My Version of Vietnamese Dessert

We loved Vietnamese dessert.  Often time when we went up to Denver, we would go to a Vietnamese bakery shop to buy some of the kuih (Asian steamed cake), "tofu fah" and cups of sweet dessert like the above.  It came with several variety and it was hard to pick a favorite, but often time I would pick one loaded with beans, sweet potato, sago and taro.  I don't know how they really make theirs but I know it is sweet and covered with coconut milk.

This is my version and it tasted just like the one sold at the store.  It is not difficult to make but involved a few steps like cooking the tapioca pearls or strips first and steaming the sweet potato or taro if used.  Then, you just mix it all together and place into an individual serving bowl or cup and refrigerate until serving.  It is best eaten on the same day as the tapioca strips might harden when kept in the fridge for too long.  If you make this, please feedback to me ya!  Enjoy!

Toast Pizza

I saw this Pizza using bread in someone blog before, but couldn't really remember where (Maybe Tigerfish?).  I have also seen pizza using tortilla and pita bread.  It just so many lazy and easy variation out there these days, and some even made dessert pizza.  I made this for my girls' school lunchbox.  I wanted to give them a different variety of lunch boxes instead of the same old thing.  So, I toast it and make it looks like mini pizza instead of making it into a sandwich.  

This was made in a different day without the spinach and cooked chicken breast.  All packed in their lunch box.  They preferred it this way instead of wrapping it in foil.  I would add a cutie into their lunch box too.

Chewy Rice Paper Pan-fried Nian Gao

This inspiration came about when I was watching a Korean Variety Show called "Happy Together".  There was a winning dish that used the rice paper to wrap leftover and pan-fried it.  Just so happen that I still have a small piece of nian gao/ steamed glutinous rice cake in the refrigerator, so I thought rice paper and nian gao would go well together and quickly set out to give it a try.  We all loved this chewy variation of eating the nian gao too.  Now I have a new way to enjoy the leftover nian gao from Chinese New Year!  I bet you all have some nian gao laying around your house too right?  Give this a try!! *wink*

Soft and chewy bite with melted nian gao/ tikoy/ steamed glutinous rice cake with a slight crispiness from the skin, simply divine!  If you don't like it chewy, you can also try my Crispy Springroll Fried Nian Gao.  You can omit other filling and just wrap it with the nian gao alone, crispy and delicious!

Crisp Citrus Cookies

This Crisp Citrus Cookie is really easy to make by using a food processor.  This is requested by Evy and also I wanted to test out the new cookie cutters that I bought from Amazon.  I think I scored this cookie cutters pretty cheap at Amazon, each pair cost less than $2 each, but I can't remember the specific amount.  Since it was shipped from China, it took awhile to arrive but I can't complain since the shipping was free. If you are in the US and want this kind of cookie cutters, you can buy it via Amazon.  They have a lot of different characters to choose from as well.

Easy Pineapple Rolls

Easy pineapple rolls for a lazy me!  Or should I named it Lazy Pineapple Rolls??  What to do if I want to eat pineapple tart or roll but don't want to spend a whole day of making it?  I gotta think of a short-cut!!  With the earlier Red Bean Pastry Roll, I got the idea of making my pineapple roll the same easy way.  Granted it was not as pretty as the traditional method but I got my pineapple rolls and my girls were happy!  This is mostly for overseas moms who want some CNY treat but don't want to spend too much time of making it.  It's easy, so for those moms who were too scare to attempt it before (or too lazy), you can make this easy version!!

This is not the melt-in-the-mouth pastry, but not too bad I might say.  After years of making the CNY cookies every year, I have gotten lazy so this year I pick or create an even easier cookie recipes to make.  Now my girls are getting bigger and they look forward to my yearly CNY cookies, so I would make some for them.  Last time, I used to make a lot to give to friends but now just for my family consumption.

Red Bean Pastry Rolls

A friend shared a link to this recipe via Facebook and it interested me because I had a pack of red bean paste that needed to be used and this recipe looked easy.  I simplified the recipe further by using a food processor and with a ready made red bean paste, this was really easy to make. 

