Avocado Banana Bread

Having some bananas that are turning brown (or black should I say) in my pantry, I decided to make a quick and easy banana bread for breakfast. This is more for hubby than for myself as the poor man has been waking up at 6am sometimes 5:30 to get to work early, just so that he can spend more time with his little man in the evening. As such, we found it works best that he has a "heat and go breakfast".

I'm really fortunate in the sense that hubby has always been very supportive of our healthy clean eating habits. A true man, he fell in love with me when I was overweight and continued to love me for who I am. I recall my aunt told me that he is a keeper. On reflection, I'm sure it must be tricky for him to love me through my insecurities about my body. God is fair. When I was young, I wrote a list of everything I want for in a husband and here is he. I can't ask for a better husband really.

At home, he listens to why I choose to eat the way I would like to. He never complains about what I put on the table. He did say however, that he is glad I like my meat. He took to heart about my research on food and now, he voluntarily reduced the amount of rice and noodles till once if not none in the week.

It's only recently that I started baking again. It certainly feels good knowing that hubby gets a healthy breakfast, but also nutritious as well. We are not "big" demonstrators- and I know that he gets my message that I care for him as he toasts a slice of avocado banana bread for breakfast.

Avocado Banana Bread. Serves 12
1 cup of Almond meal
1 tsp bicarb powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp of cinnamon
2 eggs
1 Avocado
1/2 cup of greek yogurt
1 banana mashed
1 tsp of honey
1 tsp of cinnamon
1 tsp of vanilla paste

1 extra banana for topping


Whisk eggs, yogurt, honey, vanilla together. Place almond meal, all powders and cinnamon in a separate bowl. Fold wet to dry, adding in avocado as well. Place sliced banana on top of the bread. Bake in a preheated 180 oven for 40-45 minutes.

Happy Birthday to my darling hubby. I'm so blessed to be able to spend the last 13 years and call you my partner for the past 7.5 years (4.5 of which we are married). And yes, I did make you a dessert for your birthday to have when you are home! 

Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday to blog, happy birthday to blog, happy birthday to bloogggggggggg, HAPPY Birthday to BLoG!

and me ;)

Thank you so much for participating in my little blog giveaway. It's really nice to have met friends around the world who encourage and continue to read my adventures in the kitchen, life and marriage. It's my little way of saying Thank You for leaving me your kind comments and readership.

Congratulations to goodbag#1 winner- Janine. What a great blog she runs. Thank you for leaving me a message so I can find your blog!

To my goodiebag#2 winner- Little Corner of Mine! I rubbed my hands in glee when I saw your name pulled out of my very sophisticated lucky draw method. Thanks for all the inspiration and kind words!!

So how did I celebrate my birthday? Technically, it is still my birthday! It didn't start off at a very good note- but like life, things happen. I served at creche in church in the morning, so I was surrounded by the naughtiest and the cutest kids in church. They lined up to get oreos from me. How cute! One cannot have a bad day after that.

I did however, managed to try the Queen of Hearts Morning tea at KOKO Black yesterday. They serve St Ali's coffee in PERTH!

and I have to have one more photo of hubby and I...

So here's to more blog posts to come!!

Toblerone Cheese Cake

My cheese cake experience is far from perfect. I had my fair share of sunken, cracked ( i hide it with chocolate)  and ugly  baked cheesecakes. In fact, the only cheesecake that I was successful was the Jap Souffle Cheesecake, which has a slightly different methodology than the usual New York or store bought cheesecake recipes. 

This cheesecake was made for a friend's birthday. Having spot this recipe in Janelle Bloom's Fab food for Family and Friends, I couldn't resist trying it out. I have used Janelle's recipes many times before and nearly always it is a success. Long before Nigella Lawson or Jamie Oliver, Janelle's recipes was what I tried because she was a frequent contribute to Food Ideas Magazine which I bought regularly when I first arrived in Australia.

I was pleasantly surprised when I saw how easy this cheesecake was. More importantly, she features mascarpone cheese as a frosting- to cover any cracks and sunken mistakes I thought!!

