Muffin Monday: Strawberry Yogurt Muffins

southbayrantsnraves — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 13:00:45 +0000

You aren’t seeing things, I’ve emerged from my cave to make these delicious muffins. Strawberries are my favorite fruit and I hope that the baby will like them too!

It did feel great to bake again for the first time in 6 weeks. I’m not experiencing the aches & pains of the third trimester yet thankfully so I want to keep at it as much as I can.

The recipe was very straight forward, no fuss. Perfect for someone like me who is coming back from a hiatus. They came out looking very rustic, something I’d find at a bake sale perhaps. These muffins are perfect for a spring day. I hope you like them too!

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 eggs lightly beaten
1/2 cup light plain yogurt
1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups coarsely chopped strawberries

Cooking Directions

Preheat oven 375 degrees
In a small bowl, combine the first four ingredients.
In another bowl,whisk the eggs, yogurt, butter and vanilla.
Stir into the dry ingredients just until moistened.
Fold in strawberries.
Fill muffin cups coated with cooking spray or lined with paper liners two-thirds full.
Bake at 375° for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Serve warm.
Yield: 1 dozen.

Five Fab Food Trucks!

southbayrantsnraves — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 15:00:19 +0000

Yes, another food truck festival is coming to the South Bay. Celebrate the grand opening of The Row at 360 South Bay with Five Fab Food Trucks! Join the Sprinkles Mobile, Nom Nom, Grill ‘em All, The Ludo Truck, and last but definitely not least, the Grilled Cheese Truck at 5428 Strand Hawthorne, CA 90250 on April 21 from 12-4pm. Get a Buzz Buck for a free menu item and drink while supplies last. There are limited Buzz Bucks per truck, so get there early. Of course, carry some cash as a lot of food trucks don’t take cards. Check out The Row for more info!

Retail Review: Kids Double Time Redondo Beach, CA

southbayrantsnraves — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 23:11:02 +0000

Well, the time has come for me to “rant n rave” about retail since not much is going on with me in the foodie scene at the moment.

Thankfully for this pregnancy, I haven’t gotten that big & only started showing recently. I started off wearing the BeBand to hold up my pre pregnancy jeans (still do) but I needed maternity work pants and shirts. I really don’t want to pay full price for something I’d only wear a few months anyways, so I checked out discount stores like Ross & Burlington. They worked well but the selection was slim. Fortunately, I found a secondhand store right here in the South Bay, Redondo Beach to be exact, that sells second hand maternity & baby clothes as well as baby toys, strollers, books, and so on. You can read my review on Kids Double Time on Yelp.

Do you know of any secondhand baby stores in the South Bay?

Redondo Beach Kite Festival

southbayrantsnraves — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 23:05:21 +0000

I’ll admit it right now, I hadn’t heard about the Redondo Beach Kite Festival until last week. I have the Daily Breeze to thank for that. It was such a great way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon at the Redondo Beach Pier.

It was practically shoulder to shoulder at the pier, just an hour into the event. There was a martial arts exhibition which was pretty cool. The students were breaking boards, a few were blindfolded doing so, nice to watch. There was also a yo yo competition as well as a corn dog eating competition. We however were mainly there to see the kites.

The beach was full with kite flyers and onlookers.

With a few strong breezes, the sky was filled with kites.

It was a wonderful day at the beach. We didn’t see the launching of the 25 foot kite, but just seeing the sky filled with an assortment of kites was pretty neat. It’s an annual event worth checking out! Thanks to the Daily Breeze for the heads up!

My Muffin Monday: Banana Flaxseed Muffins

southbayrantsnraves — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 16:00:23 +0000

So I went rogue this week. I made a muffin recipe from my Pregnancy Cooking & Nutrition for Dummies book this week. Having to be at work early these days, I don’t have much time to cook. I like to sleep in as much as I can. With that being said, I like to cook things in advance as much as I can. I admit I was a little nervous making these muffins because they were on the healthy side. I just hope they didn’t taste like the box!

To my delight, they were light with just enough sweetness. The pecans provided a nice crunch to these tasty baked goods. Heck, even my husband who is very picky liked them too.

Banana & Flaxseed Muffins

Ingredients

3/4 cup white all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup sugar
3 tbsp canola oil
2 eggs
1 cup mashed bananas
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)
dash salt
1/4 cup ground flaxseed

Cooking Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease muffin tins or add muffin liners.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, flax seed, baking soda, baking powder, & salt
In another bowl, beat the eggs & add mashed banana, sugar, and oil. Stir to combine.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry & combine until just blended. Add the pecans & chocolate chips.
Spoon 3/4 batter into muffin tins. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Cool pan for 5 minutes & transfer to cooling rack.

