Fried Marcoroni

This is a yummy easy to make simple dish - chinese style. All you need to do is boil the marcoroni and fry it with garlic, a little chilly paste, some prawns, beansprout and sum up with an egg. Isnt it simple? Simple to cook and it has a great taste and appealing color too. If you enjoy eating fry spicy stuff, dont miss trying out this dish.

All you need:

• Some marcoroni - boil till soft and drain


• some prawns or chicken meat


• some beansprouts


• 4 pips garlic - chopped


• 1 Tbs red chilly paste


• 2 eggs


• chopped spring onions or chinese celery for garnishing

Simple Process :

1. Heat some oil and saute garlic and chilly paste till aromatic, add in the prawns or chicken meat and stir fry till cook


2. Add in the boiled marcoroni, 1 Tbs dark soya sauce, 1 Tbs light soya sauce and stir well to mix with the ingredients


3. Add in the beansprout and stir for a minute, then break the eggs and put it into the centre of the wok, let it cook for a minute then stir well to mix with the marcoroni


4. Yes it is ready to serve....garnish with the spring onions or chinese celery

A simple Meal cook within 30 minutes!

Hunger & Hope

In support of BLOGGERS UNITE FOR HUNGER AND HOPE ON April 29, I wish to contribute my sharing. I am very blessed as I have never experienced hunger since the day I touched down this planet earth. However in the journey of my life I have seen and came across people who have no food at all and I have seen how my grandparents have helped these unfortunate people in one way or another.

This is a true story about being hungry.

I once had a staff in my team who has 5 little school going age kids and they have gone without solid food for days except drinking condensed milk and eating plain bread. Her husband was out of job for months and has been borrowing heavily from money lenders aka "loan sharks" who charges exorbitant daily interest. As he has no money to pay his daily interest, he was on the run all the time, hiding at secluded village leaving his poor wife to manage the family. As this matter was brought to my attention, I contributed my minimum by buying her some food essentials for her. I can feel how the kids are going through having no solid food for days, (as I have my own growing up boys who ate a lot) they would be feeble and no way able to be attentive in school. Since it is going to be an on-going affair till she and her husband settle their financial standings, I decided to made an arrangement with our in-house canteen operator (caterer in the manufacturing plant) not to dispose of left overs, instead packed them and make a contribution to this staff, for as long as the caterer could. I am strong believer in "what goes around, comes around".

What can each and every one of us contribute in a small way towards "Hunger & Hope"?

In my opinion, as within each household, I believe parents should play the important role to instil good values to their children. Children should be nurtured since young not to waste food, take what is enough or eat what has been taken and not to throw them away. I have seen some wealthy couples pampering their ignorant kids at fast food outlets by ordering so much and leaving behind left overs. Thus, firstly, it is essential to create awareness of what the unfortunate children in the world are suffering, make them see how is it like to be hungry and shared with our children how blessed they are to have food on the table and to value them dearly. My kids do not throw away breadcrust which has been sliced out from their home made sandwich, instead it is shared with our little doggie for her tea time..

Secondly, if we have a small garden, we can grow some greens for self consumption too.

As for the corporate communities, it would be great if companies would pursue in corporate social responsibilites like contributing fifty cents to a dollar for each products sold and this collection shall be donated to the NGOs for food supplies to the needy people. Perhaps, bakeries or food manufacturers could contribute a small percentage of their items to those who need them. Just like the story of the late honourable Mother Theresa, a very compassionate being who wait patiently every day behind the village bakery to pick up the thrown away bread and buns and distribute them to those in need of food and prevent them from hunger. She is a great figure to be remembered and to be honoured, needless to say a good examplary figure for us to follow. Can the Corporate communities do the same?

Let's pray together for the well being of those who are in hunger and may they be blessed with food and able to live happily without having to be hungry!

Fried Vermicelli - Vegetarian Style

I just love to prepare this simple fried rice vermicelli aka fried beehoon as it is the most easiest way to prepare with just purely vegetables. I normally add chinese mushrooms or shitake mushrooms as these mushrooms produces a very nice aroma to the fried rice vermicelli.

I do not use MSG at home, to add flavor to this dish, the sauces used are dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, pepper, sugar and salt to taste. This is one of my favorite dish for home party.

