Buddha Casserole from Costco

My version of Buddha Casserole that I bought from Costco.   I added white radish, napa cabbage, 3 drumsticks, fish maws, lotus roots and cured pork belly into the stock, added more water and simmered for 1 hour and 15 minutes and lastly added their abalone and shrimps and simmered for an additional 15 minutes.  Viola!

It was very good!  We had it for 3 meals.

 

Thai Style Glass Noodle Cold Salad

In this warmer weather, I would love to make some cold dish for my girls.  I found that if I make hot noodle soup or Chinese herbal soup, I would sweat after I finish it and that is definitely not welcome when I already hot to begin with.  Hence, making a cold noodle dish or cold salad is ideal.

I just shredded some leftover chicken breast into strips, add some roasted peanut, thinly sliced cucumber, thinly sliced reconstituted wood ear fungus (parboiled it), thinly sliced carrot, some chopped cilantro, some chopped garlic and some toasted sesame seeds.  Place everything in a large bowl and season to taste with fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, sea salt, chili oil and sesame oil.  Mix well and enjoy it cold or as it.

Penang Assam Laksa

When I went back to Malaysia last year, the one paste that I really wanted to buy was this Penang assam laksa paste.  I had to search for it in Penang and in the end, my aunty had to bring me to a special supplier house to buy it.  Now, I can have assam laksa in the U.S. :)

This paste is really good, very original and I had my craving fixed.  An otherwise very troublesome recipe to make turned into an easy recipe with a ready made paste.  If you ever go to Malaysia, do stock up on this paste as it is not available here.  Below I will show you the ingredients I used to make this, only need to wash and slice those ingredients to eat with the noodle and that's it!

Prawn paste- optional
Can pineapple rings
I used sardine in olive oil here, just add the sardine and discard the oil in a plastic bag
Red onion
Lettuce
English cucumber
Rice noodle
I don't have mint leave
You can also add red chili padi (bird eye chili) for extra spiciness

Just follow the instruction as the back of the package and thinly slice those vegetable to serve.

Chicken Pot Pie from Scratch

I made this from scratch today and my girls both said it was really good.  I actually made chicken pot pie back in 2008 and here is the link to my old post.  I used the same flaky pie crust recipe and slightly altered the ingredients and method to what I have at home or currently using.  You can see my recipe in the next page.

I used the same lattice pattern on my pie, but I didn't brush it with egg wash this time.

Pie before baking and top with chicken filling.  I used two homemade flaky pie crusts for this recipe.  I pre-made the pie crusts in the morning and then refrigerated until ready to use.  Just bring it out to thaw on the kitchen counter while cooking the filling.

Stir-fried Sweet Potato Noodle

Seafood Thai Green Curry

I just realized that I can buy a really good quality organic frozen broccoli at Costco.  I used to buy frozen broccoli at the local supermarkets and it was fulled of stems instead of the florets.  While browsing through Costco, I came across the organic frozen veggies station and decided to give it a try.  To my utter surprise, the frozen organic broccoli was all florets, no stem at all!  And it was so fresh and beautiful, furthermore, it is organic!  What best can I ask for!  Next time I am going to try other frozen organic veggie as well.

The above is my lazy one dish Thai green curry meal.  Just go buy some Thai curry paste and put it in your freezer and it will last you for a long time.  Furthermore, anytime you can just whip up some lazy one dish meal to feed your family.  The brand that I am using is Mae Ploy and you can find it in any of the Asian supermarket.  Enjoy!

Stir-fried Spaghetti with Mushroom, Eggs and Flower Chives

How this dish came about was I couldn't resist purchasing the organic brown mushroom that was on Manager Special at King Sooper.  I still have half a bunch of flower chives that was given by a friend and some organic brown eggs in the refrigerator, so this dish was set.  Eating too much carbohydrate has gotten me fat but sometimes I just craved for this easy one dish meal.  It was filling and it took less time to make.  However, I realized that I couldn't eat too much carb. few days in a roll, I really put on weight as a result.  So, right now I would stick to as little carb as possible and consume more vegetable and some protein.  And if I can control no snacking in the afternoon that would be great but I love my cookies!!  :(

Okay, enough ranting about my weight issue and scroll down for the recipe!

