Volleyball: 2015

Energy Boosting Foods: Honey Soy Broiled Salmon

Working long hours at my aunt's boba shop leaves me drained and tired most numerous times. So I've been in search of food that boost my energy level. I'm not much of a coffee girl but I still need something. One of the recommended food for energy that I read online is salmon because of its high omega-3 fatty acid content.

Naturally, I went to my favorite place online to learn how to cook...

Homemade Crispy Apple Fritter Rings

Crispy Apple Fritter Rings

Ingredients:
4 cups pancake mix
2 cups club soda
1 large egg
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 large apples
Direction:

The idea to use pancake mix for batter comes from Rachel Ray's video. She didn't give out exact measurements, so I had to guess what I needed to make apple fritter rings from 3 large apples.

Also, instead of water as the pancake box recommends,

Homemade Crispy Onion Rings

Homemade Crispy Onion Rings

Ingredients:
½ cup all purpose flour
¼ cup cornstarch
big pinch cayenne pepper
several shakes black pepper
1 cup cold club soda
2-3 bread crumbs
2 large onions
2-3 cups vegetable oil for frying
fine salt
Directions:

In a medium bowl, make batter by mixing flour, cornstarch, cayenne pepper, black pepper and salt.

Add club soda and mix until well combined.

Set aside

Crock Pot Pizza

Crock Pot Pizza

Ingredients:
prepared pizza dough
pizza sauce
shredded cheese
toppings of your choice
Direction:
1) Oil base of crock pot and line with a sling made from parchment paper.
2) Shape pizza dough into bottom of slow cooker.
3) Top with sauce, cheese and other desired toppings.
4) Cover and cook on high for 1.5 hours.
5) Lift pizza from crock pot, cut and serve.

As

No Bake Reeses Cup Peanut Butter Pie

No Bake Reeses Cup Peanut Butter Pie
8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar plus 2 tablespoons, divided
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pre-made pie crust
Mini Reeses Peanut Butter Cup for garnishing
Direction:

Prepare pie crust according to instructions.

Alternatively, you can use the pie crust recipe in the video below.

Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies

These delicious oatmeal cookies are chewy in the middle from melted butterscotch chips with enough crispiness on the edges to crunch a little when you bite. The recipe is from Laura Vitale's YouTube channel. It's included below.

Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:
1 and ¾ of a Stick of Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
¾ of a cup of Brown Sugar
¾ of a cup of Regular Sugar
3 cups of

Chocolate Chip Cake Batter Cookies

Ingredients (source):

1 box golden white cake mix
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/8 cup sprinkles
Instructions

Here's the video that shows how to bake these scrumptious cookies. The directions are simple to follow. Enjoy!

Homemade Baked Tater Tots

Conventional tater tots, especially ready-made frozen ones are typically fried in oil. These amazing tater tots are simple and made-to-cook in your oven. It's healthier for you.

Baked Tater Tots

Ingredients for 42 tater tots:
4 russet potatoes (baked and cooled)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
Seasoning to taste: salt, pepper, onion powder

Direction:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

Grate the

Cheesy Scrambled Eggs

Not just for breakfasts, I eat scrambled eggs for lunch and snacks often. Sometimes, even for dinner.

Cheesy Scrambled Eggs

Ingredients:
2 large brown eggs
1 tbsp butter
1 oz half and half
1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Direction:

Break eggs in a bowl with half and half. Whisk well.

Heat butter in a non-stick pan over medium flame.

Add the eggs and cook for a

Crispy Oven Baked Fries

Crispy Oven Baked Fries

Ingredients:
2 large baking potatoes, peeled and cut into thin strips
1 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Directions:

The ingredients above are what's used to season the french fries BEFORE baking in the oven. It's from Food.com. But the preparation to make

Creamy and Fluffy New York Cheesecake

My friend and I got together to make this delicious New York cheesecake. We followed the Kraft recipe using Philadelphia Cream Cheese except the crust is made from Graham crackers and not Oreos. Turned out great.

New York Cheesecake

Ingredients for the Filling:
5 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. flour
1 Tbsp. vanilla
1 cup BREAKSTONE'S or KNUDSEN Sour

Cheddar Biscuits from Scratch

I was bored one day and was in the mood for something cheesy. From searching YouTube recipes, I came up with these delicious cheddar biscuits from FifteenSpatulas.com. They make fantastic snacks, breakfast, side dish and appetizers.

