Fast & Easy Sesame Burger Buns

Who has time? With two toddlers, I am always looking out for recipes that cut corners on the preparation time, without affecting much of the taste. Bread making is usually time-consuming as the dough need time to develop and rise. Fortunately, I have found a recipe that's fast and simple enough to make.

ingredients
3 1/2 cup plain flour
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
2 tsp fast dry yeast
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 egg

Sesame seed for garnish

instructions

Mix all the bread ingredient together and mix well.

On a floured surface, knead the dough till it is smooth and elastic. It took me around 4 minutes on my stand mixer. Do not let it rise, cut the dough immediately into 12 pieces and shape into rounds of doughs and place on the greased baking tray. ( I use baking sheet)

Cover and let rise for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 175 degree. Brush dough with egg wash and sprinkle sesame seeds on the dough.

Bake for 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and cool on rack.

Note: you can choose out to use egg wash, but the sesame might not stick as well to the bun.
Instead of using egg wash, you can use milk, or water, or melted butter. The result will not be as shiny as egg wash.

Make Your Own Cheeseburger!

Before I started learning to cook, the burgers I've always had was mostly fast-food versions. I am not a big fan of burgers because the beef is always pretty bland and some are quite tough. I prefer my patties to be flavourful, somewhat like MOS burger's. MOS burger's patties have a nice savoury fragrant, plus the patties are juicy, not dry like most other fast food.

One of my first few dishes that I tried to cook was the beef burger, and it was a straight hit! The best part is I did not follow any recipe, but more or less based on some common sense and also from reading a lot on recipes. And so on a lazy afternoon with nothing but minced beef in the fridge, i decided to just mix something up and call it beef patties. Amazingly I manage to put something together that is pretty tasty, not to mention fast.

This is a very forgiving recipe, you can add more spice like oregano or basil for additional flavour, or reduce the onions if you prefer a more subtle onion smell. I personally added abit more onion because i like how the onion add some texture to the meat. You can also replace some of the beef with a little minced pork for better patties texture.

Ingredients

250 gram minced beef

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1 medium onion, finely diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 egg

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp BBQ sauce (or Worcestershire sauce)

dash of pepper

2 slices chedder cheese, halved

4 sesame burger bun (Make your own! I made my own burger bun. Will post the recipe in the next post)



Instructions

1. Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl, except for the cheese and the bun.


2. Divide the beef mixture into 4, shape them into 1/2 inch thick patties and place them on a plate. Cover with cling wrap and chill for 20 minutes.


3. Split the burger so that there's the top and bottom halves, and toast them slightly in the oven. Butter them if you like. You can choose not to do this step.


4. Grease up a non-stick pan and heat to medium heat. Take one of the patties and gently push it into the pan without breaking it.


5. Cook the beef for 4 minutes each side or till the beef is no longer red. Make sure to cook through the patties.


6. Place the patties on the bottom half of the bun and put the cheese on the beef to melt it. Top with the top bun.


7. Serve hot.

Note: The patties are already seasoned. if you are going to add any tomato sauce or any sauce on the patties, then it is best to leave out the salt in the patties so that it will not be too salty. You can also add some lettuce for a more balanced diet.

No Bake Avocado Pie for Bubba!

I'm sure anybody knows that avocados are power fruits and they are packed with goodness, but how can we make our fussy eaters eat them? Avocados are pretty tasteless and bland, and I'll have to admit I do not like to eat them. Well, until I found a way to make it into this super delicious pie that is just tasty, tasty, tasty!

Creamy and tangy, this pie has a nice citrus surprise as there is lime in it. The lime lent its' citrusy freshness, and paired with the aroma of cinnamon in the pie crust, it's like a match made in heaven. Best of all, this recipe required no baking!

ingredients
2 lime
2 ripe avocados
3 tbsp condense milk
4- 5 digestive biscuits, crushed with a rolling pin
2 tbsp butter or margarine softened
1 tsp cinnamon powder

instructions

Mix the cinnamon powder with the crushed biscuits in a bowl. Mix well. Stir in the soften butter to make a rough paste. You can add more butter if you like.

