Guilt-Free Chocolate Cake Recipe

Hello everyone! So the other day, I was scrolling along on G+ and I came across this recipe that Food Network had shared. Normally, chocolate cake recipes don't interest me unless there's a really tasty twist to it, however, this one caught my eye because it was only 5 ingredients and it's completely healthy!
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Pecan, Oats, and Dark-Chocolate Chunk Cookies Recipe

Hello everyone! So I kind of went on a baking spree this past weekend...AND IT WAS AWESOME. I keep finding all these cool and healthy recipes in magazines and around G+ that I decided to try out a few recipes and tweak them for you guys. Today's recipe is all about that clean eating everyone has been tweeting and talking about!

Chocolate-Mayonnaise Cake Recipe

Hello everyone! It's been a long time since I've managed to make a post. Long story short, this was the hardest semester EVER and I'm officially finished with this semester so I decided to celebrate by posting a very overdue recipe!

Parmesan and Herb Bread Recipe

Hello everyone! It's been a dreary Sunday - rainy and cloudy all day so it felt like it was 6pm when I woke up at 10am. My mother recently found a bunch of sweet and savory bread recipes from her Food Network magazine! She suggested I try one and I decided to go with a savory recipe.

Sun-dried tomato-kalamata olive muffins

Today marked the end of Ramadan which means tomorrow is the day every Muslim has been waiting for - eid! Eid is the celebration at the end of Ramadan where we all pray, eat, and enjoy time with our family. My family will be having our annual breakfast together at my aunt's house tomorrow and I decided to make breakfast muffins! After searching and searching, I finally found a recipe in the newspaper for some savory muffins and I did switch it up a bit based on my own liking. These are super healthy and delicious! Enjoy! 

What you'll need:

- 1 cup all-purpose flour

- 2 teaspoons baking powder

- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

- 4 large eggs

- 1/2 cup olive oil

- 1/2 cup whole milk

- 15 kalamata olives, pitted and roughly chopped

- 15 sun-dried tomatoes (in oil), drained and roughly chopped

- 10 basil leaves

- 6 ounces feta, crumbled

I bought the feta cheese and olives from Costco because Walmart was expensive. Yes, Walmart can be expensive.

Step 1: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

My beautiful chopped veggies

Step 2: In another bowl, beat the eggs. Then add the olive oil and milk, and mix to combine. Add this mixture to the four mixture and stir until incorporated. Gently fold in the olives, sun-dried tomatoes, basil, and feta.

I used these adorable cupcake liners I was given.

Step 3: Spoon batter into lined and greased muffin tins, filling about 1/2 from the top. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the muffins are firm to the touch.

These muffins turned out so yummy and scrumptious! I made and printed out the toppers which you can find here for the tutorial.

~Misbah

Campfire S'mores Indoors

I've always wanted to roast marshmallows on a campfire but I never had the chance! I've never gone camping (and I don't intend to) and I don't have a fire pit in my backyard. Recently, I've been getting that s'mores itch again and I found a way to create the same campfire effect, using no fire at all!

Materials:

- Marshmallows

- Graham Crackers

- Chocolate (the thinner the pieces, the better this works)

- Toaster Oven

- Foil

- Skewer (optional)

Step 1: Take out a piece of foil big enough to fit however many s'mores you want to make. 

Step 2: Lay the foil down on a metal tray to place inside the toaster oven. Place the marshmallows on the foil, 1 inch apart from one another.

Step 3: Set your toaster on high (mine was 450 degrees) and on broil for about 4 minutes. Be sure to keep a watch so you don't burn them. Keep checking every minute and when they are golden brown at the top, take them out with your hands or skewer. 

Step 4: Place the toasted marshmallow on the graham cracker and chocolate. The heat from the marshmallow will melt the chocolate. 

Step 5: Now it's the fun part! Take the other graham cracker and squish! The marshmallow will ooze out just enough, melting the chocolate underneath into deliciousness. Serve and enjoy!

