Oh! to satisfy one's family..

Hi All!

please enjoy this delicious tropical muffins which I tried last weekend. My family really enjoyed it. Hope yours will too!

Coconut Banana Muffins (makes 6-8 muffins)

3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 very ripe bananas, mashed (1/2 cup)
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/ cup creamed coconut

1/4 cup raisins

1/4 cup Hawaiian grated coconut.

Mash the banana with the sugar until smooth. Add the egg, the creamed coconut and the vanilla and mix well. Sift together the remaining dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until just mixed.

Pour into lined or greased cupcake molds, two-thirds of the way, and bake in a medium oven (350f/180c) until brown and firm (about 25 minutes). Serve warm with a nice cup of tea!

Rest and relax with your Green Tea, English Tea or Ceylon Tea and enjoy!

I know my mum did!

Cheers!

Sherry

Ask & You Shall Receive!

Hello everyone!

It's Sunday and I feel really good today, how about you? I am excited to share this special Black Forest Cherry Cheese Cake recipe with Ice John and the rest of you as well! Everyone in my family really enjoyed this Easter treat.

Just wanted to tell you that it's amazing how much $ you will be saving making this fabulously delicious cake on your own rather than buying it! Most importantly it so easy to make......& that's what I like, SS (sweet & simple). Anyway, I'm absolutely sure you won't regret trying it!

Black Forest Cherry Cheese Cake

Ingredients:

A. Digestive biscuits 250 gm
unsalted butter 125 gm

B. Cream (whipped) 200 ml
cream cheese 250 gm
castor sugar 165 gm
lemon juice 1 tbsp

C. gelatine
water
(double boil gelatine & water and cool 5-10mins)

D. 1 can pitted black cherries juice

Topping

cherry juice 150 ml (separate juice and fruits by straining)

corn flour 1 tbsp

Method:

1) Blend ingredients A or put biscuits in a plastic bag and beat the biscuits with a rolling pin lightly or till they crumble finely. Then mix the butter and crumbled biscuits until combined.

Next press into loose bottom baking tin and level with a spatula. Chill for 30 mins or until firm.

2) Cream sugar, cream cheese and lemon juice in a cake mixing machine, add gelatine mixture (which has been prepared before hand). Lastly add in the whipped cream and 'pulsate' or mix it on a lower speed till combined.

3) Pour 1/2 of the cream cheese mixture onto the biscuit crust, arrange the drained cherries around the cream cheese layer. Then top off the remaining cream cheese mixture over it.

4) Finally mix and boil topping ingredients and spread over the chilled cheese cake.

Chill for 3hrs or overnight.

p.s. drop me line at: sherryharding245@gmail.com or simply comment!

one slice will NOT be enough!

A Brand New Week!

Healthy Orange Raisin Peanut Butter & Jelly Muffin

Yup! It's a new week indeed!

Life - Is not just being around because of mere existence but should be looked at as a gift of life from the Almighty. Therefore one should always be appreciative and look forward to give their very best in whatever they are responsible for. It is immaterial if one is a father, a mother, a husband, a wife, a son, a daughter, a student, a teacher, an employer, an employee, a doctor, a nurse, ect, etc. It's our duty to revolve around doing good to get by each day.

Duty - If your thought is what it should be, you will have little trouble with your action. Remember that to be useful to others, thought must result in action. There must be no laziness, only constant activity in good work.

Today, since the orange fruit brings such a fresh tangy flavour to muffins, it seems to be the family's favourite, I have decided to make this special one which has a slight twist to it. Enjoy!

Healthy Orange Raisin Peanut Butter & Jelly Muffins

You'll need:

1 1/3 plus two tbsp self-rising flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
3 large eggs
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup milk
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup raisins
1 tsp poppy seeds
1/2 an orange juice
orange rind
peanut butter

Method:

Heat oven to 190 C. Grease muffin tins - makes 12 pcs

1. In a large bowl sift flours, salt.
2. In another bowl, stir together eggs, milk, sugar, orange juice and sugar together until smooth.
3. Form a well in the dry ingredients and pour the liquid mixture. Stir just to combine. Fold the raisins and poppy seeds.
4. Spoon the batter half way through each muffin tin and then add a teaspoon each of the peanut butter.
5. Lastly top the tins off with about another tablespoon of the batter and the bake them for about 15-20 mins or until golden brown and done when you run a cake tester through.

Hope you'll like this recipe and have it with a nice cup of tea or coffee or a snack any time of the day or night!

Look forward to your comments.

After it's cracked opened to expose the delicious filling

*Food for thought:

When an athlete decides to win in his mind, it is then that he wins. He decides first, then he wins......have a good week ahead!


Cheers!

Sherry

Holy Week

Hello there!

after celebrating Palm Sunday yesterday, we go into Holy Week today. It a reminder as how more than 2,000 years ago Jesus Christ, our Redeemer was welcomed into Jerusalem and how the same people led him to His crucifixion and death! -the irony of it all.

Many events took place for me this week. Firstly, my son took part in a Choral Speaking competition and his team come out champions. It was quite a feeling for all of us. It was sheer hard work and reward was indeed sweet. Now his teacher is preparing them for the state level competition which takes place in a fortnight.

