Wellness takes work

I spent the bulk of my day looking for doctors, dentists, and an optometrist! It is really tiring finding a good one. And one that takes your insurance. When I use to have Kaiser, I just picked from the pool I was given. I worked in a dental office, so the dentist was easy to find.

Finding a doctor is much more taxing. I would check to see if that doctor took our insurance. And ideally, I wanted someone close by. My husband and I have different doctor preference, so I had to find two. Fortunately after much searching and reading reviews, I found doctors for the both of us. Luckily, they are in the same group practice.

I am glad that I fulfilled that task. Appointments made and everything! I feel pretty accomplished. Now I am quite exhausted and will either write some reviews on yelp or watch something on netflix.

I am really grateful for yelp reviews! Much of my research on these medical providers really helped me to narrow down who I thought would best suit me. Thus, I try to give back and contribute to the community as well.

Random Laziness

I woke up early this morning to make Blueberry Scones. They turned out fine, except the sticking to the parchment part. I will have to figure that out later or use a new recipe. Oh well. I am feeling especially lazy today. I went down to the storage room to look for the ice scraper. That has been the most productive part of my day.

I should have went out when the sun was shining, now it is gloomy and cold. The laundry will make up for it. Out here, when it gets cold the ice frost on the windshield. Hence the Ice Scraper. So I looked online for the best DE-ICER. I found out you can frugally make one at home with a spray bottle filled with 3 parts vinegar and 1 part water. Some also add 1 part alcohol. I am going to whip this up and see how it works. If it is a fail, then I will buy one. I will let you know how that pans out.

I really want to do some yoga to stretch out my limbs. I am becoming stiff here. That's what the cold can do to you. Anyways, I thought blogging would get me out of my lazy runt.

NO to WEST ELM

I must have had an eventful weekend. I am absolutely exhausted. I really would like to go back to sleep. Here is a run down.....Saturday morning, 6 AM, woke up to bed concaving in. Damn....I gotta say, that was a RUDE awakening! It really is had to go back to sleep after something like that. I called up West Elm to see what they can do for me. I've honestly had this bed frame less than 14 months. That is pretty poor workmanship if you ask me.

So I googled it and found out that this is a common problem with beds from West Elm. The take away message: DO NOT BUY A BED FRAME FROM WEST ELM!!! They only gave me a delivery surcharge credit which does not really help me at all. But better than nothing. STILL, poor quality and does not stand behind back breaking products.

Now, I just want to share with ya'll how poorly my bed was made. Makes me so MAD because my bedroom now looks like a war zone. Not a great way to start of the week.

I am surprised at how the mattress is held up. The bed frame was really built. It needed a better framed foundation. I should have looked into more reviews before I made the purchase. TIP: websites without product reviews is a RED FLAG!!! The middle beam broke and totally fractured off.

And here is the other end that fractured off. Hmmm...looks suspicious!

They should make this middle beam longer, eh?

So since West Elm does not even replace this part even though they know they are making bad beds, they tell me that I need to buy a whole new set. HELLO?!?! Why would I waste more money on a bed that will collapse on me again. So since the bed is now useless without that beam, we decided to create our own beam to hold up our mattress. I read about people using books. So all I can tell you is, you are better off going to Ikea or elsewhere, at least their products will last you years and years.

Thanksgiving came early this year!

This past weekend we had some family come and visit. We took them out to explore Chicago. On our exploration we were greeted by the beautiful sight of fall colors. Here are some pictures of the city during autumn.

The famous Cloud Gate (Bean).

Pretty Trees.

Downtown lights.

When our visitors left so did these beautiful fall leaves. The First day of snow was Monday. Now most of the trees are bare. I'm glad they were able to enjoy the colors of autumn.

On one of the nights we celebrated Thanksgiving. Instead of turkey, we had an 8 pound chicken. Yeah, they come thick out here. Fixins' included Mac 'n' cheese, brussel sprouts, smushed potatoes, and calms. It was quite a feast and I didn't have to cook much this week because we had an ample amount of left overs.

Thanks Dennis, Bea, and Jennifer for coming out to visit us! It's great to see familiar faces!!!

Troubleshooting Macarons led to Matcha Macaron Success

Practice makes perfect. You probably heard that a lot growing up. I made 3 batches of macarons today. It definitely was not intentional. I wanted to make green tea macarons with a red bean filling. FAIL!!!

I also wanted to make an earl grey macaron. That was partly successful. But flawed in the filling. I am going to go over troubleshooting macarons....What I learned from these failures.

First thing, it is important to have a scale of some sort to weigh out your ingredients. However, I do not own such a tool. Mistake #1. Secondly, do not overbeat the egg whites, you will get hollow shells. Mistake #2. Lastly, it is important to open the oven 2 minutes after you put them in to let the moisture out. This way you get the foots. Mistake #3.

