DIY: Seafood Vegetable Fried Rice & Eggrolls

I have been fond of cooking lately at home.  I believe that this is the only way to healthy eating coz you eat anything you like, and you control what gets into your system.  This is so true since you have the freedom to choose the right ingredients for your family.

We love Asian cuisines.  All of them.  And we love to eat as well.  We hop from one resto to another to try out new dishes.  Anything we love, we try to make them home-made next time.  Google is a huge place to find the perfect recipe for any food.  Then customize  ingredients according to what works best for you.

As you already know, I'm training my kids to eat meals we already eat at home to school.  That way, planning for school lunches would be a breeze and economical in a way. Imagine sending leftover dinners to school the next day. Let's re-phrase that. What about a re-purpose leftover dinner?  That might sound a little better, right?

Eggroll Recipe: Combine ground meat, minced shrimp, minced onion and garlic, carrots,
salt and pepper together. Roll them up with the use of a shumai or gyoza wrappers for a mini roll, perfect for school lunches.

Say, you had eggrolls for dinner. Do you think your picky eaters would eat them again the next day? Would it be better if it goes with another new dish? Or a repurpose dish?

I repurposed rice for that matter. I made a Seafood-Vegetable Fried Rice which has almost everything on it.  I made use of medium grain brown rice, instead of just white, to take care of fibers and grains. You can never go wrong with corn kernels.  They always add a sweet taste to any cuisine. It's not anything like sugar.  It's whole grain and it's a healthy additive to any cuisine. Add some greens with the use of sweet peas or edamame, carrots, if you wish, and some shredded crabsticks.  Season with Asian seasoning (1 part soysauce, 1 part sesame oil). YUM!!

I would absolutely say, the kids had a hearty meal.  They love it!  I hope you consider to re-purpose your dinner leftover sometime.  It makes our mornings simpler.

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Bento At Work: Shanghai Eggrolls & Bean Sprout

I know that this does not come regularly, but there are days that I just have to do it, especially by special request.  I got one today by HUB.  And so I complied. But cute lunches aren't allowed. So I just have to pack whatever I could.

He normally wants his lunches on a glass dish with a rubberized lid. He dislikes plastic especially when reheating stuffs on the microwave. For some reason, he agreed when I offered the Easy Lunchboxes.  My guess?  He must have seen it in his work place too.

Gotta find out who's packing on ELBs. 

For today's lunch, I packed home-made Shanghai Eggrolls cut into halves, brown rice, and bean sprouts. For your information, my eggroll is packed with grated vegetables. I hid it on ground meat & shrimp so no one would even detect it.  And they're crunchy and yummy as ever.

Bon appetit!

~Marie

Brown Rice, Brown Rice, What Do You See?

Happy faces and satisfied tummies! 

Our very first meal with the brown rice.  I have to make it special so the introduction of a new grain won't be a pain. The kids loved it and so did we.  Now my worries are eased off.  I must say this is a good start of a healthy life for all of us.

The taste isn't bad at all. It's contrary to what I was told. I actually love it! It's fulfilling and satisfying, and it's light on the tummy.  I say, you must try it first before you even say no to a promising grain.

On this day, I have officially switched all our non-grains to whole wheat. And that is that!

Next Project: Quinoa and Amaranth

Perfecting Brown Rice

We officially started whole grain brown rice last night amidst my quest for the correct way to prepare and cook this whole new grain for us. I started with a 1:2 ratio after soaking for at least 4 hours on warm water. Cooking time is between 45-55 minutes for 2-3 cups of brown rice. I did not use any special pot for this though. I just used my regular AROMA Rice Cooker.  I was actually considering on purchasing a rice cooker that has multi-functional buttons for all other types of rice, if my precious cooker won't  produce me a good brown rice.  But it didn't disappoint me. I was very happy with the result except that I reduced the water ratio into 1:1-1/4, which worked perfectly well.  Finish product is pictured above and we're enjoying our brown rice so far.

The Benefits of Brown Rice

I have been meaning to tell my family that we are switching to brown rice. And I finally did last night. My husband was astonished about the sudden transition. The kids were more like confused. They don't exactly know the difference but their colors. We had a little discussion on which ones a healthier and heartier option. And no matter how much I tell him that it prevents chronic illnesses, helps with diabetes and hypertensions (which none of us  have any symptoms yet), he was more worried about the added monthly grocery bill.

Let's face it. Both of us were brought up eating white jasmine rice.  As in every meal, there was never a time brown rice was even considered.  Back in Asia around circa 80's, brown rice tastes like crap. They were used as feeds for chickens. And they were associated with poverty. Who would believe that they cost half the price of white rice back then? Yes, you heard that right. And now they almost cost more than the best long grain white rice. Unbelievable!!  No one ever thought that they're actually more nutritious than the beautiful white rice.  Little did we know that as we mill the rice, we are stripping off its natural nutrients.

From what I've gathered, there is not much of a difference as to the number of calories and carbohydrates between brown and white rice.  The main difference lies in processing and nutritional content.  And that is the reason why I wanted the switch to prepare for our old age.

I have a strong family history for diabetes, and my husband has a strong family history for colorectal cancer and other intestinal diseases. I know to be able to beat these chronic diseases, we have to change our diet drastically. "Break it to me gently" doesn't work. So it has to be "do or die" to be successful.  Just like quitting cigarettes or coffee, right?

Processing Rice
When only the outermost layer (husk) is removed, brown rice is produced.  When the next layers (bran & germ) are removed, leaving mostly the starchy endosperm, the white rice is born.


Nutritional Content
Essential vitamins and dietary minerals are lost upon the removal and polishing process of white rice. Vitamins B1, B3, and iron were discarded.  Thus, enriched with vitamin B and iron fortified rice was produced since it was required by FDA. So we're still getting these with white rice, but the question is it enough?

The only mineral not added back is the amount of magnesium naturally occurring in brown rice. Imagine this: one cup (195 g) of cooked long grain brown rice contains 84 mg of magnesium, while one cup of white rice contains only 19 mg. Also, when the bran layer is removed, the oil in the bran is also removed. It's the bran oil that helps lower LDL Cholesterol. So why risk your health with white rice, when you can eat healthier?