Sunday Lunch and some rambling...

my homecooked sunday lunch for four

I've been wanting to cook a complete meal for my family but something always cropped up. Either I would be caught up with school or none of my family would be home. I love the idea of a lazy afternoon spent at home eating home-cooked food. I am sick of eating oil, salty, food outside. It's hard to eat healthy when you're eating out most of the time. That's because they really don't care if your arteries clog up or you end up with diabetes. Bottomline is, as long they are earning your money through your appetite, all's well... or is it really?

Whatever it is, I always believe that home-cooked food is simply the best. I am blessed to have a dad who is a fantastic cook. Sure, my mum may not be blessed with culinary skills but at least one parent of mine can take over the kitchen and save the day! :) I really don't know how I came to love cooking and baking, but I know one of the reasons is because I love food and I really enjoy a good meal. I get cranky when I eat something that's really not up to scratch. Being a self-professed foodie, I always have my tastebuds primed so that I can spot the good from the bad. Good food is a must for me. Some can live on mediocre food as long as it feeds them and keeps them breathing. But not for me. So technically, if I love good food, I should know how to cook good food yes? Then, I won't have to depend on anyone to provide me with a good meal when I need one.

That said, I'm always on the look out for recipes that stand out. Recipes that are not too complicated and would appease my tastebuds. I'm so glad that foodblogs exist. Before, I used to flip through cookbooks and have a really hard time deciding which to use. Why? Well, you should know - the photos always look good but then sometimes, when you make it, it doesn't taste that fantastic or look that great even though you followed every step word-for-word. The truth is this: some recipes aren't that good and that's that. As for using recipes from food blogs; that's a different story all together. These recipes are tried and tested and vouched for. Even if the end product doesn't come out perfect, these bloggers will highlight that fact. Therefore, it makes life so much easier! So readers like me can just tweak the recipe or at least not be so bewildered as to why the end product was more soft than solid and so on...

Anyhow, back to cooking. Yes, my mum is away for the weekend, visiting my relatives in Malaysia and my dad's working on Sunday. So I thought why not I cook sunday lunch instead of buying food from outside. It was a perfect opportunity to try out recipes I've been eyeing! Ahem, especially Lori's (of Dessert First) bulleye's cheesecake which is simply lovely by the way.

Let me let you in on the simple menu:

entree: bean salad with orange dijon and balsamic dressing
main: mustard baked chicken
dessert: bulleye's cheesecake

I wanted to make pumpkin soup but didn't have time to. Maybe next time! Okay, so I cooked an entire meal today on my own and I'm really proud of myself! I cooked four portions actually. That's including myself, my sister, brother and JF. Yep, I did promise him I'd cook an entire meal for him! He always complains that I'm only always baking and passing him cakes and cookies. Just too bad he doesn't have a sweet tooth like me! Or at least, cakes and pastries are not his thing. He loves ice cream though. I really should get an ice-cream maker soon then!

Here are the rest of the photos I took of my successful Sunday Lunch! (I got 3 thumbs up from my siblings and JF! hahaa):



bean salad with orange dijon and balsamic dressing

Isn't this salad so colourful and pleasing to the eye? Best yet; it tastes really good and it's super healthy! I actually got the recipe from the Superfoods Healthstyle Book that JF got for me from Borders. It is actually about the different superfoods that are good for you and yes, beans is one of them. The recipe looked interesting and sounded yummy so I had to try it. I'm glad I did! I feel so healthy now :p



mustard baked chicken

This chicken recipe I got from one of the first cookbooks I bought. Yes, it was a recipe book on baking but thing is, there were recipes for proper food not just cakes and cookies! The recipe sounded good and I love mustard so this was an obvious choice. And guess what? It tasted good! My 'guinea pigs' all loved it ... haha. My bro even said I could sell it outside! Now that's what I call a compliment.


bulleye's chesecake

Ahhhh.... when I'm cooking, there will always be dessert and this one rocked!!! It's the famous Bulleye's Cheesecake made known by Lori of Dessert First, the ever so capable baker and cook! For all I know, she can bake cheesecakes with her eyes closed! She was searching for the perfect cheesecake recipe and thought this one was it and she was creative enough to make a bulleye's out if it. Her's look so perfect! I really wonder how she did it. Mine came out like this:



