No-churn Green Tea/ Matcha Ice-cream

Yay!  I don't have to pay more for green tea ice-cream anymore!  Creamy and delicious green tea ice-cream can be easily made at home.  Since I learned the method for no-churn ice-cream, I have been making my own ice-cream with the flavor that I loved!  With the basic no-churn ice-cream recipe, you can create any flavor ice-cream that you could think of! If you can think it, you can make it!  I would definitely experiment more flavors in the future.

My Pullman tin finally came into good use!  The ice-cream fit nicely in this tin plus it came with a cover.  So convenient and so lovely!

Green Bean Starch Banchan

I had this in a Korean restaurant before and I remembered wondering what was it, what was this jelly texture thing actually is.  And now I know, it is actually a green bean jelly that was made of green bean starch and water and then cook until thicken.

I remembered my mom used to make homemade glue for me.  Whenever I wanted glue for my school project, I would run to my mom and she would use hot water and this white flour to make glue.  I told my girls perhaps I should keep one packet in my pantry so that whenever you girls need glue, I can make some for you.  Haha...  Why not, it's edible glue and it's all natural!

I served mine with some sweeten soy sauce plus chili oil.  Added some chopped green onion as well. I think I could add more water to make this jelly a bit softer as I found it a bit hard.  Would be nice if the texture is softer I think.

Caramel Hoen Kwe Water Chestnut Kuih

This Hoen Kwe kuih is refreshing and so easy to make.  This kuih is supposed to be white in color but due to my inexperience or first time cooking using this hoen kwe flour, I sorted caramelized the sugar and resulted in this caramel color kuih.  Tastewise, it was actually a plus because this kuih was fragrant with caramel and soft with the crunch from the water chestnut.  The original recipe from the back of the Hoen Kwe flour tub was too sweet, so I cut the sugar down to 1 cup.  A bit similar to water chestnut kuih but the texture is different.

Pour into a glass container, let cool and refrigerate for at least 4 hours before slicing.

Steamed Radish Cake

Homemade steamed radish cake can be so flavorful, soft and delicious!  I always keep a daikon in my refrigerator or Korean round radish.  I used it to make soup, banchan (Korean side dishes), etc.  One day since I have all the ingredients at home, I said to myself, why not make some radish kuih?  I love radish cake, either pan-fried or eating it soft and fresh with Sriracha, so satisfying! This method is considering a short-cut method since I don't have to cook everything in a pan until thicken and then steamed it. Just mixed and steamed!

The end result is so good.  Just substitute taro for taro cake and pumpkin for pumpkin cake.  Or leave it out for a white plain rice cake! (Then you can cook some savory chai por/preserved turnips to eat it with) This recipe should be interchangeable.  Good Luck experimenting!

Cranberry Oatmeal Bars

I saw this recipe while flipping through my old Penzeys Spices magazine.  As you know, I am attracted to easy and healthy recipe, even though I couldn't really say this recipe is healthy but hey it has oats and dried cranberries in it!  Hahaha....  Anyway, what got me in the end is this one bowl and a hand whisk preparation method.  I don't like to see a sink full of things to wash in the end, so I always favor this type of recipe.

I liked this recipe, the cranberry oatmeal bars turned out very fragrant and delicious.  Next time I can make this for teacher treat or party.  My girls took this as their school snacks and ate it as after school snack.  Easy to make, less thing to wash and delicious to eat, what more can you ask for? *wink*

Avocado Chocholate Chips No Churn Ice-Cream

I first saw this recipe in a video shared by a friend via Facebook.  The easy recipe caught my eyes, I was like I could make ice-cream at home without an ice-cream maker?  Furthermore, it was so easy to make and the vibrant green color no-churn avocado ice-cream really tempted me to give it a try.

Hence, viola!  Frankly that vibrant green color was impossible to achieve, I am wondering whether they added green coloring for the video!  The picture provided by the Food Network recipe was the same as mine, more whitish in color instead of the vibrant green.  Only 1/2 an avocado used and we had to mix it in with 2 cups of whipped cream, that green color would be long diluted.

I added mini chocolate chips morsels as my girls and I loved chocolate, nothing would go wrong with this combination unless you dislike chocolate chips.  And my verdict for this ice-cream, it was good and creamy!

