La vie est belle

Hi my name is Carine Olivia and I’m 27 years old. I’m a wife, daughter, sister, auntie and friend. I am Mauritian. Born and raised. Currently blogging from Singapore. Read more ...

I’ve been feeling the blues lately but after today’s 17 km run I felt on top of the world once again. Running is still one of the best (temporary) therapies. Oh yes, I haven’t done long runs  in ages! My last long run (17 km) was over a year ago. After that I’ve never gone beyond the 10km mark I think! So how did my legs do this evening? I think they felt pretty strong. They wanted me to keep going!

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This morning I baked these …

Banana Almond Truffle Pancakes

Method: Cut a ripe banana into 2 inches slices. Make a thick pancake batter — I used 1/3 cup of Betty Crocker’s pancake mix.  Dip each banana slice into the batter and then roll into silvered almonds. Place on a baking tray. Bake at 200 C for about 10 – 15 minutes or until the almonds turn golden. Best served while these babies are still hot and the almonds are still crunchy! This recipe can easily be modified. I’m thinking of  cinnamon or vanilla or chocolate to the batter.

And these …

Cracked Protein Choc Muffins. Recipe can be found here.

Annnnnnnnnd these!

Orange Choc Pancake Muffins

Method: I used 1/2 cup Betty Crocker’s pancake mix and made a batter. I added orange flavored essence + sugar + bittersweet chocolate chips to the batter. Bake them at 200 C for about 10-15 minutes. Simple!

Well there is just something about baking that does magic to the soul …

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I recently bought a new tub of Meridian crunchy natural peanut butter from Holland & Barrett. A 1kg tub! And it was only $11 without any discount!

Roasted in their natural skins

Off to sleep now …

This entry was posted on Monday, August 30th, 2010 at 12:06 am and is filed under category: Food, Running. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

My adorable niece turned ONE on 23rd of August and we had a mini birthday celebration among ourselves at Mandarin Orchard last Saturday.

One year ago

And one year later i.e today …

Sis got her a Barney chocolate cake as she loves Barney.

Such a cute cake don’t you think!!

Time to cut the cake

The cake

And after the mini celebration we all headed down up for a wedding dinner!

This entry was posted on Monday, August 23rd, 2010 at 10:13 pm and is filed under category: Family. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Just woke up from a 3hr nap and I feel so refreshed now! It has been a happening weekend, from celebrating my niece’s birthday to attending our friends’ wedding to hosting an afternoon tea on Sunday.

First things first … I got more bangs! Fringes that is :)

I like my fringes this time because there’s no layering (unlike last time). I also covered up the dark hair root. It’s been 3 months since my last haircut. I don’t have a regular hairdresser but I think I’ve finally found one now.

Now on to the Muffins!

The wet ingredients: 2 very ripe bananas, 4 tbsp of Greek yogurt, 3 tbsp of creamy peanut butter, 4 tbsp of honey, 4 tbsp of sunflower or vegetable oil, vanilla extract. They are actually pretty healthy muffins.

Stirring until smooth

I mixed  in the dry ingredients. Then filled the muffin liners.

Twenty Five minutes later. The house smelled sooooo good!

An hour later. When time is on my side and I am in the mood I enjoy having guests at home, cook and bake for them. Not pictured was my hot chocolate drink =)

Can you spot the ‘Biscuit Champagne‘? hehehe

An hour and half later

With our guest, director of Ugandan youth Track & Field Association, whom the husband met (along with others including the Mauritian team) at the Youth Olympic Games.

I will post my niece’s Birthday pictures another day.

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Banana, PB, Greek Yogurt, Raisin Muffins

Recipe via here

Ingredients

• 2 very ripe bananas, roughly mashed
• 4 tbsp of Greek yogurt
• 3 tbsp of chunky or smooth peanut butter
• 4 tbsp of honey
• 4 tbsp of sunflower or vegetable oil
• 1 ad 1/4 C flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 C of raisins

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven at 180 deg C and line  a cupcake tray
2. Beat together the bananas, honey, Greek yogurt, peanut butter and oil till smooth.
3. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and soda. Mix in the raisins.
4. Fold in the flour mixture to the banana mixture, a couple of tablespoons at a time, till everything is just moistened. The mixture will be quite thick.
5. Spoon the mixture into the muffin liners, till about 3/4 full.
6. Place the tray in the centre of the pre heated oven and bake for about 22-24 minutes or till the top is lightly browned and a toothpick inserted through the centre of the muffins come out clean.
7. Cool the muffins in the tray for a minute, and then transfer to a rack to cool completely before storing in airtight containers.

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 22nd, 2010 at 11:27 pm and is filed under category: Food, Friends, Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.