Chef Jess strikes again - Thai Basil Chicken

So i came across a recipe for thai basil chicken online and told myself that i have to try it because i love love love basil chicken/pork/beef. That's my must order dish when i eat thai food. I met Bryan later that day for lunch nearby and since we had no plans for dinner, i suggested cooking! Actually he wasn't very keen lol. He thinks that going out to eat is more convenient and may be cheaper but somehow i managed to convince him. Yay me!

Bryan: You always have a way to get what you want

Went back to my place and watched tv before B went for a nap and asked me to wake him up when it's time to cook. We were supposed to cook together but i thought why not let him sleep in while i cook for him? It has been so long since i cooked something for him actually - possibly more than a year. 

Ingredients listed here are for 2 :)

1. Add olive oil and wait for it to heat up

2. Add garlic and onion (shallot)

3. Add minced chicken and keep stirring it to break them apart

4. Add chilli padi

5. Add fish sauce and sweet soy sauce (i substitute with dark soy sauce)

6. Add 1 teaspoon of sugar and a dash of pepper

7. Add basil leaves and stir it

Total time spent: 1 hour 15 mins

It's really simple! If you substitute the sweet soy sauce with normal dark soy sauce like me, you might have to add more sugar at step 6. Just taste it along the way so you know if you're on the right track. I tried to keep it healthier because B is on a health craze right now so i don't want to ruin his diet - that's why we had brown rice instead of white rice.

If you don't know, i cooked wayyyyyy too much. We couldn't even finish it haha. We suck at portioning our food so we always have leftover whenever we cook. This is actually enough to feed 3-4 people. Ok just to clarify, the ingredients that i listed above are of the right measurement according to the recipe i found. I didn't follow exactly; we had more than 400g of minced chicken and only had 30g of basil leaves. For the garlic and onion (shallot), i just took according to my gut feeling. I also used 13 chilli padi instead of 8 haha cos i love spicy food. 

As for the stir-fry broccoli, i don't have any measurements because i came up with my own recipe. Just taste your food along the way and it should be alright. 

Quite happy with how the food turned out! I don't normally cook and when i do, i usually cook westernised food like pasta, wrap, salad or just a simple fried rice. I asked Bryan and he said it's actually not bad too. He's very honest with his review because he also feedback that my egg was a little overcooked which is true because I actually left the egg to cook and went to do the dishes hahaha. I think i give myself 7.5 out of 10 :)

One of my favourite recipes is lemon chicken wrap! I unabashedly say that the lemon sauce that i make is damn good haha. I first made it for a picnic with Bryan and my nephew, Jeremiah. J kept saying it's very good as he chomped down the wrap - my proud moment hahahaha. But i've only made it twice cos it's damn troublesome.


On a random note, Bryan and I will be doing a video on Tuesday/Wednesday so i'll most likely upload it next week! Hehe it's gonna be fun and i can't wait.

Got my planner ready, settled all my school stuff and reality is slowly kicking in now. I'm going to be a student again! How exciting lol. To be honest, it's a mixed feeling. I'm looking forward to school yet i'm also dreading the classes, deadlines and what not. 

Enrolled into my classes today and i have a few 8.30am lectures for the first semester, with Wednesday being my free day. As for my second semester, all my lectures start at 8.30am (Wish me luck). On a brighter note, i have 2 days free, tentatively. I also found out that i have the same law lecture as ying! 

I wished i have more pictures to share but i haven't been taking any pictures, not even when i have brought my camera out. Lol. So... i'm just gonna spam some photos of food

I'm sure you guys know where is this place

Bay Sushi

Actually it was meant to be a surprise lah cos B refused to tell me which restaurant we were going. I only knew it was Japanese food (cos i chose Japanese cuisine). So when we arrived at MBS, he went to check the directory and somehow he accidentally said Bay Su.... 

Me: "Bay Sushi?"

B: "No... What's that?"

Me: "That way to Bay Sushi!" 

B: "We are not going there..... Aiya you're too smart for your own good. Always spoil your own surprise."

Gotcha!

 Angry Salmon Level 17. 

Eh.. am not sure why it is level 17 lah. It wasn't spicy at all? Ok to be fair, B said it was "a bit" spicy. Still not enough for it to be named level 17 though.

 Spicy Dragon Roll

Forgot the name of this but it was the nicest! Damn yummy. Normally my favourite would be a spicy dish but this was really good. 18 bucks for this goodness :)

Aroy Dee

We ordered 4 dishes but i was too impatient to wait for the last dish to come. 4 dishes, 3 drinks and 2 plates of rice cost about $50. Pretty alright i would say. It was my second time here and i guess i'd be coming back more often? The food is pretty up to standard given the price. Maybe except the fish cake.