Serve 5 : 2.5 bundle of dried rice vermicelli

Look at all the simple ingredients listed...chopped ginger, slices of carrot, cabbage, green leafy vege, chinese mushrooms and vegetables crackers (optional) for garnishing.

Simple Process :

1. Soak the dried rice vermicelli in cold water for about 10 minutes, drained dry

2. Heat a little oil and saute the chopped ginger together with the slices of chinese mushrooms till fragrant

3. Add in the carrots, cabbage and 1 cup water, stir to mix, close lid of wok for 5 minutes allowing the vegetables and mushrooms to soften slightly

NEXT.....

5. Add in the green leafy vege, the soaked rice vermicelli together with 2 Tbs dark soy sauce, 1 Tbs light soy sauce, few dashes of pepper, 1 tsp sugar and salt to taste

6. Lower the heat, close the lid of the wok and allow the steam to further soften the rice vermicelli for about 5 minutes

7. Stir well to mix the sauces with the rice vermicelli and continue stirring lightly to avoid breaking the vermicelli into pieces, till the pot of vermicelli is dry

FINALLY, the Fried Rice Vermicelli is ready to Serve....garnish with fried vegetables crackers...left handside of top photo

Does it look appealing to you?

Simple Recipe and Eat Healthy!

V-Soy Pudding with Fruits

This is a beautiful dessert. I finally discovered a good replacement for "tau fu fah" aka soy pudding which is a nice soft, smooth dessert made from soy milk. My kids love tau fu fah very very much and as per mum's advice, too much tau fu fah is not good for the kidney as it contains calsium sulphate which is an agent that helps the soy milk to coagulate. Tau fu fah is taken by adding in syrup made of either white sugar or brown sugar.


I have attempted twice the recipe after reading from Elin's blog (thanks to her) on her recipe Jelly Soy Pudding and finally I got the preferred softness of this pudding and it taste just like tau fu fah minus the syrup. I have slightly modified the recipe based on my preference and daddy and kids says it is super delicious....hehehe. Btw, this brand V-Soy Original is excellent, it is creamy, sugar content is not high and nice aroma.

These are 3 ingredients I need to prepare the mixture

All you need :

serve 10 small bowl (refer photo) or small cups

1500ml V-Soy Milk (1.5 box)

2 Tsp Jelly aka Agar-agar powder

Canned Lychee / pineapple - as toppings (or your perference)

Simple Process :

Boil the V-Soy Milk in a pot over low heat

Add the Agar-agar powder and stir well to dissolve

Bring to boil, sieve it into the bowl/cups and allow it to cool and set

** It takes about 2-3 hrs to set - add the toppings and chill it

Serve Cold......Truly Yummy!

Garlic Fried Rice with Seaweed

One of the easiest way to "re-cycle" left over rice is to prepare fried rice. I love to prepare fried rice as it is very "flexible", there are so many ways of getting it done. It can be prepared in various ways, from normal to hot and spicy, with some ingredients to lots of ingredients added in.

I find this garlic fried rice is the simpliest form, simple to prepare and taste good, perfect for a busy and lazy mum like me. To add some color and taste, I have included pieces of cut seaweeds into the rice. My kids simply like seaweed, so it suits their tastebuds. I adopt this menu from one of the eatery outlets and create my very own version. Goes well together with a hot bowl of Instant Miso soup... :)


All you Need : Serve 4


Overnight Rice

1 clove garlic - chopped, some french beans, some seaweed, 3 eggs

3 Tbs Fish Sauce, light soy sauce, a dash of pepper. No MSG added.


Simple Process :

1. Heat some oil and fry the beaten eggs and stirring it as it cooks, just like making scrambled eggs - set aside


2. Using the same wok, add some oil and stir fry the chopped garlic until fragrant, add in the beans and stir for 2 mins


3. Next, put in the rice, a MUST to add- Fish sauce, light soy sauce, dash of pepper, stir fry the rice over medium heat for the next 10 minutes, mixing the rice well with the ingredients


4. Lastly, add in the eggs and stir in, spread the cut pieces of seaweeds all over rice and mix

The fried eggs and seaweeds
are to be added last....




THE FRIED RICE IS READY TO SERVE.......Yum! Yum!