Using your finger tips, gently press the mixture into the sides of a shallow bowl or ramekin. It's will be the crust of the pie. When you have form the crust, cover it with a cling wrap and place it in the fridge to refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Squeeze the lime juice into a blender, scrap the avocados flesh into the blender and add the condense milk. Blend well. It will be very thick. A hand held blender would be the perfect tool for this job.

take the crust out of the fridge, and scoop the avocado mixture into the pie and even it out. Cling wrap it again and refrigerate for another 30 minutes.

Pie is ready to be served.

tips
You can make extra avocado paste and freeze it. It will taste like a yummy ice cream!

Tender Char Siew

I am always unable to keep my charsiew to make char siew pau because my hubby will finish it all before I can make the pau dough. This is a very easy recipe to make a flavorful grilled char siew. For a healthier meal, you can replace the pork with chicken. Pair this with fluffy white rice or noodles and green mustards.

ingredients
800 gram of pork, rinsed and pat dry ( shoulder butt or tender loin cut)

2 tbsp hoisin sauce

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp honey

2 tsp light soy sauce

1 tsp dark soy sauce

1 tsp hua tiao jiu ( chinese rose wine)

1/4 tsp sesame oil

1/2 tsp Chinese five spice powder (optional)

1 tbsp sugar

2 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp onion powder

Dash of white pepper

instructions

Mix all the ingredients together. Combine well.

Rub the marinate on the pork, cover evenly.

Place the pork in a zip lock bag and pour the remaining marinate in. Seal it and let it marinate overnight in the fridge.

Preheat oven to 170 degree Celsius.

Place the pork on a lightly greased aluminum foil and place it on a baking tray.

Grill for 30 minutes

After 30minutes, flip the pork over to grill the other side. Grill for 20 minutes.

Cool before carving.

tips
For juicier char siew, choose fattier pork. But it is unhealthier so eat in moderation.

To have the slightly burnt effect you can increase the temperature to 200 and fast grill it for 3-5 minutes. Alternatively you can move up the tray one notch closer to the heating element and grill for 5 minutes.

Do not cover the pork with aluminum when grilling. The aluminum should be below the pork and not wrapped around the pork.

*recipe adapted from munch ministry

Cats VS children

I used to have two pet cats in my teenage years. Coincidentally, my hubby also used to have two pet cats. And we couldn't agree more that our daughters seem to emulate the same behaviors as our ex pet cats. Here's why:


Whenever presented with a cardboard box, both find an unexplainable desire to fit themselves into the box, regardless of how big the box actually is. In fact, the smaller the better.
100%Most of the time, both the cats and children were more interested in the box that the toy came in, rather than the toy itself.


"Oh mummy's on the computer. Better go sit on her keyboard"
"That newspaper that daddy is reading looks like a comfy spot to rest."
"Daddy look really tired resting on the bed, I shall go massage his face with my butt."

Self explanatory. Anyone who have had kids will tell you it's true.


To bath both the cats and the children( not at the same time, duh.) do the following steps:
1) stand at the bathroom door with the bathing towel.
2) proceed to call them between 745 to 927 times.
3) Chase, grab and drag to the bathroom.


Toys will be played 'creatively'. Or will be invisible to them and not played at all.

Does your child does the same?

P.s: that last drawing is of a scratching post for cats and a drawing easel. In case you can't tell from my awesomely drawn sketch.

Delicious Old Fashion Pancakes

I remember I must have been around 10 years old, when one morning my sister asked what I wanted for breakfast and I said pancakes. Being the good sister she was, she took out a box of pancake mix from the back of the kitchen cabinet, dusted it and took a good long look at the instructions on how to cook it. It was obvious she has never cooked any pancakes before. As I stood at the kitchen entrance watching her struggle with the instructions and preparation, my stomach growled with hunger.

