Homemade Almond Milk and Almond Meal

 

When I learned that almond milk is actually very easy to make, I wanted to make it at home.  Problem is I have to wait until the raw almond is on sales so that I can stock up.  If not, making the almond milk at home can be more expensive that buying the non-GMO Silk's almond milk.  The above is what I made with 1 cup of raw almonds, it only lasted for two days.  Only my two girls have a small glass of almond milk with Milo in the morning and my husband and I only use it in our morning coffee, so frankly we don't drink a lot of milk to begin with.  We drink water throughout the day, milk is just for breakfast.  I can certainly stretch my dollar by adding more water.  I saw that some add up to 8 or 10 cups of water per 1 cup of almonds.  That would be cheaper than buying but to me it would be very diluted.  I used 3 cups of water and I still find it quite bland when compared to store-bought (the next time I would try 4 cups and stretch it to 3 days).  Nevertheless, nothing beat homemade as the ingredients are only water and almonds.  Store-bought one added a lot more stuff in their ingredients list which I would gladly avoid if I can.  

If you like, you can actually season your almond milk with sea salt, raw honey, agave, pure vanilla extract, dates, etc.  But I just want to keep mine plain.  Homemade almond milk does separate, so shake well before use.  Or if you can afford it, I think 1 cup of raw almonds to 2 cup of water is the best ratio.

Tofu Shirataki Noodle Soup

When their daddy was on a business trip, I just wanted something easy to make and good for lunch and dinner.  A big pot of slow cooker chicken stock that I can cook overnight just pop up.  Just so happen that we had some leftover rotisserie chicken breast and some fresh romaine lettuce and mushroom in the refrigerator, the meal was planned.

For dinner, instead of tofu shirataki, we had some whole wheat thin spaghetti as noodle and also par-boiled spinach as the vegetable.

Happy Birthday Edda!

My sweet little girl is turning 7!  How time flies right?  Especially for those who have been following my blog since the very beginning.  You have seen my pregnancy announcement, her ultrasound, the birth story, baby pictures and now she is 7, no longer that tiny anymore.  :-)  She is growing up well, a great student, smart, well behave, listen well, helpful, kind, just a little stubborn at time.

This is the birthday cake I made for her birthday party.  Chocolate cake (the same recipe from her 1 year old birthday cake) with chocolate butter cream with cut out pieces of canned peaches.  Surrounded with Bauducco's chocolate wafers. 

Happy Birthday my sweet Edda and we all love you very much!!!

Edda when she turned 1 year old.

Quinoa Salad with Black Beans

Have you ever heard of eat your beans, especially black bean?  When organic beans are on sales, I would love to grab some, mostly garbanzo bean, but now I also get some black bean and red kidney bean.  Got to have some beans in the diet right?

According to the Chinese medicine, green bean, red bean and black bean can detoxify the body.  Green bean is cooling so it is not suitable for women during their menstruation, but red bean and black bean are both considered a neutral food.  I have a recipe for these beans detoxification soup which I will share later.  Stay tuned!

This quinoa salad is pretty easy.  Like my recipe here, except added some black bean and cucumber and top it with shrimps instead of mixing it together.

Raw Raspberry Chia Seeds Jam

I first learned about the raw jam at a Prevention magazine.  It was the Quick Strawberry Jam that uses the chia seeds that intriguing me.  So, of course I had to cut out the recipe and glue it on my cookbook because it will be on my to-make-list.  Then, I started seeing other raw jam recipe on my Facebook page, like raw blueberry jam.  I finally got to try it with raspberry because it was sour and I bought too much.  I wanted to buy 4 but my elder being greedy wanted 6, so I bought 6 packages and it turned out sour and no one wants to eat it!!  Ugh!!  So, I got to make raspberry vinegar and this raspberry chia seeds jam with it.

 
This recipe yields about 4 jam bottles.  So, I kept 3 bottles in the freezer, just take each out to thaw in the refrigerator overnight before using.  One I keep refrigerated and ready to use and I read that it should last 2-3 weeks.  This works as a fruit spread too and can be used in anything.  Hmmm....maybe I should use it to make some cupcakes!

This is definitely a quick way to make jam and healthier, with a dose of omega-3 from the chia seeds, but I still prefer the traditional method.