Enjoy a Happy Meal!

Delicious Dried Soy Noodle

Got this great idea of cooking "dry style" for this tau-chiam aka dried soy noodle from my SIL. Well, all I can say it taste wonderful, so delicious and my kids loves it..something new for this soy noodle preparation. Shared with them, idea came from "ku-ku"...they exclaimed "Wow" - Nice! :)

So these are the ingredients I cooked for the toppings:

• minced chicken breast meat
  
• some button mushrooms
  
• 1 big onion - chopped
  
• 1 sprig spring onion - chopped
  
• some oyster sauce / pepper
  
• 1 Tbs cornflour

Simple Process :

1. Heat a little oil, stirfry chopped onions till aromatic, add in the minced chicken and stir well


2. Drop in the oyster sauce, 1/2 cup water, button mushroom and let it simmer over low heat, add salt to taste
   
3. Just make sure the gravy is sufficient, you may add in more water if you prefer more gravy.
   
4. Minced chicken should be cooked within 20 minutes, before dishing it out, add 1Tbs cornstarch to thicken the gravy
   
5. Dried Soy Noodle : Blanched in boiling water till it softens, dish out and sprinkle few dashes of oil or sesame oil to prevent the soy noodle from sticking together
   
6. Serve with the blanched soy noodle (tau chiam) with the cooked chicken-mushroom topping
   
7. Garnish with chopped spring onions........Voila!

Thanks "ku-ku"...for the idea, lots of LoVe from us!

Dark Soy Sauce Chicken Rice

I just love this simple recipe to cook "all in 1 pot" dark soy sauce chicken with chinese sausages. There are days when we are really running after time and this easy to cook meal is the best for all in the family. This pot of rice will not be complete without the fried shallots and its nice aromatic oil. So remember to add the homemade fried shallots and its oil before serving.

This is the simpliest "all in 1 pot" chicken and chinese sausage rice as you do not need to stir fry the rice before cooking. The marinated chicken and chinese sausages are laid on top of the almost cook rice in the rice cooker and allow it to cook by itself. When the rice cooker button auto-switch to Ready, this chicken rice is ready to be served. Simple as that! Done within 40 minutes or less.

All you Need :

• 1/2 chicken - chop into pieces
• 3 chinese sausages - soak n peel off skin
• 6 shallots/small onions - slice thinly
• a spring of spring onion/scallion
• 2 cups of rice

Simple Process : Serve 4 - 5

1. Marinate the chopped chicken with 2 Tbs black soy sauce, chinese cooking wine, salt, pepper for 20 minutes
2. Soak and peel the chinese sausages and cut into fine slices
3. Wash the rice and cook with hot water in the rice cooker
4. Around 10 minutes, the rice will be almost dry, lay the marinated chicken and chinese sausages on top of the rice, add in 1 Tbs thick dark soy sauce and let the rice cooker continue to cook the rice and the chicken for the balance 10 minutes.
5. Keep the rice in the rice cooker for another 5 minutes, then ready to stir rice to mix well to ensure even color (all covered by black soy sauce).
6. Serve with fried shallots and its oil, garnish with chopped spring onion

Fried Shallots - heat some oil over medium heat and fry sliced shallots till golden brown, dish out together with the oil for serving.

** Using hot water, we speed up the cooking time of the rice and you'll have nice grains of rice when cooked.

Enjoy this Simple and Easy to cook recipe....

Sweet Potatoes Peanut Porridge

Porridge is easy to cook and good to eat especially good for those recuperating from flu or for those who suffered from dehydration. Porridge is just boiling rice with lots of water, normally 1 cup rice to 5 cups water over medium fire and stirring occasionally. Sweet potatoes has rich source of nutrients and it gives the porridge a natural sweetness. To give the porridge an extra flavour, I have added the canned braised peanuts and it taste so yummy. My family loves this porridge especially with the "add on" braised peanuts. This meal is especially good for a hot afternoon.

This sweet potato which I have used is "orange" in color and it taste very sweet.

