Random Thoughts

It's really hard to blog every single day. With the hectic schedule at work, I now don't have time to cook or try new recipes. All I want to do is to rest and sleep, or just simply stay at home doing nothing, or visit my lovely Zoya.

Can't bear the heat and the scorching sun. Feels like burning myself by the leather seat when I get in the car. Just had some shave ice and now back home with the air on.

It's the end of summer. What have I done during the summer? Work. I really think I need a vacation, a time just to rest, to relax, to feel happy. There're some changes in life. I pray that God will give me peace and joy in heart.

After a few weeks of house hunting, we found a new place. We'll sign the new lease next week and start moving stuff within the next two weeks. Time to pack again.

More cooking

I think I'm crazy. I did three loads of laundry and cooked five different dishes yesterday, yeah, on Sunday. Just because I know that I'll have a hectic week at work and probably won't have time to prepare for dinner when I get home. At the same time, I wanted to clear out the fridge. I checked the freezer and there're just so many meats that I bought long time ago. I don't know if those are still fresh but I guess they're still edible. haha.... hubby eats everything I make.

趁洗衣服的時候, 用大同電鍋做了3道菜（我愛大同....)

用小烤箱烤了雞翅, 加上爐台上的番茄蛋花湯

翡翠玉白菜

只用了大概半顆白菜, 洗淨切段

放入蝦米(先用水浸一下), 2-3個蒜頭(切片), bacon(切細), 紅蘿蔔片

全部放到電鍋裡（兩杯水）好了後用鹽和hondashi調味即可

香菇雞丁

因為冷凍庫有雞胸肉, 所以這次是用雞胸肉做的（兩塊雞胸肉）

不過, 還是要用“雞腿肉“, 會更好吃喔！！【下次我ㄧ定要用雞腿肉】

乾香菇5-6朵（先浸水）【下次可以用新鮮香菇或草菇試試看】

先將雞肉切丁, 加上6-8片薑片, 調味後醃放約20分鐘

調味：蠔油2大匙, 太白粉1大匙, 麻油1/4小匙, 鹽和胡椒適量

之後將香菇切丁, 紅蘿蔔切丁, 加上調味醃好的雞肉放入電鍋

兩杯水的電鍋時間就好囉～

蛋蒸肉

約半磅的豬絞肉（對...上次沒用完的）

調味：醬油1大匙, 米酒1大匙, 糖1小匙, 麻油1小匙, 胡椒少許

加上2-3個蒜頭的蒜頭末,大約一根蔥(切碎), ㄧ起攪拌均勻

將肉餡放到ㄧ個大碗公裡, 把表面鋪平, 打兩個蛋在上面

放入電鍋20分鐘（兩杯水的時間）

【下次可以使用生的鹹蛋, 或是先把蛋白和蛋黃分開, 先鋪上蛋白再蛋黃】

烤雞腿

沒想到上次還留個5個雞翅（也不知道是哪一次...)

調味：醬油1大匙, 米酒1大匙, 糖1小匙, 約2個蒜頭末, 胡椒些許

先醃個20分鐘, 放入烤箱350度約25-30分鐘

番茄蛋花湯

先將番茄切成像月亮的形狀（像切柳丁一樣）, 打2顆蛋, 豆腐切小塊

水煮滾後【如果加點雞湯味道會更好】放入番茄, 豆腐

滾後打入蛋花, 加上ㄧ些蔥花, 加鹽調味

Try. Try. Try.

Trying new recipes is something I enjoy doing these days when I get home from work. Both hubby and I lost a few pounds from our weekday light/healthy/no-carb eating style. That makes me happy.

Tonight's menu: 波菜香菇魚丸湯 Spinach fish ball soup, 烤魚 baked Cajun catfish fillets, & 百花鑲香菇 stuffed mushrooms.

My first time making the stuffed mushrooms with shrimps. It always takes some time to chop the ingredients for something fancy.