After much failed attempts and a few pieces of undercooked pancakes thrown into the bin, she finally presented a plate of pipping hot pancakes, though albeit ugly but I was hungry. As I took my first bite, a big fat tear ran down my face.



It was bad.



It was REALLY Bad. I can't remember much of how it tasted like, but I remember being very hungry and even then it was deem inedible. It probably tasted like styrofoam.

Needless to say, after that day, I was put off by pancakes. I was traumatized. I must have gone at least 15 years without eating any. Not until I stumble upon this recipe and decided to give it a shot.

Who could have thought that just whipping this straight from the kitchen could taste so good? Definitely better than box mix ones, and cheaper too. This recipe produces a very traditional pancake which are thick and fluffy and full of aroma. And now, my family can enjoy hot delicious pancakes, minus the drama.

For people who prefer a thin and slight crispy pancake I will share another recipe next week.

ingredients
1 1/2 cup plain flour
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp white sugar
1 egg
1 1/4 cup milk
3 tbsp butter, melted

instructions

With a non stick pan, melt the butter. Careful not to high too high a temperature. If the butter sizzles and bubble, the heat is too high. Pour the melted butter into a small dish and set aside. Using a kitchen towel, wipe the pan clean. We will be using the same pan for the pancakes later.

Sieve the flour, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the sugar in and mix well. Make a well in the middle, and add the egg, milk and melted butter in the middle. Mix until smooth, about 3 minutes. Do not over mix or it will become tough. It is ok to see a little lumps here and there.

Set rest for 10 minutes. In the meantime heat up the pan again to medium heat.

Scoop the batter on the pan, using the back of the spoon/ladle to spread out the batter. Each pancakes is around 1/4 cup of batter, so you should be able to get 8-10 pieces of pancakes.

The batter will form holes at the top when it is done. When the holes have form, flip a little of the pancake side up to see the underside. If the underside is light browned, then you can flip the pancake over to cook the other side.

Serve hot with maple syrup or other toppings like cut fruits or whipped cream.

tips

You can add cinnamon powder and vanilla extract into the batter as well. Just mix the cinnamon powder with the dry ingredients and vanilla essence with the wet ingredients.

Sushi for Bubbas

Buying sushi from the store is an expensive affair. Here's a recipe that will make you think twice the next time you buy another piece of sushi from the sushi store! Making sushi rice is almost like cooking rice at home with one additional step at the end - you need to scoop the rice out and mix in the sushi vinegar and that's about it. Save money and cook this sushi rice at home easily and add your own preferred toppings. I usually make extras and keep in the fridge for a day so that I can just snack along the day. Great idea as a finger food for entertaining guests as well!

The image I am sharing here is onigiri, which is after making the sushi rice I mixed in the seaweed seasoning mix and shape them into triangles. You can buy the seaweed mix from any supermarket. You can also choose to do the normal sushi way with just toppings. One benefit of cooking at home is that you can choose to put in any ingredients you like, more or less to your own preference.

Ingredients

2 cup sushi rice

2 cup water

4 tbsp rice vinegar (white type)

3 tbsp sugar

2 tsp salt

2 tbsp mirin (japanese sweet cooking wine)

1 kelp (optional)



Instructions

1. Rinse the rice three times


2. Drain rice for 30 minutes


3. Combine the salt, vinegar, sugar and mirin in a bowl. Stir well to dissolve the sugar.


4. Wipe the kelp if using, and cut it so that it looks like a comb and put it in the pot you intend to cook the rice with. I usually use the rice cooker for this task so I will place in the rice cooker. Add the water and rice in.


5. Turn on the rice cooker and cook the rice.


6. Once it is done, scoop the rice out and spread it out on a large flat dish or a baking tray.


7. Drizzle the mix you prepared in step 3, fanning the rice with a fan or a piece of cardboard as you drizzle. Mix the rice gently so prevent it from breaking or getting mashed.


