Organic 7 Colour Beans Brown Rice

My blood pressure is relatively high nowadays..
I don't feel well at times,
there will be headaches and dizziness..

I'm trying to lower it by cutting down on my sodium and fats intake

to see whether it helps.

I don't want to take any medication.

Once I start, it will be for a lifetime...

I'd rather control by my diet.

I came up with this recipe...

to make the rice tastier by just using beans.
So no seasonings needs to be added to the other dishes.
Just steam some fish or chicken and vegetables, and eat it plain.

There are 7 beans in there.

• Adzuki Beans
• Mung Beans
• Black Beans
• Green Split Peas
• White Kidney Beans
• Red Split Lentils 
• Yellow Split Lentils

I'm sure it's full of nutrients!

Our nutritious rice for dinner..

it's a whole new experience,

there's a hint of sweetness in every bite.

Even Piano is waiting for her share!

She whines without fail whenever she's waiting for her meal to be served...!

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Organic 7 Colour Beans Brown Rice

1 Cup Brown Rice (Soaked 12-24hours)

1 Cup Mixed Beans (Soaked 12-24 hours)

1. Cook the soaked beans in a thermal cooker or pot with water until tender, but not mushy. 

2. Combine soaked brown rice with cooked beans and 2 cups of water which the beans were cooked in.

3. Transfer to rice cooker. Cook for about 20 minutes or until rice is cooked.

4. Serve hot with spring onion as garnish.

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Homemade Kimchi 김치

Kimchi is a traditional fermented Korean side dish served to the Koreans on every meal.

It's made with ingredients like napa cabbage, radish, carrot, spring onions and cucumber.

I love kimchi so much,

it's so appetising and the vegetables are crunchy..

After 2 days of fermentation, and 3 days in the fridge,

I found out that the longer it is, the tastier it gets! 

This method used by me is pretty simple to follow...and I made in a smaller quantity...

I will try another kind the next round...

it's really fun to make kimchi!

My man watched the process of seasoning.

While I was scooping the hot pepper powder,

he kept saying " more more more more more!!"

So in the end I added a lot!

*while typing this post,

I can't resist and went to get some kimchi to eat!*

 Here's the refreshing kimchi for you~!

It's actually nutritious..and aids in digestion...

you may go to the toilet more often...  =p

My mum is really against kimchi because according to chinese, 

napa cabbage is very cooling to the body and women should not consume that much.

I think if I take it in moderation, it should be fine...

Don't you think so?

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Homemade Kimchi 김치

1/2 Napa Cabbage (About 600g)

2 Baby Radish or 1 Medium Radish

4 Stalks Spring Onion, Cut into 2cm in length

1/4 Cup Sea Salt

5 Tbsp Hot Pepper Powder

2 Tbsp Fish Sauce

6 Cloves Garlic, Blended

1 Thumb size Ginger, Blended

1. Cut Napa cabbage into quarters and remove the core. 

Wash every piece thoroughly and cut into 1 inch pieces.

2. Cut radish into stripes.

3. Put radish and cabbage into a large bowl, mix in salt and enough water to cover the vegetables. 

Soak for at least 5 hours.

(I mix it every hour.)

4. Drain the vegetables but keep the salt water for later use.

5. Mix fish sauce, hot pepper powder, garlic, ginger and spring onion with vegetables and mix well.

(Use plastic gloves to avoid hot pepper powder from stinging your hands)

6. Transfer mixed vegetables into glass jars and pour drained salt water until it covers the vegetables.

Leave at least an inch of space at the top of the jar.

7. Cover tightly.

8. Let it sit in room temperature for 2 days and open it up every few hours to let air out.

9. Refrigerate after 2 days.

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Reference : Hubpages

Homemade Wholemeal Burger Buns

Wanna share one of my encounter with my readers..

This happened in a supermarket in Singapore.

There's a small bakery in there, and there were 2 bakers,

the bread that they are selling are premium and pricey..

I saw one of the baker opened the refrigerator to get the bread dough out,

and guess what?

the dough dropped onto the floor...

OK..it's ok..as long as he doesn't use it..

But to my horror, he actually picked it up and started to knead it on the worktop!

I can't believe it!

Maybe I shouldn't expect much from outside food,

but I'm quite particular with hygiene when it comes to food handling.

Can anyone accept this? HAHA..I doubt so?

So the thing that I wanna say is...

