Strawberry-Orange Muffin

What better way to celebrate Spring (and to use some need-to-be-eaten-soon Strawberries)?

Ingredients

• 1 1/4  cups halved strawberries
• 
  
• 3  tablespoons margarine, melted
• 
  
• 2  teaspoons grated orange rind
• 
  
• 2  large eggs
• 
  
• 1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
• 
  
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 
  
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 
  
• Cooking spray
• 
  
• 2  teaspoons sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°.


2. Combine first 4 ingredients in a blender, and process just until blended. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, 1 1/4 cups sugar, baking powder, and salt. 

3. Add strawberry mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with 2 teaspoons sugar. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Remove from pan immediately.

Enjoy!


(recipe founded googling Strawberry Muffin)

***

Lately, my friends are loving me more and more since most of my bakery creations go directly into their tummies. Living alone, it's not safe for me stay at home with the company of twelve freshly baked muffins, ah ah!

Brownies

Quick brownies recipe adapted from Cooking Light


I also tried to make a vegan version of it but it was a huge FAIL, since they didn't cook well and were way too ooey gooey. I really appreciate if you could suggest me a good vegan brownies recipe!

Fudgy Brownies

Ingredients

1 cup Whole-Wheat Flour 

1/2 cup unsweetened Cocoa

1/4 teaspoon Salt

1/3 cup Butter

2 ounces dark Chocolate, chopped

(I used Chocolate-chips)

1 cup Brown Sugar

1/4 cup low-fat Milk

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

2 large Egg Yolks

1 large Egg

Cooking spray

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, cocoa, and

salt in a medium bowl; stir with a whisk.

3. Place butter and chocolate in a medium microwave-safe bowl, and microwave at high for 45

seconds, stirring every 15 seconds. Stir until smooth, and set aside. Cool slightly. Add 1 cup sugar,

milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, egg yolks, and egg; stir with a whisk to combine. Add butter mixture

to flour mixture, stirring just until combined. 

4. Pour batter into an 8-inch square metal baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out almost clean. 

Enjoy! I surely did =)

They were even better the day after...

***

If you have a yummy vegan recipe for brownies, I'd love to try to make this!

Brown Irish Soda Bread

I wanted to do something irish for St. Patrick's day this year (besides drinking waay too much cider, since I can't stomach bier). The recipe is easy, but since I replaced some ingredients (I couldn't find buttermilk anywhere here!), it came out a little too doughy, nothing too bad that a good splash of almond butter can't resolve, though! 

It's also quite fast and I literally made it while getting ready for going to a photography exposition. I photograph it in the morning though, to avoid that horrible yellow light; I know, I could have use my lightbox but I was running late =)

Brown Irish Soda Bread

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour 
• 
  
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 
  
• 1/2  cup  steel-cut oats (I used rolled oats)
• 
  
• 2  tablespoons  brown sugar
• 
  
• 1  tablespoon  wheat germ
• 
  
• 1  teaspoon  baking soda
• 
  
• 1  teaspoon  baking powder
• 
  
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 
  
• 2  cups  low-fat buttermilk (I used soy milk, since I only had that)
• 
  
• 1  large egg, lightly beaten

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325°.

2. Coat a 9 x 5–inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Line the pan with parchment paper, and coat with cooking spray.

3. Lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flours and next 6 ingredients (through salt). Combine buttermilk and egg; add to flour mixture. Stir just until combined.

4. Spoon the mixture into prepared pan. Bake at 325° for 1 hour and 5 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Invert bread onto a wire rack; cool completely. 

Enjoy!

***

Theoretically in Italy no one celebrate St Patrcik's day, especially this year that coincided with the 150 anniversary of the unification of Italy. But...

• One of my best friend is half-irish
• I couldn't care less about the anniversary

(recipe from cooking light)

Let the picture do the talk

Just a picture to induce you to this addicting Roasted Maple and Cinnamon Almond Butter. You won't regret it, I'll assure you!

