Simple, Quick and Healthy Granola Bars

I have a confession to make. I have never eaten a granola bar ever until this day. No, it has nothing with taste aversion or allergy (thank God!) or unavailability. I guess I just did not have the chance or a reason to uhm, well, have it.

You see, almost all my life, I grew up not eating my vegetables and even fruits. I don't know the reason why but yeah, I grew up with a very unhealthy body. Fortunately, because of Babs, I started eating healthier food. I can eat lots of greens and fruits now without that puke feeling building inside me and I can really feel something good is happening in my system. I still eat unhealthy stuff like chips, pizza and other junk loaded with preservatives every now and then but I make it a point to try to balance it out or at least make up for it by eating clean food most of the time.

Good thing I survey everything that our nearby grocery store offers because it helps me whenever I'm looking for a dish that I want to try my hands on. In this place where we are currently at, sad to say, availability of ingredients can be very challenging especially if you are looking for non-Indian products. For example, we have pork here but you can't choose the cut you want to buy, what you see is what you get. No bacon, no ham, just pork meat. I'm not complaining because AT LEAST they have pork! Anyway, so why am I telling you all this? It's because I've seen our store sell dates and nobody or maybe only a few people are buying them. Since I am also clueless as to what I can do with it, I just ignore it and carry on with my grocery shopping. But ever since I read the perfect granola recipe I'm looking for online, I knew the day has finally arrived where I can no longer ignore those sweet looking dates crying "Pick me!" "Buy Me!" to every individual passing by their lane.

Going back to granola bars, I've read that these munchies are great post workout snacks and that they can even be used as a substitute for an entire meal. And since I've been on the prowl for easy and healthy recipes online that I can try, I've decided to give granola bars a go. The perfect and awesome recipe I found was from Minimalist Baker. Imagine, the recipe only calls for FIVE, yes, you read it right! FIVE ingredients only and it uses natural sweeteners instead of the usual processed sugar which is a BIG deal for me. Now let me share with you the recipe and the little tweaks I made.

Five-Ingredient Granola Bars Ingredients

• 2 cups oats (I used quick oats because that's the only thing available here.)
• 1 cup seedless dates
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 3/4 cup almond

Procedure

1. Pan roast the oats for a couple of minutes under low flame. Stir the oats every 30 seconds to roast the other side. Once done, transfer in a mixing bowl.
2. Grind/Blend the dates using the blade for milling dry ingredients. If you have a food processor, you can also use that. If the dates are dry and hard, try soaking them in water for at least 10 minutes before grinding/blending them. Once done, transfer in the mixing bowl where the roasted oats are in.
3. Mix together the honey and peanut butter in a saucepan under low flame then pour in the mixing bowl.
4. Throw in the almonds in the mixing bowl and mix all the ingredients together until everything has been evenly distributed. I used my hands to mix everything together. You can use a spatula if you're not comfortable using your hands.
5. In a shallow rectangular container, cover the bottom and sides with a cling wrap then spread the granola mixture in the container. Since I do not have that kind of container, I just used a rectangular plate, covered it with cling wrap, spread the granola mixture and shaped it using my hands. Make sure that you push the mixture in on all sides so that everything will bond together and not crumble later when slicing.
6. Chill the granola in the fridge for 30 minutes.
7. Remove the granola from the fridge and cut it into bars of equal proportion, serve and enjoy!

*You can keep the remaining granola bars in the fridge and they're good for consumption for a few days.

There you have it! I'm just soooo pleased with the way it turned out that I decided to share it with you guys asap.

Til next time!

My First Ever Butter Naan!

If you have been reading my posts for some time now, you have probably read about my monthly goals for self improvement. For this month, one of my goals is to learn how to cook at least 2 Indian dishes. And as of this moment, I am happy to say that I have already accomplished that goal.

One of the dishes I was able to cook to meet my goal was butter naan. I personally like it better than roti. In fact, I like butter naan so much better that I can eat it on its own. So without further ado, let me share with you guys my first ever butter naan!

Puffing is a good sign of cooking your naan (or even roti) right.

Typically, yeast is one of the ingredients when making naan. I did not have that handy so I googled the web for a recipe that does not call for yeast. I tweaked the recipe a bit so continue scrolling below to know more about it.

