592: bento :)
My two proud acquisitions! Someone, please stop me from buying cookbooks because I can’t resist. It’s pure indulgence! Ah and I have no self control whenever I step into the cookery section of Kinokuniya!
Bento love! I love packing lunch to work and I want to make something different from my usuals.
I really admire those japanese housewives who would wake up in the mornings to prepare colourful wholesome bento lunches for their husbands and children. And it’s so heartwarming to see them carry the colourful lunch bags while they go off to work and school. And imagining them tucking into their bento boxes during lunch hours! Sweet 🙂
580: Hijiki Nimono (Simmered Hijiki)
I’m taking a break from a full day of studying yesterday and today so I’m here! I know the whole world’s panicking over the upcoming board exams (THE EXAM) on Monday. But well, as usual, I’m not going to let the fluster affect me. It’s something I’ve learnt through the years (and especially through the four years in university). I’ve just got to believe I can do it. I’m doing my best, I really am and that is what’s most important! So calm and steady, face the world, just smile, take a bow and embrace everything that comes my way.
It’s been a while since I’ve documented anything food-related in this humble blog of mine. I was quite upset in the morning because I didn’t go running in the morning and I didn’t feel motivated enough to get down to studying. But I got back on my tiny feets and I’m back and kicking! Just went running at around 6pm and it was good. 4.5km this time round and I improved on my timing. Wheeee (: But the only bothersome thing is that I probably just exacerbated my old injury. I have a terribly weak ankle from the terrible crippling fracture in primary school and I often have regular twists and sprains. The best part is that I just sprained my right ankle last Thursday two times at work in a short span of 3 hours (how nice!). And after today’s run, my right ankle was so terribly painful. ):
I just wanted to share a simple recipe here and my dinners for the past two days. I’ve been all home alone the past two days because everybody (at home) is so busy. Mum’s back at work at her usual temporary job invigilating university kids because it’s the exam season! Dad’s back at his old job because his new one was unsuitable for him! And just yesterday, the parents went out drinking with their friends again! The sis has been busy with school, exams and dating. Oh wells, it’s just me, myself and I at home right now. It’s sad and lonely. And the silence can be a bit scary at times, so it’s time to blast some music.
Anyway, I’ve been dying to make some simmered hijiki since I ate it at the japanese restaurant Ootoya last time. It was (I think) $5 for a tiny portion! Hijiki is a kind of seaweed.
So here goes.
HIJIKI NIMONO (Simmered HIJIKI)
Ingredients
1) 40g hijiki
2) 4 pieces of japanese beancurd puff
3) 50g carrot (I used one medium carrot)
4) 1 tbsp sesame oil
5) 200ml dashi stock
6) 2 tbsp mirin
7) 2 tbsp sake
8) 1 tbsp sugar
9) 1 tbsp japanese shoyu (I just used the normal light soy sauce)
Soak the hijiki in hot water for 20 minutes. The dried hijiki will balloon and expand in size (it’s pretty scary a transformation). Rinse and drain.
Scald the beancurd puff in hot water. Squeeze dry and cut into fine strip. Cut the carrot into thick strips.
Heat up the sesame oil in a pot and fry hijiki until fragrant. Add the dashi, mirin, sake, sugar and soy sauce and bring to boil over medium heat. Switch to low hear and continue stewing for 10 minutes. Add beancurd puff and carrot strips. Continue stewing until the gravy is thickened (about 20 minutes).
Set to cool and refrigerate. Can be served cold or hot and it’s terrific with plain white rice!
Here’s how I ate my hijiki himono.
For dinner yesteday, I had it on top of a tiny bowl of japanese white rice and topped it with some dried shrimps (sakura ebi). And of course, my usual bowl of greens (arugula/wild rocket with alfalfa sprouts with japanese sesame dressing).
And today, I needed something to make myself happy after a day of studying. What better than to run in the evening followed by a nice homemade dinner! So I decided to use the cold hijiki I made yesterday (and stored in the refrigerator) and make something with it! This is totally Rina’s own concoction! It’s a tofu patty! I’ve seen recipes online making tofu patties with hijiki but they have been using the firm tofu (tau kwa) since it has a lower water content. But I only have silken tofu at home! Oh wells, I’m going ahead with it so I mashed it up and mixed in the simmered hijiki. Then, grease a small loaf tin with a bit of oil. Flatten the tofu mixture and bake it in the oven at 180 degree Celsius for 40 minutes. It was really really good! I’m pretty amazed myself (: And of course, served with greens! Yays I’ve finished (FINALLY) my stock of alfalfa sprouts and wild rocket!
Simple homecooked meals are such comfort food and make me a happy girl! And yes, it’s even better when you know they’re healthier, haha! (:
541: Patchwork
Box full of sandwiches for a random picnic on a Sunday evening with the family. I love picnics. Simple time with people you love.
Awesome soft cranberry pullman loaf from a local bakery!
Good food doesn’t have to cost a lot. A simple bowl of hot noodle soup with simple company does the trick!
Had a craving for gongcha! I’m that irritatingly “faithful” that I haven’t tried other flavours. It’s always the gongcha milk green tea with 0% sugar!
Baked an apricot chocolate cake! Looks awesomely rustic huh? Hahaha love the tartness of the fresh apricots!
Sliced and packed away!
Cooked some mushroom farfalle carbonara for the lazy sister’s lunch just the other day. I don’t have a “thing” for cream-based pasta so it was prepared just for her.
