Cupcake Making: A Fun Activity for Kids

Reunited with my eldest brother and his family after 3 months to celebrate his birthday at our parents house. So happy and was excited to see my 2 beautiful nieces. When they arrived I have already prepared an activity for the two girls...

Since it was their father's birthday I asked them to help me prepare their dad's cupcakes; The easiest one is my 'Carrot Walnut'. It was so fun and I did enjoy making cupcakes with them. So happy to see them got excited over pouring in oil, cracking eggs, sifting flour mixing them all together and so on. I even let them drop a batter on each liners. They were so happy and giggly over their cupcakes.

The super fun part was (and they were patiently waiting for this while the cupcakes were baking) the frosting... I prepared all the toppings and the icings; the icings were supposed to be white, green and orange for the carrot but my niece wanted it pink.

 

Only the eldest of my niece were able to frost some of the cupcakes because the other one got afraid of our golden retriever dog named Winnie when she passed by the dirty kitchen, so my niece went up to her grandma sobbing. Huhu =(

So these photos above are the finished products that my niece made for her dad. Two letter "F" for her dad's first letter name and two smileys represents her and her sister. It was a really fun day for me and I guess a fun day for my two nieces too. ^^

No Salt for The Litlle Man

I don't usually provide salt in my son's diet, but sometimes I just couldn't prevent it especially if we're on a party or in a restaurant. It's ok naman, but if I prepare his food I always make sure it's a salt-free meal or snacks.

Salt, if not controlled, can damage my kiddo's immature kidney and may lead to urinary tract infection or UTI. It also may add risk to his blood pressure as he grow up as his palate will get used to salty foods. To prevent this, National Health Service in England provided the maximum recommended amount of salt for babies and children...

• up to 12 months – less than 1g salt a day (less than 0.4g sodium)
• 1 to 3 years – 2g salt a day (0.8g sodium) 
• 4 to 6 years – 3g salt a day (1.2g sodium) 
• 7 to 10 years – 5g salt a day (2g sodium)
• 11 years and over – 6g salt a day (2.4g sodium) 

With this guide, it will help us determine the amount of salt or sodium we give to our babies or children.  Below, is one of my salt-free recipes that I prepare to my little man. As we all know fish products and all seafoods are already high in sodium, therefore we may want to ommit salt in this type of food when we prepare for our little ones. 

Salt-Free Herbed Fish Fillet

Ingredients:

• 1/2 fillet, Sole Fish
• 1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning
• 1/2 ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp lemon or calamansi juice
• 1/2 tsp extra light olive oil 

Direction:
Season fillet with italian seasoning and black pepper. Add in lemon or calamansi juice and let it stand for a minute or two to marinade;
Cook in extra light olive oil until both sides are golden brown.. Serve with fresh sliced cucumber and steamed carrots or guacamole.


A very delicious and healthy meal for the little man that I even added to my diet. My son finished this recipe which was prepared only for him. I also added rice in his meal to compliment the natural saltiness of the fish. I was so happy and proud seeing him finished everything in his plate... I mean not everything, there were few pieces of carrots and cucumber left because he was already full, his tummy was already big.

For more info about salt in babies you can check what the Dietitian for infants had to say in #18 at www.dietitian.com/infants.html. Mommy Made Goodness brand has also a good review on this matter. Check Salt for babies beyond at www.mommymadegoodness.com/

Healthy Cookie

Gluten-free and Sugar-free Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup xylitol or splenda (I use xylitol (xyla), it's better and safer than splenda)
  1/4 vegetable oil (this serves as an egg substitute for toddlers allergic to eggs. I actually did mine with flaxseed + 3 tbsp water though my son has no problem with eggs, it just happened that I didn't have eggs left in the pantry.) 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free pancake mix
• Add-ons: (optionall) chocolate chips, walnuts or almonds, about 1/2 cup each for the whole batter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cream butter and xylitol.
3. Add oil and vanilla, then beat together.
   Add pancake mix and mix thoroughly.
4. Fold in chocolate chips and nuts (I actually cut 1/4 of batter to add chocolate chips and nuts for me, but for my son I made it plain for him)
5. Scoop 1/2 tbsp of dough for the little ones or 1 tbsp of dough for the bigger ones on a lightly greased cookie sheet.
   Flatten with a spatula.
   Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until edges begin to brown.
   Let cookies cool slightly and eat or you can transfer it in a sealed container once cooled.

