Post Exam + Pinterest

‘Evening people

So I’m finally done with the prac exam I was talking about earlier! I don’t really want to talk about it…I guess that says enough about how well that went.

Anyway, I’d been MIA on Pinterest for a while but I sort of got back on the bandwagon recently again.

(You can find me on this link to my Pinterest page )

So here are some of my repins as of late!

Finger soap for Halloween….

Craving for more NEON!!!

Another reason I can’t wait till Summer! Just so I can wear this coral two-toned dress.

I’d love this ‘do, only if my hair were longer….

I can’t wait to make this high protein vegan breakfast burrito, from Oh She Glows by Angela (her recipes are all just so uh-mayyyy-zing!!!). 

I just haven’t got around to it yet…partly because Mum’s cooking for the most part at the moment and I have the option to be lazy I’m just allowing myself to make the most out of the privilege while I can!!!

Anyway, I guess that’s pretty much all I have for now.

I should probably hit the hay…gotta get up early for work tomorrow again!

Bon weekend

- Asuma xxx

Oil-Free Zucchini Walnut Raisin Loaf

Hey there

Happy hump day! It’s 12:36AM on Wednesday over here in Sydney at the moment, so it’s only been 2 days since the new semester started for me but I’m quite tired already. Kind of fell asleep really early this evening but then woke up again, so here I am writing this post now.

Anyway, today I thought I’d share this recipe of an Oil-Free Zucchini Walnut Raisin Loaf With Cinnamon Streusel with you all

Now I cannot remember for the life of me where I found this recipe in the first place, but I have it scribbled out on my recipe notebook….

I’ve baked this quite a number of times now, and it’s been fail-proof so far. And that’s saying a lot in my case

I’ve replaced the walnut and raisins with other nuts and dried fruit as well, and they have all worked alright. This time, I used sunflower seeds and goji berries!

I often omit the cinnamon streusel topping as well and it bakes fine – makes for a healthier choice if you’re not feeling particularly indulgent (and also because I’m lazy like that) – but the streusel really does make it so much more scrumptious so I’d definitely recommend to give it a go at least once.

Okay, so without further ado, here’s the recipe:

Oil-Free Zucchini Walnut Raisin Loaf with Cinnamon Streusel

Yields one loaf tin, 6 x 3¾ x 2¾ inches or 15 x 9.5 x 7 cm

Ingredients:

• 2 cups wholegrain spelt flour / white wholemeal flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 cup sugar (I use brown or dark brown)
• 1/3 cup raisins (or any other dried fruit)
• 1/3 cup walnuts (or any nuts or seeds)
• 1 and 1/4 cup vanilla almond milk (I use regular original almond milk and add 1 tsp vanilla extract)
• 1 flax egg (1 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water, mixed and set aside for 5 minutes)
• 1 and 1/4 cup shredded zucchini, skin left on, packed (that’s about 1 large zucchini)
• 1 tbsp lemon zest
• 2 tsp lemon juice (sometimes when I don’t have the zest, I just use 1 tbsp of lemon juice instead of 2 tsp)
• 1 tbsp pure maple syrup or liquid sweetener

Ingredients for the streusel:

• 2 tsp non-dairy margarine or butter
• 1 tbsp coarse sugar (like turbinado)
• 1 tbsp flour (same type as used in the loaf)
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375*F or 190*C.
2. Mix flax egg and set aside.
3. Oil the loaf tin and line with parchment paper. I just use a silicon tin and don’t even bother greasing or lining it and it works perfectly fine, but this is your call
4. In a large bowl, whisk the dry ingredients.
5. In another bowl, combine the wet ingredients.
6. Add the wet into the dry. Stir until just mixed. Be careful not to overmix, as spelt flour is quite delicate.
7. Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf tin and spread out evenly.
8. Prepare the cinnamon streusel by rubbing all of its ingredients together with your fingers until you get tiny pieces of streusel topping. Sprinkle on top of the loaf.
9. Bake for 37 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean and the loaf gently springs back when pressed.
10. Remove from the tin when cooled. Slice it up and it’s ready to serve!

Yup, that’s all there is to this recipe! I love how it’s so simple and easy yet difficult to fail.

