Growing up in Vietnam, we don't have the yellow lemon like here in the west.  Our lemon is the green lime and we got plenty of them.  There's at least one house on every street that has a lime tree.  When summer comes knocking, limeade is our drink of choice.  Cheap and easy to make.  There's also no packaged juice avail. then !!!  You either make your own drink or you have to go to a restaurant or food stall for them.

I love limeade !  the smell of cut limes brings back so many memories for me.  Our 264 Le Loi house, my grandma waiting for me coming home from school, and my mom with a pitcher of limeade.  My grandma would hug me and I can feel her cool soft skin on my cheeks when her face touches mine.  I miss her so much.  I know she's up there in heaven with the Lord and one day we will get to see each other again.  It's comforting knowing our relationship doesn't end with her passing, we're just apart from each other for a while !

Anyways, this drink is very easy to make.  You'll need lime or lemon, or a mix of both, cane sugar or honey (or white sugar) and water.  I used a mix of both lime and lemon because the lime we get here doesn't yield too much juice :-(  3 limes and I barely get half of a cup.

INGREDIENTS
Serving size:  8 cups

4 medium size limes (if using key lime, you'll need about 6-8 of them)
2 lemons
(all should yield about 1 to a cup of juice)
1 cup of cane sugar (more or less according to your taste, you can use white sugar if you like)
2 table spoon of honey (can be omitted, just add more sugar)
1 cup of boiling water
7 cups of cold water

Juice the limes and lemons into a bowl.  Strain out seeds and pulps and put juice into a pitcher.  Boil water then pour 1 cup of the boiling water into a bowl.  Add the sugar and honey to the boiled water and stir until completely dissolved.  Add the sugar water into the pitcher and mix.  Add the 7 cups of water, stir around then taste.  Add more sugar if you want it sweeter.  Chill in the fridge.

If you don't have time to chill the drink in the fridge, make the drink a bit more sweet then add 2 or 3 cups of ice.

Garnish with thinly sliced up left over rinds or slices of lime and lemon.

To make the limeade lemonade pink, I add 2 table spoons of crushed frozen raspberries !

I added the juice of 1 orange to make the drink orange in color (kid requested)

We drink our limeade in tea cup !  this is how we roll :-)

INGREDIENTS
Serves 2 

- 2 cups of dry macroni or small shell pasta
- 1 1/2 cup of milk (2% or homo milk)
- 2 table spoon of flour
- 1 1/2 - 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese (I used marble cheese and it's just as good)
- 1/2 teaspoon of dry mustard (can be omitted)

INSTRUCTIONS

- In a pot of boiling water, add a pinch of salt, add the pasta and cook until done (tender but still firm, not mushy)- Pour cooked pasta into a colander to drain
- Pour milk into pot and add the flour, whisk until well blended, no clump left
- Cook on medium heat, stir constantly (while stirring, it's good to break up any lump that formed, to ensure for smooth sauce.  I stirred with a small whisk and it helps with the smooth consistency)
- When sauce is creamy, add the shredded cheese and stir
- When the cheese is melted, taste and season with a bit of salt or pepper
- Add the drained pasta back into the pot
- Stir pasta and sauce until they are mixed well
- Serve immediately

You can top pasta with more shredded cheese if you like !  Enjoy

BANANA BREAD RECIPE

Prep time: 10 minutes  :  Cook time: 55 minutes  :  Yield: Makes one loaf or 12 muffins

Super easy to mix and clean up !  The best bananas to use for banana bread are those that are over-ripe.  The yellow peels should be all dotted with brown spots ! and the bananas inside soft and squishy.

