poor students into giving up an hour of our time, we were fed lunch. Yay!

Of course, I usually eat lunch after my first class, around 11:30 am, so I knew I’d be eat my arm off hungry by the time the focus group rolled around at 1:00 pm. I was a thinker, and packed a snack.

One of my Apple Carrot Raisin Oatmeal Muffins, and a Coconut Cream Pie Larabar (just in case the lunch was totally unacceptable – gotta be prepared). And somehow that bottle of caffeine gold made it into my bag. I have no idea how that could have happened.

Fortunately, I didn’t need the Larabar, as they served up some really nice pizza – it was on thin, whole wheat crust, and had some fun toppings, like the chipotle chicken with corn, peppers and onions (love! must put corn on pizza now), a vegetarian one, and a steak, pepper, onion one. I definitely had no fear of starving.

I met up with one of my group members during our normal class time, and we hammered out an outline for our group paper, and assigned sections to the rest of the group (who were out at their schools). Here’s hoping it all goes smooth – we have all been given extensions into the first week of exams, since so many groups were having troubles contacting their schools to do their surveys. No excuse now to not get it done, and done well.

I was able to make my way home early, which was excellent (who doesn’t like getting home early). I had the pleasure of listening to these two flamboyantly gay guys behind me on the bus, one of which I think either wanted to model, was a model, or was obsessed with models. They talked the entire time about how they didn’t want to get fat, and how one guy only ate salad, maybe with a piece of bread, but didn’t like to have too much protien, etc, etc, and then went on to talk about how they needed plastic surgery to have better cheekbones, yadda, yadda. I kid you not. It took all my willpower to not turn around and just go WTF? Seriously….I just…I had no words. And it made me sad – even these guys are completely obsessed with weight and thinness and appearance. Sigh.

I came home to the smells of homemade soup. Yum! It was split pea with ham.

Mom also baked up some cornbread muffins – they were buttery and slight sweet. Delicious.

I filled out my plate with a few carrot sticks and hummus.

I did some work on our group project (fun with Google Maps!), and then the baking bug bit again. This time, I knew exactly what I needed to make.

I made the ever popular…

It’s true, I finally got around to trying out these blog favourites. I don’t know what kept me from doing so for so long – it’s not like there is anything on the ingredient list I wouldn’t normally have in the house.

The results:

I must have made slightly smaller cookies than the recipe called for, since I got 18, and the recipe said 11 – 12 cookies. Bite sized are more fun! I probably could have gotten 19, but, ya know…I may have done some dough tasting. Tee hee.

Is there any doubt I needed to try one out for an evening snack?

I had one Super Charge Me Cookie, and another fantastic cornbread muffin, that I “iced” with some pumpkin butter.

These cookies are little bites of joy. I’m a big fan of the peanut butter/maple syrup flavour combination. Plus they have chocolate and coconut – two of my favourite things! I think if I made them again, I’ll have to double the recipe. With 4 people living in this house, they will be gone in no time.

Alrighty boys and girls – this blogger needs to get some shuteye. Night!

L.A.M.B. G.

Harajuku Lovers Fragrance: n.1. A fatal attraction to cuteness.

Coined by Gwen Stefani, who used the pseudym of LAMB in more ways than one. First was her solo album, which she said the name came from a dog she used to have called Lamb (a dog called lamb??). Followed by her clothing line, as well as another sub-line that she initially wanted to call Sub-lamb but settled on Harajuku Lovers instead. Then, the fragrance of the same name was born.

The original fragrance was launched, Love, Angel, Music, Baby, and G.

The names are rather obviously derived from the initials of LAMB, and G is from the name of Gwen herself. My favourites are G and Lil’ Angel respectively, the fragrance of the rest aren’t that nice. G is a gourmand of coconut, and Lil’ Angel is reminiscent of fruity florals. But I personally like the Love doll, it looks so cute in a white sailor-suit, and Japanese hairbuns.

And now they’ve launched new Christmas editions!

