Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Glaze for Father's Day!

I want to wish all the dads a "Happy Father's Day" especially my dad.  Dad, I love you and may you have a wonderful time on Father's Day.

We are going to celebrate Father's Day with a bunch of friends (dads) tonight so I made this simple and yet yummy cake to bring along.  I made this cake before on Edda's first birthday and really liked how soft the cake was.  Instead of cream or frosting, I chose glaze instead since in my mind it was healthier.  :-P

 

This recipe made two round pans cake.  My girls wanted to put sprinkles on the cake and I obliged, I thought it would make the cake more colorful.  Instead of chopped walnuts, I used peanuts instead.  My girls loved this cake as they couldn't wait to taste one of the cakes and requested I make this on their birthday for them.

Newtons Fruit Thins

Mmmm...mmmm....yum.....yum.....

What was my little Edda eating that was so delicious?  It was Newtons newest product!!  Newtons Fruit Thins is made with real fruit and packed into a thin and crispy whole grain cookie.  It has 8g of whole grain per serving (three cookies) to strike the perfect balance between sweet treat and wholesome snack.  My girls liked to enjoy it plain and as for me, I liked it with a cup of coffee.  :-)  This cookie definitely has the thumb up from me except it was sort of pricy, so I would buy it when it goes on sales or when there is a $1 off coupon (which was recently in the smartsource coupon in the mail).

As a tastemaker of Foodbuzz, I received the Cranberry Citrus Oat Newtons Fruit Thins to sample.  We could taste pieces of real dried cranberry in each cookie with a great citrus taste.  What's best for me was it has zero gram of trans fat and no high fructose corn syrup and made with real fruit. It came in three other flavors as well such as Chocolate Raspberry, Blueberry Brown Sugar and Fig & Honey.  I am eager to try them all.  Have you tried it?  Do you like it?

Stir Fried Long Bean with Minced Pork

I created this recipe with the Malaysian side in me.  Have you ever seen such a dark color vegetable dish before?  Haha...  First I wanted a dark color dish, then I tried to match it with a sauce that will guarantee it to be delicious.  And this dish was created!  Besides long bean, you can use green bean or french bean as well.

If you are too busy to cook, this dish makes a great one dish meal as well because it has meat and vegetable in one.  So, you get a balance meal in a bowl, of course for me, it is best to pair it with brown rice that was cooked with minced garlic and ginger.  You can read more about garlic rice here, these days I only cook brown rice and also added minced ginger as well.  Since both are super food so why not right?

Stir Fried Zucchini with Dried Small Shrimps (炒西葫芦和虾皮)

This is another way to enjoy the dried small shrimps or 虾皮.  If you want to learn more about 虾皮, click here.   This is a delicious stir-fried zucchini dish that even my picky hubby and Evy turned out liking.  They don't like to eat zucchini, but if I sliced it thinly like this and stir-fry it, they turned out liking it.  With the garlic, dried small shrimps, this dish was really flavorful with just a touch of salt and sugar.

Dried Mussels with Chicken and Mushrooms

Another dried mussels recipe from me!  The one packet of dried mussels can actually make with few dishes, I still have half a packet left.  I had tried it with Lotus Root Soup and Chap Chai and now tried it with chicken and mushrooms.  But I would probably say it would taste better with pork belly or drumsticks.  But if you are health conscious, then just use skinless chicken breasts like me.   Perhaps I will use the dried mussels in a vegetable soup next.

Stir Fried Konnyaku Slice (炒半边腰花)

I went to my Asian market when they were having a cooking demonstration day.  I discovered this Konnyaku slice or 半边腰花 at the Lee Kum Kee's cooking booth.  Frankly it was my first time seeing this vegetarian thingy but it reminded me of the kidney that my mom used to make soup.  I got a sample and really loved the texture of this springy Konnyaku slices.  I loved it so much that I bought a packet of this and the LKK sauce that went with it.  I will show you the picture of the packet and the LKK sauce in the next page.  It was my first time trying this sauce as well and really loved it.  The store manager told me they used this sauce to pour on their steamed fish.  Now I know what sauce the restaurant used for their fishes.  Hehehe...

I pan-fried some cut firm tofu and then stir-fried with these Konnyaku slices with the LKK sauce.  Very easy to make and the sauce went well with rice.  The Konnyaku slice can be found at the frozen section of the market.  Just thaw it in the refrigerator a day before use or take some out and soak in water to thaw.

