Elmo sandwich

Something for my kids lunch. Elmo :-) Ham, cheese, and salami Elmo sandwich. Salami for his face, cheddar cheese for his nose, white cheese and nori for his eyes, nori for his mouth

Pølse turn into an octopus

Today I had to stay home because one of the kids got sick. Just to cheer my kids up I've made them mac and cheese with hotdogs.

Pølse (Norwegian long hot dog) turn into an octopus and mini fish swimming on top of macaroni and cheese.

Taco & Pizza tortilla bowls

For lunch I had to use leftover from yesterday. I've made taco and pizza bowl using tortilla flour, place behind a muffin tin, a little olive oil, and baked in the oven at 220 degrees Celsius for 5 minutes until lightly brown and crispy. Then I spread on top of tortilla bowl with re-fried beans, spooned in leftover taco meat which I had made yesterday (90% lean ground beef, corn, chopped red bell pepper, chopped onions, minced garlic, seasoned with tex mex spices, Worcestershire sauce, and other spices and herbs). Topped with salad, avocados, hot sauce, mozzarella cheese, and cheddar cheese.

For pizza tortilla bowls I spread in marinara sauce, pepperoni, mozzarella cheese, and seasoned with Italian dried herbs.

These tortilla bowls were fun to make. They are one of my kids favorite.

http://sorieyahomemadecooking.blogspot.no/2012/03/i-really-like-taste-and-freshness-of.html

What's happening in my little kantina

My 3 little tired munchkins while driving to work. It's a shocking all 3 of them napping at the same time. I got a little quietness for half hour.

I have been busy these past weeks making food for my little kantina, doing errands, picking my son up from school, helping him with his homework, taking them to work with me while prepping in my kitchen. But today is my day off and I have the time to share what I have been up to. It's exhausting but I just love being in the kitchen. I had been baking and cooking a lot. The pictures on the bottom are somethings that I have made and sold in my kantina. Homemade blueberry muffins, chocolate chip muffins, brownies, tex-mex mini cups, and hot pockets. I'm mostly making American and Asian food. Not so much Norweigan food, just Norwegian waffles serve with jam and goat cheese. Later on this year I will slowly introduce some American pancakes, homemade American bagels, pies, soft pretzel, wraps, stews, soups, smoothies, homemade lemonade, and other stuff. 

My husband was the one who persuade me to manage the kantina for his martial art institute. I wasn't sure if it would go well because my food might be too American but it's going well and people are willing to try it which is a start. My husband is very optimistic about it and think it will go great. I wish I had that positive thinking. He's more positive than I am. I'm more pessimistic because that is how I am. 

A sample from yesturday of what was on my little menu.

Soya Kung Food Kitchen

Open from 18:00-21:30

Hungry and didn’t have time to eat? Need something quick? Well you are welcome to check out what’s in the kitchen.

American Blueberry Muffins with a side of coffee  20kr

American Chocolate Chip Muffins with side of coffee 20kr

Chocolate Chip Brownies 15kr

Mini Tex-Mex (re fried beans, beef, corn, red bell pepper, onions in a wonton cup) topped with mozzarella cheese and salsa. 20kr for 2

Hot pockets Broccoli, cheddar cheese, and ham in a croissant pastry20kr

Pizza Hot pockets (pepperoni & salami, marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese) in a croissant pastry 20kr

Cheddar Cheese Lorax

  Lunch theme for my son's lunch is The Lorax. He is made with cheddar cheese and Gouda cheese.

Angry Birds sandwiches

Angry birds lunch theme was what I made for my son's lunch today.  One of his favorites game to play. He asked me if I could make this for his lunch and I was happy too.

Gotye & Kimbra "Somebody that I used to know"

 Gotye & Kimbra "Somebody that I used to know" turned into my lunch.

I used what I had in my pantry and fridge. Bread slices, nori, lettuce, salami, cheese slices, ham, mayonnaise. My girls love this. Every time they see Gotye and Kimbra music video they are mesmerized. I think my little girls have a little crush on him.