The Snow Bunnies limited edition is already available in Singapore along with the solid perfume (which is encased in just a giant head of each character). I was so excited to see it stocked up in Robinsons. The fragrance is still the same, they’re just stocked in a different-looking bottle. And the Snow Bunnies edition is smaller too, it’s just 10ml while the originals is 30ml.

Not only that, they’re launching a Summer edition in Feb 2010.

HAHAHA. A BIT TOO TANNED AH?

Despite the different packaging, the fragrances of each character remains the same, they’re just dressed to suit the seasons. I shall get the G fragrance. One day. Just gotta figure out which version to get.

This reminds me of the times when I spray samples of different perfumes, including Harajuku Lovers and DKNY, and sit in class forcing making The Wong sniff each one, one by one and proclaim which one he thinks is nice. “Nice or not! Nice or not!” HAHA.

Speaking of DKNY, the green Be Delicious fragrance has become a poisoned apple to my senses. I love it for the strong and evident apple scent, and I planned to get a small one (I don’t want the 100ml one cause the bottle size is too large to hold comfortably). I even smell-tested it with The Wong already and he’s approved. But, here’s where the clincher came in.

Since I simply cannot stand the smell of the airplane, I brought along a sample onboard when I flew to KL to sniff whenever I need to. I did that twice, back and forth, and now, whenever I smell DKNY, I am almost immediately reminded by the airplane smell. SPOILER RIGHT. I can’t deal with that right now. Which is such a pity.

You know, I just finished doing my Media Law essay. And had the urge to reference every single thing I read. Sigh. And double space everything so it looks longer. HAHA.

Coconut Queen (103 MB download)
Soak up the sun while building your very own paradise empire! As the island’s much-awaited Coconut Queen, you must make the island of Lui Lui a popular tourist destination or risk its demise. With the help of brawny native gents, build and customize your tropical resort to earn your title as queen.

In Coconut Queen, the island of Lui Lui beckons you to bask amid miles of sun-drenched coastline. Disembark into its beautiful floral air, and discover that you are the island’s much-awaited legendary Coconut Queen! Your own private getaway is devoid of females, so find company among the brawny native gents, who welcome you with incredible gifts, and use your Time Management skills to improve the island!

Customize your resort

Beautiful locations

Become the Coconut Queen!

System Requirements:

OS: Windows XP/Vista

CPU: 1.0 GHz

RAM: 768 MB

DirectX: 7.0

Hard Drive: 113 MB

It Takes Just A second To Say Thanks,

It Takes Longer To The Work On This.

Coconut Queen

It’s been an absolute age since I last posted, mostly because it’s been a manic few weeks and the fun (haha yes, note the intense sarcasm here) hasn’t stopped. Luckily today I woke up to a beautifully sunny, albeit cold day and having completed my mission to find pandan leaves in Chinatown yesterday, I was determined to serve up some delicious-looking and tasting delights for you all.

It’s officially winter here in the middle of nowhere (best known as Buckinghamshire), so I was in dire need of something warm and comforting, but also quite exotic. Whilst playing around in mangroves and waterfalls in Singapore and Malaysia, my friends and I often came across various local delights such as pandan leaves in desserts and beverages. These desserts would usually also contain nuts or coconut to complement the delicate taste of pandan. Pandan itself has been hailed the ‘vanilla of the East’, despite not actually tasting of vanilla at all – the allusion to vanilla is derived from the way that pandan is used to flavour desserts and sweets.

Coconut is a perfect complement to pandan, and cashew nuts are also often used in oriental cuisine so a pairing between these two ingredients would surely produce a smashing accompaniment to a calming brew of pandan tea? Although I found it amusing that in all my exotic ingredients I’ve still managed to come up with the time old classic of a cuppa and a biscuit.

