Chinese Chicken Salad

 
Every time I order this salad at a restaurant or try it at someone's home, I cannot help but to compare it to Ms. Kathy's homemade version. The very first time I tried this wonderful salad was at a potluck at work in the early 90's, and it was Ms. Kathy who made it. When I asked what kind of salad it was, one of our co-workers blurted out; "Chinese chicken salad" in the background, to which Ms. Kathy quickly rebutted with, "Excuse me! It's Kathy's Chinese Chicken Salad, OK!"

Garlic Chicken Macaroni Soup

The weather has been splendid in Los Angeles of late. Last week, we were treated to mild and cool weather -- a little hazy in the morning, cool throughout the day and even a little drizzly at times. The temps are little higher this week but still cool enough where I can relish in a hearty bowl of macaroni soup. I love soup of any kind although I much prefer light and clear soups like the one I'm posting about today. My kids LOVE this soup dish too, evident by the fact that they'll gobble up big bowls of it and still want more. I've got some hungry kids I tell ya.

Tangerine Pound Cake

So I spent Easter weekend trying to master the art of cake baking. I would classify myself as a novice baker on the whole. I think I have cookies down, maybe scones and biscuits but cake, not by a long shot. I've stuck with boxed cake mixes ever since I had an epic cake baking failure a couple of years ago. I was craving cake one night and it was too cold/dark/{insert lame excuse here} for me to leave the house so I threw together some ingredients that I had in the pantry, boldly substituting things I did not have with things...that probably should not be in cake. Long story short, wasn't the best cake I ever had.

Teriyaki Pork Spareribs

Last Christmas, my husband's co-worker gave us some homemade teriyaki sauce. This is the second Christmas that she has given this to us, and I am already looking forward to next Christmas' present. Needless to say, it tastes soooo good. It has the perfect blending of garlic, soy sauce, sugar, and whatever else she puts in there. I am sorry that I do not know how to make this marinade, but I promise you I will try to learn it. A good substitute is Kikkoman's Teriyaki Baste & Glaze. I think that comes the closest. You just might have to add some chopped up fresh garlic to Kikkoman's sauce. Keep this as a staple in your fridge and you can have a quick dish for last minute guests.

Fried Tofu & Bok Choy Wontons

Since I started eating a mostly vegetarian diet, I've been racking my brain to come up with a way to eat my regular foods without meat. I love wontons and used to make them all the time with ground pork. I figured I'd try it with tofu since I've got so many boxes of tofu stacked in my fridge. I also just bought a massive bag of bok choy so that went into it as well.

Pizza Renaissance

Dictionary.com's fourth definition of renaissance is "a renewal of life, vigor, interest, etc.; rebirth; revival."



One night, I was craving California Pizza Kitchen's pizza. So, it was either I drive 12 miles to the nearest one or go to the freezer section of my grocery and buy a frozen CPK pizza. I gave it a moment of thought before I could decide, but I could not justify either one because, 12 miles was a little too far for me that night, just for a pizza, plus after everything is said and done, I would have spent somewhere close to $20 just to satisfy a craving. Not wise in this economy. And as for the second option, CPK's frozen pizza is never the same and I will be stuck with whatever variety my grocery carries.

Fresh & Easy Green Chile Sourdough French Toast

If you've read my homage post to Fresh and Easy's Green Chile Sourdough Loaf, you'll know that I stopped buying plain ole' white or wheat bread since we discovered this bread. One day, however, I woke up craving some french toast and of course, I didn't have regular bread so I decided to use the green chile sourdough bread instead.

Fresh & Easy Chile Sourdough Bread (An homage + a sandwich tutorial)

Today is my Fresh & Easy's Chile Sourdough Bread Appreciation Day. Actually, every day is a day like that because this particular bread is a mainstay of our diet but today I pay it some homage with this humble blog post.

Chicken Lettuce Wrap

What do you do with leftover chicken? In this case, pan fried chicken breast seasoned with salt garlic powder, and pepper. For the past couple of days I've been thinking about what to do with leftover chicken breast that's probably dry by now and lacking in flavor. I don't know about you, but re-heated chicken breast is never the same for me. So I thought of reviving my leftover rather than letting it go to waste. I'm so happy that it turned out so delicious that I devoured the whole thing, and I did not have to do much to perk it up. I hope you like it too.