Nothing beats homemade bread!

Free of preservatives..

Free of bread improver...

Free of artificial flavourings..

But....filled with love!

I love to see theses "babies" rise...

From this...

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-

-

-

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to

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-

-

-

-

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this!

The Bread's aroma makes me happy...without fail...

After baking..

you can use the fresh bread to make some yummy burgers!

As seen in my previous post...

My portobello mushroom burger~!

make yourself and someone happy today!!

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Homemade Wholemeal Burger Buns
(4 Large Buns)

200g High Protein Flour
125g Wholemeal Flour
1 1/2 tsp Yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar

190ml water
1 Tbsp Oil

1. Mix  flour, yeast, salt and sugar and form a well in the center.

2. Pour water into the well slowly, 

while mixing in the middle with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, 

scrapping the sides down ocassionally. 

Keep mixing until you get a sticky dough.

3. Start kneading with your hands, or with a mixer until the dough has a smooth surface.

4. Send the dough for proofing until it has doubled in size.

5. Punch the dough down, divide dough equally into 4 pieces. 

Mould each dough into round shape.

6. Send dough for 2nd proofing, for 15 minutes.

7. Carefully flatten each dough and mould into rounds again.

Flatten each dough into about 1 inch in height.

8. Sprinkle with flour and send  for final proofing for 1 hour.

9. Preheat the oven at 190 degrees, and bake for 25 minutes.

10. Remove from oven immediately and let it cool on wire rack.

* I let my dough proof in the oven*

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Meatless Thursdays - Creamy Portobello Mushroom Wholemeal Burger

I've decided to make my Thursdays meatless from now.

I will start with just once a week for the time being.

Previously, I tried to stop all meat at one go,

but found that it's really hard to manage, mentally or physically.

The more I think of vegetarian, the more I will think of meat!

I think that's pretty unhealthy, so I guess it's good to start slow.

Waking up in the morning, 

I remembered that it's Thursday!

& I quickly ran through my thoughts on what to make for dinner...

I had to work, but still decided to bake burger buns.

Prepared everything and let the dough go through final proofing while I go to work,

in the end, the burgers got so big when I came back!

 And here's the freshly baked burger with creamy portobello mushroom!

The mushroom is supposed to imitate the meat patty...

Look what happens after taking a bite..

The cream oozed out! 

But hey, my man was tricked~ it's not cream..it's actually blended tofu!

eating healthy food, but thought it's something sinful =)

 it gave me a sense of satisfaction once again!

Now, I got to start thinking about meatless dishes to cook on every Thursday!
Will share the recipe of the wholemeal bread in my next post!

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Creamy Portobello Mushroom Wholemeal Burger

2 Wholemeal Burger Buns

2 Portobello Mushrooms

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 tsp Dried Basil

1/2 tsp Grounded Black Pepper

1/2 Box Silken Tofu

3 Cloves Garlic

1/2 tsp Salt

 1 Tbsp All Purpose Flour

1/2 Yellow Onion, Shredded

2 Slices Cheddar Cheese

1. Cut wholemeal burgers diagonally and set aside.

2. Remove stem of portobello mushrooms and set aside too.

2. Mix olive oil, basil, black pepper together, brush it all over the portobello mushrooms.

3. Place mushrooms in a baking pan smooth side down.

4. Blend tofu, garlic, salt, all purpose flour and stem of mushrooms in a blender till smooth.

5. Spoon blended tofu into mushroom, fill until full.

6. Top with onions and sprinkle with more black pepper, 

send into 180 degrees preheated oven.

7. Bake for 15 minutes, and add a piece on cheddar cheese on each mushroom.

8. Bake for another 3 minutes and serve hot with wholemeal burger buns.

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Kimchi in the Making

This is my first time making Kimchi!

Searched around for recipes, 

and I started with the easiest as reference.

It's hard to follow the recipes dot to dot,

so I just made it in my own way in the end...

I used Organic Baby Radish...

As I don't feel comfortable eating raw vegetables which are not organic. 

But for napa cabbage, it's too expensive to buy in the organic section.

So I got to make do with the ones from Australia...

Here's my first kimchi!

Today is the 2nd day of fermentation..

But we started to eat it...can't control anymore..

the smell of the kimchi makes my mouth water whenever I open that cover!

