husband :)

present from lila

yummy home made olive oil maple granola from my cousin

chistmas dinner menu

squished in

for baby.

our tree

dinner.

turkey burger with zucchini fries

in n' out animal fries

so good and a bit gross at the same time!

blue dog beer tavern

the fries were extra garlic-y and tasty

mexican wedding cookies

from this delightful and simple recipe

barney's voodoo burger

spicy honey roasted almonds

from this recipe

milk.

macaron strawberries and cream ice cream sandwich from milk.  so flippin' good!

cream cheese and kimchi gyoza

quite tasty albiet a little odd.

anniversary cupcakes for husband

 

gluten-free carrot cupcakes for the mister for our third wedding anniversary

dinner.

lentil and potato stew

it lived up to it's reputation

 

i finally tried the infamous umami burger. SO GOOD!

dinner.

brown rice tossed with spinach, fresh corn, avocado and ginger

cutest cookie ever

i'm a huge fan of rosewater and pistachio cupcakes so when i saw this combination as a cookie at unique la i just had to try it.  i must say it didn't disappoint!

dinner.

some nights i'm just lacking in inspiration and end up making cafeteria-style food i.e. a bit boring but hopefully, still kinda tasty - parmesan crumbed chicken with corn and broccoli.  i figure as long as the ingredients are fresh you can't go too wrong.

vanilla-y browned butter rice krispies

 

the mister requested one of his favourite treats last night for dessert.  i used this recipe,  browned the butter and added a teaspoon of vanilla extract.  i think the mister ate half the batch in one sitting.

dinner.

last night for dinner i made baked ginger salmon on a bed of potato and bacon mash with sauteed garlic mushrooms. i'm not sure i'd use that combination of dishes again but individually they were really nice.

rescue remedy

 

it's been really stressful these past few days, my little frenchie has been sick with a severe case of gastritis.  lots of worrying and LOTS of cleaning.  thank goodness for ben & jerry's!

dinner.

 

last night i decided to make my own version of bún (vietnamese noodle salad).  i used thick vermicelli noodles instead of rice noodles and followed this recipe for the sauce.  i discovered a great recipe for marinade last year and used it on some skinless chicken thighs which i cooked in a frying pan. the thighs were so tasty and caramelized beautifully.  the meal was an instant hit. 

motivational breakfast for husband

 

the mister was having trouble getting out of bed this morning so i decided to make him one one of his favourite breakfasts as opposed to his usual breakfast of oats with honey - turkey bacon and cinnamon raisin french toast with maple syrup...i think it helped.

afternoon tea

i love eating miniature fruit pies.  i grabbed a box of the mr. kipling apple and blackcurrant pies from ye olde king's head shoppe in santa monica on the weekend and have been devouring them all to myself since. it's times like these i don't mind that the mister is gluten-free!

cuban chicken and rice

i love one pot cooking (mostly because i hate the clean up afterwards) so when i came across this recipe i was excited to try it asap! it turned out to be quite tasty and ALOT of food. the only change i made to this recipe was that i used trader joe's diced and fire-roasted tomatoes with green chillies instead of plain tomato sauce and i added a bit of chicken stock for extra flavour.

lazing baking - banana and walnut muffins

 

whenever the bananas in my fruit bowl start to get old because the mister is not eating them as promised i start preparing for my lazy packet mix baking day. it's my favourite mix to use in terms of simplicity, flavour and versatility. for these muffins i followed the instructions on the box and added one and a half mashed up ripe bananas and large handfuls of walnuts and raisins. so tasty when they're served warm with butter.

soup and salad

 

last night i decided to make a healthy-ish dinner - spicy sweet potato soup and mexican bean salad.  they were both a hit with the mister and super easy to make which means i'll definitely be re-visiting these recipes!  i did leave out a couple of ingredients in the soup (tomatoes and lime) but i think it worked out great without.  and in the salad recipe i followed it almost exact...sans lime and i subbed out kidney beans and cannelini beans for chick peas and butter beans and instead of a green pepper, i used yellow.  hmm, lots of subbing but i don't think it compromised the flavour of the salad in the end :)

hakata ramen shin-sen-gumi

on saturday night the mister and i made the long drive to rosemead for the famed hakata ramen. we had to wait 40 minutes for a table but when our food arrived we knew that we had done the right thing by persevering and not succumbing to the pho restaurant next door with empty tables.

1. hakata ramen with bamboo and egg and kaki fry 2.the mister devouring every last drop of his soup 3.creme brulee

dinner.

 

white bean and chicken chilli with gluten-free cornbread. this is the first cornbread that i've made that i couldn't stop eating! usually gluten-free means dry and crumbly but somehow this recipe worked.  the only thing i did was replace the all-purpose flour with gluten-free flour and added a rounded teaspoon of cornflour and a little bit of baking powder. so yum.

bulldog and the scarf

 

i can't help but take heaps of photos of iggy.  it's partially the mister's fault because he's always requesting pics of her to help get him through his work day,  n'aw.

strawberry and rosemary scones

last night i made some gluten-free strawberry and rosemary scones for the mister.  they're adapted from this recipe by giada.  i like how the heart shape makes them extra romantical.