What's up?

So I've been MIA for a long while. Been working and taking care of my family. That's all. But a lot has been going on here...

 

Brek decided this year that he wanted to go to public school. And off he went to public high school. He's luving every minute of it... well, except lunch. I guess going from homeschooling to taking classes at a private school of less than 80 students to 2000+ public high school would be daunting to me. But it's like an adventure for him. He luvs the prep rally. He finally understood the grossness of school lunches. Now I have to deliver hot lunch a few times a week. Wouldn't it be nice if all schools have microwaves?

 

I decided to homeschool Camden this year. When I have to work to make deadlines, he'd sit next to me, playing games on iPad, singing, and sometimes even asking me to help him with some spellings. And it's been like that lately... work, school, work, school. And sometimes, Camden was so loud that I couldn't concentrate on what I was typing. Yup, I decided to videotape his singing. This one was pretty good. He luvs to beat bopping. But sometimes, I'd wonder if he was singing or was that just a lot of yelling.

 



 

I had a chance to take Camden to the library to homeschool him there for the first time. Took a picture of him with his backpack and his Scooby. He was so happy and excited. Plus, it was fun. Then that night, he kept playing with Daddy's Halloween wig. Daddy took a picture of him turning into a rock star. Check out my first meme.

 

 

I haven't baked much. My Something Sweeter bakery has been quiet. Nobody is ordering. Well, I haven't really advertised. I've been contracted with work remotely from home, so that is my focus right now. I didn't realize how much fun it is to actually have a job-job. Here's hoping my company has more projects for me to work on even after my husband finds work.

 

When I had to go into the office to turn in my files, I made time to bake. My coworkers seemed to enjoy my baked sweets. I mean, the sweets were always sold out. Good for my ego, you know what I mean? It's been a good excuse to make the time to bake cookies, brownies, or muffins. I want to bake them chocolate croissants one of these days. And sticky buns. These are yeast dough so they taste best the day they are baked. That will be tricky to bake and bring them into the office the same day. Hmm... I've been waking up at 6am every morning (some days even earlier... how about 5am). Maybe I can.

 

I'm thinking of baking something oatmeal. Definitely oatmeal cookies. Ate one at Whole Foods and it was really good. Couldn't figure out what was in it... tasted like caramel. But you know how that goes. It's gonna take awhile when testing recipes. I hope my kids won't mind taste testing them. By the way, Autumn is here. What are you guys baking? I've been craving bacons... but that has nothing to do with season changed. Well, I'm in Texas so it still feels like summer... hot and humid. Seriously though. If anything is always good with bacons, then bacons must be great any time of the year. Check out my maple bacon cupcakes. Umm... bacons...

New Year's Resolution 2016

For the past two years, I was able to keep my New Year's resolutions because I set a realistic goal for each year. So what is my 2016 New Year's resolution?

2015 was life changing for my family. My husband was laid off from a job that he had for over 8 years because the oil industry's been doing poorly. We had to downsize and sold our home. It was very hectic. But we persevered and sold our home within 3 days on the market. I've continued to homeschool my kids. Brek is now a teen, 13 to be exact. Camden turned 6, but he seems to behave like he's a teen. On top of all this, we were unprepared for the health insurance crisis. My husband and I thought we would be okay with a year or two worth of saving. But a health insurance for a family of four makes a big dent in our savings.

My parents came to visit us in October. We asked if they can stay longer, so they're scheduled to leave at the end of February. I'm so thankful that they are here because they've brought perspectives to what we've been going through right now, reminding us what to worry about and mainly what not to worry about.

The first week after my husband was out of a job, he suggested that I went back to work full time so that we would receive a health insurance benefit. Seriously, who's gonna hire a mid 40 year old woman who's been out of workforce for over 12 years? And just exactly what job was I suppose to apply for?

That was when I realized that I needed to stop dreaming and to start doing something about my dream. I decided to research the Texas cottage law where a home baker can bake and sell sweet items from her home kitchen. It was pretty simple. I took a food handling license, spoke with a friend of a friend about the home based bakery business, asked my cousin to design a logo for my bakery, started retesting recipes and totaled up the costs, worked on my bakery on line menu.... and the list just went on and on and on.

Finally, my dream came true. I'm officially an proud owner of my own bakery, Something Sweeter. For 2016, my New Year resolution will be... working very hard to have a successful start-up bakery business. I also want to work on my first cookbook this year. I want to accomplish all this while I continue to homeschool my kids and be a stay-at-home mom. Because, let's face it, I like being at home and do the things I've been doing with my kids. If I can help my family's financially without losing that privilege, then that is all I need to do.

Visit my on-line Something Sweeter bakery at http://menusomethingsweeter.blogspot.com/

Cheer to 2016!!!

My Kids' Emilination Diet

Just because I took my kids to the doctors, I didn't expect them to have all the answers. The mother's intuition has worked for me more than any doctor's visit.

Case in point. Five years ago, Brek always woke up with stuffy nose. For his yearly checkup, his pediatrician suggested that he visited a board certified allergist. At that time, Camden also was having food intolerance to dairy, corn, and chicken eggs. I took them in and asked if they could be tested for food allergy. At first, this doctor totally ignored Camden's issue, saying that he was too young for food allergy tests. He gave so much attention to Brek, saying that his stuffy nose was most likely triggered by environment. So Brek had a skin test instead... for environment. Came up positive for many things, including oak, grasses, cats and dogs. We left the office with three prescriptions and with a doctor's final says (not exact words), "Tried these medications. Come back in a month and we'll evaluate how the medicines work out for him." Really??? Three prescribed medications. What a waste of time.

