I am a huge fan of homemade salsa! However, I’ve always struggled with making my own. I used to eat a lot of salsa in Mesa years ago when a lot of my Hispanic friends used to make it from scratch. I used to devour their salsa and chips whenever opportunities arose. I attempted to making my own every once in a while but mine never tasted quite like theirs… But then I found this recipe… So simple, quick and super easy! I never thought to make salsa using canned tomatoes. It really made a huge difference. I used to make salsa using fresh tomatoes.. and they work great, too. But I really enjoyed the taste of the salsa made with canned tomatoes. And of course, fresh cilantro and garlic were fabulous additions to this easy salsa recipe. With this salsa, I couldn’t stay away from chips. Yikes.
Ingredients
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes (or diced tomatoes), drained
- 1/4 cup chopped red onion (optional)
- 1/4 cup chopped onion (optional) *My husband doesn't eat onions so I replaced them with green onions*
- 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded
- 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro
- 1 clove garlic, peeled
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Directions
- In a food processor, combine all ingredients; cover and process until chunky. Transfer to a small bowl.
Oh it’s Thursday! Which means tomorrow is Friday! I so need this week to come to an end… It’s been so hot here in Northern California, hitting almost 90 degrees but it sure feels like 100 degrees outside. I don’t endure heat very well. But due to electricity cost, I’ve been trying to hold off on turning on our AC.. until last night. I had to turn it on for a little while. I’ve always thought it was a little ironic how people call summer the best season to grill things. I mean, it’s already so hot out and don’t you think grilling outside with hot fire would make you even hotter? But I guess I’ve been exposed to the summer grilling culture because as soon as it got sunny and warm, I took out my grilling utensils and started grilling like a maniac. Chicken, ribs, fish, vegetables, you name it.
Today, I’d like to share a great grilled Salmon recipe that you might find interesting. I love salmon. I’ve been losing weight lately since I started eating healthier, watching how many calories I take. I figured one of the greatest ways to lose weight is by eating good and healthy food. And fish is definitely one of the best health food out there. As much as I love plain salmon dishes with just salt and pepper, this time I added more flavors to it. The combination of garlic and chili sauce was just perfect. I apologize about the quality of the picture. I was having a bad picture day, lol. But seriously, I loved the flavors with the salmon and I can’t wait to make some again!
Ingredients
- 1 or 2 cleaned salmon filets
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon chile sauce
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger root
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1 lime, zested
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 3 green onions, chopped
Directions
- Prepare outdoor grill for high heat. Make shallow cuts on the skin using a serrated knife. Place salmon on 3 large, slightly overlapping sheets of aluminum foil.
- In a bowl, stir together soy sauce, chile sauce, ginger, and garlic. Mix in lime juice, lime zest, and brown sugar. Spoon sauce over the salmon.
- Fold the foil over the salmon, and crimp the edges to seal.
- If using hot coals, move them to one side of the grill. Place the fish on the side of the grill that does not have coals directly underneath it, and close the lid. If using a gas grill, place the fish on one side, and turn off the flames directly underneath it; close the lid. Cook for 25 to 30 minutes. Remove to a serving platter, and pour any juices that may have collected in the foil over the top of the fish. Sprinkle with green onions. (Recipe adapted from All Recipes)
- *If you do not want to use aluminum foil, drizzle olive oil over the salmon and rub it evenly to coat. Brush the sauce on the salmon as it cooks, several times until the salmon is cooked thoroughly.
I know what it says in the title… but no, it’s not mashed potatoes. It’s cauliflower! Have you ever tried whipped cauliflower? It’s so good. My husband is all about mashed potatoes. He always asks if he can make some on every holiday. Me? I’m not a huge fan. I don’t know. Something about the gravy that goes on top of mashed potatoes. Never have been a big fan of thickened meaty juice over mushy potatoes. But then I found this. Mashed Cauliflower… I don’t want you to think that the texture of this dish is going to be exactly like the traditional mashed potatoes, but I have to admit, it is one of my new favorites. I actually prefer the texture of whipped cauliflower. It’s lighter but it’s delicious and creamy enough. It has a fantastic flavor, of course, the unique flavor of cauliflower. It goes perfectly well with any meals as well. How about replacing your mashed potatoes with this healthy mashed cauliflower next time?
