Rainbow Fruit Salad

Today was a public holiday here in Singapore, so I decided to make brunch for my family. The menu included a fruit salad, cinnamon rolls, baked french toast and egg boats. My next few posts will be all about these delectable brunch dishes. First up, the fruit salad! Feel free to customize it using any fruit you want, but make sure you have an assortment of colors to make it look pretty. It is mixed with a light, refreshing lemon honey sauce just to tie all the fruit flavors together. It's a healthy, vitamin-filled breakfast, snack or dessert. Fold in some vanilla yogurt or ice cream for a light and delicious dessert. 

Rainbow Fruit Salad
Makes 4 Servings
1/2 a pint of blueberries
a bunch of grapes
1 pint of strawberries
1/2 a pineapple
1 orange
2 green kiwis

1 lemon
3 tsp. honey
** Remember to sub-in and -out whatever fruits your palate desires.

Wash and dry all the fruit. Cut all into bite sized pieces and place into a large serving bowl. Mix together the juice of one lemon and the honey. Pour the juice onto the fruit and give it a good mix. Place in the fridge for and hour or so to let the flavors meld. Serve chilled.

You may be wondering why there' s no kiwi pictured, 

and it's because my sister absolutely despises kiwis. 

Once I served her a bowl, I mixed it in but completely 

forgot to take another photo!

Chicken Rollatini with Spinach

Don't you just feel great when something turns out better than expected? And easier even? That's how it was with this recipe, which I adapted from www.skinnytaste.com. Gina's recipes are fantastic AND healthy... the perfect combination.

Anyways, back to the chicken rollatini. This is actually a super easy dish to put together and is really an all in one - the protein from the chicken, the veggies and cheese! Yum. And it was. All you need are a few basic ingredients, most of which can be substituted by whatever you have lying around in your pantry.

The chicken is just melt-in-your-mouth tender, has the most amazing flavor and serves as a perfect meal. It's baked chicken, stuffed with spinach and cheese, rolled in breadcrumbs and topped with pomodoro sauce and more cheese. It's a dish I can guarantee your family will love and works well for hosting a crowd!

Chicken Rollatini with Spinach

8 chicken breasts, pounded thin

3 cups fresh spinach, squeezed dry

4 triangles Laughing Cow cheese

1 1/2 cup grated cheddar/mozzarella

1/2 cup seasoned italian breadcrumbs

1 cup pomodoro sauce or your favorite marinara sauce

2 small eggs, beaten

**Note: Apart from the chicken breasts, you may not end up using ALL of the rest of the ingredients, depending on how much of the filling, breadcrumbs, sauce and cheese you wish to use. 

Chop the spinach into small strands and mix with 1 cup of the cheddar/mozzarella and Laughing Cow cheese. Use a fork to break up the laughing cow cheese and make sure the mixture has equal bits of all three ingredients in all parts.

Take large pinchful of the spinach stuffing mixture and flatten it out on the chicken breasts. Loosely roll the chicken breasts.

Take the rolled chicken breasts and dunk in the eggs and coat them in the breadcrumbs. Put the crusted chicken in a baking plate, seam side down. Bake in a preheated oven of 230 C for 18 minutes.

Pull the chicken out of the oven and quickly top with the sauce and the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese. Place it back in the oven and bake for 5-ish minutes, or until the cheese has melted and slightly browned.

Remove from the oven and enjoy! It's great served with a side of salad, potatoes, greens, garlic bread, or even a bit of pasta. To be honest, it is delicious just by itself.

What to do with Leftover Soybean Pulp - Make Muffins Of Course!

Over the past ten years, I have acquired a taste for soy milk, as it is something sold all over town here in Singapore. Of all the soy milk flavors, my favorite is almond because it has that slightly nutty, slightly sweet taste to it and is just so dreamy smooth...mmm!

Anyways, that's not really the point. Have you ever wondered what to do with all that leftover pulp (after making soy milk) that seems like it has so much goodness in it and that you really don't want to see go to waste? Well, they do say that great minds think alike! What I mean to say is that yes, I too felt the same way, so I ventured out for some tips. It seems as though other people have worked out ways to use this soybean pulp, called okara. It can be used in most baked goods to replace some flour and some moisture.

My favorite okara recipe is this carrot/banana/raisin breakfast muffins. As with all recipes, feel free to omit some bits and/or add in some of your own. Ex. substitute the carrot with apple, zucchini, pumpkin, sweet potato even.