I never filled the prescriptions. My intuition told me that it had to be something Brek ate. When he was a baby, Brek was sensitive to dairy. I thought he was already outgrew it, but I went ahead and took him off of cow's milk products. Within twenty-four hours, his nose cleared up and was no longer stuffy. Come to think of it, I should just eliminate dairy from his diet instead of going to see the allergist.

Fast forward to this year. The same situation happened to Camden. His nose was super stuffy that he couldn't breath at all. His turbinates were swollen. It was over a year of not knowing what was the culprit that caused his stuffy nose. During his yearly checkup, his doctor prescribed him a steroid nasal spray. It was all good until it no longer worked. Plus, if he didn't get the nose spray, his nose would become stuffy again. Temporary relief but I wanted a permanent solution.

Since we weren't having dairy (cow's products) in the house, I took corn out of his diet. I cooked and baked everything from scratch with clean and corn free products. For over six weeks of corn free diet, there was no change in his health. His nose was still stuffy, so much so that I decided to take him in to see ETN, fearing that he might have sinus related issue. His doctor seemed to be angry with me for not getting him tested for environmental allergy. But at the same time, she told me that there was no solution for environmental allergy. Just allergy shots and steroid nose spray. Even after I told her that Camden's nose bled twice, she told me to stop using it for a few days then start up again. Seriously, that was the doctor's advice.

I cleaned Camden's bedroom from top to bottom, washing the walls and floor. Took out everything from his bedroom but a bed, dresser, and a bedside table. No books or toys. I bought an air purifier and ran it on "Tubor" before he went to bed. His nose was flushed out with natural saline spray and treated with organic coconut oil. No steroid nose spray. No medications. Yet, there was no change. His nose was still stuffy. Some days were worst than the others. I was really stumped.

Then both Brek and Camden caught a stomach virus. They couldn't keep anything down. Their diet was banana, rice, my homemade tortilla and bread, Late July crackers, and water. By the third day of being sick, Camden's nose was clearing up. For the first time, he was able to breath normally. It was a light bulb moment. I was pretty sure the crackers he was eating wasn't corn free because there was yeast in them. While they both were sick, we weren't haven't anything with eggs.

I took chicken eggs out of his diet completely. Then I did a little research. Turned out the chickens that produced the eggs that we were consuming were fed with soy beans and alfalfa. Legumes!!! Another light bulb moment.

Since Camden has G6PD, his diet must be without legumes. I came to a conclusion that maybe it wasn't the chicken eggs he was having a reaction to. Maybe it was the legumes that pass on to the eggs. Well, as of this writing, I'm still cooking without cow's products, all types of eggs, and all legumes, including soy products. We're now in a fourth week of food elimination diet.

My method of elimination diet is very simple. I take away the questionable food for at least six weeks. Then I add it back and wait for the food sensitive reactions such as stuffy nose, vomiting, diarrhea, heartburn-like symptom (especially burping), and night waking. Keep in mind that if your child is super sensitive to certain foods, contamination may occur through utensils and cookware. I had to buy new cookware when Camden was sensitive to corn.

If I find a culprit to my kids' food intolerance and share this finding with their doctors, they would incline to agree with me. If the findings are not scientific or from another doctors, it isn't reliable to them. But think of it this way, who knows more about my kids more than me? I'm their mother. I take care of them 24/7. It doesn't matter what anybody thinks about my findings. All I know is that my kids are in good health and that is all that matter.

Just because my kids have a strict diet, doesn't mean they can't eat good food, especially sweets. Here are some of my favorite egg free recipes that I posted:

Autumn Puff Rice Crispy
Chocolate Cake
Chocolate Frosting
Chicken Noodle Soup (see Allergy Info)
Chicken Nuggets (see Allergy Info)
Chocolate Pudding
Gummy Snacks
Hash Browns
Icee
Palmiers (also puff pastry)
Pizza Dough (that can be made into so many sweets and savories)
Salted Caramel Sticky Buns
Salted Caramel and Lollipops
Slow-Cook Pulled Pork (with dry spice rub)
Steamed Bao
Steamed Rice Hearts
Sweet Pecans Delight

Be sure to check back as I've been testing some recipes with no dairy, no eggs, and no legumes. So far, it's been a challenge but fun.

Kitchen Tip: spring cleaning a pantry

At least twice a year, I'd go through my pantry and rearrange pantry goodies. Depending on how the pantry is setup, I really have to think of how to utilize each shelf and each corner to the max. I mainly want to keep everything neat and clean and not so much of organizing anything. This is why I usually end up going through my pantry when I get super irritated with "where's this?" or "where's that?"

When I step into my pantry and look up, I can imagine so many more shelves. Guess what? I asked a guy to estimate how much it would cost to put up maybe one more shelf across the pantry. Three hundred bucks. WHAT??? No, thanks. I bought a few stackable baskets from Walmart and have been using them to store my baking supplies, such as cupcake liners. Bags of chips fit in the baskets perfectly. Easy to view too. Oh the basket was only five bucks each. Take that, Mr. Handyman!


