I am a working mother of two lovely boys,
Timothy and Karson. Cooking is not only a daily task, it is also a real challenge for me. Planning, organizing & marketing are things need to be done before any cooking begins. With tight working schedules, I try very hard not to jeopardize my children's health, while having good quality and tasty food. Enjoy reading and may the cooking methods and recipes used help in your healthy cooking!
I have not keyed in any words since October last year and I feel terribly guilty about it..I always told myself not to start something that I can't manage to maintain it....so one of my new year resolutions is to blog every other day, or at least twice or thrice a day.
I've been trying shed some weight since the beginning of the century or as early as i could remember...People told me that I'm not fat, just big size...well how encouraging...I was 55kg when I met my husband. I'm 65 kg now and the more I exercise, the more weight I gain from the muscles formed. The other reason is my metabolism is getting slower each year. I eat healthily and hardly eat oily food. My 5-year old son eats more than me. I've told myself that I will start a new exercise regime, do a 4 minutes (world's fastest workout) every morning and evening. I want a new me for the new year!
In 2010, I joined a dance+fitness class, they call it aero-dance. It's gaining popularity among the aunties.....from the age of 20's to 50's.
I have also started something in my office called the ever-popular POCO-POCO dance originated from our neighbouring country Indonesia. And believe or not I've also taught a couple of sessions of aerobics and dance to my colleagues.
My sister Kim told me to start a 7 day LOW-CARB diet, followed by a 7-day NO-CARB diet and the following 7 days will be HIGH PROTEIN diet. I'm on my first week officially now. I need to do it, desperately need it to reduce for better health reasons..
My resolutions for this year are:
2 is enough (key is to FOCUS, FOCUS and FOCUS!!)
Blog at least 2-3 times a weeks
Lost 5kg before 1st March 2011
Watch video from YouTube on my calories burning exercise
I have always loved pan mee especially pan mee in soup. Not so a fan of 'kon lou' (served dry with dark soy sauce or sometimes dried chillies). I remember I could finish 2 big bowls of pan mee when I was only 5 years old (mom's pan mee is the best so far). We used to call it 'min fan kueh' or 'min fan cha kuo' which directly translates 'flour desserts'. It was not until in the 1990's that pan mee was widely available commercially in all food stalls cooked.
Its name originated from a very humble stall located at Chow Kit, Kuala Lumpur. Stall's name is Tin Ai Ker and is still in business! Visit here to know more about the store. 'Pan' means wooden board in Cantonese and 'Mee' or 'Mien' means noodle. Wooden board is used to knead the flour into dough, then flattened using a roller. The main tool used is the wooden board, that explains how 'Pan mee' is originated.
Here's a quick home recipe on how to prepare Pan Mee. Enjoy!
The broth: You'll need anything which is protein based such as anchovies/bones. Peel and cut some garlics, some ginger and some onions into pieces. Clean bones/anchovies by running it in clean water twice. You wouldn't want to wash away the taste/aroma of the anchovies. Strain anchovies and place them into a big pot. This pot will be used to cook the pan mee till the end.
Throw in garlics, ginger and onions into pot and add 1 tbsp cooking oil. Heat pot and stir ingredients with a spatula until fragrant. Add in 1 litre of filtered water into pot. Boil for at least 30 mins. You can let the broth to cool under room temperature and keep it into fridge and use it on the next day. I do this at night so that when I come home from work the next day, I would have my broth ready to cook pan mee. You may even add some mushrooms into the broth.
The fried onion/shallots: Chop onion/shallots into tiny pieces, you may use an electrical chopper which can do your job faster. Tune in to find out what type of chopper I'm using @ Great tools in my kitchen.
The dough: Refer to pictures below
Sift flour into a container. You'll need approximately 100 grams per person. For a family of 2 adults and 2 small children like mine, I used 350 grams of flour (my sons love it, cooked more just in case)
Add 1 tsp of fine salt and 1 tbsp cooking oil into sieved flour. You may replace cooking oil with 1 tbsp of butter.
Mix well oil, salt and flour.
Add water gradually while mixing the flour until the flour is completely kneaded into dough.
Mix dough well and knead until dough is smooth and not sticky.
Sprinkle some flour onto dough if dough is too sticky.
Walla!
The cooking process : You may now tear/peel the dough in thin pieces and place them into the pot of broth boiling with low fire. Stir occasionally. You may also roll the dough into flat pieces before tearing them into pieces, but I found home-made doughs are much softer, therefore, making it harder to be rolled. Use some warm water to moist the dough and stretch the dough into thin layers of about 2 inches in length before throwing into the pot.
When all dough is inside the pot of broth, switch to high fire, coz it's time to throw in all other ingredients. Fish balls/meat/choy sam vegetables. Cook until all ingredients are cooked, about 3 minutes. Add 1 tbsp of sesame seed oil and 1 tbsp of fish gravy.
Serve in large soup bowls and sprinkle some spring onions/fried onions/fried anchovies
I use fish gravy in soups to flavour any soup or broth. Soups boiled from anchovies/fish will need fish gravy to enhance its flavour. But don't use too much, maybe 1 tbsp for a litre of soup should be okay, as it is quite salty. I've always used 'Narcissus brand'. You may not wish to smell it directly as it's quite fishy, but when added into soups, it is really delicious!.
