knee injuries and spring cleaning

It's been about two weeks since I've legitimately exercised, and it's been hard trying to eat clean with all the bakery goods and sweets tempting me :(

Two weeks ago my left knee started swelling for some weird reason, and pressure would build up in the joint if I ever walked too much or stood for too long. After two trips to the hospital (most people just go to the hospital for check ups since there aren't many private clinics here), one X-ray session, lots of limping, hours of waiting, and two doctors with very different ideas of what could possibly be wrong with my knee, I'd like to conclude that it's just inflammation ^_^ possibly, maybe, hopefully...

I'm happy to say my knee is a LOT better than before :) except the occasional slight swelling from walking too much. Sad to say I still can't run or do vigorous cardio for a while...BUT at least it's healing right?! :D

Anyways, I had a pretty hard time keeping my diet clean these two weeks, thanks to all of the mochi, bread, egg tarts, cakes, etc. that suddenly appeared out of nowhere -_- (thanks a lot relatives. haha just kidding). I'm usually good at this self-control thing--or rather, I used to be really good at this self-control thing...

Every morning I start out with this incredible burst of confidence in my self-discipline; but then as the day goes on, I randomly sneak in a few bites of cake here, or a nibble of bread there, and my willpower gradually diminishes down to nothing.

kabocha broccoli fried rice

So I was really excited to get cooking.

I woke up and spent the whole morning trying to decide what to make for lunch, going back and forth between pasta and rice. I planned on cooking the ube pasta I purchased a few days ago, topping it with a kabocha Parmesan sauce recipe I wanted to improvise on the spot. But our kitchen still lacks a lot of the necessary ingredients to make good pasta and good pasta sauce (like pepper, cream, herbs, etc.), so rice won out in the end.

This recipe is easy, quick, light, and healthy, a recovery from all of the greasy food I've had too much of lately.

The kabocha I used had orange skin, rather than the green that I'm used to (so it may just be a pumpkin...but...yeah). The lady selling them told me that orange-skinned kabochas have a sweeter taste and fluffier texture than normal ones do. They're somewhat custard-like, soft and chewy, and is a nice balance to the crisp broccoli florets.

happy valentine's and several unrelated recipe ideas

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope everyone's enjoying their chocolates and roses and dates and dinners with candle lights and whatnot, and I'm guessing a chocolate post would be most appropriate but sadly, this is not a post about chocolate or Valentine's Day.

This is a post about recipe ideas that are very much unrelated to Valentine's Day.

:)

I haven't posted in a while huh? It feels weird, probably because I used to post almost every single day when I first started up this blog...well, times have changed!

So instead of celebrating Valentine's Day I've compiled a few simple and healthy recipes that I tested over these past few weeks.

cashew-crusted chicken

Happy (belated) New Year! First official post of 2013, kind of (very) late, I know. I've had this recipe on draft mode for about a week and finally remembered to get back to it.

Since all of my bowls and whisks and baking tins have been neatly wrapped and packed, no baking for me for probably the next few months :( I still have one more sturdy paper liner so maybe a nice muffin will come from that. The occasional microwaved mug cakes just aren't as fulfilling as fresh oven-baked goods..I miss my oven dearly.  



But I still have my stove! I rarely make fancy or over-the-top dishes--that's an experiment for later--so here is a really simple cashew-crusted chicken. I think I was browsing on Instagram and someone's photo of nut-crusted chicken inspired me to make this.

gluten-free buckwheat pizza crust

Since I've been going mostly gluten-free in my baking and cooking, I invested in some organic buckwheat flour! I'm not really familiar with it except that it's used to make soba noodles, and it's somewhat bitter in taste. I'll be experimenting with it more though later on.

Today I made a gluten-free buckwheat pizza crust topped with cottage cheese and vegetables! I omitted the garlic powder and apple cider vinegar, which is most likely why my pizza dough came out tasting not so great, SO don't be like me, and just follow the recipe :)

After I baked the pizza dough, I spread about half a tablespoon of olive oil right onto the surface of the dough, then topped it with two cloves of minced garlic, a few dollops of cottage cheese, one diced roma tomato, thin zucchini slices, some freshly chopped parsley, and some salt and pepper to taste. 

