Raisin Muffin with Chocolate Chips
Topic: Snacks
We were fasting yesterday with my hubby and we were late to go home from our work, it was only less than one hour left for Iftar time, therefore, we must have to cook whatever is easy and quick to prepare. I planned to make Spaghetti but I have to thaw the meat first, so I decided to make Spaghetti ala Pancit since we have some baked chicken leftovers and it would be a great flavor for that. My hubby said he wanted to bake muffins, I told him that we don’t have enough time for it since Iftar time was already near and besides I was already preparing some scrambled eggs as a fillings for the Pita bread that we had and that would be enough for Iftar but he still insisting. He said he can make it on time, I said okay do it if you can even though I knew that he will disturb me by asking how to make it perfectly, it’s okay. The original plan was just a plain raisins muffins but when I saw him mixing the batter, I remembered that we have some chocolate bars so I suggested to add chocolate chips on it by cutting the chocolate bars into tiny cubes and he agreed. He then said, what if we add chocolate syrup on it to have more chocolaty taste? He said that when he finished filling the muffin cups already, lol…! I said, okay next time we will make chocolate muffins Insha Allah. The muffins was done while were in the middle of our Iftar time.

Ingredients:
2 ? cup all-purpose flour
1 cup raisins
1/3 cup chocolate chips
? cup milk
? cup white sugar
? cup melted butter (any cooking oil will also do)
1 egg, beaten
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 pinch of salt

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 190 degrees C. Grease muffins tins, or line cups with paper liners.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
3. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add beaten eggs and vanilla. Stir in milk.
4. Mix the dry and wet ingredients together. Fold in raisins and chocolate chips. Do not over mix. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full with batter.
5. Bake for 25 minutes.

Tips: Do not smooth the top part when filling the muffin cups. Muffins should be lumpy. You can also add more chocolate chips if you like.

Baked Chicken Wings
Topic: Chicken
This recipe was just a product of my cooking adventure last night.

Ingredients:
12 pcs. chicken wings

Marinade:
1 medium onion, minces
1 tbsp. grated ginger
1 tbsp. honey
1 tbsp. worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp. light soy sauce
2 tbsp. dark soy sauce
3 tbsp. water
1/3 tsp. black pepper powder
1/3 tsp. salt

Directions:
1. Mix together all marinade ingredients.
2. Marinate the chicken wings for 1t least 30 minutes.
3. Arrange chicken in a baking dish, then bake on a preheated 250 degrees C oven for 40 minutes. Brush the chicken with the marinade occasssinally.
4. After 40 minutes, take out from oven and turn over the chicken to darken the other side. Bake for 5 minutes. Serve.

My Mother's Classic Fried Rice
Topic: Breakfast Recipes
This is the fried rice that I ate first at home during my chilhood and it was served early in the morning before I went to school. My mother always prepared our breakfast very early, she did not sleep after Fajr prayer. I always smelled the aroma of tempting breakfast she prepared for us everytime I woke up in the morning. Our usual breakfast that time was fried rice with fried egg, broiled or fried freshly caught fish or shrimps, or Pandesal with noodles, and sometimes rice cakes and suman courtesy of my father's aunt. My mother usually prepared heavy breakfast for us all because she always told us that we should not eat any junk foods at school, that's why she want to ensure that our stomach were full before going to school. I really miss her now. Last Friday morning, I asked my hubby what he wanted to eat for breakfast and he said fried rice if we had rice leftovers. Fortunately, there was leftover when I checked it and I remembered the fried rice for breakfast of my mother way back home, so that's the short story why I cooked this dish. I served it with sunny side up egg, fried mushrooms and chicken franks since that was the easiest for me to prepare that time, I was still sleeepy, LOL :)

Ingredients:
2 cups cold cooked rice
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 medium onion, sliced thinly
1 ripe tomato, sliced thinly
1 thumb-sized ginger, sliced into strips
2 tbsp. cooking oil
salt to taste
Chopped green onions

Directions:
1. Heat oil in a wok, saute garlic, onion, ginger and tomato for few minutes or until aromatic.
2. Add rice, mix well. Cook and stir for 10 minutes.
3. Season with salt, add chopped onions, cook and stir for 1 minute.
4. Serve.

See also:
Tips on Cooking Fried Rice
Garlic Fried Rice

Our Home-Made Pizza
Topic: Snacks
This is our homemade pizza pie, we always do it at home and it was very simple and easy, even my hubby knows how to prepare it. We like it since we just have to choose what kind of toppings should we add on it. My hubby didn't like to eat black olives, so everytime we dine in at Pizza Hut, our orders are always the same, Hawaian since it has no black olives topping on it. One day, a friend brought 2 large Pizza Hut Meat Supreme at home and the toppings was full of meat and black olives, we are big fans of pizza but we did not able to eat even a half of it since all of the toppings are not our favorite one! We like meat but when combine with too much black olives, then it will lost our appetite. Our favorite toppings are chicken barbeque, mortadella, pepperoni, pineapple, cheese of course, seafoods, bell pepper and mushrooms. We've been cooking this at home long time ago but I have no chance to post it here since everytime we made it, I cannot take a photo out of it. Fortunately, we were fasting when I made this the other day and I took it out from the oven 5 minutes before the Ifar time, hence I have time to take picture on it.

Ingredients:
For the Crust:
2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup warm water
2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
1 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. sugar
3 tbsp. olive oil
Dried basil leaves (optional)

For the Toppings:
Pizza sauce
Use your favorite pizza toppings, anything you like:
Grated mozarella cheese
Mushrooms
Pineapple
Onions
Bell pepper
Pepperoni
Mortadella
Precooked bacon
Precooked Meat
Pre-cooked Chicken
Precooked Seafoods
Any

Directions:
1. Stir water, sugar and yeast together until dissolved. Add the olive oil and the salt. Stir in the flour until well blended. Let dough rest for 10 minutes.
2. Pat dough into pan using fingers dipped in olive oil. If desired sprinkle dried basil leaves on crust.
3. Bake in a preheated 250 C degree oven for 10 15 minutes.
4. Take out from oven and top with your favorite pizza toppings and bake again for 5 minutes or until the toppings are cooked through. Serve.

(My way of adding toppings on it was spreading the pizza sauce first on the crust surface, then I add grated cheese, then the other toppings, then I sprinkle few cheese again on top)

Squid with String Beans
Topic: Squids
This is one of my simpliest recipe to cook squid with vegetables. Very easy and simple.

Ingredients:
500 g medium squid, sliced into rings
10 pcs. string beans, cut into 2 inches length
1 medium carrot, sliced into strips
1 medium onion, sliced thinly
1 tbsp. grated ginger
1 ripe tomato,sliced thinly
1/3 tsp. black pepper powder
2/3 cup water
1 tbsp. light soy sauce
1 tbsp. dark soy sauce
1/2 tsp. sugar
salt and pepper to taste
3 tbsp. cooking oil
1 tsp. sesame oil

Directions:
1. Heat cooking oil in a pan, saute onion,ginger and tomatoes for 3 minutes or until tender.
2. Add squid rings, string beans and carrots, stir for 1 minute then add water and the rest of the ingredients except sesame oil. Adjust the seasoning according to your taste. Simmer until the vegetables are done.
3. When the vegetables are done, turn off heat and stir in the sesame oil. Serve.