Cardio and Cooking: "Potato-Dono"?

From the aftermath of the Thanksgiving Weekend relative visit extravaganza, I managed to salvage one kiwi (score!).

Things I have learned today about kiwis:
- Kiwis are great additions to smoothies. The fruit is very soft and therefore very easy to throw into a blender like bananas!
- They are rich in Vitamin C, potassium, and enzymes!
- Kiwis are actually called "Kiwifruits". Kiwis are actually birds native to New Zealand.
- Kiwifruits apparently have a bizillion different historical names in Chinese.
(It is amazing what you can learn from Wikipedia...)

Things I have learned today about frozen bananas:
- Frozen bananas are awesome.
- They are easy to add into smoothies and perform two functions - chilling the smoothie and making it nice and creamy!
- They are a great way to save bananas that have turned brown and black. If you freeze a banana with the peel still intact, the fruit inside will be good as new when you use it.
- They make a good alternative for ice cream, or even just a healthy snack!
- I should freeze bananas more often.

Super creamy smoothie action!

Creamy-Enzymatic-Ready-To-Conquer-The-Last-Midterm-Smoothie
*Makes 2 cups*
1 kiwifruit
2 x 100g Activia Red Fruit and Cereals yogurt cups
1 medium frozen banana

To freeze banana:
1. Put whole banana in sandwich bag. (You can do it without the bag, but I didn't want my whole freezer smelling like bananas. To be honest, I don't like bananas. At least not on their own. Combined with other things, I can do.)
2. Seal and freeze overnight.

To make smoothie:
1. Take banana out from freezer and set on counter.
2. Slice kiwifruit in half, and use a spoon to scoop out all the flesh into the blender.
3. Scoop out the yogurt from the 2 small containers of Activia into the blender.
4. The banana should have thawed a bit by now. Use a knife to cut off the ends of the banana. Use the knife to peel the banana vertically as you would do to a carrot. Then, break into 3 pieces and add into the blender.
5. Blend everything until smooth.
6. Be civilized and pour the smoothie into a cup to enjoy :)

I would love to make this more, but kiwifruits are like $1 each. I could get an avocado, a loaf of bread, a sweet potato, or among other things for $1 each that are all much more filling than a single kiwifruit.

On another note, while my food adventures have been kind of boring as of late, I've continued to browse food blogs in my downtime. Today, I came across the most random thing ever while reading through A Good Appetite ...

 

Yep...o_O...

 

I think I'm going to go on YouTube and watch the rest of the associated videos now.

 

-M

Cardio and Cooking: C-c-c-combo Breakerrr!! (Because I've been eating white people food every day for the past week.)

Chicken can be so good when it's moist and tender. This is why I only like to eat meat by the bone. Dry meat is gross. This is why I can't do jerky.

 

Things I have learned today about chicken:

- There are a bizillion recipes for chicken on the Internet.

- Bone-in chicken is ready when you can stab through it easily with a fork and the juices run clear.

- Chicken thighs might actually be better than chicken wings...but you can eat a lot of wings...nevermind! :)

- They have really good sales for meat at Save-On Foods on weekends, especially for chicken. I got a fresh package of 5 chicken thighs for 6 bucks!

 

The colour in the picture turned out kind of funky. There are my Thai chicken thighs. Yum. The sauce was like one of those annoying Food Network recipes where they add a half teaspoon of a bizillion things. The good thing is that it tastes pretty delicious.

Close-up of my plate: coconut rice, Thai chicken thigh, and stir-fried spinach.

 Coconut Rice [Using a rice cooker]
2 cups uncooked jasmine rice
1/2 packet of coconut milk powder
3 cups + 10 tbsp lukewarm water
2 tbsp unsweetened shredded coconut
2 tbsp granulated sugar (if you use sweetened coconut, you can reduce this amount)

1. Mix together coconut milk powder and 10 tbsp lukewarm water in a bowl until combined with no lumps.
2. Add rice into rice cooker pot. Wash rice twice to get rid of some of the starch.
3. Add coconut milk, 3 cups water, and shredded coconut to rice and stir until well coated and combined.
4. Place lid on rice cooker and turn on. Leave rice to continue cooking for about 10 minutes after the cooker turns off.
5. Take off the lid, and use a rice paddle to fluff up the rice. Mix in sugar until dissolved and evenly distributed in the rice.

