Kitchen Experiment: Banana "Ice-cream"

Although I love to eat, I don't think I would make a very good food critic.  Even if I have the amazing ability to discern different tastes, I am much to emotion.  I can go from loving to hating in a blink of an eye.  Banana is on the top of the love-hate list.  I love bananas - it makes a quick and easy breakfast when I get up 5 minutes before the bus arrives; it's sweet and you can't go too wrong with anything sweet (and anything fat for that matter). But I also dislike bananas sometimes to a point that it disgusts me just to see their yellow skin.  One of the most hypocritical thing I do is to recommend people adding fruits such as bananas into their cereal or oatmeal in the morning (which I totally won't do at home).  Please forgive me because that was the most standard and easy answers to too many situations.

Anyway, when I came across this idea of blending frozen bananas to make ice-cream, I was very skeptical.  But as a dietitian, I have to say - whoever invented this was a genius!  Because I personally know people who love ice-cream, but they really shouldn't be having ice-cream too often. And there's really no such thing as healthy ice-cream because ice-cream by nature requires fat to give it the gooey texture that a lot of people love.  So here comes this healthier one-ingredient ice-cream (it might not be the exact texture, but it satisfies the craving):

Ingredient (just one): Bananas!
Steps: Peel and cut up bananas (I froze the whole banana the first time. Trust me, it's not a good idea). Freeze the bananas for 1-2 hours. Throw them into a food processor or blender and blend until it's creamy and gooey (almost soft-serve-like texture).  Enjoy!

Loaves of Bread Etsy Shop

Here's a few of my recent projects available on Etsy! Glitter rose thank you card shown above.  And other rhinestone projects.  I wish I have better lighting in some photos. 

Sequin Heart Brooches

I am attracted to things that sparkle.  After rhinestones, sequin seems to be the way to go.  I first saw these sequin heart pins on pinterest or someone's wedding album (I can't remember).  It's such a cute idea to wear these as brooches.  The only thing that kept me from starting this little project was that sequin trims in different colors took me some time to find (even online). They turned out to be harder to make than I have imagined.  So after battling with the sequin trims and my glue gun, I have my first two sequin hearts!  They say practice makes perfect; so more sequin hearts to come in the future! :p

Bunny Mason Jars

I got these mason jars from TJMaxx to get rid of the annoying resealable bags on the bathroom counter top.  And then for the sake of color-matching/getting rid of leftover spray paint, I sprayed them white (not quite perfectly).  I thought they looked okay but wanted to do something fun with them.  So when I saw these cute bunnies from a toy shop during a road trip, I brought them home.  After leaving them in them in the glass cabinet (on display) for nearly half a year, I finally glued them to my mason jars tonight!  Hopefully, these "bunny on snow" jars (yes I named them..) will add a little bit of life to my dull daily routine.

Gordon Ramsay's Scrambled Eggs

I am addicted to eggs - my favorite food in the world since I could talk.  When Kenny showed me this Gordon Ramsay video on how to make scrambled eggs, I couldn't wait to try it!  So here it is.  The day after Sandy and her remains, we finally set out to buy some heavy cream and smoked salmon to make our own version.  It makes me happy!

Wedding Toms Sneak Peek

October is gone in the blink of an eye.  And I feel like I haven't accomplished much.  Projects, papers, exams in school are not even half-done.  I always wonder how and why we cramp everything in the last month of the semester.  Anyway, I am glad that November's coming up since winter is my favorite season (if I can magically make every day a sunny day, I don't mind the snow).  Can't wait till Thanksgiving (eating and shopping: two of my favorite things combined!); but this year, I also can't wait till December because of my birthday (it always happens in December for some reason), friends' visits, Christmas, and adding to the list this year - weddings!

I saw this pair of pretty rhinestone converse online and really wanted to make one! I am glad my friend took my offer on that.  Today when Hurricane Sandy was visiting, I pulled out all my supplies and started gluing rhinestones! Now I am half-done, awaiting some more rhinestone deliveries. 

By the way, I used real Swarovski crystals, which makes it... expensive (of course if it's for a friend it does not matter).  But I am currently researching ways to make it cheaper.  I heard acrylic rhinestones are cheaper but not as sparkly, so I might give those a try next time. 

More photos to come : ) 

Kitchen Experiment - Bread Pudding

For my internship this summer, I have been teaching a nutrition class at two residences for developmentally delayed individuals.  To get their attention each class, I would make sure I bring along something to eat or something for them to do.  So after the first few classes, they remember me as the food lady (asking "what are we eating today?" every time) and I ended up with lots of leftover foods.

I did some online research and ended up with Paula Deen's Bread Pudding Recipe.  After a test batch that failed miserably (and of course being tortured by the guilt of adding too much sugar into a recipe), I decided to just go with my gut.  I added around 5 slices of stale white bread, 1/2 cup of sugar, ~1 cup of milk and some vanilla extract.  Soak the bread well in the mixture and baked for 40 minutes at 350 degrees.

The group of taste-tester friends who are always my recipe-testing lab rats all had varied opinion, some say it's still too sweet, some say it's okay.  So I guess that means room for improvement, but hey, I used up my bread and produced something that goes well with ice-cream!

Not-so-simple Meal - Dumplings!

Ironically, I have been super "busy" with all the going to work routine ever since summer began.  And then in the blink of an eye came August.  I cannot believe that I am a little excited to get back to my work-school routine, so much more relaxing and flexible.

Anyway, I have wanted to try to make dumplings after my mother's visit earlier this year but have always put them off because I don't have time. I have always considered myself a very "practical" chef, simple yet delicious is my philosophy.  The rest? Leave it to my quite frequent restaurant visits.  It turned out that I was so pleased with my first batch that I started making my second and third within one week. So here I am, making dumplings in the middle of my busy work-sleep-work routine this summer. 

Ingredients: minced pork (or beef or lamb for that matter), bok choy (or leek or scallion or your favorite green veggie), and dumpling wraps from a Chinese supermarket (someday I will make my own), one egg (or water)

1. It is best to marinate your minced pork overnight with a bit of soy sauce, dark soy sauce and cooking wine
2. Chop up veggies

3. Mix veggies with minced pork

4. Beat an egg as the "glue" for dumpling wrapping (or you can just use water)

5. And then I got stuck, I guess I assumed just by watching my mother made me good at wrapping dumplings. So I went on youtube for expert instruction (click here). And made my own instructioin sheet:

And tah-dahhh!! Feeling very accomplished!

 6. Bring water or broth to a boil, drop them in and serve after 5 minutes!

 7. Enjoy! Not only the eating, the wrapping is a good afternoon/evening activity too.  It gave me such a great sense of accomplishment that I almost called my mother and bragged about it!

Simple Meals - Coca Cola Chicken Wings

When it comes to cravings, I reserve a special place for chicken wings.  Since I have some leftover Coca Cola from a previous dinner gathering at my place, I decided to not be wasteful and make something with the flat soda.

For this batch of wings (~14-15 wings), I used ~700ml of leftover coke, ~1/2 cup of soy sauce (or slightly more depending on taste) and a pinch of salt.  Make sure all the chicken wings are covered by the fluid and cooked on slow heat for 30 minutes (~20 minutes if you like firmer meat). I like how the chicken wings turned out to be very "meaty" and yet slightly sweet without the thickness from honey wings.  Definitely a favorite from the time that I was a kid.