Easy Coconut Bread Pudding

Bread pudding is a very simple but delicious, easy to make breakfast meal, and is very economical. The bread pudding can also easily become a dessert dish. The economical savings happen when you don't want to throw away any food but turned it into a new, more attractive dish than a slice of stale bread. What I mean is that when there is bread in the kitchen that is over two or more days old, this stale bread creates a perfect new dish. It doesn't take a lot of skill to make this dish. It just requires a few ingredients already in the fridge to make a great breakfast. Consider adding different kinds of fresh or dried fruit to suit your taste.

Ingredients: 

Bread ingredients:

4 cups of cubed bread

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup raisin

1/2 cup coconut flakes (sweet or non-sweet), your choice

1 tsp cinnamon, pumpkin spice

Wet ingredients:

3 eggs

3 cups coconut milk (not the coconut cream)

1 tsp vanilla

Other ingredient:

1 tbs softened butter

Equipment:

One 8 x 8” square or 8 in. diameter round cake pan (your choice)

Blender

Directions:

Use soft butter to grease the cake pan and set aside.

Combine all the bread ingredients in a large bowl.

In a Vitamix® blender or any kind of mixer that you have, combine all the wet ingredients and blend well.

Pour the wet ingredients mixture into the bread mixture and stir to combine and pour into the prepared cake pan.

Bake in a preheated oven set to 350° for 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Serve warm.

 

Stir-fried Cauliflower with Garlic

Cauliflower stir-fried with garlic is a vegetarian dish that contains abundant nutrients. If you read on a health website, the fiber and vitamin C content in cauliflower is very high, which is beneficial for overall daily needs for good health. Fiber is important because it feeds the healthy bacteria in the gut that helps the digestive system. When garlic and cauliflower are used together in a recipe, the resistance substances in garlic will also be increased at the same time. It boosts the immune system, reduces blood pressure, and lowers the bad cholesterol. I can go on and name more benefits for combining these two easy to find ingredients to keep a healthy gut. Especially for vegetarians, this is an easy dish to make. Pairing this with brown rice is sure where you to reach the peak of a healthy life.

Ingredients:

4 cups of cauliflower, washed and cut into bite-size pieces

3 garlic cloves, minced

Stir-fried sauce ingredients:

2 tbs soy sauce

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp mushroom seasoning

1/4 tsp salt

1 tbs oyster sauce

1/4 cup water

Garlic oil

1/4 cup peanut oil or grape seed oil

Others:

Garnish with chopped cilantro and chopped green onions

Directions:

Bring 4 cups of water to boil and blanch the cauliflower for 2 minutes. Remove and drop into cold water to stop the cooking. Then drain well.

In a small sauté pan add oil and fry the garlic until brown over low to medium heat. Use small sieve to drain the oil from the garlic.

In a small bowl, combine all the stir-fried sauce ingredients, and then set aside.

In a wok, add two tablespoons of garlic oil. Add the sauce and bring to boil. Add the blanched cauliflower and stir and cook for 3 minutes (taste the sauce to your liking).  Add the fried garlic and turn off the heat. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro and green onions.

 Note: If you want to thicken the sauce (your choice), then add 1 tsp cornstarch to the sauce. 

Snowball Cookies

                                                         

Whenever Thanksgiving or Christmas comes around, a type of cookies called snowball" is always displayed on the dining table. They are very nice looking cookies and very delicious to eat, it looks like you are putting a small snowball in your mouth and because they melt in your mouth right away. They are easy cookies to make for the holidays to impress family and friends. 

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

1 stick of butter or margarine at room temperature

1 cup finely chopped walnuts 

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup powdered sugar for rolling (coating the cookies)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, combine all the ingredients except for the powdered sugar.

Use your hand or spatula to mix well the ingredients until the mixture is combined.

Roll out the dough into a 1 inch diameter log. Then divide the log into equal size round balls.

Place each ball onto the baking sheet and bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until the bottom edge of the cookies are lightly brown.