Mermaid Sandwich

 A mermaid sandwich made with ham, salami, and cheese.


3 slices of cut out bread shape into mermaid


Ham slice cut out into a shape of her face and body & danish salami for her hair.


Sushi nori for her top, eye brows, nose, mayonnaise and nori for her eyes, salami for her lips. Cheddar cheese slice for her crown.

Princess sandwich for my little princess

 One of my daughter's was feeling a little down. She asked me, "Mommy, what are you doing?" I said to her, I'm making you something girly for lunch. A smile on her face and she said, Yay!" (with that little cute voice of her) She has this Norwegian/English accent which is so adorable to listen.

So I made her a princess sandwich made with ham, cheddar cheese, nori, and mayonnaise over salad and bread She was very happy and I just love seeing her smile.

Late Birthday Treat to Me

Today is Friday so it was the perfect day to bake. My birthday was last week but we couldn't celebrate it then because we had all caught the flu. Now that we are all feeling better I have baked a chocolate fudge heart cake and cake pop using my new cake pop machine.

Crispy chicken breast served with creamy spinach with macaroni and steamed broccoli

 Everything is so expensive in Norway. Yeah, I know the cost of living is high because of the high income... blah, blah, blah. I have lived here for a while now and I will never get use to the prices. I wish I could drive to a grocery store back in the States and couple hours later I'm back in my little kitchen in Norway. Most of the time I have to go to at least to 3 different grocery stores to get exactly what I need. It's very annoying, wasting time and gas. Don't get me started with the gas prices here. 

What I don't like about Norway is the high prices on food and mostly everything else, it's way too expensive so it's rare for my family back in the States to come visit me who I barely get to see, it's hard to save, it's way too cold for me but other than that Norway isn't so bad. It's a beautiful country, with the scenery and  people here are very friendly. 

The other day I made Crispy chicken breast served with creamy spinach with macaroni and steamed broccoli. I'm definitely going to make this again. My kids loved it even my littlest one ate a lot of it. I bought all my ingredients at Rimi. They had all I need and had some good offer. 

Ingredients for Crispy Chicken Breast

2 lb chicken breast

tablespoon Old bay seasoning

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder

tablespoon paprika

tablespoon dried parsley, flake

1-2 tablespoons Worcestershire's Sauce

1 tablespoon lemon juice

3 tablespoons mayonnaise

Seasoned bread crumbs

2 tablespoon butter

I sliced my chicken breasts in halves and lay each side by side flat on a cutting board, covered with plastic wrap (covering the whole board). I used back side of a  pan and pound chicken breast so it would be less thick. I seasoned with old bay seasoning, salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, dried parsley flake, lemon juice, Worcestershire's sauce. Mixed well with my hands afterwards I added in mayonnaise mixed well again. Then coated marinaded chicken breast in seasoned bread crumbs. In a pan, heated 2 tablespoons butter over medium/high heat. Cooked chicken breast until gold crispy/cooked through on each side for about 7-8 minutes  Served with creamy spinach macaroni and steamed broccoli. 

Homemade hot pockets

I have been a little homesick lately. Living in Norway with none of my family around is difficult. I miss them very much even though my parents visited me during the holiday 2012. The last time I visit my family and had American food was 2 1/2 years ago. What I haven't had in a while was a hot pocket. My mom would have a box in the freezer. So in the morning I would put one in the microwave. I decided to make my own, handmade/homemade hot pockets. These came out delicious. It was fluffy and yummy. Way better than store bought. 

Placed my dough on a floured surface. Used my rolling pin to flat dough out.......

For my fillings I added in broccoli and cream of spinach and cheddar cheese.

 My other filling was slices of cheddar cheese, bacon cheese, some Norwegian cheese, ham slices, and steamed broccoli.

