Kitchen Trails - Energy Bites

We were at our kids' cousins' house the other day for some swimming practice and my brother-in-law Dazza brought out some delicious nuggets for the kids after their swim. Energy balls, filled with delicious goodness!!

After popping one in my mouth, I asked Dazza how to make them, and Dazza told me that it was super easy to make. I couldn't stop thinking about the healthy energy boosting snacks and I came up with a batch of my own. DEE LEE CIOUS!! Though healthy, this is not a low fat, low calorie snack, given the nut fat and honey used.

I mainly agak-agak (guess or go by feel) the amounts I used, so here is a rough guideline of the ingredients I used in mine.

(Yields about 28 balls of 1 inch diameter)

1 cup organic rolled oats, blitzed until they are a little finer cos I really don't like having flakes of dry and chewy oats eating this. Can be substituted with instant oats, then there's no need to blitz

1/3 cup of chopped nuts. Here I used walnuts and peanuts which I have soaked overnight and roasted using the air fryer

4 Tablespoons of pure peanut butter, or nut butter of your choice. I used pure peanut butter that I got from a lady who sells nut butters, no fillers or extra sugars or whatnots

5 Tablespoons of raw honey

4 Tablespoons of good quality dark cocoa powder. Can be substituted with chocolate/chocolate chips of your choice, just shave or chop the chocolate into small bits if using

1 Tablespoon organic chia seeds

A tiny teensy pinch of himalayan salt

A splash of vanilla extract

Just mix the oats, nuts, cocoa powder, salt, and chia seeds together until it's thoroughly combined. Add the peanut butter and the honey, and mix well. Wash and dry your hands thoroughly, and scoop out enough to roll into 1 inch balls, or whatever size your prefer. Pack it firmly with your palms as you shape the balls

I can keep mine for about a week in the fridge.

Note: 

If it's too soft, pop it in the fridge for a while before rolling out into balls, or if it's softer than that, add a bit more oats

If it's way too hard to work with, add a bit of honey or peanut butter

Remember, it needs to be quite solid and hard to pack into firm balls

Kitchen Trails - Meatballs

Made some meatballs today. This can go with pasta, noodle soup, braised in some sauce as a dish to go with rice, anything that you can think of, really.

I made this with lean, weight watcher's minced beef, and oat flour instead of bread crumbs for a healthier option.

200g minced meat

1/4 cup oat crumbs, I blitzed some organic rolled oats 

1 egg

1/2 a small carrot, blitzed into fine bits

A handful of spinach, blitzed or finely chopped

1 Tablespoon of parmesan cheese

Garlic powder

Onion powder

A dash of black pepper

A pinch of himalayan salt

A glug of olive oil

Mix all the ingredients together and chill in the fridge for an hour or so. Shape into balls.

Heat up a pan and add the olive oil. Add the meat balls in batches so it doesn't get crowded in the pan. Cook for 4 minutes or so, and then turn the balls around, cook a bit further and remove from pan

I did one step further, I didn't want to brown the meat balls too much in case it got burnt. I covered them in baking/cooking paper and bunged them into the oven to cook for another 10-15 minutes so that the inside is thoroughly cooked as well

Kitchen trails - Salmon fish head noodle soup

Fish head noodle soup is a firm favourite here in Malaysia. It's a rich soup full of fish flavour and goodness, with soft tofu, tomatoes, salted pickled vegetable, and leafy green veggie. The noodle used for this dish is normally the thick Meehoon (vermicelli or rice noodle).

I had some salmon tail and bones and the head leftover from my filleted salmon, and there's lots of meat left on the head and the bones as well. 

I air fried the salmon head and bones, mmmm.... full of the good omega 3 fat. No need to add any oil!!

Use a big pot, and throw in a few slices of ginger and the air fried salmon, let it come to a boil and then let it simmer to bring out the yumminess into the broth. Normally many will use evaporated milk to get the milky whiteness for the soup, but the salmon full of omega 3 and this fat will cloud the soup naturally without the evaporated milk.

Add the salted veggies, tomatoes, preserved sour plum, and green veggies. Let it cook and lastly add the thick meehoon and the soft tofu.

Heaven!!

Kitchen Trails - Steamed salted chicken breast with ginger

Super simple healthy recipe.

Chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces

Enough salt to flavour the chicken, I used about slightly less than 1 teaspoon himalayan salt

Grated ginger, up to you how spicy you want it

Few drops of sesame oil (optional)

Chinese cooking wine (optional)

Mix all together in a heatproof shallow flat bowl, or a plate with high sides. I used a stainless steel plate with high sides.