Thai Chicken Thighs (adapted from CBC)
5 fresh chicken thighs
1/4 cup chopped green onions
3 cloves finely chopped garlic
1 tsp finely chopped fresh ginger
2 tbsp unsweetened peanut butter
2 tbsp Hoisin sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp corn oil
1/2 tsp chili garlic sauce
2 tbsp chopped parsley

1. Preheat the oven to 385 F.
2. Chop green onions, garlic, and ginger, and add into a medium sized bowl.
3. Add peanut butter, Hoisin sauce, soy sauce, 1 tbsp oil, and chili sauce into the bowl. Mix until combined and smooth.
4. Brush the inside of the bottom and sides of a shallow baking dish with 1 tbsp oil.
5. Place the chicken thighs in the baking dish and use the remaining tbsp oil to brush on the tops and sides of the chicken thighs to prevent them from burning.
6. Spoon the sauce evenly over each of the chicken thighs.
7. Bake for 40 min until you can easily stick a fork through the meat and juices run clear.
8. Remove from oven and garnish with parsley.

For my veggie side dish, I just quickly stir-fried some spinach with some corn oil and a pinch of salt until just wilted.

This further confirms my previous statement about peanut butter being magical. :D

-M

B-b-b-baking: Pie which is...?

Turkey dinner numero trois was today, so I decided to fulfill my desire to make an apple pie this morning. Apple pies are nice and autumn-y and fitting for Thanksgiving, so why not? :)

 

I based my pie recipe largely off from RunnyRunny999's for the dough and filling. His name is Taro, and he's another Japanese cooking YouTube person, but I like his comical personality and accent. For most of his videos, he will take an "order", do a cooking tutorial for that request, and then eat whatever he just made. While eating whatever he just made, he might wear something like a weird wig or glasses. He gives off the feeling of a regular person trying to cook, so you tend not to feel intimidated. It'd be like if I decided to post YouTube videos of myself cooking/baking stuff. That is unlikely to happen however, because I am camera shy and technologically-inept. This blog is challenging enough as it is ;P

 

Things I have learned today about apple pie:

- It is possible to make an apple pie in less than an hour (so long as you make the pie dough ahead of time).

- Anna Olson is a master of the lattice top pie. Unfortunately, even if I follow her method, my lack of hand-eye coordination leads to depressing results. Next time!

- I suck at peeling apples probably even more than I suck at peeling sweet potatoes. :(

- My pie dishes are wider and shallower than I originally thought.

- People are smart and use something grainy to put at the bottom of the pie before putting in the filling so it doesn't get all watery. This is smart only because it reminds me of my first apple pie-making experience in junior high. I was in a fail group of me plus 3 guys who were only in foods class to eat the product at the end. When we sliced open the pie, apple juice came rushing out, and the apples were undercooked. I shouldn't have trusted them with the filling. Derp.



"Apple fillings". Tender, smooth, and housewarming~

My futile attempt at a lattice top apple pie. One strand is only "on-tops"...I only noticed AFTER baking it. I also failed at spreading the filling evenly, so there is more filling "sauce" on one side, and more apples on the other. = =;;

Homemade Apple Pie (adapted from RunnyRunny999)
Double-Crust Pie Dough
2/3 cup all-purpose flour + 1/4 cup for rolling
1/2 cup cold margarine
1/2 cup water
4 ice cubes