After 2 batches, I was on the web searching what I had done incorrectly and the above said is what I have pinpointed it down to. Now it is really important to quickly open and close the oven to get the little foots. Don't over beat the egg whites. You can get away without a scale however. My third attempt, still no scale, but continued on, you just have to use the right recipe.

Now the color looks great here. A nice green hue for the Green Tea Macaron. I used a recipe from this blog: food je t'aime

They came out all pretty when I piped them. But they never dried. It is very important for them to dry. I waited more than an hour. I think I over beat the egg whites and over mixed it.

So they came out flat and didn't have that eggshell texture. It was more like a whoppie. Booo! FAIL!!!! ;<{

Disappointed, I continued on to make the Earl Grey Macaron. I really like this recipe. You don't need a scale for it. It is almost a tried and true recipe! I got it from Yoo Eatz.

This is how the Earl Grey turned out. You can see the foot/frille. But some of them were still hollow. But it definitely had that eggshell exterior.

I was also baking them with a baking sheet under. Ditch that 'ish. You will not get them to cook evenly. And it will take longer.

I was lazy and used a whipping cream/red bean paste mixture for the filling. BIG MISTAKE!!! It will make your macarons soggy and say bye bye to your eggshell exterior. It is best to use a buttercream filling. This is how the green tea with red bean turned out. Pretty pathetic, but still tasted good. See they do look like whoppies.

The Earl Grey Red Bean turned out better, but the whipping cream filling really bleed through. The flavor of the earl grey really came through.

Because I was so disappointed, I really had to whip up another batch to redeem these failure and figure out what was going wrong. I made a Matcha Macaron using the same Earl Grey recipe just substituted the earl grey tea for matcha powder.

This time around, I did not over beat the egg whites and I did let the oven breathe. I got the frille and they were not hollow. I was really happy with how they turned out.

Here is a close up of the feet. The oven was set to 300F and I baked them for about 15 mins. Rotate as needed.

I made a Matcha Buttercream to compliment the Matcha Macaron. The recipe for the buttercream was adapted from the blog of Ironwhisk. I can best describe this macaron as tasting like Green Tea Ice Cream.

And now for a successful Matcha Macaron recipe without using a scale.

Matcha Macaron recipe (Makes about 18 (1 1/2 in diameter))

Ingredients:

2 egg whites, at room temperature

5 tbsp granulated sugar

1/2 cup 2 tbsp almond meal

1 cup confectioners sugar

1 tsp Matcha powder

pinch of salt

Let's make macarons!

1. In a bowl, sift almond meal and confectioner sugar. Add matcha powder. Add pinch of salt. Mix lightly and set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, beat egg whites over low speed until they begin to froth. Add sugar, 1 tbsp at a time, incorporating well after each addition. Continue beating until egg whites to medium-high speed until they are glossy and stiff peaks form. Do not over beat the eggs or else you will get hollow insides. You can also use a kitchen aid stand mixer alternatively if you want.

3. Add half of the dry mixture to the egg whites, and fold gently from the outside in using a rubber spatula, until all ingredients are well combined. Repeat with the other half of the dry mixture. Also, do not over mix!

4. Test the consistency of the batter by scooping up some of it with the spatula and letting it fall back into the bowl. If it falls heavily in chunks (or not at all), you will need to press some of the air out. With the rubber spatula, begin scraping from the outside in, and then press down on the center with the flat of the spatula (you can also press the batter against the side of the bowl). After repeating 5 times, test the batter consistency again. You want it to slowly dripping off the spatula back into the bowl and easily absorbing back into the batter at the bottom. If still too thick, press the air out a few more times being careful not to over mix.

5. Pour batter into a pastry or gallon-sized Ziplock bag (fit the pastry bag with a piping tip first). It helps if you put it in a cup. If using a Ziplock bag, snip 1/4" from one corner, twist up the loose end, and pipe onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet or silpat so that the macarons are about 1" to 1-1/2" in diameter and about an inch apart. They have templates online. When all the batter is piped out, firmly tap the baking sheet on the counter a few times, then let rest for about 30 minutes. It is important to let them completely dry! Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 300ºF.

6. After the macarons have rested, bake in oven for about 15 minutes, keeping an eye on the tops to ensure they don't brown. If you have two racks, put one on top and one on bottom. After 2 mins, quickly open and close the oven to let the moisture out. This will create the little foots on the macarons. Rotate as necessary. Remove from oven, lift parchment paper with macarons onto a wire rack and let cool completely before filling.

Matcha Buttercream recipe

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature

1/4 cup confectioners sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp whipping cream

2 tbsp matcha powder

Time to make the filling!

