Food with Tea-Whole Wheat Banana Olive Oil Cake (tea cake recipe)

I had a potluck Lunch with my non-profit org team to celebrate Christmas yesterday!! I brought this Whole Wheat Banana Olive Oil Cake as a dessert and....it was the star of the whole event!!!!

I "borrow" this recipe from Smitten Kitchen. The original recipe was "Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake". I do not have any Blood Orang at hands, except bananas.

Tea Lifestyle-Recipe: Cranberry Chicken (drumsticks recipe)

My neighbor asked me one day, Jane, do you ever make dishes? hahahaha!! I made so many breads, Banana Yogurt bread, Gingerbread, Pumpkin bread, etc, in the past few weeks and never shared any dishes with her!!! My neighbor Jill is a sweetheart.

I am not a vegetarian, but I do not eat meat as much as other people do. I remember when I was very young, we only could afford meat in holidays. And that was the least favorite time for me! I only started eating chicken more after I moved to the US.

One time I was invited to a friend's house for Christmas and his sister made such a fabuslous Cranberry chicken thigh dish that I could die for, seriouly!!! Remember, I am very picky when it turns to meat.

Tea Lifestyle-Recipes-Coconut Honey Roasted sweet potatoes

Sweet potato was one of my favorite snack foods when I was young! But it was not native to the area where I grew up. I remember I always had to take a big bag of roasted soy beans in exchange for a cup of dried sweet potato chips, very chewy and sweet! I treasured it so much that I only ate few a week. Later, we had street vendors selling roasted sweet potatos in winter. The sweet smell could go for miles and I simply could not get away from it!!

Nutrition facts:

Sweet potato is rich in Vitamine A, Vitamine C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Potassium, fiber,  Low fat.





I am a big fan of Ellie Kieger's cookbooks and this recipe is adapted from her book: So Easy

Food Pairing:
Pair perfectly with green tea!!

Ingredients:
2 pound Sweet potatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp honey
3 tbsp shredded Coconut (without moisture), unsweetened
Lemon juice (i used 2 lemons)
1/2 tsp salt (optional, i did not add it)
















Directions:

1. clean sweet potatoes. Slice in roughly 1/4 inch thick.
2. Mix Olive oil, honey, coconut in a small bowl. Squeeze Lemon juice and mix well with the mixture.
3. coat the sliced sweet potatoes with the mixture well and place them on a backing sheet one by one.
4. Preheat oven 350 F. Bake for about 30 minutes. Flip once in between.

Alternatively, you can mix olive oil, honey and lemon juice, without Coconut. Then after backing, top the sweet potatoes with shredded coconut. I love the smell of coconut, sooo sweet!!!

Yum yum my dear friends!!!

Tea Lifestyle-Stevia recipes-Pumpkin bread No.1

I had no internet and phone for a few days because of the snow storm;(( Can you imagine how bad it was? I had to drive to the closest Fedex office everyday to check my emails.

Today I decided to give myself a treat, a real treat I always wanted!! I cooked some pumkins last night and had some left-overs. So I decided to make a Pumpkin Bread this morning. While baking the bread, a technician from Verizon, Joe, came in to fix the internet issue.

Joe could not resist the smell of the bread and started asking me questions. HAHAGIGIGAGA!! He was cute;))

Joe-Smells really good.
Me-Pumpkin bread
Joe-It smells like Pumpkin bread. He smiles
Me-I use stevia instead of sugar and all fresh ingredients for my cooking.
Joe-Used to eat a lot of sweet foods. That's why I'm fat (I do not think he is fat). Lost 50 lbs and was a pre-diabete. Used to go to McDonalds or Donkin Donuts 5 times a day because of my working schedules. Now my wife prepares meals for me at home.
Me-Well, this might be the perfect bread for you. No sugar added and I used some Whole Wheat in my bread. It tastes delicate. Try this Earl Gray Cranberry Jam I made (I was trying to sell my jam to Joe;))) with the bread.
Joe-It tastes really great with the Jam!

I was soo flattered that I decided to ask him to take half of the pumpkin bread home after done;)) He happily did it;)))

Benefits:
Low calories, Low Chalestrol, low fat, low salt, no sugar added. It tastes lightly sweet, delicate, smooth, subtle....and...yum yum!!

Traditional Chinese Medicine believes Pumpkin is good for the "Chi" in your body. It is rich in Vitamine A, and minerals such as Phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, calcium, etc

Pumpkin is good for eyes and skin. Pumpkin seeds can help prevent kidney stones (Phosphorus) and prostate cancer.

But avoid overeating it or eat it when you are taking Chinese medicine.

I got this recipe on All Recipes, but made few changes so that it not only tastes good, but also healthy healthy!

Ingredients (it makes roughly 1 loaf of bread) 

1/2 cup freshly cooked pumpkin puree
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup stevia (or adjusted per your preference)
2 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Whole Wheat flour
1/3 tsp baking powder
1/3 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp light salt
1/3 tsp ground cinnamon
1/3 tsp ground nutmeg
1/3 tsp ground cloves

Directions:

1. Steam 1/2 Pumpkin* until cooked. Roughly 15 minutes. Then spoon the flesh out in a bowl. Mash it with a spoon. (I let the pumpkin cool down and mashed it with my hands. I love to touch my food and it's fun!!)

2. Preheat the over to 350 F. Greese and flour the 9x5 inch loaf pan.

3. Mix the Pumpkin puree, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, , eggs, stevia, and olive oil. Add all flour in and mix well.

