Foodarrific» Tips & Ideas

I smell some great meal vouchers

Chili Queen — Thu, 27 May 2010 02:06:34 +0000

I’ve just received the periodic rewards catalog for my credit card spending. Each time I use my credit card, I’m rewarded with bonus points which I can then redeem against a range of items from cooking utensils to acne treatments to holiday packages.

To be quite honest, I rarely redeem my points simply because I either forget or am too lazy. Lately the kids and I are cutting back on eating out. But of course, that doesn’t mean we don’t want to, we just try to resist the temptation.

My kitchen is closed on weekends so we still have the weekend meals to take care of. Now I’m flipping through my redemption catalog and I’m seeing meal vouchers for some of our favorite restaurants. Yay! You know what I’m going to do with my bonus points!

creative ways with baguette

chili queen — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 09:32:04 +0000

You know why I love the baguette? There are countless ways you can eat them and they taste good no matter how you make them. If you’re rushed for time, like I often am, even the simplest baguette toast toppings – with garlic butter spread, kaya (coconut jam) spread, or any kind of canned tuna or salmon spread – will make a great meal.

Or if I happen to have bacon sitting around in the fridge, then bacon and cheese baguette it is! I like to make these when the kids have their friends over because let’s face it, nobody can say no to crispy, sizzling bacon!

If I have time for something a little fancier, I will make pizza baguette, another hot favorite with the kids and their friends.

Or if I have leftover chicken curry or Thai green curry, I will simply heat it up and turn it into a quick curry dip for my baguette. Warms the stomach instantly !

Whenever I’m just plain tired or lazy to figure out what to cook, the baguette is my savior. It’s not like I have to cram my day into some stuffy classroom furniture to learn these recipes, I just make them up as I go along and surprise myself and my kids with the wierdest, tastiest baguette ideas.

Top 100 Healthy Mom Blogs

chili queen — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 04:27:39 +0000

Woo-hoo, I’m listed, or rather Foodarrific is listed on RNCentral.com’s Top 100 Healthy Mom Blogs. I am truly honored, of course, to be picked from all of the thousands of great food blogs out there.

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’ll notice I’m always complaining about the high sodium, sugar and grease content of food I eat outside. In my own kitchen, I’m notorious for reducing the salt, sugar and fat to the point of sometimes leaving them out altogether.

And you should too especially if you’re cooking for your kids. Start by tweaking your existing recipes little by little, and consider using healthier substitutes wherever you can. Pretty soon, your tastebuds will be conditioned to accept lower sodium, sugar and fat levels.

how to remove the rind of a pomelo

chili queen — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:04:41 +0000

My aunt who brought me that delicious jackfruit also gave me this pomelo from her trip to Penang. I placed this pomelo, or Chinese grapefruit, on my altar as an offering to the Buddha and conveniently left it there too long.

I have this silly habit of forgetting to eat stuff, if you can believe that! As a result, the pomelo is kinda over-ripe. But never mind, it’s even sweeter and juicier like this.

It’s quite an art peeling open a pomelo. Although it’s technically a citrus fruit, you can’t peel it like an orange because well, it’s the size of a small watermelon.

You need a sharp pointed knife to first cut right across the top of the pomelo about 1 inch down so it opens up like a cap.

To make it easier to peel the rest of the rind off, I have to divide it up into sections. I use the tip of the knife to make 5 or 6 shallow lines from the cut-off top all the way down to about 1 inch from the bottom.

Then from the top of each section, I dig my fingers in and peel downards. Repeat till all the sections are done. The whole thing will look like a flower with petals. Pretty, huh?

That done, I can dislodge the whole fruit from the rind and gently slice it open to reveal the segments. It’s just like an orange inside, so I just segment and pop into a Tupperware for easy storage.

I tend to refrigerate any leftovers because our climate here is so hot. I like it better chilled too. I don’t get to eat pomelos often, only around Chinese New Year because it’s believed to bring prosperity and good fortune.

I could use some of that, sure. So if someone brings me back one from up north (where they’re grown), I’ll gladly take it .

four foods on Friday #41 – travel

chili queen — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 01:30:15 +0000

This week’s FFOF has put me in a holiday mood. I’ve had a very busy week so it’s good that I even get to dream of a holiday. Okay, let’s get going with this week’s questions.

#1. If you could travel anywhere to have a meal, where would you want to go and what would you want to eat.
Dimsum breakfast in Hong Kong, a pasta lunch in Tuscany, Italy and a scrumptuous lobster dinner in Sydney, Australia. Am I coming across as being just a little greedy here ?

#2. When you go away do you make your own meals or eat out?
We eat out. Most hotels don’t have cooking facilities. At any rate, vacation time is precious and I wouldn’t want to waste it slaving in the kitchen.

Besides when I go to a new place/country, I want to try all the different types of local food so I’m just rearing to go, go, go! Sometimes I will even grab some food (usually finger food or street fare) back to the hotel to eat.

#3. While traveling if you have to stop for a meal do you go in or do you go through the drive thru and eat in the car?
It really depends on the place we’re passing through. If it looks dirty or crowded, we’ll just drive on. I usually have snacks and sandwiches in the car so we really don’t have to stop till we get to a decent restaurant.

