Holiday Detox Breakfast (a.k.a. the omelette that fell apart)

I have a feeling we're all going to be bloated and overstuffed by the end of the holidays.
It's inevitable- it takes superhuman control to resist another slice of your aunt's award-winning black forest cake or cream-stuffed strudel. As for me, I'll be gone on a cruise exploring the carribean during Christmas, where I shall regain my tan and my sanity after weeks of cramming for semester finals.
Anyways, it's always nice to start your Monday off right, so here's a super healthy omlette I made myself for breakfast while playing with my new camera. It always feels really nice to do something that you know is good and healthy for yourself, and it was a great start to my day even if it fell apart :(
Just looking at the un-greasy, brightly colored vegetables make me feel cleaner and less guilty for all the sugar and carbs I consumed during thanksgiving.

RECIPE: You can pretty much throw in whatever you've got at hand; cranberries, apples, tomatoes, onions, leftover turkey etc. I kept it simple and light and just used
*2 eggs, beaten
*1 teaspoon of vegetable oil
*1/2 a carrot, finely diced
*1/2 a stick of celery, finely diced
*A pinch or two of shredded low-fat skim mozzarella
*A pinch of oregano
*Pinch of salt and pepper

PREPERATION: (Come on guys, I'm sure you know how to make an omelette! But if you don't...)
1.) Beat eggs and fry in vegetable oil or use cooking spray
2.) Sprinkle in veggies and cheese on one side of omelette
3.) Sprinkle salt, pepper, and oregano
3.) Fold and flip.

QUICK NOTE:

I'm going to be honest with you guys- I've been shrinking the pictures I post due to the fact I had been using a really crappy camera which produced grainy shots. Now that I've got a new and much better camera, I can make all the pictures larger and let y'all get to enjoy seeing way better quality and bigger pictures! 

Family dinner: Healthy Fried Rice

I made some very healthy fried rice for my family today, as I'm trying to eat healthier and amp up my workouts in preperation for the carb onslaught that is the holidays- I live a mostly hedonistic lifestyle and diet, but since I have an great affection for fresh produce and work out pretty much every day of the week (4 super-intense workouts a week and 3 less intense toning ones), the damage isn't too bad. I also happen to live in a family where I didn't even know what butter, hot dogs, donuts, or graham crackers were until I was seven or eight. However, I do try to keep to a mostly unprocessed diet when I'm not craving sugary carbs too much, so here's a healthy recipe for delicious restauraunt-style fried rice!

RECIPE: (Serves 6)
*2 cups of brown rice
*1 cup of shrimp, roughly chopped
*2 cups of broccoli, steamed
*2 teaspoons soy sauce
*1 teaspoon salt
*Pinch of black pepper, to taste
*1 teaspoon fresh ginger, finely diced
*1/2 an onion, roughly chopped
*1/2 a tomato, roughly chopped
*3 cloves garlic, finely diced
*1 teaspoon lime juice
*1 tablespoon vegetable oil

PREPERATION:
1.) Prepare rice according to instructions on bag or cooker
2.) Steam broccoli, prepare and chop all the vegetables
3.) Bring water to a boil and cook shrimp

4.) Stir fry rice, vegetables, shrimp, and other ingredients in the vegetable oil for about 3-4 minutes or until nicely mixed
5.) Turn the heat to low, put lid on, and let steam for another 10-15 minutes, occasionally stirring to
make sure it doesn't stick or burn

And... More pumpkin! Pumpkin chocolate-chip muffins

With Thanksgiving so near, I'm feeling bombarded by all these pumpkin recipes. And with pounds of frozen pureed pumpkin in the freezer, what can I do but cave to the peer pressure?
These little muffins are not only delicious but made a great snack for me to bring to my after school activities. Sub applesauce for the vegetable oil and half a cup of flour for a few tablespoons of wheat germ, and it's practically healthy. (Not usually the direction I go with my baking, but it's always nice to cut calories if you're not sacrificing taste.)

RECIPE: (From food.com)

*4 eggs

*2 cups sugar (I used 1 cup)

*1 (16 ounce) can pumpkin

*1 teaspoon vanilla extract

*1 1/4 cups vegetable oil (yes, 1 1/4 cups)

*3 cups flour

*2 teaspoons baking soda

*2 teaspoons baking powder 

*2 teaspoons cinnamon

*1 teaspoon salt

*12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

PREPERATION:
1.) In large mixing bowl beat eggs, sugar, pumpkin, vanilla and oil until smooth.

2.) Mix dry ingredients together and mix into pumpkin mixture. Fold in chocolate chips.

3.) Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups 3/4 full

4.) Bake at 400 F for 16-20 minutes.

