Many of you have been wondering whether I disappeared from the face of the earth.  Has anyone read the post at Roasted Roots and Pumpkin Spice?  I am in the same boat as her except that I unfortunately cannot promise you that I will be back.  However, what I can promise is that I will be reading your blog!

***

Kylie, thank you for being the person you are!  I have no doubt that you will be highly successful in life!

Looking for lots of pancake recipes?   Her name is Hollie, but I called her Pancake Princess and you will see why, hahaha.

I wish you LOTS of LUCK and MANY MANY blessings on this journey of yours to healing.  I have no doubt you will get there, Dana.

***

Not everyone can blog for the long haul.

Certainly not me.

I guess it just wasn’t meant to be.

***

Posting some of my favorite memory pictures.

Well more like my obsessions, haha.

***

I started this blog about two months ago when I was trying to find myself after my friend’s and my dad’s deaths.  I’d fallen flat and I couldn’t get up.  I became someone else and left the person I used to be.  Beginning this blog about food and reading your blogs has helped me in so many ways.  It was the first step of my journey to get up and get out into the world.  I’m trying and finally beginning to remember the person I used to be.  I want to go back to her, but better and stronger.

This journey began with a search of motivational quotes, which let me to operation beautiful.  This was how I found all of you.

***

“When you look at a cupcake, you’ve got to smile – Anne Byrn”

***

Thank you for following me, supporting me and commenting on my blog.

i purchased a green tomato at a farmer’s market but i have no idea what to do with it.

what do you do with a green tomato?!

i have no clue.

a friend of mine stopped by and surprised me with…

so now i have 2 yellow and 1 green tomatoes.

fried eggs with tomatoes?  so not in the mood.

tomato and hummus sandwich? bread? nada.  hummus? nada.

what the heck am i going do with it?

oh, have anyone seen this movie, fried green tomatoes?!  what a brilliant idea and i’ve always wanted to try it so now i got the chance, woof woof!!

haha  so this doesn’t make a healthy dish per se which my blog should be about healthy living.  don’t let that ‘fried” get to you (;

fried green and yellow tomatoes

• breadcrumbs.
• 2 eggs.
• less than 1/4 cup water.
• 1 green tomatoes.
• 2 yellow tomatoes.

directions:

1 cut the tomatoes into slices, thick.

2 beat the eggs and a little of water.

3 dip the tomato slices in the egg and in the breadcrumbs, pressing them on tightly.

4 heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the tomato slices for 1-2 minutes both sides or until nicely browned (i like it a little burnt).  then drain on a paper towel.

things i would change next time:

• add salt and a little bit of soy sauce (optional) in the egg mixture.
• add flour or cornmeal mix, so i would dip the tomato slices in the egg, flour, then breadcrumbs.

***

my brother, peter, carved a pumpkin last week and i was proud of his carvings.  i forgot to take a picture of it, darn it!  but still, not a bad job for a guy who lacks artistic skills, haha.  i told him to save the flesh for me because i had a banging idea what i wanted to do with it!!

dump this into my rice cooker, that’s my banging idea!

pumpkin flesh rice

• pumpkin flesh (you add how much you want).
• 2 cups rice (i used 1 cup brown rice, 1/2 cup quinoa, 1/2 white rice).
• 3 cups water.

directions

1 place the rice into your cooking pot.

2 rinse the rice 2 times and drain until the water is clear.

3 if you want a stickier rice, soak the rice for about 30-40 minutes (but i don’t like sticky rice).

4 add 3 cups of water.

for every cup of white rice, add 1.5 cups of water.  if you like drier and harder rice, then add less 1/5 cup of water.

for every cup of brown rice, add 2 cups of water.    brown rice is chewier and nuttier than white rice therefore require an addition of half cup of water to keep the rice moist.

too much water = mushy rice and too little water = dry rice.

you can adjust the water addition to your personal preference.

5 add the pumpkin flesh and mix it with the rice.

