Gluten Free Almond Blueberry Muffin - (culinary exhibit of Tzu)

I am always in need of a good gluten/grain free breakfast that I can make ahead and eat through out the week.  These mini muffins is the perfect answer.   There is no additional sweetener too!

Before - I did not top off the muffin after adding the blueberries

After - Notice that the blueberries are on top of the muffin.  Next time I think I will top of the muffin to ensure all the blueberries juices are captured in muffins.

Ingredients

• 1 cup almond butter
• 2 small bananas (the riper the bananas, the sweeter and more pronounce the banana flavor)
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• About 1 cup blueberries

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 400°F. Spray with cooking spray or grease mini muffin pan.
2. Mix almond butter and bananas in a blender until pureed and smooth.
3. Add the eggs, baking soda, and vinegar, and blend well.
4. Place about 1 tablespoon of batter in each muffin cup. Top each one with about three blueberries. Divide the remaining batter between the muffin cups, about 1 tablespoon more on each.
5. Bake for 8-10 minutes.
6. Let cool for a few minutes in the pan, then remove from the pan to cool on a rack.

Olfactory - (beauty exhibit of Tzu)

Inside Balboa Park in San Diego, there is a dedicated rose garden.  It is filled with various kinds of roses.  When you walk through the garden, there is no escaping the wonderful scent.  I've been searching for a perfume that would transport me back to that garden.  

I have tried many perfumes out there but they when they dried on my skin it was too musky, too much citrus, too much vanilla.  It wasn't until I tried Jo Malone's Red Rose Perfume that I found out I was looking for.  The scent dried perfectly.  No musky, citrus or vanilla under notes. Just pure rose.  I feel like I'm back in the park on a warm spring day.  

Gluten Free Cinnamon Donut Muffin - (culinary exhibit of Tzu)

This is a somewhat paleo/primal friendly sweet treat!  You can even make a filled donut muffin by inserting dark chocolate, fruit, jams, and etc into the middle of the muffin. I used dark chocolate in the picture above.  By processing the almond flour in the blender, the texture of the muffin was lighter.  It not overly sweet so your blood sugar level will thank you!

[Ingredients] 

1 1/4 cup of almond flour 

1/4 teaspoon salt 

1/4 teaspoon baking soda 

1 teaspoon nutmeg 

1 teaspoon cinnamon 

3 eggs 

1/4 cup of coconut oil 

3 tablespoons honey 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

[Instructions]

Preheat oven to 350 F. 

Combine all dry ingredients into blender, blend until all dry ingredients are mixed through. 

Add all wet ingredients and blend until mixed thoroughly. 

Bake for 15 minutes. Do not over bake or it will dry out.

Yields: 16 of 24 ct muffin pan

layering your skincare - (beauty exhibit of Tzu)

Many of us know to layer our skincare from the lightest to thickest texture: serum/treatments to cream so why not try layering masks!  Recently I discovered layering the Fresh Umbrian Clay Treatment Bar with the Fresh Rose Mask gave me a wonderful result.  My skin felt purified, pores were tightened and my acne were treated from the clay mask. But with the combination of the Rose Mask, my skin glowed and felt moisturized!  I love the way my skin looked the next morning.  Not only did my skin look even toned, it look liked radiant (no need for a brighten skin primer).  So everyone..try it...try it now!

Currently Obessed....

color blocking!  I love the spring trend of color blocking however wearing a full blown outfit to the office might be a bit hard to pull off. So for now, it'll have to be color blocking my accessories!




The Cambridge Satchel Company - The green and yellow one has been all over the blogsphere so I decided to get a lesser used color.  I absolutely love the decision!



added a bright orange scarf and viola color blocking accessories!

Hello Kitty 50th Anniversary Pop Up Shop

The last stop of Hello Kitty's 50th Anniversary Small Gift Pop Up Shop was at Herald Square in NYC.  The line was ridiculously long to purchase items.  There were items only available at the event and the first 50 ppl in line got a free goodie bag.  The small gift shop was set up like a food truck.  When you get to the window, they hand you a menu and you give them your "order."  While this was a good idea for the densely populated area of NYC...I felt cheated.  In other cities,  they had actual space where there were other exhibits such as Hello Kitty art.  You can actually be immerse in all the cuteness of that is Hello Kitty but I digress.

Pop Up Shop

Smart Car dressed in HK

Free Goodie Bag

Lanvin x H&M Release

After waiting for 11 hours in the cold on a Friday night, I survived to see the Lanvin x H&M collection release on Nov 20th.  It was definitely worth it!  The staff not only gave us complementary goodie bag (tote bag) filled with a scarf, a limited edition magazine and a single rose (they sure know how to make a girl feel special!).  They also provided coffee and croissants before the store opened!  I brought a few items for myself! Look!!

Leopard w/crystals and blk ribbon ankle tie

in the same fashion as the leopard but its in red patent!

Flower print with a teal ribbon trim

blk patent heel with ribbon trim!

 I have various items from the collection on ebay.  Happy Shopping!! :) :)