Vietnamese Style Grilled Beef

I don't buy pork and beef in my house anymore.  As you can see in my blog, I hardly have any new beef and pork recipes posted in recent year.  I bought some recently because my husband wanted to eat grill beef when we go camping.  But since I hardly ever buy beef, I had no idea which cut of beef to buy or which cut is good for which.  Anyway, that picture was taken when we did the Korean style BBQ on our campsite.  But we had Vietnamese style grilled beef and Malaysian style satay chicken instead. :-)

Dairy Free Superfoods Muffins

This is the upgraded version of my healthy muffins.  I am making this dairy free because lots of health conscious people don't drink milk.  I am in the transition to change it to almond milk.  The almond milk that I want to make myself.  However, if I can't find raw almonds on sales or gotten lazy, I would buy the one that is non-GMO verified with minimal ingredient list.  Anyway, this dairy free muffin was created because I was out of almond milk and needed to find a substitute.  So, I thought why not tried it with water?  Tada!  It worked beautifully and turned out moist and delicious. Lesson learned:  We don't need milk to make the banana muffin moist.

One of this muffin with a cup of coffee, you are super charge for the day!  Try it and feedback to me ya!  This muffin is delicious!
 

Chicken Burger Sandwich Lunch Box

Homemade dairy-free bun with the same fillings, organic romaine lettuce, Whole Food all-natural rotisserie skinless chicken breast, natural cheese with ranch and Lingham's chili sauce or organic ketchup.  Sides of fresh fruit and half an boiled egg.  Sometimes instead of boiled egg, they would get a little snack like mooncake, homemade brownie, hawthorn flakes, homemade granola, one dark chocolate, etc.

Pre-wash your romaine lettuce and grapes the night before.  So, on the day itself, you just need to assemble it. Quick and easy!

This is the lunchboxes I prepared for them this morning using the same nondairy buns but with added poppy seeds and rolled oats.  I added pickled radish and carrot into their sandwiches too.

I loved this new BPA free lunchboxes that I got them.  I wanted this so that it would sit nicely into their lunch bags, so that it won't be messy.  With the double deckers, it can fill lots of food.  Just that I don't think they can finish everything during their 10-15 minutes lunch time.  I got them at TJMaxx if you are interested.

Chicken Curry with Sweet Potatoes

I don't buy potato unless it is on special occasion and organic.  To me is why eat potato when you can eat the superfood sweet potato?  In the Asian supermarket, we can buy all sort of different colors sweet potatoes, from purple, yellow to orange.  I like to buy the purple variety because not a lot of time we get to eat purple color food.  But for adding to curry, yellow and orange colors sweet potato is preferred.

I was planning to make a pot of curry chicken and just so happen that I had some sweet potatoes that were starting to sprout so of course I had to eat it quickly.  Thus, this idea was born.  I loved it a lot because it added an extra sweetness to the curry.  Next time if you have a choice, always pick the superfood!

Kimbap Lunch Boxes

Showing another lunch box idea that can be made easily in the morning.  Cook more rice the night before and keep it warm throughout the night (extended warm function in your rice cooker).  Cut the carrot and celery into long strips (or cucumber) the night before and keep in air-tight container.  Boil the eggs the night before as well and keep refrigerated.

So, on the next day, you just have to assemble it.  No microwaving required and it keeps well at room temperature.

Dairy-Free Buns

I am going milk free, instead of buying organic whole milk, I am switching to unsweetened almond milk (but planning to make my own almond milk).  I am still buying organic yogurt (occasionally, but thinking of stopping it), butter and natural cheese though, just not the milk.  And then I realized that lots of my baking recipes used milk in the recipe.  So, again I had to experiment with my old recipe again.  This is a soft bun recipe that I loved and luckily it worked out well with almond milk.  Hence, my first dairy-free bun uses almond milk was created.  I am not sure but it might work with just plain water, who wants to experiment?

This dairy-free bun is soft and fluffy and goes so well with my matcha kaya!  Next experiment will be to play with the whole wheat version of this bun.  These days, I mostly make my own bread/bun or buy organic bread or all natural bread from Sprouts or Whole Food.  Please read the ingredient list, not all the breads are created equal!  