The pastry was crispy on the day it was baked and not as crispy day 2 onwards.  However, it was still a delicious treat.  A change from the usual CNY cookies!

Crispy Almond Cookies

Wow, how time flies!  Another Chinese Lunar New Year to be celebrated and this year is the year of the Horse!  I just realized that I have been blogging for the past 9 years and next year will be my 10 years anniversary!!  WOW!  My blog is getting old and hopefully I am not.  Haha... I really have to thank my readers who have supported my blog and who have come back to read my blog over the years even though I am not a good writer and I don't take beautiful pictures.   Nothing seem to change much over the years blogging wise, except I am now into a healthier eating life style and even simplified cooking method and recipes.  Also just to let you know that you can also follow me on Tweeter, Pinterest and Facebook for the latest blog update.  I hope after so many years, I still have more new recipes to share with you.  Okay long story short, hereby wishing all of you a healthy new year!  Eat healthier, eat healthy, eat more colorful food, eat more variety of superfood, eat more whole fresh food, cut down and minimize processed food and exercise for a HEALTHIER YOU!!  Money is nothing without health, so work on your health first and the rest will come into place.  HAPPY CHINESE LUNAR NEW YEAR!!!

As the name implied, this almond cookie is crispy!  I always made the melt-in-the-mouth peanut/cashew/almond cookies in the past and I wanted a change.  This year I wanted some crispy almond cookies, so I created this recipe.  This was actually my second attempt, my first attempt failed miserably resulted in a soft and melt-in-the-mouth almond cookies (so not sharing my failed attempt here).  I also wanted this recipe to be easily made (as I am famous for!), so out with my food processor!!  You can use your Kitchenaid mixer as a substitute.  Just add and mix and viola and not many things to wash later too.  Very easy and the dough can be easily shape and cut as well.  I didn't even use a roller to roll the dough, I just flatten it with my palms, but if you want an even shape, use your roller!  ;-)

Delicious Tropical Gluten Free Cookies

This is a little different from my Gluten Free Almond Flaxseed Cookies as I added some tropical feel to it.  I added dried pineapple and dried mango.  You can substitute that with chocolate chips, dried cranberries or raisins.

This tropical cookie is crispy and slightly soft in the middle on the first day.  On the next day, it turns soft and chewy but still delicious.  My younger girl said this cookie doesn't look pretty but tastes delicious.  ;-) Oh well, it looks pretty nutty and healthy (nutrients from almond, flaxseed and coconut) to me, and it is gluten free.  If you try it, remember to feedback to me ya!  I want to know whether you like my creation.

Citrusy Biscotti with Dried Cranberries, Chocolate Chips and Coconut

This recipe is adapted from my previous Tropical Biscotti Recipe. It is so delicious and I wonder why I only make biscotti during the Christmas holidays.   It is not difficult to make at all, you only need a hand whisk and then a spatula before using your hand to knead the dough.  The only troublesome part is you have to double or triple bake it.  I bake mine three times because I like it brown on all sides.

I already perfected this recipe the last time, even I go back to my old recipe to make biscotti, so you can rest ensure that it will turn out good, not hard rock that you couldn't even bite into it.  It is so good that you can eat it just like that or dip it in your coffee.  I received compliments on my biscotti every time I give it away.

Wishing all of you a very Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!!  It is a long holidays break for the kids, I guess I should start on a new Korean drama marathon.  *wink*

Happy Dongzhi Festival !!

Dongzi Festival falls on the first day of winter.  Chinese celebrate it by eating "Tang Yuan" or glutinous rice balls.  By eating the tang yuan, you are also a year older or wiser.  *wink*  They also cook an elaborate meal to celebrate it with family members. 

These tang yuan were shaped by both my girls.  It is great that now they are able to help me in the kitchen and doing some house chores.  My eldest is interested in learning how to cook now, thus far, she can make her own ramen noodle with eggs and fried eggs.  I will slowly teach her more, it's my way of imparting my cooking knowledge to the next generation.  So that they will know what to do when they are in college.

