Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

K love pancakes. So I made him some with grated apples. This way I can finish up my stash and feed him some more fruit. This is the easiest pancake recipe ever. It's not that fluffy, so it's not Hubby's fave, but it's awesome when I'm too lazy to look for my usual fluffy blueberry pancakes recipe (although if you do replace the blueberries with shredded apple in the blueberry pancakes recipe, it's the best pancakes I've ever had. No joke). ;)

I find that when everything is at room temperature, I don't end up burning the pancakes before they're cooked. And that's always been an issue with me and most pancake recipes. Either that or it'll take forever to cook over a medium low heat. -_-

Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

(serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup warm milk
• 1 egg, room temperature & lightly beaten
• 1 medium apple, grated
• Butter or canola oil for greasing pan

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. 
2. Pour in milk, egg and mix until combined.
3. Stir in grated apple. 
4. Heat up a nonstick pan over medium heat. Lightly coat with butter or canola oil. Pour about 1/4 cup of batter into the pan and cook until edges look dry and bubbles appear on the surface of the pancake. Flip and cook the other side. 
5. Repeat with remaining batter, lightly coating the pan with butter or oil between each pancake. 
6. Serve with maple syrup and coffee or milk. 

Grilled Cheese Sandwich

I swear a secret to a good grilled cheese sandwich is to have the bread lightly toasted first BEFORE you put the cheese in the middle.

I've made a buttload of grilled cheeses in my day, whether it be in the toaster oven, pan, or even the sad microwave. But this is definitely the way I like it most. Of course I use Kraft Singles, cuz it just tastes like my childhood. Hubby can't handle the process stuff so I gotta use real cheddar for his - claims I spoiled him with real food. I suppose it's a good thing, right? :P

This is a simple enough recipe but it's a good reminder. Plus maybe it'll be useful for the kids when they grow up...One can only hope, right? ;)


Grilled Cheese Sandwich
(serves 2)

Ingredients:

• 4 whole wheat bread slices
• 2 (any) cheese slices
• 4-6 Tbsps mayonnaise

Directions:

1. Heat a nonstick pan over medium heat. Spread mayonnaise on one side of the bread and place the mayo-side down in the pan. Top with a slice of cheese. Spread one side of another slice of bread with mayonnaise and place it non-mayo-side down on top of the cheese.
2. Once the bottom slice of bread turns golden brown, use a spatula to flip the whole thing over to brown the other side of the sandwich.
3. Cook until both sides are golden brown. Transfer to a cutting board and slice sandwich in half, diagonally. Repeat with the other sandwich.
4. Serve with milk or tomato soup, etc.

If you have a big pan, you can do two at a time. I don't have a big enough pan to make two at a time without squishing the sandwiches, so I just use a small 8" pan and make the sandwiches individually. It's not so bad when you only need to make two sandwiches.

Tofu Kimchi Soup

I've been meaning to make this for so long, but Hubby doesn't like kimchi, so it didn't make sense to make it when he was home. Luckily we have friends visiting and he's been out with them lots so I got to make foods that I like to eat without having to make separate meals for him; and this was one of those meals. WAHAHAHAH! :D


Tofu Kimchi Soup
(serves 4-6)

Ingredients:

• 700g package smooth tofu, cut into bite size pieces, or sliced into 1/2" x 2" pieces
• 3 cups kimchi, with juices
• 3 cups mushrooms, sliced
• 3/4 lb fish tofu/pork belly/pork shoulder
• 3 cups water
• 2 green onion, cut into 2 inch long pieces
• 1 Tbsp gochujang
• 1 Tbsp sugar

Directions:

1. Heat up a large pot over medium high heat. Add kimchi, mushrooms, fish tofu/pork, water, gochujang and sugar. Mix well and bring to a boil. Boil, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
2. Add tofu and green onion. Lower heat to medium low and cook for another 10 minutes. 
3. Serve with rice and a fried egg (and other side dishes).

Summertime Orzo

I love orzo in the summer. I can stuff so much veggies in it and it'll taste refreshing. Even though I'm having pasta. WAHAHAHA.

This is a pretty awesome dish. A little goes a long way and you can serve it with any grilled protein or any pan fried fish fillet. We had it with pan fried halibut the other night. Darn yummy.


