Spinach Mushroom Soup

Spinach is so delicious in soup.  If you haven't tried cooking it this way, make sure you give it a try!  This soup is nutrients packed as I have spinach, beech mushroom, eggs and shrimps, all are healthy for us.  Just add another side dish and a little brown rice and you can call it a meal.  You are welcome to use vegetarian broth and omit the shrimps to make this soup vegetarian.  Happy trying!

Stir-Fried Lo Mein with Onion Crunch

Do you know about Onion Crunch?  I didn't know about it but I have eaten it on the sushi that I bought at King Sooper.  I was wondering what kind of fried onion was it because it was crispy and delicious, unlike the fried onion that I bought at the Asian supermarket.  Then, I received an e-mail for a Onion Crunch review and one click on the Website made me realized that this was what the sushi chef used on their sushi!!  Of course I wouldn't miss the chance for this review as I really like the taste of it.  As you can see, I top it on my stir-fried lo mein!

What I loved about Loeb's Onion Crunch is that it is made with 100% real onions with 0 gram of trans fat, low in carbs, low in sodium, no cholesterol and non-GMO certified.  It makes a great crispy, crunchy and delicious condiment topping on your favorite food and it remains crispy and crunchy for a long time which makes it a plus.  You can get it at Walmart supercenter, Safeway, etc. (there is a store locator that you can search on their webpage) or buy it online at their website.

*I received the above product free for the purpose of this review.  All opinions are mine.*

Asian Style Slow Cooker Chicken

I always in search of an easy to cook meal for my family.  Recently fell in love with my 2 quart size slow cooker again after putting it away in a box for years.  I really love the turn it on and leave it conveniences that a slow cooker provides.  Also, the 2 quart size is just nice for a family of four.  I have been using it to cook herbal soups and sweet dessert soup and now venture into making a main dish out of it.  This is my first chicken dish and we all loved it, so don't be fooled by the look of this dish, even I have to admit it doesn't look quite appetizing but it sure tastes delicious.  Good serving it with a bowl of rice!

The benefits of slow cooker are you can use frozen poultry or meat and also you can turn it to low and go to work or do whatever and come home to a meal.  As for me, I like that I don't have to watch the stove when cooking as I will have to fetch my girls from school.  I will make more dishes via slow cooker so stay tuned!

Shrimps Quinoa Salad

After reading several blog posts from Tigerfish-Teczcape about quinoa, and said several times this is something I wanted to try, I finally bought the quinoa and made my first quinoa dish.  Oh yeah, it took me a long time but better late than never right?  I made this after a week trip to San Francisco and San Jose areas and back home with no mood to cook.  Haha... Who can blame me as I was so spoil with choices and easy excess to authentic Chinese food while in SF and SJ.  Now back home and back to cooking!

My shrimps quinoa salad and I hope you like it.  I wanted a flavorful quinoa so I cooked it in chicken stock.  Added frozen peas and carrots because I wanted more veggies (cook it with the quinoa).  After it is done,  I added fresh romaine lettuce, sunflower seeds, raisins and pan-fried spiced shrimps and mixed all together.  Later, I regretted that I didn't add a can of black beans into the mix.  So, feel free to add some beans (whatever bean you like).  This makes a great picnic food too as it's good eaten at room-temperature. 

If you are still thinking of what to make for 4th of July, this can be a great healthy recipe for you!

Summer Pesto Rotini

I made this summer pesto rotini for a picnic, I named it summer because this made a great summer picnic food, also great for potluck.  I wanted something easy to make and tasted good at room-temperature and this dish was created with what I had at my house at that time.  I made some cilantro walnut pesto for this dish, it was easy to make with a food processor.   If you are thinking of what to make for your 4th of July BBQ or picnic, give this dish a try!

Homemade Cilantro Walnut Pesto

Vietnamese Noodle Bowl

We loved Vietnamese food and we probably go there once a week.  In cold weather, we really enjoy a big bowl of hot pho, it warms us up and tastes delicious.  On hot summer days, I prefer the cold noodle bowl, it is so refreshing as it is fulled of vegetable and herbs.  We also like the rice plate and their fried egg rolls and fresh summer rolls.  Since some restaurants charge $2 for one summer roll, I prefer to make it at home.

