I feel like Chicken tonight...

Last week, I took advantage of a good sale on chicken at Fry’s and bought 2 packs of chicken drumsticks because they had a “buy 1 get 1 free” deal. I couldn’t resist FREE CHICKEN so now I have quite a bit of drumsticks at home but it was not a problem, I decided to make another chicken dish! I was thinking of making something Indian but Kar said “oh chicken curry like your mom made?” I thought about it and figure OK I’ll give it a try. It’s intimidating because my mom cooks without exact measurement. Her style is one learned from experience so a little bit of this and a little bit of that, to taste! It’s very hard for me to cook like that because I NEED exact measurements. Anyways, I was gamed and called my mom up for her secret recipe and of course, it was a little bit of this and that. Ultimately, it turned out just fine by some miracle. We ate it with a French Baguette but it can also be eaten with plain rice. Delicious, this curry was different than the previous chicken curry because it was slightly sweet, more similar to Thai-style curry. This time, Kar was super motivated and took the pictures of the food himself. He did not allow me to eat until he was done. I had to wait despite being so hungry!!!!!

Italian madness

Over the weekend, the both of us went to see Hancock starring Will Smith, Charlize Theron, and Jason Bateman! It was a pretty good movie and Will Smith managed to open another summer blockbuster successfully. It seems like he always have some big movie opening near July 4th, every year. Anyways, in the movie, they have Thursday Night Spaghetti Madness or something like that, so I decided to make spaghetti and meatballs. Although I have made spaghetti many times before I have never made meatballs. Lucky for me, I discovered another yummy recipe from recipezaar and as a result, delicious meatballs in our tummy for dinner on Sunday.

Spaghetti and Meatballs, and Garlic Toasts


Although the meal was pretty good I did not make enough sauce for the spaghetti so I made more sauce and pasta on Tuesday. Eek - toast were a little burnt this time but still good!



This was pretty easy to make and keep well so now we can also pack it for lunch! Woot!

Kar and I usually try to buy grocery carefully so we can save money! Why not right...so I was pretty proud that I was able to save 39% this time. We normally average around 20-25%! Highest rate of savings so far...


Recipe Link: Meatballs
-Please note that the recipe called for ground chicken, but I used ground beef instead.

Butterfields

I love relaxing weekends where you wake up by beautiful and bright sunshine instead of the annoying beeping of an alarm. Then a nice breakfast with friends/family. That was what we did last Saturday at this lovely breakfast restaurant called Butterfields. Butterfields was reasonably priced and very delicious - the best thing there were their PANCAKES!

There we were, preparing to go to Butterfields


We started with freshly squeezed orange juice - initially I didn't want any but Kar suggested I order my own (mostly because he knew that if I like it I'd probably drink all of his)...

empty one was mine (was veryyyyyyyy fresh so drank it in one gulp...practically)

Kar had the Pancake stack with Pecans and Raisins.


I had the Steel Cut Oatmeal with Caramelized Brown Sugar and Bananas. It was so filling I only manage to finish half


It was such a lovely morning...=o)

FOOD, Food, food...

I had wanted to keep this blog updated regularly but on a day that I had wanted to post last week, this site wasn't working right so now, all the pictures are piling up and I cannot recall properly when I made these food.

I think on Tuesday last week, I was browsing for some chicken recipe on www.recipezaar.com and stumbled upon this REALLY popular chicken dish - Japanese Chicken Drumsticks (drumsticks because they are Kar's favorite.) Over +500 people seemed to be happy with this recipe so I made it. It was easy and pretty tasty, with hardly any fat. I removed some of the skin and kept some skin (fatty!) because Kar likes the skin. The picture does not too look too tasty cuz it was dark when we took the pictures but very easy and delicious with rice.



Then, sometimes last week - can't remember now, we ate Tilapia and rice for dinner. This is why I should post regularly but ahhh I was busy browsing internet and watching movies at night. No time for updating this blog. I also made one of Kar's favorite Korean dish - normally it is a banchan (side dish) and he lovessssssss it. We eat at this one Korean/Japanese restaurant called Takamatsu and we always ask for extra of this fish cake.

Tilapia/Salad/Zucchini (my dinner)




Tilapia/Fishcake/Rice/Yogurt (Kar's dinner)



Kar was quite happy due to the fish cakes - he loves that stuff...

Below, fish cake preparation




Recipe Link: Japanese Mum's Chicken
Recipe Link: Fish Cake Stir Fry

Healthy eating can be good eats...

Friday was a movie date night! We shared a Panda Express meal and saw a great movie, Wanted.

Saturday was a busy day filled with errands but we had a great breakfast at Butterfields that kept us full for almost the whole day. At night, we went to the circus and saw beautiful tigers!

Sunday started out with an early lunch at my parent's house. My mom made us beef noodle soup aka PHO. It was delicious. Then Kar spent the next few hours watching football (soccer for US folks) and I went to see Sex and the City. Then we cleaned the house and I made something healthy for us to pack lunch next week.

It was Mediterranean Chicken Salad. Basically, rice, canned chicken, green beans, red pepper, celery, and red onions. You mix everything together with a olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt & pepper vinaigrette. This dish can be serve warm or cold and it was pretty easy to make. It was a one pot dish and I'm happy that we have some food to pack for our lunches for the next couple of days. It is also very filling and healthy.



Recipe Link: Meditterranean Chicken Salad
The original recipe said to use Tuna, but I didn't have tuna so I used Chicken instead.

The best rice ever...

Last night before bed, I ran across an old food episode hosted by Nigella Lawson. She made this flavored rice that I thought would go really well with the left over chicken curry. After work today, I attempted to make the same rice but I was really nervous because I did not note down her measurements of the ingredients so I guessed. Anyways, a little butter and oil to keep the butter from burning in a warm pan. To that you add a tsp of coriander pwder, a tsp cumin powder, and 1/4 tsp of turmeric to brown. After browning toss in 2 cups (rice cups not cooking cup) of rinsed rice to the pan and sauteed for a little bit to mix in the spices. I then pour the content into the rice cooker and follow the rice cooking direction. Instead of water, add chicken broth (4 cups for the 2 cups of rice.) The result - amazing, soft, flavorful rice. We were not hungry but managed to eat so much food (2 helpings for me and 3 for Kar). Boy, delicious! The chicken curry was tastier the day after now that the chicken had a chance to soak in the gravy...

DARN GOOD! so good we finished the rice before we had a chance to take pictures =oX

Tomorrow we have been invited to eat dinner at our Anush and Anita's place. I'm looking forward to some good eats...

After a long time...

It has been a long time since I updated this blog but it was because I was busy with exercising before. Now, I have time to cook again so I am beginning to experiment making different dishes. Monday, I was feeling ambitious so I decided to make sambar, prawns, and potato roast. This time the whistling pressure cooker didn't scare me so much...I managed to make decent food. The sambar was a little too thick so I need to add more water next time.





Tuesday was left over prawns, potato roast, and potato & chicken curry. Soon, I think I will make something Italian.


Other news, Kar is down with cold. He has been sick since last week, first jetlagged then cold. Poor fellow.