Though I wasn't too fond of the crust, I loved the brightness of the parsley atop the vegetables and the slightly salty punch the minced garlic bits created beneath the bed of toppings. As it turns out, cottage cheese may not be the best kind of cheese to use on a pizza because of its high liquid content. I took my pizza out of the oven to find it half of it covered in the liquid; but either way, I like the texture and light flavor of cottage cheese so the little mishap was made up for.

spaghetti squash

My sleep schedule is getting pretty messed up. I've been sleeping at 3 AM and waking up at noon for the past week. Even when I did try sleeping in the latest I'd wake up would still be around 10:30AM, and nowadays I sleep in way past normal breakfast time, thus shifting my entire eating schedule :( 

With only late breakfast and early dinner in my agenda, I haven't been cooking as much. Most of the time it's just me being lazy and unwilling to gather ingredients or decide what I want to make, so I've been avoiding cooking until today.  

Spaghetti squash is by far one of the strangest yet most fascinating squashes nature has to offer (in my opinion, for now). It looks like any normal squash when you cut it open, but after it has been cooked, you simply use a fork to scrape the "meaty" insides and they fall out like noodle strands! Spaghetti! Of course it doesn't have that starchy taste but it is a healthier alternative to cut some of those carbs :)

Here's how you prepare a spaghetti squash for baking in the oven:

1) Preheat the oven to 350° F and line a baking sheet with foil (dull side up, shiny side down). Wash the squash and using a large kitchen knife, carefully cut the squash in half and open it up.

2) Once you have opened up the spaghetti squash, use a spoon to remove and discard the inner seeds and fibers.

3) Stab (or prick with a fork) the shell of both halves of the spaghetti squash so that it won't explode when baking. Place the squash halves onto the prepared baking sheet and bake for 40-45 minutes depending on your oven.

 4) Remove your spaghetti squash from the oven and let it stand for a few minutes until it is cool enough to handle. Using a fork, scrape out the insides of the squash.

 And you get, spaghetti! :)

I improvised an avocado sauce that turned out tasting more like guacamole dip and tossed it in with my squash, but I forgot the measurements already so I won't post it here. It also makes a great noodle substitute in chicken soup, and spaghetti squash is a versatile alternative to REAL starchy spaghetti and tastes great with about anything :)

chicken adobo & star anise chia pudding

So my major nuts and spices spree from Sprouts a week ago resulted firstly in Chicken Adobo.

The night of high school graduation my friend D held a small celebration at his house with a group of good friends and delicious food. There was a pot of chicken thighs and a rice cooker filled to the top with steamed rice ready for feasting, and I think I was one of the first to get up and get food (of course I would be...) besides D himself.

The chicken thighs were so tender the meat fell right off the bone, and though marinated, they didn't have too heavy a flavor--just right. I'm pretty sure these were the same chicken thighs and rice D brought for lunch, too. So I spent past months wondering about the name of the recipe--wondering why I didn't just ask him--but I think I've found it, or perhaps something close? Chicken Adobo. But despite finding the recipe that almost exactly matches those chicken thighs from my memory, my re-creation is still missing something. I probably should just ask D for the recipe, or better yet, a cooking lesson, and see what he does that makes his chicken so simply delicious.

There were so many variations on how to make Chicken Adobo: some called for ginger, others specifically for white vinegar (but Martha Stewart wrote rice vinegar, and I'm not sure if they're exactly the same, but it worked), and further recipes noted the need to pan-fry the chicken first while others invalidated that step. 

So I just stuck with simple as simple gets, which is throwing everything into the pot, leaving it to marinate for a few hours, then boiling it and simmering it. Easy enough. Not to forget putting the bay leaves and black peppercorns I bought into good use (though they were actually bought for this specific dish). The aroma of the herb, spice, and sauces in the pot compares to that of the Taiwanese Three Cup Chicken, a dish my mom often makes, but with basil rather than bay leaves and black peppercorns. Even my carnivorous older sister--who RARELY eats anything I bake let alone cook--enjoyed the Chicken Adobo :) The only reason she tried it was because it smelled like Three Cup Chicken, but no matter, she liked it and I'm good with that!