Mcdonald’s vanilla cone to cheer us up on a dreary workday!
Lunch was Mcdonald’s happy meal for another dreary workday! 4 piece chicken mcnuggets with curry sauce! And fresh milk and apple dippers!
Had a warm cup of green tea latte on a weekday morning at Cedele! The rare opportunity to be able to sit in the cafe on a late Friday morning. Only because I went to see the doctor that morning (:
Cooked myself a bowl of sliced fish porridge with ginger because I was sick ):
A box full of homemade mini chocolate mint cupcakes with chocolate mint buttercream!
Pretty pretty macarons! (:
Super cute chocolate cookies we baked at a friend’s place! It was great fun (:
I love the miffy ones!
Painstakingly prepared shepherd’s pie from scratch for Christmas!
Good old Mcdonald’s breakfast on Boxing Day morning with awesome company!
Potato salad! Love red skinned potato salads drowned with lots of bacon bits!
Picnic food! Haven’t I said that I love picnics? When you are surrounded by the beauty of nature, simple company and simple food (:
Had an awesome day out with a good friend of mine! We went for a late morning jog, hike and climb before having this for brunch. Awesome unhealthy/healthy food (: And the day ended with Sherlock Holmes. Aw, I love Robert Downey Jnr. It’s so overt it’s covert.
My favourite vegetable tofu burger!
Hokkaido potato wedges!
Matcha latte love!
Disappointing portuguese egg tarts from KFC! I kind of miss those I had in HK and Macau 😦
I ate percy.
Durian strudel love(:
Healing tauhway (chilled soya beancurd pudding) from a lovely friend. A pity I couldn’t taste it because of the flu! 😦
Ahhh the gorgeous durian strudel (:
463: A Typical Saturday!
Just a typical Saturday today! It’s October already!
Woke up early today, headed to work early as always! I’m always an hour early for work! Hadn’t realised that it’s Saturday today and traffic was ultra good. So I had more time to bum around before work. For some reason, I love the hospital on a Saturday morning. Everyone feels not-quite-awake yet. It’s probably cause’ everyone’s in a weekend mode.
Work on a Saturday was good. I had time to do my stuff, catch up on some work and do some readings. Dilly-dallied, fiddled with my documents in my laptop, did some random food surfing, fiddled with my notes and casenotes before leaving the hospital at around 2 plus! Decided to head down to town to roam around alone for a teeny tiny while. I couldn’t resist the beautiful display of macarons at TWG Tea Salon at the basement food hall of Takashimaya. They were so beauuuuutifuuuul! So exquisite looking! And I read from many food blogs that the macarons at TWG were pretty good. So I got a box of six! I’m spending money unnecessarily on food again. Anyway, this box of 6 macarons will last me for a week or two. It’s too pricey and exquisite to gulp them down all at one shot. Got to savour them slowly! The last time my box of Canele macaroons lasted me two weeks!
Anyway, I got two earl grey with chocolate (the brown ones), napoleon black tea with caramel (the black one), 1837 black tea with blackcurrant (dark pink), moroccan mint tea (white) and bain de rose tea (light pink). I should have gotten another different flavour to try instead of getting two earl grey ones! Oh wells, I wasn’t thinking right then! Never mind, another time.
I want to get down to baking macarons/macaroons soon! Mark my words! (:
And after the little town adventure, I headed home before heading out right away for a run! I’ve been craving for a run soooo badly. So I had to make sure I run! I feel good. Oh yeah! (: I’m going running again tomorrow!
Didn’t feel like going out with the parents and the uncle and aunties for dinner so I decided to stay home with sis. She cooked her usual hiyashi chukka ramen with her same old favourite flowy egg and edamame. So boring! I decided to cook myself some good old homemade pumpkin soup. Hot homemade soup warms my soul (:
Digged out some leftover pumpkin and baby carrots from the fridge. Boiled the pumpkin and carrots until soft before blending them in the blender with some good chicken stock. Added extra virgin olive oil to the pan and caramelised some onions and garlic. Throw in the onions and garlic into the blender and blend until slightly viscous and homogeneous. Transfer the blended mixture into a pot and stir until it bubbles and boils. Meanwhile, add in herbs and spices as you wish. I added in some black pepper, oregano flakes and rosemary leaves. Once it bubbles and boils, it’s ready to be served. Add a dash of dried basil on the soup and tah-dah! It’s good to eat! (:
Warms my soul and makes me a happy girl (: This crazy girl is off to bake some tall dried apricots scones (for breakfasts for the next few days) now before retiring off with some episodes of The Big Bang Theory and perhaps, some work. Alright, maybe no work. Saturday will be a R&R day and I’m NOT doing any work today! The work shall wait. Tomorrow it shall be (:
Tata (:
456: Beautiful Sunday Morning!
Woke up really early today for a morning run! Love the high and the adrenaline rush and the sticky wet feel of the clothes against my skin!
Walked past someone’s house and I saw a Caucasian Daddy and his cute daughter sitting at the open balcony having their breakfast of cereals, milk, eggs and bacon, facing the greens and the glistering blue pool.
It was a very sweet scene! I want to do that too and have a simple breakfast, talking, sipping tea or coffee or reading the morning papers. A pity nobody’s awake at home at the moment! Daddy’s overseas and the other two piggies at home are probably sleeping till late in the morning (or afternoon?!) since Dad’s away!