All you need :

Serve 4

• a cup of rice
• 3 pieces sweet potatoes
• 2 tins of braised peanuts - optional
  

Simple Process :

Cook within 40 minutes

• Wash the rice and boil it with 5 - 6 cups of water
  
• Cut the sweet pototaes into small cubes or sizes, add into the porridge, add salt to taste
  
• Boil the rice and sweet potatoes over medium heat for next 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to avoid burnt on bottom of pot

Optional - when porridge is Ready, just add in the braised peanuts...

Hmmmm....taste real good and healthy eating...

Tasty Rice Noodles

This is just another option of serving a bowl of rice noodle aka kueh tiaw with add-on "fish products" like fish roll, fish balls - made from fish paste and stuffed fish paste in green chilly and beancurd skin. My kids loves fish rolls and fish balls, so that becomes the main choice when serving my family. A simple recipe and easy to prepare.



Our locals called it "yong tau foo" - basically it is stuffing fish paste into certain vegetables like green chilly, red chilly, brinjals, ladies fingers and roll in beancurd skin, fish balls, fish rolls etc.

Tips : What makes the soup taste real nice and giving it a good aroma is the fried garlic and garlic oil . so dont leave the soup without it!

All you need : Serve 4

• 600gms rice noodle / kueh tiaw
• some fish rolls, fish balls and other yong tau foo - obtainable from wet market or frozen pack
• some beansprout (taugeh)
• 1 piece of chicken breast meat
• a clove of garlic - for the soup
• a clove of garlic - chopped finely for fried garlic
• a sprig of spring onion - for garnishing
  

Simple Process :

1. Soup - Boil 2 litres of water with the chicken breast meat and a clove a garlic over medium heat for 40 minutes, add salt to taste


2. When soup is almost ready, add in the fish roll, fish balls and others and bring to a boil, dish out the fish roll, fish balls and others - set aside


3. Fried Garlic - heat some oil and add in the chopped garlic and saute it till golden brown over low heat. Dish it out together with the oil.


4. Blanched the rice noodle, beansprout separately


5. Serving - Put into each bowl some blanched rice noodle, beansprouts. Add in the cooked fish rolls, fish balls and others, pour in sufficient hot soup over the noodles. Garnish with fried garlic / garlic oil and spring onion....

Simple yet Taste Yummy...enjoy your Meal!

Chinese Mustard Green Rice

This is another Chinese-style "all in 1 wok" meal, it takes less than an hour to cook. Fast and easy recipe for rice cook all at once with meat, dried oyster, dried shrimps (hae bee), chinese black mushroom and most important the chinese mustard green (kai-choy). I have slightly modified my mum's way of cooking this pot of rice. As I love my vegetables to be green, I have decided not to boil the vegetable with the rice. Instead, the chinese mustard green is blanched in boiling water with salt and added in the rice once the rice is cooked.

Chinese mustard green comes with a slightly bitter taste and inorder to reduce the bitterness, it has to be blanched with salt. It is a technique to reduce the bitterness. This vegetable has lots of fibre and it is a good intake for our body.

All you need to have : Serve 4-5

• 2 cups of rice


• some chinese mustard green - cut into small pieces


• some dried oyster


• some dried shrimps


• some chicken meat - cut into cubes


• 1 big onion - chopped


• 1 thumbsize ginger - chopped


• fried shallots - for garnishing

All you need to do :

1. Blanched the cut chinese mustard green in boiling water with some salt, dish out once vege are slightly soften


2. Heat a little oil and stir fry chopped onion and ginger, add in dried oysters, dried shrimps, stir fry a minute then add in the chicken meat, salt to taste


3. When the chicken meat turns white on the outer layer, add in the chinese mushroom and rice, stir fry till the mixture turns dry, dish out and put mixture into rice cooker


4. Add appropriate level of water in the rice cooker and let the rice cook by itself


5. When rice is cooked, add in the blanched chinese mustard green and mix well into the cooked rice


6. Ready to serve, just garnish the rice with fried shallots....

Wow! .....Simply Delicious!

" Worth Following Award "

Thank you very much Sathira of http://breakingmindset.blogspot.com for this special award.
This is very encouraging and it brings lots of joy and happiness to me especially being so new to the world of blogging. Cheers!

This award is given to blogs that you would highly recommend to other readers and the rules are as follows:

Give this award to three of your favorite blogs. Choose ones you make a point of reading as often as possible!
When you nominate them you have to write a short description of the blog (just a few sentences) and why you nominated that blog.

