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Gluten Free Seaweed Chicken

Gluten Free Seaweed Chicken

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The biggest headache I face in the gluten free journey is that there are so few ready made food in the supermarket that cater to this group of people. Something that is so readily available like the seaweed chicken is a luxury for my child. The only way is… to make it myself.

There are many recipes online but the problem is, not all taste nice, even though the pictures look yummilicious. The other hurdle is, they are usually not made of gluten free ingredients. When some ingredients are replaced, they simply do not taste the same. After some trial and error and tweaking, I finally have one that is… gluten free AND yummy. (Well, that’s according to my children and hubby whose views may be heavily biased.)

You can try it out and see if it works for you. I hate frying in the wok as I certainly hate cleaning the cupboards, the stove, the floor, well, EVERYTHING. So this is an air fryer recipe.

Gluten Free Seaweed Chicken Recipe (Air Fryer)

Gluten free seaweed chicken recipe

Ingredients :

  • 500g Chicken Thigh (with skin removed. I usually make crispy chicken skin which the kids love!)
  • 3tsp gluten free soy sauce (I used the kikkoman one)
  • 3tsp sugar vinegar mixture (1tsp sugar to 1tbsp vinegar)
  • 1/2 tsp salt (to taste)
  • 2tbsp gluten free self raising flour
  • 2tbsp potato starch
  • 3 sheets of seaweed

Method :

  1. Cut the chicken thigh into rectangular pieces.
  2. Marinade the chicken thigh pieces with the soy sauce, sugar vinegar mixture and salt. Let it marinade for at least 45 mins or more.
  3. Cut the seaweed into rectangular strips that are big enough to go round the chicken pieces.
  4. Mix the self raising flour and potato starch in a separate bowl.
  5. Mix the chicken pieces into the flour-starch mixture and make sure that all pieces are evenly coated. Dust off extra flour from the chicken pieces.
  6. Wrap each chicken piece with a piece of seaweed and place them neatly in the air fryer. You can choose to use the basket but I find it too tiring to wash the chicken bits off the mesh… so I use the grill basket. line them up so that they don’t overlap.
  7. Set the temperature to 180 deg C for 15 mins.
  8. And Ta.. da…!! Gluten free seaweed chicken and NO OIL SPLATTERS!!
Cooking with 宝贝 – Butter Cookies

Cooking with 宝贝 – Butter Cookies

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I’ve been keeping this simple recipe so that I can bake this with 宝贝. I can’t remember where I copied it from though. I usually copy and paste interesting recipes into my phone notes.

She’s been clamoring to bake cookies ever since she did it at school and at Totts. She even went shopping for baking stuff with me. We bought a couple of cool gingerbread boy and girl cookie cutters which have been idling in the drawer for months.

We needed to bring food for her school’s pattern party and the same day was also Teacher’s Day so I thought, why not?? We made one for everyone in class, including her 3 teachers. We even made 2 more for her “bus” friends. We even had a lot of dough leftover for our own consumption.

The butter cookies were of the right texture – not moist and with the right crumbly taste. Pretty yummy actually and neither were they overly sweet. Definitely a recipe for keeps.

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I set her to the task of measuring out the ingredients. It trained her motor skills and it helped her with recognizing numbers in the hundreds. She diligently measured out the ingredients and set them aside. I only measured out the butter which was too difficult for her to cut up.

I kneaded all the ingredients into a big chunk of dough. Then it’s over to her again. She took the dough out bit by bit, flattened them and cut the shapes out with cookie cutters. I helped her lay them neatly on the paper lined baking trays as they were too soft to be handled by her. See all the misshapen ones out there!

We were mighty proud of the end results. :)

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Check out the little gingerbread boys and girls, pigs, rabbits and birds.

320g Butter (I used unsalted butter)
600g Self Raising Flour
150g Icing Sugar (I used normal sugar as I didn’t have icing sugar at home)
1 egg (lightly whisked)

Simple right? Just 4 ingredients. You can add crushed nuts and dried fruits to it. Or you can decorate the cookies with frosting after they are baked.

1. Mix the flour and sugar in a large bowl. My largest bowl was too small. I resorted to using my steel soup pot. :p

2. Add softener butter into the flour sugar mixture. Add the egg in.

3. Knead until the dough is formed.

4. Roll the dough. Flatten it. Cut out the dough with cookie cutters.

5. Bake them for 13-15 mins in a preheated oven for 180°C. If you are using an air fryer, bake the dough for 10 mins at 180°C in the baking tray. I used both because I was trying to finish the baking as soon as I could.

6. Once they are baked, leave them on the cooling rack. Store them in an air tight container when they are cooled. Or eat them all up! Very addictive. :)

Easy peasy. If 宝贝 and I can bake them, anyone can!

Air Fried Salmon Bits Tomatoes

Air Fried Salmon Bits Tomatoes

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My folks are away on a holiday and I’m home alone with my 2 宝贝s!! *gasp*

Meals at home must involve the least bit of preparation, washing and yet still be nutritious. Not easy arh!!

I came across a picture of this in pininterest. I made a few minor adjustments to reduce processed food and minimize dish washing. The pininterest recipe called for bacon (which has a high salt content but undeniably yummy!) which I replaced with salmon and it was baked. I did everything in the air fryer so that I only needed to wash the one and only baking tray.

I chopped up a huge piece of salmon. Air fried it for 15 mins at 160°C in the baking tray, stirring it once in a while. The pieces were merrily cooking in salmon oil. Once the pieces were crisp, I chopped up a large tomato into 2 and top them off with cheese then put the salmon pieces on top of them. Still using the same tray, I air fried them for 10 mins at 140°C.

