Sorry, no dinner photo tonight ;(
I made Meat sauce rice casserole, but I forgot to take a photo!
When I woke up, my husband was sick.
And come to find out he had a fever of almost 103F!!!
And his tempreture kept going up and up.
At around 6pm, took him to an Urgent Care to have a doctor take a look.
Possibility of a flu. boo hoo
Since we were out at around dinner time, my son's dinner was a Happy Meal from McDonald's tonight ;p
Will cook from tomorrow! I've got a lot of ingredients, hopefully my husband will be better enough to eat tomorrow...
Seems like some kind of virus is around...visrus that gives you crazy fever... so, everyone in LA-Pasadena area, watch out!!!
Monday, May 31, 2010
Groceries for the week 4
So this week, I went to grocery shopping at Marukai Market (Japanese store in Torrance, CA) and Fresh and Easy (because my coupon was good until today!)
All of those groceries came up to $52.80.
Add Beef, Pork, Fish and Chicken breast from freezer...$16.43
Total comes to $69.23
Stay tuned to see what I can cook this week!
All of those groceries came up to $52.80.
Add Beef, Pork, Fish and Chicken breast from freezer...$16.43
Total comes to $69.23
Stay tuned to see what I can cook this week!
Sunday - Pepper steak
Tonight's dinner was...
Pepper steak
Pumpkin with Kochujang Mayo
Cucumber and Tomato
Seaweed miso soup
We went to my son's friend's birthday party at Chuck E Cheese's today.
Originally we were going to go to Fruits and vegetable picking at a farm, but Jimmy got a little tipsy at Chuck E Cheese's (yes, they have alcoholic beverages there!), we decided to just head back home and relax the rest of the day.
Maybe relaxed a little too much?
I felt asleep for a couple of hours while my baby girl was sleeping!
So, tonight, again, is easy cooking. ha ha
(when do I ever cook anything difficult anyways...)
Recipe of the day:
Pepper steak
Pork Tender (Beef)---1/4 log shredded
Green pepper---1 julienned
carrot---6 baby carrots julienned
Shiitake mushroom (dry)---4~5 sliced
Sauce 1
*soy sauce---1tsp
*sake---1tsp
*sugar---1tsp
potato starch---2~3tbs
Sauce 2
*Oyster sauce---2tbs
*soy sauce---1tsp
*sake---2tsp
*sugar---3tsp
*water---2tbs
Mix those ingredients in a small bowl first.
1) In a small bowl, mix sauce 1* ingredients except for potato starch, then mix in pork. When they are well mixed, add starch to coat pork.
2) In a large pan, cook vegetables and mushroom with 1/2tbs of oil. When they are halfway cooked, put them onto a plate to put aside.
3) In a same Pan, add 1tbs of oil, then cook pork until both sides are cooked.
4) Add vegetable back into the pan, then add the sauce 2* ingredients and turn off heat.
Cook on a high heat from the beginning to the end.
It's a long weekend, we were planning on doing this and that.
But I've been kind of under the weather and now it looks like my husband is also getting sick...
I guess our memorial weekend is for us to sit back and relax...
Picture of the day:
My son discovered that he really likes pancakes.
So I made mickey mouse (?) pancakes for him this morning :)
(my husband did the mouth and nose)
Pepper steak
Pumpkin with Kochujang Mayo
Cucumber and Tomato
Seaweed miso soup
We went to my son's friend's birthday party at Chuck E Cheese's today.
Originally we were going to go to Fruits and vegetable picking at a farm, but Jimmy got a little tipsy at Chuck E Cheese's (yes, they have alcoholic beverages there!), we decided to just head back home and relax the rest of the day.
Maybe relaxed a little too much?
I felt asleep for a couple of hours while my baby girl was sleeping!
So, tonight, again, is easy cooking. ha ha
(when do I ever cook anything difficult anyways...)
Recipe of the day:
Pepper steak
Pork Tender (Beef)---1/4 log shredded
Green pepper---1 julienned
carrot---6 baby carrots julienned
Shiitake mushroom (dry)---4~5 sliced
Sauce 1
*soy sauce---1tsp
*sake---1tsp
*sugar---1tsp
potato starch---2~3tbs
Sauce 2
*Oyster sauce---2tbs
*soy sauce---1tsp
*sake---2tsp
*sugar---3tsp
*water---2tbs
Mix those ingredients in a small bowl first.
1) In a small bowl, mix sauce 1* ingredients except for potato starch, then mix in pork. When they are well mixed, add starch to coat pork.
2) In a large pan, cook vegetables and mushroom with 1/2tbs of oil. When they are halfway cooked, put them onto a plate to put aside.
3) In a same Pan, add 1tbs of oil, then cook pork until both sides are cooked.
4) Add vegetable back into the pan, then add the sauce 2* ingredients and turn off heat.
Cook on a high heat from the beginning to the end.
It's a long weekend, we were planning on doing this and that.
