Chocolate Chip Brownies with Coconut Shavings

 I baked a pan of brownies yesterday.  My husband has been craving for it for days but my gluten-free goodies have just arrived the other day.  So here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 pack Glutino gluten free pantry double chocolate brownie mix
• 2 eggs  
• 5 tbsp melted butter
• 1 cup sweetened coconut shavings, divided into 3/4 for the  mixture and 1/4 cup for the toppings

 Preparation:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray 8x8 inch pan with vegetable oil. I use this pan  so the brownie will be thin.
• In a large bowl, beat eggs for 3-2 minutes.  Gradually add dry mix.  Beat to moisten.
• Add butter and stir until combined.
• Fold the 3/4 cup coconut shavings and lightly mix.
• Pour in prepared pan and sprinkle the  remaining 1/4 cup of coconut shaving on top of the mixture.
• Then bake for 25 minutes.  
• Put the  baked brownies in the freezer for 5-8 minutes  for easy cutting.

When my kids arrived from school, they immediately  smelled the goodness of the brownies upon entering the door and immediately went in the kitchen.  Our daughter grabbed one slice right away to satisfy her sweet  cravings.  I seldom bake  sweets so it is always a treat for them when I do once in a while.

This month's Glutino box includes lemon-flavored wafer bites, pretzel with sesame seeds, decadent chocolate cake mix, old fashioned yellow cake mix, corn bread mix. and two flavored frosted toaster pastry.   My daughter is  planning to bake  one of the cake mixes this weekend.  So far, the lemon wafers  is gone and the  sesame pretzel rings is  by far my favorite snack when blogging.    A friend of mine  told me that  gluten-free  products are somewhat yucky.  I told her that  it depends on the brand that she  would buy.  I recommended  Glutino  to her since her son is gluten intolerant.

Disclosure: The owner of this blog was NOT financially compensated to write this review. I was provided with the product/s mentioned to help me facilitate this review but opinions are my own.

Food and Music

As I  ate one of these lemon bites, I am also  looking at the red witch online.  Our son mentioned    couple of times how he really want to have a  new guitar.  Since I can't buy him a new one yet, I am thinking of  bringing the  guitar that we bought   few weeks ago to a music store here in the area so we could  buy the strings that it needs.  Anyhow,  ood and music  are quite alike.  It is addicting and fulfilling.  Music is a big part of my life, it inspires me and it uplifts my mood.  How about you, do you like muysic?

Chicken-Filled Italian Bread

I saw a video on Facebook where an Italian loaf of bread was stuffed with taco filling and baked it.  I wasn't craving for some taco that day so I thought of replacing the  filling with  chicken cooked in sisig flavor.  Sisig is a Filipino mix that you can buy in an Asian store.  It has lemon powder, onion powder, salt, black pepper,  and chili powder.  

I cooked the chicken first then I carved  out  a rectangle shape  on Italian bread.  I then  filled it with  the chicken and added some cheese.

I put the  carved out  bread back, brushed it with  melted butter, and  baked it for  15 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

 When it was ready to serve, I remove the  sliced  bread on top and added some   romaine lettuce.  
The fresh lettuce added a fresh  element to the bread.  It was really good.

I then sliced the chicken-filled Italian bread into one inch thick and  it was a filling dinner for all of us.

My daughter  love taco so she  told me to use ground beef next time.  The taco filling would be nice too.  

BBQ Grill Light

Spring has not  settle in just yet in our area, one day it is a bit warm and the next 6 days it's freezing.  We haven't had the chance to really  enjoy  the beauty of Spring.  The Spring flowers  did not last very long because we had  snow  again and it  shorten the  blooms of the plants.   Having said that, barbecuing outside is  still not in play.  I might not be able to enjoy  grilling until we have moved to our new place but I am glad that I have   all the things that I need for grilling.  

I got this BBQ grill light  from Cavetools  and I am excited to   put this to use.  It would not be  soon but  I am excited.  This  grill light will  give you the MAXIMUM VISIBILITY  when grilling during night time.  The 3 brightness settings provide 100 + Lumens which is the same used in tactical applications for security guards, police and fireman which is great.  It would fit any handle,  be it  rectangular or  circular bars. What cool about this light is that, not only it is  usable for grilling but you can also use it for bike lighting or any other flashlight needs.  This would be great  to use also if you are working in a garage or in the attic.  It's great to have during brownouts.