Muffin Monday: Strawberry Cheesecake Muffins

southbayrantsnraves — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 20:20:09 +0000

Yes, look who’s back? Yes, this is a late submission, but it’s still Monday! I’ll be honest, these weren’t the easiest muffins to prepare. I always have a hard time with muffins that have special fillings. This one ended up erupting all over my oven. So yes, I have a jelly filled oven right now. Some of the jelly did stay though. Good thing I have a jar of jelly to make up for the strawberry explosion.

Other than the volcanic jelly incident, the muffins turned out very moist, which is good since I used half wheat & half regular flour to make it “healthier” . I’m glad I’m working right now so I can share these with even more people since I’m on a restrictive diet these days!

Strawberry Cheesecake Muffins

Ingredients

8oz softened cream cheese
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 egg
1 1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup strawberry jam

Cooking Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
Grease 12 muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.
Beat together cream cheese and confectioners\' sugar until smooth; set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, combine all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt.
In a separate bowl, beat together egg milk, brown sugar, butter, lemon zest and vanilla extract. Stir egg mixture into dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened.
Spoon half of batter into muffin cups.
Top each portion with 1 tablespoon cream cheese mixture and 1 teaspoon jam.
Spoon remaining muffin batter on top.
Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until golden.
Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then remove muffins and cool on rack.
Store in airtight container.

Muffin Monday is an initiative by Baker Street. A culinary journey of sharing a wickedly delicious muffin recipe every week. Drop in a quick line to join her on her journey to make the world smile and beat glum Monday mornings week after week.

Prego food blogger dines out

southbayrantsnraves — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:00:39 +0000

When I first found out I was pregnant, I thought that the rules would be easy: don’t drink, don’t do drugs, don’t smoke. Done. Oh if only. There are SO many restrictions that it takes me forever to order these days. I’m seriously analyzing every single ingredient listed with each dish to make sure it’s safe for me to eat. That’s why these days, especially between working & being pregnant, I eat at home more often so I can control what goes in my food.

Of course there’s times when I want to treat myself too. I tend to lean towards restaurants with customizable menus. I had a tasty chicken sandwich at Stacked in Torrance the other day. It was pretty healthy too. I’m glad there’s other places with heavily customized menus like another burger haven The Counter and Big Wok Mongolian BBQ, right here in the South Bay area. Do you know of any other customizable menus? I’m glad that although my food options have been very limited these days, there’s some choices that are still available for me.

Yum Thai Redondo Beach, CA

southbayrantsnraves — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:00:25 +0000

I finally get to write this review. It started when I set out to review Pasta Kitchen. To my dismay, I saw a sign on the door that said they were closing. So for the last year, I’d see a sign that a new Thai restaurant was opening. It wasn’t until late last year that it finally happened.

Walking in, I just simply wanted Yum Thai to live up to its name. The vibe was very friendly and mellow. They had so many Thai favorites that it made it pretty hard to choose from. I usually go with the noodles, but I was in the mood for something different. Their Thai Chicken dish caught my eye so I decided to try it out.

Thai Chicken

The chicken was fall of the bone tender. I liked how the skin sealed in the moisture of the meat. The dish was served with a nice sized side of curry sauce. I’ve always been nervous about curry. It’s really been hit or miss since I don’t like spicy food. This one was definitely a hit. Sweet & tangy with a nice kick at the end. Just right for me!

The service was great throughout my visit. Servers were very friendly & also had warm smiles on their faces. They kept up with drink refills & bussing tables. The menu averaged at $8.50 a dish. Not bad at all. The portions were just enough for one meal. I wouldn’t be taking anything home for lunch the next day but that was fine by me. It’s always nice to find another Thai restaurant. So for me, Yum Thai lived up to its name. Can’t wait to try more of their dishes!

What’s your favorite Thai restaurant?

Yum Thai

1888 1/2 Pacific Coast Hwy

Redondo Beach, CA 90277

Part time blogger

southbayrantsnraves — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:35:17 +0000

You’ve probably noticed that I haven’t been blogging as frequently. Well, the reason for that is I’m expecting a little bundle in July. With that bundle comes a restrictive diet (sushi, deli meat, coffee, steak cooked less than well done? forget about it!) & more hours at work. I’ll still be posting about events in the beach cities, a Muffin Monday or two & yes a sprinkling of restaurant posts in the mix. I’ve gone part time, but I’m still here!

This weekend at Uncorked, Hermosa Beach

southbayrantsnraves — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:42:34 +0000

Come and check out Hermosa’s new little wine shop, Uncorked.

Tonight 6-8pm: Uncorked welcomes fourth generation winemaker & owner, Caitlin Pianetta. Caitlin will be pouring Pianetta Vineyard’s Cab & Syrah. Check out these bold reds with high quality flavor.

Saturday, Jan 21st 6-8pm: Doug Timewell from boutique Toucan Vineyards will be on hand to pour his Petite Sirah, Zinfandel, and a Zinfandel Port for all the dessert wine fans.

Visit uncorked at 302 Pier Ave Hermosa Beach, CA 90254. Check them out online too!