Thursday, April 30, 2009

10 Things To Make With Leftover Ham

This is a wayyyyy overdue post. Remember me blogging about our Easter dinner? We had a really huge 12 lbs ham and some other sides. I think I mentioned that we will be having leftover ham for the longest time and yes, we did just that! It took us a little more than 1 week to finish all the leftover ham :P So, what did we do with all that ham?

Welll, initially we ate it with the leftover sides that we had. Once that was all gone, we started to make other sides to go along with it. For example, we made some spinach and wheat pasta with cream sauce as a side. Sometimes we would eat it with things like broccoli cheese rice, herb rice or even rice pilaf.

Of course we also made sandwiches with the ham. We would just put some mayo and mustard on any type of bread with a few pieces of ham. Makes a great midnight snack! Kevin would also take it to work for lunch.

Another variation is to make chopped ham salad sandwich. Just chop the ham into tiny pieces and mix it with mayo, a little bit of deli mustard and sweet relish. It's really really yummy. You can put it on bread, stuff it in a pita, in a crescent roll, use it in a tortilla wrap....you can use it with almost anything!

Leftover ham is also great for casseroles. I made a ham and broccoli casserole with some of the leftover ham. It's real easy to make and really good too. I'll post the recipe for it in another post, another time :P

If you don't really have time to make a casserole, just buy one of those instant pasta packets and add in some ham when you are cooking it in the microwave. It gives that extra yummy kick to your mac n cheese!

We also whipped up some nice omelets with the leftover ham. Just cut the ham into chunks, throw it in a pan with eggs, some herbs, cheese and voila! You got yourself a nice ham omelet for breakfast or brunch!

Chopped ham also makes a good topping for salads. We ate it with some iceberg lettuce, croutons, Parmesan cheese and ceaser salad dressing. Mmm mmm mmm :D

Another yummy thing to make with leftover ham are pies and quiches. Shown here is a ham and cheese pie. To get the recipe for ham quiche, just click here. You just have to substitute the bacon with ham and spinach with broccoli. If you like spinach, you can make it with spinach too!

Cooking with leftover ham is not limited to Western dishes. A quick and easy Asian dish to make is fried rice. I would just fry up the ham with some mixed vegetable and rice. I added in some franks into my fried rice that day and topped it up with a fried egg. I served it with some dumpling and egg drop soup.

If you are not a fan of rice, you can eat it with noodles too. I would just slice up the ham and eat with any sort of noodle soup and vegetables. This time around, I ate it mee suah (thin rice noodles) and cabbage. I would sometimes eat it with nissin noodles or regular lo mien (yellow noodles) too. If you are not in the mood for soup, it taste equally good too if you fry it with instant noodles and make some ham maggi goreng!

There are still tons of things you can make with your leftover ham. There is no right or wrong, just be creative and I assure you that it will be yummy. This is our ham on Easter evening and what's left of it about 8-9 days later :P Hope you like some of the stuff I made with the ham. Go ahead, try out new recipes the next time you have leftover ham and don't forgot to share them with me!!!

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Ride the Flying Ray at SeaWorld Orlando

Something big is happening at SeaWorld Orlando real soon. Starting May 22, 2009, a new ride will be unveiled! Introducing...the Manta!! Find out what it's like to glide, skim, fly and spin like a giant ray when you ride the only flying roller coaster of its kind in the world. You will get to fly face-down, in a horizontal position, underneath the belly of a coaster train shaped as a giant manta. With a wing span of 12 feet and speed of up to 60mph, the giant manta will soar over sea and sky in what SeaWorld is billing as “the most graceful flying coaster ever created”.

You must be thinking, "Wow, it's such an awesome ride! I bet the line for this ride will be really long". Well, you got that right! It's an awesome ride but check this out. To celebrate the opening of this ride, SeaWorld is running a contest where you could win a "Front-of-the-line" pass to Manta at SeaWorld Orlando!! Just visit http://www.ridemanta.com/ and click on the "Participate and Win" section. There are six activities for you to complete.

Firstly, you have to register to get a RideTheFlyingRay.com account. Then follow @RealShamu on Twitter (sign up if you do not have an account) for insider tips on the quiz. Correctly answer five Manta questions (be careful though, you only get three chances) and you will receive an email from RideTheFlyingRay!
The other activities include taking a photo of yourself displaying "I Heart Manta" and submitting it to Flickr. Also get three friends to fill your row on the Manta ride. The fourth activity is to shoot a short video of yourself, tell us how excited you are to ride Manta and upload it to YouTube. Next, download a Manta mask from the website, put it on, take a photo of yourself and upload it to Flickr. The last activity is to follow @RealShamu on Twitter and tweet about why you are excited about Manta.