Yummy home-made no churn ice-cream!  As easy as 1-2-3!  Try it!  The only downside is lots of cleaning afterward, that was the least fun part of it. 

Korean Fish Cake and Italian Sausages

I had some Italian sausage in the refrigerator and thought that Korean fish cake and Italian sausage would make a good pair, so this dish was created.  You can add some sliced jalapeno too if you prefer it spicy.   My girls only picked up the sausages and fish cakes to eat and ignored the onion and carrot, haha...  I guess you can omit the onion and carrot if you have picky eaters at home too.  This is definitely a great side dish to eat with rice!

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.

Taro Dessert Soup with Taro Chewy Balls

Slightly more work than the usual dessert but definitely worth all the effort.  I have a soft spot for taro, anything that made with taro root, I know I wouldn't be able to resist it.  I found Veronica chewy ball recipe on the web and decided to give it a try.  Mine didn't turn out as chewy, probably it was because I didn't use the hot water to knead the dough and used the tap water instead.  After I had mixed everything and then I remembered I forgot to boil water, oh well.  Also I would suggest to add sugar when mixing the dough so that the taro chewy balls would be sweet instead of bland.  Overall, it was still a nice dessert!

Korean Rice Cake Soup

My original plan was to make a seaweed tofu miso soup with added Korean fish cake.  And then I remembered I still have half a packet of the fresh rice cake in the refrigerator and then the AHA moment, why not I just mixed it in together with the soup?  Now I had a one dish meal ready to consume hot in this cold weather day and I didn't have to worry about cooking the rice.  This makes one excellent meatless meal as well.

The fresh rice cake is good in stir-fry, spicy with gochujang or non-spicy with soy sauce and so good in soup too, so remember to grab a packet of this whenever you are in a Korean supermarket, it can certainly comes in handy.

Caution:  Don't overcook the rice cake, otherwise it won't be chewy anymore, it will expand and become soft.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

We all loved chocolate.  When thinking of what cookies to make, chocolate chocolate chip cookies came into mind.  I bought some Enjoy Life chocolate morsels when it was on sale last Christmas so it definitely came in handy when making this cookies.  I also used it in my Banana Chocolate Cake recipe that I posted awhile back.  It was so good my girls couldn't stop snacking on it.

Green Bean, Barley and Sago Dessert Soup

I saw a green bean and barley Chinese sweet dessert soup on Facebook not too long ago and thought what a great idea as I have never try adding barley into my green bean soup.  Since I have some barley at home so I set up to give this combination a try.  I also added sago pearls just because my girls and I loved sago a lot.

What a surprise and we really loved it as barley added some chewy bite into the mix and it was so delicious.  Since both barley and green bean are cooling food, it is good if someone in your family is coughing or has heaty body.

Keep the leftover in the refrigerator and just eat it cold.  Enjoy!

Pear Puff Pastry

I have some pears in the refrigerator and some frozen roti canai or roti pratha in the freezer, so this dessert came into my mind again.  Using my old recipe here to recreate this.  Very simple and very easy, just peeled and sliced the pear thinly and arranged it on top of the roti canai and sprinkled the top with some cinnamon and brown sugar, fold up and baked in 400'F toaster oven for 25 minutes. You can certainly preheat your oven to 375'F and baked it for 25 minutes if you don't have a toaster oven.  Cut and enjoy with a dollop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream or as is, whatever to your fancy! Enjoy!

Stir-fried Soy Shrimps

Shrimps have been so cheap lately, every supermarkets have it on sale, as cheap as $5 a pound for x-large or large shrimps, it got to make me wonder, why?!  I checked my bag of shrimps and it said farm raised from CA.  It made me feel safer because at least it is not farm raised from China or Vietnam.  But seriously, is anything safe to eat these days?  Fishes from Pacific Ocean is contaminated by the Japan radiation.  Farm raised fishes or shrimps that were produced by China, Vietnam, India, etc were said to be very dirty because it were fed with feces from pigs or chicken.  I don't know man... it seem like I either eat organic or become a vegetarian.  Eat more veggies should be the better choice for now as eating more variety of fruit and vegetable is good for us.  We can have occasional seafood, poultry or meat so that the diet is more balance but more towards vegetarian for future health.  Reading as some of the chickens and pigs from the US are going to ship to China to process and package before it ship back to the US to sell to the US consumers, I don't know man.  As the China guidelines and quality control might be in question.  If you are what you eat, and what you eat matter, what should you be eating?

