Wake Up and Smell the Cake

YES. Another stir fry! HAHA. Cos that's easy to cook for meal prep Sundays! Also I was clearing out the larder and fridge, checking for expired items, throwing out food we won't be eating and since it's post-Raya, I have one larder tray filled with only empty containers. Haha. This round's stir fry aim is to finish up the limes in the fridge, and I came across this Thai concoction of sorts, which sounds yummy and could gel well with pasta. I didn't follow exactly the recipe so I shan't link it, so here's my take. Coconut Lime Chicken Stir Fry Chicken cubes (again, never measure. 400g?) 1 small onion, sliced 3 red chilis, sliced 1 cili padi, sliced 1/2 inch ginger + 4 cloves garlic, pound 100ml coconut milk 2 tbsp honey 2 tbsp oyster sauce Fry the onion and chilis in oil until onions are golden. Add in the pound garlic and ginger and fry. Add the chicken, then oyster sauce, coconut milk and honey and fry until chicken is cooked. You can add a

I love boneless chicken. Easy to cook. I also buy boneless chicken mainly for the kids' homemade nuggets, but last weekend I cooked for myself too. Made some easy stir fry, adapted from Orange Soy Sauce Chicken . Didn't use soy sauce but used oyster sauce. Orange Juice Chicken Stir Fry 700g boneless chicken cubes 4 cloves garlic Juice from 3 oranges 2 tbsp oyster sauce 1 tbsp honey 1 cili padi, 2 red chilis Handful of roasted peanuts Smash the garlic and chop finely. Slice the chilis. Fry the chili in oil, then add in garlic. Add the chicken and fry for a few minutes. Add in the orange juice, oyster sauce and honey. Cook until sauce thickens. I removed the cili padi right after cooking. Husband approves this! Though only for 1 meal, no reheating. Haha. I'm amazed he wanted to give this a try, and even more amazed that he likes it! Also made roti kirai and chicken curry (boneless chicken to the rescue again!) the day after because the kids had a taste of

Made the best Alfredo ever! From the many past experiments, use real cream, and never go overboard with cheese! I had leftover thickened cream about to expire, bought them for cupcake icing but never got down to using it. Chicken Alfredo 1 tub of thickened cream 1 tbsp butter Diced vegetables (I used carrots, capsicum and corn) Garlic powder, about 3 tsp hurhur 1/2 tsp black pepper 1/2 tsp smoked paprika Cooked chicken, shredded (same amount of veg) 1/2 cup grated pizza cheese Cook the vegetables in minimal oil. Add butter, chicken and cream at low heat. Add the spices, stir and add cheese. Once cheese melted, it's done! 

Been making airfried chicken wings for the past two sahurs, cos Husband approves! I made my go-to chicken wing marinade using Nando's sauce and some other stuff, and airfried them with no oily mess of deep frying or baking in the oven, and at more than half the time required in the oven! Definite winner! Only downside is cleaning the basket. So for future reference, here's the recipe. 500g chicken wings (no drumlets) 2 tbsp Nando's sauce 1 tbsp sugar 1 tbsp soy sauce 1/2 tsp ground black pepper 1 tbsp tomato pesto Pinch of salt Marinate overnight. Airfry at 200 degrees Celsius for 8 minutes skin side up. Turn the wings on the other side and airfry for another 8 minutes. Crispy yummy skin, with juicy chicken inside! I love!

Yesterday night as I was prepping chicken for this morning's sahur, I was out of soy sauce and couldn't make kung pao chicken. Hence I made a never before tried concoction, and decide to throw in sesame oil for a twist. While I marinated the chicken, the sesame oil smell was strong, was afraid that Husband may not like it. But thankfully after frying, was toned down and in fact it was yummy! So I have to note this down, in case I need a quick stir fry. Spicy Sesame Oil Chicken Stir Fry 400g thigh boneless chicken (was 500g, but I removed skins), cut into strips 1 1/2 tbsp Nando's marinade 1 tsp sesame oil 3 tbsp kicap manis 1 tsp chili paste 1 1/2 (or 2 ) tbsp honey 1 tsp garlic powder Handful of wok fried peanuts Mix all wet sauces together with the chicken and marinate for about 15 minutes. Fry on a nonstick pan, until  the chicken is cooked. Sprinkle garlic powder and fried peanuts and cook till juices are reduced to the amount that you desire. Tada! It&#

