whispers for your weekend

  
This beautiful weekend that’s coming right up…may you stop and slow down enough to be at rest. 

To be thankful for the chance to take a break, for the smell of homecooked food and yummy baked goods, for the hugs and kisses from loved ones, for sweet fellowship with your friends, near and far. 

May you seize every opportunity to play, to let your heart get lost in the wonder of the simplest things. May you stop to stare at the clouds, and realize how sovereign our good God is. May you write, draw, doodle, create…whatever your heart desires. It’s never too frivolous if it makes you soul-happy. 💖 

+ the recipe for the Blueberry Custard {pictured above}:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup plain yogurt

4 eggs

1 tbsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

2 cups blueberries (enough to layer the baking pan)

1. Place butter in 8×8 pan. Place pan in the oven while it pre-heats to 175C. Remove pan once butter has melted. Set it aside.

2. In a bowl, whisk together honey, yogurt, eggs, vanilla, salt and melted butter. Place blueberries evenly onto pan. Pour batter on top. 

3. Bake for 45-50 mins till custard is set. Remove and let it rest for few minutes. Enjoy warm or chilled. 

Happy weekend friends! 

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

  
One of my favorite to have on a stay-home weekend. 🙂

125ml unsalted butter, at room temperature 

125ml light brown sugar 

125ml dark brown sugar

60ml sugar

1 egg, at room temperature 

1 tsp vanilla extract 

310ml all-purpose flour

1 tbsp cornstarch 

1/2 tsp baking soda 

1/2 tsp salt 

250ml regular rolled oats 

125ml raisins 

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 

1. Preheat oven to 175 deg C, and line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.

2. Use a large bowl to cream butter, both of the brown sugars, and sugar till fluffy. 

3. Beat in the egg and vanilla.

4. Stir in the oats, raisins, and cinnamon till evenly mixed. 

5. In another bowl, stir in the flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. 

6. Add flour mixture into the butter mixture and stir till evenly blended. 

7. Drop the dough by tablespoonfuls onto baking trays, leaving about 4-5cm between each cookie.

8. Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, and let cookies cool for 5 minutes on the tray before removing to cool completely. {The cookies will be a little soft when they first come out of the oven.} Makes about 18 cookies. 

🌿 Enjoy with milk or your favorite tea~

Happy weekend! ☕️🍪

Ginger Lemon Cheesecake

Crust:
100g Oreo cookies {with filling}
75g butter

Filling:
15g gelatin powder
1/2 cup honey water
2 tbsp lemon juice
3 egg whites
150g low-fat plain yogurt
2 tbsp ginger juice {I added in 1 tsp of minced ginger too}
100g cream cheese
25g castor sugar

Garnish:
Lemon slices

1. Crush Oreo cookies.

2. Heat to melt butter.

3. Thaw egg whites, yogurt and cream cheese at room temperature. Dice cream cheese.

4. Mix the crust ingredients well. Press onto bottom of mould. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

5. Slowly stir gelatin powder into the honey water. Add lemon juice and stir over a pot of hot water till gelatin melts completely. Set it aside.

6. Whisk egg whites till stiff. Add in yogurt, ginger juice & minced ginger, cream cheese, and castor sugar. Mix well. Finally, stir in gelatin solution.

7. Pour the filling into the mould and refrigerate till it sets {I left mine overnight}. Take out and unmould. Top with lemon slice and serve!

Blessed weekend! ✌️

Grain-Free Bread

Ahhh…made these yesterday, and I was so pleased with it, haha. Kept touching the loaf, amazed at how “bouncy” {sorta} it was. I know, dorky. 😅

I hope you give this a try! A healthy alternative to the usual breads.

Grain-Free Bread
3/4 cup blanched almond flour
1 tbsp coconut flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 1/4 cups unsalted creamy cashew butter
2 large eggs, plus 3 egg whites
1 tsp honey
2 tbsp water
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 315F. Grease loaf pan and line bottom with parchment paper, slightly greasing the parchment paper as well.

2. In a small bowl, combine almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda, and salt. Set it aside.

3. In a large mixing bowl, add the cashew butter, eggs, egg whites, and honey. Blend together {I used my stand mixer} till smooth and creamy.

4. Add water to the nut butter mixture and mix till well blended.

5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and mix till batter is smooth and creamy.

6. Mix in the apple cider vinegar, then pour batter into prepared loaf pan.

7. Bake for about 40 mins, till golden brown. Allow bread to rest for about 10 mins. Then run a knife along the edges and invert onto a cutting board to finish cooling.

8. Once it has completely cooled, slice and serve! I love how it can be stored in the fridge for 5-7 days {in airtight container} or frozen for 2-3 months. I froze half of these. 😉

Enjoy!

Chicken broth, mmmmm…

Love the smell of chicken broth, especially during the simmering. The whole kitchen is filled with the aroma! The smell of home. 😋

It’s so nourishing; love preparing a big pot and then keep some for the next few day’s soup. Yum yum.

1 or 2 carcasses {I used an uncooked one}
2 large carrots, chopped
2 onions, halved with the skin left on
10 peppercorns

{more vegetables can be added, eg. celery, bay leaves, thyme… I just used whatever I had at home.}

2. Stuff the carcass in the pot. Add all other ingredients, covered with water and bring to an almost-boil. Reduce heat, till stock is just simmering, and leave it simmering uncovered for 2 hrs if carcass was cooked, and 8 hrs if carcass was uncooked.

3. I check it intermittently for froth which I skim off. Once it’s done, and cooled, strain the stock through a fine sieve and chill in fridge.

