Red Bean (Adzuki) Quinoa Muffins

Sometimes I wonder how I've developed a sense of entitlement in various aspects of my life. For example, I think if I work really hard, I deserve rewards or things to go my way. As an educated worker, the privileges which may come with the role seem to overtime turn into something I feel entitled to.

This past Sunday morning, I was brushing my teeth when the lights suddenly turned off and my window-less bathroom turned semi pitch black. As it turned out, there was a power outage in the entire building which caused more inconvenience than I had imagined. Apart from worrying that the food in the fridge may go off, I could not get out of the building as the elevator did not work and the main entrance was stuck (not to mention the cars in the garage too!)

At the end I decided to climb down the fire escape stairs (all 17 levels!) and made my way to the station. Even though I managed to get out in one piece, I was feeling flustered and late for church.  Truth be told, I was annoyed that something like this would happen at my side of town at the most inopportune time, causing me delays. Perhaps because I am a middle-class Australian, at the core of me I feel entitled to never have the power go out on me, to always have enough food and running water and to always have things work out my expected way. 

And then I was humbled when the Lord reminded me that a great number of people in the more disadvantaged side of the world do see the lack of power as their everyday norm. No doubt to have access to any source of power, their heart would be overflowed with thanksgiving.

I do think it can be a 'danger' to have too much of a good thing, be it money, time or other resources. It builds up a false sense of entitlement. So I hope to be always alert enough to notice the things I do take for granted...and be deeply thankful.

Now, as I power-climbed down those flights of stairs, I'm thankful that I had these energy giving muffins on one hand as breakfast. ;)

I made these quinoa red-bean muffins the day before. This is one of my favourite healthy muffin recipes however I normally use mashed bananas instead of the mashed red beans!

Like many desserts on this blog, these muffins don't look pretty or dainty or fine. They are what they are - healthful and wholesome. No doubt delicious too (think soft and moist!)

There was a time in my life I thought the world of desserts/sweets consists of only red beans and mung beans! Those were the days growing up in Taiwan where it was common to have sweetened red bean soup as an after dinner treat rather than ice-cream and cakes and tarts. (Those came into my life much much later!)

Do you know that red beans make for delicious breakfast too? I like to add them to my morning porridge from time to time...yum! 

(You can find more red bean recipes here.)

The flavour of the quinoa flour is quite strong and gives these muffins a delicious nutty taste. Of course, you can adjust the amount of the flour and replace with AP flour if that suits you.

And the same goes with the red beans, if you're not particular keen (please don't fall into this category!) just substitute with fruits and berries...and chocolate. I'm also thinking mashed edamame beans...and salted caramel. Perhaps not together!

Red Bean Quinoa Muffins
Adapted from here
Makes 12 (I halved the recipe)

Ingredients

• 1 cup all purpose-flour 
• 1 cup of quinoa flour 
• 3/4 cup sugar 
• 1 tbsp white chia seeds
• 1 rounded teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 cup of milk
• 1/2 cup of sunflower oil (or other neutral cooking oil)
• 2 eggs 
• 1 1/3 cups of mashed cooked red beans

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. Place muffin cups in the muffin tin.
3. In a medium bowl combine the flours, chia seeds, sugar, baking soda.

4. In another bowl whisk the milk, oil and eggs.

5. Pour the milk mix into the dry mix. Add the red beans paste.
6. Stir just until the it's blended. Don't over mix, a lumpy batter will make the best muffins.
7. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups.
8. Place in the oven rack for 20 minutes at 400°F.

Thanks for visiting with me today.

I know I've been kinda slack on updating this space lately.

Been busy but still got to take some time off to smell the roses! ;)

And now...I can almost smell the weekend. Can you?

See you soon!

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Strawberry Buckwheat Scones

The past long weekend totally speeded up my week.

How did Thursday arrive so quickly?

I might still be basking in the afterglow of the weekend.

And how can I not when it looked something like this?

So apart from the usual stuff, this week has also been...

