We’re back from Spain! It has been an eventful (read: drama-mama) trip starting from taking off– or not! Our plane was scheduled for 0200h but when we went to the gate at 0130h and I saw that there was no boarding, I thought ok, maybe late inbound. But ten minutes later when I noticed that the CREW was still sitting in the gate hold room, I knew something was really wrong!

Five minutes later, the entire crew left the gate. And another five minutes later, the gate staff announced that we would be given an update 15 minutes later.

15 minutes later, we were told that the flight would be delayed til 0300h. 0300h came and went. Nothing happened. The crew did not come back. Another announcement was made at 0315h saying that the new ETD was 0400h. By then people were out of patience and started screaming at the ground staff. Please don’t scream at the ground staff. They wish harder than you do that the plane would take off. You have no idea. And how do I know? The airport was once my playground.

To cut the already very long story short, the flight was grounded due to safety reasons. We had to be either put on other airlines or rescheduled to the next available Qatar flight at 2025h. We chose the Qatar flight. We didn’t want to deal with uncertainty (there wasn’t even a confirmation that the seats on other airlines were for sure), and we didn’t want to arrive into Barcelona at midnight. By the time we left Changi airport, it was already close to 7am.

But the holiday was fantastic. It was a good chance for us to spend more time with each other and this trip made me realise that Jason is a really awesome travel partner! I shared tales of my trip on-the-go on my Facebook page, so if you haven’t, LIKE me already! I also posted videos and more photos on Instagram, so follow me there if you have an Insta account. I’ll continue back-blogging going forward, so stay around!

We reached home on Friday. The severe jet lag made me want to die because not enough sleep is can die. And not enough sleep also means not feeling well. But what was I to do when I was itching to cook? I decided to make us the viral rice cooker tomato rice which appeared in my dreams even when I was in Spain!

This recipe should have originated from Ochikeron. I think everyone should give credits when they share a recipe. If you know of someone else who was the creator of this method of cooking, let me know!

I made my version with shitake mushrooms, corn nibbles and bacon. Very yummy.. You’ll have a tendency to overeat because you’ll be thinking it’s so healthy (no oil), but rice is carbs after all! And remember to season the rice. Don’t expect it to taste like fried rice when it is just cooked in water. I used chicken broth and still added some seasonings. For dinner, I topped the rice with some pork floss.. yummy too. Have fun! I’m gonna try a cheese version next!

The post Rice Cooker Tomato Rice appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

When I don’t feel like cooking too many dishes (you know, 三菜一汤- 3 dishes and a soup- like in Chinese cooking), I take the easy way out by preparing a one-dish noodle, bee hoon, or rice meal. I try to cut down on stuff like that because there’s usually alot of simple carbs involved, but when I do cook them, I include ingredients like fish, meat, and lots of vegetables. When fixing lunch a few days ago, I chose to add in some Ayam Brand’s canned tuna CHUNKS. I used the Light version because it contains lower salt and fat as compared to regular tuna. Talking about “fixing lunch”, I was talking to Aegon about having to fix lunch before bringing him to the playground, and the cheeky boy said, “Fix lunch? You mean, with the tools?”

Aegon’s my nephew. He’s 7 this year and has a wider vocabulary than I ever will have. He also sings birthday songs in French and Spanish and draws in 3D. I know, he amazes us all the time. Now I just wish he will eat my cooking.

Makes 4 servings

What I used:

4 servings ramen or any noodles of your choice, soaked and drained (not too soft)
1 can chunky tuna in olive oil (I used Ayam Brand Tuna Chunks in Olive Oil- Light)
6 dried shitake mushrooms, soaked til plump, then sliced
A handful of sliced cabbage
6 cloves garlic (about 1 large garlic bulb), peeled and sliced
6 cloves shallots (about 2 shallot bulbs), peeled and sliced
1 small carrot, peeled and sliced into strips
Seasoning (Combine together):
2 tablespoon light soy sauce
2 tablespoon fish sauce
A dash of white pepper
300ml water

1. Drain the oil from tuna and heat up in a frying pan. Fry garlic and shallots til fragrant, then add carrots and mushrooms and fry for 3 minutes.
2. Add tuna chunks and cabbage and fry for 2 minutes. Don’t break up the chunks too much. Pour in the seasoning and bring to boil. Add the noodles and cover to simmer for 3-4 minutes.
3. Remove cover and stir fry til most of the liquid has dried up. Garnish with some red chillies and serve immediately.

