I loved cookies! A cookies lover since young and coming from Asia, we were used to the hard and crunchy cookies. I only got introduced to soft or soft and chewy cookies when I came to America. It got some getting used to but frankly I am still not use to the soft cookies. My hubby brought back some cookies from his office and it was so soft that it disintegrated into pieces, not only that it was very sweet too. It was nothing like eating cookies at all, more like eating soft dough. Needless to say, I am still not a fan of soft cookies but I like the chewy and soft cookies (yet not too soft) like the one I made here.
I am also for healthier cookies so I experimented with whole wheat flour, rolled oats and dried cranberries for this cookies. I made this cookies before using all-purpose flour and the texture was different, with AP flour the cookies spread out and chewier. With whole wheat flour, it didn't spread out as much during baking. Regardless, it is still a tasty cookies to us. You can change the dried fruit to what you have a home. A healthier cookies to make to give to your friends during this Holidays season eh?
While shopping at my Asian grocery store recently, I spotted this Vietnamese noodle that looked very similar to our Malaysian "Loh See Fun, 老鼠粉" or silver needle noodle. This Vietnamese noodle is made with wheat starch, potato starch and water. Whereas silver needle noodle is made with rice flour, wheat starch and water, thus softer in texture. This Vietnamese noodle has more bite to it. I was glad to find it as I made my own "loh see fun" before and it was hard work. I used some frozen leftover chicken breast for this. You can use any meat or seafood you like.
A lot of people liked my Pandan chiffon cake recipe. I also created a lot of other recipes based on this recipe and here sharing with you another variation of chiffon cake, I called it Coffee Chiffon Cake. Really soft and spongy!
My hubby loved to buy roasted peanuts in shell from the supermarket to snack on. But he is very particular and picky about his taste. Once, he bought a bag of peanuts and decided he didn't like the taste and refuse to eat it anymore. So, what was I going to do with a big bag of peanuts? I shelled all of it while watching T.V. (yeah, multi-tasking is women talent) and freeze it. One day, when I was watching the CC4 "Everyday Food" cooking show, the chef was featuring crispy fried peanuts and that was it, I was like, "Now I can reuse the peanuts!" So, I reused the peanuts to create this "new" snack and my hubby loved it. HAHAHA... He couldn't stop snacking and had to set it aside in order to control himself. He definitely had no idea where these peanuts came from. LOL!
Chickpeas also known as Garbanzo beans are high in dietary fiber, low in fat and a good source of protein, zinc and folate. In Malaysia, we called it chickpeas and it is normally associated with Indian cuisine. I remembered I used to have it in the form of boiled/steamed white chickpeas in con shape wrapped paper (or newspaper) in the night market as snack. It was ages ago, not sure whether they still sell it like that. Today, I buy chickpeas already cooked in a canned. Just need to drain and rinse before use, how easy is that? Since in my mind, chickpeas is good with curry and I just bought my favorite Madras Indian curry powder, this is how I am going to cook it. Very easy and my girls loved the chickpeas too, even though this was the first time I bought it and introduced it to them. Guess, from now on, chickpeas will be a regular in my shopping list.
Garlic has been known to have medicinal properties and found to have antibacterial, antiviral, and anti fungal activity in test tube studies. It is claimed to prevent heart diseases such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and other. Garlic has been used as both food and medicine in many cultures for thousands of years. I received an e-mail saying that someone who cooked garlic rice every night and in half a year, her high blood pressure is cured. I don't know whether it is true or just an anecdote. But I don't see a harm in eating garlic rice. Seriously, the fragrant of garlic rice when cooking is perfume to me, unless you really hate garlic, I don't see why you won't enjoy the smell of garlic or benefit from eating this. If you have slight high blood pressure or high cholesterol level and not on medication yet, why not give this natural remedy a try? If you are on medication, you can consult with your doctor first. I cook this just because I love the smell of garlic and for prevention. I also tried adding few slices of smashed ginger along with the garlic, the smell was even crazier, better than garlic alone. Ginger is also known for anti-oxidant and anti-inflammation. Who needs to pay so much more for imported fragrant rice when I can make my own with Arkansas long grain rice? :P Good tips is meant to be shared. I really wanted to share this healthy cooking tips with my readers. I have been cooking this for a month and will be continued doing so with added ginger. I don't eat the ginger, just used it to infuse the rice. Feedback to me if you try it ya! ;)