8. Let it cool a little to body temperature. Your sushi rice is now ready to be use!

Isn't that easy? No more store bought sushi for me!

How Toddlers Feed

This is what ALWAYS happens at meal time in my house


Here's my twins, Emma and Kate getting ready for a meal at the table.

No matter what type of 'airplane' the food flew by,


The respond they will give is always a 'NO'! Followed by them pushing my spoon away. After several tries and food spilling all over, I give up.


They will start to do this when they are bored. Swatting their hands on the table and sending bits and pieces of food flying all over the place and on the floor.
And when I decided that enough is enough! And put them down,




they will then proceed to eat off the floor.





SERIOUSLY!!?!?!?!

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Ps: I have reactivated my twitter! Hit me up@madeleinetay

Velvety Scramble Eggs

Velvety and creamy is what scrambled eggs should taste like. I have always wanted to make scramble eggs like the ones in McDonald big breakfast and a few years ago I learnt it from my mom (of all people, my mom! She does not cook at home!) But this recipe from Gordon Ramsey that I found two weeks ago taste even better and creamier than the ones I make so this will be my to-go recipe for scrambled eggs! Best of all, this recipe uses less ingredients than my old recipe, the secret is the technique used in making the perfect scrambled eggs. Whip this up on a lazy morning because it seriously only takes like 15 minutes with almost zero preparation time.

ingredients
3 eggs
2 tablespoon of butter
2 tbsp thicken cream or milk
Pepper to taste
Salt to taste

instructions

Break the egg in a nonstick pan or the pot. Put the butter in the pan.

With medium heat, using a whisk to whisk the egg. Continue to stir the egg mixture while it cook. Once the egg starts to thicken, take it off the hob and continue to stir. Continue on the hob after a minute or so, alternating between taking off and on the hob.

When it is almost done, the texture will be lumpy and the mixture will start to dry up. You can stir in the cream or milk. Serve warm with toast and season with salt and pepper.

Fever Facts and Tips

Recently my twins were taking turns having a fever from a viral infection they caught from daddy. Taking their temperature, I was shocked to see their temperature at 39.5 degrees! The horrors! I panicked and called my hubby, who asked me to monitor their temperature and behavior. I was expecting him to rush them to our PD or hospital but he seem so calm! After putting down the phone and with my mind straying and imagining the bad things that might happen, I went online to find ways that I can lower the fever without medications, since I couldn't even get half the recommended dose of paracetamol after much struggling, crying and grabbing. They were just master wigglers! They would manage to find the strength and ways to wiggle their way out of my clutches even when I tried to use every possible limb on my body to cram them down so that I can force feed the medication in.

I found my answers, but more importantly, I found information that will help me understand this fever issue so that I can manage it better. And I am proud to say that we have survived the fever episode without using any fever medications. I am going to share with you what I have learnt and how you can conquer the fever monster with ease.



Often, we panic when our young children has a fever. "Oh gosh it's 38.5 degree! It is high fever! Better give medication!" Thoughts starts to run wild with old wives' tale of fever nightmares; fever will "burn" the brain, lead to fits/seizures and all sorts of other unthinkables. The worrying becomes worse when your young children refuse to take the medication or spit it all out, and you are certain he/she needs to go to the doctors right away! But before we get into another panic frenzy the next time our precious gets a fever, let me share with you some information on fever, and busting some myths along the way.

Firstly, you must understand why our body develops a fever. Contrary to the myths, fever is not the body's way of telling you something is wrong, but rather it is the body using the increased heat to fight the infection. The fever induced heat actually helps to kill off bacterial or viral infections as most of these bacteria thrives at 37 degree, so what you are seeing on the thermometer is not your body's SOS message, but rather the "weapon" the body has prepared for the battle.