Last but not least, HAPPY DONGZHI FESTIVAL to all who celebrated and also Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to all my readers and family!

Crunchy Pumpkin Spiced Cookies

I finally succeeded in making a better, crispier and crunchy pumpkin cookies than my previous attempt.  Since I don't use canola oil now, I have to find a substitute for it.  I can't use peanut oil because I mostly make this as gift besides our own consumption.  You know, have to be careful about peanut allergy these days.  I don't want to use my extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil because they are expensive.  So, I left with butter, butter is what our grandma used in the old days anyway before cheaper oil replaced it in baking.  Anyway, today we know that butter is a good fat and it would not raise your cholesterol level by eating it in moderation.  So, I am not afraid of butter anymore and have been using it to substitute my older recipes that called for canola oil.  As for my Chinese New Year cookie recipes, I will either use peanut oil or butter as the substitute.

This is so crunchy and delicious!  You just have to make it to believe it!  Now I learned the trick, I have to shape it thin and bake it until it's slightly brown to make it crunchy.  As you can see above, I make it for teachers at school and I hope they like this little crunchy pumpkin spiced cookie!  :-)

If you make this, please do feedback to me ya! 

Gluten Free Almond Flaxseed Coconut Cookies

What to do with the almond meal in my refrigerator that I got from making almond milk right?  I wanted to make a gluten free cookie but it also has to be healthy and delicious.  So, I had to play with what I have in my pantry and freezer and came out with this idea and combination.  Luckily this cookie turned out delicious so that I would be able to share the recipe with you all.  It would be a keeper for me as well as I would definitely make this again!

This would make such a great gift to those healthy conscious or gluten free teachers at school!!   Christmas is approaching and this cookie will serve well to the gluten free guests or as a gift to your gluten free friends and relatives.

Soft, chewy and packed with goodness!  Not to say yummilicious!!  Sooo good, you got to try it and feedback to me ya!  And if you do a blog post, remember to link back to my original recipe and credit me, that would be much appreciated.   It's a joy to share the recipe that I created and I love reading feedback but I also want to be credited for my effort. *wink*

Dairy Free Superfoods Muffins

This is the upgraded version of my healthy muffins.  I am making this dairy free because lots of health conscious people don't drink milk.  I am in the transition to change it to almond milk.  The almond milk that I want to make myself.  However, if I can't find raw almonds on sales or gotten lazy, I would buy the one that is non-GMO verified with minimal ingredient list.  Anyway, this dairy free muffin was created because I was out of almond milk and needed to find a substitute.  So, I thought why not tried it with water?  Tada!  It worked beautifully and turned out moist and delicious. Lesson learned:  We don't need milk to make the banana muffin moist.

One of this muffin with a cup of coffee, you are super charge for the day!  Try it and feedback to me ya!  This muffin is delicious!
 

Dairy-Free Buns

I am going milk free, instead of buying organic whole milk, I am switching to unsweetened almond milk (but planning to make my own almond milk).  I am still buying organic yogurt (occasionally, but thinking of stopping it), butter and natural cheese though, just not the milk.  And then I realized that lots of my baking recipes used milk in the recipe.  So, again I had to experiment with my old recipe again.  This is a soft bun recipe that I loved and luckily it worked out well with almond milk.  Hence, my first dairy-free bun uses almond milk was created.  I am not sure but it might work with just plain water, who wants to experiment?

This dairy-free bun is soft and fluffy and goes so well with my matcha kaya!  Next experiment will be to play with the whole wheat version of this bun.  These days, I mostly make my own bread/bun or buy organic bread or all natural bread from Sprouts or Whole Food.  Please read the ingredient list, not all the breads are created equal!  

Homemade Granola

Granola is just toasted oats with a mixture of dried fruit, seeds and nuts.  Homemade granola is so easy to make, so why spend more on the store-bought one?  Since I don't eat oatmeal, but I do buy rolled oats for muffin, cookie, bar and bread, so why not make it into granola too right?  I love the granola on yogurt, so I actually made this for my yogurt.  Besides topping my yogurt with granola, I also added some hemp seeds and chia seeds.  And that would be our dessert!

