My Yummy Chicken Salad

 I love having lots of salad this summer (thank God we still have some summer days here in Melbourne even thou it is officially Autumn), quick and easy to make. Some people think I'm on diet. In fact I tried to always fresh,clean and healthy eating and not necessary starve my self. Yes I have lost my weight but in a good way, and for me its a bonus because I exercise daily, managing my food intake and been avoiding junk food/ drinks.

I still eat my favorite Indonesian food too once in a while (curry, spicy, rich in coconut milk or some fried food) but as I said in my previous post everything have to be balance to maintain healthy lifestyle.

This is one of my dish invention, all you need is:
1 small cucumber, sliced
Cooked beetroot, sliced oryou can use can beetroot or roast them for 40 mins, wrap in the foil (don't forget to add a splash of water in it)
Small block of feta, crumbled
For the chicken I used chicken breast fillet coated with ground cumin, sweet paprika powder, dash of salt, oregano, basil, olive oil and black pepper then roasted in the oven for about 40 mins.
Then arrange on a plate.

Oat, Date & Honey Muffin

Healthy lunchbox for me is very important especially for my daughter. I rarely gave her package snack as they contains too much sugar or salt, it is fine for once in a while though :) . 

As long as I have time to spend in the kitchen I will be more than happy to make her healthy snack for her everyday recess at school. I got this recipe from oats package and we love the combination of the muffins. 
They use a little sugar because there are natural sugar added such as honey and dried fruits and that is why I love this recipe.
Oat, Date & Honey Muffin

Ingredients:
 Canola oil spray for greasing
1 1/2 cups self raising flower
1 tbsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups traditional oats plus 2 tbs extra
1/3 cups caster sugar
140 g dried dates, roughly chopped
or 3/4  cup sultanas
125 ml canola oil/ sunflower oil
1 egg lightly beaten
1/2 cup low fat milk
1/4 cup honey

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Combine milk, egg, oil and honey
2. Lightly grease a 12 hole muffin pan with canola oil spray
3. Sift flour and baking powder into a medium bowl, ad oats, sugar and dates
4. Pour in combined oil, milk, egg and honey.
5. Mix until just combined; spoon into prepared pan. Sprinkle evenly with extra oats
6. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden.

Beyond Detox Juice

I started juicing last year and really got the result just like I want stronger hair, less headache, stronger immune system, normal skin, which usually very dry etc. And then I got very busy (or lazy??) for a couple of months trying to juggle between study,housework, family and have so limited time spending in the kitchen, especially for juicing.

 I physically active (because I was study to become fitness instructor) but my nutrition was suck especially with fruits and vegetable which I'm so lazy to eat them during the day. So I started to get my old symptom of hair fall, headache etc. I wasn't happy with my self again until I told myself to start my juice habit and , so here I am trying hard to keep consistent making my life balance again with healthier eating and regular exercising :)

The juice I made mostly from the book from Jason Vale (the Juice Master) . Always taste yummy!

Remember, never put banana or avocado in the juicer, put in the blender instead with the juice. Enjoy!

Kale Chips

Having healthy & active style is pretty easy. I never tell my self to go on diet, but instead I said I want to be more healthy, many people try to do diet and what happen is that they gain more weight than before they even started their diet! For me its true.

I recently watch the program called Fat, Sick and nearly Died and I am agree with them 100% :)
I remember what was my everyday breakfast  7 years ago (when I just arrived here) and I compared to now, it is so much different and I am not going to come back to my old breakfast food :)

I was always felt tortured when my hubby told me to eat healthy cereal, and why did he push me to eat cereal? because I was complaining all the time that I had constipation. Now I thank him for this ha ha...
It is pretty much our brain taking role on any habit we having isn't it? if we want to break ANY habit we can't just force our self straight away, but instead we can do it slowly and consistent. Then after we have a new healthy habit we can (again) slowly start improve our fitness level.

Don't forget to discuss with your doctor if you have any health issue. Walking everyday is very good start with minimum 30 minutes each day. Here is some copy form Australian Government Department of health and aging website.

