Salads....for...a....healthier...lifestyle...

Salads which are usually eaten raw is easy to prepare. Fresh garden vegetables and fruits that are available in their country of origin can be used. The basic dressings for salads are usually oil and vinegar. ( 3 tbsp oil to 1 tbsp vinegar). For salads we can use olive oil( extra virgin) or sunflower oil. All kinds of vinegar like apple cider or italian balsamic vinegar can be used. We can replace vinegar with lemon or lime juice. But for the asian dressings we used soya sauce ,garlic oil, onion oil, sesame oil in our salads. For a rich and creamy dressing we can add mayonaise or sour cream which is not so healthy because of the fat and cholesterol content.

Here is a simple garden salad i made yesterday......

Ingredients:

some variety of lettuce

cherry tomatoes

japanese cucumber - (sliced thinly)

1/2 carrot - (coarsely grated)

croutons ( i roasted from my left-over garlic bread)

Dressings:

1 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp mayonaise (optional- son's request)

a dash of salt and black pepper

My salad spinner..........just spin and the vege will dry in seconds.....!


the prepared dressing.................................

Method:

Wash and dry the vege on a clean cloth....i used salad spinner..see pic above. Keep in fridge. Prepare dressing by mixing all in a glass bowl. You can prepare a larger amount and keep in a bottle in fridge. Drizzle dressing over vege when ready to serve only. Mix gently with 2 spoons or chopsticks by turning it over delicately not to bruise the greens.

salads ready to be served..........oops..!...forget to add croutons.....

Yummy...Nestum...Butter....Prawns.....

Nestum and beaten egg yolk..............................

Chopped garlic, butter, curry and pandan leaves.................

Yummy butter prawms................................

Today I cook nestum butter prawns for dinner. It is quite an expensive dish if we eat out. Cooking this delicious butter prawns at home is just as yummy. I like to share it out with my readers......

Ingredients:

300 gm big or medium prawns

1 big knob of butter (1 tbsp)

1 tbsp oil

2 sprig curry leaves

1 pandan leave (cut into 2cm sections)

1 tbsp of chopped garlic

salt and pepper for seosoning

2 egg yolks - beaten

3 to 4 tbsp nestum

2 tbsp milk

Method:

1. Clean prawns and slit open the back of prawns and take out intestine.

2. Season the prawns with salt and pepper for 15 mins.

3. Fry the prawns in hot oil til it change colour but not overcook and leave aside.

4. In a clean wok or pan, put in the oil and butter to heat up.

5. When butter melts, pour the beaten egg yolk very slowly from a height of about 2 feet from the pan. while pouring stir quickly the yolk with a chopstick to get fine strips of yolk.

6. Add in the chopped garlic, curry and pandan leaves to fry for a minute til fragrant.

7. Add in the prawns and stir well to mix and then spoon in the nestum. Fry for a minute on slow heat making sure not to burnt the nestum. Add some milk if mixture is too dry. Season with some salt and pepper to taste

For those who like it spicy you can add chopped cilli padi to it.I did not put it here because my boys do not like to bite on the hot chillis.

SEO..........Link............

i had my first tag from shern's mom. Thanks for tagging me. Here is how the tag goes....

Start tag:

This is based on the SEO theory that links to posts inside your blog are more important than links to your home page. I have selected three posts I want to promote along with my site’s name. You will do the same thing.Keep it simple and spread our good work around to both share and build some ratings! Pick three posts that you feel are your best or those you simply want to promote. Your site name is listed with your 3 selected posts beneath.Once you have your post up: Add the sites and post links of the folks you tagged onto your post. Try to add the site and post links to anyone involved to maximize the effectiveness.
Tag a minimum of 5 people! Try your best not to double tag people so it will spread better! Please actually read the posts from everyone so you can see some really good work from our beloved blogging friends! Make your title a little different from mine to avoid repetitive titles. Please try maintain some friendly updates to your post too.

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BabyShern:Remember 'em,Marcus Has It,Daddy and Baby, Rainbows : Mango Jelly Mooncake.......just in time........ ,Joint Destruction Caused By Rheumatoid Arthritis ,My Pita Bread.... ,

I would like to pass this tag to:-

New Kid on the Blog, Little corner of mine,I am BM Kia ,Tummytreats ,sembangntalk

Please keep the ball rolling folks...............happy blogging!

Stir- fry.......Honey Beans.....in Abalone sauce...

Ingredients:-

A packet of honey beans

1/2 carrot - sliced

1/2 canned straw mushroom

50 gm minced meat -( seasoned with salt and pepper)

1 tbsp chopped garlic

1 tbsp oil

1 tbsp abalone or oyster sauce

1/4 cup water

cornflour thickening- (1 tsp cornflour mixed with 1 to 2 tbsp water)

Method:

Blanched the beans, carrots in hot water( add a pinch of salt to water) til soft- about a minute. Keep aside and use the water to blanch the mushroom for a few seconds to get rid of smell. In a wok , heat up oil and stir fry garlic til fragrant then add in the mince meat. Fry til the meat change colour (red to pale) ...then add in abalone sauce and mix well. Next, add in water to get a watery sauce. When the sauce boils add in the rest of the blanched ingredients. Mixed well and add in thickening and stir to thicken. spoon out immediately to a plate and serve it while still hot.