6 add a little bit of salt or oil (optional, but i didn’t add).

7 place the pot into the rice cooker.

8 after cooked, allow the rice to rest for 15 minutes before opening the cooking pot’s lid.

the result: ta-da!!

***

my mum made these….

steamed asparagus.

and braised eggplant.

braised eggplant:

• 1 eggplant, chopped or sliced.
• 2 cloves garlic, minced.
• a little bit of ginger, minced.
• a little bit of soy sauce.
• a little bit of rice vinegar.
• a little bit of oil.

1 heat the pan and add a little bit of oil on med-high.  when oil is hot, add the garlic and ginger.  stir fry it for a few seconds.

2 add the eggplant into the pan. stir and add the sauce.  stir for about a minute.

3 turn the heat down to low-med and simmer for about 5-10 minutes or until the eggplant is soft and tender.

***

my dinner plate:

simple.

easy.

and tasty.

equals a great dinner.

they are everywhere. food blogs, magazines, in the conversations.

i’ve been dying to buy it for 2 weeks.  local grocery stores do not have it so i decided to hit a farmer’s market in union square to get a butternut squash to ease my itchiness.  i was told when choosing a butternut squash, make sure it is heavy, hard, and smooth so that’s what i got…

does this look sexy to you?  for some odd reason, it looks so sexy!  keke…

and also bought…

2 honey crisp apples, a green tomato, and a winesap apple.

my mother went to apple picking twice recently so we already have a lot of apples in the house!   growing up, especially in my culture, i was hardly expose to outside of asian foods.  for instance, i had my first hummus, parsnip, turnip, almond butter, and brussels sprouts this early year!!  i never had a honey crisp apple, winesap apple, and not even a green tomato so i really really wanted to try them.

i’m allergic to raw apples, but that’s okay.  i am not a fan of eating raw apples anyway.  so what can i do with these boatloads of apples in my house?!

make an apple pie, of course!!

knowing me i’m not a great baker, especially baking from the scratch but that doesn’t stop me from keep trying!

well wanna see my apple pie?

here ya goooo….

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as you can see, my mouth got there first before my camera did, haha.

no pie pan?  do a sicilian style!!

best ever pie crust recipe from allrecipes.com:

• 2 cups of flour.
• 1 tsp salt (i used himalayan sea salt).
• 1 cup shortening (i used 4 tbsp melted unsalted butter).
• 1/2 cup water (i used a little more than 1/2 cup because of less use of melted butter).

directions

1 combine flour and salt.  cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  stir in water until mixture forms a ball.  divide dough in half, and shape into balls.  wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.

*i didn’t wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.  i used it immediately (;  when i want it now, i want it now!  haha…

2 roll out dough on a counter.  don’t over work it!

fillings adapted from grandma’s ople’s apple pie:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (didn’t use it).
• 3 tbp flour (didn’t use it).
• 1/2 cup white sugar (i used 1/3 cup granulated sugar).
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (didnt’ have it, but used 1/3 cup turbinado sugar).
• 1/4 cup water
• 8 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced (i used 2 honey crisps, 1 winesap and 2 from apple picking, thinly sliced).

directions

1 melt the butter in a sauce pan.  stir in flour to form a paste.  add all sugar and water; bring to a boil.  reduce temperature, and simmer 5 minutes.

2 meanwhile, place the bottom crust in your pan.  fill with apples mounded slightly.  cover with a lattice work of crust.  gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the crust.  pour slowly so that it does not run off.

*i poured the melted sugar into the apples mixing bowl so the apples can really absorb the flavor of the melted sugar.

*since i don’t have a pie pan, i used a big flat pan instead.