INGREDIENTS

2-3 ripe bananas, peeled (depending on the size, if around 6-7" long then use 2 bananas, use 3 bananas if smaller size)
1/3 cup melted butter or vegetable oil
3/4 cup sugar (use 1/2 cup if you would like it less sweet, use up to 1 cup if want more sweet, I used organic cane sugar)
1 egg, beaten (I like to add one additional egg or 1 egg white for more moist bread)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour (substitution:  I used 1/2 cup of oatmeal (blended in blender to almost powder) and 1 cup of whole wheat flour.  This is the more healthy route :-)

INSTRUCTIONS

• Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C), and butter or oil a 4x8-inch loaf pan or muffin pan. (I have a convection toaster oven so I used it instead of oven, 325 high for 1 hour)
• In a mixing bowl, mash the ripe bananas with a fork or potato masher until completely smooth. Stir the melted butter (OR vegetable oil) into the mashed bananas.
• Stir in the sugar, beaten egg, and vanilla extract. 
• Add in the mix baking soda and salt and flour.
• Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour at 350°F (175°C), or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.  ***If making muffin, baking time is a lot less, about 20 min.
• Remove from oven and cool completely on a rack. Remove the banana bread from the pan. Slice and serve. (A bread knife helps to make slices that aren't crumbly.)

Day off from work and I'm craving some sweets but there's no chocolate around.  I decided to make some cookies to satisfy this growing tummy !  I typed into google "easy chocolate chips cookies" and this one caught my eyes !  Over 7000 ratings can't be wrong right ?  I love ratings !  so I decided to try it out !

Here's the recipe and my remarks, as I didn't have all the ingredients on hand but it still turned out amazingly good !

Original link:  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/10813/best-chocolate-chip-cookies/

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup butter, softened 
• 1 cup white sugar (I used only 1/2 as I didn't want it to be too sweet and plus I added Skor bits which will make the cookies sweeter, hence I thought to cut back on the sugar)
• 1 cup packed brown sugar 
• 2 eggs 
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I didn't have any)
• 3 cups all-purpose flour 
• 1 teaspoon baking soda 
• 2 teaspoons hot water 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I only have 1 and 1/2 cups)
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (I didn't have any so I added 1/4 cup of Skor bits)

INSTRUCTIONS

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

- Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour, chocolate chips, and nuts.  Mix batter together by hand.  Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans.

- Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned.  

The cookies hold their shapes well, so if you drop it in a big round blob it will look 90% like that when baked !  I flattened my cookies out with a spatula (you can see the marks in the picture) !  

I like McDonald's breakfast sausage but limit myself to it only a few times a year.  The other day it came to me, why don't I make them at home ?  why haven't I thought of this before ???  They are healthy, without preservatives and easy to make !

Here's the recipe written by literary mom for food.com, I tweaked it a bit:

INGREDIENTS

1 lb ground turkey (or pork or mix of both, I found lean turkey are a bit too dry)
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sage
1 teaspoon fennel seed > I grind this on a pestle for even distribution in the meat
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon black pepper > I used only half when I make it for the kids
1⁄2 teaspoon white pepper
1⁄2 teaspoon cayenne
1⁄4 teaspoon garlic powder
1⁄8 teaspoon ground cloves
1⁄8 teaspoon nutmeg
1⁄8 teaspoon allspice

I also add:
- 1/2 tablespoon of brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon of marjoram
- 1/4 teaspoon of rosemary
- 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes (omit if making for kids)

Mixed all the dry ingredients together, then add to the ground meat.  Mix well with hands and form into thin patties (1/4 of an inch).  Pan fry on medium high, 3-5 min on each side.  Enjoy !

No-fill, plain pandan glutinous rice balls in ginger sauce
(sprinkled with toasted shredded coconut and sesame seeds)

At home sick (congested) and feeling really sick of getting sick so often !  My daughter Bee asked me to make her "white balls that drop in the water".  I knew right away what she meant and welcomed the request.  I forgot about this sweet treat !  What a great way to take in more gingers :)  Why more ginger ?  I don't know when it started, but as I get older I become more nammer than I desired to be :)  When sick with a cold, my mom's nagging voice would play in my brain ! when down with a cold, we should eat only "warm" ingredients, like ginger, sesame leaves (Tia to), onion, scallion, garlic, etc.  It makes a lot of sense to me now.  It seems a lot of what my mom said make a lot of sense nowadays :)

I propped Bee up next to the stove and let her roll the balls while I prepped the ginger sauce.  She only wanted plain ones so it'll be super quick to make. 15 min. later we were both rewarded with chewy glutinous rice balls in honeylicious ginger sauce.

