Breakfast Cookies—For Back to School (with Pictorial)

Summer will be ending soon, and it’ll be that time of the year again—Back to School!  Last year, I send this little guy back to school after the summer break.  This year around, I’m sending both my Little Boy and my Baby Girl back to school.  Since they both attended the summer session, their summer break were rather short. 



What is the best way to jump start a back to school morning?  How about cookies for breakfast?  Oh yeah. I’m sure your kids would appreciate that, any time of the year and not just for back to school.  For all those health conscious parents out there, don’t worry, you’re packing some wholesome goodness for your kids in these awesome Breakfast Cookies.  These Breakfast Cookies are sugar free, egg free, flour free, and worry free.  Plus, you can make a batch without any special equipment in about half an hour.  Of course, I baked these the night before, not the morning of the first day of school.  



Want to come into the kitchen with me to bake up a batch?  Come on over.

1) In a medium mixing bowl, mash 2 ripe bananas with a fork (I’m telling you, it’s the best way to use up those ripe bananas! hehe…)
2) Until they look like this
3) Add the oats, cranberries, coconut oil, vanilla extract, mini chocolate chips and kosher salt.  Mix until well incorporated.  Allow the batter to sit for 5 to 10 minutes.
4) With a mini ice cream scoop (about 1 tablespoon), place the batter onto a Silpat or parchment paper lined baking sheet.  Bake for 20 to 25 Minutes, or until the edges are golden brown.



Simple enough, right?  You can store the baked cookies in the fridge or in the freezer for later enjoyment.  The edges of these cookies are slightly crisp and the center is moist and chewy.  I absolutely love them. 



You know what else is good?  Dunk them in the milk!  Oh yeah.  These are the best, yet simple, healthy and yummy breakfast ever!  Best of all, your kids will go crazy about them and you would feel great letting them indulge with these Breakfast Cookies.  I hope you all have a smooth and happy Back to School week. 

Coconut Ice Cream With Toasted Coconut

You might remember my confession on a previous post about food that I used to dislike when I was younger but adore now.  Okay, here’s another one from that list, it’s coconut!  I think the word dislike doesn't even come close to describe how much I didn't like this thing.  I don’t want to use the “h” word, because, I simply don’t.  The problem is, if I see coconut in front of me, I’ll just run walk the other way.   

Back then when I was still living in Hong Kong, some street vendors sell fresh coconut juice on hot summer days all over the place. That simply gross me out. GROSS ME OUT!  I didn't understand why and I couldn't imagine anyone would want to drink that.  The thought of having coconut milk running down my throat made me light headed.  But obviously, there’s a market for that for those vendors to survive summer after summer.



Now, I can’t get enough of this beautiful and healthy fruit.  I put them in my homemade granola, in this Chinese New Year treat, use the coconut oil in the homemade sugar scrub, and even in the chocolate to create magic!

What converted me to a coconut lover? Well, it’s ice cream related. But not this particular ice cream though.  It happened a few years ago when my hubby and I had a gathering at his friend’s place. After dinner, one of them prepared dessert. It was simply store bought ice creams with different toppings. Right before serving, my hubby's friend toasted some coconut flakes on the stove. While the coconut was toasting, something magical happened.  The aroma was amazing. The whole house simply packed with a sweet scent that I’m not familiar with.  Honestly, I wasn't convinced, even after that lovely aroma. I was going to just have ice cream, a little whipped cream and chocolate sauce.



I don’t remember how the toasted coconut flakes got into my ice cream bowl!  HELP!  I almost panicked. But since the coconut flakes were already there, I guess it’s alright to try a small bite with the ice cream, hoping the ice cream will masked the coconut flavor.  After the first bite, that aromatic, crunchy and sweet toasted coconut got me. I’m surprised it tasted way better than the ice cream itself.  So, I started to try more coconut products since then and I really enjoyed them.  With this recipe, you get the best of both world.  The slightly sweetened, soft and creamy ice cream along with a toasty and crunchy topping.  It’s out of this world scrumptious.  Did I mention this ice cream is egg free, sugar free, and dairy free?  I’m telling you, it’s totally awesome too.  Who knew vegan ice cream could be so tasty?




What is the moral of the day?  Even if you don’t make this coconut ice cream, you should still try to make the toasted coconut flakes for your other ice cream flavors!  Wait, that’s not it.  I meant to say, don’t be afraid to try new things, you'll never know what you’re missing until you took that first step, get out of your comfort zone, and conquer your fears.  And I was totally serious about making the toasted coconut flakes too!

PLT Breakfast Salad—Lunch for One—with Pictorial

With school starting soon, maybe some has already begun, many of us Moms out there will be back to this situation of “Lunch for One” on the weekdays. Sob sob... Since I posted my very first Lunch for One recipe a few weeks ago, I've received many positive feedback.  Well, I guess we all can use some simple and easy lunch ideas.  Right?  So here we go again.



This PLT Breakfast Salad is super easy to put together.  It might seem like a lot going on, but I promise, you can put this dish together in as little as 10 minutes!  Don’t you just love that?  Notice it’s “PLT” not “BLT” (Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato) in this recipe, it’s not a typo. That is because I used prosciutto instead of bacon here.  Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE bacon!  However, since I’m preparing a simple lunch for me, myself, and I, I didn't want to smoke up the whole house to crisps up just a couple slices of bacon.  So, I used prosciutto for the meaty fix instead.



Don’t you just love breakfast ingredients?  I know I do.  I can eat a breakfast for breakfast, obviously, for lunch, AND for dinner and be a happy camper!  Hm….look at that golden runny egg yolk (picture below). Simply ah-mazing.