Physical activity guidelines for adults

There are four steps for better health for Australian adults.

Together, steps 1-3 recommend the minimum amount of physical activity you need to do to enhance your health. They are not intended for high-level fitness, sports training or weight loss. To achieve best results, try to carry out all three steps and combine an active lifestyle with healthy eating.

Step 4 is for those who are able, and wish, to achieve greater health and fitness benefits.

Step 1 – Think of movement as an opportunity, not an inconvenience
Where any form of movement of the body is seen as an opportunity for improving health, not as a time-wasting inconvenience.

Step 2- Be active every day in as many ways as you can
Make a habit of walking or cycling instead of using the car, or do things yourself instead of using labour-saving machines.

Step 3 – Put together at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most, preferably all, days.
You can accumulate your 30 minutes (or more) throughout the day by combining a few shorter sessions of activity of around 10 to 15 minutes each.

Step 4 – If you can, also enjoy some regular, vigorous activity for extra health and fitness
This step does not replace Steps 1-3. Rather it adds an extra level for those who are able, and wish, to achieve greater health and fitness benefits.
More information:
http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/Nutrition+and+Physical+Activity-1

  I am writing this based on my experience and I'm not an expert, but yes I am a registered Fitness Instructor for now :)

 I always try to avoid junk food or process food. Healthy meal is not necessary complicated to make, for example simple salad sprinkle with any nuts for protein or even this kale chips for snack.  Ok enough Blah blah...

Add caption

All you need to make this healthy snack is a bunch of organic kale(I grow some in my veg patch), olive oil and some sea salt, remove middle stem from kale washed well and pat dry with paper towel, toss with some olive oil and sea salt then baked in the pre-heated 160° C oven for 20-30 minutes or until kale is dry and crisp. Yummy!!

Ps: Apologize for my average English but I do hope everyone understand what I am trying to say...

Lime- marinated fish

Recently I visited our local library to borrow some cooking book, feel like I'm in a cooking mood lately :) especially since I started using my "big" camera again. So here I am promised my self (one more) to actively update my blog. Aaahh... I love summer where the day is longer so I have a natural light for photos plus nice, easy, and fresh cooking. Lucky I didn't have fussy having husband and daughter. They pretty much will eat anything I cook for dinner or even having just simple salad for dinner on a very hot day :)

 I wasn't planning to cook this dishes today because I bought salmon fish instead of blue-eye cod fillet. Anyway the taste still delicious and I'm glad about changing my mind. The other thing I did was cooking the fish in the oven (baked) for 25 minutes. That way my stove top is clean *wink*.

 There is a small story behind this yummy dishes today. As usual I have a bad habit of not reading the recipe properly (just a quick reading).

Today realised that I didn't have any cilantro in my fridge nor in my veg patch (already seeded and becoming coriander seed), with my sore thigh (too much exercise yesterday haha..), I went to 3 different places just to get those cilantro. And guess what? on the 3rd store it was the last one!, looking very sad because its wilted. Anyway I'm happy with the overall result though.

 Here is the recipe I got from Marie Claire "Crisp". Happy cooking...



Lime-marinated fish

Ingredients:
4 blue-eye cod fillets  mine is salmon fillet)
2 kaffir lime leaves, thinly sliced
2 lime, juiced
1 red chilli, seeded and finely chopped
1 teaspoon fish sauce
2 tablespoon grated ginger
3 tablespoon olive loil
80 g coriander (cilantro)

Method:
Put kaffir lime leaves, lime juice, chilli, fish sauce,ginger and olive oil in a large bowl. Stir to combine. Remove the stems and roots from the coriander and wash carefully. Finely chop and stir into the marinade. Add the fish and toss until well coated. Cover and leave in the fridge to marinate.
Heat a frying pan over medium heat and add the fish fillets. Sear on one side for 3 minutes before turning the fillets over and cooking for a further 3 minutes, or until they are cooked through.
Put a large spoonful of tomato rice on each of the serving plates. Garnish with the coriander leaves and top with the fish fillets.

