Life is Beautiful

Motherhood, Sewing, Family

Stone Bowl Bibimbap

~ Etc.

We make this AT LEAST once a month. Jay and I could eat this everyday and not get sick of it and is one of Jay’s top 5 favorite Korean foods. It seems like I say this all the time so let me clarify his top 5 in no particular order:

1. Stone Bowl Bibimbap
2. Kalbi (Korean ribs)
3. Bulgogi (Korean beef)
4. Samgyupsal(thick sliced bacon)
5. Samgaetang(chicken soup) AND Kkorigomtang(oxtail soup).
Don’t fret, I got 3 down, I will post the other 3 soon enough. 🙂

Stone Bowl Bibimbap
1. Heat up the stone bowl on medium high heat.
(optional) Put sliced up fresh garlic in the stone bowl with 1/2 T. olive oil and cook till brown and crisp. *This is just my special ingredient I add into it, I’ve never heard of anyone else doing this, but Jay absolutely loves it. You can hardly taste the garlic, it tastes very soft and mild when it’s cooked.

2. Put some rice in the bowl and pat it down so it’s even over the surface.

3. Cook the vegetables and meat all seperately. Season them with salt, pepper, and garlic powder as you cook them. Then add the cooked vegetables and meat on top of the rice. I put zuchini, spinach, mushrooms, sprouts, carrots, and samgyupsal(not shown). Most people put bulgogi or ground beef.

4. Cook the egg so that the whites are cooked while the yolk isn’t. This makes the mixing easier and gives it texture.

5. Mix Korean red paste with corn syrup and sesame seeds according to desire. You want the paste a little sweet but not too sweet. Add the paste to the rice mixture and also sesame oil and mix it all up and bon appetite! (Jay and I put fresh sliced cucumbers and romain lettuce in the end for a more fresh, crunchy taste

*The stone bowl will stay hot and cook the food as you eat. If you don’t have a stone bowl, just put rice in a big bowl and proceed the same method.
Stone Bowl Bibimbap
-Stone bowl(if you don’t have one, just use a bowl)
-*Thinly sliced garlic(optional)
-Vegetables such as carrots, mushrooms, spinach, sprouts, zuchinni all thinly sliced(except spinach).
-Eggs(1 per person)
-Red paste(mixed with corn syrup and sesame seeds)
-Sesame oil
-*Thinly sliced cucumbers and romain lettuce(optional)
1. Heat up the stone bowl on medium high heat.
(optional) Put sliced up fresh garlic in the stone bowl with 1/2 T. olive oil and cook till brown and crisp. *This is just my special ingredient I add into it, I’ve never heard of anyone else doing this, but Jay absolutely loves it. You can hardly taste the garlic, it tastes very soft and mild when it’s cooked.
2. Put some rice in the bowl and pat it down so it’s even over the surface.
3. Cook the vegetables and meat all seperately. Season them with salt, pepper, and garlic powder as you cook them. Then add the cooked vegetables and meat on top of the rice. I put zuchini, spinach, mushrooms, sprouts, carrots, and samgyupsal(not shown). Most people put bulgogi or ground beef.
4. Cook the egg so that the whites are cooked while the yolk isn’t. This makes the mixing easier and gives it texture.
5. Mix Korean red paste with corn syrup and sesame seeds according to desire. You want the paste a little sweet but not too sweet. Add the paste to the rice mixture and also sesame oil and mix it all up and bon appetite!

*The stone bowl will stay hot and cook the food as you eat.

Disney on Ice

~ Etc.

We went to Disney on Ice for Ariana’s birthday weekend.


Adi’s favorite. Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Everytime they left the stage, Adi would say, “Oh no! where did Mickey and Minnie go? Come back Mickey and Minnie!”
Cars. They totally added them to draw more boys in to the show.
Mermaid.
During Lion King when Simba’s dad died, Adalie grabbed my hand and said, “oh no! So sad! Mama, I’m so scared.”