1. Place ice cubes in your cup of water and set aside for later use.
2. Add flour into a medium-sized bowl.
3. Cut-in margarine with a pastry cutter until dough is somewhat flaky.
4. Remove ice cubes from water, and add it to the dough in small additions while cutting in with pastry cutter, until dough just holds together.
5. Place a piece of plastic wrap bigger than the bowl, over top of the bowl, and flip it upside down. Wrap the dough and chill for at least an hour.
6. Lightly flour a cutting board and rolling pin.
7. Press the dough out in front of you so that it is a long wide strip.
8. Fold the strip in half, and then in half again.
9. Turn the dough so that one of the open ends faces you, and repeat steps 7 and 8 until the dough is smooth.
10. Return to the fridge for another 30 minutes, or keep stored in the fridge afterwards until ready for use.

Filling
2 gala apples (I was going to use another recipe originally and it told me I needed 6-8 apples. Now I have a lot of apples.)
1 tsp ground cinnamon (You don't have to use this much. I just really like cinnamon.)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
Half of a fresh lemon
Granulated sugar to taste

1. Heat up a large sauce pan on medium heat.
2. Peel, core, and cut the apples into bite-sized pieces, and add them into the pan.
3. Add the brown sugar, and squeeze the juice of the lemon directly into the pan. Stir until the sugar has dissolved, and reduce the heat to medium low.
4. Simmer and stir until apples are tender, then add cornstarch and cinnamon, and continue stirring until dissolved and slightly thickened.
5. Pour apple mixture into a medium-sized bowl. Use a teaspoon to taste some of the filling. If it's too tart, add some granulated sugar and stir until dissolved. I added about half of a 1/4 cup.
6. Set aside until ready for use.

Apple Pie
1 batch of double-crust pie dough
1 batch of apple pie filling
4 graham crackers

1. Pre-heat oven to 450 F.
2. Split the pie dough in half, and roll out one half evenly on a floured surface until it is wide enough to completely cover your pie plate plus some. Lay one of the circles in the centre of your pie plate, and roll out the second half of your dough.
3. Slice the second circle into 12-14 strips of an equal length and set aside. I used my pastry cutter, because I didn't think of using my pizza cutter. That's why it looks kind of clumsy...
3. Place graham crackers into a ziploc bag and crush into little bits. Try not to crush it too much into a powder.
4. Spread the graham crackers on top of the pie dough in your pie plate.
5. Spread the pie filling on top of the graham crackers.
6. Create a lattice top. Lay 6 or 7 of the strips horizontally across the top of the pie. Fold back every second strip so that you can lay one strip vertically across the pie about 1 inch from the inside edge of the crust. Unfold the horizontal strips, and fold back every first strip this time so that you can lay another strip vertically across the pie about 1 inch from the edge of the last vertical strip. Repeat this alternating process until you have a criss-crossing weave pattern on the top of the pie. If you have no idea what I was talking about because I wasn't smart enough to do step-by-step photos, Google "Anna Olson lattice pie". Anna Olson is my pastry chef god.
7. Cut off the ends of the lattice strips that hang off the edge of the pie pan and stick them around the crust's edge. Roll the edge of the first pie circle to cover the edges and pinch to close. Mine is ugly because I didn't make the first circle big enough so I had to "Band-Aid" it with leftover pieces of pie dough from cutting the strips. This was my first attempt at a lattice top. I promise to get better.
8. If you want to, you can take the time to beat an egg yolk and brush it on the top of the pie and sprinkle some coarse sugar to make it look nicer. I forgot to do this. > >''
9. Loosely cover the pie with a sheet of aluminum foil to prevent it from burning. Bake for about 15 min, then remove the sheet of foil and return to the oven for another 10 min until the crust is golden brown and the filling is nice and bubbly.
10. Serve a la mode or on its own!

E was nice enough to join me for lunch today before going to study. Unfortunately for him, I didn't have any ready-to-go meat. Luckily, he is a super egg fanatic. No, he couldn't have my salmon because that was for me.