I have done this a few times yet I did not write down the recipe. I also keep changing recipes all the time as a result. But this time I finally noted down! Kungpao Chicken Marinate for 30 minutes: 750g chicken breast cut into cubes 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar 1 tbsp light soy sauce 1 tbsp Sesame oil 1 tbsp corn flour For the sauce, mix in a bowl: 1 1/2 tbsp sugar 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar 1 tbsp soy sauce 4 tbsp water to help dissolve the sugar 2 tbsp kicap manis 2 tbsp corn flour Frying ingredients: 5 cloves garlic, minced 2 inches ginger, thinly sliced 12 to 16 dried chilis, soaked then halved chopped spring onions Cashews Marinate the chicken and set aside for 30 minutes.  Prepare the sauce in a separate bowl, make sure sugar is completely dissolved. I didn't add in the kicap manis initially, that was added in while cooking cos the taste wasn't there yet and the colour was too pale. Lightly fry cashew nuts with some oil and set aside. Can

Yet another dessert to clear the fridge, banana oat crumble. Crumble, pies, cobblers are the best way to clear fruits! These used so little flour! Banana Oat Crumble 4 -5 bananas, sliced into circles 1/4 cup flour 1/4 cup brown sugar 1 cup oats Sprinkle of cinnamon powder 4 tbsp butter Chopped walnuts Chocolate chips Put the sliced bananas in ramekins, I used 6. Add in the walnuts. In another bowl, mix the flour, sugar, cinnamon and oats well. Add in butter. I find that using hands is the best, and after all you're going to sprinkle them over the bananas. I added in chocolate chips last, cos I forgot about it, and seems like it was a good thing too so it can hold some shape! Haha. I'm using Aalst chocolate, which is yummy but way cheaper than Ghirardelli or Valrhona. Husband approved! Cos it has chocolate chips -_-" Yesterday Junior did the first part of his holiday project, which is to cook something healthy and document in a scrapbook.

Yesterday I was on a cooking frenzy, and I stopped short of making apple cobblers. I'll do that soon! I'm expecting it to be better than apple streusel pie. I made ayam sambal, though still didn't quite get the same taste as my mum's, but almost there. That was settled in the morning. And near lunch time, I made homemade chicken nuggets for my kids. Have been wanting to try this because I've read reviews saying that kids love homemade nuggets, and also we had them on the island hopping trip in Krabi recently.  Was also a good opportunity to clear the fridge! As usual. Haha. That goes to show how much stuff I buy but don't actually have full purpose for them. HAHAHA. Homemade Chicken Nuggets 1/2 kg chicken breast 1 cup panko breadcrumbs 2/3 cup freshly grated parmesan 1/4 cup flour 1/2 tsp salt (or more, depends) sprinkle of pepper & smoked paprika 1 egg Pound the chicken breast slightly so that the meat can cook quickly. Slice thinl

Hari Raya is coming to an end! FINALLY! But one thing I'm proud of this year is that I didn't get frozen fried satay. I whipped up dishes on my own! Plus I didn't bake too much cookies. Just the right amount. I had a cookout for last Friday for Husband's students and I had planned to make hummus, keema and spicy chicken with chappati and wrap. Cooked like 1.5kg of mutton keema and 1.5kg of chicken and they were all snapped up! But my hummus was too much though. I used a third and froze the rest. Even using a third was a lot! Yesterday I made shepherd's pie for my sister's birthday. Pretty fast too I might add. I love multi tasking in the kitchen, but I need to do it alone. Proud of the fact that I cooked these with lots of agaration and still turned out fine, but still have many things to learn along the way! Like cutting the potatoes first before boiling. Unless you have too much time to wait for the potatoes to cook through fully. And never ever add s

