Asian Biscuit Snack Bars

My friend, Amy, introduced me to these crazy delicious Asian biscuit snack bars that come individually wrapped inside a cute plastic package with lots of legumes on it; you get a pack of 12 for around $1.59 at Asian Markets. I just look for the "99" or "100" on the outside with all the little beans and grains. I have no idea what these are called because I can't read the packages, but all I know is that they are good and I just call them biscuit snack bars.

When I looked on some packages, I could read one part: the English description of the flavor of the biscuit snack bar. They come in different flavors: milk, egg, onion, laver (seaweed), sesame seed. I like the milk and egg ones the best. They have a nice creamy, almost sweet, but not too sweet flavor on the inside of their tubular shape and a crunchy, crumbly biscuit outside. 

The best part is that Amy told me that these biscuit snack bars are made up of a whole bunch of grains, rice, buck wheat, oatmeal, and legumes (peas and red beans, mung beans, kidney beans, soy beans) and crazy healthy stuff like that, but it doesn't taste like any of that stuff at all--it just tastes like a yummy crunchy cookie biscuit with a thin layer of filling. Depending on the brand and flavor, one biscuit snack bar only has about 44-60 calories and between 4-5g carbohydrates! No MSG either!

These are the perfect little snack to throw in your purse or bag to stave off hunger pangs during the day because they are small, portable and yummy! Sometimes when I'm in a rush, I'll just grab one of these for breakfast to eat with my coffee or stuff it in my purse to munch on later on in the day. It's been a hunger-saver for me and it's one of my new snack addictions, thanks to Amy! 

Cat Power

Cat Power's "Breathless" is such a beautiful song. I love how she is clearly inspired by Bob 
Dylan. She covers his songs quite a bit and does a wonderful job. She has such a distinct, 
earthy voice that just pours emotion and soul. Can't get enough of her--simply exquisite!








Cat Power: "Crying, Waiting, Hoping"







"Love and Communication"





"He was a Friend of Mine" (Bob Dylan cover)





"Lost Someone"





"Half of You"

Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream: FREE Cone Day March 23, 2010

Ben and Jerry's ice cream fans: FREE cone day is Tuesday, March 23, 2010 from 12 pm noon to 8 pm! This is the 32nd Annual free cone day. It's Ben and Jerry's way of saying, "Thanks" to its customers.

Find a Ben and Jerry's near you

Lemonade Recipe

Here's a great lemonade recipe that I used, courtesy of simplyrecipes.com. The shortcut key to making lemonade is the starting proportions: 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of water, 1 cup of lemon juice.

I had to use up some freshly picked lemons that a nice gentleman gave me while I was walking down the street with my friend and our kids. He was pruning his lemon tree and just asked us if we wanted some, because otherwise they were just going in the compost bin. So, I took a bagful gratefully and vowed to make some lemonade with them. I only made about half a batch of what the recipe below calls for, but that's because I wanted it to fit in my nifty glass bottle! I used half a cup of lemon juice, less than half a cup of the simple syrup and 3 cups of water. I didn't want the lemonade to be too sweet or tart, so I diluted it.

INGREDIENTS


1 cup sugar (can reduce to 3/4 cup)
1 cup water (for the simple syrup)
1 cup lemon juice
3 to 4 cups cold water (to dilute)

METHOD

1 Make simple syrup by heating the sugar and water in a small saucepan until the sugar is dissolved completely.

2 While the sugar is dissolving, use a juicer to extract the juice from 4 to 6 lemons, enough for one cup of juice.

3 Add the juice and the sugar water to a pitcher. Add 3 to 4 cups of cold water, more or less to the desired strength. Refrigerate 30 to 40 minutes. If the lemonade is a little sweet for your taste, add a little more straight lemon juice to it.

Serve with ice, sliced lemons.


