A weekend doing things I love.



This weekend went by all too fast, that I miss it already. Oh how fast the days go by! Then days become weeks, and weeks become months, that turn into seasons... before you know it the year will be gone.

This year feels like that. Everything has gone by so quickly that I wonder if I was actually living or simply going through the motions of day to day life. The year is over halfway done and I have yet to fulfill the promises I have made to myself when the year began. I need to fix this. I want to live life. I choose to live life.

So this past weekend my sister and I went out of town to simply escape and relax; in the end we found clarity and peace of mind that made it all worthwhile. We talked about everything and got it all off of our chests until we were able to make our way through the mental fog that has hung in our minds for quite some time.

Thus, we dedicated the weekend to us and did things we love like hiking, eating delicious food, walking along the beach, exploring greenhouses, and wine tasting!








These small things are what benefits our souls and nurtures the budding flower of happiness that's all inside us waiting to bloom. We should live for moments like these in good company. Let's not let life pass us by.

Chocolate cheers to that!



Sparkline Wine Cupcakes!

So many Birthdays today! Which is always another reason for me to bake! Today was for my roommate's 21st Birthday! Roselle and I have known each other since the seventh grade! I'm so glad we got to reunite in college and live together. So in honor of her 21st, here are some alcoholic cupcakes:]


The original recipe can be found here. I however just bought strawberry frosting to make my life easier instead of making the butter cream, and my batch yielded 27 instead of 20 for some strange reason. I also think you can use any type of dessert wine/champagne to make it to your liking. I used Barefoot Moscato in the cupcake pictured. It was definitely delicious and subtle tasting. Next time I'll probably add a lot more wine ;]

Sparkling Wine Cupcakes

Ingredients:
  • 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 2/3 cup butter or lactose free margarine
  • 1 1/2 cups white sugar
  • 3/4 cup sparkling wine
  • 6 egg whites
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Prepare a cupcake pan with paper forms.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until very light and fluffy. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together, and then blend into creamed mixture alternately with sparkling wine.

In another large clean bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold 1/3 of the whites into batter to lighten it, then fold in remaining egg whites. Fill the cupcake liners about 2/3 full.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
yummmmm. I drizzled it with even more wine!
Happy 21st Birthday Roselle!!!

I definitely need to invest in a cake decorating set!!!

Sidenote: I made the letters, numbers, and decor with melted white chocolate chips, putting it on wax paper and letting it harden in the fridge.


Reverse Chocolate Chip Brookie!

While I was away for the weekend, I desperately needed one of my shifts from work covered. Luckily, a lovely co-worker of mine was kind enough to cover me. As a thank you, she'll be getting some brookies :]


What I did was reverse the normal regular chocolate chip cookies by making a chocolate cookie with white chocolate chips! Then instead of using white sugar, I used golden brown sugar to make it thicker, making it taste like a brownie and cookie at the same time! Definitely a go-to recipe when you can't decide between having cookies or brownies! The possibilities are endless too! You can make it without the chips, dousing them with powdered sugar instead for a crackle cookie. Or if you love mint like I do, you can always do mint chips! Or maybe caramel? Yummm. Might as well make them all!!!

For this Reverse Chocolate Chip Brookie I just modified the Andes Mint Cookies. See below! Enjoyyyyyyyyyyyy!

REVERSE CHOCOLATE CHIP BROOKIE!!!


Yield: 2 Dozen

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
5 Tbsp butter, softened
3/4 cup golden brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup white chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour through salt).
In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar together on high speed for 2 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla, and beat until well combined. Add the flour mixture, 1/4 cup at a time, and mix until combined. Fold in the white chocolate chips.
Drop the dough by teaspoon-fulls onto a large baking sheet coated with cooking spray.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until no longer doughy. Cool completely on a wire rack.
80-90 calories per cookie

Packing for the Weekend

It's summer, yet everyday I feel as if I have this huge to-do list, looming over my head, where nothing ever gets crossed off. I always say I'll do it, but then it's always easier said then done. But now, summer is half way over, and I need to start owning up to my list!