Making these cookies was relatively simple, although you do need various ingredients which are easily found in most supermarkets:

• 240g plain flour
• 60g rice flour
• 40g cornflour
• 60g coarsely chopped cashew nuts
• 60g desiccated coconut
• 125g unsalted butter (at room temperature)
• 150g caster sugar
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 4 tbsp whole milk

Start off by creaming the butter and sugar together, until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla essence and beat well.

Now you can either chop the cashew nuts roughly, or you can take the easier option which is to put the cashew nuts into a resealable plastic food bag, close it and take a rolling pin to it to reduce the nuts to small pieces. This is a wonderful stress relieving activity! Then, mix the desiccated coconut with the contents of the food bag.

Measure out the three types of flour, sift them into a separate bowl and add the cashew/coconut mixture. Combine thoroughly before adding the butter mixture. Mix well to give a breadcrumb-like texture.

At this point you will probably start using your hands to manipulate the mixture into a dough. Add the milk a tablespoon at a time, mixing thoroughly to form a dough. Work the dough together with your hands until it starts to come clean away from the sides of the mixing bowl. Knead the dough onto a well-floured surface until it is smooth, then wrap in cling film and refridgerate for one hour.

Pre-heat your oven to 160°C and grease and line two baking trays generously. Once the hour has elapsed, take your dough out of the refridgerator, divide it into equal pieces (usually about 3 or so) and roll out the dough to a 1cm thickness. Using a cookie-cutter, cut out shapes and place onto the baking tray about an inch apart.

Bake the cookies for 20-25 minutes and then cool on a wire rack.

Whilst your cookies are cooling down, you can prepare the pandan tea:

• 200ml boiling water
• 1 blade of pandan leaf, shredded
• 1 Ceylon tea bag
• Honey to sweeten

You can buy pandan leaves from most Asian food supermarkets or Thai speciality markets. I found mine in a small store in Chinatown, London. While fresh pandan leaf is ideal for this recipe, you could probably use frozen to the same effect, but would be advised to defrost it thoroughly first. Wash your pandan leaf to get rid of any dirt that might be from the packaging. Then, cut the leaf up into small sections, about 2 inches across and shred using a fork.

Place the shredded pandan leaf into a small saucepan and pour the boiling water over. Steep for 5 minutes so as to release the aroma of the pandan leaf. Add the tea bag and brew according to taste – I didn’t want a strong tea taste, so opted to brew for only 1 minute; obviously if you want a stronger tea, leave the tea bag in for longer. Remove the tea bag before serving and sweeten with honey if required.

A delicately comforting snack, cashew nut and coconut cookies provide a lovely accompaniment to pandan tea, and you can easily dip the cookies into the honey for a sweeter taste. A touch of the exotic brought to your table.

It is time to clear the fridge and make way to the new veggie box again. This week, I was stuck with some sweet potatoes, carrots and little bit of this and that.

Ingredients
600g sweet potatoes, peeled, in chunks
150g carrots, peeled, in chunks
100 g creamed coconut, chopped
2 stalks of lemon grass, outer leaves removed, halved and crushed
1 clove of garlic, peeled
1 star anise
1 tbs nam pla fish sauce
dried chili to taste
few dashes of lemon juice
a drop of sesame oil
1300ml water

Put water, sweet potatoes, carrots, garlic, dried chili, lemongrass and star anise into a pot, bring to a boil, cover with lid and let simmer until the vegetables are tender. Remove the lemongrass stalks and star anise, add coconut and fish sauce, and let simmer for a minute or two, until the coconut has dissolved. Take the pot off the stove and puree the soup with a hand mixer until smoot. If the soup is very thick, add some more water. Bring the soup to a boil, and add the lemon juice and sesame oil just before serving.

Be sure to remove all lemongrass – the fibres are rather unpleasant in the soup. If some of them managed to escape, sieve the soup after pureeing, return to the pot, bring to a boil and add the last ingredients.

Lime juice might work better with this than lemon juice, unfortunately I forgot there was one lime lurking in the fridge until it was too late. I also suspected that the sesame oil might have been a step too far, but I felt it “grounded” the other flavours in a pleasant way. The inhouse food critic also approved.

