Basmati Rice

A easy, simple and utterly delicious basic one must have in your repertoire. I cook the rice over the stove rather than in my trusty rice cooker. I find the rice are more separate and more defined cooked over the stove. In the rice cooker, the grain then to be softer. After the rice has been fluffed, I transfer it to the rice cooker to keep warm. The delicious aroma wafting through the house.......

Blog Design Basics for Bloggers

I am so loving this new look of my blog! Okay, I am not brave enough to work on my original/main blog yet but I am getting there. I recently enrolled in this fabulous class at Jessicasprague.com entitled Blog Design Basic for Bloggers and cannot say enough good things about it! 

I have been blogging for awhile now, always wondering how some people are able to customized their blog format. Never had the time to fully explore how to customize my blog so when I saw this class being offered on JessicaSprague.com, I jumped at it! I am so glad I took this class and really appreciate that it was self-paced. When the class first started I had visitors staying with me, so I could not begin... Then when I could start, I had to put in additional hours at work because an employee was hospitalized. So I could not really work on it :( 

But when I could instructors, Crystal Wilkerson and Kristina Proffitt was right there for me, even though it was often for a few minutes at a time, in the middle of the night!! Yeah, for self-paced classes :)

Until now I have not had the time to design my own blog elements so finally I gave up. I decided to use the purchased blog kits and follow the lessons to ensure I knew how to customize my blog. I LOVE IT!! 

I hope in the near future to design my own background, banners and happy art. Meanwhile kudos to Crystal Wilkerson and Kristina Proffitt (and Jessicasprague.com) for bringing it all together for us. I cannot wait for the next class!!

Italian Style Meatballs

Dear daughter with meatballs on your mind, this is my latest meatball experiment. I like it!! Give this recipe a try. The fennel seeds give it a distintive flavor. Experiment with turkey meat. Sorry I did not get this posted before you made those turkey meatballs....I am only a Mom NOT Wonder Woman. LOL ! ( a darn Super Mom though)

Easy Slow Cooker Marinara Sauce from (Almost) Pantry

This is so easy and fast! And good too! All you have to do is to chop up the vegetables, open up some cans of tomatoes, put everything in a slow cooker and it is a go. It is very forgiving. Use whatever brand of tomato products you choose or is available. Try to choose lower sodium products. Use white mushrooms,brown mushroom or portabella mushroom, whole or sliced - whatever is on sale. I like to double the recipe, using one can of diced tomato and one can of whole tomatoes, roughly cut with a scissor, for texture. Start it at night and it is ready in the morning or start it in the morning and it is ready when you get back in the evening.

Rotisserie Chicken - Part III Chicken Ochazuke Nori

This idea came from my son. I was suggesting that he heated up some chicken stock  together with the leftover chicken rice, topping it with shredded chicken rice.   He came up with a quicker and equally delicious snack. He topped the chicken rice with a package of Ochazuke Nori - a green tea seaweed seasoning for rice and some hot water. It makes a savory green tea broth. Top it with shredded chicken if you like. Totally Asian but delicious. Give it a try!


NB. This brand of Ochazuke Nori contains some MSG. We not eat this often so we buy it if we cannot find one without MSG. You can use other brands like Furikake-Shirakiku Mishima Ochazuke Wakame that do not have MSG or make your own using green tea, dashi, nori and bonito flakes.

Rotisserie Chicken - Part II Chicken Tortilla Soup

Actually, this time I had bought the rotisserie chicken because I had a craving for Chicken Tortilla Soup. I normally make it from scratch poaching the chicken breast. The seeds for this blog was already germinating in my mind...I was thinking of my daughter. I decided on the rotisserie chicken to come up with some recipes for her.


This recipe is great when you are almost at the end of the bag of tortilla chips. The broken chips or crumbs can be used to thicken the soup. But don't be deterred if you have don't have an open bag of chips. Just buy a new bag and crush away those chips!

Rotisserie Chicken -Part I Chicken Rice

Sometimes when I have a real busy day and really looking forward to a easy comfort meal, I head to Costco for a rotisserie chicken and cucumber. I have chicken rice on my mind. Traditionally this dish is consist of steamed chicken and chicken rice but rotisserie chicken is also good with the rice. What is more versatile than a Rotisserie Chicken from Costco or your local grocery store??? You should be able to get a couple of meals out of the chicken, particularly if it is one from Costco which tends to be larger than your average supermarket rotisserie chicken. Cut the whole chicken to pieces- the two breast, two thighs, two drumsticks and two wings.You can use the meat for your dishes and the bones for making stock. I would use the chicken breast for this dish ( and maybe the drumstick!). There are many meals you can use chicken for, to name a few:


1. Rotisserie Chicken with chicken rice
2. Chicken Congee ( stock made with the chicken bones)
3. Chicken Tortilla Soup
4. Chicken salad
5. Mee Hoon Kuih

Mom what shall I make?

What is a mother to do when her daughter leaves for college? Start another blog of course, of course! Ha, ha. This year she moved out of the dorm into an apartment she shares with two other girlfriends. Finally, she has a kitchen and can play :) 

The kitchen has all the basic appliances- microwave, electric stove, oven and refrigerator. Plus a dishwasher to boot. They could have done with more storage rather than the dishwasher. Maybe they can use the dishwasher to store dishes..

Groceries - quite a distance without a car. She will have to take the bus and lug the goodies back or she can order online and have the groceries delivered or a combination of both. I am so excited.


Come to think about it, this is good. I cook for two now when my husband is away on business and it is just myself and my son. The only thing is my son eats for 3 persons!! I should start scaling down my cooking servings. In 3 years time, my baby boy will also be off to college :(

Guess what? My darling daughter just called me and asked me what she should make for dinner? Ha, ha I told her that coincidently, I was starting a new blog; "Mom, what shall I make?" She laughs! 


My aim for this blog is to make fast delicious healthy food with minimal equipment. Maybe some meal planning tips. I hope I have not bitten off more than I can handle. I do not always update my other blog.... the pressure. Wish me luck.