Banana and Strawberry Baked Oatmeal Casserole

If you haven't noticed on my Instagram or my Twitter account, I've been experimenting a lot lately with cooking and baking.  Not sure what it is but my inner Martha Stewart seems to have this desire to learn and try something new, even if I have this gut feeling, deep down inside telling me that whatever I am making won't be appetizing at all.  I think the sudden urge to throw and mix random fruits and seasonings in a bowl and hoping for the better is what excites me.  What's even better is knowing that what I've made actually is edible and worthy for anyone who dares to try it!

With that being said, I'm happy to say that the banana and strawberry baked oatmeal casserole that I made last night was actually satisfying.  So far I've gotten the approval from two very important people in my life.  The casserole might have turned out a bit dark and mushy-looking, but once you take a bite of it, it's actually not that bad.

Now that you've seen some of my photos, it's your turn to try this recipe out yourself!

What you will need:

• 1 Cup Walnuts
• 2 Cups Milk
• 2 Ripe Bananas
•  2 Cups Rolled Oats
• 1 Large Egg or 2 Small Eggs
• 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
• 1/3 (Brown) Sugar
• 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 2 Cups of Chocolate Chips
• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
• 1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
• 2 Cups of Strawberries - Any berries can be used for this recipe!

First things first, go ahead and preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.  Then spray the interior of a baking dish with a cooking spray.  This will help prevent your dish from sticking to the cooking dish itself.

Then mix the walnuts, rolled oats, chocolate chips, sugar, salt, strawberries, and the baking powder in a large mixing bowl and then place it in your baking dish.  With the thinly sliced banana pieces, place them on top of the mixture and evenly distribute them by leaving some space in between.

In a separate bowl whisk the milk, eggs, vanilla extract, and the melted butter until it becomes a unified yellowish color.  Then gently pour it in your baking dish and gently move the baking dish in a back and forth motion to evenly distribute the liquid.

Finally place it in the oven and wait for about 50 minutes or until the top looks golden brown.  If you want the dish a little bit sweeter, feel free to sprinkle on some brown sugar and serve!

Thanks you Inspired Taste for posting the recipe.

So I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did!

Bon appetite!

<3 Lina Chen

Frosting: Art of Cookie Decorating!

Ladies and gentlemen, I think I have found a new hobby!  Last night was my very first time decorating and frosting sugar cookies and guess what?  IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!!!  It takes up a lot of time and effort but the process of mixing ingredients, cutting the cookies individually from a template, making the frosting, and decorating is rewarding after seeing it all come together!  Only disappointment is how disgusting the frosting tastes.  Might need to work on that a bit...

Honestly, I think things are much more fun when they are spontaneous and unplanned.  Cookie decorating didn't come across our minds until about 8 or 9 in the evening.  Although it was fairly late, we decided to try a new chicken recipe AND bake/decorate sugar cookies.  I suggested postponing it since it was too late, but I'm happier that we didn't.  Being able to make memories is important to me and this is something that I will never ever forget.  Thanks Lisa!

And the results are in!

What do you think?  Cute right?

<3  Lina Chen

Infamous Sprinkles Cupcakes!

 

For those of you who haven't heard of Sprinkles Cupcakes, the original gourmet cupcake bakery, you are missing out!  But don't worry, I actually didn't know anything about it until a few months ago after my lovely birthday lunch with Lisa at the Tea Rose Garden.  We were in the car driving around Pasadena when all of a sudden Lisa suggests going to Sprinkles Cupcakes.  She was surprised I've never heard of it and off we

 went to find a Sprinkles location!  Sadly, we couldn't find the it and decided we'll save our trip to there another day.

 

I'm actually glad we didn't go because the following week, Erica (best friend) surprised me with a gift certificate to Sprinkles as a birthday gift!  It's as if she read my mind!  Thanks Erica if you are reading this!  What's really freaky is that I have never once mentioned Sprinkles to her AND that was the second time I've ever heard anyone talk about this place in one week!  Talk about a coincidence, right?