Butter Naan Ingredients

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup warm/room temperature milk
• 1/2 cup sweet yogurt/curd
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• a pinch of baking soda
• 2 tbsp butter

Procedure

1. Sift all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt in a container.
2. Create a well at the center of the sifted ingredients and pour in the milk and sweet yogurt in the "well".
3. Slowly fold in the dry ingredients to the wet (milk and yogurt) until a soft dough has formed.
4. Let the soft dough sit for two hours.
5. After two hours, knead the dough for about three minutes then start pinching a good portion of the dough, about the size of a golf ball then roll it on a dusted flat surface.
6. After rolling, wet one side of the dough using your hand and put it on an iron pan under medium heat (Indians call it "tawa") wet side down and then cover it with a lid.
7. After about two to three minutes, remove the naan from the iron pan and cook the other side straight to the flame using a hand held griller for about thirty seconds under low heat.
8. Once done, put the naan on a plate and brush it with butter.

My first ever butter naan!

As you can see on the photo above, my first ever butter naan kind of failed because while it was on its final stage of cooking (the hand held grill part), it took some time for me to capture the image so you can see some burnt portions. Nevertheless, it tasted fine. Not really the way I imagined it to be, maybe because I didn't use yeast, so it was not as light and airy as the ones I had from the hotel where Babs and I stayed before moving in to our new apartment. But overall, for a first timer, I think I did fine and Babs actually gave me an 8/10 rating and he is not the type to lie about my cooking just to make me feel good. Hihihi!

Yay! Cooked the rest of them perfectly. I guess. Haha!

So what dish did I cook to match my butter naan with? Find out tomorrow! It's also an Indian dish and a favorite in our household!

Enjoy the rest of your day guys wherever part of the globe you may be!

Green Smoothie for a Healthy Me!

I have a confession to make. I only started eating fruits and vegetables when I met Babs. Well, it's not that I don't eat any veggie or any fruit at all. It's just that I can count on one hand the number of fruits I eat and two hands for the veggies.

I really don't know why I disliked vegetables (especially the green leafy ones) and fruits when I was growing up. Both my parents eat all kinds of greens and fruits but somehow, I never learned how to enjoy eating those nutritious food.

Anyways, fast forward to the present time, I am proud to say that my veggies and fruits intake have improved and not only that! I also enjoy eating them which is so unlikely if you meet me in the past.

And because I have been exploring all kinds of healthy food, I've decided to try concocting our very own green smoothie. Actually, this move was also inspired by a friend who is trying to live a healthier lifestyle by juicing. We don't have a juicer but we have a blender so healthy smoothie is what I want to focus on.

So guys, let me share with you Ankamil's Green Smoothie.

Ingredients:

1 bunch of baby spinach
2 medium size bananas (frozen)
1 medium size cucumber (frozen)
1 cup 150ml sweetened yogurt
water (accdg. to the consistency you prefer)

Serving: 3 glasses

How about you? Do you have a healthy smoothie recipe that you can share with us? Please do tell!

Cheers everybody!

To Have a Cooking Blog or Not

Hi guys!

Been under the weather the past couple of days hence my lack of posts during those times. Anyway, I'm feeling better now so I thought I should drop by and share with you what I have been thinking about for quite some time now.

You see, for the longest time, hmmm... probably about almost three years now, I've been thinking of creating a new blog where I can document each dish that I cook. I thought that in doing so, one, I can keep track of the dishes that I have successfully cooked and two, hopefully give inspiration to struggling cooks or kitchen newbies like me.

I have been married for three years now but my cooking experience is still very limited because of several reasons such as my lack of interest to learn and poor motivation to name a few.

But now, I think I'm almost ready to take up this new challenge. I just need to fix and straighten up a number of stuff and then I'm ready to launch my very own cooking show! Erm, I mean blog. Cooking Blog. Teehee!

Anywho, let me leave you guys with a few snaps of some of the dishes that I made.

South Korea's Bibimbap

India's Bhutta

Philippines' Pork Sinigang

Spreading good vibes to everybody!

Our Foodie Experience in Palawan

Babs and I are never really adventurous eaters. I mean, we like to try new food but if it's exotic food, uhm, that's a different story.

Anyway, before flying to Palawan, I know that "tamiloc" is the must try food in the province. It is a mangrove worm that locals eat raw. All you gotta do is dip it in vinegar and then put it straight into your mouth! I remember in one of the episodes of Amazing Race way back, the contestants were ask to eat tamiloc and the look on their faces said it all. We didn't have the guts to try this local exotic food so yeah, we ordered room service for our meals most of the time (if we are not out gallivanting) and ate at one of the most famous restaurants in town.