These days we are blessed to get a whole day to ourselves for the weekend, and the Husband isn't too busy lately. I've been bringing breakfasts to work, sometimes lunches too on gym days, and Sundays are the best days to prepare make ahead meals. I'll usually marinate some chicken, or cook something to reheat in the mornings before going to work, or if I'm REALLY lazy I'll just let it thaw to room temperature before eating hurhurhur. When I first began to bring meals, I'll be wasting lots of ingredients, like salads (I can't finish off that whole head of lettuce eating wraps) or I miscalculated the amount of meat I'll use, or rice or other things that accumulated in the fridge because they're not fresh anymore. These days I try to manage better, and thanks to Google there's so many recipes you can make out of leftovers. Like just now I found that you can make yummy rice pudding out of leftover rice! Okay next project! Yesterday I manag

I made a batch of double chocolate banana muffins to clear my yoghurt and overripe bananas and I used a recipe I've tried before, here . 1 ½ cups self raising flour (if not then add 1 tsp of baking powder & baking soda each) ½ cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder (Valrhona) 1 egg, well beaten ½ cup yoghurt 1 cup granulated sugar ½ cup canola oil 1 ¼ cups mashed, ripened bananas (~3 large bananas) Semi-sweet chocolate chips These are really good! Easy and yummy, very chocolaty! I also made sausage aglio olio with bell peppers, mushrooms and cili padi of course, for this week's packed brunch. Remind me not to buy sausages again, even if they're gourmet. The amount of fat that was left after cooking was just scary. Not to mention they harden when cooled. I managed to scoop out the excess oil, but the veges were already coating in them. Oh wells. Lesson learnt.

Back from the long weekend! Spent two days fully at home, cooking and baking. So happy. Day 1 was sindhi briyani and Almond London . Day 2 was ayam lemak cili padi and a batch of almost Famous Amos chocolate chip cookies , but I split the batter into 2: hazelnut, white chocolate, cranberry combination and hazelnut, dark chocolate chip combination. I made the cranberry ones first, they taste awesome. But after I ate the chocolate chip one, say bye bye to cranberry! Nothing beats chocolate. And the white chocolate chips somehow dissolved into the batter, melted. What to do, it's just white chips from Redman. I should try a better brand instead.  Happy new year indeed!

I have wanted to try a pasta alternative for my packed breakfast cum lunches, and I've always wanted to try couscous cos it looks so intriguing - grainy yet looks like mashed potatoes. Another reason for cooking couscous is my leftover chicken stock from the Hainanese Chicken Rice. I need a reason to use it since I have painstakingly strained it (though not all) and it's not easy to get homemade healthy halal chicken stock. I hate those chicken cubes urgh. Also my chicken stock has pandan flavour huahuahua. I didn't realise couscous is so easy to prepare! Way faster than pasta. Boil 1/2 cup of stock, turn it off, add 1/2 cup of couscous and wait for 2 minutes. Add lil bit of butter and fluff it up and it's done! 1/2 cup can make both my breakfast and lunch, cos after adding stuff to it like chicken, vegetables etc, it really becomes a big portion. If only The Husband would like to eat such things hahaha. Yesterday I did couscous with shredded black pepper chicken

We spent the whole of Saturday at home, just us. So I decided to cook chicken rice after being inspired by my friend who attempted it the weekend before. I followed the recipe from Steamy Kitchen because of the very detailed method and pictures. I didn't have sesame oil though, but drizzling the cooked chicken with light soy sauce gave the chicken rice effect! Haha Chicken rice flatlay! For the Chicken: 1 whole chicken Salt 4 inches ginger, cut into 1/4 inch slices 2 stalks green onions, cut into 1 inch sections (both the green and white parts) 1 teaspoon sesame oil (I used light soy sauce instead) Pandan leaves Rub salt all over and in the chicken. I bought a whole chicken, with most spare parts already taken out and skin on. The chicken was pretty clean, but if it's not then exfoliate it with the salt rub.  Stuff the chicken with the spring onions and ginger. Completely submerge the chicken in a deep pot of room temperature water. Turn on high heat u

The little one woke me up just after 4 for milk, and at that time I didn't feel sleepy at all so I played games on the phone and got up at 5 to make today's breakfast and lunch. It was clear-the-fridge aglio olio! Sadly some of the mushrooms have gone bad, but I managed to salvage some. I also have cauliflower, capsicum and fried chicken to clear. For a portion of 2, the following ingredients were used: 4 cloves garlic, minced 3 cili padi, sliced 1/2 capsicum, sliced Whatever mushrooms I had 1/2 floret of cauliflower 2 handfuls of shell pasta (HA HA lazy me used hands as unit of measure) 2 cooked chicken breast, sliced Extra virgin olive oil for dressing In the interest of time, I boiled the cauliflower in the same water as the pasta. Cauliflower was cooked first, taken out then pasta goes into the boiling water added with salt and oil. I also pre-fried the capsicum in a little oil, mainly cos I fried the whole capsicum and set aside half for another day. In

