Crustless quiche gluten free- basic recipe

I do not really like eating tart, it's too fatty :s it is better to make quiche without crust :) this recipe is very easy and handy. If you are too busy and you have no time to make something to eat, try this recipe!

Also, you might not have any tart dough at home or you might not want to make one. Then just make crustless quiche!
It is especially good for people who cannot eat gluten :(

All the ingredients listed can be approximate, you can add more or subtract some of the ingredients. You can even change the ingredients or add any food you like, according to what ingredients you have at home :) 
Create your own unique quiche!

Other suggestions - 
- ham/smoked ham (quiche Lorraine)
- smoked salmon
- tuna
- leek (quiche Flamiche/Picarde)
- spinach
- mushroom
- broccoli
- tomato
- poivron
Basically what you need is eggs and cream

Ingredients
4 eggs
2tbsp cream
1 cup shredded cheese (parmesan, emmental, cheddar....)

280g spinach
mushrooms

salt and pepper

Instructions
1. Preheat 180°c
Mix eggs and cream, then add in cheese

2. Add in spinach & mushrooms, or any ingredients that you like
Mix well

3. Bake for 30mins

Serve hot! Enjoy!

Fresh Pesto sauce

I love pesto sauce, I usually bought it from the supermarket and I wonder if I can make my own? Yes! I can! It is real easy.

Pesto sauce consists of basil leaves, which is why it is green :)

Ingredients

2 cups packed fresh basil leaves
1/3 cup or 19g pine nuts

3 garlic cloves, minced (about 3 teaspoons)

1/2 cup or 56g freshly grated Romano or Parmesan-Reggiano cheese

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions
1. In a food processor, place basil leaves and pine nuts, mix well
Add in garlic and cheese, mix until it is blended
*You may need to stop several times to scrap down the mixture so that it mixes better

2. Run the food processor, slowly pour the oil into the mixture in the small opening
Stop several times to scrap down the mixture

3. Add salt and pepper, mix again

Store it in the air-tight container and put it in the fridge

Ready to serve!

Enjoy!

Siraitia grosvenorii cool tea replaces iced tea

It's hot now in Belgium :( and we had barbecue, plus eating fried food, spicy food last week... I feel like I'm having sore throat...it's time to cool down my body a bit!

It's great that I still have some Siraitia grosvenorii at home hoho :) it's a great Chinese ingredient to "cool down" your body when you eat too much spicy food, deep fried food... or not having enough sleep...

Instead of drinking iced tea, you can make it, which is sweet, drink it for 2-3 times per day.

This is Siraitia grosvenorii, you can buy it in the Chinese supermarket

It's very simple to make - 

1. In a pot, put 1 Siraitia grosvenorii (crack it before boil) & 2 liters of water

2. Bring to boil and leave it cook at medium heat for 20mins

3. Turn off the heat, leave it covered for 10mins

Serve hot or cold, enjoy!

Rhubarb ginger sorbet for summer

I remember the first time I tried rhubarb is at my in-laws' home, my mother-in-law likes making rhubarb tart for us. It's acidic like lemon and I like it :) My father-in-law likes making rhubarb ginger jam, which is so so delicious!

Since I am not very familiar with how to cook it, plus I have never seen them in the supermarket, I have never tried any rhubarb recipe.
Recently I found them sold in the supermarket, I want to make some sorbet for the hot weather (yay finally!)

I love the combination of rhubarb and ginger, they are perfect match!

Ingredients
3 1/2 cups chopped fresh rhubarb stalks (4-5)*
1 2/3 cups sugar
2 tsp finely chopped fresh ginger - not too much otherwise it will cover the flavor of rhubarb
2tsp orange zest**
1/4tsp salt
2 1/2 cups water

2tbsp corn syrup/honey

*Do not use any leaves - they are poisonous!!
** lemon zest is good too

Instructions
1. In a big pot, put all the ingredients and bring to boil

2. Lower the heat to low, simmer and covered for 5mins
Note: Rhubarb gets soft after 5mins
Turn off the heat, cool down until it's warm

3. Pour the mixture into the food processor - ideally pour the rhubarb piece and the ginger pieces without juice into the food processor and blend it first, then add in juice, corn syrup or honey, blend it until smooth

4. If you do not like to chew any pieces, sieve the mixture (I didn't do this because I like some pieces to chew)
Let it cool down completely

5. Process the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions
Notes: It is normal that the sorbet is rather soft right after you stop the machine, if you like it to be firmer, place the sorbet in a covered container and freeze it for several hours

When you take the sorbet out from the freezer, leave it in the room temperature to soften before you serve

Enjoy!

