VacatioNg cont...

Everytime we get together I am always requested to make my corn casserole. I have been making this dish for holidays, birthdays, and gatherings for many years now.

Every night on this trip along with helping each other with cooking, one of the sisters were in charge of making a dish and I could not wait until it was my turn! I made this on the same night Emily made her Ox Tail Stew and it went together very well. This is a super simple recipe and everyone finishes it everytime! As many times as I've made it, I still go for seconds and sometimes thirds :o)

Cindy's Corn Casserole

1 14oz can whole kernel corn

1 14oz can cream style corn

1 8 0z sour cream

1/2 stick of butter, melted

1 small package of Jiffy corn bread mix

1 egg beaten

1 jalapeno minced (use more if you like it extra spicy)

Mix all ingredients together in a 2 qt casserole pot or baking dish and bake at 375 degress for about an hour or until the top browns and the middle is dry when you stick a toothpick or chopstick in.

A side corn dish that is sweet and spicy at the same time? It's always a winner! I hope this dish will be a great part of your dinners too!

Memorial Day BBQ...

, nSo it was memorial day and of course we needed to do a bbq to bring in the summer.

We were blessed with a gorgeous day and wonderful people.

Of course we had a big menu and was so excited to go shopping and prepare the food. This gave us a peek of what it would be like if we started a catering company. We had a party of around 25 people and started the night before. The menu was: Glazed bbq wings, mini burgers, corn salad, and orzo salad.

We started out with marinating the wings the night before and here are the ingredients:soy sauce, sweet soy, honey, sriracha, rice wine, sesame oil, and garlic. Mixed it all up in the wings an

d stick it in the fridge overnight.

The next day we started out around 1pm to prepare the rest of the food. My sister, Annie was a little nervous on the time, wondering

if we were able to prepare and have the food ready by 6pm

for 25 people.

But the Ng team were

determined to make it happen and rolled up our sleeves and got down and dirty. First we prepare the mini burgers. We mixed beef and pork with onions, portabella mushrooms and a few dry spices. Then we took the wings out of the fridge and roasted them in the oven. Next we worked on the salads. The corn salad is our signature dish and I feel like we may have posted about it before but I included a picture of it anyway. I created the orzo salad as another veggie option for our fellow vegetarians. It consist of orzo, olives, pim

ento peppers, walnuts, parsley, and balsamic vinegar. Most of the ingredients are raw so it's a good dish for people who are into raw foods.

After the salads were done, we grilled the mini burgers and wings and it all turned out to be a beautiful spread!

So in the end we finished on time.....even with a little extra time to make ourselves pretty for our guests ;0)

Whole Wheat Fusilli .....zzzzz

Looks pretty right!? but not so tasty ....

boring food means boring post  , how disappointed I am with this ..... and I made it!

So we all know I'm trying to eat healthy and lose weight at the same time.

 Since I' m happy switching from white rice to brown rice I thought about my other carb love.. pasta! Woke up this morning excited about the new box of whole wheat fusilli sitting in the kitchen cabinet. I had tried whole wheat thin spaghetti and enjoyed it and thought i would with other pasta types...nope..it was grainy.. maybe it was the brand ? Had just few bites of the WW fusilli and finish all the veggies.

Now what to do with that box of WW Fusilli?? ....would it be better in soup ? maybe earrings or a new rattling toy for Molly,she'll probably get bored at it as well...

Here is a very simple and quick recipe i always enjoyed .
-pasta
-summer squash
-cherry tomato
-chinese broccoli
-Annie's Sesame Shitaki Dressing
-butter
-garlic chili sauce
-salt n white pepper

Put all ingredients (except pasta) in a sauce pan and let it simmer for a few minutes...then add the cooked pasta and toss....done!

Steamed Tofu with Ground Turkey and Mushroom

Tofu is one of mom's favorite and the way she like to make it is just by taking it out of the container and slicing it into 6 equal size pcs, drizzle some oyster sauce, scallion and steam until done and serve with rice for a simple night.
At the market shopping for dinner spotted the tofu section and thought of mom's simple recipe mmm....good idea for a chilly night.......but decided to jazz it up instead. Here are the ingredients and photos!
Ingredients

silken tofu (box)

ground turkey

oyster mushroom

dried shitake mushroom

garlic

shallot

oyster sauce

sesame oil

white pepper

broccoli rabe

minced the garlic , slice the shallot
slice the oyster mushroom
soak the shitake mushroom until soft
then thinly slice (shitake has a stronger flavor)
** keep the mushroom water**

Brown the ground turkey until desire size
remove from pan to a plate

I kept some of the juice from the pan
and add oil, garlic, shallot and the both mushroom
until fragrant, oyster sauce , sesame oil and then
add some of the mushroom water.
. Return the turkey to the pan let it simmer with the
mushroom.

Remove the tofu from the box carefully by sliding
knife into the gap between the side of the box and tofu
and work around it. take the plastice off put a plate ontop
and turn it upside down holding the them together, slowly
squeeze the container until it slides out. ( see perfect! )
here it is in the wok to be steamed.

Here was a tricky part , i steamed it on a small plate ( fits in wok)
then to slide it on a larger plate but need to get rid of the water
that steamed out. Tilt the plate slowly wear gloves letting the extra water into the wok, spooned out the rest. ( thought i was going to lose it) Slide on to the good plate and surround it with the brocolli rabe that
i blanched while the tofu was steaming. how pretty


and finally finish it off with the turkey and mushroom topping

With the many flavors and textures from the mushrooms, silky tofu and hint of green with a bite ,
a dash of white pepper and a bowl of rice It was delicious and nice!
( remove the turkey and turns into a vegetarian friendly dish!)

Veggie recipe

So I just finished reading some comments and I've been requested to post some vegetarian recipes. Well since I was just blogging about my baked ziti, here it is!"

1 box of ziti (with ridges)

1 28oz can of whole peeled tomatoes - roughly chopped

1 140z can of crushed tomoatoes

*Try to use san marzano for the tomatoes

Garlic-roughly chopped (about 3 cloves)

Basil

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp flour

nutmeg

1 bag of shredded mozzarella

1 cup of shredded parmesan cheese            

Preheat oven to 350.

Cook pasta; slightly undercooked.

In saucepan, sautee garlic in some olive oil, then add both cans of tomatoes; simmer 10 mins then add basil

In another saucepan, melt the butter then whisk in the flour for about 1 min or 2. Add Milk slowly and grate some of the nutmeg in. Keep whisking until it thickens; about 4 min

When pasta is done, drain and put into a 13x9 pan

Pour tomato sauce over pasta, and mix well

Pour bechamel sauce over top and then top off with both cheeses

Bake for about 20 min

Yum!

lisa - Avocado, Tomato, Basil and Mozzarella Salad

I love Caprese Salad !

All fresh ingredients ripe tomatos, creamy mozzarella with slivers of basil....mmmmm drizzle with olive oil and drops of balsamic vinegar

and sprinkle with sea salt and ground pepper.

One day i was craving avocado and had planned a caprese salad on the menu that night. Maybe I'll add some to the salad. Wondering if avocado will go well with mozzarella or end up having a confusion of texture ( also got the girls opinion on that - i think em was the only one that got back to me ?)....had to try it and ta ta it was delicious! enjoy!