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Thursday, March 22, 2012

Low Cal Dinner - Miso Maple Glazed Salmon & Macaroni Cheese

Steven, my husband and I are trying to watch our calorie intake lately. It is not easy to maintain your weight when you reached a certain age. Steven and I are in that age category where we must watch what we eat. Since Steven loves going out trying different restaurant every week end where we could not control the calorie and fat; I must try to come up with a low calorie dinner that I cook for us at home during the week. I found this magazine and I thought the recipe inside the magazine are very easy to follow and looks yummy. So I started a view recipes already; and to my surprise they are all delicious. Even Steven loves the taste of the food. Steven is a picky eater, and he won't eat cous cous, quinoa, scallop, only one or two vegetables, and that's all, but I told him that those are the main ingredients of the healthy food; he said he will try to eat them. So I am looking forward to cook cous cous, quinoa, etc. etc.

Here are the pictures !

The Magazine !

Miso and Maple-Glazed Salmon

Range-Top Chicken, Macaroni, and Cheese

Recipee

Miso and Maple-Glazed Salmon

4   5-ounce fresh or frozen salmon fillets {I used fresh organic salmon}
1/4 teaspoon freshly gound black pepper
2 tablespoon white miso paste
2 tablespoon pure maple syrup
2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar {I like the "seasoning" one}
1 teaspoon black sesame seeds {I did not put this on mine}
1 recipe Sauteed Baby Bokchoy

1. Preheat broiler. Line a 15 x 10 x 1 inch baking pan with foil. Thaw salmon, if frozen. Rinse salmon; pat dry with paper towels. Arrange salmon, skin down, in prepared pan. Season with pepper. Broil 4 to 5 inches from the heat for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, for glaze, in a small bowl whisk together miso paste, maple syrup, and vinegar. 2. Brush some of the glaze over each piece of salmon. Broil 4 to 5 minutes more or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. 3. To serve, use a spatula to lift salmon from skin. Transfer salmon to plates; sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve with Sauteed Baby BokChoy. Makes 4 servings (1 salmon and 1 cup Sauteed Baby BokChoy)
Sauteed Baby BokChoy recipe. Cut the top of Baby BokChoy. 
2 teaspoon minced garlic
2 table spoon light soya sauce
2 table spoon low sodium chicken stock
2 table spoon water

1. Heat 2 table spoon of vegetable oil 2. Sautee garlic for 1 minute and put Baby BokChoy. 3. Immediately put light soya sauce, chicken stock and water. Cook for a minute or two. 4. Put a pinch of sugar and pinch of salt. 5. Cook the Baby BokChoy until slightly wilted.
Per serving ; 425 cal, 22 g total fat (5 g sat. fat), 78 mg chol., 578 mg sodium, 24 g carb., 3 g fiber, 32 g pro.

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Range-Top Chicken, Macaroni, and Cheese

Start to finish : 35 minutes

1-1/2 cups dried multigrain or regular elbow macaroni (6 ounces)
Nonstick cooking spray
12 ounces skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 6.5 ounce package light semisoft cheese with garlic and herb
1-2/3 cups fat-free milk
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
3/4 cup shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese
(3 ounces) {I substituted this cheese with low fat swiss cheese}
2 cups baby spinach
1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered.

1. In a medium saucepan cook macaroni according to package directions, except do not add any salt to the water; drain. 2. Meanwhile, coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray; heat skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and onion to hot skillet. Cook for 4 to 6 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink and onion is tender, stirring frequently. (If onion browns too quickly, reduce heat to medium.) Remove skillet from heat. Add semisoft cheese; stir untio melted. 3. In a medium bowl whisk together milk and flour. Add all at once to chicken mixture. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly.  Reduce heat to low. Add cheddar or swiss cheese, stirring until melted. Add cooked macaroni; cook and stir for 1 or 2 minutes or until heated through. Stir in spinach, To with cherry tomatoes. Serve immediately. Makes 5(1-1/3-cup) servings.
Per serving: 369 cal., 12 g total fat (7 g sat. fat), 85 mg chal., 393 mg sodium, 33 g carb., 4 g fiber, 33 g pro.

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Oh I need to mention that I took the 'Magazine' and 'Miso Maple-Glazed Salmon' s pictures at night but with soft box and 2 of 100 watt daylight bulbs spotlights illuminate the box; that is why they look better than the Macaroni picture. I took the Macaroni picture a long time ago and I did not have soft box and day light bulb spot lights at the time; that is why they look yellowish in color simply because of the regular soft light we have at home. I just took both dishes before we had dinner. So I recommend these two easy yummy dishes for you to try and I promise you will not be disappointed !

Good luck !!

XOXO,
Ellya

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Lemon and Orange Macaron

The making of macarons continues. This time it's 'lemon and orange' flavoring.

For the recipe; please look at my previous page of basic macaron here. I just add lemon food flavoring and yellow food color about 3 drops. You might want to put more food color because I think they need more yellow and orange color. I put a view drops of lemon food flavoring and orange blossom food flavoring.

I might say though that I did not very happy with the butter cream filling because it is too sweet and after filling in the macaron the butter cream is melting and dripping on the side of the macarons. So what I did was I added a cream cheese of the amount to your liking. Just mix them well and refrigerate for about an hour before you put in the filling in the macarons. The cream cheese helps the butter cream filling stays nicely inside the macarons and I think it is taste better as well.

