World of Changes
Wow…it has been almost three months since I’ve posted. This definitely means that my one post per week did not happen at all. The reason for that is because the last three months, I have been consumed with changes in my life. The biggest announcement (and the cause for my hiatus) – I bought a condo! My very first home and as happy I am that CP and I found a place we both fell in love with, a new place also comes with a lot of new headaches. Considering that CP and I did not own very much of anything, we were on a whirlwind of spending to just furnish our new place and make it livable.
It was fun and stressful at the same time with all my traveling for work. However, it is finally slowing down and I’m starting to finally be able to come back to my little blog. Which is severely backlogged and I am terribly ashamed. The one thing that does get me excited and pumped up is food. Friends, family, and coworkers all have made that observation and have shared it with me. Hence I am coming back to start my weekly posts!
Ever since moving into the new condo, I have been cooking a lot more for CP and myself. I have found that my strengths in the kitchen is definitely more towards Asian cuisines. I preach and try to practice “cooking from scratch” as much as I can. However, I will sometimes use a little help from pre-prepared mixes.
Completely from scratch!!
Green beans & Mushroom with Veggie Fish; Scallion Pancake
Tempeh with veggies; Veggie Fried Rice
Spam & Veggie Fried Rice
Mapo Tofu; Veggie Stir Fry Noodles
Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies
Perhaps…not completely from scratch:
Jambalaya with Andouille Sausage
Yakisoba
As you can see…majority of the food that is made in our house is Asian influenced. However, the few times that I try making “American”…it was not as successful. Yet I’m not going to completely give up! And since I have a backlog of pictures and reviews, I will get back on the posting wagon again.
Homecooked dinner
This food blog will not only “showcase” food I find and eat around southern california (mostly San Diego), but also my own creations as well as the master of the kitchen: Ma. She’s the true master at the art of chinese cooking. I have learned much from her and I feel she deserves recognition for her work
This is a dish made with broccoli and veggie beef patties. These veggie patties are absolutely delicious and does not have that “cardboard” taste that certain veggie meats have. The patties’ texture are somewhat chewie I suppose…but it has a distinct flavor to them in my opinion.
This is a spicy eggplant dish with chicken, bamboo, black fungus (that’s what the package labels it!), and carrots. I really love spicy foods, but unfortunately the level of spice I prefer is much too strong for everyone I eat with.
This was my plate of that delicious dinner that I was fortunately enough to have especially during my finals. Because I’d probably would have either forgo eating or just snacked on trail mix if Chef Ma didn’t cook. I’m very grateful…
Here’s the next night’s wonderful dinner:
Vegetarian fish with zucchini, baby corn, black fungus, and oyster mushrooms.
This was suppose to be a traditional dish that is called “8 treasures” or something close to that. And in the dish, you are suppose to have 8 different ingredients, but we only had 6. So I guess you could call this the “6 treasure” vegetarian delight!
Traditional Mapo Tofu (but with a splash of color).
Fried bean curd skin with vegetables.
Vegetarian fish paste stuffed red & green peppers.
Chicken and tofu with broccoli.
Sugar snap peas with baby corn, chicken, mushrooms, and black fungus.
As you can probably tell by now, we really like cooking with vegetarian meats. We are not vegetarians, but we tend to use very little meat in our cooking. If you have an Asian supermarket in your neighborhood, I urge you to go to the refrigerators and search out the vegetarian options! There is SO much to choose from other than tofu when it comes to meat alternatives. I know meat alternatives tend to have a bad rep, but I found that the ones found in Asian supermarkets taste better than Boca burgers and the like (however I do like MorningStar veggie burgers).
I think it was thanks to Chef Ma’s cooking that helped fueled me during my hellish week of finals. So here’s to you Ma!
May-chan
Delighted Palate 
