It’s not often that one see such a huge and old lobster – this one is so huge – I’m guessing it must be like 100 Ibs!

Normal lobsters are like 5Ibs – can you imagine eating 100 Ibs of lobster?  i love lobsters but I don’t think I would eat that humongous lobster – would you?

I don’t know if it is just foodie and food bloggers who loved anything to do with food – but I do and whenever I see kitchen gadgets that I can use and they are lovely in color – I go ga-ga over them.  I saw these at our local supermarket and fell in loved with them – they are great for making single portion of lasagne or even baked spaghetti.  They come in oval shaped and round shaped – the round ones can probably be used to make Tiramisu or one can attempt to make baked onion soup in them.

Endless food and dishes I can think of to use these stoneware.

Baked rice anyone?  They are very cheap too at Sobeys – less than $4 I think – love the colors.

I loved to use the oven to bake my food – from fish to garlic bread but you and I know that heating the oven up and then baking something for 10 -20mins is really a lot of electricity used.  So I try to use the steamer instead more often – because the charges for our electric bills during the winter are very expensive.  Unlike a friend who lives in NJ – they have nj electricity that promises savings for those signed up with them.   Here, we don’t have a competitive rate – therefore, I have no choice but to use my oven efficiently.

So you asked how do I do that?  well, if I wanted to use the oven that evening – I make sure that it’s not just one thing that I am going to bake.  I will bake my chicken wings or cookies or whatever I need for the next few days  – so that I don’t have to turn on my oven for just a 12 mins baking of a fish and then shut it right off.  These days, you really have to save as much as you can – when it’s over the roof when it comes to electric bills.  So like all others, we always asked ourselves – to keep the family warm or eat?  I say keeping warm is very important – wished we had a competitor here for Scotia Powers.

Sundays are usually days when we go out to eat as a family – but like most restaurants in Canada – the portions are really huge – we never ever managed to finish our food.   So what do we do?  we doggy bag the leftover and eat them for dinner (most times) or the next day.  We’ve always taught Chloe from young that food must not be wasted – so we always finish our leftovers – what about you guys?  what is your take with leftover food from restaurants and at home?  do you eat them all another day – or do you not doggy bag them for fear of looking cheap?

Many years ago before coming to Canada – I would never dream of packing up leftovers at the restaurants.  When I eat with my bosses or travel for work with them – I always felt like it’s so cheap to wanna doggy bag the food home – so why the 360 degree change?  Firstly, my current food is not paid by my bosses – who always eat extravagantly and being expatriates – they never like to pack food back to the hotel but now that I have a kid – I have to teach her good values and because of all the charitable organization I’ve joined after coming to Canada  – I’m made aware of the many people who are less fortunate than us  – therefore, I try never to waste food.

As a diabetic it’s quite a feat to eat out and even if we found something that we liked – it’s important to know how much sugar is in your food.  I loved this dish very much – it’s with chicken meat and a little rice – and I loved the thai sweet and spicy chilli sauce – so guess what I did – I went out to M & M’ meat shop to get some.  But hold it!  I found out that 2 tablespoons of this yummilicious thai chilli has 16 grams of sugar.  Now that’s not good at all – and even though I don’t eat a lot of the sweet chilli sauce – still 2 tablespoon is very easy to dip and finish.  So diabetics out there – if you are having side sauce like I do when I eat out – make sure you check out the sugar in them.  Luckily for me – I found out – so the next time I eat my chicken and rice dish – I would dip sparingly.

]]> http://www.icecubejunkie.com/2012/01/hidden-sugar-in-your-food/feed/ 0 http://www.icecubejunkie.com/2012/01/the-man-is-cooking/ http://www.icecubejunkie.com/2012/01/the-man-is-cooking/#comments Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:56:52 +0000 HoWeiSek http://www.icecubejunkie.com/?p=32809

Ever since coming to Canada – I’ve to learned to cook for myself – but one thing awesome about cooking here is I never have to cook for PB – why?  because he likes his own kinda food – like potatoes, carrots, some chicken – not a lot of beef or sandwiches.  So I never have to worry about cooking for him – he can eat a sandwich in the morning, sandwich for lunch and another sandwich for dinner.  Yup!  he isn’t adventurous at all with his food – but every Sunday – he will cook potatoes, carrots – some sort of meat for supper – for the entire family – so I can’t really complained right?  Sure it is monotonous but better than my dad – having only cooked for his children once in our entire life – so I count my blessings.