And the shopping spree resulted secondly in Star Anise Chia Pudding.

 

I've heard a lot about chia seeds lately and I've been reading about its health benefits, and to be honest I was surprised that chia seeds were used in food. Chia seeds = food?! I snorted (in my head) at the thought of eating chia pets cause that's the only thing that pops into my mind when I think chia, but I bought a bagful of seeds at Sprouts, just to try them out. Chia seeds have a boba-like texture, squishy from the gel it produces after being soaked, but crunchy and microscopic. The really good thing about chia seeds is that they keep you pretty full for a while :) 

Chia pudding can be as simple as a cup of almond milk to a few tablespoons of seeds, but why not up the flavor with some star anise?! Star anise is mainly used in Chinese cuisine for braising meats and enhancing the richness in slow-cooked dishes. The internet describes star anise as having a licorice taste, but I personally can't tell/don't really know. I don't like licorice enough to remember how it tastes. Sorry licorice fans.

like any normal thursday

Thanksgiving isn't that big in my family. We get past with a small store-bought rotisserie chicken, corn tortillas and a bag of shredded cheese--chicken quesadillas for the past 4 years or so? Even before then we didn't really feast with turkey and mashed potatoes and all. Even today we didn't eat the traditional Thanksgiving meal, but we had more homemade food than usual!

Ratpatootie Ratatouille! My second attempt (my first was two years ago) inspired by Remy after rewatching the movie a few days ago. Lately I've been holding off on cooking and baking a lot since I doubted the process and outcome before I even started. I don't really know why I let my personal issues affect my usual determination and excitement in the kitchen, but it did. So I took the past few days to prepare myself for today. I didn't make what you would call a feast feast but it's more than the annual quesadillas :) Nothing beats cooking for people you love.

I love Smitten Kitchen's recreation of the traditional ratatouille, and you can find the recipe I used here. The dish is bright, lovely, and utters sophistication though it's actually quite easy to make (aside from cutting the parchment paper and slicing the vegetables paper thin, and in my case, WITHOUT a mandoline). I tried plating it all pretty like Remy did in the movie but my vegetables slumped together; nonetheless, the ratpatootie was tasty.

I guess you really don't stray too far from your roots...or something like that. Or in this case if you've almost always had chicken on Thanksgiving you sort of just stick with that. Chicken Piccata! With a lemon caper sauce that turned out a bit too lemony for my taste, but I reduced it by adding more chicken broth. Recipe can be found here.

Kabocha Squash Pie

And of course there was the kabocha squash pie and cheesecake from my midnight prepping. The mini pie stands tall at 1 cm. and the cheesecake, about 2.5 cm. I was dying to test both of the recipes out, and I made mini versions of both because my family could never finish a store-bought pie and they always went bad :( The pie is custard-like while the cheesecake is creamy smooth, both delicious in their own ways! I replaced white sugar with brown in both of the recipes, and though I didn't have pumpkin pie spice, using only nutmeg and cinnamon still brings out the rich, warm aroma. 

Kabocha Squash Cheesecake

 The recipe for the crustless pie can be found here and the cheesecake here.

Okay so maybe not much of a giant feast, but this Thanksgiving spoke out louder than the rest. This Thanksgiving was the first where I prepared a technically three-course meal for my family. Mixed feelings of stress, anxiety, and confusion built up in the past week, and I could finally, happily, release these pent up emotions in the kitchen. Concentrating on slicing the vegetables paper thin allowed me to think about Thanksgiving. It's difficult to put in exact words let alone express my thankfulness for everyone and everything that has found themselves in and out of my life. My family, my friends, the roof over my head, the cold wind to appreciate bodily warmth, the fact that I am writing this blog, that I've actually kept it running and that it's getting viewers?

Well I hope everyone had a delicious Thanksgiving :) and good night!

Update 12/24/12

I made ratatouille again today, but overstuffed the pan with a ton more vegetables and even double-stacked some of them rather than alternate. It took a little bit longer to bake through but still tasted wonderful.