We are truly facing Holy week in silence as our Astro (cable t.v.) has some problems and it's been 48hrs since we made a report for the technicians to have rectify, it but until now there's no signs of them!

Meditation is good as it helps us reflect our individual selves. Besides that we are spending time doing some long forgotten practice, which is reading. We all realise that we send quite a lot of time in front of the idiot box and before you know it, each of us are too busy with our very own thing. We hardly have time to talk or share our thoughts with one another as we are usually wrapped up in our own world and not too long the day is almost over and we all say goodnite and hit the sack (go off to bed).

Anyway Easter is a time when we take the opportunity to get in touch with each other as family.
I made a Cherry Cheese cake, Ayam Pericik and Upside Down Pineapple Ham loaf for our Easter feast. It's something totally out of the norm as we usually have the traditional Sugee cake and Chicken roast but not this year, I opted for something new! Well I certainly hope the family enjoyed my menu this year!

By the way these are some photo-shots of the mentioned. Enjoy!

Hi there! as promised I'm back! Yesterday I baked 'Orange Treasure' muffins for tea. I would consider it being a very healthy snack as it is made of a portion of whole wheat flour not only white. What excites me is knowing that I can contribute in these little ways to bring awareness to my family in choosing the right kind of food.

Surprisingly the youngest member of the family appreciated it! I had my qualms about him liking it as he can be quite choosy about certain textures and tastes. For example all of us enjoy everything that's prepared but Jude doesn't take to green peas and fat (found in meats and also chicken skin included). Wholemeal bread is something he eats if there's absolutely no choice otherwise the white loaf finishes fast. That includes all members of the family. Well it's a slow by sure process in switching to browns for the sake of health.

It great to know that Jude had one for breakfast this morning and also opted to take it for his school break - definitely a good feeling for me! I guess it just a matter of time in educating the family to take small steps to change their mindset in making good food choices for the sake of health.

Oh yes I had packed a muffin for my husband who was on a biz trip. He decided to eat it on his way home for supper. He confessed that he enjoyed the wholesome snack and relished the bits and pieces of the hidden treasure inside!

Without further ado, here's the recipe for the the above mentioned:


ORANGE TREASURE MUFFIN

1 1/3 cups plus two tbsp all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

3 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup milk
2/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup orange peel
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup crystal ginger (optional)
juice and rind of an orange
1 tsp vanilla essence

Method: preheat oven and grease a regular sized 12 muffin pan (makes 12 muffins).

1. In a large bowl stir together sifted flours, salt, baking powder and baking soda
2. In another bowl, stir together the eggs, oil, milk, sugar, oil, orange juice and vanilla.
3. Form a well in the dry ingredients and pour liquid mixture. Stir to combine.
4. Fold in the raisins,orange peel and rind.
5. Spoon batter into muffin pans and bake for 15-20 minutes until tops curve and are lightly browned. Insert toothpick or pick to test if cooked through.

Cheers!


Sherry

p.s. drop me line at sherryharding245@gmail.com or comment, at the bottom of this page..thks!

Lazy me!

Hello there!

how are you out there? How has life been treating all of you? Hope great! Well as for me I must admit that I have been busy as a bee living life to the fullest! And as for the muffin passion and obsessions, all I can say is that I have developed a "muffin top" literally...and have been trying very hard to keep the weight off and therefore had been controlling the calories....and muffins too!

Seems that I had laid off for almost 8 months and it is unbelievable how fast time really flies. To tell you the truth all the chowing down of the Christmas delights - right up to all the birthdays in between I would get the 'GUILTY' sentence and hence the silence......

I had been totally consumed by all the happenings in life plus feeling awfully depressed as well. (Don't get me wrong, not all of which were negative).

All the articles and talk on weight loss and of course the infamous first 'Biggest Asia Looser' had taken up all my time and passion. Besides that looking at numeral websites on healthy living as well as 'Body mind and Soul gurus got me on the move again to loose those extra pounds.

So folks, forgive me for bearing my soul and all my iniquities to boot. Now that I feel that I am a whole lot better and more confident - perfect body mass index and all, I am confident to pursue my goals. Basically it boils down that I am not a perfect a person as I wish I could be but then again it proves that I am only human!

Anyway, I have make a comeback and that's what that matters. With more delicious muffin top tips and delectable desserts rolling your way soon.

Suggestions anyone?



Cheers to life!

Sherry

p/s hope you love our new family member, my son's pet hamster 'Juarez'

COCONUT BANANA MUFFIN

Hello there!

I have been rather busy lately that explains the absence...yeah, i simply love to be busy (some may say that i'm a workaholic especailly my spouse). Anyway would't life be boring otherwise? well for me it definately WILL!

Just to keep you busy why not try this YUMMY muffin for a treat? It's simply DELICIOUS! Go on make someone happy....here goes...

Coconut Banana Muffins (makes 6-8 muffins)
3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 very ripe bananas, mashed (1/2 cup)
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/ cup creamed coconut

Method
Mash the banana with the sugar until smooth. Add the egg, the creamed coconut and the vanilla and mix well. Sift together the remaining dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until just mixed. Pour into lined or greased cupcake molds, two-thirds of the way, and bake in a medium oven (350f/180c) until brown and firm (about 25 minutes). Serve warm with a nice cup of tea!

Enjoy!

Love

Sherry