1. Cream the butter until light and fluffy, about two minutes with a mixer. (A stand mixer is great to use here.)

2. Add confectioners sugar, vanilla extract, whipping cream and matcha powder and beat together for four minutes until desired consistency.

3. Transfer into piping bag for filling.

If you like Green Tea/Matcha, you will enjoy these. I am not a big fancy of things that are too sweet and that is why I add a pinch of salt to my dry ingredients. The salt helps to tame the sweetness. Enjoy!!!!

Egg Custard Tarts....a work in progress

Egg Custard Tarts are absolutely delicious. I still am on a quest to find the tin pans to cook them in. For time being I have been using my brioche tins, but they aren't cutting it. I mean, they work, but there is always room for improvement. I am still looking for the right recipe. I totally messed up on the crust. I think I needed more patiences and didn't have the right water dough to hold my butter dough.

I recently made a flaky pie dough, I might try using that...perhaps. Something to try in the future. I was quite happy with the filling. I might use more eggs next time though. Also, a work in progress. For now, I am sharing the filling recipe. This works well when you have the right amount to crust to filling ratio.

Egg custard filling recipe:

3 eggs

3 1/2 tbsp milk

1 cup 1 tsp water

2/5 cup of sugar

Steps:

1. Make simple syrup by combining sugar and water and heat until sugar is dissolved. Let cool and set aside.

2. Once simple syrup is cooled, combine with milk and whisk.

3. In a bowl, whisk eggs and add milk mixture. Whisk to combine.

4. Sieve mixture twice. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Making the filling is pretty easy. What makes a delicious egg custard tart is having the right balance of filling and crust. The crust balances out the filling and vice versa.

My first attempt. The crust was too thin and not flaky. The filling was good. Could be less sweet or more eggy.

I doubled up on the crust here. Now too much crust but came out better. Word to the wise, be patient when making the crust.

Pancit

Pancit or Miki is one of my favorite things to eat. I grew up having this during special occassions like Christmas or Birthdays. I have watched my Dad make it, but never really made it myself. Nowadays, I am trying to recreate the dish. Sadly, my Dad has passed on so I cannot pick his brain for the recipe. Fortunately, my aunts are still around so they sometimes make it for me. When I get the chance I am going to ask them to teach me how to make it.

I have made several attempts at Pancit and here is how I did it. This time around I used the Excellent brand of Pancit noodles. Alternatively, you can also use bihon instead. There is actually no meat in this version, usually there is some pork or shrimp. I didn't thaw any so I used tofu instead. I am actually not a big meat eater so this works for me.

I used about half a pound of Firm Tofu (half of the package) and cut them into cubes.

These are the vegetables that I used: snow peas, carrots, onions and mushrooms. I think I used about a pound or less (I actually don't remember, made this a while ago) of the snow peas with the ends cut of. Two carrots and 1/4 of an onion in julienne slices. Half a package of mushrooms sliced.

These are the ingredients.

Put some oil in a wok and saute garlic with the onions. Saute for 1-2 minute or until browned.

Then add remaining vegetables. Season with salt and pepper and soy sauce (maybe about 1-2 tbsp). Then let cook for 3-5 minutes. Add Tofu and mix. Let cook for 3-5 minutes, add a little water if it looks dry. Then transfer into a bowl.

Add 1 cup of chicken broth into wok and cook pancit noodles until noodles are tender or until broth is absorb. Transfer 2/3 of the cooked veggies back into the wok and mix. Transfer into a serving bowl and top with the remaining 1/3 of the cooked veggies and serve.

And there you have it, Pancit! I was quite happy with how this turned out. Previously, I used oyster sauce, I omitted that this time around and liked it much better. Next time, I am going to try a different kind of noodle.

Lasagna

A few weeks ago, I made Lasagna. It was our Sunday Dinner but we ended up going out to meet a friend. I put it together and baked it the next day, as I had already begun the process. This recipe was inspired by Giada De Laurentiis. Here is her Lasagna recipe. Overall, the recipe came out well. The only thing I would change is not make a bechamel sauce and go straight into using the Simple Tomato Sauce. I think it will make it taste more like a true lasagna that way. The incorporation of the ricotta really help round out the lasagna.

Here are some capture shots. This is what the bechamel sauce looks like.

This is the spinach. Try to get it as dry as you can. Maybe give it a whirl in the salad spinner, or not.

I used ground beef. I think it is +90% lean. Cooked with a little oil and garlic. You can soak up any liquid with a paper toilet. It helps when your ingredients are dry to prevent a runny lasagna.

This is my ricotta mixture.

The layering begins. You start with bechamel sauce then pasta.

Add ricotta and mozzarella cheese.

Then add the spinach and pasta.

Then comes the ground beef and pasta.

Top that with ricotta, mozzarella and parmesean. And butter (optional).

And here is the finished product.