This is actually sweet enough for me, but if you wish you could also add another 1/4 cup of sugar for extra sweetness.

If you want to bake something sweet but not overly dessert-like, I highly recommend this bread because it’s just sweet enough to satisfy your sweet-tooth but not too decadent.

It’s so moist inside as well, you won’t believe it’s oil-free! I wouldn’t say this is an ultimate “health food” with all that sugar (though much better than using aspartame), but it’s definitely a much healthier and nutritious alternative to stuff like banana bread. You can see the bright green of the zucchini even after baking, which does not only make it prettier but also adds an extra serving of your daily veg into your diet <3

Let me know how this bread goes in your oven, if you get the chance to try it out!

Also, what is your recent favourite bake recipe?

- Asuma xxx

Cumin-ed Up Lentil and Spinach

Hello there

Hope everyone is having a nice weekend out there! I’ve sort of been in a funk lately (once again…what’s new), despite the fact that I have an exam coming up in only 3 days. Sort of in a “I don’t care about a single matter in the world” mood.

I’m not going to go into the details of my current slump in this post here, but one thing has been making me feel better, and that’s watching Nigella Lawson’s shows. So I took an inspiration from her recipe for chick peas and rocket with sherry and cumin and let my own spin turn on it.

Lentils and Baby Spinach with Cumin:

Makes 2-3 servings.

Ingredients:

• Olive oil
• Garlic, 2-3 cloves, crushed
• Canned lentils, drained and rinsed
• Ground cumin, 1 tsp
• Cilantro paste, 1 tbsp (or use chopped fresh cilantro)
• Baby spinach, 250g (or just as much as you want)
• Lemon juice, 1 tbsp
• Salt, to taste.

1. Heat olive oil on a skillet on medium heat, add crushed garlic.

2. Tip in the lentils and saute.

3. Add in the cumin and cilantro paste. Stir to cover the lentils evenly.

4. Add the spinach, lemon juice and salt to taste. Saute only just to wilt the spinach.

And that’s that!

I had some of it immediately with a piece of toasted tortilla for lunch.

Alrighty, that’s all I have to offer for now.

Wish you all a good remainder of the weekend

- Asuma

Recipes Recipes Recipeas

Happy Easter!!

I hope you’re enjoying your holiday, whether or not you celebrate it or not.

Growing up in Japan and Bangladesh, I never got to appreciate the festivity and celebrate it, but my schools always had Easter breaks so it definitely was something to look forward to. (I think they all did…I’m pretty sure we had Easter holidays in primary and secondary, but can’t recall about my high school…anyone out there from my high school reading this? Do you guys remember?)

So this year, I was so excited when C (a friend of mine from uni) gave me this pink easter egg chocolate!!!

Sure, it’s not the first time I’m having an egg-shaped milk chocolate, but I had never gotten one for Easter from somebody, so I was really touched!!

Thanks, C

Anyway, as the title suggests, I wanted to share the recipes for some of the food I recently cooked and “non”-baked.

A super easy spinach + asparagus + bell pepper frittata.

I think I have shared this with you a while ago, but I wanted to post it again with all of the ingredients I put into it.

I wouldn’t even call this a recipe, because I literally just threw everything in and let it cook on a pan lightly covered with olive oil over low heat.

Here is a list of everything I put in to this frittata (I don’t measure anything when I cook this kind of a just-throw-in-anything dish, so go ahead and put in anything you like, as much as you desire):

• Eggs
• Egg whites
• Baby spinach
• Asparagus
• Red bell pepper
• Jalapenos
• Shredded mozzarella
• Salt & pepper
• Garlic powder
• Mixed dried herbs.

I just sauteed the veggies first in olive oil, then poured in the beaten egg and egg white mixture.

Seasoned by sprinkling salt, pepper, garlic powder (it’s so useful when I’m lazy and don’t want to chop up fresh garlic cloves) and dried herbs.

Then placed some sliced jalapenos out of a jar, and sprinkled quite a generous amount of mozzarella.

And there you have it!!!

Super easy and yum.

I had the leftovers for several nights, heated in the microwave; the melted cheese is oh-so-good with the jalapenos.

Next up.

Tempeh and veggie stir-fry.

