Stuffed Tomatoes with Tuna-Ready to scoop and stuff!

Summer is coming! The weather is getting higher these days (despite last night's rain). Summer is the best season to have fun with friends, spend some time in the beach or evenb throw a house-party!

When you are thinking about summer, what food comes to mind immediately? Ice-cream. Shaved ice. Sweets. Chocolate. Aha, it's hard to resist those rich and good-looking gelato right? But at the same time, your superego reminds you of the itsy-bitsy bikinis and, those hot and sexy tops and bottoms you bought. *Scream* Be calm! Here's a recipe for a fast, healthy and delicious snack, which you can make for house-parties/picnics.

(Image from Simple Pleasures)

Stuffed Tomatoes with Tuna

• Mix & match! You can change tomatoes into other ingredients, such as bell peppers. Of course, you can change the fillings as well. Just use whatever you like to eat and remember to have fun :)
• Practice creativity
• Snack (house-parties, picnics, teas), appetizer, brunch/lunch, dinner
• You can change this recipe into a main-dish! (I will talk more about it at the end)
• Nutritious

Ingredients:

• Tomatoes 8 no. (medium size)
• Tuna fish 1 can
• Egg 1 no.
• Pasta 50g
• Mayonnaise 3 Tbsp.
• Salt and pepper

1. Boil pasta until cooked. Then boil egg and set aside.
2. Cut tops off tomatoes. Scoop out the pulps (You can use a paring knife or a grapefruit knife).
3. Turn tomatoes upside down to drain. Use a paper towel to dry them gently.
4. Sprinkle the inside of tomatoes with salt and peper
5. Open the can of tuna fish and drain off all the water.
6. Transfer tuna fish to a large mixing bowl. Add in mayonnaise, pepper and salt.
7. Remove egg yolk from white. Dice egg white finely and add into the mixture.
8. Combine the pasta with the mixed fillings.
9. Fill tomatoes cases with the filling.
10. Garnish with chopped parsley. Chill and serve cold on lettuce leaves.

Sounds simple isn't it? Just prepare all the ingredients and mix them together for the filling. Then you can enjoy stuffing some red, delicious tomatoes!

Other variations:

By giving this appetizer/snack a twist, you can change the fillings into breadcrumbs and Gorgonzola cheese. Then roast the stuffed tomatoes until the the bottoms have turned brown. It may only take 3-5mins.

Then you will have a yummy main-dish! :D Now, get ready to scoop some pulps and stuff tomatoes! Enjoy!

Rock Cakes-ROCK! Cakes

Last recipe I've posted (Chinese Cold Noodles) is a good dish which you can throw all your left-overs into chewy cold noodles. This time, although you can't throw ham and broccoli (uhh..you can if you want to) into the mixture, you can add other sweet left-overs instead.

(Image from foodphotoblog)

Raisins & Chocolate Chips Rock Cakes

• Fun! Just make all ingredients together then you're done!
• Any sweets at home? Use them so you don't have to buy extra ingredients for this recipe.
• Practice creativity
• Snack (tea, party), lunch
• A fun way for children to learn how to cook

Ingredients: (make about 6 mini cakes)

• Plain flour 100g
• Baking powder 1 tsp.
• Salt a pinch
• Castor sugar 50g
• Margarine 50g
• Egg 1/2
• Raisins 15g
• Chocolate chips 15g
• Milk 1/2 tbsp.

*You can change the ingredients for the Rock Cakes. I've chosen raisins and chocolate chips for this recipe, but you can add marshmellow for Rocky Road Cakes, apples for Apple & Cinnamon Cakes, berries for Mix Berries Cakes, etc etc.

1. Preheat oven to 190C.
2. Grease baking sheet. You can use PAM spray or just use parchment paper.
3. Sieve flour with salt and baking powder.
4. Beat egg.
5. Rub fat into flour with finger tips until mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs. Stir in sugar, raisins and chocolate chips.
6. Make a well in the flour, pour in beaten egg and mix well.
7. Add milk if necessary to mix to a stiff dough.
8. Divide into equal portions and shape with a fork and spoon.
9. Bake until well risen and golden brown. This takes about 15mins. Then cool on a cooling rack.