I can't wait to make lots of food with these kimchi..

kimchi fried rice..kimchi soup..kimchi stew..kimchi dumplings and list goes on and on!

Will show the end product soon! 

Cheesy Portobello Mushrooms with Rosemary Linguine

I believe some wives/mummies will rush back home from work to cook for their family,

just to give them the best food. Are you one of them?

The same goes to me..

I'd rather come home and quickly whip up a simple and fast meal..
than to eat out..

but if I reach home after 8pm, my man will cook for me =)

Most probably plain porridge with some vegetables.

And today,
after some brainstorming, I made something which I've not tried before.

ham chips in the portobello mushrooms..

waiting to be topped with cheddar...

~The mushroom on the Linguine~~

I think it looks like a volcano..heehee..

Cut the mushroom and find the surprise in there!

The mushroom is really juicy..with melting cheese and the ham chips gave it some saltiness,

everything went very well together.

My man loves it..he's just like my big kid..HAHA!

 I will make this again for my big boy!

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Cheesy Portobello Mushrooms with Rosemary Linguine

For the Portobello Mushrooms : 

 2 Large Portobello Mushrooms (Stem removed)

1 tsp Olive Oil

100g Ham Chips

150g Cheddar Cheese

1. Drizzle olive oil on the portobello mushrooms 

and place them upside down on a baking tray

2. Mix ham chips with half portion of cheddar, use it to fill the mushrooms.

3. Top with more cheddar and bake at a preheated oven of 190 degrees for 10 minutes 

or until cheese is golden in colour.

For Rosemary Linguine :

2 Servings of Linguine (cooked)

1 Tbsp Fresh Rosemary, Chopped

4 Cloves Garlic, Minced

1 Small Broccoli, Cut into small pieces

1 Small Carrot, Shredded

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

A Pinch of Salt

1 Tbsp Grounded Black Pepper

1. Sauteed garlic in heated olive oil till fragrant.

2. Add broccoli and stir fry for 2 minutes. 

3. Followed by carrot and cooked Linguine.

4. Sprinkle in rosemary, salt and black pepper and mix very well.

5. Remove from heat and serve with Cheesy Portobello Mushrooms.

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Chives Pot Stickers (韭菜锅贴)

Cooking Pot Stickers!

The oil actually splattered all around when I added water~

I don't like oily kitchen! 

The most I can do in my kitchen is to pan fry, no deep frying..!

Looking at this picture makes me wanna eat more!

I boiled some for my breakfast and it was fantastic!

I feel that boiled ones are even tastier than Pan fried+steamed ones.

I'm not good at pleating..

But I think I've improved a bit  =) 

The next time, I will roll the wrapper even thinner...

Biting onto each pot stickers never fails to give me a surprise~

the juice burst into my mouth just like eating 小龙包!

I kept some in the freezer..

After serving them to my family,
I only have 10 left..

I can't wait to eat them again~ perhaps for tomorrow's dinner!

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Chives Pot Stickers (韭菜锅贴)

40 Wrappers

600g Minced Pork

2 Tbsp Sesame Oil

1 Tbsp Light Soy Sauce

1/2 tsp White Pepper

A Pinch of Salt

3 Tbsp Ginger Juice

3 Stalks of Spring Onion

6 Stalks of Chives

1. Chop spring onion thinly and chives into 1/2mm pieces.

2. Mix minced pork and all seasonings together well.

3. Add spring onion and chives into pork and mix again.

4. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before wrapping.

5. Wrap with wrappers and pleat as desired.

6. Heat a non stick pan with a tablespoon of oil. When oil has heated up, 

add pot stickers and pan fry it until the bottoms are golden. 

7. Get ready the lid to cover the pan 

and add water until it covers half of the height of the pot stickers.

Cover immediately and leave a small gap for steam to release.

8. Let it simmer until the water has nearly dried up.

9. Serve hot with shredded ginger and black vinegar.

Tips : 

To have a softer meat texture, get 40% fat and 60% meat from the butcher.

You can ground the meat in your blender again at home, 

or you can ask the butcher to ground it another 1 or 2 times.

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Homemade Pot Sticker Wrappers (自制锅贴皮)

Yesterday while I was at my Taiwanese students' house teaching,

their mummy was wrapping some Pot Stickers (锅贴) ...

Suddenly I felt her motherly love..making those tiny pot stickers one by one slowly with patience,
just for her husband and kids' dinner...