Thankfully (with heaps of positive self talk), I didn't need to cover anything at all. The cheesecake came out perfect. My first perfect baked cheesecake without flaws. Ahhhhh...

Toblerone Cheesecake (serves 8-10) 

750 cream cheese softened (I used 500 grams of 70% fat free cream cheese and 250 grams of 5% fat cream cheese).
3/4 cup of caster sugar (original called for 1 cup)
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs room temp
2 tablespoon of plain flour
300 ml sour cream (I used weight watchers)
2 x 100 grams toblerone choc broken into pieces
250 grams mascarpone cheese
cocoa powder to dust
chocolate flakes for decorations

150g Nice biscuits
100 grams butter melted


Preheat Oven 180C no fan. Grease and line base and side of spring form pan (23cm) with baking paper.

Base- Break biscuits and place in food processor. Process till fine. Add butter till combined. Using a large metal spoon press mixture into base of cake tin. Refrigerate till firm.

Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla till combined. Add eggs. Sitr in flour. Fold in sour cream.


Pour cream cheese mixture over base. Top with toblerone. Press them in (it will burn if exposed). Place pan into baking tray and bake for 1hr 30 mins till set. Turn it off and leave cake pan in oven till completely cool (I left it overnight as I baked it in the evening). Refridgerate till chilled.

Spread top with mascarpone cheese and dust with cocoa powder and chocolate flakes.

Marriage and Gifts

I have been thinking of writing more thoughts about marriage- simply because I think that we experience and learn so much from it on a very day basis, and it will be a waste not to pen it down. Abit of it is humour, and abit of is just pure fun and frustration. Just to add a dash of sweetness and kindness to the mix as well.

Marriage is like a book of good recipes. You want to keep the good ones and learn from the mistakes/challenges. There is no such thing as a bad recipe isn't? There is always something to learn from.

It's funny. This blog has followed through on my journey in my studies all the way to us getting married. It has also followed through quite a few of my birthdays too. Since I was 21 actually. Which make it.... a decent amount of time!

Which brings me to my birthday that happened about a month ago. The day went really sweet. Hubby made me breakfast in bed, brought me a bunch of flowers and we had the most awesome Jap buffet dinner ever.

But he didn't get me a birthday present.

He tried. He really tried very hard.He wanted to get me a car charger massager thing to help with my bad back while driving. Apparently it doesn't deliver to Australia. And while that thought was sweet AND practical, I was actually thankful that he didn't get me a gadget that may not work......

Then he tried looking for a bag, nothing that caught his fancy.(he bought me a beautiful Oroton bag last birthday! and a little clutch a few years back and it was the most successful gifts ever!)

He tried thinking outside of the box, he tried to ask me. But I joked around and said "Tiffany, or anything belonging to the apple range of products" (which I know it is out of our household budget at the moment. given that we are building and wanting to save those shiny new products for our new home). So that was out as well.

He tried to hint at getting a ice cream maker or hair straighter or something to that effect. I said we are only married for 17 months hon, not 17 years! Couldn't you leave appliances out? So that was out of his list too. 

So I became the not so grateful wife who said no to any suggestion.. and ended up with..

no gift. 

Which surprisingly, I was quite ok about. In fact, I think he was more upset that he didn't get me anything. I, on the other hand, didn't put too much emphasis on it because he chose to spend the day with me and he respected me enough to give me what i want..which was...rest. 

But I got really nucky when he suggested using funds from my birthday gift to buy a coffee machine for the household... I was really really angry!

Which means I was fine with no gift, but not ok if the same funds are directed to elsewhere-no matter how practical it is.

My poor confused husband.

And I admit that even I think it looks confusing after re reading this post. But it is the principle isn't it? He did get it in the end and I explained to him by saying...

"How would you feel if I saved up the money to buy you a brand new computer, but you didn't want it so asked me to wait for a while until something interesting/new came up. So instead, I suggested taking the money and using it for a spa retreat. For myself. I will bring home a small bottle of vanilla massage oil for you"

He got it. ;P

No gifts aside. He got me this awesome durian cake. It's not quite the same as the one my parents used to bring back for my grandmother's birthday. But it will do..because it is in PERTH and beggars should not be fussy.