Let cool slightly. Roll each cookie ball twice over the powdered sugar because the powdered sugar usually cover the ball completely the first time.

Tip: You can pre-toast the nuts to get a nutty taste, and this recipe can use any kind of nuts of your choice.

Easy One Bowl Zucchini Muffins

Welcome to my blog. Today, I will introduce to you a very quick and easy recipe for a quality breakfast. If you're a fan of my easy-to-follow recipes, here's another one that will also follow the similar fundamental methods of making muffins. 

Ingredients:

 1/2 zucchini, shredded (about 1 cup)

1/2 cup red or yellow bell pepper, cubed

1 cup mozzarella cheese or cheese of your choice

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup milk 

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 egg

1 tbs soft butter

1 cup self-rising flour

Equipment:

1 medium bowl

Spatula or a whisk

8 mini muffins tin

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°.

Use soft butter to grease the muffin tins.

Place all the ingredients except the flour into a bowl. Whisk to combine.

Add flour and mix well with the zucchini mixture to form a batter

Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin to 2/3 full in each of the muffin tins.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until an inserted toothpick into the center comes out clean.

Serve warm.

Chicken Rice Sauté with Oil --Cơm gà xối mỡ

                                                    

The chicken rice sauté with fat originated from Guangdong, China. This is the perfect choice for the family to change the taste of the chicken. It has many different recipes used to prepare this dish. I find an easy recipe to make this chicken dish which can be made every day in a small kitchen. Also, I like to make this dish to taste more in line with the Vietnamese dish, which uses all the marinating Vietnamese spices. For parties, the whole chicken can be used to make a statement in the center of the table. The results of this dish is crispy chicken skin with delicious fragrant fried rice, guaranteed to be loved by the whole family. 

Ingredients:

4 chicken legs with skin on

4 cups cooked rice

1 tbs tumeric 

2 eggs

1 onion, sliced

Marinade ingredients:

1 piece fresh ginger, skin removed, sliced in half, and the rest minced

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 shallots, 1 sliced, the other minced

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp seasoning

1 tbs cooking wine

1 tbs olive oil

Other Ingredients:

Lettuce. cucumbers, tomatoes

Chili pepper

Dipping sauce

2 tbs oyster oil

¼ cup soy sauce

¼ cup chicken broth

2 cups cooking oil

Directions:

Mix all the marinade ingredients in a bowl.

Wash chicken thighs and rub the marinade under the skin (be careful not to break the skin). Marinate the chicken for 1 hour.

Add chicken into a medium pot. Cover chicken with water (about 6 cups). Add sliced white onion, green onion, and sliced ginger. Season with salt and chicken powder to suit your taste. Bring to boil and skim off the scum that arises to the surface. Simmer for 10 minutes. Cover the pot with lid and turn the heat off.

Let chicken sit in the pot for 10 minutes. Remove chicken and submerge the cooked chicken in cold water. This method will keep the skin crispy later. Let it sit for 10 minutes; remove the chicken and let the chicken dry out of the water.

To fry the rice

Break eggs into the rice, add tumeric, and mix well.

In a wok, add 2 tbs of oil, and add the rice. When the rice is hot, season with 1 tsp mushroom seasoning, 1/2 tsp black pepper and salt. Taste to your family's liking.

To fry the chicken

Before frying, brush soy sauce over the chicken to coat all sides; then let it rest for about 5 minutes.

Heat about 2 cups of cooking oil (this amount of oil penetrates the meat surface). Then add chicken thighs and fry the undersides until golden brown. Fry on medium heat for about 5 minutes.

When the undersides of the meat are golden, use a spatula to pour oil on the top of the chicken thighs, pour the fat over the chicken skin to create a crispier and more beautiful color.

Remove the fried chicken when golden brown and drain the oil.

To make a dipping sauce

In a small sauce pan, add all the dipping sauce ingredients and bring to boil. Remove and add minced garlic and hot chilli.

Arrange the chicken on a plate with one cup of fried rice and garnish with lettuce, cucumber, and tomatoes and sprinkle with chopped cilantro.