It might not look perfect but it sure tastes heavenly. I'm not kidding! I love cheesecakes and I really appreciate a good slice and my, I never expected myself to be capable of producing such a gem actually. Haha, but that's because I hardly bake cheesecakes. But thank God for Lori then, she's such a genius! Now I know that I don't have to travel all the way to a single cafe or shop just to sample a good cheesecake. :)

So there you have it! The lowdown on my shot at cooking lunch on a bright and sunny afternoon for my loved ones. I'm so glad it went well and I'm sure this will not be the last time!

And oh in case you were wondering how come I'm not busy studying for my exams - haha, i decided to rest this weekend! It's no mean feat completing 4 papers! I just have one more to go, next thursday. It's on social research methods, and it's not really my cup of tea but well I hope I can pull it off!

Cheers!

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Bean Salad with Orange Dijon and Balsamic Dressing
From Superfoods Healthstyle

Serves 8

This makes a great filling for lettuce or flatbread wraps. Try Kirby, Persian or Japanese cucumbers which are delicious alternatives to the usual cucumbers.

Dressing
1 large orange, zest and juice
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper

Salad
1 medium red onion
1 medium cucumber
15 ounces roasted peppers
1 garlic clove
1/3 cup flat-leaf parsley
15 ounces chickpeas, cooked
15 ounces black beans, cooked
One 15-ounce tin pinto beans
1 pound frozen green peas, thawed.

Combine the dressing ingredients in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Dice the onion, cucumber, and roasted peppers, and add to the bowl. Mince the garlic, roughly chop the parsley and add to the salad. Drain and rinse the beans and add along with the thawed peas. Stir to combine. Serve chilled.

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Mustard Baked Chicken

I'm too lazy to type the entire recipe out so I'll just put the marinate here. That's all there is to this yummy chicken!

Ingredients:
4 tbsp butter, melted
4 tbsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp paprika
salt & pepper to taste

Mix up the above ingredients and marinate your chicken (about 4 large, or 8 small pieces). Pop it into your preheated oven (200 degree celcius) and bake for about 15 minutes. After that side's cook, turn chicken over and sprinkle poppy seeds and return to oven for another 15 minutes. Serve immediately over cooked pasta or rice.

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Lori's Simply Simple Cheesecake

Ingredients:
2 cups graham crackers, crushed into crumbs (I used digestives)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
2-8 oz. packages of cream cheese, softened
1-14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
3 eggs, room temperature
4 oz bittersweet/semisweet chocolate

Directions:
Preheat oven to 300ºF. Combine crumbs, sugar and margarine; press firmly on bottom of 9-inch springform pan.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth.

Add condensed milk and beat until smooth. Add eggs, one by one, beating each until fully incorporated. Divide the batter into two bowls.

Melt the chocolate in a bowl and pour 1/2 of the batter into the bowl with the melted chocolate and stir well. Pour chocolate and plain batters into the prepared pan alternately, creating concentric circles and bake bake cheesecake for 50-55 minutes. It might not look firm when done; it will jiggle. The whole cake should jiggle evenly, though the center might be a bit looser. Cool cheesecake at room temperature for at least 1 hour before refrigerating. Refrigerate overnight or at least 4 hours. Store in refrigerator until ready to serve.

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Krusteaz Blueberry Pancakes

Check out that pancake. See those purple bluish specks? Haha, can you tell what they are?

If you say blueberries, you're half right.

You can't be sure, when eating these pancakes because they're just so good!

They sure taste very much like blueberry pancakes BUT, truth is, they are no blueberries in it.

I kid you not.

These pancakes are made from the Krusteaz Blueberry Pancake mix that Darla of Messy Cucina sent me in her Blogging by Mail Four package and they use artificial flavours to mimic the taste and look of blueberries. I don't think they have it here in Singapore though.

But i wish they do! Real blueberries here are just so expensive!