The hubby's Birthday Adventure P3- Oreo Chocolate Cake

So I waited till the Friday (His Birthday was on Wednesday), and baked him a very very sinful chocolate cake. We were meeting a big group of friends, and what more of a celebration when we have groups of people sharing cake right?

I cheated with this recipe and used the Chocoholic's Chocolate cake recipe from The Women's Weekly. I crushed a packet of oreos (Sneaking a few in my mouth first), and added into the batter. The result was a smooth, chocolate cake with lots of bity bits.

Mini oreos were used to decorate the cake together with a packet of Maltesers! The crunch of the chocolate balls and tiny oreos makes it a delight!

The Oreos Chocolate Cake 

250 grams butter melted
1 tablespoon coffee granules
1 1/2 cups of water
1 tsp vanilla extract
200grms dark choc
2 eggs beaten lightly
1 1/2 cups of self raising flour
1 cup of plain flour
1/4 cup of cocoa powder
1/3 cup cream
1 packet of oreos cookies crushed
1/2 packet of mini oreos (for decorations)
1 packet of Matesers (for decorations)

Preheat oven to 150 C. Grease and lined 19cm square cake tn.

Heat butter, coffee, water, sugar, extrac and half of dark choc in saucepan till it melts. Transfer to big bowl and cool for 20 mins. Stir in egg and sifted dry ingredients.

Pour mixture in pan. Bake for 1 hour. Stand cake for 15 mins then turn top side up onto rack to cool.

Combine cream and dark choc in small sauce pan. Stir till the ganache is smooth. Refrigerate  for 1 hr till it becomes firm. Spread choc on cooked cake. Decorate with mini oreos and maltesers.

The Hubby's Birthday Adventure P1- Crispy Grilled Salmon on a bed of herb potatoes and prosciutto wrapped asparagus

Cooking for the hubby's birthday is a challenge-especially when it falls on a weekday. He requested for salmon and I know he wants it crispy skinned. A penchant for bacon, he has always wanted to try prosciutto but cringed at the price.

So arriving home after 07:15pm and started cooking within that 5mins-finishing up by 08:30pm is pretty decent don't you think? Not only that, we even managed to squeeze in the movie Avatar at 09:15pm! (Imagine 25 mins of scoffing down food that took me 1 hour and 15 mins to prepare!).

All worth it though. It's not my best but it was  good enough... (see P2 and P3)!

Crispy Grilled Salmon on a bed of herb potatoes and prosciutto wrapped asparagus 

2 portions of salmon

2 potatos chopped
olive oil
 1 knob of butter
herbs lots of mixed herbs

1 bunch of Asparagus
50 grams of prosciutto


Heat pan till hot with olive oil, grill salmon skin side down first till crisp. Lower heat and sear salmon. Once cook, rest aside.

In another pan, melt butter and olive oil together. Saute potatoes with herbs. Sprinkle with salt at the end.

Wash and prepare asparagus but shaving off the wooden tips. Wrap prosciutto around it. Grill it for around 5-10 mins.

Try juggling 3 pans at once and see what turns out! :P

Pear and Cranberry Loaf- Happy Birthday to Me!

Greetings from Sydney!

Last year this time- we prepared for a wonderful engagement photoshoot. This year, I'm in Sydney celebrating with great friends.

Birthdays are a funny thing. One can probably lament that getting older limits what one can do. I beg to differ. Each year brings us to different opportunities. It all lies in our attitude. The thoughts that we place in our head.

The year of 2009, and the year of being 25 years old has finally ended. This year though, has brought me unbelievable joy. I have graduated (finally!) and got married (with the amazing 3 weddings) and had a wonderful time with my friends in Malaysia. I learned that it is NOT easy to organize home improvement/renovations and is increasingly getting addicted to magazines (Food and Home improvement included).

So here we are, celebrating a new age- it is only fitting to celebrate with a cute little cake isn't it?