The middle shelves are much easier to view. With these shelves, I store mostly foods such as dry pasta or noodles. Nuts do go into mason jars, labeled each jar of the day I open the packages. Nuts are tricky to store because they get so oily and taste kinda "blah" after a month. I definitely make sure I use nuts regularly. Use Sharpie to write the dates as they can be scrub off easily with stainless steel wools. The hanging shelf basket for the napkins that I pack for Brek's lunchbox is also another way to utilize more pantry space.

The bottom shelves of my pantry are really deep... and dark. I can't hardly see things that store in the back of these shelves. I usually store pans or containers that I don't use often. Baskets are a must. I use them to store plastic containers (highly recommend Lock-N-Lock containers), open packages of snacks, and paper or plastic utensils. One of these days, I'll make labels for these baskets.

Now all I have to do each time I decide to spring cleaning my pantry is to group the same items together. I take everything out of each shelf, starting from the top. Wiping down each shelf with damp cloth and then dry cloth before placing everything back where they belong. Before I know it, everything has its home. Most of the time, I'd end up with at least a bag full of garbage of expired foods, half eaten open bags of chips, or just empty boxes.

You know what, it doesn't have to be Spring time to spring cleaning my pantry. To this day, Brek still tells me that he would luv to spring clean my pantry for free. My kids luv to clean. Next time, I'll have to make it a homeschool special event, follow with something sweeter. Hmm... maybe I should make my pantry messy again.... soon.

2015 New Year's Resolution

making snow-people cake toppers

Why is it that I'm always running out of time when I try to get things done around the house. So when do I have time to blog? Well, with so many things going on in my life, food blogging is the only way I can keep track of what yumminess I've made and my kids approve of. It is actually a good way for me to organize all of my recipes.

With that said, you can check out a list of All Recipes here. I'll keep this page up to date as I add more recipes in the future.

You know that phrase "where's all the time go?" For me, I'd said it nearly every day. So last year, I promised myself to eat more veggies. That I did!!!

I've been thinking in November... just a few weeks before Thanksgiving, regarding my 2015 new year resolution. I've continued to homeschool my kids, cooking and baking from scratch, plus doing the everyday chores. What on earth do I have time to do through out this year? Then it darn on me.

I miss having my kids in the kitchen with me. Last year, I always sent them upstairs to play while I worked on our breakfast, brunch, lunch, afternoon snack, or dinner. But this year, I want them in the kitchen, cooking, baking, and testing recipes with me.

So for my 2015 New Year's resolution, I'd like to teach a cooking class... to my kids.

Brek is already 12 years old. Since he luvs to cook and bake, I want to teach him this life skill, cooking for himself. I want him to become the independent man who can whip up a dinner or a dessert. Camden also luvs to be in the kitchen so getting him involve in baking is a good start.  Plus, he offers to do dishes for me. Better take advantage of that offer now, right?

So come back and visit my blog in the future to see what my kids and I will be cooking up. I see a lot of potentials from my kids... three mad scientists in the kitchen. Watch out, world!!!

All Things Birthday Sweets

I luv to throw birthday parties for my kids. Not only for celebrating a year milestone, but also for getting together with our friends, especially the ones who live very far from us.

For me, hosting a birthday party takes a lot of planning. I started my planning as long as three months in advance. Depending on the birthday theme, I sometimes had to search and order products on the internet, including their birthday presents.

Throwing my kids a birthday party also takes experience. When Brek turned a year old, I had no idea what I was doing... or not doing. Grandma asked me where were the first birthday decorations. What birthday decorations? Two hours before our guests arrived, I rushed to store nearby and picked up a generic first birthday bear theme. I ordered a cake from a local grocery store and asked my husband to pick it up after work. He didn't bother to look at the cake. So Brek's cake read, "Happy Birthday, Andrew!" Yup, apparently, this Andrew kid didn't get his cake. For entertainment, we had tween neighbors smashed up the football shaped piñata. It was fun just to get together with our friends, but it was a sad first birthday party.

But my kids' birthday parties improved each year. What mistakes made on previous year were never repeated again. Keep in mind the followings when you throw any party: location, number of guests, amount of food and drinks, activities, goodie bags, and thank you notes.

So far, my kids' birthday parties always took place at my home. My friends told me that it was no clean up if they had parties outside of their homes. But to me, being at home is more relaxing. Plus guests can stay as long as they want to.

The party usually started out with an activity like arts and crafts. As soon as all the kids arrived, we would do the actual theme party activity. Following all the fun, we had lunch or dinner. I usually waited about an hour or so to have a birthday dessert. Opening up presents would be the very last activity. After everybody was fed and happy, kids played with the toys, and grown ups just sat around, supervising kids and catching up on life.

Here are some of the successful birthday themes.

Camden's first birthday: Farm Animals
Because Camden had food intolerance, I baked him a pumpkin muffin as his first birthday dessert. It was free from dairy, eggs, corn, and legumes. I placed the muffin on top of a tractor toy which I decorated with farm animals birthday theme. He nibbled on it the next day. It was very low key. Mostly we just hung out with our kids.

