Dead Chef Recipes: Raspberry Muffins

Greetings!

I've been on a lull at the moment with posting, reasons being that I haven't been sure what to post about, and also I've been busy with cooking and learning to sew! Despite numerous errors, the pair of practice bloomers is nearly complete! *Feels proud*

And also guys, big Bat Fit accomplishment: I JOINED THE GYM!

I got my assessment (First blood pressure check as well :D) and my first real workout was today, gah, quite tiring, haha. :)

Tomorrow I have my first yoga class, and double Zumba dance, that's two dance classes in a row....I am slightly apprehensive, but I'm sure I'll make it.

Also another thing that's kept me busy today (I was going to write this post this morning!) was that the Avengers gag reel/deleted scenes came out today, and the whole fanbase on tumblr is in an uproar.

Me, being a massive Avengers fangirl was caught up posting/squealing nearly all day. *Shifts* I just stopped long enough now to write this post! 

Any fellow Thor/Avenger fans here? xD

----

Anyhow. I'll stop rambling now and get on with the post. :D

A dear anonymous commenter came along and wrote that they would like a recipe for my 'Raspberry Muffins' I posted awhile back about. (Here)

Fortunately, I've improved in baking since then, and so I was able to adjust the recipe so the muffins got bigger and tasted better. (More cake like, I guess)

Here it is:

----

Ingredients: 1 and 1/2 cups plain flour, 3/4 cup sugar, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp baking soda, 1/8 tsp salt, 1 and 1/2 tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder, 1 large egg, 1/4 cup milk, 1/4 cup vegetable oil, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 3/4 cup frozen or fresh berries.

Note: With the berries, you can use raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, anything really! Another thing that worked for me was stewed apple. :) And if you don't add the cinnamon, then these would be fit for chocolate chips or melts, for choc-chip muffins!

----

What to do:

1: Sift the 3/4 cup sugar, baking powder, flour, soda and salt in a bowl. Then mix and set aside.

2: In another bowl, whisk milk, egg, oil, and lemon juice until smooth.

3: In a tiny bowl, mix the 1 and 1/2 sugar with the cinnamon.

4: Use a spatula and scrape milk mixture into the flour mix, stirring to form a stiff batter. Then stir in your berries, but do not over mix.

5: Use a greased table spoon to pour the batter into the tins to full extent. (Or halfway at least) Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on top of each muffin.

6: Turn on the oven to about 180 degrees Celsius. Then grease and flour muffin/cupcake tins.

7: Bake about 20 minutes, or until well risen and golden. Cool slightly, then remove on to wire racks.

Then preferably eat them while they're warm. :D

----

Notes: I used a cupcake tray here, and the first time I made these, I made 22, but they weren't well risen. To get them large enough, you have to fill the trays completely. In this respect, it may be wise to double the recipe to get more than 10. Or you can have them 'cookie' like, they still taste great!

And with the berries and over mixing, if you over mix the batter will turn green from the berry juice. However, this can prove useful for making zombie green muffins. xD

---

Hmm. Well that's it! Pretty simple, and very tasty!

But still, the title of this post is 'Dead Chef Recipes' as that's the name I thought up for my notebook/cookbook.

And yeah...It's cool, but as I was thinking of doing more recipe posts (With step by step pictures) I was thinking of a better name.

How about:

Coffin Cookery

Bat Baking

Mordor's Kitchen

Doomsday Delights

Or something like that. Cliched, I know, but I just love the sound of some of those. xD

Speaking of which, here is a photo of the actual paper recipe, from my notebook.

The left page is my scribblings, the right is the recipe, as well as one for choc-chip cookies. Yes, I see the silly red stains. I was in a 'make fake blood everywhere' stage at the time.

Also if you have any spooky/cliched titles for cooking posts, do submit! Your ones might be better than mine, haha.

And as for the next recipe post, should I post about a chocolate cake, choc-chip cookies, hot cocoa drink, or suchlike? (Yes, I'm in a chocolatey mood. I NEED CHOCOLATE ABOUT NOW.)

Anyways.

Farewell!

Ps: Also coming up is a art and craft post, where I'll show you how to make simple potion bottles/jars with spooky/Halloweenish themes.

See you soon, and if you have any requests, message me, and I'll do my very best to complete them!

Bat Fit Assignments #13 #14, and Eating Plan

Greetings!

I figured it was time for a post, not to mention I didn't want to have a massive 'Bat Fit pile post' where I shoved 4 or more posts together, instead I managed to catch it at two.

So here they are.

-----

Bat Fit Challenge #13 - Introduce Calisthenics. 

