Foodarrific» Kid-friendly

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.

Best chocolate chip cookies ever

Chili Queen — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 01:19:49 +0000

Who doesn’t love chocolate chip cookies? Well, I know they’re big in this household only this time, we’re going to bake them ourselves.

The very simple recipe we used:

1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1. Cream butter and sugars together.

2. Add in egg.

3. In another bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt. Add slowly into butter mixture and mix well after each addition.

4. Finally, add chocolate chips.

5. Use a spoon or ice-cream scoop to heap spoonfuls of the dough onto a greased baking tin.

6. Bake in preheated oven of 375 degrees F for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.

These chocolate chip cookies are so good your kids will stop their nintendo ds games to grab their fill, I guarantee. You must give these a try!

Stirfried broccoli and carrots

Chili Queen — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 03:55:33 +0000

This is one of the dishes that I prepared for my son and stored in the fridge to be eaten later. It’s so easy and so healthy you’ve just got to try it.

I used:

2 heads of broccoli, cut into large florets
0.5 bag of baby carrots
1 clove garlic, finely diced
1 small slice of salmon
mushroom/oyster sauce
cooking oil
salt and pepper to taste

First, I heated up some oil in a non-stick pan on medium to low heat.

Place the slice of salmon, lightly salted and peppered, in the pan and let it fry slowly first on one side, then flip over and allow to fry until cooked through and both sides are lightly brown. This should take roughly 10-12 minutes.

Remove the salmon to a plate. Using a fork, break up the salmon into flakes and remove the bones. Leave aside.

Add a bit more oil in the pan on medium heat and lightly fry the garlic for a 2-3 minutes till fragrant. Be careful not to burn the garlic or it will taste bitter.

Throw in the carrots and add a splash of water and leave it for about 5 minutes to soften up.

Add the broccoli, a dash of mushroom/oyster sauce and a sprinkle of pepper. Stir-fry for approximately 5-7 minutes till the broccoli is cooked. Watch closely to ensure broccoli is not overcooked or it will turn yellow.

Serve on a plate (or in my case, I placed in a Rubbermaid container for refrigerating) and top with the salmon flakes.

And that’s all there really is to it. It’s really tasty and goes well with pasta, noodles or rice.

My son had some fruits left over from the fresh fruit baskets we got for Christmas and he ate those for dessert.

Recipe: Crispy Crunchy Chicken Fingers

Chili Queen — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 02:20:08 +0000

Chicken Fingers are a perennial favorite in our household. When all else fails, chicken fingers to the rescue! I’m really not much of a stickler for recipes. I generally just make up the recipes as I go along depending on what I can find in my pantry or my fridge.

I created this version here when my oven refused to work.

It’s really simple and crunchy. You just need some chicken breasts cut into long strips and seasoned lightly with salt and pepper. Leave to marinate for an hour or so. Heat up a good amount of cooking oil in a wok or deep skillet.

Beat up an egg (or two, depending on amount of chicken breasts you’re using). In a plate, combine 1 cup of flour and 2 cups of bread crumbs. Dip the chicken strips in the beaten egg. Dredge them through the flour and breadcrumb mixture to coat evenly. Deep fry till golden brown. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce.

You may also like to check out another recipe I posted earlier for Finger-Lickin’ Good Chicken Fingers. These are oven-baked and probably won’t have you running out to look for the most effective fat burners because they’re less fattening.

recipe: kon low loh shee fun, or dry rat’s tail noodle

chili queen — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 23:48:31 +0000

Guess what I had for lunch (and dinner) last weekend? I can’t believe it myself because it’s been ages since I’ve even thought to cook my favorite loh shee fun, or rat’s tail noodles.

The name sounds horrifying, I know. I’m not only a Chili Queen, I’m also a Drama Queen ! I translated and spiced up this name for special effects and if all goes well, I might even copyright the name and make a movie about it, heh!

Loh shee fun is not really rat’s tails, of course, they just look like rat’s tails . You can either eat it in a soup, just like any other kind of noodle. But I prefer it dry as in sans soup. Very simple to whip this up at home. You ready?

I cooked 1kg of loh shee fun and 1kg of kuay teow, or flat rice noodles to feed my troops, but you can use any amount depending on the number of people you’re feeding. Place the noodles in a colander and run it through your Grohe faucet to rinse if you like. Then bring a pot of water to boil and use it for blanching the rat’s tail noodle and choy sum, or mustard green.

I’m not going to list actual measurements for the sauce since that depends on how much noodle you’re cooking. Just adjust the sauce ingredients to your own taste. For the sauce, you need:

dark, thick soy sauce
oil
sesame oil
oyster sauce
soy sauce (in place of salt) and white pepper to taste

Have all of these ingredients in a large bowl. I also stir-fried some minced pork with some oil and chopped garlic which I added into the bowl. Lastly, add the blanched loh shee fun, or rat’s tail noodle, to this and mix well.

