Happy Halloween!!!

I want to wish my readers a Happy Halloween!!  Have a safe and fun time trick-or-treating!!  And keep the kids warm!

These spider cookies are very easy to make.  All you need are some round shape cookies, thin pretzels, Nutella/ peanut butter (I used Nutella) and mini M&M or raisins for the eyes.   Take one round cookie, spread it with Nutella/ peanut butter as a glue, then top with 8 broken pretzels as legs.  Spread the other half of cookie with more Nutella/ peanut butter, glue it together.  Take one M&M or raisin, dip with some Nutella/ peanut butter and glue it on top of the cookie as eye, finish the other eye.  There you have it!  Evy took this as her afternoon snack at school and she had a fun time eating it.

Korean Style Spicy Chicken (韩国辣子鸡)

This is one fingers licking good chicken!  Spicy, sweet and sticky, it will beg you to have more.  Very suitable for any party that you are throwing or bring it to a potluck party.  I believe it would be a hit!  I took a short-cut on this as I had some leftover fried chicken wings and drumettes.  If you don't have the leftover store-bought fried chicken wings, just make your own.  Marinate the wings and drumettes with salt and pepper.  Coat it with corn starch or corn flour and deep-fry in hot oil until cook.

As for the sauce, if you like it spicier, you are welcome to add the Korean red pepper powder or substitute it with cayenne pepper powder.  That would be an extra kick for you!

Sardines Fried Brown Rice (沙丁鱼炒糙米饭)

Sardine?  Have you been eating enough of this?  I certainly not!  But I would love to include it more into our diets.  Sardine in tomato sauce or spicy tomato sauce is very popular in South East Asia, I remembered my mom cooked it for us pretty often, according to her, it was packed with calcium and thus good for our bone.  Sardine is actually another power food because not only it's good to our bone, it's good to our heart and overall health as well.  It has the most concentrated sources of the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA, which have been found to lower triglycerides and cholesterol levels.  It's an excellent source of Vitamin B-12 (promote hearth health), Vitamin D (aid in calcium absorption), phosphorus (strengthen bone matrix), selenium (antioxidant), protein and niacin (vitamin B3).

You can also buy sardine packed in water or olive oil.  I just preferred it packed in tomato sauce, tastier to me.  Anyway, for this recipe I recommended one packed in tomato sauce as the flavor goes well with the chili sauce.  If you don't have chili sauce, you can substitute it with ketchup.  This is definitely one bowl of healthy and nutrients packed brown rice!  Hope you enjoy this as much as we did.

Dried Bread Snack

Before picture

I had a thing for dried bread.  I remembered when I was little, my mom used to buy the dried bread that was hanging at the back of a motorcycle from our Indian bread delivery man.  I remembered liking it and like my mom, I loved to dunk it in coffee.  I published my recipe before in 2005, in which I spread it with butter, top it with sugar and even Milo before baking.  This time, I made it healthier without any added butter nor sugar.  It really made a healthy and crunchy snack.

Bibimbap/ Korean Mixed Rice

Bibimbap is a Korean mixed meal or mixed rice, either serve warm or cold.  Usually consists of few banchan (Korean side dishes), raw or fried egg, beef (or pork/chicken) and mixed with gochujang (Korean red pepper paste), sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds.   "Dolsot Bibimbap" is mixed rice in a hot stone pot.  The stone pot will keep the rice warm.  I had some leftover from the Korean meal that I prepared earlier so I made bibimbap out of it.  I didn't add any gochujang, sesame oil or sesame seeds because my banchan and the dak-galbi already flavored with those.  

 

Mixed well together

It did not look too appetizing when mixed together but it was delicious!  To me, the vegetarian bibimbap that consists of all the veggies side dishes, mixed with gochujang, sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds is actually quite healthy.

Godiva Coffee

This post is part of a Foodbuzz Tastemaker program with Godiva Coffee.  I received two bags of Godiva Coffee's latest seasonal flavors - Pumpkin Spice which is featuring here and Caramel pecan Bark, which is available nationwide for a limited time only.

These indulgent flavors are inspired by Godiva's most popular chocolates and crafted with high quality, medium-roasted, 100% Arabica beans for a rich, smooth taste.  Check out their website www.godivacoffee.com for exciting new ideas and recipes for serving up your fall-inspired coffee or incorporate it into your fall festivities.

I am sharing here a method that Malaysian loved in their coffee.  I used a fat-free condensed milk here (you don't have to use fat-free) and you can add half and half to make it richer.  This Godiva's Pumpkin Spice coffee is rich and smooth with a hint of pumpkin, really reminded me of fall and fall festivities.