Krusteaz is a miracle I tell ya. All you have to do is add water, mix it and cook it on a griddle or frying pan.

It's really a breeze to cook these for breakfast. It seriously takes only minutes! My brother loves these and so do my sister. They keep asking me to cook it for them... and that means the stash I have is depleting soon.

Ahhhhh... anyone knows if I can get them here? Or better yet, can you recommend the best pancake mix you've ever tried? Thanks!

Okies, I have only two exam papers left. One's tomorrow morning and the other one, next thursday. Am so looking forward to celebrating, after! Might just bake me a HUGE cake. . . The post-exam celebratory cake! But first I need a kickass recipe! You have one? Tell me! Share the love.... :) k cheerios for now....

My favourite cafe

It's been ages since I went back to Miss Clarity.

Ya, I won't deny that it's my favourite cafe. I love the food, the ambience and the people there.

Especially sweet Nora, its owner. I take my hat off to her perseverance and hard work. Knowing her personally, I can say that the food there is cooked with love and you are getting your money's worth.

Now, I've heard alot being said about the place. Both good and not to good comments. Well I think they can't possibly please every single soul. Besides, it's already a huge challenge managing such a place with reasonably priced food.

Anyway, I do know for sure that the place still rocks like never before. Especially since they launched their new menu last week.

I knew I had to go back to try the food. And I did. I had the salmon baked rice (photo above) while Lina had the crispy al pomodoro:



Again, the food knocked my socks off! Lina's crispy breaded chicken added a tasty crunch to the pasta and the portion was more than enough. She loved the dish. And best thing is, they make their own pasta sauce. I like it.

My salmon baked rice was a winner too. With huge chunks of breaded salmon, and lots of mozzarella cheese, what could go wrong? They also flavoured the rice with some tomato based sauce I think... this is by far one of the better baked rice I've tasted. Yum.

Oh Miss Clarity, you never fail to amaze me!

The Soursop

I promised to blog about the soursop fruit so let me rave about it in an entire post....

This fruit looks weird. Or rather, i used to think it looked very weird. It kinda had thorns but wasn't as hardy as the durian. It's quite heavy and I was always wary of it because of its name. I mean, who names their fruit soursop? I know apples aren't known as sweetapples or sweetpeaches. haha... besides, the name sounds so soppy! I don't know when I first ate this fruit but I know that I can count on two hands the number of times I've consumed this exotic fruit.

I decided to check up wikipedia on the soursop's background and I found out that it's a distant relative of the pawpaw (a.k.a. papaya) It contains lots of vit C, B1 and B2 and apparently the fruit, seeds & leaves are used in herbal medicines. I originally thought it was an Asian fruit but it seems that it is native to the Carribbean, Central & South America... Here's what it looks like on the inside:



Now, I don't suppose people make cakes with these? I've yet to try a soursop cake! haha.. But I must say, I've taken a liking to the tender and sweet custard-y texture and taste of the flesh. It's refreshing and really goes well with lime juice! Ya, I drank a cup of lime juice that had soursop at Old Airport Road the other day.

I'm looking to see what I can make with this fruit. I welcome suggestions from you my dear readers! :)

Old Airport Road Hawker Centre

Ask me what I love most about living in Singapore and the answer would be pretty obvious.

I simply adore the variety and affordability of food here. Food is available at every corner, nook and cranny. I kid you not. And trust me, food prices start from $1 (sometimes, lesser) and $3 is enough to ensure you fill your stomach. Of course these food are not going to be available at your posh air-conditioned restaurants, but rather at the many hawker centres and coffee shops that's peppered all over the island.

Singaporeans all know that to get a satisfying and simply delicious meal you don't have to travel far and wide. All you have to do is to walk to the near by coffee shop (or food centres/foodcourts) and hot cooked food is easily available.

Now, food lovers around the island can tell you which are the better hawker centres. And I'm going to talk about one of them right now.

In fact, the title of my post already gives it away. Yep, it's called Old Airport Road Hawker Centre. For my overseas readers, that's simply the name of the road it's situated at. Recently, when I was on the bus, going past the area, I discovered that the building where the hawker centre used to be was dark and quiet. It turns out that they're going to renovate the old building. But the hawker centre is just behind it, in makeshift stalls.

