Banana Dried Fruit Waffles

This is another type of healthy waffle that I had in mind.  My elder girl won't eat banana but she liked banana cake.  So, I thought I would smashed up the banana and added into the batter and make the waffle so that she doesn't even know she is eating a waffle with banana in it.  On of my readers suggested me to slice the banana and bake it with the waffle which gave me the idea.  For this, I only used one large banana and surprisingly I could still smell the banana in this waffle.

I read that a good energy food for breakfast is oatmeal, banana, milk and etc.  So, this is definitely a good energy boost breakfast for you to last until lunch.  Not to say, yummy too and no syrup needed!  This waffle has oatmeal, banana, milk, eggs, honey and dried cranberries to list some.

~Yields about 12 waffles (for the above shape)

Ingredients:

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cup instant oatmeal/ quick-cooking oats

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. cinnamon powder

1/4 tsp. salt

4 Tbsp. sugar

2 Tbsp. honey

1 3/4 cup 1 % milk

1/2 cup canola oil

1 large banana or two smalls, mashed (frozen works great)

Dried cranberries or raisin, as needed (optional)

Method:

1.  In a big bowl, hand whisk the two eggs until beaten.  Add in the rest of the wet ingredients, whisk well.  Then, add all of the dry ingredients except dried cranberries or raisin and hand whisk until all is blended.  Set aside.

2.  Preheat your waffle maker.  When preheated, spray with buttery non-stick spray and scoop some of the batter onto the waffle iron.  Spread some dried cranberries or raisin on top.  Then, cover the top and side with more batter.  Cover and cook until brown.  For mine is about 6 minutes.  Exact time depends on your waffle maker.

3.  Take it out with a spatula and chopstick and serve hot.

4.  Or cool on wire rack and put in a zip lock bag and freeze for future use.  Toast in a toaster to heat it up.

New Kellogg's Special K with Added Fiber!

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I received this new Kellogg's Special K Red Berries with added fiber as sample.  This product is packed with 3 grams of fiber per serving and zero gram trans fat.  Each serving is about 1 cup and I think this make a great snack for the afternoon too.

I loved the crunchy rice and wheat flakes with strawberries.  It tasted great and would certainly make a healthy, delicious and convenient breakfast for my family.  Anyone would benefit from the extra fiber especially for those who hardly eat your veggie.  From now on, I should make choosing a healthier cereal for my family as a priority, one that is better for us and tastes great, instead of the one that has more sugar and with added colorings.

What about you?  Do you make an effort to check the ingredients list and choose a cereal that is healthier for your family or just buy whatever your kids like?

Salmon Mixed Vegetable Porridge (jook)

Porridge again?  Why so many porridge because this time I had been sick.  I had some bad sore throat right after Evy was cured.  It was really painful and I had to cook myself some porridge/jook/congee.  This time I used frozen mixed vegetable, dried scallop, salmon, dried shrimps and some cut bok choy.  Lastly garnished with some fried shallots.  The cooking instruction can be found at my old post here.

This was how I like my porridge, all the rice grains broken out, watery and soft.  It was sweet with a touch of salt as I added dried scallop and dried shrimps in this.  Healthy too right?

Too bad, both my girls do not fancy porridge, even though it is delicious.  My elder has been very picky and my second one just like to follow her sister.  But if the sister is at school, she will eat the porridge with me.

2-2-3-4-5 Braised Chicken

This dish was inspired by 1-2-3-4-5 Sticky Spareribs (Tang Chu Pai Gu).  Since I don't have spareribs and only chicken, I cooked it differently but with almost the same sauce except I increased the Shaoxing rice wine to 2 Tbsp.  Got to say, delicious!  Now I have one more chicken dish to serve my family.  :-)

I added tofu knots in mine.  If you don't have tofu knots in your area, you can omit it.  Or you can substitute it with Chinese dried mushrooms or dried beancurd sticks.  This sauce is so good with rice, you have to try this dish!

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. Shaoxing rice wine

2 Tbsp. Chinkiang vinegar

3 Tbsp. white sugar

4 Tbsp. Kikkoman soy sauce

5 Tbsp. water

Few pieces of smashed gingers

3 or 4 chicken thighs or 8-10 chicken drumsticks, chopped into pieces

1 bowl of tofu knots, soften in water, drained (optional)

EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) or any oil

Method:

1.  In a heated pot, add in some EVOO and gingers.  Stir until fragrant.  Add in cut chicken pieces and brown it.

2.  Add in the 2-2-3-4-5 sauces and stir well.  Add in the tofu knots and let it simmer for an hour.

3.  Serve with the gravy.  Or take out all the chicken and tofu knots and reduce the gravy to half and pour on top of the chicken and tofu knots.  Serve with rice.  Delicious!!!