Ingredients
- 1 pound cauliflower florets
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1/4 cup milk (or heavy whipping cream if desired)
- 1/4 cup cheddar cheese (add more if desired)
- 1 tablespoon bacon crumbles
- 1 clove garlic, minced, optional
- salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives, optional
- 1 green onion, chopped
Directions
- Steam the cauliflower in a small amount of salt water. Drain thoroughly and dry in the hot pan. Do not brown.
- While still hot, use an electric mixer to whip the cauliflower like potatoes. Add the butter, milk, cheese, bacon and garlic and continue whipping. Do this while it is still hot so everything melts. If too cool, reheat and whip. If too thick add a little more milk and whip. You can always add more, but don't get too thin. Salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with fresh chives or chopped green onions.
When we moved to this new house, we bought a couple of garden boxes for our backyard. We planted lots of vegetables and herbs and we are so excited to see them grow. Our basil is doing really well and I finally got to use some in my cooking the other night. I love the smell of fresh basil… and this basil was really, really fresh!
This pasta dish is pretty simple and easy to make – only a few ingredients but I love clean pasta dishes like this. It’s great that it’s got lower calories than most other pasta dishes, too. Feel free to use your favorite pasta noodles. We had some garden pasta noodles with different colors. Also added a little bit of pepper flakes to spice it up a little. But of course, you can skip it if you don’t handle the heat very well.
Ingredients
- 1 (12 ounce) package pasta noodles (pick your favorite)
- 1 tablespoons butter
- 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
- 1 cup skim milk
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- salt to taste
- (optional) red pepper flakes
Directions
- Cook pasta noodles according to package instructions. Drain and set aside.
- Season chicken with salt and pepper and cook on both sides until thoroughly cooked. Cut the chicken in small cubes.
- In a large skillet melt the butter or margarine. Add the cubed chicken and garlic. Stir in the ground black pepper, fresh basil leaves, milk (if you want the sauce to be thicker, use 2% milk or heavy cream) and grated Parmesan cheese. Bring to a boil and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes.
- Toss drained pasta with basil sauce and add salt to taste. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes if desired and serve quickly.
I am a huge fan of Philly Cheesesteak! I wish I could eat more of that more often. I was looking for a good philly cheesesteak recipe one day then I found this one. As soon as I saw the recipe, I knew I had to try it. Make sure to get extra lean ground beef… and yes, I think that regular cream cheese would have made this dish even more fantastic… However, I decided to use cheddar cheese instead, which was pretty good in my opinion. Either kind of cheese would work, but if you want this dish extra creamy, use cream cheese instead. If you want it to be more cheesy, use cheddar. Oh and I almost forgot to tell you… I added some broccoli to this recipe… because I love broccoli. It just sounded really good at the time and it was good. But of course, you can omit broccoli if you want! :)
Ingredients
- 2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese or 2 cups cheddar cheese
- 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
- 1/4 cup milk, or as needed
Directions
- Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the macaroni, and cook until tender, about 8 minutes. Drain.
- Meanwhile, place the ground beef and onion into a large skillet, and cook, stirring to crumble, until meat is no longer pink, and onion is tender. Just before the beef is done, add the bell peppers, and cook until tender, but still green. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the cheese, condensed soup and milk to make a thick sauce.
- Remove from the heat, and stir in the macaroni noodles. (Recipe adapted from All Recipes)
I. Heart. Orzo. I love the texture and I love how well it goes with melted cheese. It’s so easy and quick to make orzo dishes, too. One of my favorite ways to prepare orzo is with garlic and parmesan. This time, however, I did a little experiment. With spinach. And it turned out delicious! Orzo is one of pasta noodles that I enjoy cooking without any meat. Just simple vegetables like spinach, tomatoes, or even asparagus or artichoke are perfect with orzo.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup uncooked orzo pasta
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 cups baby spinach
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
- 1 tomato, diced
Directions
- Melt butter in heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in orzo and saute until lightly browned.
- Stir in chicken stock and bring to boil. Cover. Reduce heat and simmer until orzo is tender and liquid is absorbed, about 15 - 20 minutes.
- Mix in Parmesan cheese and baby spinach and cover the skillet and let cook until spinach is wilted but the color still remains green. Add chopped basil leaves and season with salt and pepper and stir. Transfer to shallow bowl. Sprinkle with diced tomatoes and serve.
