Pasta Salad

I loved making this pasta salad recipe from Ina Garten.  I got lazy and only followed the roasted vegetables and orzo part, and added baked chicken breast.  It still turned out to be delicious, without the feta cheese or pine nuts.  I did put 1-2 tsp of Italian Seasoning in the vinagrette to make up for the lack of fresh herbs.

This salad came together because of the things I had in the fridge.  We had grape tomatoes on hand, and baked chicken from this leftover marinade. I made a quick balsamic vinaigrette and tossed everything together.  Delicious!

Dark Chocolate Nutty Bits

These are so good.  A friend of mine introduced me to these and I'm hooked.  There's a good bit of nuts -- almonds, pumpkin seeds, etc so you really feel like you are getting your daily amount of nuts in, while you are enjoying the dark chocolate.

Bran Muffins

Bran muffins make it easy to have a fast and healthy breakfast.  I replaced the oil with 1/2 cup of applesauce and halved the sugar amount of this receipe, so Joe can have as many of these as he wants to.  I've substituted the raisins for chopped dried apricots and cranberries.  I've also added 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts and they've turned out great.  Again, these are classified as "healthy" muffins, so unfortunately, they are not as enjoyable as say, a blueberry muffin.  But you can eat these without the guilt!

Btw, to make buttermilk with the milk you have in the fridge, just add 1 tablespoon of vinegar to one cup of the milk.

Asian Salmon

Here's one of my favorite marinades for salmon by Ina Garten.  It also works great on chicken as well.  There are a ton of "Asian" marinades out there, but I find this one uses the least amount of ingredients and the Asian (soy sauce) flavor comes out really well.  The recipe calls for grilling the salmon, but I ended up just baking it.  Depending on the size of the salmon fillet, bake at 375 degrees for 10-14 minutes.

Congee

The ultimate chinese comfort food.  I used 12 cups of water and 2 cups of rice for this consistency,.  Bring to boil the water and rice, and then simmer on low for about 30-40 minutes.  I also added two pork neck bones in for flavor.  I have pork neck bones in my freezer, and I prep it by boiling it in hot water for about 5 minutes to get rid of any impurities, before I store it in the freezer.

Stir constantly - that's probably the hardest thing to do with congee - you always have to keep an eye on it.  I tossed in bits of fish fillet  (marinated in soy sauce, sugar, and cornstarch) toward the last 15 minutes of cooking time.

Pan Fried Salmon

I like pan frying salmon because it's a lot faster than baking.  Just pan fry about 3-4 minutes on each side to get it nice and crisp on the sides.  I like putting a little olive oil and a generous sprinkling of Italian Seasoning and salt and pepper on both sides.

the fortune cookie

"You have an important new business development shaping up"

I ate half of a fortune cookie.  As in, I ate half of the cookie, along with bits of the fortune paper.  Sigh, it's what happens when you are preggers and as usual, hungry for a snack, and it's late at night and dark in the car.  But speaking of fortunes, it got me thinking... why is it that sometimes easier to believe in fortunes from fortune cookies than maybe verses from the bible?  Here's one of my favorite verses:

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the

LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you
hope and a future."

This verse sounds much more promising than any fortune from a fortune cookie.  Zodiac signs align with fortunes and destinies as well.  Chinese New Year is celebrated on Jan 23rd this year.  According to this site, along with my aunty who is very knowledgeable about these things,the annual zodiac signs shift not after Chinese New Year, but actually after Feb 4th of each year.  That means that if our baby comes before Feb 4, his sign will not be that of the Dragon, but that of the Rabbit.  We are due Feb 10, so there's a chance he could be either.  There's a part of me that really wants him to be a Dragon.  Why do I even care?  Is it because I'm Chinese?  Is it because the Dragon sign is considered to be lucky?

What I have realized is I'll be happy no matter what day he will be born on.  I'm sure it will be one of the happiest moments in my life.  I only pray that our baby be healthy and strong.  I pray that we can be the parents that we want to be, so that we can raise a child who grows up to be a warm and loving person. That will be the best luck and fortune that we can hope for.