Wholemeal Banana Muffins

Posted on May 26, 2020 by littlelilly

Did you know that muffins fit as part of a healthy breakfast? Some people I know of don’t think that muffins fit as part of a healthy breakfast. I will agree provided the muffins are filled with saturated fat, sugar and refined flours.

These perfectly portioned wholemeal banana muffins with wholesome ingredients – wholemeal flour, fruit, honey, olive oil and almond milk – make you feel good in the morning.They are super moist and flavorful. They make a great grab-and-go breakfast or a great afternoon snack.

Bananas and honey are key for this recipe because it helps retain moisture and their natural sweetness cuts back on added sugar. Plus, adding bananas gives this recipe a boost in nutrition with Vitamin B6, Vitamin C, potassium and manganese.

These wholemeal banana muffins will keep at room temperature for up to 2 days or in a refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Here’s my simple recipe:

What you will need:

2 ½ cups of wholemeal flour
2 medium-sized chicken eggs, washed and at room temperature
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
½ cup maple syrup of honey
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 to 3 bananas)
½ cup almond milk
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon pink Himalayan salt
1 teaspoon nutmeg

How to make it:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celcius and put paper muffin cups into the muffin tray.
Combine the dry ingredients. Put 2 ½ cups of wholemeal flour, baking soda, baking powder, Himalayan salt, nutmeg. If you would like to add any additional mix-ins like nuts, chocolate or dried fruit, fold them in now. Mix them well with a large spoon, just until combined.
In a separate bowl, prepare the wet ingredients. Put the bananas and mashed them up with a fork. Add freshly cracked eggs. Put in almond milk, olive oil and honey. Whisk them up together to combine.
Pour in the wet ingredients into the mixture of dry ingredients. Mix the ingredients with a spatula to combine well.
Divide the batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups, filling each cup about two-thirds full.
Bake muffins for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.
Put the muffins in a cooling rack, and let it cool for about 30 minutes before serving.
Serve, share and enjoy.

Little Lilly baking tips:

Use ripe bananas. The browner the bananas the sweeter they are.
Freshly cracked the eggs in a small bowl. Don’t crack the eggs into the mixture right away because sometimes the eggs are not good, if it happens, the whole mixture will be ruined and wasted.
I use Himalayan salt because it has less sodium than the original table salt, and it contains about 84 trace elements.

Creamy asparagus soup

Posted on May 24, 2020 by littlelilly

When I walked into the supermarket, I saw these vibrant green vegetables. Since my family and I (especially my husband) are a big fan of asparagus, I opted to make this soothing green soup that’s rich enough to be a light meal or a satisfying appetizer.

We love this asparagus soup! It’s so simple to make and it’s puréed to silky smooth perfection. It is definitely pure comfort in a bowl that tastes heavenly luxurious.

Here’s my simple recipe for this lusciously velvety soup.

Little Lilly cooking tips:

Put the olive oil and butter together because the oil prevents the butter from burning which is important when you cook it for a long time.
Trim off the tough part of the asparagus (about 2 to 3 inches from the bottom).Use the tender part only. When the asparagus is kind of woody or big, use a peeler to peel off the skin of the asparagus.

What you will need:

530 grams of asparagus,
3 stalks of celery
1 medium size white potato, chopped
2 medium size shallots, chopped
4 gloves of garlic, chopped
30 cL of fresh cooking cream
2 tbsp of olive oil
2 tbsp of butter
pink Himalayan salt, to taste
black pepper, freshly crashed, to taste

How to make it?

Put olive oil and butter in a skillet.
Add shallots and garlic. Stir and cook over medium heat until they become translucent.
Add asparagus, celery and potato along with 6 cups of water. Season with Himalayan salt and freshly crashed black pepper to taste. Mix them well carefully.
Cover and simmer until the vegetables are very tender.
Puree the soup by blending the mixture in batches in a blender. Be very careful as the mixture is very hot.
Return the soup into the pot and stir in fresh cooking cream. Then warm over low heat. Keep stirring until it becomes silky smooth.
Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish it with some fresh herbs.
Et voila! Share, serve and enjoy!

Re-united with my high-school friend in Phnom Penh after 20 years

Posted on May 23, 2020 by littlelilly

One year ago, I finally got to meet one of my high-school friends here in Phnom Penh when she decided to spend a short while in the capital city while she and her family were on an Indochina tour.

Finally re-united with Macel after 20 years. — Finally reunited with Macel after 20 years.

Macel and I became friends when we were in second year high-school. The last time we saw each other was during our high-school graduation – April 1999. Then it so happened that we lost contact/touch for a couple of years as I went to MSU for uni and she went to Manila to continue her studies. It was not before 10 years that we reconnected each other over Facebook. Thanks to social media, we stayed in touch although not very much as we were busy with our work and family.

After 20 years, Macel and I finally met in person. I met her son and her cousin and she met my husband and my son too. The feeling was delightful. We were both curious to know more about each other and how our lives had been over the years.

I picked them up at the bus station and they stayed in our place since they only had 1 night and 1 day to spend with us before they headed to their next destination. We spent the whole night (until midnight catching up) over home-cooked meals and beer/wine.