This is a pretty quick homemade mac and cheese recipe. I used a different type of pasta noodles instead of macaroni. But of course, you can use macaroni for the traditional look of the dish. I like to bake cheesy pasta to get the nice, perfect texture of the pasta and melted cheese!
Ingredients
- 2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni or your favorite pasta noodles
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon ground mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 cups milk
- 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
Directions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Cook pasta as directed on package.
- While pasta is cooking, melt butter in 3-quart saucepan over low heat. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, mustard and Worcetershire sauce. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly; remove from heat. Stir in milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute, remove from heat. Stir in cheese until melted.
- Drain pasta. Gently stir pasta into cheese sauce. Pour into ungreased 2 quart casserole. Bake uncovered about 20-25 minutes or until bubbly.
I. love. banana bread. I love that it’s called bread and it still takes very little time to make it. We buy bananas pretty often and some of them don’t get eaten by the time they start to turn black… and there is only one way to enjoy those very ripe bananas. Make a banana bread! My husband was craving it a while back and he asked me if he could make some. I thought, “are you really asking for my permission to make a delicious bread?” I was secretly excited that he was making some because I hadn’t had a banana bread in a long time. It turned out so sweet and delicious, too, so moist, so rich in flavor. If you see some ripe bananas lying around in your fruit bowl, this recipe may just be perfect for you.
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups mashed very ripe bananas (3 medium)
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
Directions
- Move oven rack to low position so that tops of pans will be center of oven. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease bottoms only of 2 loaf pans, 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches, or 1 loaf pan, 9 x 5x 3 inches, with cooking spray or shortening.
- Mix sugar and butter in large bowl. Stir in eggs until well blended. Stir in bananas, buttermilk, and vanilla, beat until smooth. Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt just until moistened. Stir in about 1 cup chopped nuts if desired. Divide batter evenly between pans.
- Bake 8-inch loaves about 1 hour, 9-inch loaf about 1 hour 15 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pans on wire rack.
- Loosen sides of loaves from pans; remove from pans and place top side up on wire rack. Cool completely (or serve warm if desired), about 2 hours, before slicing.
There’s really nothing like the smell of freshly baked bread… I used to work at a small bakery in Korea and man, did I love going to work every morning, just to be able to smell bread freshly out of the oven. For Easter dinner, I baked this simple and delicious bread for dinner. It was delicious and the crust was perfectly “crusty”. The dough makes a large, crusty loaf and it’s even better when dusted with flour before baking. This lovely loaf goes with just about anything. Enjoy it with your favorite steak and potatoes or maybe even some pasta.
Ingredients
- 5 to 5 1/2 cups bread flour
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 2 cups very warm water (120 - 130 degrees F)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons salt
Directions
- Mix 2 cups of the flour, the sugar, and yeast in large bowl. Add warm water. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed 1 minutes, scraping bowl frequently. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let stand about 1 hour until bubbly.
- Stir in oil and salt. Stir in enough remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until a soft, smooth dough forms. Place dough on lightly floured surface. Knead about 10 minutes, adding flour as necessary to keep dough from sticking, until dough is smooth and springy.
- Place dough in large bowl greased with cooking spray or shortening, turning dough to grease all sides.Cover bowl loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in warm place about 1 hour or until double. Dough is ready if indentation remains when touched.
- Grease uninsulated cookie sheet with cooking spray or shortening. Place dough on lightly floured surface. Gently shape into an even, round ball, without releasing all the bubbles in the dough. Stretch sides of dough downward to make a smooth top. Place loaf with smooth side up on cookie sheet. Spray loaf with cook water. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and leet rise in warm place 45-60 minutes or until almost double.
- Place square pan, 8x8x2 or 9x9x2 inches, on bottom rack of oven; add hot water to pan until about 1/2 inch from the top. Heat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Spray loaf with cool water; sprinkle lightly with flour. Carefully cut three 1/4 inch deep slashes on top of loaf with sharp serrated knife.
- Bake 35 to 40 minute or until loaf is deep golden brown with crisp crust and sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack; cool.
Happy Monday!
I know. Monday. Not a lot of people are fond of Mondays. And normally, I’m not too fond of Mondays, either, but after a crazy and hectic weekend, it’s kind of nice to get back to normal. Our baby turned one on Saturday. We had a big party with close family and friends. I made tons of Korean food and it was a hit. The new house is looking better now that everything has been unpacked and cleaned. We got some new furniture to fill in empty rooms and we’re so excited. We went on a little walk to a nearby park and trails and we decided that we really “love” our house and neighborhood. It’s so beautiful. There are sheep nearby too. We love it here.