#4. Share a recipe or food related tip for people making a long trip by car.
We pack a cooler with ice cubes, canned drinks, bottled water and cut-up fruits. I also like to bring along snacks and breads and pack a few sandwiches as well. I have a can in my car for sweets (candy) and sour preserves.

It’s a great idea to also have a few empty plastic bags which can come in real handy as garbage bags for the stuff you’ll be eating in the car, and a bottle of water for washing hands. Did I leave out anything ?

make your own teatime kaya toast

chili queen — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:02:32 +0000

One of the hardest things to resist when you’re at a kopitiam (new concept coffee shop) is the kaya toast, or coconut jam toast. The bread is so airy and light that when it’s toasted, it tastes so good with all that butter and kaya oozing out at every crunch.

But I’ve only ever ordered it once or twice in all the times I’ve been to a kopitiam. I just don’t believe in paying rm2-3 for two slices of bread, no matter how good it tastes.

And it’s so-oo easy to replicate at home too. I can get a whole loaf of this airy bread for around rm3 at Tesco or around rm2 at the market. Yes, a whole loaf, not two slices!

One loaf is enough for our family of five to have one heck of a teatime party, I tell you. It’s perfect too for when visitors or my nieces/nephews drop by. It’s cheap, it’s yummy, everybody loves it especially the kids.

The trick to getting it to taste like the ones at the kopitiam is to slob on lots of butter and kaya. That’s what makes theirs so yummy (and fattening too !).

how to prep non-stick cookware for first time use

chili queen — Sat, 31 May 2008 08:07:34 +0000

I finally got around to buying that non-stick frying pan that’s been on my shopping list forever. I would’ve redeemed a La Gourmet pan but I didn’t have enough Bonuslink points.

So I redeemed my points for cash vouchers instead and bought this 28-inch Tefal non-stick.

Pretty neat, eh? My current non-stick is also a Tefal and it has served me well.

Like always, before I use a brand new non-stick frying pan for the first time, I have to condition the pan.

When I bought my previous non-stick, I was advised to wash it clean with soapy water, fill it up with water and bring to boiling point, wipe completely dry, then rub with oil.

I think I’ll do the same with this one although the care instructions on the packaging doesn’t say anything about boiling water in it.

cooling drinks for the flu season

chili queen — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 00:47:32 +0000

The kind of patchy weather we’re having usually brings the fever and flu bug. It’s blazing a 90+ degrees outside right through midday and then the skies cloud over, bringing the downpours and cooling down the nights to the 70+’s.

My three kids were all down with the fever and flu recently. Between the hot days and cool nights, it’s the ‘heatiness’ (internal body heat) that causes the fever, coughs, runny noses and sore throats.

Honey soothes sore and scratchy throats and cools the body system. You’ll be surprised how kids who won’t drink water can so easily be sweet-talked into drinking honey instead.

And to perk things up, you can add a squeeze of lemon or lime and some ice for a cool, refreshing drink. One of my favorites .

Then there’s this cooling herbal ‘hor yan hor’ tea that I used to drink as a kid whenever the weather got hot. It used to be something that had to be boiled. Now it comes conveniently in tea bags for busy moms like me.

It’s black and bitter and kids have to be threatened or bribed into even going near it. I made myself a cup to drink this morning just as a precaution, in case I caught the flu from my kids.

Then of course, if you prefer to imagine you’re laying on the beach under a palm tree sipping a fresh coconut instead, this is the very thing.

Here’s the convenient huskless (or commonly called the ‘bald’) version where the grocery guy has done all the donkey work of hacking away the hard husk and artfully scraping out the silky white sheet of meat for you.

If you buy the one in the original coconut husk, it feels more authentic, sure! But you have to reach into the husk and scrape out the meat yourself and then dispose of the coconut shell when you’re done drinking.

Cheers and may the Flu Fighter be with you!

chilli school: help, my tongue is on fire

chili queen — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 15:42:39 +0000

Hardly a day goes by when I don’t have chillies in my meal, whether fresh or cooked. I just gotta have it .

Frankly once you get the hang of it, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it in the first place.

Cooked chilli is less fiery than fresh ones so if your tongue is not seasoned yet, start with something mild, preferably cooked.

Once you get the hang of it, you can graduate onto something a little more spicy.

Take your time. Leave the fresh fiery chillies for when you turn pro. Some tongues need to go to Chilli School for years before they can take the heat, and some just never graduate.

But at least try, okay? Because chilli not only tastes heavenly, it’s seriously good for you. It contains tons of Vitamin C. If you have a cold or feel one coming on, eat something hot and spicy and next thing you know, your itchy nose is gone!

Another useful thing to know about chillies is that if your tongue is on fire, drinking cold water will NOT douse the fire. You got to fight fire with fire. The best fire extinguisher is hot water or tea. I guarantee your fire will be put out in no time and you’ll happily get your tongue back .

My neighbor presented me with this bowl of killer chillies. I have no idea what its name is but I swear it sent me right through the roof, and I’m someone who regularly chomps on fresh bird’s eye chilli which is known to be super-duper fiery. So don’t try this at home or anywhere else and always wear a safety helmet !