The following day, I took her and her cousin to Tuol Sleng Museum and to the Killing fields to know the sad history of Cambodia while her son and my son stayed at home and bond over games. It was a long morning and our trip was heartbreaking and very moving. So after the visit, we headed back home for lunch and for a short nap.

with Gerlyn and Macel at Tuol Sleng Museum

In the afternoon, I took them including our sons to the places in town with happy history. Our first stop was at the Independence Monument; we took plenty of photos there and walked a bit at the park. Since it was scorching hot, we hopped in back in the tuktuk and off to the Royal Palace. We stayed at least an hour inside the palace, and I was glad that they were fascinated about the place. Then, we went to the National Museum. Unfortunately, the museum was closed when we got there so we only got to enjoy the façade and the garden.

From the National Museum, we opted to take a sunset boat trip along the Tonle Sap River to get a feel for the city from a different perspective. The boat trip was beautiful – the river breeze was cool and refreshing on our skin and the diffusion of different bright colors in the sky was mesmerizing. How relaxing it was to end a long lovely day!

On our way home, we stopped by at Wat Phnom, a Buddhist Temple built in 1372. We looked around the place and luxuriated in the wonderful nighttime scenery. We enjoyed ourselves a lot and visited nearby places that would fascinate a tourist.

We not only had a wonderful time together, but their visit also allowed me to play more in my kitchen and cooked healthy and delicious dishes as it is always our pleasure to cook for our guests – family and friends. Since we did not know what type of food they prefer, my husband and I settled for cooking the dishes we thought that they would like – pork adobo, beef broccoli, gratin dauphinois, ham pizza, leek tart, potato-carrot-kale soup, cookies, freshly squeezed fruit juices – and made sure that everything was made from fresh and organic ingredients. We were delighted that they loved the food.

We were supposed to take them to a dinner at one of our favorite restaurants in town, but time didn’t allow us as they needed to catch the next night bus trip bound to Siem Reap. While they were preparing their stuff, I prepared our dinner. Then we gathered together – enjoyed food and beer and wine while talking about a bit of everything under the sun. Then, after they rested a bit and after we’ve taken a group photo, it was time to bid them good-bye. Afterwards, I dropped them off at the bus station. Even though the visit was short, it was sweet.

It was totally an exhilarating and unforgettable reunion that I’ll treasure. I feel blessed to have such a long lasting bond of friendship. It gives meaning to life and makes it even more beautiful. Cheers to more get together soon.

Creamy garlic shrimp in lemon white wine sauce

Posted on May 23, 2020 by littlelilly

Shrimp is one of my family’s favorite seafood and proteins. It is also one of the seafoods that my husband can only eat. So tonight, I surprised my boys with a special and the most delicious dish – creamy garlic shrimp in lemon white wine sauce.

creamy garlic shrimp in lemon white wine sauce

We love the combination of ingredients as it has the creamy lemony garlicky white wine sauce. It’s undoubtedly a crowd pleaser and a dinner winner perfect for a cozy meal! My family and I enjoyed this simple yet delectable dish so much. It tastes so luxurious and an utter bliss.

So once the juicy, plump shrimps are peeled and cleaned, they were smothered in a creamy garlic white wine sauce. It’s fast and easy to make, and you can have this luscious seafood dish on the table in just about 20 minutes.

Here’s my cooking tips:

The peeling and de-veining of shrimps takes plenty of time, though. In de-veining the shrimps, I remove the black vein at the back of the shrimp.
I add the garlic when the shrimp is partly cooked so that it won’t get burnt. Although my husband loves the bitter bits of garlic, it doesn’t look pleasant in a creamy white sauce.
I use white wine, and I add it after cooking the garlic.
I use fresh lemon. It adds extra element of flavor into the sauce. And I add it towards the end so that it will not ruin the cream.
If you wish to serve this with pasta, double the amount of sauce so that you have enough to coat the pasta and it doesn’t appear dry.

Here’s my restaurant-style shrimp recipe bursting with flavors.

What you will need:

800 grams of shrimps, peeled, cleaned and de-veined
One 30cL of fresh cream
10 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
fresh lemon juice of half a lemon
2 cups of white wine
10 grams of butter
2 tablespoons of fresh parsley, finely chopped
olive oil
pink Himalayan salt, to taste
black pepper, freshly crashed

How to make it?

Put olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.
When it starts foaming, add shrimps. Cook until they becomes orange in color.
Add the garlic and 10 grams of butter. Stir up to combine.
Add white wine. Whisk everything well and reduce the heat to low. Simmer until you can no longer smell the alcohol which means that it’s half evaporated.
Add cream, salt and pepper. Mix everything carefully. Simmer until it thickens slightly.
Add lemon juice and fresh parsley. Stir it up well and simmer for 1 minute.
Et voila! Serve share and enjoy.

France: Cairn de Barnenez, A window into the Past

Posted on May 1, 2020 by littlelilly

While we were in Bretagne for the whole summer break last year (2019), My husband and I decided to take our son to a wonderful archaeological outing at the Cairn de Barnenez in northern Finistere.