Summertime Orzo
(serves 4-6)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups dry orzo
• 1 cup snap peas, sliced on a bias
• 1 bell pepper, finely diced
• 2 cups mushrooms, sliced
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 medium onion, finely diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• Salt & pepper, to taste
• 1 Tbsp canola oil
• Herb butter (optional)

Directions:

1. Bring a medium pot of salted water to boil. Cook orzo until al dente. Drain.
2. Heat up a skillet over medium high heat. Add oil. Once it's shimmery, add mushrooms and cook until they start getting some colour. Add onion, bell pepper and garlic. Cook for a minute or so until the onion starts to soften and garlic is fragrant.
3. Toss in peas and tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Mix in orzo until well combined. Add more salt and pepper if needed. 
5. Serve with grilled protein and top with a pat of herb butter.

Coconut Lime Quinoa

This is very cool. It's pretty "rich" tasting, which is great since quinoa can sometimes taste so "healthy". This is really good with just some pan seared white fish or any seafood honestly. I've had it with pan seared cod and with some lemony garlic shrimp.

It's the perfect thing to have when you "can't" have carbs but need something rich that tastes like carbs. A little will go a long way. It's pretty darn filling...for Hubby and me anyway.


Coconut Lime Quinoa
(serves 6-8)

Ingredients:

• 1 400ml can coconut milk
• 2 cups quinoa, rinsed and drained
• 1 1/2 cups chicken/vegetable stock (or water)
• A pinch of salt
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

Directions:

1. Combine everything except the cilantro into a medium pot. Cover and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. After the 15 minutes, turn off heat and let it rest for 5-10 minutes.
2. Add in cilantro and mix to fluff up.
3. Serve with seafood, grilled chicken, etc.

Spicy Cucumber Salad

Cucumbers are awesome as a side in the summer when you're having some sort of Asian dinner with rice and some stir fries or whatever. It's refreshing and so good for you if you've had a lot of deep fried junk like how I normally do in the summers. :P


Spicy Cucumber Salad
(serves 2-4 as a side dish)

Ingredients:

• 1 English cucumber, diced
• 1/2 tsp garlic chili
• 2 Tbsps white vinegar
• 2 Tbsps soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• Salt

Directions:

1. Place the cucumbers into a small mixing bowl. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and let it sit for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, squeeze out as much of the cucumber juice as possible and return back to the bowl.
2. Add garlic chili, vinegar, soy sauce and sesame oil. Toss until well coated.
3. Let the cucumbers marinate in the sauce for 15 minutes before serving.
4. Serve as a side with rice and another okazu, or alone.

Bean Sprout Salad

This is so simple yet it's so yummy to eat as a side with rice and some sort of protein (stir fry, stew, anything Asian, etc.).

K actually likes to eat it on its own. He uses his fingers to pick up everything. He's going through a phase where he likes to use his hands instead of a fork or spoon. OH WELL. Hopefully it'll end soon :P


Bean Sprout Salad
(serves 4-6 as a small side)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb bean sprouts, rinsed
• 1 English cucumber, sliced into matchsticks
• 1 green onion, finely diced
• 2 tsps sesame oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• Salt
• Sesame seeds (optional)

Directions:

1. In a medium mixing bowl, toss cucumbers with a pinch of salt. Set aside for 5 minutes. 
2. Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to boil. Blanch bean sprouts. Rinse under cold water and squeeze out as much water as possible. 
3. Add bean sprouts to cucumbers. Mix in green onion, sesame oil and garlic. Taste and add more salt if needed.
4. (Optional) top with sesame seeds. 
5. Serve with rice and some sort of Asian okazu or alone.

Fish Tofu & Veggies Stir Fry

There's nothing quite like a simple stir fry to stretch your protein. In this case, it's a half pound of fish tofu. Okay, fine. So fish tofu doesn't really have that much protein, but still. It's protein-ish? Meh, you can always just sub the fish tofu with any protein. Chicken or pork slices are always my go to (marinated with soy sauce, sugar, cornstarch and oil). It's what I grew up with...but I think fish slices would go nicely too. Just gotta brown them, take them out and then add them back in at the end so that it's not overcooked.