Stir-fried Sweet Potato Vermicelli

Sweet potato vermicelli is a gluten free noodle usually found as an appetizer or side dish in the Korean restaurant.  I was first introduced to this noodle in a Korean household where I was invited for dinner.  It so happened that the family's parents came to visit them from Korea and her mom cooked up a feast for us.  It was love at first sight when I first tried the sweet potato noodle or Japchae in Korean.  I loved the chewy texture that this noodle provided as compared to the usual Asian style noodle that I had before.  It was delectable and it was fairly easy to make.  You can purchase the sweet potato vermicelli at the Asian supermarket and just followed the direction at the back of the packet to cook up this noodle dish or Japchae!

Golden Oak Shiitake Spaghetti

I bought a box of Golden Oak Shiitake Mushroom the other day and was wondering how to prepare it.  I wanted to taste the mushroom and wanted to make a clean and natural one dish meal to compliment the mushroom and I thought of this pasta dish.

I used the thin spaghetti for this, garlic, one box of the golden oak shiitake mushroom and green onion, very simple with minimalist ingredients.  I cooked it with extra virgin olive oil and seasoned it with sea salt and black pepper.  Very simple and yet very tasty, I was surprised at my own skill as well.  Hahaha.....

Mushroom Tuna Thin Spaghetti

I created this recipe just because I had to really use up the organic button mushroom that I bought few days ago.  I also saw 4 canned of tuna in waters that I would have to use before it expired in 2018.  I know tuna was good in spaghetti with a little lemon juice added, so this was the best way to use up my tuna and mushroom.  I stocked up some Non-GMO thin spaghetti, spaghetti and linguine when it were on sales the last time.  I bought 2 bottled of Non-GMO spaghetti sauces too for the really lazy moment or quick fix.  I figured my elder daughter should be able to boil a package of spaghetti and heat up a bottle of spaghetti sauce for herself and little sister if needed to.  Perhaps I need to make some meat balls and freeze it for their convenience.

Oh yeah, if you have noticed my recipes recently, I liked to use both the Himalayan pink salt and sea salt together.  I thought in this way I would get the best of the 2 different minerals that were found in these 2 different salts.

Crispy Shrimp Chili Shrimps Fried Rice

This was one of my lazy lunch.  I had to eat and I have no food in the refrigerator.  Luckily I always make sure my refrigerator has eggs, frozen veggie and frozen shrimps.  Hence, this shrimps fried rice to the rescue.  Shrimp is easy to thaw and with some leftover rice, fried rice is an easy one dish meal.

I found the Malaysian's Spicy Tiny Shrimp Sambal by Mama's Delights at the Denver's Asian market so of course I had to buy it regardless of the price tag.  I couldn't be choosy when they were none to begin with right?  This sambal added a little spice and fragrant to the fried rice and we really enjoyed it.

I cooked this very easily, just add the spicy tiny shrimp sambal, soy sauce, salt, a little sugar and finish it off with white pepper.

Long Grain & Wild Rice Chicken Soup

I got the idea of making this chicken rice soup from a sample lady working at Costco.  She used only 4 ingredients, chicken base, organic no-salt seasoning, Seeds of Change's quinoa and brown rice and canned chicken breast.  Just add everything with water and viola! 

I remembered I have packets of Uncle Bean instant rice in my pantry and some leftover chicken meat so I bought the Kirkland Organic No-Salt Seasoning and organic chicken base to make this.  Of course for me got to add some vegetable to make it more balance and colorful!  To think about it, instead of chicken noodle soup, you can always make this chicken rice soup whenever someone is not feeling well at home and just wanted some chicken soup eh?

Cheesy Sausage Rotini with Broccoli and Cauliflower

My little Edda told me she wanted to eat cheese pasta and my Evy told me she has a craving for sausages.  Hence, this dish was created to satisfy both of my girls.  As for me, I wanted some veggies in every meal so of course I had to add some broccoli and cauliflower into the pasta to make this one dish meal more balance.  Very easy to make and delicious to eat, try to make it yourself!

These days I found frozen vegetables more suitable to my lifestyle.  With work and taking care of my girls, sometimes I just don't have time to cook an elaborate meal anymore.  I am not a wasteful person and I hate to throw away rotten vegetable but I found myself doing that quite often because I just didn't have the time to cook it.  So, frozen veggies work best for me and it is so convenient too and I don't have to worry about wastage.