After writing my title I just thought there’s a conflict in between, haha… here’s a lady trying to lose weight but then munching on sweet cupcakes haha…

Anyway, I’m always wondering how to lose weight but then the truth I eat a lot of sweets. And everyday whenever I’m working in front of my pc I have a food at the side, LOL! I’m afraid I might end up on weight loss surgery solution just to achieve and maintain a healthier weight. Uh-oh. That’s also the reason why the husband doesn’t want me to bake often as he can eat a lot too, haha!

Now let me show you the mini cupcakes. This sure adds to my weight but still I bought it… and that’s my snack for today- the mini butter cupcakes.

I saw this at the bakeshop in front of our building and I was interested to try. But I also have another reason why I bought it, I want to see how’s the packaging done and all… in other words, I’m inspired to do such thing, hehehe… yeah! I just thought a nice gift for somebody or a favor for a birthday party… got the idea, hehe… so that’s it, the mini butter cupcakes…
Now time to open and eat it away, hehe…. Ciao!

I celebrated my birthday 2 and half weeks ago and obviously this is a late post for that. I have this topic listed on my draft but then I was busy the last few weeks so I wasn’t able to finish and published it. Well, there’s actually no big celebration during that day. I could wish for something like Samsung Blu-ray DVD player but then a little treat for myself was only my request. And I’m glad I got it. After I spent 4 hours at the salon (that’s the treat!), we had dinner at Bistro Delifrance at Times Square. And these what we have ordered:

Sorry if a little blurred as I took these photos using my phone only. Well, it was only a simple celebration together with my boys but I was indeed happy especially I have a new hairdo that day, LOL!

That’s how I described the feedback from one of the customers who have experienced the gourmet inclusive at one of the Karisma hotels. It says: “memorable food experiences and attentive service are hallmarks of the Gourmet Inclusive concept”…. Exactly the thought of anyone who wants to have a relaxing break… I’m sure every household would like to have a nice and outstanding food when going for a family vacation and that’s certainly one of the criteria when you search for one of your getaway, isn’t? Well, that’s precisely the delight at Arul beach, one of the resorts at Karisma hotels. And their pride is their signature gourmet, which is more than just a fantastic food but they have a world-class service that made their customers happy to stay and even recommend to others. I’m even interested to check the different amenities they have and if you want to learn more you can visit their site- http://www.karismahotels.com/. It may be one of your destinations for this year’s summer break. Check it out!

My son and I enjoying a fish sio-mai as our snack yesterday. We both love it and while I’m reading stuff about the motorhome, I have fish siomai at my side.
I bought one pack last week and every time we wanted to eat, I will get few pieces and steam. This how it looks like:

We consumed the last batch yesterday. I’m sure the little boy will be looking for this again so we might get another pack this weekend as we do our grocery trip. That’s definitely a great snack and now part of our weekly grocery list…

I wouldn’t know different recipes to cook and bake if not with the easy access on the Internet. I got lots of ideas and inspiration from browsing and net surfing. Indeed Internet conquers almost everything you need… from online shopping to getting a life insurance quote. Isn’t that cool? The later was certainly a nice advancement as getting your quotes and policy is easy and fast. No need to set an appointment with the agent, send quotes then meet again and so on as we have done that before. Now with online stuff you can do it at the comfort of your home.

As for cooking and baking, I’m able to save recipes on my pc and download one or two to my iPhone whenever I need it. I used to print them and filed on a clear book but lately I just save a copy on my phone.

And speaking of recipe, I will share later on my Peanut butter and jelly cookies, which recipe I got from net browsing… stay tuned!

I’ll make sure I’m enrolled to any weight loss programs the next time we plan to do this pigging again, hahaha!
Last Monday after we watched the fireworks in celebration of the Chienese New Year, we had our dinner at Jordan night market in one of the “not-so-good-looking” restaurants but serve yummy food.
One of my son’s godparents was with us also whose having her vacation here in Hong Kong so we chose to brought her on that place.

We ordered mostly seafoods and it’s all really great! Here some photos:

Sorry a little blurred as I took this using my phone.
I forgot to take shot of the noodles, the fried fish and the fried rice.
My son loved the fish fillet and their deep fried chicken wings and he just told me now (as he saw me posting the photos), “Mommy, I hope we can go back to eat there again.” hehe.. We will go back definitely!

