Happy Halloween and Cheese Soufflé Recipe

Happy Halloween everyone!

I hope you guys enjoy your Halloween. If you're going trick-or-treating, be sure to stay safe! And remember, don't overindulge on candy (oh, and chocolate too!).

Anyway, on the topic of food, we made Cheese Soufflé in class the other day. I admit, I personally don't like soufflé but it looked delicious. There were people in my class that like this soufflé.

So, here's the recipe!

Ingredients:

• 1/4 tsp dry mustard 
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese 
• 1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese 
• 5 egg yolks, slightly beaten 
• 5 egg whites 
• 2 Tbsp butter or margarine 
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar 
• 3 Tbsp flour 
• 1/8 tsp salt 
• 1 1/4 cup milk 
• Pinch of red cayenne pepper 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Prepare soufflé dish. Butter bottom and sides of a soufflé dish. Coat with a thorough dusting of flour or dry grated cheese (for example, parmesan cheese). 
3. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Blend in flour and salt; cook 1 minute to make a blonde roux. Add milk slowly whisking constantly to prevent lumps.  
4. Increase heat to medium high and whisk constantly until white sauce is thickened.  Add cheeses, cayenne pepper and dry mus­tard. Remove sauce from heat.
5.  Gradually add a small amount (3 tbsp) of hot cheese mixture to egg yolks (this is called “tempering”); stir well; add egg yolk mixture back to cheese sauce in pan. Cover and set aside.
6. Beat egg whites with cream of tartar to stiff peak stage. Gently fold 1/4 into cheese mixture. Add the cheese mixture gently into the bowl with the egg whites and gently fold to combine.
7. Pour into the prepared dish. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until skewer inserted comes out clean.  

I hope you guys enjoy this soufflé. 

Have a safe and happy Halloween! 

How do you celebrate Halloween (if you celebrate it)? 
What's your favorite candy?  

Mini Donuts!

 Hey hey everyone. How are you guys doing today?
I'm doing fine, thank you very much. I'm here just to post my recipe before I go about my day.
It's been a long time since I last ate donuts. But, they are saturated with all of that fat! No me gusta.
Well, what's a girl got to do when she wants a healthier donut? She makes her own, of course. She makes mini donuts because they look cute and they're so much easier to eat.
I cooked these donuts using a mini donut maker. It cooks up really quickly. You can also pour the batter into a donut pan and bake them. However, I like using the donut maker. It's so much fun (and, I don't have a donut pan). Anyway, these aren't the healthiest donuts ever but they are yummy and healthier than your average donut. Here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1 cup nonfat milk
• 2 tablespoon nonfat greek yogurt
• 3 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Here's the link to my icing/frosting recipe. 

Directions:

1. Mix all the ingredients together. 
2. Heat up your donut maker and spray with non-stick spray.
3. Once it's heated up, pour 2 tablespoons of the batter into the donut maker and close it immediately. 
4. It should tell you once the donuts are done cooking. 
5. If you want some frosting, make some frosting! Here's the link. 

I hope you guys enjoy your donuts! It's that quick and easy to make.

So, do you like donuts?

If so, what's your favorite type of donut?

What's your favorite breakfast food?

How was your week?

Chicken Salad Sandwich

Hey hey everyone. How are you guys today?
I'm sorry about my previous post if it had any negative feelings or anything. I just felt like I had to say that. The number on the scale is not important. As long as you are healthy and living a healthy lifestyle, you should be happy with yourself.
Anyway, this week has been really busy. I'll talk about it later in the post. For right now, I'm going to give you guys my chicken salad sandwich recipe. It is actually a Southern inspired recipe. I hope you guys enjoy it!


Ingredients:

• 12.5 oz can chicken breast, drained
• 1/3 cup chow chow (a Southern picked relish dish)
• 2 tablespoon mayo
• slices of bread 

Directions:

1. Mix the chicken, chow chow, and mayo together. 
2. Spread the mixture onto one slice of bread. 
3. Place another slice of bread on top of the mixture. Enjoy! 

I know, this may seem like such a simple recipe. However, it's delicious! You can use store bought chow chow or homemade ones. 

Now, let's talk about my week. 