I am hoping to be able to get back to blogging more often now that things are more settled. It’s been a little hard to get on the computer lately with two kids. They won’t let me sit on the chair for more than 5 minutes. But I am going to try my best to update this blog as often as possible. Thanks to all my regular readers who have been checking up on the blog often despite my lack of posts. I am planning to cook more often, too. Good bye, restaurant food. I’m kind of sick of eating out, lol
These little chicken bites were so flavorful. I love curry flavored chicken. I thought about making chicken katsu one night, then I had this craving for curry flavored something. So I dipped little chicken chunks in curry powder. I used Korean curry powder but normal curry powder should also work just fine. Then I dipped then chicken in flour, eggs, and panko bread crumbs. So crispy and delicious. If you love curry flavors like me, you must try these.
Ingredients
- 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized chunks
- 1/4 cup curry powder
- 1/4 cup flour
- 2-3 eggs, beaten well
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- oil to fry
Directions
- Place each ingredient in separate bowls, except oil. Dust chicken chunks first in curry powder then flour. Dip chicken in egg and coat chicken in panko bread crumbs. Repeat until all chicken chunks are coated in panko bread crumbs.
- Heat enough oil in a frying pan over medium high heat. When the oil is hot (when a pinch of flour is dropped in oil, the flour should sizzle and arise to the top), fry the chicken chunks until they turn to golden brown and the chicken is cooked thoroughly.
- Drain excessive oil of the chicken in paper towel. Serve with rice if desired.
Yay! Finally a new post! That means I am almost settled in our new house! We just move last week and are almost done with unpacking. I am so relieved and excited. Last night, we set up our boys’ room with a new bunk bed and stars on the ceiling. Our four year old was so excited. The almost one year old boy only cared about the stickers, lol
I made this delicious crab and spinach pasta dish before we moved. I only cooked about two meals in two weeks. I’m actually pretty excited about start cooking and blogging again. I know I have been slacking a little bit lately… but with a good excuse. But I promise I will be better soon. Probably when we are all settled and such. I miss blogging everyday. Life has been crazy lately. Do you all feel like that sometimes, too? Okay, back to this pasta – it is pretty great with crab and spinach. I had never thought the two would go so well together! And the cheese… mmm, I can just smell it right now. When you are in a hurry, try this recipe. It’s super easy and quick to fix. I mixed in two ranch dressing packets but you could probably use one. I actually loved the flavor of the ranch dressing mixed with milk and other seasonings.
Ingredients
- 2 cups uncooked penne pasta (or your favorite pasta)
- 2 packages ranch dressing mix
- 2 cups milk
- 1 package (8 ounces) refrigerated imitation crabmeat chunks (cut into smaller pieces)
- 2 cups baby spinach leaves, stems removed
- 1/2 - 1 cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese
- Garlic or regular salt to taste
Directions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 1.5 quart baking dish with cooking spray. Cook and drain pasta as directed on the package. While pasta is cooking, mix the ranch mix and milk in a 1 quart saucepan. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Mix pasta, cut crabmeat, and spinach in the casserole. Pour soup mixture evenly over the pasta mixture, stirring gently to mix. Spread evenly. Sprinkle the cheese on top. Bake uncovered about 20 minutes or until bubbly and light golden brown.
Do you still go and look for premade pasta sauces? Or do you make your own pasta sauce? Since my husband does not eat onions, and since most bottled pasta sauces have onions as one of main ingredients, I started making my own when I got married. After many trials and attempts, I’ve finally been able to come up with a descent and delicious basic pasta sauce at home. I rarely make meat sauce but I decided to make some a little while ago. I don’t add onions to my sauce – but if you love the flavor of onions, feel free to add some. I wish I could add onions to my sauce, too!
Oh boy, now, if you have a bunch of teenage boys at home, this recipe will be a perfect one for them since this sauce is so meaty! But of course, feel free to add less meat (or more meat) to your liking. I like chunky pasta and one bowl of this will fill you up pretty quickly. :)
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef
- 2 14.5 ounces cans diced tomatoes
- 1 can 14.5 tomato sauce
- 1 bunch fresh basil, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon (or more) dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
- In a blender, puree the tomatoes with their juice and the basil until almost smooth. Set the puree aside.
