Ice-Box Cookie

When we made Christmas cookies, I had some cookie dough left. So what I did was, flat the dough, put cocoa mixture(those ones in a packet), then rolled it, kept in the freezer. I almost forgot about it.lol
So today, I cut it, n baked it. It was good! N these lil swills came out cute, I think.
Ice-Box cookies are very easy to make, n whenever you wanna bake it, just cut it n bake it. I think I may wanna try other recipes as well… Do you have good recipes??

Basil Chicken

Another great recipe from my dear Cookpad! I LOVE basil. Love the smell, love the taste, love the color! N basil n tomatoes are best match! So when I saw this recipe, I knew I would love it.
Ingredients:

• Chicken Thigh
• Fresh Basil Leaves
• Petit Tomatoes
• Olive Oil
• Garlic paste
• Salt n Pepper

Direction:

1. Cut each chicken thigh into 2 pieces, n tenderize them. Massage them with Olive oil, garlic paste, salt n pepper then marinade.
2. Cut all petit tomatoes into a half.
3. Sandwich basil leaves in between 2 pieces of chicken.
4. Heat a pan. Cook one side of chicken to golden. Then flip them, reduce heat to low-medium, n put a lid on. Cook until it’s all the way cooked.
5. Put tomatoes in the pan, let them cook so tomato juice will make good sauce.

That’s it! It’s so easy! I also made Spinach n Bacon Spaghetti with it. It was soooooo good!! I loved it, my hubby loved it, kids ate all too! I definitely will make this again!

Everybody’s Favorite! BEEF BOWL!!

That’s right. If you’ve been to Japan, you’ve probably experienced, n you must loved it! Most of military people who went to Japan love this too… Japanese own, BEEF BOWL!!!
You see Beef  Bowl restaurant almost everywhere in Japan, well there’s some in NY n Cali too. But you can’t cook THAT taste yourself… until NOW! I found this recipe from Cook Pad, n I tried it last night… IT WAS JUST LIKE THE ONE!!! If you like it, you gotta try this!

Ingredients:

• Thin sliced beef   1.5lb
• Water   3cups
• Onion, thin sliced   2
• Paste Ginger   1tbsp
• Soy Sauce   4tbsp
• Light Soy Sauce   4tbsp
• Cooking Sake   6tbsp
• Sugar   6tbsp
• Salt   just a pinch
• Japanese Soup Base(Hondashi)   1tbsp
• White Rice   As much as you want

* It may be hard to find thin sliced beef at regular grocery store. If you have oriental market or Japanese store in your area, I would suggest go those stores.
*If you go to those oriental store, they should also sell Ginger Paste in tube(in yellow box) just by Wasabi tube n stuff. That would be very convenient.
* Since it was based on Japanese measurement, you may wanna adjust a lil bit too.
Direction:

1. Boil 3cups of water in a sauce pan, put sliced onion and cook until onion’s softened.
2. Add Sake, Sugar, Salt, both of Soy Sauce, then put beef and mix well.
3. Cook in medium heat for 10min or more, then add Ginger.
4. Cook a little more, and adjust the taste with Sugar n Soy Sauce as you like.
5. Put on cooked White Rice.

It’s very easy! And I would say this recipe is the closest “Beef Bowl Restaurant” flavor I could get. My hubby is a Beef Bowl lover, n he’s very satisfied! Oh, our house smelled like a beef bowl restaurant too!

Seafood Cream Gratin

If you don't really know what really is, according to my hubby, it's like Baked Cream Ziti?lol It is very popular in Japan, but obviously it's not Japanese dish. I used sea food since it's Lent today(my hubby is Catholic), plus I like sea food better, but you could use chicken, n add more vegetables, if you like.

Ingredients:
2stick of Butter or same amount of margarine
1 Onion, sliced
Shrimp(as much as you like)
1cup of Flour
6cups of Milk
6cubes of Cubed Chicken Bouillon
A half box of Elbow Macaroni
1cup of Whipping Cream(Heavy Cream)
1can Baby Clam
Mozzarella Cheese
Parmesan Cheese

Direction:
1. Turn on the oven for 450 degrees. Melt the butter in a large skillet or a sauce pan, add onion n shrimp til it's cooked.
2. Reduce the heat. Add flour, mix very well. Be careful to not burn it. Add milk. Mix well until flour is desolved.
3. Add bouillon. Mix well. Add Elbow Macaroni. Keep stir til macaroni is about cooked. I would say about 10mins.
4. Add baby cram n whipping cream. Stir until it's thickened.
5. Pour into oven-safe dish. Put mozzarella cheese over it, then top with parmesan cheese. Bake for 15 mins.