Tofu Shirataki

Finally I got my chance to try the House Food's Tofu Shirataki!  I gotten my chance because those coupons were just irresistible!  Whole Food accepts one manufacturer coupon and one in house coupon, so when combining the two, I only paid 30 cent for each packet, irresistible right?   A plus for me is it is also Non-GMO certified, gotta love that!

I thought that noodle made with tofu must be soft and fragile but this is not the case, with added yam flour, it is actually chewy and doesn't feel like eating tofu.  Seeing the cashier just dump the packet across the scanner, they probably know that it is not as fragile as its name implies.

I took a picture so that you would have an idea of what it looks like.  One packet is just enough to serve one, not a lot.  I served mine with stir-fried cabbage and Korean style spicy chicken.  Both recipes can be found in my blog.  Then, just mixed it all together and season with a little fish sauce and white pepper.

Homemade Granola

Granola is just toasted oats with a mixture of dried fruit, seeds and nuts.  Homemade granola is so easy to make, so why spend more on the store-bought one?  Since I don't eat oatmeal, but I do buy rolled oats for muffin, cookie, bar and bread, so why not make it into granola too right?  I love the granola on yogurt, so I actually made this for my yogurt.  Besides topping my yogurt with granola, I also added some hemp seeds and chia seeds.  And that would be our dessert!

Granola would make a great snack too.  One or two hands full if you found yourself not really hungry or you just want something to chew.  You actually make this in less than 30 minutes and most of the ingredients are probably already in your pantry.  Next time I would add some nuts too, to make it better.

Lunch Box for Two

Oh ya...it finally came a time that I needed to prepare two lunch boxes.  I was worrying because I hardly have any leftover these days as we all finished whatever I cooked for dinner, well mostly.  They were growing up and started to eat more I guess.  So, I was asking my elder girl, what should I prepare for you and your sister to bring to school if we don't have any leftover?  She said we are fine with sandwiches, you can just make us sandwiches.  I was like what kind of sandwiches, not peanut butter and jelly right?  She said, lettuce with tuna.  I was like okay. So, I went shopping for Rudi's organic bread, organic romaine lettuce, swiss cheese and a Whole Food's rotisserie chicken (as we don't eat deli meat).  If no rotisserie chicken, I can fried an egg with some pork floss, or use the tuna pouch.

Their dad bought a case of yogurt drink without reading the ingredient list, thus the reason the frozen yogurt drinks are in their lunch boxes.  We grew up drinking yogurt drink in Malaysia so it never occur to us that it is actually packed with high fructose corn syrup and all sort of other sugars (bad stuff!).  Anyway, this frozen drink acted like a ice box for the sandwiches.  And it melted into cold drink during their lunch time.  Definitely not buying it again after we finish whatever we have left.

The verdict:  Both of them loved it and kept asking me to make them sandwiches. 

Matcha Kaya

This idea came about when I was talking to my girls.  I asked them what would be a good filling for swiss roll that I was planning to make.  I told them I have blueberry jam or should I make some kaya?  What else that we can use as a filling and then Evy said green tea.  I was like hmmm green tea... what about green tea kaya and thus this idea was born.  Gotten excited and made this recipe right away (that's the plus point of having a bread maker!)  Tada!  Present to you matcha kaya!  This kaya is sweet, fragrant and hint of green tea flavor.  I thought it was sweet and going to cut down the sugar to 1 cup in my next batch.  Trying to reduce the sugar if I can.  But lots of people like their kaya sweet, so it's up to you!

After I was done making the kaya and browsing over my sponge swiss roll recipe, only then I realized that my electric beater was broken and couldn't possibly make any sponge cake!!  Oh well, no sponge cake at the meantime until I buy a new electric beater.  Thus far, the cake and muffin that I make only required a hand whisk.

Stir-fried Chinese Long Beans with Chicken

You can buy the Chinese long beans at the Asian supermarket.  I don't think you would miss it because it is long and green.  If the long beans look fresh and green, I would buy it.  In Malaysia, we love to fry it with sambal belacan (chili paste) and make it into a spicy dish.  However, since I have some leftover grilled chicken breast, I decided to make a non-spicy dish out of it.  You need to fry it in oil so that it will be crunchy and crisp and delicious.  These long beans are good in fried eggs too where we chopped the long bean into small cubes.  I think I have that recipe in my blog from years back.

