The Power of C Smoothie

 As I have mentioned on the last post about my greatest hero yogurt, now that I planned to have it every day. And today I have another one for a little pick-me-up for this lazy afternoon before I begin to tackle another project on my to-do long list today. So, joy me if you can. 

What you need:

½ cup seedless red grape

½ cup mango

½ cup pineapple juice

½ cup non-fat plain Greek yogurt – I used Dannon Oikos 0% fat

½ cup crushed ice

1 tbsp honey


Enjoy!  ^__^

The Beauty Berries

I love yogurt, especially Greek yogurt for its sour, tart, and tangy that just give you a little more fun than a regular yogurt.  However, all yogurts are good for you. The culturing process, the live bacteria makes yogurt more digestible than milk.  Since I don’t like to drink milk at all, yogurt has become my greatest hero of all time.  Yogurt offers an excellent source of calcium in which an 8-ounce serving can provide about 450 mg. of calcium and as much potassium as a banana, as much protein as an egg or ounce of meat. How about that!  For those who have negative thoughts about yogurt, I hope you try to make this delicious smoothie by mixing your favorite fruits or even some veggies and use honey to give it a little sweet instead of using sugar.  So, throw away your 1000 calories milkshake and start to live healthier and longer for years to come.  I have more ideas of healthy smoothies for you to try.  So…don’t be afraid to try new thing, you never know you might like it!  ^___^

what you need: 

For 1 generous serving or 2 if you want to share!

½ cup fresh raspberry

½ cup fresh cranberry

½ cup cranberry juice

6-ounce or 1/2 cup non-fat Greek yogurt

1 tbsp honey

½ cup crushed ice

Enjoy!   ^___^

Crab n Mango Salad in Wonton Cups

Turning wonton wrappers into a mini cups and fill them with any food you like is the fun way to impress your guests for any party at any occasion.  I filled this wonton cups with crab meat and mango salad and it turned out looking so sophisticated.  It’s easy to make and it tastes awesome…I promise that you will love it and want to do it again and again fill the wonton cups with something else you like….just like I said, have fun with your food.

What you need:  making about 12 cups

12 squares Wonton wrappers

1 cup Crab meat
1 cup Mango chopped
1 medium seeded Jalapeno chopped
¼ cup Limejuice
¼ cup Cilantro finely chopped
Oil – canola oil, olive oil, or spray -  whatever you have on hand
Salt and pepper to taste
**Persian cucumber and pistachio nuts are optional

How to:  Preheat the oven at 350’ F

1.  Brush or spray both sides of the wonton wrappers with oil or cooking spray and arrange them into the mini cupcake pan and bake them for about 7 minutes or until you notice the wontons start to turn slightly brown but you have to be careful because the wonton skin can be burnt easily.

2.  Combine crab meat, mango, jalapeno, lime juice, cilantro, salt and pepper into a bowl and stir gently to mix well.

3.  Fill the wonton cups and garnish with thin slice cucumber and chopped pistachio nuts or hot sauce as you prefer. 

Ground Turkey Mini Balls and Cucumber

Another easy and fun way to cook with ground turkey and cucumber to impress your friends and family at the gathering.  There are just a few ingredients required to make this tasty appetizer that I know for sure your guests will love them and talk about for days.  Be sure to share the recipe, it's okay!  ^__^

What you need:

 1 lb. ground turkey

1 tbsp red curry chili paste

1 egg

2 tbsp light soy sauce

¼ cup cilantro chopped

Pinch of sugar and white or black ground pepper

Oil for deep fry

English cucumber, cut crosswise

Thai sweet chili sauce - available at most supermarket

How to:

1.  In the deep frying pan, set the oil temperature for frying at 375’F

2.  Put the ingredient 1 - 6 in the bowl and mix well

3. Scoop the turkey mixture about 1 table spoon for each little ball size into the hot oil and deep fry for about 3 - 5 minutes.
4.  Place turkey mini balls over cut cucumber, garnish with cilantro leaf, and serve with Thai sweet chili sauce.

Enjoy!

