House of Tsang Winner

Happy hump day all!  

I'm WAY late posting the winner of the House of Tsang giveaway.  My apologies!  So, without further ado, the winner is comment #8...

jwfongFeb 16, 2012 02:10 PM

I'd like to try the kobe steak grill sauce :)

Thanks to those who entered!!

Bye for now!!

Camera Randomness

Good morning!  Is everyone enjoying the weekend thus far?  This is a 3 day weekend for us thanks to Monday being family day!  Looking forward to NO alarm tomorrow morning.  LOL  Anyways, the kids are busy watching movies this morning so I decided it was high time to clean up the pictures that have been lingering on my camera.  Thought I’d share a few with you!
First, last Friday we went to Casey’s for dinner and I was (happily) surprised to see that they now have a gluten free menu!  I haven’t had pasta in a restaurant for ages so I dove right into a bowl of Jambalaya with corn penne.  The flash went off when I took the picture so I took another of the leftovers that I ate for lunch yesterday:  Nicely done!  I also enjoyed a PB ice cream/brownie “mini” dessert. I’m not a fan of whipped cream so that went to Jason’s dessert, but I was all over the brownies!!  YUM!
Speaking of pasta, I’ve collected a few noodle-y meals on the ole camera: The above was from a bit ago, but I remember it because I had made a wicked seafood sauce!
^^^Pad Thai; also from Casey’s back in the summer…^^^
^^^Rice noodles with homemade clam sauce^^^
  ^^^Rice pasta bakes with ground turkey, spinach and provolone cheese.
I’ve also seem to have collected many breakfast pictures over the last few months: And eggs!  I seem to eat more eggs than I thought!  I’m a little quirky with my eggs in that I really don’t like them for breakfast.  I mainly eat them for lunch or, on occasion, for a quick dinner.  
Here’s a coupla kitten pictures! What a face!!   :)  I think I’ll leave the photos at that.  There’s plenty more, but I’d like to get them in some sort of order for a proper post!  :)
Before I go I wan tot remind you to check out the House of Tsang giveaway I’m hosting.  There’s still time to enter!!
Bye for now!!

House of Tsang-Review & Giveaway

A few weeks ago I was offered the opportunity to try and review 6 different sauces and oils from the House of Tsang product line.

 -          House of Tsang® Bangkok Padang Peanut Sauce

-          House of Tsang® General Tsao Sauce

-          House of Tsang® Ginger Flavored Soy Sauce

-          House of Tsang® Sesame Seed Oil

-          House of Tsang® Sweet & Sour Stir Fry Sauce

-          House of Tsang® Hibachi Grill Sauce Kobe Steak

I was happy to do so because we've been in a bit of a supper rut lately and I knew it would be the perfect way to jazz things up.  I'll show you how I used each product and then tell you what you could win at the end.  :)  Here's a bit of background info first, though:

Food is an important part of the Chinese Lunar New Year celebration and certain foods are included for their symbolic value: noodles are served for longevity, oranges for wealth and prosperity and a whole fish for abundance and togetherness. The Chinese New Year began on January 23, 2012 and ushers in the Water Dragon. The year promises to be full of excitement, exhilaration and also lots of celebration!  Whether you're looking for an Asian meal on the go or just want to give your favourite dishes a different twist,House of Tsang® products bring the flavors of Asia into your kitchen. With House of Tsang® sauces and oils you can mix and match to make memorable, flavorful dishes you’ll love—right in your own home.

First I used the General Tsao sauce to make a quick chicken stir fry with green bell pepper and basmati rice:

Can you believe I've never tried General Tsao sauce before?!  The spiciness was a nice surprise; I quite enjoyed it!  Our next meal included the Ginger Flavoured Soy Sauce, the Sweet & Sour Sauce and the Pure Sesame Oil.  I used the following ingredients to make a play on fried rice:

 The first step was to cook a 1/2 cup of quinoa in 1 cup of water for 15 mins then I quickly scrambled the egg and set it aside.  I chopped the onion and sautéed it with some garlic, added the quinoa to the pan along with the egg and 1 cup of peas.  Once everything was heated through I added a few good shakes of the ginger soy sauce and a little sesame oil.  While the quinoa was coming together I had another pan going with some chicken breasts.  When they were cooked through I added the Sweet & Sour sauce and dinner was served!

THIS was a delicious meal!  I used the Kobe Steak Sauce to make a nice stir fry the other night.  I simply combined some leftover roast beef, mushrooms and a tomato with about a 1/4 cup of the sauce.  I served it over pasta with a side of broccoli:

Here's Noah's plate, minus the broccoli, all mixed up:

This sauce had a nice tangy flavour, but by the end of my meal I found it a bit salty.  Keep in mind that this is probably more a marinade than a stir fry sauce, though!  :)  And last, but not least, the Peanut Sauce!  I had plans for this one right off the bat, but it took a few nights before I could actually get to it.  I made a chicken pizza!