Coconut oil is my favourite oil to use on it’s own.

Why?    It absorbs very easily and doesn’t leave a greasy feeling like other vegetable or carrier oils.

How does it absorb so easily?       Because it has a small molecular structure and therefore can easily absorb into the skin within a fews minutes.

Why should you use coconut oil?    Coconut oil has many benefits to the skin. It is also recommended for it’s nutritional benefits as well.

What does coconut oil do for the skin?   It is very nourishing leaving your skin feeling soft and silky, I recommend it for dry, cracked or sensitve skin condition’s.

Coconut oil can be used for wound healing, acne, insect bites, stretch marks, eczema, and it also protects the skin from the sun. I recommend it for sunburn as it has a cooling effect on the skin.

I love using this oil in the winter as my skin tends to be dryer.

Pet Care- Skin allergy related condition’s in dogs is very common,  Coconut oil is excellent to add to your dogfood to help with symptoms for example dry itchy skin.

By adding essential oils, this will potenise the action and have a very beneficial product for many different conditions.
to view my products got to

www.aromatiqueessentials.com.au

This is a raw cookie that was only just created by Love Veggies and Yoga and I just had to try it, especially since I had all of the ingredients ready to go in my pantry! Let me tell you, these cookies are beauuuutiful! I found it very hard to not eat all if the cookie dough in one go…

For my version,

You will need:

• 1/2 cup LSA (linseed, sunflower seed, almond) meal
• 2/3 cup almond meal
• 3 tbsp maple syrup
• 3 tbsp agave nectar
• 2 tbsp almond butter
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• dash of vanilla extract

Mix all of the ingredients together than form into balls, cookies, whatever! I added a dried cherry to each of my cookies just cause I am addicted to them at the moment and everything is better with a cherry on top!

How easy is that?! Not much effort but the result is DELICIOUS!

Enjoy!

No long back story to this cupcake!  It’s my mom’s birthday tomorrow, and these were the cupcakes she requested.  I hope they live up to her expectations   All recipes were taken from my handy-dandy Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book!

German Chocolate Cake

4 oz. baking chocolate, chopped

1 1/2 c. milk

3/4 c. butter

3 eggs

2 c. AP flour

1 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 3/4 c. sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

1.  In small saucepan, combine chocolate and milk.  Cook and stir over low heat until melted.  Set aside to cool.

2. Allow butter and eggs to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, line cupcake pan or grease lightly.  In a medium bowl stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large mixing bowl beat butter and sugar together.  Beat in eggs one at a time.  Add and beat in vanilla.  Alternately add flour mixture and chocolate mixture to butter mixture.  Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full.

4. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Cool.

Coconut-Pecan Frosting

1 egg

2/3 c. evaporated milk

2/3 c. sugar

1/4 c. butter

1 1/3 c. flaked or shredded coconut

1/2 c. pecans, chopped

1.  In a medium saucepan, beat the egg, stir in evaporated milk, sugar, and butter.  Cook and stir over medium heat for 6-8 minutes or until tick  and bubbly.

2. Remove from heat.  Stir in coconut and pecans.  Cover and cool before using.

Chocolate Ganache

1 c. whipping cream

12 oz. baking chocolate, chopped

1. In a medium saucepan bring whipped cream jut to boiling.  Remove from heat.  Add chocolate (do not stir) and let stand for 5 minutes.  Sutir until smooth and allow to cool before using.

I ended up filling the cupcakes with the ganache because I wasn’t really liking the texture or it after it cooled.  Not quite thick enough, and I think I over-heated the cream, which caused a bit of separation in the chocolate.

