Friday, March 24, 2023

Nutella Magic Cake

Jo cooks 

4 eggs (at room temperature, separated)
1 cup icing sugar
1 cup Nutella
1/2 cup butter (unsalted, melted but room temperature)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon cocoa powder
3/4 cup all-purpose flour (minus 2 tbsp )
2 cups milk (lukewarm)
icing sugar ( for dusting cake)

  • Preheat your oven to 325 F (160 C) degrees. Line a 8x8 inch baking dish with parchment paper.
  • Separate the eggs and add the egg whites to the bowl of your mixer. Mix until egg whites are stiff. Place the egg whites in a bowl and set aside.Add the egg yolks and icing sugar the the bowl of your mixer and mix together until mixture becomes like a cream and is light pale yellow in color.Add the Nutella, melted butter, vanilla extract, salt, cocoa powder and continue mixing for another minute until well incorporated.With the mixer on low, start adding flour to the mixer, one tablespoon at a time, until all the flour has been incorporated into the mixture.With the mixer still on low, slowly start adding the milk and beat until everything is well mixed together. The mixture should be very thin, almost like a crepe batter.Start gently folding in the egg whites, a third at a time using a spatula. Repeat until all the egg whites have been folded in. They do not have to be completely mixed in, it's OK to still see foamy bits floating around the top of the batter.Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and bake for 40 to 70 minutes or until the top is browned. The cake should be firm to touch, and should not wiggle.Let cool completely, then place in the fridge for at least 2 hours.Sprinkle some icing sugar before slicing into it.

Friday, March 10, 2023

Blueberry Ice cream

 Handle the Heat


Ice Cream base-
2 cups of cream
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
This method is its own recipe. Simply whip 2 cups of cream, by hand or with an electric mixer, until stiff peaks form. Slowly drizzle in a chilled can of sweetened condensed milk. Add your desired flavorings or mix-ins. Remove to an airtight container and freeze. It’s that simple!!



Blueberry swirl
2 cups fresh blueberries (lily added 1/4c frozen cherries)
3 tablespoons sugar 
 2 tablespoons lemon juice 
cooked in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until burst. Chill before swirling into ice cream.

Wednesday, March 8, 2023

Pressure/Instapot Cooked Black beans

 

Cuban Style Black Beans 



  • 1 pound dried black beans  about 2 cups, no need to soak
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 small yellow onion diced
  • 1 teaspoon pecan smoked salt
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 3 cloves garlic minced (about 1 tablespoon)
  • 3 and 3/4 cups water
  • Rinse and drain the beans and pick out any stones or bad, cracked-looking beans. Set aside.
  • To pressure cooker- 
  • Add 3 and 3/4c water, oil onion, smoked salt, oregano, bay leaves, garlic cloves bring to boil with lid on but not locked. After its boiling, then add beans and lock lid on. Pressure cook for 20 min

    • Add the water and beans and stir. Cover and seal the Instant Pot. Cook on HIGH pressure for 35 minutes. When the timer goes off, allow the steam to release naturally for 20 additional minutes. Remove the lid. Remove the bay leaves and discard them. Enjoy warm or let cool completely and store in individual containers.
    Can Add to the pressure cooker/instapot- 
    • 1 green bell pepper cored, seeded, and diced, 
    • 1 teaspoon ground cumin

Thursday, March 2, 2023

Grocery Shopping

 Walmart-

175 oz Foca dry Laundry detergent  $10
176 oz Boca dry Laundry detergent $10
250 oz Sun liquid laundry detergent $10
1 gal Rain X-30 Windshield wiper fluid $5
32 oz Chkn Boullion                               $520 Ct Celestial Seasonings Raspberry Zinger Herbal Tea,  $2.9218 Pack S.O.S Steel Wool Dish Scrubber Pads   $4.78
(8lb) Equate Epsom Salt, Magnesium Sulfate, 128oz , Scent Free $6.64





Amazon

30 pkgs Variety Indomie Mi Goreng Instant Noodles $29 (.96 each)
120 Count Amazon Kitchen Garbages 13 Gallon,  $16
90 Fl Oz Lysol Clean Fresh MultiSurface Cleaner Sunflower,  Lemon, $5.87
NO (6pkgs) 20 Ct Celestial Seasonings Raspberry Zinger Herbal Tea,  $2.83 ($17.53)

Wednesday, February 22, 2023

Newport, California Trip

TRAVELING  FOOD

We started a trip on Wednesday after school and came back the following tuesday over presidents day-

