Chicken & Creamed Corn Rice

(contributed by kk)
2 skin-free chicken breasts, diced (or 500g of chicken thigh fillets)
425g can of creamed corn
Frozen peas or mixed diced vegetables (optional, add for colour or to bulk up your meal)
1 clove garlic, crushed (or 1 tsp of store-bought minced garlic)

Season diced chicken with 1/2 tbsp light soya sauce, 1/2 tsp sugar and 1tsp cornflour. (it’s just a guesstimate!)

Heat oil in a fry pan, add crushed garlic, stir until just fragrant (don’t burn it or the whole sauce mixture will turn acrid). Add diced chicken, stir fry until all browned. Add the can of creamed corn, use 1/3 can of water to rinse down the sides and add that to the pot too. Bring mixture to the boil, then lower the heat to simmer for 10 minutes. Follow microwave instructions to defrost the frozen vegetables, add to the pot and again bring to the boil. Season to taste and serve with rice.

This is my weeknight standby recipe – so fast and simple! I always keep a can of creamed corn in the pantry, and when I buy chicken fillets in bulk, I will put aside 500g, dice and season it before freezing, so it’s ready to use once thawed. If your sauce mixture is too runny, thicken with cornflour and water. If you don’t have creamed corn, use a can of condensed chicken and corn, or chicken and mushroom soup. You can add chopped carrot, onion and celery to this recipe, but you’ll have to stir fry and soften them first before cooking the chicken.


My comments: I steamed some broccoli and carrot separately and had it with the dish and rice. I cooked 2 pieces of chicken breast but used double of the seasoning to marinate the chicken. That was my 'guesstimate' too! I reckon you could also use basa fish fillet in place of chicken. You will also have to cut the fillet into small pieces. I shall try it one day....

Quop decided that it was yummy when he was helping to stir fry (before he tasted it). He liked it :)

Bean Mix

Canned beans such as this is great for adding them into your western soups or pasta sauce. You may not like beans... but think about it, they are really healthy for source of protein and it keeps you full for longer.

You may use other beans like chick peas, lentils, kidney beans, broad beans. They come in cans and are inexpensive to boost the nutrients of your dish.

Lemon Juice

Need lemon juice and don't have them in your fridge? Fear not! You can buy a bottle of lemon squeeze/juicem either Berri or Coles home brand ones from the supermarkets. The small bottle only cost about A$1. Once opened, leave the bottle in your fridge and use them whenever - baking, jazzing up seafood, when you need to make honey lemon for your sore throat, making lemon tea, etc... This is cheaper than buying lemons.

Speaking of which, if you like to bake like me, here is a good way to deal with lemons or limes when they are on sale, you want to buy them but not use them now: use a grater and grate the zest into a small container, label and freeze them future use. With the 'bald' lemon or lime, cut it into half and get the juice out into small containers too (or put it into ice cube tray to make ice lemon juice). This way, you are able to use the lemon/lime juice in future and need not fret that they are expensive at the time when you want to use them. Read more about it here.

Vitamin C

Getting sick? It is easy to fall sick due to weather changes, late night studying, missing home, etc. Vitamins are great to have them at hand. I buy this vitamin c 500mg per tablet. I used to work in a hospital and that makes me subsceptible to all the viruses and bacteria. Vitamin C helps me to either not fall sick fully (when I know I am falling sick) or helps me recover faster. However this vary from person to person.

I take 1 tab of this every day in the morning with my breakfast. When I sense that I am about to fall sick, I will take 2 tabs. This jar of 130 tablets set me back A$9+ and I usually buy them from Good Price Warehouse Pharmacy or from Woolies/Coles when they have a good Blackmores sale.

Belt it up and hope that this will help boost your immunity :)

Moroccan Seasoning

(Photo compliments from Shteppi's hubby)

Shteppi shared this with me but I have not tried cooking with it myself. She and her husband Steeji often use this tasty and useful seasoning and it goes really well with lamb, beef and chicken. I remembered them telling me that they bought a small jar to try and it was so good and easy to cook meats that they now only buy the larger jars. I tasted it once when they made lamb pizzas. They marinated the lamb with this moroccan seasoning. It rocks! :)

Going Italian?