Babs liked Dangkalan Resort's chicken afritada so we ordered it for lunch one time and another time during dinner.

Chicken Afritada and Garlic Rice

Aside from Chicken Afritada, we also ordered Pork Sisig for dinner one night.

Why so serious me? Us enjoying our brekkie of rice, sunny side up egg and fish (for moi) and beef tapa (for Babs).

Dangkalan Resort Menu as of March 2011

What we enjoyed in Microtel Palawan was their breakfast buffet. They had everything that we were looking for in a breakfast and if only we can borrow an extra stomach for breakfast, we would have eaten more.

The drinks area during the breakfast buffet. They serve coffee, juice and hot choco. I couldn't remember if they have tea too.

Dining area and you can see the buffet spread behind.

Yours truly munching on my favorite brekkie bread PANDESAL!

 During our island hopping adventure, we ate our seafood lunch at one of the islands we visited. The food was included in our tour package.

Grilled Seafood is LOVE

Another meal that was included in our tour package was the lunch we had during our underground river adventure.

Chicken Adobo and Sauteed Water Spinach with a chilled bottle of Coke served by the beach!

There are two famous restaurants in Puerto Princesa that tourists and locals alike rave about. We tried to book both several times but we only succeeded on one and that is at Kinabuchs. It is a sports bar/restaurant. I remember us enjoying all the food that we ordered but I already forgot how much the total damage (yes, I'm talking about the price of course! hehehe!) was. It was a nice restaurant with good food. Oh! I think they were serving "tamiloc" dishes but of course, we didn't order that.

Someone's busy stuffing her face! LOL

NOM NOM NOM

I am ALWAYS ready for a GOOD cheesecake!

Though we did not go to Palawan for a foodie adventure, we are still thankful that the province did not only fill our hearts and minds with fun memories but the place also filled our bellies with good food.

Are you hungry yet? Hihihi!

Happy Friday guys!

Til next time!

A Quick Stop at Cafe Coffee Day

I have a confession to make. I am a late bloomer coffee lover. No, not the coffee afficionado kind of person who talks crazy about coffee beans and all that. I just love drinking coffee. That's it. You see, while growing up, the elders in our house made me drink Milo, a choco-malt energy drink, every morning for breakfast. Not that I am complaining about that but they also told me that drinking coffee will hinder my growth. I also remember that when I was still young, I tried to drink coffee but the only taste that lingered in my mind was its bitterness so because of that, I decided to stay away from it for good or at least that's what I thought during that moment. Also, being the goody two shoes that I am, I obligingly drink Milo every single day even up until my college years because it IS actually a good energy booster during breakfast time. And you know what, I actually still do drink Milo (or Cadbury's Bourn Vita) every now and then when cravings are too hard to ignore. Anyway, it's not like choco-malt drinks are bad for you.
 

Our coffee at home.

Moving forward, my love for coffee actually started when my youngest sister got addicted to coffee. During that time, I wondered how can she like such kind of drink that taste nothing but bitterness. Then my mother bought this 3-in-1 coffee mix that almost all people (the exception was me) in our household like drinking. Because of that, I grew even more curious as to what makes them like coffee so much and so I made myself a cup of that hot beverage and what do you know? The moment the liquid hit my taste buds, I quickly understood why people become cranky and go crazy in the morning (or whatever time of the day it is) if they don't get to drink their coffee.

Starbucks is perhaps the most famous cafe chain in the world as of the moment but here in India, Starbucks was just recently introduced to the people and that its branches are limited and are located in the most modern cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore.

My very first Cafe Coffee Day drink!

However, that does not mean that if you are not in those locations, you will not find a decent coffee shop that can cater to all your caffeine needs. Cafe Coffee Day is the star in this country when it comes to coffee, dishes that go with coffee perfectly and other hot and cold beverages.

Maybe we came during the off peak hours.

I like the variety. It keeps things interesting.

Seeing the Cafe Coffee commercials on tv almost everyday made me want to try their offers. So after my birthday dinner, Babs and I had a quick stopover at Cafe Coffee Day on the way home so I can at least try one of their hot blends. When we reached the place, we were kind of surprise to find it empty but maybe because its not the time of the day when people flock the area or maybe its because the location of the cafe is not that promising. Anyway, so I ordered one Cafe Latte to go and in fairness, the hot beverage was good.

Goofy photo of yours truly while Babs is counting the change.