To make this totally vegetarian, just add some marinated firm tofu and you're good to go. :D


Fish Tofu & Veggies Stir Fry
(serves 4-6)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup toasted/roast cashews
• 1/2 - 1 lb fish tofu, sliced (or 1 marinated chicken breast, sliced/1 package marinated tofu, cubed/ 1/2 - 1 lb marinated pork tenderloin, sliced; etc.)
• 1 small onion, thinly sliced
• 2 medium carrots, thinly sliced
• 3 celery ribs, thinly sliced
• 3-5 slices ginger
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 green onion, cut into 2 inch long pieces, white parts separated from green parts
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp canola oil

Directions:

1. Heat up a wok over high heat. If your cashews aren't roasted, toast them in the dry wok and then set aside in a clean bowl.
2. Add oil and let it heat up until the oil shimmers. Add in ginger, garlic and white parts of the green onion. Cook until fragrant.
3. Add protein and cook until lightly browned.
4. Toss in onions, carrots, celery, salt, sugar and soy sauce. Mix well. Cover and cook until protein is cooked through and veggies are tender crisp.
5. Stir in green parts of the green onion. Transfer everything onto a serving dish. Top with toasted/roast cashews.
6. Serve with rice and soup.

Chicken Florentine Penne Casserole

I have not made a chicken florentine in a LONG time. The last time I made it, I really loved it and swore I'd make it again. Well, I never did. It was just too much work. Lazy much? Totally. =\

Well, I'm totally craving the flavours again, so I made this concoction. I wasn't sure if there'd be enough milk to cook the pasta properly without drying out anything. OMG how happy was I when it came out perfectly. I gotta give credit to the mushrooms and spinach though. I'm sure they helped in it. :D

You can make this vegetarian or into a side dish by just not adding the chicken. Or you can sub with firm tofu.


Chicken Florentine Penne Casserole
(serves 6)

Ingredients:

• 3 1/2 cups dry penne pasta
• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
• 1 300g frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and drained
• 1 lb mushrooms, sliced
• 2 1/4 cups whole milk
• 2/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 284ml can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 Tbsp dry Italian seasoning
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1 1/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375F.
2. In a large mixing bowl, mix together milk, cheese, mushroom soup, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper until the mixture is no longer clumpy. Mix in chicken breasts, penne, spinach and mushrooms. 
3. Transfer mixture into a  2 1/2 quart casserole dish. Set aside.
4. In a small bowl, mix melted butter and Panko breadcrumbs. Sprinkle on top of the casserole. Tightly cover the casserole with a greased aluminum foil.
5. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove the aluminum foil and bake for another 10 minutes, uncovered, to crisp up the breadcrumbs.
6. Serve with a light salad and/or soup.

Lemony Strawberry Mixed Greens Salad

I'm a sucker for buying the big bags of lemons at the grocery store. It's silly because I almost never use up all of them unless I'm making lemonade, which means I'll almost have to throw away a few. It's sad when I have to. I know I can do other things with it and one of those things is to make a lemony vinaigrette. It's the easiest way for me to use up anything citrus: to make a vinaigrette. Lol.

This vinaigrette can be used on any salad with strawberries and/or sweet greens. If not using on a salad with sweet ingredients, I'd add more honey.

Lemony Strawberry Mixed Greens Salad
(serves 6)

Ingredients:

• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 Tbsp honey
• A pinch each of salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup garlic infused virgin olive oil
• 150g mixed greens
• 6-8 strawberries, sliced
• 1/2 cup toasted almonds, walnuts or pecans (optional)

Directions:

1. In a bowl, combine lemon juice, honey, salt and pepper. Drizzle in 2/3 of the olive oil while whisking vigorously. Taste and add more olive oil if the vinaigrette is too acidic.
2. In a large salad bowl or mixing bowl, combine mixed greens, strawberries and pistachios. Drizzle dressing over greens and gently toss. 
3. Serve with a creamy/rich entree.

Pineapple Cucumber Salad

CRAZY simple. This is definitely one of my favorite summer dishes. I learned this from my mother in law. She makes it for every potluck event and I gobble as much of it down as I can without looking too much like a piggy. :)

Depending on the dried plums, you may need to add some vinegar or lime juice and sugar. There's this specific kind that my mother in law brings back from Malaysia that just makes this dish superb. I have no clue what the brand is, so I can't even Google it. She always brings it back in a clear bag. Like the ones you use for bulk foods....oh well!

As you can tell by the top picture, clearly, I forgot the carrots. But I do have a picture below that my MIL made just last weekend. :)

Pineapple Cucumber Salad
(serves 6-8)

Ingredients:

• 1 small fresh pineapple, cubed (3-4 cups)
• 1 cucumber, cut into 2 inch pieces or cubed
• 1 medium carrot, julienned
• 3 dried plums
• Salt
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• Sugar (optional)
• 1 red chili pepper, finely diced (optional)

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, sprinkle two pinches of salt over the cucumbers and let it sit for 10-15 minutes. Rinse and place back into the mixing bowl.
2. Add pineapple chunks, carrots, the dried plums, vinegar and chili pepper, if using. Mix well. 
3. Chill in the fridge overnight before serving. 
4. If the salad is too sour, add some sugar. If not sour enough, add more vinegar.
5. Serve as a side to any (spicy) Asian dish or eat alone.

