Exercise benefits your life - my experience to share (real case)!

During the past few weeks, I was struggling if I should write this post or not, because I don't want people think that I want to show off, but what conquers me is that I want YOU to benefit my life lesson.

About me:
I am not at all a sportive person (those who know me they know I do NO sport). I don't like sports class, I don't enjoy it because it is too hard for me, I thought I couldn't do it. Sports exams (these sit up, push up...) are painful memories...

How I start exercising:
One day my friend Cathy asked me to run together, I found that I could run! (It was the 1st run in my life outside PE class at school). I couldn't believe I did it But I DID! So I asked her to run with me several times haha! I want to keep healthy because I'm getting 30's!

Then I found a star using Jilian Michaels' workout (it is circuit training), I searched on youtube and found it, so I start working on it since then (you can click on the link).
I like doing workout at home because I can do whenever I want (whether sunny day or rainy day), and I don't want to be tanned...

How much exercise I do each week:
You may wonder how much exercise I do each week to keep fit.
I used this same workout for 3 days per week, because between 2 workouts I rest 1 day. ie I did this workout on every Monday/Wednesday/Friday.

I know it is hard sometimes you have things to do, or sometimes you just feel tired, lazy... but each time I prioritize my workout.
Whenever you struggle to do exercise, just ask yourself: Why can you spare 45mins with your friends/TV/shopping, but you can't spare 45mins for the workout? What do you want from doing these workout?
During this period you need to stay strong, it is a long-term battle!

Note: for girls - during period, if you don't feel capable to do the workout, you can either do ligher exercise or just stop it. Do not bring yourself to danger!

Results:
Since 6 months, people around saw my physical changes, I was getting fitter.

This is the photo that I took last week = June 2014 (I start doing exercise since July 2013)

Yet what I found after doing exercise, apart from having better body shape, my life benefits also -
I can stay focus and I can be more discipline on my daily work, bible study, managing my time, practising violin etc. I rarely find excuses in order not to do anything, I kick away my laziness (Satan rarely wins hehe).

I want to bring out a few benefits through exercise -

1. nothing is impossible if you work on it (of course God helps me a lot during this period), how much you paid = how much you gain (it works with healthy meal)

2. healthy physically can also be mentally & spiritually

3. discipline yourself through exercise can help you to discipline & improve in other aspects (work, relationships, spiritual life)

4. when you fix a target/goal, you will stay focus/firm to achieve it 

4. For girls who has tummy pain during her period, regular exercise can help to reduce/remove the pain (I said byebye to pain!).

5. For Christians, you will thank God who give you a healthy body and strength to finish the exercise each time. He will help you to overcome the temptations of Satan in your everyday life.

My workouts NOW:
I don't stick to one workout anymore, instead I work on several workouts and I run. (I will share these workouts with you next time)
Now I ENJOY doing exercise, it becomes my part of my life.

PS. Important to read:
1. Exercise is not the ONLY factor to keep you fit, it has to work with what you eat & your life style (e.g. sleep early)
2. "age" can't be neglected, the older you are, the slower the metabolism. => for example, a 70years old lady can't expect to have the same effect as a 20years old girl
3. What you should bear in mind is that the reason to do exercise is have a healthy body, not only a "thin" body

Please feel free to ask me any question. :) I'll be happy to share what I know.

I hope after reading this post, you feel encouraged and from now on, exercise yourself - physically, mentally and spiritually!

Firm cake for decoration - butter cake

I need to make a cake for my pastor's last day, so I searched on google for a recipe - it is a firm cake. I want it because of the decoration, it helps to ice the cake and it did :)

When I cut it, it is really firm, unlike sponge cake, very dense. I was afraid that people won't like the texture, but I got very positive feedbacks, I'm happy :)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups butter, room temperature
• 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 5 eggs
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 tsp No Color Almond Extract
• 3 cups flour
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup milk

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 180°C. In a mixing bowl, mix butter and sugar until fluffy. Add in eggs, one by one. Then add in vanilla & almond extract.
Note: If you don't have almond extract at home, just use vanilla.