Hope you like this recipe and please do let me know if you ever tried this one. Thanks and enjoy!

Gluten-free Applesauce/Apple Pancake

http://instagram.com/p/byTxCsy2IM/#

I love everything organic especially for my little man, so I bought an organic whole wheat pancake mix last month in which I also used for baking cupcakes/muffins for him. I'm so happy about it seeing my boy happy eating I prepared out of the mix. However, one mid afternoon, as I went along with my studies in baking I focused on studying about the flour; All kinds of flour and what they're made of and everything I need to know about it. I've learned that most of the flour we know are made out of wheat. Flours that made out of wheat, barley and rye are flours that are rich in gluten or has gluten in it. Gluten is essential in baking as it is the protein of the flour that would keep the dough or the cake to rise. Gluten though isn't good for babies and children below 2 yrs of age and this worries me knowing the pancake mix (even all the breads) I bought for the little man is not as good as i thought it is for him.

 
Gluten can cause some behavioral or physical problems to children below 2 years of age. It could be a Leaky Gut Syndrome that is linked to inflammation, allergies and autism, or Celiac Disease the scarring of small intestines, or ADHD (attention deficit hyperactive disorder). As a mother I would want to avoid these problems since I'm not sure if my child has sensitivity to gluten.

So I came up with a Gluten-Free Pancake, a safe to eat pancake for my little man. It tastes good it can also be eaten by adults. My sweetened mascarpone cheese is a substitute for my whipped cream topping because I didn't have any whipping cream available at this time on my pantry. It is also a sugar-free recipe which is good for those who has diabetes; Instead of sugar I used xylitol as a substitute. I don't want to add sugar on my son's diet because I don't want his body to get used to sugar, as well as I don't want to add more reasons for his hyperactivity in his toddler stage.

Enjoy being a mother (if you are one) and enjoy cooking!

Gluten-Free Applesauce Pancake

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Pancake Mix
• 3/4 cup Soy Milk (or any milk you like)
• 1/2 cup Applesauce
• 1 egg (can be omitted if you're a vegan, the applesauce can do its purpose)
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 Apple, sliced or chunked (for filling and/or garnish; optional)

Directions:

1. Lightly beat the egg (if using) and stir in the oil and milk until combined..
2. Sift pancake mix in a medium bowl and make a hole in the center and pour in the egg mixture (or just the milk). Mix the ingredients but be careful not to over-mix it.
3. Fold in the applesauce.
4. Preheat any size of non-stick griddle on medium heat.
5. Using oil or butter, lightly coat the griddle before pouring the batter on it. Once the griddle is hot, pour a little bit of the batter onto the griddle. (You can always pour more depending on how large you like your pancakes; I used 1/8 cup or 2 tablespoons of batter to uniform the size of my pancakes.)  
6. Press in a little of sliced or chunked apples lightly in each pancake and cook until you see bubbles at the top. Flip and cook until the pancake turns golden brown. 

Sweetened Mascarpone Cheese or Whipped Cream

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Mascarpone Cheese or Whipped/WhippingCream
• 1/8 Xylitol (for toddlers and diabetics) or Powdered/Confectioners Sugar

Direction:

1. Whisk the ingredients together until combined. It's ok if you see grains of xylitol just make sure they are distributed well. We don't want to over mix them together because it would turn to liquid.
2. If using whipping cream, it's ok to whip the cream with xylitol until stiff peaks form but if with powdered sugar whipping cream must be whipped first then you can add in the powdered sugar.

Quiche 2 Ways

Yesterday, I took a break from baking cakes and other sweets. I decided to bake 2 kinds of quiche:

'Bacon and Cheese Quiche', which is the easier one

and

'Spinach and Mushroom Quiche'

Quiche is one of my favorite snacks or meal (yes. it can be considered as meal). I order them from Delifrance (now called Cafe France.) This food was introduced to me by my friend when we were working together in Bulacan. I love the creamy texture and the soft crust. I really love the mushroom and spinach and also chicken curry flavor so I thought to myself why not try making them.

I Tried 2 recipes. I did the easy recipe first to see how it would turn out. It's really easy as 1-2-3 and the recipe had good reviews too. I copied ---- Ham and Cheese Quiche Recipe and just changed ham to bacon instead because it's what I had in the fridge. The difference is with bacon you have to cook it first while with ham you just have to toss it straight to the pan. For the Bacon and Cheese Recipe click HERE.