 This  grill light is water and heat resistant.  It is built to withstand hot temperatures on the grill and nighttime grilling in the rain.  I love that it comes with the  screw driver as well so  you have the  perfect tool to  mount  the light in your  BBQ grill or  anywhere you want to   mount it in.  It comes with 25 PROFESSIONAL RECIPES.  The  step by step instructions and detailed tutorial videos are great for the family who loves to do BBQ.  You can  buy this  via  amazon and use this coupon code 3I9JHBH9 to enjoy a 15% Off discount.

Disclosure: The owner of this blog was NOT financially compensated to write this review.  I was provided with the product/s mentioned  to help me  facilitate this review but  opinions are my own.

Snack Box from Try The World

I was very excited when  a  the representative from Try the World  asked me if I would like to review a Snack Box from them.  This is a new  box, a new twist to their regular  boxes that contain  yummy goodies from different  countries.  This snack box is also a little cheaper  compared to their regular boxes.  The  subscription for this is $15 per box.

Anyway, here are the products in the snack box.  The first one is this ginger snaps.  We had this before when we received the holiday box last Christmas.  My kids  liked it and I thought it's pretty good too so seeing this again was a joy.

My daughter and I love this dried cranberries. This  dried  cranberries were harvested in Biokia, Finland.  IT's high in fiber and antiuxidants which makes it a  healthy snack.  I was intrigued  of the process on how they preserve the  qualities and maintain the flavors of the berries.  Biokia freezes   it and gently dries the berries wgich is fascinating to me.

 She ate half of it and I used   half of it in  making my energy snacks.  This is really good to snack on, I just wish there's more in the  bag  lol.

I was born and raised in Asia so rice is a big part of our diet.  Finding this rice cracker in the box was a real treat.  It reminded me of my childhood as my Mom used to my us rice  cracker snacks after school.  The only difference is that, my  Mom did not  add spices on it.  The Thai spicy flavors are a nice twist, I must say.

This was the first thing  I tried and shared with my kids.  My daughter and I both loved it!

We love oranges here at home so trying this croquant cookies with oranges was a great experience too.  This is a Moroccan  cookies made by a Moroccan company in the coastal city of Casablanca.  I ate this with y ginger tea and it was really good.  My son  liked it too.

We also got to try this truffles from the holiday box so I know they were good.  

My daughter used it to garnish her  chocolate and I used some also in the energy snacks that I made.

MY daughter was the one who  consumed most of the truffles from the holiday box so it wasn't a surprise that she ate most of this ones she  put on top of the cake lol.

If you would like to try the  snack box, please use the coupon code SPICEUP to enjoy a 15% off your purchase.  

Disclosure: The owner of this blog was NOT financially compensated to write this review.  I was provided with the product/s mentioned  to help me  facilitate this review but  opinions are my own.

Win an Ellie Goulding Concert Ticket

I like some of  Ellie Goulding's songs but my favorite is the Love me Like You Do which you can listen to below.  It's the soundtrack from the movie, Fifty Shades of Grey.  My kids like her song Burn.  

Anyway, she  is the brand Amabassador of the GoMacro, a company that produces Macrobars energy snack.  She said that MacroBars have been her  go-to snack after a workout and when  on tour.  If you are a fan of hers, you might  get lucky and win two concert tickets by entering  the giveaway.  Two lucky people will be able to  watch her concert.   There can only be One US winner and one Canada winner so check it out and don't forget to enter for a chance to win. A portion of the proceeds go to support the homeless (Streets of London & Stand up for Kids).

I love their new flavor,  the Ellie's MacroBar.  It is  a combination of oconut, almond butter, and chocolate chips.  Like all GoMacro products, it's also  100% plant-based, non-GMO, organic, Kosher and free of gluten, soy and dairy, inshort, it is healthy.

I first tried MacroBars in May last year and I have been hooked ever since.  I love  snacking  on them after my long walks.  I was excited to receive this full bars sample.  My husband tok one to his  work and  I packed one for my daughter for her  snack on her  volleyball practice after school.

She liked it and wishes that we have more of it lol.  We both love  anything with coconut so she really dig this one.

Disclosure: The owner of this blog was NOT financially compensated to write this review.  I was provided with the product/s mentioned  to help me  facilitate this review but  opinions are my own.

Electric Guitar and Pineapple Craving

Our daughter  will be auditioning  this Friday at West Liberty University.  The university  hosts this annual event for  music enthusiaast to play and be graded with their performance.  This will be the first time our daughter is going to try so we will see.  I can't wait for my son to really get into music, maybe this jim root would inspire him more.  He  mentioned  that he wants an electric guitar when he grows up.

On another  note, I suddenly crave for some pineaples while looking at this photo.  It makes me want to have some chicken cooked in a pineapple.  I will definitely get me some pineapple when we go to the store.  My  kids lov snacking on it too.