Banana Cinnamon Muffins!

It was a holiday and I wanted to bake something quick and tasty.

Browsed a bit and decided it's going to be Banana and Cinnamon Muffins and the boy loves muffins compared to cupcakes.

Got started and it was yum and the smell of cinnamon with banana wafted indoors.

Here's the recipe

Ingredients

• 2 small bananas
• 1/2 cup castor sugar
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
• 1/4 cup odourless oil
• 1/3 cup milk
• a pinch of salt
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla essence

Method

• Preheat oven at 180 degrees
• Line the muffin tray with liners
• In a bowl, add bananas and mash them with a fork
• Add oil to the bananas and mix well
• Add the egg and vanilla essence
• Sift the flour, add salt, cinnamon and baking soda
• Add these to the wet ingredients and mix well
• Finally add milk and incorporate everything
• Don't overmix, gently fold all the ingredients well.
• Scoop the batter into each muffin liner and bake at 180 dgrees for 25 to 30 mins
• Cool it and serve or store it in an airtight container.

Here are the pictures

The liners are in sync with the color of the muffins.

Until next time.

Restaurant review- California Burrito!

It was a Sunday and not so productive Sunday. The boy and me were not in good terms and decided we'd have a cup of coffee each.

After coffee we didn't feel like going anywhere and decided to while away some more time at the food court. I had been there sometime back and spotted this place called California Burrito but, never bothered to glance at the menu or the food.
But, this time I decided to give it a go as we had time and it was worth it.

Great food, good service and value for money. They had a variety of combos like the mini and mega combos, I opted for the mini as the boy was not interested in food. I went for the non-veg salad, chips and salsa and pink lemonade. I added guacamole and chips to the bill and I didn't regret it.
The combo came up to 170 plus and the guacamole and chips were 30 plus and taxes and all that, came up to Rs 270.
After I received the food, the boy who said he didn't want to eat gave it a try and did not let go of the fork. We loved the food and will go for it again for sure.

Overall wonderful dinner and light on the pockets. My rating for this would be 5/5.

Here are some pictures I took.

The outlet at Ambit IT park Ambattur Estate.

Our tray of food.

The spicy chicken salad topped with sour cream.

Aerial view.

Until next time.

Perks of being a teacher - Part I

Teaching as a profession is more than what I asked for. What I majored in and what I worked as, and what I studied further has nothing to do with my profession as of now.

I don't regret my education though, I regret my working experiences sometimes.

But, now everything's changed. This job taught me so much and I still learn something new every day.

Being a teacher, the moment I enter the class in the morning, I am greeted by my children who are aged 3, 3 1/2 and 4years old respectively. It gives me so much joy and happiness when they come up to me talking about their weekend or their amazing experience at the park. Sometimes, I even get compliments about my accessories (my watch, earrings and eye glasses - though I wear the same every single day). And, to add on to these the children walk randomly up to me either kissing my hand, elbow or if they can reach, my cheek. What more do I need to make my day?

There are tons of perks and I've jotted only a few as of now.
That's the reason I've created a series by the name 'PERKS OF BEING A TEACHER'. If you are a teacher or aspiring to becoming one, you will get what I'm trying to exaggerate here.

Image cortesy - Google.

Until next time.

Written and posted on Write Tribe #MondayMusings.

All Good Scents review!

So, as I was whiling away some time one fine evening reading few blogs, I came across a couple of blogs talking about a website featuring perfumes and testers for a moderate price.

Headed to their site and saw a lot of interesting features like the perfume which might suit you  and the tester samples. Immediately chose two for me and one for the boy which I felt might suit us.
The product claims it is made in France and each one of them are different.

Opted for the COD option but, it charged Rs 50 extra for shipping while it said free shipping charges. Anyway, chose the netbanking option and paid Rs 165 altogether.
It took almost 6 days to reach and I was expecting the delivery. Well, it reached and the fragrances for each of the ones I ordered didn't let me down.

Here are the pictures.

The 3 scents : Love & Joy (yellow one), Chic (white one) and Urbane Nights (Black one).

Along with it came a booklet with the list of all their fragrances and a discount of 15 % on my next purchase. The fragrance is amazing and lasted for a really long time. The amount is less though. I'm definitely going to get the bigger versions of it. Nice buy overall.

Rating - ****/5

Check out their site here.

P.S- This is not sponsored, I purchased with my own interest and wallet.
Until next time.

The Dramatic Walker's park!

The other day after a heavy lunch at a Restaurant the boy and me decided to go for a walk to one of our favorite walker's park and we did.

I've been to a lot of parks before and the sight there is usually fitness freaks, wannabe fitness freaks, health conscious youngsters, preventing diseases middle aged adults and following doctor's advice on walking elders. Or, at the most we might see some children enjoying their swings and see - saws if there was any at the park.
But, I was shocked by the sight at the park I used to go to before I got married. It was late afternoon and the sun was beginning to set.

Every corner at the park, I saw couples mostly unmarried or in a relationship kinda couples sitting so close to each other. Some were the desperate ones and some were the get a room kinda ones. I was surprised though I took a short walk around and the boy couldn't control his nap by the time I came back.

It was entertainment for me and peace for the boy.

The scene opposite to where we were sitting.

Some hanky panky happening (If you look closely or zoom in) I focused on all four sides to where we sat.

The path I took for a walk.

A beautiful looking tree that was being dug out.

A small lake alongside the path.

The huge tower.

Nice day with lots of memories.

Until next time.

P.S - Ignore the slang words. I couldn't find more appropriate words to match what was in my head.

This post is going for the #MondayMusings on Write Tribe.

Restaurant review - Mainland China!

This was my second time visit to Mainland China - Anna Nagar and I went there the second time because of the wonderful food and amazing experience we had during our first visit.

Both the times we opted for buffets and the spread was wonderful. The cost of a buffet for one person is Rs 640.
The starters consisted of Prawns, Chicken and minced meat and dumplings, fried wontons and soup. The main course had a variety too. My favorite was the Lamb with hot sauce and the Fish in Chilli mustard sauce. We could also try the vegetarian if we opt for a non - vegetarian buffet and that's a plus.

The dessert platter was good I would say. Just, for the fact that the dishes were not exquisite. They had ice creams of three flavors, meery mousse - a coconut and creamy mousse, a chocolate tart, gateaux, silk cake (I never tried that) and Darsaan. Darsaan was my favorite last time and this time.

Overall, a memorable day and good food but, heavy on the pocket too. The vat and service charges came upto an amount wherein another person could've had another buffet.

Here are the pictures.

The table we dined at.

The buffet section, one part of it as the others weren't filled up.

My plate of food.

His plate of food. A typical foodie's plate.

Longshot of his plate with some pickled veggies.

The dessert side.

Very good experience and I would rate the Restaurant a 4/5. 4 because of the cost.

Hope you enjoyed reading. Until next time.