Paleo Lemon Chai Muffins and My Trip Away

Oops! It's the month of March already? I promised I would blog more but I was away for a good reason. We took our first plane trip as a family back to KL and SG to celebrate CNY. Alas, I had to stay a few weeks more to look after my grandmother who was in hospital.

Family portrait before granny was admitted. I love this shot of my family and us!

It was a very traumatic few weeks as we had to call an ambulance and witness my beloved grandmother being in ICU and intubated. She is a strong lady and gradually responded to the treatment. I was so pleased that she is home, that I could barely let her off my sight and monitored all her food and vitals closely.

This episode also taught me family love. Relatives from Hong Kong flew back to be beside her. Grandmother's sister stayed with us for a few days to care and cook for her. Through her, I learned more home cooked cantonese dishes which I'm keen to replicate at home. My mother learned how to make soups and I learned a few more slow cooked Chinese soups (you can literally hear the glee in my husband's voice here). I get to spend more time with my family including my parents. Of course, it means that Asher gets to meet heaps of his uncles and aunties, grand uncles and grand aunties, cuddles from many relatives that he wouldn't be able to meet or greet otherwise.

Hubby and I were also apart for a few weeks as he had to fly back to work. It was a tough few weeks as I learned how to juggle

All these though, brought us closer as a family unit. I can't wait to see my parents and grandmother again. I have learned to appreciate time- and be in the moment even more. 

I'm back sharing this recipe by Slim Palate. I have only recently discovered Joshua (who is 18 by the way and cooking fabulous food) and his blog. Browsing through his story makes me ashamed of how basic and simple my cooking is compared to his! He comes up with amazing real food recipes and this one caught my eye.  I love how he used chia seeds as "poppy" and use of apple cider vinegar to give it a tang.

I have been experimenting more with coconut flour and is growing to LOVE it. The dense nature of this flour means more liquid has to be added. But once the right ratio is achieved, it provides unlimited experimentation of different cakes and treats. I increased the baking soda in this recipe as I find it gives it more of a lift and a lighter feel to the muffins.  Since I love my lemons, I added more zest and juice as well. I think I can make further improvements- it's still a little more dense for my liking so I might add some other raising agent. Certainly more lemons will be better as well. There is always a next time!

Paleo Lemon Chia Muffins (makes around 8 for me)
1/2 cup of coconut flour
2 tablespoon of chia seeds
1/2 tsp baking soda
zest from 2.5 lemons
4 tablespoon of lemon juice
1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar
pinch of salt
1/2 cup of almond milk
1 tsp of honey
4 eggs
1/4 coconut oil

Preheat Oven to 180C. Line liners into muffin trays.

Whisk dry ingredients (coconut flour, chia seeds, baking soda, and salt) together. In a separate jug, whisk all wet ingredients such as the juice, vinegar, almond milk, honey, eggs, oil and zest. Pour wet to dry and fold.  Bake for 25 minutes. Cool and eat.

A Different Sort of Chocolate Cake

So recently we had our first family holiday. A coupon deal came up and we grabbed a one night stay at a 4.5 star hotel at The Sebel in Mandurah, Perth. To many West Australians, Mandurah is a sleepy little place just on border of metro Western Australia. To us though, it was where we sneaked out for dates when we were in University and when hubby popped the question at the jetty 4.5 years ago. It seems fitting that we bring Asher there for his first night out of home.

Truth be told, it's because we are "testing out" the waters of bringing Asher out overnight. We thought an hour away means we are far enough to do the testing, but close enough to return home if we get desperate. Thankfully, Asher adapted pretty well. I learned a few things in this short trip.

- It's ok to bring more diapers. In this case, less is not more!
- I would choose to have Asher's things in a separate bag next time if we are going for longer trips.
- Collect samples. I brought the samples on the trip for nappy cream, body wash, moisturiser and it worked a treat!
- Bring my baby carrier. I'm beginning to value my baby carrier more and more....
- Hubby and I had dinner at 6pm which is usually the start of Asher's sleep routine, to counter a very cranky baby in a fancy restaurant, I feed him and managed to put him down for a nap.
- If we really want to have dinner out, make it 6pm and not later! Poor Ash was clearly tired at 7:30 even though he had a nap.

No doubt there will be more thoughts as we begin planning our travel back to SG/KL end of January. Any tips from experienced travellers?