It's actually very easy, n YUMMY! I got this recipe from Japanese cooking recipe site called cookpad. I have been trying a lot of recipes from this site, n they all are easy n yummy, plus most of them have picture directions. I love it! You will see what I try...hehehe.

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Happy New Year!!!

This year, we decided to try... or should I say I decided to MAKE them(my fam.) TO TRY Japanese style New Year's meal. Well, it's still not all of it, we'll have REAL ones after we go back to Japan... Anyway, it's pretty, isn't it?

I also made "Zouni"(Mochi soup), it's also the first time challenge to eat Mochi for my hubby n kids. My hubby didn't really like it because it's too sticky, he said. The kids were having a lil difficult time, but they kinda liked it. Oh well, what the hell, I am pregnant so they gotta eat whatever I wanna eat! Hahaha!!

P.S.
Yes, I am pregnant... That's gonna be our third kids...

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Using Left Over: Baked Meatsauce Spaghetti

I forgot to take a pic. when it was ready, so sorry that it's already taken to eat in the pic...

Anyway, when I make these sauce or soup, I always make a lot. N most of time, I just keep in the freezer. So today, I used the meat sauce I made last time. I defrosted from last night, of course I could use it just like that. But it's not really exciting if I just make same old spaghetti , is it?

What I did was so easy, simply put cheese on top n bake it! It's almost like baked ziti, just much easier.lol

N kids love it!!

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Super Pasta Salad

What so "super" about this? It's SUPER easy, SUPER colorful, n SUPER yummy!

Basically all you need to do is boil pasta, chop veggies n ham, mix with the dressing. You can put whatever you like. Here's what I put today...

Ingredients:
Tri-color Rotini(Pasta)
Ham
1can Corn
Soy Beans(Frozen, no shells)
Broccoli
Celery
Tomato
Italian Dressing

That's all! It takes less than 30mins. to make. But everything's inside, n it's so colorful, this would make a great side-dish! It's great for BBQ, pot luck, n picnic as well! Please try!

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Pineapple Meat Sauce Spaghetti

Actually this is the first time I added Pineapple, but it's actually good with a lil sweetness...:)

If your children don't like veggies, this is a great chance to put all veggies in this sauce! Chop n stew really well, so they don't even taste it!

Ingredients:
1lb. Ground Beef
1 Onion
1cup Carrots
2 Celery
3cloves Garlic
1/2cup Butter
1cup Red Wine
1/4cup Flour
1can Pineapple
2cans 28oz. Diced Tomato
Spaghetti

Direction:
1. Chop all veggies. Keep the juice from Pineapple can, chop Pineapple as well.
2. Heat butter in a large pot. After butter melt, add all veggies, in high heat. Stir well, about 5mins. *Pic.1
3. Add Ground Beef, stir very well till all browned. Add Red Wine, keep stirring till the amount of juice is reduced to about a half. Add flour, but don't add all at the time. Just about a tbsp. amount at the time. Stir well.
4. Add Pineapple, Pineapple juice, n Diced Tomato. Stir. Once you see bubbles, reduce heat to low. Put a rid on. *Pic.2
5. Stew for at least 2 hours. Stir every 30 mins. or so, to prevent from burnt on the bottom of the pot. Or you can use slow cooker if you want. *Pic.3
6. Boil Spaghetti. N serve! *Pic.4

John LOVED it! He loved it so much, he wanted to eat even only sauce after he finished his plate...lol

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Mayo Potato

First... That, in the top pic, that is my MUST HAVE item of all time, Japanese Mayonnaise(n for me, this brand is one n only!). It can be used as dressing, dip, pretty much everything. Compare to American mayonnaise, I think this one is a lil more creamy n a lil more sour. I LOVE IT!!! I grew up with this one, n I cannot let it go!!!lol

OK, now, this Mayo Potato. It's very easy. Though I never tried with American mayo.