For Mushroom Spinach, what made doing this recipe difficult for me is the dough. The kneading and rolling of the dough take some muscles especially for an amateur like me and add to that the baking time. Click HERE for the recipe.

Bacon and Cheese Quiche

Ingredients:

• 12 slices of toast bread, crusts removed
• Olive oil spray
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup (125ml) milk
• 80g bacon, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup (40g) shredded cheddar
• 1 tbs finely chopped parsley (optional)

Direction:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Lightly grease 12 hole muffin pan.
2. Use a rolling pin to roll out each slice of bread until thin. Spray both sides of the bread with the oil. Line each muffin pan with a slice of bread. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and reduce temperature to 170°C.
3. In a medium saucepan, cook bacon until brown. Set aside.
4. In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and milk together.
5. Divide the bacon, cheese and parsley (if using) among the bread cases.
6. Carefully pour in the egg mixture. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until set.
7. Serve the quiches with tomato and cucumber salad.

Spinach Mushroom Quiche

Ingredients

Fillings:

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 6 ounces fresh spinach leaves
• 8 ounces sliced white mushrooms
• Salt and pepper
• 6 eggs
• 3 ounces crumbled feta cheese
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Crust:

• 2 cups plain flour
• 150g butter, chilled, chopped
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/4 cup water, chilled

Directions

To make the crust:

1. Place flour and butter in a food processor or mix them together using electric dough mixer. Process until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. 
2. Add egg yolk and chilled water. Process until dough just comes together. 
3. Turn on to a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth. 
4. Using a lightly floured rolling pin, flatten dough into a 15cm round. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
5. Lightly grease two 12-hole, 1 1/2 tablespoon-capacity round-based patty pans.
6. Roll out pastry between 2 sheets of baking paper until 3mm thick.
7. Using a round pastry cutter (and since I don't have one, I used a round glass to cut the dough) , cut 24 rounds from pastry. 
8. Press pastry rounds into prepared pans. Pierce bases with a fork. Freeze for 20 minutes or until firm.
9. During the waiting time, reheat oven to 350°F.  Preheat it for 30 minutes.
10. Using a fork, lightly beat 1 egg in a bowl. Brush egg over pastry rounds. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until light golden. Set aside.

To make the fillings:

1. Meanwhile, in a medium skillet heat the olive oil and sauté fresh spinach leaves and sliced mushrooms for 4 to 6 minutes, or until mushrooms have browned and spinach has “melted.”
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs with the feta crumbled.
3. Gently add the sautéed mushrooms and spinach to the prepade crust pan. Then pour the egg-feta mixture over the top.
4. Place the quiche into the preheated oven and cook for 30 minutes. 
5. Remove from oven, add the shredded mozzarella to the top and return to the oven for 5 to 10 minutes, or until cheese has melted. Then serve

Sesame Street Cupcake

Finally! I'm done with my Sesame Street Cupcakes.

These are samples for my son's first birthday. Banana buttercream frostings in moist chocolate cupcake. I used fondant icing for their eyes, nose, and tongue. For the mouth, I used chocolate cookies which I also baked and for Big Bird's beak, marshmallow.

Say 'Hello!' to:

ELMO

OSCAR the Grouch

COOKIE MONSTER

and

BIG BIRD

Let me know what you think of these. Hit 'Like it' or 'Love it' before the comment section. Thanks.

Easter 2013

Made this Easter Cake Pops.

Baked this 9" butter cake and just added cream cheese filling (cream cheese with butter and confectioner's sugar) and formed some egg-shaped balls. Froze it and coated it with chocolates.

It takes a man and a woman...

Oh yes! The title means: the movie of Sarah G. and John Lloyd Cruz, but this is not a review of that movie. Perhaps it's about my man and me..

Both of us were busy in our lives. He's busy with his work and I'm busy being a mother and a wife. I'm so focused with him and most importantly with our child that sometimes I forget me. In few days now, Josh we'll be deployed again. He'll be far away from us again for a month. I'm not really anticipating on any plans he has for us before he leave since I'm preoccupied with Jabin's upcoming first birthday in June and the business I'm putting up with my sister.

Earlier this Black Saturday morning my husband left early and went to work while me, I just did my routine: clean the room, eat, prepare Jabin's meal, wash the bottles and the dishes, bake etc. Unaware of the time my husband was home already. Just about in time when I finished my Chocolate Revel Bar. He then surprisingly told me to change clothes because we're going out.

