What a nice way to start off Spring Break, with pouring rain. I guess it's a good thing because we've been in a drought for a long time. But, it just ruins the day and makes things all gloomy. I just hate rain. I like bright sunny blue skies and 70-80 degree weather. I guess that's just me though.
Anyway, I decided to try to make my day a little bit better by making granola. I love granola. It's delicious, but it's almost quite expensive to buy. You can eat granola by itself, with milk, on yogurt, it's yummy. It's especially good with fat free frozen yogurt.
Today is my first time making granola and I have to say, it didn't turn out as bad as I thought. I thought that I'd probably burn the whole thing, but I didn't. I burnt 1/8 of it. I waited 10 minutes before stirring the batch, while I should have done it every 5 minutes or so. I've learned my lesson. But, hey, I know what to do next time and I still have great tasting granola. It's cheaper than store bought ones and much healthier. If you make 10 servings, it's around 115 calories. I don't know how much that is though. Just divide it into 10 servings and see how it turns out. Anyway, here's the recipe. Enjoy. :)
Ingredients:
2 cups old fashioned oats
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 tsp canola oil
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. In a bowl, mix together the oats, cinnamon and brown sugar.
3. Add in the oil, honey and vanilla extract. Mix well.
4. Pour the mixture onto a pan and spread it out.
5. Bake for 20 minutes, mixing it every 4 to 5 minutes. Make sure it doesn't burn.
"May the odds be ever in your favor." Apparently, not for Katniss's sister. Every year, in the nation of Panem (in the once known area as North America), there are 12 districts. 1 boy and 1 girl are chosen as tributes to represent their District in the annual Hunger Games. During the "reaping" in District 12, the coal district, Katniss's sister Prim is picked. Wanting to protect her sister, Katniss volunteers herself as tribute, making her the first volunteer in their District. To make things worse, Peeta is chosen as the male tribute. He helped her during her family's great time of need, when they were close to starvation. As it turns out, Peeta had a long time crush on Katniss and this plays an important role in the movie as well as the book. Let's just say that the idea of "star crossed lovers" is very appealing.
Ok, so, why did I just talk about the Hunger Games? Well, I watched the movie today with friends. It was awesome! For the most part, it followed the book, which is good. Jennifer Lawrence did a great job portraying the role of Katniss and you can tell she was into it. With the emotion she put in, it was great. Same with Josh Hutcherson, who played Peeta. They seemed so much in love (well, Peeta, that is). I have to say, Katniss is better off with Peeta than with Gale. haha. I say that because Gale looked pretty jealous when he saw them together during the games. They both are pretty cute though. However, Gale seems more like a brother to her, helping take care of her family. Katniss really loves her sister.
So, anyway, I still can't stop thinking about the movie. So, the movie theatre is located in a mall, so, after watching the movie, I went shopping. I didn't buy anything though. After shopping, me and my friends were hungry, so we went to the food court. Faced with Panda Express, Sbarro, Hot Dog on a Stick, Mediterranean Food, another Asian food place, a sandwich place and some other food court stalls, I decided to choose the Mediterranean food. I've been to the mall so many times, but I've never actually eaten the food from the Mediterranean place. It was my first time eating there. Wanting to eat healthy, I chose their vegetarian plate. With it came pita bread, hummus, Tabouleh, and baba ghanouj. It was delicious! Here's a picture:
Looks appetizing, right? It certainly tasted good, and the cashier was really nice. He gave me a free drink. I'm definitively eating here more often from now on. It's healthy compared to the other food court choices. I got the Blueberry Fulfilling from Jamba Juice after. The blueberry fulfilling is my favorite. :)
So, after having a fun day at the mall, I decided to try out a new workout video I found online. Here it is:
It was a great workout! It may look easy, but it's killer.
So, how was your guy's weekend?
Have you read the Hunger Games?
I can't believe it. After hearing about Shirataki noodles a long long time ago, I finally bought them! They are a bit expensive though, but, they are worth every penny. Well, it's because they are healthy and they are really low in calories. And, I mean really low. I bought the Tofu Shirataki and there were 2 servings in the package, each 20 calories. That's a total of 40 calories in the package, and it's a lot of noodles! The only downside is that there's a strange odor to the noodles and that the noodles are a bit tasteless and rubbery. As long as you add sauce, seasonings and other things, it'll taste just fine. You can cook it any way you want too.
For me, I just used whatever was in the house to cook these noodles. We hadn't gone grocery shopping in a while, and we were running low on things. So, instead of shrimp and chicken, I used turkey sausage. At least we had some green beans. I also added some soy sauce too. Anyway, you can make it any way you want. I hope you enjoy this. If you can, use shrimp and chicken instead, but, really, any type of meat is fine.
Ingredients:
Shirataki noodles
meat (diced, cut) shrimp, chicken, anything you want.
vegetables (frozen veggies, green beans, broccoli)
soy sauce
sesame oil
Directions:
Boil the vegetables.
Rinse the noodles, and then boil for a few minutes.
Add sesame oil to a pan and cook the meat. Then, add the vegetables and noodles.
Cook over the heat for about 4 minutes. Then, add the soy sauce and mix it in well.
Put the noodles on a plate or anything you want to eat them with and enjoy.
Hey Everyone! How is your weekend going? Mines have been alright. I went food shopping (Costco). I also got some frozen yogurt from the Food Court Yum.
