[Guest Post] Spinach Stuffed Breakfast Tomatoes by Jedha D

Many people stick to the breads and cereals for breakfast but not me. I LOVE getting creative in the kitchen and making breakfast recipes that are a bit out of the ordinary is one of my specialties. Of course, the one requirement is that they have to be yummy!

So today I’m going to share the recipe to my delicious stuffed breakfast tomatoes. Although they take a while in the oven, you can prepare them very quickly. So what I do is whip them up, throw them in the oven, then finish doing all my morning things. By the time they are ready, I’m ready. So they’re actually an easy treat!

I hope you enjoy them.

Spinach Stuffed Tomatoes

Serves 2

Approx. 40 minutes prep/cook time

Ingredients

• 6 tomatoes
• 6 eggs
• Approx. 2 cups baby spinach
• Sea salt

Cooking Method

1. Preheat oven to 390°F (200°C)

2. Cut the tops off the tomatoes and using a dessert spoon scoop out the insides into a bowl. Don’t throw this way but use it in another recipe, soup or stir-fry

3. Place the tomatoes in a greased ceramic baking dish

4. Fill the tomatoes about 3/4 full of baby spinach. Don’t pack it down too much or the egg will spill over the edges. Instead you want it to seep in and through

5. Sprinkle some sea salt over the spinach

6. Crack one egg into each tomato

7. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until eggs are set

8. Serve and enjoy!

Note: Sprinkle with pepper if you choose

This article/recipe was written byJedha D. Jedha is a weight loss and wellness coach who is passionate about helping people get off the merry go round and change their life from the inside out. If you need help with achieving better weight loss results and a lifestyle you love, please visit her website.

Roasted Portobello Mushroom with Bacon and Cheese

Roasted Portobello Mushroom with Bacon and Cheese

I simply love this recipe. With the bacon toppings, the outer layer of the mushroom is crispy but yet, the inner layer remains very juicy. Do give it a try! =)

Ingredients

1. 6 Medium Portobello Mushrooms
2. 1 tablespoon of Chopped Garlic
3. 1 tablespoon of Chopped Yellow Onion
4. Dried Parsley (eg. Brand Masterfood)
5. 3 tablespoon of Mozzarella Cheese
6. 1 Streaky Bacon
7. Salt
8. Coarse Black Pepper
9. Olive Oil

Preparations

1. Remove the Mushroom Stalk by using a kitchen scissor
2. Add Bacon on Hot Pan (without oil). Pan-fry for approx 30 sec for each side
3. Cut Bacon into small pieces
4. Spread some Olive Oil on Baking tray or Aluminium Foil
5. Place Mushroom on the tray
6. Sprinkle some Salt and Pepper
7. Distribute Garlic and Onions onto the Mushroom Caps evenly
8. Distribute Cheese evenly onto the Mushroom Caps evenly
9. Add Bacon on Mushroom Caps
10. Sprinkle Parsley on Mushroom Caps

Steps

1. Place Mushroom into Preheat Oven, 220 degree celius, approx 15 minutes
2. At 10 minutes, check if Mushroom is cooked and adjust timing accordingly.

Tips and Comments:

1. Pan-fry bacon to force out the bacon fragrant. Do not add Oil as bacon contain fats that works like oil.
2. Once Mushroom turn dark and soft, it is cooked.

Serve while Hot!

Good to be serve as a Side with a Main Course, or as a finger food in an intimate event.

Aglio Olio Linguine with Roasted Bell Pepper, Bacon and Portobello Mushroom

Aglio Olio Linguine with Bell Pepper, Bacon, Portobello Mushrooms

Ingredients (Serve 2 pax)

1. Linguine
2. 2 Big Portobello Mushrooms cut into thin slices
3. 1 Yellow Pepper
4. 1 Red Pepper
5. 5 Strips of Streaky Bacon
6. 200 ml of White Wine
7. 50 ml of Olive Oil
8. 4 tablespoon of Chopped Yellow Onions
9. 2 tablespoon of Slices Garlic (approx 6 cloves)
10. 1 teaspoon of dried Parsley (eg. Brand Masterfood)
11. 1 teaspoon of Salt

Preparations

1. Cut Red and Yellow Pepper into 2, Remove the seeds
2. Put Bell Pepper into preheat oven, 200 degree celius, approx 15 minutes
3. Peel off Bell Pepper skin once Bell Pepper is roasted
4. Cut Bell Pepper into thin slices.
5. Put Pasta into boiling water (follow the pasta package instruction)
6. Once cooked, drain and rinse with cold water to stop heating process
7. Leave pasta aside.
8. Fry Bacon on hot pan for approx 30 seconds on each side
9. Once done, cut it into small slices and leave it aside.