A few days ago, I decided to have dinner there with my mum and sister. We were actually looking for some eatery at Upper East Coast Road but due to my miscalculation, we missed the stop and so we settled for Old Airport Road.

Here's a peek at what we ate:


chinese kueh - these ones were made fresh and I love the tenderness of the sticky dough!


fried hokkien mee - these wasn't fantastic. too watery. i really prefer the Thye Hong one at Food Republic


fish meat bee hoon - this soup is milky and quite light. is it evaporated milk or milk powder? anyhow, this is one of my fav. noodle dish.


braised pork set - it was served with tasty brown gravy, potatoes and carrots. rather satisfying.


the stall where we got ourselves lime juice with soursoup.

Speaking of soursops, my mum bought one home from the market yesterday. Will post about it soon. She hardly buys soursops! I used to be very wary of this fruit because of it's appearance. But I really love it now. It's soft tender flesh is really lovely.

There you have it: a brief look at Singapore's delicious hawker centre food. In total, I don't think we spent more than SGD $25. We actually ate fresh chee cheong fan with char siew too but I forgot to take a picture. That one was super yummy I tell you! They make it on the spot and the sauce goes well with it. And talk about the chilli... Hmmmmm....

Okay, enough of food for now. My exams start tomorrow! I'm going to go back to my books this instant. Tata all!

Foodblogger Meme

Been tagged by Angie for this meme. Here goes:

1. Please list three recipes you have recently bookmarked from foodblogs to try:

a)Yeasted Buckwheat Pancakes from Nic's Bakingsheet
b)Molly's Scones from Everybody Likes Sandwiches
c)Lamingtons from Rosa's Yummy Yums

2. A foodblog in your vicinity: Nook Bistro by Shaz

3. A foodblog (or more) located far from you: Creampuffs in Venice

4. A foodblog (or several) you have discovered recently (where did you find it?):
Messy Cucina by Darla

5. Any people or bloggers you want to tag with this Meme? Kitchen Crazy Daffy

Heinz's "Very Vegetable" Soups

Heinz are known for their baked beans more than any else. In my opinion at least. Well they make really good beans! Over the years, there have been many modifications too... With added ingredients such as bacon, cheese and even garlic.

Baked beans aside, I do know that Heinz do dish out great soups. I loved the 'chunky' line that they churned out. I love thick creamy soups and I think Heinz know a thing or two about making delicious soups in cans.

So when I saw this new 'Very Vegetable' series, I just had to try it. Bought two cans. The pumpkin & leek one plus another potato & spinach soup. Here's some photos of what they look like:



I know the soup doesn't look that great here, but really, it tastes good. I like pumpkin soups but haven't had time to make my own so having them the Heinz way is pretty good in fact. Great for hungry students who need a quick pick-me-up.



That's the potato & spinach one. Okay, this is how it really looks like:



Looks like porridge I know but it actually tastes good. Looks can be really deceiving some times... Anyway, i love these two soups but if I have to choose only one favourite, I'd go with the pumpkin & leek one. It's really light and refreshing.

Maybe when I have the time, I'll make the real, fresh version of these soups! it'll be fun ya...

Fresh and Crisp Salad!

As a vegetable lover, I don't feel too good if I don't get my daily veggie intake. I'm that particular about it. I'm no vegetarian but somehow, I just need the fibre and the vitamins to keep me going. That said, I hardly make salads because I think they're difficult to make. Boy was I wrong. Salads used to be just shreds of veggies drowning in thousand island sauce. But you know how fattening it is... Besides, it really kills the fresh taste of the vegetables.

The thing about eating salads sold outside, is you never really know if it's fresh! And I hate eating wilting cabbage that looks a pale green. So I decided to roll up my sleeves and make my own salad! Okay that photo might not look that good (what to do, i have to make do with my phone camera for now), but seriously, this salad tastes really good. I've discovered a better way to dress salads - without having to resort to 'fatty' sauces.

