Spoon yourself healthy (and possibly slim!)

I'm getting better at keeping up with my blog these days!

You might also notice that I've put some neat categorised Quick Recipe archive on the left tab of the page to make it easier for all of us to locate the recipe (yes, including me).

Today's post is rather general-ish, and it's about my ongoing obsession of eating (or you might call drinking) soup for both lunch and dinner. I love having soup because it's very simple to make, very healthy and really - this might sounds rather controversial - but I spoon myself to sliminess with homemade soups while occasionally splurging on dark chocolates and sweet treats! I'm sure the basic reason on why I got slimmer is because of the good healthy stuffs that I eat and the fact that I get fuller faster with the soup, thus reducing the chance that I overeat! Anyway this seems to be working - the more I eat at home, the healthier I am and the easier my effort is to keep my weight on track.

The very good thing about having soup for meals is that the high water intake will help us to get fuller faster and longer. Moreover it's free from oily stuffs (although most of my stir-fry dishes are made up of very little oil). Also - you can put a variety of 'good food' ingredients in your soup, like vegetables (Chinese cabbage is my favourite), mushrooms, wholewheat pasta, egg and meat/seafood ingredients. I've always liked meat rolls that Chinese hotpot restaurants serve, and so I bought the whole big pack of Pork Rolls from Oriental supermarket and stuffed them in my freezer. I normally use Baby Button Mushrooms because they are cheap and perfect in size - I just need to slice them in two before putting them into my pot. Tomatoes are good as well - the tomato flavour and juice will spice up your spoon and gives your soup a tomatoish flavour. Tomatoes in soup go great with eggs!

There are a lot of varieties of ingredients that you can mix in to create your own soup. Below is the picture of what I'd call a veggie + seafood soup marinara!

Veggie + Seafood Marinara Soup

The most simple way of making the soup mix is do it the oriental style. I simply boil around 400 ml of water, add chicken cubes (Knorr), and wait until the liquid boils before adding the stuffs in! You might also want Teriyaki sauce for some flavouring, or simple salt and pepper will do too!

I also put wholewheat pasta in, I strongly believe in the goodness of complex carbohydrates. My new favourite is Conchigliette wholewheat pasta for kids (yes - for kids). I found mine from ASDA.

Cooked Conchigliette wholewheat pasta

Below is what I just had for my late lunch/ early dinner!

Pork Roll and Conchigliette Soup

Basic Oriental Soup Recipe

Ingredients:

• 400 ml of water
• Knorr chicken cube (or other brand) (1 cube)
• Teriyaki sauce (optional) OR salt/pepper to add to the taste
• Fujian cooking wine (Chinese/Japanese cooking wine) [OPTIONAL]
• Chinese cabbage (5 leaves, chopped)
• Pork Roll for hotpot (from Asian supermarkets) OR can be changed to seafood stick/fish balls/beef balls/ diced chicken breasts
• Egg (preferably free range and organic - 1)
• Wholewheat pasta (approx. 50 grams)

How to Prepare:

• Cook the pasta, drain and separate in a bowl
• In a small saucepan, boil 400 ml of water
• Put the heat to medium
• Add the chicken cube, stir until completely dissolved
• Put the Chinese cabbage in, wait for around 4 - 5 minutes
• Put around 15 small pork rolls (or see substitute) in (to your liking), stir and wait until pork rolls have turned to grey cooked colour
• Crack the egg in, and carefully stir (I prefer not to break the egg's yolk) and wait for 3-5 minutes
• Splash two tablespoons of teriyaki sauce in or give more salt/pepper/seasoning
• Pour over the pasta, mix and ....
• SERVE!

How easy! And how nice and warm for the winter days! If you're living in a hot climate - this dish would also be very nice after a long day of work or study. It surely will replenish and freshen up the mind and body!

LOVE. the one by two kitchen.

Quick for Valentine! Chocolate Clusters Recipe

Who's in for Valentine's Day?

Apart from the chocolates, I am not a big fan. But I'm pretty sure that a lot of you are actually anxiously waiting for this day filled with chocolate! This is not an SBD friendly recipe (but hey Valentine's a cheating day, right?)

Chocolate Clusters

If you have not bought your chocolates yet and are too skint or want to make something good last minute, check out the following easy Chocolate Cluster recipe. I made this a long time ago for Christmas, however it's very versatile to use in all occasions depending on how you decorate them! It's so easy (less than 20 minutes to make and half an hour to leave them in refrigerator) and you definitely would want to impress that special someone that apart from being a fashionista/smartie/girl next door (if you're a girl), you're also a domestic goddess! Or - if you're a guy - you might want to show your girls your homeloving abilities!

Right - first thing first. This is an easy recipe that will never, ever, cost you your head and arms (it's not expensive at all!) Quickly get your notes and jot down everything listed below!

NOTE: You will need a large bowl and a saucepan that can fit in your bowl. That's it.

Ingredients:

• Dark chocolate bar (approx. 250 grams or one bar)
• Cornflakes cereal - a handful (from your morning breakfast!)
• Colorful sprinkles or anything to decorate
• Muffin paper cases (better but not compulsory)

How to Prepare:

• Break the chocolate bar to pieces and put them into a large heatproof bowl (a ceramic bowl will do)
• We're going to melt the chocolate now. Fill the saucepan with water, making sure that when your bowl is put onto the saucepan, the water will not leak onto the bowl (you don't want a nasty mixture of chocolate liquid)
• Turn up the heat and bring the water to boil, carefully stirring your chocolate until they completely melt
• Remove your bowl from the saucepan (or move the entire thing from your hob) and stir in a handful of cornflakes
• Stir the cornflakes until they are fully coated, add some more cornflakes if possible
• Use your spoon to scoop the chocolate cornflakes and fill each paper case. Size is to your liking. However I recommend a bigger one than shown on the picture for Valentine's day
• Sprinkle your colorful sprinkles or decoration on top
• Move to the refrigerator and let it cool (approximately 30 minutes - check on yours!)
• Quickly wrap them in some nice tubes and give them a good wrapping!
• Serve! No! I mean send them to that special somebody!

Since this recipe is quick for Valentine's, I wouldn't say much for this one. It's simple, easy and it will impress! Go on, have a try, it's nearly foolproof!

LOVE. the one by two kitchen.

Interesting the one by two kitchen dishes pictures to keep you entertained!

Hello again everybody!


I decided to be more active for the one by two kitchen blog in 2011, and here comes the second post of the year!


This one is not a recipe post, though. This is an overview of what I have been creating and cooking in the past week. During the past week I have somehow found myself being filled with constant rush of creativity (especially in creating new recipes and getting inspired!) At night time I often think about new recipe dishes. I guess this must be because of my current obsession of staying slim with less carbs; this seems to intrigue the creativity side of me to find new dishes that are appealing and carb-less.. Anyway since not everyone here knows me personally on Facebook (I use Google Analytics to analyse my blog's popularity and such and found that the people who read my blogs actually come from everywhere), I decide to post this picture+blog collections!


So if you're a fan of carbohydrates, please put up with me! Next week I shall be introducing healthy carbs back to the blog!


First and foremost - seafood. Have I mentioned how big of a fan I am of seafood and especially of prawns?

King prawn medley with tomato and spring onion; served with miso soup! 

I've always loved king prawns, and this is the first time that I got king prawns with tails while in the UK (M&S Food store). The taste of this dish reminds me of the Mediterranean sea and of the beaches in Bali. Yum!

Onto the second one then! This is chicken breast filled with cheese slices wrapped with Parma ham (better known as Prosciutto!) and served with asparagus (one of my favourite vegetables of all time).

Chicken breast and asparagus, each wrapped in Prosciutto and served with tomato. Chicken breast is filled with cheese slices.

Notice the singularity. Tomato. That's because my personal view on this dish is that since the prosciutto would make the chicken and asparagus rather salty, the tomato should add a bit of tanginess to the dish and thus lessen the saltiness. I might be wrong, Gordon Ramsay might laugh at my idea if he must, but I can only say good things about this recipe. It makes me want more, although I'm still working on how to minimize the saltiness. The reason I did not choose bacon and use Prosciutto is because of the high fat content of bacon! I'm going to experiment more about this dish, perhaps using mozzarella and other type of hams!

Seafood, tick. Chicken, tick. I'm also a big fan of extra lean meat. Although I'd be honest, I don't eat red meat or pork that much. However I got hold of extra lean pork in Sainsbury's and, at one night, this inspiration comes. I'm still very proud of this dish that I found, I simply love the taste. What else can I ask?

the one by two kitchen take on Buta no Misoyaki with lettuce and egg!

Basically they're made up of two extra lean porks, egg, lettuces, Japanese soy sauce, and miso paste. I'll post the recipe of this (I think I've made it to close-to-perfection by my standard). The picture above is when I'm cooking the dish (it looks beautiful!) Here's another picture (after balancing the lights).

And below is the picture of when it is served:

That's Buta no Misoyaki ala the one by two kitchen for you!


Second to last is another take of pan-seared tuna steak, this time served with Mascarpone sauce. Alright I did not make the Mascarpone sauce, ok? Gordon Ramsay made this sauce and sold it for Comic Relief and I happened to pass by this product in Sainsbury's! Still - what a nice dinner for me!

And below is the close-up look of my Pan-seared Tuna with Mascarpone sauce (and asparagus!)

Right - and I'm finishing off with a vegetarian (not vegan) dish! It's Quorn chicken with mushroom , pan-fried with lighter than light Flora butter!


PS: Super amazing way to start off your day!

ALRIGHT - that's about it for now! I'm going to post more recipes as soon as my brain starts working (I'm gonna be brutally honest - I am going crazy with my university's research project going now, I mistook socks for my clothes, misread stuffs and just went brain-crazy the whole day today).


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I shall want you to read more interesting posts later!


LOVE. the one by two kitchen.