Camden's second birthday: Sesame Street
Camden watched Sesame Street nearly every day. He luv Elmo, so I thought Elmo cake would be nice. But no food coloring. While Brek was watching Sesame Street on DVD with Camden, he saw the end credits of Elmo and other Sesame Street characters made out of veggies and fruits. Brek and I had a light bulb moment. Why not make Elmo cake using fruits and berries. Elmo cake looked... well, like Elmo with a lot of berries. Click here for Elmo cake recipe. The room was decorated in Sesame Street characters.

Brek's 6th birthday: Picnic on the Moon
Brek wanted to do a space theme, so I came up with picnic on the moon. For a moon room, my husband and I cleared out a room and darken the windows. Spread out a picnic blanket and placed a lava lamp and flower lights in the middle. Kids sat around the lights, and they had pizza and juice. Cake was a spherical cake with hand made clay dough of Brek sitting against the mini picnic basket. Nobody cared for the cake and ice cream. Kids just wanted to hang out on the moon. Brek's friends went home with their own picnic baskets filled with goodies.

Keep in mind that a birthday doesn't have to have a birthday cake. As long as something sweeter was served, kids would be happy. For Brek's 7th birthday party, I made him a seven layers dessert: cookie crumbs, ice cream, whipping cream, chocolate syrup. Kids luv the birthday dessert. Some even asked to have just ice cream. Whatever made them happy. After that easy experience, I decided to serve more of birthday dessert instead of a traditional birthday cake.

Here are some of the successful birthday desserts.

Since Camden outgrew all of his food intolerance four months before he turned three, I decided to bake a Wubbzy cheesecake and sponge cupcakes. Wubbzy was yellow so the cheesecake was a smart alternative to no food coloring. The Wubbzy and his friends cupcake picks were colorful printouts that were glued on to the card stock.

Camden's 4th birthday was a Knight theme. It was all his idea. He wanted to be a knight. I even sew him a knight costume which he also worn on Halloween. I made a big sheet of chocolate rice crispy treats because rice sorta looked like pebbles. On the side, I also made chocolate cake push pops. I bought a knight cupcake liners, picks, and castle goodie boxes on line. All were used to decorate Camden's birthday dessert.

LEGO Ninjago's cake pops were really cute and tasty for Brek's 9th birthday. Since I decided not to use food coloring (even though we only had to avoid dairy and legumes at that time), I drew a Ninjago characters on different colored foam cutouts. So the cake pops were still colorful without the food coloring added. Of all the cakes and desserts I made for my kids' birthday, these cake pops were very time consuming. Still had fun in the kitchen.

A few times, I volunteered to make my friend's kids their birthday sweets. Once, her son birthday theme was snakes. There were a lot of inspiration on Pinterest but involved a lot of food coloring. I wanted to make it simple but three dimensional. So I went with Snake cake pops. They were much easier to make than the Ninjago's cake pops. No food coloring on these cake pops as well. Just melted chocolate for snake skin. The snake's tongue was a slice of carrot. The dessert floor were roughly crushed graham crackers. To make these cake pops looking like a snake, I used a small box and poked holes to place each cake pop's handle inside the box. Just had to line the cake pops so they came together and looked like a snake slithery on the ground.

For Brek's 11th birthday, I made s'more in a jar with graham crackers, marshmallow fluff, and chocolate pudding. The theme was outdoor camping even though the party was indoor. I also made s'more pops with homemade marshmallows dipped in melted chocolate with sprinkled graham cracker crumbs. Remember to decorate the jars to make them special. I bought card stock with outdoor theme, cut out little pictures, and taped them on the outside of each jars. Pretty simple but made a big statement.

This year, Brek will turn 12 in August. He told me that he no longer wants a birthday party. He admitted to be too old for a birthday party. (sigh) Kids... grow up too fast. All he wants this year is to have his best friends over, hoping they would like to have a sleepover. You know, I will bake him something birthday sweet anyway, right? Camden's turning 5 in November and already wishes for a mine craft theme. My mind is already spinning the wheels with ideas. Knowing Camden, he probably changes his mind... tomorrow and chooses a different birthday theme.

Allergy Info: All of the birthday sweets can be modified according to your allergy free diet. With food intolerance or allergy in your family, be sure to provide guests with food and drink that you normally consume without any allergic reaction. I've cooked and baked everything from scratch for each birthday party since Camden became intolerance with some foods. Everybody's told me that they luv to eat whatever I cooked or baked each year. See, allergy friendly foods are pretty tasty. I always keep the appetizer or meals very simple, so I can concentrate on the birthday sweets.

Summer Reading

"No more pencils, no more books, no more teacher's dirty look." Summer is finally here!

For us, school is always in because we're homeschoolers. We do take a break with the actually textbook learning now and then. To keep my boys busy this summer, I've thought about doing crafts and some baking activities with them. We also planned to travel, a short family road trip up north of Texas. Brek signed up for a music camp in July, learning to play a drum. So we're busy bees!!!

The one activity we always do every summer is joining the summer reading program at our local library. Brek started the library summer reading activity since he was three years old. Back then, I had to read him twenty books to receive prizes like a pencil, a trophy, and a certificate. Now, he enjoys reading chapter books like the Killing Species or the Percy Jackson series. Two years ago, he read so many Magic Tree House series that he decided it would be his birthday party theme. We even rented a camel for everybody to ride on around our home. That was a blast. I'm super happy that he's into read. Last year, he won a stuffed penguin for Camden when there was a weekly drawing for those who signed up for the program. That was a fun surprise.