There isn't a fixed recipe but here's an estimation of what i mixed together to get the salad dressing:

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp stone ground mustard (you can use honey dijon mustard too)
1 tsp dried herbs (ie, oregano, dill, thyme, rosemary)

*Note: feel free to add more or less of which ever you fancy more (more vinegar if you prefer that zingy tanginess or more honey if you like it sweeter!)

So you put those ingredients in a bowl, mix them up well and good and pour it over your salad. Today, I decided to use purple cabbage, ice berg lettuce, cherry tomatoes, grated carrots, and japanese cucumber (a.k.a. courgette). You chop/slice them up and place them in a large bowl. Pour dressing over and mix somemore.

Viola, you have your fresh homemade salad! It's really really refreshing, trust me. Add some lemon juice for that extra zest! :)

Boy, I'm sensing a salad craze. I'll make it a point to whip up more salads so that you guys can learn and be healthier! hahaaa..

Happy Easter Ya'll!

Happy Easter!!!!

I'm so so happy.... not only because I can finally consume chocolates... But also, because the Lord has risen!

Just came home a few hours ago from attending Easter Vigil Mass. My friend got baptised, so me and most of the ministry peeps were there. It was a long long service. From 7:30 - 11:15pm! Serious! I was so tired at first... keep dozing off.

Anyhow, I'm just so happy. Easter is a time of celebration and it marks the end of Lent. It was the day God rose from the dead. And I finally baked hot cross buns! Hot cross buns are traditionally eaten during Lent or on Good Friday itself. The cross symbolises Christ. I love eating these buns but never got down to baking them myself. Until now.

But I think something went wrong with the yeast. Either the yeast was too old, or I didn't use enough yeast, or the method of activating the yeast was wrong. Because my buns didn't come out fluffy and it didn't really increase in size after I left it to rise. However, I still like the taste. I like spices so the cinnamon, nutmeg and ground cloves really did it for me. Plus the raisins. I left out the icing though. I don't like my hot cross buns so sweet.

By the way, I've began eating chocolates again. Sort of gorged myself on chocolates. Well not really gorged but I ate quite a bit of chocolates. I really missed the taste! Ah but I'm feeling rather sick now. I think I will go for a run later. Ate a bit too much chocolates. tsk tsk... oh well but hey, I actually succeeded in my chocolate abstinence. I'm so proud of myself! Yay! Let's see if I can do it again next year. :)

Happy One Year to this blog!!!

Geez!

Guess what?

It's been one whole year!

A whole year of what you ask?

An entire year of writing about food, posting droolsome photos of dishes and my bakes and cooks, raving and ranting about my favourite eats and all that jazz

Yep, it's been one year since I started this food blog and I'm still at it....

Do i ever get bored? Do I ever get sick of talking and posting photos of food? Nah, never. I'm still as passionate as ever. Food is everything to me. It's more than just substances we put into our mouths; I see it as an amazing entity that creates that warm feeling, and is the glue that binds the human race. Haha, laugh if you will, but I am passionate about food and I'll always be...

What do I intend to do with this good ol' food blog of mine? Am hoping to revamp it of course, when I have the time and the means to. I really suck at web design so heh if there are willing parties to help, i'll be so happy.

So there you have it, my food blog's one year anniversary. It's so fast! I know usually other food bloggers will bake/cook something to celebrate but I decided to do something different. Haha, ya I decided to not do anything. But just celebrate with words and one single picture of the way I feel.

Give a guess about the origins of that image up there? Or rather, what is it exactly... come on, go ahead, think a bit... hahaa okay, laterz ya'll!

Blogging by Mail 4 - across continents from Iowa to Singapore

Came home to this a while ago:



What is it? It's none other than a Blogging By Mail package from sweet Darla of Messy Cucina! This is the fourth Blogging by Mail and yes I've taken part in all four since it started! This one was hosted by Food Ninja and here's the round up, if you haven't already read about it or you're new to this whole concept.