Erythritol Whole Wheat Buns

I was contacted by Emerald Forest Xylitol to sample Erythritol and create a baking recipe for their Website.  For those who doesn't know, Erythritol is a natural sugarless sweetener that comes from corn.  It is 70% as sweet as sugar, but has 0 calories.  Erythritol is well known within the diabetic community as the Glycemic index is a 0, whereas sugar is 100 and anything below 55 is considered "low glycemic" and is therefore safe for diabetics.  I think this natural sweetener is ideal for the borderline diabetics as well.  Please avoid all the artificial sweeteners and consider this natural sugar free sweetener instead.  Please go to their Website as I believe there is a special going on right now (if you are interested).

I used Erythritol to replace sugar in this recipe and the outcome was identical to the original recipe I created.  I didn't bother to increase the sugar amount and we didn't miss it.  Couldn't tell the difference actually and the bread turned out soft and yummy as well.

I am also submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers # 8 and this month theme is "Bread Seduction" hosted by Sweetylicious.

Pan Roasting Cod Fillets with Brown Butter Sauce

This dish came in the right moment.  I was wondering how to prepare my cod fillet when I turned on my TV and on the PBS channel was showing AmericanTest Kitchen.  First half of the show was teaching how to sealed scallops and served it with brown butter sauce.  Second half of the show was teaching how to pan-roasting halibut fillets.  So, my cod fillet dish was set after I finished the show.  I was going to pan roast my cod fillets and served it with the brown butter sauce.

I had an accident when pan-roasting my cod fillets.  I forgot to put on my oven mitten when I tried to move the hot pan away and burnt my hand big time (remember I posted on Facebook?).  No only that, I dropped a big piece of my cod fillet on the floor. :-(  It was a burning pain experience for me, luckily the pain stopped the next morning and only left me with a red burn mark on my hand.

So, please take extra caution if you are trying to pan-roasting your fish fillets.  I probably won't be attempting this method again.  Would go for pan-steaming instead.

Verdict:  This dish turned out well and the brown butter sauce is very yummy and goes well with seafood.   But as a health conscious person, I felt that the brown butter sauce might clog my arteries.  :-P Okay, in moderation, not too often would do.

Black Pepper Crabs

Rock crab sections was on sales at my local supermarket recently.  I couldn't miss this sales and bought 2 lb. to fry at home.  The crabs sold here were all cooked and frozen.  So, basically I just defroze it and then stir-fry it again.  I do find the live ones or uncooked ones at the Asian supermarket, but I hardly go for that because then I would have to kill it and clean it.  Thus I always go for the easiest I guess.

Anyway, I loved black pepper crabs.  I had it at my friend's house many years ago, seem like a Singaporean dish at that time as well as Chili's crabs.  Strange that we don't have this dish in the Chinese restaurants here.  All they have are steamed, ginger scallion, chili garlic white pepper, and XO sauce.  They might have butter cream but I am not too sure.

Korean Scallion Salad (Pa-Muchim)

This scallion salad is usually served along side Korean barbeque in a Korean restaurant.  You can wrap this and the barbeque meat in a green lettuce leaf and eat it together.  I made this to serve it with my Hanainese chicken because I thought it would go well together with the ginger sauce and chili.  This scallion salad was indeed delicious and it would pair well with any meat dishes.

I think it is best to make this on the day you want to serve it and finish it in the same day.

Whole Wheat Milk Buns

I played with the Haiji white bun recipe and came out with my own version of whole wheat milk buns.   Even though the Haiji white bun was really soft and fluffy but it didn't make of whole wheat.  Since we are a 100% whole wheat bread consumer most of the times, I just have a love for it.  Even though this whole wheat milk bun is not 100% whole wheat, but at least it has more than 50% whole wheat in it.  See, I am pretty crazy about whole wheat isn't it?  I am as crazy about whole wheat as brown rice these days.  :-P  Start your kids young with whole wheat bread and brown rice so that these would be their staple choice in the future.

This whole wheat milk buns turned out soft and delicious as well.  It stays soft for days and now it is our breakfast and snack for the girls.  I would use this recipe to try on my pullman tin and a loaf pan next and show you my result.

[S$20 Budget Meal] Tom Yam Cream Soup

I always wanted to make the Tom Yam Cream Soup (with added coconut cream) ever since I tried the instant noodle version years ago.  I wondered how I never gotten to make it all these years, perhaps I tried to stay away from coconut milk as much as possible.  Frankly growing up in South East Asia, staying away from coconut milk was almost impossible, especially in Malaysia.  Most food was made with coconut milk either in curry form, kuih-muih, and/or dessert.

