No Bake Cranberry Chia Energy Bites

No Bake Energy Bites ? ... Well, I've heard of these energy bites but have never really wanted to make some until I was so inspired by these recipes sharing by Angie's Recipes, here & here. So easy and flexible that I could just throw in ingredients I could find in the pantry .... creamy peanut butter, oatmeal, ground flaxseed, chia seeds, honey or agave syrup, dried fruits/berries, unsweetened coconuts flakes or shredded coconut, chocolate chips, any nuts etc etc .   Roll them into balls or flatten the dough in a square tray and cut into bars if you wish.

Recipe sources, references and adapted from :
Angie's Recipes
Life made sweeter

Gimme some oven

Below my slightly adjusted version.

No Bake Cranberry Chia Energy Bites

Yields 14 balls, 20g each

60g creamy peanut butter

5 tablespoons honey

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 

2 tablespoons chia seeds 

100g quick cooking oats

30g dried cranberries

20g chocolate chips

15g pine nuts (lightly toasted and set aside to cool)

Method:

In a large bowl, mix peanut butter, honey and vanilla extract with a big spoon until smooth.

Stir in the rest of the ingredients together until thoroughly mixed and well combined.

Cover and let chill in the refrigerator for half an hour.  Divide the mixture into 20g each portion and roll them into tightly packed balls with your hands.

Store in an airtight container, and keep refrigerated for up to 1 week.

My big boy commented that these yummy bites tasted like Snickers as he was "popping" one after another.  My big girl likes peanut butter, so obviously thumbs up from her too ^-^!

I'm sure, these packed with wholesome goodness healthy energy bites will become 'a hit' for our morning brekkie, anytime snacks or before and after workouts cos they are just so addictive.

Enjoy! Have a great week ahead!

  

Linking this post to Little Thumbs Up March 2016 Theme Honey organised by Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids and Doreen from My Little Favourite DIY, and hosted by Joycescapade.

Lemon Yogurt Pancakes

When I saw the fluffy eggless Lemon Yogurt Pancakes with Lemon Drizzle shared by Zoe Bake for Happy Kids, I know I must make some ! Cos my kind of pancakes too :)  With her "hints here & hints there" given, to make these yummy pancakes is pretty easy! Thanks to Zoe for her sharing.
I've forgo making the lemon drizzle since I've some homemade Blackberry Chia Jam in the fridge.

Recipe source : shared by Zoe Bake for Happy Kids adapted from the book Eat the Week by Anna Barnett

Lemon Yogurt Pancakes
(A) Wet ingredients
200g Greek Yogurt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (or melted butter)
3 tablespoons milk
1/2 Lemon zest
1 tablespoon Lemon juice

(B) Dry ingredients
75g all Self raising flour, sifted
1/4 teaspoon Baking powder (omitted)
1/4 teaspoon Baking soda
1/2 tablespoon Caster sugar
Pinch of salt

Some vegetable cooking oil for cooking.

Method :
1) Lightly whisk and combine the dry ingredients (B) in a large bowl, and make a well in centre.

2) In another smaller bowl or jug, whisk wet ingredients (A) till combined and pour to (B) and mix until smooth and combined.

3) Heat the non-stick griddle or pan with low flame. Dap a little cooking oil with kitchen towel and lightly grease onto the non-stick griddle or pan.

4) Spoon 2 tablespoonful of batter onto the heated pan. Flip gently with a spatula, cook about 2 minutes or till golden brown on both sides.

I can't wait to enjoy these immediately .... spread with homemade chia jam and some blueberries I could find in the fridge.
Yummy ! These pancakes tasted awesome .... slightly crispy on their edges and moist and soft inside :) Enjoy !

Figs with Yoghurt and Honey

I love fresh figs, but they are seasonal and hard to come by.  Shared previous Fig Salad with Walnuts and Mint.  So I'll surely pick up a pack whenever I could spot them in the supermarket ... even if it's pretty costly. I prefer to enjoy fresh figs in the freshest way like making salads or desserts instead of cooking the figs. 

Bought these healthy snacks ... Goji berry nuts mix but my big kids don't fancy them. My big boy even critically commented that "Mum, these weird looking nuts look like hamster food to me ..." 

