Simply Butter Cake

I was looking for a butter cake recipe that I had tried before but somehow lost the recipe.  I found this recipe at allrecipes.com that seem like the one I was looking for.  So, I set out to give this recipe a try.  It turned out buttery with vanilla fragrant but the texture was not really what I was searching for.  I don't know whether it was me using the raw cane sugar instead of granulated white sugar has anything to do with it?  It was soft with buttery vanilla flavor!

Matcha Cranberries Cookies

I created this matcha cranberries cookies with matcha icing on Sunday.  Sunday is my rest day and also a day for my girls and I to make cookies or cake.  I need to let them practice more so that they can improve their skills in all areas, such as rolling, cutting and icing.  Have to train them to become little helpers in the kitchen and be independent!

Sorry, I won't be sharing this recipe.  :P

Thai Basil Chicken Fried Rice

My girls and I loved the Thai basil fried rice that a restaurant serve here.  So,  I tried to recreate it at home.  I think I need to add more basil and jalapeno because it was not spicy at all (perhaps jalapeno now is not spicy?) and it lacked the fragrant of basil.  I will need to attempt this recipe again with double the amount of jalapeno and Thai basil!

You can replace the chicken with shrimp, beef or pork or make it vegetarian, it's all up to your preference.

Siew York (Baked Pork Belly) with Chive and Onion

I remembered eating the leftover siew york in sweet dark soy sauce when I was little.  It was either a leftover Chinese New Year dish that my late grandma used to make or from my mom.  So, when presented with a leftover siew york or charsiew, I would think of this dish.

You can buy the siew york or char siew at the Asian supermarkets or restaurants, but if you want to make your own, why not?

Penang Style Char Kuey Teow

This is my version of Penang Char Kuey Teow.  For the past ten years, I have never wanted to share this recipe of mine even though it had been asked by my readers. But today, I decided to share it so that for those living overseas who misses this Penang's hawker delight can cook them at home.

I have never measure when I cook this dish and I always cook in individual portion because my little one wants it non-spicy at all.  My elder one wants it mild and we adult like it spicy! Some like it more eggs, no chive, etc.  So, I always cook in individual portion to suit each other taste bud and preference.

You can add lap cheong, sliced fish cake, sea hum or sliced fish balls if you wish.  I would love to have some lap cheong but the ingredient lists scared me and I read that wax meat can cause cancer.  I am trying to eat as clean as possible and away from processed food if I can.  I already switching most processed food consumed in this house to be organic or non-GMO certified. Have to take care of our bodies so that our bodies can take care of us right?  It's common sense, if you keep feeding your body with junk and poison, what do you think it is going to repay you with?  Think before you buy!

Lemony Lemon Cookies (Crispy)

Teacher Appreciation Week was the first week of May and my girls wanted to make their teachers some homemade cookies.  So, I picked an easy recipe from my collection and let them made it themselves!  The above cookies were made by them, they did the whole thing and even made the lemon icing sugar and spread it themselves.

The shapes and thickness were not perfect but they did it all by themselves so I am very proud of them.  Evy knew how to make brownie too, I guess next time I can leave the baking to them huh?

This is a crispy lemony lemon cookie like the name implied and oh so irresistible!  Try it and feedback to me ya as this is a fool proof recipe that even my girls could make it.  Oh yeah, they did the washing too!  :)

Kimchi Fried Rice Easy Version

I just made a new batch of kimchi and with a new batch of kimchi and some leftover rice, I couldn't help myself but to whip up some delectable kimchi fried rice!

This is an easy version because it has no Gochujang (Korean chili paste) in it because my gochujang turned to a rock paste in the refrigerator!  I must have left it for a long time for the paste to turn into a rock huh?  Guess I haven't been making any Korean food since last year because of some personal issue. Anyway, in the trash it went and this version is purely using the juices from the kimchi, more probiotic huh?  Haha...

Power O's Bars

This Power O's Bar was inspired by a YouTube video but that video didn't give out the measurement so I had to experiment with it.  I was short of chocolate chips hence mine was only covered 1/3 of the bars.  No worry though, the measurement that I gave below should be enough to cover the whole thing without fail.  Haha...