Glutinous Rice with Shredded Coconut

I like to make this easy kuih if I happen to crave for some Malaysian kuih-muih (Asian steamed/baked cake).  You can either use a rice cooker or a steamer to make the bottom part of this kuih which is the glutinous rice.  For this recipe, I will use a rice cooker to cook the rice since its more widely available in people house.  Serve this as a dessert, snack or breakfast.  This kuih should be finished in 3 days without refrigeration.  The glutinous rice will harden when place in the refrigerator but you can always microwave it before consuming.

Cream Cheese Cookies

I have some cream cheese that needed to be used so I was searching for a cream cheese cookies recipe and I found this recipe at GroupRecipes shared by trackwidow 8 years ago.  This cookie is crunchy and simply delicious.  The sweetness is just nice too, I would definitely make this recipe again.  Thank you trackwidow for sharing this wonderful cookies recipe.

I packed some of these delicious cookies to share with Edda's teacher too!  She said she loved this yummy cookies!  YES!!  :)

Spicy Kimchi Soup with Dumplings and Veggie

I cooked this on a cold snowy day.  I couldn't think of a better way to warm up our bodies but a hot and spicy kimchi soup!  Of course just a kimchi soup was not enough, it got to pack with the other healthy ingredients to make it a one dish soup.  Serve well with rice.  And for the leftover soup, add in some sweet potato starch noodle noodle to make it into another meal!

Chinese Fried Donuts

I am sharing the secret recipe of the Chinese donuts dessert that you order at the Chinese restaurants.  This is so simple to make, so delicious to eat and loved by many.  It is hard to stop at just one!

Homemade version is so much healthier and cheaper.  You get to use your own trans fat free oil and 100% pure cane sugar instead of the GMO granulated beet sugar.  Furthermore, you can save this clean oil to reuse for your next batch of fried donuts as well.

Wait no further, continue to the next page for the recipe!  Enjoy!

Stir-Fried Rice Sticks with Korean Fish Cake

I bought a packet of rice cake just because I had it in a restaurant and thought it was pretty good and I should buy it and cook at home.  Since I had the last 2 pieces of Korean fish cake in the freezer so I thought why not used it in this dish and so this dish was created.  I had some bean sprouts and chives from frying Char Kwey Tiao just two days before so I used that and added some carrot.  My girls loved it and it is good with Sriracha sauce too!  Just spice it up a little ya!

This is how the rice cake looks like from the package.  I cut each strip into half for easier consumption.  It was chewy and delicious.  I have never have it in soup or hot pot before, wonder how it would taste like?  Perhaps next time I should use this in mala hot pot and try it myself huh?

Porridge with Peanuts

I liked to save the roasted duck necks to make soup or porridge.  Just to let it fragrant the broth or porridge.  Cooking the porridge in a rice cooker is so easy as well, I just throw the ingredients in in the morning and let it cook itself and I had myself lunch and dinner ready.

Added toasted peanuts and sesame seeds plus cilantro kick it up a notch.  It just made the porridge super delicious!  I guess it is also my excuse to eat more sesame seeds.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Pound Cake

I wanted to buy some cocoa powder but some how when I was in the supermarket, it just slip my mind.  So, I had to pen it down and reminded both of my girls to remind me to buy some cocoa powder when we are in the supermarket again.  I wanted to buy some Talentie's gelato that was on sale in Albertson so I told my girls, lets go look for the cocoa powder.  The Everyday Essential brand of cocoa powder was on clearance for $1.72 and the original price is only $1.99! I was like no way, why is it so cheap compared to Hershey's brand??  I checked the ingredient list and it said 100% cocoa powder.  Checked the ingredient list on Hershey's and it said cocoa powder.  So, I grabbed the last two cocoa powders that were on clearance.  Didn't know I had been paying so much extra for cocoa powder until now.  Now I know where I would go for cocoa powder when I am out again!

I loved this cream cheese pound cake recipe and wanted to create a chocolate version out of it and here it is!  This pound cake is not very sweet, I would say mild in sweetness as I reduce the sweetness in this.  If you like a sweet cake just use 2 cups of sugar.   This cake is a must-try because oh it's so good!

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.