If you complete two of the Manta site activities, you will earn ONE complimentary electronic photograph from your Manta ride experience at SeaWorld Orlando. If you complete all six of the activities on the site, you'll go straight to the front of the line when you earn Manta "Front-of-the-line" pass at SeaWorld Orlando. So what are you waiting for?? Go check it out and be at the front of the line come May 22nd!!!


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Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Simple Yakisoba

We went to Mitsuwa Marketplace in Edgewater during the weekend to buy some of their famous Taiyaki and Creamyaki (will blog about that later on). Since we were already there, we decided to pick up some Japanese groceries. Among other things, I bought a pack of Nama Yakisoba ($2.95). I figured fresh Yakisoba would taste way better than the usual dried instant ones. From the directions on the package, it looks simple enough to make. So, I decided to try and make some Yakisoba for dinner last night. Here are the ingredients that I used.

A pack of fresh Yakisoba noodles (that comes with powdered flavoring), garlic, cabbage, carrots, Shitake mushrooms, shrimp and a can of chicken breast in water. Usually, Yakisoba sauce is used to flavor the noodles but since the noodles came with powdered flavoring, we do not need to use any more additional sauces. Before we start cooking, slice the mushrooms into thin pieces. Also, shred the carrots and cut the cabbage into bite size pieces.

Now we are ready to to start cooking. Heat up some oil and throw in some chopped garlic.

Next, toss in the Shitake mushrooms. If you do not like mushrooms, you can also put in onions. I didn't add in any onions cause we are out of onions :P

The cabbage goes in next. It might look like a lot now but it really boils down after some cooking.

In goes the carrots.

After cooking for a bit, add in the chicken breast. The chicken is already pre cooked, so you go not need to cook it for a long time. Traditionally, pork is used in Yakisoba. However, with all the Swine Flu and stuff going around these days, I have decided to use chicken for today.

Next goes in the shrimp. This is optional. I had some shrimp sitting around in the fridge, so I decided to toss them in for flavor.

Once all the ingredients are cooked through, add in the Yakisoba noodles. Yakisoba literally meas "fried noodles". However, the Yakisoba noodles are not the usual buckwheat soba noodles (even though soba is part of the word :P) but more like the ramen noodles that are made with wheat flour.

Stir the noodles around and mix it well. Add in about 3/4 cup of water and allow the noodles to simmer for a bit.

Add in the powdered flavoring and mix it into the noodles.

Continue to stir fry the Yakisoba for a little while and it is done! So easy, right?

I served the Yakisoba with some nori (seaweed) on the top. The taste? I was pretty impressed. It actually tasted like the Yakisoba we would get in Japanese restaurants. Who knows that a pack of Nama Yakisoba that cost only $2.95 (enough to feed 4-5 people) would taste the same as Japanese restaurant Yakisoba (probably cost at least $8 per plate!) :P The next time you are in a Japanese grocery store, check it out. It tasted really authentic and it's so easy to make!!

Monday, April 27, 2009

Chance to win a Diamond Necklace!

When I was growing up, I didn't really have much interest in jewelry. Yeah, I thought that certain jewelry were prettier than another but that's about it, as far as my interest went. As I grew older, I began to realize that not only are jewelry beautiful to look at, but they also sometimes play a significant part in special moments in our lives. As I look through my (somewhat growing) jewelry collection, memories of special moments flash through my mind. The necklace with an aquamarine pendant that my then boyfriend, now husband, gave me on our first anniversary together, the diamond engagement ring that he gave me when he proposed, the pearl necklace my mom gave me a few days before my wedding day as well as the gold necklace that my parents gave me during the our traditional chinese wedding tea ceremony. My most treasured piece of jewelry is a gold necklace with a cross given to me by my late grandmother. It used to belong to her and she gave it to me a while back before she passed away. Yes, it might look old and a little bit dated but it's my favourite because it reminds me of her.

