I have half a pack of angel hair pasta left over from yesterday’s lunch. We’ve eaten every other type of pasta so I thought it was time we tried angel hair. But the kids don’t quite care for it so I have to find a way to finish it up somehow.

Now if you notice, angel hair pasta looks a lot like the thin Chinese egg noodle, and I’m guessing it won’t taste far different. So I decided to do a Fusion stirfry… just for the heck of it.

Here’s what I used:

• 0.5 packet of angel hair pasta
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• a handful of choy sum (mustard green), cut into 2-inch lengths
• 1 stick of celery, thickly sliced
• a few pieces of mock char siew (vegetarian barbecue pork), sliced
• 3-4 tablespoons vegetarian oyster sauce
• spring onion and Chinese parsley, finely chopped
• sesame oil
• salt and pepper to taste

The preparation of the angel hair pasta is the same as if you were actually using it for a regular pasta. Just boil till al dente.

Into my wok on high heat, I drizzle some oil and lightly saute the garlic. Then I quickly add the mock char siew followed by vegetarian oyster sauce, choy sum and celery. Add some water and allow to simmer for a few minutes to let the vegetables cook through.

Then add the angel hair pasta and stir well with the rest of the ingredients. Add a good drizzle of sesame oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with chopped spring onion and Chinese parsley. Serve hot with a small plate of fresh bird’s eye chilly in soy sauce.

Heaven! I’m really proud of this creation of mine. You really must try it. You’ll truly be surprised how good this Fusion angel hair pasta tastes, wierd though it may sound . Best of all, it’s meatless, healthy and trust me, you can banish all thoughts of weight loss products when you’re eating this.

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Today’s the fifth day of my 30-day vegetarian diet. Woo-hoo, 25 more days to go and I’m doing great so far - no meat, no seafood, no eggs. I’m constantly hungry but I guess that means I just have to graze more often, moo-oo .

#1. blueyes’ question. What’s your favorite seafood recipe?

It would be clam chowder but I’ve never tried cooking it so I don’t have a recipe for it.

#2. Italian Ice. Like it, love it or leave it?

No idea what it is but I found out it’s pretty much like gourmet ice cream so I think I should like it.

#3. What’s your favorite crunchy food? (anything - pickles, chips, fruit, etc.)

All of the above.

#4. Have you ever eaten so much of something that you felt or got sick?

Lately the kids have been dragging me to Carls Jr every weekend. I swear I don’t want to see another burger for the next few months. I can only take so much of a good thing .

Four Foods on Friday is fun to play. Wanna join us? Just hop over to valmg’s blog at Fun, Crafts and Recipes and grab the details.

I always have a stash of instant noodles in my pantry for ‘emergencies’ like when I need something quick to eat before I head out to Chinese wedding dinners which typically start like 2 hours late !

Instant noodles are convenient and they’re sold at the Asian grocer. But I find the flavoring overly salty sometimes, so what I usually do is not use all of the flavoring provided, or pour away some of the soup and add more water to dilute it.

I came across these non-fried instant noodles the other day. I’ve never noticed them at the store before but apparently they’re healthier than the ones that are fried and therefore contain more saturated fat.

Anyhow this is the jumbo pack I bought which comes without the packets of flavoring inside. Control freak that I am, I’m going, great, now I get to call the shots on what goes in !

Right, so this is what I made - a nutritious kon low, or dry instant noodle. For the seasoning, I put these into a bowl:

• 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce
• 1 teaspoon of dark soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons of light soy sauce
• a good drizzle of cooking oil
• a good drizzle of sesame oil

In a pot of water, I blanch a few stems of choy sum, or mustard greens. When done, put it into my bowl with the seasoning.

Using that same pot of water, I boil two different types of fishballs (the small round ones and the larger fried ones) and seafood tofu and throw those into my bowl as well. The seafood tofu is actually pretty tasty and come in small rectangular pieces.