Here's the original recipe.  If you want plain, omit the mung beans, and just mix the flour, rolled into what ever size rice balls you want and drop it in the ginger sauce.  I also tried something new, pandan flavoured rice balls filled with red beans in coconut milk.  In order to taste the food, I steamed my face in hot water for a few second and gained a few seconds of utter bliss !  I can breathe and taste my food.  It was the highlight of today.  I've appreciate this little nose so much !!!

INGREDIENTS

Yield 10 large glutinous rice balls or 18-20 small ones

- 1 bag of bot nep glutinous rice flour (400g)

- 2/3 bag of yellow mung beans (use about 250g of the 400g bag)

- 1/4 teaspoon of salt

- one inch of ginger, minced or thinly julienne (use more or less to your liking)
- 1 chunk of rock sugar (2-3 inch)

- 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon of sugar (for mung beans)
- extra rock sugar or cane sugar for taste

INSTRUCTIOINS

Mung beans filling: 

- Wash the mung beans and put into a pot, cover with 1 1/2 times of water
- Add the 1 tablespoon of cane sugar

- Add the 1/2 teaspoon of salt and bring to boil, cover and turn heat down to medium.  Simmer for 15 min. and turn off the heat.  Leave on stove with pot covered for another 15-20 min.  

- Mung beans are done when they are easily squished

- Remove from pot, let cool and chill in the fridge

*Taste the mung beans paste and see if it's sweet enough.  Adjust to your preferred level of sweetness.  Keep in mind the ginger sauce serve over this is sweet also.

Prep. for the ginger sauce

- Boil about 6 cups of water

- Add the rock sugar and brown sugar.  Simmer until dissolved.  Adjust sweetness with more rock sugar or cane sugar.
- Add in the minced or sliced gingers
- Bring to boil and remove from stove

Making glutinous rice balls:

- Mix flour with 1 2/3 cup of lukewarm water

- Knead the mixture well and leave a side

- Remove the mung beans from the fridge, with a fork or potato masher, crush the beans into powdery mixture

- Divide the mixture into 10, take each portion and formed into a ball, put aside

- Lightly greased hands, take an egg size of the mixed flour, roll into a ball then flatten it big enough to cover the mung bean ball 

- Place a mung bean ball in the middle of flattened flour, fold in from four sides, then rolled in between hands to form into a ball
- Place finished balls on a plate lined with saran wrap (to prevent balls from sticking to plate)

Cooking the rice balls:

- Boil a pot of water, about 8 cups of water
- When it's rolling boil, drop in slowly each of the rice ball, don't crowd the pot
- When rice ball is done it will float to top
- Scoop out the cooked rice balls and put into a plate, space out the balls so it doesn't stick to each other

Serve:
- Place 2 or 3 rice balls into a bowl (if balls are cold, warm up for a few seconds in microwave)
- Pour hot ginger sauce over the rice balls

*** You can also cook the rice balls directly in the ginger sauce pot and avoid boiling another pot of water altogether.  The different between the two ?  If you cook directly in the ginger sauce, the sauce will get a little thick due to the flour from rice balls.  It's personal preference so you decide :)

If you want to make pandan rice balls covered red bean, add the pandan flavoring to the lukewarm water before mixing it with the flour.  Substitute mung beans with red beans (soak red beans over night then cook it or use unsalted canned beans).  And substitute ginger sauce with coconut milk (bring coconut milk to boil and add sugar to your desired sweetness). 

Now that you know how easy this is, try out other fillings, like ground black sesame, or crushed peanuts with coconut and sugar !  Enjoy ! 

REPOST from ourbestbites.com

 

 

Easy Cupcake Frosting and Filling

 

3 tablespoon Flour

1/2 cup whole milk (I use half whole milk & half coconut milk)

1/2 cup real butter (I use unsalted, but salted was recommended for better taste)

1/2 cup granulated sugar (I use organic cane sugar)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract, or other flavor if you wish.