My only consolation for breakfast is the lone choco-nuts scone I got yesterday from Four Leaves. Warmed up with a spread of raspberry jam and it’s good to go for breakfast, with a nice cup of fresh milk (:
It’s a beautiful start to a Sunday! I’m feeling good from the run! Have a gooooood Sunday everyone! (: (:
438: Walnut Moontarts
Having runner’s high after the run in the evening! So therapeutic! I felt really really good and happy! It must be the endorphins! I ran alone so it’s just me myself and some really good music! It is so important to have the right kind of music when running to get you through the run! Me thinks some light rock/rock music helps! Haha I’ve been listening to Neon Tree’s Animal on repeat while running (Love the Glee Warblers version too) ! I love the guitar in the background! It’s been a while since I’ve ran (oh my gosh, way more than 12 weeks ago, before pre-reg actually started)! Felt soooooooo unhealthy! I’m sooooooooo going to do more running from now onwards and it starts today! Yeah!:)
Anyway, my walnut moontarts were successful! LEAPS OF JOY! Haha the recipe yielded about 40 moontarts and basically 24 (3 boxes of 8) will go to the grandparents, Aunt Jenny and family and Uncle Peter and family. I hope they’ll like it! I did everything all by myself, right from sourcing the recipe to physically making the pastry dough etc. I thought my Mum would be helping me but she was soooo evil. She happily left everything for me to do while she happily watched her Hong Kong dramas! Daddy did help me weigh out the white lotus paste and placed the walnuts on the tarts! Anyway, they look so pretty! I’m so proud of these little babies but I’m so biased. So please ignore me. 😦
Recipe is from Baking Mum.
Anyway, I love this acoustic live version of Neon Tree’s Animal.
And also, the version from the Warblers!
406: Rosemary Chicken Wraps
It’s been a while since I’ve contributed any food photos to this blog! I missed those days when I would stay home and browse through online recipes, thinking of something creative and delicious for lunch or for dinner! It’s stay home Tuesday today because it’s the National Day holiday! I’ve been all happy and very productive today, especially with work. The afternoon coffee worked wonders because I was so awake and motivated studying!
Anyway, I prepared a simple easy to put together meal for dinner today! I miss such meals! Good old comfort food in the comforts of my home!
I prepared a wrap! With rosemary chicken, avocado, cheese, tomato and lettuce!
The rosemary chicken was easy peasy! I had earlier marinated the chicken breasts this morning! I minced (okay, practically mashed) about 5 garlic cloves, added 3 tsp of dried rosemary leaves, added 2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, added dashes of black pepper and sea salt and marinated the chicken breast chunks (about 2 chicken breast slices, cut into bite sized chunks – this is a serving for three). Then after which, before preparing the wrap, I panfried the rosemary marinated chicken breast in a grill pan or fry pan until slightly browned.
Wrapping the tortilla wrap was easy! Assembling it was easy peasy too! Basically you just throw in whatever ingredients you want! For me, the cheese is a must! The melted cheese in the wrap is to die for!
After wrapping, you can bake it in a preheated 180 degree Celsius oven for about 15 minutes! Mine was a tiny underbaked and I would much prefer the wrap crispier and more browned. Oh wells, next time!
So happy and pleased with my simple healthy dinner! My good old comfort food! (:
Anyway, Rina is back! Time to get motivated and keep fighting on! Nothing is going to bring me down! Haha! (:
380: Homemade Pumpkin Carrot Soup
I love pumpkin! It’s one of the most versatile vegetables and I love having it in my soup, in my sandwiches, in my stir-fried dinner dish (with sambal chilli!), in my breads, in my buns and practically in everything! I love the homemade soups at Cedele and Soup Spoon! Recently, I love having just a nice bowl of warm soup and a hard bread roll for lunch. It’s probably one of my comfort foods! Plus, it’s healthy and light! But I am largely against having those canned soups (e.g. Campbell) so canned soups are a no-no! It’s either homemade or no soup for me.
I bought half a pumpkin impulsively last Tuesday and in order to ensure that the pumpkin doesn’t rot, I steamed and mashed it first before storing it in the freezer! I was planning to make either pumpkin breads, pumpkin cakes or pumpkin soup. But bread making is time-consuming so it’s not a good time to make bread today. Cakes require eggs, which unfortunately I have only a few left in the refrigerator (since I’ll be flying off to Hong Kong early tomorrow morning). So pumpkin soup it shall be! I have to finish using the pumpkin before it spoils and the parents start nagging!
I made a homemade pumpkin carrot soup! I didn’t use any specific recipe and just made it based on trial and error (through tasting at the different stages). And it’s amazingly good! I’m very amazed myself! I think it’s the wonders of the pumpkin (and carrot), you can never go wrong with pumpkin (and carrot)! The herbs made a difference too! I think nutmeg and rosemary are lovely!
The best company to the homemade pumpkin carrot soup is a nice warm toasted bread roll from Cedele! As many should know, Cedele is my favourite dining place! I love everything there! The breads, the scones (and sweets), the soups, the sandwiches, the cakes, the ice-cream, the ambience. For today, I’m having the Golden Pumpkin roll to go with the pumpkin carrot soup! (: It’s just perfect perfect perfect!
Here’s just a brief guide to what I added and did to make the soup!