I'm a big fan of Teresa Cutter. It's my go-to place for treats and other healthy meal ideas. She made healthy food looks AMAZING and so delicious. In fact, I don't think I have ever had a bad batch of baking from her recipes before. This different sort of chocolate cake is not something I have not made before. Her one- bowl cake is delicious and really, I adapted her recipe to suit us but it's basically the same.

What I think it's different in this cake, is the Coconut Chocolate Ganache. Yup. It's ganache made of coconut cream instead of normal cream. It makes so much sense actually to replace normal cream with coconut.  So handy as I almost always forget to buy cream but I usually have coconut milk or cream in my pantry. First it adds flavour, and 2nd it doesn't leave me with the "I ate too much ganache" feeling. The 2nd point is dangerous though because it is tempting to polish off a bowl of the ganache. It's still a treat and it still has chocolate in it. Best of all, my parents in law who does not like dairy loved it!

If you are looking for a christmas treat, this could be an idea!

A Different Sort of Cake with Coconut Chocolate Ganache. (serves 25)
3 cups almond meal
1/2 cup of cacao powder
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 eggs
125ml olive oil or coconut oil
125 ml of almond milk
1 tablespoon of raw honey

Preheat fan forced oven to 150C. Whisk eggs, oil, milk,vanilla and honey together. Pour wet over dry ingredients and fold. Pour into prepared lined baking tin and bake for 40-45 minutes.

Coconut Chocolate Ganache
250ml Coconut Cream
200grams dark chocolate

Heat cream gently. Break chocolate into cream and gently fold till it melts and turn glossy. Cool before placing on cake.

LA and NYC 2012

It took us some time, but when we finally did hit the "confirm" button to book our trip to LA and NYC, we were stoked. Traveling is a big burn of ours but between work, building of our home and other commitments, it took us some time before we were able to bite the bullet and splurge on a holiday. It was also my birthday trip, which made it extra special.

In total we travelled for 14 days. The first three was at Melbourne, followed by LA then NYC. Our plans were initially NYC then LA but due to Hurricane Sandy, plans have to change. We spent 6 8 glorious days in NYC, the additional 2 days courtesy of the secondary storm that hit NYC while we were there.

Highlights of LA?
- The Redbury Hotel. Truly a beautiful Art Decor accommodation.

- Walking along Hollywood Blvd on my birthday only to be told that there were road closures because there was a gun man on the loose!

- Food at Cleo and Katsuya! Seems that Katsuya is a celebrity watch restaurants. No luck for us.
- History of Hollywood.

- Universal Studios- behind the scenes tour.

What I really love, is our trip to NYC. The food, the lights, the people. Everything. Hurricane Sandy certainly brought out the tenacity of New Yorkers. By day 4, subway stations were partially open, and business were slowly chugging back into gear.

I love
- Walking into Bed, Bath and Beyond and wanting to buy the whole shop back.
- Smelling the aroma of William Sonoma
- Checking out the views of Empire State and Rockerfellar

 - Snow Storm!

- Behind the scenes tour of NBC studios
- Shopping at GAP, Victoria Secret, Century 21, Forever 21....
- Eating at Nanoosh, Dean and Deluca, Ma Peche., Balthazar..
- Desserts at Momofufu Milk Bar and Bakery, Spot Dessert and Kytofu.

(Spot Dessert Bar- Matcha Lava Molten Pudding)

(Spot Dessert Bar- Coconut Cheesecake)

(Kytofu- Black Sesame Tofu Pudding)

- Love the museum of Art

- Who can missed Central Park, Times Square and 5th Ave.  Times square is mesmerising.

(Times Square with Cookie Monster and Elmo)

(Central Park before the snow storm) 

(Central Park after the snow storm) 

-Broadway!!

-Brooklyn Flea Market.
- Brooklyn Bridge

(Brooklyn Bridge)

- Statue of Liberty

- Whole Food Markets
- Tasting Pumpkin Pie/tart for the first time.
- Love walking along Bleeker Street, SoHo (pity we didn't get to explore it throughly)
-Bryant Park is beautiful!


So much more.

Things I learned..
- Starbucks serve decent coffee in NYC. Dean and Deluca is much better but we actually like this little coffee place call Oren's Daily Roast.
- I do not like American Cheddar
- Service is way better in USA. Perhaps it has got to do with the tipping system.
- Unfortunately Magnolia Bakery is over-rated. I did not enjoy their desserts as much as I thought I would. Next time, more calories spent at Momofuku Milk Bar, or Spot Dessert!
- I need more luggage space. It is so worth it heading to Century 21- I'm not into brand names shopping, but managed to grab some good quality basics for good prices.

