Char Kway Teow

A few months ago I had such a huge craving for char kway teow. I am not sure why I could not find any fresh or frozen cockles from the Asian grocery stores that I visited. Then I decided to visit this Asian grocery store which is slightly future from my house to test my luck and I was happy to find some frozen cockles! It was a little expensive because I remember paying about $3 for a packet and this time it was about $5. Anyway since I was craving for it I still bought a packet. Using my seasoned cast iron pan I made a yummylicious char kway teow. I had char kway teow all week long for breakfast!  I was I heaven! It was also very tasty since I made it several times in a row (able to perfect it) and used my season pan. When I finished my cockles and hubby happened to worked near there he even offered to buy me more cockles since I had none left!

Recipe from Lily
Ingredients:

1/2 lb kway teow
1 tsp chopped garlic
3 tbsp cooking oil
3 - 5 prawns,
3 - 5 thinly sliced Chinese sausage
150g cockles, scalded and shelled (if available fresh then this is a must)
a handful of beansprouts
3 sprigs of chives, cut into 2 inch lengths
1 egg

Seasoning:
1 tbsp Chilli paste(sambal olek)
1 tbsp light soya sauce
Pepper to taste
A little dark soya sauce for colour
A little water

Method:

1. Heat wok with 3 tbsp oil until hot and fry Chinese sausages until fragrant, then add l tsp chopped garlic . 

2. Add about prawns and fry until cooked.

3. Push all the fried ingredients to one side and add in kway teow. Stir-fry the kway teow and add seasoning and sprinkle with a little water to mix.

4. Spread all the ingredients around the kuali and create an empty space in the centre, then crack an egg into it and add a little more oil. Cover the egg with all the ingredients and stir-fry evenly.

5. Add cockles if desired and mix in a handful of beansprouts and the chives. Do not overcook.

Remove the dish to a plate and serve hot.


This is Lily's recipe and I have adapted her recipe to suit me depending what I have at home. I've even made it with glass noodles before too! I love my char kway teow with cockles so every time when I make this this the cockles is a MUST!

Last month I went to an Asian grocery store they had frozen abd fresh cockles too. I guess a few months ago it wasn't in season? It was on sale again for $3 instead of $5 a packet.  I was so excited or kiasu and stocked up 6 packets! I am afraid I will run out of it or cannot find it again. I find that the more often I cook this dish the better it taste. Not sure if is in my head! Will be making Char Kway Teow really soon again! Drool!!!

Yummy Steak Marinade

Hubby is not a huge fan of steak.  He said that he's never made a really piece of steak at home so he rather not make them at home and go out to have a yummy piece of juicy steak once in a while.  I've been wanting steak off and on here and there and I rather make it at home sometime (so much cheaper than going to a steak house). We went to costco to get some steak for $7.99/lb (don't remember what cut). We divided them into two slices and when I have craving for steak I will defrost a packet to thaw. We got 6/8 pieces in a packet hence my stash is almost gone. Only one more packet left.

Anyway I was browsing in food.com and I came across this steak marinade recipe with excellent review! I decided to give it a try when I made steaks for our Valentine's Day dinner and I never looked back! This recipe is super yummy and not only I love it so much hubby loves his steak too!

Clean your fridge soup aka "Weight Watchers Cabbage Soup"

I've heard of Weight Watcher's cabbage soup for a long time (I used to work in a weight loss place though not with weight watchers) but I've never ever thought of cooking it for the fear that it will not taste good. It's been pretty cold lately and I've been looking for some really simple and quick soup to make for dinner. My baby is not a big fan of meat at all and he much prefers vegetables and soupy food so I thought this would be the perfect dish for me to make.

I love this recipe so much because it is so versatile and you can adapt it with what ever vegetables etc you have at home.  My recipe is actually ball park on what I had at home and is not specific.