Healthy Muffins

I always trying to make my muffin more nutritious.  I was not happy with just a plain banana muffin, I wanted it to be packed with superfood nutrients.  So, for this I added oats, flaxseeds, chia seeds, stone ground whole wheat flour and good oil, extra-virgin olive oil (you can use coconut oil too).  I also added chocolate chips (per my girls request) for my girls and dried cranberries for us.  Next time will also add some walnuts to kick it up a notch!  I made these muffins for our breakfast and it keeps well at room-temperature for up to three days.

These muffins are soft and moist and a delicious healthy muffin!  Try it and feedback to me ya!

Vegetarian Mapo Tofu

I loved mapo tofu!  The usual mapo tofu is cooked with ground pork and since I stop buying pork and too lazy to mince some chicken breast, I created a vegetarian version.  I substituted the ground pork with fresh shiitake mushroom, of course you can use the meaty portabello mushroom too (or crimini or button mushroom).  Since mushroom is good for us, I try to cook more mushroom dishes. 

How to eat Nagaimo? 怎么吃山药?

Nagaimo as it is called in Japanese or  huái shān (淮山) or shān yào (山药) as in Chinese is a nutrient rich tuber/ root vegetable that is loaded with health benefits.  山药 literally translates to "mountain medicine" and has been used in traditional Chinese medicine long time ago.  You can read more about nagaimo and the nutrition facts here.  The Taiwanese cooking show that I mentioned before introduced me to this way of eating the nagaimo.  It is so easy to prepare and I just need to pound it and mix in with my rice or noodle, so why not?  You can buy the fresh nagaimo at the Asian supermarket.  It is not very cheap but not too expensive either.  Since I am the only one who eats this in my family, I usually buy a small piece, the above picture is 1/3 of what I bought.  I cut about 1/3 of the tuber, wash it and peel it (be careful as it is very slippery, it might cause itching if you are sensitive but you can soak it in vinegar water first), then cut it into smaller pieces and place it in a Ziploc bag and pound it with the back of a cleaver or an empty bottle until mushy like picture shown above.

Blueberries Preserves without Pectin

I loved buying organic jam or preserves but it can be quite expensive as it ran out fast in my household.  So, the next alternative would be making my own blueberries preserves!  Organic blueberries/ blueberries are cheap during the summer but organic apple is not.  Luckily I can make do with just one apple for this recipe.  I don't use pectin in all my homemade jam and thus far it works pretty well for me.  This blueberries preserves recipe is very easy to make and don't take a lot of times.  It is a great way to preserve the blueberries besides frozen and save some money too, in addition, this homemade preserves is delicious!  I would freeze more blueberries to make this during the winter when the organic apple is cheaper. 

The Best Brownies Ever

I finally found the best brownies recipe!!  Years ago before I became more health conscious, I always bought brownie premixed in a box.  I never know to look at the ingredients list before buying anything.  Now, it's a different story.  I was not satisfactory with the previous brownies recipes that I had tried and always in search of a better one and am glad to report that I finally found the keeper recipe for me.

This brownie is chocolatey, soft, slightly chewy and moist and so irresistible with each bite that I have to give you a warning.  Self-control is required when you bake this brownie as it is not really low fat but I made it less sinful without the frosting and also cutting down on the sugar.  You really don't need to add extra fat and sugar with this already divine brownies in my opinion.  We all loved this brownies and it's our best brownies recipe ever!  I hope you try it and feedback to me ya!

Enoki Mushroom as a Side

We always add enoki mushroom in the end of cooking or in soup or hotpot.  We hardly eat it as a side dish.  One day, I just had a different idea and trying to play it as a side dish and the above was my experiment.  Since enoki mushroom cooked quickly, so I blanched it in boiling water and set it on a plate.  Then, I pour some Kikkoman teriyaki sauce on top and sprinkle it with toasted sesame seeds and some cilantro.  Mix it to serve. 

Luckily my family ate it without any complaint as I was worry that they might not use to this way of eating the enoki mushroom.  If you want to try a different way of serving the enoki mushroom, you can try this.