While the storm means we were not able to explore SoHo, Nolita, Chinatown areas, it also means that we have to go back! Hubby and I are both planners, so we had to learn to relax and be flexible with our itinerary. Flight cancelled 3 hours before we were supposed to be at the airport? We smiled and said obviously God want us to stay in NYC for a bit longer, and enjoyed the snow.

Certainly a trip to be remembered. We will return!

Happy New Year!

The year 2010- another year full of memories and life lessons. I thought a good way to sum up the year is to have a look at the all those beautiful moments and capture them in a post.

Highlights:

• Started the New Year in Paris (plus Pierre Hermes' macarons)!

• We survived one year of marriage!! Woohoo!
• Attended and be part of the bridal party for my closest friends. 
• Emcee for the first time at a dinner banquet for my best friend. 

• We bought sand land and will be building our home in 2011.

•  We had the BEST road trip from Adelaide to Melbourne.

•  Headed to Sydney and tried Guylian Chocolate Cafe and saw the Blue Mountains. (although my tummy felt really ill after the chocolate, the pain was worth it!)

•  And officially on 30th of Dec 2010, achieved a milestone in my career. A goal that I have been aiming for since year 2000 when I arrived in Australia. 

And my cooking and baking highlights? 

• Learned that simple is good. Totally enjoyed my Star Anise Stew Pork with Soya Egg.

• My family favourite- Dom Steamed Chicken 

• Learned that chocolate hazelnut cake can be enjoyed! 

• Totally happy with my pavolva!

•  My cheesecake that did not crack!!!!!!

Goals for 2011:

• To continue to make changes and improve the appearance and accessibility to content of this blog.
• Try making curry!! (from scratch!!!)
• Ice-cream making perhaps. 
• Continue my quest to find the best chocolate chip cookie recipe. 
• To create more beautiful memories with my family and friends.
• Accelerating to our dreams. 
• To live more, laugh louder and breathe deeper when challenges cross our paths. 
• Looking forward to the building process of our new home. 
• To be even more respectful and loving towards my hubby. 
• A closer journey with God. 

Wherever you are, here is wishing you a FANTASTIC NEW YEAR.  May each step you take in the New Year bring you closer to your dreams.

Picnic Fun- Smoked Salmon and Garlic Teriyaki Chicken Sushi

So AR realized that I have been really tense recently. Work was getting waay into me. He suggested that we head to rural Western Australia, around 45 minutes drive from the city for a picnic. He even offered to make sushi and prepare dip and carrot sticks for the trip! He knows that sushi is my comfort food. I can have it any time of the day! How impressed I was!!

Except that it took him 30 minutes to cut the vegetables up.

And I got impatient.


So I got my hands into rolling the sushi, thinking that he will be done soon and will take over.

But I ended up rolling them all!!!

He was sweet though. And even packed a magazine for me to read during the picnic. Did you notice that he even packed soya sauce? He took the WHOLE bottle! =)

And all the lovely vegetables that he cut up for me to munch on (he also cut the veges for the sushi).

And the wonderful waterfall that we saw. 

I am very blessed with a caring and loving hubby (just not when he spent 30 minutes cutting vegetables!!!! ;P)

Sushi (I think we made more than 60 small size sushi-around 5 rolls. It was our lunch the next day too!)
3 cups of sushi rice (cooked using the instructions on the packet)
around 1 tablespoon of sugar
2-3 tablespoon of rice vinegar
150 grams of smoked salmon 
1 cucumber, 1 carrot and 1 avocado sliced longitudinally.
2-3 crab sticks defrosted
wasabi!
you can use mayo but I am on a health kick so no mayo for us.
5 pieces of sushi grade seaweed 

Garlic teriyaki chicken- cooked 100 grams of chopped chicken thigh with garlic and teriyaki sauce.

Season rice with sugar and rice vinegar. Taste to check seasoning. 

Place seaweed on sushi mat. Place around 2-3 tablespoon of rice on it. Flatten it using wet hands. It should fill around 3/4 of the seaweed. Swipe wasabi longitudinally. Place veges and smoked salmon/chicken on it. Roll sushi up. Making sure to tighten the roll as you go along. Cut sushi using a sharp knife. Serve with wasabi and soy sauce.