Steps

1. Add Olive Oil into hot pan
2. Once hot, add Garlic and stir-fry until fragrant, before it turns brown
3. Add Onion and stir-fry until it become translucent
4. Add Mushroom and stir-fry for approx 2 minutes
5. Add Bell Pepper and stir-fry for approx 2 minutes
6. Add Bacon and stir-fry for approx 2 minutes
7. Add White Wine and stir-fry for approx 2 minutes
8. Add Salt slowly, try if taste is right
9. Simmer until Mushroom is soften
10. Add Pasta and stir to mix well
11. Add Parsley and stir to mix well
12. Cover and simmer until sauce is 90% dry

Tips and Comments:

• Garlic is an important factor in Aglio Olio Pasta, hence, it is important that the right amount of garlic is added.
• Adding Onion increase the taste to this dish as I have to say that it is not easy to master a plate of tasty Aglio Olio.
• I prefer Linguine than Spaghetti for Aglio Olio but this is a personal preference!

Serve while Hot!

[Guest Post] Some Splendid Seafood Option to Consider by Mark

As soon as we are reminded of seafood, the options that come first in our mind are crabs, shrimps and lobsters. These delectable cuisines can make a perfect candle light dinner menu. Crab cakes are extremely delicious that can be served as appetizers or main course. You can either serve them on platter or can them for the purpose of stuffing your sandwiches or hamburger bun. The crab cakes have a traditional association with the Chesapeake Bay, the state of Maryland and the city of Baltimore.

Crab cakes are made with crab meat, bread crump, mustard sauce, mayonnaise, eggs, parsley, onions and few other seasonings. Though first introduced in UK, crab cake has emerged to be a very famous American recipe. Crab cakes these days are categorized as boardwalk style and restaurant style. Most importantly, these can be baked or fried so as to suit your taste. White crab meat or brown crab meat can be used to make these cakes. The meat of blue crabs which is the native habitat of the Chesapeake Bay is considered to be the best.

Maine lobster is one of the finest lobsters of the world found on the Atlantic coast of North America. This special lobster which once considered as poor man’s food has earned today a special position in the world of cuisines today. Every year in Downtown Rockland Maine in Harbor Park, the Maine lobster festival is being organized.

With the help of Maine lobster, you can go for a wide range of recipes. These recipes can be baked, stir fried, grilled, steamed, stuffed or used as fillings for rolls. In fact, the lobster shells can be boiled and the stock can be used to aromatize seafood soup stews and bisques. 

[Guest Post] Caramel Popcorn Recipe by Sarah Thaman

Caramel Popcorn:

I’m no pro when it comes to cooking, but I love experimenting in the kitchen and I’m not afraid to try new things. It took me two tries to get this recipe right, but the second batch turned out really well. I’ll share my mistakes so you can make it right the first time! This is a delicious classic recipe that always brings back good childhood memories for me. I’ve found this treat is especially appropriate for snuggling up in front of a movie during the cold weather months!

Here’s the recipe I used:

5 quarts popped popcorn

1 cup butter

2 cups brown sugar

½ cup corn syrup

1 tsp salt

½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Place popcorn in a very large bowl. I pop my own popcorn, but after trial and error learned it’s best to work with warm popcorn, so I put it in a large deep pan and kept it warm in the oven while I worked on the caramel.
2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in brown sugar, corn syrup and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil without stirring 4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda and vanilla. Pour in a thin stream over popcorn, stirring to coat. *Be careful, the caramel is extremely hot and will give nasty burns!
3. Place in two large shallow baking dishes and bake in preheated oven, stirring every 15 minutes, for 1 hour. Remove from oven and let cool completely before breaking into pieces.            

   

Tips:

1. It’s important to separate the seeds from the popped popcorn because if you leave them in the batch, the caramel will adhere it to the popcorn and you’ll bite down on an unpleasant kernel!
2. I altered the original recipe a tad, and when it came to the oven temp I found the caramel burnt when the heat was turned up to 250 degrees F. I don’t know if that had to do with my oven, or what, but after some research it seemed to be a fairly common issue.
3. Having an extra set of hands is helpful when pouring the caramel over the popcorn. My pans are pretty heavy and I had my husband pour while I used a large spoon to sift through the popcorn and cover it thoroughly. The caramel hardens/cools pretty quickly so I wanted it to be mixed well.