These are just delish and you would never know that it even has the okara... not that it should matter anyways. They don't taste healthy at all and are packed with protein! How could you get a better combo?

Carrot Okara Muffins (recipe adapted from http://www.justasdelish.com/carrot-okara-muffin/)
Makes 10 Muffins

1 cup wet okara (soybean pulp leftover from making soymilk)
1/8 cup coconut oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup carrots - grated

2 bananas - mashed 

1½ cup flour

¼ cup baby oats 

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

¼ teaspoon all spice

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ cup chopped walnuts, optional

½ cup raisins, optional

Preheat your oven to 175°C. Fill your muffin tray with 10 paper liners. Combine wet ingredients in a medium bowl. Sift dry ingredients in a larger mixing bowl. Pour wet ingredients, walnuts and raisins into dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Trust me here: do not overmix. Spoon the batter into the liners until almost full. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until lightly brown or until a toothpick test comes out clean. Depending on the wetness of your okara, the baking times might be slightly different. Wait for them to cool and happy snacking!

Please please pleaseee leave me a comment below if you do try these - let me know what you think!

P.S. Don't forget to like the Strawberry Chocolate Concoction Facebook Page for tips, recipes and updates: https://www.facebook.com/StrawberryChocolateConcoction!

The banana was an afterthought (ie. after I saw a bunch of super overripe bananas on my counter), which is why they aren't pictured here.

No. Your eyes aren't deceiving you. Yes. There are only 9 muffins. I had to eat one as soon at is was just cool enough to be eaten. Yum-my!

Yoga to Improve Lifestyle

I'm sure you all have heard of yoga and its physical and psychological benefits. Let me assure you: they are all true, for the most part. For the past year, or so, my family and I have had a private yoga class for the four of us every Sunday morning at 9:45 am. I admit, for the first few classes, I found yoga a total drag. It took up an hour and a half of my morning and I didn't feel like I was getting anything out of it. Boy, was I wrong!

Now, every Sunday, I look forward to that yoga class. For one, I love love love stretching: I feel so fresh and energized. Secondly, it gives me a lot of time to think. Lastly, it really gives me a chance to de-stress and calm down a bit (if I need it!).

Delicious Dishes in Denmark

First of all, sorry I've been so MIA lately. School and college stuff is taking over my life. Anyways, I took one major step today and have submitted my main UK applications. I definitely feel relieved and am ready to work on the next step of my applications, as well as focus on progressing my life and leaving enough time to have some fun.

In all of this, I happened to remember summer and the super carefree mind I had a few months ago. Nostalgic about summer, I was glancing through some of my pictures and came across two that I had taken in Copenhagen, Denmark:

On the left is a picture of the dish I ordered, when my family and I decided to try out typical Danish cuisine. The whole experience was absolutely amazing and my one day in Copenhagen is tied for first place as the best day of summer. The meal was fantastic - the food, the setting (riverside!), the weather and most of all, the company. My family is the best, and I would never ever want anybody to replace them. Anyways, you may be wondering what we ate - Smorrebrod! Smorrebrod is a Scandinavian open-faced sandwich served with either thick white bread or dark rye bread. Toppings range from roast beef, steaks, boiled eggs, vegetables, shrimp, smoked salmon, fish, chicken salad. Let's be honest here; the options could go on forever. What I ordered was supposedly "strips of beef with caramelized onions and a fried egg". The description was accurate for the most part, but the beef was more like a super succulent and flavorful hamburger patty. Whatever it was, it was tasty and filling. My dad went for boiled eggs, with boiled shrimp, mayo and asparagus while my mom chose the fillet of fish option. My sister wasn't overly enterprising and stuck to traditional fish and chips - nevertheless, her choice was just as impressive.

Following the great lunch, we went for an hour-long canal cruise to see Copenhagen in a nutshell. Once the cruise was over, we stopped at the cutest and probably, busiest bakery in Copenhagen. I sure know why it was so crowded - the pastries and treats were to die for. My mom and I shared a strawberry-chocolate fruit tart and this berry marzipan cake on the right. The clear winner was this slice of cake: melt-in-the-mouth buttery vanilla cake, with cream and berry filling, topped with fresh berries and an exclusive marzipan edging. My mouth waters just thinking about it. All this food was clearly satisfying and gave us a boost of energy, so we headed off to Tivoli Gardens to explore more of Copenhagen.

Overall it was a fantastic day, filled with fantastic memories, food and people.