Cheddar Biscuits from Scratch

Ingredients (source):

6 oz flour (1.25 cups)
1.25 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
4 tbsp butter,

Homemade Banana Bread with Buttermilk Recipe

Homemade Banana Bread with Buttermilk

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed ripe banana (2-3 bananas)
2/3 cup brown sugar
6 tablespoons soft butter
2 eggs
½ cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 deg F.

Mash up bananas in a cup.

In a medium bowl, cream soft butter and brown sugar.

Add eggs, buttermilk,

Easy Homemade Rice Crispy Treats Recipe

Homemade Plain Rice Crispy Treats

Ingredients:
6 cups of Crispy Rice Cereal (I used Kellogg's Rice Krispies)
1-1/2 bags of Mini Marshmallows
4-1/2 Tbsp of Unsalted Butter
1 Tbsp of Vanilla Extract
Direction:

Prepare a 9x13" pan with non-stick spray or with parchment paper.

In large pot, melt marshmallows and butter. Stir and add vanilla and rice crispies. Stir until well blended.

Pour into

Simple Healthy Chicken Pot Pie Recipe From Scratch

Made this chicken pot pie by following the recipe in the video below. No butter and no cream were used. Surprisingly delicious!

Homemade Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients for Filling:
1 cup chicken stock (I use Swanson’s unsalted)
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 boneless chicken breasts cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup chopped onion
2 carrots, sliced 1/8-inch thick
2

Easy Brownie in a Mug Recipe

Seen this recipe to make a mug brownie from Pinterest and other places online. I just had to try. It seemed so easy to make. All I needed was sugar, flour, cocoa, salt, olive oil and water. Added a pinch of sea salt instead of ice cream. Tastes soo good!

Here's the picture recipe:

Eggless Brownie in a Mug

So you'll need the following:
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
2 tbsp cocoa
pinch of salt
2

Easy Dark Chocolate Brownie Cookies from Scratch

Do you like brownies? Do you like cookies?

Then you're in the right place. These cookies have crunchy outside, like the top of a brownie, and chewy middle.

If you like chocolate, you'll enjoy this recipe a lot. Delicious!

Dark Chocolate Brownie Cookies from Scratch

Ingredients:
80 Grams (5-6 tbsp) of softened butter
1/2 Cup of sugar
1/2 Cup of brown sugar
1 Teaspoon of vanilla extract
3 Large

Easy No Knead Dutch Oven Bread

Delicious and simple dutch oven bread recipe that you can make with common ingredients in your kitchen. Just keep in mind that the bread dough has to be set overnight so plan accordingly. Enjoy!

Easy No Knead Dutch Oven Bread

Ingredients
3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 instant yeast
1 1/4 salt
1 1/2 water
flour for crust (cornmeal used in the video below)

Directions:

In a bowl, combine flour,

Easy BBQ Root Beer Pulled Pork Recipe

A really simple way to prepare for guests at a dinner party is through use of a slow cooker. In this post, I'm making an easy bbq root beer pulled pork. I followed the video below for recipes and instructions. But added one more thing, a whole 18 oz bottle of bbq sauce after shredding the pork and slow cooking for another 30 minutes.

After that, serve it on a bun with the usual coleslaw (pic

Easy Chocolate & Peanut Butter Fudge Recipe

Peanut Butter Fudge

Ingredients:
2- 14oz (300ml) cans of sweetened condensed milk
12 oz (340g) semi-sweet OR milk chocolate chips
16 oz creamy peanut butter
5 tablespoons of butter, divided
Direction:

Instructions were generally taken from the video below. I used 1 jar (16 oz) of creamy peanut butter instead of pb chips that the original recipe had listed. Also, I didn't use any peanut butter

Raspberry Crepe Cake Recipe

Making a crepe cake takes awhile, but it's all worth it.

Raspberry Crepe Cake

Ingredients for the Crepes
2 cups of All Purpose Flour
2 Tbsp Granulated Sugar
1/2 tsp Salt
4 Eggs
4 Tbsp Melted Butter
2 cups Whole Milk
Ingredients for the Raspberry Orange Syrup
2 cups frozen raspberries
1/2 cup orange juice
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons cold water
Blackberries,

Easy Strawberry Shortcake Recipe

Here's a delightful classic treat. Always fun to celebrate 4th of July and summer with a strawberry shortcake. This recipe is from a fellow Pinterest enthusiast, Eugenie Kitchen (https://www.pinterest.com/eugeniekitchen/). What's even better is that she has a video that makes it easy to follow the recipe.

Strawberry Shortcake

Ingredients (for 8-9 shortcakes):
1/2 cup milk (120 ml)
1 egg
3 cups

Nessie Ladle Makes An Awesome Kitchen Gadget Gift

Nessie Ladle by N Tessa

The Loch Ness Monster is real. At least in your soup that is.

