Chocolate almond and pear muffins

I am a regular reader of thestonesoup.com, i love how she provides healthy, quick and low fuss recipes, and this is one that i followed from her blog and these muffins turned out delicious! I added canned pears into them but you could also use canned cherries, peaches, whatever you like really :D

I love how she shows us how to use baking paper as muffins cases (so simple, and you can save some money, and also for when you have run out of paper casings!)

original recipe can be found here.

makes 6

200g butter

200g dark chocolate

200g sugar

4 eggs

200g almond meal

1. Preheat oven to 180c, Grease and line 6 holes of a muffin tray with squares of baking paper

2. melt butterin medium saucepan. Remove from heat and add chocolate smashed into chunks. STand for a few minutes.

3. stir until the chocolate is melted, popping back onto the heat for a few seconds if your chocolate isnt melting easily (i find tha tthe smaller you chop up your chocolate, the easier this step is)

4. add sugar and eggs and stir, then add almond meal and stir to mix.

5. spoon into prepared muffin holes

6. bake for 20-25 minutes or until the muffins are cracked on the top and feel firm, but the middle is still squidgy like a good brownie. Cool in the tin (i found mine took more like 30-35 minutes, so check it at 20 minutes and then every 5 minutes)

My favourite eats at the moment

You might have noticed that i am not blogging about restaurants as much as i used to, i like to bake and try out recipes that i find out on the internet, and its much more fun when you are in the kitchen as well!

So i've decided to do a little post on the places i've been going to this year, that stand out for me and i am always coming back to :)

Bar Italia

169/171 Norton St

Leichhardt nsw 2040

ph:02 9560 9981

berry yogurt, pistachio

$3.50 per cup

The icecream here - is so delicious! Big bear has taken me here twice in one week, and we have tried toblerone, bounty, berry yogurt, pannacotta, and pistachio flavours, at $3.50 for a cup (or a scoop on cone) i found this a bargain price for the amount that you get!! My favourite by far is the pistachio flavour followed closely by the bounty. The pistachio icecream has so much soft chunks of pistachio, and the same deal goes for the bounty - REAL chunks of fresh coconut its really yum :)

Fanman Catering

57/3 Canberra St

St Johns Park nsw 2640

cheesey chips $5.50 (medium sized)

Grilled fish with creamy prawn sauce

with chips & salad $12

This take-away shop opened some time late last year - i used to come here before that and had seen it go through 2 owner changes.

The first time around, they used to have these awesome fat potato chips they would cook to order, lots of chicken salt, and wrap it up in a large piece of white paper. I found it so much fun to just rip into that paper parcel and savour each and every single chip in it!

The second time around i came for the same thing ^_^ they made yummy shoe string fries and were so generous with the chicken salt it was awesome! Although they wer served in cardboard take away boxes, it was still delicious and i'd always stop here for a feed on my bike riding days :)

& now, oh boy :) YUM! Its my fave local cheap eat joint AND they also make awesome hot chips! (as pictures above) they do standard hot chips but they also do cheesey hot chips which is just ridiculously good. There is bacon sprinkled on top but Bigbear will eat all that for me :) And you will find melted stringy cheese even through the middle of it all, its so damn good!

They have a bistro style menu with so many items ranging from grilled or fried fish, steaks, pork and beef ribs, lamb chops, to pasta, tacos, smoked salmon salads, there is so much to choose from and the most you'll pay is $16! It's a totally very major cheap eat, i totally recommend dropping past if you are ever out this way. Big bear and I have gotten a few of our friends hooked already, the word is spreading ;)

Fat Panda

233C Canley Vale Rd

Canley Heights nsw 2166

eel and cream cheese handrolls

Ever since a friend told me about these eel and cream cheese hand rolls, i cannot leave without having atleast one (sometimes two!) The combination of the rich creamcheese and the smooth eel is mind blowing, you have to try it - i promise you won't be disappointed :)

Other then that, this is my favourite Japanese restaurant out west, they also have a sushi train running if you just want a quick bite :D

Ben & Jerry's

27 S Steyne

Manly NSW 2095

Another favourite icecream place of mine i have been to a few times this year already is Ben & Jerry's! They have really creamy icecream, some interesting flavours, lots of options for cones, and they also do shakes, coffee, brownies etc, it's a really great one stop dessert shop! The line can get quite long at times, but i'm tellin ya, it's worth the wait :)

My favourites so far would have to be the chocolate fudge brownie (with generous brownie chunks in it) & peanut butter cookie dough yummo!

Liana's

306 Church St

(corner Phillip st)

Parramatta nsw 2150

If i crave pasta, i come here :) Their serving sizes are generous, the sauces are very creamy and seasoned nicely, and they have a lot of options to choose from, pasta, pizza, desserts and sides and they also do steak and risotto etc but i have yet to explore the other options yet!

DO NOT go across the road to Criniti's, even though there is always a line out the front of Criniti's, the food is NOT that great (i had a pizza and pasta last weekend and was very disappointed) and i found that they are quite expensive as well..

I hope you have enjoyed reading about my favourite places to eat! If you like, leave a comment telling me about YOUR favourite places, and who knows i might go and check them out in the future :)

Betty's Bites 200th Post!

I only noticed the other day, that my next post will be #200 - WOW! I've come a long way :)

I wanted to bake something extravagant for this! Something that stands out, something I've never made before, but i also wanted to keep it simple, as that's how i like my life to be, a simple life.

The most important things in my life (in no particular order) are:

family

Bigbear

friends

staying healthy

daily exercise

delicious food

my blogs

having 'me' time

having fun everyday!

I would like to say my life is balanced, i try my best to keep things balanced in every aspect of my life, but life doesn't always go to plan. Some times at the end of a working week i feel so tired and run down, i just want to relax all weekend- but i usually have something on, something to do, people to see, things to do, it does get abit overwhelming at times.. but that is life, you take what life throws at you, and you do whatever you can with it, and you move forward :)

I love all of my readers followers & commentators of this blog, i'm so glad that you guys come to read my posts, it means a lot to me, i love getting comments so keep them coming!

This was a breakfast i made for Big bear & Ann over a weekend not long ago. I love cooking & baking for my family & friends (the other night i baked some delicious cheesecake brownies for my friends i was going to play tennis with, so evil haha well we all burnt off the cheesecake calories im sure!)

Grilled mushrooms with pesto and crumbled fetta on top

- place a small piece of butter in the centre of the mushroom and grill for 15-20 mins until cooked and juicy (spill out any extra melted butter if you like)

- top with a spoon of pesto, sprinkle fetta on top

Watermelon salad

- chop up watermelon (as much as you like)

- chop up tomato, cucumber, avocado, kiwi (and any other vegie/fruit you want)

- add some corn (frozen or tin)

- squeeze half a lemon, sprinkle of salt, and stir through to mix everything up

- top with sprinkle of almonds

Serve with an egg (or two) however you like your egg done :D