My fast-food lunch

 I don't get to eat properly with my work dictating having to reply emails by a certain time, go PO by 5pm and balancing with housework e.g. hanging washed laundry when the sun's out and cleaning the floor before the Husband is home.

So lunch is either a forgotten affair or a makeshift meal.

I love Post Cereals!

   

Before we move into our own home, I worried about not being able to cook for my husband. 

I tried learning from my Mum-in-law, whom I stayed with for the first 3 years of my marriage.

She ran a economical rice stall with my father-in-law years ago and like my dad, she can cook an amazing array of dishes. 

Remember me writing before that it's common for her to whip up 10-13 dishes single-handedly for a festive occasion? o_O

But I was not an avid cook/student. Mum-in-law comforted me by saying that I would naturally pick up the skills once I was on my own. 

Sounds unbelievable.

More on my lunch:

I love Korean instant noodles especially Nong Shim's Shin! They do not give me MSG attacks. =)

 THIS is already considered lucky for me! Something warm to line the tummy, with egg & veggies.

I don't like it plain. Feel so 'msg'.

I recently discovered that getting one box of dou miao (around S$1.50) is very worthwhile.

They last me for about 3 cups of big bowl instant noodles and cook faster in the hot water, compared to the usual 1 packet of xiao bai cai. =D

If time is on my side or when that day is a non-posting day, I like doing something fanciful for myself with whatever scraps & bits of food that I can put together and try my best to have what I think is a balanced meal.

That said, I think sometimes I'm just playing a fool with my food though. Hahaha!

My favourite roast chicken!

I have a soft spot for Cold Storage's honey roast chicken. Been having it since I was a teenager when my mum used to buy it for me.

After parcel posting, sometimes I will drop by Cold Storage. If I'm late enough, I get to buy the roast chicken at half price, which is less than S$5!

Do you know one fresh chicken, uncooked, cost about S$8 at the wet market?

You probably won't, unless you are a housewife like me. =DD

So even if I buy the roast chicken at its normal price of S$7+, it's still SOOO worth the $$$.

The pasta in the photo is Barilla's spaghettini No. 3, with Barilla pasta sauce. I love their pasta & sauces! They taste like what we eat at restaurants!

I didn't know such a pasta item exist till my colleague, a very capable working mum, introduced it to me. She said it cooked much faster than the usual spaghetti and being thinner, it is less time-consuming to chew it.

Only mothers can think like that. =D

Roast chicken part 2

I will have the roast chicken over 2 days, 1 half for each meal. 

 So I would have gotten the Cold Storage staff to cut the chicken into quarters (they use a pair of scissors) for easy reheating, saving me time at home.

The chicken can last very well in the fridge. 

The longest I ever kept it was for 3 days before I had the time to consume it. It still tastes good! =D

But the Husband often says I have a lousy sense for detecting food that has gone bad. Hehehe.

Usually on the 2nd day, I would be too lazy to cook pasta again that I would just have the chicken with ketchup. Yums. =)

I often have a lot of fruits in my fridge, after every 初一十五. 

Have to remind myself to eat it before they go into the bin AGAIN.

So the routine would be:

1) cook the pasta in hot water

2) pop the roast bird in my trusty toaster oven for about 15 mins, 

3) towards the last 7-10 mins, put in a small bowl of pasta sauce in the oven, with the chicken still inside

4) Slice the orange while waiting

5) When all is done, pour the sauce on the drained pasta and put Heinz ketchup on the side for the chicken.

This process takes me less than 20 minutes.

Mini baked potato on the side!

If I have even more time, I will add in a baked potato. I adore soft baked potatoes that have a texture like mashed potatoes! <3<3<3

This potato was only as small as the heart of my palm. It was bought originally to cook chicken curry but I had some leftovers.

Technically I didn't bake it. I boil the potato in hot water for about 20 minutes and when it's soft enough, I will place it in a bowl & lay a slice of cheese on top. The cheese will hug itself around the potato, as the heat from the potato melts it and looks even yummi-licious!

When I don't have any roast chicken in the fridge, I will open up a can of luncheon meat and add a semi-hard boiled egg. Uncooked yolks are loveeeee!

The pasta here was mixed with the tomato pesto too. Looked a bit oily (because of the olive oil in the pesto) so I actually dabbed it with tissue beforehand.

Juicy rock melon!

I love California handrolls! Sushi is bought from the sushi counter at Cold Storage the night before.
I rarely make effort to buy the food needed for next day lunch, as I don't like to waste food, knowing that I won't have the time to finish it. Most of the time, it's on impulse. =D

The little bow-tie pasta is from Barilla too. I realised I was out of the usual pasta sauce then, racksacked my pantry and mixed in sundried tomato pesto as a subsitute. 

On my 'plainer' days, it will be luncheon meat with melted cheese if I happen to have bread at home.

I don't buy sliced bread, as I can't finish the whole loaf before it expires but the Husband will sneak it in to force me to have lunch.

Sometimes, I have to throw away the whole bottle of milk as it had already expired by the time I wish to have it. =((

I can't take in too much cheese at one go, so it would be half a slice on each piece of bread.

I purchase food with reduced fat & no trans fat whenever possible, and this cheese from NTUC housebrand met both requirements!

Recently, the Husband discovered at NTUC a Singapore brand of luncheon meat that has no trans fat. 

It costs S$4 per can! I have yet to try it but it looked & smelt good the other day, when I was slicing it. The meat was very tender when I cut it too though I wonder what they put into it to make it so.

I will convert to it permanently despite the price, if it tastes alright.

If I do not have the time to eat anything at home, there was a period of time I will get this after posting:

Usually, without mayo but sometimes I forgot to tell the staff.

But recently, my after-posting snack has changed to Subway Egg Mayo sandwich. There isn't a lot of mayo in the egg mixture and I like that! =D

Lately, I fancy the idea of having Caesar salad at home. 

So for the past 1 month, I faithfully buy the mini Romaine lettuce from Cold Storage everytime I ran out of it at home. It doesn't look the same as those I have at cafes. I wonder where I should get those leaves. 

In the meantime, this will suffice.

No, it doesn't come like this.

The box will comprise 2 balls of romaine lettuce, that can last me for 3 bowls of Caesar salad.

I like those from Cold Storage. At the NTUC here, I can only find butterhead, which decompose very fast and does not taste as sweet as the lettuce from Cold Storage.

With the help of these: 

If you haven't tried the cheddar cheese cudes, you absolutely should! It's totally to-die-for!

+ cherry tomatoes

+ honey baked ham

and I will have this:

Tadah!

Not exactly the kind of Caesar salad that it should be. But I do like it very much. It's my happy food for now! =D

Here's one more happy picture:

Gardenia (Sunshine's not as soft) hamburger buns, with tomatoes, cheese, fried egg & luncheon meat!

That's the problem when I opened up a can of luncheon meat.

I have to think of ways to finish it.

 I also must say I love my trusty toaster oven. 

It is useful to heat up baked beans too. ^__^

I don't have a microwave oven, if you are wondering. I don't like the idea of it.

The above are very rare occurances. Most of the time, I am more likely to be just having this:

Oh well, it's nice to recap my culinary experiments for lunch!
Next time, I will share with you more on my dinner! =D

Metta,
欣雨 Xinyu