So, I know that my sleeping pattern will be messed up tomorrow because of Daylights Saving Time. Really, what is the point of it? I really don't know. I don't think it saves any energy.
Anyway, I made these pancakes this morning. They're quite delicious too, if I say so myself. They're quick and easy to make. They're also really healthy, and can be made vegan. I made dorayaki with the pancakes. All I did was add red bean and made sandwich with two small pancakes. Quick, easy, and delicious. I just had to add red bean paste, because I love red bean. Here's the picture:
Looks delicious, right? They're also healthier than the other red bean dorayaki I made. Anyway, here's the recipe for these pancakes. Enjoy. :)
Ingredients:
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup fat free milk (soy milk, almond, your choice)
2 packets of Splenda
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)
Directions:
1. In a bowl, mix together the dry ingredients.
2. Then, mix in the wet ingredients.
3. Heat a skillet to medium heat.
4. Cook these "pancakes". Wait for bubbles to form before flipping.
5. This should make about 4 to 5 pancakes. 2 sandwiches.
6. Add red bean paste to make the sandwiches Enjoy.
Hey everyone! How are you guys doing? I've been doing okay. I've just been stressed out with school. However, I did get my Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies. Delicious!
Anyway, I made brownies this weekend! I love brownies. What's even better is that these brownies are a lot healthier. There's whole wheat and it's only 100 calories! My little brother hates it when I try to make desserts healthy, but he didn't even notice with these. He actually likes them.
These brownies are cake like brownies, but they're still really good. I guess if you want less cake like ones, add less liquid and don't add as much baking powder as I did. I just like mines really thick in size.
My uncle compared these to the Fiber One Brownies, which are 90 calories. He says that mines taste a lot better. :) He said for me to send them my recipe. He's funny. Anyway, here's the recipe.
Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup cocoa powder*
2 tsp baking powder (can use less if you want)
2 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 cup fat free milk
1/2 cup oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup water (optional)
*If you want to use 1 1/2 cup cocoa powder, you have to add the water.
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Grease a 9 x 13 baking pan and some cupcake pans.
In a bowl, combine the flours, cocoa powder, baking powder and sugar.
Next, mix in the wet ingredients.
First, pour the batter into 12 cupcake molds. Then, pour the rest into the baking pan.
Place the cupcakes on the bottom of the oven and the baking pan ones on top. Bake for about 30 minutes. Use the toothpick test to make sure it's cooked all the way through.
Cut the brownies into 24 squares. There should be a total of 35, including the cupcakes. This will make it 100 calories each. Enjoy. :)
Hey everyone! How are you guys? I missed doing a Valentine's Day post. I'm so sorry about that. I've been busy.
Anyway, my week has been okay. Valentine's Day was just like any other day. The only thing different was that people brought all these balloons, teddy bears and what not just for the special day. It's crazy carrying it around school, but it's a really sweet thing. Now, let's get back to baking. As you know, I love granola bars. LUNA bars, Clif Bars, Larabars, you name it. I guess I just like any kind of bars in general. So, I decided to look for a delicious, healthy bar recipe that uses simple ingredients that everyone has on hand. The sad thing is that, I didn't have any chocolate chips on hand to make chocolate chip bars, but, at least I had peanut butter, the next best thing. I also have tons of oatmeal. So, I decided to make Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Oat Bars. You can add chocolate chips to it too. I will next time. Here's the recipe. Enjoy. :)
Ingredients:
2 cups rolled oats
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup fat free milk
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla or banana extract
chocolate chips (optional)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Butter a 9 x 13 pan. Or, cover it with aluminium foil.
In a bowl, mix the peanut butter with the sugar. Mix in the vanilla extract. In another bowl, combine the oats, flour and baking powder.
Mix the flour mixture into the peanut butter mixture.
Mix it until combined. The dough should be crumbly.
Pour in the milk and mix well. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Place the mixture into the pan and spread it evenly.
Bake it for about 30 minutes.
Take out, let it cool and then cut it into pieces. It will crumble if you cut it when it's hot.
I love eating anything red bean. I think I've said that before. So, I was so happy when my mom decided to make 紅豆沙, red bean soup, today. It's been a long time since I have eaten it. It's delicious.
I remember when I was younger, I used to not care for this dessert. I don't know what I was thinking. My mom would try to get me to eat it, but I refused. Now, it's my favorite. Red bean is awesome.
The restaurants make it a bit differently then my mom does, in that they don't add many nuts and beans and that stuff. Usually, restaurants just have the soup, red beans, rice and occasionally some weird pearl stuff. Theirs is also sweeter. I like mines sweet but not to sweet. Also, when my aunts make 紅豆沙, theirs is twice as sweet. Literally, since they add twice as much brown sugar pieces than my mom does. Me and my mom don't like it too sweet and it's also a bit unhealthy adding all of that sugar. So, if you guys like things sweet, you can add more sugar than stated in the recipe. Also, there are no exact measurements for this recipe. Enjoy.
In a large saucepot, combine all the ingredients EXCEPT for the brown sugar pieces. Rinse and rain them a few times. Then, let it sit in the water for half an hour to an hour.
Add water until the pot is almost full. Then, bring it to a boil.
Reduce the heat to a simmer, and let it cooked uncovered for 1 1/2 hrs to 2 hrs.
Then, add in the brown sugar pieces. Stir until it melts. Taste the soup. If you like it sweeter, add another bag.
