baking: blueberry muffin!

with berry season in full swing, the first thing that comes to mind is 'what can i make with them?' blueberry muffins of course!

i've looked at various recipes in the past and have settled on my take of this recipe i found online a couple months back. i tweaked it a bit, so here's my take on blueberry muffins!

ingredients:

• muffin
• 3 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 tsp of baking powder
• 1 cup honey
• 1 cup applesauce
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 2 cup blueberries
• crumble
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/8 cup all purpose flour
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon 
• 2 tbsp butter (frozen, shredded)

how to:

• preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
• mix wet ingredients together (honey, milk, applesauce, and eggs) in a large bowl. 
• in a separate bowl mix dry ingredients (flour, salt, and baking powder).
• carefully add dry mixture into the wet mixture, 1/2 cup at a time and mix well. 
• once everything is mixed together, fold in blueberries. 
• in a small bowl, mix crumble ingredients together.
• for butter, place butter in freezer before use and once it is solid use a cheese grater to shred the butter. this will allow for the butter to mix well with the rest of the ingredients and evenly sprinkle over muffins. 
• pour muffin mixture into muffin tin nearly to the top. 
• sprinkle crumble evenly over the top of each muffin. 
• bake in oven for 20-25 minutes and enjoy! makes about 15 muffins. 

goes perfectly with your morning cuppa or coffee. 

how did the recipe turn out for you?
share below if you tweaked the recipe to make it better.

recipe: honey iced tea.

now doesn't that look refreshing. 

with summer now in full swing there are few things better than an ice cold drink to help cool you down. so here's my recipe for a quite lovely iced tea.

ingredients:

• 6 tea bags of any white fruit flavored tea (a simple black tea works just as great!)
• 6 cups of boiling water
• 2 cups of cold water
• 1/8 tsp of baking soda
• 1/2 cup of honey
• 1/8 cup of sugar (or sugar to taste)
• lemon wedges for garnish

how to:

• bring 6 cups of water to a boil in a tea pot or kettle. its best to use one or the other so you know when the water is just right to brew the tea properly. 
• in a separate pot medium sized sauce pan (or any container that can hold the amount of boiling water) place your 6 teabags and baking soda in the pot. 
• once the water is ready (the teapot will let you know once it starts hissing) pour the water into the teas, cover and let brew for about 10 minutes. 
• once the tea is properly brewed take out teabags. don't squeeze them, it'll make the tea bitter; just simply take them out. 
• add your 2 cups of cold water and start mixing in the honey. 
• taste the tea, if it isn't sweet enough for your taste add sugar. (1/8 cup was just right for my taste, but it was a tad bit sweet for my father)
• let the tea cool and then refrigerate. 
• serve with a wedge of lemon and enjoy!

hope the drink turned out just as lovely for you as it did for me!

any tips you'd like to share from your experience making it? 

cooking: individual turkeyloafs

i love meatloaf, so over the years i've bake my fair share of meatloaf and eventually came up with a recipe that my family really enjoys. its probably my brother's favorite dish that i make. so here's my take on a 'healthier' meatloaf.

mmm, delicioso.

ingredients:

• 20 oz of lean turkey
• 1/2 cup 2% milk (any type will do)
• 3 slices of whole wheat bread, chopped (white will work as well)
• 1 egg 
• 1 cup shredded zucchini (use a cheese grader to shred the vegetable)
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1/2 of chopped onions
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground mustard
• 1/2 tsp ground paprika
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1/8 cup mustard
• 1/8 cup brown sugar

how to:

• preheat oven 350.
• in a large bowl combine turkey, milk, chopped bread, egg white, zucchini, carrots, onions, salt, pepper, ground mustard, paprika, and garlic powder. mix well with hands' make sure everything is evenly incorporated.
• lightly grease muffin tin or you can use a bread pan as well; or oven form a loaf by hand and place on top of a baking sheet. i just prefer using a muffin tin because that way everyone gets their own individual loaf.
• with an ice cream scoop, or just a plain old spoon, evenly scoop mixture into muffin tins. (this makes about 12 individual turkeyloafs)
• place in oven and bake for an hour.
• meanwhile in a separate small bowl mix ketchup, mustard, and brown sugar together. 
• half way trough the baking time (30 minutes), take out muffin tins and evenly pour ketchup mixture over mini loafs. finish baking. and tada! now you have delicious individual turkeyloafs. 

how did this recipe turn out for you? any tips you'd like to add on how to improve it?

baking: coco-flan

heyyy internets. since its mothers day and my mama loves anything coconut, i decided to have a go at making coco-flan. she had seen a similar recipe done on the food network and asked for it for her mother's day lunch. my family couldn't get enough of it and especially loved the coconut topping. it was a hit! so here's my take on it!

ingredients:

• 1 can (14 oz) of unsweetened or sweetened condensed milk (its put to you and how sweet you like things, but since this recipe has a ton of sugar i tend to use unsweetened)
• 1 can (13.5 oz) of coconut milk (if you're wanting to make this a tad bit healthy you can use light)
• 3 eggs
• 1 tbsp of vanilla extract
• 1 package (8 oz) of softened cream cheese (using reduced fat cream cheese is perfectly fine) ***this is my 'secret ingredient' when it comes to making flan. it makes flan skeptics change their opinion on the custard.***
• 1 cup of white sugar (you can get away with using 3/4 cup)
• 1/2 tbsp of butter or margarine  
• 1/2 cup of shredded coconut 
• pinch of sugar and cinnamon 

how to:

• preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• in saucepan (i advise you use nonstick) heat butter at medium heat. once butter has melted add sugar. watch closely and stir so the sugar doesn't burn. once the sugar has liquefied and turns to a golden brown color, pour the sugar into a baking pan (i used two round 8 in dishes that were shallow). evenly coat the bottom of the dish and set aside. 
• in a large bowl mix softened cream cheese until creamy and smooth. add egg one at a time and vanilla extract. 
• slowly begin to add condensed milk and coconut milk. its advised to do this slowly so the wet ingredients mix well into the creamy mixture. 
• pour mixture into baking dish(es) and cover with foil. 
• bake for 60 minutes.
• let flan cool completely and refrigerate for at least an hour but preferably overnight. i tend to make my flan the day before i plan on serving it. 
• before serving, toast coconut flakes with pinch of sugar and cinnamon in a nonstick pan. toast until they are a golden color. sprinkle toasted flakes over a slice. 
• and viola, enjoy!

if you made this recipe, how did it turn out? did it convert flan skeptics in your family or group of friends? any suggestions on how to improve this recipe? leave your comments and questions below!