- Heat a skillet over medium high heat. Brown the meat and drain the extra water from the meat. Bring the pan back to heat and add the garlic, the tomato puree, oregano, and sugar. Bring to a simmer over medium high heat. Decrease the heat to medium and continue simmering until the sauce thickens slightly, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Season the sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with your favorite pasta noodles.
Winter came late this year where I live. It’s been raining pretty much all March here in Northern California… and when it rains, a nice soup sounds so good. I found a recipe called “All American Cheeseburger Soup” and I knew that it’d be a perfect soup for my family since we are all big fans of nice cheeseburgers. Cheeseburger in a soup, doesn’t it sound like an excellent idea? The combination of lean ground beef and potatoes was the highlight of this delicious and flavorful chunky soup. I changed the recipe a little bit by adding my favorite chickpeas which is why I decided not to call it an “all american cheeseburger soup”. I enjoyed the addition of the chickpeas – the soup was thicker and chunkier. You can serve the soup with your favorite burger toppings such as pickles, onions, lettuce, etc.
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef (92% lean)
- 1/2 cup chopped onions (optional)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 2 14.5 ounce cans reduced sodium beef broth
- 2 cups coarsely chopped potatoes (2 medium)
- 1 can chickpeas, washed and drained (optional)
- 2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
- 1 6 ounce tomato paste
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoons Dijon style (or stone ground) mustard
- 1 cup milk (avoid skim)
- 3 cocktail buns or rolls, split and toasted (optional)
- Toppings, such as pickles, onions, lettuce, mustard, and/or ketchup (optional)
Directions
- In a 4 quart Dutch oven cook ground beef, 1/2 cup onion and garlic over medium high heat until meat is brown and vegetables are tender, using wooden spoon to break up meat as it cooks. Drain off fat.
- Sprinkle meat mixture with flour, cook and stir for 2 minutes. Stir in broth and potatoes and chickpeas. Bring to boiling, stirring occasionally; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, about 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
- Stir in cheese, tomatoes, tomato paste, 1/4 cup ketchup, and 2 tablespoons mustard. Cook and stir until cheese is melted and mixture just comes to a gentle boil. Stir in milk; heat through. If desired, serve with toasted buns and cheeseburger toppings.
Happy Saint Patrick’s day! Right now at my house, we are cooking some yummy corned beef with cabbage and potatoes in a pressure cooker. While waiting for it to be done, I decided to post this yummy recipe that I tried a couple of days ago. Lettuce wraps have always been one of my favorite things to eat. Growing up in Korea, I used to eat bulgogi with lettuce and thought that Koreans were the only ones to wrap meat and rice in lettuce. Boy, was I wrong. Since I started blogging and visiting lots of other talented bloggers’ blogs, I’ve found out so many different ways to enjoy delicious food. And lettuce wraps are definitely one of them.
Koreans don’t eat so much ground meat but I’ve come to love some ways to use ground meat in my cooking. I like to use ground turkey when I make lettuce wrap fillings. It’s light and good with other ingredients, I think. This recipe is pretty simple – requires a few ingredients that you can get at any grocery stores. I like to use spices to the meat, but feel free to skip it if you can’t tolerate spices very well. But if you’re adventurous and like spices, add more chili garlic sauce!
Ingredients
- 1 lb lean ground turkey meat
- 1 cup shiitake mushrooms, sliced
- 3 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1/2-1 cup matchstick cut carrots
- salt and black pepper
- 2 tablespoons chili garlic sauce (add less or more according to your liking)
- Lettuce
Directions
- Brown turkey and shiitake mushrooms in a nonstick skillet over medium heat until turkey is cooked through, about 5 minutes, breaking up meat with a spoon. (I didn't use oil but if needed, use about 1 tablespoon olive oil) Add ginger, green onions, garlic, and carrots, and stir fry about 1 minute. Season with salt and black pepper to taste and add the chili garlic sauce if desired.
- Serve with lettuce - for wraps, place about a spoonful of meat on a lettuce leaf, wrap, and eat. Simple and fun!
It’s been raining a lot here in Northern California – which is a downer for me because I don’t like to go outside when it rains. So I have been spending a lot of time at home with my kids… mostly watching TV. Uh oh. Thank goodness for Netflix. But then I have been spending a lot of time packing up lately, too, since we are moving in a couple of weeks. Hopefully it won’t rain when we move.