Fold dough into rectangle shape and used a fork to seal dough together. Baked in the oven for about 25 minutes at 230 degrees C

 Remove from oven and let cool....

My hot pocket ready to be serve....

Here is my homemade fluffy ham, broccoli, and cheese hot pocket.

My fun sandwich shape into a fish

My son's lunch for tomorrow is salami and cheese sandwich shaped like a fish. 

I haven't made funny art sandwiches in a while and I miss making them. So today I had the time to make sandwich shape into a fish. Fish scale was cut out in half circle from cheese slices. Cheese slices for eye and smile.  

Chicken noodle soup with love

Today was a great day to make chicken noodle soup with vegetable. Now that my kids and I are doing a lot better than the past couple days with this flu that we've caught. This soup helped a lot. My husband is not a fan of soup at all. The only soup he like is my homemade Vietnamese Beef Pho Soup and some other soup I've made in the past. He is more into chunky stews with a lot of meat and thick sauce.
He said, " I will have soup if you put some spice into it, so I did. I even cut up carrots into heart shape just because I love my family and  plus I was inspired from a picture I saw on pinterest, how to cut up carrots into heart shape. So I had made a big huge pot of chicken noodle soup. I should have made more because my whole family loved it especially the meat eater (hubby). This soup also reminded me when my parents visited me during the holiday, flying across the Atlantic to visit their oldest daughter (me). My mom had made me almost the exact same soup when she was visiting. I miss her cooking. Nothing is better than mom's home cook meal.

For chicken soup recipe

3 liter of homemade chicken stock which I made before hand
1 liter water
1 onion, chopped
6 carrots, peeled, cut 1/2 inch thick slices into shape of hearts
6 celery ribs with leaves, cut into 1/2 inch thick
8  peeled potatoes, washed cut into bite size
2 bay leaf
4 chicken bouillon cubes

2 cups shredded cooked chicken

tablespoon dried thyme
tablespoon dried parsley
1-2 tablespoons old bay seasoning
Provence with garlic
seasoning salt
tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 lbs cooked wide egg noodles

freshly ground black pepper
salt

chopped green onions

In a soup pot filled with homemade chicken stock over high heat. I added in onions, carrots, celery, potatoes, bay leaf, and bouillon. Brought stock to a boil and cook until vegetable become soften about half hour. Added in cook shredded chicken and seasoned soup with thyme, parsley, old bay, Provence, seasoning salt, lemon juice. Then added in cooked noodles and let soup simmer for 5-7 minutes. Seasoned with ground black pepper and salt. Ladle soup in a soup bowl, sprinkle with chopped green onion and served.

Homemade Blueberry Muffins

I've decided, I'll be making homemade muffins twice a week to sell in my little Katina. Muffins and coffee is a great combo. I love making muffins because of the smell when it's baking, brings back memories.

Blueberry Muffins

1 1/2 cup whole milk

1/2 cup melted butter

2 medium eggs, slightly beaten

2 1/2cups all-purpose flour

1/3 or 1/2 cup sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoons vanilla sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup fresh blueberries

For the topping

1/2 cup melted butter

1/4 cup sugar

I plugged in my muffin maker until hot meanwhile I combined and whisked milk, melted butter, and egg in a large bowl. Then I add the rest of my ingredients except blueberries. Stirred until mixture was moistened and gently stir in blueberries. Spoon batter evenly into muffin cups and place them each in my muffin maker and baked for 25 minutes until golden brown. Remove muffins from muffin maker and let cool continued with the rest.

Brush melted butter on top of muffins and then sprinkled some sugar.

Serve with side of butter and a cup of coffee.

Homemade Cinnamon Oat Muffins

For my little kantina I've made homemade cinnamon oat muffins to sell. Will be serve with a side coffee. I love the smell of fresh baked muffin.