...at times, quiet. Which is necessary for my introverted self, otherwise I'd feel so drained out. I read somewhere that introverts may appear calm on the outside, but their inner worlds are always "noisy". True that!

...mildly confusing. An online personality test tells me a suitable career would be: interior decorator/designer, clergy, child care or office manager...hmmm so far from what I do!

...rather organised. I am in process of categorising my food ideas into tiny boards (aka Pinterest). No more stray bookmarks/labels here, there and everywhere!

...filled with the book of Psalms. So good for the soul. And God blesses me with friends who faithfully keep me in their prayers (even across the Pacific Ocean!) ;)

...disciplined and defining. Somewhat. Or maybe just a little bit. :)

I also had a situation in my fridge. Something along the line of buying too much strawberries and not having enough room to store them.

I knew I had to deal with this problem asap so got my thinking/creative hat on straight away!

The first punnet turned into a rustic strawberry galette as a post-dinner treat...so bloody red!

Another punnet got blended with milk and some other goodies. 

Strawberry milk is THE childhood food memory for me. Obviously non-fresh ones with artificial colours and flavours. So good...yet so bad.

Then the last punnet turned into scones! Buckwheat scones, to be precise!

Buckwheat belongs to the 'eat more of' section in my book. It is known to lower cholesterol and has a rich supply of flavonoids and other good stuff. I love the taste of it (although some might find it an acquired taste). If you like the Japanese soba noodle (made of buckwheat of course!) then you'll probably enjoy baking buckwheat flour too. Oh, the flour make for great breakfast pancakes too!

This is definitely a twist on your normal scone recipe. I like the combo of the tartness of the strawberry with the earthiness of the buckwheat flour, as well as sweetness coming from the honey I smothered on the scones! 

So don't forget to drizzle the scones with some honey because mathematically buckwheat + honey = match!

And of course cream too, if you'd like!

Strawberry Buckwheat Scones

Inspired by 'Wa sweet recipe'

• 150g buckwheat flour
• 100g cake flour
• pinch salt
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• 75g unsalted butter, cubed
• 120ml milk
• 30g sugar (I used raw sugar)
• 6-8 strawberries, diced

Preheat the oven to 200C.

1. In a large bowl, sift together the flours, salt, sugar and baking powder.

2. Cut butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with your fingertips. (The mixture should look like coarse crumbs).

3. In a measuring cup with the milk, add the strawberries to infuse for a short while. Then, add this mixture to the flour mixture. Stir just until combined. Do not over mix.

4. Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead the dough gently a few times and then pat into a 2cm thick round. Using a round cutter (I think I used a 3cm one), cut out as many rounds as you can. Press dough together and cut out remaining rounds with the dough. 

5. Place scones onto prepared baking tray with baking/parchment paper, at least 1cm apart. 

6. Brush the tops of the scones with a little milk. This helps to brown the tops of the scones while baking.

7. Bake for around 13-15 minutes until golden.

Serve hot with honey and/or cream!

One thing I have desired of the LORD, 

That will I seek: 

That I may dwell in the house of the LORD 

All the days of my life, 

To behold the beauty of the LORD, 

And to inquire in His temple. 

For in the time of trouble 

He shall hide me in His pavilion; 

In the secret place of His tabernacle 

He shall hide me; 

He shall set me high upon a rock.

-Psalm 27:4-5

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Breakfast toast

It was the first time my kind-hearted boss shook his head in disappointment at me in front of everyone. The embarrassment and shame when he said I had forgotten where I came from. I felt all eyes on me, in disbelief, as if I had done something so terrible. I just hoped that they didn't think my parents failed to raise me right. As blood rushed to turn my face red, I wanted to close my eyes and magically disappear from the attention.

So what 'crime' did I commit? Well, one early morning, I groggily responded with a confused "huh?" when asked about how my Mid-Autumn Festival was spent earlier this week. ;) I had forgotten all about it despite seeing all my foodie friends eating/baking mooncakes since last week. Actually, maybe I didn't completely forget but it's just my brain does not function at its normal capacity on days when I do not have breakfast - which was the case for that fateful day.