Boil potatoes til it's all way cooked. While it's still warm, peel potato skins... You can peel it with fingers, it would come right off... Slice the potatoes. Spread butter all over a baking plate so it doesn't stick. I use my finger to spread it... Just easier... Put the sliced potatoes on the baking plate, then salt n pepper on it. Since Japanese mayo is in a tube, so I kinda draw lines with mayo. If you would try with American mayo, just spread on the potato. Then top with mozzarella cheese. Bake in 425 degrees oven for 15 to 20 mins. or til it gets a lil brown.

It makes a great last-minute side dish! Enjoy!

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Peanut Butter Cookies

Have you tried this Crisco recipe?

When we were still in San Diego, one of my friend made us very yummy peanut butter cookies. It was sooooo good! So I asked her the recipe. She handed to me this recipe card n told me that it's actually very easy "Crisco" recipe. Hmmm... So I tried. Yes, it is easy to make, n yes, it's yummy! Since then, I use this cookie recipe...

OK, if you've never tried it yet, I am not gonna put the recipe here this time, just go get "Crisco" sticks cuz you will need it anyway, n you will get the recipe! When you buy Crisco sticks, there are a couple of recipes inside. I've tried this peanut butter cookies n chocolate chip cookies so far... It's super easy, n everybody's favorite!

Oh, I put chocolate(that's from Easter sale... I bought a few of those...lol) on top of the cookies, right after it came out of the oven so the chocolate melt a lil bit n it's soooooo good!

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Curry Rice

I made Curry Rice for dinner today. Have you tried one? I mean, this curry rice, actually very popular in Japan, but it's not a India style. I would say, it's European style. Rice is of course white rice though.lol

If you can find this "Curry Sauce Mix" in stores near you, direction is on the box, so please try! They should have Mild, Medium, n Hot. I mixed Mild n Medium, so kids can eat it.

FYI...
I use stew beef, cut them kinda thin, chopped onion, carrots, n potatoes.

Oh, BTW, obviously my dog ChoCho's dinner was lettuce! He LOVES lettuce!lol He loves so much, so he never miss it when I get lettuce from my re fridge...lol Well, I guess it's healthy?

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Yaki Onigiri

LOL... Yea, say it! Can you pronounce that?lol... Of course, it's Japanese! Usually I try to translate those Japanese words, but I wanted to put this one in Japanese...lol If I have to translate... It probably be like "Grilled Rice Ball" or something?lol See, it sounds not right at all! At least for this thing I made!lol But now you know what that thing is...lol

Sorry, there's not really a recipe for it.lol Well, just make white rice, make balls with your hands... I mean if you can make triangle shapes like what I did... U MUST B JAPANESE!!!lmao Anyway, after you make balls, take a lil butter on your hand n lightly rub on the rice balls. Then the sauce... That brown stuff.lol Mine was just the mixture of soy sauce n miso. But I guess you could do with anything... Now you just grill it or bake it... I used my oven toaster thing. I like it with a lil burned spot.

Hahaha. Pure Japanese dish, right here! N of course my kids loved it! They are real Japanese...lol

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Fried Pork

Our tonight's dinner is... Fried Pork! Well, I was gonna make Japanese style Fried Chicken actually, I defrosted the wrong meat... So we ate pork 2 days in a row!lol We had cabbage left over from last night... N I could use it today too... BTW, why always(my opinion) pork n cabbage work very well together?

Ingredient:
Pork Tender Loin
Salt n Pepper
Flour
Eggs
Panko(Japanese Bread Crumb)

Direction:
1. Heat the oil. I use my deep fryer 380 degrees. Cut pork into a bite size. Line them up on a cutting board. Beat the meat with the back of knife. Salt n pepper the meat. Flip'em n do same process.
2. Put some flour(I would say 1 to 1 1/2 cups should be enough) in a ziploc bag. Put the meat in the same bag. Shake it!
3. Beat eggs in a bowl. Set a plate with Panko next to eggs. Take 1 piece of the meat from the bag, dunk in eggs very well, then put the meat on Panko plate. Cover the meat with Panko. When you put Panko on the meat, give a lil pressure so Panko would stick on the meat very well. Do same process all the meat.
4. Deep fry the pork til it float, n see less bubbles. Take them out n put on some paper towels.