Nutella brownies

Ah... Nutella...
Can you say that it's like the oreo of chocolate hazelnut sauces in a jar? I have quite a flamboyant love affair with this hazelnutty chocolate sauce. Over the years, I've experimented with brand new jars of Nutella and various results; peanut butter and nutella swirled together with peanuts and marshmallows and crumbled grahmn crackers, nutella french toast, nutella cupcakes, nutella brownies, nutella and a spoon. This heavenly delight is one of my many vices, along with Gossip Girl novels, Chanel, and anything and everything chocolate.

Okay, okay, I get it- I guess I live a mostly hedonistic lifestyle where I give in to the majority of my cravings. But I deserve that after all those hours of tennis and having to stay awake through first period.

These brownies come out super moist, and the hazelnut taste of the nutella balances everything out perfectly. I like to put some sort of topping on it to add some crunch and break up the monotony. The original recipe, which I think I got from my friend's mom and have seen on countless websites, calls for 1/2 a cup of nutella, but my brownies didn't come out as fudgey as I wanted them at first, so I ended up adding more nutella and it turned out way more dense- yum!


RECIPE:
*3/4 cup of nutella, or just 1/2 if you're going to add instant coffee powder
*1 teaspoon instant coffee powder (optional)
*1 egg
*5 tablespoons flour
*1/2 cup chopped peanuts to top, or any kind of topping you would like- nuts, chocolate chips, cranberries (optional)

PREPERATION:
1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees farenheit
2.) Mix together the nutella and egg
3.) Add in the flour and instant coffee powder
4.) Spoon into greased mini-muffin or cups and sprinkle the peanuts
5.) Bake for about 10-12 minutes or until you can put a toothpick through the center and it comes out clean

Asian Noodle Soup

A steaming bowl of noodles in hot broth, some Dickinson, and my dog as a snuggle-buddy/pillow- what else could you want in life? Noodle soup is a clasic comfort food that I revel in; it is both simple to make and I ate quite a lot of it growing up as a kid.

Many of the ingredients that my mom often puts in the soup, such as potatoes, carrots, and especially lamb/goat meat, are very common in Northwestern Chinese cooking. This recipe is totally versatile for any type of asian-style noodle soup and you can adapt it according to your own tastes and preferences.

Make it vegetarian by omitting the meat and adding cabbage or lettuce, or go carnivorous with a chunkier beef soup. This is a recipe your kids will love and I'm sure many asian families will smile at.


RECIPE: (Serves 4)
*2 tomatoes
*1 pound of lamb or goat meat
*1 onion
*A joint of ginger about the size of your thumb
*1 box tofu
*2-3 potatoes
*About 2 cups (a good handful) of fine Angelhair noodles- I recomment buying an Asian brand like Wu-Mu dry noodles

as there is quite a difference in the texture. You can get thee in any asian market or grocery store, probably even in your local grocery if you have a larger Asian population in the area.
*1 whole bulb of garlic
*1-2 cups cilantro
*1 tablespoon soy sauce
*Add salt to taste (possibly around 2 teaspoons- can't be definite, so just keep adding until you're satisfied)
*Several cups of water to boil (depending on how thick you want your soup; I would use, for this recipe, around 5 cups)
*2 tablespoons vegetable oil
*2 large carrots

PREPERATION:
1.) Finely chop tomatoes, lamb, and carrots

2.) Slice onion to about the size of the first knuckle of your thumb

3.) Finely dice ginger
4.) Stir fry onions and lamb in 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil until meat is cooked

5.) Boil water for soup
6.) Finely dice the tofu, potatoes, garlic, and cilantro
7.) Once the water has come to a boil, put in the the carrots, garlic, potatoes, tofu, meat, onion, and tomatoes
8.) Let boil for 5-10 minutes or until everything is cooked, adding in the chopped cilantro when everything is about done (so it doesn't overcook or wilt)
9.)Add in noodles and simmer for a minute or two; then close the fire and shut the lid, letting it sit for another couple minutes

Chinese-style pasta

Stir-fried tomatoes and scrambled eggs with noodles is like the Chinese version of marinara sauce and pasta. Though originally the noodles are supposed to be hand-pulled, I hadn't had much time today (or the skill, really) to hand-pull the noodles, so I just boiled some angel-hair noodles.
It took took only twenty or thirty minutes to make, and brought back many flashbacks of my early childhood. I feel like this is another classic dish that really personifies simple asian home cooking, and a dish even pickier kids are garanteed to love.

RECIPE:
Serves 4

*2-3 medium sized ripe tomatoes
*5 oz angel-hair pasta
*2 stalks green onion
*7-8 eggs
*2 teaspoons salt
*2 teaspoons pepper
*1 tablespoon dried shrimp
*2 tablespoons vegetable oil

PREPERATION:
1.) Dice tomatoes to pieces about the size of the first joint of the knuckle of your thumb, and dice green onion.