百花鑲香菇

8朵香菇 (我用的是乾的香菇, 要先泡水讓香菇變軟）

蝦仁（大約6隻蝦）, 洗淨, 把蝦腸拿掉, 切碎

荸薺/馬蹄/water chestnuts 3-4個, 切碎

一點青豆和紅羅蔔

調味：米酒2匙, 麻油1匙, 太白粉1匙, 些許鹽和胡椒

將材料調味好, 在香菇內部塗上太白粉, 把蝦餡鋪在香菇上

放入蒸籠蒸約10分鐘

（找到的食譜有醬汁, 不過這次我沒做, 沒醬汁也是ok的）

醬汁：高湯1杯煮滾, 加少許鹽, 加入太白粉水, 加香油

將醬汁澆在蒸好的香菇上

波菜香菇魚丸湯

將一把波菜洗乾淨, 切段

把一鍋水（加一些雞湯）煮滾

先將魚丸放入, 煮滾再放入波菜（保持波菜的新鮮度）

最後加點鹽調味即可

烤魚

這次用的是catfish fillets, 已經調好味的Cajun口味(超市都有賣）

放入烤箱400度, 每面烤10分鐘

catfish的肉質比較有嚼勁, 我還蠻喜歡的

Monday Night

Menu for Monday night: 翡翠蝦盅 Stuffed cucumbers, 烤魚 baked salmon, 青花菜＆紅蘿蔔 broccoli & carrots.

翡翠蝦盅

大黃瓜1條, 削皮後切成一小段（每段大約1inch)

豆腐, 1/3盒, 切碎

蝦子6隻（依照大黃瓜的數量而定）洗淨, 蝦背切開, 拿掉蝦腸

先將蝦子調味（10分鐘）：

薑末1小匙, 米酒1大匙, 太白粉1大匙, 鹽些許

將豆腐放入大黃瓜裡面, 再把蝦子放在上面

放入蒸籠蒸5分鐘（不能蒸太久以免蝦子變硬）

（找到的食譜有醬汁, 不過我做不成功....

所以自己用了上次吃soba的醬汁加點麻油, 味道還過的去....）

醬汁：1/2杯水煮滾, 加1/2大匙醬油, 1個蒜末, 香油, 1大匙的太白粉水

烤魚

這次是用調味好的salmon fillet

在錫箔紙上塗點橄欖油, 放上魚片

放入烤箱400度, 烤15分鐘即可

青花菜＆紅蘿蔔

我現在只用燙的, 先放紅蘿蔔到滾水裡

在放入青花菜

用一點滾青菜的水加上蒜末和鹽調味澆在青花菜和紅蘿蔔上

Bottles & Cans

This is the picture of the day: Recycling.

Yes, that's hubby carrying the bottles and cans that we'd accumulated over the past few months. We had bags of empty bottles and cans at home and we finally got the chance to clear them out this afternoon. Hubby used my pretty ribbons to tie those bags together. Both of us were guessing on how much we would get. Guess what! We actually got $15.60 from recycling!!!! That was just more than we expected.

If case you're wondering, most of our bottles and cans are drinking waters. No beer or wine, only our favorite drinks like V8, 蘋果西打, 舒跑, 可爾必思....

I remembered that I had a post on recycling on this blog before. That was more than 2 years ago. I'm glad that I'm still doing recycling this day. It's still interesting to know that we humans have the same lifespan (80-100 years) as aluminum cans. Let's protect the environment and start recycling. =)

珍珠丸子

晚餐的組合：珍珠丸子+烤魚＋四季豆＋蠔油芥蘭 這次是第一次一起和老公合作做“珍珠丸子“ 雖然材料需要很多“切工“, 但還不錯吃喔！ 珍珠丸子 材料：豬絞肉0.5磅, 香菇3朵, 蝦米1匙, 荸薺/馬蹄/water chestnuts 6個, 蒜頭2個, 糯米1杯, 蔥花些許 糯米前一天先洗淨浸水, 糯米會吸水, 水一定要放夠 最好把浸水的糯米放在冰箱裏, 糯米要用的時候要瀝乾 香菇浸水泡軟後切碎 蝦米浸在米酒裏約5分鐘後撈起, 切碎 荸薺(還是不知道這兩個字怎麼唸)/馬蹄這次是用罐頭的, 切碎 蒜頭切碎 調味: 醬油1匙, 米酒1匙, 切碎的蒜頭, 麻油1匙, 鹽些許, 胡椒些許 先將豬絞肉調味好(同一方向攪拌) 之後再加入蛋黃1個, 太白粉1匙, 香菇, 蝦米, 馬蹄, 最後才放入蔥花 把調味攪拌好的肉餡捏成一小球的丸子, 再放到糯米裏滾一滾 拍一拍讓糯米黏好在小肉球上面 ＊＊＊這可都是老公親手捏的喔＊＊＊ 放入水滾的蒸籠裏蒸個15分鐘就可以囉~ 這樣的材料大約可以做16-18顆珍珠丸子 烤魚 Baked Talapia Fish Fillets 2片Talapia fish fillets （這次是在Albertson買的, 兩片魚片竟然還不到1塊錢） 先用把魚片洗淨瀝乾, 兩面都塗上olive oil 再把兩面都撒上Emeril's Fish Rub 放入烤箱300度, 烤15-20分鐘 四季豆 把四季豆洗淨, 切成小段 把水煮開, 將四季豆燙幾分鐘撈起, 沖冷水 調味：鹽1小匙, 雞粉1小匙, 麻油2/3匙, 熱水1大匙 把四季豆和調味料混合均勻即可上桌 蠔油芥蘭 將芥蘭菜洗淨, 切成小段 把水煮開, 先將芥蘭菜根的部份放入滾水中 過幾分鐘再放葉子的部份, 幾分鐘後撈起 調味：蠔油2大匙, 糖1/2匙, 水1大匙, 麻油1小匙 將調味醬汁淋在排好的芥蘭菜上就完成囉～