Easy enough? Just by using this simple and easy recipe, you can create different types of Rock Cakes you want. Now, indulge yourself with this chewy ROCK Cakes! ENJOY!

Chinese Cold Noodles-Let's Get Your Hands AND Your Kids' Hands Dirtyy!

As I have mentioned in the last Aunt Jemima Pancake post, it is fun (or even important) to encourage the children to cook. For example-case #1, you are stressed out in the kitchen because you have to cook while keeping an eye on your children; case #2, you want to develop your children's interest in cooking so that they can take care of themselves when they grow up. Most importantly, who doesn't like to cook with someone (e.g. friends and family, especially your kids) in the kitchen?

But I know everything has to start with a first step. Before jumping to those gourmet dishes, let's get started with some simple yet delicious recipes! :)

I have a cold noodle recipe which you can choose your own ingredients and combine them with Chinese noodles. You can either serve them cold or hot.

(Image from Serious Eats)

Chinese Cold Noodles

• Easy! This recipe only have 5 steps.
• A fun way for children to learn to cook
• You can use left-overs for this dish
• Practice creativity
• Can be very nutritious
• Can be a snack, lunch, or dinner

Ingredients:

• Chinese noodles 150g (any kinds of Chinese noodles are fine)
• Ham 80g
• Egg 1 whole
• Cucumber 150g
• Salt a pinch
• Oil 1/2 tbsp.

*You can add/change any ingredients you like. I've chosen ham, egg and cucumber which can give the texture to the noodles. You can add corn, carrot, asparagus, sliced mushrooms, chicken...anything!

Seasonings for noodles:

• Sesame oil 4tsp.
• Salt 1 level tsp.

*You can always change the amount added; this really depends on your personal liking.

1. Cool noodles in boiling water, drain, season well and chill.
2. Break and beat egg with a pinch of salt. Make a thin pancake with beaten egg and shred.
   
   *Key points to watch: don't overcook the egg! Watch the sides of the pancake, they will slightly curl up.
   
3. Clean cucumber, wipe with a kitchen paper and shred finely.
4. Shred cooked ham. (You can cook and shred all ingredients at this point.)
5. Serve noodles with all the ingredients you have prepared.
   
   *Children can design their cold noodles if they like :)

DONE! You don't need hours to prepare something delicious. This recipe only have 5 steps and only takes less than 30mins to cook. While you are enjoying the chewy cold noodles, I'm sure your kids have had fun as well.

So, grab your shopping bag and start your grocery shopping! Buy any kinds of ingredients you like. Got some left-overs? No problem. Reheat and shred them, then add to this dish. When you already have all ingredients, then you're ready to go! ENJOY!

Aunt Jemima Pancakes!

Pancakes. Almost a staple to my LIFE. I don't care whether they are hotcakes/pancakes, as long as they are good and fluffy, I'm ready to chow down...maybe 4 pieces at one time? (FYI I just had 4 delicious pancakes for dinner. It's heaven!) Also, who doesn't love pancakes?

My foodie buddy EU has bought a box of Aunt Jemima Buttermilk Pancake Powder recently. So we decided to make some home-made pancakes for dinner.

Before I start to introduce this pancake powder, let me show you the evolution of Aunt Jemima! ;)

-1930-

-1943- -1954-
All images from Found in Mom's Basement

Aunt Jemima Buttermilk Pancake & Waffle Mix

Price: $3.99

Place to buy: You can find it in most supermarkets

• Convenient; "Just Add Water"
• According to EU, it is comparatively healthier than other pancake powder
• Does not have that "egg" flavour because it's an instand mixture
• Other flavours available

If you want to make some easy, fast, and delicious snacks at home, I recommend you to check this out :) It is really quick and easy to make. Also, if you have kids at home, making pancakes/hotcakes is definitely an easy way to help them learn how to cook ;) ENJOY!