I LOVE to BAKE….
When I bake I like to use a simple recipe that doesn’t over complicate my life… Read the rest of this entry
May30
Vanilla Cake
Tag Archives: Cooking
May16
Coconut Balls Recipe…..
I had posted on my Instagram a late night picture of what I was going to make to tame my sweet craving….
Now i’m big on desserts and baking but at such a late hour i didn’t have the luxury of time and wanted to just have something sweet…. That takes less than 20 minutes to be devoured!
First Measure all the required ingredients…. You’ll need
Next step is basically Mix ALL ingredients in a food processor until it begins to fold in on itself creating a dough like look.
Using a tablespoon or a mini ice cream scooper ( My personal choice!) Drop the balls of the dough onto parchment paper. ( you could just eat scoops out just like that if you want too!! )
Optional Garnish: To fancy up the balls you can sprinkle the balls with more lime zest.
Freeze the balls for at least 5 minutes if you’re in a hurry….ideally 10-15 minutes will make them completely firm
At this point you have two choices…. Eat the whole batch (totally doable!!! I know) or be a little more sensible and have a few and store the remaining in a ziploc or air tight container in the freezer…..
** You can totally substitute Lemon for the lime!
Making Life Memorable with sweet bites
Apr26
Banana Oat Muffins
Oct1
October Fun
Its October and the countdown of every even in my life has began.
You might laugh but this is no laughing matter for me…it’s serious and crunch time has officially started with events galore on the horizon.
This is the time when I bring out the iPad and crank up my pins on Pinterest. Whether I do them all or just a few is besides the point. I know they’re there and I’m confident that I’ll eventually get around to it.
October is the beginning of Fall in my book and the preparation of costume season for Halloween.
One of my favorite things to do is have little crafting sessions with the girls with “Fall Themed” crafts.
I’m not sure how we’re going to do it this year with Jennah being in 3rd grade and overworked between homework and activities. But I really hope that I’ll get around to doing something fun like this with the girls.
I would love to go around in our Garden and have the girls collect all sorts of Leaves from the ground.
I’d probably bring down some paint and have them dip the leaves in the paint and make imprints on Paper. Maybe even glue the leaves too. Have actual leaves and imprints would look pretty and introduce them to different “Mediums”.
Off course always on the agenda is baking and decorating cupcakes…. These are a few of the designs we’ve made in the past.
It’s time to get more creative and see what the girls can come up with this year….
Perhaps we can make a whole graveyard?? Who knows….
All this aside this month requires a great deal of creativity and skill because it’s off course costume season for the whole family!!
I think we’ve done every kids of costume from purchasing to making….and it’s time we go all over it again….
Here’s a few samples of what we’ve done in the past and I can’t wait to get started all over again!
I’ve always wanted to have a little Halloween even of my own but with our November birthdays and Christmas preparations I’ve always thought it’s overloading myself.
But we do have one major tradition that we always do and that’s the carving of the pumpkin…. We all go to Sultan and buy a really nice American pumpkin and get all creative in carving it.
Off course Zeenah is assigned to gut it all out, while Jennah is the one that draws out the design and I have the pleasure of carving it all out.
I would like to get more creative and do several pumpkins but unfortunately they don’t last very long because of the heat and they do start to smell.
Maybe this time around we can Paper Mache a Pumpkin…or several pumpkins.
There are just so many ideas that I can’t wait to try out ad share with all my readers. And hopefully in this process I help in Making Life Memorable for you too!!
Sep17
Date Cake & Caramel Sauce
The amazing thing about living in Kuwait is that there’s always fresh dates. Tasty and sweet!!
We have a great Palm tree in our garden that blesses us every summer with dates.
Off course with that blessing comes a big responsibility of having more dates than one can handle…. To that I dedicate this fabulous Date Cake that my mother is very famous for and I’ve made it my own.
Enoy!!
DATE CAKE
Ingredients
1 cup Butter 1 ½ Cup Flour
1 Cup Icing Sugar 1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Egg 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1 Cup boiled Water ½ Tablespoon Baking Soda
1 Cup Pitted Dates
Instructions:
Step 1 Preheat oven to 300ºF. Spray baking pan with vegetable pan spray and coat with 1 tablespoon flour.
Step 2 In a bowl, Soak Pitted dates in the boiled water.
Step 3 Blend butter, icing sugar & egg
Step 4 Add remaining ingredients (except date & Water) to the butter mixture. Blend well. Add Date & Water mixture & mix until all combined.
Step 5 Bake 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool.
Step 6 Pour Caramel Sauce over cooled cake.
CARAMEL SAUCE
Ingredients
1 cup Sugar 1 tablespoon Yogurt
½ Butter ½ cup Milk
1 teaspoon Baking Soda 1 Tablespoon Honey
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
Instructions:
Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and cook over medium heat stirring constantly until it becomes thick & brown.
Pour over cooled Date cake.
This cake is so good that it’ll no doubt be Making life Memorable every bite you take.
Sep15
Quick Fix Dinner
There are times in every mother’s life where all she needs is a quick fix dinner because some activity ran too late and bedtime is approaching and there isn’t much time to prepare a “proper” Dinner.
On days like these I often turn to a simple mix & Match of veggies.
Those days I open up my freezer and it’s vegetables feast!!
So the menu is:
Green Peas & Corn
Brussels Sprouts
“House” Salad with oil & vinegar dressing
Edemame
Cream of Mushroom Soup
Healthy, filling and quick dinner what more can a mom ask for after a hectic day?
