Chocolate & Chillies - Easy. Healthy. Halal.

CheeCha Puffs Review {and a Giveaway}

2013-05-16T18:38:00.000-04:00

I'm always searching for healthy snacks for my family. We all love chips but I rarely buy them because they are so high in fat. I was very excited when I discovered CheeCha Puffs. They are a potato puffed snack that satisfies your chip craving. I was even more excited when they sent me a case of some of their flavours! All of the flavours we received were Gluten Free. They are very low in fat. The original flavour actually has 0g of fat! We received Original, Sea Salt and Vinegar, Fiesta Salsa, Sea Salt and Spiced Pepper and Luscious Lime.

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Peanut Butter, Oatmeal and Chocolate Chip Energy Bites

2013-05-06T09:49:00.002-04:00

Most days I find myself really hungry between meals...I'm always searching for a snack. Especially days I go to the gym. By the time I get home I'm so hungry but first I always have to look after what Bilal needs so I keep delaying eating something.

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Chocolate Granola {SRC}

2013-04-29T00:00:00.000-04:00

It's Secret Recipe Club time again! This month I was assigned Table For Seven. Table For Seven is written by Erin who is a "mom to many"! Erin has 6 children. Her youngest passed away last summer at the age of 31 days....this story brought me to tears. I cannot even imagine what it is like to lose a child. My father passed away in February which was and is difficult to deal with. I cannot even imagine the pain of losing a child. May God help you with this great loss Erin.

The Ultimate Foodie Contest -Your help is needed!!! {Contest is now over}

2013-04-10T22:06:00.001-04:00

Thank you everyone for voting. The contest is now over and I came in third with the Chappli Kebob Sliders!

Hello everyone!!! My Chappli Kebob Sliders have made the final 6 in The Ultimate Foodie Contest being held by Halal Food Fest Toronto. The top 3 will have their recipe published in the guide that will be handed out at the Food Fest. I need you help and would love if you would vote for my Chappli Kebob Sliders. Please head over to this LINK on Facebook and "Like" my Chappli Kebobs picture to vote. Thank you so much!

Maple Granola

2013-04-07T21:37:00.000-04:00

Awhile back I posted a recipe for Omega 3 Granola which we loved. It makes a great breakfast with Greek yogurt or a quick snack. Granola is very easy to make. I wanted to give another recipe a try that would use maple syrup as the sweetener rather than honey. I came across this recipe from Craving Greens written by Marie-Eve in Montreal. It turned out really good...I still prefer the Omega 3 Granola but this was a great change. The oats come out more crunchy and crisp since maple syrup is used instead of honey.

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Orange, Date and Walnut Muffins {SRC}

2013-03-25T10:36:00.000-04:00

It's Secret Recipe Club time again! For those of you unfamiliar with the club, every month we are assigned a blog and must make one recipe from that blog. But we must keep it a secret who we were assigned. Then on reveal day we all post our recipes and find out who was assigned who.

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Mummy's Tamatay Ka Kana {Indian Spiced Tomato Rice}

2013-03-11T12:10:00.000-04:00

It seems like forever since I've posted a recipe. I thought I should get back into blogging with a recipe of my mother's that she made for us often. She would serve it with Shaami and Khati Daal. The aromas from this dish while cooking remind me of my home growing up. My mom is an amazing cook with an amazing memory. She doesn't write any of her recipes down, unlike me who needs to write everything down.

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Inna Lillahi Wa Inna Elahi Rajioun

2013-02-28T20:01:00.000-05:00

From you we come, and to you we return.

Things at Chocolate & Chillies have been very quiet the last little while. I have been contemplating whether to write this post or not. I am a private person and blog very little about my personal life. But being MIA for so long I thought I should let you all know what's been going on. It's been a rough few weeks. My father passed away on February 12, 2013. He had been battling esophageal cancer for the last 2 1/2 years. Most people diagnosed with this cancer last about a year. Alhumdullilah my father lived much more than that. He had a very positive attitude about his illness...it felt like I was more upset about it than him. He was a very honest man and has instilled that same honesty in my brother and myself.