So, obviously mum needs to find ways to include these snacks with something else ...

Large fresh figs, Goji berry
nut mix, yoghurt & honey

Figs with Yoghurt and Honey
Serves 2
Ingredients :
4 fresh figs
Yoghurt 140g (add more if you like)
1 tablespoon honey
1 packet Goji berry nuts mix

Method ... just few simple steps:
Wash the figs clean , remove the stems and cut into quarters or slices if you like.

Arrange them on a serving plate. Dollop spoonfuls of yoghurt and drizzle a tablespoon of honey.

Lastly, sprinkle the Goji berry nuts mix (or any dried nuts & dried berries of your preference).

Serve immediately.

Love the natural sweetness of fresh figs. With the addition of crunchy nuts, yoghurt and honey, tasted so delicious and satisfying, especially served as dessert after meal.  Love it more that this involves very little time and only just a few steps of preparation.

My big boy liked it so much that he has forgotten about the "hamster food" ... hee... hee!

Well, here's some of my previous cooking/baking recipes that used honey as one of the ingredients.  Give it a try if you like :
Honey Cranberry & Yoghurt 
Honey Roll
Pandan Chicken
Pumpkin and Baby Spring mix salad

Enjoy! Have a wonderful weekend!

  

Submitting this post to Little Thumbs Up March 2016 Theme Honey which is organised by Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids and Doreen from My Little Favourite DIY, and hosted by Joycescapade.

Dried Haw Slices with Apple Honey Tea

Heard of Chinese Hawthorne? Er ... What's that? Do you like to eat Haw Flakes ? ... Er ... what's Haw Flakes ? ... Do you like "Zhan Zha", 山楂饼 ? {In Mandarin, the Chinese Hawthorne is pronounced as "Zhan Zha"(mountain berry)} Yes ! Well, my big kids know only 山楂饼, as they like to munch this sour sweet reddish thinly sliced titbits in cylindrical wrapped paper.

But I'm not going to make 山楂饼 for them. Instead,  make this sour sweet drink or dessert soup cos it is not uncommon to them that I've made quite often when they were young.  Once I asked the owner of the traditional herb shop what drinks I could make to whet the young kids' appetites?  I was given this very easy recipe : Water + dried haw slices + some apples + some honey or rock sugar and boil about 25 minutes.  Because of the sour sweet taste (I think), it helped to whet their appetites ... hee.. hee.. Occasionally, I made this as tea or dessert, served hot or chilled to enjoy be it on cold or humid weather.

Dried Haw Slice with Apple Honey Tea
Serves 4 pax
Ingredients
Water about 2 litres
Dried Haw Slices 50g
Red Cooking Apples 4 (peeled, cored and cut into big chunks)
Honey 2 - 3 tablespoons to taste

Method
1) Wash the dried haw slices a few times. Ensure that any small seeds are removed. Drain and discard the water.

2) Put all the ingredients (except honey) in a cooking pot with about 2 litres of water and boil over medium flame. Once boiled, lower the flame to low-medium and continue to boil for about 20 minutes or till you could smell the fruity fragrance infused into the tea.

3) Stir in the honey when the soup is warm.  Serve as drinks or as dessert. Warm or chilled to your preference.

Do adjust the sweetness to your preference.

Here's how we enjoy this dried haw infused & apple honey fragrance drinks :

Enjoy a cup of dessert drink with some soft apples

Serving a  bowl of sour sweet dessert

After meal, have a cup of warm sour sweet fruity honey tea ease indigestion.

Relaxing and enjoying a cup of Dried Haw Slices with
Apple Honey Tea in my cosy corner

Hope you enjoy this sour sweet fruity fragrance honey tea in any ways, much like we do :)
Have a great weekend ahead ! 

  

Submitting this post to Little Thumbs Up March 2016 Theme Honey which is organised by Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids and Doreen from My Little Favourite DIY, and hosted by Joycescapade.

Rose Infused Milk Pudding

Well, as the saying goes "life is not a bed of roses"... And learning how to overcome the misadventures or unpleasant situations are part and parcel of life.

Chance upon this easy to make milk pudding. Since I've got some dried rose buds, quickly made these desserts to try .... love the hint of rose fragrance and smooth silky texture.