 

Instructions:

 

Whisk together the flour and the milk. Heat in a small sauce pan on medium heat.Whisk continuously until it starts to thicken. Let it cook, while stirring, until you can start to see the bottom of the pan. Smash any flour lumps with a rubber spatula to keep mixture smooth.

Keep cooking mixture until it resembles thick pudding, almost a paste-like consistency.

Put this mixture in the fridge and let it cool completely, it’s fine if it stays in there long enough to get chilly, you just don’t want it warm at all. As it’s cooling, feel free to stir it occasionally to speed up the process and keep it from forming a crust on top.  When it is chilled, you can move on to the following step.

 

NOTE:  I don't have a stand mixer so I used the hand held one !  it's a bit tiring and time consuming but the result is excellent !  sooooo fluffy, light and amazingly good !!!

 

 

It an electric stand mixer, beat the butter and the sugar for a minute or two until well combined and fluffy. You’ll want to use the whisk attachment on a stand mixer, not the flat paddle. Then while beating, add in the thickened milk mixture and the vanilla. Beat to combine and then scrape down the sides. Don’t be scared. It’s going to look like a goopy mess and kind of lumpy and separated like this:

 

But you just wait. It’s gonna blow your mind in a few minutes. Beat on med-high until it comes together and becomes light and fluffy.  It can take anywhere from 5-10 minutes.

 

It will transform from that sloppy mess into something gorgeous, fluffy, and incredibly light and silky.  If the time has passed and it still looks like a hot mess, just keep on beating and it should eventually come together.  Feel the mixture between two fingers to see if the sugar granules have dissolved; if not, just beat a little longer.

 

Use it to fill or frost cupcakes, cakes or other pastries. You can’t go wrong putting this on just about anything :)

 

Frosts 12 cupcakes, lightly.  I almost always double it.

BASIC VEGAN CHOCOLATE RECIPE

by Isa Chandra Moskowitz 

 

 

 

These cupcakes were so moist and tasty !  It was good enough to eat without the added frosting !

 

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup soy milk (I use coconut milk)

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

3/4 cup granulated sugar (I use organic cane sugar)

1/3 cup canola oil (I use half canola and coconut oil)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract, chocolate extract, or more vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder, Dutch-processed or regular

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

 

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350°F and line a muffin pan with paper or foil liners.

 

Whisk together the soy milk and vinegar in a large bowl, and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. Add the sugar, oil, vanilla extract, and other extract, if using, to the soy milk mixture and beat until foamy. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add in two batches to wet ingredients and beat until no large lumps remain (a few tiny lumps are OK).

 

Pour into liners, filling 3/4 of the way. Bake 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely 1 teaspoon

For frosting, I use this recipe Easy Cupcake Frosting

The title of this recipe is pretty much self described !  Put a bit of coconut oil in a non stick pan, sliced up banana diagonally (for longer/bigger piece) about 1/4 of an inch thick.  Fried each side til golden.  Remove from pan and serve up with vanilla bean ice cream !  Yumo !!!!

I craved warm pie with ice cream but we got no pie !  Saw some bananas and thought of those deep fried bananas they always served up in Malaysian restaurant.  I don't want to deep fried so thought why not pan fried it for a healthier option.  Glad I tried it as it was nice with ice cream.  Banana burns easy due to sugar content in it so don't cook too long.  Enjoy.



God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble  Psalm 46:1



brown rice & quinoa chicken congee

When the cold weather comes knocking,  we most always have some kind of broth based food for breakfast or lunch.  One popular breakfast (or late night snack) item we enjoy often is Cha'o or rice porridge or congee.  It can be made plain with just rice and water and topped with anything you like ! Or you can add to the water, chicken or pork or prawn or clam or beef or with root vegetables like carrots, radish and baby potatoes.  The variation is endless.

There are also many ways to make congee !  Here is my easy, quick method and the slow version !

