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The Best Way to Cool and Re-Heat Leftover Pancakes and Waffles

There’s not a lot that can top the feeling of waking up to the smell of waffles and pancakes on a lazy weekend morning, and there’s even fewer that can top experiencing it on more than one day a week.

The next time you make too many pancakes or waffles and don’t know what to do with them, you can always look forward to having more than one morning of waking up to an amazing breakfast.

Freezing Leftover Pancakes and Waffles
Line a baking sheet with one sheet of parchment paper and place the leftover pancakes and waffles on the sheet. Make sure they don’t touch each other – if you have a lot of leftover pancakes or waffles, you can simply place another baking sheet on top to keep the layers separate.

Place them in the freezer for six hours. Once they’re completely frozen, place them in a freezer-safe plastic bag or container. Be sure to label your container when storing your leftover pancakes and waffles.

Re-heating Leftover Pancakes and Waffles
You have two options when it comes to reheating pancakes or waffles: oven or microwave.
With an oven (which can either be a standard oven or a toaster one) preheated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (176 degrees Celsius), you can bake your pancakes or waffles for ten to fifteen minutes until they are heated well enough.

With a microwave, you can stack them on a microwavable plate or container and heat them on high setting for about one to two minutes. Alternatively, for waffles, you can reheat them for several cycles using a toaster, depending on its settings.

If you plan on cooking the leftover waffles and pancakes, do it as soon as you take them out of the freezer and don’t wait for them to thaw out.

Pancake and Waffle Recipes
Whether you make them by hand or simply use store-bought batter to make things a lot quicker, there are a lot of ways to give your pancake and waffle batters an extra twist.

For instance, aside from the standard batter ingredients, (eggs, flour, milk, baking powder and soda, etc.), you can add cinnamon and dip cooked pancakes in an egg-and-milk bath for fifteen seconds to make French toast pancakes.
You can also make your own twist with waffles, and if you want to make it a healthier breakfast, you can make the better yourself buy using whole wheat and cutting down on the sugar and butter that you use for ordinary waffles.
At the end of the day, waffles and pancakes are a quick and easy breakfast to make, and are always delicious every time.

6 Probiotic Foods That Aren’t Yogurt

Perhaps, you already know that yogurt is an excellent source of probiotics. However, it isn’t the only food that can provide you with your daily probiotic requirement. There are actually several other food options that are also sought-after for having high levels of probiotics. Here’s a list of them:

1. Dark Chocolate
Any chocolate, when made from pure cocoa, contains more flavanoids and antioxidants, which are all beneficial for the body. Add in probiotics, and you’ll have a wonder food from this treat. Compared to dairy products, chocolate can fit four times the amount of probiotics. More reasons to love chocolate, eh?

2. Kimchi
This popular Korean dish is a rich source of probiotic. Known for its sour and unique taste, Kimchi actually starts our as a fresh cabbage. When fermented, it produces all the gut-supporting probiotics like lactobacillus. Other than probiotics, it also contains calcium, iron, beta-carotene and vitamins A, B and C.

3. Pickles
As long as it is produced using the process of lacto-fermentation—means without adding vinegar—pickles become a breeding ground for probiotics. When consumed, the probiotic content of this food will help balance your gut health. This process not only creates n environment for the growth of nutrients, it also preserves and lengthens the shelf life of pickles.

4. Miso Soup
This famous Japanese dish is also abundant in probiotics—perhaps, the reason behind its medicinal effects on body metabolism. Brewed from fermented soybeans, brown rice, barley and other grains with fungus, the soup is jam-packed with good bacteria such as the nourishing bifidus and the anti-inflammatory lactobacillus.

5. Kombucha
This fermented black tea drink contains high amount of natural probiotics. The downfall, however, is that the probiotics in it cannot survive pasteurization. And although it can be consumed raw, there are some health risks associated with drinking kombucha this way.

6. Cheese
For all those cheese lovers, celebrate! Not only is cheese rich in calcium, but certain types of the are great sources of probiotics. Some of these cheeses are mozzarella, Gouda, cottage and cheddar cheese. Of course, it would still be helpful to read the label for live and active cultures.

Whether or not you’re a fan of yogurt, it’s nice to have a variety of food in your diet that contains the same amount of nutrient levels. Adding these six food items to your snacks and meals will not only bring a variety of flavour to your palate, but also ensure good gut health at all times.

4 Foods You Should Never Eat Past Their Expiration Date

The smell and look of the food is sometimes deceiving, which is why expiration dates are stamped on the food packaging. From cheeses to jarred goods, it is always best to throw away these staples once they hit their expiration dates, unless you aim to call in sick at work.