Pan-fried salmon sandwich with iceberg lettuce on a toasted ciabatta bun, and a side of homemade sweet potato fries.
Note: This time, I tried replacing the olive oil with an egg white, and I baked them at 450 F for about 10 minutes on each side. It actually turned out slightly better. However, I have come to realize that baked fries will probably never be as crispy as deepfried ones, but that is okay with me. They were still yummy :)

E was so kind to join me for lunch today. Double-fried egg sandwich with iceberg lettuce and Kraft Singles cheese on homemade garlic ciabatta bun, and a side of homemade sweet potato fries.

Pan-fried salmon
3 oz. salmon filet
1 egg white (Leftover from the other day's custard. The other one went into the sweet potato fries.)
1 tsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

1. De-scale the fish filet by scraping the skin with a knife against the scales. Rinse the filet with cold water to make sure you won't be eating miniature toe nails.
2. Add oil to a pan on medium heat. Beat an egg white and drench filet. Because you notice that there is way more egg white than you need, add the rest to the two eggs you are frying for your boyfriend's sandwich. He won't notice ;P
3. Place filet on pan skin side down, and add salt and pepper on flesh to taste. Let cook for a couple minutes depending on the thickness. Mine was maybe an inch thick in the centre. Flip to cook on flesh side for a couple minutes. Fish cooks really fast, and it's easy to overdo salmon, so just eye it and you should be good.
4. Remove from heat and dress up as you like. I put mine on a toasted ciabatta bun with some lettuce and mustard. Most fish tastes awesome with anything vinegar-y. You will notice that my anything to bread/rice ratio must be at least 1:1, but it's usually more like 2 or 3:1.

It has been a pretty food-tastic weekend :)

-M

Cardio and Cooking: "No Thanks" to Turkey.

Happy Thanksgiving, all~

I decided not to have turkey tonight for dinner. I knowwww... But honestly. My mom made a turkey on Thursday, I had turkey last night at a friend's house, and I have another Thanksgiving dinner to go to tomorrow. Talk about tryptophan overload.

Tonight was a lovely, quiet steak dinner. Mmm...

Things I have learned today about sweet potatoes:
- The "yams" at Sobey's are actually sweet potatoes. The flesh of yams are white to yellow to purple. Sweet potatoes have orange flesh but can have various coloured peels.
- Either they are difficult to peel and cut, or I just suck at it.
- They are low in calories and good sources of antioxidants (i.e. beta carotene), fibre, and potassium.
- They make you fart more. For those of you who immaturely "teehee" about farts like I do, I have a fun link for you :D

Medium-rare filet mignon with garlic toast, broccoli, sweet potato fries, and a cup of chrysanthemum tea. :)
FYI: I am not going to die from E. coli poisoning. My beef was purchased from a local butcher, therefore not impacted by XL Foods.

Garlic Toast
4 cloves of garlic
2 tsp margarine
2 tbsp olive oil
3 ciabatta buns (You can use other kinds of bread or buns for this. It was just enough to cover 3 ciabatta buns from Sobey's.)

1. Use a cleaver or wide bladed knife to whack each clove of garlic so that the skin is easy to remove. Then, chop finely.
2. Add margarine and olive oil and mix with a spoon until combined.
3. Slice open the buns, and evenly distribute and spread the garlic butter on them.
4. Place under broiler for about 6-7 minutes, but keep an eye on them to make sure they don't burn.
5. Remove from oven and enjoy immediately!

Sweet Potato Fries
*Makes 1 baking sheet*
1/2 of a sweet potato (Full potato was about 20 cm x 7 cm.)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp of Mrs. Dash
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Peel and rinse sweet potato.
2. Cut into strips about 1.5 cm wide and 0.5 cm to 0.75 cm thick. I had to use a cleaver.
3. Soak strips in a bowl of water for 20 minutes to remove some of the starch.
4. Turn on the broiler and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
5. Drain the water and add oil and seasonings into bowl. Toss until evenly distributed on the fries.
6. Spread out the fries on the baking sheet. Place under broiler for 10 minutes.
7. Remove from oven and quickly flip the fries with a metal spatula before returning the pan to the oven for another 10 minutes. Watch to make sure they don't burn.
8. Remove from oven joy immediately!