Homemade Pumpkin Carrot Soup
Recipe by Rina’s Silly Musings
Ingredients
1/2 medium pumpkin, steamed and mashed (skins off)
1 medium carrot, sliced coarsely and steamed
1 clove of garlic (no need to chop or mince)
1/2 a medium onion (halved)
500ml of chicken stock
62.5ml of milk
dash of pepper and salt
sprinkle of dried basil and ground nutmeg powdera few springs of dried rosemary leaves
Olive oil
Method
1) In a saucepan, add a little olive oil. Saute the onions and garlic for a while until onions turn slightly translucent. Remove and cool.
2) In a blender (or food processor), add in the steamed mashed pumpkin, steamed carrot slices, chicken stock, milk, onions, garlic and blend until well. Texture is not very viscous right at this moment.
3) Transfer the blended mixture into a pot and bring it to a boil. Add in the pepper, salt, basil, nutmeg and rosemary leaves. Lower the fire to low-medium and simmer it for at least 10 minutes. After simmering for at least 10 minutes, the soup gets slightly more viscous, the perfect texture I’m looking for in a pumpkin soup!
4) Serve warm with a nice warm and toasted bread roll!
To end off, I bought a Nine Grain loaf from Cedele to try since Mummy instructed me to get some bread so that we can munch on some while on the plane tomorrow. It’s to tide us through breakfast since we have to be at the airport tomorrow at 430am. Looks yummy, rustic and pretty huh?
370: Arugula Walnut Pesto Spaghetti
This was lunch today! I used the pesto prepared earlier for this spaghetti! Warmed up the pesto, added some pasta water to the pesto and tossed the cooked spaghetti in it. Then I grated some Parmigiano–Reggiano cheese (parmesan cheese) over the spaghetti.
Very simple and light meal! Delicioso!
366: Arugula Walnut Pesto
With the leftover Arugula, I decided to make some Arugula Walnut Pesto. I had originally wanted to add in pine nuts since I recalled that Mummy had a stash of pine nuts available. But I couldn’t find them. So I resorted to using baked walnuts. Pretty simple recipe, you just need a blender and blend everything together!
The pesto smelt really lovely as I blended all the ingredients in. The texture of my pesto is a little coarse but you can definitely blend it for a longer time. They would be perfect with spaghetti for lunch next week! For now, the pesto goes into the freezer, to be stored until use. Hehe I just bought a block of Parmigiano-Reggiano and I think grated Parmigiano-Reggiano together with the pesto spaghetti would be perfect!
Arugula Walnut Pesto
Ingredients
2 cups arugula (wild rocket)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1/2 cup toasted or baked walnuts, crushed
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
dash of ground black pepper
Juice from 2 small limes (only because I had no lemons at home)
Instructions
Just blend all the ingredients together in the blender until the desired texture.
360: Cedele (VivoCity)
I went for the pre-employment checkup today and it was alright. Went there alone because it was hard arranging a time with the other batchmates. The doctors there were very nice and they were all so curious what job I was going for. Had a nice short chit-chat with them where we talked a bit about my course, jobs market for my profession etc. And yes, I had to draw blood again! A whole Vacutainer full of blood! I had my blood drawn from my left arm just yesterday for the Hep B antibody assay. And today, I had blood drawn from my right arm for the blood test or FBC. I didn’t expect a blood test. But anyway, the venipuncture today was painful! He had some time locating my veins. The nurse yesterday at the school’s clinic was far more experienced cause’ the venipuncture was not at all painful. She was commenting yesterday that I had ‘good’ veins. Had countless of jabs and blood drawn by her and it’s always been a breeze! Haha I love that nurse cause’ she’s always so nice and motherly and chatty.
Anyway, after the medical checkup, I was craving for Cedele’s sandwiches or soup or soup from Soup Spoon. Plus, I wanted to do some shopping at F21 and Uniqlo so I hopped down to VivoCity, which was pretty near to the medical clinic. I finally decided on Cedele because I’m a huge fan of Cedele. Soup Spoon can wait, another time perhaps?
I ordered another vegetarian burger/sandwich. Was planning to eat the usual Beetroot Avocado sandwich but they didn’t have it at the VivoCity branch. Or try the apple pumpkin soup. But in the end, I decided on the Totally Veggie Grilled Tofu sandwich. I’ve been wanting to try a tofu burger/sandwich for ages. And I love tofu. So this was the most obvious choice.
From Cedele’s website:
*Totally Veggie Grilled Tofu
This home-made grilled tofu burger is a light treat with fresh tomatoes & lettuce. A great vegetarian favourite!
I had it on my favourite usual golden pumpkin bread again. And I must say, the burger was not bad! The tofu patty consists of yellow beans, onion, garlic and tofu. It was a very unique blend, I must say. I like the tofu patty. There was a very generous (yes, humongous!) spread of mustard on the bread as well. I’m pretty alright with mustard. But people who don’t like mustard SHOULD tell them to skip the mustard or cut down on the mustard spread.