But I've been kind of under the weather and now it looks like my husband is also getting sick...
I guess our memorial weekend is for us to sit back and relax...
Picture of the day:
My son discovered that he really likes pancakes.
So I made mickey mouse (?) pancakes for him this morning :)
(my husband did the mouth and nose)
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Saturday - Cream of corn soup and Curry casserole
Tonight's dinner was super easy.
Here they are...
Curry and rice casserole
Cream of corn soup
Gyoza (ready to cook)
We were out all day having a family day at Long Beach Aquarium!
It was so crowded I don't think we saw enough to get our money worth...
but Oh well, our son seemed to be more excited about books at the gift shop than looking at actual fish there...
It was closer to dinner time by the time we got home. I rushed to prepare whatever I could gather up by using leftover curry from last night.
Recipes:
Curry and rice casserole
Rice---1 1/2 cup cooked rice (3 rice bowls)
Curry---leftover (just to cover rice in a casserole dish)
Cheese---1/4cup
Bechamel sauce
*Butter---3tbs
*flour---3tbs
*milk---1cup
*water---1cup
*chicken bouillon---1/4 cube
*salt---1/4 tsp
Preheated oven at 400F
1) make Bechamel sauce. The easy and healthier version of course. In a small sauce pan, melt butter then put flour. mix well until lightly golden brown.
Then add crushed bouillon and salt. Put milk and water slowly while mixing with a whisk.
2) In a oven safe dish, put rice.
3) Then smother curry over rice.
4) Put 1/2 of Bachamel sauce over curry, then put some shredded cheese on top.
5) Bake in the oven for 15min.
Cream of corn soup
Bechamel sauce---the leftover from the casserole ↑↑↑
Corn kernel---1 1/2 cup
Water---1 cup
Bouillon---1/4 cube
1) Add water to the pot of leftover bechamel sauce. Bring to boil.
2) put 1 cup of corn and bouillon.
3) Use blender (for me, it's a Magic Bullet) to blend.
4) Put the mixture back into the pot, then put the rest of corn. Cook until warm on a medium heat.
The dinner tonight took less than 30min to prepare. Whenever we have Curry, I usually make this casserole the next day. Usually sell out faster than the regular curry day :)
We went to Long Beach Aquarium today thinking our son might like it very much.
Maybe because it was so crowded, we decided not to look thoroughly inside of the aquarium...the place seemed smaller than we expected.
We thought they would have many big fish tanks...
Maybe they do, but we couldn't find? Or they don't have many tanks...I don't know.
Either way, my son was not interested in sea creatures too much :p
Oh well...
Picture of the day:
Look at this thing. The teeth are pretty spooky looking. ha ha
Here they are...
Curry and rice casserole
Cream of corn soup
Gyoza (ready to cook)
We were out all day having a family day at Long Beach Aquarium!
It was so crowded I don't think we saw enough to get our money worth...
but Oh well, our son seemed to be more excited about books at the gift shop than looking at actual fish there...
It was closer to dinner time by the time we got home. I rushed to prepare whatever I could gather up by using leftover curry from last night.
Recipes:
Curry and rice casserole
Rice---1 1/2 cup cooked rice (3 rice bowls)
Curry---leftover (just to cover rice in a casserole dish)
Cheese---1/4cup
Bechamel sauce
*Butter---3tbs
*flour---3tbs
*milk---1cup
*water---1cup
*chicken bouillon---1/4 cube
*salt---1/4 tsp
Preheated oven at 400F
1) make Bechamel sauce. The easy and healthier version of course. In a small sauce pan, melt butter then put flour. mix well until lightly golden brown.
Then add crushed bouillon and salt. Put milk and water slowly while mixing with a whisk.
2) In a oven safe dish, put rice.
3) Then smother curry over rice.
4) Put 1/2 of Bachamel sauce over curry, then put some shredded cheese on top.
5) Bake in the oven for 15min.
Cream of corn soup
Bechamel sauce---the leftover from the casserole ↑↑↑
Corn kernel---1 1/2 cup
Water---1 cup
Bouillon---1/4 cube
1) Add water to the pot of leftover bechamel sauce. Bring to boil.
2) put 1 cup of corn and bouillon.
3) Use blender (for me, it's a Magic Bullet) to blend.
4) Put the mixture back into the pot, then put the rest of corn. Cook until warm on a medium heat.
The dinner tonight took less than 30min to prepare. Whenever we have Curry, I usually make this casserole the next day. Usually sell out faster than the regular curry day :)
We went to Long Beach Aquarium today thinking our son might like it very much.
Maybe because it was so crowded, we decided not to look thoroughly inside of the aquarium...the place seemed smaller than we expected.
We thought they would have many big fish tanks...
Maybe they do, but we couldn't find? Or they don't have many tanks...I don't know.
Either way, my son was not interested in sea creatures too much :p
Oh well...
Picture of the day:
Look at this thing. The teeth are pretty spooky looking. ha ha
Friday - Seafood Paella
Tonight's dinner was...
