Raspberry Muffins, sweet and tart!

You know I LOVE baking muffins and I can't believe I haven't tried them with raspberries yet! I was NOT disappointed! The tartness of the raspberries mixed perfectly with the soft and sweet dough! Perfectly light for summer!

Ingredients: (12 muffins)

1 c milk
1/2 c (1 stick) butter, melted
1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 c flour
3/4 c sugar
2-1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
2 c raspberries

Prep:

1. Preheat oven to 400F; line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.
2. Combine milk, butter and vanilla; beat in eggs.
3. Sift flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into large bowl; add milk mixture and stir just until blended; fold in raspberries.
4. Divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups; Bake until golden and tester comes out clean, about 15-20 minutes.

Numb but still BAKING!

I just got a root canal done so I'm SUPER numb right now. It wasn't painful but took a LONG time but I'll spare you the details. ANYWAY...what better way to cheer myself back up but with BAKING? I got another request for White Chocolate Chip Cookies but this time I added CRANBERRIES instead of Macadamia Nuts like last time. The result? Not as nutty but lighter and perfect for spring! :)

ALL DAY Meatballs

What can't I make in the slow cooker these days? I LOVE it! These meatballs were SO juicy and yummy! Aren't they cute on top of my slaw?

Ingredients: (24 meatballs)

3/4 c breadcrumbs
1/4 c finely chopped onion
1-1/2 tsp salt
1-1/2 lbs ground beef
1 c ketchup
1/4 c chicken broth
3 Tbsp cider vinegar
2 Tbsp granulated sugar

Prep:

1. In a bowl, combine breadcrumbs, onion, salt and beef and mix well. Shape into 1-in. balls. Place in a slow cooker.

2. In the same bowl, combine the ketchup, chicken broth, vinegar and sugar; mix well. Pour over meatballs. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until the meat is no longer pink.

BBQ Chicken in the Slow Cooker

We all know I love my slow cooker and it has NEVER disappointed me! SO in honor of Memorial Day (AKA the start of BBQ season!) I decided to make BBQ chicken. There are literally 2 ingredients in this dish: chicken thighs and BBQ sauce. I used a Honey BBQ sauce and it tasted SO good! The meat literally fell off the bones...OMG!

Mini Blueberry Muffins (SO cute!)

I thought I'd switch it up this Friday and instead of baking cookies, I made mini blueberry muffins instead. They turned out perfectly moist and everyone loved them! I even sent some to Greg's office and his coworkers were NOT disappointed! I made sure to put in a TON of blueberries so they'd burst in your mouth with every bite!

Ingredients: (48 mini muffins)

1/2 c butter, softened
1 c granulated sugar
3 eggs
1/2 c buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2-1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 c fresh or frozen blueberries

Prep:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. In a bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, buttermilk and vanilla; mix well. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; stir into the creamed mixture just until moistened. Fold in blueberries (batter will be thick).

2. Fill greased or paper-lined miniature muffin cups with about a tablespoon of batter. Sprinkle with sugar if desired. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack.

Jillian Michaels is KICKING my BUTT!

Thanks to Exercise TV onDemand, Jillian Michaels has now kicked my butt TWICE! I LOVE this workout cuz it's intense but still really fun. Jillian is a really motivating trainer and I can see why she's so popular. She constantly pushes you to the limit throughout the hour-long workout but makes these witty comments in between so you don't hate her while sweating your butt off! Jillian is all about circuit-training and makes you work in sets of 2 throughout the workout. There are a lot of jumps and kicks with some abs and punching in between. If you have onDemand and can spare an hour in your day, you should DEFINITELY give this workout a try! You'll be tired but you'll feel REALLY good after!

Congratulations Ryan and Kanika!

We just got back from a GORGEOUS beach wedding for Greg's brother and (now) sister-in-law. It was at The Shade Hotel in Manhattan Beach. The weather was in the 70's and just perfect! This is a food blog so first here are some food pictures!


My HUGE cheese and fruit platter from the hotel bar and my yummy chicken dinner at Il Fornaio with spinach and potatoes.

Friday night's dinner at Spencer's in Palm Springs. The food was ok but a lil on the bland side. Look at Greg's fruity Cosmo! :)

We drove into Manhattan Beach on Saturday morning and took a walk to the beach. It was a bit overcast but still beautiful out! We got to eat lunch outside and there was a lot of people-watching to do.

No pictures from the wedding yet but here we are the night before about to go to Rehearsal Dinner. Aren't we such a cute couple???