Tomato Rice

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 onion, finely diced
1 garlic clove, crushed
3 ripe tomatoes, diced
200g (1 cup) basmati rice

Method:
Put the sesame oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until the onion soft and transparent. Add the tomatoes, rice and 1/2 teaspoon sea salt and stir for a minute before adding 375 ml (1 1/2 cup) of water. Raise the heat and bring the rice to the boil. Cover the saucepan with a lid and reduce the heat to low. Leave covered for 20 minutes and then remove from the heat.

Strawberry bran muffins

 Holiday is finish here in Melbourne Australia. Time for normal activities and back to school for my daughter. I have a mix feelings between happy and sad, my daughter is grade 1 student now. Oh how the time past so quickly...

As a staying at home mum I am enjoying school holiday because I have lots of time spending with her :) We went to lots of places and doing many things together and enjoying waking up late every morning without worrying about being late to school.

Now that the school has started i felt a bit lonely, so I promised my self to updated my blog regularly during my spare time. That also means more baking ( for my daughter luchbox) and cooking plus hunting for more kitchen props for the photos :) 

Here is the recipe I got from local supermarket magazine Coles.

 

Strawberry bran muffins

Ingredients

• 1 cup Natural Bran
• 250 g punnet Strawberries
• 1/3 cup Brown Sugar
• 1 Egg, lightly beaten
• 2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
• 1/4 cup Coles Brand Australian Fresh Lite Milk
• 1 cup Self-raising Flour, sifted 

Method

1. Place bran and 1 cup boiling water in a bowl. Set aside for 1 hour, until water is absorbed.
2. Preheat oven to 200°C or 180°C fan. Line a 12-hole medium (1⁄3 cup) capacity muffin pan with paper cases.
3. Choose 4 strawberries and set aside to use for topping. Hull and chop remaining. Add sugar, egg and oil to bran mixture. Mix to combine. Add flour, milk and chopped strawberries and stir until just combined. Fill prepared pan. Slice reserved strawberries lengthways. Lay 2-3 slices on each muffin. Bake for 20 mins, until muffins spring back when lightly touched. Cool on a wire rack.

Tip: Muffins can be stored in snap-lock bags in the freezer for up to 1 month. Pack frozen muffins in lunchboxes to thaw slowly during the day.

Oseng Cumi

Here is another simple yet divine food for Indonesian :) It is so hard to get this particular salted squid, they (one of Indonesian supermarket here) only have them once in a while.

I cooked all of my squid from the freezer (thawed first of course), because I was planning to clean the whole fridge and freezer :) I just hope that my fridge will last more longer as we had our food not as cold (and not frozen) last week. My husband said he had them for 30 years! older than me obviously haha... It is that Kelvinator brand, the best brand and tougher in its years, they don't produce anymore now.

I only put sliced shallot, small red onion, lots of green and red chillies and sautee them in a little oil then add small amount of water to cook the squid until dry out again, no salt need it though :) It is optional to cut the squid into small pieces or no, and i usually add slice of galangal and salam leave to give a good fragrance.

Tempe Mendoan

Melbourne weather today is reaching 37degrees, I am planning to just staying home and invite some friends over and have some lunch together.

 It was much cooler this morning so I prepared all my ingredients early morning and started cooking quite early too. There is nothing special on the menu, but we love them because i didn't cook this as often as before. This recipe I got from my dad and we usually fried them only to get the batter to set.
 It is very yummy to eat this tempe with warm rice and sambal.

All you need is tempe/tempeh...cut into medium thin rectangle, some plain flour, sliced spring onion, a dash of salt/ chicken powder, coriander and crushed garlic, pour in some water and mix them all until you get fairly thick batter then deep fried them with coconut oil/ canola oil / sunflower oil (leave the tempe until last to the mixture if you prefer and don't forget to taste your batter!).

Honestly I never measure how much the quantity of each ingredients,I trust my gut feeling and voila yummy tempe mendoan/ tempe goreng :) Enjoy...

Ps: I cooked 2 more dishes and I will upload soon :)