I loved a good garlic bread – and found one that I liked very much here – so sometimes we also have garlic bread but not every weekend.  And for lunch we dine out on Sundays – although PB doesn’t really like eating out either.   So yes, for someone who lovesssssssssssss food like myself and being with a man who eats to live – well -  quite bizarre right?  but he has improved over the years – and he makes it a point to bring me and Chloe out to eat every week – although there are limited restaurants that he likes.

Have you ever wonder why we can’t make our croissant look like that?  whenever I make my own croissant back home – they are not crunchy nor looking so fluffy at all.   So what kinda magic does these girls have that I don’t, pray tell?   I had a egg and chicken salad sandwich today and it was yummy – loved the girls at Tim’s because they always remember me when they have my favorite mushroom soup.  One day – I’m gonna ask the girls how they make my sandwich/croissant look so yummy and not all flatten and crushed like mine when I do it at home.

As a food blogger, we are constantly looking out for good food – and good food at a good price, so when a customer who moved into town from Germany asked me where can I get the best piece of steak – I show them the way to Emin’s Meat Market down on South end.  No one makes meat like Emin’s and you’ve gotta love the friendly and personalized service at the Emin’s.  So we headed to Emin’s but not before we went to check out some beauty stuff that we had read about – eyelash growth product reviews said that we could look out for them at our local pharmacy as well. So after we had done that – we headed to the best meat market in town.

Alas, Fred wasn’t there – but his staff working were just as friendly and knowledgeable – and we bought not only pieces of steak but Slovakia pork, sausages and stuffed pork as well.  My new found customer was really impressed with what Emin’s had to provide and she told me – the steak she bought – melted in her mouth and the apple cinnamon and the maple sausages that she had for breakfast the next morning  – were the best she had ever had.

Asked me anything about food – I’m the expert in it – but we did make out pretty well with the beauty department too – after all – which woman don’t know a bit about beauty products right?  I had a fruitful day !  food and beauty products – I’m a happy girl alright!

]]> http://www.icecubejunkie.com/2011/12/best-meat-in-town-shopping/feed/ 2 http://www.icecubejunkie.com/2011/12/5-lbs-of-lobsters/ http://www.icecubejunkie.com/2011/12/5-lbs-of-lobsters/#comments Mon, 26 Dec 2011 20:20:54 +0000 HoWeiSek http://www.icecubejunkie.com/?p=32718

For those who’ve supported Chloe in raising funds for her school – thru’ the lobster tickets sale – I’m sorry to say that no one from our group won the 25lbs of lobsters – it was someone else in town that we didn’t the name at all.  But since Chloe won for bringing in the most money for the school – a total of $725  – Chloe won 5 lbs of lobsters that was delivered by her principal to our store.

The zhu’s cooked the lobster for me – and I’m forever grateful because I wouldn’t know how to cook them or how to break them into pieces.   And the Zhu’s stirred fried them with ginger and spring onions for me – it was very yummy!

I haven’t had lobsters for a long time – whole lobsters like that and I’ve almost forgotten how whole lobsters tasted like.  I wished I had some sambal to stir fried it with – but the ginger and spring onion was just as good – yummy!!  thanks to everyone once again!  We are forever grateful!

]]> http://www.icecubejunkie.com/2011/12/5-lbs-of-lobsters/feed/ 0 http://www.icecubejunkie.com/2011/12/food-to-eat-when-you-dont-know-what-to-eat/ http://www.icecubejunkie.com/2011/12/food-to-eat-when-you-dont-know-what-to-eat/#comments Mon, 19 Dec 2011 05:13:40 +0000 HoWeiSek http://www.icecubejunkie.com/?p=32682

So tell me what food would you order if you don’t know what to eat ?  or when you are not too full nor too hungry for you just had breakfast not too, too long ago.  My recommendation is omelet  – you cannot go wrong with that  – and when I am not too hungry I order some omelet – but of course I asked for only 2 omelet instead of 3 and I don’t eat the potatoes they offer and very little bread.  What about you ?  what do you eat when you are out in a restaurant with family and friends but don’t know what to order or too full to eat too much.  Pray tell.

And here we have chloe – her only food when she eats out is fish and chips – as long as they have fish and chips – we are all safe.