Roasted Banana Bread

Flavorful banana bread made from roasted bananas.

DIY Soy Milk

Ever wondered how to make your own soy milk? Find out how! It's simple and requires only two ingredients.

Coconut Walnut Bars

Make your own super simple coconut walnut bars with dried dates for a bit of sweetness.

Coconut Banana Bread

A moist banana bread with shredded coconut for extra texture and flavor.

Caramelized Banana Bread

Take your banana bread to the next level by baking some sweet caramelized bananas into a scrumptious banana bread.

Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Swirl Biscuits

Perfectly combine pesto, sun dried tomatoes, and feta cheese into a swirl biscuit with Mediterranean flair.

Sticky Rice Rolls (飯糰)

Chewy sticky rice surrounding crunchy cracklins, shredded pork floss, and pickled veggies makes for some scrumptiously yummy, although not quite conventional sticky rice rolls.

Cheddar Bacon Swirl Biscuits

Savory, buttery, and tender bacon cheddar swirl biscuits.

Chai Tea Bread

A quick bread full of creamy Chai flavor and topped with a bit of toasted coconut.

Pecan Chia Pudding

I wanted to try out some chia pudding, and we also had some cashew milk I wanted to use up, so I decided to make a chia pudding with cashew milk. We also had some pecans around, and I do like Pecan Pie, so why not make something similar? Sounds like a good idea to me! Just mix together most of the ingredients, place the mixture into your serving container, and spoon some of the sweet pecan mixture on top. We refrigerated and enjoyed these pecan pie chia puddings the next day to really let the chia seeds hydrate. Enjoy!

Do you prefer dairy milk or nut milks?

Pecan Chia Pudding

by CJ Huang

A lightly sweetened chia pudding with a sticky pecan topping - perfect as a dessert and healthy enough for breakfast!

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: none
Total time: 10 minutes + hydrating time
Yield: 4 servings

Materials:

Mass	Weight	Volume	Number	Material	Notes
220 grams	7.75 ounces	1 cup		cashew milk
47 grams	1.625 ounces	1/4 cup		chia seeds
		4 tablespoons		maple syrup
		1 teaspoon		cinnamon
		1 teaspoon		vanilla extract
52 grams	1.75 ounces	3/8 cup		pecans, chopped

Methods:

	1. Gather all materials.
	2. Stir together cashew milk, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and 2 tablespoons maple syrup.
	3. Stir in chia seeds.
	4. Coat chopped pecans with remaining maple syrup.
	5. Transfer chia mixture into serving containers and spoon (or fork if you're like me and don't want to wash another spoon) pecan mixture on top. Serve, or refrigerate to allow chia seeds to more fully hydrate.

Shared with: Full Plate Thursday, Artsy Fartsy Party, BFF Open House, Fiesta Friday, Meal Plan Monday, Traffic Jam, Saturday Sparks, Hearth and Soul, What's for Dinner?, Over the Moon, Farm Fresh Tuesday, Your Whims Wednesday, Wine'd Down Wednesday, Homestead Blog Hop, Party in Your PJs

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Easy pumpkin spice muffins - healthy enough for breakfast, tasty enough for dessert!

Savory Oatmeal

Savory oatmeal made more efficient with an egg on top.

Garlic Parmesan Swirl Biscuits

Another of my Five Friday Finds, this time from Good Cheap Eats. These biscuits are slightly similar to the Garlicky Cheddar Biscuits - just switch the cheddar for some parmesan and add a swirl! I love these types of recipes, where it looks like it took time and effort, but really, it didn't. Don't you?

We ate these swirl biscuits for breakfast, but you could just as easily serve them as a side to Little Lasagnas. In fact, if you served these biscuits with the Little Lasagnas, you'd be well on your way to starting a muffin tin meal! Wouldn't that be fun?

Whenever I eat something with a swirl like these biscuits (or Hua Juan, for example), I always like to peel it apart and especially taste the fillings/texture of the inside. Tell me I'm not the only one?

Garlic Parmesan Swirl Biscuits

by CJ Huang

Mingling the flavors of garlic and Parmesan in a mouthwatering swirl biscuit.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Total time: 25 minutes
Yield: 12 servings

Materials:

Mass	Weight	Volume	Number	Material	Notes
		2 cups		flour	I used half whole wheat and half white.
		1 teaspoon		salt
		1 tablespoon		baking powder
		1/4 cup		butter
		3/4 cup		milk
		2 teaspoons		garlic powder
		3 tablespoons		Parmesan cheese, grated
				Garlic Parsley Butter, melted	optional

Methods:

	1. Gather all materials.
	2. Combine flour, salt, and baking powder, and then cut in butter until homogeneous.
	3. Mix in milk until dough forms, and then roll out in a rectangle.
	4. Sprinkle garlic powder and Parmesan cheese on top, making sure not to forget the edges.
	5. Roll up dough and pinch to seal.
	6. Cut dough into 12 pieces, about an inch wide.
	7. Place each piece in a greased muffin tin and bake until golden brown and delicious, about 15 minutes.
	8. (optional) Brush Garlic Parsley Butter on top of each biscuit.