Do I look nice holding a DiGi iPhone 4? I would have looked nicer if it's a real one!! I'm praying hard to win one of the 4 at stake!!! With DiGi iPhone 4, with Apps for Cooks, I would definitely post more quick meals for quick people like you and myself!! Stay tuned!
Visited DiGi iPhone where DiGi iPhone 4 plans are revealed. I saw the monthly fees were cut here and there...and cuts are good for subscribers!! But, as usual, there's always a catch. DiGi mentioned in one of its terms and conditions that the promotional monthly fee is only applicable for the first 24 months...only 24 months? only? Why use the word 'only' when this is like HEAVEN (spelled in capital!) for subscribers!!! To be able to enjoy the discounted monthly fee is such good offer!!! Imagine how much you could save and do in 2 years! Thanks DiGi for being so competitive..!
When it comes to cooking shows, the TOP celebrity chef in my list would always be Mr Jamie Oliver!! He's the only cook shown on cable tv who cares about the nutrition of children!!! I love him,.....his quick and slick cooking style makes me wanna cook like him....Having the DiGi iPhone 4, would give me a chance to have Jamie Oliver in my humble kitchen and with his step-by-step cooking shown using the Apps for Cooks gives me great convenience when preparing quick meals!!! Yearning to win the iPhone to have Jamie cooking for my family.....!
I think If I was ever given the honour to win the DiGi iPhone 4, I would start with choosing recipes by browsing the so-called magazine-worthy photographs of dishes in the high-definition phone!! And believe me DiGi, as an ambassador of DiGi user myself, it has been and will always be my honour to recommend all my friends to switch to 'yellow man' coz you're the greatest sponsor!!
I did not know why but something told me something big is going to happen in my life. My right eyebrow twitched the whole day 2 days ago. And I was right! iPhone 4 is coming! Sponsored by DiGi, my favorite telco... and I'm so excited about this contest! I'm gonna win win win one of the 4 iPhone 4's! Believe me!
Seen so many people holding iPhone, I want one for myself too, haven't owned any handphones exceeding RM 500 with lotsa features. With iPhone 4, all my waiting time (either waiting for my husband to fetch me, waiting for my children during their music class) will always be occupied with FUN!!! (spelled in capitals)
I've made my pledge that with iPhone 4, I will hold it with me 24 hours a day, including my private times in the toilet! Thanks to DiGi for always making our lives a step forward!
My sons enjoy eating mini corn, be it stir-fried, boiled in soups or just being steamed. They love the sweet taste of mini corns and its miniature size. Here's a recipe, quick to prepare, healthy to eat. Try it!
Mini corns stir fried with chinese mushrooms
Quick recipe : Serves 2 adults and 2 children Preparation time : 10 mins Cooking time : 15 mins
1) Chop 5 cloves of garlic 2) Cut 1 capsicums in triangles 3) Cut 3 chinese mushrooms into triangles (soaked in water, put into fridge the night before, then squeezed dry before being cut) 4) Cut 1/2 chicken into strips 5) Boil a pot of water, then throw in capsicums and mini corns, boil for 1 min 6) Heat wok, add 2 tablespoon of cooking oil 7) Throw in garlic and fry till fragrant 8) Add in chicken strips, fry till half-cooked. 9) Throw in mushrooms, fry for 1/2 min. 10) Strain capsicums and mini corn and add into wok, fry. 11) Add 1 tablespoon of Thick Black Soya Sauce. 12) Add 1 teaspoon of brown sugar 13) Add 1 tablespoon of water and simmer for 1 mins. 14) Finally, put in 1 tablespoon of starch water if thick sauce preferred (just add tapioca starch into cold water), and walla!
Look out for another children-friendly recipe using mini corn in my next post! Tune in!
I love this simple recipe simply because, cabbage when cooked in soup, tastes sweeter and children love it when it is softer compared to eaten raw. I used purple cabbage as it has been proven to show more promising health. Click here for more information on purple veggies. I use ginger in all my veggie soup to 'calm' our stomach besides providing a great aroma to soups.
Quick recipe:
Serves 2 adults and 2 children
Preparation time : 5 min
Cooking time : 30 min
1) Cut 1/4 purple cabbage into super thin slices.
2) Bring a pot of water (approx. 2 litres) to boil
3) Pound a piece of ginger the size of a pebble into boiling water
4) Add 1 teaspoon of cooking oil, then throw in the purple cabbage.
5) Boil until cabbage is soft (around 20 mins)
6) Turn off heat
7) Stir in a tablespoon of Miso Paste, to replace salt. Important Note : Avoid boiling soup after miso has been added.
The ingredients used to produce miso may include any mix ofsoybeans,barley,rice,buckwheat,millet,rye,wheat,hempseed, andcycad, among others. Lately, producers in other countries have also begun selling miso made fromchickpeas,corn,azuki beans,amaranth, andquinoa. Fermentation time ranges from as little as five days to several years. The wide variety ofJapanesemiso is difficult to classify, but is commonly done by grain type, color, taste, and background.
Many regions have their own specific variation on the miso standard. For example, the soybeans used inSendaimiso are much more coarsely mashed than in normal soy miso.
Miso made with rice such asshinshuandshiroare calledkomemiso.
Source : Wikipedia
Try this amazing ingredient which can be used to replace salt in your cooking, esp. soups, noodles and best of all it is not a cancer-eating agent, good news for cancer patients. It can be used to marinate fish or meat too. The only caution we should take is never boil soup that has been added with Miso.
Quick meals for the family
