Barley lemon coconut drink

Ingredients:

100g barley pearls, soaked for 10 minutes in water
1 small pot of water
2 fresh coconuts, with flesh still intact
⅟₂ lemon, thinly sliced

For the sugar syrup,
1 cup water
3 tablespoon refined sugar
A bunch of pandan leaves, knotted

Method:

1. Boil 1 small pot of water over medium heat and then add soaked barley pearls. Boil for roughly ⅟₂ hour and let it cool for another ⅟₂ hour.
2. Using a blender, add barley water, cooked barley pearls and coconut juice. Blend until barley pearls achieve a fine texture.
3. Pour out into a big container.
4. For the sugar syrup, heat water, sugar, pandan leaves in a small pot over low heat for 30 minutes. Leave to cool for another 10 minutes.
5. Add coconut flesh, sugar syrup and slices of lemon together with the blended ingredients.
6. Serve chilled or top with crushed ice.

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour (including 1/2 hour cooling time)
Serves: 4-6

Shrimp Cocktail Sauce

Ingredients:

1 cup ketchup
1 -2 tablespoon horseradish (to your taste)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 dash pepper

Method:

1. Mix all ingredients and chill.
2. When ready to serve dip shrimp and enjoy.

Thai Green Curry Chicken

Ingredients:

Green curry paste:
4 small green Thai chilies (cili padi)
1/4 cup shallot OR purple onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 thumb-size piece galangal OR ginger, grated
1 stalk fresh minced lemongrass
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
3/4 to 1 tsp. shrimp paste
1 (loose) cup fresh coriander/cilantro leaves and stems, chopped
1/2 tsp. ground white pepper
3 Tbsp. fish sauce
1 tsp. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. lime juice

Curry Ingredients:
1 to 1.5 lbs. (about 0.7 kg) boneless chicken thigh or breast, cut into chunks
1 can coconut milk
4 kaffir lime leaves (daun limau perut)
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into chunks
1 zucchini, sliced lengthwise several times, then cut into chunks
Generous handful fresh basil
2 Tbsp. coconut oil or other vegetable oil

Preparation:

1. Place all the "green curry paste" ingredients together in a food processor, and process to a paste. If necessary, add a few Tbsp. of the coconut milk to help blend ingredients. Set aside.
2. Prepare the lime leaves by tearing the leaf away from either side of the stem. Discard the central stem. Then, using scissors, cut leaves into thin strips. Set aside.
3. Warm a wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the oil and swirl around, then add the green curry paste.
4. Stir-fry briefly to release the fragrance (30 seconds to 1 minute), then add 3/4 of the coconut milk, reserving 2-3 Tbsp. per serving portion for later.
5. Add the chicken, stirring to incorporate. When the curry sauce comes to a boil, reduce heat to medium or medium-low, until you get a nice simmer.
6. Cover and allow to simmer 3-5 more minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Stir occasionally.
7. Add the red bell pepper and zucchini, plus the strips of lime leaf (or lime zest), stirring well to incorporate. Simmer another 2-3 minutes, or until vegetables are softened but still firm and colorful.
8. Do a taste-test for salt, adding 1-2 Tbsp. fish sauce if not salty enough. If you'd prefer a sweeter curry, add a little more sugar. If too salty, add a squeeze of lime or lemon juice. If too spicy, add more coconut milk. Note that this curry should be a balance of salty, spicy, sweet and sour, plus bitter (the bitter is found in the fresh basil garnish).
9. Top with fresh basil, then drizzle over 2-3 Tbsp. coconut milk, and ENJOY!

Carrot Cake

Ingredients:
185g butter
1 1/2 cups castor sugar
3 eggs
2 cups grated carrot
3/4 cups chopped walnuts
3/4 cups plain flour
3/4 cups self raising flour
1 1/2 tsp mixed spice

Orange cream cheese frosting
60g packaged cream cheese
30g soft butter
1 tsp grated orange rind
1 1/2 cups icing sugar

Method:

1. Heat oven to 200 degrees C.
2. Grease & line base of 20cm ring pan
3. Cream butter & sugar until light & fluffy, beat in eggs one at a time, beat until combined.
4. Stir in carrot & walnuts. Then stir in flours & mixed spice. Spread into pan.
5. Bake for 1 hour.
6. Stand 5 minutes before turning on to wire rack to cool. Spread cold cake with frosting.

Frosting:

Beat cream cheese, butter & rind until light & fluffy. Gradually add in sifted icing sugar, beat until smooth.

Carrot cake

Ingredients: 
4 eggs 
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil 
2 cups white sugar 
2 teaspoons vanilla extract 
2 cups all-purpose flour 
2 teaspoons baking soda 
2 teaspoons baking powder 
1/2 teaspoon salt 
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 
3 cups grated carrots 
1 cup chopped pecans 
1/2 cup butter, softened 
8 ounces cream cheese, softened 
4 cups confectioners' sugar 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
1 cup chopped pecans 

Method: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan. 
2. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, white sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in carrots. Fold in pecans. Pour into prepared pan. 
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely. 
4. To Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Stir in chopped pecans. Frost the cooled cake.

After reading through 4-5 pages of the reviews, I consolidated the most referred alterations to this recipe to: 1) using 1 cup brown sugar and 1 cup white sugar 2) adding an extra teaspoon of vanilla extract 3) adding 1 8oz. can of crushed pineapple (I squeezed out most of the juice before adding it, I didn't want any extra fluids in the cake) 4) Added 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg 5) added 1 extra teaspoon of cinnamon 6) used 3/4 cup canola oil and 1/2 cup applesauce. The result came out incredibly delicious - the cake was very flavorful and moist. For the frosting, I only used 3.5 cups of powdered sugar, and it was more than sweet enough, with a nicely balanced cream cheese vs. sweet flavor. If I would change anything again, I would use less pecans - it's a bit too nutty for my personal tastes. Also, I followed another reviewer's suggestion of grating the carrots with the large grater side (the one you use for cheese) so that you don't end up with a bunch of carrot mush and juice that can't be used. Will definitely make again! This is probably the best carrot cake I've ever had.

Pancakes

Ingredients:
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp each: ground cloves, ginger, nutmeg
1/4 cup finely chopped apple
1/3 cup almond milk
1 whole egg
1/4 cup egg whites
1 TB plain nonfat Greek yogurt
1 TB water
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Put all (yes, all) ingredients in a bowl and mix together until a smooth batter is formed. (Depending upon protein powder used, batter might be thick; if so, add additional water 1 TB at a time until batter is pourable). Set aside.
2. Coat skillet lightly with non-stick cooking spray and place on medium-high heat. Allow to heat up for approximately 30 seconds. (Depending how big your skillet is, you might need to repeat this process to cook all pancakes). 
3. Pour batter slowly onto heated skillet to form approximate 3” round pancakes. Fit as many as you can at one time so you can eat sooner ☺ 
4. Let cook for approximately 2 minutes or until bubbles form on top of pancake and underside is nice and brown. Once this occurs, flip pancakes over and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes or until pancakes are firm and underside is also browned. Stack on a plate. (Repeat this process until all batter is used).

NUTRITION DATA
Per serving (serves 1): 356 calories, 30.5 grams protein, 42.7 gram carbohydrates, 7.1 grams fat