So I've learnt my lesson and the next morning, I made sure I woke up early for a hearty meal before leaving the house. 

Creamy avocado egg salad. For some fat and protein.

And juicy tomatoes and goat cheese. Anti-oxidant and calcium. (You do know I'm no nutritionist right?)

On toasted spelt sourdough. Carbs for brain function?

Yes please!

Just brush each slice of bread with some olive oil then rub with the cut side of halved garlic. For the tomato toast, crumble a bit of goat cheese evenly on the bread.

Grill them in the oven at around 230C (450F) for a few minutes (until cheese melts).

Mash 2 hard boiled eggs with one large avocado. 

Don't forget a dollop of mayo and whole-grain mustard seeds, and some sprinkling of S&P.

(edit) Oh and a squeeze of half a lemon (or vinegar) too.

Slice up some juicy tomatoes and layer them on on the goat cheese.

Spread generously the avocado egg salad onto the other slice!

Hope you had your breakfast today. :)

A good breakfast can really set you up well for the rest of the day, me thinks!

Thanks to Kate from Cookie and Kate for the delicious goats cheese/tomato toast idea!

Have a lovely rest of the week and bye for now. xoxo.

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Oatmeal Pancake with Poached Rhubarbs

I'm grateful today that...

...a big genuine smile can make for a really great day :D

...not being always in control (as much as i'd like to be) humbles and frees us.

...i have a roof over my head and that i can wake up and not have to worry about soooo many things i take for granted. but it saddens me that i can just flick through the channels between devastating news around the world and the silly reality TV shows and feel...normal.

...in quietness and trust i get my my strength.

...no one saw me when i fell flat on my face at the station :P

...that people encourage one another. let's keep it going because we all need that!

...i have access to amazing produce which made up my delicious breakfast.

So one Saturday morning, we visited Sydney's Pyrmont Grower's Market for the morning grind and weekly grocery. Happy times!

I foresee lots of oven baked fries in the upcoming days...with lots of garlic and pepper!

Poppies are such cheerful and whimsical flowers, don't you think?

Despite the busy-ness of the market, my eyes turned to these vibrant dark strands of ruby red rhubarbs and recipes after recipes appeared in my mind about what I'd do with them. If I could, I would buy them all!

I love rhubarbs in crumbles, with cream cheese on tarts, but my favourite way of eating them is poached with a bit of lemon and cinnamon!

So for breakfast today, it's poached rhubarbs (prepared previous day) with oatmeal pancakes and a bit of greek yogurt! (I wanted to make some waffles initially...but then realised that I do not have a waffle maker! D'uh.)

But the good news is, this pancake is delicious - soft and tender as all pancakes should be! If you're an oatmeal lover, then this pancake is for you. Cooked rolled oats combined with some oat flour is used to make up this 'double oated' goodness!

You can prepare the poached rhubarb in advance as I did. They keep well in the fridge for up to a week and you can have them with everything (well almost!). My favourite is with rice puddings!

Don't forget to sweeten up your greek yogurt with some honey too, as you may find the rhubarbs slightly tart!

Oatmeal Pancakes
adapted from Kim Broyce’s Good to the Grain
makes enough for 4

• 1 cup of all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup of oat flour
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon of sea salt
• 3 tablespoons of butter
• about 1 1/4 cup of milk (more if needed to thin out the batter)
• 1 cup of cooked oatmeal (not quick-cook or steel-cut)
• 1 tablespoon of unsulphured molasses
• 2 large eggs

1. Whisk together the flours, sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.

2. Melt the butter and allow it to cool slightly before whisking it with the milk, eggs, oatmeal and molasses in a separate bowl.

3. Fold in the milk and oatmeal mixture into the dry ingredients, gently mixing until combined (don’t use a heavy hand if you’re aiming for tender pancakes).