And he's cute (or she). Whether you believe in Nessie or not, you can get into the spirit of the Scottish Highlands with the Nessie Ladle.

With a long neck, he peeks out of your soup pot, glaring at you with those mythologically accurate eyes.

"What is that in my soup anyway. Oh hi, Nessie!"

What I like

Tomatoes and Spinach Frittata Recipe

I had leftover spinach and mushrooms that I wanted to use. Browsing for ideas on Pinterest, I ran into this wonderful recipe for a spinach frittata by Laura Vitale. Very easy to make and can be prepped for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It's also meatless, so appropriate for some type of vegetarians.

Spinach Frittata

Ingredients for 4 (source):
5 Eggs
1/2 cup of Milk
1 Tbsp of Olive Oil
2 Cloves

Low Carb Chicken Tenders Recipe with Parmesan Pork Rind Breading

I had been browsing online for ideas on how to make low carb chicken tenders. On Youtube, I found a video for low carb breaded pork chops. The author was using crushed pork rinds instead of the usual bread crumbs. Seems like a great idea that I had to try. Using crushed pork rinds is something I'm familiar with since we use it as garnishing for pansit palabok (a Filipino style noodle) quite a

Cocoa Brownies Recipe

This delicious cocoa brownies recipe uses sour cream in it. That's new to me. So I had to make it. It's actually good. This brownie is fudgier than usual. I can get used to it. The video below has the instructions and it's super easy. The recipe and video is by joyofbaking.com. Enjoy!

Cocoa Brownies

Ingredients:
10 tablespoons (140 grams) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups (250 grams) granulated

Turkey Taco Salad with Crunchy Cheese Chips

This is a simple salad recipe that makes a fantastic low carb light summer meal. I'm using ground turkey but ground beef, baked chicken breasts or other meat are also good. Vegetarian substitute for meat could be tofu, potatoes, or mushrooms.

Turkey Taco Salad

Ingredients:
1 lb ground turkey
1 packet taco seasoning
1 jar salsa
guacamole (recipe here)
romaine lettuce
sour cream
1/2 slice

Mint Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Brownies

I think that these delicious brownies are fantastic for holiday parties. Somehow, the taste of mint makes everything "Christmassy", if that's even a word. The recipe is from a YouTube video that I found. It's not long and easy to follow. So check it out.

Mint Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies

Ingredients:

CHOCOLATE FUDGE:
1/2 cup (1 stick or 115g) unsalted butter
8 ounces coarsely chopped

Low Carb Cabbage Rolls Recipe

This is a recipe for a tasty treat using cabbage as a wrap in a beef roll. In our family, we typically use rice paper wrapping for eggrolls. Cabbage wrap is definitely tastier to me. And I'm sure that it's healthier.

Using cabbage instead of rice paper makes this roll a low carb meal. Although I wouldn't know what the carb count is, I like the idea of not using processed rice products, which

Vanilla Avocado Smoothie Recipe

One of the easiest dessert recipes you can make at home, an avocado smoothie. Healthy for you too, since avocado has plenty of benefits including antioxidants to aid against some forms of cancer, potassium which can help lower blood pressure, oleic acid as a preventive measure against breast cancer, and more. For me, however, I simply like the taste of avocado. So the health benefits are just

No Bake Cookies with Peanut Butter, Rice Krispies and Chocolate

Another "no bake" treat that was made awhile back is this simple no bake cookies. It's generally made from peanut butter, rice krispies and chocolate.

I had a hard time finding a recipe for no bake cookie without oatmeal, so I used a Youtube recipe with oatmeal and substituted rice krispies. Be sure to watch the video below.

Not that I have anything against oatmeal. They're healthy for your

Amazing No Bake Raspberry Cheesecake Recipe

This is something my cousin and I made sometime back. I've never made a "no bake" dessert (cookies, protein bars, or anything), so it's the first for me. That's why I'm glad that YouTube has almost any recipe you can think of. So for a no bake cheesecake, we used a couple of videos to learn and get an understanding.

Here's the one we used for the filling:

Raspberry, White Chocolate and Yogurt

Super Easy Mashed Cauliflower Recipe

Been reading up on more low carb recipes and meals lately. Here's one that I found a delight since I'm partial to dishes to make with potatoes. Cauliflower contain much less carb than potatoes and is a staple of various low carb meals that are so popular nowadays. For me, at this point in time in my life, it's about the taste. And when done properly, mashed cauliflower is heavenly.

Mashed