3 bake 15 minutes at 425 degrees f.  reduce the temperature to 350 degrees f, and continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes.

hot melted sugar into the apple mixing bowl.

next time i make this i’m going to put toothpicks on the sides in to hold the dough together.

i am so proud of myself.  this is the first apple pie i ever made and i made this from scratch all by myself, no mistakes.  and it came out a.w.e.s.o.m.e.!!

woohoo!!

according to wikipedia, the name eggplant, used in the US, australia, new zealand, and canada refers to the fact that the fruits of some 18th century european cultivars were yellow or white and resembled goose or hen’s eggs.  the name aubergine, which is used in british english, is an adoption from the french word (derived from catalan alberginia, from arabic al-baoinjan from persian badenjan, from sanskrit vatiga-gama).

meet my brits…

this dish is unbelievable amazing delicious.  i thought it was going to taste okay, but its tastes a lot better than i expected.  what’s even great: its pasta-free!!

aubergine lasagne (from the latest uk’s vegetarian magazine, oct  2010)

• 2 large aubergines.
• salt (i added himalayan sea salt only to the tomato sauce).
• 6 tbsp olive oil (depends on how much you need).
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped.
• 1 clove garlic, crushed (i used 4 cloves).
• 1/4 tsp dried chilli
• 1 tsp dried oregano (didn’t have any).
• 400g (7 oz.) canned tomotoes, chopped (i used tomato sauce).
• 7 0z mozzarella, sliced (didn’t have so i used swiss instead).
• parmesan cheese, grated, to garnish.

1 cut the aubergines lengthwise into slices 1 cm think.  place in a colander, sprinkle liberally with salt and leave to drain for 30 mins.

2 meanwhile, make the tomato sauce: heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan and gently fry the onion for abt 5 minutes until translucent.  add the garlic and fry for another 2 minutes.  add the tomatoes, chilli, and oregano and cook over a gentle heat for 25 minutes, stirring occassionally to prevent burning.  season with salt.

3 heat the over to 350 degrees.

4 rinse the aubergine slices under running water and pat dry with kitch paper.  heat the remaining oil in a wide pan and gently fry the aubergine slices in batches until golden brain; you may need to add more oil.  drain on kitchen paper.

5 layer the aubergine slices, tomato sauce and sliced mozz in an overproof dish, finishing with a layer of tomato sauce.  sprinkle the parmesan over the top and bake for approx 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

per serving 354 cals, fat 28.5g, sat fat 11.5g, protein 15.5g, carbs 9.5g, sugars 8g, fibre 4g, salt 2.5g

govegan vegan-ising this dish couldn’t be simpler – layer a dairy-free melting cheese, such as tofutti creamy smooth mozzarella style, in place of mozzarella, and finish off with a generous sprinking of life free from dairy free parmazno once cooked.

maybe i could add a few slices of zucchini the next time i make it again, for crunchy purposes.

***

this morning i went to school to print out some stuff and i wanted a protein breakfast.

protein breakfast:

• two eggs.
• a little bit of h2o.
• 1 laughing cow wedges, light garlic & herb.
• a little bit of feta cheese.
• ketchup!

preparation:

1. mix everything into a mixing bowl and whisk them until they turn a yellow color.
2. heat a pan over med-low heat and add oil (i use vegetable oil).
3. when the oil in the pan is hot enough, pour in the eggs.  don’t stir, just let the eggs cook for about a minute and then flip to the other side.  *if you like slightly brown and a little burnt like me, cook for about 2-3 mins each side.

this breakfast lasted me till 2pm.

my lunch at my nephew’s:

i ordered a slice of plain pizza at christiano’s to go and  ate it at my nephew’s.  it was definitely a g.o.o.d. pizza!!

and a banana (shared it with my nephew).

i also purchased a sweet leaf green tea at christiano’s.  this tea was very very refreshing with a hint of spearmint.  have you seen this before?  my nephew loved it.  he drank half of it!  i’m going to check it out if whole foods has it!

what or who are you going to dress up as this halloween? i went to the parade in the city and dressed up as a cop 2 years ago.  o.m.g.  i had so much fun and it was a b.l.a.s.t.  last year i went to a friend’s halloween party in philly and dressed up as a zombie in red (like lady in red)!  i’m going to celebrate halloween with my nephew so i’m not sure if i’m going to dress up this year.

bakery was out of a question.

so making a mess in the kitchen?

anything for you, sweets!!

pumpkin bread & muffin mix with a twist.

all you need: eggs, oil, water, and a twist.

a twist is…

2 ripe bananas, chopped and…..