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Flour Frosting {SRC}

2013-01-28T12:00:00.000-05:00

It Secret Recipe Club time once again! This month I was assigned A Cook's Quest. A Cook's Quest is written by Jenn. Jenn started her blog when she realized life was getting too busy and she was not enjoying her favorite hobby...cooking. Jenn's recipes are family friendly, easy to prepare and pretty healthy too! All things that I love! For some of Jenn's recipes she has actually calculated how much it costs to make the recipe which really puts into perspective how much cheaper it is to cook at home than to go out.

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Pita Break Review {and a Giveaway!}

2013-01-23T10:00:00.000-05:00

Apple Cinnamon Just Minis

We have been enjoying Pita Break's products for awhile now. Their One Bun is a staple in our home. Hasan will only have his sandwiches in a One Bun. Bilal isn't as picky yet but I prefer to have him have his lunches with One Bun since there are much less crumbs than if I gave him toast.

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Best of 2012

2012-12-31T22:42:00.000-05:00

It's that time of the year again! Time to round up the best of 2012!
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Kiwi, Coconut and Lime Muffins

2012-12-26T23:25:00.000-05:00

I saw these muffins awhile ago at An Edible Mosaic. I wasn't sure about the flavour combination but I absolutely loved Faith's pictures so I had pinned it right away. Everything I have tried over at An Edible Mosaic has turned out fantastic. Most recently I had made Saffron Rice with Golden Raisins and Pine Nuts.

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P&G eStore

2012-12-17T11:17:00.000-05:00

Lately I've been finding online shopping such a convenience. There are times when I just don't have the time to go to the store and during this time of year the malls are packed. Proctor & Gamble's eStore is one of those places you can go to get great deals online. They only ship within the United States but looking at the deals I sure do wish they would ship to Canada. P&G eStore offers:

Free shipping for all orders over $25
15% off a first-time order for a new customer (promotional code: A9Z-MN5-KY3-ISA)
Free samples with every order

Below I've highlighted some of their great products that I have personally used and liked.

One of their products that I love are Tide Pods.

Crispy Oven Baked Zucchini

2012-12-13T22:39:00.001-05:00

These Crispy Oven Baked Zucchini are a great alternative to deep fried snacks. I made these for the first time back in Ramadan. I was looking for something to make for Iftar which wasn't deep fried. My mom would make Zucchini Bagiya/Pakoras which would be in a chick pea flour batter. I love them but I wanted to find a healthier version which didn't involve frying. I found these on Wishful Chef. The original recipe used egg whites and I've used egg whites in the picture above. I've also made them with whole egg and like that way too. With the whole egg the breading is crispier and adheres better to the zucchini. This is a great snack without all the guilt of deep frying.

Pumpkin Pie with a Coconut Oil Pie Crust

2012-12-02T23:25:00.001-05:00

Hasan loves anything chocolate but somehow he got it in his mind that he wanted to try pumpkin pie. So he kept telling me over and over that he wanted to eat pumpkin pie. So one day I was grocery shopping and picked up a small pumpkin and then searching began for a recipe. I saw some recipes used cream and some used evaporated milk. All of them had buttery tarts. I ended up at Joy of Baking and her recipe seemed very simple. I made a few changes and then I found a recipe for a Coconut Oil Pie Crust at Baking Bites. Now I had everything I needed so the baking began.
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Chicken Pad Thai {SRC}

2012-11-26T12:00:00.000-05:00

It's the last Monday of the month which means it's time for The Secret Recipe Club! This month I was assigned the blog Flying on Jess Fuel. I was really excited when I got Jess' blog since she was assigned my blog last month! She made my Vegetarian Pot Stickers. Click here to see Jess' version. I have to say her's look much better than the ones I made :).

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15 Minute Creamy Avocado Pasta

2012-11-18T22:51:00.001-05:00

This is probably the quickest pasta you will ever make from scratch. The sauce can be whipped up while the pasta is cooking. The avocado adds a wonderful creaminess to the sauce. I love how there is no cooking involved in making the sauce. I mix it up in my immersion blender but you can also use a regular blender or food processor. This pasta is best served immediately. If you aren't a big fan of garlic you can reduce the amount used. This pasta had a lot of sauce. You could probably increase the amount of pasta but I like a lot of sauce. I prefer this with rotini or fussili. I hope you will give this a try...you will be surprised how yummy it is for so little work!

