A healthy meal & Wholewheat Banana Blueberry Muffins

I don't really meet up with my side of the family very often even though I have relocated back to Singapore. Partly because we stay quite far away from them, takes about 30 minutes minimum to drive there if the traffic is good. Furthermore, weekdays are usually tight down by children school schedule, so it seems quite out of routine just to drop by and say hi. So I really enjoy visiting my parents that once a week or two, and spending quality time to catch up. However today, thanks to my dear husband, I am taking time off from my weekday schedule to meet up with my 3 sisters for a nice dinner together. We do that when it's one of our birthdays or some special occasion. This time we decided to dine at Cedele at Wheelock Place.

Have totally forgotten to snap any pictures of the restaurant. *sorry*:P This place serves excellent meals from hearty salads to deliciously unique pastas. Besides that, you can count on Cedele for providing quality healthy meals like wild mushroom soup or wholegrain sandwiches and even organic drinks and ice creams.

For me, I ordered Red Chilli Crab Pasta:

This is quite a delicious pasta with a generous amount of crab meat in it, topped with a lightly-fried soft shell crab. The tomato sauce is slightly spicy which gives the taste a nice "kick". Yum! Overall, well balanced taste and flavor...something I would go for again when I go back to Cedele next time.

Believe or not but all 3 of my sisters each ordered a platter of this Sea Bass and Shrimp Tampo. Why? Perhaps it's the delicious citrus vinaigrette over the fresh greens & crunchy sunflower seeds, or maybe they love the nicely grilled sweet shrimps and flaky sea bass. But I think most importantly, they choose this mainly because it's healthy and delicious!

We finished off our lovely dinner with 4 scoops of organic egg-less ice creams, classic chocolate, vanilla and strawberry.

Okay, about the 4th scoop...it was served later because of my sis had to run off to buy something at the grocer before it closes. It was in fact Chai Teh with Figs...the best I must say. Slightly scented Chai tea and chunks of chewy dried figs, very unique! :) Anyway, if you do drop by Wheelock Place next time, why not give Cedele a try. ;)

Cedele @ Wheelock Place
501 Orchard Road
#03-14
Wheelock Place
Singapore 238880

Tel: 6732 8520
My initial intention before meeting up with my sisters was to bake a birthday cake for the birthday sister. But after talking to her, she told me it's already past and no point blowing candles and all. And since it was a school day, I didn't want to risk baking something too adventurous and did not have time to finish up later. So I ended up baking something healthy which I am sure my sisters and parents will love; Wholewheat Banana Blueberry Muffins. And since my family loved the Blueberry Yogurt Muffins that I baked for them the previous time, this one should not disappoint as well. :)

Muffins again!?! Apologies to those reader that come and probably felt disappointed about seeing muffin posts again. I really hope you all don't find my bake getting boring. :P But this muffins are really easy to whip up and fool proof to bake. Not to mention I am still using my MIL's halogen oven...can't be too demanding right? Besides, these healthy muffins are delicious! In fact this is the 2nd time I made them!

Ingredients for Healthy Banana Blueberry Muffins: (makes about 10 to 12)
125g wholewheat flour
135g all purpose flour
40g wheat germ
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
110g unsalted butter, room temperature
65g caster sugar
65g light brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 ripe bananas, peeled & mashed
80ml fresh milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup fresh / frozen blueberries

Method:

• Preheating the oven to 180°C. Grease muffin tins if using or line it with paper cups.
• Whisk together wholewheat flour, plain flour, salt, baking soda and powder in a large bowl. Set aside till needed.
  
• Beat butter, sugar till light and fluffy. Add eggs and continue to beat till creamy and sugar has mostly melted.
• Add in the mashed bananas and mix well. Then add milk and vanilla extract and again stir to blend.
• Now add in the flour mixture in and stir till well combined. Lastly add in the blueberries and combine.
  
• Pour the batter into prepared muffin cups / tins and bake for 25 minutes or till tester comes out clean.
• Remove from oven and let cool on rack. Good up to 3 days in air tight containers and refrigerate after.
  

These muffins are surprisingly tender and moist, even though there's wholewheat and wheat germ inside. The muffin tops are a real treat, slight crunchy bits from the grains gives it extra texture and chewiness. ;)

I have also made a few with chocolate chips which my younger daughter just love. ^o^ It's not easy to get my kids to eat whole grain food, so this was really a great recipe to get my kids started. ;)

Final Thoughts: I had a super duper time with my sisters tonight. Enjoyed a delicious dinner with them and catching up was really fun. I just wish we get to do this more often! I was glad we went to dine at a place like Cedele, quiet and good service. Their food was truly healthy and delicious. We all know that there's never a bad day to eat healthy, whether it's dinning out or simply whipping up something simple at home. So to all the dear friends out there, as the saying goes, "Eat Healthy, Live Happy!" ^v^