Secondly, for brain damage to occur, the body temperature would have to reach 42 degree. Of course we have heard of frightening tales of brain damaging fever from our folks more often than it is really happening, but in actual case is not as common as you think. Unless you bundle up your precious in many many layers of clothings and caused the temperature to spike.

Thirdly, many people have concerns that high fever might lead to seizures. Indirectly in a way, but how a high fever can cause a seizure is because the body temperature rises too quickly,and the brain is overloaded with information. A slow rising high fever does not necessarily increase the odds of having a seizure. Seizures looks frightening, but is mostly harmless if you know how to handle the child while he/she is having one. Place the child on floor and on their side of the body so that when they vomit during the seizure they will not choke on it. Remove anything from the children's mouth so that it will not be hazardous. For more information you can read here and here.

Having said the above, it does not mean that when your child is having a fever you can just ignore it. You should try to lower the temperature ( there are some tips below), but you do not necessarily need to feed the child medication to lower it. There are many natural way of lowering the temperature without using medication. As long as your child is still playful, alert and behaving normally other than the fact he is running a temperature between (38-40.5 degree) you can just nurse the child at home. Lowering the temperature might make your child feel more comfortable, but there is no need to worry if it does not go back to normal temperature. Remember the fever is to help the body fight the bacteria. The fever will most likely stay for 3-4 days and will eventually subside after the 4th day so just let nature do its course.

Things that you should NOT DO:
1) Do NOT dress the child up in multi layer of clothes to 'expel the heat'. Doing this might make the temperature rise quickly. Dress your child in normal clothing that are comfortable to allow the heat to escape but not underdressed because that might cause him to shiver, and will also make the temperature increase. The best is to dress up in what he would normally wear.

2) Do NOT use cold or ice pack, cold water bath to give the child a bath or sponging. This will make him shiver and will be counterproductive as the body will increase the heat to compensate for the rapid loss in temperature. Not to mention it is very uncomfortable for your child!

3) do NOT over feed your child medication. Overdose can hurt the liver. Always keep to the recommended dosage on the bottle. Less is best. Fever medication such as ibrufen or paracetamol is to reduce fever only and in no way does it help in eliminating any bacterial or viral infection your child might have! So there's no need to feed fever medication around the clock. Therefore you should only use it when necessary.

Things to do to lower the fever without medication:

• Should give the child a lukewarm bath or sponging. When the water evaporates it will remove the heat, so there's no need to use cold water.


• Give a ice popsicle or ice cream to cool the body from inside out.


• Use a small wet handkerchief to place on the forehead.


• Dress in normal clothing.


• stay in a cool airy rest area. Do not expose the child to cold air condition as it might be too cold. Just a fan and airy area will do.

when to call a doctor

• if your child is sleepy all the time, or not alert


• if he is turning blue or purple


• if she is having difficulties in breathing


• if she is less than 3 months old and is running a fever


• if she is between 3 - 5 months and temperature is more than 38.3


• if she is 6 months to 12 months and her temperature is more than 39

Delicious Flaky Pastry With Just 3 Ingredients

This is hubby's favorite and it has been requested so often! Luckily it is very easy to do and uses just water, plain flour and butter! Yes you have read it right. The ingredients is really just 3 items which I'm sure we all have in the kitchen. This pastry is not for the weak-hearted because it contains a lot of butter, but it taste oh-so-marvelous! Flaky and buttery, this pastry skin is very versatile. You can make savory puff pastry with it by filling it with tuna mayo or ham and cheese, or a sweet puff pastry with some kaya or make apple pie with it. You can also use this skin to make chicken pot pie( which is actually just soup in a cup with a puff pastry over the top). I have also tried using this as a pizza base and it works wonderfully.

Ingredients
250gram all purpose plain flour (sieved)
250grams butter (must be as cold as possible, I prefer to use frozen butter)
100ml very cold water
1/2 tsp salt (omit this if the butter you are using is salted)

instructions

Mix the salt if you are using any into the sieve flour in a large mixing bowl.

