Cravings: Iced Gem Biscuits

I remember as a little kid, my mother would always buy Iced Gem Biscuits for me and my sister at the local Chinese store. They were packaged in mini plastic purses, making them even more appealing to young girls. 

Once we arrived home, we'd devour these cookies. First, biting off the icing off the biscuit and then eating the biscuit. It was our favorite snack. I even remember a tooth falling out when I was eating these once. Oh, the memories. I haven't seen these cute snacks in stores here in California for 10 years. They totally disappeared. I miss these snacks. 

I know, these biscuits aren't the healthiest thing in the world but at least they're not the most unhealthiest thing. It's a craving I would definitely give into. It's been too long since I've last eaten these. 

I've seen these online available for purchase but I wish they would sell them in stores. I was so happy to find these when I went to China the past summer. I found them in my parents hometown, Taishan. We were at a grocery store in the town when I found them. I was so happy to have found them. I immediately grabbed the bag and bought them (after asking my mother, of course). We (I) finished eating them within 3 days. They were just so good! 

I know. This is an ugly picture of me but I'm holding the bag of iced gem biscuits we bought. I wish I bought extra to bring back to the states. I forgot to go back to buy some before leaving Taishan. They also had red bean kit-kats I wanted to buy too. Oh well. The only way now is to order these online. 

I'm really craving these biscuits right now. I should probably learn how to make these. I just wonder if I could get the icing on top just right. 

I'm so sorry about this rant. But, I just had to get it out there. There are so many childhood foods I used to like eating but they don't really sell them anymore. Especially these Iced Gem biscuits. Of course, there's Pocky and Hello Panda but they are still around. I wonder when Iced Gem biscuits will make their way back into the markets. In the meantime, I'll have to learn how to make these or possibly order these online. 

Do you like Iced Gem Biscuits?

What's your favorite childhood treat?

Merry Christmas + Coconut Macaroon Recipe + New Blog Layout

Merry Christmas everyone and Happy Holidays!

I hope everyone's holiday is going well this year. I know mines have been so far. I love the holiday season (except for gaining the weight part).

As you see, my blog layout has completely changed. It's almost been a year since I changed it and I wanted something different, something that represents me. So, I changed it (and, it's a gift to my blog,  getting a new look). It's all pink! I actually like this new layout better than my old one. Any thoughts?

So, I made coconut macaroons today. It's to bring to my family potluck. I got the idea to make these because my dad brought some home the other day and I loved them. The thing is that they were dipped in chocolate instead of plain. I decided to look for a recipe and now, I made them. They're quite yummy too, better than the ones my dad brought home. Here's my recipe.

Servings: 29
Calories: ~80 calories

Ingredients:

• 4 egg whites
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 cups sweetened shredded coconut
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup dark chocolate (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 F. 
2. Using a mixer, whip the egg whites and vanilla for about 2 minutes until soft peaks form. Then, add in the sugar and beat for another 3 minutes until stiff peaks form. 
3. Fold in the coconut. 
4. Using an ice cream scoop, form mounds of batter onto a baking sheet. 
5. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes, when it starts browning. 
6. Let it cool. 
7. While waiting for it to cool, you can melt the chocolate chips by microwaving them for about 80 seconds. Stir the chocolate with the spoon. If it needs to be melted more, microwave for another 10 seconds. 
8. Dip the cooled macaroons into the chocolate Wait for the chocolate to harden and then serve. 

 Let's talk about the Christmas and holiday season now. As you know, the holiday season means feasting and weight gain. It also means presents!

I hope I don't gain that much weight. I even went for a run this morning with my dad. It was a nice run. Hopefully, it helps prevent some weight gain. Good thing we ran earlier in the morning because it started raining a couple hours after.

After that, we opened presents with the family and boy, did I get a bundle.

I got yoga pants (XS, I'm surprised I fit them), 5 shirts (all small too, but I'm wearing 2 of them right now), boots,  and some other gifts that I received earlier and used already. The other two shirts I received are a black long-sleeve and a pink sweater cover-up. Here's a pic of me wearing it. It makes me look fat though (even though it's a small size!). I guess that's what sweaters are suppose to do or it's the style.

I've had a pretty good Christmas so far. I got to spend time with family, run with my dad and receive amazing gifts from the people I love.

So, how are your guy's holidays coming along?

How do you guys prevent holiday weight gain?

What gifts did you guys receive? 