Monday was relatively a slow day. Nothing really happened that day. Tuesday was the same thing. All I did those two days were attend class and do homework. However, at the gym, FOX40 was there. They wanted to talk about the calories to kilowatts thing at the gym. I'm in the background of that recording! Score. haha. I got to be on TV.

Wednesday, I showed my cousins around campus. It was pretty fun. I didn't really do much that day though.

Thursday was pretty fun and busy. Talking to professors, doing homework, going to class, working out, you get what I mean. It was my night class day and my group finally got something together for our debate. I also finally got some Panda Express. They added a brown rice option and I just had to try it. I got the brown rice, honey walnut shrimp and the mushroom chicken. It was yummy! I love honey walnut shrimp.

Also on Thursday, there was a Farmer's Market in front of my school's bookstore. I bought two freshly made granola bars from a local bakery. They were so good! Chocolate Chip Granola Bars and Harvest Granola Bars. The chocolate chip one also had coconut in it. The harvest one had some raisins. It didn't have chocolate chips though. It was more like a cake than a granola bar. Still yummy! I so wanted to buy the strawberries but I didn't want to carry them around school all day and night (because of my night class).

Yesterday was a pretty chill day. I ran 6 miles! I rarely have the time to run 6 miles. It feels so good running! I walked a mile after. I also talked on the phone to a friend who's been so busy. It was nice.

Today was dentist day. Meaning, teeth cleaning. I guess everyone has to see their dentist at least once or twice a year, right? I would say so.

Anyway, I guess that's it for now!

Do you like going to the dentist?
Have you ever been on TV?

Healthier Red Velvet Pancakes and my week

I love red velvet cake. Don't you? They're so delicious, especially since there's that hint of chocolate with it. I love chocolate.
Yes, I've made red velvet cake before, a long time ago. But, I never took pictures of it because it was my first time. My classmates actually liked it and said it's hard to make red velvet cake taste good. I was surprised. I'll post my recipe once I make it again and take pictures of it. I just never got around making it again since my family prefers ice cream cake.
Anyway, I've been having cravings for red velvet cake but I knew that I couldn't make the whole cake. Also, it's so unhealthy! So, I decided to make these healthier red velvet pancakes. They're quite delicious (but a little high in sugar). The finished pancakes are a bit sticky but that's how they are. I like that kind of texture. If not, then you can just reduce the greek yogurt and add more almond milk. Also, you can bake these if you don't like to make pancakes with them. They'll be like red velvet cupcakes but a bit sticky. A picture of the cupcakes are posted below the recipe. So, here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 1 1/2 cup greek yogurt
• 1 egg
• 2 or 3 drops red food coloring
• a dash of salt

Directions:

1. In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, sugar, and salt. 
2. Mix in all the wet ingredients. 
3. Heat a non-stick skillet and spray with cooking spray (such as PAM or something like that). Mine is the olive oil spray. You can use butter as well, if you like the taste of butter. 
4. Take about 1/4 cup of the mixture and pour it onto the skillet, pan or whatever you are using to cook the pancakes. Once bubbles start to form, flip the pancakes. I warn you, it will be a bit hard to flip them. 
5. Cook on that side for about 1 minute and the pancakes are done. 
6. Serve and enjoy!
7. If you would like to bake these instead, then pour the batter into the cupcake tins and bake at 350 F for 25 minutes. 
8. They will deflate once you take them out. Let them cool and enjoy! They will stick to the paper liners (if you're using them). I highly suggest you spray the tins with cooking spray so that it won't stick to the tins. 

 I hope you guys enjoy these pancakes or cupcakes. 

So, my week has been quite busy! Here's what I've done this week. For one thing, I went grocery shopping. I love grocery shopping. Here's what I got. 

I bought the Peanut Butter Panda Puffs, Almond Breeze Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk, Van's Whole Grain Waffles, non-fat vanilla greek yogurt, two ProMax Bars (one of which is the ProMax Lower Sugar Chocolate Fudge) , 1 Clif Bar and the Kellogg's Double Chocolate Crave Cereal.

Both of the cereals were delicious. I'm definitely buying the Peanut Butter Panda Puffs again or the Koala Chocolate Crisp one.

What's cool is that I also went to Dollar Tree and bought these two healthier snacks. So, yes, you can buy healthy foods cheap!

