Flaxseed, Oatmeal, and Cranberries Cookies

Whoever said that cookies would not be a good food for the body? Today, I will show you that cookies are very easy to make and that the ingredients are very nutritious. Hopefully, this will be an option available not only for snaking but also for breakfast

Ingredients:

1/2 cup self-rising flour

1/2 cup oatmeal

1/4 cup ground flaxseed meal

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup coconut oil

1 egg

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°. 

Line a baking pan with parchment paper.

In a mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients and mix well. Let mixture sit for 15 minutes.

Use an ice cream scoop to divide the dough into 12 equal amounts.

Place each equal amount 1 inch apart on the baking sheet.

Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.

Let cool on a cooking rack. 

Green Bananas Stew with Tofu and Shitake Mushrooms

Ripened bananas are special to create many recipes. However, green bananas are almost as familiar to everyone who cooks, especially preparing Asian dishes. Green bananas have many uses, such as for medicinal, intoxication, and healing etc. However, delicious dishes with green bananas are not known to everyone. So what can we cook with green banana as the main ingredient? The main ingredients of this delicious dish with green bananas are tofu and mushroom. After being washed and prepared, the green bananas are soaked in lemon water to prevent darkening. The tofu can be bought ready fried or are easy to fry at home and cut into pieces that are not too small so as not to be crushed. This dish is for vegans, but it serves well for someone who wants to lose weight. 

Ingredients:

2 green bananas (plantains)

One 8 oz. tofu, cubed

2 oz. mushrooms (fresh shitake or your choice)

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup vegetable broth

1 tbs turmeric powder

2 tbs vegetable cooking oil

1/4 cup rice vinegar or tangerine juice

Salt, sugar, soy sauce, and vegetarian seasoning powder

Other ingredients:

Perilla and scallions

Rice or vermicelli optional

Directions:

Peel off the thin green skin on the outside of the bananas, soak in lemon water for 15 minutes to prevent darkening, then cut into bite-sized pieces.  Before cooking, pour into a basket to drain.

Heat a pot of water to boil and cook the bananas for 2 minutes, then drain.

Slice the ​​tofu and fry until golden brown.

In a heated deep pan, add vegetable oil until hot. Add the white part of the green onions and garlic cloves. Stirfry until fragrant about 1 minute. Stir in turmeric powder.

Add tofu, bananas, and mushrooms.

Add vegetable broth and bring boil. Season with salt, vegetable seasoning, soy sauce, and sugar to your liking. Cover the pot and cook for 15 minutes.

Add rice vinegar or tangerine juice. Adjust the seasoning to your liking.

Add perilla and scallions, finely chopped, then stir and let it boil again, and then turn off the heat.

Serve hot with rice or with vermicelli.

Shrimp Paste or Shrimp Cakes

In the Vietnamese cuisine, delicious dishes from shrimp are always loved not only for their sweet and nutritious taste but also for their beautiful shape and easy-to-make methods. Therefore, shrimp is selected in a variety of menus from rustic low income families to luxurious high-class societies. Today, I want to share a recipe about shrimp paste with a simpler method. With shrimp paste on hand, it is easy to create other recipes that require shrimp paste. In coastal areas, fresh shrimp is the best choice for this recipe. However, to make it simpler, frozen shrimp is not a bad choice.

Ingredients:

1 ½ lbs frozen shrimp

1/2 tbs salt

Seasonings:

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp chilli powder

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp sugar

1 tbs cornstarch

1/4 cup oil

Directions:

Thaw shrimp. Then peel and devein. You also can buy the frozen shrimp without shells.

Drain and dry each shrimp . This step is important for this recipe. It will help shrimp paste have ductility.

Add salt onto shrimp and marinate in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours.

After 3 hours, season shrimp with the seasonings and mix well.

Place shrimp in a food processor and blend well into paste. Do not turn the food processor on the full power speed. Instead use the pulse function until the shrimp become a paste but still cold when touched.

Now you can shape the shrimp paste the way you like or put the shrimp paste in a Ziploc bag and freeze until ready to use.

To make shrimp cake:

Wash your hand and then dry your hand.

Use oil to wet your hand. This will help to form shrimp paste without sticking to your palm. 

I make shrimp paste into a round shape – about 1 inch thick and 2 inches diameter.

In a nonstick pan, add oil and bring oil to just barely hot.  Add shrimp cakes and fry over medium heat. Turn the shrimp cakes to the other side after turning golden.

Serve with rice. 

Tip: to flavor the shrimp paste, add green onion and cilantro.

Easy Cheese Potato Muffins

Welcome to my kitchen today, and I know that all my easy baking recipes help to create a good healthy breakfast. Because breakfast is the most important meal before starting the day, we should not skip this meal regardless how busy we are. Although I personally love to cook, I always think that I don't have patience when it comes to baking.  However, there are many recipes for making breakfast cakes or muffins for the family that are delicious and can also be called healthy when the ingredients in the recipe do not have too much fat or sugar. Today, I will share this recipe using leftover mashed sweet potatoes from other dishes, or leftover oat porridge can also be added.

Ingredients:

Dry ingredients:

1 cup self-rising flour

1 cup cheese (your choice – I use 5 Mexican cheese)

1 tsp salt

2 tbs sugar

1 green onion, sliced

1/4 tsp black pepper

Wet ingredients:

1/3 cup melted butter or vegetable oil

1/4 cup skim milk

1/3 cup mashed sweet potato or oatmeal porridge

1 egg

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 6-count muffin tin with nonstick spray or line with cupcake liners. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, cheese, salt, sugar, black pepper and green onion together. Set aside.

In a small blender, such as Vitamix, Ninja, or whatever you have on hand, combine all the wet ingredients and blend well.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Use a handheld beater to beat the ingredients on low speed until just about combined. 

Spoon the batter evenly into each cup or liner, filling each all the way to the top. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins come out clean.

Serve warm.

Tip: you can add more cheese on top the muffins at the last minutes before the muffins are completely done.

Panfried Tuna with Yum Yum Sauce

Yum Yum sauce is a very popular Japanese sauce. In Japanese restaurants this sauce is always served on the side with grilled dishes, such as shrimp, fish, or chicken.  Making this sauce at home is also simple because the ingredients in this sauce are easy to find, such as mayonnaise, ketchup, sugar, and vinegar, but today I just want to introduce to you marinated and grilled tuna on a non-stick pan with the Yum Yum sauce sold at the Costco. I call it semi-homemade to save time. It doesn't mean sacrificing the taste, and with a few small techniques will make the Yum Yum sauce as much as it makes at home or served at a famous Japanese restaurant.

 

Ingredients:

2 tuna fish fillets, cut into 2 inch cubes

Marinade ingredients:

2 tbsp mirin (Japanese cooking wine)

1 tsp toasted sesame oil

1 tsp grated fresh ginger

2 tsp soy sauce

For the Yum Yum sauce:

1/3 cup Costco Yum Yum sauce

1 tsp grated fresh ginger

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp soy sauce

Other ingredients:

Chopped green onion and cilantro

Directions:

In a mixing bowl, place tuna and pour the marinade over it. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

In small bowl, combine the Yum Yum sauce and mix well. Adjust the seasoning to your liking.

Heat a nonstick wok or pan containing 2 tbs oil until hot. Add tuna in pieces as you grill them on the grill. 

Pan-fry tuna on both sides for about 3 minutes on each side. Then pour the Yum Yum sauce over it.

Cook for 1 minute and sprinkle chopped green onion and cilantro on top. Turn off the heat and serve.