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Homemade Crockpot Pasta Penne

Home Made Tomato Ground Beef Penne Pasta in Slow Cooker

Some times, it’s even hard to find 2 to 3 hours to make a lunch or dinner, and all there is is basic staples in your fridge/pantry. It’s not a problem, be inspired to change up the recipe with what’s in available to you!

Ingredients: (serves 4)
1 lb Ground Beef
2 sticks of Carrots
1/2 an onions
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp thyme
Penne Pasta
2 cups of Tomato Sauce
1/2 or 1 cup of Beef stock

First, if you have the time, brown the onions, ground beef, and garlic to develop more flavours. I didn’t have too much time, so I just placed everything into the crockpot.

You can then put in either pre-made pasta sauce, or you can make your own by flavouring up some crushed tomatoes with tomato sauce. If you’re making pasta sauce and you eat it a lot, it’s nice to make a giant batch and leave it in the fridge so it’s ready when you need some!

Then, you’re ready to put your pasta in! I just place the pasta in, and mixed it around for a bit. Set the crock pot on high for 1-2 hours or low for 2-3 hours. Add a splash of beef stock or water if your sauce is a little thicker before you close the lid and leave it for some time.

To enjoy, grate some cheese and season up the penne! It makes a great left over dish too!

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Homemade Peanut Butter Bars

Home Made No Bake PB Bars

Ok, those who actually know me, I’m mildly allergic to peanut, but I really wanted peanut butter – enough so it won’t kill me! 🙂 Then, with tons of leftover peanut butter, I didn’t know what to do that was quick and simple.. so, I stumbled upon some easy dessert bar recipes that requires no baking! Fantastic! I modified my recipe from Kraft Recipes

Ingredients:
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup graham cracker
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup Peanut Butter plus 2 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup milk chocolate – I used baking chocolate, and it was quite bitter. Try chocolate chips!

This is an easy recipe! I don’t do a lot of baking as I’m not good at baking! So, this recipe was right up my alley! First, you melt the butter – once melted, pour the graham cracker, sugar and 1/2 cup of peanut butter.

Now, take this peanut butter mixture and press it into a container where you want to make your bars. Pack it in tight and hard if possible.

Now, you can either melt the chocolate in the microwave, but I did mine on a double broiler. You do this by taking a pot and filling it with some water – and bringing it up to a boil. Then, place a bowl that’s larger than the opening of the pot over the top of the pot. Now, you can melt your chocolate on that surface on top – never allowing any water into the mixing bowl.

Once the chocolate is completely smooth and melted, stir in the 2 tbsp of peanut butter in and mix until complete smooth and mixed

Now, you can pour this chocolate topping on top of the peanut butter bars and smooth the chocolate topping so it covers the entire dessert. Now, we have to refrigerate for at least 3 hours to set!

Now that your bars have set, it’s time to cut it up and enjoy!

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Homemade Japanese Miso Soup

I love Japanese food, and I’ve always wanted to make my own Miso Soup, so I finally got a package of White Miso Paste from my market, and found some bonito flakes and wakame from the Asian grocery store. They are tricky to find (well, for me at least!) but, I think it’s necessary for a miso soup. This simple homemade soup smells and tastes like miso soup when you go out to have a bowl!

Ingredients (makes 2 big bowls or 4 little bowls):
3 cup of water
3 tbsp bonito flakes
1 heaping tbsp white miso paste
1 tbps wakame
tofu cubes

To begin any soup – start with boiling some water.

When the water has come to a boil, put some bonito flakes into the water and reduce the heat, and let it steep for about 5 minutes.

Once that has steeped, you’re ready to put in the miso paste. Take a heaping tablespoon (or just 2 tablespoons) and put it into a bowl. Take some of the “soup in progress” into the bowl and mix to dissolve the miso paste so you get a dissolved and thinner consistency. Once you’ve achieved this, you’re ready to pour the miso solution into the soup. Bring the soup back up to a boil at this time, and let it boil for another 3 to 5 minutes.

By now, taste your soup to see if it needs additional salt. Add some if it needs more. To finish the soup, add the wakame flakes, and they will rehydrate and add lots of flavour into the miso soup. Once the wakame has rehydrate, you’re ready to serve and enjoy!

I also like to add some udon noodles to my miso soup, and it becomes and excellent and healthy lunch! Just boil some instant udon in the miso soup. Once the udon noodles are ready, you’re ready to eat too! If you want, you can top it off with sesame seeds, scallions or anything you like – really!

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Homemade Vietnamese Coffee

I love eating Vietnamese cuisine, and one of my favourite drinks that is special and unique would be Vietnamese Coffee, which I found out it wasn’t hard to make at all!

Ingredients
1 to 2 tbsp condensed milk
1 or 1.5 tsp ground coffee (courser grind works best)
boiling water

First, I put the condensed milk in the bottom of my cup. I love my coffee’s sweet when I drink coffee.

Then, I place the coffee grinds into the little contraction which is the French Filter (cà phê phin) – which is the coffee filter. It’s nice to use dark roast to get the strong flavour and the course so it doesn’t fall through the filter. Put the top on the filter and screw it tight. The tighter you screw the top on, the darker and stronger the coffee will be. This will take a longer time for your coffee to brew. Alternatively, you don’t have to tighten it to the max where the coffee won’t be as dark, and you’ll get your drink faster too! It’s up to you! The coffee they typically use is the brand Trung Nguyen

When the coffee has finished dripping through the filter, you’re ready to stir it up to dissolve the condensed milk and enjoy. If you like an iced version (ca phe da), fill a glass full of ice and enjoy!

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Homemade Vietnamese Sandwich with Grilled Chicken

I really love Vietnamese Submarines, and these days, it seems to be hard to find some in the city – for a reasonable price. I had to make a few modifications as I didn’t have all the ingredients, but the sandwich sure tasted great!

Ingredients:
1 French Roll or similar bun (crusty outside, soft inside)
1 chicken breast or 2 chicken thighs (boneless and skinless)
1 tbsp mayonnaise
1 or 2 slices of cucumbers
cilantro
pickled carrots
chili pepper (optional)
onions
soy sauce
fish sauce
white soft cheese (I use mozzarella cheese)

To make this, I actually made my own pickled carrots, which is really simple to do. Some people have a mixture of pickled daikon and carrots, but I opted for just carrots as that’s the way I’m use to! If you’re making it, make this step at least an hour ahead of time.

Pan sear the chicken thigh or breast with some oil, salt and pepper. Once it’s cooked, take off the stove and let it rest.

In the mean time, cut your bun, spread one side with mayonnaise and the other side with a few shakes of soy sauce and fish sauce, and salt and pepper.

Place the meat on the bun, and top it with some cheese and bake until the cheese melts in a 350F oven, which takes a few minutes. Then, take the submarine out of the oven, and top it off with the pickled carrots, cilantro and other fresh vegetables. (I usually don’t put the raw onions on as I’m worried about onion breath at work – if I’m having this for lunch) Put the top of the sandwich on and you’re ready to enjoy!