I know I will have to come back again at Cafe Coffee Day in the future because I still have to fulfill my curiosity about the rest of their menu. Hopefully, once we're there to eat breakfast or whatever, they'll never disappoint because if they are that good, we will definitely come back again and again and again and again...

Witty! I like!

PS. So I quickly checked online how many branches does this coffee shop chain has in our little town and guess what, we have SEVEN branches in total! Crazy right?

Can't wait to try Cafe Coffee Day's dishes soon!

How about you, are you a coffee lover too?

Birthday Dinner at Yo! China

Last week, Babs and I celebrated my birthday at Yo! China, the biggest Chinese restaurant chain in India.

The moment we sat down, we were handed two kinds of menus. One Yo! China menu and the other is a menu for Indian dishes. Apparently, there are two restaurants inside that room. One that serves Chinese food and the other Indian. Forgive me for I forgot the name of the Indian resto. I think, it's a pretty smart move for the owner(s). They are hitting two birds with one stone.

Love their condiment containers!

Free appetizers include (L-R) kimchi, peanuts, veggie sticks

Moving forward, we ordered a total of 3 dishes. I had the Crispy Lamb and Har Gao which are both Chinese dishes and Babs ordered the Hyderabadi Biryani from the Indian menu. Har Gao was served first and I was kinda disappointed with the taste because it was not the same taste that I was expecting it to be. Also, I think the wrapper was quite thick that it can overpower the filling. The next dish that was served was Babs' Biryani. I didn't taste it but Babs said it was okay so I guess it's a good sign. It just didn't swoon him swoon. Now, the last dish that was served (it actually took longer than expected) was my Crispy Lamb but it didn't disappoint. The taste was how I wanted it to be.

Har Gao

Hyderabadi Biryani

Crispy Lamb

Overall, I could say that we had a good dining experience at Yo! China. The serving was pretty impressive for all three dishes. The prices are quite reasonable. The service was excellent. The ambience was very good. So yeah, we will definitely come and visit again in the future.

Anyone wants some mouth freshener?

Hope I didn't make you crave for some Chinese food right now!

Veg or Non-Veg?

That is probably one of the most common questions that you will encounter once you find your feet on the beautiful grounds of India.

Whenever you are handed a menu, you will definitely see labels that say Vegetarian/Veg or Non-Vegetarian/Non-Veg. At times, you don't even need to see the menu to find out whether that place sells only vegetarian stuff or not. All you need to do is read the sign outside the restaurant which has its name on it and right below the name (or after the name or even within the name) will be something like "veg and non-veg restaurant" or "purely vegetarian".

A sample menu from a Chinese restaurant chain in India.

You see, where I am from, most people do not really bother if what they are about to eat has meat in it or if they are going to nibble on some leaves and whatnot that did not come from any animal.

In most parts of the world, the two main reasons why people chose to become vegetarians are: one, they believe that animals deserve to live like humans so they should be treated with respect and should not be killed for man's consumption and two, living a vegetarian life is better and healthier than being a carnivore (or an omnivore - one that eats both plants and animals).

An example of a complete Indian non-veg thali (platter).

However, here in India, while people still have the freedom to choose whatever it is that they want to eat, religion plays a very important role when it comes to their diet. Talk about full commitment.

Here, I ordered chicken kebabs and chicken tikka and I got the vegetarian version instead because apparently, they only serve purely vegetarian dishes.

So what do you think is my answer whenever people ask me this question?

Well, I'm more of the non-veg type of person so I had a few minor challenges before when there were no non-veg stuff available on the menu and that I have no choice but to eat whatever was served on my plate because I was very hungry and that finding another place to eat will take a lot of time and oh! That it will be rude to leave a friend's engagement party just to go somewhere else to grab some chicken tandoori and beef curry. Hihihi!

This is my very first full pledged Indian vegetarian platter.

What about you, what would you order? Veg or Non-Veg?

My Top Three Winter Drinks

 Just like what I mentioned from my previous post, I easily feel cold especially in my extremities, hands and feet, so I need to find ways to keep myself warm else I might freeze to death. Hahaha! Anyway,one of the ways that I do these days to fight off the cold weather is to drink something hot to warm my body inside and it works. Having said that, let me share with you my three favorite hot drinks this winter season.