What is your creative way of serving up the enoki mushroom besides in soup?

Slow Cooker Spiced Cauliflower

My second dish using a slow cooker (not counting soup and dessert).  While typing this post, I realize that I can actually add garbanzo beans.  Oh well, will sure to remember it the next time I make this.  Just add 1 can of garbanzo beans (drain) into the mixture if you like (to make it a one dish meal).  Since the day I made this was Monday, so it was a meatless Monday dish for us.  I am trying to cook more meatless meal again (need to lose some extra weight!) since I have not been too discipline lately.  We really enjoy this easy vegetarian dish and hope you like it too!

Whole Wheat Chia Banana Muffins

Just like the name implied, I modified my original banana recipe to make it 100% whole wheat with chia seeds.  Next time I would add additional 1 Tbsp. of ground flaxseeds into the mixture instead of using it as topping.  By adding the whole wheat and flaxseed cereal, it would be crispy when it was warm out of the oven but it would turn soft later.  So, if you would like to eat it right away or on the day it was baked, then it would be a good idea, if not, just omit it and add the ground flaxseeds into the mixture before baking (I added it in the recipe for your convenient).

This muffin is soft and not very sweet (just nice for Asian taste bud).  I purposely cutting down on the sugar to make it healthier.  I hope you like it!

Spinach Mushroom Soup

Spinach is so delicious in soup.  If you haven't tried cooking it this way, make sure you give it a try!  This soup is nutrients packed as I have spinach, beech mushroom, eggs and shrimps, all are healthy for us.  Just add another side dish and a little brown rice and you can call it a meal.  You are welcome to use vegetarian broth and omit the shrimps to make this soup vegetarian.  Happy trying!

Stir-Fried Lo Mein with Onion Crunch

Do you know about Onion Crunch?  I didn't know about it but I have eaten it on the sushi that I bought at King Sooper.  I was wondering what kind of fried onion was it because it was crispy and delicious, unlike the fried onion that I bought at the Asian supermarket.  Then, I received an e-mail for a Onion Crunch review and one click on the Website made me realized that this was what the sushi chef used on their sushi!!  Of course I wouldn't miss the chance for this review as I really like the taste of it.  As you can see, I top it on my stir-fried lo mein!

What I loved about Loeb's Onion Crunch is that it is made with 100% real onions with 0 gram of trans fat, low in carbs, low in sodium, no cholesterol and non-GMO certified.  It makes a great crispy, crunchy and delicious condiment topping on your favorite food and it remains crispy and crunchy for a long time which makes it a plus.  You can get it at Walmart supercenter, Safeway, etc. (there is a store locator that you can search on their webpage) or buy it online at their website.

*I received the above product free for the purpose of this review.  All opinions are mine.*

Asian Style Slow Cooker Chicken

I always in search of an easy to cook meal for my family.  Recently fell in love with my 2 quart size slow cooker again after putting it away in a box for years.  I really love the turn it on and leave it conveniences that a slow cooker provides.  Also, the 2 quart size is just nice for a family of four.  I have been using it to cook herbal soups and sweet dessert soup and now venture into making a main dish out of it.  This is my first chicken dish and we all loved it, so don't be fooled by the look of this dish, even I have to admit it doesn't look quite appetizing but it sure tastes delicious.  Good serving it with a bowl of rice!

The benefits of slow cooker are you can use frozen poultry or meat and also you can turn it to low and go to work or do whatever and come home to a meal.  As for me, I like that I don't have to watch the stove when cooking as I will have to fetch my girls from school.  I will make more dishes via slow cooker so stay tuned!

Shrimps Quinoa Salad

After reading several blog posts from Tigerfish-Teczcape about quinoa, and said several times this is something I wanted to try, I finally bought the quinoa and made my first quinoa dish.  Oh yeah, it took me a long time but better late than never right?  I made this after a week trip to San Francisco and San Jose areas and back home with no mood to cook.  Haha... Who can blame me as I was so spoil with choices and easy excess to authentic Chinese food while in SF and SJ.  Now back home and back to cooking!