Stir Fry Eggplant with Minced Meat

So I love eggplant when it's stir fried or deep fried. I just love it. Hubby can't stand it so I almost never have it unless we're out at a restaurant. This is probably only the second time I've bought eggplant to cook at home. I'm so glad I did. This was so yummy.

I made it spicy just cuz I'm just in love with this garlic chili that I bought on a whim from the grocery store a while back. If I don't have any chilies at home, I just use this. It's crazy spicy and SO GOOD. Probably cuz we love garlic so much in our household...I dare say that it's better than Sriracha for stir fries and that sort of thing. Anything that requires a dipping sauce or something like that, Sriracha is still king. ;)

Honestly, you can turn this into a vegetarian dish if you don't add the meat. It doesn't really matter whether you do it or not. I just don't like making too many different dishes at night (read: lazy) so I add the meat to ensure I get some protein. :P


Stir Fry Eggplant with Minced Meat
(serves 2)

Ingredients:

• 1 medium Chinese eggplant (about 8-10 inches in length), cut in half lengthwise and then 1/2 inch half moons or into 2 inch long strips
• 1/4 lb lean ground pork
• 3 Tbsps soy sauce, divided
• 3 tsps canola oil, divided
• 2 tsps cornstarch, divided
• 1 tsp sugar, divided
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 inch knob of ginger, cut into slivers
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp oyster sauce
• 1/4 tsp garlic chili
• 1 green onion, finely diced

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, marinate the pork with 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of canola oil, 1 teaspoon of cornstarch and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar for about 15 minutes.
2. Heat up remaining oil in a wok over medium high heat. Swirl it around so that all the sides are coated with a thin later of oil. Add marinated pork and cook until browned. Add in eggplant, garlic, ginger and cook until eggplant starts softening.
3. Stir in oyster sauce, remaining sugar, remaining soy sauce and garlic chili. Toss until well coated.
4. In a small bowl or cup, make a slurry out of the remaining cornstarch and water. Add to the wok and toss. Cover the wok and cook until eggplant is fully cooked.
5. Turn off the heat and toss in green onions.
6. Serve with rice.

Garlicky Celery

You know how if you go to Korean restaurants and order certain dishes, there'll be little side dishes to go with the meal? Apparently if you order some set meals from Taiwanese restaurants, you can sometimes get these small side dishes too.

One day I got this cold garlicky celery side dish with my beef curry and rice meal. It was very cool so I decided to so it at home. It's crazy easy and an easy way to add more veggies to a meal. I dare say that it's even an easy way to use up any uncooked Chinese veggies (aka choy) leftover. Although I'd probably cut up any choy into bite size pieces so I can just have it as a snack. :D

Garlicky Celery
(serves 2-3)

Ingredients:

• 4 celery stalks, sliced into 1/8 of an inch thick pieces
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp canola oil
• Salt, to taste
• Water (optional)

Directions:

1. In a medium nonstick pan, heat up oil over medium high heat. Add in celery and cook for about a minute or until the celery starts softening a bit.
2. Add in garlic and cook until garlic is fragrant and celery is tender crisp. Season with salt. Add a tablespoon of water if needed to prevent celery from browning.
3. Serve hot as a side or chill in the fridge for an hour or so and serve cold as a side.

Kimchi Fried Rice

One of my favourite foods in the world for sure! I love a runny egg with almost anything. Seriously. And I love fried rice. And have you TRIED kimchi paired with rice and a runny egg? OMG it's to DIE FOR.