Pasta sauces like these cost about A$3 when they are on sale. So buy a couple to stock up when you meet the sale

When you want to cook pasta, this is one of the quickest and easiest solution - use a pasta sauce that you can just throw in and also add any other ingredients that you have. They could be leftover chicken or can of tuna. I usually cook up some beef mince with mushrooms, carrots, peas and maybe any other veggies that I have. Cook up some spiral pasta at the same time. Mix everything together with pasta bake sauce. Pour everything into an oven-safe dish (I use my trusty Pyrex), sprinkle some grated cheese on top. Bake in oven for about 10 mins or until cheese has browned. You may freeze the leftovers.

Quop and I love pasta bakes... I think it is because of it is different to the usual pasta and sauce. The common brands available are Leggos and Dolmio. It does not bother me which brand I get, so long it is on sale :p I usually also try to look out for things like "no artifical flavours, preservatives", etc. I would compare the sodium levels and buy those that have lower salt content, where possible. On that note, the longer the ingredient list, the more 'processed' the food is and perhaps you might want to think twice about buying it (for health reasons). Flavour enhancer 621 is MSG (and they only list the number and not tell you what it is). I'd try to avoid that where possible. See the list of food additives to avoid.

I have kind of stopped buying pasta sauces, only buying pasta bakes every now and then. The reason is that I realist pasta sauces are really not difficult to cook from scratch and it is healthier too. (I shall enter more recipes in future. Look out for the category on pasta) The new 'friend' I made is Woolies home brand tomato paste. It is cheap (under A$2 for this 500g jar) and versatile. You can use it as a base on pizzas, spread lightly on your bread, use some (plus stock) for your pasta sauce (do not just use this as itself is very salty). This is also an ingredient if you make a beef stew, shepherd's pie, etc. I'd say it is good to stock one in your pantry. But once you open it, you have to keep the jar in the fridge.

Kaya on Toast!

If you are a Singaporean like me and you miss the kaya and butter toast from Kopitiam, go buy this Glory nonya kaya. This is imported from Glory in Singapore and looks exactly the same on its label. Each jar cost around A$3+and you can find this at Asian grocery stores (I bought mine from Yuen's Market Square).

There is another Glory brand kaya but it has honey in it and they named it as the hainanese style. Personally (even though I am a hainanese), I prefer the original kaya. Get some frozen bread out of my freezer, toast it. Spread butter while it is still warm and then spread a layer of kaya on top. That is really nice and kinda melts in your mouth. If your Aussie friends ask, you have to tell them that it is coconut jam because they wouldn't know what is "kaya".

Get your kaya now!

Good Source of Protein...

... and that is why they feed you that in the army!

Honestly, I do not like baked beans that much. Quop likes them a lot more than me. But I do know that this is a good source of protein and will last you some time before you feel hungry again. This is good to eat on its own, spread over your toast, go with your mee goreng instant noodles, cooking it with some pork and potatoes with, dip it with your chips.

I think I don't quite like it because this is a common thing they put in your plate if you eat western food at the hawker centres in SG. You will not see that sight in Oz, ever!

Go for it! Home brand, cost about A$1.50 each (425g) and healthy!

The Easy & Healthy Tuna

Tuna and salmon are a good source of 'oily' fish. They contain good amount of the good fat - omega 3 fatty acids. The oiler the fish, the higher the amount of omega 3 fatty acids. If you are conscious of gaining fat (weight), do not cut down on such fishes. Omega 3, in fact, is good for your heart.

You will be happy to know that there is not much nutritional difference between canned tuna and fresh tuna (or as what I was told). The tinned version is just as good and much cheaper. Stock up on a couple of these in your pantry and you will not go hungry.

Small 100g tins - useful for an addition to your rice or noodles when you are in need of a meat or seafood (other than your veggies). This portion is also great to add into your sandwiches/tortilla wrap for lunch or simply just eat it on its own. The good thing is, there are many flavours available and often there are on sale and you have to buy 5-6 at one go, each tin costing between A$0.80-A$1 (depending on brand).

Big 425g tins - great if you want to use it for pasta sauce or salads or you want to make up a big batch of tuna with mayonnaise and have it available in your fridge. But beware to eat it up within 3-4 days. When this is on sale for A$2 at Coles each (about U.P. A$3-4), I will stock up on 2-3 and it lasts me for some time (because I don't eat it often).

So eat your tuna! They are inexpensive, healthy and convenient!