2. In another bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt. Then mix into the egg mixture with milk alternatively => Flour mixture, milk, flour mixture, milk...

3. Pour the mixture to the pan/mold and bake for 40mins or until golden color.


Enjoy!

Scrambled eggs - Now you know how to cook this perfect silky texture!

Everybody can cook egg! Boiled egg, fried egg, scrambled egg...

I know cooking egg is too ordinary, too easy to cook, but have you wonder why in the restaurant you can taste silky scrambled egg, not at home?

You may wonder "what technic we need when we cook egg? do we really have any technic?" YES! There are some small yet crucial technics you might miss in the past. But today, thanks to my friend I am now able to cook it!

This time I just put a video of Gordon Ramsay, he teaches you how to cook this perfect scrambled eggs.

Ingredients:
Butter
3 Eggs (eggs... of course haha)
1/2tbsp Cream fraîche
Salt & pepper

Enjoy!

Lemon poppy seed shortbread (cookies)

As you see in my blog, I usually bake cakes, I don't make cookies often. The main reason is that the quantity of the butter always scares me.

I bought so many cookies cutters last year and they are sadly in the drawer in the kitchen T.T no chance to use them.

OK I need to use them!

I just simply find a recipe in my kitchen aid cookbook - lemon poppy seed shortbread.

In this recipe, there is cornflour, if you don't have cornflour at home, you can use all-purpose flour because the reason to use cornflour here is to create crispy texture.

Ingredients(for quantity of 24-30):

225g softened butter

grated zest of 2 lemons

115g sugar

1tsp poppy seeds (can be fennel seeds)

225g flour

115g cornflour

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 170°c. Place the butter and lemon zest in the mixing bowl. Blitz sugar and fennel seeds in a coffee mill*. Then, add to the mixing bowl & beat with flat beater until the mixture is pale and fluffy

*Note: If you don't have coffee mill at home, omit this step. I didn't do that, the shortbread doesn't make much difference.

2. Add in flour & cornflour until obtaining a smooth dough. Turn out and form a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 1hour or until the dough is firm enough to roll out

3. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface and stamp out shapes with a cookie cutter. Place them on a baking sheet lined tray

4. Bake for 15mins until the shortbread is light golden colour. Cool it down on a wire rack.

Be careful - do not touch it when it is taken from the oven and when it's still hot. The shortbread is fragile & it is easily broken into pieces!

Tips: I made it thin enough to look like cookies :p If you like it as shortbread, then do not roll it out too hard :)

Variation: You can also replace the lemon zest and fennel/poppy seeds with 50g chopped stem ginger.

Enjoy!

How to make a perfect pie crust?

Some friends ask me why their pie crust is not successful. There are few factors and technics that you need to remember when you make it.

Q: Why finger tips to blend the butter into the flour?
A: Because finger tips are cold, which can keep the butter being not melted so quickly into the flour, so that you can blend evenly the butter into the flour.

Q: Quantity of water is important?
A: Yes indeed! Imagine the dough is too wet, you can't roll it out since it sticks on the working surface! The humidity of the environment affects the dryness of the dough, you can't strictly follow the quantity indicated in the recipe. That is why usually in the recipe they ask you to add the water little by little, NOT ALL AT ONCE!

Q: Why the crust is tough?
A: Mix the ingredients quickly, do NOT overknead the dough, do NOT roll the dough too much. That is why when you rework the trimmed dough off the pie pan, the crust becomes tough.
OR, when your dough is too wet, at this moment, you may want to add more flour to make it "dry", but that can make the crust becomes tough since the ratio is changed!

Q: Why the dough crazily stick on the working surface when rolling out?
A: Dough temperature is not right - too warm & soft.  In this case, you will need to add a lot of flour on the working surface and on the rolling pin, it can affect the texture of the crust when you bake it.
Solution - put the dough in the fridge for 1hour or more to relax the dough. You still need to slightly flour the working surface and the rolling pin.