1. Soft Cheeses
Harder varieties of cheese like gouda and cheddar have longer shelf life, because mold and bacteria cannot easily permeate them, allowing you to store them in the fridge for up to six months. However, soft cheeses like cream cheese, goat cheese and ricotta are susceptible to bacteria and should be tossed right away at first sign of spoilage or once they have reached their expiration date. As a good rule of thumb, soft cheeses should only be stored for a week inside your fridge.

2. Jarred Sauces and Spreads
Spreads and sauced in jars may look like well preserved, but just because they are stored in air-tight jars, kept inside the fridge doesn’t mean they are untouchable by harmful bacteria. Bacteria can contaminate and multiply the moment you open your jarred goods. For example, when making sandwiches, you dip your knife into the jar, spread it onto the bread and dip it in again to get more. By doing so, you are contaminating the food inside the jar, adding more and more bacteria each time you dip back in. A sign when you need to throw away your jarred spread? If you see discoloration or water floating on top.

3. Deli Meat
Those delicate slices of turkey and ham should only last no more than five days after buying them or cracking open its air-tight packaging, so make sure to only get enough you can finish for that period. Raw or half-cooked meat is susceptible to listeria—a bacteria that can thrive even in extremely cold environment like your fridge. So, even if you store those meat slices in the refrigerator, you cannot guarantee that it’s completely protected from disease-causing bacteria. Once the deli meat feels slimy or smells funky, it’s a sign to toss them away.

4. Cold Pressed Juices
Freshly pressed juices may be the secret to healthy digestion, but it will surely give an opposite effect when consumed past its expiration date. Unlike processed juices you often find in supermarkets, these raw juiced did not undergo pasteurization, making them prone to contamination. Only make yourself a few bottles you can finish in the next three days.

Sure, it is wasteful to throw away food, but getting ill is far more of a hassle and much more expensive than throwing away, say, a jarred condiment. If you have these foods in your cupboard and fridge, check to see if they are still safe to consume or they are past their ‘best before’ dates.

6 Must-Try Desserts in Singapore

Comfort food typically is different for everyone, yet experts say there’s a scientific basis as to how sweets can make the brain seem happier. All the neurotransmitters aside though, who can resist a serving of sweets on any day?
Here’s a list of what Singapore has to offer in the dessert department:

1. Kueh
Like any other place, Singapore has developed many varieties of one dessert, and the Kueh is no exception. Let’s take first two kinds of Kueh on this list. First is the Ondeh-Ondeh which is made of pandan filled with palm sugar which leaves your mouth with sweet flavor in every bite. The Ang Ku Kueh on the other hand is made of glutinous rice flour stuffed with mung beans or peanuts. One thing is common for both: they’re irresistible to the sweet tooth.

2. Ice Kachang
Since Singapore is typically warm almost all year round, desserts served cold always make the hall of fame. This treat is made from shaved ice smoothened with flavored syrup and textured with various toppings. Not only is this sweet, it’s more importantly cooling to the taste.

3. Grass Jelly
Since we’re on the topic of cold, here’s another dessert sure to provide respite amidst the Singapore sun. This treat is made from a plant originating from the mint family. It is first boiled then cooled to its smooth consistency – that of a jelly. Normally served with shaved ice, it also comes great with lime.

4. Cheng Tng
Let’s lower the temperature some more with yet another cool dessert. This treat is known as a clear sweet soup containing barley, sweet potato, longans and white fungus. The ingredients are branded for their cooling effect, such as dried persimmon and winter melon, so it’s not just the ice doing its trick. It’s all of them, actually.

5. Chendol
One more dessert on the cooler side of sweets is the Chendol. This is mainly made up of shaved ice, served with palm sugar, red beans, coconut milk and pandan jelly. The name ironically means green jelly worms and not the actual dessert, but most locals would still refer to the dessert when Chendol is mentioned.

6. Apom Berkuah
Let’s go back to room temperature and be delighted by this sweet treat that’s pleasing both to the palate and to the eyes. Mainly made from pancakes, Singapore’s version of this treat is made from fermented rice flour and coconut water. Oftentimes, banana sauce accompanies this treat. It also has stylish blue swirls derived from the juice of Bunga Telang flowers.

Desserts provide the punctuation of every great meal. Some people even skip the main course altogether just to get their hands on the yummy sweets saved for after.

No matter when you take them, before or after the meal, sweets leave that same feeling of happy – something we all need on a frequent basis.