Feeling very domesticated today, haha. Good night!

Tumeric Milk Tea

This is the best way to have Bren take tumeric so far. 😛 He can get quite picky with his food, so in this new season, I’m spending a lot more time in the kitchen, thinking and planning what’s best for both of us. After all, food is a way to nourish our bodies.

Have been reading a lot about the benefits of tumeric, especially on how it’s great for the liver. So I tried this out, and Bren finished everything up! So happy.

{jan 24: fav spot in the home – the kitchen. It’s like my office in this new homemaking season} #capturinglifelaughterlove

Tumeric Milk Tea

1 can of coconut milk + 1 cup water
1 tsp tumeric
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp raw honey/maple syrup
Tiny piece of peeled ginger root

1. Blend all the ingredients in blender till smooth.

2. Pour into small saucepan and heat for 5 mins over medium heat, till it’s hot but not boiling.

3. Drink immediately.

Grain-Free Biscuits

Love having these fresh out of the oven! Not sure why but they don’t taste as good after I place them in the fridge and have them after a few days. Fresh is best!

2 1/2 cups almond flour
1 tbsp coconut flour
1/2 tsp Celtic sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp Grain-Free baking powder
5 tbsp cold unsalted butter
1/4 cup canned coconut milk

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Place almond flour, coconut flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder into food processor and pulse 3 times to combine. Cut butter into chunks, add to food processor, and pulse 10 times till well-combined.

3. Add coconut milk and 1/4 cup water and process till mixture becomes like a dough. It should not be too loose/runny. If so, pulse in a tbsp of almond flour.

4. Scoop mounds of dough and place on baking sheet with parchment paper. You can flatten them a little to form a “biscuit shape”.

5. Bake for 20-25 mins, till golden brown on the edges.

Enjoy with a generous dollop of your favorite jam!

Grain-Free Baking Powder

Grocery shopping is one of my favorite things to do. I can spend a long time strolling down the aisle, dreaming of what to cook or bake, and calculating what items are a better bargain. Yes, quite Auntie-ish, but it doesn’t bother me, haha.

Another favorite is discovering incredibly simple recipes for healthy stuff! Like this grain-free baking powder, which technically isn’t really a recipe – just a combination of 3 items. 😋

Just mix these thoroughly: 1/2 cup baking soda + 1/2 cup cream of tartar + 1 cup arrowroot flour:

{jan 20 #capturinglifelaughterlove}

Easy or what? 😉

Baking Egg Tarts

Carol taught me the egg tarts recipe the last time she visited. I found the tart pastry a little too loose though, so I used a different pastry recipe this time and combined it with her recipe for the custard filling. It worked out well!

Egg Tarts:

{for the short pastry}
2 tsp sugar
a pinch of salt
225g flour
115g butter
1 egg yolk
cold water for mixing

{for the custard filling}
3 eggs
45g sugar
120ml milk
210ml warm water

1. Add sugar and salt to flour and rub in the butter lightly with fingertips till flour has consistency of breadcrumbs. Add beaten egg yolk and a little cold water. Mix to a dough.

2. Mould dough fairly thin into tart molds, and lay them on baking tray. Bake in 230C for 5 mins, then reduce heat to 190C for another 3-5 mins, making sure crust doesn’t burn.

3. While pastry crust cools, prepare the custard filling.

4. Combine sugar, milk and warm water together till mixture is completely melted and cooled.

5. Add in beaten eggs into the above mixture, and sift entire mixture to make sure custard filling is smooth.

6. Pour in custard filling to pastry tart molds and bake in preheated oven at 180C for 20-25 mins.

There you go! 🙂

Wholewheat scone for you?

I’ve been thinking quite a bit about this little blog of mine. More than just a platform to air my thoughts, I really hope it serves a purpose that goes beyond myself.

It has been a learning journey as I jot thoughts down to reflect and to intentionally allow God to prune me in some areas. I love how it gives me the space to be myself and I hope you see that this is the space to be yourself too. To be loved, just as you are – by God and others. 💗

In this new year, I hope this little blog can provide a community that cheers one another on to be the person that God created us to be. Whether it’s a comment on the post, an inspiration to take an action in the positive direction, or a quiet reader that is blessed in some way by my sharing, I pray that you know it means a lot when some form of connecting happens here on the blog. I read, I savour, and I surrender that little “connection” back to God, knowing that He is doing a deep work in all of our lives, even through a small blogging community.

If you were in my home right now, I’d love to serve you warm wholewheat scones with butter and loads of raspberry jam, plus your favorite tea-of-choice. And we’ll just hang, and chat about what’s going on in our lives. But since it’s only virtual, let me give you the recipe instead. ✌️

Wholewheat Scones

4 cups wholewheat flour
9 tbsp butter
3 tbsp sugar
a pinch of salt
8 tsp baking powder
2 organic eggs
Milk, to mix

1. Sift dry ingredients together.

2. Using fingers, rub soft butter into flour mixture till fine crumbs stage.

3. Break eggs into 250ml measuring cup and top with milk till it reaches 250ml. Mix well.

4. Work the egg mixture into dry ingredients to form a soft but not sticky dough. If dough is dry, add a little water {around 1 tsp at a time} till right consistency is reached.

5. Lightly pat dough into a square and cut into 16 equal parts. {could actually have done more; squares would simply be smaller}

6. Place them on greased baking sheet and bake at 230C for 12-15 mins.

To be honest, I much prefer the version when I used normal all-purpose flour. But whatever it is, I hope you enjoy!

Sending lots of love your way…💕