LEAH's Kitchen: Spinach Chicken Cheese Burger

I came across this #spinachburger on Pinterest and felt that the burger was quite peculiar in a way. I don't usually eat spinach in a burger. My mom cooks spinach in a soup form or stir-fry in a Asian-style as a side dish. But the picture that I saw was very tempting. It looks yummy and pretty easy to make so I decided to give it a try.

 

Spinach Chicken Cheese Burger

Ingredients:

100gm of butter

3 x cloves of garlic (chopped)

1 x onion (chopped)

1 x packet of oyster mushroom

1 x packet of spinach (without stems)

1 x red bell pepper (cut into cubes)

Light soya sauce

Oyster sauce

Salt

Black pepper (grounded)

Chicken parts, boneless (cut into small pieces)

Tomato (sliced)

Cheddar cheese slices

Hamburger buns

 

Instructions:

1. Melt butter in a frying pan. Sautee mushroom for about 5 minutes.
2. Add garlic and onion. Sautee again
3. Add chicken and red pepper. Sautee till chicken is cooked.
4. Add a little light soya sauce and oyster sauce.
5. Add spinach. Finish off with salt and black pepper to taste. Place filling aside.
6. Cut hamburger buns and slightly toast them in the oven.
7. From bottom up, placed tomato slice, chicken filling and top it with cheese.
8. Wrap the burger in foil. Place it in the oven 200 degrees celcius for about 20 minutes till the cheese melt. Enjoy.

Healthy Rating:

5/5. I used wholemeal buns and there are loads of goodness stuff in that burger.

LEAH's Kitchen: Grilled Salmon served with Caprese Salad

I was craving for #caprese salad as I browse through the photos taken during my trip to Europe. I gave that idea to Mr. Husband if he wants that as a meal and he frowned, "No meat?"

Seriously? What a carnivore! LOL. Ok, Mr. Husband. You asked for it, you will get it :)

The caprese salad is pretty heavy on its own and hence, I decided on fish as the main "meat", and decided on #grilledsalmon for this meal...

Grilled Salmon with Lemon Butter Sauce served with Italian Caprese Salad

Ingredients:

200gm of salmon fillet

2 x tomatoes (sliced)

1 x lemon (freshly squeezed)

1 x garlic (finely chopped)

Fresh basil leaves

Butter

Grounded black pepper

Sugar

Salt

Mozzarella cheese (sliced)

Olive Oil

Balsamic vinegar

 

Instructions:

Grilled Salmon

1. To make the sauce, melt butter in a sauce pan and add a small amount of lemon to taste, garlic, sugar and pepper. If you are using unsalted butter, add a little bit of salt. For a creamier sauce, you can add fresh cream to make the sauce thicker.
2. Season salmon with generous serving of pepper and salt, and a little amount of olive oil. On a frying pan, spread olive oil just enough to grill the salmon. Cook salmon at all side till it turn golden brown.
3. Plate the cooked salmon and pour the lemon butter sauce on it. Sprinkle pepper and basil leaves as garnish

Caprese Salad

1. Plate the tomatoes, with cheese and basil leaves.
2. Pour a little of olive oil and balsamic vinegar

My Healthy Rating:

The fattening stuff we have here is the mozzarella cheese.

Hence, eat in moderation and I'm sure you will be fine :)

My 7 New Year Resolutions for 2014

It seems pretty outdated to jot down my new year resolution for 2014 but it's better to be late than never right? Anyway, Lunar New Year is coming soon so does that count? LOL.

When I first started this blog, my first post was vaguely about the new year resolution for 2013 as well (read it here: A New Year, A New Beginning). Never had I thought that I will continue blogging up till now. Well, I used to pen down my daily thoughts in a diary when I was little up till my Poly days. Electronic seems like a much better choice nowadays but I still like keeping it personal.

My husband and I have this practise whereby we write our goals for the new year on little pieces of paper, fold them and keep it in a bottle, and review them on the last day of the year. We have been doing it for years except for this year (had been pretty busy lately). I guess we will get around to doing it before this month ends.

Meanwhile, collectively, I have thought about my resolution for the new year;

Credit: Surviving College

Ok. I'm kidding. I quit drinking donkey years ago. And, I don't do drugs.

1. Build a Happy Marriage Life with my One and Only Husband
Still in the marriage bliss, I am definitely enjoying my marriage life; doing the laundry, preparing lunch box for my husband, housekeeping, and listening to his snores every night, etc. Yes, you are right. I'm kidding again. Do you think I will seriously enjoy these? LOL. Well, I would not say I hate it because my hubby is a rare gem. He help me with these chores without complaining and he does it better than me at times. Henceforth, as a reward, I shall shower him with lots of love, care and concern everyday. I think the immediate resolution is to be less short-tempered.