So, don’t forget to have a slice of toast ready for dipping.  I used the bread from my simple loaf bread recipe.  They always toasted up nicely with a tiny little bit of butter. 



Nom nom nom….Sorry, I was a bit too busy eating….



Here comes the PLT part of this dish (see picture below).  With a little bit runny yolk and spicy vinaigrette together, it’s the perfect bite!  The vinaigrette is a bit spicy and tangy; the lettuce is crisp and refreshing; the prosciutto is tender and salty; and the cherry tomato is sweet and juicy; they all go so well with each other.



I’m sure you’re ready for the step-by-step pictorial, right?  Let’s head to the kitchen together.

First, let’s prepare the vinaigrette.

1) In a small bowl, place the Meyer Lemon juice (you can use regular lemon juice), agave, kosher salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and mustard together

2) While whisking, slowly drizzle in the extra virgin olive oil

3) add some fresh herbs if you like and that’s it

See how simple it is to prepare the vinaigrette?  You can omit the red pepper flakes if you don’t like it spicy.  But just a small pinch will add lots of flavor.  Feel free to put more if you like it more spicy.

Note: You will have more than enough vinaigrette for this salad. Simply cover the bowl with a plastic wrap and store the extra in the refrigerator for another time.



Next, we can put the salad all together.  It’ll be a nice time to place your bread in the toaster.  And with a small non-stick pan, heat up a teaspoon of oil and fry up an egg.  I must be too hungry and forgot to take a picture of that.  But you know how to fry up an egg right?  I love it sunny side up, by the way, if you don't already notice.  Simply cook the egg on low heat until the white is set and the yolk is still runny.

1) On the serving plate, tear a few romaine lettuce leaves, as much or as little as you like.  I used about 3 pretty large ones.

2) Tear up a couple of thinly slices of the prosciutto into bite size pieces and place on top of the lettuce.

3) Split the cherry tomatoes in halves and scatter over the lettuce along with some radish slices if you like.  I really love the crunch from the radish.

4) Place the fry egg on top.

5) Sprinkle with some black pepper and garnish fresh thyme leaves of you like.

6) Drizzle with the vinaigrette on top and serve.  I added a few shaves of parmesan cheese on top as well.

I had my PLT Breakfast Salad with some Homemade Orangina.  Totally my favorite summer drink!



Isn't it easy and simple to put together?  I love how light and refreshing it is and yet, it’s substantial to fill me up.  I hope you love this Lunch for One recipe.  Until next time, take care and eat well!



P.S. I got these beautiful and super sweet cherry tomatoes from my next door neighbor.  Can’t you tell My Baby Girl loves them too (see picture below)? 

Come share in the tomato love at the Tomato Love Recipe Exchange, hosted by Gimme Some Oven & Bake Your Day, sponsored this week by Whole Foods Market. Also visit Recipe for Change to learn more about how to support tomato farmers.



Note: If consuming raw egg concerns you, simply use a pasteurized egg for this recipe.

Mickey and Minnie Chocolate Macarons

I’ve received a “special order” of shaped Chocolate Macarons recently.  I think they are just too cute.  But not too cute to eat, according to my kids.  Of course, besides the order that I need to fulfill, I’ve made some extras for my kids, and some round ones for my kids’ teacher.    



The macaron shells are chocolate ones and I filled them with semi-sweet chocolate ganache this time.  These are simply divine.  If you need some tips on how to make perfect macarons, please refer to my tutorial post here.  These Mickey and Minnie Chocolate Macarons are perfect for kid’s birthday parties, baby showers, or any Disney fans who just can’t get enough of the mouse (such as my kids)!



I hope you will enjoy today’s recipes. Until next time….

Raspberry Roulé Cake—Baby Girl’s Birthday Cake

We have 2 birthday celebrations last month, my Baby Girl’s and my Hubby’s.  This girly Raspberry Roulé Cake was for my Baby Girl’s, of course.  I apologize for the poor lighting and settings of these pictures because it was already dark when we were ready to cut the cake.  I decorated it right before we serve so I didn’t have time to do my photo shoot setup.  But nonetheless, this Raspberry Roulé Cake was the bomb!



I made napoleon mousse as the filling of this cake.  The top layer is a raspberry mousse, the middle one was Meyer Lemon mousse, and the bottom layer was dark chocolate mousse.  Below is a pictorial to show you how to form this cake.

1) First, line a small mixing bowl with 2 layers of plastic wraps. Make sure the wraps are long enough to hand over the sides.
2) Cover the bottom and sides of the bowl with slices of Raspberry Swiss Roll
3) Frost a thin layer of stabilized whipped cream all over the cake and pour the raspberry mousse into it. Smooth the surface, cover with the over hanging plastic wrap and refrigerate until the mousse is set, about 1 to 2 hours.
4) Place the Meyer Lemon Mousse over the raspberry mousse
5) Gently smooth the surface, and refrigerate until the Meyer lemon mousse is set, about 1 to 2 hours.
6) Then, top with the dark chocolate mousse Layer
7) Cover with another layer of sliced Raspberry Swiss Roll
8)  Cover the whole thing with the over hanging plastic wrap and refrigerate for another hour or two.  In my case, over night until ready to serve.

 

There are quite a few steps and some wait time in between each layer, but those are pretty simple steps.  It sure was a fun cake to make and cut into.  After turning out the cake, I decorated it with more fresh raspberries and fresh whipped cream.



I'll try to post the Raspberry Swiss Roll cake recipe in a separate post when I make them again.  For now, Happy Birthday to my sweet Baby Girl and Hubby.  Wish you lots of love, good health and happiness.



*Note:  This cake was inspired by the book Sprinkle Bakes.  It was originally an ice cream roulé cake. However, I used my own cake and mousse recipes.