Foodarrific

For the second day in a row now, I’ve been having TV dinners for lunch. Not sure if they still call them TV dinners because these new and improved boxed meals definitely look and taste much more gourmet than I remember them to be when I was going to college.

This is the Chicken Margherita from Healthy Choices which claims to be a healthy, well-balanced meal made from fresh ingredients. It comes in a solid dish with the meal on the top steamer dish which drains all the juices into the dish at the bottom where the sauce/dressing is.

When you’re done microwaving your meal, you simply lift the steamer layer up and pour its contents into the dish below, stir and mix well with the sauce, and you’re ready to eat!

Sure beats cutting and cooking all this from scratch and just think of the washing up it saves you. Taste pretty good too. The chicken is soft (not hard and frozen as you might imagine TV dinners to be). No, I’m not getting paid to say this.

The instructions vary slightly depending on what meal you’re cooking. It was pretty challenging to read the small print. I had to squint and now I need the best eye wrinkle cream!

Filed under: Foodlish TalkHealthy EatingNo Cooking RequiredOne-dish Meals by Chili Queen - No Comments →

I’ve just had a bowl of blueberry yogurt. It wasn’t bad but I have to admit it wasn’t what I expected. On a friend’s recommendation, I bought a tub of plain yogurt and added a bunch of fresh blueberries to it.

I love yogurt but I never thought to add fresh fruit to plain yogurt. Decided to give it a go since she swears by it. But if you ask me, it’s as strange as us wearing pirate costumes to someone’s birthday party.

The plain yogurt is tasteless and the blueberries weren’t sweet. So that made for quite a bland snack. I’ll be it’ll taste a whole lot better if the blueberries were sweet. The up side is it’s healthy and very good for your tummy.

Filed under: Healthy EatingSnacks & Desserts by Chili Queen - 1 Comment →

Lately I bought a juicer and have been busy whipping up fruit juice for the family. My kids love the juices at Juice Works but each time we walk away with a few cups, it breaks the bank. Pretty much!

So I figured it’d be cheaper, in the long run, to buy a juicer and juice away all we like. We don’t have to be confined to the ones on the menu. We can mix and match any fruits we like.

Eat, or drink more, fruits and you may well end up paying less on your Blue Cross Blue Shield NC plans . No, but seriously I always feel we aren’t eating enough fruits. Now with my handy-dandy juicer, there are no more excuses.

Filed under: FruitsHealthy Eating by Chili Queen - 1 Comment →

These are blazing hot, sunny days we’re having with little reprieve. If you can’t run away from the heat and make like a piece of office furniture in an air-conditioned building, what’s the next best thing to do? Why, have a cool, refreshing glass of soya bean milk, of course!

For the past two weekends, I’ve been brewing big pots of my very own homemade soya bean milk. I don’t have the machine which I understand makes only one cup each time. Not enough for us . We do everything big!

A huge big pot of soya bean milk makes me a few jugs and barely costs me a few bucks. I stick it in the fridge and it’s all gone, guzzled (burp!) by morning. It’s so ridiculously inexpensive and healthy I can’t resist making lots of it ! Cheers!

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Whenever we eat out, the kids always seem to order Sesame Chicken, if it’s on the menu, that is. As is usually the case, when we order one plate, it’s not enough for my Sesame Chicken lovers. If we order two plates, I’ll start thinking how many plates of it I can cook at home for the same price !

So the next best thing is to cook this at home where I can make a big enough portion without worrying about the bill. I mean, this is so simple and inexpensive to make at home.

I usually use boneless chicken fillet or deboned drumsticks for this, just like the restaurant. The pieces should be cut fairly large, then drenched in a mixture of flour, pepper and salt.

There’s two steps to cooking this. First I deepfry the chicken pieces on high heat till lightly brown. I know what you’re thinking. That we probably have to jump on our ellipticals and peddle like crazy afterwards to work off the weight gain .

Remove chicken and pour away the oil from the wok. I add some hoisin, or sweet and sour plum sauce and a little water and let it come to a boil. Then return the chicken to the wok and mix to coat with the sauce. Just before serving, sprinkle sesame seeds on top and garnish with fresh cilantro. And you’re ready to dig in.

My Sesame Chicken is a bit saucy because the kids like to spoon it over their rice. It’s the perfect wholesome and yummy dish if you have young kids because the chicken is boneless and the sauce is sweet with a light tang and kids are fascinated by the speckled look of the sesame seeds. Try it !

Filed under: AsianHealthy EatingKid-friendlyPoultryQuick & Easy CookingRecipes by chili queen - 2 Comments →