Oh yes, I dined alone at Cedele today. Usually, when I’m out alone, meals would be very fast and convenient meals like breads or buns from bakeries, on the go. I rarely do sit down and have a proper meal when I’m out alone. And at the beginning of this year, there was a campaign in my school to encourage people to eat alone. See the Straits Time article here. Seriously, what is wrong with eating alone? In the past, I didn’t dare to eat alone and was very conscious of myself when I’m alone and how others might perceive me to be. But it’s perfectly alright now. I’ve eaten alone in university when I’m early for classes etc. I’ve eaten alone when I was having my internship because it was hard to meet up with my other friends when we have different lunch hours. With a good book, or the very useful iPhone, eating alone is fun! I actually enjoy people watching as well. (:
355: Lunch (Zucchini Salmon Spread Sandwich)
Another simple open top sandwich to tide through lunch, in this busy exam period. Toasted wholemeal bread with sliced zucchini and salmon spread.
Just conquered the second paper today and it was good! Put up a great fight and I’m hoping I’ll score! I really think I’m going to miss studying PTx! The series of PTx modules are my favourite university modules! One more paper to go on Thursday and it’s going to be goodbye uni life, goodbye school, hello working world, hello society! I’m starting to feel sad. I refuse to let go, I refuse to acknowledge that I’m nearing the end of my uni life. Well, the next time I’ll step in school after this Thursday will probably be convocation day. (Oh oops, kind of forget that I’ve to make an appointment for the Hep B Antibody test soon! That’ll be in the clinic in school too. But well, that doesn’t count!)
Sigh ):
315: Spaghetti with Homemade Tomato Sauce
It’s the last day of the week long break and I am just so happy to stay home alone. Past few days have been busy with the many other things in my life so it feels so good to be home and most importantly, alone. Yes to me-time and also yes to having the whole kitchen to myself. I realised I’ve been surviving on mostly bread/buns/bagel/sandwich for lunch since the start of this year. Just like how I had just a simple sandwich for lunch yesterday. Wanted to do something different for lunch today.
So I decided to cook some spaghetti with my first attempt at homemade tomato sauce. So I googled recipes for homemade tomato sauce and decided to just improvise it to my own taste and to the availability of ingredients at home.
I must say, it was good! It’s my kind of food. It tasted very light and just like good old comfy food. So goodbye to all the “preservatives and sodium and unknown ingredients and flavouring enhancers”-laden store-bought pasta sauce! The taste was slightly tangy yet you could taste the natural sweetness of the tomatoes. And of course, lots of onion and garlic for the extra oomph!
This looks like a heap of pasta but in fact, there was only very little spaghetti (just a tiny bundle). The bulk of it was the sauce (the tomatoes, lots of mushrooms and some minced pork).
I’m not going to go into detail. But well, briefly what I did.
I cooked the Barilla spaghetti no. 5 with generous amounts of sea salt (yum). I blanched the tomatoes to remove the skins. Mashed the tomatoes into tomato pulp, discarding most of the seeds. Heat the olive oil in a pan, add in generous amounts of garlic and onion and stir-fry until fragrant and onions are translucent-clear. Add in the tomato pulp and allow it to simmer until thick (for at least 5 minutes). The pulp will start breaking down into a more homogenous mass. Season with a little french sea salt, dried basil, dried oregano and some black pepper. Add in the minced pork (only because I didn’t have ground beef at home) and mix and cook further. Finally, add in the sliced fresh shitake mushrooms and cook further. Toss in the cooked spaghetti and serve!
DELICIOUS and healthy MESS (:. Me like!
297: Breads from Cedele!
Dinner today was salad and bread! Salad was the usual homemade salad with butterhead lettuce, red and green capsicum, corn, cherry tomatoes, green and red apples, hard boiled egg, sunflower seeds, cashew nuts and bacon bits with extra virgin olive oil and japanese goma dressing! It was good:)
And before I left for school this morning, I was instructed to buy the walnut bread that the parents like from Cedele on my way home from school. So I bought this loaf of bread from Cedele @ Rail Mall, just walking distance away from my place. This is the organic wholewheat raisin and walnut bread ($6.80).
It was SO good. I love such rustic dense breads! Looking and sniffing it makes me happy! You must think I’m crazy. But it was good. It may look like it’s a really heavy and dense and hard loaf, but you will be surprised when you bite into it because the bread is still moist and soft within. It’s unlike those other store bought wholemeal bread loafs from in-store bakeries at Carrefour or Giant, justifying the higher cost of this bread. I could just eat bread (from Cedele) for my meals all day long.
Did I mention that I love dining at Cedele? I love the food in Cedele! I love the Breads (love them all although I wouldn’t go for the plain white boring ones because why stick to these when there are other gorgeous ones!) and the Beetroot burger (my favourite, I order this without fail every time I visit Cedele) and the soups (haven’t tried many thus far but the more memorable ones are like the chunky beef stew). So many things to love about Cedele! And they are so close to my home now, just a 5 minutes walk away!
Oh yes, I bought a mini cranberry crumble brioche roll for lunch ($1.50). It’s shaped like a tall muffin but it’s actually bread. It wasn’t spectacular or anything special (merely cranberry?) but I was rather surprised by the moist soft interior of the brioche roll.