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Carrot Cake

2012-11-14T13:12:00.001-05:00

My husband loves carrot cake and I've been searching for a great recipe for awhile. In the end I ended up at Cook's Illustrated and of course the recipe was a winner! I'm not a fan of a lot of icing on carrot cakes. I find it takes away from the cake and it becomes more about the icing than the cake. I like to have a very thin layer of cream cheese frosting. Originally I was drizzling it on which would be a better presentation but I screwed that up and I ended up spreading it. I tell you I always have big dreams about how I'm going to decorate a cake and in my mind it looks amazing but I have yet to execute any of my ideas well. For this icing I used a little bit of cream cheese and mixed in some icing sugar to taste.

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Saffron Rice with Golden Raisins and Pine Nuts {An Edible Mosaic}

2012-11-09T08:00:00.000-05:00

Since I've started writing this blog I've discovered so many other amazing blogs and bloggers. One of those people is Faith Gorsky who writes An Edible Mosaic. Faith's blog has recipes from all over the world but the ones that made me start reading Faith's blog were the Middle Eastern recipes. We love Middle Eastern cuisine and I am always searching for great recipes.

August Morning Muffins {SRC}

2012-10-29T12:00:00.000-04:00

It's time for Secret Recipe Club once again! This month I was assigned The Gingered Whisk written by Jenni. I love how the food she writes about is the food they actually eat..which is what I also do!! Jenni also loves to read and even has a list of her favorite books! Every since I had Bilal I haven't read a single book...seeing Jenni's list really has me thinking I need to make some time to get back into reading.

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Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies {Giveaway}

2012-10-21T21:19:00.000-04:00

My kids love cookies...if they have cake and cookies in front of them they almost always go for the cookies. I don't bake too many cookies because usually they have so much butter and usually I can't stop myself from munching on them all day. I saw this recipe on Mmm...is for Mommy and it only used 1/3 cup of butter so I pinned it.

Quick Tomato Pizza Sauce

2012-10-16T22:20:00.004-04:00

I've been having a hard time finding just the right sauce for pizza. Recently I had my family over for dinner and I wanted to make pizza for the kids. I found this recipe in Cook's Illustrated. It used crushed tomatoes....personally I don't like crushed tomatoes. There is this taste in them that I really don't like. When I was grocery shopping I found a can of organic chunky crushed tomatoes with basil by Western Family (available at Longo's). This is the best canned crushed tomatoes I have found. The pizza sauce turned out really well and it is super quick to make as well! I used it on my Easy Thin Crust Pizza. Do you use crushed tomatoes? What is your favorite brand?

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Omega 3 Granola

2012-10-09T12:31:00.002-04:00

We have been addicted to this granola. I'm thinking I should now make a double batch since it doesn't seem to last that long! Lately I've been having it for breakfast with some greek yogurt and dried cranberries. This has become a staple in our home. It's very easy to put together. The original recipe had sesame seeds in it. I added this the first time I made it and we found the taste overpowering. So I prefer to leave it out. I don't mix in any dried fruit in it to suit everyone's taste. To make clean up easy I line my baking sheet with parchment paper. I have tried foil and the granola stuck to it and didn't get as crisp.

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Mango Smoothie

2012-09-27T22:34:00.000-04:00

Mango season is just about over. This is one of the ways we were enjoying them this summer. They never lasted long so it was always difficult to get a picture of them. Bilal has been loving smoothies this summer. It all started with the Green Monster. They are a great way to get him to have some extra fruit. I love the citrus flavour that the orange juice brings. I find these smoothies are best if had immediately. They thicken up while sitting in the fridge.

Cookies and Cream Rice Krispies Treats without Gelatin {SRC}

2012-09-24T12:00:00.000-04:00

It's Secret Recipe Club time again! This month I was assigned Shockingly Delicious written by Dorothy. I was so excited when I saw that I was assigned Dorothy's blog. I have been following her blog for a few months now and had already bookmarked a couple of recipes to try! But I still spent time to go through all her recipes and found some I will definitely be making in the future like this chili and her Chicken Teriyaki Meatballs. I also have my eye on Dorothy's Green Tomato Chutney as our garden is overflowing with green tomatoes. But in the end I chose Cookies and Cream Rice Krispies Treats to make for today's reveal. My main reason was that Hasan's favorite cookies are Oreos and he also loves Rice Krispies Treats so it was a perfect combination.

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