Ingredients - Original recipe from here

3 cups of broth- Chicken, beef or vegetable

2-4 cloves of garlic minced

1/2 chopped onions

2 cups chopped cabbage

4 tomatoes-skinned, deseeded and diced

1/2 cup of pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce (one of the recipe asked for 1tbsp tomato paste)

2 cups chopped carrots

1/2 cup chopped green pepper

1/2 tsp basil

1/2 tsp oregano

Salt and Pepper

Method

1. Pour broth, garlic, onions, carrots and green pepper into your pot (I used my dutch oven pot) until it boils for about 30 minutes (My homemade broth was still slightly frozen)

2. Put the rest of the ingredients in and let it simmer for about 30-44 minutes or until desired tenderness.

This soup is so very simple yet so very sweet and yummy!!I was very surprise that it actually tasted so good. My little baby ate 3/4 bowl of it and nibble from my bowl too. He absolutely loved it. Even my hesitant hubby was surprised that it actually tasted good! His only complain was that it does not have any meat. He even requested I made more and add meat so he can take it to work next week!!

You can add all sorts of vegetables like celery, bak choy, egg plant, zucchini, etc. I chose to use pizza sauce because I have a huge bottle at home. Hubby wanted to make some pizza and we were at Sam's club and we actually bought a huge can of it. I froze half of it and half of it actually went moldy. Since I  didn't want to open a can of tomato paste because I had a bunch of pizza sauce in my freezer I decided to use it. I also have a few container of chicken broth that I pre cook when I've accumulated a bunch of bones so I have home made broth when ever I need them. 

If you are looking for an easy soup recipe this is would be a recipe you should definitely try! Also if you are looking to lose weight and need to jump start your diet this soup would be ideal!

Rain Forest Cafe

When I first move to the United States in year 2002 my sister took me to Rain Forest Cafe in Mall of American, Minneapolis.  I thought this place was pretty cool and I always wanted to go back there especially with the hubs. We never made it there!

So when we moved down here to Texas and I saw Rain Forest Cafe again I always wanted to go there again with him but the wait for a table is forever long. Last Sunday hubs and I decided to take our little guy shopping and since we were there so early there was no waiting at all and we took the opportunity to dine there.

The interior is really nice, cool and calm. They make thunder noise every 30 minutes and the animals move then too. Lots of aquarium with lots of different type of fish and even a water fall inside too. Lucky my baby didn't cry like some when the thunder comes out. He cried when we hired someone to make a ballon for him because they were trying to blow the ballon up. lol. We asked the guy to make a dog for him and within seconds he undid his ballon!! What a waste of our money!

I started my meal with a clam chowder soup which was really yummy! Making me crave for it just thinking about it. Taste so different from the can ones! Hubby had a Cesar Salad which I forgot to take a picture of it! Lol

For our main meal I had a pastalaya or something like that. It was suppose to be a spicy pasta with sausage, chicken, shrimp and some vegetables. It was ok nothing to shout about. I actually regret getting this because it was not something I love but would just eat it since is not horrible. It was not bad but it was not something I expected. It also came with their bread which was pretty good but it was slightly oily and so hubs and I didn't eat much of our bread. 

Because I ordered the pasta and it was suppose to be slightly spicy hubby decided to order the fish and chips so that he can share it with our little guy. The fish and chips was pretty good but our little guy didn't even eat much of it so he could have actually ordered something he wanted instead of fried fish. 

I wanted some fries so we ordered a side of fries and instead of chips with hub's fish he got their mashed potatoes instead which tasted very good I would say! I love their fries too! Our little man truly enjoyed the fries and he actually loved dipping the fries with ketchup! At 19 months he now knows how to point at the ketchup and demand ketchup with his fries. Kids now a days you don't need to teach them at all! They just see what you do and learn from you!!

The bill came out to $60 plus without tip for 2 adults and a toddler. We would definitely come back here again sometime in the future if there is not a long line again. 

Rainforest Cafe - Katy Mills
5000 Katy Mills Circle
Katy, TX  77494 
(281) 644-6200

Happy 2013

I figure I should blog before we are too much into 2013. I am not going to give any more excuses or explanation on why am I not blogging more. Every time I promise myself I will blog more and that don't happen and there are so many started post I have in my save folder.  I will just try my very best to blog more that's all I can do.

2012 flew by so very quick for me. I've had ups and downs but the best part is having my little one and being able to be with him all the time is one of god's blessing .  I am so fortunate that I get to spend time with my little guy all the time. He's growing so quickly and I am missing every moment of it already! 