With my new growing interest in jewelry, I found a website that is a great jewelry resource for information on fine jewelry. The Jewelry Information Center is a non profit organization that provides consumers with information about fine jewelry, comprehensive shopping tips, jewelry care and cleaning information, jewelry history as well as various fashion trends through its work with print, broadcast and now, the Internet. I just love browsing around that website, as there is just so much to learn! With Mother's Day just around the corner, it would be a great place to search for that special piece of jewelry to show Mom how much you love her!

One of my favorite sections of the website is the Jewelry Stories section. This is where you can share about why certain pieces of jewelry is so special to you. I really love and enjoy reading jewelry stories of others and I am going to post my very own story there too! Also, JIC is hosting a sweepstakes and you will be entered to win a 14K White Gold 1.5 Carat Diamond Kay Jewelers Necklace when you submit your jewelry story!! Isn't that great? Go ahead and check out the Jewelry Information Center website and don't forget to submit your jewelry stories! Now, will you please excuse me, I have some jewelry stories to write ;)


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Sunday, April 26, 2009

Domino's BreadBowl Pasta

We were wondering what to eat for lunch yesterday when we saw this on Domino's website. Looks like they just launched a new product. Looking pretty interesting, so we decided to give it a try.

BreadBowl Pasta...hmmmm. It's supposed to be lightly seasoned bread bowl that baked up around the pasta. It comes in five flavors, Mac N Cheese, Italian Sausage Marinara, Chicken Carbonara, Pasta Primavera and Chicken Alfredo. You can also choose to customize your own BreadBowl Pasta. The price ranges from $5.99 to $7.99. There is a online promotion right now that saves you $1 if you order any of the BreadBowls online.

We decided to order the Domino's BreadBowl Pasta and Pizza ($14.99) special. We can choose any of the BreadBowls and a large 1-topping pizza. We also found a coupon code (code: online) that gives us a free serving of Cinna Stixs with our order.

Here is our large 1-topping pizza. We had the Chicago Deep Dish crust with half bacon and half pepperoni topping. As usual, it's really good.

Our free Cinna Stixs. It comes with a tub of Sweet Icing. Its basically pizza dough baked with cinnamon. Not too bad. Kevin loves it though :D

Alright, now for the main event. We ordered the Chicken Carbonara BreadBowl Pasta. It's penne with white meat chicken, bacon, onions and mushrooms baked with creamy Alfredo sauce and topped with Mozzarella cheese. I am usually not a big fan of pizza chain pastas (Pizza Huts pasta really really suxs) so I wasn't really expecting much. Boy, was I pleasantly surprised. It's actually really good. I was expecting a soggy bread bowl but that was not the case. Looks like they used just the right amount of sauce to make the pasta creamy but not enough to make the bread bowl soggy. Very very good. They were also really generous with the chicken and bacon pieces. The size of the bread bowl was pretty big (enough to feed 2-3 people).

Kudos to Dominos for adding this to their menu. It's really really good. Yes, it's super extra fattening and high on carbs, but it's goooood. You can also order the pasta without the bread bowl, but what's the point then? The $14.99 special that we ordered was enough to feed about 5 people, maybe even 6. It was definitely value for money. Looks like we will be trying the other four BreadBowl Pasta flavors real soon!! :P

Friday, April 24, 2009

Roti Canai Hot Dog Rolls

Let me share with you a very easy but interesting recipe. I read somewhere a while ago that if you were to bake a piece of frozen roti canai long enough, it would turn flaky and taste somewhat like puff pastry (minus the butter, hence healthier :P). If that is so, it would mean that I could substitute puff pastry with frozen roti canai. I decided to try it out last night. I tried to make hot dog rolls with frozen roti canai.

All I needed was a few pieces of frozen roti canai, hot dogs and an egg. Since I didn't have any plain roti canais, I used the spring onion flavor rotis. I also have been told that certain brands doesn't really puff up that much. I used 'Chinatown Spring Onion Roti Canai'. It works pretty well. My cousin told me that the 'Kawan' brand frozen roti canais are good too.

Firstly, allow the frozen roti canais to thaw out for a bit. We are unable to roll it if it's frozen. It should take about 10 minutes or so. If you over thaw, the dough will turn sticky and it will be really hard to work with. Once the roti canai is ready, brush on some egg.

Place a hot dog on the roti canai.

Roll it up tightly and press the seams to seal.

Once you have rolled it up, place it (seam side at the bottom) on a greased baking tray.

Cut some slits at the top of the roll.

Brush the top with some egg wash. This will give the rolls a nice golden brown color once its done baking.