Granola would make a great snack too.  One or two hands full if you found yourself not really hungry or you just want something to chew.  You actually make this in less than 30 minutes and most of the ingredients are probably already in your pantry.  Next time I would add some nuts too, to make it better.

Healthy Muffins

I always trying to make my muffin more nutritious.  I was not happy with just a plain banana muffin, I wanted it to be packed with superfood nutrients.  So, for this I added oats, flaxseeds, chia seeds, stone ground whole wheat flour and good oil, extra-virgin olive oil (you can use coconut oil too).  I also added chocolate chips (per my girls request) for my girls and dried cranberries for us.  Next time will also add some walnuts to kick it up a notch!  I made these muffins for our breakfast and it keeps well at room-temperature for up to three days.

These muffins are soft and moist and a delicious healthy muffin!  Try it and feedback to me ya!

The Best Brownies Ever

I finally found the best brownies recipe!!  Years ago before I became more health conscious, I always bought brownie premixed in a box.  I never know to look at the ingredients list before buying anything.  Now, it's a different story.  I was not satisfactory with the previous brownies recipes that I had tried and always in search of a better one and am glad to report that I finally found the keeper recipe for me.

This brownie is chocolatey, soft, slightly chewy and moist and so irresistible with each bite that I have to give you a warning.  Self-control is required when you bake this brownie as it is not really low fat but I made it less sinful without the frosting and also cutting down on the sugar.  You really don't need to add extra fat and sugar with this already divine brownies in my opinion.  We all loved this brownies and it's our best brownies recipe ever!  I hope you try it and feedback to me ya!

Whole Wheat Chia Banana Muffins

Just like the name implied, I modified my original banana recipe to make it 100% whole wheat with chia seeds.  Next time I would add additional 1 Tbsp. of ground flaxseeds into the mixture instead of using it as topping.  By adding the whole wheat and flaxseed cereal, it would be crispy when it was warm out of the oven but it would turn soft later.  So, if you would like to eat it right away or on the day it was baked, then it would be a good idea, if not, just omit it and add the ground flaxseeds into the mixture before baking (I added it in the recipe for your convenient).

This muffin is soft and not very sweet (just nice for Asian taste bud).  I purposely cutting down on the sugar to make it healthier.  I hope you like it!

Granola Hemp Seeds Yogurt

While shopping at World Food recently.  I came across a Hemp seeds sample booth.  Truthfully I am not familiar with hemp seeds but I am interested in anything healthy.  Haha... The salesgirl served the hemp seeds with 365 organic vanilla yogurt and I was impressed with the yogurt.  The hemp seeds didn't taste bad but couple with the yogurt, it actually tasted pretty good.  So, I picked up the yogurt to eat with the sample bag of the Hemp Hearts raw shelled hemp seeds that was given.  With my no-bake granola bar, this was indeed made a delicious breakfast.

Flaxseed, chia seed and now hemp seed.  I read that hemp seed is one of the "Super Food" and one of the nutrient dense food that we should be eating.  Compare to flaxseed and chia seed, hemp seed is more well-rounded as it has fiber, proteins, essential fats, some vitamins and essential amino acids and other nutrients necessary for promoting good health.  It is said to increase energy, lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure, improve memory, control blood sugar, lose weight and an antioxidant food.  About 4 to 5 tablespoons a day is enough to get the benefits.  Google it to learn more!  Compare to chia seed and flaxseed, hemp seed is soft, easily digestible
and great in eating it raw.

No-Bake Granola Bars

No-bake granola bars!!  Who wouldn't love it?  When I saw this easy no-bake granola bars, I just had to try it.  A healthy more natural piece of granola bar is selling for $1.80 or more in a grocery store.  That was pricey if you asked me.  With this easy recipe, you can make a batch and grab one on the go or as a snack, nothing beat homemade.  This would make a healthy school snack for my girls in the coming school year too.

These granola bars are delicious.  Soft and chewy with the taste of peanut butter and all the goodies I put in there.  I added chocolate chips because my girls loved it, but you can certainly omit it.