The Sisterhood of the [Unbuttoned] [Trousers]

Tis’ the season for warm drinks – and around Christmas, mulled wine is often a favorite, especially in the UK, although it has gained popularity in the US. This year, I made some for family and friends in the states using a BBC recipe as a guide:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/mulledwine_8156

After a couple of tweaks, this is the recipe I used:

Ingredients:

1 bottle of red wine (e.g. Cabernet Sauvignon)

3 cups of apple cider

1 orange

1/3 cup of brown sugar

2 cinnamon sticks

1 bay leaf

5 – 10 whole cloves

Recipe:

This makes for a great starting drink at parties. Also, there are some health benefits you get from the ingredients in mulled wine:

For a healthier alternative, substitute raw honey or agave syrup for brown sugar.

Happy Holidays!

Today we'll be making banana chocolate chip muffins. These muffins replace the usually requisite eggs for baking with bananas, making them vegan friendly as well! To start off, you will need the following:

2 cups flour

1/2 cup oil

1 cup sugar

3 ripened bananas

2 tea spoons baking powder

1/2 tea spoon baking soda

2 table spoons water

Makes 12 muffins

 

If you wish to use self-raising flour instead of plain flour, you do not need to add additional baking powder or baking soda. Also, you will need both a large and small mixing bowl, a muffin baking tray, a spatula, and your basic measuring implements.

 

We'll start with the wet ingredients. First, peel the bananas and break them up so they all fit in the small bowl. Use a fork to mash them until the resulting paste is roughly uniform. An easy way to do this is to squish every visible banana against the wall of the bowl until none are left. Once this is done, add in the oil and water, and then slowly stir until the oil is absorbed into the banana and not just floating on top. While this is going on you will want to preheat the oven to 375 Fahrenheit (190 Celsius).

As for the dry ingredients, mix all of these (including the chocolate chips) into the large mixing bowl with the spatula until the mixture also looks fairly uniform. When this is ready, mix in the wet ingredients thoroughly until a consistent batter is formed. There should be no dry powder at the bottom or around the walls of the mixing bowl.

Now that you have your batter, you can pour it into your muffin tray so each cup has about the same amount of batter. Once ready, place the tray in the middle rack of your oven for about 20 minutes.

And that's it!, you have yourself some lovely healthy muffins! These muffins are great for breakfast, a post workout snack, dessert, and just about anything other meal you can think of. Please use responsibly.

Right before a long experiment, a friend and I got together and made a large batch of egg fried rice. It turned out really well, and not only worked as dinner for two, but also fed me for a weekend. This dish is as delicious as it is versatile!

You will need:

Day-old cooked rice

Eggs: 3 – 6 should work

Sauces: soy, chili, and oyster

Veggies: onion, garlic, ginger, green onion and anything else that you fancy

Seasoning: pepper, chili powder (especially if you don’t have chili sauce)

Optional: meat, seafood, and or a meat/alternative

For example:

Below is the recipe we used for the fried rice, with some pictures as a guide:

1. Take 3-4 eggs. Whisk with a few drops of soy sauce.

2. In a hot pan, make fluffy scrambled eggs and set aside.

3. In the same pan, add more oil. Medium heat ‘til oil and pan are hot. Break two dry red chilis apart and add to oil. Don't let them get too dark. Add 1/4-1/2 minced onion, 2 minced cloves of garlic, and minced ginger for 1-2mins.

4. Add carrots, green beans, other veggies, mushroom, small pieces of chicken/shrimp, etc.

5. Add soy sauce, oyster sauce, chili sauce, and fresh ground pepper.

6. Add the rice once the veggies and meat are pretty close to being done. The rice should soak up the sauces and turn a golden brown color.

 

7. Once the rice is heated through and your seasonings are all right, add the eggs back in.

8. Add some fresh green onion. 

Green tea makes a nice addition to this meal. Enjoy!