Updated Acai Bowl Recipe!

Good afternoon! Here's my updated Acai Bowl Recipe that is much easier and significantly more tasty than my previous one :)

Blend:
2 packs of frozen Acai from Costco
Half a banana (optional)

Toppings:
Peanut Butter
Granola
Shredded Coconut
Drizzled Honey

That's it. 

Enjoy!!
Audge

Avocado Toast (not-Overpriced)

Hi!

Hello!

So the other day I went to Manhattan Beach Bread & Bagel and had this AMAZING Avocado Toast, but it was almost $10??? A little pricey for toast  & avocado, but it was ridiculous how good (and healthy) it was. So here is my recipe for Avocado Toast which is equally delicious, very quick, & less expensive .:)

Step 1: Toast your bread or bagel. Usually I use this whole grain one with Chia seeds from Trader Joe's, but I'll use a bagel if I run out of the other. 

Step 2: Cut out half an avocado and roughly chop into little bits. Then, put the avocado onto you toast/bagel.

Step 3: Sprinkle on some "Rustic Tuscan Seasoning" from Costco. This is an absolute essential and I would 1000% invest in it. It's delicious. 

Step 4: Sprinkle on some salt & pepper. 

Step 5: Take a picture, post it onto your Snap story, and enjoy. 

That's literally it. And it's perfect. I think I've eaten it for breakfast every single day since last Monday. If you want to bless your soul/heart/stomach, try it. 

Pepper, Seasoning, and Salt.

Half eaten avocado BAGEL.

BAKE SALE for Vietnam Orphans!

Hi friends! Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but AP's were extremely hectic/stressful/overwhelming/insane so I needed to take a little break to recover.

Buuut a few weekends ago my NHS Committee had our second bake sale to raise funds for orphans in Vietnam, and we ended up raising almost $600! I went to the MB Pier with Aidan around 8AM and stayed there until 6PM, with the help with many many friends (thank you guys!). I also got a really fun sunburn that has evolved into a gorgeous tanline (hah). Anyway, for the bake sale, I made my usual White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies. My previous recipe from more than a year ago was really out of scale and a little weird, so here is my updated recipe. The cookies are actually amazing and very simple to make so I would 100% recommend you try it out!

Ingredients:
1 cup buter
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
9 ounces white chocolate chips
1 1/2 cup macadamia nuts, chopped

Directions: 
1. Preheat to 350 F
2. In one bowl, beat butter and both sugars with a mixer until well combined
3. Add vanilla and eggs to the bowl and beat until the mixture is creamy and light, and the mixer makes this whipping sound (2-3 minutes)
4. In a second bowl, stir in flour, salt, and soda. Add this mixture slowly into the first bowl, but don't over mix. Stop when a few streaks of flour remain.
5. Add into the bowl the white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts; mix until combined thoroughly.
6. Roll tablespoon size balls of dough on silpat or parchment, 1.5 inches apart.
7. Bake for 11 minutes and check. If not done, check in 2 minute intervals. DO NOT OVERBAKE, it's better if you take them out slightly underbaked so that the cookies will be chewy. Remember, they will continue to bake outside the oven!

GARLIC & CHIVES

Yesterday my family and I went to this Vietnamese restaurant called Garlic & Chives in Little Saigon (Orange County). The food was DELICIOUS and relatively cheap AND it was near this amazing boba place called Almond Hause. Here's some of the dishes that my family and I had!!

This is a special kind of rice called crispy rice, and they cook it in this metal pot thingy and the edges get kinda crunchy. The restaurant is called Garlic and Chives, hence the garlic (and onions) on top. I didn't think RICE could taste this good. 

Probably the BEST fried tofu I've ever eaten, and I've eaten A LOT (in Vietnam, San Gabriel, Alhambra, Gardena, literally every Asian place) and this tofu is literally so bomb. The golden exterior is not only crispy but also slightly crunchy, as the outside batter is not thin like most fried tofu. The salty, savory addition of garlic perfectly complements the tangy and slightly spicy sauce that comes with the dish.