More breads, more, please. I’m going to try them one by one…
Tomorrow might be one of my last few visits to lab. I dragged myself to lab today, woke up and left the house really early, it was 8am when I reached the lab and there were only a few souls there. It’s good to start really early and end early (I left lab at 1130am this morning!). The other people often come to lab only at 10 plus which I don’t quite like because I would rather leave lab early. Anyway, I forsee that I might be able to end lab by early afternoon (2pm) tomorrow so I cooked myself some spaghetti for lunch. Packed in a bento and it’s perfect that there’s a pantry near my lab and there’s a microwave oven too. The sauce for the spaghetti is a tomato-based sauce with pork garlic sausage, Hokkaido scallops and fresh Shitake mushrooms. YUM:)
In fact, it was just a way to finish off the bottle of Barilla Napoletana sauce because (really exciting…drumrolls!) I just bought a new bottle of Barilla Ricotta sauce yesterday! I’ve been wanting to try Barilla Ricotta sauce after reading some pretty good reviews online. Cannot wait to open that new bottle of pasta sauce! Barilla pasta with Barilla pasta sauce – the perfect combination!:)
290: Multi-grain Fish (& Cuttlefish) Porridge
Cooked myself multi-grain sliced fish porridge, with dried cuttlefish strips for the extra flavour!
Yummy and healthy! I feel good just eating it for lunch today and for some reason it makes me happy and motivated. And now, it’s back to studying! (:
기분이 좋다!
♥♥♥시크릿 가든♥♥♥
261: TteokBokki (떡볶이) aka Korean Spicy Rice Cakes
I’m really really proud of myself today! Thank goodness for Wednesday! I’ve no class on Wednesday and my lab supervisor allowed me to stay home on Wednesday to study for the upcoming test on Friday!
Remember that I mentioned that I bought a pack of frozen rice cakes, tteok (떡)? Since I was home today, I decided to cook myself some TteokBokki (떡볶이)! And it was a HUGE HUGE success! I used the recipe and the tutorial from Aeri’s Kitchen on TteokBokki (떡볶이). Aeri’s Kitchen is a fantastic website with so many delicious korean recipes which are easy to follow! I have tried her bibimbap and bulgogi recipe many times!
I love TteokBokki (떡볶이)! And I would sometimes order a serving of this at korean restaurants or eateries to share! So today, I decided to recreate my own TteokBokki (떡볶이). And I’m really proud because it tasted exactly like the many TteokBokki-s (떡볶이) I’ve eaten in these korean eateries.
I had all the available ingredients in my fridge so it was pretty easy! I used the kelp we bought from Hokkaido the last time we went holidaying there. And for anchovies, I didn’t have those large dried orean anchovies so I cheated! I used the little ikan bilis (also anchovies?) available locally. But it worked out pretty well! And yes, I used onions, carrots and lettuce (instead of cabbage, which I didn’t have at the moment)! The onions and carrots were super sweet and spicy after being cooked in the sauce for some time! And instead of 2TBSP corn syrup and 1/2 TBSP sugar which the recipe stated, I used 1TBSP of sugar. I must say the tteok, the rice cakes were delicious! They were so lovely and chewy! So yummy:) I was really surprised that the sauce for the TteokBokki (떡볶이) turned out really well since this is only the first time I’m making TteokBokki (떡볶이).
I’m going to make this again, DEFINITELY! This time round, I’m going to make it for sis and Mummy who both love TteokBokki (떡볶이) too!
Okay yes, my delicious TteokBokki (떡볶이)!
YUMMY!
253: Rose Tea
I made myself a cup of rose tea this afternoon. Mummy bought a pack of rose petals for me weeks ago and I haven’t tried them yet.
I goggled and I found 10 extraordinary medical uses for rose tea from Healthmad.
- It clears toxins and heat from the body. As a result it has a cooling effect on the body.
- It can relieve from sore throat, runny nose and blocked bronchial tubes
- It is useful to people those prone to chest problems by fighting against infections
- Rose tea helps to fight the infection in the digestive tract and re-establish the normal bacterial population of the intestines
- It relieves fluid retention and hastens the elimination of wastes through kidneys
- It is a wonderful remedy for dysentery, diarrhea and gastro enteritis
- It is a laxative. It works as a remedy for all liver problems including sluggishness and constipation.
- It cleanses the liver and gall bladder and promotes bile flow
- Rose petal tea can be used to relieve uterine congestion causing pain and heavy periods. It is an excellent remedy for irregular periods and infertility.
- It has an uplifting effect on the nervous system and can relieve insomnia, depression and fatigue.
It’s just too good! I’m all ill with a terrible sore throat and I’m sniffing away every now and then! Rose tea can provide relief from sore throat, runny nose and blocked bronchial tubes. That’s probably what I need right now!
252: Brazilian Nut and Linseed Spread!
It was really random. I was out shopping at NTUC yesterday afternoon when I was browsing the racks of health and organic food. This jar caught my eye! I was looking at Adam’s natural peanut butter earlier on and was pondering whether to get it but decided against it because I still had a bottle of Skippy “Unnatural” peanut butter. But this was different!
It’s brazil nut and linseed spread! It’s all natural also, you have to mix the top oil layer with the bottom chunky nut layer until it resembles a spread! Brazil nuts are rich in selenium and a selenium-rich diet is good for acne prone skin too! The label read that one shouldn’t exceed 2x10g servings per day!
I was planning to spread it on toast for breakfasts! But I decided to put it into good use first by making a new batch of granola. I haven’t made granola for ages and since school was starting soon, I wanted to make some for breakfast on some days too.
And I just heard a piece of exciting news from Mummy! She was telling me that she saw that Rail Mall has Cedele! I’m so happy! That is terrific news! But I tried goggling it online but couldn’t find any news about the Cedele Rail Mall outlet. Well, I hope it’s true.
