HELLO JUNE + HOMESICK

"The trouble is, you think you have time." - Buddha 

DAY 12 OF MY LITTLE ADVENTURES: WELCOMING JUNE + FEELING A LITTLE HOMESICK


OK. Before I start, please tell me I'm not the only one who sometimes wish that time would just stop for 5 minutes and give me a break.

I honestly cannot believe it's already June. It feels like just yesterday I talked about how I can't believe it's May. In that post, I told myself that I should always ask myself these questions at the end of every month:

1) What have you done in May (or whichever month) that you're proud of?
2) What have you done in May (or whichever month) that you're happy and grateful for? 

Last month, I was struggling with these 2 questions (you can revisit the post here).

But today, as I'm writing up this post right now, I can name so many things that I've done last month and things that I'm proud of. I'm especially proud of myself for having the strength to continue on writing about my life and events surrounding my life everyday. I think it's safe to say I've spent my time wisely :)

So for once, I'm going to say "Hello June, I can't wait to see what you have to offer and what I can take from you." instead of "OMG! It's June. What am I doing with my life?!". Because this time, I know what I'm doing.

I'm living.

And I hope all of you are to :)

I've just been having loads of "me" time these 2 days. Which means meditating more and relaxing more. This is mainly because the weather has been absolute crap but also because I've been a little ill and homesick.

Most of you know that I'm going back to my country in 2 weeks time. To be honest, I am missing my home - A LOT! Yes, it took me almost 3 years to feel homesick :P Most people feel homesick the first few weeks away from home, but not me. Nah-uh. 3 years! I don't really know what that says about me (lol)!

I miss my family, friends, food (the 3 important "F"s in life haha) but most of all, I miss my dogs. I miss being able to drive.

Oh just one of my dogs. She's soooo cute!!! I mean, just look at her!

I haven't even started packing yet because everything is just happening too fast! Sometimes, I fear that the next minute I open my eyes and look in the mirror, I would see a 70-year-old me with white hair and wrinkled skin. Time is just flying by quicker and quicker each day. It's like being on a Corkscrew roller coaster instead of a Ferris Wheel.

In all honesty though, I am excited to finally go home. And I'm also excited for my little trip before actually going back to my hometown.


THINGS TO CROSS OFF MY SUMMER BUCKET LIST: MEDITATE 



P/S: By "me" time, I also mean me having cake. Haha! Since the weather has been bad almost everyday, I've been at home eating this Red Velvet Cake my boyfriend got for me on Saturday.

Sorry summer bod! Haha! Never had one anyway XD 





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Restaurant of the Month: San Marino Restaurant

Good morning my lovely foodies out there

It feels like forever since I last written a post about food but that's not really true. I've just been writing about my life so much that it feels like I haven't posted my "Restaurant of the Month" post. Don't worry - I never forget. After all, I am a true foodie at heart :D

I've got a wonderful place to share with all of you today. I've been here a couple of times on dates and this place is just so amazing. Might look like your average restaurant from the outside but once you step in, "OH MY GOOD GOD" will be the only thing you can say :D

So, my favourite restaurant in May is............










............ San Marino

Italian food.

I just love 'em!

First of all, the atmosphere in this restaurant is just uh-may-zing! It's modern and classic, the staffs are so nice, and the menu is just incredible. It's located in Sunderland and just near to where I live, so it's the perfect location for me :)

At the beginning, they'll give you some bread to nibble on, which is a BONUS! And I'm talking high quality bread.

I'm not really an expert when it comes to describing Italian food but I do love a good Italian meal. So, I'm just going to let the pictures do the talking for me instead :D

Honestly, best garlic bread I've ever tasted so far. And I'm not even a huge fan of garlic breads but this just completely changed my mind about them. But I do only order garlic bread in this restaurant :P 

Love myself a good pizza :)

Top: Seafood Lasagna (to die for!)

Middle: Risotto with bacon (yums!)

Bottom: Seafood Tagliatelle (OMG YES!)

This was just SOOOOO GOOOOOOOD!

I love this place so so much and I wish they could expand. The restaurant is always packed - probably because of the amazing food. So make sure you book before you come here :) 

X

Restaurant of the Month: Coffea Caban

Good morning all you lovely foodies out there :) 

As you all know, it's time for me to name my favourite place to eat in the month of April. This month (well, April), I've been to probably 5-6 places in total but I came back to this particular place TWICE. 

So, yes.......it is THAT good! 

My pick for April is........... 

............ COFFEA CABAN 

First of all, let me just show you how amazing the Hot Chocolate looks! 

 

Hold it! Here's a close up :P

   

I mean, is that not just perfection? 

I was in heaven for a second when I took a sip. As most of you will know, I'm a huge hot chocolate lover so I'm very critical about this. The Deluxe Hot Chocolate is a MUST in this little "restaurant". I guess this is sort of like a restaurant because it serves pretty much everything - from pastas and burgers to rice and chicken curry. 

Now, on to the pictures :) I know it might look like nothing special but trust me, this place is definitely worth the try!

 

Standard Full English Breakfast (oh yums!)