Salmon on a cast iron pan. They literally serve this to you on a pan thingy! So everything stays hot and delicious. The salmon is slightly crispy on the exterior, but so soft and buttery on the inside. And the slightly sour sauce that comes with it is the perfect complement to the salmon. And this dish was $9!! And SO filling (couldn't even finish it!) 

Deep fried calamari, my friends. It's not completely coated with breadcrumbs and a flour exterior like most fried calamari. Instead, the exterior is thinly coated with salt, pepper, onions, and garlic. The accompanying grilled onions are incredible and go so well with the calamari. Like the rest of the dishes, the sauce is a MUST.

AND as if this place couldn't get any better, the actual restaurant is so aestehtically pleasing. They literally serve you water in mason jars! 

IF YOU'RE EVER IN OC, GO HERE. Find it in your heart and soul to deviate from the usual Pho and have a taste of authentic, not over-priced, Vietnamese food. 10/10. 

LEMON CUPCAKES!

Hello all; I am so so sorry I haven't really been posting (like at all) but Junior year is pretty rough. However, Ski Week has given me some free time, and so here's a recipe for a DELICIOUS lemon cupcake!! They're honestly my favorite kind to make because they're not too sweet, and they're made with FRESH (and real!) lemons :)

RECIPE:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup softened, unsalted butter (just let it sit at room temp)
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2-3 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups of flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons fresh lemon zest
6 tablespoons of lemon juice
------------------------------------
1/2 cup butter, softened at room temp
2-3 tablespoons of lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-3 cups of powdered sugar

Directions (plus some additional commentary):

1. Preheat the oven to 350F and line your muffin pan (I used a mini muffin pan because they're SO MUCH CUTER)
2. Beat butter and sugar on medium high speed with a handheld or stand mixer for 2-3 minutes, until creamed. 
3. Gradually add in eggs and vanilla, still on medium high speed for 2 minutes. At this point, everything should be well combined. 
4. In another bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add in portions of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, on LOW speed. 
5. Slowly add in the milk, lemon zest, and lemon juice on LOW speed until just barely combined. It's really important not to overmix!!
6. Use a spoon to scoop batter into different cupcake liners. These cupcakes don't rise that much, so you can fill them up almost to the top.
7. In the mean time, make the frosting! Combine all the ingredients in your mixer until everything is well combined, light and fluffy. If you want the frosting to be thicker, add more sugar. If you want it thinner, add more lemon juice or milk! Personally, I like mine really concentrated on the lemon flavor so I did 3 tablespoons of lemon juice. I actually used only 2 cups of powdered sugar because I don't like mine too sweet, but then it's not as thick. It still held its shape on top of the cupcake though:)
8. So, how long you leave them in completely depends on your oven. For me, it took a little more than half an hour. But you SHOULD start checking around 20 minutes, and then in gradual 3 minute increments to ensure the most perfect cupcake. It's ready when: 1) if you lightly press on the top, the cupcake should "spring" or "bounce" back, and 2) upon inserting a toothpick, it should come out almost PERFECTLY clean. A few crumbs are okay, but if it looks wet then it is a no go! 
9. Once you've determined that they're done, take them out. Let them sit in the pan for a few minutes, and then take them out so they can cool.
10. You can frost ONLY WHEN THE CUPCAKES HAVE COOLED. Otherwise, the frosting will melt everywhere and it won't be fun or pretty :(. To pipe, I used a piping bag and a star tip, but you can use a Ziploc bag, or just a knife to spread it on top.
11. And to decorate, I sprinkled some remaining zest on top :) ENJOY! 

Audge

M&M's + Medicine

Hey there :) So today I sorted little bags of M&M's for the kids, packaged the medicine and soap that I got from Costco, and started to pack everything because we leave in 8 DAYS!

I mixed together 2 bags of regular M&M's, and 1 bag of Peanut M&M's. I took the candy from the mixture with a 1/3 cup scoop and placed the M&M's in 67 Ziplock Bags. Here are some pictures!

People have told me that the kids there really, really like American candy, particularly M&M's...and they weren't too expensive so I went for it:) They do, on the other hand, actually need medication such as Tylenol and Motrin. So I made sure to get those too! The medication and soap won't be put in the individual "kits" that I'm making, but they'll be given to the orphanage to share among the kids.