I used

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup oatmeal (apple/cinnamon)

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/3 cup melted butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

3/4 cup regular milk

1/4 cup melted butter

1/3 cup sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

In a large bowl combine the first 7 dry ingredients

In another bowl combine and whisk butter, sugar, egg, and milk. Then add into the flour mixture. Whisk and combine all well, mixture will be lumpy.

Spoon in mixture into each muffin tin and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until golden or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Put butter in a separate bowl and in another bowl add in sugar and cinnamon. After muffin cools, take one muffin at a time. Dip the top with melted butter and then sprinkle with sugar/cinnamon. Serve with coffee.

Baked Crispy Blue Cheese Chicken Breast

This was simple and easy to make, baked crispy blue cheese chicken breast. Next time I would stuff chicken breast with some crumble blue cheese.

1 lb fresh skinless chicken breast, place plastic wrap over chicken breast and pound it with a meat pounder. I seasoned with salt, pepper, seasoning salt, garlic, paprika, and Worcestershire sauce. Then add in tablespoons blue cheese dressing mixed well with my hand, coat chicken with seasoned bread crumbs. I would of used Panko bread crumbs but I didn't have in the house, anyways. Placed them in a greased casserole dish and baked in the oven at 400 degrees for 30-35 minutes until cooked through and golden  crisp.

My first day in my own little kantina

I made 100 homemade pork spring rolls (chinese cabbage, shredded carrots, onions, coriander, green onion, garlic, seasoning salt, salt, ground black pepper, seasoning sauce, oyster sauce) served with sweet chili sauce & a side of salad.

 I also made cream cheese with spring onion ragoons.

I also made homemade mini New England Scones ( flour, maple syrup, oatmeal, apple, cinnamon, sugar, banana, semi sweet chocolate chip.....)

My mom gave me her recipe for homemade sauce for fresh spring rolls. I would mix a little of homemade sauce with sweet chili sauce, tasty dipping sauce with my pork spring roll sauce or fresh spring rolls.

I stayed up all night preparing and prepping for my kantina. I used up most of my kroners to make all these.

My husband suggested that I should open a little kantina in his new martial art institute. I thought why the hell not give it a try........
So my first day in my new cantina was very stressing (with my 3 little kids everywhere) but I did enjoy making food. I was nervous because I thought I would sell nothing. Norwegian have different kind of taste than Americans I think. No one really wanted to try my New England Mini Scones or Cream Cheese Rangoon even though my family had tried it and thought it was good. I also made fresh baguette cold cuts with veggies, cheese, and mayonnaise. I did sell for my first day.  All in all my husband thought I did well. I hope later in the future it would be much easier and better, just hoping more people would give me a chance.

Roasted garlic, broccoli, macaroni, and cheese soup

 My homemade roasted garlic, broccoli, macaroni, and cheese soup. Great for this kind of day. My son had been begging me to make this, " Mommy could you please make your broccoli macaroni cheese soup?" Anything for my little boy.



2 tablespoons corn starch
2 tablespoons wheat flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup måt fløte ( food cream)

2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped
2 clove garlic, minced

3 cups fresh broccoli, cut into small bite size
1 cup cooked macaroni (boil and drain)
salt and pepper for taste
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cup shredded Tine Edamer cheese or Jarlsberg cheese
1/2 cup shredded white cheddar
dash nutmeg



In a bowl add in wheat flour, corn starch then slowly stir in milk and måt fløte just whisk and mix until well blended and set a side.

Bring water to a boil in a pot, boil broccoli for 5 minutes until slightly tendered, drain and set aside.

In another pot, heat butter over medium heat. When butter melts add in garlic and onion, sauteed for 5-6 minutes, and transfer to a plate, set a side.

In the same pot add in flour mixture and chicken broth (I added in extra måt fløte about 3 tablespoons). Cook, stirring constantly until thick and bubbly. Reduce heat to low/simmer, add in salt, pepper, sauteed garlic and onion, broccoli, and cooked macaroni. Stir and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in shredded cheese and nutmeg, cook until cheese melts. Serve right away.