Thai Basil Minced Beef Recipe

This recipe is inspired by the Thai Basil chicken recipe. You can google search for “Thai Basil Chicken” and get many different recipes online but I have used what I have got in my pantry and fridge to make up this delicious recipe.

Ingredients
500g Minced Beef (or any minced meat)
2 Tbs Fish sauce
2 Tbs Light soy sauce
1 Tbs Brown sugar
2-3 Tbs Gourmet Garden Basil paste (be generous!)
1 Tbs Gourmet Garden Chilli paste (as hot as you fancy)
1 tsp Gourmet Garden garlic paste (to add an infused garlicky taste)
2-3 chopped shallots
4-5 chopped garlic
1 small chopped chilli
Spring onion to garnish

Instructions
1) Heat sunflower oil in wok and add in shallot, garlic and chilli.
2) Add in minced meat and stir fry till almost brown.
3) Add in fish sauce, soy sauce and brown sugar.
4) Add in basil, chilli and garlic paste towards the end and stir well.
5) Garnish with spring onion.

Taste super with warm white rice and steam egg!

My One Pot Slow Cooked Recipe

Have you ever experiment with dishes and come up with your own recipe? This is my one and only self-invented dish and is well liked by those who has tried it (including my OH, in-laws and neighbour). This dish is nick-named my “Kimchi” dish because it has the Chinese white cabbage in it, it is garlicky and peppery like the Kimchi, but it is definitely not the real Kimchi (a popular Korean dish).

Ingredients
Chinese white cabbage
Shiitake mushrooms
Fish balls
One whole garlic (chopped, I have yet to try replacing it with garlic paste)
Oyster sauce
Korean red pepper paste

Instructions
1) Heat sunflower oil in wok and add in garlic.
2) Add in the bottom (harder) part of the white cabbage first, followed by the leafy part. Give it a good stir fry.
3) Add in the chopped shiitake mushrooms and fish balls.
4) Add in oyster sauce and stir well.
5) Add in the Korean red pepper paste and stir well.
6) Transfer to the slow cooker and add enough boiling water to cover the food content.
7) Slow cook on high for 2 hours.

Serve with warm rice and enjoy.

(Forgot to take a picture of the finished dish this time, but will try to upload it when I remember next time).

Mum’s Miso Fish

This is another dish I learnt from my mum. It is extremely easy to prepare and very healthy too.

What you need
2 teaspoons miso paste
Chopped Garlic
Julienned Ginger
Julienned Small red chilli
Sliced Spring onion
1 Tablespoon Light soy sauce
1 Tablespoon Rice wine
Corn flour
White fish fillets (I used Basa fillet)

My easy instruction
1) Cut the fish fillets into bite size squares and coat with corn flour.
2) Heat a little oil in wok and add in the garlic, ginger and red chilli. Stir for 2 minutes.
3) Add in the fish fillets and stir fry.
4) Add light soy sauce, rice wine and miso paste. Stir fry for another few minutes.
5) Garnish with spring onion.

Serve with warm rice. Enjoy.

Mum’s Slow Cooked Pork Rib Stew

This is my entry into Gourmet Garden’s Blog Off/ Cook Off competition.

This is my mum’s recipe (a traditional South East Asian dish) and I could not find an exact same one from the Internet. Every time I want to make this dish, I would have to ring her up to reiterate all the ingredients required. This time, I am going to type it down here so I can refer to it next time.

If you have a slow cooker, you should definitely give this dish a go. It has a nutty taste and so full of flavours. It is warm and there is depth of flavour and there are different textures. Perfect for winter I think.

Ingredients
Marinade A
2 – 3 cubes of Red fermented bean curd
1 Tablespoon of Rice Wine (Xiao xing wine)
1 Tablespoon of Light Soy Sauce
1 Teaspoon of Sugar
1 Teaspoon of Cornflour

Marinade B
1 Tablespoon of Gourmet Garden’s Chilli paste
1 Tablespoon of Gourmet Garden’s Ginger paste
1 Tablespoon of Gourmet Garden’s Garlic paste
1 Teaspoon of Miso paste
2 thinly sliced and chopped Shallots

700g Pork Ribs
1/2 Cup of Raw peanut
Water
Potatoes (Optional – to make the stew more starchy)

Easy steps
1) Boil raw peanut in a pot.
2) Marinade the pork ribs with marinade A.
3) Add oil into a wok/ pan and fry the marinated pork ribs.
4) Clean the wok/pan.
5) Add oil into the wok/pan and fry marinade B.
6) Add in the fried pork ribs and cooked peanuts. (Optional – add cooked potatoes)
7) Stir.
8) Add water and wait till it boils for five minutes.
9) Transfer into slow cooker and cook on high for 3 hours, then low for 2 hours.

My mum and me (1986)

Homemade Potpourri Heart

What you need
Unwanted or leftover fabric
Mesh fabric
Hard paper/ Old Christmas Cards
Potpourri
Lace (to go around the heart shape)
Ribbon
Adhesive spray
Glue
Scissors
and some patience

Instructions
1) Draw two heart shape on a card and cut them out.
2) Spray each side of the card with adhesive spray and stick them on a fabric as shown above.
3) Cut the fabric into a heart shape, making sure the edge is at at least 2 cm from the card.
4) Snip the fabric on the edge, apply glue and fold the fabric edge onto the card.
5) Now, glue the mesh fabric to the heart to make a pocket, then fill it with potpourri, and seal the mesh pocket using more glue.
6) Glue lace around the heart shape.
7) Glue ribbon on top of the heart shape.
8) Glue two sides of the hearts together with the potpourri facing the outside (make sure the sides not completely covered with fabric are glued facing together on the inside).