Another cold weather warning today (we have 9C degrees) and it’s best to stay home only. And because it’s cold, I wanted to prepare a soup for us. I browsed the internet to look for different recipe and found this Mexican corn soup recipe… (Side story: this should have been our snack but because I stayed longer net surfing checking on this exposed acne treatment system, the cooking hasn’t done yet until after this post, hahaha!) … Ok, yes a little late but still good for dinner as the temperature is getting lower… soup is still best!

Ok here’s the recipe which is good for 6 servings:

Prep Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:
* 16 ounce(s) corn, whole kernel frozen, thawed
* 1 cup(s) broth, reduced-sodium chicken
* 4 ounce(s) pepper(s), green chile
* 1 clove(s) garlic, minced
* 1 tablespoon oregano, fresh, or 1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon pepper, black ground
* 2 cup(s) milk, fat-free
* 1 cup(s) chicken, breast (cooked), chopped
* 1 cup(s) tomato(es), chopped
* 1 cup(s) cheese, shredded Monterey Jack
* parsley
* oregano, fresh

Preparation:
1. In a blender, combine half of the corn and the chicken broth. Cover; blend until nearly smooth.

2. In a large saucepan, combine corn puree, remaining corn, chile peppers, garlic, dried oregano (if using), salt, and black pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in milk, chicken, tomatoes, and snipped oregano (if using); heat until just boiling. Remove from heat. Stir in cheese until melted. If desired, sprinkle individual servings with snipped parsley and garnish with oregano sprigs.

Enjoy your soup!

… or Fish in Sweet & Sour sauce.
This is my version of Fish Escabeche. A red snapper fish is a good choice for this but usually if we’re going to cook fried fish, I also make the sauce so our food not really dry. Hence, I have different type of fish here, which name I forgot, LOL!

Below is the recipe on how I do it.

Ingredients:
1 whole 2-3 lbs. Red snapper, cleaned
flour for dredging
vegetable oil for frying
1 tsp ginger slicked thinly
1 medium sized onion, slicked into rings, separated
1 smal carrot, sliced thinly into 2-inch strips
¾ cup water
1 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp vinegar
2 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp ketchup
2 tsp tapioca starch mixed with 1 tbsp water
½ cup sweet red pepper, sliced thinly diagonally
salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:
Sprinkle salt lightly on fish. Dredge fish in flour. In a non-stick skillet over medium heat, fry fish in enough oil until golden brown and thoroughly cooked. Set aside in a serving platter.

Prepare the sweet and sour sauce.
Stir together water, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, ketchup in a bowl.
In a non-stick pan over medium heat, sauté ginger in 1 tbsp oil for 20 seconds. Add onion rings and carrot slices. Stir for 1 minute.

Add the sauce mixture and salt and pepper to taste. Let boil for 2-3 minutes. Add the tapioca/water mixture, stirring constantly until sauce has thickened.
Turn heat off and add the sweet red pepper slices.
Pour sauce on top of the fish.
Serve immediately.

The recipe I saw on my email today. What surprises me it can be prepared for 5 minutes only, … That quick!
I was thinking this could be a nice breakfast and looks like good to eat while doing your rounds on the computer like window shopping online or browsing different beauty stuff (reminds me to read about this acne lotion…)

Anyway, here’s the recipe… an easy to do meal.

Ingredients:
* 2 tablespoon nuts, pine nuts
* 2 tablespoon raisins, golden
* 1 teaspoon lemon zest, freshly grated
* 2 cup(s) pudding, rice, low-fat, prepared

Preparation:
Stir pine nuts, raisins and lemon zest into rice pudding.

I told you it’s quick! Try it!

I’ve mentioned on this post that I’ve tried an Indian food the last time we went at Times Square. And here’s what I ordered: the Chicken Taj Mahal:

It’s a grilled chicken with vegetables. The set comes with rice and drinks. And for $45hkd it’s very cheap. If you’re on diet, you may skip eating the rice but if you’re starving the set is just enough. So when you come to Hong Kong and you’re looking for not so expensive food, then you have to try Indian food. They’re located at the food court of Times Square. You can find the food court at the basement. Going there you need to pass Lane Crawford with escalator near with those beauty fragrance and anti aging products… I would definitely order this again as it taste really great! You should try it too…