Q: Why the dough shrinks when rolling out?
A: Because the dough is kneaded too much, specially you find this problem after you collect & combine/fold the leftover dough to make the 2nd batch... So try to just combine all the ingredients in the mixing bowl, when the dough starts to form & starts becoming non-sticky, place the dough on the working surface and roll it out immediately. It is especially the case when you use KitchenAid or other machines to form a dough. You will need patience to observe it.

Q: How to ensure the thickness of the dough is even?
A: When you roll out the dough, start towards 12 o'clock, when you roll out towards the edge, ease your force so that the edge won't become too thin. Then, pick the rolling pin up back to the center and roll it towards 6 o'clock. Repeat the same steps for 3 & 9 o'clock, 1 & 7, 2 & 8 o'clock etc. 
Also, turning the dough when you roll it out helps to even the thickness.

Q: Why the dough still stick on the working surface even though it is slightly floured?
A: When you roll out the dough, you need to check regularly if the dough stick on the working surface, use a knife and put it underneath. If the dough becomes sticky, add some flour underneath; yet brush away the excess flour.

Q: What can we do to prevent the dough shrink while baking?
A: When the dough is cooled in the fridge, it becomes relax. When you roll it out, you can easily flatten it without shrinking back. However, when you put the cooled relax dough immediately in the oven, the hot environment makes the dough shrinks because of the big temperature difference... 
My suggestion is either: 
1. Let the dough slowly back to room temperature. After you place the dough in the mould, let it sit for like 30mins or 1 hour. When the dough becomes warmer, you can preheat the oven
OR
2. If the dough is not soft & sticky (probably during winter), you can skip the fridge step, just roll it out and place on the mould. When it's ready, bake in the oven

Q: Why the crust appears a lot of bubbles after baking?
A: Because there is no air pass through the dough when the heat is rising in the oven. What you can do it to making some some holes by using a fork. Pinch the dough regularly so the small holes are spread evenly over the dough.

OK... now you should be an expert of pie crust ;)

If you have any other questions. Please leave me a message, I will try to answer you :)

Super easy pie crust - recipe

I have posted the shortcrust pastry recipe from the kitchen aid cook book last time, this time I would like to post a super easy recipe to make pie crust.

As I said last time that the main ingredients of making a pie crust are butter, water, flour, salt. YES!! You just need these 4 ingredients, then you can bake delicious crust and you can save a lot of time!

Ingredients:
1 1/4cup flour
1/4tsp salt
1/2cup butter (cold & diced)
1/4cup cold water

Instructions:
1. In a big mixing bowl, mix the flour and salt together

2. Add in diced butter, use your finger tips to squeeze the butter so that it can be easily blended into the flour

3. Add in cold water little by little, you may not need all the quantity of water or you might need a bit more water than indicated. It depends on the humidity of the environment

Enjoy!

Delicious shortcrust pastry - recipe

There are quite many people ask me how to make pie crust. They said they can't make it, usually they said it is too wet or they look terrible after baking it...

Actually there are 3 different types of pie crust in French cuisine - pâte brisée (shortcrust pastry), pâte sablée (sweet shortcrust pastry) & pâte feuilletée (puff pastry).

There are quite many different recipes to make these pastry. However, the basic ingredients are butter, water, flour, salt.

OK, so now I would like to share the recipe that I followed in kitchenaid cookbook, it is about 300g.

Ingredients
200g flour
1/4tsp salt
2tbsp icing sugar (for Sweet shortcrust pastry)
100g cold butter
1 beaten egg
1tsp lemon juice
1-2tbsp iced water

Instructions
1. Place the flour, salt and icing sugar (if using) in the mixing bowl

2. Dice the butter and add to the bowl. Mix until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs

3. Add egg, lemon juice and iced water. Knead until a smooth dough is formed

4. Knead on a lightly floured working surface. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30mins
Note: I keep the dough in the fridge for about 1h

Enjoy!