 

Credit: Pigroll

2. To Spend More Time and Attention to my Family
Believe it or not, after you get married, you tend to spend more time with your family. It was then I realised that while we are growing up, they are growing old. I know that I have not been the most perfect child but I hope to change that. Hopefully this year, I can organise some family outing like a short getaway or even a cosy bbq party.

3. To Complete my House Renovation
Basically no rush for this. I will like to have a simple renovation first involving flooring, ceilings and probably kitchen cabinet. Saving for the house renovation certainly takes time and we want to ensure that every dollar is spent wisely.

Credit: DBS

No, we don't want any bank loans.

Having successfully paid for our recent wedding expenses with no debt or so whatever, we are certain that we can save fully for the house expenses. The tip is, do it slowly but surely. Buy only what you can afford.

4. To Excel in My Career
Well, who doesn't want this? Everyone wants this. The difference is that having a new job for the new year gives me more boost and motivation to perform better. I hope to have this momentum throughout my journey in 2014 and see where I end up eventually in this job.

5. To Continue Acquiring Customers for LCW
If you have been following me previously, LCW stands for Leah Creative Works. I am doing freelance designing under this company name. So far, my portfolio have earned 3 corporate customers; 1 by recommendation and 2 by affiliation. It's similar to a Creative Agency except that I simply help companies to design logos and any other marketing collaterals such as namecards, brochures, banner etc. I really hope to build up my portfolio gradually and do some marketing to acquire new customers but my recent project took so much of my energy that I wonder if I can keep up the pace as a sideline. Nevertheless, let's see till the end of this year.

Credit: Life of Elle Calgary

6. To Continue My Healthy Eating and Living
It has been a great 2013! I have achieved a habit of eating clean and living healthily, and stomach abs! I just need to keep up with the pace of exercising 2-3 times weekly and ensure I don't go for food binge often. Hubby said that I have become too skinny for his liking, so I probably will have to cut down on my running and do more workouts instead. I hope to be able to do pull-ups by end of the year!

7. To have a APULEAH Junior!
This is still undecided. We will hit 26 this year and I guess it's almost time we have a baby. Also, since we have been together for a good 9 years, what's there to find out more about each other? LOL.
Probably after we save up for our house renovation, we will consider to have a junior :D

That's all folks. I'm in the office and I better start working.

Leah A A

Eating Clean and Training Mean is Addictive

Ever since my last Phuket holiday this year, I dreamed of that perfect body every single day - the "washboard-like" tummy where no solid layers of fats will appear whenever I sit or squat. I get very self-conscious whenever my belly fats starts folding like nobody's business. Urgh. Well, it's not as if I haven't been working out, I did go running once a week but my belly fats seemed so stubborn.

Credits: Brimtime

From then on, exercising 2-3 times weekly had been my goal and I had achieved this momentum. But the result was still not satisfying -- my belly fats just didn't want to go away! Desperate, I turn to motivational pages on instagram and did a research on the web. I have always believe that one should just eat what they feel like eating in life as long as it is in moderation, and of course, to exercise regularly. My research seems to prove otherwise. That is when, I discovered the beauty of +EatingClean TrainingDirty.

Eating clean really works wonder. My favourite reference for creating healthy meal is Videomeals where I pick some ideas here and there and make it my own. My progress has been successful. Many have commented that I have lost weight and wondered if I went on a strict diet. STOP!

Get it, no? Lol. Well, I'm not a dietician so I can't really be 100% sure that the meals I have created are 100% healthy. But one thing for sure, it do helps when you pay attention to the food items you are selecting which will end up in your body. My secret is to cut down on carbohydrate. When I start to realise that rice will turn to sugar and then, to fats (carbo killer), I freaked out. Talking about rice, I suddenly miss my mom's cooking. When was the last time I had home-cooked rice with dishes???

Below are some of my own creations. Be creative!

Tuna Salad: Lettuce, Chilli Tuna, Fully-Boiled Eggs

Chicken Breast, Sauteed Mushroom and Noodles

Almond and Banana Soya Milkshake with Peanut Butter
1 cup of Almond Soya Milk
1 Banana
1 teaspoon of Peanut Butter

Pre-Workout: Oven Baked Banana with Peanut Butter
Post-Workout: Eff Tofu, Sauteed Mushroom and Shitake Mushroom Chicken Breast

It's really addictive. I feel guilty on my cheat days and make it a point to workout twice as much. Nevertheless, it's a healthy addiction isn't it?

Leah A A