Anyway, I'll hesitate no further and delve into what's in the package:



That's the whole lot of it. Amazing huh? I like every single thing she put in the package. It seemed like she really thought it through! Haha, she even did a word search to ensure that I didn't already have the things she was going to send. :)

Darla, no worries, Singapore doesn't have any of the things you sent. And that leads to my further excitement because I know that I'm going to enjoy what others can't. heheee.

And so here's a low down on what she sent me:



Krusteaz Blueberry Pancake Mix and Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix. I love blueberries but since they are quite costly here, I hardly have a chance to eat them. So I was delighted to find that she had put this blueberry mix in the package. I am going to cook them for breakfast tomorrow. And Jiffy! The packaging is so vintage and old-school - i like! yay, I have another corn muffins to bake soon.... hehe....

Next up is:



Ovaltine, Reese peanut butter Big Cup and Kraft's Marshmalllow Creme! Here we drink Milo and I haven't seen Ovaltine in a while (they used to have it i think?) so I can't wait to try this. But heh, gotta wait till after Lent (which is coming soon! this Easter sunday) before I can enjoy it. I'm still on my chocolate abstinence in case you all forgot.. haha. and i've been a good girl :) no chocolate whatsoever till now. So that means, Reese will have to wait in the fridge till Sunday! But hey I can have the marshmallow creme.... I heard it tastes good with peanut butter on toast... on and Darla included her Grannie's Christmas Fudge which uses the creme too. Might try it out!



Ahhhh stone ground mustard! I am a sucker for mustard and I am looking forward to trying this bottle that Darla sent. And check out that huge glass mason jar! It's homemade Russian Sweet Dill Pickles. I like pickles! But I better ration these ones because I know I won't be able to savour them again after they're gone!

See that Old Bay Seasoning? It smells really good! I love grilling my meats and what not, and I can't wait to see how well it enhances my food when I use it!




There's also some seasoned fish fry in the package - also another seasoning that I'm really looking forward to use. And here's an amazing contraption Darla sent me - an apple corer. It's fantastic I tell you. I was elated because I won't have to take minutes to cut my apples no more! Haha yes it'll make me lazier but hey at least I'll have more time to bake my stuff!



Now now, these are the gems. Why? Because I've seen it before and thought them to be such cute and interesting candy! I mean, I've yet to see worded candies here in Singapore. Check it out:



What nice candies to give your sweetheart don't you think? I think they'll do great as nice decorations to top my vanilla cupcakes with. I can't bear to eat these candy. Might just keep them around for as long as I can!

And there you have it, the entire description of what I got in the package Darla sent... and look, I've tried the apple corer already:



Can I rave about how convenient it is? I won't be prone to cuts on my hands no more! Ya, always have a problem with cutting apples - i'm rather clumsy and if it's not a nail I slice off, it's a sliver of flesh. Okay... i'll stop there... won't wanna gross you all out.

Other than the wonderful foodstuff she sent, Darla also included an awesome mix of music which I am enjoying as I type out this blog post. It's no surprise that I like the songs she's picked out. After all, she's only a year older than me! :)

Darla, if you're reading this, here's a big thank you! I've sent you an email too... do check it ya!

And to you my dear readers, i'll definitely update you all as I try each of the foodstuff she sent me! :) Cheerios for now....

P.S. Pardon my lower quality photos. My aunt borrowed my digital camera for her trip to Korea. So I relied on my trusty Nokia 7610 to deliver the photos. :)

Ice cream that's good for ya!

Being a fan of ice-cream, I find myself craving it ever so often. There's just something about the essence of ice-cream itself that's so appealing. Trust me, it's not just the sugar rush. Well I don't really like those overtly sweet ones. To me, ice-cream is all about the moment it lands on your tongue and starts melting and how the flavour swirls and your tastebuds start registering it and your brain and appetite tells you it's divine.

But most of the time, ice-cream is portrayed as a sinful treat. The answer is obvious... with the amount of cream and sugar, it's known to be high in calories etc. I usually prefer ice-cream with that down-to-earth homemade feel. My favourites have to be Scoopz (at Parkway Parade & Jurong Pt) and Island Creamery. I know there are many more home-made ice-cream parlours out there but I haven't had the chance to try them all just as yet.