Pop it in a 350F oven for about 45 minutes.

Remove the tray from the oven once it's done. Allow the rolls to cool for a while before serving.

There you go! Roti Canai Hot Dog Rolls! It makes a good snack or a light meal. The crust came out all crispy and flaky. Very very yummy! I never knew that we could use frozen roti canais in such a manner. Go ahead and try it. It's gooooooooooood :D

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Kraf Online - The Premier Online Batik Store

I just love Batik prints and designs. What is Batik, you might ask. Well, Batik is a wax-resist dyeing technique used on textiles and is recognizable by it distinguish patterns and bright vivid colours. Being Malaysian, I am very particular about the quality and authenticity of the Batiks I buy. I found a great new Batik store online that has just that! It's called Kraf Online. I'm so glad I found this store. It's been a while since I have seen such lovely batik designs in such high quality.
I just love their ZANA range of Batik Men's Shirts. With summer being just around the corner, this would make a perfect gift for that special man in your life. He would look so good wearing this down to the shore or during that weekend backyard BBQ. With Father's Day fast approaching, this would also make a great gift for Dad too! For that more formal occasion, they also have a nice collection of Batik ties.

Not only do they have great shirts and ties, Kraf Online also carries a wide range of bags, stationery, bedding, table runner sets, scarves and shoes. I bet my Mother in Law would just love the silk Batik scarves. She could wear it when her choir performs or when she goes out to lunch with her friends. My Mom on the other hand would love this pair of shoes. Check it out! It would look good in any occasion.

Batik_shoe

You should go check out Kraf Online. There are just so many great designs to choose from. They also have a batik blog that you can visit. At this moment, they have a special offer going on. You would receive a FREE upgrade to Priority Shipping for purchases over US$100.00. Also, use this coupon code "crafty" for 10% off all purchases! So what are you waiting for? Head over to Kraf Online and check it out. Batik is definitely IN this summer!


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Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Goody Restaurant - Chinese & Spanish Food

We were running low on groceries early last week and I was too lazy to go out shopping, so we decided to order in some dinner that night and go grocery shopping the next day. I remembered somebody slipping this take out menu under our door a while ago and we decided to give it a try.

It says "Chinese and Spanish Food". Wow..Chinese AND Spanish food? So, is it a Chinese restaurant that sells Spanish food or the other way around? I thought that it was a pretty funny combination.

Check out their menu. One side of it was the usual Chinese take out food like General Tsaos, Sweet Sour Chicken...the usual. The other side was the usual Spanish take out food! Yeah, beans, rice, fried plantains...

Looking for something different, we decided to try their special on the Spanish side of the menu. Only $12.00 for one whole roast chicken, large black bean rice and large fries. Sounds good to me. There was even a coupon for a free can of Coke or Pepsi when we ordered $10.00 or more.

We called in to order that special and also added on another can of Coke. After the call, we came to the conclusion that it's a Chinese restaurant that also sells Spanish food. Smart Chinese fellas, I guess they wanted to be different from all the other Chinese take out places(trust me, there are a lot here) and figured that they will boost their sales if they also sell Spanish food in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood.

The delivery was pretty fast too. It arrived in less than half an hour after we placed the order. Three boxes of steaming hot food and two chilled cans of Coke. The delivery guy was also really nice and polite, a cute little old Chinese man. Hahaha.

Now the most important part. How was the food? Firstly, they were really generous with the portions. I think that $12 combo was enough to feed at least 4 people. They really piled on the rice and fries. Unlike most places, the fries managed to stay warm and crispy. We expected to get soggy fries but was pleasantly surprised. It's the first time I've tried Black Bean Rice so I cannot say if it's good or not compared to other places. However, I really liked the taste. The main highlight was the roast chicken. It was really really good. It somewhat reminded me of the kind roast chicken I would get back home in Malaysia. The chili sauce was good too, it was definitely Spanish but had this Asian kick too it. It's hard to explain :P

It was a good meal. In fact, we had leftovers for my lunch and also dinner for the two of us the next day! For $14.79, it wasn't bad at all. I'll definitely order from Goody Restaurant again the next time we feel like having roast chicken delivered to the home!


Goody Restaurant
123 Washington Avenue,
Belleville, NJ
Tel: (973) 844-0888
Hours: Sun to Thurs - 11am til 11pm, Fri & Sat - 11am til 11:30pm