Bentos For The Week

After a long week of leave, its back to work again. Maybe its becoz its monday yesterday & i'm suffereing from blues, plus got lots of work to clear, i didn't have the mood to blog as i'm dead tired by time i knock off.
But as usual, i will still prepare my bentos for lunch. Here are my bentos for yesterday & today........

Sausage roll bento;
-Omelette wrap chicken sausage in bread roll with cheese & cucumber
-Fruity yoghurt pudding
-Cherry tomatoes
-Fuji apple
-Mixed berries yoghurt
-Fruit juice
Today's bento consist of;
-Curry fried rice
-Tomato & iceberg lettuce
-Apple
-Passion fruit green tea

Ooh...yummy yummy! =P

Cheesy Tuna Crouquette

I love eating croquette from japanese restaurants, be it pumpkin or potato. I remembered eating a tuna cheese flavour from bugis about 6 years ago. Decided to make some cheesy tuna croquette for uncle david & aunty sarah today.

Ingredients;
3 small potatoes, boiled & mashed
1 can tuna chunks in water
1 onion, cubed
1/2 tsp unsalted butter
5 slices cheddar cheese
Dashes of pepper
Pinches of salt
Oil for deep frying

Coating;
Plain flour
Beaten egg
Breadcrumbs

Method;
-Fry onion cubes in butter till soft & fragrant.
-Remove tuna chunks from can, drained & rinse with hot boiling water. Tis is done to remove excess sodium from tuna.
-Mix onion, tuna, mash potatoes, pepper & pepper. Break cheese slices into small pieces, add to mixture.
-Shape into balls, coating with flour, followed by beaten egg den into breadcrumbs.
-Chill in fridge to harden abit b4 deep frying in hot oil till golden brown.
-Serve with mayonnaise.
-Enjoy!

Fried Curry Tumeric Rice

Aunty Sarah gave us some nasi brayani last nite, Adam & Jesper finishes up the curry & had lots of turmeric rice left over. Not wanting to waste any food, i keep it in the fridge, intend to cook fried rice the following day.

My latest obsession is fried rice & I realise that using different ingredients to go with different seasonings enables mi to come up with different style of fried rice. How i like my fried rice? Its a muz to add veggie to my rice & i remembered as a kid i dun reali fancy fried rice. Normally i would prefer plain rice or brown to fried rice, wondering wat come over mi. haha....

Ingredients;
1 fillet chicken breast, cut into strips
3 leaves cabbage, shredded
1 egg, beaten
2 cup cooked turmeric rice
2 clove garlic, minced
1 small onion
Pinch of salt
1 tsp curry powder
Dashes of coriander powder
Oil for frying

Marinate;
1/8 tsp baking soda
1 tsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp curry powder
Pinch of salt
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp turmeric powder

Method;
-Marinade chicken breast with marinate, set aside in fridge for an hour.
-Scrambled eggs in 1 tsp oil, set aside.
-Fry shredded cabbage till soften, set aside.
-Fry onion in 1 tsp oil till fragrant, add garlic & fry till browned.
-Stir in chicken, fry till change colour.
-Mix in turmeric rice, fry for 2 mins.
-Return scrambled eggs & cabbage to wok, add seasonings.
-Fry until incorporated & serve.
-Enjoy!

Day @ Jerevin New Office

Tabby's office juz shifted from Bishan to AMK. As there were many things not organise & done up, i volunteer to help out with some decorations for the new office. In fact, Tabby & i had been running around to Ikea, JB & other places to purchase the stuff.
When comes to decorating, i can throw in some creative ideas. Wat i like best is the scenery at the balcony, especially during sunset.

Tabby & i had some sandwich toastie for tea-break by the balcony.

Oh ya, with Merrill in the new office as well.

Admiring the sunset in AMK.

Close up view of the beautiful sun.

After filling us our tummy, we spent few hours to put up the deco. As there were onli 2 of us & a baby, we managed to done up a few decos.

Putting up clock which we bought all the way from JB.

A flower stand deco.....

Another design of the flower stand.

A 3D wall design of plant.

Tabby initially wanted to put the brown sticks in a long vase & place them at a entrance. However, i feels that we should do something creative & can onli be found in Jerevin. Decided to do a wall deco instead since we had some plastic flowers.

Tis is a close up view of the plant which i managed to stick them to the wall.