Seafood Paella
Curry
Salad
Yakko tofu
I wanted to use leftover Nikujaga from couple of days ago.
I could have make either Croquettes or Curry...
Felt little lazy today, so I made curry instead. Less work :)
Here's the recipes of the day:
Curry
Leftover Nikujaga
Water---3 1/2cup
*Curry roux---1/2 box (Japanese brand)
1) Put all the veggies and meat into a pot.
2) Add water and some carrots (I forgot to put them when I made Nikujaga).
3) When it comes to a boil, turn off heat, then put Curry roux.
4) Mix thoroughly.
Seafood Paella
I got this recipe from my best friend in Japan.
Every time I go back to Japan, I visit her. She always makes lunch and dinner for me. I learn new recipes from her every time I see her.
This recipe is so easy, it's like making Rice Roni from scratch!
Rice---1 1/2cups
Orange roughy---1 fillet
Shrimp---5
Green and orange bell peppers---1/6 each (julienned)
Tomato---5 thin wedges
Onion---1/2 chopped
*Water---2cups
*Bouillon---1 cube
*Saffron---several strings
(or substitute, 1 tsp curry powder or turmeric)
1) Heat up water in a pot, then add bouillon and saffron. Set aside.
These are Saffron strings. If you can't find them in the grocery stores, use turmeric or curry powder to get the color in the rice.
2) In a large pan, cook onion with a 1/2 tbs olive oil, then salt and pepper.
3) When it's half way, put them on the aside of the pan, cook shrimp and fish.
4) When the seafood are almost cooked, take them out onto a plate to set aside.
5) Put rice into the pan. Mix well with onion until well cooperated on a high heat.
6) Add Water mixture (stock), mix well, then put a lid on. switch to a low heat.
7) Cook for 20minutes, put vegetables and seafood onto the rice.
8) Turn off heat, set for 5 minutes before serving.
My son thinks he really doesn't like onion.
But there were a lot of onion in the rice tonight, he didn't noticed. Again.
It's like the hamburger patties I made a couple of Weeks ago. If I don't tell him, he can eat them. If I tell him what's in them before he eats, he gets fear...
What is up with picky eaters???
Well, I've got a lot of leftover curry for tomorrow now...
What will I cook with it?
Stay tuned... :)
Picture of the day:
This is a picture from last year when I went back to Japan.
I went out to a Yakiniku restaurant with my family. mmm...
Maybe I will go back this year again :)
Thinking of Japan makes me think of many many good food over there!!!
Seafood Paella
Curry
Salad
Yakko tofu
I wanted to use leftover Nikujaga from couple of days ago.
I could have make either Croquettes or Curry...
Felt little lazy today, so I made curry instead. Less work :)
Here's the recipes of the day:
Curry
Leftover Nikujaga
Water---3 1/2cup
*Curry roux---1/2 box (Japanese brand)
1) Put all the veggies and meat into a pot.
2) Add water and some carrots (I forgot to put them when I made Nikujaga).
3) When it comes to a boil, turn off heat, then put Curry roux.
4) Mix thoroughly.
Seafood Paella
I got this recipe from my best friend in Japan.
Every time I go back to Japan, I visit her. She always makes lunch and dinner for me. I learn new recipes from her every time I see her.
This recipe is so easy, it's like making Rice Roni from scratch!
Rice---1 1/2cups
Orange roughy---1 fillet
Shrimp---5
Green and orange bell peppers---1/6 each (julienned)
Tomato---5 thin wedges
Onion---1/2 chopped
*Water---2cups
*Bouillon---1 cube
*Saffron---several strings
(or substitute, 1 tsp curry powder or turmeric)
1) Heat up water in a pot, then add bouillon and saffron. Set aside.
These are Saffron strings. If you can't find them in the grocery stores, use turmeric or curry powder to get the color in the rice.
2) In a large pan, cook onion with a 1/2 tbs olive oil, then salt and pepper.
3) When it's half way, put them on the aside of the pan, cook shrimp and fish.
4) When the seafood are almost cooked, take them out onto a plate to set aside.
5) Put rice into the pan. Mix well with onion until well cooperated on a high heat.
6) Add Water mixture (stock), mix well, then put a lid on. switch to a low heat.
7) Cook for 20minutes, put vegetables and seafood onto the rice.
8) Turn off heat, set for 5 minutes before serving.
My son thinks he really doesn't like onion.
But there were a lot of onion in the rice tonight, he didn't noticed. Again.
It's like the hamburger patties I made a couple of Weeks ago. If I don't tell him, he can eat them. If I tell him what's in them before he eats, he gets fear...
What is up with picky eaters???
Well, I've got a lot of leftover curry for tomorrow now...
What will I cook with it?
Stay tuned... :)
Picture of the day:
This is a picture from last year when I went back to Japan.
I went out to a Yakiniku restaurant with my family. mmm...