It was my first time both for making homemade garlic butter and sweet potato fries! The garlic toast turned out quite well - the butter was nice and garlicky and the toast was nice and toasty. The fries were softer than I had hoped for though :( I've read that you can use an egg white in place of olive oil to make them crispier. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow. I still have half of a sweet potato!

-M

P-p-p-partayyy: Let them eat cake!

My baby blog just turned one month old 2 days ago! I was going to post something on Thursday, but nothing exciting happened. I think I had regular peanut butter toast. I already sort of did a post on peanut butter toast when I had huge cravings for thick toast, and I didn't want to post about my unexciting leftovers in the fridge.

Today, I got to go to a friend's house for a Thanksgiving dinner, which gave me an excuse to bake something interesting. I was going to make a pie originally, but I got tipped that cake was a better option.

I based my recipe off of another YouTube cooking channel for my cake, Ochikeron. It's another Japanese one, but her stuff generally turns out quite well, and her directions are fairy straight forward. The only thing is that she tends to use a lot of "instant" stuff here and there, which I am a little iffy about, but otherwise, worth the watch~

Things I have learned today about short cake:
- It is decently easy to put together.
- It's more like a biscuit than a cake, and you don't necessarily need to use leavening agents...?
- It tastes good with creamy things and a cup of tea.
- Strawberries are probably still the best fruit to use in a short cake :)

Things I have learned today about custard:
- Custard can be used for a tart filling, but also works as a good layering base in a sponge cake.
- Custard can be made with non-dairy milk, and no one will notice unless you tell them.
- Vanilla really makes the custard
- It can be made in a jiffy which rocks.

I wish I had taken some pictures of the process, but it was kind of a hurried thing. I basically baked the sponge cakes this morning, went to work, came back to make the whipped cream topping and custard filling and assemble it before going over to my friend's house. I literally finished making the thing 10 minutes before we (me and E) got there.

People likely didn't notice, but I didn't cut all of the strawberries the same way...While I was hulling and halving them, I ended up quartering some of them, so half of the ones on the outside ring are quartered, and the other half are halved... > <

 Strawberry Custard Cream Layered Cake? (adapted from Ochikeron - She also has a blog called "Create Eat Happy".)

*Makes 1 layered cake* (dairy-free, complete with filling and topping - you can definitely use regular cream and milk)

Shortcake: (I made two shortcakes for my sponge bases.)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 eggs

1 1/2 tbsp corn oil

1/2 cup granulated sugar

 

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a 7 1/2 inch round pan with parchment paper.

2. Beat 2 eggs in a lightweight medium size bowl.

3. Add sugar and mix until combined.

4. Fill 1/3 of a slightly larger bowl with hot water, and whisk the eggs and sugar over the hot water until the sugar melts. Remove from the hot water immediately afterwards so it doesn't cook the mixture.

5. Pour the mixture into the large bowl of a stand-in electric mixer, and beat until white and fluffy.

6. Sift and add the flour in 4 portions, using a spatula to gently fold the flour into the mixture. Be careful not to overmix.

7. Add the oil, and fold gently until just combined.

8. Carefully pour the mixture into your parchment-lined pan, and bake for 25 minutes.

9. Place a paper towel over a cooling rack. Remove the parchment around the sides of the cake, and carefully place the cake (with the pan on) upside down on the paper towel to cool.  

10. Once cooled, carefully wrap the cake in plastic wrap and refrigerate until you are ready to assemble.

• As far as assembly, I started with one shortcake, spread half the custard on the cake, placed some strawberries, spread the rest of the custard, second shortcake, spread whipped cream, arrange the rest of the strawberries on top.