Also I used herbes de province this time, and I like the taste of the ratatouille with the herbs rather than with just thyme. The thyme was sort of a one note, rather fixed, flavor, while the herbes have a much more subtle, rounder, flavor, which I like better as it doesn't overpower the vegetables or tomato sauce in this dish.

Plus my knife skills are getting better! I sliced the vegetables thinly and evenly 95% of the time (with the other 5% being the very few thick and unevenly cut) without the help of a mandolin! I think I'm getting a hang of this :') and ratatouille might just become a holiday tradition.

kabocha

Scratch my last post (from yesterday). Maybe I will start working with pumpkins more now. We bought half a kabocha from Mitsuwa Marketplace for experimentation purposes, and both improvs were quite successful :)

date cookies & quinoa edamame salad

I'm so eager--but at the same time lazy--to try new things. There's so many recipes I've been dying to try and it feels as if I've been cramming recipes onto this blog by making so many things in a day. But that's okay, right?

I've been feeling adventurous lately but I'm also a bit sad because my food-making and blogging might soon take a hiatus. Hopefully not too soon though, and I will try to squeeze in a few recipes before that :)

I got both of these recipe ideas from my online Pilates instructor, Cassey Ho. No I'm not actually taking classes but I do follow her blog and her workouts on Youtube, and I think I've said this before in a previous post but she inspired me to make a lifestyle change, starting with food.

homemade tomato sauce

Feeling super sleepy first from making the tomato sauce and second from eating maybe too much of it. It's the second time I attempted making tomato sauce and both times were quite successful :) I finally made something my entire family likes and is willing to eat in a heartbeat, and I did look up recipes but decided to come up with my own from what I read. This sauce is great with almost anything; I didn't feel like spaghetti so I just topped it over some zucchini and chicken for lunch.

broccoli swiss stuffed mini chicken breasts

I need to start trying new chicken recipes, but stuffed chicken rolls are so fun to make. The chicken breasts we get at the market are cut smaller than most, so my rolls turn out to be tinier. But tiny food is always cute :)

We had bread at home but I was feeling a bit too lazy to bake the bread and then break it up into small breadcrumbs, and we didn't have any panko in our pantry; so I went with almond meal. The almond meal didn't crisp up like breadcrumbs or panko would have, so I'd suggest to stick to the breadcrumbs instead.

pork burgers & cauliflower rice

 

Every night I watch an episode of "Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives" on either Cooking Channel or Food Network. And every night I see all of the burger joints Guy Fieri visits and all of the mouthwatering burgers and sandwiches and burritos and waffles and etc. etc. that I've been craving and it hurts. And sometimes I wish to reach in the television and just take whatever he's eating and eat it myself. 

But I really have been craving burgers. I could do without the bun and the dressings and cheese, but I needed some burger in my life. Rather than the ordinary burger, I was craving the Japanese rendition of the burger, also known as the Hamburg (Hambāgu) Plate. Soft and juicy with bits of caramelized onions packed within the meat, pair it with some grated radish and steamed rice and you're good to go. 

Yeah I know I made a pork burger, not an actual burger that's 100% beef, but I guess this is our recreation of the supposed-to-be Hamburg. Just without the sauce and the rice and buns and all. 

oyakodon

I was first introduced to the deliciousness that is the oyakodon at a sleepover. My friend Y's mom made oyakodon for us for dinner. I was already full, but I took a bite and I knew I would eat it even if it meant bloating. It was that good.

I love the tender pieces of chicken hidden under the simmered sweet eggs, the soft onions that seem to melt in your mouth...add all of that over a bite of steamed rice and you get the warmth and simplicity of down to earth home cooking.

I think that's why I love Japanese food so much. It's amazing how savory dishes can also be sweet but not overpowering. There's this great balance of flavors and aromas that still hold their simplicity and add a lightness to Japanese food that is just so pleasing to the palate. Or maybe I'm just really obsessed, but I absolutely love the culture and the cuisine.

Forgot to photograph before consumption. I ate mine without rice.