Spread the coconut-pecan frosting on top, and there you have it!  German Chocolate Cupcakes

Pistachio Ice Cream Recipe

Ingredients:

1 15 oz can light coconut milk, divided

2 15 oz cans regular coconut milk

2/3 cup light agave nectar

1/4 tsp salt

2 tbsp vanilla bean paste (or pure vanilla extract)

2 tbsp almond extract

2 cups shelled raw unsalted pistachios

Instructions:

In a food processor, grind pistachios to a fine powder. Skim top layer of coconut milk batter with a large spoon and discard. Whisk pistachios into batter and freeze according to your ice cream maker manufacturer instructions. Transfer ice cream to an airtight container and freeze for at least 2 hours before serving.

Here is my favorite recipe for “homemade” coconut cake:

1 box white cake mix (any brand – I like Pillsbury)

* Follow directions on box for a 9×13 cake. Mine calls for 3 eggs, 1/3 cup cooking oil (I use canola oil) , and 1 cup water added to the mix. Blend ingredients together, then mix for 2 minutes. Pour into baking pan, and bake @ 350 degrees for around 34 minutes.

1 can coconut cream (I use 1/2 small bottle of pina colada-type coconut cream from the drink “mixers” section of the grocery store)

1 can sweetened condensed milk

* Stir these together in a bowl while the cake is baking. AS SOON as the cake comes out of the oven, leave it in the baking pan, and poke holes all over the top of the cake. Slowly spoon the coconut/milk mixture over the whole cake. After cooling on the counter for a bit, transfer the cake (in pan) to the refrigerator to cool completely.

1 small container whipping cream plus 1 Tablespoon sugar OR 1 tub of Cool Whip OR 1 can of whipped cream such as Redi-Whip

* If you are making your own whipped cream, combine the whipping cream (heavy or regular) and sugar in a deep bowl. Beat with a hand mixer OR by hand with a whisk until fluffy. Spread whipped cream/Cool Whip over entire top of cooled cake in pan.

1 small bag shredded sweetened coconut

* Lightly sprinkle a couple of handfuls of coconut flakes on top of the whipped cream. You can now eat the cake, or chill for several more hours – then, DEVOUR! Enjoy!

A lot of you might have realized that my food isn’t really fancy, and with my kitchen, a Thanksgiving dinner might really just consist of a pitiful roasted chicken drumstick or something of the sort.

So I thought I’d do y’all a favor by asking for a guest cook to come and spice up 食べ物 eXploZion for the Thanksgiving weekend!

And so…-drumroll- I present to you Sara Kosuth, who will be today’s (first!) guest blogger/super chef, as well as her mouthwatering Coconut Almond Tart, which is sure to amaze your guests and their taste buds.

Sara is the College Cooking section editor at Wolverine CuiZine, University of Michigan’s cooking blog. A current undergraduate student, she plans to attend culinary school after officially becoming a UM brainiac and to strike “fear into the hearts of Iron Chefs across the world.”

Although I’m not an Iron Chef, I think she struck something in my heart (or my stomach) as I tried to resist that tart that was sitting right in front of me in her kitchen…

But without further delay, I officially present Sara Kosuth and her method of making a fabulous Coconut Almond Tart.

Hi, everyone! This is Sara writing!

The first time I saw this this recipe, my mouth started salivating. Coconut
is one of my favorite ingredients and combined with chocolate and
almonds–this sounded heavenly. It’s like an Almond Joy, but made for
royalty. I made this dessert for a pre-Thanksgiving dinner and I think most
people thoroughly enjoyed it, although most could only get in a few bites
after stuffing themselves full of other Thanksgiving food. Also, for some
reason, eating a slice of it chilled is much better than when it’s room
temperature. The coconut filling and chocolate topping are firmer so you really notice the different textures between the two and the distinct flavors. Either way, enjoy!

Recipe

Ingredients

Crust
1 1/2 cups toasted almonds
1/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling
1/2 cup canned coconut cream
3 ounces white chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup sour cream
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temperature
1 1/4 cups shredded sweetened coconut, lightly packed

Topping
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 ounces white chocolate, chopped and melted

Instructions

To prepare crust:

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Coarsely chop almonds in a food processor. Add sugar and melted butter. Process the mixture until finely chopped.