Since I had some coconut cream left, I couldn't resist putting a few tablespoons into my Tom Yam soup.  It definitely kick it up a notch being creamier and fragrant with coconut smell.  Instead of shrimps, I used Cod fillets and added a bunch of vegetable and tofu puffs.  Easy one dish meal served with my organic short-grain brown rice.

I am submitting this to "S$20 Budget Meal"  or "US$15 budget meal" hosted by Cuisine Paradise.  This month specific key ingredient is Tofu or beancurd.  I used tofu puffs in this dish and the estimated cost for this meal was about US$8.

Stir-Fried Romaine Lettuce with Dried Small Shrimps (炒生菜与虾皮)

My friend introduced me to dried small shrimps or 虾皮.  I grabbed a packet when I saw it in the Asian market.  When you shake the packet, the dried small shrimps should be loose, if it sticks together then it is a bad stock.  Because this dried small shrimps hardly have any meat in it so it is very rich in protein and minerals, especially calcium, iodine, and magnesium.  It's so packed with calcium that it's considered a "calcium power house" and said to prevent osteoporosis.  The magnesium in it is said to reduce blood cholesterol level, regulate the blood flow and help in hypertension.  These dried small shrimps/ 虾皮 is so delicious that it helps to improve appetite in the elderly.  You can make it into powder form ( wash, pat dry, pan-fry it a wok with a little oil/without until crispy and brown and then process in a food processor until it turns into powder) and sprinkle on rice or porridge.  

It is suitable for all ages, elderly, pregnant women, people with cardiovascular disease, kidney deficiency, impotence, male infertility and weakness of waist and legs.  But it is NOT suitable for people suffering from allergic rhinitis, bronchitis, recurrent allergic dermatitis in the elderly and people with chronic disease.

One thing worth mentioning though, while doing the research on this, I found that this 虾皮 is not suitable to consume at night or before going to bed.  As the extra calcium that wouldn't be absorbed by the intestine needed to be discharged.  And the peak hours for the calcium to be discharged from the body was 4-5 hours after a meal.  So eating 虾皮 at night might prevent the discharge of the extra calcium through urination as you would be asleep at that time.  So, the calcium in the urine would be trapped and deposited in the urinary tract and overtime would form the urinary tract stones.

I found the above sources from various Chinese sites.  Fill me in if you know more about this dried small shrimps.

Spicy Sardine Puff Pastry

It is not a bad idea to keep some puff pastry in the freezer when it goes on sales.  It can make for a really quick snack or emergency finger food or appetizer.  Not a bad idea to have few canned of tomato sardine in the pantry for cases like this as well.  I always loved the spicy sardine filling, it was a flavor that I grew up loving and still love.  Too bad Evy didn't like the sardine filling, so Edda and I had most of it. :-P

This is one snack that is really easy to make with the frozen puff pastry.  You can get creative with all sort of fillings that you could imagine.  For example, curry chicken with potato, tuna, apple, kaya, red bean paste, nutella, cherry, strawberry, char siew, etc.  As long as you can imagine it, you can make it!

Crispy Tofu with Sauce

For variation,  I sometimes pan-fried my tofu.  Even though it was not as healthy and we all should eat less fried food, but sometimes it was okay.  As long as I kept fried food in moderation.  This pan-fried tofu was crispy, it was great eating it plain with Thai sweet chili sauce as a dipping sauce.  But I wanted to play with a sauce to pour it on top.  I loved the combination of LKK chili bean sauce and hoisin sauce so the above was my result.  Such an easy dish but fulled of flavored and great with brown rice.  Try it and feedback to me ya!

Korean Jajangmyeon (Noodle with Black Bean Sauce)

Even though I am Chinese but I never seen this noodle dish before in Malaysia.  I actually learned about this famous Korean Chinese food from watching the Korean dramas.  I got fascinated because this jajangmyeon only served in the Korean Chinese restaurant and it is a Korean fusion Chinese food.   Last year I found out that the Chinese restaurant near my house also featured Korean menu and jajangmyeon was one of them.  So of course I got to buy and give it a try.  But at almost $10 a bowl, it was not affordable.  Recently I saw this recipe at a Korean cookbook and found out that it was actually very easy to make at home.  All I needed to buy were the fresh noodle and the black bean sauce at the Korean market and I was set to go.