Maybe I will go back this year again :)
Thinking of Japan makes me think of many many good food over there!!!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Thursday - Salmon with honey miso and Edamame rice
Today is my husband's birthday but he's at work all day...
So it was just me and my son at the dinner table.
Here's what we had...
Salmon with honey miso in a foil
Edamame rice
Komatsuna with bacon
Pumpkin salad
Sliced cucumber
I'm proud to say that tonight's dinner recipes are all my original :)
And of course it's super easy.
Here are the recipes:
Salmon with honey miso in a foil
Salmon---1 fillet
Onion---1/4 sliced
Green and orange bell peppers---1/4 each (julienned)
Any other vegetables you'd like; any kind of mushrooms are also really good
These are all I used tonight.
*miso---1tbs
*honey---1tbs
*sake---1tsp
Preheat oven at 400F
1) Gather vegetables on an aluminum foil, then put Salmon fillet on top of veggies.
2) Mix all the *sauce ingredients, then smother over salmon.
3) close the foil, put it on an oven safe dish (or pan) then bake for 20min on preheated oven at 400F.
Edamame Rice
Rice---2 cup ready to cook in a rice cooker (I used brown rice tonight)
Edamame (without shells)---1/4 cup
*Konbu dashi---1 1/2 tsp
*Sake---1 1/2 tsp
*salt---1/2 tsp
1) Into rice, put all the ingredients, mix well, then press start button.
Komatsuna and Bacon
Komatsuna---1pkg (4 small bunches?) cut 3inch long
Bacon---3 slices (cut in bite size)
Egg---1
*salt and pepper
1) In a large pan, cook bacon until oil comes out.
2) Add Komatsuna then, salt and pepper.
Make a poached egg---easy fast way
3) In a microwave safe dish, put 1/4 cup of water, crack an egg into it.
4) Poke an egg with a tooth pick.
5) Microwave for 1min on 1000W.
A perfectly cooked poached egg in a minute!!!
Pumpkin Salad
Kabocha pumpkin---1/4
*Mayonnaise---1tbs
*Japanese (or Chinese) hot mustard---1/2 tsp
1) Microwave pumpkin for 2 1/2 min in a microwave. Make sure it's cooked through. cut in cubes.
2) Mix *ingredients in a medium bowl, then add pumpkin to gently mix.
Today is my husband's birthday.
My son was off from school today.
The activity of the day?
Making a birthday cake for daddy!!!
I'm not a baker, so I had to do what regular American moms do...
Semi homemade style :)
We had a blast making it together, and of course, daddy loved it!!!
And I got him this ↓↓↓
I don't know if he liked it, but I think it's fun :p
Oh, I almost forgot to post, here's the bento for tomorrow...
Picture of the day:
I cut pumpkin in quarters, then use saran wrap to seal tightly. Store in the drawer in the refrigerater. This way, you can just pup them in to microwave when you cook.
So it was just me and my son at the dinner table.
Here's what we had...
Salmon with honey miso in a foil
Edamame rice
Komatsuna with bacon
Pumpkin salad
Sliced cucumber
I'm proud to say that tonight's dinner recipes are all my original :)
And of course it's super easy.
Here are the recipes:
Salmon with honey miso in a foil
Salmon---1 fillet
Onion---1/4 sliced
Green and orange bell peppers---1/4 each (julienned)
Any other vegetables you'd like; any kind of mushrooms are also really good
These are all I used tonight.
*miso---1tbs
*honey---1tbs
*sake---1tsp
Preheat oven at 400F
1) Gather vegetables on an aluminum foil, then put Salmon fillet on top of veggies.
2) Mix all the *sauce ingredients, then smother over salmon.
3) close the foil, put it on an oven safe dish (or pan) then bake for 20min on preheated oven at 400F.
Edamame Rice
Rice---2 cup ready to cook in a rice cooker (I used brown rice tonight)
Edamame (without shells)---1/4 cup
*Konbu dashi---1 1/2 tsp
*Sake---1 1/2 tsp
*salt---1/2 tsp
1) Into rice, put all the ingredients, mix well, then press start button.
Komatsuna and Bacon
Komatsuna---1pkg (4 small bunches?) cut 3inch long
Bacon---3 slices (cut in bite size)
Egg---1
*salt and pepper
1) In a large pan, cook bacon until oil comes out.
2) Add Komatsuna then, salt and pepper.
Make a poached egg---easy fast way
3) In a microwave safe dish, put 1/4 cup of water, crack an egg into it.
4) Poke an egg with a tooth pick.
5) Microwave for 1min on 1000W.
A perfectly cooked poached egg in a minute!!!
Pumpkin Salad
Kabocha pumpkin---1/4
*Mayonnaise---1tbs
*Japanese (or Chinese) hot mustard---1/2 tsp
1) Microwave pumpkin for 2 1/2 min in a microwave. Make sure it's cooked through. cut in cubes.
2) Mix *ingredients in a medium bowl, then add pumpkin to gently mix.