Sweet Cheese Sandwich

Don't we all have something that we just can't outgrow? Whether it's food or our "security blanket," there's just something from childhood that we still hang on to. As Veggie Girl calls it, it's toddler food. My toddler food is sweet cheese sandwich. My mom used to make this for me for breakfast, and to this day, I can still smell the aroma of melting butter on a warm toast, like it was yesterday.

Super Simple Salmon

Fish and I have always had a bad relationship. It stems from early childhood when, from the time I was a toddler, I was fed fish porridge/congee for lunch (and possibly dinner) EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. I absolutely detested it because it had a very fishy flavor and being toddler food, probably had no salt in it. Flavorless and fishy. Oh, it was vile. Don't do this to your kids, folks. It'll scar them for all or part of their life. I'm living proof.

Steamed Tofu with Ground Pork

While browsing other food blogs the other day, I chanced upon a great blog from Malaysia.  I happened to find a tofu dish in his blog, and being the typical me, I just read it quickly and did not write down his recipe. A day later I found myself cooking tofu inspired by deliciousasianfood.com. So here's my own take on it.

Garden Cafe (Arcadia) Chow Down

The kids and I met up with my cousin, Jetts for lunch and a movie today. She wanted to chow down at Garden Cafe in Arcadia so that's where we went.

THE REVIEW:

Garden Cafe is a Hong Kong style cafe with a wide array of both Eastern and Western dishes. The decor is simple and modern with booth and table seating as well as a bar area. We arrived at about 12:15 p.m. and were seated immediately since they weren't too busy. I was relieved for a couple of reasons. 1) I've been there before around dinnertime on a weekend and have had to wait (something I have no patience for these days!) 2) Their noise level is awful when it's a "full house". Something about that place makes the sounds of many boisterous patrons + bustling wait staff almost deafening for me. Today, it was actually quite peaceful -- not too dead and not too crowded.

Sauteed Bitter Melon

Is it deliciously bitter or bitterly delicious? How can a bitter vegetable be so delicious? Bitter melon is a gourd commonly grown in Asia. You can easily find these in any Asian market. Believed to be high in iron and as an aid to control diabetes, this vegetable is highly nutritious as well.

I have a very simple saute recipe for this wonderful tasting vegetable.

Shrimp Salad with Asian Lime Dressing

Strange as it may sound, I enjoy folding laundry. I try to think of it as relaxation time where I can plop myself down on the couch with my baskets of laundry, turn on the TV, put on a good show and...relax (yes, I know my hands are still working but folding laundry is so mindless to me, it's as if I'm not even doing it).

Sugared Pillsbury Donut Balls

Yesterday, while browsing food blogs online like a typical foodie, I chanced upon a post by Rasa Malaysia on making "cheater donuts" using refrigerated Pillsbury dough. I could not have found it at a better time because for the last week or so, I'd been craving donuts and never seemed to have the time to stop by a donut shop. I don't eat donuts very often. In fact, I can't remember the last time I had a donut. Since this recipe sounded so easy, I thought I'd try it today.

Summer Tofu

This dish is so simple and it doesn't really have a name. But because it's so refreshing (since you eat the tofu cold) and bursting with flavor, I thought I'd call it Summer Tofu. While it's not even warm yet, I just had a craving for this today. It's a quick and healthy lunch.

Swedish Breakfast

I woke up to the sound of water dripping outside. As forecasted, we will be experiencing rainy weather this week. It's April showers I guess. With this gloomy cold weather, how can I wake up to an exciting breakfast? But first, what do I already have in the fridge? Ah-ha! Ikea pancakes!...and coffee!...I'm up!!!

Cooking With Stainless Steel

The two most common concerns I hear about cooking with stainless steel is that the food sticks, and that it's hard to clean. I have a few good tips here I would like to share with you on how to cook with stainless steel cookware and I hope you find them useful:

Sassy Cellophane Noodle Salad

My uncle celebrated his 65th birthday last Friday (yes, on April Fool's Day!) and invited me to dinner with his clan at the very popular Palm Thai Restaurant in Hollywood. One of the dishes they ordered was Yum Woon Sen, which is a spicy cellophane noodle salad with ground pork, shrimp, various herbs, shallots and wood ear mushrooms drenched in a delicious dressing that was bursting with flavor. Since dinner that night, I've been craving Yum Woon Sen and decided to recreate my own version.