Glories Sea Salt Sweet Potato Chips and the Sugar-Free Peanut Butter Cakes. The chips were delicious and everyone in my family loved them. The peanut butter cakes were small and tasted decent. They weren't bad, at least. We finished them all on the car ride to Stanford yesterday (which I will talk about later in this post).

On Wednesday, I went to campus to work on my debate outline. I bought this to drink on when I was working on it. It's the No-Calorie Lemon Brisk drink. At least I ate a healthy lunch of my asian black bean burgers and steamed vegetables.

After working on the outline for a couple of hours, I went to volunteer at the hospital. I bought this for my early dinner at their cafe before volunteering.

I bought the Napa Chicken with Avocado Wrap and Mint Dark Chocolate M&M's. The wrap was decent but I wish I bought the regular dark chocolate M&M's. These were just TOO minty.

I met a volunteer that was volunteering at the same department as me. He's been volunteering there for a year now and gave me some advice. His name's Antonio. He also attends the same uni as me. While volunteering, they had an apple brandy cake for the workers and volunteers to eat. It was so good. I have to make that one day. Well, once I get the brandy, I'll make the cake. It was a pretty easy day for volunteering though.

Friday was work and it was pretty much a good day. A lot of typing and filing. It was fun. Also,  I bought the Black and White Mocha from Fluid and it was delicious! I go to Fluid every week when I go to work. I've been tempted to buy their burritos but I always end up buying a baked good instead. Their whole wheat chocolate chip cookies are the best!

Then, yesterday, it was a busy day. We went to Redwood City to do some stuff. Then, we went to visit Stanford University. My mom always wanted to go visit there, so, we finally did since it's close to Redwood City. Here's some pictures of Stanford (and me there). Just to let you know, I normally don't post pictures of others. Only of myself. Most of the time, my friends and family don't want their pictures posted, so, I respect that.

The campus was so beautiful! I mean, I visited Stanford before, 2 years ago, but it was cloudy that day and it was rainy. But, today, it was absolutely gorgeous. The weather was perfect too. It was a lot of walking but a great workout too. My dad took these pictures.

Also at Stanford, I saw this 20th Century propaganda during the wars.

I just had to take a picture of it since I'm learning about this in my history class.

Anyway, we ate those sweet potato chips and peanut butter cakes on the car ride.

After, we went to San Francisco and went to a shopping mall. I've been wanting to go to the Asian store, Yes Style, for the longest time. I tried going last year around this time, but they were closed. But, yesterday, it was open. I was so happy! The store is on the 2nd floor, located next to Macy's. The store is small and the prices aren't that great. But, the style is from Tokyo, Seoul and Hong Kong. I looked through their dresses and some of them were actually cute! I ended up buying the 59 Seconds Lace Panel Keyhole Back Skater Dress. It's a Hong Kong brand. The dress is so cute. Here's the link to the website.

Here's my failed attempt at taking pictures of my dress.

Then, we went to the food court to eat some dinner. I went to California Crisp and bought the BBQ Chicken Flatbread. It came with this past salad.

The flatbread sandwich tasted pretty good. They even make it fresh. I didn't eat much of the pasta but it tasted okay.

I also tried making a mocha drink with instant coffee. I added half a hot chocolate packet, a teaspoon of instant coffee, hot water, almond milk and a packet of stevia. It tasted alright but I'm going to perfect it one day.

Sorry for this long post.

Anyway, how was your week (and weekend)?
Did you go to my friend's band's performance last night?

Cocoa Covered Almonds, Overview of Vitamin E, and Day 3 Health Challenge Update

Almonds provide a lot of nutrients to our body. You know what? They also taste great too!
I can talk all about almonds, including that they are high in calcium, magnesium, folate, Vitamin E, protein, fiber and fat (healthy fats). But for now, I'll give a basic overview of Vitamin E before giving you guys the recipe to Cocoa Covered Almonds. I'll eventually  talk about the other nutrients in later posts.


Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin made of:

• Tocotrienol—biologically inactive form
• Alpha-tocopherol—biologically most active form

Functions of Vitamin E include:

• Primary role as an antioxidant
• Protects polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs)
• Protects low-density lipoproteins (LDLs)
• Protects white blood cells
• Enhances immune function
• Improves absorption of vitamin A

I'm sure you guys have heard of antioxidants. But, what are they really? Antioxidant are chemicals that protect cells from damage from oxidation. Oxidation is the loss of electrons from a molecule. Many metabolic processes involve oxidation reactions and can produce free radicals.