You could make this vegetarian or with any kind of protein. I made mine with leftover diced deli ham, but I've tried it with diced spam. HELLO...loving it. But I do love my spam, so meh! :P

This really is an awesome dish to use up leftover kimchi and leftover rice. You can even make it using leftover fried rice, which makes this dish even easier than it already is. :D


Kimchi Fried Rice
(serves 2)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup kimchi, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups leftover cooked rice
• 3 Tbsps kimchi juice
• 1 heaping Tbsp gojujang
• 1 Tbsp water
• 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
• 1/4 lb diced spam/ham/cooked chicken/beef strips/bulgolgi/firm tofu etc.
• 2 green onions, finely diced
• 1 Tbsp canola oil
• 2 tsps sesame oil
• 2 eggs
• Toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Directions:

1. In a large pan, heat up 1 teaspoon of canola oil. Add mushrooms and cook until caramelized. Add kimchi and stir fry until heated through.
2. Add in protein and rice. Using a spatula, break up the clumps of rice, while stirring everything so it doesn't stick to the pan too much.
3. Pour in the kimchi juice, gojujang and water. Stir until well combined. 
4. Drizzle in the sesame oil and add in green onion. Stir to loosen up everything. Take off the heat and place into 2 bowls. Set aside.
5. In a small skillet, heat up the remaining canola oil over medium low heat. Gently break the eggs into the pan and cook until almost cooked through. Season with a little bit of salt and continue to cook until all the whites are cooked through. Cover the pan with a lid if you want to cook it faster.
6. Slide one egg each over the bowls of kimchi fried rice. Garnish with sesame seeds, if desired.
7. Serve with a side of seaweed salad, pickled radishes or alone as is.

Black Bean Salad

You know, I cannot believe I haven't made a post about this recipe yet. This is one of the salads that I make every summer because Hubby and I both love it so much. It's stupid easy and filling. It's better with the lemon juice (or even lime juice) but we don't always use it if we don't have it. It still tastes good but the acid from the lemon/lime juice really makes the salad scrumptious. :)


Black Bean Salad
(serves 4-6)

Ingredients:

• 1 540ml (19oz) can of black beans, rinsed & drained
• 1 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved (or 2 medium tomatoes, chopped)
• 1 311g (11oz) can of corn niblets, rinsed and drained
• 2 green onion stalks, finely diced
• 2 small or medium avocados, chopped
• 2 Tbsps garlic infused extra virgin olive oil
• Juice of half a lemon or lime
• Salt, to taste

Directions:

1. In a medium mixing bowl, toss everything, except the avocado, and a pinch of salt together. Season with more salt if necessary. Just before serving, toss in avocado chunks.
2. Serve with grilled chicken or steak.

Brown Rice & Beans

Teeheehee. Hubby will always refuse brown rice. Unless it's my mom mixing it with jasmine rice. Then he can't really complain and he just eats it. Begrudgingly. Regardless, I'm trying to eat healthier. (Trying is the operative word here.) That being said, I wanted to try brown rice without mixing it with white rice. It may not sound like a big deal to most people, but it's so scary for me. I LOVE my sushi and jasmine rice. Sometimes I actually do wonder if I can live longer without rice or without Hubby.

Anywho, I saw a recipe for Jamaican rice and peas, so I thought I'd try it out with brown rice and black beans (rather than kidney, since I didn't have any). It's pretty darn good. Maybe I'll actually try brown rice in place of white rice one day. Maybe.

Oh yeah, before I forget. The whole point of this was that I somehow managed to get Hubby to have brown rice without him knowing that it was brown rice. He just doesn't like beans with his rice, so I'll have to do something about that next time. Progress!


Brown Rice & Beans
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 1 small onion, finely diced
• 1 400ml (13.5oz) can of coconut milk
• 1 cup brown rice, uncooked
• 1 cup cooked black beans
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• Salt, to taste
• 1/2 cup water

Directions:

1. In a medium pot, heat up the cream part of the coconut milk over medium high heat. Once bubbly, stir in onions. Cook until soften.
2. Stir in allspice, cumin and a pinch of salt. Add in rice and mix until it's all coated with the coconut cream.
3. Pour the remaining can of coconut milk and water. Bring to a boil. Cover, lower the heat to a bare simmer and simmer for 45 minutes. Turn off heat and stir in black beans. Cover and let rest for 5 minutes.
4. Serve as a side with grilled fish/prawns and a side salad, or fish stew.

Cheesy Mashed Potatoes

A few years back, I was on this diet where I couldn't have any butter or oils (except for virgin olive oil), among other things...But I wanted mashed potatoes. So instead of adding butter and milk, I added cheese. It was a good idea.

I hadn't made it again since then. But I thought I'd try that diet again. So here we go...Cheesy Mashed Potatoes that even K and Hubby will devour. :)


Cheesy Mashed Potatoes
(serves 3-4)

Ingredients:

• 3 large russet potatoes, cubed
• 1 cup cheddar/marbled cheese, shredded
• 1/4 cup hot milk
• Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Boil potatoes in salted water until fork tender. Drain water.
2. Add hot milk and cheese to the drained potatoes. Mash with potato masher. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Serve with veggies and grilled meat.