Actually I had no intention of making this noodle but I only left with half of a English cucumber and a little romaine lettuce and I had to think of dinner for my family.  Luckily besides kimchi, my fridge also has some pickled radish and carrot at most times.  So, this dish was born.  I also always have some ground toasted peanuts in the freezer for emergency like this.  Since I finished all of it, it's time to make a new batch to freeze.  I served it with leftover spicy hot wings that my husband bought.

This noodle would be great with leftover Hawaiian BBQ chicken too!

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.

Lotus Root Cold Dish

Root vegetables are really good for us, so make sure your diet consists of some root vegetables.  I bought a small lotus root recently but instead of making soup with it, I wanted to try something else.  I saw a Chinese cooking show before and they used lotus root to make a cold dish.  I never tried that before and really interested in giving it a go.  There are few recipes in my blog containing lotus root, such as in soup, stir-frying, simmering and even deep-frying, but not a cold dish.  The minced ginger, green onion and toasted sesame seeds gave this dish a great flavor and it was really fragrant with crunchy lotus root.  I loved this way of enjoying the lotus root too.  Give it a try if you haven't tried it this way!

Blueberry Cheesecake Cups

I eat fruit based on whatever fruit is on season, same with vegetable.  And when Whole Food had their one day 1 pint organic blueberries on sales for $1.99, I couldn't pass it up.  Did you all manage to get some too?  For the most benefit, it is best to eat it raw, without cooking or baking to get the most nutrients.  So, instead of baking with it, I used it as a decoration on these cheesecake cups.  The rest, we just washed and ate it by the handful.

I remembered my lazy cheesecake cups recipe that I did back in 2009 and this is another version revised from that recipe.  I used ginger snap cookies as a base this time and it soften up just like a crust.  Brilliant!

I did a no-bake cheesecake cookie cup in 2011 using the ginger snap as well if you are interested.
 

Spicy Eggplant with Chicken

Eggplant or aubergine is from a nightshade family of vegetables such as potato, tomato and sweet peppers.  It is a good source of vitamins and minerals and has phytonutrients which have antioxidant activities.  However, it is not suitable for people with kidney and gallbladder problems.

I do like to buy eggplant occasionally because I try to eat variety of vegetables with different colors.  I can't buy it often because my hubby and my girls are not a fan of this vegetable, so whenever I cook this, they only eat the chicken.

Are you someone who tries to buy different fruits and vegetables every time you go grocery shopping?  Since we shop at the Asian supermarkets, our selections are wider and there are lots of different green vegetables, root vegetables that we can buy.  Next time, try to vary your choice of vegetables instead of sticking to the few that you like.

Milo Chia Seed Pudding

Chia seed is so popular these days because of its high omega-3 fat and long shelve life.  Also, it doesn't have to be crushed (unlike flaxseed) to get the full benefits.  I have been added it in bread, waffle, pancake and muffin. But I also like to try new thing and chia seed pudding caught my eyes.  It seem easy enough, just add liquid and chia seeds and see it transform into a pudding like consistency.

I made a small batch to test it out and luckily my girls loved it too.  Just that we have to add more syrup to make it tasty.  Next time I would probably mix the syrup with the milk first before adding the chia seeds so that the pudding would be sweet.  I think it would be delicious in the Asian style sweet soy bean milk too.

Flaxseed Pumpkin Cake

After seeing all the delicious cakes baked by fellow bloggers, it made me realized that I haven't been baking cake in a while.  But I wanted something that was easy and not too troublesome to make, like my one whisk and one bowl cake recipe.  I finally decided on this pumpkin cake recipe because I have some organic pumpkin puree stock up in my pantry.  This time I added ground flaxseed just to make it healthier, no harm in getting an extra omega-3 right?

This cake is best eaten the next day.  The texture doesn't look like the usual pumpkin cake yet it is dense, soft and moist and so good with my morning cup of coffee.  I could taste the flaxseed, pumpkin and spices in the cake. Delicious!