Nearer to the nite, Grace joined us as she had some unfinished work to rush. Since she's with us, we decided to whip up a feast for dinner. Take it as a gathering since its been ages since i last met up with grace.

We drove out to the nearset supermarket to purchase inngredients for our dinner. In less than an hour, dinner's ready!

Instant mee goreng with taiwanese meatballs.

Baked fish tofu.

Chili tuna butter toast.

Prata rolls.

Steamed siew mai.

Last but not least, my favourite tiramisu dessert.

A close up view of the tiramisu. I still prefer frozen tiramisu. haha.....

After dinner, we still gotto carry on with the decos & by time we left the office is already way past midnite. Wat a tiring yet enjoyable day i had. =P

Dinner @ Ajitei

Its been nearly a year since i last met up with Fong, Yenling & Ching. I arranged for a "reunion dinner" at taka last nite. We listed out a few dining place like pasta shop, din tai fung, soup restaurant, tampopo etc.... in the end as we walk we ended up at Ajitei.

Strawberry soda & Unsweetened hot green tea.

Butter scallop.
Oh, feel sort of cheated for ordering tis dish. On the menu pic it has about 6 big scallop. However, upon serving, its onli 3-4 pathetic small scallops with lots & lots of onion & woodear.

Our favourite dish~Mentai Wings.

I ordered a Keema curry pork with eggplant. I finds the curry too salty as compared to other japanese curry.

Ching ordered a Hokkaido kaisen don.

Fong had a Keema curry seafood.

Yenling had a Sanma set consisting of her favourite grill fish.

Close up pic of the fish...

And the tofu.

Oh yeah......its our favourite dessert time. b4 dinner i was looking at the fanciful dessert menu & we were very tempted to order a dessert each. But but but... we were so full from the yummy dinner, thus ended up ordering 2 kinds of dessert to share among us.

Peach fantasia~its actually peach ice-cream coated with a layer of white chocolate outside. The core of the so called "peach" is actually a ferrero rocher.

Sundae Zenzai~oh its a muz to eat red bean or green tea dessert in a japanese dessert house. They are reali yummy. The red bean r being cooked till soft & mushy yet stll in whole.

Zhap Palan Fried Rice

Wat is Zhap Palan? Well, it means a mixture of anything. Well, tt's our very own singlish.

I had some fu rong egg omelette leftovers from last nite dinner. Oops...cuz i wasn't home for dinner, tt caused the leftovers. haha.... not wanting to waste them as it consist of prawns, cai po, onions & chili slices. So "hao liao" so i decided to use it to fry a zhap palan fried rice together with the other ingredients which i can find in the fridge & tt settles our lunch issie.

Ingredients;
2 cup cooked rice
Some omelettes, cubed
Some shredded iceberg lettuce
2 crabmeat seafood sticks, cubed
2 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp home-made chili paste
1 tsp light soy sauce
Pinch of salt & msg
Dash of ground white pepper
Oil for frying
Some pork flosses

Method;
-Fry garlic in 1 tsp oil till fragrant, add in rice & fry till loosen.
-Add crabmeat stick, omelette & seasonings.
-Stir in chili paste & lettuce.
-Continue to fry for another 2 mins.
-Sprinkle some pork flosses over & serve.
-Enjoy!

Gathering Dinner @ Cedele

Had a wonderful time catching up with the gals & their boy boy at cedele last nite. I was the one who suggested going to wheelock place to try food at tis outlet.Food comments from the gals are not too bad, mine of cuz got complains. But their service is Terrible. Wondering how come we still ended up paying for the service charge.
Waitress is very attitude, ignored us when we call out to her, come back to us 3 mins laater asking "What can i help u NOW?" i mean wat a rude qns to ask customer? haiz....

Table setting at Cedele. I find that there were some interesting facts about food listed on the table mat.

Juz Green~a healthy salad.

Ying & i ordered a Wholegrain Chicken Pasta each. Ying's wan is ok cuz she chose spaghetti whereas mine was a lingunie where its overcooked. So soggy & was served with garnishes, poor presentation. haiz... so disappointing. B4 i ate, already lost my 50% appetite.

Fish Pesto Garlic Pasta which Ronger & Daniel ordered.
Hmm... i heard their feedbacks that the grilled fish is too salty.

