Attempting at being vegan

I'm trying to eat more healthy now, since thanksgiving is coming up and I know I'm gonna indulge.

Made a healthy veggie sandwich!

-Toasted wheat bread
-Avocado (salt & pepper)
-Mediterannean hummus (from Trader Joes)
-Tomatoes
-Cucumbers
-Spring Mix

Although there is no meat, the flavors are still good! Honestly, whenever I add hummus to anything, I never eat it with meat. Hummus is definitely a healthy alternative to mayo. Cucumbers give the sandwich a nice crunch. Spring mix add a freshness.

Fast and easy lunch you can make to-go!

Samantha

Pao De Quejio (Brazaillian Cheese Balls)

You know those cheese balls appetizers you get when you go to an Brazilian restaurant? They honestly taste like cheetos in a ball form!! I was craving them so I decided to make them =)

Serving size: 12 cheese balls

50 ml of Water
50 ml of Milk
2 tbsp of Olive Oil
1/2 cup of shredded cheese
200g of flour
1 egg

1. Heat at 340 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Heat water, milk, olive oil in a pan.
3. Remove it before it starts to boil and add it to the flour.
4. Knead the dough well.
5. Add egg to the mix.
6. Incorporate the cheese now.
7. After done mixing everything, scoop 1 tbsp and use your hands to form the dough into a ball.
8. Place ball onto parchment paper and put it into the oven
9. Wait 40 minutes.
10. Take out and enjoy!! =)

You can add more/less cheese if you wish. I added 1/2 lb and definitely could taste the cheese! I love cheese and this is enough cheese per ball. But if you want more, go for it!

Healthy eating?

Been trying to eat healthy since summer is over and I can't swim anymore and that was my only form of exercise... )=

Halloween is coming up!! And that means snacks to make!! =)

Food recipes will be up soon!

Summer Cooking

..........And I'm back!!

My goal is to post at least once a week.

This week I made my favorite Chinese vegetable dish. Chinese Style Green beans!!

Ingredients
-green beans
-6 cloves of garlic
-pinch of red pepper flakes
-3 tablespoon of soy sauce
-1 teaspoon of ginger powder

Recipe
1. Boil pot of water for the green beans
2. Add generous amount of salt
3. Add green beans for about 5 minutes
4. Take and drain out
5. Mince garlic cloves
6. Start to sautee green beans
7. Add minced garlic,  ginger powder, red pepper flakes, (add more, if you prefer spicy or add none if you don't want spicy)
8. Sautee until green beans start to brown
9. Add soy sauce
10. Enjoy!

When I was small, I remember fighting over these with my cousin since we both loved these. Now you can make them at the comfort of your own home instead of ordering from an outside restaurant! Even my uncle said it tasted like it was bought! Yummy!!

Sam

Quick Lunch

Ahhhh I've beeen out so much. First time home in about two weeks.

This isn't really something special, just something quick I put together one lunch.

Tuna on the bottom as a spread. Tuna consists of
-tuna (of course)
-mayo
-cucumber
-carrots
 SOOO GOOD. you gotta try this.

On top, I added green leaf sprouts and cherry tomatoes. The bitterness from the sprouts balances well with the sweetness from the cherry tomatoes. The bread is raisin bread, the extra sweetness from the raisin is delicious. But you could choose whatever bread you prefer.

Until next time,
Samantha

Italian night!

Yay another cooking night with some of my best friends!! It was Italian night.

We had 5 people and we were able to finish everything we made.

The appetizer we made was strawberry bruschetta with goat cheese.
-strawberries
-basil
-balsamic vinegar (2 tablespoon)
-baguette
-goat cheese
-brown sugar (1/2 teaspoon)

1. Cut up the baguette and add olive oil to each piece of bread.
2. Toast the french bread for 10 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
3. Dice up the strawberries and the chop up the basil first.
4. Combine strawberries, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, and chopped basil in a bowl (basil is really strong, so you don't need a lot to taste it)
5. Spread the goat cheese on the baguette and add the bruschetta on top. And you're done! :)

The entree we made was baked penne pasta with chicken & spinach.

-1 and 1/2 lb of pasta 

-garlic

-sauteed chicken with salt and pepper

-olive oil

-spinach

-1 lb of mozzarella cheese

-6 handfuls of spinach 

1. Cook the pasta in boiling water.

2. Drain the water and add spinach to the pasta to have it welt down.

3. Chop up the chicken and season with salt and pepper.

4. Add garlic into the pan and sautee the chicken until it's done.

5. Next, add the chicken into the pasta. 

6. Dump everything into a baking tray and add the mozzarella cheese on top.

7. Bake for 25 minutes for 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

8. Enjoy!

The pasta itself doesn't have any sauce added. But the flavor from the cheese and the seasoning made it light and delicious! This is an alternative pasta dish you can make if you don't want to eat heavy pasta. 

Meeting Robert Irvine

So recently I got an email that there was going to be a Food Network taping at Fashion Island and the first 150 people that RSVP would got in. So I quickly signed up my friend and I and we were lucky enough to get in!

We found out this was a TV show called Restaurant Express that is going to air on Food Network in November. There are nine chefs that cook in a food truck and each episode, the chef that makes the least amount of money gets eliminated. And whoever wins gets their very own restaurant!

We each started with 20 fake dollars and each item was a certain price. This event was free by the way.

There was three food trucks and each serving two items at whatever price they chose

The first item I got was the filet dip sandwich. It was priced at 15 dollars. This was a smart tactic because if you priced it at 15, you couldn't buy anything else because everything was minimum 10 dollars. Very smart...unless you split your money with a friend and that's what we did.

The next was this crab salad. There was plenty of crab!! Didn't really care for the rest. Good portion for 10 dollars.

Last but not least, we got a croissant that had duck and I thought it was okay but everyone else seemed to love it! This was also priced at 10 dollars. And it was the size of a regular croissant so very big portions. ( sorry no picture, i forgot )

There was free lemonade and ice tea there too.

Last but not least, I got to meet Robert Irvine!! I always watch his shows on Food Network so this was really cool.

Until next time,
Samantha