What to eat?

這陣子覺得人生像是烏雲籠罩一般

唯一讓我覺得開心的是應該只有兩件

第一, 就是看到小若雅還有抱弟弟

看到他們怎麼能不開心呢？！純真的模像真的好可愛

而把弟弟抱在懷裡那種溫暖的感覺.....真棒～

第二, 就是努力的想每天晚上的晚餐吃什麼

自上次從台灣回來後就幾乎沒下廚過, 算算也超過半年了吧～

常常都是吃外面, 吃到都不知道胖了多少磅

所以上個禮拜開始聽了好朋友的建議要吃得健康

非常努力的讓每一餐都色香味俱全

重點是, 完全沒有油煙的煮法

只能用大同電鍋, 小烤箱, 蒸籠, 還有用水煮或燙

這算是我給自己的一種挑戰

吃得健康其實最重要, 但是配菜也是ㄧ種技巧

不過感覺到吃得健康, 吃得有創意是種開心的感覺....

上禮拜都把晚餐的照片放在facebook

但是我又想把一些做法和食譜記下來

所以想有空就應該把它紀錄下來, 這樣以後如果要做才可以參考

養生雞湯

雞腿6根, 山藥一小段, 紅棗8顆, 枸杞1大湯匙, 薑片3片, 雞湯罐頭1罐

先把雞腿放在冷水裡和幾片薑片一起煮到水滾

水滾大概3分鐘後再把雞腿沖冷水洗乾淨

把雞腿和其他配料（除了山藥以外）放到大同電鍋的內鍋

加水到覆蓋住雞腿 （電鍋放兩杯的水）

山藥等到快煮好再放下去以保持山藥的營養和脆度

涼拌蒟篛絲

蒟篛絲燙一下撈起沖冷水

調味：

醬油1大匙, 水3大匙, 醋1小匙, 糖1/2小匙,

麻油1小匙, 芝麻1/2小匙, 蔥花1大匙, 些許胡椒

蒟篛調味後冰到冰箱會更入味

把番茄切片擺盤 （當然, 番茄跟著蒟篛也很好吃）

蘆筍培根捲

蘆筍洗乾淨把粗粗的地方削乾淨, 切一段ㄧ段的配合培根的寬度

培根的選擇很多, 這次第一次用Turkey Bacon (cooked/extra lean)

培根切半, 一片捲上2根蘆筍

放入烤箱250度, 烤約20多分鐘 （烤的時候就可以作別的菜）

清江菜

菜洗乾淨, 燙幾分鐘就可以

撈起來後拿一點燙青菜的水加一點鹽和幾片蒜頭做點調味（蒜頭鹽水）

澆在青菜上就好囉～

Flat Tire

Having a flat tire on the road is no fun at all, especially on a hot day like this.

We heard this weird loud clinking sound when we were about to exit the freeway on the way home this late afternoon. We slowed down the car and no doubt it's one of our tires. We made it to the light from the exit ramp and made a right turn to stop the car. Hubby went out of the car to check and he said that we got a really bad flat on the left rear back. To be safe, we drove a few feet further to lot of a high school. It was really hot in Chino Hills, even in the late afternoon. When I got out of the car to take a look, wow, the tire is ripped open.

Hubby changed the spare tire under the scorching sun and he had sweats all over him!! And I was next to him supporting him and busy taking pictures for him to document the incident. heehee~~ He did a great job!!!!

We still praise the Lord that both of us are safe! Praise Him that it wasn't noon or early afternoon or at night! Praise God for a place to stop our car and giving us the skill to change the spare! God is GOOD, all the time.