3. Using plastic wrap as an aid, press mixture into the bottom and along the sides of a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom.

4. Bake 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and let it cool.

To prepare filling:

1. Bring coconut cream to a boil in a heavy saucepan. Reduce heat to low.

2. Add white chocolate and stir until it is melted. Pour mixture into a medium bowl.

3. Whisk in sour cream. Add butter and whisk until it melts into batter and the batter is a smooth consistency.

4. Stir in shredded coconut. Chill until filling is very cold, but not set, about 1 hour. Spoon filling into crust, smooth top. Chill until set.

To prepare topping:

1. In a heavy saucepan, combine whipping cream, butter, corn syrup and bring to a low boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to low.

2. Add bittersweet chocolate and stir until melted.

3. Pour over tart, covering filling. Spread topping with back of spoon to cover evenly.

3. Spoon melted white chocolate into pastry bas fitted with small tip. Pipe in parallel vertical lines over topping, spacing evenly. (In this case, because the “pipe”, which was a ziplock bag with a tiny corner cut out burst, straight lines just weren’t possible.)

4. With a skewer or toothpick drag the lines to form decorative pattern in the chocolate. Chill and serve.

As you all know my leg was bothering me yesterday. Well what I didn’t tell you was that my left ankle was bothering me even more. I’m not sure if it was because of the left ankle that was causing more pressure on my right leg or what, but my leg feels fine and my ankle does not. I was massaging it last night, and there are parts that are so tender it hurts to touch. So I immediately got out an ice pack and started icing it down.

When I woke up this morning it was hard to walk properly on it. I don’t know what is wrong with it, but I REALLY hope it goes away soon. It hurts to pretty much put any pressure on it at all so I am taking today off from working out. I plan on doing my morning routine later tonight since I just wasn’t in the mood to do anything this morning.

• 2 sets 70 leg lifts each leg
• 3 sets 20 kneeling push ups
• 2 sets 50 bicycle crunches
• a few other laying down arm strength moves

I also had to take a break from my Green Monster Challenge. I think 2 weeks is a long time, and I really just wanted some oats! So I made a bowl of oats and topped with blueberries, coconut, and cinnamon.

• 3/4 C Quaker Oats
• 3/4 C Non Fat Cows Milk
• 1 Tbs Peanut Butter & Co. Cinnamon and Raisin swirl
• 1/8 C unsweetened coconut
• 1/2 C fresh blueberries

Holy YUM! I have missed you oats! Of course I had some coffee on the side.

The Turkey Chase on Thursday looks like it is going to be a pretty big race. Part of me wants to have a lazy Thanksgiving morning, but the other part of me is so excited to get some exercise and participate in such a big race on Thanksgiving morning. Plus it is so early that by the time I get home from the race will be about the same time I would be waking up if I decided to not race. They have 8,000 people registered for all 3 races. I’m participating in the 10K, and now that my ankle is acting up I am really nervous. I take racing pretty seriously, and I hate to do bad. I used to quit at a lot at things earlier in my life, and I don’t want running to be another thing I quit. But I know my health comes first so even if I have to run this race slow I want to finish it strong. Please keep your fingers crossed.

Lunch was what I call GOURMET! HA! I had some Healthy Choice Chicken and rice soup with an Arnold Whole Grain Sandwich Thin on the side. I actually really liked this soup. It was just what I needed for this awfully cold rainy day.

I also had some kale on the side. Gotta get those greens! Unfortunately work got so busy, and I wasn’t able to finish all of these.

Back to the insane day at work!

Adapted from a traditional Indian recipe.