I cannot believe about a year ago we were just in Malaysia and Australia. Those were one of the best memories I can have with my little one. The love and attention he got from family and friends is priceless. I can never ask for better family and friends. 

Let's just hope 2013 will be a better year for me. Let's hope that the bad stuff that happen to me/my family will not repeat this year. Let's hope that nosy people will actually leave us alone and not try and start anything for my family!

Cheers to all and hope everyone have a great new year ahead!

Iphone5 Vs Samsung note Il

*this is NOT a sponsored post. 

Image courtesy of here

We converted to Apple family a few years ago. We practically changed all our electronics to Apple. I blogged about my Apple family here. I was very excited when I heard they were going to release the iphone5 and actually waited patiently for them to launch it.  I was vastly disappointed when they launched it! It was not much different from iphone4s which I was already using. The only different was it was smaller and lighter.

I told hubby that I didn't want the iphone5 since it was not much different compared to iphone4s. Hubby wanted it because he needed a new phone and he much prefers to use iphone for work. 

I started talking to my friends and she recommended Samsung Note (before iphone5 was launched) since I was vastly disappointed with iphone5 I told hub that I wanted the note.  He told me that Samsung was going to launch note II shortly after iphone5.  Since I didn't want iphone5 my next preference was to try note II (hubs actually tried Samsung Galaxy 3 before and didn't care for it). I patiently waited for it to launch here and as soon as we were able to pre order it hubs pre order it for me. 

Image courtesy of here

Finally my Note II came last Friday! I've been using it since Saturday and I'm loving it! I do not have any problem going from iphone to Samsung. I was really nervous I would not be use to using Android phone after being use to using iphone. Many years ago before my first iphone I tried the Samsung Captive before and didn't care of it so I was slightly nervous I won't like the Note II.  This phone is pretty huge compare to the iphone but it doesn't really bother me. Pkus if I want a smaller phone when I'm travelling I can always use my iphone4s or use hubs iphone5. I think I can do so many more stuff with the Note II like blogging etc (maybe you will see more posts?) since is difficult for me to use a laptop because I have a very active toddler that's also currently in his terrible two stage that will not allow me to use my computer in peace!

Image courtesy here

Samsung Note II screen is obviously bigger compared to iphone5 so is more suitable for older people. Even hubs love the Note II but he cannot use android phone for his work that's all if not he would have definitely change to the Note II I'm pretty sure.. If Apple ever really upgrade their iphone and not the same boring one I will definitely not hesitate to go back to iphone. In the mean time I'm definitely mostly satisfy with my new phone! :)

**This is definitely NOT a sponsored post**

Char Chu Yoke or Hakka Braised Pork II

I made the same dish here many moon months ago. I made some changes to the previous recipes and made it even more tasty!! 

Some of the difference I made to my original recipe was

1) I marinate my pork with more nam yue (about 8-10 cubes with more liquid)

2) Added more garlic 

I think this dish taste better (taste more nam yue) with more nam yue. I think I used slighly too much nam yue cause it is slightly salty if eaten just by itself but when you eat it with rice or noodles it taste just perfect!! I used almost a whole bottle of nam yue! LOL. I would definitely use this recipe again because it really hit the spot. I now have a few containers of char chu yoke sitting in my freezer for when I have craving for them or when I run out of ideas too cook or when I'm too lazy to cook all I have to do is defrost one container, boil rice and stir fry some vegetables. 

Sweet soft buns

I've been using this recipe to make bun/bread for more than a year now. I first discovered this recipe last year when my mom was here and I would sometimes make raisin/cinnamon raisin bread. My mom does not eat cinnamon but she likes raisin bread and all raisin bread in the store has cinnamon so since I know how to make bread might as well I make my own bread for her. At least I know is healthy and with no preservative. I was thinking of using this method but I am not always successful with this method and I don't always get a perfect loaf hence I decided to find another method. This recipes has NOT disappointed me so far even after many attempts on making it. It is super soft and yummy!!They usually soft for days but of course is the best when is fresh out of the oven :)

Aglio Olio II

I have a very active, mischievous  and constantly needs my attention toddler so any meal hearty,  simple, fast, easy and yummy dish is my kind of meal. I've learn to look for meals that I can prepare in a jiffy but also nutritious and taste good instead of solely relying on instant noodles. Aglio Olio fits my bill and I always wonder why I've never made this more often. Since blogging about it here I've not made it again yet. The beauty about this dish is you can almost use anything or nothing (as in just olive oil, noodles and garlic) to make it. Since I'm only attempting to cook only one dish meal I need to incorporate my other food group to make my meal a nutritious, hearty and balanced meal. 

