whatrwehavingfordinner : January 2012

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Spring Rolllllllllllll

My kids love spring roll...and so do I...its SUPER EASY to make and easy to eat

Yummy delicious..

boiled pork belly

boiled shrimp

veggies

vermicelle noodles

peanut sauce

Monday, January 30, 2012

Bun Moc

4 lbs. pork ribs (cut into 2-3 inch pieces) or you can also use combination of ribs and bone....or chicken
2 cups of dried shiitake mushrooms (optional..can use any type of veggies)
....12oz container of pork paste (this is commonly found in your Asian Grocery–if frozen, defrost in the fridge the night before–this is commonly already pre-seasoned)...they sell it at the asian store
1 tbs pepper ...I use white pepper
2 tbs salt
2 T fish sauce
1 T of chicken powder
1 big piece of ginger
1 onion
1 package of vermicelli noodles
1 cha lua (pork sausage loaf) cut into thin pieces and also commonly found in Asian Groceries either wrapped in banana leaves or aluminum foil...u can get this at the asian store too...u can also put in tofu...bok choy ...etc...
beansprouts
cilantro, thinly chopped
scallions, thinly chopped
chili garlic sauce
In large stock pot, place the pork ribs/bones with enough water to cover and bring to boil for about 5 minutes or so. The gunk will surface from the ribs. Empty the water and wash the ribs/bones with cold water. Also wash the pot to get the residue off the side or have a second pot with hot water ready. Place the cleaned ribs/bones into the pot and cover with about 4 qts of water or so. Bring to boiling again, occasionally skimming any left over residue, and turn heat to low and simmer.

In the meantime, soak shiitake mushrooms in separate bowls of warm water for about 15 min. Remove and squeeze out the water and coarsely chop. Mix this along with the black pepper into the pork paste (pork balls) and set aside in the fridge.

cut up the pork paste (pork balls) into little balls

Boil another pot of water to make the vermicelli noodles. Cut the cha lua, scallions, and cilantro and set aside.

After simmering the stock for about 1. 5 hrs, add the shitake mushrooms along with the water it was soaked in and continue on low heat for about another 30 minutes. Season broth with salt and/or fish sauce. Both the pork ribs and shitake mushrooms should be very tender. If you used pork bones, you can strain and discard.

When you’re ready to serve, bring the pot to boil again and use a wet spoon or wet hands to form small pork paste balls and cook in boiling broth–about 3-4 minutes or so. Ladle the soup with tender ribs, shiitake and pork paste balls over vermicelli noodles and serve with beansprouts and dab of chili garlic.
----u can squeeze in some lemon and put some hoisen sauce in it too...I also top with some dry onions ...my kids LOVE the pork balls so I used 2 package

Sunday, January 29, 2012

My famous Mac n Cheese....I make batch of these at least once a week for the kids to eat...what I do is make a huge batch the beginning of the week then I would separate them into about 5 containers and put them in the freezer...every morning I would take one out and defrost...by the time the kids get off of school...they would have their snacks before dinner.

It is delicious and creamy goodness....

Ingredients:

vegetable oil
1 package of elbow macaroni
butter
1 C shred Muenster cheese
1 C shred Cheddar cheese
1 C shred sharp Cheddar cheese
1 C shred Monterey Jack cheese
4 cups half-and-half
1 C cubed processed cheese food (Velveeta)
salt & pepper

directions:

1. bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. add the oil and the pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain well and return to cooking pot.
2. in a small saucepan over medium heat, melt 8 tablespoons butter (1 stick); stir into the macaroni
3. in a large bowl, combine the Muenster cheese, mild and sharp Cheddar cheeses, and Monterey Jack cheese; mix well
4. preheat oven to 350 degrees farenheit
5. in a saucepan over medium heat, warm the half-and-half to an almost boiling point, then add the velveeta cheese. stir constantly until the cheese is completely melted. then add 2/3 of the cheese mixture and stir constantly until cheese is completely melted.
6. add the cheese mixture to the pasta and mix evenly. add salt and pepper to taste.
7. transfer pasta to a lightly greased deep 2 & 1/2 quart casserole dish. sprinkle with the

remaining cheese mixture and 1 tablespoon of butter ...bake at 350 until nice and bubble....serve
ENJOY!!!

XOXO
Felicia

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Celebration in the Oaks 2011

This year is the only year that we only visit Celebration in the Oaks ONCE...yes only 1 time this whole Christmas season...I can not believe it....every other year this is the time that we usually renew our membership and make it a weekly thing. We usually go to an early dinner then take the kids there to go around the park (go on the trains...carousel etc) but this year we only went to see the light and that was it....seems like this Holiday season just flew by way to quick.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Christmas 2011 DECOR

I had such a great time this year decorating for Christmas...especially now that the kids are older and they understand ...even Chloe enjoyed the decorations ;)

Which made Christmas this year EXTRA special...

Chloe got so into "Tinker" (TT--since she couldn't say Tinker) our elf on the shelf. Every morning she would run outside and look for Tinker.

Can't wait until next year!!!

XOXO

Felicia

Christmas 2011

This year for Christmas we spent it at my parents..started off with mass then we came home and ate then the KIDS opened their presents....after we played games. Christmas this year was very quiet and low-keyed ;)