2.) Heat oil in skillet and scramble eggs

3.) Throw in chopped tomatoes and green onions

4.) Sprinkle salt and pepper in skillet with the frying eggs and tomatoes

5.) Add the dried shrimp bits and mix well

6.) Boil pasta until soft and edible

7.) Drain and serve pasta with the eggs and tomatoes

Potato experimentation- virgin recipe

Prepared some muy delicioso pan-fried, starchy vegetables drizzled lightly with some virgin olive oil and garlic sauce made from scratch. Pretty much just whatever I had on hand, thrown together. Simple, but the notes of cumin and olive oil keep it from being too boring. And anyways, I came up with this on a Wednesday some time ago, and Wednesdays have always been productive but not very creative days for me. As for the garlic sauce; I got inspired when I was craving some garlic bread the other day. Today's the first time I've made this dish since that long-ago Wednesday, but my head is now buzzing with ideas to take it to higher levels. A little lemon juice, perhaps? Or maybe some oregano or sprigs of fresh cilantro. The possibilities are endless!
One thing's for sure- you'll probably see a new and improved version of this recipe come up some time in the future on this site.

RECIPE: (original; for veggies) Serves 2

*2-3 medium potatoes
*1/3 onion
*1 medium carrot
*Pinch ground cumin powder
*1 teaspoon salt
*1/2 teaspoon pepper
*1 to 1/2 stem green onion, depending on taste and size of plant
*1 tablespoon vegetable oil
* 1/2 tablespoon virgin olive oil

PREPERATION:

1.) Chop all large vegetables into medium-sized chunks
2.) Dice green onion
3.) Stir-fry all vegetables into skillet with vegetable oil, then add in the cumin, salt, and pepper.
4.) Fry until fully cooked, stirring, for about 10 minutes.
5.) Serve with garlic sauce.
6.) Drizzle about 1/2 a tablespoon of virgin olive oil to taste.


GARLIC SAUCE RECIPE: Serves 6- perfect for dipping breadsticks in!

*1/2 cup mayo
*1 tablespoon sour cream
*5 cloves pureed garlic
*2 tablespoons butter

PREPERATION:

1.) Soften butter and mix with sour cream, garlic, and mayo
2.) Stir in a saucepan set to low until completely mixed

Old friends from your hometown

The parents of one of my dad's students (yes that is a long title) was invited over to my parent's house on Saturday night for a delightful dinner after my mom had a bout of homesickness and found out that the couple was from my dad's hometown, Wulumuqi, in the Xingjiang province of China. (My mom's hometown is about 4 hours away from there.) The couple was charming, and it turned out to be a delightful evening. We had a western-style dinner cooked and served in Chinese style, because Mom didn't think her humble home cooking could match up to the delicious and sometimes elaborate typical fare that the guests ate in China.



Steamed broccoli with crushed garlic, dried shrimp, and olive oil; an everyday food that looks great, tastes wonderful, and easy and quickto make! I've got to post this recipe sometime.

Shrimp sweetly marinated in soy sauce- this dinner had a strong resemblance to traditional Maine food.

Close-up shot of shrimp! Could not resist... so golden and yummy

Sticky rice studded with peanuts, dates, mushrooms, and chicken, on a bed of dried bamboo leaves. Southeastern asia- inspired cooking from the years our family resided in Singapore.

Mashed potatoes with corn and rosemary, plus a hint of ground cumin powder. Perfect East-West hybrid dish!

Not too much to say about the lobster- freshly killed the day before, this was simply frozen and then steamed.

And last but not least- all-american, fresh-off-the-grill, T-bone steak. Perfect. God, I love having a father who possesses such great grilling abilities (not that he does much other cooking.)

Finishing off the meal with some luscious dark chocolate Belgian truffles (I just might snitch a few- heads up, Mom) and many stories of China, we were all satisfied and happy. Gorgeous night!

An intro to Food-dom

 I feel obliged to give all of you out there an introductory post, and I'll try to make it painless. So. I'm your (better, in my opinion) than average teenager who is a total slave to her taste buds. Though I have a rather small appetite and stomach, I try my best to sample all sorts of delicacies. From ethnic-influenced home cooking to various resturaunts and food crawls, there's servings of interest for everyone and anyone who enjoys food.

To make this intro post less useless and empty, I've added some visual appetizers- my mom's delicious lamb and rice, a traditional Uyghur recipe. Coming from NorthWestern China, my family cooking is very ethnic-influenced.

On the plate and in the pan