Pandan Chiffon Cake 2 (Healthier Version)

 

Pandan chiffon cake was my childhood favorite cake.  I remembered I always asked my mom to buy it at the bakery shop for us to have as breakfast.  It was great being a kid without having to worry about counting calories and just consumed however much we liked.  I seriously would not have known what went into making a cake, a bread, or a dish without me being a cook and a baker myself.  Once I learned that, I have to be careful at what to cook for my family and how much portion to consume in a day, you know to watch my diet and not over eating certain food that is high in saturated fat.

This recipe is adapted from my Pandan Chiffon Cake recipe but because I want to make it healthier with less saturated fat content, I omitted the coconut milk and used 1% milk instead.  I also changed the all-purpose flour to cake flour, just for experiment.  Glad to say it turned out well, still fragrant with Pandan smell and not much difference from the Pandan chiffon cake made with coconut milk.

I didn't do a nice job at dismounting my chiffon cake from the tube pan, this really takes patient and skill.  LOL!

Ingredients:

(A)

1 3/4 cup cake flour, sifted

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1/2 cup sugar

(B)

1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil

6 egg yolks

3/4 cup milk (I used 1 %)

1 tsp. pandan paste

(C)

6 egg whites

1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

3/4 cup sugar

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350'F (175'C).

2. Combine (A) in a bowl. Whisk to blend. Add (B). Beat with an electric mixer until smooth.

3. Beat (C) with a clean beaters until moist peaks formed. Gradually add 3/4 cup sugar, beating until stiff and shiny peaks are formed. Fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the egg yolks mixture, fold to mix until blended and proceed with the rest of the egg whites. Fold gently but thoroughly. Turn batter into ungreased 10" tube pan.

4. Bake for 55 mins in the center of the oven or til a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Invert cake and cool completely in pan. When cool, loosen the edges with a thin plastic knife and invert pan to remove cake.

The above is the picture of the Pandan paste that I used, usually selling for 99 cent at the Asian grocery store.  This is the brand and paste that I recommend to produce a fragrant cake, essence and powder form are not recommended.  

Toast Camembert Bagel

I received this sample of Normandie Ile de France Camembert recently.  I was one of the lucky fews who got to sample the product before it hit the shelf and release to the general public.  Its' flavor is more intense than Brie and I instantly noticed it when I first opened the box.  I could actually smelled it.  Ile de France Camembert is crafted in Normandy, from local Rbst (hormone) free pasteurized cow milk.  The herds spend most of their time outside, grazing in the fields of Normandy, known for its temperate climate and rich soil.  It has the mushrooms and nutty undertones and known for its' creaminess.

This was my first time sample a Camembert and frankly I had no idea how people eat this besides serving as a cheese platter.  So I went to the Ile de France Website and look through the recipes.  But I was too eager to try it and I had some bagel at home, so I just cut two slices and toast it in the toaster oven.  Got to say, even though it didn't smell too good, it tasted not bad at all.  Very creamy and melted beautifully.  Even my little Edda who said yuck at the smell couldn't stop eating it.  Two days later, I tried it in my cheesy shell pasta dish and my two girls walloped it up.  They really loved it. 

Two slices of Camembert on my mini blueberry bagel.

The end product!  Loved how the cheese melted, yummy!  Would go great with a English muffin with bacon and fried egg as well.

Salmon with DOM

I  have been cooking a lot of salmon recently, guess you have been noticing it too.  Salmon is rich in omega 3 fatty acid and thus a brain booster.  Supposed to be good for your brain.  So, I came out with this recipe with what I had in my refrigerator at that time.  The soup of this dish was really fragrant with the smell of DOM, so good drizzle with rice.  It made a good one dish meal too!

Ingredients:

2 pieces of salmon fillets, cut into pieces (marinated with rice wine, salt, white pepper)

2-3 stalks of celery, cut

1 small carrot, cut

1 cup of wood ear fungus, soften

1 Tbsp. of goji berries

1 small pieces of ginger, julienne

3 gloves of garlic, minced 

Salt to taste

White pepper to taste

1 tsp. chicken stock granules

Water to suit

1 Tbsp. Benedictine DOM

Oil for cooking

Cornstarch thickener:  1 Tbsp. cornstarch + 2 Tbsp. water, mix well.

Method:

1.  Heat up your wok, when heated add in a little oil.  When the oil is hot, add in the ginger and garlic.  Stir-fry until aromatic, add in celery, carrot and stir fry well.  Add in wood ear fungus and mix well.

2.  Add in water to cover.  When boiling, add in the marinated salmon pieces.  Let the stock cooked the salmon, don't stir it too much.  Season with chicken stock granules, salt and pepper.  Lastly, add in the goji berries.

3.  When the fish is cooked,  add in the Benedictine DOM and cornstarch thickener.  Stir until thicken and turn off the heat and serve hot.