What's...... for...... breakfast.....?

Son's ........breakfast drink..............fan of this football club...

A cup of of hot chocolate...........for......Hot...Mama.......

A bowl of oats...with...raisins and peaches....for mama.....

Sandwich.......with...bacon....egg....and.....cheese.....for ....son.......

Deep-Fried.... Butterfly ......Wantan................

My deep-fried butterfly wantan..................................

'Wantan' is made by wrapping mince meat and prawn mixture in a wantan wrapper made from flour. These meat dumplings can be cook in soup or deep-fried.....my children always like them deep-fried and eaten as finger food or with rice. There are many ways we can wrap a wantan......like in pouches or packets......but i always like to wrap it like the shape of a butterfly....that looks like it has wings......and when cook in soup the wings will flutter in the soup........First i would like to share with my readers the ingredients for making the wantan and the the method of wrapping the butterfly wantan...................

Ingredients:

20-30 pieces of wantan wrappers

100 g shelled prawns

100 g chicken meat (i use breast meat because it is more tender)

1 tbsp grated carrots ( chopped finely)

1 tbsp spring onion (sliced finely)

3 nos. water chestnut (can be replaced with yam beans or roughly chopped big onions

Seasoning ;

1/2 tbsp oyster sauce

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp sugar

a dash of pepper

l tsp chicken stock granules

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp cornflour

In a bowl mix together the chicken and prawn meat and add in seasoning....when well mix add in the chopped carrots, spring onions,and water chestnuts to the mixture and stir with a spoon til well combine. Put in the fridge to season for about 15 to 30 minutes.

The mixture of wantan fillings..............

The wantan wrappers................................................

Click the video below to see how I wrap my a butterfly wantan......................

First placed a teaspoon of the fillings in the centre of the wrapper....then fold over as showned....with the middle fingers of the right hand ....lightly pressed down the middle part of the triangular wantan and fold up both ends to overlap.....see video......

The wantan are then deep-fried in hot oil......on medium heat or else the wantan skin will be burnt before the filling is cooked.....When golden brown placed it on a kitchen towel to absorbed the oil before serving it with chilli sauce.......

Malaysian.....Kuih .....Bahulu....

Kuih Bahulu's mould................................

Fill the batter up to the surface level..................

Kuih Bahulu.........................................

This cute little kuih which is rather like a cake is popular not only among the Malays but also the Chinese and Indians. It is made from flour,sugar and eggs. As Hari Raya is just a few days away there are many stalls and shops selling kuih bahulu.

Yesterday Imade some kuih bahulu because a friend of mine...Carol... who has just moved to Dubai wanted to make it but could not get the recipe......so this is dedicated to her and also to all my muslim readers who wants to make it for their love ones for Hari Raya.........

Ingredients:

3 large eggs

175 g castor sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

175g plain flour

1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

First I sifted the flour with the bicarbonate of soda and leave it aside. I then beat the eggs in an electric beater til frothy. sugar is then added slowly while beating the eggs til mixture is pale and thick. I then add in the vanilla essence and gently fold in the flour in 3 to 4 batches. Do not over mix. I then use a spoon to fill up the batter in a lightly greased kuih bahulu moulds. Fill up to the surface level.

Bake it in preheated oven at 200 degrees C for 12 - 15 minute or til golden brown. Removed the bahulu from moulds and cool on a rack before storing in container.

Happy cooking and i wish all my muslim readers SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDIL FITRI............

A Treat to Dinner at......Paddington House of Pancake......

The spring roll style pancake with grill chicken...mash potatoes, ham......

Pancakes with lovely sausages and pepperoni............................

The cute little dollar pancake that is the size of a 20 cents coin........with assorted vege........

i have heard so much about this pancake restaurant but i have not been to one yet.....and it so happen that i was chatting online with niece iris last friday and she told me she she is taking her mum out to dinner at QB PHOP.......and lucky me was also invited...........THANK YOU IRIS.....for a lovely dinner.

For those who loves pancakes this is the right place for you.....they have a lot of different menus to choose from......we took sometime looking at the menu and were lost for choice..everything looks so good........in the end we choose the above dishes.....i like the dollar pancake best..with those cute and tiny pancakes with mixture of fresh crispy salads and bits of ham....the pancakes were very fluffy and nice....

For more information on PHOP u can click.... http://paddingtonpancakes.com/

At present there is a promotion at the outlet at Queensbay PHOP.....at RM55.... you can order anything from the menu for two servings... ( for 2 persons)....but the portion served will be a bit smaller than the normal servings without promotion. it is value for money for those who are big eaters. i will ask my two sons to eat there....they always eat like they have not eaten for days......teenagers!