宝贝 walked herself home after alighting from the school bus at the pick up point. She appeared at the door just as the food was done.

Served right up to her nice and hot. *V*

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As usual, it’s condiment free. Served with a slice of pumpkin bread we made together yesterday and finished off with a banana.

Yummy and simple. ~signed off by a very hands full temporary sahm. Can’t wait for grandma and grandpa to come home…

Fried Crabsticks – Air Fryer

Fried Crabsticks – Air Fryer

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Made myself some fried crabsticks snack before they expire… Not the healthiest thing on earth but at least I air fried it without oil. So it’s a jiffy healthier. (I like to console myself with that.)

The air fryer is really the most idiot proof appliance around. You won’t burn the house down, you probably just end up with charred food. And with no oil involved!

Well, it’s a breeze to make this. I didn’t use up the whole packet of crabsticks because 小小宝贝 was wailing halfway through my food making. The only chore is to peel the plastic off the crabsticks and to “unravel” them.

I used 160°C and fried them for 15 mins. I turned up the heat to 180°C for the last 5 mins. Every 5 mins you have to stir them and separate them from sticking to the tray and to one another. I didn’t manage to do that as I was changing diapers, so the top few were a little chow dar. And some underneath were still whitish and not very crispy.

But overall, still yummy!!

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Apple Crisps!

Apple Crisps!

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An attempt to “dewhiten”, I just coined the word, one of my many white elephants in the kitchen.

This is an idiot proof (I’ve proven it! Even I can do it!) recipe. No oil involved, natural food, totally yummy!!

Just slice your apple thinly (you don’t even need to core it) if you are skillful and patient with the knife. I’m not equipped with the skill nor the temperament, so I chose to do it with the shredder. I ended up with various shredded sizes, thickness of apple slices. But I’m chin chai lar. So I find it ok.

Spread them out on the wire mesh of the air fryer. Set the temperature at 160°C for 15 mins. Just stir them every 5 mins to keep them from sticking together.

Voilà! Apple crisps! Mine don’t score too high on the looks department but they are yummy!! Don’t judge my apple crisps by their looks!!! The small slices are crunchy n sweet. The bigger slices have crunchy edges and sponges middles. Thumbs up from my 宝贝!

They are easy to prepare and definitely healthy! Not only that, economical too! You don’t have to pay the exorbitant price for apple crisps from the supermarkets.

Tofu Cheesy Fish Cake

Tofu Cheesy Fish Cake

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Laundry done. Check.
Dishes done. Check.
Extra fish cakes stored. Check.

Yes! All done. Hub has brought 宝贝 to her grandma’s place. 1.5 hours of reprieve. Time for blogging!!

It’s the time of the week again. Once a week, it’s cooking time for me. This week, it’s Tofu cheesy fish cake, using the air fryer. Sounds really healthy right??

Ingredients (whatever is in the fridge, again…)
Organic tofu (what’s tofu fish cake without tofu?!)
Fish fillet (you can use salmon)
Shredded mozzarella and cheddar cheese
Mixed vegetables
Fresh button mushrooms
Flour
Egg
Salt, black pepper, spices (thyme, parsley etc) (I omitted these for 宝贝’s portion and added for mine)

Dice everything and dump them in a bowl and I aga aga all the quantity. It’s always aga aga and minimum washing for me!! Make sure everything is well mixed.

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Add flour until the mixture is sticky and you are able to shape them into balls.

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My not very shapely balls. :) I used the air fryer baking tray. It’s so small that I could only fry 4 balls at one time. Temperature : 200 degrees Celsius. Time : 10 mins

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They turned out to be really crispy and puffed up. 宝贝 loved her non salted version. Everything’s done without oil!!

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Check out her happy smile!! It’s actually quite filling. She ate 4 cakes and I ate 6. Her praises have inspired me to start thinking of next week’s menu!! Hmm… What should I cook next week??

My New Air Fryer – The Path to Healthy Eating

My New Air Fryer – The Path to Healthy Eating

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I’ve been reading about people gushing about their air fryers for a while. It was some time before I convinced myself to buy it, because of its hefty price tag!!

Anyway, I’ve bought it. I’ve only used it to fry some fish fingers and it’s true I didn’t use a drop of oil. They turned out crispy. But then again I wasn’t a fan of fish fingers.

I cut up some potatoes into strips and made my first batch of home made fries. I soaked them in water for 30 mins to get rid of the starch, brushed a little oil on them and air fried them. They turned out quite fine, though nowhere near the legendary Macs fries. Macs fries are really unbeatable and absolutely sinful, unfortunately.

Then the air fryer just sat there, under utilized, until I checked out the recipe book and googled some recipes online.

I decided to air fry some food for 宝贝’s lunch.

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As usual, no condiment meal. I put a piece of chicken thigh into the mesh basket. You can marinate it with the condiments of your choice 2-3 hours before frying or even the night before. Brush it with a layer of oil. I forgot to brush mine so it came out a little dry. Set the temperature at 180 degrees Celsius for 15 mins. If you use a traditional oven it’d take abort 30 mins.

I roasted some cherry tomatoes and some cut up spinach for 6 mins at 160 degrees Celsius.

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The chicken turned out a trifle too dry. I must try again by brushing it with a little oil. The tomatoes came out great. Nicely roasted. The spinach was a surprise. They became crunchy, like those dried seaweed that I love to snack on. The next time I fry the spinach, I should mix it with a wee bit of salt and maybe some spices. It will make a good healthy snack, for myself of course.

Quite a good experiment to have discovered crunchy spinach!! :)