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This year, for our CNY reunion dinner, I decided to slave in the kitchen this year instead of subjecting ourselves to those rip-off festive restaurant prices. My dishes are very simple so it’s not too hard to whip up something pretty quickly.

Stirfried Kailan with Crispy Scallop Bits

Stir-fried Kai-lan (Chinese kale) is a common everyday dish. I merely funky-ed it up with a topping of crispy dried scallop bits. Surprisingly my say-no-to-veggie brood loved this .

Claypot Pork Ribs and Tofu

We’re big fans of Claypot Tofu (recipe here) and I cook this quite often for regular meals. Here I used pork ribs with carrot flowers and wolfberries and turned it into something special.

Spicy Thai-style Crispy Chicken

I topped my easy-peasy and very popular Thai-style Crispy Chicken (recipe here) with shredded carrots, cucumbers and onions.

Braised Mushrooms with Phoenix Claws

Don’t jump now. Phoenix claws are actually just plain old chicken feet.

Lotus Root Soup with Japanese Baby Scallops

This turned out so sweet and flavorful I surprised even myself .

You’ll agree there’s nothing very fattening here so no need for us to start reading phentermine reviews ! In fact, I cooked everything here with fresh ingredients and very little sodium, practically no sugar or added MSG.

Oh no, I’m late to FFOF this week . Another one question week. I love how quick and easy these questions are.

What are your four favorite soups?

1. clam chowder
2. chicken and mushroom soup
3. carrot potato soup which is my comfort soup
4. Thai tomyam soup made super-spicy for my tastebuds
5. green pea soup which is sweet and I’ve heard it touted as a pretty effective eczema treatment because of its cooling effect on the entire body system

Want to play Four Foods on Friday? Simple, go over to valmg’s blog at Fun, Crafts and Recipes and grab the details.

Twas one night when my brain went into overdrive and kept me awake long enough to plan out my Chinese New Year reunion dinner menu. Last year, we dined out on Chinese New Year’s eve.

This year, I’ve decided to go back to my usual practice of cooking reunion dinner at home. I’m planning a simple menu of gourmet, restaurant-style dishes which can easily be whipped up at home.

• Claypot Tofu with Pork Ribs and Veggie Medley
• Fish Fillet with Ginger and Spring Onions
• Roast Chicken, Thai Style
• Stir-fried Kailan with Dried Scallop and Wolfberries
• Lotus Root Soup

Of course, this menu may change. It’s only the first draft. I might be tempted to tinker with it as CNY draws nearer, or if I let my kids have their say. Hopefully the final menu won’t make us so guilty that we’ll all go jump on an elliptical the next morning!

There are days when our school lunches almost resemble a small emergency evacuation and I’m not kidding. We have to be in and out of the house in a half hour or something crazy like that.

This then is my latest quickie lunch of sliced baguette dipped in herbed olive oil served with a bowl of mushroom and potato soup. Mm, simply delish. The idea came from a pizza dinner we had at Italiannies (our second visit in like ten years!) where they served us focaccia with herbed olive oil dip as a starter.

My kids loved it so much I had to replicate it at home. I used baguette instead of focaccia but I reckon any kind of bread would do. I infused some Italian herbs into a plate of olive oil. And I cheated with an instant soup mix .

During the days of my vegetarian diet, I cooked green pea soup several times. It was a great way to fulfill those hunger pangs I was experiencing. And it’s a sweet dessert that can be enjoyed by the whole family.

Green pea soup is a tong sui, or dessert soup, that is commonly eaten for its cooling properties which help reduce heatiness that causes fevers, sore throats, acne breakouts, etc  during hot spells. I cooked this again today because the weather’s been unbearably hot lately.

In the days when I was working on of those exhausting jobs in IT, I never had the luxury of tending over soups like this. But it’s really simple to make, just that you have to watch the fire.

I don’t use exact measurements so these are just estimates. To make a big pot, I just throw two cups of dried green peas (they’re sold in small packets) into a pot with 6 cups of water.

When the water comes to a boil, turn it down to medium/low and simmer for 2 hours till soft. Add 1 cup sugar or enough sugar to taste. Again the time here is just an estimate depending on how soft you want to peas to end up. I like the peas to be really soft, almost of porridge texture, so I let the soup bubble on for a while longer, checking every now and then. So it’s completely up to you.