^___^

Shimeji Mushrooms - Shrimp - Cucumber

To be honest with you, I love making appetizers more than cooking big meals!  It’s more fun.  It’s easier to prepare and finish faster than main dishes.  And also, I consider it as a portion controller for my diet plan(that's never work for me! haaa...) Just you know I use it as my excuse so I can eat as many things as I wanted to.    I’ve been making varieties of appetizers for quite a while for my collection but I don’t really have time to post them.  So, I’m just going to post them one by one for my own sake!   ~___~ 
 

This appetizer is so easy and fun to make and I'm sure that if you make this for a cocktail party, your guests will be really impressed and appreciated your effort of making this light and tasty dish for them to try with a nice glass of chilled wine.

What you need:


2 packages shimeji mushrooms cut off the bottom root
1 cup onion chopped
3 clove garlic chopped

1 tbsp ginger finely chopped

1/4 cup parsley chopped
1/4 cup oyster sauce
2 tbsp. canola oil

White or black pepper
Cooked shrimp

English cucumbers diagonally slices

How to:

1. Put oil in the pan over medium heat

2. Add garlic and onion, stir and cook for 2 minutes and then add mushroom, oyster sauce and cook for  2-3 minutes.  Add parsley and pepper, turn off the heat.

 3. Place cooked shrimp on top of English cucumber slices and top with stir-fry shimeji mushrooms.

Enjoy!

^__^

3 Mushrooms and Egg Drop Soup

Meatless Monday....Monday!!! Trying to be healthier in 2012 doesn't have to be that hard. You just need to change your old bad habits little by little, one day at a time! Like eat less sugar and substitute it with honey, eat less french fried by reduce it from super size to a kid happy meal, eat less meat and eat more fruits and veggies for your happier healthier lifestyle. Basically, I was just trying to say....you can eat anything.....but....in a moderation. As you know mushrooms are an excellent source of potassium that help lower blood pressure and help reduce the risk of stroke. Mushrooms are also low in calories, little sodium and fat which is perfect for those who is trying to lose ponds. The benefits of mushrooms are countless and I don't want to bore you to death by giving you the whole page of lecture. And with the love of mushroom, here is a dish using 3 kinds of mushrooms you can try whenever you feel like something that is light but filling enough to keep you stay sleep through the night without guilt. Easy and simple to make, I promise!

 What you need: For 4 servings:

**you can use any combination of mushrooms any kind you like

1 cup shiitake mushrooms sliced

1 cup button mushrooms quartered

1 cup shimeji mushrooms

2 eggs lightly beaten

10 cups water

1/4 cup light soy sauce

1 tablespoon sesame oil

2 tablespoon fresh ginger thinly sliced

green onion and white pepper powder

How to:

1. bring water to a boil over medium-high heat

2. add all the mushrooms, ginger, soy sauce and let it cook for 5-7 minuets

3. slowly and gently pure beaten egg in the pot as the egg should be cooked very quickly

4. turn the heat to low, add sesame oil green onion, and white pepper powder, and you done!

Serve as it is or you can add cooked jasmine or brown rice or your favorite noodles as you please.

Cauliflower in White Wine & Tomato Sauce...

This quick, easy, and very very tasty recipe is adapted from my mother-in-law’s cookbooks which I have added cumin and hot sauce to spice it up a little and sugar to balance out the sourness of tomato paste and lemon juice.  The result was marvelous and I couldn’t believe I pulled it off perfectly…yes, I just said “perfectly” (while patting myself on the back!)

Serve it as a side dish or as an appetizer using French bread or your favorite bread to soak up the juice…..ummm….heaven!

What you need: for 3-4 servings

¼ cup carrots sliced

¼ cup onion sliced
¼ cup celery sliced
2 cups cauliflower cut into small flowerets
Pinch of Salt and pepper
1 tsp Thyme
1 tsp Coriander
1 tsp cumin
3 tbsp olive oil
½ cup white wine
½ cup veggie stock
3 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp lemon juice
**Hot sauce – optional

How to:

1.  Stir fry onion, carrots, and celery in the olive oil over medium-high heat for about 3 minutes and add cauliflower, then seasoning with salt, pepper, thyme, coriander, and cumin.
2.  Add white wine, veggie stock, tomato paste, sugar, stir and let it cooking in the sauce for 2-3 minutes.  Be careful not to overcook the veggies.
3.  Turn off the heat and add lemon juice and hot sauce if you prefer.