Anyway yesterday I decided to make this dish without the shrimp/prawns. Recipe can be found here. Instead I added tomatoes and some baked salmon. I could have cooked my salmon before cooking my noodles in the pan but since I'm baking the salmon for my little man I figure might as well I just do it all at once. 

This time I made a slightly bigger batch and could not finish my meal so I kept it for lunch the next day.  It was really torturous for me because I loved it so much but could not eat everything last night and was wanting to eat them soon. Today, I was desperately just waiting for lunch so I can eat the left overs. My little toddler was sleeping so I had to actually wait till he got up before I can eat so we can both have lunch together!

I finally warmed them up and dig into it! Yum it hit the spot! It even tasted good the next day just warming them up in the microwave. I am sure if I ever go back to work and make lunch for work this would totally be the dish I would make often because it is super simple and yummy. 

Homemade Kaya II (Coconut Jam)

I've made Kaya once or twice after my attempt here but did not blog about it.  Every since I saw Frozen Wing  post about Kaya and that she used duck eggs to make Kaya I was curious to see how good it will taste. I've been searching for duck eggs for quite some time now because I've been wanting to make salted eggs using duck eggs but could not find any at the grocery store. When I used to work one of my client that has a farm said that they have duck and their duck will lay eggs and they don't eat them. They offered to give me some but has never given me any. I swagbuck and actually found some online and at one point I was so desperate I almost got some online but decided that not to.

Blogging, readers, comments

I've been wanting to blog about this topic for a long time. I've been blogging for a fare amount of time and I've "met" and read many blogs and comments from the writer and readers. I've "met" many wonderful blogger through blogging and I'm very happy that I started blogging because I've learned so much from different blogger out there. I also sometimes read blogs that is out of my norm (I'm more into reading blogs about other mom's and also cooking)

I personally feel when someone reads other people's blog and if you don't like what you are reading keep those comments to your self! Why do you want to make nasty comments about what other people has to say? If you don't like a person's blog or writing just don't read it! Simple as that!

For example (I am not friends with her but I do occasionally read her blog. I found out about her blog because of how unique her bf now husband propose to her!) She was blogging about how her brother and his gf almost got robbed etc. The comment started with how her a reader don't like her bro's current gf because she was the cause of his break up with his ex etc or how she blog about her mom was only thankful for the safety of her bro and not the gf as well.  I don't know this blogger at all but I so sad reading comments like this. I am trying to wonder is it because people are just jealous since she is a famous blogger or because people have nothing to do. Even when she blogged about her proposal I notice she mentioned that only one hate comment! Really? Why do people do that? What ever people write is truly up to them and if you don't like to read DO NOT GO TO THAT BLOG!!!

Another blog that I often visit; here she was just sharing about her new purchase but yet there is actually someone out there that is so RUDE and make a nasty comment about her!

This person that wrote this comment probably don't even know the blogger! and if he or she does and do not like this blogger then DO NOT associate and I've said this many time DO NOT VISIT this site!

I know there are A LOT more blogger out there that actually receive nasty comments about what ever they are writing about. I am not going to go through ever single blog I know or don't know and write it here. I myself have been in this same exact position. I am not going to go into detail about my own experience but I just want to get this out my chest. It really makes me very angry when I see comments like this since I've been though the same situation. Maybe I'm not as great of a person as these other blogger who can just brush it off.

For me, I just want to be able to blog about things I like or dislike, Stuff that makes me happy or unhappy or JUST WHAT EVER I WANT TO BLOG ABOUT!! regardless of whether someone else likes to read them or not! Just GROW UP if you haven't or just go to hell!

