Spring-ing

Wow it's been a while since we both updated! As you can imagine, we're busy enjoying the spring weather outdoors. I went out with the family today and it seriously felt like summer already. Anyway, Saturdays mean prepping food for the week - things like baking, or pre-cooking and freezing food. Today it means CHICKEN STOCK/BROTH! If I'm lazy, I tend to resort to chicken cubes which are in fact high in sodium and probably a bunch of other things that aren't necessary to one's body. Instead, I make my own! It's a nutritious alternative to store-bought stock or broth because you control what goes into the stock.

Ingredients: fresh parsley, celery, carrots, onion, tomato, garlic and raw (bone-in) chicken

That's all. You literally put all that in one pot and cover it with cold water. Let it boil and simmer for at least 4 hours so that all the ingredients can really flavour the water.

No, seriously... Just throw it all in one pot. It's so easy you could probably do this blindfolded.

So hopefully, it'll inspire you guys to make your own chicken stock as it really is healthier. If you're a vegetarian, you can just omit the chicken and you get vegetable stock!

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What else to do while you wait for chicken stock to boil for a few hours?

Finger paint!

 Essie - Chinchilly (3 coats)

Happy Saturday everyone!

♥B

5 Ingredient Fix

This is a simple recipe that may be familiar to some as a common chinese breakfast food. It mainly consists of macaroni, spam (pork) and a little bit of mixed vegetables (corn, peas, carrots) swimming in a tasteful chicken broth. It's so basic and great for using up leftovers around the kitchen within a matter of minutes! Here is my take below on this recipe:

What you'll need..
Macaroni
Spam
Assorted Vegetables
Egg
Chicken Broth (this may be substituted with beef broth)

With few ingredients there are also few steps that can be done quick and efficiently by following these directions.

1. Boil a desired serving of macaroni while prepping the spam by cutting into slices. Determining the right portion of pasta without a proper instrument gets a bit tricky but 2 big handful + a half usually works out to a perfect serving for myself.
2. Pan fry without oil as the spam releases a lot of it's natural fats and oils until crisp. *For a healthy alternative, spam tastes just as good boiled in the broth itself.
3. Once the macaroni is done, strain and set aside. Using the same pot, to save yourself some dishes to wash, boil chicken broth/stock with assorted vegetables.
4. Once the spam is done, set aside on paper towel to soak the excess oil. Using the same pan, fry a sunny side egg.
5. Assemble your dish by placing macaroni, spam, and egg in a bowl. Pour over the hot broth!

For those who know me, they'll know that I can NOT have a meal without my hot sauce. Today I'm using one of my favourite chili oils that is extremely spicy just the way I love it. I'd recommend this any day as it does have the kick that (based on my experience) a lot of other chili oils lack!

Bon Appetit!
♥M