Camden prefers coloring and solving puzzles like mazes. Well, he's only four years old and is still learning the alphabets. I read to him like I did with Brek. He enjoys reading anything about the Transformers or the Power Rangers.

What about me? I read too. Every day. I scan cookbooks and constantly searching for recipes that I can play with. Of course, I have my favorites as well. I prefer reading cookbooks about baking, from breakfast treats to scrumptious desserts. The bread making and candy making are my favorite too.

For baking breakfast or sweet treats, I always go back to William Sonoma Collections. The ones I have are Cookies, Dessert, and Fruit Dessert. Here are the recipes I modified from these collections and added to my blog: Brek's Better Brownies, Chocolate Chips Cookies, Quinoa Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies, Elmo's Birthday Cake, and Ninjago Cake Pops.

I luv cookbooks with a lot of photographs or illustrations. How am I suppose to get that inspiration to bake if I can't see what the sweet treats look like. The Step by Step Cakes is that kind of cookbook. It not only has beautiful photographs of the sweet treats, but photographs of step by step for some recipes. Easy ingredients to find and easy instructions to follow.

Last year, I ventured into candy making. Just decided to give a lollipop and gummy snacks a try. The Candy book is probably the one of the books I found to be super helpful. I also had good luck with Brittles, Barks, and Bonbons by Charity Ferreira, including modifying her recipes to dairy free.

For savory cooking, I luv to look for appetizer recipes, especially with Asian flavors. I personally luv the Dim Sum: The Art of Chinese Tea Lunch by Ellen Leong Blonder. The recipes are super easy to follow. I made steamed bao successfully because of her recipe. Any cookbook by Martin Yan is also my favorite. He is actually my dad's favorite chef. When my dad retired and moved to Thailand, he gave me all of the Yan Can Cook VHS tapes that he recorded. 

The Food Substitution Bible is a must-have for those who have food allergy or intolerance. I've used this book often as I always modify the recipes I'd like to test.

I'm pretty sure your local libraries carry the books I mentioned here. If not, request them. Come to think of it, I need a library for all of the cookbooks I've been collecting. Seriously, I have tons!!! I usually buy cookbooks when they are on sales. There is a local book store called Half Price Books that carry a large collection of cookbooks for 50% off, even more during the holidays or with coupons. Amazon sometimes sells cookbooks with discount prices. I luv bargains!!!

If you find yourself with nothing to do this summer, why not check out the books from your local library and just scan the food photographs for inspiration. Who knows. You might end up having a food blog too. Let me know if you do, so I can share your blog.

Happy baking something sweeter!!!

Brek's Better Brownies (2014 New Year's Resolution)

I never liked New Year's resolutions. It was like setting up for a failure for me. Then I realized that if I really wanted to accomplish something and took a whole year to do... then why not.

For this year, I decided to focus on eating healthier. I need to eat more veggies and fruits. Last year, I was always achy, and it had nothing to do with old age. Well, maybe just a little bit. My mom and my husband kept telling me that I needed to exercise. Seriously, my workout is still doing chores and walking up and down stairs.

Anyway, this year, my blog will be full of recipes that include veggies and fruits. I want to go vegan but that would set me up as a failure. I will stick with a (semi) vegetarian diet. Veggies will be my main dish and some sort of meat on the side. I hope for great success and lose a few pounds too.

While I searched and played with the healthier version of something sweeter recipes, I gave Brek's Better Brownies a try. I helped Brek with making a healthier version of a regular brownies for his school project. He told me that his friends loved them and couldn't understand why it was called Better Brownies. They were surprised when Brek told them the secret ingredients were banana and spinach.

Take it the next level and make Mississippi mud brownies by topping the brownies with my homemade marshmallow fluff and melted chocolate. Now ask yourself this, does anybody care that there is banana, spinach, flax seeds, or cranberries in the brownies? Nah!!!

Brek's Better Brownies
modified from William Sonoma's Brownies
make 8 inch square pan

3 oz. (1/2 cup) non-dairy chocolate chips

3 Tablespoons (1.5 oz) coconut oil, divided

1/3 cup (3 oz.) granulated sugar

2 large eggs

half of 1 large banana (1.5 - 2 oz), mashed

3 - 4 Tablespoons (0.6 oz) raw baby spinach leaves, minced

3/4 cup (3 oz) all-purpose flour

1 Tablespoon (0.3 oz) grounded flax seeds

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup (1.5 oz) non-dairy chocolate chunks

1/8 cup (1 oz) dried cranberries, finely chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F degrees.
2. Spray the 8-inch square pan and line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.
3. Place chocolate chips in a large microwavable bowl with 1 tablespoon of coconut oil. 
4. Microwave for 30 seconds.
5. Stir and microwave in 9 seconds interval until chocolate chips are melted.
6. Add the rest of coconut oil, sugar and eggs.
7. Whisk until the batter is fluffy, about 30 seconds.
8. Add the mashed banana and minced spinach into the batter.
9. Whisk until just combine.
10. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, flax seeds, baking powder, and baking soda.
11. Add the flour mixture into the batter.
12. Whisk until just combine. Do not over mix.
13. Fold in chocolate chips and cranberries.
14. Bake in the preheated oven until the toothpick inserted comes out clean, about 15-20 minutes.
15. Cool the brownies in the pan. Then cut into desired slices. Enjoy! 