Bryan's kitchen

Headed to B's house last Thursday for sleepover since i didn't have to work on Friday. We were supposed to eat out but he called me in the afternoon and said he bought ingredients to cook for dinner.

"It's a meat galore!" He said.

So i dropped by a salad bar on my way to his house and got a bowl of garden salad as side dish. Thank god i did because the salad adds as a balance. 

I think he cooks for me more than i have had cooked for him. Haha.

As you can see, all my meals are rather unhealthy -_- so i made myself a cup of overnight oats with banana and had it for breakfast today.

Hmm.. yup the cup is from Swensons hahahaha.

I cook X Podi X Tart Blanc X Peperoni Pizzeria X Lady M

I've been busy trying to fix my Macbook ever since i got home from work. My macbook kept freezing, even at google home page wtf. I used my phone to google and tried to save it but to no avail. I rebooted it eventually.... all my photos, videos, school works and all the important stuff are gone :'( SIGH If you're wondering, i also tried to back up but it froze so i guess i had no choice.

I just whipped up my breakfast for 2 days, at 11.45pm. I've been eating all my greens lately :)

Doesn't look appetising but it's 好吃 ok!

It was Easter yesterday! So Cadbury wants to say "Happy Easter Everybunny!" Yeah i'm a day late but better late than never right?

Disclaimer: No bunny was hurt in the making of this video.

I love my fur ball so much hehe. 

Ok backtrack to Good Friday last week. Met Bryan for a while in the afternoon to have lunch before he booked in later that night. Decided to give Podi a try because my sister recommended it.

 My Duck Berry Waffle

On the side was their blueberry sauce and mustard sauce (if i'm not wrong). The mustard sauce is pretty dope. 

We headed to Millennia Walk for Tart Blanc. Bryan wanted to try this for quite some time but we walked past twice and the shop was always empty. I have this thing whereby i hate to go inside an empty shop. I especially hate it when the shop assistant follows me around the shop while i browse through their racks. Like leave me alone already... But i understand that some employers require them to do that. Years back when i worked at Abyzz, i had to follow the customers around and i felt bad so i tried to keep at a comfortable distance whereby i can attend to them immediately if they needed help. 

Anyway, try to go Tart Blanc between 2-5pm because they have a special promo for any tart and any tea for $9.90 only. We went at 4.59pm hahaha. How lucky.

I chose the Blood Orange Tart as recommended by them. I'm attracted to the crust at the bottom. Actually i like anything with crust at the bottom. The consistency of the tart is also very nice. It sort of melts in your mouth. 

Handsome lor

The next day, on a Saturday, was our date again. I wanted to bring him to this Korean restaurant but they require me to reserve a day in advance so we had to change plan.... 

OOTD edited

OOTD without editing

Dress: Gifted by Sister

Shoes: Dr Martens

"Bag": Marc By Marc Jacobs

Watch: Marc By Marc Jacobs

Met at Kovan because he wanted to try Hatter Street. I was kinda in a bad mood that day and everything pisses me off so we had a quarrel but we made up later that night. Anyway we went to Ice Edge cafe for dinner first. No photos because i was angry/upset/annoyed. Lol. Come to think of it, the pesto chicken i had at Ice Edge is instagram worthy. Oh well... 

Easter Sunday was spent with the usuals! Was supposed to meet at 4pm then 5pm and ended up meeting at 5.30pm. In the end only Melissa reached at 5.30pm haha the rest of us were late. I don't know what to say about the punctuality of our clique.

Late but still, let me take a selfie.

To Peperoni Pizzeria for dinner! It was surprisingly not crowded on a Sunday.

 I want some pizza now pls. 

Ended our day at Lady M. Had such a good laugh at everything. Thank you for making my day a little better whenever we meet. I'm glad that we are meeting up more often too yay! 

Pancake

My favourite healthy pancake! 

It's really easy to make and it only requires 5 ingredients for the pancake batter. 

Mashed banana (depends on how banana-y you like)

1 tablespoon of milk

1 egg

A bit of cinnamon powder

1-3 tablespoon of flour (change to blended oats for healthier choice)

I say 1-3 tablespoon because sometimes my batter is slightly watery (presumedly it's due to the fruits). You can play around with it actually. Sometimes i add cranberries, blueberries or even nuts into the batter. You can topped with maple syrup or like me, i use low fat yogurt.

This is really easy to make! I took less than 10minutes! 