Using a handheld shredder, shred the butter into the flour, mix it up a little occasionally to make sure that the shredded butter do not stick together by coated and rolling it in the flour. Work fast so that the butter does not melt.

Once shredding is completed, drizzle the cold water all over the mixture. Mix it up a little using your hands. Do not press the mixture together and do not over mix as it will result in a tough mixture. Do not add more water as it will make the mixture tough as well. The mixture will be very dry and won't really hold together. But that's ok. It will be ok after we roll it a few times. Place the mixture in a plastic bag and chill in the fridge for 20minutes.

Prepare 2 large sheets of plastic sheets for rolling. baking sheets will do too. I usually cut 2 plastic bags length wise and use them to help in the rolling process. I place one on the table, place the mixture on it, and the other plastic sheet over the mixture. Then use a rolling pin to roll the mixture out. This makes cleaning up a lot easier.

Take the chilled mixture out and using your hands to arrange it in a lump, place it between the plastic sheets. Roll it out to about 1/2 cm thick. Try to roll it so that it stays as rectangular as possible. Work fast so that the butter does not melt. Should take around 5-10minutes.

Done rolling remove the top plastic sheet and putting it aside, grab the 2 ends of the plastic sheet at the bottom of the dough pastry( nearest to you), and flip about one third of the dough upwards towards the centre portion. Then repeat by flipping the top part of the dough down, like an envelope. Now the seams are facing you. Cover the dough with the plastic sheet that you have put aside earlier and wrap it up, return it to the fridge to chill for another 20minutes.

After the chilling, take the dough out, remove the top plastic sheet, and turn the dough 90 degree so that the seams are now facing your sides. Roll out the dough to 1/2 cm thick, and repeat the folding process by folding 1/3 of the dough inwards from the top and bottom of the dough. Cover with plastic sheet and chill for 20 minutes.

Repeat the step above.

Preheat oven to 160 degree. After chilling, we are ready to roll it out and use for baking roll it out, depending on whether you prefer a thicker skin or thinner skin. I usually roll it to 1/2 cm thick or slightly thinner.

Cut the dough into desired sizes for wrapping. I usually cut it into 5cm squares, then place the fillings in the middle, and place another square on top and seam the sides with a fork. I then pierce the top with the fork so that it will not over expand when baking. Do remember to work fast so that the dough doesn't become to difficult to handle. If it became too soft and sticky, stick it in the fridge and chill. Chilling makes it easier to handle.

Bake the prepared pastry in the oven for 30minutes at 160 degree. Increase to 180 degree and bake for another 5-10 minutes to make it golden.

notes

• this dough needs to be worked fast. The dough is always chilled to prevent the butter from melting. Chilling also relaxes the douh so that it does not become tough.


• the dough might not hold well initially when rolling out as the sides my have crumbs, which is why I always use the plastic sheet to whelp me as I find it a lot easier and less messy. I also use my hands to push the excess into the sides and pat them in.But after the final rolling it should be holding well.


• try to make the dough as rectangular as possible so that it will be even when you are doing the folding and also easier for you when you are preparing to cut it.

Puff pastry with salami topping

Crispy Salmon in Homemade Teriyaki Sauce

This is a quick and easy recipe for cooking salmon or any other oily fish like Saba fish. The homemade teriyaki sauce is easy to make and quick too. The skin of the salmon is delightfully crispy. Pair it with Japanese steamed rice and some Japanese salad to make it a complete meal.

teriyaki sauce ingredients
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoon Mirin (Mirin is a sweet Japanese wine. It can be found in most supermarket)
2 tsp minced ginger
2 tsp minced garlic
1 1/2 tsp brown sugar
3 tbsp regular sugar ( you can increase to 5 tbsp if you prefer a sweeter sauce)

Mix all the ingredients together in a sauce pan and let simmer till all sugar are dissolved. You can sieve out the ginger and garlic bits if you prefer to have a clear sauce. If you prefer a thicker sauce, mix 1/2 tbsp of corn flour with 1 tbsp of water and mix it into the sauce at the end. Stir and simmer until thickens.