Topping:

1 can of coconut milk

2 tbsp corn starch

2 tbsp granulated sugar

16 oz. fresh strawberries (1 box from Save-On Foods)

 

1. Chill the bowl for your stand-in electric mixer in the fridge for at least 30 min.

2. Carefully flip the can of coconut milk upside down and open the can.

3. Remove the layer of liquid and save for use in smoothies/other baking or cooking. Empty the creamy coconut milk into the chilled bowl.

4. Using an electric mixer, whip the cream, gradually adding sugar to sweeten, and starch to thicken the mixture.

5. Spread the cream on the top of your assembled cake.

•  The whole amount of coconut whipped cream that you end up with is a bit much for the top, so you can spread it over the sides of the cake if you want to. I was in a hurry, and it sort of looked okay? :S 

6. Wash, hull, and halve strawberries, and arrange as desired. You could spread some jam or honey over the strawberries, but I don't like super crazy toothachy sweet stuff.

 

Custard:

1 cup soy milk

2 egg yolks

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 tbsp all-purpose flour

 

1. Gently boil milk in a medium sauce pan over medium heat.

2. Meanwhile, separate 2 eggs, and reserve the egg whites for use in other baking/cooking recipes.

3. Beat egg yolks, sugar, and flour in a bowl until combined.

4. Once the milk has boiled, remove from heat and gradually add to egg mixture while stirring.

5. Return the whole custard mixture to the saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to medium-low heat for a few minutes until the custard thickens enough to be spread on the cake.

6. Ready to use on the cake as you wish! If you want it to be thicker, chill in the fridge for a bit before use.

 

Yay for dairy-free cake with cream! :) You may have noticed that instead of using less sweet substitutes, I actually went ahead with the granulated sugar. I wasn't sure how brown sugar would work with the eggs in a custard or fluffy cake mix, and I didn't want to test too many new things when I was bringing this over for other people. I also found that the sponge of the cake was a bit drier than I would have liked. It wasn't bad, but perhaps I'll invest in some actual cake flour...

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

-M

Budget-Friendly Bites: White Spot, Four Points Sheraton (Southside)

My family and I went to the new White Spot location on the south side. The old location was where the new IHOP on Calgary Trail is. White Spot seems to have changed its image and standards quite a bit. I hadn't been to White Spot for a long time even before it closed due to a slightly tarnished experience. Nothing to do with the food or service there though.

They currently have this limited time offer where you can get a 3-course meal for either $15 or $18. The difference in price is just referent to the choices of your entree.

I've been giving myself a few extra cheat days to make up for the ones I missed during the past few months ;P

I went with their "Spot Salad" which is their house salad - mixed greens, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, diced red onion, and cherry tomatoes with a honey vinaigrette dressing. Not too bad. I don't like cherry tomatoes so I gave them to my brother. I just don't think tomatoes should be miniature. They gross me out. Other than the Spot Salad, you could get a Caesar salad or a cup of soup.

For the entree, I picked the Bacon Cheddar Chicken Burger. No, I didn't pick the chicken burger because of the beef scare going on. I just don't really like beef. Like I've mentioned before, I really have to be in the mood for it. I just like chicken burgers. Fish burgers moreso, but unfortunately, there was no such option :( It's only slightly out of character for me to order something with bacon in it, but I decided to go with it. It was a decent-sized plate. Half filled with their "signature fries" which are apparently "endless". I guess the idea parallels that of Red Robin's but despite the attempt, Red Robin's bottomless steak fries win. Normally, I don't like coleslaw, but theirs was actually not bad. I found it weird that they sprinkled sunflower seeds in it, but I guess it just took some getting used to. The cabbage was fresh, and the dressing was very light, so it was all tolerable. I only ate half of the burger. It was quite large (for me). It had a grilled chicken breast, tomato, onion, lettuce, ketchup, some sort of mayo-ish sauce, cheddar cheese, and a couple strips of bacon. The fries weren't that special. Not particularly crisp, not too salty, but I'm not complaining. I basically have an unconditional love for potatoes, and I'm not the biggest salt fanatic, so it gets an OK from me.