Oatmeal cake - another breakfast alternative

Do you like oatmeal? I do, it is very healthy! I like eating oatmeal with dried fruits and milk... Yummmm!
I have made oatmeal cookies earlier, click here for the recipe. It is another way to use oatmeal :)

Last Saturday I tasted the first oatmeal cake, it is super delicious! Another recipe for breakfast :)

Ingredients
1 1/2cup boiling water
1cup oatmeal

1/2cup white sugar (original recipe uses 1cup)
1cup brown sugar
100g butter (original recipe uses 0.5cup = 115g)

1 1/3cup flour
1tsp baking soda
1tsp cinnamon
2 eggs
1tsp vanilla extract
Optional: 1cup raisins/cranberry/chopped dates/nuts

Instructions
1. Pour boiled water to a bowl of oatmeal, set aside and let it cool down

2. Preheat the oven at 180°c
Mix sugar and butter until they blend together
Add in oatmeal, mix well

3. Add in the rest of the ingredients (flour, baking soda, cinnamon, eggs and vanilla extract), you might want to add raisins, dried fruit or nuts. Mix it well

4. Bake the cake for 30mins if the mold not too deep (about 1.5"-2" thick), if the mould is deep then bake for 40mins or until it is golden color

Enjoy!

Kettlebell

I have 2 pairs of dumbbell at home, it is very useful for my workouts :)

Then more and more people talk about kettlebell and its benefits, I read quite a lot of articles on kettlebell, then I decide to try some new workouts.

I just bought 3 kettlebells recently, they were on sale with a pack of 3... I realize that kettlebell is safe to use and it helps better to burn calories, it is more effective for the strength training, especially deadlift :)

Here is an article of how to choose a kettlebell, click here to read it

Another article I want to share is the kettlebell exercises you can do, click here to read it

I recommend Jilian Michael's kettlebell workout, which covers most of these moves. Also, do not start with heavy weight, it is better to get correct posture then you can add more weight... to prevent any injury

Have a great weekend!

Sesame oil chicken

I know that sesame oil chicken is Taiwanese cuisine, it is a super diet for women who give birth, it helps the recovery, usually they eat this dish from 3rd week after delivery. This dish helps to keep fit too.

Even though you are not pregnant or you are not giving birth, you can still cook it, it is very time saving and delicious.

Anyways, I saw this recipe online from a nutrient specialist, so I looked into it... To be precise, I didn't give birth, but it has been long time I haven't cooked meat at home, that's why I want to give it a try.

You can eat this dish with rice :) My husband ate 2 large bowls of rice with lots of sauce... Yummmmm!

You can use drumsticks too :)

I think it is the best to serve with noodles :)

Ingredients
5 chicken thighs*
2tbsp dark sesame oil**
1tsp goji, soaked a until it swells
8 slices fresh ginger

1cup rice wine
1cup water
1 small rock sugar or crystal sugar

1tbsp soya sauce

*In the original recipe it is one whole chicken, but I think it is better to use only thighs, you can also use drumsticks
**I used only light sesame oil, you can click here to see the difference between dark and light sesame oil

Instructions
1. Fry the chicken with sesame oil, goji and ginger until the chicken become golden brown

2. Add wine and water, boil it
When it starts boiling, reduce the heat to low heat, to stew the chicken for 25mins

3. After 25mins, turn off the heat and add soya sauce

PS if you eat it as leftover the next day, you can even remove the oil on the surface by a spoon :) then it is even healthier

Enjoy!

Lychee, dried lily petal & job's tear sweet soup

I bought a can of lychee from Chinese supermarket last week, at first I just want to eat some lychee as fruit, I miss its taste :) I didn't plan to make something specifically,  yesterday I saw a recipe of Chinese sweet soup with lychee and job's tear... haha I know I should try it out since I have a can of lychee.