8 Days!!!!

Audge

Bucca di Beppo {Review?}

Hey there! So a few days ago I went to Bucca di Beppo with my fam to celebrate my AP Scores...and the fact that I am completely, 100% DONE with them (until August 26). Here are a few pics of the dishes we got and what I thought of them (I'm telling myself this post is relevant because it's just for future reference and such)

First Dish: Margherita Pizza ($15)

9/10!! Very tasty. The mozzarella cheese was super fresh and went really well with the creamy tomato sauce and just the right amount of basil. The crust was perfectly thin and slightly crunchy. The only thing I would change would be the tomato sauce--it was a little bit too much. I think that if they had put a little less, it would have been the perfect tomato sauce to cheese ratio.

Obviously, my dad was enjoying himself :)

Aaron looks depressed, but after eating his slice he wouldn't stop raving about it.

Next: Linguine Frutti di Mare ($26)

I would give it an 8/10. I actually didn't have a lot of this because my parents seemed to enjoy it a lot more...the sauce was really good, the linguinie was baked to perfection, but it was just a little too spicy for me! Also, it might be that I don't really like seafood that much. I actually hate shrimp. But I have to say the squid was incredible!

Aidan is 100% ready to eat his clams, squid, octopus, and shrimp. 100%.

Third Dish: Chicken Cannelloni ($20)

9/10! IT WAS SO GOOD. Spinach pasta tubes with ricotta and mozzarella stuffed inside, drenched in their rosa sauce. The only thing--the ricotta was a little bit too much. If they lowered the amount just a tad, I would give it a 10/10. But everything else about it was absolutely delicious.

Dessert: Colossal Brownie Sundae ($13)

10/10! Brownie cubes on the bottom, vanilla and chocolate ice cream, whipped cream, sprinkles, caramel and chocolate sauce, and a cherry on top. It was ridiculous. My stomach remained quite large the next day at a tournament, and I only slightly regretted it.

Yum :)

This kid is more moody than me and my mom combined :/

Loved the ambiance! Pretty lights.

Ivy :)

This place was amazing and I'm getting way too hungry looking at all the pictures. The food was spectacular, buuut the service was a little bit slow. Other than that, this place was the bomb.com!

Audge

Savory Crepes! (Blog Post #5)

Quick recipe for some amazingggg crepes filled with parmesan cheese, kale, ham, roast beef and onions, and topped with sprinkled cheese and sliced avocado.

Actual Crepe:

2 tablespoons butter, melted but you gotta make sure it's cooled down, otherwise it'll cook the egg in your batter

1 cup flour

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/2-1 cup water (depending on how thick you want it...I usually do 3/4 cup water)

a pinch of salt

some pinches of sugar (or more, depending on how sweet you want it. I usually do 2 pinches)

Mix all the wet stuff first (butter, eggs, milk, water), then add the dry stuff (flour, salt, sugar) and mix it until it's smooth. Put it in the fridge until you're done with the filling.

Filling: {you can literally do whatever filling you want, this is just one that my mom and I put together one night when we were super hungry}

chopped spinach

chopped red onions

chopped deli meat (roast beef, ham, etc)

chopped cheese (we used string cheese)

In a pan, put some olive oil in, and then add in the onions. Cook this until it starts to brown, then add the meat. Stir a little, and then add the spinach. Finally, add in the chopped cheese and stir until it melts. It looks gross but I promise it's super tasty!

Putting It All Together:

Using a large spoon, place the batter in a separate pan or a specially made crepe pan. Quickly move the pan in the air so that the batter fills up the whole pan without any holes.

WAIT! until it browns and gets crispy on the edges, and then flip it over. 

This is when you quickly add some of the filling you made into the center of the crepe. Then you wait until the other side starts to brown (peek at the edges using a spatula). 

When you see that it's done on both sides, fold the crepe around the filling. Slide the finished crepe onto a clean plate. To top it off, add some shredded cheese and sliced avocado. 

IT'S REALLY GOOD! And fun to make with friends or family :)