Today is my husband's birthday.
My son was off from school today.
The activity of the day?
Making a birthday cake for daddy!!!
I'm not a baker, so I had to do what regular American moms do...
Semi homemade style :)
We had a blast making it together, and of course, daddy loved it!!!
And I got him this ↓↓↓
I don't know if he liked it, but I think it's fun :p
Oh, I almost forgot to post, here's the bento for tomorrow...
Picture of the day:
I cut pumpkin in quarters, then use saran wrap to seal tightly. Store in the drawer in the refrigerater. This way, you can just pup them in to microwave when you cook.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Wednesday - Nikujaga and Sesame Chicken
So no update yesterday...
I fell out of a wagon once again ;(
Well, I got my son's sick I guess. I was ill all day yesterday and just slept in bed---sorry to my son and baby girl.
My darling husband came home early so he could take care of our children, and order some food for us to eat.
Thanks to my thoughtful family, I'm all well and back to usual me again :)
Here's tonight's dinner...
Nikujaga (Meat and potato)
Sesame Chicken (my version)
Komatsuna soup
I went over to my friend's house with my daughter this afternoon until dinner time, so I prepared Nikujaga before I left. And made everything else after I got back home with my son in the evening.
Recipes of the day:
Nikujaga
Potato---4 (medium size)
Ground meat---1/2 pound
Onion---1
Carrots---2 (or 1 big size...although I forgot to put in tonight)
Ito Konyaku---1pkg *optional
*water---2cup
*Soy Sauce---3tbs
*Sugar---2tbs
*mirin---1tbs
*sake---1tbs
*Dashi powder---2tsp
I used pressure cooker today.
1) Cut veggies in chunks. In a pressure cooker, put Onion, Konyaku, carrots and potato (in order).
2) Break off ground meat with hand as putting them to the pot.
3) Add *sauce ingredients.
4) Close the lid, and cook on a high heat until pressure cooker starts to make spinning noise.
5) When the sounds get crazy, turn off the heat. Let it hang out until it cools down (20min or so).
If you have to go errands, do it meantime :)
When you come back and start to get back to cooking for dinner, open the lid, and this is what you'll see.
Mix carefully, and heat up again before serving.
Nikujaga tastes better when it has more time to hang out in sauce for longer periods of time. Highly recommend to prepare this ahead of time for a better result.
Sesame Chicken
So this is my healthy version of infamous sesame chicken :)
Chicken---2 breast
sauce 1
*soy sauce---2tbs
*grated ginger and garlic---1tsp each
*potato starch---3tbs
sauce 2
*soy sauce---4tbs
*water---100ml
*Sugar---4tbs
*mirin---2tbs
*sushi vinegar---1/2tbs
*potato starch---1/2tbs
sesame---garnish
1) Cut chicken in bite size, then in a medium bowl mix chicken with soy sauce, ginger, and garlic. set aside for awhile (or if it sits longer, use fridge).
2) Coat chicken with starch with hand.
3) In a large pan, put 1tbs of oil. Cook chicken on both sides until golden color on a high heat.
4) Mix all the sauce 2* ingredients, then pour into the pan. Then turn off heat.
5) Stir well to thicken sauce.
6) Sprinkle a lot of sesame for garnish.
This version of sesame chicken contains very little amount of fat (oil) compare to the real ones at Chinese restaurants. They are usually fried before coated with sauce. This dish, to me, a guilt free :)
So, did you watch American Idle finale tonight?
Well I did.
And I knew Lee Dewyze would win even though Crystal Bowersox is a 100x better singer (sorry Lee, but it's true ;p).
I think Lee's got a really cool voice and he's pretty cute.
The only thing he should do is to NOT talk.
Seriously.
When he's talking, he's SOOOOOOOOOOOOO BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRIIIIIINNNNNG.
He's charming when he's NOT talking.
Have you notice that?
So anyways, my prediction is that Lee's career is going to last for about a year or so. Hopefully longer than the last year's winner ;p what was his name? EXACTLY.
Probably Mamasox is going to sell way more records just because she's just awesome.
GO OHIO! WOO HOOOOO! :) (I went to Colleg in Onio :D )
Sorry, I just had to get it off my chest :)
Here's the bento for my birthday boy tomorrow!
Yes, it's his birthday tomorrow and he said he won't be home until 8pm---working late :( Oh well. I wish him a great birthday anyways!
Picture of the day:
When you wash lettuce, try washing with ice cold water.
Makes lettuce 10 times more crisp! (Little trick I learned from my mom)
I fell out of a wagon once again ;(
Well, I got my son's sick I guess. I was ill all day yesterday and just slept in bed---sorry to my son and baby girl.
My darling husband came home early so he could take care of our children, and order some food for us to eat.
Thanks to my thoughtful family, I'm all well and back to usual me again :)
Here's tonight's dinner...