1/4 cup libby’s pumpkin.

small regular size muffins and tiny mini muffins.

sniff… you smelll soooooooo goooooodddd!!!! sniff.

adding the libby’s pumpkin definitely was a good idea.  it totally bought out the pumpkin flavor!

oh my goodness… these muffins are seriously amazingly deeeelicious treats!

chopped bananas + libby’s pumkin = a nice gentle kick!

i will be adding an extra banana next time and change 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of libby’s pure pumpkin!

***

obviously my breakfast is no stranger to you…haha.

my breakfast:

• pumpkin & banana muffin.
• sigg’s icelandic yogurt.
• kashi’s heart to heart, warm cinnamon oats.
• wheat germ.
• flaxseed.
• and a drizzle of h.o.n.e.y.

my new lovers:

• pumpkin bread & muffin mix.
• cinnamon crumb coffee cake mix.

i love it soooo much and i went back to trader joe’s today.

and got me….

3 more boxes!!

are you anything like me?  do you go back the next day and buy more more and more?! come on… i know some of you do!!!!

***

i’ve been so busy lately with other commitments and of course, i’ve been busy cooking and baking (straight from the boxes, haha)!

ahhhhh yes!!  i got the new iphone 4 and i am loving itttttttttt so much!!  never thought i’d own an iphone but boy, am i glad i got it!  iphone had me at facetime!!!  facetime is available only – iphone 4 and the latest ipod touch.

i’ve been obsessed with lomography and photography apps (;

i love you, iphone 4!!!

***

i followed up the appt with my allergist on friday and found out he’s going away for a whole month so i won’t see him again until late november.   great.

his answers for me has been inconsistent since day one.  the tree nuts were tested positive and peanut was tested negative so in the beginning he wanted me to stay away from peanut anyway.  i still do not believe that i’m allergic to tree nuts.  while waiting for the results during the skin test, i was a little concerned because he was using one cotton to wipe the drops on my forearm.  if you use only one cotton to wipe the different drops, that’s like a cross contamination and wouldn’t that sort of skewed the results?

so on friday, he said i can eat peanut since it was tested negative.  um… didn’t you tell me that i should stay away from peanut anyway because of the positive result of tree nuts?

in the beginning, i was concerned that being a vegetarian would cause me a lot of problems because vegetarian diet has a lot of seeds, nuts, and raw veggies exposure.  my allergist said it has nothing to do with me being a vegetarian because i have a history of minor food allergies.

so on friday, he said to me, “you’re basically asking for angioedema and anaphylaxis attacks because you’re a vegetarian.”  ummm… okay, that’s not what you said to me in the beginning.

the blood allergy test was supposed to be drawn on friday but it never happened.

i really need the answers now.  it’s making me paranoid and my life a bit harder because i really don’t know what is it exactly that i’m allergic to and what else am i allergic to.  i still do not believe i’m allergic to tree nuts.  i really need the answers so i googled to find a really good allergist.  i found one at columbia university medical center and made an appt with there.  so we’ll see….

***

moving on to f.o.o.d.

(weekend recaps)

my family has a tradition of eating long noodles on birthdays and special holidays.  long noodles symbolizes a long lucky life in taiwan culture as well as in asian cultures.

so on sunday, we celebrated my oldest brother’s, peter, birthday by getting together to eat long noodles!

mum made a small pot of soup for me without the meat

add a little bit of vinegar and mix it with the noodles.

like this…

<slurpingggggg>  hmm…. so gooddd!

and a side dish of…

choy-sum with fried shallots on top and soy sauce.