Mushroom and Shrimp Aglio Olio

I made this yesterday.. So this post is actually a new post!! Lol I am hoping if I actually hit the publish button I will be more motivated to start posting or actually finish all my other saved entries. I just don't get much opportunity to sit down in front of my Mac to write proper entry. I know I have a smart phone but blogging is just not the same when you are blogging from the phone!

Anyway back to Aglio Olio...I've been wanting to make this dish since my friend told me about it. She told me about this dish way before I was pregnant and now my baby is almost 15months so go figure..I've been craving for pasta these two days (cause my cousin mention she was going to make pasta for dinner and after that it was good etc..)I was thinking of making shrimp scampi but I decided that I needed to make something quick and simple. My toddler skipped his afternoon nap( semi cranky toddler) and I had to clean the floor before I could make this because we have an invasion on raspberry ants!!  By the time I was done prepping, cooking and eating I was behind schedule. I wanted to put him to bed earlier but that didn't happen and thankfully  after I showered him hub was able to put him to bed while I took my shower.

Anyway.. My only regret is I didn't make this earlier!!! I really like it. It actually reminds me of a quick stir fry asian noodle probably because of the chili padi! Lol

Ingredients

6-10 cleaned shelled shrimp

8-10 cloves of chopped garlic

1 cup of sliced mushroom

Salt and Pepper

2-3 chili padi ( bird's eye chili) chopped/ red pepper flakes

A few table spoon of cream or milk or water from cooking the pasta

1/3-1/4 cup Olive oil

One serving of pasta cooked in boiling salt water till al dente

Handful of fresh Parmesan cheese (optional)

Parsley

Method

1) Cook pasta according to direction till al dente

2) Heat pan (I used my cast iron pan) and add olive oil followed by garlic and chili padi

3) Slightly sautée the garlic and chili then add mushroom. Cook till water evaporate from the mushroom.

4) Add shrimp and give it a quick stir. Season with salt and pepper.

5) Drain cooked pasta and add it to the mixture. Drizzle a few tables spoon of cream/milk/ water from the pasta to the pasta while mixing them up with the rest.

6) Garnish with Parmesan cheese and parsley.

I love this dish so much I already thaw out the shrimp to make another batch tonight for dinner!! I love anything spicy!! I'm sure it will taste as good if I just used crush pepper. My only problem was I added slightly more olive oil so it was slightly more oily than I would like..Oh well cooking is usually about trail and error..

FIRST

I scheduled this post a long time ago but unfortunately these two weeks I've been busy attending to my fussy baby.


For my baby's FIRST birthday I initially decided to bake him a cake. Then I thought I would just get some edible prints and stick it on the cakes or cupcakes. Then I decided to just order a cake or an ice-cream cake for him.


Well remember my wilton caddy that I bought years ago? The one that I insisted I had and will use it? Well I never did really used it before and so hubby mentioned that I've spend so much money buying wilton stuff and that I should bake our baby a cake instead of buying one!  *stress*


I decided to make my baby a grover cake because he use to like the monster at the end of this book that hubs bought the app for the iPhone and iPad. Initially I was going to make cupcakes for him hence I even went out to the store to hunt for the tip so I can pipe the fur for grover! I finally decided that cupcakes would be too time consuming to decorate that I decided I will just bake him a cake instead!

Hakka Braised Pork with Fungus or Char Chu Yoke

My late grandmother was a great cook. Our entire family loves her dishes. My uncle, her second son actually managed to learn how to cook some of her yummy dishes.


When we were over in Australia my uncle cooked this dish one night and we all devoured it. My grandma's still taste nicer but this was good too. No complains! The pork was not too skinny or fat. Lovely!! I ate so much of it!

Mantou or steamed buns or flower buns

I do apologized.. I've been away for this long. I do have a lot of recipes that I would like to share and am currently finding the time to post it. I've also been away for almost two months on vacation with my baby (DH joined us later).


We were in Malaysia and Sydney, Australia with lots of family, friends and great food. I miss having family and friends that truly care. Family and friends that is sincere and mind their own business instead of trying to butt into anything and everything they can about yours or your families' s life. Really dislike selfish and nosy people that pretends that they care!