Originally this recipe called for pork but I used chicken instead.  Oh well, I only have chicken in my house and my mom also asked me to eat less pork.  Overall, it tasted almost identical to the one I paid $10 for.  So, I am happy that I can easily recreate this dish at home and save some money.  I served it up with the Spicy Korean Radish.

Sharing this with Presto Pasta Nights hosted at Ruth of Once Upon a Feast.

Haiji White Bread Using a Breadmaker

Since I really loved the Haiji white bread recipe that I tried earlier, I decided to finish it in the bread maker.  It was easier than using a dough function.  I double the recipe for this 2 lb. loaf and it came out all right.

The bread was still soft and with light crust.  With the crust, it was not as soft as using the dough function and finished it in a pullman tin.  As the crust held the bread together.  But if I am seriously lazy, this would certainly do.  I want to play with this recipe some more... :-)

Mu- Saengchae (Spicy Korean Radish )

I saw this dish in a Korean cookbook and immediately felt a urge to make it at home.  I combined two recipes together to bring out the best spicy Korean radish dish for myself.  I liked this as it was spicy and went well with rice or jajangmyeon.

Usually this is served as a Korean side dish called Banchan (반찬).  I ate it with rice and toasted seaweed, made Korean pancake, made omelet with it, added it in my Korean spicy instant noodle, or just have it as a side dish to my everyday meal.  Surprisingly my little Edda loves this and she didn't complaint that this was spicy.  I guess I trained them well.  Evy on the other hand, doesn't like this banchan.

[S$20 Budget Meal] Steamed Tilapia Fillets, Eggs with Napa Cabbage and Seaweed Tofu Gochujang Soup

Above was one of the everyday dinners I made at home.  I was trying to be healthier so I steamed my fish in my steamer basket.  Usually I would pour hot oil to finish my steamed fish (made the fish glossy and shiny),  but decided to skip this step with the "healthier" in mind.  I added eggs in my napa cabbage because I wanted to submit this dinner to $20 Budget Meal.  This veggie dish could be cooked without adding eggs.

Total cost for this dinner was about $6.87 and I was not budgeting this meal at all, it was just a meal I prepared often at home.  It would be even cheaper without adding soup.  I would beak down the cost and provide recipes in the next page.  Again, it prove to me that it is so affordable to cook healthy meal at home, however I do need my break on weekend, it's great to eat a meal cooked by someone else and not have to stay for the clean up.  :-P

I am submitting this to "S$20 Budget Meal"  or "US$15 budget meal" hosted by Cuisine Paradise.

No Bake Strawberry Yogurt Cheese Cake

I saw this easy no bake cheese cake recipe while browsing the Albertson's ad. online.  What attracted me to this recipe was that yogurt was used instead of sour cream.  Most of the no bake recipe that I came across used sour cream, which was not in my shopping list.  So, I was glad to find this recipe.

Just liked the name implies, no baking required, just mixed all the ingredients together, add in gelatin and let it set in the refrigerator.  It was not bad at all, I quite liked it, especially it was so easy to make.  Definitely can be a dessert that I would bring to a potluck.

Happy Easter!!

I'm also submitting this to Aspiring Bakers #6 Say Cheese (April 2011) hosted by Jean of Noms I Must.

Dried Laver Anchovies Soup (野生紫菜汤)

This was a soup I learned from my girlfriend while studying in university ages ago.  Both my hubby and I loved this soup a lot and now my two girls also loved it.  I even have this recipe published in a cookbook called The Best Soups in the World by Clifford A. Wright. 

This soup was not a stranger to a lot of people, it can easily be one of the rotation of the soups made at home.  But in case you don't know, I am sharing the recipe here.

Haiji White Bun Using Pullman Tin

When I went back to Malaysia in 2008, a Pullman pan was on my to-buy-list.  I was fascinated and wanted to get one to play with it.  I was in luck as I easily found this pan in the bakery supply shop, it came in three sizes, short, medium and long.  The one I bought was the shortest one, 4" x 4" x 8.5".  You can see the picture of my Pullman pan in the following page.  While searching for Pullman pan recipe, I came across that this pan was also called Pain de Mie.  Pain de Mie is a fine-textured, moist bread baked in a special lidded pan.  The lid gives this bread a flat top and perfectly square-edges slices.