Yummm...lol Japanese Panko is used often in the Food Network shows(that's what I heard), it's a lil difference than regular one, I guess. No flavor to it. You probably can find @ Oriental food isle in any grocery stores.

You could try with pork chops, but I like using tender loin.

Oh, one more thing! Please don't forget! It's flour - eggs - Panko, NOT flour - Panko - eggs!lol I gave the recipe to one of my friends, n she did that...lol She's cute doin that though...lol

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Ginger Pork

Our tonight's dinner is... Ginger Pork! Again, a popular dish in Japan. I make my ginger pork with boneless pork chop. It's VERY EASY, please try!

*I don't usually measure ingredients, so all measurements are about... please adjust to how you like...lol

Ingredients:
5 slices Pork Chops, boneless
Ginger
Garlic
1 cup Cooking Sake
1/4 cup Soy Sauce
5 tbsp. Sugar

Direction:
1. Put Pork Chops in a ziploc bag. Peel ginger n garlic, n grind them. Put'em in a ziploc bag with sake, soy sauce n sugar. Marinade at least for an hour.
2. Heat a lil oil on a pan. Put pork on a pan, high heat first, about 1 mins. Reduce heat to medium, add some marinade sauce, put a lid on. Cook about 5 mins. or til it's cooked.

Ta-da! I told u! It's easy! N cheap!lol One of our favorites!

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Hamburg Steak

It's very popular dish in Japan, just like salisbury steak or meatloaf... One of kids' favorites dish. Here's the recipe...
Ingredients:
1 lb. Ground Beef
1 Onion
1/2 cup Carrot
1 slice of Bread
3 tbsp. Milk
1 Large Egg
Salt n Pepper
(Make 5 to 6)
Direction:
1. Chop onion n carrot... I use food processor. Heat some oil in a frying pan, stir fry the chopped veggies for 5min. with high-medium heat. Keep stiring. Put in a large bowl. Cool it down a lil bit.
2. Shred the bread in food processor n put in a small bowl. Add milk in n let milk soak in the bread.
3. Add the bread mixture, ground beef, egg, salt n pepper, mix very well with a hand.
4. Take a lil smaller than a tenise ball size in one hand, throw it to the other hand... like a lil catch ball with your two hands...lol To do so, let the air out from inside the patty.
5. Shape them just like hamburger patty or oval, flat to 1/4in.
6. Heat a lil oil in a frying pan, first high heat, put 2 or 3 patties on a pan. Wait about 30sec., reduce the heat to medium n flip the patties. Put a lid on the pan. Let it cook about 5mins. or til it's cooked through.
7. Put the steak on a plate, use the same pan to warm the sauce... I use ketchup n Japanese 'Bulldog' sauce... which is probably close to worcestershire sauce + BBQ sauce. By using the same pan, the sauce gets lil beef juice... Some may call it grease, but it adds a good taste to the sauce.

*My hubby likes this with fried egg(sunnyside up) on top.
It's great for kids who don't like veggies, because it has onion n carrots inside but it's chopped n mixed, so it doesn't show nor taste. We usually eat with rice, but I believe mashed potato would work with it just fine!

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Lumpia #2

So this time I tried to make Chicken lumpia. Well not big reason... Just because I had a lot of chicken in my freezer...lol Well, I thought it would be a lil healthier? Besides, I didn't feel like too meaty... So here's what I used this time...

Ingredients:
1lb. Chicken Thigh, minced
1 Onion
1/2 cup Carrot, minced
1/2 head Cabbage, shredded
1/2 cup Green Onion
Salt n' Pepper
That's all. I put more cabbage this time, again, I didn't feel like too meaty... It was actually easier to roll than last time, I guess less grease? Well while I was rollin them... It didn't smell so yummy...lol It just so... Chickeny...?lmao

Anyway, I deep fried... It actually looked good. Well, it's still lumpia after all...lol The tastem... it was not bad... but not so good...lol I don't know, cabbage n chicken are not really good combination?lol Oh, I know, that's probably cuz I used thigh, maybe it's better with breast? But I gotta admit... It's fun 2 make lumpia! What should I use next time...lol

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Lumpia #1

Lumpia is one of creativable(is that even a word?) dish, I think... First I met "lumpia" about 2yrs ago... My friend in San Diego made n brought it to a potluck party. The one she made was very meaty, my husband loved it, my kids loved it, of course I loved it too. She taught me how to make it, and it was so simple... So I tried right away. So back then, I was putting just seasoned ground beef inside. Which was good...