Nikujaga (Meat and potato)
Sesame Chicken (my version)
Komatsuna soup
I went over to my friend's house with my daughter this afternoon until dinner time, so I prepared Nikujaga before I left. And made everything else after I got back home with my son in the evening.
Recipes of the day:
Nikujaga
Potato---4 (medium size)
Ground meat---1/2 pound
Onion---1
Carrots---2 (or 1 big size...although I forgot to put in tonight)
Ito Konyaku---1pkg *optional
*water---2cup
*Soy Sauce---3tbs
*Sugar---2tbs
*mirin---1tbs
*sake---1tbs
*Dashi powder---2tsp
I used pressure cooker today.
1) Cut veggies in chunks. In a pressure cooker, put Onion, Konyaku, carrots and potato (in order).
2) Break off ground meat with hand as putting them to the pot.
3) Add *sauce ingredients.
4) Close the lid, and cook on a high heat until pressure cooker starts to make spinning noise.
5) When the sounds get crazy, turn off the heat. Let it hang out until it cools down (20min or so).
If you have to go errands, do it meantime :)
When you come back and start to get back to cooking for dinner, open the lid, and this is what you'll see.
Mix carefully, and heat up again before serving.
Nikujaga tastes better when it has more time to hang out in sauce for longer periods of time. Highly recommend to prepare this ahead of time for a better result.
Sesame Chicken
So this is my healthy version of infamous sesame chicken :)
Chicken---2 breast
sauce 1
*soy sauce---2tbs
*grated ginger and garlic---1tsp each
*potato starch---3tbs
sauce 2
*soy sauce---4tbs
*water---100ml
*Sugar---4tbs
*mirin---2tbs
*sushi vinegar---1/2tbs
*potato starch---1/2tbs
sesame---garnish
1) Cut chicken in bite size, then in a medium bowl mix chicken with soy sauce, ginger, and garlic. set aside for awhile (or if it sits longer, use fridge).
2) Coat chicken with starch with hand.
3) In a large pan, put 1tbs of oil. Cook chicken on both sides until golden color on a high heat.
4) Mix all the sauce 2* ingredients, then pour into the pan. Then turn off heat.
5) Stir well to thicken sauce.
6) Sprinkle a lot of sesame for garnish.
This version of sesame chicken contains very little amount of fat (oil) compare to the real ones at Chinese restaurants. They are usually fried before coated with sauce. This dish, to me, a guilt free :)
So, did you watch American Idle finale tonight?
Well I did.
And I knew Lee Dewyze would win even though Crystal Bowersox is a 100x better singer (sorry Lee, but it's true ;p).
I think Lee's got a really cool voice and he's pretty cute.
The only thing he should do is to NOT talk.
Seriously.
When he's talking, he's SOOOOOOOOOOOOO BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRIIIIIINNNNNG.
He's charming when he's NOT talking.
Have you notice that?
So anyways, my prediction is that Lee's career is going to last for about a year or so. Hopefully longer than the last year's winner ;p what was his name? EXACTLY.
Probably Mamasox is going to sell way more records just because she's just awesome.
GO OHIO! WOO HOOOOO! :) (I went to Colleg in Onio :D )
Sorry, I just had to get it off my chest :)
Here's the bento for my birthday boy tomorrow!
Yes, it's his birthday tomorrow and he said he won't be home until 8pm---working late :( Oh well. I wish him a great birthday anyways!
Picture of the day:
When you wash lettuce, try washing with ice cold water.
Makes lettuce 10 times more crisp! (Little trick I learned from my mom)
Monday, May 24, 2010
Monday - Hijiki seaweed rice
Tonight's dinner was...
Hijiki seaweed rice
Baked potato
Lettuce wrap (ground meat)
Bell peppers and celery in herbal butter sauce
hahaha, yes, as you probably may have noticed...
I'm updating my 3 blogs in one day.
No, today is not a boring day, it was quite the opposite actually.
But let me get to that after some of the recipes:
Hijiki seaweed rice
Hijiki---1/3 cup (cooked)
Carrots---5 baby carrots (julienned)
Oyster mushroom---1 (cut in bite size)
Age tofu (fried tofu)---1 (same size or smaller as mushroom)
Rice---3 cup (uncooked)
*soy sauce---5tbs
*sake---2tbs
*mirin---2tbs
*sugar---1.5tbs
*konbu dashi powder---1tbs
1) Wash rice and put water to set in the rice cooker.
2) Put all the ingredients including *sauce.
3) Make sure to mix well before start cooking rice.
Baked potato
This is a quick version
Potato---3
Any toppings you like.
I used 2% Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. It works :)
1) Wrap potatoes in saran wrap, then pop in microwave for 2 minutes on 1000W.
2) Use tooth picks to make sure it's cooked through. Then wrap aluminum foil half way, then pop into a toaster oven for a few minutes.
If you don't have a toaster oven, use regular oven for a few minutes on preheated 450 degree.
Lettuce wrap
It's so easy, you don't have to go to P.F.Changs to eat them!