How much I spent:

$1 for noodles
$0.20 for carrot
$2.45 for tuna
Everything else from my pantry!

Total cost per serving: $0.92

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I chose to use ramen because I was in the mood for some fat, savoury noodles that day. You can most definitely use bee hoon, but I thought some noodles with bite would go very well with the chunky tuna. Ah-mm said this was quite delicious, and I suspect the shallots and garlic had a lot to do with it. Whenever I stir-fry noodles, I’ll be sure to add lots and lots and lots and lots of shallots.. ok maybe just enough for me to overdose on. Don’t forget them the next time you do a noodle stir-fry!

The post Tuna Ramen with Mushrooms and Sliced Garlic appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

I’ve never been a great baker but I love pastries, savoury especially. Chicken pies, beef pies, creamy mushroom pies.. I love them all. But I have a problem making them because I never seem to figure out how I would have a clean “lightly floured surface” to roll out those pastries. Where do you do it? On the tabletop?

So I buy pastry sheets. I had some shortcrust left over from when I made the mushroom quiche, and thought to put them to good use. The thing about buying frozen sheets is that they are never as buttery as you would like. Something’s amiss, but I cannot alter the texture or taste, and this is the frustrating thing about buying pre-packaged items.

Ah-mm and 88 liked this. It is something different from the regular “western” food we usually have, and crispy to eat and fun to look at. They had kinda the same reaction when I made risotto the other time.. at first 88 approached it warily (as she does with any unfamiliar food), then tucked into it happily. Ah-mm’s approach to new foods is different.. she dives straight in to enjoy different tastes presented to her. She’s easier to cook for in a way, but 88′s easy to cook for also because she’s predictable. Do I understand what I’m saying?

Along with the pastry pockets, I also made caramelised onions with shitake mushrooms. These are not yet caramelised enough, but I wanted some bite to the onions. To make these, I sauteed onions with some oil in a skillet, then added sliced mushrooms. Cook til the onions are soft then deglaze the pan with white wine. Add some sprinkling of salt at the end.

I decided to make chicken mayo with cream-cheese spinach as the filling. This would be nice with a potato, carrot, celery and chicken filling ala chicken pie! You can also fill it with sardines and tuna, and even make smaller portions of it as a snack.

Makes 3 servings

What I used:

3 frozen shortcrust pastry sheets (from cold storage, about $8 for 7 sheets)
6 pcs boneless chicken fillets (or you can use one chicken breast)
1 package spinach
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp oil or butter
Garlic powder
1/2 tsp chicken seasoning
4 tbsp mayonnaise
2 tbsp cream cheese
Salt and pepper

1. Take the pastry sheets out from the freezer before preparing the ingredients.
2. Boil the chicken til cooked. Reserve 3 tbsp of water. When chicken has cooled, shred and add the mayo, garlic power, chicken seasoning, reserved water, and salt and pepper.
3. Boil spinach, squeeze dry and roughly chop.
4. Heat up a pan and fry onions in oil or butter. After 3 minutes, add cream cheese and cooked spinach. Set aside to cool.
5. Cut pastry sheet into two when it is soft enough to handle. Then lay the spinach in the middle of one-half of pastry sheet and top with mayo chicken.
6. Lay the other one-half of pastry sheet on top, seal the edges and trim away any excess. (don’t waste! can make mini pies!)
7. Spray with cooking spray then airfry for 15 minutes at 180 degrees. Alternatively, bake at 200 degrees in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until crust is golden.

How much I spent:

$3.40 for pastry sheets
$2.50 for chicken fillets
$0.50 for spinach
Everything else from my pantry

Total cost per serving: $2.13

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This is quite easy to make since we’re not making the pastry from scratch. Try it, I think you’ll like it! I’m keeping the rest of the pastry sheets for a classic chicken pot pie and hopefully will make it sometime next week.

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