Surprised and tired with all the chores I didn't complain neither did I choose to stay and rest. I know I got to finish my Egg Pops (egg-shaped cake pops) for tomorrow for the kids and for everyone, but my priority is my husband. The last time we had a movie night alone was the Les Miserables movie last January. I know it was just 2 months ago but that was already long for us. Movie night when we were single until we get married was our bonding and alone time together. We both just couldn't afford to take another month before we have movie night again. Also, because he's a fan of Sarah G. (though he doesn't admit this.. ssshh! hehe) and we've seen both the past movies of this sequel 'It Takes a Man and a Woman' I got to watch this for him and for us.

The movie was about giving in and not giving up. It's about what you can offer to the other without any condition. The best line I've heard was the part when Miggy (John Lloyd) said his vows; some part that I remember was (correct me if I'm wrong) "I'm not gonna say any vows because today is not about a day of promises but a day of complete surrender..." Though the words sound so promising 'complete surrender' for me is more of what you can be than what you can do. It's giving in to the things you know you can't do. Just like in that movie Miggy gave in to Laida because he know and he can't be the best guy without her same as with Laida admitting she couldn't move on with the past because of loving Miggy too much that he was and has been part of her life. It does takes a man and a woman to work things out. Be in that complete surrender with the man or the woman you love just to be with them and showing how they mean to you; may it be your time, your strength, or even your ego. That is why I still chose to be with my man even if it means draining all my energy because of things needs to be done when we get home.

Photo credit to elysplanet.com

Character Cupcake: Draft of Oscar the Grouch Cupcake

I was so desperate to have Sesame Street Themed Cupcakes for my son's 1st birthday that's made of buttercream (for cheaper costs) so the characters' faces are not just simple toppers or flat fondant (costly na kasi kapag 3D fondant pa). I found lots of suppliers but I still needed to cut down my costs so I decided to bake cupcakes since I used to bake cookies and brownies before. I started exploring and trying out different cupcake recipes. My sister and I are trying to come up with a cupcake, that is not only moist and soft but delicious as well, and the perfect frosting to top it with. Fortunately, our mom has experience in baking cakes and making frostings for our birthday when we were young so she's helping us out right now, teaching us her techniques and sharing her experience.

The other day, I baked this moist chocolate cupcake and I was thinking of what frosting would match it. I thought of marshmallow frosting but my sister didn't like the idea until I decided to try and make vanilla buttercream. The first buttercream I made was too sweet, redid it and added unsweetened milk chocolate syrup that I previously made. My siblings and in-laws liked the chocolate frosting in my moist chocolate cupcake. Nabawasan naman ang sweetness but it's sill too sweet for me. Then I researched for a new recipe for vanilla buttercream; read some tips/ideas and explored variations and voila! I'm able to come up with my own tasty vanilla buttercream! Next was finding the best tip to frost (I'm such an amateur I know! Buti na lang andiyan si mother) until I found this weird tip which I couldn't fathomed what it is used for. I asked my mom about it and when she showed me how to use it I eventually thought of Oscar the Grouch; na-excite ako so I looked for the green food color and added banana flavor and made Oscar the Grouch frosting for moist chocolate cupcake. Coming up with this cupcake was unexpected, I didn't have anything to make his eyes, mouth and the scary eyebrow. I just utilized what I have around. I'll definitely make this again and the other Sesame Street characters for Jabin's 1st Birthday. Will make Cookie Monster, Big Bird, and more importantly, Elmo!

Cupcakes: Sophie's Mom

 

Got a pasalubong from my sister: Cupcakes from Sophie's Mom. I've been seeing this on Google search and on facebook and been wanting to try this since I was in search for the best cupcakes for my son's birthday. Then she had an appointment somewhere in Ortigas togethjer with my mom and they were able to drop by Megamall and bought these.

Cute box in baby blue and baby pink color.

Red Velvet Cupcake P60

What I like about their Red Velvet is the cream cheese frosting. The perfect frosting for red velvet cake. When it comes to red velvet cakes I look for the moistness, softness and smoothness (velvetiness?) of the cake. The cake itself is ok. I give it a score of 8 out of 10.

Green Tea Cupcake w/ White Choc-Green Tea Ganache P70

I love green tea.. from tea to frappe to donuts.. but I'm not really sure of this one. It just wouldn't get through my throat. I love the idea though, but it just didn't work for me.