I love cooking at night, while watching movies, after a long afternoon of studying statistics. It's really a stress-reliever for me..

What's yours? 

I really need some more ideas in this period =)

Non-stop day

I just stopped for making this yummy lunch with the pecorino cheese I purchased a week ago at the farmer market but that I forgot at home, it was still fresh, though! 

Sometimes, ok many times, I wish I would already be graduated. Classes are hard but the thing that I'm sick of most it's the huge amount of time spent studying, writing essays and recopy notes... It's absorbing all my time, and this semester I don't have a single subject that I really like!

I'm curious...

What do you study? Or do you have a work?

I'd like to find some balance between school, life and blogging, so I'll appreciate if you'll share your experience!

Soba, Tofu and Broccoli Stir-Fry

Ingredients (for one)

80 gr Soba Noodles

1 small Carrot, chopped 

2 handful frozen Broccoli

Soy sprouts

90 gr firm Tofu, diced

extra-virgin Olive Oil

Soy Sauce

Directions

1. In a small pan heat the oil, add the chopped carrot and let cook for 3-5 minutes, adding some water if necessary. Meanwhile, defrost the broccoli in the microwave.

2. In the same pan add the diced tofu and the soy sprouts, season with soy sauce to taste. Cook until tofu and carrots are lightly brown. In the meantime, grill the broccoli for 3-4 minutes.

3. Cook the noodles in a large pot of salted water until al dente, following the package directions. Drain and season with the tofu mix and the grilled broccoli.

Enjoy!

I actually ate this with a fork since I'm totally incapable of using chopsticks! 

(As you notice it was a sunny day, now it's raining, sooo depressing)

Diary of college life II

Missed the part I? 

Every week a different problem, in the hope to find a sooo needed balance between all the things going on!

Today I'll write about balancing an exercise schedule with extremely demanding classes.

Exercising your wrist writing paper shouldn't be your only workout!

That's though, I know. Finding the time for working out while you have to go to classes until 6 p.m. and then you have a huge quantity of papers to write or assignments to make (and then you have a life, read: hanging out with friends) is not easy, at all. It's more easy to just let the working out slip at the end of the list of things you'd like to do in your spare time (if you're so lucky to have some!). But they told "Mens sana in corpore sano" and, at the end, no one want to become a bookworm.

So, I'd like to share some tips with you to find a balance; some of them are direct experience and well tested, others are still in the work in progress phase, but I know they are good for me (and you too!)

1. All Counts : If you live in a small city or in a campus where your classes are scattered all over, consider walking from one class to another as part of your workout. You're moving your legs, by the way. If you begin to consider this a section of the exercising of the day, you won't be too frustrated at the end of the day if you couldn't do nothing else!

2. The elliptical machine will be your new best friend : it's deadly boring, so why don't maximizing your time and studying or revising while ellipticating? The time really fly away and you could do 60 minutes  workout and be ready for the tomorrow test all at once!

3. Less is more : squeeze in mini workout through the day, do some yoga in the morning and before going to bed, lift some weight between commercials while watching TV, do chores... all counts, remember?

4. Walk! I don't usually do this, but my boyfriend walk while repeating aloud lessons all the time. Although he doesn't do this for exercising related reasons, this could be a great way for moving a little.

5. Take a pause. One week before finals I don't exercise at all (read I don't go to the gym or to run, I continue to walk however!). I know this could sound like a blasphemy to most, but in my opinion, lose a week of exercises is a lot better than fail an exam because you needed to go to the gym every day for one hour! Giving your body a rest from the gym or hard workouts while your mind is so busy for studying it doesn't sound a bad idea to me! 

And after the exam? 

Just go for a nice run, what a better thing to relieve all the accumulated stress? (except celebrate with friends, but that's another deal =)

***

I'd really like to read your strategies and tips, pointing out that waking up at 5.45 a.m. (or even 7 a.m., for that matters) for a workout is not an option in my case =)