If you're going to make oyakodon, make sure to prepare ALL of the ingredients before turning on the stove. I failed and burned the pan before I got everything ready--I really don't know why--but I started over and then successfully made my oyakodon :)

I love the onions the most. Next to the sweet egg, maybe the chicken, too. I love everything about this dish. But the soft, sweet onions have such a light texture and delicate crisp that, for me, really brings the oyakodon together.

sweet potato mochi & quinoa bites

I debated calling this recipe sweet potato gnocchi instead of mochi but after some Googling, "gnocchi" would have been rather off.

The first time I had these sweet potato mochi bites was in Diamond Bar (or was it Rowland Heights?) at a small store (closed a while back...) that sold konnyaku and shaved ice and other rather healthy Asian desserts. I remember biting into the smooth chewiness and savoring the stickiness and subtle sweet flavor. My mom recreated them at home one day, and I was ecstatic.

quinoa nori wrap

So I figure I'd go with a savory recipe today and stock up on ingredients before attempting another baked good. 

Quinoa nori(seaweed) wrap! I actually got the idea from Cassey Ho's Instagram, Blogilates. Cassey is a super energetic and fun Pilates trainer whom I've been following for quite some time now. Her workout videos on Youtube are INTENSE but AMAZING and she was and still is my inspiration to lead a healthier lifestyle =) Thank you Cassey!

On my Trader Joe's run last night I also bought a pack of red quinoa. MAJOR super food packed with proteins and it's healthier than brown rice! I often find quinoa in salad recipes but substituting it for sushi rice worked out pretty well too :) It tastes amazing with creamy avocados that even my older sister, who rarely eats anything healthy, enjoys it (but she added mayonnaise, of course).

I couldn't find my sushi roller so I put it on my silicone baking liner instead. I had planned to use that as a roller but I ended up rolling it with my bare hands anyway.

Assembled!

 

It tasted somewhat like a California Roll, probably because of the avocados. I attempted using scissors to cut my wrap into bite size pieces but the nori became too soggy so it didn't cut well. My quinoa spilled too :( But if you DO want to cut it into sushi roll pieces I suggest you assemble your wrap as quickly as you can and cut it while the nori is still firm. I ate mine like a burrito, but hopefully your pieces turn out better than mine did if you do decide to cut them :)

peanut butter banana oat cookies & arugula swiss stuffed mini chicken breasts

LONG TITLE I know but this is my first recipe post and I did make two things today :)
So my health kick actually started a while ago (beginning of summer) but only recently have I been trying to alter and make my own recipes to make desserts healthier! Healthy and dessert don't really seem to go together in a lot of recipes but I'm trying to make it happen in my kitchen :) 

I LOVE peanut butter and I LOVE bananas and infusing them with oatmeal and ground flax seed and other stuff = fiber-filled delicious health cookie (except for maybe the peanut butter but eating it in moderation is not too bad! Peanut butter is a good source of magnesium and contains healthy fats :))!

Peanut Butter Banana Oat Cookies

 yields 5-6 mini cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 banana (mashed)
3 tbs oats (steel-cut or rolled would be best)
1 tbs ground flax seed
1/8 tsp baking powder
1 tsp brown sugar 
1 tbs peanut butter

Directions:

- Preheat the oven to 350° F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone mat (I avoid using foil because it requires butter or spray).
- Mash up the banana in a small bowl. Then add in the peanut butter and brown sugar and mix until incorporated.
- In a separate bowl combine all of the dry ingredients. Then pour the dry with the wet ingredients and stir until it becomes a smooth creamy mixture.
- Scoop the batter with a tablespoon onto the parchment paper or silicone mat and flatten into circles.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes until the top is no longer gooey to the touch. 
- Transfer to a wire rack to let cool, then serve.

I sometimes wish I were a photographer so I can take better food pictures.

I've finally made a dish my mom really likes, and it's arugula and Baby Swiss cheese stuffed mini chicken breasts! Arugula has a slight bitter herb taste that perfectly complements the Swiss cheese, and these mini rolls are easy to eat! Even my baby sister likes them :) though she's not a big fan of arugula.