Recipe adapted from : Day Day Cook
Modified slightly below as I've reduced the sugar amount.

Rose Infused Milk Pudding
Serves 3
Ingredients :
250ml fresh milk
2 egg whites
15g granulated sugar
2 - 4 dried rose buds
Strawberries for garnish (optional)

Method:
1) Briefly rinse the dried rose buds, use only the petals and place them in the heat proof bowls. Set aside.

2) In a big bowl, combine the egg whites, sugar and milk. Mix well with a whisk.

3) Run the mixture through a sieve, thereafter, pour the mixture into the individual heat proof bowls.

4) Cover the bowl with cling wraps.

5) Prepare a steamer and steam under rapidly boiling water on medium heat for about 9 - 10 mins.

Serve immediately with some berries if you like. My big boy commented it tasted like soy milk beancurd but with rose fragrance. My hubby is not a fan of sweet dessert but he enjoyed it too :)

♡♡♡ ~~♡~~♡♡♡

 

Linking this post to Little Thumbs Up - Feb 2016 which is organised by Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids and Doreen from My Little Favourite DIY, and hosted by Sweet Home-Chefs.

Butter Oats Asparagus

I'm sure Cereal Prawn is one of the very well-liked dishes amongst the CNY celebration food.  A popular dish that served at most zi char stalls and restaurants. Of course ... the prices hiked during festive season too.

We have been feasting with too much meaty stuffs during the CNY celebration week. So instead of using prawns, I tried out with just asparagus, so called "a vegetable dish". I have adopted asparagus 芦笋 in cooking some CNY dishes as it sounds auspicious like 顺顺, 如意顺利 {proceed smoothly in whatever you do} ^-^!
Anyway, glad that my family liked it as I again 'agak-agak' guesstimate the taste and ingredients.

Butter Oats Asparagus
Serves 4
Ingredients :
1 bundle asparagus about 200g
100g unsalted butter (you can use salted butter and omit/reduce the salt)
100g plain oats or cereal (I used rolled oats)
3 - 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 - 3 red chilli padi, deseed and thinly sliced
Curry leaves, a handful just the leaves without stem. Wash clean and pat dry with kitchen towel.
1 - 2 tablespoons sugar (adjust the sweetness to your preference).
Pinch of salt to taste
Cooking oil for pan-frying the asparagus

Method:
1) Wash, rinse and drain the asparagus in colander.  Cut and discard about 1cm of bottom stalk. Cut diagonally about 1 inch long lengthwise.

2) In a wok or frying pan, heat some cooking oil with medium flame.
Pan-fry the asparagus for about 2 minutes, remove and set aside. Lightly pat with kitchen towel to drain off any excess oil.

3) Using the same wok or frying pan, wipe clean the excess oil with some kitchen towel. Melt the butter over low flame.  Stir-fry the garlic followed by chilli padi and curry leaves until fragrant. The curry leaves looked crisp at this stage and you could also smell the aroma of chilli and curry leaves.

4) Add in the oats and sugar, quickly stir them around. Pour in the asparagus, pinch of salt and coat with oats mixture evenly for about a minute. (Note: use low flame as the oats will be browned very quickly in high heat).

Off the flame, dish to a serving plate and serve immediately.

We loved the fragrance of butter & curry leaves. Mouthful of crispy crunchy oats a perfect complement to the asparagus! Enjoy!

Here's wishing everyone 顺顺利利 , 万事如意in Year of the Red Fire Monkey! 

☆☆《《《☆》》》☆☆

Linking this post to Cook & Celebrate Chinese New Year 2016 hosted by Yen from GoodyFoodies, Diana from The Domestic Goddess Wannabe and Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids

Warm Scallops with Asparagus Fruity Salad & $500 Paypal CASH Giveaway!

Scallop is one of our favourite CNY home-cooked dishes as it sounds auspicious like (带带)'代代平安' "peace to every generation" in Mandarin and Cantonese.  I usually make stir-fry scallops with asparagus for our CNY celebration dish. With my previous attempt in making warm salad here and Abalone Salad, so I tried out and 'agak-agak' guesstimate the taste and ingredients for this Warm Scallops with Asparagus Fruity Salad.