Ingredients:

4 tsp Bengal gram lentils (Yellow Split Peas/Channa Dal)
1 tbs Black gram (Whole Urad Dal)
4 tbs frozen/dried/fresh grated Coconut
1-2 hot Green/Red Peppers
1 tsp Tamarind paste (Substitute: 2 tsp lemon juice + pinch of sea salt + pinch of Raw Sugar)
1 tbs non-fat Yogurt (Vegan: Substitute with 1/4 tbs lemon juice, 3/4 tbs water, pinch of Sea salt)
1/4 cup chopped Cilantro (Coriander)
1/2 tsp Asafoetida
1/4 tsp Sea salt

For Tempering:
2 tsp Mustard seeds
10-12 Curry leaves
1 tsp Canola/Sunflower/Safflower Oil

Method:

Roast lentils, peppers in a heavy skillet, on medium, till fragrant.
Blend with all other ingredients, except for tempering.
In a skillet, heat oil, and add mustard seeds and shredded curry leaves. When spluttering/sizzling stops, add to the blended mixture.

This will keep for up to 4-5 days in a refrigerator.

This is a great quick recipe, perfect for those times when you’re being careful with your money or don’t feel like shopping, but need to satisfy a craving for something a little sweet. I give recipes like this the name “magic” because they can be made with a wide variety of ingredients (Magical Options) and they come out a little different every time, depending on what you have in the kitchen…. they’re a nice dessert, a great snack, a quick breakfast and a super gift for friends and neighbours… enjoy!

Ingredients

Dry ingredients:

2-3 Cups Muffin mix and a few Magical Options (see below)

Wet ingredients:

1 C water, 1-2 T cooking oil (or melted margaine or butter) and an extra cup of water

Mix your wet and dry ingredients separately, then make a ‘well’ in the middle of the dry. Add the wet mix to the well, stir it through to coat the dry mix; keep adding water a little at a time until the mixture is moistened all the way through, but not too stiff to stir. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350ºF and grease your muffin tins well. Fill to 3/4 full of muffin batter, bake for 20-28 minutes or until they spring back to the touch and smell just right.

Magical Options (pick a nice combination from below and use your imagination!):

1/2 cup shredded coconut 1/2 C raisins or currants, chopped dates, dried cranberries, papaya, apricots…

1/2 cup sunflower seeds, almonds, walnut or pecans

1 tsp. powdered ginger 1 tsp. cinnamon powder

1 plain chocolate bar, chopped (or 1/2 C chocolate chips, or 2-4 T. cocoa

1 small apple, chopped or 1/2 C blueberries, strawberries

Muffin Mix

1) Store bought mix: you can find cake or muffin mix on sale and add “Magical” stuff from your kitchen

2) Homemade mix: 3 cups flour (or 2 Cups flour and 1 cup oats) 2 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. salt 3/4 C of sugar, or more or less to taste

Suggestions

Fruit Filling: Fill each muffin tin half-way and add 1/2 tsp jam, jelly or soft fruit in the middle. Fill the cups 3/4 full with the muffin batter and bake!

Time Savers:

1) Keep half of the batter in a clean jar in the fridge to make fresh muffins quickly anytime; the batter will keep for 4-7 days.

2) Make a big batch of dry muffin mix and keep it in the freezer – When you’re ready to make muffins, shale out what you need into a big bowl, add your wet ingredients and magical options and bake.

Sweet combinations:

“Fruity” explosion: Add chopped apple and a few raisins and berries to the dry mix; put a spoonful of jam in the middle of 2 layers of batter.

Ambrosia: Add coconut, ginger, cinnamon, almonds and orange essence, diced orange rind or mashed banana.

Gourmet ideas: You can blend a whole orange with the seeds removed into the wet mix, add some chocolate chips or cocoa to the dry and make a nice chocolate orange muffin!) How about lemon, poppy seed and cornmeal?

Savory Combinations: Leave out the sugar and add one or a combination of: Shredded cheese, chopped sundried tomatoes, cooked beans, diced carrot, fried minced onion, celery

Add herbs and spices – chili powder, oregano, rosemary, parsley , olive oil

Rough Times Bacon ‘n’ Egg Muffin: (you’ll never want to stop at a fast food place for breakfast once you’ve tasted these! ) Put a small piece of cooked bacon (vegetarians can use soy bacon), a bit of grated cheese and a spoonful of stirred raw egg in the middle of each muffin, fill the muffin cup with no-sugar batter (you can add a few herbs too!) and add a little grated cheese on top. Bake as usual.