For weeks on end I've been wanting to try Sprinkles and I was finally able to this past weekend by accident!  We were roaming around The Grove, which by the way is a great place to go to over on the weekends, and we came across the mini bakery that was hidden between a restaurant and a parking garage!

 

The cupcakes alone are $3.50 each so be prepared to break your piggy bank for a dozen of these babies!  Just kidding, but I have to admit, they're pretty expensive cupcakes!  I think it's worth it if you get the right flavors.  For example, we ended up getting the Banana, Strawberry, Coconut, and their Irish cupcake.  I liked all of them except for their seasonal Irish cupcake--the least moist cupcake and you can barely taste the Bailey's.  I think my absolute favorite would have to be the Banana because it was evenly balanced.  The strawberry was delicious except for the fact that the sweetness over-empowered after the third bite.  Coconut is great too but the Banana beat them all!

Can't wait to go back to Sprinkles again!

<3 Lina Chen

189 The Grove Dr.,  Los Angeles, CA 90036

323.931.4498.   http://www.sprinkles.com

Sugar Snap Pea Recipe

For all your bacon lovers out there, here's a recipe I'd recommend making!  The combination of the sugar snap peas and the bacon and onions makes this dish unbelievable!

Don't believe me?  Then gather up some of these ingredients and let's get started!!!

Ingrediants:

1. 3-5 slices of bacon (depending on how much you love bacon!)
2. 1 small pack of sugar snap peas
3. 1 yellow skinned onion, finely chopped
4. 2 cloves of garlic (optional)
5. Salt and pepper

1.  Cook 3-5 slices of bacon in a medium sized skillet until golden brown and let it cool down.  Then place the bacon strips on a cutting board and chop them into bits and pieces.

2.  Finely chop the onion and garlic if you haven't done so and add it into the pan until onions are tender.

3.  Add snap peas to the pan, cover and let it cook for 5 minutes.  Uncover, stir the peas and onions and cover again for another 5 minutes.

4.  Once peas are tender, add the bacon into the skillet and remove the pan from the heat!  Let it sit for a couple minutes and serve! 

Hope you guys will like it as much as I did!!!  Recipe found on the Food Network website. 

Thanks,

Lina Chen

Happy Harbor Dim Sum

If you've never had dim sum you are missing out!

So what is dim sum?  It's essentially Chinese food served in bite-sized pieces in rounded, steamed containers or on small plates.  Depending which dim sum place you go to, they may serve your food via cart.  This is where multiple carts are circulating around the restaurant allowing customers to freely choose what they would like.  Other dim sum places will provide you a slip form to fill in your order and eventually the dishes come out one by one from the kitchen when they are ready.

Often dim sum is served in the mornings and brunch, but of course there's exceptions such as the ones in Vegas.  

I really liked Happy Harbor.  Probably would give it a solid 4 star review.  They are in a shopping center off Gale Ave. and Nogales St. in the Rowland Heights area.  Not too shabby.  Interior is gleaming with bright lights and has a clean, cut look and feel.  All of the waiters sort of look like butlers because their attire reflects that of one. 

My boyfriend and I went there to celebrate his cousins' birthday and had a good time surrounding myself with good people and good food.  

Some of my favorite dishes are the...

1.  Steamed Pork and Shrimp Dumplings

2.  Shumai

3.  Spareribs

4.  Steamed Beef Noodles

5.  Har Gow

6.  Luo Buo Gao

7.  Lime Green Red Bean Buns

8.  Baked BBQ Pork Bun (which is heavenly!)

9.  Egg Tart

10.  Mango Pudding (even though it wasn't as sweet as I'd hope it to be).

A few snippets I took at the restaurant:

That's it for now!  See you guys next time!!!

<3 Lina Chen

1015 Nogales St.,  Rowland Heights, CA 91748

626.965.2020.