Waving to Mickey everytime he entered the stage.

Priceless.

And you know what the best thing was about this whole show? It was Jay that came home a week before the show and told us he had a surprise for us. Then he told us excitedly that he got us all tickets to Disney on Ice. Isn’t it usually the mom that buys the tickets for the family and the dad just tagging along reluctantly? Haha, he is such a cute daddy.

Nicole Hill’s Photo

~ Etc.

I took a 4 week class from Nicole Hill awhile ago when I first got my Canon xti. I love her photography and I found her photo yesterday when I was browsing my Parents magazine!


(I don’t know why this picture keeps downloading the wrong way!)

Fashion Friday

~ Etc.

So some of you have asked me to start a fashion blog. To this my first response was, “Haha, are you kidding me? you want ME to start a fashion blog? haha,nonsense!” I would never label myself as someone with an amazing taste or style. But I can confidently say I am one of the best bargain shoppers you will ever meet and most times at least one item in my outfit was only $5. So with that said, I will post at least once a week where I get my goods and for how much. Some I will have a link so you can actually buy them! If you’re a high-end shopper and you’re all about brand names, DO prepare to be disappointed because I hardly own brand names and am all about saving money and being frugal. So I don’t care if my clothes are from Wal Mart, or second-hand stores, if they’re cute I buy.

They say a successful man is someone who will never let his wife find her wallet empty. But I say a true successful man is someone who marries a lady who will save, be frugal, and be smart with the money she finds in her wallet.




this is to show off my braces. 😀

(Sorry for the ghetto taking picture through the mirror thing. Until my kids are old enough to take pics, this is what you will get. 😉
Cardigan: Forever 21 $11.99
Shirt: Forever 21 $5.50
Pants: Korea $19
Shoes: Payless $12
Necklace: Charlotte Russe $5

SamGaeTang Recipe

~ Etc.

I decided I’ll post more Asian cooking recipes since we eat Asian food(mostly Korean) about 80% of the time for dinner. I don’t think anyone will complain about that. 🙂 Sorry for all you people out there, but Korean food really is the best food in the world. Okay, Thai food and Chinese and sushi comes very close. 🙂 Even Jay the China Irish man admits Korean food is better than Chinese, GASP~!!! Haha but there are some amazing Chinese dishes out there too, I gotta admit.

So don’t be afraid to try these recipes! I’ve always told people that cooking/baking isn’t hard at all, if you know how to read then you’re a cook! You just need a good recipe to be a good cook. Simple as that. And of course it requires some time, especially when it comes to Korean food. Every dish is really made with TenderLoveCare which I think is wonderful. My mom cooked every single night and I do too and it’s one of the greatest ways to show the family your love. I do apologize for not the most precise measurements of the ingredients since I cook from my head and make it up as I go and not by a recipe.

This is Jay’s top 5 favorite Korean food. 😉
SamGaeTang
1 Whole chicken
7-10 Garlic cloves
10 Dried dates*
2-3 Dried ginseng*
Salt & pepper to taste
1 C. green onions
*dried dates and dried ginseng can be bought at Asian markets. FYI: the dried ginsengs are quiet expensive, my mom brings me some from Korea and it’s about $100 a small bag. That’s why this is considered a gourmet food, a little pricey but very healthy and nutritious. If you don’t want to use ginseng, then just make it without, it’ll still taste good. 🙂
Fill a big pot with water and bring it to a boil. Put in a whole chicken, the water should be covering the entire chicken and some more. Throw in garlic, dates and ginseng. Bring it to a boil. Then turn the heat to medium heat and cover with a little opening in one corner. It should be boiling gently. Let it boil for 3 hrs. The meat should be very soft and it should be falling of the bones by touch. Poke at the meat with a fork and get all the meat out and throw the bones away. Don’t worry about getting all the small bones out.
Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve it with sweet white rice or white rice and top it with chopped green onions.