The secret to perfect lemonade is to start by making sugar syrup, also known as "simple syrup." Dissolving the sugar in hot water effectively disperses the sugar in the lemonade, instead of having the sugar sink to the bottom.

Cheers, to the generous good samaritan who gave me these lemons! YUM!

I liked it so much, I gave it away...

So, this one is called, "I liked it so much, I gave it away!"

Alas, March has arrived. This is my birthday month, but instead of receiving presents, I'd much rather give one away. So, here's the deal:

1. I will give something away to one of my blog readers this month;

2. To be considered, simply add a comment under your favorite blog post and explain why it's your favorite (after your comment, please write "participate" in parenthesis, so I know that you want to participate in this giveaway, otherwise I won't know who is commenting to participate and who is just commenting without knowing about this contest...and only those who have read this posting will know about the contest, so it's all about loyal readers.);

3. I will put everyone's name in a jar who wants to participate, and at the end of March, I'll draw a name. The winner will receive the giveaway, and I will post a blog with the winning comment in April. (Please note: I cannot ship internationally at this time, so I'm very sorry about that. If this contest is successful, then I'll try to do more in the future.)

*** This is just my humble way of saying, "Thank you" to all the readers who have supported me and have continued to read my blog.

And now for the giveaway:

I've decided to give away a set of 12 homemade cloth napkins (which can also double as handkerchiefs). Now, to some, cloth napkins might not seem like a great giveaway, but I worked really hard on sewing these and it literally takes me hours to make a complete set (there's a lot of ironing and pinning and unpinning, cutting and so forth that goes on). So, these napkins are all about my blood, sweat and tears at nighttime, when I can sneak in some moments to sew a little here and there. The idea behind these napkins is that if you use them, then hopefully it will cut down on the number of paper napkins that are used each year. I know some people don't want to buy cloth napkins because they can be pretty pricey (and add up quickly!), especially if you want to buy enough so you can use them on a daily basis. That's why I started making my own napkins! By making my own napkins, I have essentially been able to stop buying napkins at the store. I just throw my napkins in the wash and one set usually lasts me a week or so (before needing to be washed again).

Please keep in mind that I am still a beginner sewer, so these are a more of a labor of love than a work of absolute perfection. But they still work great as napkins. I wish I were a master seamstress like my sister-in-law, who taught me how to make these!

And so begins the beginning of my birthday month and a new part of my blog: "I liked it so much, I gave it away!"


Good Luck! I can't wait to see who wins!

The Children's Place SALE Coupon Codes: 15% off + Free Shipping

The Children's Place is having an extra 15% off sale, plus they a free shipping offer. My friend just told me that now through 3/16, The Children's Place is taking 15% off sitewide with new coupon code FAMILYA9. Use this coupon code to get free shipping: FSFEB2010, though that may not last through 3/16. Combine those with their already ridiculously low prices from their winter clearance (inventory as low as $2.99 before discount) and you can mark down most items to new all-time lows for 2010. Check out their sections for Newborns, Baby Girls, Baby Boys, Big Girls, and Big Boys. Sales tax is charged in most states.


This is a good time to stock up on clothes for later--kids grow so fast, after all! Supplies, sizes and quantities are limited, of course, so it's all about the luck of the draw that day!


Happy shopping and remember to input the coupon codes when you check out!

Korean Roasted Seaweed

The hunt for Korean roasted seaweed continues, and so far, Korean Woorigohyang Seasoned Seaweed has the best deal available! Finally, seaweed that comes with more than three packs at a time! Woorigohyang Seasoned Seaweed comes in a 9 pack for only $2.99!!  You can find this delicious product at Silver View Supermarket in Chinatown (259 10th Street, Oakland, CA 94507. TEL: 510-834-2388). 

There are only 35 calories in one pack of Woorigohyang Seasoned Seaweed. This brand is surprisingly high in fat (good fats?), though, due to the roasting oils used (3g), but low in carbohydrates (2g) and (1g) protein. It still beats a bag of chips, though, so I can't complain!