Soft and Fluffy Meringues

I can't believe I've never made Meringues before and they're SO easy! I mean you really can't get any simpler than 3 ingredients: egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar. Patience is the key here though! I mean, you have to keep whipping for a LONG time (10 minutes per each addition of sugar) and they bake for at least 2 hours in a VERY low oven (250F). As long as you take the time, they'll come out soft and fluffy and seriously melt in your mouth.

The Fat Fighting Four

Have you heard about the Fat Fighting Four? Well, I read about them on Prevention.com and liked the short list. This gives us a lot of options especially for picky eaters like me! :)

1. Calcium
Why? Reduces fat-producing effects of steroid hormone called calcitrol
Food sources? Low fat dairy, fat free milk, spinach, kale, broccoli & white beans

2. Vitamin D
Why? Suppresses cellular inflammation that contributes to diabetes
Food sources? Salmon, tuna, fortified cereal, sardines & Swiss cheese

3. Omega-3
Why? Reduces inflammation & improves resistance
Food sources? Tofu, enriched eggs, shrimp, salmon, tuna, walnuts & flaxeed oil

4. Fiber
Why? Helps control blood sugar
Food sources? Whole grain breads, brown rice, oatmeal, apples, citrus fruits & carrots

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope everyone's had a wonderful Mother's Day with their mommy (or wifey). I know me and my mommy did! We had a yummy brunch at Scott's Seafood in downtown San Jose. The spread included Eggs Benedict (yum yum!), pan-fried tilapia, baked salmon, Tiramisu (more yum!) AND cheesecake! All the moms got a free glass of Champagne and our server was sweet enough to give me one too! :)

Welcome to MY Diner!

Wow, it's been a while since my first attempt at shredded pork in the slow cooker and this one did NOT disappoint! The ingredients were super simple and included a sliced onion, a cup of BBQ sauce (I used Honey Mustard) and 1/2 cup of chicken stock. That's it! And what's more perfect to serve along side but Coleslaw right? My dressing was a combination of mayo, sour cream, dijon mustard and a couple of drops of red wine vinegar. SO good and SO much better than any diner could do!

Savory Asparagus Corn Bread

Asparagus were on super sale at Safeway and I thought they'd be perfect in a savory corn bread. The little specks of green mixed with the yellow is so pretty and spring-like! The bread was moist and really flavorful from the Parmesan and garlic salt. YUM YUM!

Ingredients: (9 servings)

1 c all-purpose flour
1 c yellow cornmeal
2 Tbsp sugar
2-1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp garlic salt
2 large eggs
1 c buttermilk
1/4 c cooled melted butter or margarine
2 c asparagus, chopped
1 c corn kernels
1/2 c grated Parmesan

Prep:

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. In a bowl, mix flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, beat eggs to blend with buttermilk and butter. Pour liquids into flour mixture and stir just until evenly moistened. Stir in asparagus, corn and Parmesan.

2. Scrape batter into a buttered 8-inch square pan and spread smooth.

3. Bake for about 30 minutes or untill golden brown and toothpick comes out clean.

4. Cut bread into squares. Lift from pan with a slender spatula. Serve hot or cool.

Little Balls of YUMMY-NESS!

This is the second time that I've made these Mexican Wedding Cookies from the Kraft Website. I thought they were fitting since Cinco de Mayo just passed. Such short list of ingredients but SO good! Aren't they so cute on my new Target plate? :)

Happy Birthday Dani!

We celebrated my cousin's bday on Saturday. It was SO much fun to hang out with the family! We don't get together nearly enough and when we do, we have SO much to talk about! I swear it takes hours to update everyone on our lives! Dani is my mom's sister's daughter but to me, she's more like a sister since we grew up together. We even kinda look alike right? We went to The Cheesecake Factory for lunch and ordered SO much food! We all agreed that their Thai Lettuce Wraps were the bomb and the Fried Crab Wontons were yummy too! We were SO full after lunch...


...BUT not too full for my Tiramisu Cake of course! All that effort was SO worth it to see the looks on their faces as they enjoyed my cake!

Tiramisu for my Cousin's Bday

It's my cousin's bday and I decided to make her fav cake, Tiramisu! It was my first time and I was a lil nervous, especially since I was using Giada's recipe! It turned out AMAZING! I couldn't believe how easy it was to make my own Whipped Cream! The only thing I changed was using Vanilla Pudding instead of Chocolate Zabaglione and of course, I added just a LIL bit of rum to the Espresso!