I like that this salad dish serves during CNY celebration that's full of auspicious symbolic:
Asparagus & Pear 芦笋 & 梨  = '顺顺利利' proceed smoothly in whatever you do
Scallop 带子 = '代代平安' peace to every generation
Pineapple 黃梨  = 旺来 <ong lai in dialect> wealth bestowed 
Pomelo 柚 = 有 / 又 again & again ... thought to bring continuous prosperity. The more you eat, the more wealth it will bring.

Warm Scallops with Asparagus Fruity Salad
Serves 4
Ingredients :
Baby Asparagus 120g
Large Frozen Scallops about 18 pcs
Pineapple 2 fresh large slices (use canned pineapple if you prefer)
1 large China Pear - cored and peeled
Dash of pepper & salt
1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive oil

Salad dressing: Lemon Honey Vinaigrette
Juice of 1 large Lemon
1 tablespoon Honey
1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive oil
1 teaspoon Dijon wholegrain mustard
Dash of pepper & salt
Pomelo - some for garnishing

Method :
1) To save time, thaw the scallops (in steps 3 & 4) and prepare the salad dressing in advance. Put all the dressing ingredients in a screw-top jar and shake until well combined. Season with pinch of salt and dash of pepper. Chill for 1 - 2 hours.

2) Cut the fruits (pineapple and pear) in bite sizes. Chill the cut fruits in fridge.

3) Thaw the scallops. Rinse well and pat dry with few layers of kitchen towels. Do not cover, refrigerate the scallops for 30 minutes to dry.

4) Season the scallops with dash of salt and pepper to taste.

5) Saute non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Add olive oil to the pan. Add in the scallops, set in a single layer in the pan. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, until bottom of each scallop is nicely browned. Turn scallops over and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes until they're firm and nicely browned.

6) Wash, rinse and drain the asparagus in colander.  Trim and discard about 1/2 inch of bottom stalk. Cut length wise about 2 inches long.

7) Meanwhile, prepare a small pot of boiling water and an ice bath (a bowl full of ice and water). Blanch the asparagus in boiling water for about 1 minute and quickly remove them from the boiling water and plunge them into the ice bath for about 15 seconds and drain.
(this act is called “shocking”). 
Blanching and shocking allows the partially cooked vegetables to cool quickly so they retain their crunch. 

To serve the salad, arrange the cut fruits and asparagus on a big serving plate. Top with the scallops and garnish with some pomelo. Pour the chilled lemon honey vinaigrette dressing and gently toss until just combined.

Warm tangy salad with natural juicy fruity sweetness.  My big kids gave big thumbs up for this :) Happy ^-^! I'm sure this salad will be well liked by everyone (from young to old) in the family. Do give it a try if you intend to dish up for CNY celebration.
Enjoy !

Counting down to CNY2016 ... here's a gentle reminder ... a chance to *win a S$500 Ang Pow as we usher into CNY2016 ^-^!

To welcome the Year of the Red Fire Monkey, 10 cooking bloggers have come together to bring you the chance to *win a S$500 ang pow! (Terms and Conditions Apply).

To enter, please complete the Rafflecopter below : 

a Rafflecopter giveaway


This giveaway is brought to you by :

Diana from The Domestic Goddess Wannabe

Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids

Alvin from Chef and Sommelier

Ann from Anncoo Journal

Amy from Amy's Baking Diary

Charlynn from My Baking Cottage

Karen from Luvswesavory

Sharon from Delishar

Victoria from Victoria Bakes

Weilee from Wei Lee's Passion

*One Prize of SGD500 will be sent to one winner via Paypal (or bank transfer within SG). An email will be sent to the winner to notify him/her of the win. Should the Organiser (Diana) not receive a reply within 48 hours, another winner will be selected.

This giveaway is opened to ALL International participants! Take part and maybe you will be the lucky winner ! 
Closing on 3rd February !

祝大家:

大吉大利  万事如意

猴年行大运, 旺来发大财 ! 

☆☆《《《☆》》》☆☆

Linking this post to Cook & Celebrate Chinese New Year 2016 hosted by Yen from GoodyFoodies, Diana from The Domestic Goddess Wannabe and Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids