Cooking: Quick Zha Jiang Mien

I got this recipe from runnyrunny999 on youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXe1LrOiiT0). I love his videos because they're all so candid and funny. Anyway, I've been craving this dish like crazy but the hard part is finding the right ingrediants. It wasn't the produce, meat or noodles that made me wait this long to make this recipe. It was the two bean pastes. In runny's video, he uses doubanjiang & tenbanjiang both of which I would've had to make a special trip to Marina to get. I found the spicy bean chili paste at Lucky but they didn't have sweet bean paste. Instead, I used plum sauce.

OK, so this isn't exactly authentic but it tastes good. Instead of Chinese egg noodles, I substituted shirataki noodles to make the dish healthier. The texture is a little weird but Justyn and I like that we're eating a product that's better for us than straight carbs. IIRC, it's only 40 calories a pack!

The recipe is pretty quick and easy. Plus, once you have all your prep work done, this meal only takes about 15-20 minutes to cook. I'm digging the flavors of my bastardized Zha Jiang Mien and I'll probably be making this for future weeknight meals.

Cards Blog Challenge: Window Card

These past couple of weeks have been pretty hectic and busy for me so that's the reason I was unable to post a submission for last week's challenge. I made myself sit down and crank out a card since I missed making something. I never got around to making a window card when Kristina Werner posted her MACM on May 10th (woah.. that was nearly a month ago!). I used this week's Cards Blog Challenge as an opportunity to do so.

To date, I don't think I've made a monochromatic card and thought it'd look pretty good. I like it :) I didn't have any white brads so I used one of Kristina's old tutorials and white embossed on them. Pretty handy trick! I only had to emboss the brads twice to cover up the original color (orange, blue & purple). I am bummed that my white embossing powder isn't exactly white. Doesn't it look more like a cream color? Oh well, I bought some American Crafts embossing powder in white, so as soon as I'm done with my current stash, I'll start using that.

NAC: Congratulations

I started this card last night but couldn't get the box around the flowers centered. I find that stepping away from a card and coming back to it helps a lot. Tonight it was a lot easier to focus and get it just the way I wanted.

PS - I revisited Lisa Spangler's blog for a tutorial on how to lighten my photos since the lighting set up (non-existant) sucks. I've been playing around in GIMP and her tutorial was super easy to get rid of the darkness in my photos.

Here's a photo so you can compare the two.

Cooking: Chicken Porridge

Today was a chilly and rainy day so for lunch we had some pho. The weather was still pretty crappy when we got home and since Justyn had some leftover rotisserie chicken from some tacos he made last night, I used the bones, salt, pepper, ginger, garlic, green onion & cilantro to a quick chicken stock. I also had the rice soaking while I prepped the ingrediants for the stock. By the time I had the stock simmering I was supposed to saute the rice prior to putting it in our new rice cooker but I got lazy and impatient. I skimmed the chicken stock and got rid of all the scum before draining it. I added the rice to the rice cooker and submerged it 3/4 of the way full and added another 1/4 of the way full with water. It's a little complicated but the results are worth it and to be honest, I don't really have much of a recipe for this dish anymore. You can pretty much wing it with a few basic tips and it'll turn out great.

1) Soak the rice for at least half an hour.
2) Drain the rice and saute it until they're a little transparent.
3) Take the time out to make a nice aromatic chicken broth.
4) Lots of toppings. I used some chopped and rinsed preserved turnip, cilantro, the tops of the green onions, prepared fried garlic & onion, lime juice & finally some baby bok choi. Sriracha & a little soy sauce on the side doesn't hurt either.

What you end up with a nice hot and flavorful bowl of comfort.

NAC: I'm There For You

Look ma! No stitching! Heh.. I was inspired by this cute tank top from Old Navy. I'm actually working on another card that has stitching on it but it's far from being done so maybe I'll finish it up and post it tomorrow.

Cards Blog Challenge: Berries

The theme for this weeks Cards Blog challenge was berries. I knew I wanted to make a strawberry out of felt and add some stitching detail on it, so that part was easy. The semi difficult part was the layout. Originally, I was just going to put a banner under the strawberry but that seemed a little too simple so I took a page out of Kristina Werner's MACM video. I like the juxtaposition of the patterned paper so I incorporated that with stitching of course. The patterned papers I used are from October Afternoon's Farm Fresh line. Another trick I figured out when stitching with felt is to back it with some leftover packaging from embellishments. Just draw and cut out the shape. Then pierce holes for stitching. I adhered the felt to the shape with dry adhesive. This makes stitching close to the edge of the felt a lot easier.

Cooking: Pasta Amatriciana

I noticed that I haven't made pasta lately so guess what? We're having that for dinner tonight. This recipe is super simple and easy to make. Not too many ingrediants either which is always convenient for a weekday meal.

Haha I just looked over and Justyn and he already polished his bowl full of pasta. "GOOD!" was his response. Sometimes I wonder if he's half caveman.

Pasta Amatriciana

2 tsp olive oil
1 slice ham (1/4") cut lardon style
1 medium onion(s), chopped
1 medium garlic clove(s), minced
14 1/2 oz canned diced tomatoes
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, to 1/4 teaspoon
1/2 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
1/4 cup(s) water
1/2 pound(s) uncooked whole-wheat pasta, spaghetti variety
1 Tbsp parsley, fresh, chopped

Cook the pasta per directions on the package.

In the meantime, heat oil in pan on medium high heat. Add the ham and cook until slightly browned.

Add onion and cook for a few minutes until softened. Then add the garlic & red pepper flake.

When garlic is fragrant, add tomato & oregano. You might have to add a little water if the sauce reduces too quickly. Simmer the mixture until the pasta is done. Season to taste.

Drain pasta. Add the mixture to the pasta pot and mix in basil.