Banana Date Smoothie

Juicing is the craze nowadays. So I jumped the bandwagon. I've been making smoothies for a week now. I really want to try this liquid detox but afraid that I cannot make up to it. But I was surprised that I've survived a week not eating anything but these smoothies. I did not weigh before doing this detox but people have noticed already my weight loss.

These smoothies are like my "lunch". They keep me full the whole day because they are packed with vitamins, minerals and other essential nutrients, I don't feel hungry until my bedtime. Besides they are so delicious.

This smoothie is my last this week. My blender just broke down and had to send it to the service.

  





I used 4 bananas and chopped into pieces. Then 1 cup of dates, pitted and skin removed.

  

 

These dates were picked from the trees on the road near our office. So, it's pure organic.

I added an apple, cored, peeled and cubed.












And then 3 - 4 cups of laban drink. I used Activia Low Fat. 

 

The Activia Laban is a bit thicker from the previous laban drink I've used, so I just added more little by little after 3 cups, until I achieved my desired consistency.

My Banana Date Smoothie! It is so delicious. No need to add honey because the dates are naturally sweet and the apple added extra sweetness. 

The recipe made about 3 - 4 servings.

Happy New Year!

My first post for the year 2012, is of course to greet everyone a Happy New Year! I hope this year would be nice to me, less tears and more smiles. And of course, hopefully more posts, hehehe. I hope I'll be inspired to cook, bake, take pictures or just anything I can post here.

Spaghetti Aglio Olio

If you're feeling poor and wants to eat pasta, try this recipe. It's very simple and very cheap. Only has 4 ingredients and ready in minutes.

Ingredients:

4-5 cloves of garlic, sliced (i love garlic so i used the whole bulb!)
1/4 cup olive oil
4 pieces red chilies
cooked spaghetti good for 2-3 persons

Directions:

Saute garlic and chilies in olive oil. Cook until the garlic is golden brown but do not burn.
Put the drained cooked pasta into the oil mixture and season with salt and a little pepper.
Toss to coat.
Serve immediately.

Fluffy Blueberry Pancakes

Recipe:

1 cup (140 grams) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons (7 grams) baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons (28 grams) granulated white sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup (240 ml) milk
2 tablespoons (28 grams) unsalted butter, melted
Plus extra melted butter for greasing the pan.


In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. In a separate bowl whisk together the egg, milk, and melted butter. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture, all at once, and stir or whisk just until combined. The batter should have some small lumps. Make sure you do not over mix the batter or the pancakes will be tough.

Heat a frying pan or griddle over medium high heat until a few sprinkles of water dropped on the pan or griddle splatter. Using a pastry brush, brush the pan with a little melted butter.

Using a small ladle or scoop, pour about 1/4 cup of pancake batter onto the pan, spacing the pancakes a few inches from each other. When the bottoms of the pancakes are brown and bubbles start to appear on the top surfaces of the pancakes (2-3 minutes), turn over. Cook until lightly browned (about 1-2 minutes).

Repeat with remaining batter, brushing the pan with melted butter between batches.

Serve immediately with butter and maple syrup.

Makes about 8 - 3-inch (7.5 cm) pancakes. Serves 3-4 people.

For Blueberry Pancakes: Sprinkle fresh blueberries on the tops of the pancakes just as bubbles start to appear on the top surface of the frying batter.


Note: This recipe was taken from a website but I forgot which one.

Night Shot

     The Fairmont Hotel, Dubai

This was taken without a tripod, just a little help from a light post.

Baked Mini Donuts

I have tried a couple of recipes for baked mini donuts but both were not satisfying to me. Until I stumble upon this recipe VANILLA BEAN MINI DONUTS. This recipe is perfect! It is really a cross between cake donuts and the traditionally yeast donuts. Yeast donuts tend to be best eaten on the day it is cooked, but this one still tastes amazing on the next day. The best thing about mini donuts is that even if you've eaten about 15 pieces, it is still equal to one regular size donut. So, less guilt and besides, it is baked, not fried!

Ingredients:

for the donuts:
+ 2 cups all purpose flour
+ 3/4 cup granulated sugar
+ 2 teaspoons baking powder
+ 1 teaspoon kosher salt
+ 3/4 cup buttermilk
+ 2 eggs, lightly beaten
+ 2 tablespoons butter, melted
+ seeds scraped from one vanilla bean

for the glaze/decoration:
+ 1 cup powdered sugar
+ 1-2 tablespoons milk
+ 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
+ sprinkles for decorating

special equipment
+ mini donut pan

Procedure:

1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Spray your mini donut pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

2. In a large mixing bowl/the bowl of your stand mixer, add the 2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder and 1 teaspoon kosher salt and stir until combined.

3. In a separate bowl, combine the 3/4 cup buttermilk, 2 eggs, 2 tablespoons melted butter and vanilla seeds. Mix until well combined and the vanilla seeds are evenly disbursed.

4. Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined - don't overmix.

5. You can use a small spoon to fill the donut pan, but filling a pastry bag fitted with a small tip or a plastic bag with a small portion of the tip cut off works best. Fill each cavity only half full - filling them any higher won't give you the rounded, donut look.

6. Bake the donuts for 5 to 8 minutes - watch them because they bake fast. They will be slightly browned at the edges and will spring back when touched. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes before removing to completely cool.

7. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, mix the cup of powdered sugar, tablespoon of milk (to start) and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. You may need to add more milk to get it to a thick, liquidy consistency suitable for dipping - add a tiny bit at a time until you reach the consistency you want.

8. When the donuts have completely cooled, dip the tops of each one into the glaze (you may need to blow out the hole in the middle to clear it of glaze). Sprinkle the sprinkles over the top. Let the glaze harden slightly and serve immediately.

makes 60-70 mini donuts

Note: My yield for this recipe is only about 30 mini donuts.

Malteser Cookies

Ok, for my first post it will be one of the things I love, baking! I'm posting a recipe for a cookie which I got from the net but forgot from which site because it's been a long time ago. I think I did this recipe twice or so, not a hit though I bet you this is a good recipe. It's very simple and easy.

Malteser Cookies

Ingredients:

2¼ cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ cup milk
¾ cup or 1½ sticks butter, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1½ roughly chopped Maltesers Balls
 
Procedure:
 
1. Preheat oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
3. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in milk and vanilla, then gradually blend in the flour mixture. Do not overmix, stir only until no streaks of flour remain. Fold in the Maltesers Balls.
4. Drop into 1-inch balls, about 1 tbsp sized balls, on the prepared baking sheet and bake for about 12-14 minutes, or until lightly browned.
5. Cool on baking sheet for 2-3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.


Makes about 3-dozen cookies.