Anyway back to my mantou, I had great mantou when we were dining in Sydney that I felt like having some. Yesterday I found a recipe and decided to attempt making them. It came out horrible and I threw every thing away. What a waste of ingredients since it was not edible at all!!

Thanksgiving Day

I have many things to be thankful for this year. I am thankful that I have a wonderful and healthy new born. I am also really thankful to have a wonderful and supportive hubby, mom, dad and my sis and her partner. I can never imagine not having an understand and supportive family in my life.

This year we decided to have thanksgiving meal in our home. A very simple meal just the few of us. Our menu for this year thanksgiving:

I was going to brine my turkey but I didn't take it out of the freezer earlier to do so. This time all I did was season my turkey with Salt, Pepper and Lemon Pepper Seasoning then I put chunks of butter between the skin and the meat.

I forgot to buy cranberry and had to make Uncle R to get it front he store

Corn from the can 

  Also store bought

I'm really proud of my gravy, I usually use gravy from the bottle but this time I actually made it from scratch! I got the oil from the turkey dripping and warmed it up in a pot. Then I added about 1/4 cup of flour (I think is a table spoon of oil to a tablespoon of flour) stir it then add homemade chicken stock. stir until thicken. 

Aunt L makes really good stuffing but aunt L was not here for thanksgiving so Uncle R made the stuffing which was really good with breakfast sausage

Stuffing that I made with the liver and gizzards from the turkey which was actually pretty good.

Homemade pumpkin pie

This year I didn't make most of my food from scratch like I would like too. Never the less I was able to make a lot of food even with a 5.5 month old baby at home! 

Thank you hubs for cleaning and doing the dishes when we were done. Thank You Uncle R for celebrating a low key thanksgiving with us. 

The Apple Family

I never thought that I would actually buy Apple. Everything all started when hubs wanted the iPod. Hubs had been asking to get an iPod for the longest time and since we both own mp3 players I didn't think that we needed the iPod (if you asked me the iPod was a total waste of money). I finally decided to give in for I think his birthday.

Yau Mei Farn II aka chicken rice and Steam Egg plant.

I love yummy yet simple meals especially when the meal is made from scratch. I had a craving for rice and chicken today but I didn't want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen so I decided on Yau Mei Farn/ aka clay pot rice (since I don't have a clay pot I just use my rice cooker)

My New Toy

Remember when I told you about my bread maker that died here. Well..initially after my bread maker died I told myself that I was not going to buy another one because it cost money and I wanted to save counter space. After using my Kitchen Aid mixer once and almost killing it I thought maybe I should knead my bread by hand instead of killing my Kitchen Aid Mixer. That never happened and I never made bread after that because I was too lazy to knead any bread by hand and worried that I could not do it. Then I thought I would find a use one to get since I'm only using the bread maker to knead my dough but I really could not bring myself to buying a use bread maker. Moreover I don't want to buy a used one and have it break on me a few times after I've used it. Hubby was also not too keen on me looking for a used bread maker although they do say they used it once or never used it who actually knows how many times they have used it and whether it'll break. At least if I get a new one I have manufacture warranty. 


So one day, while we were shopping I came across Hamilton Beach bread maker.  It is almost the same price as my old Sunbeam bread maker and the function was exactly the same! I think they are from the same manufacture but just different look.  I told hubby that I wanted to buy that bread maker because I've not made bread in a long time and I'm actually itching to make bread. Hubby reluctantly took the Hamilton Beach Bread Maker and went to pay for it since I'm pregnant and I cannot carry heavy things (although is really not that heavy but is really a good excuse).

Mac N Cheese with a twist.

I've been working a lot this month and since I'm at my third trimester I get really pooped easily. I've been trying to balance working and resting hence leaving me not much time to cook. Even when I'm home I get tired and don't feel like cooking. Most of the time hubs and I will try and whip up something quick so we can eat quick and rest. I also try and whip up extras so that I can take it to work for lunch. 

One evening I had no idea what to eat and was craving for pasta. We could either dine out of try and make it at home. Making pasta from stretch will take a longer time so when I went rummaging through my pantry I found a box of Mac and Cheese.