Free radicals cause damage to:

• Cell membranes
• Low-density lipoproteins (LDLs)
• Proteins in the cell
• Genetic material (DNA. Damage to DNA may cause cancer, depending on which gene is affected)

They are linked to diseases such as:

• Cancer
• Heart disease
• Diabetes
• Arthritis
• Cataracts
• Kidney Disease
• Alzheimer’s disease
• Parkinson’s disease

One of the main concerns is heart disease. How does it reduce the risk of heart disease? 

• It prevents oxidative damage to LDL
•  It acts as an anticoagulant to prevent blood clots (vitamin E is an anticoagulant)

The oxidation of LDL marks the beginning of clogged arteries. 

So, now you know a little more about Vitamin E. Now, here's the recipe for Cocoa Covered Almonds. By the way, cocoa has a lot of benefits too! 

Serving: 1 recipe

Calories: ~180 calories

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup almonds
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 packets stevia (2 tsp)

Directions;

1. Place almonds in a small Ziploc bag. 
2. Pour in the cocoa powder and stevia. 
3. Seal the bag and shake it. Enjoy! 

That's such an easy recipe, right? It's also delicious and healthy. 

 Here's what I ate for day 3:

Breakfast: protein powder, cocoa powder, stevia, milk (I made chocolate protein donuts with this) 250 calories

*By the way, cooking protein powder does not diminish its benefits. The proteins are just denatured, just like cooking egg whites. Either way, before proteins reach your muscles and other parts of the body, it has to be digested. Before even leaving the stomach, the proteins are denatured due to the stomach's acidic environment. Then, it gets broken down to its amino acids. 

Morning Snack: (4) Orange 200 calories
Lunch: 2 Nori Sushi Sheets, salmon, sriracha (I ate it with tuna/hummus instead of salmon and I ate an avocado salad) 273 calories
Afternoon Snack: LaraBar 220 calories
Dinner: Quinoa, baked salmon, steamed veggies (This totally changed. I ate 5 pieces of brown rice hawaiian sushi roll, some tofu, chicken, shrimp patty and some vegetables) 400 calories
Night Snack: nonfat Greek yogurt, truvia, cocoa powder, ground cinnamon (I added some pb2 and I didn't add the cinnamon. I also ate some dark chocolate) 370 calories

Total calories: 1713 calories

I know. I ate the brown rice sushi! I can't believe it. I gave in. Oh well. We all have slip ups. My slip ups could have been worse. At least I didn't eat a calorie, carb, fat loaded pizza.

For today, here is what I plan on eating. I already have eaten my breakfast, morning snack and lunch.


Day 4:
Breakfast: protein powder, cocoa powder, stevia, milk (chocolate protein donuts and pb2) 245 calories
Morning Snack: Orange 50 calories
Lunch: multigrain rounds, boca burger, sriracha 210 calories
Afternoon Snack: almonds sprinkled with stevia and cocoa powder, craisins 300 calories
Dinner: Quinoa, baked salmon, steamed veggies 422 calories
Night Snack: nonfat Greek yogurt, truvia, ground cinnamon, pb2 175 calories

Total calories: 1402 calories


Hopefully, I can stick to it the rest of the day. Wish me luck!

I also did a new HIIT treadmill workout today. It was really hard. I was so tired at the end. It was good to try a new workout. It challenges the body.

I also have a LaraBar Review. I finally ate a Peanut Butter Cookie LaraBar.

It tastes like a real peanut butter cookie! The texture is a bit chewy too, which I like! You can't tell that these have dates in them. I was so surprised. This is one of my favorite LaraBars (surprisingly, I hate the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough LaraBar). What I like more about this bar is that it only has 3 ingredients. Can't you believe it? Dates, Peanuts, and Sea Salt. That's it.

Here's the PB2 that I've been talking about. I poured it into jars since I knew it wouldn't stay fresh for long in the bag.

Also, here's how the donut looked with the PB2 and how it looked in Greek Yogurt. 

This is how it looked by itself:

Do you guys like almonds?

~I love dark chocolate covered almonds

Do you guys like peanut butter? Or do you prefer almond butter?

Have you tried HIIT workouts?