4. If the batter is too thick, thin out with a little bit more milk.

5. Heat about a tablespoon of butter in a heavy cast iron skillet over medium-high heat and ladle 1/4 cupfuls of batter into the skillet once it’s hot (no more than 3 at one time).

6. Once the pancake batter starts to bubble, flip and cook for another minute or two before transferring to a plate.

7. Continue to scoop in 1/4 cupfuls of batter (re-butter the skillet as necessary) until you have used up all of the batter. Adjust the skillet temperature if you feel that the pancakes are burning or not browning evenly.

Poached Rhubarb

• 600g pink rhubarb (~one bunch)
• 200g caster sugar
• 500ml water
• 1 lemon, sliced
• 1 cinnamon stick

1. Trim the tops and ends of the rhubarb and cut diagonally into 3cm lengths. Put the sugar, water, lemon and cinnamon stick into a pan and stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat and simmer for 2-3 minutes until the syrup has thickened slightly.

2. Tip in the rhubarb and gently poach for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the pieces are just tender but still holding their shape. Transfer the rhubarb with a slotted spoon to a bowl.

3. Boil the syrup until reduced by two thirds to a thick, syrupy sauce. Pour over the rhubarb, leave to cool completely, then chill; the rhubarb will continue to stain the poaching syrup pink with time. This can be kept chilled for up to one week.

Weekend is almost here!

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Edamame beans pancake

The weekend is here. Hello!

June is here too.  Hi too, but I just didn't expect you in such a hurry!

How can it be that I haven't accomplished much this year and we're already half way through the year?

Not good.

Especially if I continue to get through my weekends like this.

And by 'this', I mean something along the lines of sleeping in and long lazy breakfast.

Like today.

But in my defense, breakfast shouldn't be hurried.

I've enough of breakfast on the run in my life that I almost think they should be banned.

While recovering from my wisdom teeth extraction a few weeks ago, I've learnt how to eat properly again.

Slowly. Purposefully. With intention. Savouring each bite. Not gulping down. Sitting down (the multi-tasker in me used to eat and run errands at the same time). T.V off. Away from computer or any techie devices. And preferably with good companies (but alone is also do-able too!).

So, edamame beans is a type of green soybean that is normally cooked in salted water and eaten as a side dish in Japanese (and sometimes Chinese) cuisine.

It is also something that we could all do with more off as it's loaded with carbs, protein, dietary fiber, omega-3 fatty acids, folic acid, manganese and vitamin K... Good healthy food to start the weekend ensures a happy and productive weekend (disclaimer: not tried and tested but will report back with my results post-weekend).

This morning, I've chosen to have my edamame beans pureed (with almond milk) and added to my pancake mix. The taste the beans wasn't prominent in the pancake so next time I will definitely use more in my recipe, but it does add a beautiful faint green colour to this breakfast food.

Edamame Beans Pancakes
Inspired by Masa

• 1 cup all-purpose flour + 2 tbsl whole wheat flour
• 
2 tbsp honey or agave nectar

• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder

• 1/2 cup cooked edamame beans (you could use up to 3/4 cup)
• 
1 cup almond milk (or regular full cream/skim milk)
• 
1 1/2 tbsp oil
 (I used rice bran oil)
• 1 egg

• sprinkle of salt
• honey (to taste)

1. Put the edamame beans and the milk in a blender and mix until smooth.

2. Whisk together the bean mixture from previous step, oil, honey and egg in a bowl.

3. Combine with the dry ingredients - flour. baking powder, salt.

4. Heat a nonstick pan with few drops of oil and ladle some mixture into hot pan. This recipe will make 3 large/thick pancakes, or 4-5 smaller pancakes.

Don't forget to top with some good quality honey too!

This weekend I'm going to be celebrating Dragon Boat Festival by eating lots of zongzi (sticky rice stuffed with fillings in bamboo leaves!)

And I also have a flight to catch to go back to my other 'home'! 

Sounds like a busy weekend already methinks!

Happy weekend and talk to you soon!

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