Brigitte ordered a Arabiatta Pasta.

Penne in spicy tomatoes sauce with herbs.

Chocolate Banana Expresso Cake~the coffee taste isn't too strong & in fact i dun reali taste any coffee. Taste like a normal chocolate banana cake. haha.....

Chocolate Devil Fudgey Cake.

Chocolate Pistachio Cake~oh tis is my favourite among all the cake. Love the crunch from the pistachio nuts & it isn't too sweet as well.

At the end of our dinner, we presented gifts for our bride & bridegroom to be~Brigitte & Daniel.

We bought a pair of crystal earrings & bangle for Brigitte & 2 pairs of cufflinks for Daniel. Too bad i didn't managed to snap a pic of the other gifts.

Dinner @ Ikea Tampines

I was at Ikea last saturday afternoon. Initially, i wanna have lunch there but it was too crowded plus i'm with merrill the 18mths baby. I decided to give my favourite meatballs a miss.
Well, i'm was at Ikea AGAIN. Yes, purposely went there with Grace & Tabby for dinner. Oops... not juz that, we bought a standing mirror, a grill pan, a wok & some indoor plants.It was indeed a fruitful trip. Most importantly, i get to eat my favourites.......

Cheese Croquette With Fries.

Mushroom Soup. Tis mushroom soup reminds mi of the one i used to had at Victor's. I love the type which is not so creamy, but the mushrooms being blend into puree.

Ikea's signature dish~Swedish Meatballs.

The meatballs taste great with the brown sauce & jam.

Meatballs spaghetti.

Salmon Burger With Tartar Sauce, served with coleslaw, boiled carrots & potatoes.

梅菜扣肉(健康版)

I've always love 1 of the unhealthy food ~梅菜扣肉, but finds it a hassle to prepare as the preparation job for tis dish alone is soooo tedious.
Tis is a traditional hakka dish & there are many steps involve.

1stly, gotto cook pork belly block, prick with toothpick, smear dark soy sauce all over.
2ndly, deep fried in oil till golden brown.
3rdly, cook mustard with sauce, steam with sliced pork belly.

I find deep fried pork too unhealthy & the sauce with preserved mustard is toooooooo much seasoning & sodium for mi. Hence, i decided to whip up a healthier version of 梅菜扣肉 for our family.Its taste exceptionally delicious when served with plain rice.

Ingredient A;
1 block pork belly
200ml water
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 star anis
1 cinnamon stick
5 clove garlic
2 slices ginger
Some rock sugar

Ingredient B;
200g preserved mustard
1/2 pot boiling water
Some sugar
2 clove garlic, minced
Oil for frying

Ingredient C;
Meat gravy
Water
Sugar
Thickening agent

Method;
-Place ingredient A in a pot, simmer over low medium heat till pork belly soft.
-Drained & reserve stock for later use. Slice pork belly into 1cm thickness, pan fry without oil on a non-stick frying pan. By doing tis step is to squeeze out excess oil from the pork.
-Soak mustard for an hour, squeeze out excess water, cut into smaller pieces.
-Boil mustard in hot water for 30mins, drained.
-Fry garlic with little oil till fragrant, add mustard & fry till dry.
-Season with sugar.
-Assemble pork slices & mustard in a metal bowl, steam over high heat for 45mins.
-Prepare sauce by boiling ingredient c over low flame.
-When meat is done, invert bowl onto a plate, drizzle sauce over & serve with plain rice.
-Enjoy!

Dinner @ Pizza Hut

I was clearing my leave b4 the year end. Tis wk i'm on 1 wk leave, but seems like i have more progs. Been meeting up with frens for dinner frequently.
Tab requested for a dinner date & since i had a late lunch, i onli wanted something light for dinner. Tab suggested for dinner Pizza Hut. She ordered a dinner set meal.

Soup of the day~Chicken Veggie Soup.

Garlic bread slices.

Iced Lemon Tea.

My Oriental Chicken Salad.

Tabby's Turkey Ham Carbonara.

We ordered a Warm Chocolate Cake which is served with a scoop of vanila ice-cream.
Hmm.... wonderful. I didn't expect pizza hut to be such a wonderful dining place as in my impression, its onli a pizza place & i dun reali eat pizza so often. Still remember the last time i patronised a pizza hut outlet was like more than 2 years ago. =P