Allergy Info: Brek's Better Brownies are free from or can be made without dairy, corn, legumes (soy), nuts (not coconut), and fish. To make the brownies gluten free, substitute all-purpose flour with gluten free flour.

All Things 2013 Holidays



This year Holidays baking has been a blast.

Camden just turned four years old, and he wanted to help me bake more. Even asked me a few times if he could bake something like gingerbread cookies.

We made a lot of gingerbread dough that we were able to play around with the cookie cutters. We made gingerbread farm animals and gingerbread reindeer. I actually liked the cookies plain, but Camden preferred them with the all natural sprinkles.

There were many cold days that really called for a warm drink. Hot cocoa topped with marshmallow fluff and drizzled with melted chocolate. Yeah, take it to the next level of something sweeter.

And to top that off, I decided to fry dough for my kids' afternoon snack. Dredge them in powdered sugar!!! Hello, sweet snowy powder goodie-licious!!!

Just yesterday, Brek asked for a chocolate cake for afternoon snack. I baked chocolate cupcakes instead for time saving. With powdered sugar on top, they looked like snow on the chocolaty cupcakes.

Today, I showed Brek the reindeer Oreo pops I saw on Pinterest. We decided to make them together as an afternoon homeschool activity.

No recipe. No instructions. We just kinda winged it. They turned out pretty scary lookin'. Their antlers just didn't take the right shapes. We had a good laugh too.

We used Newman's O cookies, melted Enjoy Life chocolate chips, Sun Drops candy, and organic jelly beans. Scary but oh so good in our tummies.

Brek's reindeer was the one with a smile. Camden's reindeer had dark red jelly bean nose. The other one was mine.

So I will end the year 2013 of cooking and baking with this post. Happy eating something sweeter!!! Happy Holidays!!! And all the sweet stuff yet to come!!!

Click for the recipes:

Gingerbread Cookies

Marshmallow Fluff (to top the hot cocoa)

Chocolate Cake

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins (how to modify a recipe)

Modify recipe is turning out to be my hobby. It's actually pretty fun in a way. Kinda like working in a  science lab. Plus, I always wanted to be a scientist, wearing a lab coat. But in my case, I wear an apron and test real food.

For my family, modifying a recipe would mean that I need to substitute dairy, chicken eggs, legumes, and corn in all of my recipes. The hardest recipes to make changes to are the ones that have a lot of eggs in them. I certainly cannot bake angle food cake without eggs. See what I mean. Some recipes are just impossible to modify.

With any modified recipes, I can taste the difference in taste and texture.  It's really a trail and error.

Because homemade baked sweets taste better within a day or two. I usually cut down the recipes in half. So I only bake just enough for my family.

The time I spend in the kitchen is also a factor when I modify a recipe. Muffins bake faster than bread loaf. Cupcakes bake faster than a eight-inch round cake. Using cupcake liners also means an easy clean up. Plus, my kids can just grab the muffins they want, and no knives, plates, or forks are involved. Less clean up again. Bonus!!! So let's get started and modify a breakfast sweet.

Being on an allergy free diet means very limited selection of food. Nothing is wasted. Bananas are not just healthy snacks. When they are ripen, they are perfect for banana bread. Sometimes I even freeze the over ripen ones for future baking. Ripen ones are perfect to thicken up a smoothie.

I tested many banana bread recipe, and I found William Sonoma's banana bread recipe to be the best after it was modified. It has been my go-to breakfast recipe ever since. The original recipe is written for a bread loaf, but I bake them in muffin pan. My modified recipe is just enough for my family's breakfast or snack, about 6 muffins. Feel free to double the recipe. Notice that I use my kitchen scale religiously, so I added the measurements in ounces as well.
 
William Sonoma's Banana Bread
Original ingredients:
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

3 medium very ripe bananas, peeled

2/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Modified ingredients:

2/3 cups 3/4 cup (3 oz) all-purpose flour

2 1 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt (I always skip salt in my baking as I really can't tell the taste differences when salt is added or not. My kids and I also eat a lot of potato chips, so I do try to omit salt when I can.)

1/4 1/8 teaspoon baking soda

3 1 (3-4 oz) medium very ripe bananas, peeled (mashed)

2/3 cup 1/4 cup (2.5 oz.) sugar

1/3 cup 3 Tbs. (1.5 oz.) vegetable oil

2 1 (large) egg

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract (since I add cinnamon and nutmeg, I usually omit vanilla extract. The aroma from both spices are enough.)

1/2 tsp grounded cinnamon
1/8 tsp grounded nutmeg
1/4 cup (1.5 oz.) chocolate chips (I add chocolate chips for taste. If you prefer to bake banana muffins, omit the chocolate chips. If you can have nuts, you can add your preferred chopped nuts.)

When a recipe called for melted butter, substitute it with vegetable oil. Liquid vegetable oil is perfect to add into a batter such as pancake batter. If I need to substitute butter that needs to be added into the dough, such as pie crust or cookie dough, I would use coconut oil. 