On Sunday afternoon, I realized that I hadn’t made any sweets this year. No cookies. No bars. No sweets. And I craved some classic chocolate cookies – so I decided to make some! I love homemade chocolate chip cookies. So does everyone in my family. My four year old son offered to “help” me make some. I let him mix all the ingredients and add chocolate chips to the dough. Then he proceeded eating several spoonfuls of cookie dough. (He says that is his favorite part of making cookies – he prefers dough to actual cookies, just like his daddy). But me? I’m all about the soft, freshly baked cookies.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Directions
- Heat oven to 375 degrees F. In large bowl, mix butter, sugars, vanilla, and eggs with spoon. Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir in chocolate chips.
- On ungreased cookie sheet, drop dough by level 1/4 cupfuls about 2 inches apart. (Or use a small (or large, depending on what size cookies you want) ice cream scoop). Flatten slightly with fork.
- Bake 12-15 minutes or until light brown. Cool slightly. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool.
{Picture above: Kimchi Dubu over rice} Kimchi is getting more and more popular here in America – a lot of people seem to know about it and I’m so proud. Who would have guessed that so many Americans are familiar with Kimchi and many of them do claim to love it (although there have been a few people who have expressed their “hatred” toward Kimchi). I love Kimchi. I miss my mom’s Kimchi so much. I hardly make Kimchi here – and I know, it’s so lame! I do need to make it more often. I’ve been buying some Kimchi at my favorite Korean grocery store lately. They make it freshly in their kitchen and I love it. I love fresh Kimchi. A lot of people think that all Kimchi is fermented but that is not true. Most Koreans enjoy very freshly made Kimchi (although some types of Kimchi do take about 3-4 days (maybe even a week) to get to the desired texture), most people prefer fresher Kimchi over “fermented” ones. I love eating Kimchi fresh with some sticky rice. Koreans make many dishes using Kimchi. I like to make Kimchi soup, Kimchi fried rice, panfried Kimchi, Kimchi pancakes, etc. I wanted to share some of the dishes I made using Kimchi today.
This one is just something that I came up with one day with some leftover Kimchi fried rice. I wrapped some of the leftover rice with a flour tortilla and grilled it on a lightly oiled pan until the tortilla got crispy. I added some cheese in it, too. Kimchi and cheese, I know, sounds pretty weird, right? But it’s actually not uncommon in Korea. Many younger generations do combine Kimchi and cheddar cheese (or American cheese) together in a fried rice dish.
I also came up with these yummy panko fried kimchi rice balls. I used some of my kimchi fried rice to make these yummy balls. I just made little balls using kimchi fried rice and dipped them in egg batter, then rolled them in flour, and panko bread crumbs. I panfried them in olive oil until crispy and man, they were so delicious!
Have you ever had Kimchi? What’s your thought on it? Would you be interested in making it at home? What are some of your favorite dishes using Kimchi? As soon as we settle in our new place, I plan to try and make some at home. I have made it before and it was delicious! I can’t try and make some!
I. Love. Corn. Bread. The first time I tried them was about 10 years ago when I first came to America – and I immediately fell in love with it. I used to make corn bread out of those box mixes. Then I decided to make it from scratch and I haven’t been back to those mixes ever since.
I love trying different variations of corn bread. I love making Mexican corn bread using green chilies, green onions, and cheese. This time, I wanted to try it with fresh jalapenos – and I was satisfied with the result.
However, if you prefer canned jalapenos or green chilies, use them instead. I think if I would have used the canned ones, the jalapenos would have been more soft in texture. If you like using fresh jalapenos (like me), then I’d recommend that you chop them small. That way, the jalapenos won’t be crunchy and will be cooked nicely.
Ingredients
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 2-4 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 beaten eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 1/4 cup cooking oil
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 4 ounce sliced or chopped fresh jalapenos or canned jalapenos or green chilies
Directions
- Grease the bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides of a 9x9x2-inch or 8x8x2-inch baking pan or round pan works, too. Set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture; set aside.
- In another bowl, combine the eggs, milk, and cooking oil. Add egg mixture all at once to dry mixture. Stir just till moistened. Fold cheddar cheese and jalapenos or green chilies, drained, into the batter.
- Spoon batter into the prepared pan. Bake in a 425 degrees oven for 20-25 minutes or til a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.