4. Bake for 1 hour until a toothpick inserted in center come out clean.

Food Paring:

You can eat the pumpkin bread with green tea, or herbal tea. It's great for afternoon tea. 

Tips:

1. *I used Butter Pumpkin, smaller in size and taste very smooth! When you steam pumkin, do it with skin. Afer the cooked pumpkin cool down, use spoon to get the flesh out. This is the laziest way to eat pumpkin without spending half hour to peal off the skin;)))

2. Pumpkin seeds-I do not like to waste any thing. I clean the pumpkin seeds and put it in a heated pan (no oil added) until cooked. The seeds are the perfect snack food. You can eat them with their shell!!! Good way to exercise your facial muscle, your draw;)))) HA!

Tea Lifestyle-Recipes-Natural Apple Cuppa with Cinnamon

Apple is not just a fruit any more! It's a company that brings changes to hi-tech, entertaining, publishing, telecommuting industries and more.

I create this recipe in memory of Steve Jobs, the man who loved apples.


The first computer I ever used was called Apple II (never heard of it? then you are too young;))should be "antique" now). It was a black screen and I had to type in some commands to do calculations. It was a very cool experience.

The second time was when I moved to the US. Apple computers were very popular on campus (probably still are) and I used Mac desktop for all my computer science classes.

Right now many people own an iphone. But do you know a fun story about the first iphone? When the first iphone was released, many media were so excited about the new product-stylish design, touch and bigger screen, etc. but soon people found you can do many things with this beautiful device, but there's one thing you can not do: you can not make a call with this phone!!;)))) Apple added the phone function immediately.  Now you can make a call with your iphone now!

This recipe is simple, tasty, natural and keeps everything original. Mr. Jobs loved simple design and was a vegeterian. He went to India when he was young. Indian foods are flavorful and normally come with deep aroma from spices.

Benefits
Apple, a once forbidden fruit, is  rich in antioxidant (both from tea and apple) and minirals. It's said "An apple a day keeps the doctor away"!!

This recipe uses everything natural, great aroma from cinnamon and apple. Low calories, no cholestrol, no sugar added. It helps weight control as well. Best of all-YOU can do it because it's easy!!

And...not much cleanning to do, yal!! After done, just eat the apple;)))

Ingredients:

• Two apples (or you can use one if only one person, wouldn't you want to share this wonderful tea with ya friends?;))
• 1 tbsp Black tea (or green if you prefer)-recommend using whole leaves. If not, use 1 teaspoon of black tea
• 8 oz boiling water
• 2 cinnamon sticks

Instructions:
1. pour 8 oz of boiling water into your cup then add 1 tbsp of black tea. Brew for about 3-4 minutes. I always prefer my tea light.

2. Make an Apple cuppa-use smaller spoon to mark a circle on the top of an apple then take all the apple flesh out. It should leave enough space to hold your tea

3. Pour the hot black tea into your apple cuppa. Use 1 cinnamon stick to stir a little bit to get some aroma.

That's it!! Yum Yum!!

Tea Lifestyle: recipes-whole wheat strawberry green tea pancake!!!

I always wake up with an empty stomach every morning! And my breakfast normally is a meal;))) One time I read an article-"how to lose weight while sleeping"! That's why-sleeping well is a good exercise!!;)) I probably "jog" a lot in my dream;))

Today I decide to try Whole wheat strawberry green tea pancake!!! One time I had few strawberries in my refridge, but did not know what I could use them for. I added them to my pancake...it was sooo delicious!!! The aroma from strawberry always makes my mouth watering! It also add rich flavor and juicy to the pancake.

Benefits-low calories, low cholesterol, rich in fiber, proteins, antioxidant, vitamins, and minerals, enough energy to keep your morning going, very healthy, tastes not too sweet.

Ingredients:












A.
½ cup all purpose flour
½ cup whole wheat flour
2 egg whites
¼ cup pan roasted Oat meal flakes
2-½ teaspoon corn starch
1/2teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
5  strawberries
1 cup of Green tea (1 table spoon of green tea brewed with 8 oz water)

B.      Honey (few drizzles)
C.      Yogurt (fat free)
D.      Multiple strawberries for display
E.    Green matcha paste (optional)

Instructions:

1.       5 strawberries in blender, 2-3 quick “Stir”. Just in small pieces, not liquid.

2.       Mix everything from A together until smooth

3.       It generates roughly 4 medium sized pancakes.

Add some plain yogurt between the two pancakes, additional strawberries on top, and pour some honey

Tea Lifestyle: 5 cool ways to use your teapots-party favors (part 5)

Labor day was over. The real labor days start!

Say you invite friends and family to your home for a tea part. Here are some tips for your party design:

1. Creatively use small glass teapots, ie, you can hang them on the trees.

2. Since it's a tea party, you can use mini tea cups, such as the Angel tea cups below as name tag holders.

Or put some M&Ms in the little cups to add some colors to your party!

Or, use as a party give-away! These mini cups are adorable and not expensive. Who doesn't want to be remembered?

3. Can't host a tea party without serving teas, right? use the simply designed glass teapots and they will only add the "clean and elegant touch" to your party. Think about aligning the glass teapots filled with tea in the middle of the table...very inviting and pretty, isn't it?

Here are the previous posts:

Part 4: Tea lifestyle-5 cool ways to use your teapots-Home decor

Part 3 Tea lifestyle-5 cool ways to use your teapots-Candle holders/Lights

Part 2 Tea lifestyle-5 cool ways to use your teapots-Kitchen devices

Part 1: Tea lifestyle-5 cool ways to use your teapots-Glass vase for flower arrangement