In the words of the challenge: 


"This challenge, if you choose to accept it, is to add calisthenics, also called body-weight exercises, to your work out. Within the past six months of Bat Fit I have heard many people say that they don't have time for the gym or that they won't do the dancing challenge because they can't dance or won't dance. Some proclaim that they just won't go outside to run or walk because of the sun or heat. Calisthenics is an easy and effective alternative to the gym, dancing or outside activities because these exercises are simple to do at home with little to no equipment."

----

For this challenge I tried to introduce sit-ups into my Bat Fit dance routine. First of all I do the usual, dance/do kickboxing for 20 minutes with fast music, then I change over to slower tracks, and I attempted to do 20 sit-ups.

At first I had to have a pillow underneath my head, and it was quite straining to have to get up like that, but after day 2 of trying it, it got easier and I don't wobble so much.

My goal is to extend this challenge in order to do 30 sit-ups, with no pillow for support. Yep, that's a fair ways off, but I really am determined to do it. 

----

Bat Fit Challenge #14 - Drink more Water

In the words of the challenge:

"During these "Dog Days of Summer" water consumption before, during and after physical activity is important to keep the body performing at it's peak. However, one must remember to drink enough water during the hot, humid summer days regardless of what kinds of activities you engage. According to About.com's Women's Health, 318 Americans die each year from heat-related illnesses that could have been prevented by proper hydration. Too many people will hydrate when they begin to feel the symptoms of heat exhaustion such as dry lips and tongue, weakness, dizziness, and extreme fatigue, concentrated urine that will appear darker than normal, and nausea. Drinking water at this point is too late, so it's important to remember to stay hydrated regardless of your activity level!"

------

For this challenge it was special for me, as this is a major hit zone. For me, I always forget to drink water, and that's got me into massive lots of trouble.

From chapped lips to kidney/back pains, I realised exactly how important this challenge is for me. When I get pains, I instantly drink as much as I can, but my mistake is not listening to my body (that means I need to pay attention to previous challenges..ehe) and drinking too late, or not at all.

Even though it's winter, I need to severely get my act together, so this challenge hit home hard. :)

My goals here are to drink 2 water bottles worth of water at least, instead of half a bottle per day, and to include more beverages such as juice. And also I need to stop thinking that caffeinated tea is an acceptable substitute for water....*shifts*

--------

Extras:

Considering this is a Bat Fit post, I figured I'd share the diet plan I've been on for the past week.

Basically, in the morning I have a bowl of toasted muesli, with just a small bit of Soy milk (I'm allergic to most dairy) and about 3/4 cup of orange juice.

An hour or so before lunch I have a small handful of salted peanuts (yeah, I still can't give up salt) with 2 or 3 dried apricots.

For lunch I have stir-fried brown rice with veggies, soy sauce marinated tofu, or canned chickpeas and corn.

For afternoon snack I have 2 rice cakes with cheese (Yes, I can handle a TINY amount of dairy)

For dinner I have the leftover food from lunch, or a tossed salad with hummus rice cakes or boiled veggies with fried rice/potatoes.

---

Overall, that's it! Occasionally I have a muesli bar for a snack instead, but that's fairly rare, haha.

I'm vegetarian, for the most part, and I do try to avoid dairy, using just small amounts, and I try to avoid bread/white pasta and other heavy foods, as I found that after I stopped eating 2 peanut butter toasts per day I actually lost 3 kilos.

As for special treats, I go insane if I don't eat yummies at least sometimes, so my form of sweet is a big cup of tea every morning, and a small bar of chocolate once a month (When I get my female troubles, I will kill if I don't get my chocolate :D)

And as for my freakish obsession with potato chips, I try to limit my intakes to one bag every 2 weeks....Okay so I still sneak some once a week....but it's getting to two weeks! I just need to keep pulling myself away.

If you wish to undertake a diet a little like this one, or if you have any diet tips that have helped you lose weight, do share! I would love some more ideas.

-----

To sum that up, it's absolute hell some times trying to not put my grabby hands over that bar of chocolate in the store, or having to refuse spaghetti (I do eat it, sometimes. Just not every week now. :() But I hate the shape I'm in, and I want results.

Besides, I need practice in self control.

-----

One more thing:  2 weeks ago I started Zumba dance classes for fitness. It's really helped my coordination, and it goes for an hour, and is very fast moving so I sense that the weight will be off in no time! I've gone twice now, and I seriously love it. I hope to do a post on it in the future...But until then,

Farewell!

Ps: 64 followers! Gracious, that is amazing! Thank you SO much everyone for following, you are THE BEST PEOPLE EVER!!