Now that our mortgage loan has been approved, we’ve been running around trying to get things done to move in the end of this month. We finally started packing yesterday and I’m already tired. ha! I really hate moving. But I am excited to move into a house that is “mine”. We’ve been shopping for new furniture. We need quite a bit to fill our new house with. This weekend, we are going TV shopping, yay! We’ve had our old TV for years now since we got married and we decided that it’s time we buy a HD one. I’m excited! Then another new set of couches for our sitting room area… Yikes. All of our money goes to the new house. But I’m definitely excited.
So yes, if you were wondering why I don’t post as often as I used to, that is why. I’m stressing out about the move and frankly I haven’t had much time to cook either, which is a shame. But I keep promising myself (and also my husband) that I will go back to my normal cooking when we settle in the new house. I seriously haven’t even gone grocery shopping for several weeks. Well, we go but only to buy bread and milk and some other stuff but I haven’t come up with any menu plans for about a month. I need to do better. But every once in a while, I do try and cook something up and I usually turn to my slow cooker. I love my slow cooker. I just put things together in it and push the cook button and it’s all ready to eat by the time my husband comes home.
This one was a good one with beef in homemade sweet and sour sauce. My husband isn’t a big fan of sweet and sour sauce, however, he claimed that this sauce was one of the best sweet and sour sauces he’s ever had. The beef was tender since it was cooked in the slow cooker. Serve it over a bed of rice and it’s heavenly! This is the first sweet and sour recipe that I used molasses in. The addition of molasses went well with vinegar and the other spices.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs boneless beef round or chuck steak, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 2 cans (8 oz each) tomato sauce
- 2 cups sliced carrots
- 1 large green pepper or several sweet bell peppers, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1/2 cup molasses
- 1/3 cup cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Cooked rice
Directions
- In a large skillet, brown steak in oil. Transfer to a 5-qt slow cooker. Add the next 10 ingredients; stir well. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours or high for 4-5 hours or until meat is tender. Thicken if desired. Serve over a bed of rice if desired.
I love roasted vegetables – I have roasted several kinds of vegetables and have loved all of them. Just the other day, I decided to roast some cauliflower… and they were so fabulous! My husband, then mashed some of them and made mashed cauliflower which is a lot like mashed potatoes. I will share the recipe soon. The unique flavor of cauliflower brightened up our meal. I seasoned the cauliflower with salt and freshly ground black pepper. However, you can season them with your favorite seasonings such as paprika, garlic salt, etc.
Ingredients
- 1 bunch cauliflower florets
- 2 tablespoons garlic olive oil or normal olive oil
- salt
- freshly ground black pepper
Directions
- Cut the florets into bite sizes. Place them on baking pan and toss the cauliflower with garlic olive oil, salt and pepper until evenly coated. Bake at 400 degrees F about 10 minutes or until the florets start to turn golden brown on edges, shaking the pan once or twice about halfway done.
We got to celebrate my son’s fourth birthday the other day. We had so much fun! We got him a brand new bike (with training wheels) for his birthday and he was so thrilled and excited to try it out. All he wanted to do on his birthday was to ride his bike outside!
Isn’t this like the cutest picture ever! I love it. After biking for a while, we took him to King’s game in Sacramento. And since it was his birthday and all, Kings won! He really enjoyed it.
At my son’s request, we made some yummy chocolate cupcakes for his birthday cake. Super easy recipe! Sometimes things get hectic (especially with home inspections and appraisal that we had to do that morning) so we decided to use Betty Crocker cake mixes and frosting. I really wanted to make everything from scratch but these mixes were actually really good. The cake was so moist and rich in flavor and also the frosting was really delicious, too. My husband also made some cream cheese frosting for the cupcakes and added a little coloring to it.
Happy Birthday, Matt!!
Ingredients
- 1 Betty Crocker Chocolate Cake Mix
- 1 tube Oreo frosting or 1 cream cheese frosting recipe
- 1 cup confectioners sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons butter, softened
- 8 ounces cream cheese
Directions
- Mix Betty Crocker chocolate cake mix in a bowl according to package instructions. Lay muffin or cupcake paper tins into muffin pan. Pour batter into muffin cups about 2/3 full. Bake at 375 degrees F, about 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle of a cupcake. Cool completely.
- To make cream cheese frosting, mix all cream cheese frosting ingredients in a bowl and add a drop of food coloring. Frost with oreo frosting or the cream cheese frosting. Decorate with decorating tools if desired.