Steam over high flame for 20 mins

Done.

Kitchen Trails - healthy Brownies

gooey fudgy brownies.

What sounds better than that?? A healthier version, of course.

I substituted with wholemeal flour, olive oil, yoghurt, and honey. So, no butter and no sugar.

I used a brownie recipe I found and I tweaked and substituted with my own proportions and ingredients.

DRY INGREDIENTS

1.5 cup organic whole wheat/whole grain flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon himalayan salt

1/2 cup cocoa powder, unsweetened

WET INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup honey, I used raw honey

200g low fat greek yoghurt

1/2 cup olive oil

3 eggs

splashes of vanilla extract, about 1.5 - 2 teaspoon

OTHER MUST HAVEs

200g dark choccolate, broken into chunks. I used 70% cacao Belgian ones

1/2 cup nuts of choice. I normally soak overnight and airfry the nuts and then chop them up into small chunks

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 180 C

I use a 9 X 12 inch tray, lined with baking paper, basically for easier removal later

Whisk or sift the dry ingredients into a bowl or plate or whatever receptacle you fancy

In a mixing bowl, combine all the wet ingredients thoroughly

Then, add half the dry ingredients into the wet ones, and mix. Add the other half and mix to combine

Dump in the nuts and choc chunks and mix well

Spoon the mix into the baking tray and make sure that it's spread into the sides and corners

Bake for 30-35 mins

Let cool in the tray for 2 hours and cut into desired size

Notes: 

I've used both normal whole grain flour and whole grain hi protein flour (bought the wrong one by accident), and it's really no biggie. Either one works. I didn't bother with whole grain pastry flour as it's super expensive

I find that if I don't break the chocolate pieces into small teensy chunks, it's way chocolatey-ier and gooeyier and fudgier

Kitchen Trails - Peach Resin Dessert

Peach resin is the sap/gum from the peach tree. It is said to be collagen packed so obviously that would be great for me!!

There are some precautions as well, pregnant women, women on their period, and those who are breastfeeding are to stay away from this. There could be other interactions or precautions, so it's always good to do research before taking any kind of food or whatever.

The peach resin comes dried in crystal-like pebbles, and it's to be soaked in water at least 8 hours or overnight. It does expand A LOT!! Like maybe 5 times its size *insert goggled eyed emoji*

It would have to be thoroughly cleaned after soaking. There will be tiny bits of tree bark and dirt, and it's a bit of a pain to pick those out. TBH, I don't do a very thorough job in cleaning, I leave the tiny, microscopic specks that I can't be arsed to pick out.

After cleaning, give it a good rinse using a fine netted strainer.

I boil mine with dried Longan fruit pulp, dried red dates, and dried honey dates. There are many variations of items that can be used, just go google peach resin recipe.

I fill up a big pot with water and dump all those washed dried goodies in, let it come to a boil and then turn down the flame and let it simmer for about 30 mins, then I add in the peach resin and boil for a further 10-15 mins or so. Don't boil the peach resin for too long, it will melt down completely, after all, it is the sap of a plant.

Leave it to cool in the pot and then chill in the fridge. It's lovely on a hot hot day

Kitchen Trails - Chicken Salad Sandwich

Many of the food that I cook or prepare, I use them in different ways. It's actually more expensive to eat healthier, so I tend to cook in bulk and stretch them in a variety of dishes and meals.

Today's recipe includes roast chicken breast, spinach pesto as a spread (or I could use sundried tomato pesto), avocado, pea shoots/sprouts, onion, sundried tomatoes (I would omit this if I am using the sundried tomato pesto), dried cranberries and lemon juice.

The chicken breast could be substituted with tuna. Works deliciously as well.

I buy avocados from TMC in Bangsar as they are much cheaper than the Hass Avocados found in supermarkets and grocers. They are just as creamy and delicious! If only I have a green thumb, I would grow my own avocados, but alas, that knack for plants is only with my Mum.

I prepared today's lunch with:

Chicken breast, cut into small cubes

Avocados, cut into chunks, and squeeze some lemon juice on it to prevent it from oxidising and also for a zingy taste to the salad

1 small onion/big shallot, diced small

4 sundried tomato slices, chopped finely (I use the dried type, not the ones in olive oil)

A handful of peashoots, washed and chopped

A small handful of dried cranberries, each cut into halves

A pinch of salt to taste

Spinach pesto for the spread

Mix all the ingredients together (except for the pesto). Spread some pesto on one side of a slice of wholegrain bread, put the salad on the other side, fold the slice of bread together and eat!

Bon appetit!!