I thought we wouldn’t be able to bring the planned home cooked food at work last Wednesday, our double bowl undermount sink broke and it took a few minutes of my time to get it fixed before I cooked the dishes. Whew! That needs a replacement and after Holy Week, I am sure I will be browsing online for the replacement because my mom asked me so. Anyway, back to the meals. We are saving a few bucks for our son’s education and since we take him and his nanny often at work, I decided to bring home cooked food for our lunch and so what I do is I wake up earlier than the usual to prepare food to work before taking a shower and dressing up, last Wednesday after fixing the sink, I cooked…

Angel Hair Pasta with Tomatoes and Basil Sauce plus Spiced Chicken with Veggies. It was a hit of course, my family loves my cooking.

My husband and my best friend didn’t like Laksa when they both tried it, I on the other hand loved it especially the one from Orchard Road, a restaurant in Megamall. So I googled the recipe and will definitely try making one at home when I get the time…

Laksa:

…is a popular spicy noodle soup from the Peranakan culture, which is a merger of Chinese and Malay elements found in Malaysia and Singapore, and to a lesser extent Indonesia.

Ingredients:

* 50g medium rice noodles
* 2-3 tbsp laksa paste
* 400ml tin half-fat coconut milk
* 500ml chicken stock
* 150g cooked large prawns , from a sustainable source
* a handful bean sprouts
* ¼ cucumber , seeds removed and cut into strips
* a small bunch coriander

Procedure:

1. Put the noodles in a bowl, pour over boiling water and leave to soften, about 5-7 minutes.
2. Heat a pan, add the laksa paste and a splash of coconut milk. Fry for 3-4 minutes, add the coconut milk and stock, stir, and simmer for 2 minutes. Add the prawns and heat through. Stir in the beansprouts. Put the noodles in two bowls, ladle soup over, and top with cucumber and coriander.

My best friend and I tried the Hainanese Chicken Rice in Orchard Road Restaurant in Megamall and I think it’s nothing fancy, I thought it is something different but it tasted just like my favorite White Chicken we always order in Chinese Restaurants, served as one of their cold cuts. What amazed me is the rice though, in my opinion it gave the chicken recipe a twist.

INGREDIENTS
Chile Sauce:

* 2 to 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
* 2 tablespoons chopped fresh red chiles
* 5 cloves garlic, chopped
* Salt

Chicken and Rice:

* 1 (2-pound) chicken
* 1 scallion, cut into 1-inch pieces
* 4 slices fresh, peeled ginger
* 6 tablespoon vegetable oil or olive oil
* 6 to 8 cloves garlic, finely chopped
* 4 cups long-grain uncooked rice
* 1 teaspoon fine salt

DIRECTIONS

Make the Chile Sauce: Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, mix well, and season with salt, to taste. Set aside

Make the Chicken and Rice: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil (enough water to immerse the chicken). Stuff the cavity of the chicken with the scallion and ginger. Add the chicken to the boiling water, breast side-down. Lower the heat to a simmer just under boiling point and cook, covered, until just cooked through, about 40 minutes.

Transfer the chicken to an ice water bath for about 5 to 6 minutes. (This is to arrest the cooking and will make the chicken skin crisp.) Drain. De-bone the chicken and cut into bite-sized pieces. Reserve the chicken stock, and keep hot.

Heat the oil in a wok or saucepan over high heat. Add the garlic and stir-fry until fragrant. Add the rice and stir-fry for 1 to 2 minutes. Add enough of the hot reserved chicken soup to reach 1/2- inch above the top of the rice. Bring to the boil, add the salt, and lower the heat to low. When steam holes form in the rice, cover the wok, and steam until cooked, about 30 minutes.

Whisk 1/4 cup of the hot chicken stock into the chile sauce.

Arrange the rice and poached chicken on a platter and drizzle with the chile sauce.

*Some cooks may add coconut milk to the rice, reminiscent of the Malay dish nasi lemak. The dish is usually served with several dips, including chilli sauce and pounded ginger. It is common in Hainan to also offer a third sauce involving oyster sauce mixed with garlic, while dark soy sauce is more commonly served in Malaysia/Singapore. The Malaysian/Singaporean version of the chili are also much hotter, reflecting its Southeast Asian influences, and may also involve a mixture of chilli with garlic.

I am looking for recipes to help me lose more weight. My sister is now at the airport to go back to Canada so I have no reason to eat a lot, no more “balikbayan” to feed and so aside from the best diet pills that I am taking, I want to eat healthy as well and vegetables are the way to go…

Ingredients:

* 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
* 1 orange tomato, cubed
* 1/2 red onion, diced
* salt to taste
* 16 pods fresh okra

Directions:

1. Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat, and lightly oil grate. Combine the vinegar, tomato, onion, and salt in a bowl; set aside.
2. Cook the okra on the preheated grill until a few black areas have developed on its skin, about 5 minutes. Toss the okra with the tomato mixture, and serve.

A perfect dessert for Fall.

Ingredients

• 1 large apple, halved and cored
• 2 teaspoons reduced-fat cream cheese, divided
• 1 small pear, cored and diced very small
• 1/2 teaspoon light brown sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons chopped almonds, divided
• 3 tablespoons water or apple juice

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°F. Slice apple in half. Use a spoon or small ice cream scoop to scoop out some apple flesh from each half, making room for the filling. (You can eat the apple flesh if you like — no need to reserve.) Dab 1 teaspoon cream cheese in the cavity of each half.

Toss the diced pear with brown sugar and cinnamon. Spoon pear filling into each apple half. Sprinkle pear filling with almonds, pressing down to make them adhere. Place apple halves in a baking dish and add water or apple juice to the dish. Cover and bake for 30 minutes, then baste with juices. Bake uncovered for another 10 minutes, or until almonds are roasted.

Makes 2 servings.

From the health guru herself, Jillian Michaels.

Roast Beef Philly Wrap

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup fat-free cream cheese, divided
• 4 8-inch low-carb whole-wheat tortillas
• 1 tomato, sliced
• 1 cup raw spinach leaves, washed
• 8 ounces lean roast beef, sliced

Preparation

1. For each wrap, spread a quarter of the cream cheese over the surface of the tortilla.
2. Layer tomato, spinach, and roast beef on top.
3. Fold opposite sides of the tortilla toward the center and roll up from the bottom.

Makes 4 servings.

I always love Starbucks but I also adore CBTL especially their desserts and some pasta dishes not to mention the Moroccan Mint Tea that I always order there.

Last July 16, I met up with some of my friends for lunch and we ended up having coffee and dessert over at Coffee Bean. I didn’t order my usual tea since I am very full from our Greek lunch but I tried a piece of one of the cake orders and I really love it, my fave, the Chocolate Cake…

It was really rich and soft, just the way I want it. Here are some of the other desserts that I didn’t get to try…