Tip: Don’t have a muffin tin? Well, use a cake pan, a frying pan with a heatproof handle, small tart or other baking dishes – or get to the second hand store and find a nice muffin tin… it’s still probably cheaper than buying those store-bought muffins.

Much Love, Gramma Willi

Good Clean Food for Everyone!

Hey everyone!! Happy Monday evening!!!

My evening got here WAY faster than I would have liked… I ended up taking a two-hour nap after work today! I woke up and it was dark outside.   Darn you, daylight savings!! Looks like maybe I should have a cup of coffee tomorrow morning… I seem to be more productive when I drink it!

Besides the whole sleeping-for-the-whole-afternoon thing, I actually had a pretty good day. In an effort to prevent any holiday weight gain, and hopefully LOSE my extra post-wedding pounds, I decided to go back to an eating method that has worked really well for me in the past: eating Raw ’til Dinner. (RTD, for short) It’s a pretty easy concept: eat only raw food until dinner time! Eating this way ensures that I eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, getting lots of nutrients and enzymes in my body, but it also keeps me mentally satisfied– knowing that I can eat a piping hot dinner each evening!

I have eaten an all-raw diet in the past, and while I was pretty content eating that way, I did find myself missing certain cooked foods… (That was back in the day where I wouldn’t let myself “cheat” on my diet! Now I wish I would have said to myself, “Hello?! You’re craving steamed broccoli!! Eat it, dummy!” ) Ha ha. Hind-sight is 20/20, right?

My green juice this morning kicked-off my RTD plan, and then I moved onto a mini-green-monster around noon:

This little monster had 1 frozen banana, 1 1/2 cups spinach, juice of 1/2 a small lemon, and 3/4 cup almond milk. It was surprisingly tasty! I didn’t even need a straw to suck it down!!

About 30 minutes later I snacked on an organic bosc pear (I love their brown-paper-bag-like skin!)

And after that, I made some super-tasty coconut chia pudding:

Topped with a scoop of almond butter, a dash of cinnamon, and a drizzle of maple syrup. Holy yum.

Coconut Chia Pudding
makes 2 servings

1/4 cup chia seeds
1/4 cup dried, unsweetened coconut flakes
1 cup almond milk (I like Pacific brand)
generous dash of pumpkin pie spice
dash of sea salt
5 drops liquid stevia, or to taste

Simply mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl, adjust seasonings to your liking, then refrigerate for 15-20 minutes until the pudding is set. Then devour!!

I’m excited that I still have another serving of my chia pudding leftover for tomorrow!

Since I napped away the rest of my daylight hours, there was no mid-afternoon snack, and no workout. Bummer. I’ll do better tomorrow, I promise!! I think my body was just exhausted from all the Dawsonsgiving hosting we did yesterday… I’ve done 3 full loads of dishes, and it’s still not all done yet!! Hopefully everything will feel back-to-normal tomorrow.

Dinner was pretty simple tonight, since I didn’t wake up in time to make anything too gourmet:

Steamed broccoli and zucchini, topped with organic marinara sauce.

And a side of sweet potato home fries! (served with organic ketchup, since I try to avoid HFCS like the plague!!)

These homefries were so easy to make! I simply chopped up one white sweet potato into bite-sized chunks, and tossed them in a tablespoon of olive oil with a generous dash of garlic powder, paprika, dried minced onions and sea salt. Spread them out into a single layer on a cookie sheet, and bake 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees, flipping them half-way through. Easy peasy!

For dessert, I made my favorite Clean Limeade:

Juice of 1/2 a lime, a few drops of liquid stevia (to taste), and half a glass of sparkling water. I top it off with ice, and it’s perfection! I never miss real soda when I have this around.

I’m off to read in bed! Good night!!