To make the crispy salmon

Wash the salmon fillet. Pat dry with a kitchen towel.

Placing the fillet on the chopping board with the skin side up, curl up the salmon fillet and using a knife, make slits on the fillet like the above image. This is to prevent the fish from curling up during cooking and result in uneven cooking.

Sprinkle some salt into the slits of the salmon and rub some all over the fillet.

Heat some oil in a non stick pan. once the oil is heated, place the skin side of the salmon down onto the pan.

As the fish cooks you can see the fillet turning color from the side. Do not touch the fish and just let it cook through 7/10 of the thickness of the salmon.

Once it has reached 7/10 thickness you can flip it over to cook the other side. Do not overcook the salmon.

Once the fish color has turned completely orangey and cooked through, flip the fish once again onto its skin and turn off the heat. Leave in pan for about 2-3 minutes, this will make the skin nice and crisp.

Drizzle the teriyaki sauce over the fish and add in sesame seeds if you'd like to. Serve hot.


With Saba fish

Crunchy baked chicken strips in 30 minutes

You can make healthy and tasty chicken strips at home without the need to deep fry! You can assemble these and pop it in the oven for less than 30 minutes if you work fast. To make the strips more flavorful, use home made breadcrumbs instead of bought ones. The trick to make them extremely juicy is to soak them in a salt water bath overnight in the fridge and cook them the next day. You won't believe how breast fillets can be so juicy. If you are pressed for time you can omit the salt bath it will still taste great. For the salt bath directions check out below. For those who so not like chicken fillets, you can use any cut of the chicken but make sure it is thin enough and boneless. This recipe is very forgiving.

Ingredients
5 chicken fillets
1 cup Plain flour
1tsp Salt (skip this if you have soaked the fillets in a salt bath)
1cup Bread crumbs (you can use Japanese panko or any breadcrumbs)
1 to 2 tsp Onion powder( adjust to your preference)
1 tsp paprika powder
1/2 tsp pepper
1 egg beaten
Olive oil

instructions

Prepare 3 shallow dish. Place the beaten egg into one, the plain flour into another, and the panko into the third.

Mix the onion powder, paprika, pepper and salt into the panko. Make sure it is evenly distributed.

Cut the fillet into half if it is small or 3 strips if it is a big fillet.

Prepare a dish to be placed in the oven. Alternatively you can just use a baking tray and line with aluminum or baking sheet. You should preheat your oven now to 195 degree.

First roll the cut fillets in the flour, followed by the egg, then lastly the panko mix. Be generous with the panko and press into any wet areas. Place the coated strips on the tray you prepared earlier.

After you are done, sprinkle some olive oil over the strips and bake in the oven for 15-20minutes. The strips should turn golden brown.

salt bath direction
To prepare the salt bath just mix 1/8 cup of salt for every 1 liter of water. Place the chicken into the salt bath, the level of the water should cover all of the chicken.
You can also use this salt bath to prepare a large roasting chicken by adding more salt water. The chicken will be very moist no matter how you choose to cook it!

additional tips! (Because I am awesome like that)
Instead of using paprika, you can use Parmesan cheese and make cheesy crunchy chicken strips. In fact you can just replace the paprika with any herb of your choice be it basil, oregano, garlic powder etc.

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Easy sultanas Scones in 30 minutes

I assure you, once you have tried to make these delicious scones on your own, you will never buy store ones! They are so easy and quick to assemble with just 4 main ingredients and a jam of your choice or fruits.

If you're not watching your waistline you can slather on some butter and it will taste so divine.YUM!



The trick to making crumbly soft scones is to work quick and prevent the butter from melting too much into the flour. It is important that you see bits of butter when you are mixing it into the flour. Also, you should use cold milk and cold butter. The colder the better. I usually keep a frozen slat of butter in my freezer for baking purposes.