While blog hopping one day, I came across a Haiji White Bun recipe.  This recipe really caught my attention because the blogger said it was super soft and delicious.  I browsed the ingredients and noticed that it didn't have bread improver or bread softener that I was trying to avoid using.  So, immediately I bookmarked it with the intention of trying it out.  And of course finally gotten to use the Pullman pan that I bought three years ago. :-)
 
Verdict:  Super soft and super yummy!  I am so glad I tried this recipe as I will be making it again and again.  I highly recommend anyone to give this recipe a try.

[S$20 Budget Meal] Ginger Chicken with Rice Wine, Spicy KangKong and Laver Anchovies Soup

Recently, I spotted a  Singapore "$20 Budget Meal" event that got me interested.  For US dollar, it would be $15 Budget Meal.  You have to cook two dishes and a soup or a one dish meal that priced less than S$20/ US$15.  Frankly, I never really counted how much each dinner that I prepared at home cost me.   But I believe it would be less than $15.  For April, one of the dishes must have an egg as an ingredient, so above was what we had on April 11, 2011 which I submitted to this event.

I am submitting this to "S$20 Budget Meal"  or "US$15 budget meal" hosted by Cuisine Paradise.

Deep Fried Italian Panko Shrimps

Have you ever wonder how the chef deep-fried the shrimps without it curled up?  One time when we were visiting our friend's restaurant, her chef made a similar dish for my girls.  His was without seasonings, just dip in flour, then beaten egg, then panko and deep fried.  What caught my eyes was that the shrimps were not curled up so of course I had to pick one to examining it.  When I tasted the shrimp, I sort of gotten the idea of how it was made.  I would share with you the secret in my next page.

I found the unseasoned one quite bland, so I seasoned mine and added dried herbs.  We all loved this, but who could resist this type of fried food anyway?  Flavorful and crispy, hard to stop at a few.

Oatmeal Raisin Yogurt Muffins

I often buy the big tub of yogurt for my girls when it goes on sales.  I came upon this recipe when I opened a strawberry nonfat yogurt for my girls.  This easy and healthy muffin recipe attracted me at first glance.   As my readers know, I am a sucker for healthy and easy recipe, so this whisk and bake recipe got my vote.  This strawberry yogurt came with pieces of strawberry bits so it was a plus and the muffins turned out well.  Not very sweet and good for breakfast.

Both my girls loved this muffin as well.  Evy would take this as a snack for school and the daddy can grab one before going to the office.

Easy Cheese Pasta

This is one super duper easy cheese pasta targeted for kids.  My girls loved macaroni with cheese, but I am staying away from the box kind (processed food).  So, I bought these tiny wheel, alphabet, flower pasta that I saw in a Hispanic market recently intended to cook something for my girls.  I thought of this idea based on the Korean spicy noodle with cheese post that I did recently.

I will provide pictures with illustration in my next post, so that you can use this easy method to cook for your kids too.

I am also submitting this recipe to Aspiring Bakers # 6:  Say Cheese! (for April) which will be hosted by Noms I Must.

Japchae (Vegetable Beef Vermicelli)

The original JapChae, a Korean style vegetable beef with sweet potato vermicelli/cellophane noodles uses beef, but I used chicken in mine.  While looking at my old JapChae recipe, it was so different.  I used to add dark soy sauce because as a Malaysian, I seem to be addicted to dark color food in the beginning of my cooking.  My noodle, fried rice and stir-fried dishes were mostly dark in color.  But over the years, it has change, my cooking seem to be more balance now, not all dishes were dark in color, more white color food came out from me actually.  With the birth of my girls, my cooking also became less spicy.  Guess I would suffer when I go back to Malaysia for a visit as I am not use to that level of heat anymore.

This JapChae was served with Myulchi Bokkeum (Stirfried Anchovies).   The recipe is mostly adapted from the back of the sweet potato vermicelli (dang myun) that I bought in the Asian market.

Myulchi Bokkeum (Stirfried Anchovies)

When I saw this recipe at Little Teochew's blog, I knew I had to try it.  I had this at a Korean's family house ages ago and really liked it.  However, I hardly get to eat this at the Korean restaurant here, granted I hardly go to the Korean restaurant, but the times that I did go, this side dish was not served.  This side dish was sold at the Korean market though but quite pricy.

It was sweet and spicy and if you eat it right away, the anchovies were crunchy.  However, if you kept it for later or kept it in the refrigerator, then the anchovies would turn soft.  I liked it better when the anchovies were still crunchy, then I got the crunchy, the spiciness from the gochujang (Korean hot pepper paste), and the sweetness from the honey and sugar.  Simply irresistible!!  Even both of my girls were enjoying this spicy snack!  With water alongside of course.

