Lock&Lock Cookplus Ceramic Set and more

The second patch of secret gift from Lock&Lock is a set of cookplus ceramic frying pan and sauce pan. I am really excited and can't help to use them immediately when I opened the box. I have bought a green ceramic set during the happy hour sale, as well as the cookplus vitamin set. I am so happy with the new addition to my collection of Lock&Lock cookplus pans.

Luxury gifts from Lock&Lock

 Lock&Lock pans I am using right now in my kitchen

 ************** Breakfast **************

1. Pancake

2. Glutinous Rice Ball Soup

3. Fried Eggs

4. Oats with milk

 ************** Dinner **************

5. Noodle soup with salted pork rib and radish

6. Egg soup with tomato and mushroom

7. Fried flat beans with noodle

a. Put the noodles in salty water

 b. wait until boil or cook until soft, then drain the noodle

 c. slice two cloves of garlic, cut the flat beans into pieces 

 d. put the beans into the boiled water and cook for 1 minute

 e. drain

 f. add 1Tsp oil into the frying pan, add garlic

 g. add green beans, fry 2 minutes, then add salt and pepper, soy sauce (optional)

 h. ready!

8. Egg pancake with crab meat

9 Chicken with broccoli

10 Fried rice with egg

Hot-Dry Fast Noodle, Best Gift from My Best Friend

I absolutely love hot-dry noodle (热干面). I have tried to make it myself (here), but it's really hard to find the right noodle. My best friend since high-school learned that I miss it so much. She bought two big bags of the fast noodle version and sent them to me by mail. Thank you so much, my dear sweet sweet Sanny <3

Two big packages! 

There are 8 pieces per bag. In each one, there are noodles, vegetable pack, 3 sauce packs

soy sauce, spicy pack and the most important one: sesamin sauce. 

Open the package, the noodle looks like the same as the regular fast noodle, but they did taste differently.  The cooking is simple and easy. 

1. add noodle and vegetable pack in a bowl; 

2. add boiled water and cover

 3. Wait 6 minutes and drain water

4. Add the remaining 3 kinds of sauces. 

5. Mix well and eat!

520 -- Lovely Heart-shape Egg

Today is May 20, "520" homophonic in Chinese, meaning "I love you". I found this heart-shaped egg mold from Marshall. Isn't it a charming way to start the day with lovely heart-shape egg in the morning?

Norpro Nonstick Heart Pancake Egg Rings

Cheese and Pasta in a Pot

When I picked up my little girl one afternoon from preschool last week, she happily told me that her teacher gave her something called "pasta pot" to eat. She loved it so much and kept saying it during the weekend. I have no idea of what it is, so I searched on google and found this "Cheese and Pasta in a Pot" by Carmen.

The original recipe:

Prep Time:
15 Min

Cook Time:
1 Hr 15 Min

Ready In:
1 Hr 30 Min

Servings  (Help)

Original Recipe Yield 8 servings

Ingredients

• 1 (16 ounce) package elbow macaroni
• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 (14 ounce) can stewed tomatoes, undrained
• 1 (16 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
• 1 (12 ounce) can mushroom stems and pieces, undrained
• 2 cups sour cream
• 1 pound Colby-Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. Place ground beef in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown and crumbled. Drain, excess fat, and set aside.
3. Heat oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Saute onion until soft and translucent. Stir in garlic, and cook for 30 seconds. Add cooked beef, tomatoes, spaghetti sauce and mushrooms; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes.
4. In a 9x13 inch casserole dish, layer 1/2 of the pasta, 1/2 of the meat sauce, 1/2 of the sour cream and 1/2 of the shredded cheese. Repeat layers.
5. Cover, and bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes.

I don't have all the ingredients mentioned in the recipe. I decided to use the stuff I currently have in the fridge. I don't have ground beef, however, I have prepared marinated chicken with Yoshida's sauce instead. I don't have mushroom, so I will just skip it :P

Step 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8-10 minutes; Drain. The insert in the Lock&Lock glass pot is perfect for drain :)

Step 2. Marinate slice chicken thigh with Yoshida's sauce. Add some oil,  cook over medium high until brown / color change; set aside.

Step 3. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute onion until soft. Stir in garlic, add tomato, spaghetti sauce, cooked chicken and chicken broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes.

 

 Step 4. In a glass pot, layer 1/2 of the pasta, 1/2 of the meat sauce, 1/2 of the sour cream and 1/2 of the mixed cheese. Repeat layers.

sour cream and shredded 3 cheese blend

 layer 1

 layer 2

 layer 3 (I have some pasta left - additional layer)

 Step 5. oops, forgot to cover. I baked in the preheated toaster oven over 45 minutes :) Yummy!

Lock&Lock BOROSEAL, Borosilicate Glass Pot

Lock & Lock Cookplus Vitamin Frying Pan, Green, 11-Inch

Gravity Cast Aluminum Goldsun Zen

Lock&Lock BOROSEAL III, Borosilicate Glass Rectangular

My Little Girl's Lunch

To prepare lunch box for a preschooler is fun. I prepare my little girl's lunch box every morning, sometime with left-overs from dinner. The combination is usually rice/bread, vegetable, egg, and meat. I also put a cup of yogurt, a fruit (apple, orange, banana, watermelon, etc) and juice (orange, apple or grape) in her hello kitty lunch bag. That's why her kitty bag is always very heavy :) 

fried rice ball mixed with tomato sauce, cucumber slices, minced pork

 egg ball, orange flavored teriyaki chicken with baby cucumbers

 Potato salad, scrambled egg, cucumber slice, braised pork slices

 minced dry pork, sea weed, asparagus, baby tomatoes

boiled quail eggs, stir-fry with teriyaki chicken, celery, carrot and flavored bean curd

boiled egg, broccoli, chicken nuggets, baby sausage roll and dumlins

thin sandwich bread, scramble egg with spinach, baby tomatoes, chicken nuggets

left-over from dinner, boiled quail eggs

crispy shrimp, pork jelly, lettuce, boiled egg and rice

tilapia with pineapple coconut mango sauce, asparagus, rice

At last, a noodle soup made with asparagus root and salted pork ribs for daddy :) The glass pan from Lock&Lock is a perfect soup container besides her baking functionality.

If you are interested in using a glass container as a lunch box, I highly recommend Lock&Lock borosilicate glass containers. They are oven-safe, microwave-safe and dishwasher-safe. One additional note, don't put the plastic lid in the oven or microwave :P