Serve with dipping sauce and a bowl of chicken broth as a side dish.

Easy Corn Muffins

Corn muffins are easy and delicious to make for a quick breakfast or an addition to a holiday dinner by adding other ingredients, such as ham, jalapeno, green onions etc. This basic corn muffins recipe can be made with or without the sweet corn.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup corn meal

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup oil 

1 cup frozen sweet corn (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°.

Line an 8 medium-size muffins tin with paper muffins liners.

In a medium bowl, combine all the ingredients and beat well with a hand-held mixer or a whisk.

If you want to use a blender, blend all the ingredients except the corn meal, flour, and the baking powder. Blend well and pour this mixture into the corn meal, flour, baking powder. Add the frozen corn last and stir well to combine.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin liners.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Serve warm.

 

One Bowl Mocha Cupcakes

Cupcakes are fun things to make when one masters the basic recipe for cake. No-one can resist the sweetness of cupcakes. A cupcake recipe is a small portion of a big cake. Cupcakes can easily be made to welcome neighbors and bring into a potluck. From simple chocolate to fabulously decorated cupcakes, this simple one bowl cupcakes recipe must have a place in your recipe book.

Ingredients:

Wet ingredients:

1/2 cup boiling water

3 tbs soft butter

1 tbs instant coffee powder 

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 tbs honey

1 tbs cocoa powder

Other ingredients:

1 ¼ cups self-rising flour

1 egg

Equipment:

9 mini cupcakes tin with liners

Directions:

In a medium bowl, combine all the wet ingredients. Mix well. Let mixture cool off completely. Add egg and use a handheld mixer to beat until well combined.

Stir in the flour and whisk until well combined. 

Scoop the batter into the mini cupcake tin liners (about 2/3 full).

Bake in a preheated oven set to 350° for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Enjoy!!

Salmon Tandoori

The tandoori dish is made from an Indian recipe to prepare chicken or fish in a clay oven called a tandoor. The spices used for marinating to make the tandoori dish are cumin, graham masala, Indian chili powder, ginger-garlic paste, yogurt, and lime juice. Some tandoori dishes use more spices depending upon the region of India. Most of the spices used to make Indian dishes are sold in Indian grocery stores. Some American grocery stores do not carry Indian spices. I think semi-homemade tandoori fish is possible to make at home. I found the tandoori sauce in some American stores, such as Aldis or Walmart and that gave me an idea to create this recipe for you. The already made tandoori sauce gives the depth of flavor of cumin and graham masala and other Indian spices. Other ingredients are easy to find in American grocery stores. Nowadays, many ovens will have a function similar to an Indian tandoor. I make this dish in a countertop oven or grill in a cooktop, and it still turns out with very good taste.

Ingredients:

Two 8 oz. salmon fillets

Marinade ingredients:

1/4 cup ready-made tandoori sauce

2 tbs nonfat Greek yogurt

1 tbs lime juice and zest of the lime 

2 garlic cloves, ground into a paste

1 small piece of fresh ginger – skin removed, ground into a paste

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1 tsp salt

1 /2 tsp turmeric

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 tsp sugar 

1 tbs grape seed oil

Other ingredients:

1/2 onions, chopped

2 green onions, chopped

 Directions:

Cut salmon fillets into big chunks and place in a bowl.

In a medium bowl, combine all the marinade ingredients and mix well.  Adjust the seasoning to suit your family’s taste.

Pour the mixed ingredients over the salmon. Let salmon marinate for 30 minutes to an hour, but not more than 1 hour.

How to bake the salmon:

Turn oven to 400°. Place chopped onion on the baking dish and place salmon chunks on top of the onions and bake for 10 minutes. Turn the fish over halfway through the baking time to get even cooking.

To grill the fish:

Turn up the outdoor oven. Brush some oil over the pan to prevent the fish from sticking. Place the onion in first and then the fish over the onion. Grill fish for 5 minutes and turn them twice to get the desired doneness.

Serve with cooked rice.