-I sliced up lots of carrots, they fit in a gallon ziplock bag, with celery sticks.-
-A big Yogurt, with a bag of with spoons and cups
-Ritz Crackers
-String cheese
-Sliced meat sandwiches with lettuce, and a separate ziplock bag of claussen pickles, Im surprised what a hit the pickles were.
-Cut oranges and apples
-Bagels, cream cheese
-Choco covered walnuts, almonds
-Trail mix- cranberries, walnuts, pecans, almonds
-brought bread, cereal, bought milk
-brought pancake mix- just need to add milk, butter, and eggs

-We packed A big bag of lettuce in the van from costco, it included 5 heads of romaine,  that made eating healthier so much easier

We bought, cooked, ate salmon with salad (butter, garlic, salt and pepper), 
mabo tofu with salad (brought mabo sauce and rice, needed ground beef/turkey)

ADVENTURES

1. We went to tide pools  On sunday,  to Crystal Cove State Park- and walked on the trail View Point and beach access trail . Make sure you go when the tide it low so you can explore the rocky area and look for crabs, shells....

2, The condo we were in was close to  rubys diner on Balboa Pier and the waves are big and crash right on the shore. We could hear the thundering waves from the condo, that was special. The sand was steep and formed a hill into the waves. The waves were fun to listen and hear but not as safe for kids to play in, but apparently good for skim boarders.

3. the waves near Newport Beach Pier, were much more calm and gradual. There was a longer gradual entrance into the water and much better for littler kids, better for beginning surfing, and better for body boarding than by Balboa Pier, This area was much busier and crowded and hard to find parking. But it was still fun to walk/bike around and see the shops and rent boards or bikes or get some food or ice cream.

But we found if we went a little more north west of Newport the waves and sand were still small and gradual without too many crowds and better parking.  (56th street)

4. We also went on Balboa Island Ferry, which was a 4 min boat ride to a cute small island and just walked around, looked at the cute houses.

5. Chloe and I biked towards the end of Balboa on to the West Jetty View Park . We watched boats come in and out and looked at different areas across the channel/water like Pirates cove, or Corona Del Mar State Beach Park, China Cove, Cameo Shores Beach. Maybe someday we'll check out those places

6. We Ate at Great Mex Grill- it was yummy fresh zesty Mexican food with no waiters, so not as pricey

7. Orange Country Swap Meet-


Some activities-

around 7-730am Chloe and I went for a a jog one morning and went south on the Newport Balboa Bike Trail where it ended. There was a large group of small birds that were flying around swooping and swerving in the air like fish do in the water. It was magical

around 8am Lily and i went to do yoga next to the playground at newport beach so luke could be entertained at the park and she and I could do yoga, it was heavenly.

Rented two bikes- a regular one and another bike with a kid carrier for luke, i absolutely loved biking and exploring w/o being in a car and free to stop anywhere and lock up the bike without needing to park a car.

Wednesday, February 1, 2023

30 days of working out

Pilates, Weights, HIIT, Abs 



I LOVE THE NO REPEAT workouts- I get so bored with the same repetitions and lose interest.


Day 1- MADFIT 30 min weight workout (butt cheeks and shoulders were sore)

Day 2-  Dansique 30 min pilates abs (obliques sore)

Day 3- HAS Fit 15 min 6 pack abs Heart And Soul and gymnastics

Day 4- break

Day 5- 20min abs NoBadAddiction

Day 6- 25 min pilates core Move With Nicole (Harder more challenging version of planks)

Day 7 break

Day 8 30min weights Juice & Toya and ABS train with Gainsby

Day 9- 30min Pilates Eleni Fit - low impact, challenging mind focusing, simple moves

Day 10 break (sick, puking, fevering kid)

Day 11 break

Day 12 40 Min advanced weights Growing Annananas

Day 13  break

Day 14 Natural Movement or animal flow or Primal Moves, Pacific Rim Athletics

Day 15 ???30 min weights Girvan

Day 16

Day 17

Day 18

Day 19

Day 20 

Day 21

Day 22

Day 23

Day 24 Tiff and Dan 30 min weights

Day 25 Oliver Sjostrom- 15 min hiit

Day 26- 40 min pilates  Dansique

Day 27- 45min Dansique

Day 28

Day 29

Day 30

30 min HIIT weights Fit By Mik

Tiff and Dan- 6 week shred weight workout


Popsugar Ingrid Clay- 30 min intense HIT weights- jumping

Cloud valentines