^___^

Easy Eggs in Mashed Potato cups

It's just another lazy weekend when you just want to stay in bed all day but then your stomach is telling you to "get up!, I'm hungry!"  So, my coffee is brewing while I'm looking for soumthing easy to make and there I found leftover mashed potato I had with dinner last night, hm mm... blink! and the light in my head went off!  Let's start!
BTW, I made this for ME only because my hubby doesn't like eating eggs this way, so easy for me! 




For 1 person only!

2 eggs
1/2 cup mashed potato
2 tablespoons finely shredded mozzarella cheese
cooking spray

1 cup baby spinach
1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice
salt and pepper


Preheat the oven at 350' F

1. put mashed potato in the muffin pan to make a cup -  spray  the muffin pan with cooking spray fist!
2. add cheese on top and crack an egg on each cup
3. bake for 20 minutes

while the eggs are baking, let's quick stir-fry baby spinach.

put olive oil in the pan over medium-high heat, and then add baby spinach.  Tossing for a few time and then add salt, pepper, and lemon juice.  Done!

Serve on top of stir-fry baby spinach with a dash of salt and pepper on eggs, and with any kinds of salsa you like.  I'm having my with roasted red bell pepper and garlic puree.

Sweet Sticky Rice and Mango

Sticky rice and mango is the most popular dessert in Thailand and it has become well-known internationally over decades.  Personally, this dessert dish is not really my favorite.  What?  yeah, aren’t you surprise?  It’s my hubby’s favorite.  I thing he likes it because of the sweet and creamy of the coconut rice that perfectly pair well with the perfectly ripe mango.  It’s a delicacy and genius way of mixing these ingredients altogether that turn out to be a perfect dessert that represents the uniqueness of Thailand worldwide.  Choosing the right kind of mango to be served with sweet coconut sticky rice can be really tricky for us who lives in the States.   We usually see mangoes in the market the kind of greenish, reddish color which I assumed they are from South America or known as Mexican mangoes and they are not sweet at all.  

Mexican mangoes usually use in making salsa, chutneys, or relishes, and they are available all year round in the U.S.   The acceptable kind of mango I can find is Manila or Ataulfo mangoes that have a color of butter squash-like yellow when it’s ripe and sweet enough that suitable to pair with the sweet coconut sticky rice,  and they also available all year round at the market in the U.S.  When using Ataulfo mangoes for this dish, you need to let them sit on the kitchen counter for a few days after you brought them home from supermarket, so they can bring out the sweetness in them when they turn a little bit overripe. 

For 4 servings:

2 cups glutinous rice

1 ½  cup coconut milk

1 tsp salt

½ cup palm sugar

4 ripe Ataulfo or Manila mangoes – 1 for each serving

Toasted sesame seeds

How to:

1.  Soak the glutinous rice in water for at least 4 or 6 hours to soften the rice before steaming.
   

2.  Drain the soaked rice and place it in the cheesecloth and put in the steamer – you can use a bamboo steamer or the regular steamer you have. It doesn’t matter what kind of steamer you use, the result will be the same.  However, there is one thing you have to keep in mind is that do not let the boiling water touch the bottom of the top steamer while the rice is cooking, otherwise, the rice will become soggy and unworkable. Let the rice steam for 20 minute in high heat.  The rice is cooked when it becomes soft and translucent. 

3.  Making coconut sauce while the rice is still cooking by mix coconut milk, palm sugar, and salt into the pot and over low heat.  Keep stirring until palm sugar is dissolved and to prevent lumps.  Turn off the heat and set aside the coconut sauce – separate and set aside for 1/3 cup to use when serving.

4.  Once the rice is cooked, transfer the rice into the large bowl using a wooden spoon to gently stir just for a few times to cool the rice down a little bit. 

5.  Pure the coconut sauce into the cooked rice and stir well until the rice soak up all the coconut sauce thoroughly as its cool.

6.  Serve the sweet sticky rice with mango slices and top with coconut sauce that was set aside and garnish with toasted sesame seeds.   Walla!

Enjoy!

^__^