Lasagna is pretty easy to make. Not to mention it can feed you for days. The next day all the juices get soaked up and is even more flavorful.

Balance

I made macarons today. Green Tea and Earl Grey. The Earl Grey came out well, but the Green Tea was flat. Did I over mix the meringue? Anyway, I realized these suckers are sweet. I am going to have to test kitchen some batches to see what I can come up with. I will post those in the future.

Simple Tomato Sauce

I prefer a meatless spaghetti sauce. My other half likes it otherwise. To compromise, I make both. It isn't at all time consuming because I make a basic tomato sauce and add the meat later on. With my simple tomato sauce you can add any meat that you like. This recipe was inspired by Giada De Laurentiis. I have been using this base for most of my pasta dishes. The beauty about this sauce is that it doesn't have to be exact and you will get the same flavor each time. Close to it at least, since produce are seasonal in flavors.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 onion, chopped

1/2 garlic, chopped

4 celery stalk, chopped

3 carrots, chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper for seasoning

2 (28 oz) cans of crushed tomatoes (this can vary 28 or 32 oz can)

5 dried bay leaves

Instructions:

1. In a Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic and onion until soft and translucent, this takes about 2 minutes. Add carrots and celery and season with salt and pepper. Saute until the vegetables are soft reducing heat to medium, this takes about 5 minutes.

2. Add tomatoes and bay leaves and let simmer on low heat for 30 mins.

3. Remove bay leaves and taste. If it is too acidic, add unsalted butter 1 tbsp at a time to round out flavors (no more than 4 tbsp).

4. Blend together with an immersion blender until smooth. Alternatively, you can use a food processor or blender. Optional, add cooked meat to sauce (ground meat or sausages.) Continue to let simmer on low heat for 30 mins.

5. This yields about 6 cups so with the left overs, you can freeze it and it lasts for about 6 months.

6. Serve with your favorite pasta. Enjoy!!!

This is what the Simple Tomato Sauce looks like.

Crock-Pot Smoky Chili

The perfect comfort food on a cold chilly day is a delicious bowl of Smoky Chili to warm you up! Frank enjoys chili so I decided to make him some. I've never made chili before and it isn't hard, it is time consuming though. Even though I used a crock-pot for this recipe, I actually had to do some prep before putting the ingredients in the crock-pot. I worked off a few recipes to create my own and this is the result of that.

This is what I refer to as a Chili Makeover because I tried to take out the high sodium contents and fatty stuff. As reference, I used this recipe as a foundation for my chili. I was inspired by this Springfield chili makeover to cut the sodium and fat as well.

The recipe that I came up with uses beer instead of chicken broth. This is healthier because you cut down on the sodium.

Ingredients:

5 strips of Applewood Smoked Bacon, chopped

1/2 pound ground beef 85/15 (you can use any variety, the sirloin is leaner though)

2 Spicy Chicken Sausage, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (I got mine from Trader Joe's)

1 1/2 chopped onion

1/2 garlic minced

16oz Budweiser

6oz tomato paste

2 cans (14.5oz) of Stewed Tomatoes, chopped

3 tablespoons chili powder (I made my own without oregano, but added other herbs I had on hand)

1 tablespoon ground cumin

3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 bay leaves

3 cups pinto beans (canned or prep your own)

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup finely chopped green onions

2 ounces any cheese you like (about 1/2 cup)

1 tbsp olive oil

Preparation:

1. In a Dutch oven on medium-high heat, cook the Applewood Smoked Bacon until slightly browned. This is going to be the oil base. Add the onions and garlic until onions are almost translucent. Then add the Spicy Italian Sausage. Let cook until the sausage plums up. Then add in the beer and let simmer on medium heat. Transfer into Crock-pot.

2. In the same pan, add a little bit of oil and cook ground beef on medium heat. Once beef is cooked, transfer onto the crock-pot.

3. Add the cooked pinto beans onto the Crock-pot as well. I didn't used a can because of the sodium content. Instead, I soaked my pinto beans overnight and cooked them on low for 2 hours with 3 cups of water until they were soft, drained them and rinsed them. As it cooks in the slow cooker, it will get softer.

4. Add tomato paste, chopped stewed tomatoes, chili powder, ground cumin, black pepper, sugar and stir to combine. I made my own chili powder (1/8 cup sweet paprika, 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder, 1/2 tablespoon cayenne pepper, 1/2 tablespoon onion powder, 1 teaspoons ground cumin, 1/2 tsp herbs mixture).

5. Add bay leaves and let cook on high in slow cooker for 6-8 hours.

6. Garnish with cheese and green onions, serve with bread.

I enjoyed the paprika flavor it really brings out that smoky taste. Next time, I will prep the pinto beans in advance because those took a while to cook. Overall, I hope you try this recipe. Bon appetit!!!