Even for normal servings like the above for 3 of us we could not finish the food.......cost only rm 60++

Frutti....tutti.... .fish............for.....Dinner.................

The frutti tutti fish...............( the colour of the dish match....the plate....given by sis. Karen)

We can use fruits in our cooking to enhance the colour and flavours of our food. Since my

children do not like to eat vege i often add fruits in my cooking.

Yesterday, i cook this fish with some kiwi and pineapple for the sauce. Actually, hubby and sons do not really like fish....worst still....son#1 hates fish with bones. So in order to make them at least eat some of this whole fish which is too expensive to be thrown away....(cost rm 13 per fish) i have to camouflage the fish with fruits................

My ingredients:

One whole red snapper

1/2 nos big onions (diced into cubes)

1/2 red cillis (cubed)

2 nos garlic ( sliced)

Canned pineapple (cubed)

Kiwi fruit (cubed)

honey

cornflour mixture (1 tsp cornflour mix with 2 tbsp water)

The fried fish.............................................

The ingredients for the sauce............................

First i seasoned the fish with salt and pepper....then fried it in oil. Leave aside. To make the sauce i fried the garlic and onions in a little oil til soft.Then i pour in a litte pineapple juice from the canned pineapple i used. Add a little water if it is too dry. Then put in all the fruits to mix and add a litte honey if you like it sweet or some lemon juice if you prefer a tangy taste to the sauce. Then pour in the cornflour mixture to thicken. Do not overcook the fruits...for it will lose its valuable vitamins. Just pour the sauce over the fish and serve it immediately.

From Gas Stove....to.....Halogen....Stove.....

Recently I bought a stove that uses halogen bulbs (2 nos.) for heating to replace my gas stove....

The reasons i change to this wonderful stove is because:

1. The flames in my gas stove always gets flicker out whenever there is strong wind blowing through the windows.....( my stove is near the windows)....cannot close windows while cooking because it will be hot in the kitchen...in the apartment. Isn't it dangerous with the gas leaking...and as my brother-in-law PL says...the gas tank is like a bomb. at home...you never know when it is going to explode! He is the one who introduce me to this stove ....he bought another one after he finds out the first one he bought earlier very funtional and power saving too.

2. No need to wait for hours for the gas man to deliver whenever i run out of gas....so fustrating when yr food is half cook when this happens and the gas man will tell you i can only deliver after my lunch okay??...


3. No need to scrub the black soot from my pots and pans anymore....this stove does not leave any mark on the utensils used.


4. No more keeping an eye on your cooking....it has a digital timer for you to set time of cooking with different levels (6) of heating power.It has auto overheat protection and auto turning off funtion....therefore very safe to use.

5. I can stirfry, slowcook, steam and even barbecue my food on this stove.....

All my problems solved with the new stove.........................

The cooker lighting up............everything is digital.......just a touch of the button..

The utensils that comes with the stove which they say is ' free gift '............

1. The ceramic flat bottom non-stick wok .........cost rm 300++ on sale outside.....verdict...very useful.
2. The non-stick plate for grilling and barbecue..........
3. The steel rim for cooking with round bottom pots or wok......
4. The 3-way pot heat proof which is not included as free gift ...which i bargain for to be included as free gift...( they use it in their demo)

I am not promoting this product...but just sharing my experience and opinions....any further questions regarding this product will be welcome....happy cooking to my readers...

Mooncake... recycle.....into.......pancake.....!

My remaining mooncakes still waiting to be eaten................

It has been nearly a week since the mooncake festival. As usual there will always be some left over mooncakes lying around that nobody wants to eat anymore...
so instead of letting the mooncake go to waste i decided to recycle it into little pandan flavoured pancakes. To make the dough, i blended some pandan leaves and strained the juice in a muslin cloth. In a bowl, i mixed 4 to 5 tablespoon of flour with some hot boiling water(i add the pandan juice to the hot water first) to make a soft dough. Press it to mix with a metal spoon because the dough will be very hot.The dough will be half cook by then and put it on a lightly floured table and knead it till smooth. Then i flatten it with a rolling pin to about 1/2cm thick.

The flatten dough..............................

On top of the flatten dough i spread some mooncake fillings (i discard the outer layer beforehand) to cover thinly over the dough.

The flatten dough with the mooncake fillings spread............................

Then i placed another layer of flattened dough on top . I then press and roll lightly the dough with a rolling pin to flatten it. i used a round cutter to cut it into little round shaped pancakes..you can use a knife to cut it into any shape you want if you do not have any cookie cutter.The cut out little pancakes.............

Then i heated a pan and placed the little pancake to lightly pan fried without oil on a slow heat til cooked on both sides. The pan-fried delicious pancakes..............!

These little pancake seems to disappear faster than the mooncake! Try it ...if you have left over mooncakes..Be creative in the flavours....!