I topped a (gluten free) crust with some tomato sauce then topped it with chicken breast strips and roasted red peppers that I tossed with the peanut sauce.  A bit of cheddar cheese sealed the deal.

Yum, Yum, Yum!!!  We all really enjoyed these products and I can't wait to cook with them again.  Certainly makes for a quick, easy and tasty meal that doesn't take forever to cook.

So friends, how would you like to win exactly what I've reviewed for you here?  Here's what is up for grabs:

This prize contains the 6 sauces, marinades and oil that I received as well as some beautiful chopsticks; a $25.00 value!  To enter, please complete the following (easy) steps:

1) You must "like" the House of Tsang Facebook page
2) Tell me which sauce you'd cook with first

That all, folks!  PLEASE BE SURE TO LEAVE 2 SEPARATE COMMENTS!!  That doubles your chances of winning!  You'll have until Sunday, February 19 to enter and I will randomly select a winner on Monday February 20.  Best of luck to all!


Bye for now!!

In 45 Days....

THIS will be my view....

We have booked a little family getaway!  It's been 14yrs since we've traveled....our honeymoon to be exact.  I can't wait to get on the beach although I will admit that I'm not too fancy about the travel to *get* there.  LOL  The last time we went to Mexico (not our destination this time) our experience was less than stellar in every respect and has made me gun shy about going anywhere ever since.

Here's where all you seasoned travelers come in;  Please leave me a comment telling me your top 5 travel tips!!  I need advice!  I will say that we are going to the Dominican Republic, but will reveal our exact spot upon our return for safety reasons....

Looking forward to what you have to say!!

Bye for now!

Somebody Turned 10!!

It's official; this past Saturday Noah turned 10!  Double digits, yo!  Somewhere along the line my kids have grown up on me.  Yikes!

The birthday boy started his day off lounging around the house playing video games and just chilling in general.  Between school, hockey and soccer he doesn't see much down time so I'm glad that he had the chance to just relax for the morning.  Later on in the afternoon he had a hockey game which cut into any "birthday party" time we could have had.  There's no way I was going to let the day go by without some friend festivities so I got the OK from his coach to bring in cupcakes and juice boxes for the boys to enjoy in the change room after the game.  Let me tell you; 17 nine year old's (Noah is the "oldest" on the team) can sing Happy Birthday pretty damn loud!  LOL

Noah's choice of vanilla cupcakes with chocolate frosting topped with peanut butter M&M's were a HUGE hit!  Silly me didn't even think to take a picture before hand!  Oops!  You can just see them here:

We hung out at the rink to watch another game before heading to Noah's restaurant of choice, East Side Mario's for dinner.  Not my fave.  In fact, I haven't been there since I was preggers with him!  BUT...the fact that he's never been is why he picked it.  And he LOVED it there so it's all good.  We ordered some stuffed mushrooms to share:

I ate one of those.  Would it be sad to say that the one mushroom I ate was the best part of the meal???  Moving along, East Side's famous salad and bread was up next.  I actually do like the salad they serve...

The rest of the family ate Caesar salad and the bread, of course.  Seeing as this is mainly a pasta type restaurant, my dinner choices were limited to say the least.  I ended up choosing the salmon with veg and potatoes in place of fettuccine Alfredo:

Dry salmon, deep fried "roasted" potatoes and veg drowning in....something.  Ugh...so not worth the $18.96. I will say though that I took the leftovers home with me and had them for lunch yesterday.  They tasted much better! Sarah was so impressed with her lasagna that she took a picture of it for you guys!

This was actually a HUGE piece.  My girl can eat and she only made it halfway through this beast.  Hehe!  Noah ordered good ole spaghetti and meatballs which he loved, loved, loved.  He said they were the best meatballs he's ever eaten.  I'm not at all offended by that.  *wink wink*  I somehow didn't get a picture of his pate....hmmm....trust me when I say the portion was as extravagant as Sarah's lasagna and that he's enjoyed his leftovers 2 days in a row in his Thermos.  The best part of the night for all of us was dessert.  And this is only because of the birthday cheer they sing at East Side.  The waiter brought a birthday brownie decked out with a sparkler and after having Noah stand on the seat had all the staff and restaurant goer's sing happy birthday.  Aside from being a little scared of getting burned, he sucked up the attention like a champ!

All in all a GREAT day!  I just can't believe how fast a decade flew by.  Seems like yesterday that he was still in diapers.  HAHA!  Have you celebrated any birthday's lately?

Bye for now!!