GREEN TEA

Green tea + Green fruit = VERY HEALTHY DIET

I never really liked the taste of green tea, or any kind of tea for that matter, but I know that it is loaded with good stuff and of course, who wouldn't want good stuff in their system? I prefer my tea plain and hot of course. Some people like adding a bit of cream or milk or sugar or a combination of those stuff in their teas but I am not sure if it will be as healthy as a plain cup of tea. As for tea brand, I have not really tried different kinds of brand but I like to stick with a brand that is known worldwide because it does not only mean that it is reliable but it also means that I will not have a hard time looking for it wherever I may be.

Tea in a mug.

In preparing my green tea, I simply boil enough water for my mug (yes, I like my tea in a mug), put the tea bag in the mug, pour the boiled water in the mug, let it sit for a couple of minutes or until I can manage to sip the drink and I let the tea bag sit in there until I finished the whole mug.

My stash of green tea! Not that much right? LOL

HOT CHOCOLATE

Now, what better way to warm my system than to drink something hot and something sweet! My sweet tooth is very happy about this hot drink that I enjoy from time to time. Again, I do not have a particular favorite brand of hot chocolate because I have not tried other kinds aside from the ones that I got. But as you can see, I like to rely on known brands because it gives me a sort of assurance that they are good and safe for consumption.

This is my oh-so-yummy hot chocolate!

Hot chocolate preparation starts with boiling enough milk for my mug. Remember to give enough space in your mug for the hot chocolate powder. Three teaspoonful of the hot chocolate powder is enough for me because I do not want my drink to be too sweet. Anyway, make sure that you have already put in the hot chocolate powder in your mug before pouring the boiled milk in so that you can mix it properly.

 

COFFEE

I stir my coffee with a teaspoon.

When I was a kid, I had this thing about coffee that I should not drink it because it is only for adults and being the goody two shoes that I am (well, at least when I was still young. hahaha!) I never drank it for so many years and there were very rare occasions during those years where I had to drink coffee because we ran out of Milo, a chocolate malt drink for kids, and I need something to warm my tummy and give me energy in the morning until the rest of the day. It was only during my college years when I started drinking coffee, and still very seldom at that point, so that I can stay awake and finish some school related projects and what not.

One of my favorite 3-in-1 coffee!

Anyway, going back to the present time, coffee has become one of my favorite hot drinks and I prefer it with cream/milk and sugar. Actually, I like 3-in-1 coffee packets/sachets for practical reasons and I'm not one of those people who enjoy drinking their coffee by analyzing every bit of detail that they can get from their drink. I like to keep it simple. Hot and tastes good.

What about you? What is your favorite hot drink this winter season? 

Hope you enjoyed this post!

Why I Never Went Hungry During That Very Long Train Ride

One of the most important things that a person has to prepare if he is about to take a more than a day train journey is his food. I was a bit worried about that part of our journey because I really do not want to end up having an upset stomach just because I ate bad train food. Anyway, once our trip has started and Riju and I have settled nicely in our berths, food vendors selling all kinds of food and drinks started passing by our compartment offering us all sorts of chips, candies, lassi, and whatnot. And being the monster that he is, Riju bought some dirt cheap samosas for snacks. I must tell you, the samosas were served hot like it's freshly made. I was never really a samosa fan and well, my fear of getting a stomachache got the best of me so I resorted to the snacks that we bought earlier from a nearby grocery shop.

Riju's samosa. It's just 5 rupees a piece!

Before dinner, a train employee asked us if we want to order our meals for the night and since we only brought with us snack food, Riju ordered a non-vegetarian thali/platter for us. I was really hesitant about the idea of eating train food at first but what the heck! I'm hungry and I need food if I want to keep my tummy happy.

Our train food consisted of a very spicy chicken curry, dal and rice. It was actually tasty.

The next day, for breakfast, Riju ordered omelette sandwiches for us. I was not able to take pictures of the sandwiches since I was too famished to even take out the camera from the bag.

Whenever the train stops at a bustling station for a good ten to fifteen minutes, train passengers can get down and buy food from the food vendors at the station. The variety is a lot and for the wary passengers, they can opt for fruits like bananas that are very cheap, chips (they have Lay's), cookies and other kinds of biscuits to stuff their hungry bellies.

One of the many food vendors at a train station.

A place for people who want to eat dishes with meat, poultry or fish.

This is the place to be for vegetarians travelers.

We travelled by train back and forth and we ordered the same food on board and you know what, I enjoyed the dishes and I came back home with a happy and healthy belly!

What about you, do you have any on-board dining experience that you would like to share with us?

Hope you enjoyed this post!