Cuisine & Culture the Chinese Family Way
As a SAHM, I always plan our meals and try to make sure that nothing goes to waste. But during the festive season, it is easy to go overboard and buy too much food, ‘just in case’. I am so excited to join Mumsnet and Knorr to create my own recipes or to try out Knorr recipes to do this challenge. I decided to make up my own recipes.
Early this week, we went to shopping in Morrisons and could not find any Fuji or Gala apples available. They are my husband’s favourite choices for red apples. So he decided to try the Pink Lady as an alternative. However, the apples were slightly too acidic for him. Mr C has sensitive teeth and cannot take any fruits that are a bit sour. So I decided to use the apples to make Honey Dried Pink Lady Apple Crisps. We were given a Pink Lady apple for our Bloggers’ Night In and I think they are crunchy, juicy and tangy. I remember I came across their recipes on their site and I think this will go down very well with the kids too!
After all the festivities, I have no doubt that I have put on a few pounds as my regular exercise class has been on a break. I guess bargain hunting in the January sales does count?! We have been eating lots of chocolates, sweeties and even baking cake! Now I need to reign that back a bit and start my healthy eating plan!
Next week, it will be a nightmare with the breakfast routine as the schools reopen and Mr C goes back to work after a long break. But not too worry, as Ryvita has set me a new challenge for this January with 31 easy ways to spruce up a healthy eating plan. From spicy Cracked Black Pepper to sweet Fruit Crunch, the classic rye Ryvita® Crispbread range will give this January some crunch. I hope to be inspired with a variety of toppings, recipes and serving suggestions that will carry me through the month; completely guilt free.
Dorset Cereals and Total Greek Yoghurt kindly sent us a number of their fabulous products to try on our Blogger Night In. Dorset Cereals sent us a range of their delicious breakfasts: Granolas and Porridges. All ingredients are cooked in Dorset, in traditional baking trays, using kitchen cupboard ingredients, no palm oil or anything artificial in the cereals.
Our fabulous Cotton On’s blogger Zoe Lester very kindly organised us huge goody bags! To carry all the goodies, we’re thankfully to JoJoMaman Bebe who sponsored us each a navy JoJo Buggy Bag valued at £9 RRP. This is definitely a great value practical bag. It can be worn over the shoulder or clipped onto the handles of a buggy. It is very big (H36 x W51 x D11cm) and can fill a lot of useful stuff so is perfect for shopping. I have not used it on a buggy as Ms C is able to walk everywhere now. But I imagine it would be very handy for a picnic too! The large strap is quite long and the design is unisex which can be also carried by men!
Thanks to all the amazing companies who sponsored our Bloggers Night In. It was a night to meet and chat about all the good times. Pippa Ainsworth organised a secret Santa amongst the 13 of us. As a non-Christian, I don’t celebrate Christmas, but I decided to make an effort to decorate my bamboo trees with red & green beads, snowflakes and baubles. So when everyone arrived, they dropped their gift into Santa Claus’ bag! These are the looks of the recipients receiving their gifts. I think out of all the gifts, I got the most naughty gift from Laura CYMFT – p-shaped sweeties! Ha ha! How she knows I love that?! Of course, this historic night can’t go without snacks! Many fab companies offered us delights from their products and I’m very grateful for their kindness.
This Christmas is a very sweet one especially when a beautiful jar of sweeties landed on my desk this morning! It is from The Gob Stopper, the online retro sweet shop. They are not only online but they have two shops in Hale and Lymm. They stock all kinds of sweet from vegetarian to halal sweets, chocolates, wedding favours, hampers, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs and more.
Mr C loves to play badminton twice a week and in between games, he often snacks on chocolate or a banana. I am pleased to learn about Nogii (pronounced noh-jee). It is a gluten-free, all-natural snack bar range that has just launched in the UK. Nogii bars contain an optimum nutritional mix of protein, carbohydrates and fats, making them a perfect snack for a healthy lifestyle.
It is getting so cold and windy! As you may know, I come from a hot country without the usual four seasons, so when the winter turns cold, I like to cook spicy Asian food to keep me warm! My husband and the children are not used to eating very spicy food so sometimes I end up cooking two to three different meals to suit the whole family!
I always love Thai food as they can be very spicy! They are best to eat after coming back home from the cold and harsh weather as they give you a fantastic endorphins rush! I choose to cook Thai Tom Yum Soup.
Sometimes it is hard to balance hectic family lives. My day starts with getting both children to have their breakfast and getting them dressed ready for school. Next I have to battle through rush hour traffic to drive them to school. Their school is 3 miles away in another town and driving through the main road can be very stressful at times! When I reach home, I will need to wash, cook and do shopping. Beside that I have to drive them to clubs or their extra curricular activities. It can be so busy that I miss my lunch and by 3 – 4 pm being the time of day I am most likely to reach for the snacks like chocolate, crisps or cake!
My family and I are regulars at Frankie and Benny’s as both of my children enjoyed their kids’ meals, I love their pizza dishes and Mr C loves their burgers. Occasionally, I will also meet my friends for breakfast as the dishes are only £5. What a bargain for a top breakfast!
So I decided to approach them to sponsor us for our Bloggers’ Night In breakfast as I know my blogger friends would love to try them especially as there are a few who had not tried them before.
Bursting with colour, flavour and the finest ingredients, a brand new seriously remarkable range of savoury biscuits is set to tempt the taste buds of food fans everywhere. Packed with a punch, the remarkable new range is made with the finest ingredients, giving a heavenly and full-flavour experience. The Thomas J Fudge’s range boasts 15 tasty treats, including colourful shards, magnificent melts, exquisite pufferies, fabulous flats and a spectacular Biscuits for Cheese selection.
Last weekend, some of you might have seen that I hosted a Bloggers Night In at my place. So what should we have for dinner? I had thought for a long time, do I cook my usual Chinese food or should I just relax and get takeaway. There are a number of choices from Chinese, Indian, Thai, Kebabs etc. Pizza is always a universally popular food choice and Domino’s kindly offered their services to sponsor our night in!
Whenever there is a party, there is always drinking involved! I would like to thank all the companies who have kindly sponsored us for our bloggers night in weekend. Without them, we wouldn’t have had such an awesome gathering. Before our night in, I had read The Lazy Hostess for ideas of how to entertain and feed my guests without breaking the bank and barely lifting a finger! Following one of the seven habits of highly stress free hostesses, I asked Pippa Ainsworth to be my cocktail bar girl! She is in charge of serving my guests plenty of cocktails, wine and non alcohol drinks.
Last weekend was our bloggers night in and we had received some food samples for us to try out during and after the party. During the party, I served my guests olives straight from the tin. Personally, I have never bought tinned olives as I was always concerned that the tin may cause the olives to have a metallic smell. I would opt to buy fresh or in a jar. However, after trying these olives, I was very impressed! Both green and black olives are very tasty, not soggy and bursting with flavour.