To me, it's not only about the flavours but the texture as well. Okay, all in all, I just love love love ice-cream. It's a treat that's enjoyed by many. And especially in hot Singapore.

SO what is this post about then? Yes, ice-cream that's good for you. Obviously it won't be as good as the real McCoy, but this is close enough.

I present to you soy icecream from the Mr Bean soymilk/beancurd outlets that's peppered throughout the nation. I was delighted when I saw it being sold at certain outlets (I'm aware that the outlets at Compass Point and Tan Tock Seng Hospital sells them). And seriously, this is good. Though it's just one original flavour, it's a refreshing change. It's soft-serve soy icecream with dietary fibre, calcium, and less sugar. I really love it! It's not surprising because I happen to be a huge soy fan too. Seriously! I drink soy milk ever so often... Probably 3 to 5 times a week! I especially like Mr Bean's papaya and soymilk blend. Yum!

Okay, back to that soy icecream. It costs $1.50 per cup or $1.30 if you decide to have in it a cone. I really don't know how long it has been around, but I'm a huge fan now and it's going to be my ice-cream alternative on days that I feel that I've indulged too much. Haha!

Adenishiki

I don't suppose you have any idea what those are. Well maybe you do, if you've eaten it before! They do look interesting don't they? They're not anything weird but thing is, I've seen them around but always decided against eating it. Why not?

Well, that's because they're nothing more than just crackers with nuts in them. I am a fan of nuts and thought it redundant to place them in crackers. Haha... well I was ignorant I guess.

Anyway these are called adenishiki, which means mixed bean crackers. I think they're of Japanese origins. I do recall seeing them in japanese packaging all the time. There's just so many! I love Japanese foods, they're so innovative and creative. More about my favourite jap foods another time.

Today, it's all about adenishiki:



I bought it from school's co-op because I was craving for nuts and felt adventurous as usual.
I like these adenishiki because it's fun to eat! I like the different textures and taste. Some are coated with sesame seeds... and you know what.. these had crispy mini ikan bilis (anchovies) in it. yum. . .

Oh oh, i have a habit of reading labels on whatever I eat... so let's see what the ingredients list says:



check that out! monkey nuts! and silicon... oh oh, and rape seed oil. Haha.. okay I'm being really mean now i know. but can someone tell me what are monkey nuts? peanuts ya? and silicon? do you mean i've traces of silicon in my body? let's hope not. and hmph, rape seed oil? or do they mean grape seed oil! look at the difference one alphabet makes. :p

all right, enough of that... anyway i gotta say I do like adenishiki! okies. i have to go now. have a social research assignment to complete! and exams to study... oh, the life of an undergrad....

Quickie Lunch

Do you like eating out or eating in?

Usually I eat out because it's convenient and also because I'm always out! Besides, I live very far from where I study so it's always best to grab a quick bite before heading for school or heading for home from school.

So today I had an afternoon lecture and decided against being lazy and made my own lunch. It's quite a yummy yet easy to make lunch. Wonder what it was? Well, it had something to do with that brown sauce at the top right there, and somemore homemade noodles:



ya, the other day it was fettucine, today, it's noodles. :)

Okay, back to lunch. Yes, I decided to try out a recipe I chanced on this food blog I stumbled upon. Titled "Everybody Likes Sandwiches" (the title caught my eye i must admit... funky eh?), the author had posted up a recipe for Cabbage, spinach and tofu on noodles with peanut sauce and I happily saved the recipe in hope of trying it out someday. And today happened to be the day.

I made some variations to the recipe though. I had no spinach at home so I just left that out. I added some fish I marinated with teriyaki sauce though. The recipe called for natural peanut butter but since I didn't have any, I just used normal peanut butter spread. Maybe next time I'll try it with the natural version. All in all, I quite like this recipe BUT i think i made a mistake... I think I added too much garlic and ginger in the sauce.. it was pretty hot! not in the spicy sort of way but in the gingery-garlicky kinda way, erm, if you know what i mean. heh.

here's the end-product:



It looks very oriental eh? I really like this dish! Eating it with homemade noodles makes it even better. haha.