You had the choice of a personal-sized apple pie with a scoop of icecream on top, or a personal-sized "seasonal" pie. Upon ordering, our server said that aside from the apple pie, they had strawberry, blueberry, and pumpkin. I was sold at blueberry. Unfortunately, by the time dessert came around, they didn't have strawberry or blueberry, so I switched it to pumpkin. My mom likes pumpkin, so it was okay  I left my family to eat the pie, as I was stuffed. The crust looked kind of like a molded graham cracker crust, so it was more of a tart. The pumpkin puree looked pretty good on the inside, and there was a layer of crushed pecans on top. The apple pie looked like an apple crumble with a scoop of vanilla icecream on top, all inside a personal-sized tart crust. I was full, so I couldn't judge on the sweets.

For $15, I have to say that the dinner was pretty decent. At Boston Pizza, for example, your main course alone would cost about $15 or more. Take advantage of this deal while it lasts!

-M

B-b-b-baking: C is for B-Carotene

So, my aunt and uncle are coming here from out of town. Possibly just in time to see our first snowfall...Fun stuff. I wanted to bake something for them because I don't spend a whole lot of time at home since I have to juggle school and work.

We had a lot of carrots in the fridge. Maybe my dad is concerned about the amount of time I am spending in front of the computer at work and home? These papers and presentations have been turning me into a bit of a hermit already... That's okay though! I love excuses to use my new toy that I bought this summer from the Daiso in Richmond. My Japanese box grater! It is excellent for grating hard things like turnips, carrots, potatoes, and the like! I decided to go with some sort of carrot cake/muffin, and apparently, ginger goes quite well with carrots. And cinnamon~ I absolutely love cinnamon. Too much sometimes. I hadn't baked with ginger before, so it was something new to try out! I was tempted to go gluten-free for these as well, but I figured it wouldn't be too nice to turn my relatives into guinea pigs during their visit.

They'll be traveling around during their stay, so I turned the cake into muffins for easier consumption and transport.

Things I have learned today about ginger:
- Ginger peels super easily! Sometimes with other fruit and vegetables, peels don't come off that clean and you have to overlap a bit. For ginger, it comes right off!
- Ginger is strong and can burn your eyes like onions :(
- Ginger turns kind of stringy/hairy when you grate it...

Regardless of how it can add to a dish or how it is convenient to use, I still can't understand why some people can eat entire chunks of ginger and enjoy it.

Carrot Ginger Muffins are nice and bright! These will be good for mornings!

Vegan Carrot Ginger Muffins (adapted from Michael Runs On Veg)
*Makes 12 muffins*
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (I had to reduce the flour. Sometimes, I forget that it is quite dry here.)
1/2 tsp table salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 Tbsp freshly ground ginger
1/2 cup golden brown sugar
1 cup unsweetened soy milk
1 flaxseed egg replacer (i.e. 1 Tbsp ground flaxseeds + 3 Tbsp room temperature water)
1/3 cup corn oil
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup freshly grated carrots

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F and prepare a muffin pan with 12 paper liners.
2. Add ground flaxseeds, room temperature water, and vanilla into a small bowl. Stir lightly and set aside.
3. Peel and grate carrots and ginger into a small bowl (or your box grater~) and set aside.
Add oil and sugar into a large bowl and mix until combined.
4. Add flax egg and mix until combined.
5. In a medium bowl, add flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon and mix until combined.
6. Fold the dry mixture into the wet mixture until just combined.
7. Add soy milk and fold until just combined.
8. Fold in carrot and ginger mixture. You can also take this time to fold in some walnuts or pecans if you want to.
9. Distribute the batter evenly into the muffin pan.
10. Bake for 20 min.
11. When finished baking, remove from muffin pan and place on cooling rack to cool completely or serve right away.
*Remember to make sure the centres are cooked through by inserting a toothpick and seeing if it comes out clean.*

They make your house smell nice and homey~ It will be comforting for the long winter ahead :)

-M