You can simply use any ingredients you want for your lettuce wrap.
Chicken, pork, beef, you name it.
But today, I had ground meat from last week, and wanted to get rid of 1/2 onion and broccoli stems also.
Ground meat---1/2 pound
Onion---1/2 (chopped)
Broccoli stems---1 (chopped)
Lettuce---1/2 head
*Hoisin Sauce---3tbs
1) In a large pan, cook onion and broccoli stems with 1/2 tbs oil, and light salt and pepper. To speed up cooking time, add a splash of white wine or water.
When it's halfway cooked, put them onto a plate to set aside.
2) In a same pan, put 1/2tbs oil then cook ground meat until halfway cooked.
3) Add veggies back to the pan, then put hoisin sauce.
4) Cook until everything is cooperated on a high heat.
I use this Hoisin sauce.
So, back to my day.
Today was my daughter's 4 month check up at a pediatrician's office.
My son woke up quite early for his preschool, we were getting ready kind of slowly.
My son even had a time to take a bath! So there he was taking a bath...but he kept saying he was not warm enough to get out of bath.
I think he was in the bath for maybe 10 to 15min or so.
Got dressed and getting ready to go to school with daddy...then he told me he wanted to lay down a bit before heading out.
Hmmm...usually he's pretty good about getting ready to go to school since he LOVES school very much. Something must be up.
I touched his forehead...
BINGO
He had a fever.
Well, plan changed.
He's coming to the doctor's office with me then.
We got to the doctor's office, my son looking worse than before.
He claims he can't sit up light any more...
oh no...
Needless to say, he was obviously being so sick nurse suggested if he needed to see a doctor as well.
Checked his temperature...
103 degree
yup.
better see a Doctor.
My 4 month daughter getting immunization shots.
Crying her guts out.
My 3 years old son getting culture out of his throat.
Crying his guts out.
I wish I could cry my guts out too ;(
By the way though, my daughter is growing so well...well, so fast!?
She was born a little less than 7lb.
Now she's 4 months old, she weights a little less than 16lb!!!!!!
No wonder she wears 6 months clothes!
She's 100% breastfed.
Probably nurses 4 to 5 times a day.
Sleeps about 8 hours straight at night.
I'm very blessed to have a very healthy baby :)
Here's bento for tomorrow...
Picture of the day:
These are my life savers.
Baby Bjorn is from my son's time.
It's awesome when I'm on a go.
She is in it every time I go shopping.
This way, she never fuss!
Ergo Baby.
I recently just purchased it for back carrying purpose.
This way, I can cook without fussy baby! She usually just cruises or sleeps in it while I'm preparing for dinner.
Those two items are the bomb!
Hijiki seaweed rice
Baked potato
Lettuce wrap (ground meat)
Bell peppers and celery in herbal butter sauce
hahaha, yes, as you probably may have noticed...
I'm updating my 3 blogs in one day.
No, today is not a boring day, it was quite the opposite actually.
But let me get to that after some of the recipes:
Hijiki seaweed rice
Hijiki---1/3 cup (cooked)
Carrots---5 baby carrots (julienned)
Oyster mushroom---1 (cut in bite size)
Age tofu (fried tofu)---1 (same size or smaller as mushroom)
Rice---3 cup (uncooked)
*soy sauce---5tbs
*sake---2tbs
*mirin---2tbs
*sugar---1.5tbs
*konbu dashi powder---1tbs
1) Wash rice and put water to set in the rice cooker.
2) Put all the ingredients including *sauce.
3) Make sure to mix well before start cooking rice.
Baked potato
This is a quick version
Potato---3
Any toppings you like.
I used 2% Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. It works :)
1) Wrap potatoes in saran wrap, then pop in microwave for 2 minutes on 1000W.
2) Use tooth picks to make sure it's cooked through. Then wrap aluminum foil half way, then pop into a toaster oven for a few minutes.
If you don't have a toaster oven, use regular oven for a few minutes on preheated 450 degree.
Lettuce wrap
It's so easy, you don't have to go to P.F.Changs to eat them!
You can simply use any ingredients you want for your lettuce wrap.
Chicken, pork, beef, you name it.
But today, I had ground meat from last week, and wanted to get rid of 1/2 onion and broccoli stems also.
Ground meat---1/2 pound
Onion---1/2 (chopped)
Broccoli stems---1 (chopped)
Lettuce---1/2 head
*Hoisin Sauce---3tbs
1) In a large pan, cook onion and broccoli stems with 1/2 tbs oil, and light salt and pepper. To speed up cooking time, add a splash of white wine or water.
When it's halfway cooked, put them onto a plate to set aside.
2) In a same pan, put 1/2tbs oil then cook ground meat until halfway cooked.
3) Add veggies back to the pan, then put hoisin sauce.
4) Cook until everything is cooperated on a high heat.
I use this Hoisin sauce.
So, back to my day.
