food cataloging...

these dishes were made at the beginning of the year.  photos were taken, and all the food was eaten.... it's time to start cataloging some of the foods i've made and will make... so that it becomes easier to come up with a menu when we have gatherings...

cold tofu with tomatoes

eggplant parmesan

baked asparagus

spinach and onion

garbonzo beans for sticky rice

vegetarian sticky rice

latest food craves/creations/modifications

thai drunken noodles (no worries-no alcohol)

cream of broccoli soup

vegetarian scallops with veggies for grilling

napa cabbage & mushroom soup

no... not craving for bananas... but i made 3 variations of banana baked goodies with these not so good looking bananas

banana nut muffins with flax seeds- healthier =P

my regular moist banana bread- i always use one extra smashed banana

using half cup of what was left over from the first banana nut muffin ingredients and the left over of the banana bread mixture, these yummy, moist banana muffins were created!

cake update: 1 vs 2

(tried posting pics to make sense of it all, but it's gonna take a while before i get them all posted the 'correct' way....)

In an effort to make a "perfect" cake, I decided to give it another try....

Goals: 1. beat the "meringue" out of the egg whites. 2. make cake less spongy, a little softer. 3. decorate the cake to make it even more yummy looking. 4. to enhance the taste by changing up some ingredients.

ROUND 1:  

cake 1- no meringue

cake 2- yay meringue!

ROUND 2:  

cake 1- spongy chewy, greener too =P

cake 2- somewhat spongy but softer (see less holes than cake 1)
changes made:  used cake flour instead of all purpose, eggs in room-temp, coconut milk instead of cow milk

ROUND 3:  

cake 1 fruits and custard before 2nd layer

cake 2 before 2nd layer  & you can see part of my kitchen!

ROUND 4:   

cake 1- final appearance =)  not too bad for 1st try, right?

cake 2 in progress... with 2nd layer

cake 2 final look from up top. For my own memory sake, there are coconut flakes in this one too!

cake 2- final look....the side didn't look too good =(

Results:
goals 1 & 2 (success!);
goal 3 (failure) Reddi whip just doesn't do the job, especially in hot weather When the whipped cream flopped, it looked like i made a cake screaming " i'm~m~m~m m~el~t~innng!"
goal 4 would have been a success had it not been a mistake made with goal 3...
So, the overall taste judgment is..... up to the fortunate people who tried them both! ^_^

read sharing-by beholding, we are to become changed...

2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

  

"By beholding we are to become changed; and as we meditate upon the perfections of the divine Model, we shall desire to become wholly transformed, and renewed in the image of His purity. It is by faith in the Son of God that transformation takes place in the character, and the child of wrath becomes the child of God." God's Amazing Grace- Page 301

2 Timothy 15-16 

15-and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 

16-All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for proof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.

"God has been pleased to communicate His truth to the world by human agencies, and He Himself, by His Holy Spirit, qualified men and enabled them to do this work. He guided the mind in the selection of what to speak and what to write. The treasure was entrusted to earthen vessels, yet it is, nonetheless, from Heaven. The testimony is conveyed through the imperfect expression of human language, yet it is the testimony of God; and the obedient, believing child of God beholds in it the glory of a divine power, full of grace and truth."

 "In His Word, God has committed to men the knowledge necessary for salvation. The Holy Scriptures are to be accepted as an authoritative, infallible revelation of His will. They are the standard of character, the revealer of doctrines, and the test of experience."
The Great Controversy Introduction vi-vii.

food for the day... & bite of cake from day before yesterday...

rice

noodles

so, i think we are aiming to eat more veggie foods this week... today we had veggie noodles, veggie rice, and veggie meat... carbs, carbs, and more carbs =P surprisingly the noodles turned out much better than i thought... a little salt, tiny bit of stevia, few drops of soy sauce, and  lots of white pepper complete the seasoning (of course, don't forget the noodles and vegetables -carrots, cabbage, onions, celery)

found last small piece of cake
hidden in the refrigerator...
gone!

sticky rice had shiitake mushrooms, onions, and garbanzo beans in it, and our special for the day was "sweet and sour chicken without chicken"...

sweet & sour "chicken-less chicken"

before I cut up this this 'special chicken', it was made like a chicken patty...but after I sliced into it... this special basically looks and tastes like processed tofu that was once processed soybeans... why call it   chicken-less chicken rather than tofu patties? fake chicken, beef, turkey, lamb, fish all speak "gluten" to me...not sure which is more appealing..hmmmm.... by the way, we had small pieces of pineapple in the sweet and sour chicken dish...^_^ yummy! 

so, the winner today is.....(clap clap clap)....the noodle dish~

Rice-1 vote (mom's fav), Noodles-2 votes i think (mine and sister's?), S&S Chick-1 vote (alpha liked it!)

escaping to Arrowhead...

Zetha's joy of McNuggets

over 100 degrees on a late September day!!! we escaped into the mountains and breathed some fresh air... however, the smoke that came from our car polluted some of that nice air on the way up and down =(  glad we all made it home safely. posted are some of my favorite pics from this brief trip... (it was Sunday so all the stores closed at 6 pm when we didn't even make it up until around 5... =P

mom-looking out, into the blue water

Alpha's joy of not sharing ice cream with his wife =/

brothers... wonder what they were laughing about...?

sisterly-brotherly love... j/k... she's wearing my shirt!

laughter...

mom & sister- sunset...

cake testing...

step by step we followed the recipe and instructions for this Asian layered cake with fruits and custard... but it wasn't completely successful. 
Modifications:  I changed vanilla to pandan flavoring. 
 

Results.....1. Look: ok... 2. Taste: not bad..
Problem: the 2 layers of cake turned out a little too hard, instead of spongy.

Solution:  perhaps it was because I didn't leave the eggs out long enough to reach room temperature... so next time, I will need to leave eggs out a little over 30 minutes to reach temperature...that way the meringue should turn out ok...thus making the cake soft and spongy and yummy!  Nonetheless, we have some pictures (almost all the steps).  I was anticipating on getting it right the first time and was going to post most of them up... However, with it not being satisfactory for me, we will share a couple and post the pictures of the successful try, the next time...

humble cat...

a cat that likes to sleep on papers and in paper boxes, and by our feet---can you call her a humble cat?...she didn't like the pretty little pet bed I got her a few months ago and continues to just find paper anywhere in the house to sleep on... let me explain about the sleeping by feet part....it was from the initial training on our bed that if i allow her to sleep in bed with us, she gets the bottom half of the bed and we still reserve the top 2/3.  However, as time went on, even when we allow her to sleep just about anywhere on the bed, she often sticks to the bottom part of the bed, by our feet... sounds sad, but perhaps she is just used to it... and maybe even like it that way... just looking at how comfy she gets in any of her "beds" puts a smile on our faces =)