Chocolate Cupcake

Rainbow Burst Cupcake P65

If you wanna try these cupcakes you can visit their store at these branches:

SM Megamall A, Ground Floor
  SM North Edsa, The Block
SM Southmall, Ground Level
8760 Santol St., San Antonio Village, Makati City

You can also check them out through Facebook and browse their menu HERE!

They also have cookies, truffles, mochi ice cream and breads.

Chewy Choco Mallow Cookie

I made a chewy chocolate cookie dough and added mallows on top. It's the chewiest cookie that I made. I was scared to try it at first because it might turn out too-sweet-you'll-going-to-have-sore-throat. Thankfully it went well: the chewiness and yumminess, I love it!

This what my brother had said (as the first critic) "tama lang hindi siya masyadong matamis" and ate more cookies. Then came in my 6 year old niece and said "It's good thing that Tita Lec is baking cookies again!" Aww... Isn't that sweeeet?! It really touched my heart. I love her so much!

Josh's Natal Day

It's my dearest Josh's Birthday! God has blessed him with another year to live. I don't know what are the things he's thankful for, the only thing I know for sure is that he is (always) grateful for having his family around - Jabin his son, his parents, his nephews, his sister (though she's in FL with her husband), my family, specially my parents, and me, of course.

Having a family is such a blessing. Lalo na if the family is loving, supportive, and thoughtful.

With Josh and I, we're blessed to have God as the center of our marriage and family. Through prayers and bible studies we are always reminded to be grateful for all the things we have.

So today, we celebrated Josh's birthday through the help of our family.

First, we had lunch with my family. Josh wanted seafood, though he is allergic to it. He wanted sweet sour fish, kilawin tanigue, and garlic buttered shrimp. So Josh and I went to AANI Weekend Market at Taguig and enjoyed buying fresh organic vegetables. T'was crazy too, seeing fish and shrimps jumping around; we were on the wet side of the market scouting for Lapu Lapu and shrimps. We weren't able to buy tanigue for kilawin though, because we were in a hurry to get home for Jabin. 

My mom prepared Escabeche (sweet sour fish) while I prepared Garlic Buttered Shrimp.

We also had some Pork BBQ that we bought from AANI as additional viand, as well as Vegetable Salad in Caesar/Thousand Island Dressing and Fresh Mangoes for appetizer and dessert.

 

And of course... Birthday cake for the celebrant!

Double Chocolate Cake that I bought from S&R

Baked some Red Velvet Cupcakes too, some of which we brought to his parents.

 

At his parents, we celebrated his birthday during merienda time and it already served as our dinner because it was a heavy snack. We ordered pizza from Shakey's, fried chicken from KFC with coleslaw and macaroni salad, pancit bihon cooked by his mom for long life (Filipino you know!) and lumpia.

First Day Sale at S&R

The first time I went to S&R Member's Treat  (Fort Bonifacio Branch) was a surprise or I would say it gave me culture shock. Had to stand in the the longest line ever and it took me hours to get in. But that didn't stop me to be in the member's treat for 2 years now. They have this huge sale twice a year around Feb. or March and around Oct. or Nov.

Earlier today, they have started again a 5-Day Member's treat. Woke up at 4 AM, left in 30 minutes and was able to fetch my sister-in-law around quarter to 5. Luckily enough we were on the first batch. Last time, I remember we arrived at 5AM but we had to wait longer because we were on the 2nd batch even if we were just under the parking ramp. This time we brought a folding chair and a snack. If you forgot to bring something to eat and drink during the waiting hours there's McDo nearby. They are open 24 hours. Below are the snapshots I had before S&R opened.

(S&R Operating hours: 8AM - 9PM)

5:30 AM

Getting ready!

We were done shopping around 10 AM. We finished our grocery before the line piled up on the cashier. I was third in line next to my sister-in-law.

After this, I bought pizzas from the food service for take home. Then bought Blue Bunny Mocha Almond Fudge to cool me up because of the hot weather outside as we wait for the driver to pick us up.

Mocha Almond Fudge

Jabin turned 9 months

My son turned 9 months yesterday. His Dad bought mocha cake for him. I made 9 chocolate coated mallows with sprinkles on top and some cake pops. The balloons, which I made 3 weeks ago - to sample a centerpiece to use on his birthday - coincidentally has 9 balloons; A perfect number of balloons to celebrate his 9 months of existence on Earth.

Happy 9 months Baby!  

Mocha Cake by Red Ribbon

Chocolate Coated Mallows

Choco Walnut Cake Pops