***

last week i made cinnamon crumbs and coffee muffins and finished it under one week all by myself!  i went back to trader joe’s to get 3 more boxes of this….

and made a cake-version for my brother’s birthday!

my brother loved it and he took the rest of the cake home!

i had a slice of it with a dollop of fage’s nonfat greek yogurt and…

my tummy sang!

cake in the box, you’re the best!!

***

i met up with andrea on saturday at curly’s.  curly’s serves breakfast all day.  breakfast is a safe bet for me to order it at the restaurants, which is totally fine by me since breakfast is my fave meal of the day.  and i was so looking forward to eat their curly fries!!  i haven’t had fries in foreverrrrrrrr.

andrea ordered this, minus the mock ham…

i ordered this and ate half of this, minus the breads….

and ate the rest for dinner.  the portion was HUGE!!

i’m so coming back again.  holy goly… they make really good breakfast and curly fries!!

i miss you, fries!!!

***

something immediately caught andrea’s attention after we left curly’s…

boobies!!

gotta love nyc!!!

what’s the craziest thing you’ve seen?! i’ve seen a lot of crazy things, especially where i did my rotation in the psych ward!  it made my 3 months of internship really entertaining and interesting.  definitely was a great learning experience!

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if you guess greek yogurt, you’re right

my yummiee bowl contained:

• fage nonfat greek yogurt
• wheat germ
• flaxseed
• cinnamon crumb and coffee muffin, crumbled

my dinner…

• fage nonfat greek yogurt
• libby’s pure pumpkin
• wheat germ
• cinnamon crumb and coffee muffin, crumbled
• half banana, sliced
• and a drizzle of honey!

in time being, i can’t eat baked goods from the bakeries so i decided to make my own!  well… um… not from the scratch  some of you know what kind of baker i am, hahaha.

these muffins are made with a cinnamon crumb and coffee mix cake box.  i got this about a couple of weeks ago from trader joe’s.  these muffins are m.a.r.v.e.l.o.u.s.

i finished all the muffins in one week all by myself and these puppies keeps calling meeee!!   im going right back to tj’s today.  probably going to buy about 3 more boxes!!  i want to make a cake version for my awesome brother, peter.  his birthday is tomorrow but we’re celebrating it this weekend.

at this moment, i’m drinking japanese green tea with roasted rice while typing!

have a great day

***

check out my OB notes at

• operation beautiful 1 – red light
• operation beautiful 2 – fisheye

trial 1 green monster with pumpkin

trial 2 banana pumpkin smoothie

trial 3 pumpkin smoothie

the best smoothie overall was trial 3 pumpkin smoothie.

***

pumpkin smoothie trial continue…

pumpkin smoothie trial 4

i’m bringing back the avocado banana don juan, but this time with, of course, pumpkin!

lets see if you taste good with the pumpkin…

messy and sloppy – me like

it was really thick and creamy.  i really enjoyed it a lot.  i’d definitely make this again!!

ranking my favorite smoothies, it would be: trial 3, trial 4, trial 1, and trial 2.

***

pumpkin smoothie (trial3) on-the-go:

• 1 cup milk (your choice: almond, rice, hemp, etc)
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree, chilled
• 1/2 unriped banana
• 2 scoops of protein, vanilla (given to me from a friend)
• ground cinnamon
• pumpkin spice

adding different ingredients and experimenting flavors were definitely entertaining and fun!

do you have an idea what else i could add to my pumpkin smoothie? please do tell!

i was so excited to meet andrea.  she was so adorable and so cute, just the way i imagined!

vegetarian paradise 2 has a lotttttttt of mock meat.  at first i was very skeptical to order a mock meat dish again but sooo many people at yelp raved about crispy soul chicken.  i had to give this a try and oh g.o.o.d. l.o.r.d. it was amazingly deeeeee-licious.  how often do you see me eating fried stuff?  almost hardly.

the crispy soul chicken has 12 nuggets and comes with steamed veggies and hickory smoked mustard sauce.

the chicken nuggets were a little salty for my taste so steamed veggies on the side came to my rescue!

i also ordered an iced chamomile tea.

andrea ordered steamed spinach dumplings, which filled with cabbage, bamboo shoots and mushroom.

and a side dish: cornbread stuffing…

(i took this picture from andrea’s blog, hehe.)

andrea had a slice of…

a vegan pecan pie from gone pie.

and i didn’t because of tree nuts allergy.

sniff sniff… damn you allergies.