The wrappers she used were from Taiwan and I doubt we can get such good ones in Singapore...
So today...I decided to make 锅贴! with homemade wrappers! =)
It's been nearly a year since I've made some...
And I guess nothing beats homemade ones!

And yeah, here is my homemade 锅贴 wrappers dough!

Wanna make some for your love ones?

Here's my recipe for you! 

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Homemade Pot Sticker Wrappers  (自制锅贴皮)

< Makes about 40>

430g All Purpose Flour

30g Corn Flour

1/2 tsp Salt

250ml Warm Water

1. Weigh all purpose, corn flour and salt then combine in a bowl.

2. Add water gradually while mixing with a wooden spoon or spatula.

3. When a dough starts to form gradually, use your hand to knead it slowly, 

and scrape down the sides occasionally.

4. When a dough is formed, leave it to rest for 5 minutes, use a towel to cover.

5. After 5 minutes, knead it for another 5 minutes or until smooth.

6. Let it rest for 5 more minutes, covering with a clean towel before dividing into 1 1/2 tsp balls in size.

7. Sprinkle some flour on your clean worktop and use a rolling pin to flatten the balls until thin.

8. Flour it generously if you are not using it straight away as it will stick onto another skin.

9. Wrap with your favourite filling and cook as desired.

Note : The leftover wrappers can be kept in the refrigerator, in a cling wrap or zip-lock.

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Although I spent about 4 hours wrapping + cooking,
I had lots of fun and satisfaction!
Sometimes, I love to slow down my pace after work..
and I think this is a good way!
Moreover, wrapping 锅贴 is definitely a fun family activity!

I will share the filling's recipe after this post!
Stay tuned =)

A Bonus! ~~A Caterpillar~~

This packet of Organic 小白菜 that I've bought was filled with 'surprises' !

First it was a snail..I threw it away thinking that it should be dead...

Few days later.. I found a caterpillar when I was washing the vegetable!

It was flushed onto the sink when i spotted it~

my man and I thought it was dead..

and wanted to throw it away..then we started to examine it..

And hey! it started to wiggle!

I can't bear to throw it, because it's as good as killing it..

So i decided to keep it.. 

I put it in a container with a moist stick, and an organic vegetable which it came together with.

It's now resting on the vegetable peacefully.

It's safe now~

Looking at it closely, it doesn't really look like a caterpillar of a butterfly.

So I searched around and found out that it may be a hawk moth! =)

Moths are not as pretty as butterflies..

but they are living things too~

I will still keep it...

And when it becomes a moth, I will set it free..!

Seafood Yakisoba 焼きそば

One of my friend is a flight attendant, so she helped me to get some goodies from Japan,

as buying Japanese stuffs in Singapore is really costly~

She bought one big plastic bag of food stuffs for me,

like okonomiyaki sauce, soba sauce, sesame salad dressing, instant gravy to cook prawns e.t.c.

and all of these only cost SGD20...

All the sauces were left in my shelf for months..and I decided to use them..finally!

This is one of the yakisoba sauce..

But I don't know why it is a bit diluted. 

Not so thick. But a good point is that it's not so salty too...

Yakisoba is literally known as fried noodles.

Although it's called soba, but the noodles are not made from buckwheat.

It's made from wheat flour instead.

 My first Yakisoba!

These frozen prawns from Indonesia were really crunchy! Better than some fresh prawns!

And scallops tasted just as good!

 As for the noodles. I got them from Meidi-ya..

it's a simple and nearly instant meal to make plus it doesn't take much time to prepare...

Try it...it's delicious!

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Yakisoba 焼きそば

(serves 2)

2 Packets of Yakisoba Noodles

8 Prawns

6 Scallops

1 Shredded Yellow Onion 

1/2 Shredded Cabbage

Japanese Mayonnaise

Handful of Katsuobushi (Bonito Flakes)

6 - 8 Tbsp Yakisoba Sauce

A Pinch of Salt

1. Sauteed onion with some oil until soft and slightly brown.

2. Add prawns, scallops and cabbage. 

3. Stir fry till prawns are half cooked and add the soba. 

4. Use a chopstick to separate the soba up. Add yakisoba sauce and continue to stir fry until ingredients are cooked and add a pinch of salt, stir well. 

5. Serve Yakisoba on 2 plates and drizzle with mayonnaise then top with Katsuobushi.

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