When Husband's not around, I become more hardworking HAHAHA. I clean more, I cook more. Saturday I made lontong goreng tomyam for breakfast, and yesterday I made my first ever chicken rice. I even have ingredients to make aglio olio, which I think I'll make either tonight or early tomorrow morning for breakfast. The lontong goreng was a pure experiment, no inferences from recipes and all but it turned out good. Not sure if it's something Husband would eat haha! Lontong Goreng Tomyam 1 packet lontong instant Adabi, cut in cubes 4 tbsp tomyam paste 2 eggs, pre-scrambled Handful of mushrooms Chicken breast, sliced Coriander leaves (I didn't have lemongrass or lime leaves) 1/2-1 tsp salt Fry the tomyam paste in some oil, then add the mushrooms and chicken to cook them. Add some water so the paste doesn't dry up. Add in the scrambled eggs then the lontong cubes and fry until mixed well. For yesterday's chicken rice, I adapted slightly from a reci

Husband's gone for 15 days. Third time in two months, or 22 out of 60 days. That's a whole lot of days. I usually stay at my mum's when the Husband isn't around especially for long periods, but I decided to stay on our own, and this will be the longest ever with him around. So far I've managed well, though I feel I should be bringing them out more on weekends, but I am just occupied with basic housework stuff. This weekend I shall make an effort to bring them to see Elmo and Cookie Monster. Haha. The day he went off, he wanted to eat some homecooked meal, and requested for rendang. I already have a rendang recipe from my mum , but we tried the minang version, provided by my friend. I tweaked it a bit, but I will show you the original recipe as well. Rendang Minang original version 1kg beef 1 litre pati santan 2 tbsp kerisik 1 pc asam keping 2 tbsp gula melaka 2 daun kunyit sliced thinly 3 tbsp cili kisar Ingredients to blend: 10 red onions 4 clove

No photos today, but just wanna document my breakfast effort this morning! Marinated chicken (garlic powder, ground cumin & coriander, black pepper, salt, cayenne pepper) with stir fried capsicum from the oils of cooking the chicken, butterhead lettuce and sour cream in a wrap. Yummy! But I'm kinda hungry now hurhur. I should've put more chicken. I think I'm gonna get for myself yoghurt.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and I'm one who can't live without breakfast. I have no idea how some don't have any appetite and just skip breakfast altogether! I've been lazy in preparing breakfast again, and since school closed, there's only one stall opened here and practically everything is fried, and/or laden with coconut milk. The tipping point was yesterday, when the man at the stall charged a higher price for the exact same thing we ordered the day before! And when I mentioned that why is there a difference, he totally ignored us. So here's to more homemade breakfasts again, and I have to either sacrifice my sleep, or be more efficient and somehow find breakfasts that can be made in a jiffy. Yesterday we bought minced meat, butterhead lettuce, eggs, vegetables and smoked salmon with peppers. The ingredients are enough to make sabsuka, egg sandwiches or wraps, aglio olio, and if I have more time, quiches. Today I woke up later tha

I realised I haven't written down nasi lemak recipe in here. I've made a few times, some hits some misses, especially with the salt for the rice. Maybe next time I'll try using coconut milk instead of cream, and low fat option too. Nasi Lemak 1 packet santan cream (Kara brand) 9 pandan leaves, knotted 5 of my cups of rice, which is probably equivalent to 5 cups additional water after the cream 3 tsp salt Sambal Tumis To blend/ pound: 3 onions, sliced 7 cloves of garlic 1 inch ginger 2sq cm belacan 1 tsp tamarind paste, soaked in water 8 tbsp cili kisar prawns/boiled eggs 2 tbsp sugar Fry the blended paste in oil, then add in the cili kisar and fry. Add in the water from the tamarind paste and sugar.