***

before i went to the restaurant, i called ahead to explain that i had an allergy to nuts and asked about the crispy soul chicken.  they said there were no nuts in it.

a few hours after i left the restaurant, i started to develop swelling and redness of skin around my eyes.  it got to the point i couldn’t open my eyes and there was a tightness in my chest.

i called the restaurant again, but this time i asked for a list of the ingredients of their crispy soul chicken and they were really forthcoming and gave me the ingredients that the chef used to make it.  but none of the ingredients trigger angioedema attack.   i didn’t eat anything all day before and after the restaurant (i know, bad!) and i was trying to evaluate everything i ate at the restaurant.  then i realized it was the hickory smoked mustard sauce!  i knew hickory was a tree, but didn’t know what kind of tree so i went online and google it.

did you know hickory is a nut tree?!

this is my 5th attacks.  i didn’t go to ER, thank goodness.  i do not want to go back!  my allergist provided me with an action plan, including instructions as to how to manage an angioedema attack.   i spent my weekend and up till yesterday being knocked out by allergic meds!  i’m seeing my allergist this friday and he’s going to do blood allergy testing. the cause of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th attacks were unknown.  i didn’t eat nuts or anything.  i’ve avoided food that triggers the attack.  seriously, i really hope he finds something whats been causing these attacks.

in time being, i can’t dine in restaurants.  you know.. i really want the restaurants to put a lot of effort to be meticulous about the food allergy and cross-contamination but unfortunately, that’s not going to happen.  lets say some of the restaurants are very careful, does this mean i could let my guard down?  i don’t know. there’s always hidden ingredients and you’ll never know what’s really on your plate.

i used to be able to eat the salad at whole foods, but now i can’t.  i used to be able to eat cookies and cupcakes in any bakeries, but now i can’t.

sniff sniff…

you’re too much.

meet my soup…

cream of pumpkin soup:

(from the latest copy of uk’s vegetarian magazine, shown below).

• 3 tbsp butter (i used 1.5 tbsp unsalted)
• 4 tbsp onion, diced.
• 2.2 cups pumpkin flesh (i used the pumpkin without flesh and steamed it).
• 1.5 tbsp flour (i used whole wheat).
• 2.5 cups vegetable stock.
• 3 tbsp single cream (i used greek nonfat yogurt).
• 3 tbsp creme fraiche (i used greek nonfat yogurt).
• 2 tbsp pumpkin seed oil and a handful of pumpkin seeds, to garnish (didn’t have any, i used 2 mushrooms to garnish).

instructions:

1 melt the butter in a large pan, and add the onion and cook over a medium heat until brown.  add the pumpkin and saute for 5 minutes.  add the flour and saute for 1 minute.

2 add the vegetable stock and simmer until the pumpkin is soft.

3 puree the soup.  season with salt and pepper and stir in the cream and creme fraiche.  return to the pan and heat through.

4 before serving, drizzle the soup with pumpkin seed oil and scatter over a few pumpkin seeds.

*per serving 286 cals, fat 25g, sat fat 12g, protein 3.5g, carbs 11.5g, fibre 1.5g, salt .08g

***

a few small mistakes were made:

• i need to READ the directions.
• i added the yogurt at the wrong time.
• i forgot to peel off the pumpkin’s skin, which is why my soup is sorta green in an ugly way!

overall the soup was yummy!!

oh, yes!  just prior to puree preparation…

i had a couple of bites of this…

it was reallyyyy good.  i thought this would make a perfect side dish!