So the next time you’re stuck and don’t have time remember Mix & Match what you have and concentrate on Making Life Memorable.
Sep14
One Pot Meal
I am easily inspired on a daily basis by little things I come across to make this blog interesting to different type of moms.
When I say different kinds I mean not every mom is a crafter, baker or “busy body” like me.
But one thing is for sure is that EVERY mom always has the “what’s the meal of the day?”
One of the many E-newsletters I receive is that of Martha Stewart. I am also proud that I have been nicknamed “SAMartha” and hope to someday build an empire like her. But for the time being I’m happy being a mommy that gets to post what I love to do.
Last Friday there was a challenge for a “one pot” meal so I decided to share one of my own creations of a “one pot” meal on the blog since I’d probably not qualify for Martha’s challenge…. I am millions of miles away after all!
Easy Child-Friendly Chili
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
250g Minced Meat
1 large Onion, diced (that means chopped reeeeeally small)
2 cloves Garlic, Crushed
1 Carrot, Diced
1 Green Pepper, Diced
1 Red Pepper, Diced
1 can chopped tomato, undrained
1 can Red kidney beans, undrained
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup water
Salt & pepper to taste
Directions:
In a large pot heat olive oil, add onion & garlic and fry until golden.
Add minced meat and cook stirring constantly until all browned.
Add all other ingredients except the water and combine well, stirring constantly until the carrots are slightly tender.
Add water, mix & let simmer 20 minutes. Stirring occasionally.
All done!!
I hope that this has inspired you for your next meal!!
Enjoy Making Life Memorable your way!
Aug28
Brunch Frittata
I am no chef or culinary expert but I cook from the heart and have been fortunate that it turns out good.
My technique is probably like thousands of other moms around the world… See what we have on hand and make! Luckily with our Middle Eastern habits we tend to have lots of fresh veggies always on hand. So it makes it easy to whip something healthy.
Another habit of all moms is that we don’t have the luxury of time to spend hours in the kitchen. So I came up with a quick Frittata that can be prepared in advance and heated as needed. It’s also perfect for brunch.
Heat Oven to 180 Degrees C (about 350F)
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup shredded Squash
1 cup shredded Carrots
1/4 Cup chopped Parsley
1/4 Cup shredded Parmesan
2 Tablespoons Flour
1/4 cup Milk
3 Eggs
DIRECTIONS:
1. Beat Eggs and Milk Together in a bowl.
2. In a larger Bowl mix all the other ingredients.
3.Add the Egg mixture and whisk all ingredients until mixed well.
4. Spray a baking Pan with cooking owl
5. Pour batter into baking pan. Bake for 25 minutes.
Here’s to Making Life Memorable in the Kitchen!
Sep30
Banana Ideas
In our household we always have an abundance of Bananas.
I use them daily in my green smoothies, great breakfast/snack for the girls yet we always end up with a few that are too ripe.
The lovely thing about these delectable fruit is that they are soooo versatile. Transformable to several things from Peanut butter & Banana Smoothie, Healthy Oatmeal & Banana cookies or Banana Muffins…. the list is really endless.
Yet at times I just want to save the fruit for a specific purpose ….My smoothie or you have too much to go in a baking frenzy.
As they say the “Necessity is the mother of invention”. I figured out the best way to actually freeze Bananas. It’s amazing because now it actually works well with the smoothie because it makes it even colder.
You’ll need:
The ripe bananas (do not freeze unripe bananas they won’t do well in the freezer)
Cookie Sheet
Parchment paper
Knife
Ziploc bags
Directions:
Peel & slice the bananas into pieces (about 2.5cm)
Place on the cookie sheet lined with Parchment paper.
Make sure that bananas are not touching to avoid sticking to each other.
Place in the freezer (uncovered) for at least 30 minutes until the bananas are solid.
Transfer the banana slices into Ziploc bags.
I like to mark the bags with the date so that I know their “life”.
Squeeze the air out of each bag and seal.
Return back to the freezer.
The banana chunks are good for 3/4 months.
If you plan on using them for baking it’s a good idea to thaw them out.
NOTE: You can also use the same method without slicing the bananas and freezing them whole (peeled) and they will last for the same amount of time. I personally like to slice them as it’s easier to store in the bags.
Sep26
Chocolate Fudge Cake
I love this cake because it’s extra moist so if I bake it a day in advance it doesn’t dry out by the time I serve it at my girls’ birthdays.
I also use this same recipe as I do my vanilla either 24 cupcakes or 2 layered cake.
Ingredients:
2 Cups flour
1 3/4 Cup Sugar
1 teaspoon baking Powder
3/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 Salt
1 3/4 Cup Water
1/2 Cup Shortening
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
2 Eggs
3 Squares (3 ounces) Unsweetened Chocolate
Directions:
Preheat oven 175 degrees C (350 degrees F)
Melt the Chocolate in a saucepan at low heat mixing continuously. Make sure you don’t “cook” the chocolate. Remove from the stove and let it cool.
In a bowl mix all ingredients except egg & Chocolate with an electric mixer until completely combined.
Add Eggs and chocolate and mix for an additional 2 minutes.
For cake use two 9inch round pans (greased & floured) Bake fore 30 minutes
For Cupcakes Line cupcake pan with cupcake liners Bake for 15 minutes.
Remove from oven and let cool before frosting.