Thursday, January 04, 2007

One thing you should know about me...


I never measure anything when I cook. I'm like that. Even if I have the recipe in front of me, I never follow the instructions exactly as they're stated. I don't know why. That's just the way I am. It's also hard for me to give recipes to friends, since I don't use exact measurements. It usually sounds something like: "A bit of this, a dash of that...use your discretion...a pinch of that...".

Today, my friends and I were going to take all of our kids bowling. I'm not a parent yet, but I took my two students who are
homestaying" with us (and we're legally their guardians during their studies here) and one of our nieces, Toad (since Pook was sick). There were three groups of parents with a slew of kiddies ranging from 10 to 14 yrs of age (my friend's toddler stayed with grandma for the evening). Our bowling date was for 7:30 and by the time I started cooking it was almost 6PM. Grrr...I had no idea what to cook. Tonight I was so uninspired. I'm usually really quick and creative in the kitchen.


This is what I came up with:

Chicken Soup

-dice 1 medium onion
-peel and cut up 1 medium carrot (I use the peeler to make slivers of carrot so they cook faster)
-boil 1 chicken breast (bone-in) in a medium sized pot of water
-when chicken is done boiling, remove from water and "shred" the meat with a fork
-put chicken shreds back into the broth (I didn't add any artificial broth...my niece has Celiac so I didn't want to use anything with fillers. Everything is all natural for her
-add salt and pepper to stock
-add onions and carrot shreds
-let boil for a while

(LOL, see how precise this is???) You can add elbow noodles or whatever else you like, but because of our niece, I didn't add anything with noodles (gluten, remember?)


Omelette with Korean pepper paste over a bed of rice
-4 eggs (that's all I had left in my fridge! LOL), salt, black pepper, a bit of water...all beaten together and then poured into a greased, hot pan (I sometimes use milk to make the omelette, but my niece is also lactose intolerant and my MIL taught me that the omelettes are lighter and fluffier when you use a bit of water)
-rinse and cook rice (I have a rice cooker, so it does all the work for me)
-add Gochujang (pepper sauce)

This was all served with heaps of other veggies


Then for dessert, we had:

Apple-orange-raisin salad

-in a bowl, add a few drops of lemon juice
-dice 2 royal gala apples, add to bowl
-peel and dice 4 clementines (other oranges will work too, but these are especially yummy), add to bowl
-add a handful and a half of raisins (I used sultana raisins tonight)
-add a few tablespoons of Hellmans mayonnaise (this is the only mayo my niece can have)
-make sure the fruit is covered with the mayo

It's a really tangy dessert.


Banana Chocolate Bread

-preheat oven to 350
-in a bowl, cream together 1/2 c butter, 1 c brown sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 egg
-mix in 2 c flour, 1 c oatmeal, 1 tbs baking powder
-pour into greased baking pan (I used the loaf sized pan)
-bake for 50 mins

Of course, our niece couldn't have this dessert, but she practically devoured the fruit salad! I'm not exactly sure of the measurements for the Banana bread, as I don't really measure. I can assure you that this is an EASY and fast recipe and it is delicious!!!

We ended up leaving the house a bit after 7PM and arrived at the bowling alley around 7:40. Only 10 mins late!
**UPDATE**: Apparently, my friend Jill is the only observant one :) She noted that I forgot to include 2 key ingredients in my banana-chocolate recipe!!! I forgot to mention the banana and chocolate!! LOL Duhhhhhh! Okay, you need 3 ripe (brown) bananas (I save all the brown ones that don't get eaten and I store them in the freezer so they don't go to waste and I use them for when I want to bake something that calls for ripe bananas). Cream the bananas into your "wet" ingredients (butter, egg, vanilla, brown sugar). Once you've incorporated your wet and dry ingredients, mix in 1 c chocolate chips. I use semi-sweet.
There you go! Thanks, Jill! :)

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh! We don't have oven like in America so I can't bake anythings. I wish I could have because I could love to make chocolate banana bread like the one which you made. Many japanese don't have like that ovens. We most of the time steam foods but I guess you know it already because you lived in here before.

OK! I will visit again your blog! Warmest regards! Yuka -_-

Anonymous said...

Wow Chris. I don't know how you do it. I have children and I'm a stay at home mom and I don't have time to cook and prepare meals the way you do. I mean, I prepare meals but they're easy to make when theyre fresh out of the box! We even have the luxury here to order in from restaurants if Im too exhausted to cook. When I was working I had even less time to do all the stuff you do. You're awesome girl friend!

So are you coming to Toronto on your way to Montreal or what? I'm sure you have a zillion people who want to see you on your short stint over this way though.

caninecologne said...

hi!!! can't wait to try that banana chocolate bread recipe! everything you posted sounds so good!

Anonymous said...

We get all our baked goods at the bakery next to my flat. The smell of chocolate permeates the morning air when I awake. Ah bliss!

zozosmamma said...

Um, where is the chocolate and banana in the Banana Chocolate Bread??? lol

Sounds great!

Unknown said...

LOL! OMG! Thanks, Jill! I totally forgot the two important ingredients! I'll fix that now! Hahaha! No wonder my students call me "goldfish brain"! Apparently goldfish have a really short memory. That, or I'm just plain ditsy!

Anonymous said...

LOL!!!!!!!!!! Now that's the Chrissy I know! You forgot the bananas and chocolate for the banana chocolate bread! You are too cute! That's why we love you!

Hey don't worry. I didn't notice you forgot them!

Anonymous said...

i too didn't notice you left out the bananas and chocolate! That's too funny!

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City girl moves to the country, falls in love, and marries a farmer. She tries to incorporate her city ways with her new country lifestyle and blogs to keep in touch with friends, family & students who live far, far away :) Can this city girl go country? Watch as she learns all sorts of exciting things about life on the farm and in a small rural community. *UPDATE* We are now parents! Our baby girl was born on Nov. 11, 2008 (at 28 weeks gestation- 12 weeks premature, but she's quite the trooper)!!!
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