I bring a fresh pot of water to boil and leave the noodles in for 3-4 minutes to cook. The instant noodles come in thin rectangular blocks (see first photo). Two blocks is enough for a meal for one person.

Scoop the cooked noodle into the bowl and mix well with the seasoning and other ingredients. Top generously with chopped spring onions, cilantro and fried shallots, and we’re ready to dig in. Oh, and don’t forget the fresh chopped bird’s eye chilly or jalapeno.

It’s been a while since we had homemade pizza. To be honest, we kinda OD’d on it a while back and the kids didn’t want to have anything to do with it .

Recently on one of those quick trips to the baking supply store, I picked up a five-pack of pizza bases. Five regular-sized pizzas would be just right for one meal for us.

What I did was very simple. I opened up a jar of Prego pasta sauce and spread a fairly thick layer on each pizza base. I know many moms use tomato ketchup or puree as a red sauce for pizzas and pastas. The taste is not the same because first off, there are no herbs in ketchup and secondly, puree tastes pretty darned tart unless you spruce it up.

I believe if you want to make a really great pizza or pasta with a decent level of authenticity, you got to either cook your own red sauce or use a really good sauce from a jar. Maybe that’s why my kids are such picky eaters .

Okay, so back to my pizza. I preheat my oven to 350F (180C). I cut my fresh tomatoes and onions into semi-circular rings, and 3-4 cheese sausages into round slices. With the Prego pasta sauce as a base, I layer on the tomatoes, onions and cheese sausages.

Sprinkle a generous amount of grated cheddar cheese on top. Bake for about 20-30 minutes or till cheese is nicely golden. And you’re done! Simple enough!

I remember being pregnant and stuck in one of the business hotels overseas and craving for a pizza. It was way past 9pm and our meeting was still dragging on after hours and by the time we got to the lobby cafe, they had practically run out of food! Can you imagine if I’d had one of these homemade pizzas then!

Our school day lunches have been rather run-of-the-mill of late due to our hectic schedule. So I try to spice things up during the weekends and school breaks. This time I decided to surprise my daughters with Thai green curry for lunch.

This is a dish I can only prepare when I have ample time because it requires quite a lot of ingredients and preparation. Glad I got to use fresh basil from my own garden and lemongrass from my neighbor’s garden .

For the curry paste, I blended these ingredients into a paste:

• 5 large green chillies, or jalapeno, seeded and chopped
• 1 knob ginger
• 6 cloves garlic
• 4-5 medium sticks of lemongrass, chopped
• zest from 1 lime, grated
• 2 medium onions, diced
• 1 bunch cilantro, chopped
• ½ cup fish sauce
• 1 Tsp sugar

The other ingredients are:

• 2 boneless chicken thighs, cut in 1” pieces
• 2 cups thickened coconut milk
• 1 zucchini, diced
• 1 egg plant, diced
• 6-8 long beans, diced
• 1 bunch basil
• 1 cup chicken stock, or water
• a few drizzles of soy sauce
• 1 Tsp lime juice
• 3 Tsp cooking oil

First I heat up the pot with cooking oil to fry half the green curry paste on medium heat for about 5 minutes till fragrant. Then I add the coconut milk and chicken stock followed by the long beans since they take the longest to soften.

I let it simmer for about 5 minutes before adding the remaining green curry paste and coconut milk, followed by zucchini, eggplant, chicken, soy sauce, lime juice and basil, then for another 5-7 minutes on medium to low heat till the veggies are softened.

As usual, I add just enough salt to taste. Remember the fish sauce and chicken stock are salty in themselves, and you don’t want to end up with a sodium overdose.

Thai green curry is the best thing ever eaten over rice. I’m am not a big rice fan though so I prefer mine over noodles. You can see from the first photo that my curry is not too thick so there’s more than enough sauce to make a noodle soup.

If you’re craving a wonderfully exotic curry, there’s no need to wait till the next time you visit a Thai restaurant or go on vacation at a hotel, try cooking this at home instead. It’s not hard but it needs quite a bit of prep time .