Easy Stir-fried Leeks with Beef

Cooking doesn't have to be difficult, this super easy stir-fried leeks with beef is an example.  Minimal ingredients used yet super delicious.  I used leftover beef here but you can use a small piece of beef and thinly slice it and marinate it to make this a quick stir-fry.

Leek is in the Allium family, together with onion and garlic.  Not only it is low in calories, anti-oxidant but it also provides lots of health benefits and vitamins and minerals.  I don't buy leek all the times because lots of veggies that we eat are also very nutritious but I certainly include leeks occasionally into our diet.  I am thriving for a variety of vegetables that have different health benefits and try to mix and match them every week.

Spicy Miso Buckwheat Noodle Soup

I loved this Taiwanese cooking show called "食在有健康", not only it teaches us what food to eat to make us healthier, it also uses that food and teaches us how to cook it.  I think the featured food here is mushroom.  I like that the chefs in that show always managed to create yummy food with easy cooking method.  I also like their theme 食在有健康, 吃出好健康!  Meaning eat healthy food so that you will have good health.  I agreed with it whole heartedly that's why I am a big fan of that show.

Pina Colada Yonana

It has been almost a year since I owned my Yonana maker and I am still loving it.  It is always cool to have a new recipe to try.  When I saw the Pina Colada recipe posted at Yonana's Facebook page, I just wanted to try it.  This recipe was posted by Gerry Quesinberry and thanks Gerry for sharing this fantastic recipe.  I made one quart (more than the recipe stated) to freeze so that I can have few scoops a day.  I always like to make a big batch so that I can freeze for later, also I don't have to wash the Yonana maker every time I feel like eating some.  *wink*

Seasoned Burdock Root

 

Chinese health guru said root vegetables are good for us, so I am trying to eat more.  Root vegetable such as nagaimo (山药), burdock root/ gobo, lotus root, ginger, turmeric, etc.  Nagaimo is really good for us but I have not bought it often as I still have no idea how to incorporate it into our family meal besides making a dessert.  I bought burdock root occasionally to make soup;  even tried it in stir-frying once, but I found it to be quite fibrous and my family members didn't like it.  But I was glad to found this Ueong Jorim (seasoned burdock root) recipe on Pinterest one day.  This is surely a keeper for me, I guess by stir-frying and simmering, it makes it less fibrous that even my little girl likes it. 

Herbal Grass Jelly with Soy Milk

 

Feeling a little heaty lately so I made myself a glass of herbal gelatine grass jelly with soy milk and palm sugar syrup.  We have this drink in Malaysia and it is also known as Micheal Jackson drink.  Herbal grass jelly drink is very common in Malaysia, usually they just cut it into smaller pieces and simmer it with water and sweeten it with sugar.  Because my soy milk is less sweet and the grass jelly is unsweeten hence I sweeten it with Gula Melaka syrup/palm sugar syrup.  As you can see my soy milk is brownish in color.  This grass jelly has cooling properties and very popular in hot weather.  Other than making drink with it, you can also make dessert.  Just cut it into cubes and mix it with cut fruit, sago, red beans, cendol, coconut flesh, sea coconut and syrup.  Or whatever you can think of that would make a good match.

Samgak Kimbap Lunch Box

Samgak kimbap or triangle kimbap is the Korean version of rice balls.  This is another easy to make lunch box idea for your kids at school.  I used the same recipe as my post in making onigiri.  You can either buy the samgak kimbap seaweed wrap (it came with seaweed in a plastic wrap with sticker) at the Korean store or supermarket (I read that 40 pieces is about $10+) or you can use the ordinary kimbap seaweed and do as what I did below to keep the seaweed dry and crisp (and save some money).  My girl loves the extra hand on approach in wrapping the rice balls herself.  It is like she makes it herself and showing off to her friends at the same time.  :-)
 

Three Seed Bread

I always make our bread from scratch via the bread maker at home.  I am also happy to try out any healthy bread recipe for my family.  Recently, I am into flaxseed and chia seed, so I bought a packet of Bob's Red Mill flaxseed and at the back packet of the flaxseed, it included two recipes and one of it is this Three Seed Bread.  I decided to try this recipe because I have all the ingredients and it sounded great.  This bread indeed turned out delicious and soft and we loved it.  Hence, I decided to share it here with all of you.