Anyway, I think this is a great way to finish up the half box of cereal that has been sitting in the pantry for ages.  I was attracted to this Power O's that was made with beans and non-GMO verified while I was shopping few months ago where they were given out sample to try at the store.  It was on promotion and did I say made with beans and non-GMO verified, so I was sold!  But my girls hardly eat them and prefer bread to cereal as breakfast so I have to make this into something that they couldn't resist and yet nutritional to them.  So, here it is!

Cilantro Pesto Chicken Small Shells

One pot dish that can last for lunch and dinner is an easier way to feed the family.  I would just make sure that I have one protein and lots of vegetable for a well balance diet.  It is really healthy with this pesto too as cilantro can move heavy metal out of your body and you will get the benefits of garlic, pecan, extra virgin olive oil and coconut oil into your body.  Note that I used sea salt and Himalayan salt instead of table salt.  If you are still using the table salt, please google about it and starts making the change.

This dish is really easy and delicious, try it and feedback to me ya!  I would love to hear/read about it!  :)

Cranberries Oat Cookies

I wanted to show my appreciation to my manager on my last day of work and what's better way to show it by giving her a packet of my homemade cookies that were made with love?  I hope she will like my cookies as that's how I spread my love to others.  

I loved receiving homemade baked or food too as I know there were love and efforts put into making those.  Always being appreciative of others' effort is a value that I taught my girls, don't take things for granted.

These cookies are crunchy with the fragrant of butter mixed with vanilla, and oh so good!  It makes a great gift too as it holds well in shape when packaged.

Pan-Fried Chicken Patties

I bought some all-natural ground chicken the other day when it was on sale for buy one gets one free.  And I thought why not tried a new recipe and made some pan-fried patties with it.  Then, the question of how to season it to make it delicious?  I thought of the bottle of Lee Kum Kee char siew sauce that I have in the refrigerator and set up to give it a try.

Verdict, really fragrant and flavorful.  The combination is sweet and salty at the same time and you could see some dark brown spot on the patties from caramelization.

4 Ingredients Cheese Crackers

I saw a friend shared this recipe on my Facebook page and decided to try it seeing how easy this recipe is.  I will try to make cookies for us instead of buying the store-bought non-GMO or Organic version if I can.  It will be a way to save cost and also nothing beat homemade.  We buy processed food out of convenient and it is just so easy to grab it on the shelves.  But non-GMO and Organic cookies or crackers are hardly no sale and it can be pricey if one is at a low income level who's trying to eat healthy.  So, the best bet is to make my own cookies and cakes.  Nothing beat the tender loving care ones put into preparing their food and/or bake for their family, especially with healthy ingredients in mind.

My verdict for this cheese cracker is it was really crispy and good when it was first out of the oven but not sure what happen but the cookie turned soft the next day for me.  So I had to re-bake it.

Coconut Red Bean Agar-Agar/ Jelly

This is just a simple and delicious dessert to serve to your guests.  Easy to make and delicious to eat, furthermore the look is very presentable.  You can use the pattern knife and cut it into diamond shape as well.

You can use any agar-agar powder and follow the instruction at the back.  Just substitute the water with coconut milk.  Then, follow my recipe.  Hope you like this dessert!

Comfort Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken noodle soup to the rescue!!  My girls were sick for a couple days of tummy aches, fever and cough and what a mommy to do in such a case?  Besides making some ginger brown sugar tea, I also cooked them their comfort chicken noodle soup!  My Asian girls don't like the comfort porridge when Asian eat when they were sick, instead they prefer the American comfort food when they were sick.  So, I would make sure I add in all the healing properties ingredients such as ginger, garlic, onion, cabbage and carrot!  I minced or diced it finely so that they wouldn't notice and would just eat it.

I only had spaghetti in my pantry instead of other kind of pasta, hence I torn those into 1 inch strips and made it more fun for them to eat.  They enjoyed every bit of it!  This would make a great lunch box for their school as well.