Garnish with chopped spring onions and cilantro (I didn’t have any handy). Serve piping hot with shredded fresh chillies. I prefer bird’s eye chillies for that added oomph! Simple, ya, just a one-dish meal and so so delish. And less of a choking hazard for younger kids than the regular mile-long noodles.

recipe: sesame chicken

chili queen — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 05:54:18 +0000

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 !

loaded omelette, my version

chili queen — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 08:48:01 +0000

This is probably one of the easiest, last-minute dish you can whip up on days when your brain juices seem to run dry and you can’t figure out what to cook.

I got the idea for this loaded omelette from the mamak (Indian Muslim) shops where they often either serve a plain omelette or a loaded one like this. Their ingredients are different though with red and green peppers, I think. I can’t remember exactly. I’m usually too hungry to notice .

Anyhow this is my version of the loaded omelette. Simple, different from the real thing but just as delish! You only need 3 main ingredients.

1 medium tomato, diced with seeds removed
1 medium onion, cut into rings
3 eggs

I just heat up some oil in a non-stick frying pan while I beat the eggs in a bowl, adding in the tomato and onion, and a pinch of salt and pepper.

Then I just pour everything into the pan and swirl it slowly around to ensure the entire bottom area of the pan is covered. Leave it to cook on medium heat for a couple of minutes until the base is evenly cooked.

The flip the omelette over and leave to cook for another couple of minutes. And that’s it. You’re ready to serve this wonderfully tasty and healthy dish. With all the nutrients in there, you won’t need to be reading arcona reviews anytime soon. You can serve it over rice and curry or even for breakfast with bacon, sausages and baked beans.

This loaded omelette recipe is loaded with healthy ingredients. If you’re a college student who’s new to cooking, this is the perfect recipe for you. It’s quick, it’s easy, it’s healthy and it only uses 3 ingredients. What’s not to love ?

mom makes something for everyone

chili queen — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 08:03:37 +0000

As a mom of three picky eaters, I often end up cooking two different types of pastas for one meal. One of my kids doesn’t like fish and shrimp but thankfully, he’s coming around a little this year; the other two are okay with it.

So today, I made garlic butter panfried salmon slices and broccoli to go with two types of pasta – a spicy spiral pasta and a mushroom macaroni, and everyone was happy. Salmon panfried this way is very tasty and the kids love it.

See, many times, I have to take into account each child’s taste and their overall well-being, like when I think one of my teens needs some sort of homemade acne treatment, I try to make the food less spicy and oily.

breakfast @ Foh San

chili queen — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 23:28:50 +0000

The week before Christmas, we went on a beach vacation to Penang where we stayed at the funky new Hard Rock Hotel. We set out at the unearthly hour of 4am. Just before sunrise, we were passing by Ipoh and decided to turn into town to have a bit of breakfast.

It’s amazing how we managed to locate Foh San so quickly and in complete darkness too without getting lost like we usually do. I’m pretty sure it was a fluke . But yeah, the old crowded Foh San where it was impossible to get a table, is now housed in a new building which is spacious and bright and where you can actually eat without having someone hit your elbow and shove the food right down your spine.

So we ordered our usual favorite dimsum. You can see we’re not that adventurous with ordering all the other types of dimsum. We just pretty much stick to what we like.

And the Century Egg Porridge with minced pork is one of our favorites. Now it comes in a claypot big enough to feed 3 or 4. My only complaint is that the century egg was hard, not soft and melt in the mouth as it’s supposed to be.

We had to use the bathrooms before continuing our journey and we were lucky it’s still pretty new and fairly clean. Not sure if they have hand dryers or tissue dispensers, we were too sleepy to notice .

crispilicious sweet potato fries

chili queen — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 05:54:54 +0000

Friday’s has this Southwest Adobo Chicken on their new menu. What’s got us excited are the sweet potato fries it comes with! How cool is that!

But here it is – a healthier, naturally sweeter contender to the French fry we know and love so well. As you can see, this portion of sweet potato fries is way small for something that tastes so good.

So I went home and made a huge batch of it myself the next day. This is a recipe that came straight off the top of my head. I used to have a pretty good tempura batter recipe sitting around somewhere but I wasn’t about to go digging for it. So I improvised and came up with this.

sweet potatoes, cut lengthwise French-fry style
3-4 tablespoons cornflour
1 tablespoon flour
iced water
pinch of salt and pepper, if desired

Combine flours and iced water into a batter. Feel free to add more water to achieve the desired batter consistency. Dredge the sweet potatoes through the batter and drop carefully into a pot of boiling oil on high heat.

Keep the heat on high throughout the process. Fish out the fries when they turn light golden brown. The cooking process will cause the fries to darken a little more after they’re removed from the oil.

It’s so simple, you should try this. Makes a great appetizer or finger food for guests. If you’re too lazy to make this yourself, go try it at Friday’s where baby strollers are welcome and kids get to eat for free if you order a main meal. No, I’m not getting paid to advertise for them.