Tag Archives: Healthy
Good Ol’ Carrot Cake and Happy Easter!
HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!
Today is the most important day in the church calendar for all Catholics because Jesus is risen from the dead! This also signals the end of the Easter Triduum which marked the days of Jesus’ passion and resurrection which began on Maundy (Holy Thursday). Easter Sunday is therefore a celebration of the very essence of our Christian faith because we have a God who willingly became a man on earth to die for our sins and rose again 3 days later.
And this brings me to my bake of the week- Good ol’ healthy carrot cake filled with fruit, made sinful by the large dollop of cream cheese frosting and topped off with a Cookies N Creme Easter egg for the occasion.
I never quite understood the tradition of Easter eggs. I only knew that I used to look forward to Easter egg hunts that IJ would plan for us on Easter Mondays back in primary school. We would head downstairs to the canteen and common areas at our stipulated timings cohort by cohort to search for the Easter eggs the teachers had hidden for us. The winners would then be rewarded with chocolate Easter eggs. Unfortunately I was never one of the lucky few :(
And now that I am all grown up, I can buy my own chocolate Easter eggs but alas, it’s never quite the same. I think next time if I ever do have my own kids, I’ll plan Easter egg hunts for them every Easter Sunday and that will be our own special way of celebrating Easter- that is of course after attending mass!
Mixed Berries Apple Spelt Cake
So mum had 2 apples and a packet of frozen berries that she needed to finish. But there were no eggs, all purpose flour or sugar left! Hence it was off to adapting a few recipes and coming up with one of my own! :D
Ingredients:
- 1 cup fresh or frozen berries (If frozen, defrost before using.)
- 2 small apples, peeled and sliced
- 1 Tbl + 1 tsp sugar
- 113g unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup sugar (I used 1/2 cup pure maple syrup)
- 2 eggs (I used an egg replacement- 2 tbsp water mixed with 1 tbsp of oil + 2 tspn of baking powder per egg)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup spelt flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 170 degrees.
- Combine the berries, the wine and 1 tablespoon plus 1 tsp sugar in a small bowl. Mix to coat. Set aside.
- Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside. In a larger mixing bowl, beat the butter and 3/4 cup sugar until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the eggs, one at a time, making sure that each one is completely combined before adding the next. Mix in the vanilla. Slowly add the flour mixture and beat at a low speed until just combined.
- Grease and flour a 9-inch springform pan and cover the bottom with parchment paper. Spread the batter evenly over the bottom of the pan. Spoon the berries over the batter. Place the apple slices in a decorative pattern around the cake. Sprinkle with some brown sugar.
- Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes, and then run a thin knife around the edge. Carefully remove the ring around the pan and serve!
Thea Tea Shop
3 storey tea house for tea appreciation with healthy vegetarian food and bubble tea :D
Lemon Green Tea, Grapefruit Tea and Peach Green Tea with Pearls
Old Style Noodle Soup $9.70
Crispy Hainan Style Rice $10.80
Spicy Cold Noodles with Spicy N Sour Peanut Sauce $9.40
Definitely a very interesting concept. They’re only open for lunch on weekdays and dinner on Fridays but closed on the weekends. Usually very crowded as well because of the lunch crowd so do get in early for call up for a reservation! :D
110 Gawler Pl
Adelaide, SA 5000
08 8232 7988
Sugar Free Wholegrain Banana Cinnamon Muffins
A few days ago, MP and I both weighed ourselves on the weighing scale and he is now heavier than me despite still being shorter so I scouted the internet for a recipe that was low in calories and sugar but still yummy so he could enjoy it without the worry of the extra few pounds! Hee! I mixed and matched a few things- found a 28 calorie granola apple muffin recipe but since there were no apples in the kitchen, I changed the recipe to bananas instead and replaced the sugar with honey. I have never ever counted calories before because I dont know how but I do know that bananas are definitely more fattening that apples so Im just assuming that it is now 50 calories (probably even less!) Oh yes and it’s wheat and dairy free (no butter or milk) too! You can make the muffins vegan too by replacing the eggs with applesauce (which you can find in Adl but not in Sg)!
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of wholegrain millet flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup of honey
- 2 eggs
- 3 bananas (mashed)
- 1 cup granola/cornflakes/M&Ms for toppings (do bear in mind that the type of toppings you choose to put on the muffin will affect its calorie count! =P)
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 190C.
2. Engage a helper for the manual labour part ;)
3. Mix dry ingredients
4. Mix wet ingredients and beat well.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix gently.
6. Pour batter into muffin pan or cups
7. Add Granola/cornflakes/M&Ms to the top of Muffins
8. Bake for 12 min-15min
9. Enjoy your hard work! And dont forget to reward the helper with one (maybe two) muffins!
Oil and Butter Free Banana Cake
I need a food post soon. Ive been shuffling between home, uni library and my bed so often, Ive hardly the time to try a new cafe/restaurant. So anyhow, here’s another recipe post because Mable gave me her remaining banana from her amazing Banana Caramel pie she made for her CBL group.
Ingredients:
- 1 Ripe banana, mashed
- 1/2 C Unsweetened apple sauce
- 2 Whole eggs
- 1/4 C Soy/regular milk
- 1 Tsp Vanilla extract
- 1.5 C All-purpose flour
- 1/2 C Brown sugar
- 1/2 C White sugar
- 1/2 Tsp Baking powder
- 1 Tsp Ground cinnamon
Directions
1. Mash ripe banana and applesauce together until the mixture is uniform
2. Add eggs, milk and vanilla extract to fruit mixture.
3. Add flour, sugar, baking powder and spices to wet ingredients. Mix until just combined.
4. Pour batter in a 8 x 8 pan that has been sprayed with nonstick spray.
5. Bake at 170°C for 25-30 minutes or until center is just cooked through.
Let it cool in pan and remove to cut
Sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired!