Author Bio: Sarah Thaman usually writes about handbags in her day job at Handbag Heaven, but her affinity towards anything food related has bred a love for cooking. She says she wouldn’t brag about her amazing abilities in the kitchen, but she certainly knows what tastes good and what’s easy! When she's not cooking with her husband, she spends her time accessorizing with designer inspired handbags and soaking up lots of Giada at Home on the food network!

Roasted Honey Glazed Chicken with Lemon Marinade

Roasted Honey Glazed Chicken with Lemon Marinade

I love roasting as cooking can be very easy with a Microwave Oven, more importantly, the post clean-up is definately lesser than if you have to cook over the hot stove.

Roasted Chicken is great for all type of events, festive seasons or simply just a main course across the dining table.

I believe that this recipe will be well-liked by all ages even for children as the chicken is well coated with a layer of sweet honey that complement the lemon marinade that helps to tenderise the chicken.

Ingredients

1. Half Chicken (approx 500g to 650g)
2. 2 tablespoon of Honey
3. 8 tablespoon of Lemon Juice (approx 2 Lemon, keep the Lemon Skin) 
4. 1 Egg Yolk
5. 2 tablespoon of Melted Butter
6. 4 Cloves of Garlic (Slightly Smashed with Skin)
7. 1 teaspoon of Salts
8. 1 teaspoon of Coarse Black Pepper
9. 1 teaspoon of Mixed Herbs (Rosemary, Parsley, Basil, Oregano. eg. Brand Masterfood)

Preparation

1. Marinate Chicken with Lemon Juice for 2 hours or more. If you have enough time, marinate it overnight for the best result
2. After marinated, drain the Chicken and wipe any excess Lemon Juice on the Chicken

Steps

1. Grease Olive Oil on baking tray
2. Spread Garlic and 2 Slices of Lemon Skin on the tray positioned under the Chicken
3. Rub Salt and Pepper on Chicken
4. Sprinkle Mixed Herbs on Chicken
5. Mix Egg Yolk, Butter, Honey in a mixing bowl and Spread it evenly over the chicken

Leave it for a good 20 to 30 minutes for ingredients to set into the chicken.
Preheat oven and place the chicken into the oven (220 degree celsius, approx 40 minutes).
At approx 20 minutes and 30 minutes, spread the juice from the tray onto the chicken.
Use a fork and test if the chicken is cooked and adjust the time accordingly if required.

Serve while Hot!

Good to serve as a Main Course or with some Finger food and Side.

Roasted Chicken with Vegetables

Roasted Chicken with Vegetables

Who don't prefer a smoke-free, grease-free kitchen?

Especially nowadays when open concept kitchen is such a lovely thing to have in our house, the main concern is that if you cook, it's going to be a big NO for a lot of families due to the inevitable smoke and grease generated.

A powerful cooker hood may minimise our concern, but the size of a cooker hood increase with its suction power. That's what I found out when I was shopping for my kitchen appliances. I believe that a lot of young families or families that have moved to a new house will have the same consideration as I do with regards to space constraint - Do we want more storage space or a powerful cooking hood? To satisfy the curiosity of some readers, I chose more storage space. =)

The show stopper for cooking to most people is the post-cooking effect - Wash up time!

Roasting, grilling, baking may seem to be a tough mission but I have to disagree with that! Cooking can never be easier with a Microwave Oven in our kitchen. More importantly, using a Microwave Oven is smoke-free, grease-free and healthier!

Ingredients

1. Half Chicken
2. 1 Carrots (Cut into Big Chunks)
3. 2 Potatos (Cut into Big Chunks)
4. Broccoli (Cut into Big Chunks)
5. 1 Yellow Onions (Cut into Big Chunks)
6. 4 Cloves of Garlic (Slightly Smashed with Skin)
7. Olive Oil
8. Salts
9. Coarse Black Pepper
10. Mixed Herbs (Rosemary, Parsley, Basil, Oregano. eg. Brand Masterfood)

Steps

1. Grease Olive Oil on baking tray
2. Spread all vegetables on baking tray (Vegetables that are easier to cook should be placed under Chicken to avoid overcook)
3. Sprinkle some Salts, Pepper, Mixed Herbs on Vegetable
4. Rub Salts & Pepper on Chicken
5. Sprinkle Mixed Herbs on Chicken
6. Place Chicken on baking tray
7. Spread some Olive oil on Chicken and Vegetables

Leave it for a good 20 to 30 minutes for ingredients to set into the chicken.
Preheat oven and place the chicken into the oven (220 degree celsius, approx 25 minutes).
Turn the chicken after approx of 20 minutes, and spread the olive oil on the chicken.
Use a fork and test if the chicken is cooked and adjust the time accordingly if required.

Serve while Hot!

Good to serve as a Main Course or with some Finger food and Side.