Banana Cookies and PitaPit Review, Dark Chocolate KettleCorn Review

Hey hey everyone! How are you guys today? For one thing, remember to turn your clocks back an hour. You don't want to be too early for an appointment or anything!
Anyway, today was an alright day. I went to a volunteer orientation today and there were so many people there. However, they're only taking a certain amount of volunteers, less than how many people actually came. Hopefully, they'll take me but we have to turn in applications first.
After orientation was lunch, since it was almost noon when it ended. I decided to stop by PitaPit since it is suppose to be healthy and it's Mediterranean food. I really like that they had an option of either using a wheat pita or a white pita for the pitas. I got the buffalo chicken with wheat pita. It was absolutely delicious and the size was just right. I'll post a picture of it at the end of the post. Next time, I may try either the hummus, falafel, chicken souvlaki, or spicy black bean with tzatziki sauce.  I also had another driving lesson today and it actually went better than last time.
Anyway, I promised you guys a while ago that I would post the 3 or 4 ingredient banana cookie recipe (depending if you want to add cinnamon or not). They're delicious. It's from TIU. Here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 bananas, mashed
• 1 cup oats
• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder (about 1/3 cup)
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. 
2. Sift together the oats, protein powder and cinnamon. 
3. Mix in the bananas. 
4. Drop the dough onto a cookie sheet and bake fro 15 to 20 min. 
5. Take out and enjoy. I ate it with some almond butter. It's delicious. 

Anyway, here's the picture of the pita pit food:

 I didn't eat the chips though (gave it to my siblings) and I got a diet coke. The chicken had a lot of flavor, which I liked. Surprisingly, the pita thing is only around 300 calories and it's big!

Anyway, I also tried the Dark Chocolate Kettlecorn thing I bought yesterday.

It was delicious. The chocolate was just right and I liked that some parts had a tiny bit of a salty aftertaste with a hint of sweetness from parts of the popcorn. It was delicious!

I wonder what I'm going to do with the candy corn. I know with the pretzels, I'm making dark chocolate covered pretzels.

So, do you guys like banana cookies?
What kind of popcorn do you like? (caramel and chocolate!)
Do you guys volunteer?

Yummy Cookie Cake!

I love cookies. Chocolate chip cookies. Who doesn't? They're sweet, soft and chewy. The buttery goodness in your mouth, the chocolate. I want some. Now!
Yes. I made chocolate chip cookies and they're amazing. I used a different recipe, since I ran out of flour. These cookies use cake mix instead. I bet you guys are thinking, "No way. Making cookies with cake mix?" Yes. Of course. They work and they're delicious. It's also a really quick recipe, and you get your cookie cravings satisfied.
Don't think that using cake mix will make your cookies taste like cake. You won't notice a difference. I used yellow cake mix, but you can also use any other type of cake mixes. I use chocolate cake mix sometimes, but the yellow cake mix works the best for me. Here's the recipe. Enjoy. :)

Ingredients:

• 1 box yellow cake mix (18.25 oz)
• 2 eggs
• 5 tablespoon butter, softened
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup chocolate chips (white, milk, swirl, dark, butterscotch, pb)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Empty the bag of cake mix into a mixing bowl. 
3. Cut the butter in and try to mix it in with the dry ingredients. Cream it as best as you can. 
4. Mix in the eggs and vanilla extract and make a dough. 
5. Once the dough has come together, mix in the chocolate chips. 
6. Divide the dough into about 20 pieces, about the size of golf balls. 
7. Place them on a baking sheet/pan and bake for about 15 to 20 minutes. 
8. Take them out, let them cool, and enjoy. :) 

Yummy White Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake! 

 

Yummy Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake!!

                                        

M&M Cookies

Hey Everyone. How are you guys doing today? Well, for me, I just don't like that the weather is getting colder now. But, hey, at least I know that the holidays are coming up soon. But, I still have leftover Halloween candy, and tons of it at that. I can't wait for the holidays to come up.
The next holiday is Thanksgiving, which most of us celebrate.The funny thing is that my former history teacher doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving, because it is a colonial holiday. What a strange guy he is, but he's pretty cool.
Anyways, back to the candy. We have tons of M&Ms, so I decided to bake some M&M cookies. They're quite easy to make and really delicious. I had such a bad craving for M&Ms and cookies, so I decided to put them together. Warm cookies coming out of the oven sounds good on cold days anyways. Enjoy. :)

Ingredients: 

• 2 1/2 cups All-purpose Flour
• 2 tsp Baking Powder
• 3/4 tsp Salt
• 1 1/2 cups Light Brown Sugar
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup Butter ( I usually use 1/2 cup)
• 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 2/3 cup M & Ms
• 
  

Directions: 

1. In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. 
2. In another mix together the sugars. Add in the butter and cream the butter with the sugar. 
3. Add in the egg and vanilla extract. Mix.
4. Add in the M&Ms. 
5. Preheat the oven to 350 F. 
6. On a greased pan, make about 2 tablespoon of dough to make dough balls and place them on the pan. They should be about the size of golf balls. 
7. Bake for about 10 to 15 minutes. 
8. Take out, let it cool, and enjoy