If you noticed, I use fish sauce in most of my recipes.  I never use to like it before but since I started cooking more often, I develop a taste for it.  It some how rounded out the flavor.  It's not fishy like the name or smell.  It has a nice deep salty taste.  I use only 2 types:   Red Boat & Viet Huong 3 Crab brand.  Red Boat has a rich flavor and twice the price of Viet Huong.  Hence I use Red Boat only for raw dipping and Viet Huong for cooking.

Easy Quick Congee (yield about 4-6 rice bowl)

Cooking time: about 35 min.

Ingredients :
- 4 cups of low sodium organic chicken stock (no chicken stock? just use all water then :-)
- 1 chicken breast or 2 boneless thighs, cut into strips
- 3 cups of water
- 2 cups of cooked rice (or 1/2 cup of washed uncooked rice < this will take a bit longer to cook that's all.  Add another 15 - 20 min. to simmering time)
- 5 slices of ginger (sliced into thin strips) more or less or if you don't like to eat ginger but want the flavor, then smashed a chunk of ginger, size of knuckle, then remove when done.  You can add more or less ginger depend on liking
- ABOUT 2/3 tablespoon of good fish sauce OR 1 teaspoon of sea salt (there's salt in the stock already (depending on the brand, sodium % in chicken stock vary), so go easy on this OR wait til it's done and add fish sauce or salt as needed)

Garnish (optional):
- chopped green onions and cilantro
- fried scallion
- thinly sliced ginger

Put broth, water, rice and meat into a pot.  Bring to broil, and let broil uncovered at med-high for about 10 min.  Then bring down to med-low (on the lower side) to simmer for about 25 min (with lid half covered).  Stir every 7-8 min. so rice doesn't stick to bottom.  As different type of rice soak up more or less water, so if your congee looks too thick, add another cup of water to it.  If too thin, then cook longer.

Turn off stove, close lid and let stand for about 10 min.  Congee should have the consistency like oatmeal porridge. 

Scoop congee into a large bowl or divide into small single serving bowl and sprinkle with green onions and cilantro.

Add salt and pepper as needed.


Chicken Meat Substitution:
- instead of chicken, you can add any type of meat you like:  turkey, pork, beef, fish, etc.  Sliced or minced.  You can also use fish balls or shrimp balls (whole, halve, or coarsely chopped) !  they're quite good too !


IF you made plain congee, just rice and water, here are some topping suggestions you can add to eat with the plain congee:

- grocery store rotisserie chicken - shredded
- bbq pork, chicken, or duck
- cooked eggs
- pork floss
- Vietnamese ham
- salted radish
- pan roasted peanuts
- fried chinese donuts


COOKING TIPS & SUGGESTIONS:

- If congee is too thick to your liking, thin it out by adding more broth or water.  If add more water, don't forget to season it again with fish sauce or salt.

- If you had one of those store bought roasted chicken for dinner, use the left over and the carcass to make a broth and use the broth to make congee.  You can also just cook the left over with rice and water to make congee just remember to remove all bones from the congee before consuming.

- Left over turkey from the holiday makes awesome congee !!!

- Don't be afraid to experiment with it !  Try using turkey leg, or pork side ribs instead of the chicken thighs.  Ground turkey, chicken, or pork is good too.  Precook the ground meat with a little oil and scallion.  Break them a part to small pieces then add them to the water and rice to cook.


HEALTHY ALTERNATIVES:

- use 2/3 rice and 1/3 quinoa
- use brown rice instead of white rice (brown rice takes a bit longer to cook)
- add in finely chopped carrots, baby potatoes and/or green peas
- use vegetable stock instead of meat stock

Slow Cook Congee (yield about 6 big bowl or 10-12 rice bowl)

Cooking time:  1 hour and 15 min.

Ingredients:
- 6 chicken thighs back attached, bone in, washed, skin removed, excess fat trimmed
- 11 cups of water
- 1 cup of uncooked rice, washed
- 10 slices of ginger (sliced thinly) more or less, depend on liking
- 2 tablespoons of good fish sauce or 3 teaspoon of sea salt (more or less)

Garnish (optional):
- chopped green onions and cilantro
- sautéed scallion
- thinly sliced ginger

Put chicken and water into a deep pot.  Bring to boil, skim off foam on top.  Let broil at med-high for 5 min then bring down to medium low and let cook for 30 min.  Remove chicken from broth and put aside to cool.