Hint: Try cutting each biscuit apart with dental floss. It's a lot cleaner and neater than a knife (at least for me)! Plus, you get perfectly round biscuits. Just slide the floss under your roll, where you would cut, bring the two ends up, cross, and pull. That's it!

Caramelized Banana and Pecan Oatmeal

Add some fun flavor to your oatmeal with bananas, caramelized in their own sugar, roasted nuts, and dash of cinnamon.

Bacon Parmesan Scones

Savory Bacon Parmesan Scones - a buttery treat with the heartiness of bacon nestled among the peppery notes of green onion and warm, embracing flavors of cheese and rosemary.

Egg-Free Strawberry Muffins

I wanted to make some banana bread, but strawberry flavored. (Maybe I should just say I wanted some strawberry bread.) :P However, with Bobert's egg allergy, I wasn't quite certain how it'd turn out since I don't usually bake egg-free. So, I thought I could try baking egg-free on a small scale first. But small scale in a loaf pan doesn't work too well, so I thought I'd make a few muffins instead. This recipe will make 3-4 egg-free strawberry muffins, and you can easily scale up if you're wanting more. I almost prefer just making just a few at a time so I don't Bobert doesn't end up gobbling them all at once!

Do you prefer baking in large batches or smaller ones?

Egg-Free Strawberry Muffins

by CJ Huang

Moist and flavorful egg-free strawberry muffins made with real strawberries. Make a few or a lot - it's up to you!

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Total time: 25 minutes
Yield: 3-4 muffins

Materials:

Mass	Weight	Volume	Number	Material	Notes
45 grams	1.5 ounces	3/8 cup		flour
		1/2 teaspoon		baking powder
		1/8 teaspoon		baking soda
117 grams	4.125 ounces	3/8 cup	5 large	strawberry, pureed	I pureed some frozen and thawed strawberries.
21 grams	3/4 ounces	1.5 tablespoons		butter
		1 tablespoon		sugar
		1/2 teaspoon		vanilla extract	optional

Methods:

	1. Gather all materials.
	2. Form Dry Team by combining flour, baking soda, and baking powder.
	3. Cut butter into sugar.
	4. Mix in strawberry puree, forming Wet Team.
	5. Add Dry Team to Wet Team.
	6. Pour into muffin liner and bake at 350F for 20 minutes.

Two-Ingredient Pancakes

It's time again! Each month, as part of the Secret Recipe Club, we're (secretly) assigned another blogger, and we get to pick a recipe of theirs to make. This month, I got Renee's Kitchen Adventures. She's certainly got lots of yumminess going on, and I had some difficulty selecting a recipe! Did I want Chicken and Dumplings, Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs, or Hummingbird Cupcakes?

Well, it turns out, I decided to try Two-Ingredient Pancakes. I'd heard about these pancakes before, especially as I was researching Paleo. However, I never gave them a try since I wasn't sure how they'd turn out, and I'm not really a huge fan of banana. (Plus, I keep some DIY Bisquick around in case I need a quick pancake fix!) I modified the recipe slightly since I wanted to use regular eggs instead of eggbeaters.

After trying them, I was a bit surprised at the taste. There's really not a whole lot of banana flavor. Pretty surprising, especially since half the ingredients are - you guessed it! Bananas. The texture also surprised me a bit when I was making them. After hitting the pan, the pancakes would rise a bit, like regular pancakes. However, after taking them off the heat, they do tend to deflate a bit - kinda like when you take a Dutch Baby out of the oven, but not as drastically. :) Do these two-ingredient pancakes taste exactly like regular pancakes? No. Do these two-ingredient pancakes taste yummy? Yes! I could definitely recommend them, and they're tasty, as long as you're not expecting them to be exactly like standard pancakes. :)

What are some of your favorite two or three ingredient recipes?

Two-Ingredient Pancakes

by CJ Huang

Try the simplest pancake recipe ever - just two (or three) ingredients and minutes from bowl to table!