Ingredients

2 1/2 cup self-raising flour

80 gram butter (preferably frozen ones. just pop into the freezer for at least 30 minutes to chill it)

1 cup cold milk

1 - 2 tablespoon caster sugar *

handful of sultanas (or any chopped fruits of your choice. you can also skip this and eat scones with jam. Please dont mix the jam into the batter but smear it on after the scones are done in the oven)



Tools

Grater/shredder (optional)

large mixing bowl

sieve

muffin tray (in dozen. you can choose not to use but when it comes to dividing the batter out it will be messier, plus your scones might come out a little flatter)





Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 190 degree. Grease your muffin tray if you are using one.


2. Sieve flour into large mixing bowl. Mix in caster sugar well.


3. Take the butter out from the freezer and using a shredder/grater and grate the butter into the flour, making sure the butter is coated with flour so that they do not stick into one large lump. If you do not have a grater/shredder you can use your fingers to work the butter into the flour but it will take longer.


4. Mix in fruits if you are using any. I mix in my sultanas at this step.


5. Once the butter is mixed in, create a small well in the flour and pour the milk in, then slowly move the mixture inwards, towards the well. DO NOT OVERMIX (overmix will make your scones tough), just make sure that most of the batter is damp.


6. Spoon the batter into the muffin tray and pop it in the oven, bake for 12-15 minutes or until the top turns brown.


7. Remove scones from tray and serve warm with jam and cream.

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My sanity saving hobby

Hi there! This is my virgin post!

I'm a SAHM to 20month old twin girls. I also do part time work online designing stuffs and also maintaining this site as well. Right now you might be thinking, ' what?! She has time to do work AND take care of twin toddlers?! She must be insane!!' I would say you are partially right, it is pretty insane to think about it, but doing some part time job at my own pace can actually be quite therapeutic ( if you exclude some nonsense customers, but more on that another time). I often like to sit back in the middle of the night with a cup of hot chocolate and admire my work, indulge in shameless mental praising and giving myself invisible high fives and pats on the back for doing a marvelous job.

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Being a SAHM is hard work. Really. If you are not a mother, you won't understand until you're already one and its too late. And if you are a SAHM to twins (like me) then i wish you all the best. There are times I wish I could stuff both my twins back into my womb to get some peace! At least 60% of their awake time is spent chasing each other, fighting, screaming, crying, wailing. There is always something to fight over, be it a toy,  a useless piece of tissue paper or even during breastfeeding! I have most things in pairs including my boobs, but they will just have this irrational desire for just one of it and so the war begins. And inevitably one of them is gonna be the winner and the other a loser, thus ensuring my household be filled with laughters and tears (at the same time).  And it's driving me crazy.

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Being stuck at home and with nothing much to look forward to, I decided I needed a hobby, to give myself some satisfaction achieving something. Don't get me wrong, it is very rewarding to look at your child and see them happy and well fed and grown! Especially when you take a look at the pictures of them when they were just a small baby and thinking how fast they grow, it always bring some nostalgic tears to my eyes. (Awwwwww) But there's a HUGE difference between the type of satisfaction from a hobby and that of child rearing- your own target and pace. With child rearing it is them leading you. You are constantly chasing them or making things happened because your child NEEDS it. It is almost like you're meeting some sort of deadline "oh it's almost six better get dinner done!" "Oh it's nearing his third vaccination better get him to take some vitamins". With a hobby you're the boss, you decide when you want things done. You decide if you're going to finish that puzzle withi24 hours or 3 years.It's about you and your personal target. You are fully( well, mostly) in control, and taking r time to indulge in "me-time".

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So if you don't have a hobby yet, I strongly urge you to do yourself a favor; get a hobby. It could be anything; like reading, craft making, baking, writing, scrap booking or even just chilling out after your child goes to bed! Finding time to yourself is important for your sanity.

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What's your favorite hobby? Care to share I'd love to hear it!