Note: Please leave a few minute to wait for the glue to dry so that the fabric sticks to the card.

Silent Sunday

Magic of Christmas

Making Christmas craft, getting ready for Christmas and celebrating joy of Christmas with others create magic of Christmas for us!

This is my entry for the #O2GuruMagicofXmas Linky, sponsored by O2 GuruTV – the home of tech help and inspiration.

Click here to share your magic of Christmas too.

Getting ready for Christmas

I cannot believe how quickly two weeks has gone by. I remembered I had my nails painted and my hair plaited not long ago as part of my #getgroovingchallenge and now I am back to my normal self, meaning not making much effort at all in how I look and feel. Part of me feel glad Kate’s #groovingmums is there to remind me how easily I get caught up making baby purée and changing nappies, I forget about just being me.

1) I have a Christmas Cracker party coming up this Friday, where we are suppose to dress formal. I am going to spare an hour for myself to get ready instead of just appear undone in the party. I am going to curl my hair at least as well as wear my long forgotten heels.

2) I have a voucher for an express manicure and I am going to use it somehow by asking for an hour of baby-sitting from my OH.

3) It is almost time to send off Christmas Card to family and friends. (And buy present for a friend who always care so much about me. I want to give something back.)

4) I have an idea about scanning my mum’s old photo as part of my #groovingmums effort. My mum in her late twenties was certainly much more trendy in her time than I am now in mine. She used to wear matching handbags and heels! It might be a bit OTT to wear matching items in today’s fashion, but it could motivate me maybe? (Mum, if you read this, could you please remind me about scanning your old photos.)

Kate’s question What health aims do you have for the New Year?
Keep flossing my teeth, make an effort to include fruits and veg in my every day’s meal, stay active and keep grooving.

That’s it for now.

Update 08/12:

#MotoReadyforXmas
(I did curl my hair and wear my heel as well as painted some glitters on my nails! Note to self: Must do this more often and get a pair of black colour heels to wear with black tights in future.)

Rice Krispie Chicken

This is Lisa Faulkner’s Rice Krispie Chicken. It is super tasty and so easy to make!

What you need
Chicken Breasts
Mayonnaise
Rice Krispie cereal
Salt
Pepper

My easy instruction
1) Cut chicken breast into five thin strips.
2) Coat the chicken strips with mayonnaise.
3) Use your palm to crush the Rice Krispie in a food storage bag (I.e. Zip-Lock bag), add pepper and salt into the bag.
4) Coat the chicken breast in the Rice Krispie crumbs mixture.
5) Bake in the oven at 190 degree Celsius for about 18 – 20 minutes.

Alternatively, you can check out the original recipe on ITV Lorraine’s website – Rice Krispie Chicken.

My Christmas Wish List

Dear Santa,

I love, love, love Proskins, especially the latest galaxy print leggings. They also come in other colours like matt black, rich purple, cobalt blue and emerald. I really do fancy having all five different pairs and wear them everyday. I would wear it out, wear it in the house, exercise and I would wear it to sleep. The best thing is, the leggings are made of anti-bacterial material so I won’t have to wash it often and they are very comfortable. Even the British Olympic team wear Proskins! I used to train for long distance running many time a week and completed Cardiff half marathon in 2010 and Wales marathon in 2011. However, I have been slacking after having my baby this year. So, dear Santa, if I could have a Proskins Galaxy print legging, maybe that would give me a push and get me lace up for a run around the park.

I really have a thing for pyjamas. I think changing into pyjamas during bedtime switch you into relax mode. Since young we always have a new pair of pyjamas for each new year and I would like to continue this tradition for baby boy’s very first Christmas! These Hatley pyjamas are so cute and comfy! Going to bed in matching pyjamas like mama’s and papa’s has got to be the most fun thing for a baby. That even got me excited! Hatley black bear pyjamas bottom, Hatley footed coverall baby grow with bear, and Hatley bear on plaid pyjamas bottom are on my wish list. “I want my freedom!” said princess Merida in Brave. Just now don’t turn mummy into a bear.

They said, once you have a baby, you will have no money left to spend on yourself. If you do not have a child, you can afford to go on luxury holiday and own lots of designers handbags and shoes. Well, like all mum and dad knows, having a baby bring them greater happiness and joy than owning all things materIal. Yes, so the rest of my Christmas wish list all goes to my baby boy who loves to play in water. The next Michael Phelps in the making needs Zoggs Zoggy baby wrap swim jacket and Bestway premium baby float for his swimming lessons. Having this Zoocchini Guppy the shark towel would make any mummy as well as baby look forward to swimming all the more. Oo…what about keeping the little hands warm with this blue Joules baby snap mittens after the cold splash in the pool and pack all these treasures in a Trunki Trunkisaurus green luggage. Yes, yes, yes! Swimming is never gonna be the same again!

Dear Santa Surfdome, all these comes to a total of £249.70 after applying the discount code GIFT20. Please, please make my Christmas wish list turn real.