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Total time: 15 minutes
Yield: 4 servings

Materials:

Mass	Weight	Volume	Number	Material	Notes
318 grams	11.25 ounces		3	bananas
			4	eggs
		1/4 teaspoon		baking powder

Methods:

	1. Gather all materials.
	2. Mash bananas. You'll want it pretty uniform so you don't get lumpy pancakes. :)
	3. Beat eggs, and then beat in mashed bananas.
	4. Cook about a quarter cup of batter on a greased pan. I'd recommend going with a smaller than usual amount of batter since these pancakes are a bit more difficult to flip, and a smaller pancake's just a bit easier to work with.

Kefir

Kefir's a fermented yogurt drink - similar to a drinkable yogurt, originating from the north Caucasus Mountains. It's one of those things where you think it's all complicated and beyond making at home (or at least I did) until I actually gave it a try. Then I realized - yes, it is a complex process. But it's also totally doable at home. Reason being - you're not the one making the kefir, you just combine milk and kefir grains and then let the kefir grains do the work! No worries if you're on a grain-free diet either. Kefir grains aren't grains in the traditional sense. Instead, they're a combination of lactic acid bacteria and yeasts in a symbiotic culture (or SCOBY). These grains resemble cauliflower, ranging in color from white to yellowish. During fermentation, the kefir grains break down the components in milk, making it more tolerable and easily digestible.

Comparing making yogurt at home to making kefir at home, I'd definitely say kefir's much easier. You're not worried about maintaining any particular temperature (aside from ambient), don't need to heat the milk, or any other complicated steps. Simply mix the kefir grains and milk, then allow the grains to do their thing!

Which do you prefer - kefir or yogurt?

Kefir

by CJ Huang

Considered by many to be one of the healthiest fermented foods, find out how to make your own kefir! It's surprisingly easy. :)

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: none
Total time: 5 minutes + fermenting time
Yield: variable

Materials:

Mass	Weight	Volume	Number	Material	Notes
				milk	I like to use whole milk.
				kefir grains

Methods:

	1. Gather all materials.
	2. Combine all materials. I like to use a glass jar, but anything non-reactive will work.
	3. Allow kefir grains to do work. I just cover the top with a cloth and let the jar sit at room temperature for about 24 hours. Usually at that point, you will be able to see some whey at the bottom of the jar. You can taste the kefir throughout the fermentation process to determine how tart you like it.
	4. Pour the jar into a strainer. I like to press on the kefir grains a bit to get more kefir out. After straining, I will return the kefir grains to the jar and add more milk.
	5. (optional) Sometimes, we do a secondary fermentation since we find it gives the kefir a better flavor. I'll add some fruit so the kefir will take on some of those flavors. Another option is to make a smoothie. Or you could, of course, also drink it straight. :)
	6. (optional) Sometimes we add in some chia seeds too. I'd recommend adding chia seeds after the secondary fermentation if you're doing one since they tend to taste quite bitter if you let them go through the secondary fermentation.

Tropical Smoothie

It's SRC time again! As part of the Secret Recipe Club, we're (secretly) assigned another blogger, and we get to select a recipe from their blog to make. This month, I got The Harried Cook, where Marsha shares her recipes as a record for her daughters. What a great way to pass recipes on! Looking through her posts, I was drawn to her homemade quark (wonder who came up with the name?), smoky BBQ sauce, and chicken porridge. But with the weather being what it is, we just wanted something cool and refreshing - like a tropical smoothie. Yummo! Just a few minutes to make, and you're off to your tropical paradise - at least mentally! When the weather's sweltering, I prefer to enjoy indoors - with AC. :)

Since we didn't have any strawberries when I planned to make this recipe, I decided to use pineapple instead. And then, we bought some strawberries, so I used both. :) I also used 2 cups of coconut milk (from the can) instead of a cup of coconut milk and half a cup of skim milk. We really enjoyed this smooth and silky tropical smoothie!

What's your favorite tropical or summer fruit?

Tropical Smoothie

by CJ Huang

Imagine yourself relaxing in paradise with this luscious smoothie - full of tropical flavors like mango, pineapple, and strawberries in a coconut base!

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: none
Total time: 5 minutes
Yield: 4 servings

Materials:

Mass	Weight	Volume	Number	Material	Notes
233 grams	8.25 ounces			pineapple chunks	Learn how to cut a pineapple here.
206 grams	7.25 ounces		1	mango	Learn how to cut a mango here.
405 grams	14.125 ounces	2 cups		coconut milk	I used the canned kind.
145 grams	5.125 ounces		5	strawberries

Methods:

	1. Gather all materials.
	2. Combine all materials in a blender and blend until desired texture achieved.

Shared with: Wednesday Showcase, Wonderful Wednesday, What's Cookin' Wednesday, Thursday Favorite Things, Pinworthy Projects, Happiness is Homemade, Nifty Thrifty Sunday, Over the Moon, Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Motivation Monday, What'd You Do This Weekend?, Turn It Up Tuesday