Easy 3 Ingredients Peanut Cookies

I saw this easy 3 ingredients peanut cookie recipe while looking at YouTube on another cookie recipe.  As you know, I am a fan of easy recipes, so of course this recipe caught my eyes and I just had to give it a try.  I made it easier by putting it in a food processor instead of stirring it by hand.  But however, if you don't have a food processor at home then by all mean, just stir it with a spatula in a bowl until a dough is formed.

This cookie is melt in the mouth type and very easy to make, do give it a try!

Magic Lemon Custard Pie

I wanted to try an easy magic custard pie recipe and I found this recipe that used a blender.  Just blend, pour and bake, super easy right?  So, with the request of my daughters since they loved eggs custard, I set up to try this recipe shared by Robyn.  It was watery before making, but after baking, it came to have three different layers.  Top crispy crust (turn soft when cold), egg custard in the middle and a base at the bottom.  Next time, I shall play with different flavors.

Baked Pumpkin Mochi Cake

I wanted to try making this because I saw a picture of someone selling pumpkin mochi.  Since I made red bean mochi before, I knew I could easily modified the recipe and made my own version of pumpkin mochi.  So, I set to work and created this beauty.  When it was out of the oven, the top crust was crispy and soft inside.  On the next day, it turned soft and slightly chewy.  I hope you like this recipe and feedback to me!

My easy recipe, with only a whisk and a bowl.  Less steps and less things to wash later.  I couldn't resist and cut one small row to try, before I remember I haven't taken a picture yet!  Heehee!

Cream Cheese Shrimps Spaghetti

I was not supposed to cook this pasta dish that day.  I wanted to use the spaghetti to cook an Asian noodle dish.  But I was out of fresh greens and only left with frozen peas and carrots which I always stock up for fried rice.  As I looked through my ingredients, I only had some shrimps, frozen peas and carrots, garlic and some scallion, how to cook an Asian noodle with these ingredients?  Then, I went to look at my refrigerator again and noticed the 1/2 cream cheese that I used before and the whole milk that I had.  So, tada, I could make a Western dish out of these ingredients and thus this dish was created.  It was well liked by my girls and we even had leftover for them to bring to their school for lunch.

No Egg Cake

A recipe without using egg, milk and butter and still turned out soft and fluffy, not to say easy to whip up too.  The recipe said just mixed everything in the baking pan, but I would advice to mix it in a bowl first before pouring in to bake in the pan.  As, the cake stuck to the pan even though I had greased it before hand.  Other than that, this is an awesome cake to try and very easy to make and delicious to eat.  It is not a sweet cake so don't bother to cut down on the sugar.  I reduced the sugar to 3/4 cup and ended out have to glaze the cake because it was not sweet enough.  Hahaha...we all gain from my experiment.  *smile*

If I am out of eggs and still want to eat cake, this will be my to go recipe for sure.  My girls loved this cake as well and I bet they would request me to make this often along with the fudgy brownie that they liked so much.

Spicy Crispy Chili

I can't leave without chili on the side.  Especially if I cooked stew meat or chicken, it just felt empty without spicy chili as a condiment.  So, I was experimenting with a new kind of chili, I would call this spicy crispy chili. Next time I would chop my dried chili finer and would add dried shrimps and compare the difference.  I think it would be more fragrant.  If you like chili as a condiment to your meal, give this recipe a try!  It will sure to satisfy your taste bud.

Pumpkin Chia Seeds Bar Cake

Modified this from the Best Pumpkin Cake recipe I posted few years ago.  Now, I added ground flaxseed and chia seeds for a healthier approach.  I should try it with whole wheat flour next, but I am not sure of the outcome and afraid to give it a try.  I was experimented it with a 9x13" pan instead of the bundt pan because that took a long time to bake.  Luckily this turned out well and it only took 35 minutes to bake.  I freeze half for later and the other half I just store it in an air-tight container and place it at room-temperature on the kitchen countertop.  My girls had this as breakfast and for their afternoon snack.  

Nothing better to bake some pumpkin treats at this pumpkin season.  It's also a great time to stock up on canned pumpkin when it goes on sale, so that we can enjoy it throughout the whole year, not just at the end of the months.  *wink*