I don't run out of these boxes in my freezer... buy it and try it with a little bit of soy sauce dip... you'll understand why this box is a life saver.

How many times did you get surprise visits from friends or relatives and you turn into stress freakout mode because you're frantically looking for what to serve as an appetizer while you prepare for the main dish? I'm pretty sure lots of times.

What I do is throw this in a steamer, let it steam for 10-15 minutes and put it on a serving dish with a little soy sauce dip. It gets the meal started and I'm not going to get all stress out that our guests will be hungry!

Problem solved.

I love creating food in the kitchen. I love it when I get requests from the kids... "I want pasta, I want cake, I want fish, I want! I want! I want!". I even love it when my oldest one will sit like Anton Ego of Ratatouille and say... "surprise me mommy!"

Funny enough whenever I enter the kitchen even if I'm just going to get a glass of water, one of them will ask "mommy, whatcha making?". It really makes me proud that my biggest and most important audience love what I make.

Lately, I'm getting everyone involve. Whether it's stirring something, sifting, whipping, garnishing, it makes a difference when they eat something they feel and think they help made.

Hubby is a natural cook. His tastebuds were educated earlier than mine and so whenever he feels like joining in, he'll make one dish that will knock out all of the dishes I've made so far.

Pizza is one dish that keeps everyone on fun mode. We compete on whose toppings will look nice after baking. Whose pizza will finish first.

Our interests varies a lot. I'm into business, HR, fashion and food. Hubby is into techies, games and food. Kids are into toys, fighting, turf war and food. So why not... next to God, food keeps us together.

I think everyone should go back to old times when the Kitchen was Switzerland and the table is where everything gets resolved.

C'mon now, start cooking. Have a weekend with just the kitchen, food and your family. Enjoy your time together and treasure every single second... Happy Family Cooking!

Today I realized the importance of having a rice cooker... aside from a normal function of cooking rice, you can use it as a life saver when your cooking gas run out!

Yup! That's exactly what I did today. We ended up with a fantastic dinner.

I cooked a based Penne with Broccoli, a recipe I recently discovered. Easy, tasty, versatile, perfect, especially for stressful times like losing every inch of cooking gas on a Friday when everything is closed! (I live in Dubai, Fridays and Saturdays are weekdays, Friday in particular is a holy day). 

I cooked a whole pack of the pasta in the cooker, when al dente, I drained pasta in a bowl. Keep some pasta water in case your pasta gets too dry.

On the same cooker, I cooked the sauce then poured it in a the bowl, tossed and voila, a little sprinkle of parmesan and a bit more tossing and we had a great dinner.

Rice cooker, you'll never be disregarded ever again!

You should have a weekly shopping list poste on your fridge door or somewhere close when you're about to leave the house. This way it's accessible and you're always reminded that there are items that you must buy.

Your shopping list should have categories for grocery section, such as:
Baking
Coffee
Cereals
Crisps/Chips
Frozen
Fresh Meat
Fresh Produce
Breads
Cheese
Laundry
Canned foods
Lollies
And on and on and on...
This way, you save time by not going back and forth an isle.

As time goes by you'll get used to your nearest supermarket's arrangement and will remember which isle comes first, so arrange your categories accordingly.

If you're buying seafood, buy from big Supermarkets such as Geant, Carrefour, Union Coop if you're in the UAE. Their turnover is quick which ensures you get the freshest seafood you can find.

If you're buying fresh meat, buy from small ones, like Choitram, Spinneys, Park and Shop... their turnover is slower ensuring your meat had enough hanging time. The longer it's hanged, the tender your meat will be. Hanging allows muscles to relax and enzymes to get redistributed.

Majority of us forget to look at expiration date when buying canned or preserved stuff... please be concerned. That way, you don't waste your time and money on something that you'll throw the following week.

Always look at "on sale isle". Some items aren't due to expire in the next 2 months. If you're going to need the ingredient or item within the month, might as well take advantge of a better priced items.

Steak and Mushroom sandwich filling (click for recipe)
You should have this once a month in your fridge. You can keep this from 1 week (if there are any leftovers, doubt it!). It's perfect for midnight snack or just sudden pang of hunger.

Chicken filling for wraps (click for recipe)
Alternate this with your steak and mushroom and no one in your house will ever go hungry!

Lettuce
You can whip out a simple salad, jazz up a boring sandwich, or even use it as wrap for whatever left over is in the fridge.

Balscamic Vinnaigrette (click for recipe)

A half cup of this will go a long, long, long way... when you use this, you want to use this sparingly without overpowering the other flavours you have in your salad. You're just going to toss the salad until it's coated, not soggy, not swimming in it, just coated.

Embutido (click for recipe)

You can keep this for ages in the freezer. Defrost it in the fridge an hour or so before you want to fry it. If press for time, you can actually just fry it straight away. I tried it both and don't taste the difference.

Liver Pate
Store bought liver pate lasts for 2 months and you can always count on it when you need some surprise entertaining to do!

Tapas in the making
Stock on black and green olives, gherkins, pepperoni, salami/pepperoni, ham, cheddar cheese, sun-dried tomatoes. Just place a quarter of a cup of each type in a platter, put some toothpick and napkins and you're good to go to have nibbles for three.

CHECK THIS SECTION FROM TIME TO TIME, WILL POST NEW ONES LATER ON

Kids are soooo cute and if they're anything like mine, they love too be involved in the kitchen.

Let them help you:
mix dough ingredients
roll out doughs, one or two times at the beginning won't hurt your pastry
toss salad or pasta
sprinkle herbs or cheese as a finishing touch to dishes
choose toppings for their own pizza
ladle mixture into cupcakes 
grease muffin pan/tins

and tons more! Feel free to give me more ideas :)

Your fishmonger is your friend. Their job is to make your life easy. The list below are just a few, feel free to add more if you had the chance to take advantage of their services:

Pry mussels open.
Clean shrimps or prawns - de-vein and take off shells
Clean fish - take the scales off, fins, guts, cut into desired size
Fillet Fish
Clean Squid - take off the head, the innards, cartilage and body tube as well as skin