 

Really fresh and I love how they have curly fries too :P 

Now, on to the real deal. *WARNING: Pictures below might cause hunger and crave*

 

So please don't ask me why I don't have a bikini bod yet! HAHA! These were so so good. I especially liked the oreo cheesecake and raspberry cheesecake. The banoffee tart and caramel cake were amazing too!

   

 Oh just me enjoying my hot chocolate if you couldn't tell. 

And this is why Coffea Caban made it to my "restaurant of the month". The environment itself is just so cozy (sorry for not taking pictures of the surroundings. I was just too into the food). I can't believe this is located right behind my work place. Amazing! Worth a try or two :P

Thanks for reading my lovelies X

Blueberry and Passionfruit Cheesecake Recipe

Hello my lovely foodies


Sorry for the tiny hiatus again. But I'm here now :)


I have a really interesting and "fruity" cheesecake recipe to share with all of you today. I actually think this is the healthiest cheesecake I've ever made in my life. Haha!

I was really craving for some blueberries the other day because I read an article on how they benefit the skin and how healthy it is to have blueberries in your diet. But I didn't just want to have the fruit itself.

Blueberries can go with almost everything.

• You can have it by itself
• Blueberries with yogurt
• Blueberry muffins
• Blueberry pancakes

You see where I'm going with this. 

My mind was already set on cake but I didn't want it to be just a blueberry cake. So, I looked for any recipes I could find with blueberries and other fruits combined in a cake. There were some options like strawberries and raspberries. But nothing really caught my eye. I then thought of Passionfruit and looked for any recipes I could find on that. 

So here are some bits and pieces of recipes I took here and there to make this delicious "healthy" blueberry and passionfruit cheesecake :) 

INGREDIENTS:

Trusty little helpers 

BLUEBERRY COMPOTE:

• 100g blueberries 
• 1/2 tbs lemon juice
• 4 tsp icing sugar

Simmer these ingredients in a pan under a low heat until everything is combined and you get a thick syrupy sauce. Set aside to cool completely.

CHEESECAKE:

• 200g shortbread biscuits
• 40g melted butter
• 405g condensed milk
• 410g (2x205g) tubs mascarpone cheese
• 3 tbs lemon juice
• 5 passionfruit (to decorate) 

1) Line baking tin with tin foil or baking paper. 

2) Combine biscuits and butter together and press it onto the baking tin as the cake base. Chill for 10 mins as you are preparing other ingredients.

3) Add condensed milk, cheese and lemon juice in a large bowl and mix until everything is combined. 

4) Pour 1/2 the cream mixture onto biscuit base. Make a well in the centre, spreading out to seal the edges of the cake tin.

5) Pour the blueberry compote in the centre and pour remaining cream mixture on top to cover the blueberry. Chill for 4-5 hours.

6) Cut 5 passionfruits to decorate the top of the cake. 

Voila! 

Let me know what you think about this cake once you've tried it. I would love to see some pictures of it. 

Enjoy!

X

No-Bake Chocolate Cheesecake

I've seen so many no-bake chocolate cheesecake recipes on-line and on baking magazines. So I decided to take a couple of ideas here and there and modify the ingredients and make my very own no-bake chocolate cheesecake recipe :)

Well, I won't really call it my recipe anyway.


As you all know, when it comes to cakes and desserts, I'm always adding less sugar than expected and trying to find a healthier substitute because I'm "healthy" like that. Oh who am I kidding! Healthy cakes? HAHAHHAA!


Anyway, I tried this out on Sunday and only got to taste it last night (Monday night) because I had to chill it overnight. It tasted amazing! (I mean, I am of course going to say that :P)


Enough talking. Here are the pictures and recipes :) Whooop whoooop....

INGREDIENTS

BASE:

• 250g digestive biscuits, crushed
• 2 tsp cocoa powder
• 150g butter, melted

Basically, combine these 3 ingredients well and press it into whatever cake tin you want to use (I used a round cake tin). Then let it chill in the fridge while you're preparing the filling. 

FILLING:

• 1 tbs gelatin
• 1/2 cup hot water
• 250g cream cheese
• 3/4 cup castor sugar
• 2 tbs lemon juice
• 300ml double cream
• 175g dark chocolate

1. Combine gelatin and hot water and set aside. Warning: this might smell terrible to some people so put it as far as possible.
2. Combine cream cheese and castor sugar until smooth and then add lemon juice.
3. Whip the double cream until soft peaks form. Add this cream to the cream cheese mixture. 

4. Microwave the dark chocolate until melted and whisk into cream cheese mixture.

5. Pour onto base and chill overnight (I thought it can be chilled for 2 hours but the mixture was still runny so I decided to chill it overnight to be sure).

DECORATION:

• 200g dark chocolate
• 3 tbs milk
• Walnuts (or any other nuts you like)
• Kinder Bueno (or any other chocolate snacks you like)

Basically, just melt dark chocolate and milk in microwave and pour it onto the filling. Decorate with walnuts and chocolates. Set aside at room temperature for about 20 minutes or chill it for 10 minutes (totally up to you). 

Voila!  

Enjoy

X