Foodarrific» Foodlish Talk

Everybody loves a baked potato

Chili Queen — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 07:32:27 +0000

The baked potato is a favorite in our household. It’s one of those things I can throw into the oven and leave to pick the kids and it’ll be done by the time I get home. Potatoes are a healthy carb and for those of us who just can’t live without carbs, potatoes are great.

You can eat this as a main dish which we often do unless the kids are particularly hungry, then we might throw in a protein which then makes this a side dish. Anyhow, eating potatoes is like celebrating Earth Day every day because that’s where potatoes come from, the earth.

A sneak peek of our Chinese New Year menus

Chili Queen — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 06:53:24 +0000

It’s the eve of Chinese New Year and by now, I’m guessing everyone’s busy either preparing or preparing for their Reunion Dinner. Which basically it’s just the handful of us . No big deal, right? We don’t have to travel anywhere. We don’t have to book any tables. Reunion dinner or not, it’s just us pigging out at our dining table.

Sneak peek of our Reunion Dinner menu:

Roast turkey, potatoes and carrots
A simple salad
Red wine

Yup, I snagged a frozen turkey the week after Christmas because my daughters were calling for an encore of our Christmas Dinner. So why not? There’s no big deal about going all traditional or anything. We just eat what we like and we happen to lurve our own, home roasted turkey.

Sneak peek of our Vegetarian First Day of the New Year:

Homemade nachos topped with cheese, lettuce and salsa for both lunch and dinner

Sneak peek of our First Meal of the New Year on the 2nd day of Chinese New Year:

I had planned to cook Shrimp Scampi Linguine but my aunt has very kindly offered to take over my kitchen, so it’ll be Chinese. We’ll have to see what she cooks up.

For the next 15 days, we’ll be avoiding Chinese restaurants like the plague. My friend started this tradition and we like it. So it’ll either be fast food, Vietnamese, Japanese or Western for a while.

Okay, I’m off to the kitchen to slave. Y’all have a good night and feel free to tell me what you’re eating.

The goodness of homemade bread from scratch

Chili Queen — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:31:38 +0000

Last weekend was the second weekend in a row that I’ve baked bread. The storebought bread that is more air than bread is barely enough to last us an hour. Yup, eat 2 slices at breakfast and within an hour, I’m hungry again.

So I’ve decided that from now on, I’m going to be baking my own bread. And that’s exactly what we did last Sunday after my daughter came home from accompanying her friend to a plus size formal dress fitting.

Someone asked if I use a bread machine. The answer is no, I don’t own a bread machine. A friend gave us a loaf she had made with her bread machine and when left overnight, the bread was hard as rocks. My kids will not eat rocks.

So no bread machine for me. I make my bread from scratch, complete with an added inspiration – sweat. It’s a great way to tone my arms as well. My wholemeal bread, dense, rich and topped with nuts tastes so so good.

Sweet sour yumminess

Chili Queen — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:14:45 +0000

We really have a thing for Vietnamese food. We inadvertently find ourselves drawn to its yumminess. This set meal of sweet sour pork is our current lunch favorite, if we do get to eat out on a weekday which isn’t very often.

Apparently we’re not the only ones who love this set meal. The servers practically have to wheel them out by the medical cartload. What’s not to love, the fried wontons are yums too.

Join the Walgreens Prescription Savings Club to save

Chili Queen — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 01:20:52 +0000

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Walgreens for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Have you heard the latest about Walgreens and Express Script? Well, apparently there has been a fallout between the two recently when Express Scripts decided to drop Walgreens from their pharmacy provider network. This has certainly inconvenienced many Express Scripts clients, in particular the US military, as they now have to look for alternative pharmacies and end up driving further and, paying more.

Being that you can practically find a Walgreens at every corner, some even with drive-thrus and their prices are generally lower than most of their competitors, it is definitely going to be a big hassle for customers to source their prescriptions from other pharmacies.

If you, or someone you know has been affected by this breakup, you may consider signing up for the Walgreens Prescription Savings Club. To help their customers ease the burden, Walgreens is offering a special discount on annual membership right now. The family membership is $10 a year (normally $35), and the individual membership is only $5 a year (normally $20).

As you know, Walgreens offers savings on over 8,000 brand name and generic medications, and your membership will save you even more in discounts on your prescriptions. To show your support for Walgreens, consider liking Walgreens on Facebook and following Walgreens on Twitter.

From scratch, by hand

Chili Queen — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 13:28:33 +0000

With school back in full swing, I’m more determined than ever to continue my baking pursuits. Teens are always hungry and with the long school days, the commercial air bread that we buy is hardly enough to keep them full for more than an hour. Seriously I’m tired of paying for air.

So I’ve started baking my own bread. And no, I do not own one of them funky bread machines that some of my friends have trained their maids to load up at 5 o’clock in the morning to churn away in time for breakfast.

If you fling a loaf of overnight bread machine bread at someone and they’re not wearing a Scorpion EXO-1000 helmet, you’ll probably make a hole in their head. That kind of bread is not for us. I make my bread from scratch by hand, the old school way and my teens love it. Their favorites are wholemeal nut loaves that taste so so good, even after a few days.

Our Christmas dinner

Chili Queen — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 13:58:44 +0000

We had an amazing Christmas dinner this year, thanks to a fantastic tasting turkey lovingly roasted in our own kitchen. Seems like the last time I roasted a turkey was for Thanksgiving several years ago, and quite honestly, we love roast turkey in this household so everyone was really looking forward to it.

Fresh out of the oven, my roast turkey looking beautifully golden. Just looking at this picture alone is enough to get me drooling all over again. This tastes so so good you might even put off shopping for engagement rings just to join us for dinner. We also had mashed potatoes with brown gravy, cranberry sauce, salad and red wine. Yumms.

In fact, I’m going out this weekend to see if I can buy another turkey. We’ve simply got to have it again for New Year’s. I know that sounds crazy but if you love something, just indulge yourself. After all, it’s only once a year.

Proof of the baking

Chili Queen — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 02:36:06 +0000

And if you need proof that we’ve been baking up a storm, here it is.

They sure don’t make wire whisks like they used to. Or did I just happen to buy a lemon? Or have I simply been working this thing too hard? Whatever it is, a whisk sure beats any gym equipment or even the yoga blanket when it comes to building a great set of biceps. No kidding, this is the best thing for toning those arms, I tell ya .

To be sure, I do have an electric mixer but just for fun, I decided to go old school. When my flimsy whisk broke to a thousand pieces, I pulled out my mixer and after just a few baking sessions, it too broke down. Luckily I have a spare which I won at a lucky draw and I hope it holds out .

Love the baking but…

Chili Queen — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 02:29:31 +0000

To say we’ve been on a baking spree is an understatement. Amidst this very busy season, we’ve been baking up a storm at home. There’s aren’t actually for Christmas. I’m just suddenly inspired to bring out some old recipes for old times’ sake.

And it’s fun because my girls are helping me and really enjoying the excitement of getting their hands dirty and actually getting to eat the stuff they make. But when it comes to the washing up, sometimes I just feel like using a teflon hose on all the dirty utensils and get them done and over with.

How to cut cheesecake

Chili Queen — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 13:46:15 +0000

If you’ve ever tried to cut a cheesecake with a knife, you’ll know how messy it can get. You can never quite get the clean edges of those slices you see displayed at the bakery.

I typically use a piece of beading thread to cut my cheesecake. It’s pretty simple. Just lay the thread across the top of the cheesecake and then holding both ends of the string, just push down into the cake to slice it.

Another way is to use a knife dipped in hot water so it won’t stick to the cheesecake and will make a clean cut.