Pear and Cranberry Loaf 

2 pears diced
1 cup of cranberries
125 grams butter
2 eggs
1tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup caster sugar
1 1/2 cup of self raising flour
1/2 cup of buttermilk (I used normal skim milk)

Preheat Oven at 180C. Line loaf tray with baking paper.

Process butter, eggs and vanilla in food processor for 2-3 minutes. Add sugar, flour and milk, process for 1 min or till combined. Spoon mixture into big bowl and add pear and cranberries. Spoon mixture into prepared tin and bake for around 30-35 mins. Serve. =)

Strawberry Dark Chocolate Forest Berries Cheesecake

I bought a sandwich off the little cafe around the corner from where I worked and guess what I found on the lettuce? WORMS!

Imagine my ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. Anyhow, I brought the sandwich back to them and they refunded me. Oh, and they gave me a hot drink as well. The problem is that I ate most of the sandwich already. I'm sure I will be ok but an episode like that spark a discussion with our admin lady on food hygiene and how it has become more common. Is it true?

Anyhow, I meant to blog about this cake today. It's one of my favourite cheesecake that I have recently made for a 21 birthday (for a friend obviously...haha). I love the tangyness and the dark choc on it.

It beats looking at worms on your sandwich anyday!


Strawberry Dark Chocolate Forrest Berry Cheesecake

Base
1 packet of ginger nut cookies 200grams crushed
125 grams butter melted
1 tsp mixed spice

Cheesecake
500 grams cream cheese (room temperature)
60 grams caster sugar
1 tsp of vanilla extract
40 grams corn flour
4 eggs beaten
300 grams of light sourcream
150 grams of mixed berries

Chocolate ganache
200 grams dark chocolate buttons
1-2 tablespoon of butter

1) Base- Combine all dry ingredients. Add in melted butter and mix till combined. Press firmly into base of 9inch lose based cake tin. Bake in 180C oven for 10-15 minutes. Cool.

2) Lower oven temp to 150C

3) Beat cream cheese till smooth. Add in sugar, vanilla and cornflour. Beat till combined and creamy, Add in cream and beat till thickened. Add in eggs.

4) Spoon half mixture onto the base. Place berries randomly onto the mixture. Top it off with the rest of the cream cheese mixture. Place cake tin in hot water bath and bake for 1 hr till set.

5) Turn off oven, leave cake for around 1 hr with door ajar. Pop cake into the fridge once it is cooled outside as well.

6) Melt chocolate and butter in a glass bowl on top of a saucepan of hot water. Once slightly cooled, spoon it over cheesecake. Ganish with strawberries. Serve!

Thai Red Seafood Curry

Every year at around this time, I reflect on how blessed I am. It's not just about the food, career or the roof over my head. I have the basics (and perhaps even more sometimes). It's about the relationships that have been built over the years. Because out of so many people in the whole wide world, these people cared enough to pop me an email/sms/facebook/phonecall/blog just to wish me happy birthday.



This year, I also reflect on how God has blessed me back my health in time for chocolate cake. If there is once slice of cake that I can eat without guilt, it would have to be the slice on THE birthday isnt it? With each bite, I counted my blessings. And then I ran out of bites...

Maybe I should have gone for second helpings.

Thank you to my lovely friends and family. You guys are amazing.



While I get my act together and start posting some photos for our prewedding photoshoot (Also done on my birthday! See! Killing 2 birds with 1 stone, photos for my birthday and wedding-handy huh? LOL), please do enjoy this curry, I loved it! And I know u will as well.




Thai Red Seafood Curry (serves 4)
300 grams of seafood (fish, squid, prawns)
100 grams of baby corn
100 grams of snow peas
1 cup of green peas
100 grams of spinach leaves
2 carrots chopped

2.5 tablespoon of thai red curry
1 can of lite coconut milk
2-3 tablespoons of flour
1 egg

1) Slice seafood into equal portions. Pat dry with paper towels. Coat seafood with egg than flour.

2) Heat work with oil. Fry battered seafood till golden brown. Set aside.

3) Heat red curry paste till fragrant. Add all vegetables and cook till soft. Add can of coconut milk. Simmer for around 2-3 minuites. Add seafood. Cook for around 5 minutes. Serve with warm rice.