Link to each of your choices as well as the blog that nominated you. Spread the love!

The first & fore-most award goes to Sathira for his mind opening blog http://breakingmindset.blogspot.com. I enjoyed following his blog as it is very inspiring and he shares practical life experience about our human daily life. Great Blog! Congrats!

The second award goes to Doris for her cool n chic blog http://dorisjourneyoflife.blogspot.com. Recently I found this blog and finds a young lady who writes well and enjoy expressing her thoughts taking the blog as a platform to relax and feel free. Keep it going. Congratulations!

The third award goes to Ahau Dee for his wonderful blog which I have been following http://ahau-dee.blogspot.com. His blogs expressed lots of live, determination and happiness in his new exploration in a foreign land. Congratulations!

Prawn Bread

How should I say about Prawn Bread (Prawn Roti).........hmmmm...simply taste YUMMY! Try it to believe it... :)

This is one of my speciality and it is well liked by my family. A simple recipe and short preparation time too. It is one of the "special request" menu for my home parties...* - *

It's good to use a few days old bread as it makes frying much easier. It is super yummy, the spring onion really does a good job... care to try?

What do you require :

• 1 kg medium size prawns - minced
• 1 large loaf of bread - 2 days old preferred
• 2 sprigs of spring onion - chopped
• salt, pepper to taste
  

Simple Process :

1. Mix the minced prawns with the chopped spring onion, salt and pepper


2. Spread the prawn paste sparingly on the bread


3. Heat the pan with some oil, fry the bread with the prawn paste on top of the oil


4. When the sides of the bread gets browned, take it out and drain


5. The simple easy to cook recipe is ready to be served...

Happy Trying.....

Tasty Abalone Mushroom

Among the many types of mushrooms, we all like the Abalone Mushrooms. It is soft, juicy and it taste great with this simple chinese cooking recipe. It takes less than 20 minutes to dish out this beautiful dish.

All you need are :

• A packet of fresh abalone mushroom


• 1 carrot - cut into thin slices


• 1 sprig of spring onion - cut into 3 cm in length


• a thumb size ginger - cut into slices


• some Oyster sauce


• a few drops of chinese cooking wine - optional

Simple Process :

1. Blanch the abalone mushroom in boiling water and dish out within a minute, set aside



2. Heat the wok with a little oil and stir fry the ginger, add the carrots and stir fry for a minute, add the abalone mushroom, oyster sauce and spring onions, stir and mix well, it's ready to be served with hot rice.

** chinese cooking wine is optional, just add a few drops when almost ready

A simple to cook recipe .....enjoy cooking!

Tasty Ladies Fingers

Well, we all love ladies fingers (kacang bendi) and according to my mum, the "gummy stuff" in ladies fingers has healing properties in them and it is good for the body...wow, that's great.



There are many ways to cook ladies fingers but I just love this simple recipe especially during a busy day. All I need to do is to blanch the ladies fingers in boiling water for 8 minutes and dish it out, sprinkle with fish sauce and garnish well with the fried garlic/garlic oil ontop... it looks plain but taste simply delicious! Care to try?



What you require :

1. Ladies fingers - blanched in boiling water till slightly soft


2. Fish Sauce - sprinkle sparingly


3. Fried garlic - chopped and fry in some oil till golden brown

"Simple n Easy to Cook Recipe is Ready to Serve"...

Mami Noodle Delight

This is one of my favorite colorful noodle loved by all in the family. The vibrant colors whets ones appetite, kids would love this as it is very tasty and simply delicious. A fast and simple recipe, just good for a lazy mum like me. Well, being lazy is one thing, but it is also important to ensure healthy eating for the family........ After all, all of us wants to stay happy, thus eat healthy and stay healthy...that is the greatest happiness!