~Misbah

Ramadan Challenge: Halal Vegetarian Pho

So lately, I've been unleashing my inner Asian and I've been craving some delicious pho. However, since I'm Muslim, I abstain from eating meat or anything that contains meat product from restaurants unless it is Zabihah Halal. Pho generally has beef in it and the vegetarian pho could have a meat based broth. The one place I can get truly halal (and vegan) pho is this place called Loving Hut. LEMME TELL YOU. Loving Hut's pho is truly delicious, but it's $5 for a small bowl. In my eyes, that's expensive so I went on the hunt for a halal pho recipe! Turns out, there are none.

And that's when I decided to create my own. Enjoy!

Prep: 20 min
Cook: 30 min
Yield: 2 servings

Ingredients (broth):

- 4 cups of vegetarian broth. I the used "Better than Bouillon" base.
- 1 large onion (peeled and halved)
- 1 piece of ginger, halved
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 or 3 cloves
- 1/2 tsp of coriander
- a couple of pieces of star anise (mine were crushed on accident)
- 2 tsp on soy sauce

1. Because I am using a veggie base and not an already prepared broth, I needed to make it! I followed the directions on the back of my base and conformed it to the 4 cups of broth I needed to make.

2. Char the ginger and onion halves in the toaster oven or over an open flame. I didn't have a handy open flame so I went ahead and stuck the pieces in the toaster oven for 15 minutes at high on broil.

3. Plop the pieces into the broth that you prepared. Keep the broth boiling and add in the cinnamon, coriander, soy sauce, anise, and cloves. Boil for 30 min.

Here you can see the delicious onion flavoring the veggie broth. Thank you, Samsung Galaxy S4, for gif's.

4. While the broth is boiling, begin cutting up and preparing the garnishes and noodles! I'm not big on garnishes and the first couple of times I made this pho, I did prepare it with noodles. However, lately, I've been enjoying the broth more than anything so I kind of turned my pho recipe into soup. But it's okay! A few garnishes you could use are: green onions, chili peppers, lime, cilantro, basil.

5. After you wash, chop, and present your vegetables on a serving plate, it's time to prepare the noodles! I bought regular pho noodles from a local asian store. I followed the directions on the back, soaking them for about 15 minutes and then cooking them in boiling water for 5 minutes. 

And you can see fruits in the background for my Ramadan iftaar :)

Once your broth and noodles are finished cooking, stick a few noodles in a bowl, pour some broth in there, and garnish! My pho isn't very pho-y but it's what I preferred today for my iftaar. 

This a quick, healthy, and perfect dish for iftaar during Ramadan! It's healthy and light so you have more room in your stomach for other food, refreshing because it opens up your sinuses and just makes you feel really great, and quick! 

~Misbah

How to Brew the Perfect Cup of Green Tea via Microwave

If you're like me, you don't always want to find the effort to turn on the stove and brew a nice cup of tea. Either you're too busy or lazy, you just don't want to do it. But the struggle becomes real when you really want the delicious cup of tea that only the stovetop seems to make. I've been known in my family to make the best cup of green tea via microwave. So here's my how-to:

Materials:

• Your favorite mug of all time, perfect for tea
• A green tea bag (I drink Japanese green tea)
• Water
• Sugar
• A spoon
• A microwave

Fill your mug up half way (or if it's a large mug, just as much as you would like to) with water. Open your tea bag and stick it in the mug. Warm the mug for 50 seconds in the microwave. 

After 50 seconds, take it out of the microwave and swish around the tea bag. You'll see the water begin to infuse and turn a bright yellow color. After swishing around the tea bag for about 15 seconds, place your mug back into the microwave for another 30 seconds. You want to make sure you don't burn the tea. 

After 30 seconds, take out your mug and swish the tea bag for another 15  seconds. It should be a dark gold color. This is the correct color of tea that you should achieve. It won't be green due to the oxidation. 

Before you dump your tea bag, make sure you strain it just a little bit more to get out any infused tea! I used a spoon and pressed the tea bag against the mug.

Add sugar or honey and stir up for a great tasting cup of green tea! 