Then we had another one here in Hawaii... I guess it's more like real, Filipino style... which has a lot of veggies inside, more close to spring roll, I would say. N it's goooooood.lol So now I decided to try making one of those, so I searched the recipe on the internet. OK, here's the recipe I found n I've tried...

Ingredients:1 lb. Ground Pork ...I used Ground Beef instead
2 cloves Garlic, crushed
1/2 cup chopped Onion ...I used 1 onion
1/2 cup minced Carrots
1/2 cup chopped Green Onion
1/2 cup thinly sliced Green Cabbage
1 tsp. Ground Black Pepper
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Garlic Powder
1 tsp. Soy Sauce
30 Lumpia Wrappers

Direction:
1. Place a wok or large skillet over high heat, and pour in 1tbsp. vegetable oil. Cook pork(beef), stirring frequentl, until no pink is showing. Remove pork from pan and set aside. Drain grease from pan, leaving a thin coating. Cook garlic and onion in the same pam for 2mins. Stir in the cooked pork(beef), carrots, green onions, and cabbage. Season with pepper, salt, garlic powder, and soy sauce. Remove from heat, and set aside until cool enough to handle.
2. Place three heaping tbsp. of the filling diagonally near one corner of each wrapper, leaving a 1 1/2 in. space at both ends. Fold the side along the length of the filling over the filling, tuck in both ends, and roll neatly. Keep the roll tight as you assemble. Moisten the other side of the wrapper with water to seal the edge. Cover the rolls with plastic wrap to retain moisture.
3. Heat a heavy skillet over medium heat, add oil to 1/2in. depth, and heat for 5mins. Slide 3 or 4 lumpia into the oil. Fry the rolls for 1 to 2mins., until all sides are golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Serve immediately.

So I made this for my son's birthday... well he was sick so he couldn't eat much... anyway, it was good, I think. We had so mnay leftovers, so next day, I put in the oven n warm it up, NOT MICROWAVE, USE THE OVEN to get crunchy again...

N I'm thinking... I probably can do many creative ways...?

Today's Dinner...

Doesn't it look good?lol My kids loved it too. It's Japanese fried chicken, bacon-wrapped asparagus, broccoli with QP mayo, and macaroni salad.
This Japanese fried chicken is actually my mom's original recipe, since I was little, I love this chicken. It's a lil difference from regular Japanese fried chicken, she doesn't marinade. Put chicken in flour n starch mix, then deep fry, and then dunk in soy sauce + cooking sake + lil water. It's very yummy.
Kids also loved bacon-wrapped asparagus. This is very popular for especially bento-box in Japan. This way, asparagus gets bacon flavor, so it's easy to eat for kids.
Anyway... I think it was good dinner...lol

Oden!

Haha, most of you would think 'what the hell is that??'. Oden is one of popular Japanese tracitional dishes. Basically the stew of bunch of fishcakes. I also put boiled eggs, some potatoes... It looks not that bad, right? Well, I love it(yea, of courss), our kids liked it, but Chris doesn't eat it...lol

Hotdog Spaghetti

This is something close to the spaghetti my mom always made for me. We call 'Napolitan' but since I use hotdog(actually I use bratwurst) n ketchup, I call it 'Hotdog Spaghetti', so it sounds friendly for kids too.
First, boil spaghetti(of course). While boiling spaghetti, slice bratwurst to 1/4in, and slice some onions as well. Then cook them in a wok... don't need any oils. Add frozen bell peppers if you like. Cook well. Add spaghetti. Stir well, and add pasta sauce(in a jar) n some ketchup. Don't need too much... That's all! Easy, cheap, kids friendly menu!