Prawn Noodles (My simple version)

Bored with rice sometime, i will prepare noodles instead and a soupy one is always my favorite option for my girls.  A soup noodles with prawn added, my simple version of prawn noodles.  ;P 

• Egg noodles, 1/3 of a package 
• Chicken/Pork meat (sliced)
• Prawns (devined with head on)
• 1 carrot (thinly sliced)
• Vegetables (e.g. Celery; Spinach etc)
• Salt to taste
• Water

Steps:

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil, add the chicken/pork, carrot, continue cooking to return to a boil
2. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cook for 20min
3. Add prawns and vegetables, continue cooking for another 15min 
4. Meantime, cook the egg noodles according to the instruction given in the package in a wok/sourcepan (i.e. cook the egg noodles uncovered in boiled water, stir occasionally according to the suggested time)  
5. Remove from pot, drain well and transfer to a serving plate, pour in the soup once the soup is ready & serve

Steamed Egg

A simple dish, but which i only know how to prepare it recently (that shows how 'good' my cooking is... ;P). 

The challenge is always how much water should i add to the egg, sometime it turned out too soft, sometime too hard.  Finally i got it right on my 3rd attempt - not too soft nor too hard.  However, i forgot to measure how much water that i have added on it as i always cook using judgement (agak-agak in hokkian)...i tried to recall how much water i added  to come out with the below recipe.

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs (slightly beaten)
• Pork meat (minced)
• 1 green onion (chopped)
• A handful of dried shrimp (chopped)
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/3 sushi nori sheet (tear into fine pieces) - optional

Steps:

• Beat the eggs in a heatproof bowl
• Add in all the ingredients and mix till all incorporated
• Place the bowl in a wok/deep pan, cover, and steam over medium-high heat until heated through (i use a rice cooker steamer and when my rice is cooked, so as the dish)
• Remove the bowl from the wok/pan, sprinkle with the nori pieces
• Serve warm

Quick & Nutritional Corn Soup

This is one of the soup that i used to cook when i worked, a recipe that i cut out from a local newspaper and kept for years.  What attracted me then was its simple recipe with a soup ready in 30min, which was what i needed when i worked with not much time spent in my kitchen.  You will find that the soup tasted amazingly even without pork or chicken meat.  My family loves this soup, especially enjoy eating the corn after a meal.  :) 

Ingredients:

• 1L water (i put 1.5L water sometimes)
• 2-3 corns (cut into half or quarter)
• 2 potatoes (peeled and cut into pieces)
• 2 Onions (peeled and sliced)
• 4 tomatoes (cut into slices)
• Pitch of salt (to taste - optional, i omitted it)

Step:

1. Bring the water to boil in a pot, add all the ingredients and cook on medium-low heat for 30mins
2. Add a pitch of salt (if desired)
3. Serve warm 

Fried Asparagus with Egg

Asparagus is one of the most nutritionally well-balanced vegetables.  It is an excellent source of folic acid, rich in fiber and contains significant amounts of the nutrient inulin which often refer to it as a 'prebiotic'.  The valuable amounts of inulin serve as an ideal food source for certain types of bacteria (like Lactobacilli etc) that are associated with better nutrient absorption, lower risk of allergy and lower risk of colon cancer.  It is a digestive support food which support the digestive health.   

Instead of serve plain, sometime i would add an egg and dried shrimp to the fried asparagus.  Sometime, i will just add the tomato & shredded carrot for a colourful asparagus dish.  

Ingredients:

• Asparagus
• 1/2 tsp chopped garlic
• 1 or 2 eggs
• Dried shrimp (optional)
• Salt & sugar (to taste)
• 1 TBSP olive oil (or vegetable cooking oil)

Steps:

1. Trim off the tough ends from the asparagus, cut the asparagus on the diagonal into 2-inch pieces
2. Place a wok/stir-fry pan over high heat, add the oil, swirling to coat the sides
3. Add the garlic and dried shrimp, cook and stirring until fragrant
4. Add the asparagus and stir fry till tender, add some water if necessary
5. Add the egg and continue stir fry till incorporated
6. Add the sugar and salt, stir well
7. Transfer to a serving plate and serve 

Asparagus health benefits source: WHFoods 

Alaska Cruise: Back to Seattle (Day 8)

Here came our last day at Sea.  With a mixed feeling, we were about to debark the ship.  My 5yrs old went to the camp house to say goodbye to the camp house coach and we took some picture with the friendly Carnival team - the dining room staff that were with us for the 7 days comfort dining experience, our stateroom steward - Jonathan and the camp house staff.

We arrived Seattle in early morning at 7pm and the debark process was a smooth one.  We left the ship at about 9am when our number were called, during then, we were at our breakfast table enjoyed our last meal on ship. 