~Misbah

Tangy Potato Wedges

I always like to pair some "fries" with my main dish because who doesn't like potatoes?! When I was younger, my mother would always make "fries" - the healthy way - by cutting up some potato slices, garnishing them with salt and pepper, spreading them on a baking sheet and popping them in the oven. Sure, these were great fries and I will forever be grateful for them because they did make some of her dishes delicious, but I always wanted something a little bit more flavorful and zesty!

Whilst looking up baked fries recipes on my iPad one day, I came across this recipe that seemed to have a lot of zest and I did try it and loved it! After this recipe, I became inspired to make my own type of zesty potatoes. Using the recipe I found online, I switched up the amounts and ingredients to make it what I really longed for. The result? The recipe down below! I hope you enjoy :)

Prep: 5 - 10 min
Cook: 40 min - 1 hr
Yield: depends on the amount of potatoes you have!

Ingredients:

• Russet potatoes (it works best with these, I'll explain later)
• Olive oil
• Garlic powder (or chopped cloves)
• Chopped Onion
• Lemon juice
• Ground Black Pepper 
• Salt
• Fresh rosemary stalk (optional)

First step! If you are using Russet potatoes, you will not have to peel them. Russet potatoes work best for this recipe. I highly recommend using them. However, I did not have Russet potatoes and had to work with regular potatoes. After you peel them (or not), chop them into small cubes! You can opt to cut them into slices, but I prefer cubes because it looks like you have a larger quantity with less potatoes.

Next, you're going to add your olive oil and lemon juice. As you can see, I didn't include specific measurements because I dump in ingredients based on how I like it so you should do the same!

Dump in a little bit of garlic powder (or cloves) and ground pepper.

 Add a pinch or two of salt. Next, you're going to mix all of your yummy ingredients into the potato wedges or slices. I did it with a cooking spoon, but you can do it with your hands (it gets dirty, trust me).

Finally, transfer the mixed potato wedges to a glass serving dish. I drizzled on some extra pepper and chopped onions. I topped off the dish with a freshly cut rosemary stalk straight from my garden! Put your dish into the oven at 400 degrees for about 40 min - 1 hr, checking on it periodically since oven times do differ. When they look golden brown, take them out of the oven and let them slightly cool. When warm, serve and enjoy! 

I wasn't able to snap a picture of my finished potatoes since my family and I are taking part in Ramadan and we were so eager to devour the potatoes when breaking our fast! 

I'd love to hear how your dish turned out! 

~Misbah 

Strawberry Mint Lemonade

All I can say about this recipe is YUM. It gets super hot during the summer months where I live and after a long day of running errands and shopping, I just want a nice refresher when I get home. Sure, I could buy a lemonade from Starbucks or my local QuickTrip, but why not have something that's truly fresh and inexpensive? Here's a recipe I found for a delicious refreshing lemonade with FRESH ingredients!

Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 5 minutes
Yield: 10 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 cups strawberries, hulled and sliced
• 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves (you can also substitute fresh basil leaves for a delicious taste as well!
• 1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (you can use actual lemons or the bottled kind)
• 1/2 cup sugar

First, gather all your ingredients. I used these strawberries from Costco and plucked the mint leaves straight from my garden! So I had to wash wash wash to get all that gross dirt and outside stuff off. Oh! And don't forget to hull the strawberries!

Next, combine the strawberries and mint (or basil) is a blender and blend until smooth. I stuck mine in the Ninja blender and it blended in about 3 minutes. Don't worry if there are small little pieces of mint or basil - they will be there! It adds a bit of texture to the drink, but nothing that will bother you. If you don't like this texture, you could always opt for infusing the mint or basil into water and blending the infused water with the lemonade and strawberries.

In a small bowl, whisk together the fresh lemon juice and sugar. I used the above lemon juice from Costco mainly because it has a very distinct taste since the lemons were ones that grew on a volcano! 

In a large pitcher, whisk together the strawberry mixture, lemon juice mixture, and 4 cups of water.

Refrigerate until chilled.

Serve over ice and taadaa! You've just made yourself a refresher. :) 

Leave a comment below if you've tried it out and let me know how it went for you!

~Misbah