As I posted a recipe to cook job's tear before, I explained that job's tear is for humid weather. You can see more info about job's tear, click here.

Important: Do not consume it while you are pregnant!

Ingredients

20g dried job's tear (either raw or cooked)

20g dried lily petal (you can buy them in Chinese supermarket)

20g rock/crystal sugar*

130g lychee**

honey (in the original recipe, it is 30g) 

*If you use the can lychee, you can use the syrup water, in this case you won't need to add any sugar

**It is net weight - If you buy can lichi, you will see the net weight of lichi and the weight of lichi with syrup water written on the can

Instructions

1. Soak dried job's tear and lily petal in water for 2hours

2. After 2hours, drain the water out, pour them into a pot, pour in water - at least cover the ingredients, if you want more soup, then add more water

Add sugar

3. Turn on the heat and boil it, after it is boiled, lower the heat to low/medium heat for 30mins

4. After 30mins, add in lychee, turn off the heat and let it cook for another 10mins

5. When you serve, add honey according to your taste

Serve either hot or cold

Enjoy!

Masterpiece - takeaway from my first women's retreat

Last Saturday I attended my first women's retreat, I was asked to play in the worship team :) The whole day was wonderful!

The theme of the retreat called masterpiece, yes we are God's masterpiece, each of us is precious. God is our great creator, praise Him!

So we made our own masterpiece on a canvas, about ourselves before and after (now). That is why you might see the head and the shoulder in the picture. It is me.

At the beginning I was quite nervous because I am not confident in making it beautiful :s I tried to paste some newspaper, having fun with my sister at the same time. Then I started feeling inspired, and I kept developing it. I was almost the last to finish because I was slow... anyway, I found that ugly at first but now I appreciate it because I got my story behind it.

The story is this: I before(= Newspaper) followed the pattern of this world, I had pride and envy in me. Then I knew Jesus, who shed the blood for me (= the red threads in the form of blood), I got touched and became christian. 

God (= thread in heart shape) lived in me, Holy Spirit (orange and yellow) filled in me. I change.

I'm still surrounded by the world (=black at the background), sometimes I got influenced by the world (=brown color around my cheek), sometimes when I serve the Lord I give positive effect on the others (=yellow color around the top of my head).

I hope one day I will spread more positive energy to the others, to lighten the world.

Lord, please help me to sanctify and purify myself, be the light shining on the others.

What I learnt: Creating an art piece is not only about the beauty of it, of course it is important, but the story behind shouldn't be neglected. I learn a new way to appreciate an artwork - to be more curious about the story behind each one.

I enjoyed the retreat and I will definitely join it next year, and also play again next year!

Job's Tear lemon water

I saw somebody posted on facebook about Job's Tear water, that makes me want to make some too :)
Job's Tear is healthy food in Asia, during humid period, we consume Job's Tear to "remove" humidity in the body. Also it can be used to "remove" heat in the body.


However, it is not suitable for women during their period or their pregnancy!

I usually cook Job's Tear with red bean to make sweet soup or just "water" :) this time I'll try to make with lemon, to have fresh drink :)

Another important information is that there are 2types of Job's Tear - raw and cooked. Cooked means it is fried, they look bigger than the raw ones.

You can buy Job's tear in the Chinese supermarket, be careful do not mix it up with Pearl Barley.

Ingredients
50g cooked Job's tear
50g raw Job's tear (you can use 100g raw ones if you couldn't find the cooked one)
2L water (including the soaked water)
1 lemon, sliced

optional: honey/sugar

Instructions
1. Wash Job's Tear several times, drain the water away, pour fresh water and soak it for 1 hour
Note: raw Job's Tear = soak for 1hour, cooked Job's Tear = soak for 0.5hour

2. Place the Job's Tear in a pot, pour water and boil them until the boiling point, then you can reduce the heat to low heat, cook for 1hour

3. Turn off the heat, add in sliced lemon
Serve hot or cool down to serve cold

You can keep it in the fridge for 2-3days

Enjoy!