It was a shower rain day when we debark the ship.  We waited at the terminal while daddy went to pick up the car at the parking lot. 

We then brought the girls to KidsQuest Children Museum at Bellevue Washington.  The girls had a fun time at KidsQuest and we had our sushi lunch prior to heading home. 

My 2yrs old spent almost the whole visit on this scarf shooter

Art time!  Girls had fun making their hat and drawing with the special stationery

My 5yrs old's drawing of what she saw on her 1st ever cruise trip -
rainbow, mountain, glacier, ice berg..  

Our sushi lunch

It was indeed a relax & memorable vacation to us.  I think i was hook.  As soon as we were back to home, daddy & I were talking about our next cruise trip destination already.  :P 

Alaska Cruise: Victoria, Canada (Day 7)

The capital of British Columbia, also known as the Garden City - Victoria is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island.

We have a relax time at sea for the whole day while we headed to Victoria port of call, arrived only at 7pm. 

My 5yrs old went to the camp house and came back with
face painted and her 1st place colouring contest page

Yummy Yogurt Ice-cream

Golf time again...

A surprise visitor came to our stateroom balcony

This is the port with the shortest time ashore.  As we have visited Victoria few years ago, we did not purchase any shore excursion, but just have a free and easy visit to Victoria downtown after taken our dinner at Empire restaurant which started only at 6:45pm.  Pardon me that we didn't manage to take any photo of the food for this day since we were rushing to go down the ship.  :P

Getting ready to visit Victoria downtown

We took a taxi to Victoria downtown which cost almost the same as the shuttle since there were 4 of us.  We spent a beautiful evening at Victoria downtown with the girls visited the famous ivy-covered Empress Hotel, charming Inner Harbor and the majestic Parliament Buildings.      



 

 

We have a cosy night indulged in the beauty of Victoria.  


Passed by beautiful fisherman wharf on our way back to pier



Time to get back to the ship...

For this last night on ship, we were greeted good night with a beautiful 'heart' and a lively 'sea-lion'.   

Alaska Cruise: Ketchikan (Day 6)

Known as "Alaska's First City", Ketchikan is the first major community travelers come to as they travel north.  Founded as a fishing camp, Ketchikan is a bustling community backed by forested hills and surrounded by a waterway busy with float planes, fishing boats, ferries and cruise ships.  It has the largest collection of totem poles in the world and thus also known as the Totem Pole capital of the world!

It was another beautiful sunny day when we woke up in Ketchikan.  It was a gifted day as Ketchikan's yearly rain downfall is often as much as 13 feet!!!  We were so blessed with the good weather through-out the time we ashore.
 

View from our room balcany when we woke up in Ketchikan

Originally, we were thinking to take a taxi or hop on public bus to get around in Ketchikan, mainly to visit the Potlatch Park and Creek Street.  However, we ended up purchased the "Ketchikan Highlights Express" shore excursion through the shore excursion desk on ship at last minutes.  Ketchikan is the port in Alaska that has the shortest time ashore (not counting Victoria port in Canada) and we wish not to have the same experience as Juneau where we were rushing through the city visit and shopping.

As the "Ketchikan Highlights Express" departs only at 9am, we went down from ship to do some shopping first at 8am to capitalize the time we had in Ketchikan.  I found that Ketchikan offered the cheapest shopping among the 3 ports of call in Alaska (Skayway, Juneau & Ketchikan).  BTW, remember to pick up the shopping guide from the Seattle terminal during the embarkation day, there were amazing discount coupon inside that you can get some souvenirs at very cheap price and some freebies.

"Ketchikan Highlights Express" brought us to Potlatch park - a fully recreated 19th century native Alaska Village, where the traditions and culture of the Native peoples were showcased. 

Beautifully carved totems, tribal houses, carving center, vintage vehicle and antique cars were among the things that we saw and visited.
 

One of the tribal home

Inside the main tribal house

 

Inside the Carving Center 

Vintage Vehicles & Antique Cars

We passed by some of the city's colorful landmarks on our return to town, including the creek street.  However, this tour does not make any stop in the city.  According to the driver, he can't make a stop and drop us at Creek Street.  We were driven back to the pick-up point at the city.  We then took a 15min walk to the Creek Street, explored the Ketchikan on foot along the way, before we returned to ship.

We went to Empire Restaurant for a course lunch instead of usual buffet lunch at La Playa.  And for dinner, it was a dress up dinner night this day.  We have pretty good food as usual. 

The girls had a pretty good time that night prior to return to the stateroom for the surprise towel creation.  :)

Party time during dinner

Girls danced on the dance floor

Creative towel surprise of the day