Pork Chop Dinner

I made some pork chops because I was too lazy to pre-slice the pork for stir-fry. So, I decided to make a western pork chops dinner with the asparagus that I had in the fridge. This was such an easy dinner to prepare because all I did is to marinate the pork chops overnight with my special sauce. The next day I just seared the pork chops in some olive oil on both side and then let it finished cooking in the oven. Sprinkled a little olive oil, some salt and peppers on my asparagus and in the preheated 450'F oven for 15 minutes. I also opened a can of Pillsbury garlic crescent rolls (not in picture) and baked it for 10 minutes and I had myself a complete dinner.

At the end of the dinner, hubby complained not full!! LOL! Actually when he first saw this, he asked, "Where is the rice?" I said, " What rice? No rice, got crescent rolls already, this is a western meal." :P

What surprised me is Evy actually loves pork chop. She asked me yesterday, can you cook this bread that eat with meat and veggie one? I was like what the heck was she talking about? At first I thought she meant roti canai with Jap. curry but she knows the words roti canai and curry so it must be other thing and then I remembered this. True enough, she said she wants to eat pork chop.

Evy Craft and More

She did this all by herself. She found this craft project (I have no idea where) online, printed out the paper, cut it herself, color it, glued the parts together and put stickers at the back so that it will stick to her face. After she finished, she came to me with this elephant mask (according to her) stick to her face. I got a shock actually because she did all these by herself!! I asked her to stick it on her bedroom door to remember her first craft and praised her for a job well done. I do have a creative daughter because she know to use the tape to enable the mask to stick on her face. So little know how to think and solve problem already.


Her drawing and writing.


She presented her daddy with this on Jan, 2008 which her daddy kept on his desk.


She gave me this on Feb 14, 2008 which I put on my desk. I realized that my daughter writes very well at her age. So clear that you really know what she wrote.


Evy showing off some of her works. I will update with some recent drawings of her because it's getting very good, so good that it surprised both her daddy and me, just like she surprised me with the elephant mask.

One way I know that Evy is more advance is on a recent trip to a Toy R Us where they have a booth and gave out papers and crayons for little ones to draw, Evy drew a beautiful flower and color it so prettily while the other kids only knew how to draw lines! Some kids were bigger than her and they drew lines. Her daddy had to ask me,"Did Evy draw this?" I said, "Of course, who else." She surprised her daddy then and there. He couldn't stop praising her and her piece of art.

Orange Cream Scones

I wanted to try a different cream scones recipe instead of my usual Almond cream scones. With lots of oranges in the refrigerator at this moment, orange cream scones sounded like an excellent idea. I have a soft spot for orange cakes, muffins, cookies or any dessert that has a little orange in it. I don't know, the extra citrusy taste just kick it up a notch I guess. In 20 minutes, I have a hot from the oven cream scones waiting for me to savor with my morning cup of coffee.

Seafood Pesto Spaghetti

I was left with some cilantro pesto and I was trying to think of a different way to use it instead of making my usual pesto pasta. After much thought, I still couldn't come out with a better way to use it except to pan-fry some chicken breast cutlets and spread the pesto on top before serving. If I prepare it this way, then I would have to prepare at least two sides to go with my pesto chicken cutlets and make it an American dinner. Mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus sounded like a great side dishes. BUT, more work for me! So, ended out making this seafood spaghetti instead. All in one as my hubby preferred this better than the other version. Yeah, it's boring but he loved it! By the way, mine sharing what other way you used your pesto?



I added the juice from pan-frying the scallops and shrimps when mixing the spaghetti. You can also sprinkled a little crushed red pepper flakes before serving. Mmm...mmm... look at the bouncy shrimps and juicy sea scallops, who wouldn't want a bite?

My picky eater Evy who refused to try the chicken version was tempted to take a bite and hooked. She said, "Mmmm...hen hao zhi" and asked me to serve her a plate and cleaned the plate! :o)

Method:
Heat a saute pan with some olive oil. Fry the shrimps and sea scallops until cooked. Dish out and set aside. Heat the pan with more olive oil, stir-fry the broccoli and carrot until soften, add in the cooked spaghetti/pasta, shrimps and sea scallops, cilantro pesto and mix and blend well together, turn off the heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper if needed.



This is my first time submitting my pasta entry to Presto Pasta Nights hosted by Once Upon a Feast. Do visit there to feast your eyes on the variety and interesting pastas that bloggers whipped up.

Steamed Banana Cupcakes

I have two bananas in the freezer waiting for me to use it and then I came across this recipe while browsing through tastespotting.com. Hers looked really good, so soft and fluffy that I just need to give this a try. What can I say, this steamed banana cupcake is truly delicious! It's just like what she said, sooooooo good!



I added 1/4 tsp. banana essence into mine as American banana is not as fragrant as the one sold in Malaysia. We finished the rest of the banana cupcakes the next day and they were still soft and fluffy. Really good and you all should try it.

Cilantro Pesto Spaghetti

Clear my fridge time! I need to clear my cilantro which I bought two weeks ago. The best way I know how is to make pesto out of it. I have been making cilantro pesto instead of basil pesto for years. Reason is very simple, I always buy cilantro and hardly ever buy basil. My cilantro pesto consisted of cilantro, garlic, walnut, olive oil and season to taste with salt, black pepper and sugar. We love it!

I stir-fried some sliced fresh button mushroom in olive oil until soften. Added carrots and the leftover chicken breast meats from KFC and stir in the spaghetti and toasted well with my pesto and dinner was ready.