Satisfying the Foodie in Us

Singapore is not only colourful and vibrant. It is also tasty. There are different dishes here in Singapore  with various influences from Chinese, Malaysian, Indonesian and Indian to satisfy the foodie in us. Modern restaurants also offer cuisines like Italian, American, French, Spanish and many more. Whatever we prefer, there is always something here in Singapore.

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Most people here fancy modern restaurants. In fact, there are people who ignore or forget the dishes that truly define Singapore. If we want to satisfy the foodie in us, the best way is to start with the traditional foods. We should never forget the foods that we all grew up. Here are the some foods we need to get a taste before it is too late:

  • Popiah: Popiah is a healthy meal that features an assortment of vegetables and meat (like lettuce, bean sprouts, carrot, turnip, boiled eggs, Chinese sausage and prawns) enveloped in a thin wheat crepe, cooked to a golden crisp and lathered with a sweet sauce which is called hoisin.
  • Curry puff: Curry puff is an excellent snack. It is a baked pie enclosed in a crust. The pie is filled with chicken, egg, potato, curry gravy, sardines, yam or durian.
  • Duck rice: Not all people know about duck rice. This meal is hearty because it features duck strips and rice with braised sauce. There are restaurants that include eggs, peanuts and tau pok on the side.
  • Chicken rice: If there is duck rice, who will forget about the chicken rice? Traditionally it is called Hainanese Chicken rice. This is the country’s well-known dish.

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  • Rojak: Rojak is a mixture of dough fritters, beancurd puffs, bean sprouts, roasted peanuts, radish, pineapple and cucumber.
  • Mee Siam: Mee Siam is vermicelli noddle soaked in sweet and spicy gravy (called Assam) with dried shrimp and bean paste. Mee Siam comes with beancurd puff, bean sprouts and boiled egg.
  • Ice Kachang: If we want something cool and refreshing especially during the summer, ice kachang is the perfect choice. The shaved ice comes with assorted ingredients like palm seed, red bean, jelly, grass jelly, chendol and many others.
  • Oyster Omelette: Oyster omelette is famous in Hawker centres here as well as night markets. If we love eggs, this is a must-try dish. It features eggs of course, potato starch and special chilli vinegar.
  • Wanton Mee: If we are craving noodles, wanton mee should be considered. The noodles are drenched with sweet sauce, pork slices and wanton dumplings.

There are a lot of foods that we should not miss. We need to support these foods so it will not be lost. These foods are more tasty if we share it with our loved ones.

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Durian Could be Your Next Craving

Durian may be a favorite of many Singaporeans, but for some, the smell of it is enough to scare them off. Its taste might be heavenly, but its pungent aroma could be quite unbearable. So, what do you do to convert those “Durian phobic” into Durian lovers? Well give them one of these treats and they’ll surely fall head-over-heels in love with the King of fruits.

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Spike “D”

Now, not everyone might have Durian as a choice for dessert, but is there anyone who doesn’t like chocolate? Concealing Durian under the delightful taste of chocolate is one sure-fire way to get everyone eating this strong-smelling fruit and Big O Cafe & Restaurant has undoubtedly perfected that technique. Spike “D,” a bestseller, is a Durian cake made from the best fresh Durians. This soft, Durian-laden sponge cake is then smothered with a rich coating of chocolate fudge. If you don’t believe how delicious this treat is, try it for yourself at 290, Orchard Road, #B1-08, Paragon, Singapore 238859.

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Mao Shan Wang Durian Ice Cream

Everyone screams for ice cream, right? Udders Ice cream, located at 6 outlets, one of which is at Upper Thomson, offers a refreshing take on Durian Ice Cream. They use the Mao Shan Wang variant which is widely known in Singapore. With their finesse for creating unique, high-quality ice creams, they’ve come up with this rich flavor that’s complex with sweet and bitter tastes truly characteristic of the Mao Shan Wang Durian.

Durian Mousse

You couldn’t get any closer to the real thing than Dessert Bowl’s Durian Mousse. Their formula is simple: Durian blended in their signature smooth, sweet cream. And to top it all off, a good portion of the fresh fruit is placed in the middle of this sweet concoction. As for the taste, let’s just say that it is going to make you crave for another serving. Although the smell of their Durian Mousse could still be quite strong for your liking, don’t let this prevent you from trying out this dessert, because in the end enduring the smell is worth it. To see for yourself what others have already been raving about, head over to this bustling, little dessert shop at 80A Serangoon Garden Way.

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