What do you require :

• Dried Noodles
• some Chinese cabbage - cut into pieces
• some carrots - cut into pieces
• some broccoli - to blanch (optional)
• some spring onions
• some prawns, fish cake, crab sticks
• 5 pips garlic - chopped
• 1/2 onion - chopped
• 2 eggs - to thicken the gravy
• some cornstarch - to thicken the gravy

Simple Cooking Process :

1. Blanch the dried noodle and set aside - sprinkle a little sesame oil onto the noodle


2. Heat the wok with a little oil and stir fry chopped garlic, onions till fragrant, add in the prawns, sliced fish cake and stir fry for a minute


3. Add the cut carrots, chinese cabbage and stir fry, add a bowl of water and let it simmer for 10 minutes. (if you wish to have more gravy, add a little more water)


4. Add in the crab sticks and spring onion, stir and mix. Add the cornstarch and stir to thickens the gravy, lastly drop in the beaten eggs and give a QUICK stir, off the fire immediately....


5. Lastly, scoop the thicken egg gravy and put onto the blanched noodle...

Eat Healthy, Stay Happy......enjoy your meal!

Garlic Fried Rice

If you have lots of left over rice, the best way out is go for Fried Rice the next day...... It is the most simplest way to get a meal for all. It is a simple recipe by lazy mum. This garlic fried rice is blend with some fish sauce and oyster sauce + lots of garlic and that's where the great taste comes from...and it is yummy...taste hmmmm! I have omitted the eggs for this fried rice - as requested by my internal customers. So, eggs are optional, to your preference.

What do you require :

• left over rice or 1.5 cups cooked rice (serve 4)


• a clove of garlic - chopped


• some prawns - shelled


• some chicken lean meat - cut into cubes


• some mixed corn, peas, carrots


• 3 Tbs fish sauce - add few drops of water


• 2 Tbs Oyster sauce - add few drops of water


• pepper - to taste

Simple Process :

1. Heat some oil in the wok, stir fry the garlic till aromatic, add in the prawns, meat and stir fry till meat is cook


2. Add in the cooked rice, add the two sauces and stir fry to mix well for next 10 minutes under medium heat


3. Lastly, add in the mixed vegetables, a dash of pepper and stir well


4. Here you are....Garlic Fried Rice is ready!
   
   

Simple and Taste Yummy! the lazy mum way...

Sweet Sour Vegetarian Prawns

It is good to add a dish of vegetarian on the dining table once a while, just to have varieties. This is the most simpliest vegetarian dish I have prepared. It takes less than 30 minutes to dish out this sweet, sour flavour dish. Kids would love the gravy as it is not spicy at all.



I got this packet from the hypermarket. The packet of this "vegetarian prawn" is made of beancurd skin wrapped with yam bean (bangkuang) , carrots and some spices.

I once ate this at a vegetarian shop and it is cook just like "kam-heong" (dried spicy) prawns style.... it's nice except a bit oily..

What do you require :

• 1 packet of Vegetarian Prawn (beancurd roll)
• 1 big onions - dice it
• 3 Tbs chilly sauce
• 3 Tbs plum sauce
• some shredded carrots and chopped spring onions - for garnishing

Simple Process :

1. Heat the pan with a little oil and pan fried the beancurd roll till light brown and drain the oil off
2. Heat a little oil and stir fry the onions till fragrant, add in a litte water together with two types of sauces and bring to boil
3. Next, pour the sauce over the fried beancurd roll (vegetarian prawn)
4. Garnish with shredded carrots and spring onions

***... Enjoy your Meal....***

Wholemeal Tortilla v Hot Dogs

My boys were suggesting no rice, no noodles, want something different for lunch... how about Tortillas (quite similar to Indian Chapati), let's give a try....

A Lazy Mum's home creation fast bites for the family......guess what's important is, it fills the tummy, taste good and it's healthy eating....wow, very filling after a bowl of hot mushroom soup!

"EXTREMELY" SIMPLE BUT TASTE MMMMmm.....nice

(L) with Hot Dog..... (R) with Tomato Tuna

What do you need :

a packet of Wholemeal Tortilla from Tesco

(there is plain Tortilla too)

cut into half for each wrap

What's available in the refrigerator...cucumber, carrots, seaweeds, hot dogs
.....I love the crunchy feel of carrots and cucumber...hmmm short of greens - lettuce...

Look at my boy's creation - Roll Bread with Tomato Tuna, Seaweed (oops..not in photo), Carrots, Cucumber

Simple but Taste Yummy! (a similar version to California Roll ... ^-^)

Smile Often And Be Happy Always!