Foodarrific

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!

Filed under: Foodlish TalkKid-friendlyRecipesSnacks & Desserts by Chili Queen - No Comments →

Tempura is a hot favorite in our household and even more so now that I’ve started making it myself for our vegetarian days. With some miso soup to go with my yasai tempura (vegetable tempura), we’ve got an entire Japanese meal at home.

I’ve got my wasabi (green mustard), soy sauce and instant miso soup sachets in 3 flavors – tofu, seaweed and green onion.

The instant miso soup is so easy that I just need to add hot water and all those dried ingredients in the sachet instantly popped to life! The thing I love most is that it’s sodium-reduced too!

The tempura batter is easily whipped up in a large bowl with 1 cup flour, half cup cornflour, pinch of salt and pepper and icy cold water. I’m not one to measure ingredients to a T but these are just to give you an idea.

Mix everything together to a consistency thick enough to coat the veggies. I used sweet potatoes and broccoli here but you can use shrimp and any number of your favorite veggies. Deep fry till golden brown.

The dip is just some wasabi in a small dish with a drizzle of soy sauce stirred together. But be warned, will instantly send a powerful sting right up your nose. If you can get someone to capture that fiery moment on a digital camera casio, it will be priceless (just kidding ).

And there you have it, yasai tempura and miso soup for the whole family without forking out the big bucks.

Filed under: AsianFoodlish TalkRecipesVegetables by Chili Queen - No Comments →

Remember I left behind my son’s favorite dishes in food storage containers before I left Cali. Well, here’s the recipe for my super easy, super tasty Sweet Sour Shrimp.

I used:

• 1 packet of large precooked shrimp
• 1 onion, cut into eighths
• 1 tomato, quartered
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• tomato ketchup
• a few stalks of cilantro, roughly chopped

First, saute the garlic briefly in some cooking oil on high heat until fragrant but be careful not to burn the garlic. Add the onion and saute briefly till translucent.

Add shrimp followed shortly by tomato, ketchup and a splash of water. Allow to simmer on low heat for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and toss in the cilantro just before serving.

And there you have it, a very simple yet tasty dish to go with steamed rice.

Filed under: RecipesSeafood by Chili Queen - No Comments →

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.

Filed under: AsianFoodlish TalkFor College KidsHealthy EatingKid-friendlyQuick & Easy CookingRecipesSeafoodVegetables by Chili Queen - No Comments →

I have a half bag of spinach left from our spinach soup noodles two nights ago so I decided to use it up in a saute dish. It’s very easy and spinach, as you know, is very good for health and probably takes care of hormonal acne too if I’m not mistaken.

The recipe couldn’t be simpler.

• 2 cloves garlic, sliced
• 3-4 fresh button mushrooms, sliced thickly (optional)
• spinach
• cilantro, coarsely chopped
• 2 tsp chicken bouillon/powdered flavoring
• a dash of soy sauce

Heat up a skillet on medium/high heat with a drizzle of oil. Add garlic and fry for a few minutes till fragrant. Add mushrooms and saute till slightly soften. Add spinach and continue saute-ing for a few more minutes till spinach is wilted down. You do not need to add water as the spinach itself will output liquid as it cooks.

Add chicken flavoring and soy sauce. And you’re ready to serve over rice. It’s really that easy.

Filed under: For College KidsQuick & Easy CookingRecipesVegetables by Chili Queen - No Comments →