My shrimps quinoa salad and I hope you like it.  I wanted a flavorful quinoa so I cooked it in chicken stock.  Added frozen peas and carrots because I wanted more veggies (cook it with the quinoa).  After it is done,  I added fresh romaine lettuce, sunflower seeds, raisins and pan-fried spiced shrimps and mixed all together.  Later, I regretted that I didn't add a can of black beans into the mix.  So, feel free to add some beans (whatever bean you like).  This makes a great picnic food too as it's good eaten at room-temperature. 

If you are still thinking of what to make for 4th of July, this can be a great healthy recipe for you!

Summer Pesto Rotini

I made this summer pesto rotini for a picnic, I named it summer because this made a great summer picnic food, also great for potluck.  I wanted something easy to make and tasted good at room-temperature and this dish was created with what I had at my house at that time.  I made some cilantro walnut pesto for this dish, it was easy to make with a food processor.   If you are thinking of what to make for your 4th of July BBQ or picnic, give this dish a try!

Homemade Cilantro Walnut Pesto

Vietnamese Noodle Bowl

We loved Vietnamese food and we probably go there once a week.  In cold weather, we really enjoy a big bowl of hot pho, it warms us up and tastes delicious.  On hot summer days, I prefer the cold noodle bowl, it is so refreshing as it is fulled of vegetable and herbs.  We also like the rice plate and their fried egg rolls and fresh summer rolls.  Since some restaurants charge $2 for one summer roll, I prefer to make it at home.

Actually I had no intention of making this noodle but I only left with half of a English cucumber and a little romaine lettuce and I had to think of dinner for my family.  Luckily besides kimchi, my fridge also has some pickled radish and carrot at most times.  So, this dish was born.  I also always have some ground toasted peanuts in the freezer for emergency like this.  Since I finished all of it, it's time to make a new batch to freeze.  I served it with leftover spicy hot wings that my husband bought.

This noodle would be great with leftover Hawaiian BBQ chicken too!

Granola Hemp Seeds Yogurt

While shopping at World Food recently.  I came across a Hemp seeds sample booth.  Truthfully I am not familiar with hemp seeds but I am interested in anything healthy.  Haha... The salesgirl served the hemp seeds with 365 organic vanilla yogurt and I was impressed with the yogurt.  The hemp seeds didn't taste bad but couple with the yogurt, it actually tasted pretty good.  So, I picked up the yogurt to eat with the sample bag of the Hemp Hearts raw shelled hemp seeds that was given.  With my no-bake granola bar, this was indeed made a delicious breakfast.

Flaxseed, chia seed and now hemp seed.  I read that hemp seed is one of the "Super Food" and one of the nutrient dense food that we should be eating.  Compare to flaxseed and chia seed, hemp seed is more well-rounded as it has fiber, proteins, essential fats, some vitamins and essential amino acids and other nutrients necessary for promoting good health.  It is said to increase energy, lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure, improve memory, control blood sugar, lose weight and an antioxidant food.  About 4 to 5 tablespoons a day is enough to get the benefits.  Google it to learn more!  Compare to chia seed and flaxseed, hemp seed is soft, easily digestible
and great in eating it raw.

No-Bake Granola Bars

No-bake granola bars!!  Who wouldn't love it?  When I saw this easy no-bake granola bars, I just had to try it.  A healthy more natural piece of granola bar is selling for $1.80 or more in a grocery store.  That was pricey if you asked me.  With this easy recipe, you can make a batch and grab one on the go or as a snack, nothing beat homemade.  This would make a healthy school snack for my girls in the coming school year too.

These granola bars are delicious.  Soft and chewy with the taste of peanut butter and all the goodies I put in there.  I added chocolate chips because my girls loved it, but you can certainly omit it.

Lotus Root Cold Dish

Root vegetables are really good for us, so make sure your diet consists of some root vegetables.  I bought a small lotus root recently but instead of making soup with it, I wanted to try something else.  I saw a Chinese cooking show before and they used lotus root to make a cold dish.  I never tried that before and really interested in giving it a go.  There are few recipes in my blog containing lotus root, such as in soup, stir-frying, simmering and even deep-frying, but not a cold dish.  The minced ginger, green onion and toasted sesame seeds gave this dish a great flavor and it was really fragrant with crunchy lotus root.  I loved this way of enjoying the lotus root too.  Give it a try if you haven't tried it this way!