Fifty

Happy 50th monthsary! Haha we have been together for so long now that i have to count every month to know the exact monthsary. This is crazy. Haha anyw to Bryan, just know that i miss you ok? 15 more days. Haha 

I've been pigging out a lot lately so it's about time i get back on track. I made healthy version of banana pancake for tmr's breakfast before heading out! First time making pancake from scratch and surprisingly healthy pancakes taste good too (Haha i couldn't stop myself from trying.) 

First attempt so they don't look very nice but i swear the taste is nice. Gonna heat up and add fruits as toppings tmr. Recipe is on my tumblr if you guys are interested. Haha i didn't post it here cos i figured none of you guys here are health conscious? Sorry if i just assume :P But yeah just go over if you wanna know the recipe. 

In fact, i'm using my tumblr for my fitness progress. Like healthy recipe of food that i made, progression shot if there are any, fitspiration etc. & obviously on top of all these, i reblog pretty things and awesome but fattening food too haha. The irony. Link at the side bar! 

Today is the official cheat day for me cos we celebrated bee's belated birthday today so it's a valid reason for me to pig out. Haha we had crystal jade steamboat buffet! How did we always end up having buffet together my dear girls? After every buffet session, we would go "Next time no more buffet!" & then the next time we meet, we will have buffet again. Hahaha. 

Happy belated birthday xiao mi feng~ Love you ^^

Have a safe flight to Taiwan and we'll meet again to party when you're back hahaha. 

I looked so giant beside all the shorties. Sigh.

 LOL they look like they eat until siao alrd. 

Need. to. do. something. about. my. hair. god. damn. it. 

Waking up at 9am in the morning to hit the gym before meeting mel. I pray and hope that i can wake up cos i really need to do something about the food i ate today. Lol.

 I whatsapp with Bryan everyday whenever we are both free and he told me that i'm getting more health conscious and sporty which is a good thing. I didn't really realise that until i got excited because Taka has a sports bazaar. Wtf i used to not understand how come people can get excited because of a sports bazaar or sale and now....i'm like them. Hahaha i'm a changed woman. BUT one thing for sure, i  still like eating and i still like shopping as much as before. I need to start buying clothes for me to wear out! 

Ok anyw hope y'all have a good day! 

My week in a nutshell

January is coming to an end, how's 2013 for you? For me, it's just being busy and getting through everyday. Sometimes i just feel so drained and tired and i don't want to do anything at all but i can't. Sleepless nights, trying to have social life, doing well for projects and all. School is ending....16 more days i tell myself. With hectic January ending soon, i welcome february with open arms. Chinese new year, less hectic school schedule, graduate unofficially in mid feb, marketing chalet etc. There are so many things to look forward to. I will miss my friends though :'(

I just had my imc presentation this morning and my group was voted to be the people's choice/class' choice of having the best ideas. I am so happy even though this doesn't mean anything but at least i feel that our efforts were recognised.

3M02 AY12/13

SPICE/meuzets/dim sum gangz 

All's well ends well. 

I was so tired cos we only had 3 hours of sleep the night before. I cabbed home with jo after presentation and took a 7 hours nap/sleep. LOL i just woke up like 2 hours ago. 

The girls went to xy's house to sleepover and to prepare for our presentation yesterday night especially since jo and i live so far away from school. We only slept after 3am and woke up at like 6-7am. I just wanted to crawl back to bed. 

 Hehe so attracted to each other. 

JO BROUGHT HER HAMSTER FOR OUR PRESENTATION JUST NOW. Thanks hammy for helping out ^^

Begging for twister fries haha

 Sleepy dog.

Hahahahahahahahaha someone's pj for that night. We all know who~ LOL 

On saturday, i went to sushi tei with Bryan and his family + grandmothers and aunt. I kept bugging him to go sushi tei with me and it was funny how his mum suggested that place. My eyes lit up immediately haha. THEIR MENTAI SUSHI IS THE FUCKING BOMB I TELL YOU. They ordered lots of side dishes to share and i felt like i was having buffet. Haha so full and i didn't even finish my salmon don. 

Met the usuals after that for a short catch up and chilled at starbucks til 3am+ gossiping. hahaha we always talk about last time and all. Like, "Remember last time Bryan tore his pants?" "Remember we used to.......". Good ol' times! 

On sunday, i woke up at 11+ in the morning cos my sister kinda woke me up >:\ I was quite grumpy considering that i slept at 4am. Anyw, i decided to have my own lunch and made my lemon chicken wraps. Hehe

Brought lunch box to school the next day and made the wrap for Bryan too ^^ Look, it's AC spork and spoon! haha i took them home last time cos i thought they're really cute. Now they came in handy. I came home that day after projects and guess what i had for dinner?

My 3rd steamboat in January....

My dad needs to maintain leh. I'm quite sick of having steamboat alrd. 

xx