Ginger Chicken with Homemade Wine

This is a Ginger Chicken with homemade rice wine that mostly consumed by a lady in confinement.  Chinese lady would be in a month of confinement when she gave birth to a baby.  During this month of confinement, she would be giving heaty food to eat.  Lots of ginger, sesame oil, homemade rice wine, red date tea, etc to help heal her body and to make her body strong.  I didn't get to eat the homemade rice wine while in both of my confinements but I did make sure I followed most of the traditional rules and ate lots of ginger and sesame oil.  You can say I am superstitious but I believed in natural Chinese medicine or tradition that passed down through generations.

After a bowl of this, you eat the ginger, wine stock and everything with the rice and you would be sweating afterward.  Wood-ear fungus is high in iron, protein, calcium, vitamins and said to prevent blood clotting and lower cholesterol.  The homemade glutinous rice wine has lots of benefits too.

Homebrew Glutinous Rice Wine

What prompted me to make my own glutinous rice wine in the first place was I tasted a sweet homemade glutinous rice wine before.  It was so sweet and made the stir-fried ginger chicken so sweet and flavorful.  The sweetness that came from the rice wine couldn't be compared with the sugar you added to make it sweet.  The natural sweetness that came from it was unbeatable.  The above picture was taken in day three of fermentation.  I used my slow cooker to ferment it because I don't have a big glass jar.  You can also use the ceramic pot (Corning ware).

I tasted the rice wine and it was sweet but not much alcohol content.  The sweetest I tasted was day six.  But after day seven and when I tasted the rice wine again it was less sweet and started to taste more alcohol.  Subsequently the alcohol taste became stronger, the sweetness was gone and it turned sour.  At first I wanted to ferment it for up to 45 days but I quickly harvested it at day 22 because I was afraid that as the alcohol content went up, it would be more sour.  I might have introduce some bacteria to turn the wine sour when I played with the wine too much, I almost checked it every other day by spooning it around and tasting the wine.  Because a successful one will still produce a sweet rice wine even at day 45.  It was my first try so pardon my curiosity.  At day 22, the wine tasted dry and sourish.  A failed first attempt at wine making for me but luckily it didn't turn moldy and still very fragrant.

This was the rice residue at day 22.  I used a sieve to squeeze out the wine by pressing it with a spoon.  You can use your hand and a cheese cloth if you prefer.  If your rice wine is sweet, you can keep this in the refrigerator and use it to make a Chinese rice wine dessert by adding water, egg drop and tang yuan.  Or use it in cooking or marinate meat/poultry.  Since mine was sour, I didn't bother to reuse this.

The rice wine that I got from 4 cups of glutinous rice and 2 wine biscuits.  I got a 750ml bottle of rice wine and the one you saw below.  It was white and muddy at first, but would turn clear once you let it sit in the refrigerator (see picture below).  Keep it in the refrigerator to stop the fermentation process.

Besides the 750ml bottle, the above was the extra that I got.  I cooked the above with my ginger chicken and would share the recipe in my next post.  Since it's sourish, I need to counter it with sugar in my cooking.

Cilantro Walnut Pesto & Alexia Fries

I made this Cilantro Walnut Pesto for years.  You can see it from my old post here.  I realized that I haven't exactly really shared my pesto recipe, so I would share it now.  When walnut was on sales, I bought one big bag and kept it in the freezer.  So, I would have walnut on hands if I wanted it in making cookies, cake, or pesto.  Very convenient!  I added tuna in water into my pesto for added nutrient.  I also added a side of sweet potato fries to make it complete.

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I received a free coupon to sample the Alexia product.  I wanted to try the Caroline BBQ Sweet Potato Fried initially but it was not carried in the supermarket I went to.  So, I ended up picking this Sweet Potato fries.  Alexia premium foods are all natural, delicious and free of trans fat.  You can pick from appetizer, side dishes or bread.  It is a great way to bring outstanding gourmet flavor straight from the freezer to the table in just minutes.  I tasted the sweet potato fries, I got to say it tasted just liked my homemade sweet potato fries.  I sprinkled with some Paprika before baking, but I should have used cayenne pepper because I was hoping for a little spiciness.  It was slightly crispy and the sweet potato was sweet.  If you were too busy to prepare from scratch, this all natural Alexia frozen products could be a good alternative.