Today was my daughter's 4 month check up at a pediatrician's office.
My son woke up quite early for his preschool, we were getting ready kind of slowly.
My son even had a time to take a bath! So there he was taking a bath...but he kept saying he was not warm enough to get out of bath.
I think he was in the bath for maybe 10 to 15min or so.
Got dressed and getting ready to go to school with daddy...then he told me he wanted to lay down a bit before heading out.
Hmmm...usually he's pretty good about getting ready to go to school since he LOVES school very much. Something must be up.
I touched his forehead...
BINGO
He had a fever.
Well, plan changed.
He's coming to the doctor's office with me then.
We got to the doctor's office, my son looking worse than before.
He claims he can't sit up light any more...
oh no...
Needless to say, he was obviously being so sick nurse suggested if he needed to see a doctor as well.
Checked his temperature...
103 degree
yup.
better see a Doctor.
My 4 month daughter getting immunization shots.
Crying her guts out.
My 3 years old son getting culture out of his throat.
Crying his guts out.
I wish I could cry my guts out too ;(
By the way though, my daughter is growing so well...well, so fast!?
She was born a little less than 7lb.
Now she's 4 months old, she weights a little less than 16lb!!!!!!
No wonder she wears 6 months clothes!
She's 100% breastfed.
Probably nurses 4 to 5 times a day.
Sleeps about 8 hours straight at night.
I'm very blessed to have a very healthy baby :)
Here's bento for tomorrow...
Picture of the day:
These are my life savers.
Baby Bjorn is from my son's time.
It's awesome when I'm on a go.
She is in it every time I go shopping.
This way, she never fuss!
Ergo Baby.
I recently just purchased it for back carrying purpose.
This way, I can cook without fussy baby! She usually just cruises or sleeps in it while I'm preparing for dinner.
Those two items are the bomb!
Groceries for the week 3
Here's the groceries for the week.
I used Fresh & Easy again. Why? Coupons again! :)
My coupons are good until 5/31, so I might go one more time before it expires :p
As you can see in the first photo, I bought a bag of Idaho potato again. ha ha
99cents for a bag, can't beat that!
And they were selling 6 ears of corn for only 99cents too!!!!!
All those produce came up to $51.46 BUT I got $10off coupon at F&E. Yay. so it's $41.46. And plus the meat and Fish I have in the freezer...
Estimated for about $22.86 by using, Fillet Mignon, Pork tender, Chicken breast, Bacon and Salmon.
Total comes up to $64.32.
Let me think what I should make for the week! Stay tuned...
I used Fresh & Easy again. Why? Coupons again! :)
My coupons are good until 5/31, so I might go one more time before it expires :p
As you can see in the first photo, I bought a bag of Idaho potato again. ha ha
99cents for a bag, can't beat that!
And they were selling 6 ears of corn for only 99cents too!!!!!
All those produce came up to $51.46 BUT I got $10off coupon at F&E. Yay. so it's $41.46. And plus the meat and Fish I have in the freezer...
Estimated for about $22.86 by using, Fillet Mignon, Pork tender, Chicken breast, Bacon and Salmon.
Total comes up to $64.32.
Let me think what I should make for the week! Stay tuned...
Sunday
I was out all day today and by the time I got back home, it was already dinner time-sigh
so, I fell out of a wagon already.
Tonight's dinner...little over $10 ;p
We went to a Korean traditional 1st birthday celebration today.
It was like... a wedding reception.
Beautiful balloon decorations everywhere in the banquet room.
This one was a centerpiece for our table.
Cute.
We received party favors on our way out;
Two mugs full of goodies and a box of traditional Korean pastry.
The party was in Korea Town (in LA), then we drove to Little Tokyo to stop by the grocery store I always go to.
We picked up a bento and a plate of sashimi for our dinner :)
This bento had a lot of food, and it was only $5!!!
We shared between two adults and a child!
And the sashimi tray was $8 I think.
Little over $10 for our dinner tonight ;p
Picture of the day:
This is how I keep my vegetables fresh for a week.
Put Veggies in a plastic bag and tie a knot (seal) and use the drawer in the fridge :)
so, I fell out of a wagon already.
Tonight's dinner...little over $10 ;p
We went to a Korean traditional 1st birthday celebration today.
It was like... a wedding reception.
Beautiful balloon decorations everywhere in the banquet room.
This one was a centerpiece for our table.
Cute.
We received party favors on our way out;
Two mugs full of goodies and a box of traditional Korean pastry.
The party was in Korea Town (in LA), then we drove to Little Tokyo to stop by the grocery store I always go to.
We picked up a bento and a plate of sashimi for our dinner :)
This bento had a lot of food, and it was only $5!!!
We shared between two adults and a child!
And the sashimi tray was $8 I think.
Little over $10 for our dinner tonight ;p
Picture of the day:
This is how I keep my vegetables fresh for a week.
Put Veggies in a plastic bag and tie a knot (seal) and use the drawer in the fridge :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)