If you have issue with chicken eggs, substitute 5 quail eggs to 1 large chicken egg. If you cannot have eggs at all, substitute it with the baking powder. The amount of baking powder depends on what I am baking, so this is the time when I need to put on a scientist's hat. Remember not the add more than 1 tablespoon of baking powder in any batter because it does leave a bitter after taste. I highly recommend Kelly Rudnicki's The Food Allergy Mama's Baking Book: Great Dairy-, Egg-, and Nut-Free Treats for the Whole Family especially for egg free recipes.
 
Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins
modified from William Sonoma's Banana Bread
make 6 regular size muffins
 
3/4 cup (3 oz.) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoons baking powder

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon grounded cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon grounded nutmeg

1/4 cup (2.5 oz.) granulated sugar

3 Tbs. (1.5 oz.) vegetable oil

1 large egg

1 (3-4 oz) medium very ripe bananas, peeled and mashed

1/4 cup (1.5 oz.) chocolate chips 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F degree. Line the 6 regular size muffin pan with foil or paper liners.
2. In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, oil, and egg.
4. Add the mashed banana and mix again.
5. Add the flour mixture and whisk until just combine.
6. Fold in the chocolate chips.
7. Using a large scooper, divide the batter equally into the prepared muffin pan.
8. Bake until the tooth pick inserted into the muffin comes out clean, about 15-20 minutes.
9. Enjoy them while they are warm. 

Allergy Info: This chocolate chip banana muffin recipe can be made without or is free from dairy, corn, legumes (soy), nuts, or fish.

Allergy Info... what is it all about?

A few days ago, a new member posted on corn free support group in hope to get reactions for his wife's baked goods that could be for sales. He didn't get a warm reception at all. It was a combination of the posted picture of corny sweets and the not knowing the ingredients his wife used to bake with were actually not 100% corn free.

It occurred to me that I needed to post a blog to clarify what is the Allergy Info that I ended with on all of my recipes actually mean. So here goes.

Everybody's intolerance to food is different. Keep that in mind when you bake for yourself, your family, or your friends. I just discovered a few months ago that Brek definitely has dairy intolerance. By how much, I don't know. However, he can have sheep's milk products, such as yogurt or manchego cheese, with no allergic reactions. I know this much that he can have a small scoop of ice cream made from cow's milk or cream. But last week, we went out for mozzarella pizza. He ate two slices, came home, and threw up two hours later. Since I am the one who diagnosed his dairy intolerance, I will never know what exactly in the dairy he is allergic to. I mentioned this to my friend whose child (same age as Brek) also has dairy issue. I suggested that she cooks and bakes with sheep's or goat's products. Since her son is allergic to casein, she said it is found in sheeps and goats too. Well, that was a revelation.

I also make suggestions on products in my recipes. In the beginning stage of my allergy free diet adventure, I was baking with organic all purpose flour. Oh man, was that expensive. When I switched to regular all purpose flour, I noticed the texture of my sweets were different. Not all flours are created equal. Even though I suggested a product next to an ingredient, it doesn't mean you have to use the product. Just keep this in mind that if your sweets don't turn out well, adjust the ingredients next time.

The products also change as time goes by. There was one brand that carries corn free mandarin oranges. As of today, that brand is no longer corn free as I saw citric acid added in the ingredients. So I always read the ingredients listed on the package.

Allergy Info

Dairy: When my recipe indicates that it is free from dairy, I always mean that the dairy is from cow's products such as cow's milk, butter, heavy cream, hard or soft cheese. Most of the time, my dairy is from sheep, such as sheep's milk yogurt or cheese (manchego).

Eggs: Most of my current recipes will have chicken eggs. Sometimes I do use quail or duck eggs. If so, the free from eggs would be written as "free from chicken eggs". If there are no traces of eggs at all, then it would be written as "free from eggs". If you can have quail eggs but not chicken eggs, substitute 5 quail eggs for 1 chicken egg. I stay from duck eggs when making something sweeter as they taste gamey to me. Plus, duck eggs are HUGE!!!

Corn: This is a tough one. I don't often declare that my recipe is corn free because my kitchen, the ingredients I use, the products in my home may not be corn free. With that said, all of my recipes can be made corn free with your corn free ingredients.

Legumes: Have you ever heard somebody said that they or their kids are allergic to peanuts, thinking that peanuts are from the nuts family? No, no, and no!!! Peanuts are legumes. I knew this only because Camden has G6PD and needs to avoid all legumes, such as peanuts, all types of beans, especially fava beans. I used to bake with tofu, but I decided to omit it in all of my cooking and baking. If the recipe asks for tofu, I substitute it with mashed banana. My sweet recipes are most likely legumes free.

Wheat: I use only gluten flour such as King Arthur's all-purpose flour or bread flour. Even though the texture and taste may changed, gluten free flour may be used as a substitute. If I test a recipe with gluten free flour, I will note it on the Allergy Info section. Keep in mind that gluten is not created equal in all flours and the brands. I find good results with King Arthur's flours.

Nuts: My family and I have no nuts allergy. But my kids are not nuts fan. I should let them go gather nuts for Earl (our backyard squirrel). If you have nuts allergy, omit the nuts ingredients or substitute with seeds. Most of my recipe calls for coconut milk, coconut oil, or coconut butter. If I use coconut milk or oil in my recipe, the Allergy Info on nuts would be written as "nuts (not coconut)".

Fish: No fishy allergy here either. But seriously, who add fish in their something sweeter? Not me!!! I do cook savory meals with fish sauce. Soy sauce or sea salt can be substitute for fish sauce.