Add the washed rice to the broth, bring it up to boil then let it simmer on low for about 50 min.  Stir every 7-8 min. so the rice doesn't stick to bottom of pot.

Turn stove off then leave pot on stove.

Separate the chicken meat from bone.  Shred the meat into small pieces.  You can choose now to either leave them out to garnish on top of the congee or put them back into the pot.

Stir congee around then scoop into bowl.  If you left the shredded chicken out as topping, you can add them on top of the congee now.  Sprinkle with green onions and cilantro.  Add salt and pepper as needed.

Check out  Cooking Tips & Suggestions and Healthy Alternatives in the above section for other variations !

We went and picked some 20 pounds of blueberries at GS farm out in Richmond.  Within days, between my mom, hubby, Bee and I, we consumed over 15 lbs of them.  Realizing that I will be out of them soon, I scheduled another u-pick date.   But before I can grab my bucket, my brother showed up on my porch and gave me 18 pounds of huge blueberries.  Then my sister in law came over and gave me about 7 pounds !!!  I was in blueberry heaven !!!  With so much of these precious rubies on hand, I wanted to do something else with them other than just inhaling them fresh :-)

I messaged up the one person I know who's crazy about food and loves to bake !  Jimmy Ho !!!  He sent me on my way to:  Betty's Morning Coffee Blueberry Muffins Recipe !  The recipe asks for simple ingredients and very easy to follow.  If you got some blueberries to spare you must try this !

 ................................................................................... 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8OoD11F_6o

In this video, Betty demonstrates how to make her sweetly divine Morning Coffee Blueberry Muffins. They are just the right texture and flavor--not too sweet, because the fresh blueberries take care of that!

Ingredients:

1 egg, well beaten  < I substitute with 1/2 mashed ripe banana
1/2 cup sugar  < I use about 1/3 of a cup of organic sugar since my blueberries are really sweet
1/2 cup vegetable oil (canola)  < I use coconut oil
3/4 cup milk (2/3 cup in the video, but 3/4 cup will be better.)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups self-rising flour  < I use 1 & 2/3 flour and 1/2 cup of quick oats
1 cup fresh blueberries, washed and dried with paper towels
cooking oil spray  < I use paper muffin liner

** To make self-rising flour:  For 1 cup of all-purpose flour, add 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix all ingredients, except blueberries. Gently fold in 1 cup fresh blueberries. Spoon into muffin tins that have been sprayed with cooking oil, until 3/4-full. Bake at 400 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes. When done, a toothpick inserted into the center will come out clean. Note: If you prefer not to spray the muffin tins, place a paper baking cup liner for each muffin. These are really great muffins--enjoyable for everyday, but elegant enough for company!

 ...................................................................................

I went nuts over these muffins !!!  They're soooooooooo good !  I ate 8 of them in one seating :-D  I figure since I used all healthy ingredients in the making of them, it should be OK  ;-P  Bee doesn't like her muffin dripping in blueberry gooey goodness so I made her some plain ones.  They were just as good !!!  Thank you Betty !  whoever you are !

There's hard boiled egg and there's 'perfect' hard boiled egg !!!  I didn't know that.  For years I hated hard boiled egg until my mommy friend, Tanya, shared with me her secret to boil a perfect egg.  Egg that has a nicely firmed white and a moist soft yolk, no chalk-like taste and texture. 

I was doubting her, giving her an raised eye-brow when she excitedly share with me her how-to.  How hard is it to boil an egg ?  water, egg, let boil, take out, eat !  there's other way ?  there's technique to boil an egg ???  EGG ???  What ?!?!?!  YES Tanya said.  Just try it.