Which I will get to after my weekend trip to Half Moon Bay! Although, I must say, I hate planning and packing even though I know it'll be worth it in the end. Sadly, my sister and I couldn't get lodging in Carmel or San Diego, but I think Half Moon Bay has a charming quality that I'm excited to explore. I love little beach towns that are scenic. I can't wait to hike, hit the beaches, check out cute shops, and of course taste some delicious wine. Definitely a good way to escape from my daily life.

My June trip to Vegas was exciting and I'm sure my July weekend trip to Half Moon Bay will be enjoyable as well. Then August will finally be here and I'll finally get to see London and Paris! And when I come back in September my sister will be getting married and I'll have a brother in-law!

Time goes by way too fast. Before I know it, it'll be my senior year of college!

Salmon Cakes and Asparagus with a Jalapeno Greek Yogurt Sauce

I was definitely in the mood to cook today! After stalking foodgawker.com for ideas I decided I wanted to make salmon cakes. Then I had to have some form of vegetables too, so my coworker Monica suggested asparagus. But then I wanted to add something moist like a spicy sauce, and since I usually put greek yogurt on everything and I had a jar of sliced jalapenos, I thought why not. Thus, an original recipe is born!

(Sorry for the bad photo quality! I need to work on my picture taking skills for my blog:P)

This was a lot for me to eat so I put half of my dinner in a tupperware container to bring to work tomorrow.

Below is the recipe, but it's flexible enough that you can add more seasoning or ingredients to your liking to fit your preferences. This is just what I had at the moment. Maybe if I make it again, I'll modify the recipe later.

Salmon Cakes and Asparagus with a Jalapeno Greek Yogurt Sauce

Yields 1 Serving; Approximately 223 Calories

Ingredients:
1 Serving of Asparagus (about 8 medium spears) (~24 cals)
1/3 cup of Chobani plain non-fat greek yogurt (~47 cals)
1 serving of sliced jalapenos (about 18 slices) (~5 cals)
1 serving of eggwhites (3 tbsp) (~25 cals)
1/4 large purple onion (diced) (~11 cals)
1.5 Cups of spinach (~11 cals)
4 oz/113 g Salmon (~100 cals)

For the seasoning, you can use whatever you want, but I used:
Mrs. Dash Garlic & Herb Seasoning Blend (to taste-1tsp)
Pepper (to taste-1/2 tsp)
Cayenne Pepper (to taste)
Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime Seasoning Blend (to taste-1-2tsp)

Recipe:
The sauce is easy. Dice the sliced jalepanos and mix with the greek yogurt. Simple as that. Set aside until plating.

For the salmon cakes, I made sure to defrost the salmon before working with it. You can either place it in a food processor to shred, or you can do it by hand by just cutting the salmon into bits and pieces which is basically what I did. Place it in a mixing bowl. Boil the spinach lightly until slightly wilted (about 2 minutes) then drain and pat dry. Once dry, dice the spinach and place in the mixing bowl with the salmon. After, dice the onion and place it into the mixing bowl as well. Almost done! Just add the eggwhites and season the way you like. I put a lot of cayenne pepper because I like spice, about 1-2 tsp and 1-2 tsp of Mrs. Dash fiesta lime, and 1/2 tsp of pepper. Mix it all together, then divide the mixture into three so you end of with three salmon cakes. Shape them into patties and pan fry them on medium heat in a skillet with cooking spray until golden and cooked on both sides. (Hint: Cook the asparagus while you cook your patties so they can be ready at about the same time).

 Make the asparagus however you want! Steamed, grilled, or oven-baked! I would have preferred mine grilled, but I placed mine in the oven at 375 degrees sealed in foil dressed with cayenne pepper and Mrs. Dash Garlic and Herb to my taste. I guessed I used about 1/4 tsp of each. I put it in for about 6 minutes or until it was tender.

Plate the asparagus on the bottom, then spread the sauce over it, and place the salmon cakes on top! Yummm. Feel free to add anything else you like to the recipe! Make it yours! If you have any suggestions to my recipe, please e-mail me so I can try it out/modify it!

Enjoy:]