Edit: YES! I saw the huge orange Cedele sign over at Rail Mall just now! HURRAYS to yummy and healthy breads, cakes and sandwiches/burgers from Cedele! I want to try the cakes, especially the famous carrot cake!
249: Cedele (Ngee Ann City)
I hereby declare Cedele my favourite place/restaurant! I’ve been wanting to try Cedele for the longest time! S suggested that we try out Cedele after much research about places that serve weekday brunch!
Cedele is a place that serves awesome breads and cakes! I really like that they serve healthy and wholesome food! I know that they are really serious about serving us quality food because you can really see the effort put into the food! The food they serve are handmade from scratch, trans-fat free and they use organic unrefined sugar! And I especially like their tagline – Eat Well Be Well! What you eat (and what you choose to eat) determines who you are and your health as well. If you want to start living healthily, you have to start from the inside out and that will be your diet.
I tried the very awesome Beetroot Burger ($11.80)! I know I once mentioned that beef goes with burger and you should always and only order beef burger. But I gave this vegetarian burger, Beetroot burger a chance today. And it sure did not disappoint! One bite and I fell so much in love with this burger!
Beetroot Burger with Avocado
Homemade grilled Beetroot Burger with Avocado & Chilli Jam, Green Leaves & Mayonnaise
Honestly, I never liked beetroot. Daddy used to blend raw beetroot into our juice and I never liked the raw soil taste of the red beets. When I saw this burger in the menu and a couple of really good reviews online, I knew I had to try it! Beetroot is just so chockful of goodness, it is another power vegetables that we should include in our diets! It is a blood cleanser, a good source of iron, fibre and has no fats! Plus, it’s known to bear chemopreventive functions (i.e. anti-cancer)! I wanted to make myself try beets again! And I was so surprised because I loved the beetroot burger!
I chose the pumpkin bun to go with the beetroot only because I love pumpkins! And I love love the breads! I understand why so many people love the breads at Cedele because they are just too good! The pumpkin bread was really fragrant and toasted to perfection! Note to myself, to get/try some other breads from Cedele the next time I drop by!
Back to the beetroot burger, the beetroot patty was lovely! It contained red beets and potato chutney (because I could taste the lovely taste and fragrance of cumin seeds)! Kind of reminded me of the potato masala thosai that we used to eat! There were lovely slices of avocado within the burger too! The entire beetroot burger was just so good! I WILL DEFINITELY BE BACK FOR MORE! And I like that there were greens to accompany the burger! I love arugula (rocket)!
S got her ever so sinful all day big breakfast set ($18). She mentioned that it was good.
Big Breakfast Set:
Brioche/Rustic White Toast, Bacon Rashers, Sausages, Scramble Eggs, Mushrooms & Tomatoes. Choice of Coffee/Tea
And she ordered the blueberry maple cake.
The description reads:
Blueberry Maple Cake
Deliciously moist wholewheat cake baked with fresh blueberries and frosted with maple syrup frosting. Organic unrefined sugar used.
And yes, I tried a couple mouthfuls and it tasted quite good. Kind of reminded S of blueberry pancakes drenched with maple syrup. Well, we like it that it’s healthy cake! Wholewheat and organic unrefined sugar used! And yes, someday someday someday when I’m feeling thin/lean/skinny (and not having one of my fat days), I would probably try the famed carrot cake!
That’s all about Cedele! I shall declare it my FAVOURITE place to get HEALTHY meals and my favourite “western” restaurant! The other favourite of mine is Ootoya!
I’ll definitely be back!
Ate way too much today. Had the beetroot burger for lunch! Met up with another bunch of friends at Relish for burgers again! Yes, I had burgers overload today, for lunch and for dinner. Fortunately, the beetroot burger was vegetarian! Shall blog more about my Relish experience the next time round. I’m feeling tired now. Tata for now!
225: Bibimbap
For me, one of the easiest dinner or meal to prepare is the bibimbap! A number of people have said that bibimbap is really difficult to prepare because there are just so many ingredients! But I beg to differ. I love bibimbap! My favourite korean food is bibimbap, a dish I will always order when I dine into korean restaurants or eateries. Bibimbap is just so easy to prepare! In dramas, you often see the actors/actresses just mixing the leftover rice, leftover dishes and kimchi, together with the gochujang (hot pepper paste) when they are hungry at home!
I like to refer to Aeri’s Kitchen for korean recipes! And I used her Bibimbap recipe for my bibimbap! I basically referred to her recipe for the marinade for my ground beef and the mixing of the gochujang! As for the vegetables, instead of stir-frying them, I prefer the healthier way – boiling it slightly (or simply blanching it, if you prefer slightly crunchy ones). And since I didn’t have a stone bowl (and therefore, no dolsot bibimbap), in order to have your bibimbap warm, cook all the ingredients and the rice only when you wish to eat. For rice, it’s the usual brown/red rice mixture with barley, kidney beans, millet etc etc etc. To top it off, I had my egg sunny side-up with the yolk flowy. I don’t really like flowy yolks but when having bibimbap, I like my yolks flowy. I like bursting into the egg yolk and mixing it together with the rice. The end product – the bibimbap will be all glossy and shiny because of the egg yolk! So yummy!
Alright, here’s my bibimbap, all pretty and nicely in place! The lighting at my dining table was not really bright, hence the photo didn’t turn out well! I didn’t think it’s really polite to leave the dining table when we were all dining just to capture a photo. So I left it and took this shot! A little blurry too!
