Tofu with Spicy Sauce

Here's one more of my go-to dishes.

What you'll need :
4 blocks of tofu
oil for frying the tofu

1. Cut tofu in 1/2 inch cubes, rinse with running water and then drain on paper towel.
2. Fry until golden brown.
3. Set aside.

For the sauce:
1 medium sized white onion, in two 1 cm cubes
1 clove garlic minced
1 stem green onion, minced
1 tbsp korean  pepper flakes (gochugaru)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1tbsp sugar

1. In 1/2 cup water, add sugar, pepper flakes and soy sauce. Set aside.
2. Heat about 2 tsp oil then saute white onion, garlic and green onion.
3. Save some green onion for garnish.
4.  When the onion is translucent, add the pepper flakes mixture.
5. When the mixture starts to simmer, add the tofu.
6. Cook for 5 more minutes.
7. Garnish with green onion then serve.

***

Glazed Fried Chicken

Here's another dish i love cooking. Lately i've been spending a looot of time wathcing Maangchi's  video and that's how i got the idea for this dish.  

GLAZED FRIED CHICKEN 

For the chicken

1/2 kilo chicken wings (about 6 pieces) 

1/4 tsp salt 

1/4 tsp chili powder 

2 cloves garlic minced  

1/4 cup rice flour 

2 cups oil for frying 

1. Prepare chicken. Cut wings at segment to make 12 pieces. Wash well and drain on paper towel. Season with salt, chili powder and garlic. Marinate for at least 15 minutes. 

2. Dredge in flour and set aside for 5 minutes before frying. 

3. Fry in medium heat for 10 minutes. Drain on paper towel. 

4. Do a second fry until golden brown. Drain on paper towl. 

For the glaze

2 tbsp butter 

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp soy sauce 

2 tbsp sugar 

1. On low fire, fry garlic in butter until slightly browned. 

2. Add soy sauce and sugar. mix well until sugar is melted. 

3. Add fried chicken until well coated. 

4. Serve immediately.  

This is best enjoyed with ice cold beer, in my opinion.

Meat ball spaghetti

How to save money? It's probably a question most frequently asked by budget conscious moms like me.

Well i know i sure fire way to make sure to save money on food. the key is, avoid eating out and bring your own baon.  i probably halved our expenses on food by just making sure that the hubby and i bring our own lunch at work.

So now i'm sharing some of my go to recipes for our packed meals.
First off is my crowd favorite (ahem... ahem)  meal ball spaghetti.

Meat Ball Spaghetti

For the meatball you'll need:
1/4 kilo lean ground beef
1 small onion (minced)
1 clove garcic (minced)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper flakes
1/4 tsp ground oregano
canola oil (about 2 tbsp only)

1. Put everything in a bowl,
2. Mix well until everything is well combined.
3. Form into 1 inch balls. You can make around 8 to 10 meatballs.
4. Fry these in  oil.
5. Set aside while making the sauce

For the sauce:
2 cups tomato sauce
1 to 3 tbsp water
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 small onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 pinch ground oregano.
1 tbsp oil

1. Saute onion until translucent. Then add a pinch of ground oregano.
2. Add garlic. Lightly fry and do not let it burn.
3. Add the meat balls.
3. Pour in the tomato sauce, water and sugar. Let it simmer for up to 10 minutes on medium heat.
4. Add  salt and pepper to taste. 

Pasta
250 g uncooked pasta.

1. Cook pasta following package instructions.

To serve, top pasta with meatball sauce.
You can also top with grated parmesan cheese.
When i serve this for baon, i keep them in separate containers and let the husband mix it when ready to eat. Luckily his office has a microwave.

Minimalist Dish - Aglio Oglio

Do you love oil-based pasta? I do!
What i love about these  pasta is it requires just a few ingredients.
Plus, cooking takes literally minutes!
I make Aglio Olio pasta during  weeknights, after work because it's fairly simple to cook.

My Aglio Olio 

Aglio Olio 

You'll need:

• Olive oil (60 ml) 
• Pepper flakes (1 tbsp or more if you like it spicy) 
• Garlic (1 whole head )
• Pasta (about 100 grams uncooked. I find this dish works best with angel  hair pasta)

Choco Oatmeal Bars

Recently i have been looking for healthier baked desserts. I usually scour the net for recipes, but i'm shocked by how much sugar a cake recipe calls for! So i usually follow the recipe, but use less fats (oil, butter, margarine) and sugar.

My idea is to incorporate oats, which is my favorite healthy food, to my baking. It's very filling and has loads of fiber. And i like its chewy texture when added to cookies. Plus oats has been known to help increase breast milk production, so nursing moms should really much on them.

I was inspired by the revel bar recipe from Bake Happy and All Recipes but i tamed down the butter and the sugar. Now, without further ado, here is my recipe for choco-oatmeal bars! The result was not so sweet but still deliciously decadent, in my humble opinion. ;)

Lemon Crinkles ala Expert ;)

So i bought a convection oven two months ago and this has awaken the baking diva in me. Really, i've been on Pinterest almost every time for baking ideas and inspiration.  

So far, this Lemon Crinkles have been our favorite and i'd like to share the recipe. :0 You can expect more recipes in my succeeding posts as i am really on a baking streak!  

Yummy lemon crinkles - best served with freshly brewed coffee and a big smile. :0.