Ham & Pepper Fried Rice

OMG we always have so much leftovers after a Christmas dinner. Same for Thanksgiving too. Maybe next year I'll just make turkey for Thanksgiving and ham for Christmas. I really actually only like the ham. Hubby used to love turkey but he prefers ham now so really it's just the extended family that likes turkey.

I gotta say though, it's pretty amazing when you present a nicely cooked turkey to a big group of people. Makes you feel accomplish. ^^

Anywho, I used deli ham for the picture cuz I forgot to take a picture of the one with real ham and sometimes I need to get rid of deli ham quick. But who cares. It's still the same recipe. Only it tastes way more amazing with real ham that you've cooked using a picnic shoulder. Drool....


Ham & Pepper Fried Rice
(serves 2-3)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cold leftover white rice (1-3 days old)
• 1/2 lb ham (or any cooked meat or medium firm tofu), finely diced or crumbled
• 1 bell pepper, finely diced
• 1 - 2 Tbsps ginger, minced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 green onion stalks, finely diced
• Salt or soy sauce, to taste
• 2 Tbsps canola oil

Directions:

1. Heat a wok on high heat to warm up canola oil. Add in ginger, garlic and ham. Stir fry until ham starts to caramelize/brown. Add in eggs, stirring vigorously so that it doesn't burn and scrambles into tiny pieces.
2. When egg is still a little runny, add in bell peppers and rice. Stir to break up all the rice. Season with salt or soy sauce. 
3. Once the rice softens and is no longer in clumps, turn off the heat. Stir in green onions.
4. Serve with soup.

Raisin Cranberry Apple Oatmeal

K has been having oatmeal since he was about 8 months old? Maybe a little older. But I've stopped giving him oatmeal for some time since he got sick of the Blueberry Oatmeal.

Now that he can have little chunks of apples without my having to worry about him choking, I almost never make him his Apple Pie Toddler Cereal. I probably can, since he still loves his applesauce. And I have so much brown rice leftover. Heck, yes I think I'll do that later today or tomorrow.

In the meantime, he still has about 2 cups of this oatmeal left. And he loves it. I mean who wouldn't? It's sweet from just the dried fruits I put in there!


Raisin Cranberry Apple Oatmeal
(makes 2 cups)

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup quick cooking oats
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup dried sweetened cranberries
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 apple, cored, peeled & diced
• Half pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Bring milk to a gentle boil over medium heat. Be careful because it'll bubble over very quickly.
2. Stir in oats, raisins, cranberries, cinnamon, nutmeg and a half pinch of salt. Cook until oatmeal thickens, about 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Take oatmeal off the heat and stir in diced apples.
4. Serve with milk or diluted juice. 

Oatmeal can keep in the fridge for a up to 5 days. Add a splash of milk when heating up to loosen the oatmeal. Otherwise it may be too thick when reheated.

Frenchy Twice Baked Potatoes

Mashed potatoes can get kinda boring so I wanted to try something new. We always love the Keg's twice baked potato, so I thought I'd try it out. With a twist! The twist being that I'd use a french onion dip in place of sour cream. LOL. The things I do to try to use up leftover dip...Luckily it turned out nice! :)


Frenchy Twice Baked Potatoes
(serves 10-12)

Ingredients:

• 8 baking/Russet potatoes, washed and scrubbed
• 3 Tbsps canola oil
• 1 cup French onion dip
• 2 cups Cheddar cheese, shredded
• 2 green onion stalks, finely diced
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 3 Tbsps extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F and line baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Place potatoes on the parchment lined baking sheet and rub with canola oil. Bake for 1 hour, or until potatoes are fully cooked. Give the potatoes a squeeze and if it has a little give, it's done.
3. Lower oven temperature to 350F.
4. In a large mixing bowl, combine dip, cheese and green onions. Set aside.
5. Using a sharp knife, cut the potatoes in half. Use a spoon to scoop out the filling into the dip mixture, leaving about 1/4 inch of rim on the potatoes intact for support.
6. Use a potato masher to mash everything together. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
7. Scoop filing mixture back into the potato shells so that they're heaping full. You may not use all the shells, but that's okay. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and bake for 15-20 minutes until the tops start getting brown.
8. Serve with grilled chicken or alone with a side salad.