'Just try it' and I did ! and readers, I'm now a believer.  It seems I've been boiling eggs the wrong way all these years.  I was so impress with how they turned out I have to post it up.  Tanya was so right !  I will never go back to cooking egg my old way again. 

Here's the secret (not so much of a secret anymore :-) :

- place eggs in a pot
- add water to cover the eggs
- bring to boil
- LET BOIL FOR EXACTLY 1 MINUTE
- REMOVE from stove immediately and cover with lid
- let stand for 20 minutes

Crack, Peel, and Enjoy !

My daughter Bee loves them so much (used to hate boiled egg like her mama), she asked for 2.  Since the organic eggs were petit in size, I let her have my share.  Seeing that I can't take my eyes of her last bite, Bee was kind enough to spit out a chunk for me to chow on !!!  very soft tender yolk and just-set white.  Wow !  Who knew !

Bee and I make waffle or pancake every Saturday.  It's our mommy and daughter tradition.  However, with me staying at home now, we not only make it on Saturday, but we also make waffle every other day !  I love the smell of fresh baked flour in the morning.  It's comforting for some reason.  And the waffle, it's so yummy !  Crispy on the outside, airy, soft and a bit chewy on the inside.  Perfect.

Here's the recipe I got from a mommy friend Dee. (I tried many waffle recipes before and hers is the best, imo):

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup of whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder (this is different from baking soda :-)
2 tablespoon of sugar (less or more depending on your sweet tooth)

1 3/4 cup of milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup of cooking oil or butter (I use coconut oil)
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

*If you like light and airy waffle, first separate the egg white from the yolk.  Blend the egg whites with a hand blender until stiff peaks formed (about 3-4 min).

Mix all dry ingredients together, then mix in the oil, eggs (egg yolks if separated), then the pour in the milk & vanilla extract.  (If you beat the egg whites separately, fold it in at the end and whisk until blended)

Heat your waffle maker as per instructions.  Pour in 2 spoons of batter and cook until golden.  Serve hot.

This recipe yields about 8 waffles for us.  You might get more or less depending on your waffle machine's depth and dimension.

**You can double the recipe and freeze the extras.

highlight of the day:  Bee and I went out to check on our little garden.  The peas spouted and they are growing !!!  We can't wait to eat them.  We also counted the figs on our fig tree :)



Planted the peas under our clematis plant > not a good idea because the clematis dropped so many petals down on them each day !  Our clematis produced over abundant of soft pink flowers this year.

 

Went to a BBQ at my bestie's house and she made this amazing salad ! I ate a few servings, and could have continued, but I told myself to stop, to keep my taste bud under control :-) there are others who are coming and I have to save some of this goodness for them.

As one who loves to eat, of course I asked for the recipe.  And as any good person would, my friend shared her recipe with me :-P  her comment "its super easy" made this salad all the more appealing to me !  I like anything good that's easy to make.  Who doesn't ?

While planning out dinner for today, baked trout and prawn skewers, I needed a salad and naturally I thought of this !!! It took me about 15 min. to put them all together (SSScccore !!!) and boy, does it taste yummy in my tummy !

Here's how to make it:

- 2 cups of thawed frozen corn, cook for in boiled water for 3 min, drained (if use canned, no need to cook)
- 1 can of kidney bean (or if you have dried bean, soak over night and cook til soft (1 cup))
- 1 green english cucumber, cut cross wise, remove seeds from both halves, then cut into small cubes
- 1 red pepper (or orange or yellow), diced
- 1 avocado, cut into small cubes
- 1/2 of white onion, diced
- a handful of chopped cilantro

Seasoning:

- 1 lime (zest the skin and juice the lime)
- 2 table spoons of extra virgin olive oil
- sea salt and pepper to taste

* these are the estimated measurements I used, but you can add more of what you like, less of other or opt out completely !

Direction:

Mix the lime juice, olive oil, a bit of sea salt and pepper and the lime zest together.  Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients together then pour in the seasoning. Lightly mix together (don't over mix because it can break the avocado).  Test taste and add more lime juice, salt and pepper to your liking.  Refrigerate until serving.