Here’s the aftermath of the mixing! MESSY but it’s so YUMMY!
And here’s the lovely colours from the boiled/blanched vegetables! Carrots, cucumbers and beansprouts! Didn’t capture the mushrooms but I stir-fried the mushrooms with onions and a little oil and water! They tasted the way I like it because I could still taste the fresh mushroomy flavour!
And here’s my marinated minced/ground beef! I like it a lot! I followed the recipe from Aeri’s Kitchen!
And there, a lovely simple and HEALTHY dinner! BIBIMBAP:)
223: Chef Icon – Nature Bakery
A lovely surprise find, I must say!
The weather today is terribly cold and after sitting through the one and a half hours of bus journey (the usual journey is only 45 minutes but because of the heavy traffic along the roads) with the air-conditioner just above me, I was freezing and my fingers (palms) were numb with the cold. I was supposed to find this bookstore along Kampong Bahru Road to purchase a reference book before my internship next week. I found the bookstore with great ease and had a pleasant time there because the lady (I presume as the owner) was terribly nice and chatty.
Feeling cold and hungry (it was noontime), I needed to get something to fill my tummy. I chanced upon this bakery, located right beside the bookstore I was in. There was a tiny rack of breads and I chose two buns, which names sounded really interesting. I was instantly attracted to the name “Hokkaido Snow Bread”! I love Hokkaido and all things Hokkaido related. At that moment, I imagined the bread to be light and fluffy, just like the japanese breads I have eaten so far (I love the milk pan from Provence!!!).
I chose the Hokkaido Snow Bread with raisins (I cannot remember the exact name). And the Japanese Sakura Wholemeal Roll with dark chocolate and bananas. At the bus stop while waiting for the bus home, I ate the Hokkaido Snow Bread and I loved it! The bread is so light (yes, the weight, literally) and fluffy! I like the filling within too, the bread was filled with a really light and yummy cream and some lovely raisins! It’s not sweet too! So no pictures for the Hokkaido Snow Bread since I ate it before I could capture it on film.
But I took a picture of the Japanese Sakura wholemeal roll with dark chocolate and bananas! And yes, it doesn’t disappoint too! It’s equally light and fluffy! I loved it too!
I was really blur and I left the bakery without knowing the name of the bakery or even asking for a name card. But well, I googled the address and found the name of the bakery. It’s Chef Icon – Nature Bakery. There was a website too. The guy tending the store (I assume is one of the pastry chefs) was really friendly too and he asked if I have tried their breads before and he told me that their breads are healthy, cause’ they do not use margarine (margarine = trans fats) and their breads have no preservatives. I was really cold, hungry, blur and was lugging this rather heavy reference book around so I didn’t have the energy to react to his friendly questions and remarks.
According to their website, they have adopted the Avino.Neutro baking style (sounds cool!) and their breads are supposedly healthier and of better quality. Basically, they call themselves a 100% natural bakery. The name of the bakery feels really japanese too.
But well, healthy eating is so me! 🙂 Aside from the occasional indulgences (like dining out and sweets/desserts etc), I’m usually adopting my healthy eating lifestyle 24/7. I like the entire concept of this bakery and the bread I’ve tried so far! So this is really a pleasant surprise! Besides finally getting my hands on my book, I discovered a lovely gem next to the bookstore I went to. If only the bakery wasn’t so far from my place, I would probably buy some breads (and try other stuff, I read that their chocolate Travona and cheescakes are good) every now and then. But if I were in the vicinity, I would definitely drop by to get my breads. Oh wells 🙂
The address is: 5 Kampong Bahru Road, Singapore 169341
Opening Hours: Mon-Sat (830am-830pm)
210: Baking Madeleines (again)
I spent the entire late morning baking some madeleines for the potluck I will be having tomorrow. Somehow, I find that the madeleines I baked taste better the next day. If you’re worried about them being cold, you can easily heat them up in the microwave oven for 30 seconds before consumption and they’ll be hot and buttery soft.
I baked quite a lot of madeleines this time round. I baked 3 batches of original madeleines (vanilla extract), 2 batches of lemon zest infused madeleines and 2 batches of chocolate madeleines. I hope the friends will like them tomorrow!
And after all the baking, I got to worry about lunch again. I wasn’t in the mood for noodles so I decided on sandwich again! Yes, I know. Shouldn’t I get sick of eating sandwiches after an entire week of bread and sandwiches for lunch and/or dinner? But well, I just felt like sandwich-ing!
I bought a bag of frozen soya beans (edamame) this morning from the supermarket. So my sandwich for lunch is basically made up of 2 slices of paper thin honey baked chicken roll, 1 cheese (melted, yum yum), japanese cucumber slices and edamame (soya beans) between 2 slices of wholemeal sandwich breads.
Love the combination!
Hmm, I finally have the time to rest in my room again (and probably, watch some dramas!) after toiling in the kitchen since 1015am baking my madeleines, preparing my other stuff for tomorrow’s potluck, preparing lunch and cleaning up/mopping the kitchen after all the baking/cooking. And later I’ll have to cook the brown rice and the vegetables for dinner tonight! We’re having stir-fried assorted vegetables as one of the dishes. I think Mummy’s going to buy back (tabao) some dishes (1 or 2?) later after her work too. There will be broccoli, cauliflower, carrot and baby corn in the assorted vegetables dish! Hehe (:
Rina's Silly Musings 