Here is the recipe for the Cream Cheese Butter Cream Filling

- 2 large egg yolks
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3-1/2 tbsp milk
- 10 tbsp unsalted butter in room temperature
- a few drops of vanilla essence
- 6 oz. low fat cream cheese

Method:
1. Beat the eggs and sugar using hand mixer until well mixed and pale in color.
2. Transfer to a pan in a low heat then add milk
3. Keep stirring until thicken like custard; then put vanilla essence
4. Remove from heat and keep stirring until custard become thick and cold in temperature
5. Meanwhile beat the butter until it looks like mayonaise then put butter in custard; keep stirring until mixed well.
6. Then put the cream cheese and mix well.





Thank you for reading !!

Ellya

Monday, March 19, 2012

Some more of dead sea shells.....

I found these shells tucked away in my kitchen drawer. I guess I did not like it so much when I just picked them from the beach of Sanibel Island Florida a long time ago. That is why I put them away; until a few days ago I found them wrapped in plastic bag in the kitchen's drawer. Oh, I like them so much this time. They are broken, beaten up ! I love the corroded texture of the surface, it shows that they have been laying on the beach and washed away by the ocean water for a long time. And I also love the color; the pale orange, gray and cream. So lovely !

At the same time I am learning on how to take picture using a soft box in photography. I searched and learned from youtube {thank you Youtube!} on how to make a D.I.Y soft box. A soft box is a box covered with transparancy paper/fabrics so that the harsh natural light will diffuse when reach inside the box, therefore makes a soft picture of an object in photography.

I am just doing an experiment and I did not use the light as the natural light source from the outside is very bright in my living room.









Enjoy it !!

XOXO,
Ellya

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Neon Pink Pump

I knew that this pair of neon pink pump was unusual in color when I bought it 3 years ago. What I love is the craftmanship and the 2-1/2" heel is low but still give a little bit of height especially I am only 5'1". It is "Gaia D'Este" and Made in Italy. {If you happened know about the brand; could you please let me know a little about it?} Oh, I just found about this company 'Gaia D'Este' through the internet search; click here. I love the classic look of the shoes and especially made of a bright neon pink patent leather. 

I wore this shoes only a few times in the past. And I couldn't be more happier because "neon"  is "the color" for this coming spring/summer 2012. I will definitely wear this shoes more often this coming season.



And, my Neon Pink Pump !

I am hoping that when the weather is getting a little warmer so that I could style and wear this shoes with an outfit to take picture out of and put in this blog.

Meanwhile, thank you for reading ..!

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Vintage Plates & Macaron Display

I have been admiring these vintage plates since many years ago. It was started out from my first time visit to the US. I think it was in 1983. During each trip, I used to stop when driving through a small town at  a rural area of the US; bought a view plates and wrapped the plates in my clothing and placed them in the suitcase so I can take them home. 

These plates are my very reason purchases during our last trip to Delray, Florida. I love the soft beautiful colors and flowers printed on the plates in the middle or on the side. It is very feminine, soft and elegance.

I also developed the love of photography. And with my new Nikon D3100 my husband 'Steven' gave me last Christmas; I am now learning on how to be creative  when taking pictures with this wonderful camera.  Although I am still learning; I am very happy with the simple "Auto" mode result from this camera. I am planning to learn more on how to use the camera  'manually' so I can be artistic with the result. Right now I am reading this wonderful book "Plate to Pixel - Digital Food Photography & Styling" by Helene Dujardin (available here).  After reading it a few pages I already love the content of the book very much! 
Here are the pictures of those lovely plates, a tea cup and the macarons I made recently.







I hope you like the pictures and the story above ! Thank you for reading......

Love,
Ellya

Monday, March 5, 2012

Mojito

Do you have a sudden crave? Well, I did last night; a glass of mojito! The problem was I did not have any ice cubes in the fridge. We did not turn on the ice maker. I am not a fan of alcohol but I do love mojito lately as long as it is not so bitter in taste; I need a little sweetness to it.  So just now  I went out and bought some mint leaves and made myself a glass of mojito. Oh, it is so refreshing even though it is very cold outside.

Here is the picture and recipe in case you want to make some !

Recipe

* 1/2 lime cut into 6 wedges
* 1-1/2 tbsp lime juice
* 2 tbsp honey, warmed (I did not use honey because I used fresca and it is already sweet)
* 2 oz. of rum
* 4 oz. club soda (I substituted with fresca for a little of sweetness)
*Pestle or long spoon
* Martini shaker
*Rocks Glass
*Ice

1. Fill a martini shaker with 1 cup of ice. Add lime wedges, lime juice and mint. Muddle lime and mit with the pestle or spoon until well-bruised and fragrant.
2. Combine honey, rum and club soda; stir gently to dissolve honey.
3. Add to muddle mixture and stir until mixture is well-chilled.
4. Strain into rocks glass filled with ice; garnish with mint and lime if desired.

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Sunday, March 4, 2012

Ellya's Pistachio Macaron goes fashion......

I just finished baking pistachio macaron with orange blossom cream filling this morning. The color reminded me of these spring 2012 fashion trends. So with pain staking Photo-Shop worked I put together a mood board, combining the fashion and my pistachio macarons.


Since  pistachio flour is yellowish in color;and to my surprised the result is yellowish minty color pistachio macarons. I think I am not too thrilled about it; I want it to be more minty color, so next time I'm making these sweets again I will put less pistachio flour. But I love them. Yes, I became a macaron baker fanatic !

Sources: Lucky magazine, People Style Watch magazine


Happy Sunday Everyone !

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