Yeah okay, so I’m guilty of not measuring anything accurately, but I did eyeball the measurements for this one, just for you guys

Here is the ingredients list:

• 1T extra virgin olive oil
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 1 clove garlic, sliced
• 150g tempeh, cubed
• 1 zucchini, sliced
• 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
• 5-7 stalks asparagus, chopped into large pieces
• 2-3 cups baby spinach
• 1T soy sauce
• 1T oyster sauce
• 1t hondashi powder (you can get it in an Asian store).

Saute the onion and garlic in heated olive oil until the onion becomes tender and transparent; 2-3 minutes.

Add the tempeh and saute for 3-5 minutes.

Add the zucchini, mushroom and asparagus. Saute, 2-3 minutes.

Season with soy sauce, oyster sauce and hondashi powder.

When everything is cooked through, add the baby spinach and saute to let it wilt slightly, but do not overcook to maintain a little crunch and body in the leaves.

Remove off the heat once the extra water from the spinach leaves has evaporated.

I devoured this over brown rice.

Healthy yet satisfying. My kind of meal!!!

I did not have to add any extra salt to it, but if you wish to up the amount of veggies, you could put in a bit of salt.

Although I live by myself, I usually prefer to make lots of servings whenever I cook, so I can get leftovers for those lazy nights!

Leftovers rule.

Oh, and the last but not the least….

No bake peanut butter protein bars.

I’ve been meaning to make these for a couple of weeks now.

I made a half batch of this recipe from Jess’ blog, Blonde Ponytail. (Hey Jess! I finally got around to make them this afternoon!)

I subbed the honey for maple syrup (because I didn’t have any ) and used crunchy peanut butter instead of smooth (I usually buy the crunchy kind, so that’s what I had in my pantry today).

It was so easy to make, and I loved that the ingredients list was so short.

Additional bonus points for only having to dirty one bowl!

Alrighty then, I’m going to it publish and off to reheat some of the stir fry with brown rice for dinner now

Enjoy your holiday!!!!!!

- Asuma

Tired on Tuesday Night + Recipes (that I want to try out)

Hello people

I hope your Monday or Tuesday, depending on whichever country it is that you are in right now, is going better than mine.

Because I have never felt this lethargic on a Tuesday night as I do right now. Ever.

I really don’t mean to complain, but these days I can’t help feel as though a dementor just walked through me and sucked any tiny bit of life that was left in me. (Yeah dramatic, I know, but that’s who I am )

I could go on and on about how sucky this feels if you let me, but that just won’t be helping anyone. Not you. Not me. Nobody likes a whiney and tired biatch. (No, auto-correct, please don’t correct the spelling “biatch”, that’s exactly the way I am going to call myself tonight.)

I am, by no means, depressed. No no no, that sad girl’s gone, wayyy back in the past.

You know what, I think I just need some sleep. Not that I didn’t get a good solid 11-hour sleep last night. Yup, you heard me right. But I think I just need a little bit more

Sorry I don’t really have anything interesting from my life to share with you all today…but I will share a few links to recipes I found on other blogs recently that I really really want to try out. Hope you’ll like them

Oh, and I’m pretty sure they don’t read this blog, but a quick congratulatory shout-out to Toby and Tim for their graduation today!!! Sorry you couldn’t attend the ceremony though, Tim, but I’m sure you’re having great fun at the retreat!!

Anyway, here are the recipes!

Sarah’s recipe, from The Healthy Diva:

Simple Salmon Slice (recipe here)

Ashley’s recipe, from edible perspective:

Potato Tomato Leek Soup (recipe here)

Angela’s recipe, from Oh She Glows:

Cozy Millet Bowl with Mushroom Gravy and Kale (recipe here)

Lindsay’s recipe, from The Lean Green Bean:

Healthy Breakfast Bars (recipe here)

Jess’ recipe, from Blonde Ponytail:

No Bake Peanut Butter Protein Bars (recipe here)

They all look amazing! And not un-cookable/un-bakeable/un-non-bakeable, even for me Got to try them out sometime soon. (But that “soon” could be a very relative word…especially in my case, I don’t know when I’ll actually get down to action…possibly on when I’m less of a tired whine-o…not wino, you silly!)

Okay, enough rambling for one night.

Good night then!!

            - Asuma