I've had to look for alternative brands to Trader Joe's Roasted Seaweed because they have been sold out of it for weeks and have not restocked their shelves! I've heard they are having a warehouse issue, so they don't know when they will be getting the roasted seaweed back in the stores. Even when they do have this product in stock, it mysteriously disappears off the shelves in a blink of an eye--it's a highly coveted product!

In the mean time, I have been on the hunt for good alternative roasted seaweed snacks that are readily available at Asian markets! The Woorigohyang Seasoned Seaweed comes with 10 rectangular sheets. I liked this brand, except it has a slightly stronger seaweedy aftertaste than the other brands I've tried. It's still good, though. At $2.99/9 packs, it's definitely a bargain!

One interesting thing I have learned through this new seaweed addiction is that seaweed is referred to "laver" on these packages, either in the ingredients list or on the product description. 

At last, I found another great brand of seaweed, HANASIA Korean roasted seaweed. I found this at Ranch 99 Market in a three pack for $1.59. This one seems to be my alternate favorite seaweed snack. The HANASIA roasted seaweed only has 10 calories per pack and only 0.8g of fat, 1g carbohydrate and 1g of protein per serving. I don't know if the slight difference in taste and nutritional content has to do with the fact that HANASIA seaweed says "Roasted Seaweed" vs. "Seasoned Seaweed" on the Woorigohyang Seaweed.  In any case, both Korean seaweeds have been great substitutes to the otherwise unavailable Trader Joe's Roasted Seaweed.

BREAKING NEWS: I just found HANASIA Korean Roasted Seaweed at a Lucky Supermarket of all places! It was in the Asian food aisle! Someone must have made a special request to stock this item at Lucky, because I have never seen it there before! At Lucky, you get a three pack of HANASIA Korean Roasted Seaweed for $1.49! Wow, that saves me a trip to Ranch 99 and Chinatown! The packaging is a little different from the above pictured seaweed in purple, though. It looks like this:

One thing that I noticed on the ingredients list of both the HANASIA roasted seaweed and the Woorigohyang seasoned seaweed was "perilla oil." I had never heard of perilla oil before and so I had to look up this mysterious new oil. According to Wikipedia, perilla oil is a very rich source of omega-3 fatty acid alpha-linolenic acid:

"Perilla oil is obtained from the seeds of perennial herbs of the genus Perilla, usually Perilla frutescens. The seeds contain 35 to 45 percent oil which is obtained by pressing. Perilla oil is used along with synthetic resins in the production of varnishes. Perilla oil dries in less time than linseed oil and on drying forms a film that is harder and yellows more than that formed by linseed oil. The paint and varnish industry accounts for the largest usage. Perilla oil also is important in the manufacture of printing inks and linoleum, and in more ancient times was a critical component in creating durable earthen floors.
In parts of Asia, perilla oil is used as an edible oil that is valued more for its medicinal benefit than its flavor. Perilla oil is a very rich source of the omega-3 fatty acid alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). About 50 to 60% of the oil consists of ALA.

In Korea, perilla is mainly cultivated in Chungcheong, Gyeongsang, and Jeolla Province, so the locals there consume perilla oil a lot. In Korean cuisine, it is used for marinating namul (seasoned vegetable dish), coating grilled gim (Korean laver), or pan-frying jeon (pancake-like dish),[1] where it is called deul gireum (들기름) or beopyu (법유, 法油) in Korean.[2] In North Korea, it is called deulkkae gireum (들깨기름)."

Isn't this a pretty plant? Perilla frutescens, var. japonica

Apparently, some people take perilla oil softgels for health benefits! I guess this is another great reason to enjoy Korean roasted seaweed--it has perilla oil! 

(NOTE: Trader Joe's Roasted Seaweed does not list perilla oil in the ingredients, even though it is a product of Korea; only certain Korean brands use perilla oil.)