Remember, if you have any question about my recipes, please feel free to contact me. I will be happy to answer and help you create your very own something sweeter. Happy baking!!!

School Lunches

Photo 1. Human Body

As soon as August rolled in, I started to see a lot of blogs about school lunches. So I decided to write a blog about my son's lunches.

I homeschool my kids, but Brek's been going to a private school for homeschoolers on Tuesday and Thursday. On the days he stays home, he works on the assignments with me and his daddy.

It is very difficult for me to think of what to pack for Brek's lunch. I'm so thankful that he only goes to school two days per week because I cannot imagine packing his lunch every day.

Photo 2. Superhero Sandwiches

The first year Brek attended school, he was in 3rd grade.

School lunch wasn't available, and it had something to do with a licensed commercial kitchen that the school staff didn't have access to. Microwave was available and was very helpful if I had to send lunches that needed to warm up.

I really didn't know what to pack for Brek's lunch during his first school year. As it turned out, he mainly had boring sandwiches for lunch. They were probably soggy in a plastic bag. Poor kid.

Before Brek started 4th grade, I was determined to pack him a better lunch. I searched online for school lunches and noticed how some bloggers used really cool lunchboxes.

Photo 3. Hot Dog Rolls

The lunchbox that caught my attention the most was from the PlanetBox. It's stainless steel, and it's like a laptop with different size segmented containers. As soon as they were on sales, I bought two Rovers. Money well spent.

Each time I pack his lunch, I can see how the food is arranged in different colors. So his lunch might be regular sandwiches, but they were in fun shapes. This was the time when I started to document his lunches by taking pictures and posted them on my personal Facebook page as future references.

Photo 4. Brisket Steamed Bao

When Brek entered 5th grade, I noticed that superhero shape sandwiches were not cool any more. He wanted the food he would normally eat at home. This meant that I had to pack him lunches that he would need to be heated up in a microwave.

If at all possible, I tried to come up with a theme lunch. Just to make it fun. Instead of farm animals or superhero shapes, I would stick with mathematical shapes like square or circle. Sometimes I sneaked in fun shaped sandwiches anyway. Just because....

Photo 5. Turkey Manchego Cheese Panini

This year, Brek is in 6th grade. (I still have teary eyes just thinking how big he's gotten.) I bought him a bigger size PlanetBox called Launch. The main lunch segmented container is bigger which gives me more room to pack him more of the main meal.

I always ask Brek what he wants for school lunch. Let's face it. If I pack something he doesn't like, he probably won't eat it. That would be a waste of my time and a hungry kid during school day.

I also check his lunchbox to see the leftovers. If his lunchbox is empty, whatever I pack for him that day is worth repeating. And if I see anything left in his lunchbox that is not eaten, I usually ask him what is wrong with it. Most of the time, he says he's full or he doesn't like it. Beets can be pretty spicy, so I don't mind if he doesn't eat it. I still add them as part of his lunch, hoping he would at least take a bite. And he always takes ONE bite.

Photo 6. Smoked Salmon Sushi Rolls

Over this summer, I found out that Brek has dairy intolerance. To compensate for the non dairy sweets, I'd make him something sweeter for his lunch. Chocolate in his lunchbox is a must... for caffeine fixed, especially on a test day.

Remember that if the food is difficult to eat, you can bet he won't eat it. Slice fruits or vegetables into slices, coins, or sticks so they are easy to handle. Cut sandwiches into small pieces for an easy pick-me up.

Hope you are inspired to make your own lunch or for your love one. Let me know what is in your lunchbox lately.

Photo 7. Quesadilla

Photo 1. Human Body: pizza bones, crunchy radishes, carrots, and chips, bloody color from pomegranate seeds, CRUNCH bar (leftover from Halloween treats)

Photo 2. Superhero: This was Brek's first day of school lunch (4th grade). Packing lunch comes with experience. Notice the lack of colors in this one. The colors improved with time. I bought many pressed cookie cutters. More fun than just a regular cookie cutter.

Photo 3. Hot Dog Rolls: I made the rolls using the bao dough. They were baked until golden brown. I also baked ham and manchego cheese rolls using the bao dough too.

Photo 4. Brisket Steamed Bao: The brisket was leftover from dinner. I steamed bao bun as a bread alternative to the sandwich white bread.

Photo 5. Turkey Manchego Cheese Panini: This was Brek's first day of school lunch (6th grade). Instead of having a boring sandwich, I pressed it in the grilled pan to have the pretty grilled mark.
Pretty presentation helps. Homemade flour tortilla.

Photo 6. Smoked Salmon Sushi Rolls: Brek's favorite lunch is smoked salmon sushi rolls. I gave him more sushi rolls than I did last year. Since this was sea food theme, I added shrimp chips to stays in the sea food theme. Shrimp chips are available at Asia markets but read the label to avoid MSG.

Photo 7. Quesadilla: For this quesadilla, I added shredded goat cheddar cheese with crab meat. I coated pretzels with non dairy melted chocolate then added all natural sprinkles to make them more colorful. The silicon cupcake liners were used to hold the sweets and veggies. Plus, they made his lunch looked pretty colorful.

Allergy Info: As of this writing, Brek has dairy intolerance to cow's products. He can have goat or sheep's milk product. Be sure to prepare lunches according to your food allergy diet.