Brown Rice Kimbap/Gimbap (Korean Rice Rolls)

I am loving kimbap/gimbap because you can basically put everything you desired as fillings.  I loved to make kimbap using my leftover turmeric barley brown rice (hence the yellow color) or brown rice .  These days, I would keep some nori seaweed wrapper in my pantry so that when I feel like making some kimbap, I can.  I made the above for my girl's school lunch, she loved eating it and there was no mess.  I would make another for Edda as well when she comes home from school. 

Close up of my fillings above:  Fried eggs, imitation crab meat, spicy tuna, carrot, pickled radish and blanched bean sprouts (I wish I have some cucumber though for extra crunch).  The filling is very versatile, if you can think it, you can make it.  In fact, I like to make kimbap using leftover. 

This would make a great picnic lunch as well.  I can't wait for summer to arrive so that I can go picnic with my girls.  Well, if the weather turns nice like in the 70s, that's a good reason to go picnic, doesn't have to wait until summer. :-P

Baked Turkey Meatballs

Do you love the convenience of frozen meatballs that sell in the supermarkets?  I do!  But as I am becoming more aware and more educated about food such as whole food vs processed food, I couldn't bring myself to buy it.  As I flipped to the back and read the ingredients list, I had to sigh and put the frozen meatballs back in the freezer.  I told myself, if I want some meatballs, I just have to make it myself and freeze it!

I chose turkey because I bought a small turkey breast during the Christmas sales.  I removed the turkey bone and hand minced the turkey breast with a cleaver.  Then, just added the seasonings and baked.  Since my turkey breast was small, it didn't yield much meatballs, next time I would have to make more to freeze.  These turkey meatballs were delicious as it.  Or you can add it in spaghetti sauce, or make a BBQ meatballs sauce, or an Asian style sauce to coat the meatballs.  I even sandwiched it in a bun with a slice of cheese for Evy to bring in as her lunchbox to school.

Avocado Milkshake with Gula Melaka

Gula Melaka as we said it in Malaysia or palm sugar is made by extracting the sap from the flower bud of a coconut tree.  It is very fragrant and has the deep dark brown color and used in many Malaysian dessert.  I made the avocado milkshake before using the chocolate sauce and my readers commented that I can substitute the chocolate sauce with Gula Melaka which I thought was brilliant.  Finally the avocado was on sales again and I couldn't wait to try this.  It was indeed delicious but I think you need to like avocado to really enjoy this dessert.

Chicken Wonton Mee

I loved my noodle and can't leave without it.  These days I would cook noodle for dinner at least once a week.  When I shop at the Asian market and see some fresh wonton noodle, I would buy 2 to freeze it at home.  So whenever I feel like eating some wonton noodle (or egg noodle), I can thaw it a night before in the refrigerator.  My husband brought back some Hawaii BBQ chicken for supper one night, but I don't eat supper and thus the leftover.  So, this was what I did with the chicken!

Par-boiled some chai-hsin (Chinese greens), boiled some frozen homemade chicken dumplings, microwave the leftover Hawaiian BBQ chicken and sliced it, chopped some scallions to serve.  I also concocted a yummy sauce for my wonton noodle which I will keep it a secret.  :-P

Easy Pocket Bread /Pita Bread Lunch

I was searching for pita bread to buy but strangely I couldn't find it in any of the supermarkets that I frequent.  Then, I saw an ad. at Sprout and saw that they have whole wheat pocket bread!  That's just like the pita bread that I was searching for.  I bought those and made a quick lunch for Edda and me and also for Evy to bring to her school.  For Evy, I put half of the pocket bread in a Ziploc bag with a spoon and a packet of ketchup.  And then fried the smoked fish ham with 2 eggs in the morning and packed it in a thermos so that it would keep warm until her lunch time.  She was having fun stuffing her pocket bread and enjoyed eating it as well.

See my salad above, I added strawberry and dried cranberries and it was so delicious.  Now I must eat my salad with dried cranberries and sunflower seeds (would add some walnuts next time).  Click here for my peanut sesame salad dressing.  Now I double the recipe and keep it in a glass container in the refrigerator and stock up on organic romaine lettuce hearts for my quick lunch.  The dressing is good as a dipping sauce for Vietnamese spring rolls too.

Oyster Sauce Topokki

As I mentioned earlier, Topokki or Dukbokki is a popular Korean street snack made of rice cake sticks and fish cakes.  This is my sweet and salty oyster sauce version of topokki.  I added Korean smoked fish ham, rice cake sticks, onion and fish cakes.

I sliced the rice cake sticks into half for faster cooking time.  This dish is more suitable for children or those who can't seem to take spicy food.