absolutely pooped now after having done all the following in one night:
♥ cooked dinner
♥ formulated a proposal: discussion and submission, then editing in accordance with suggestions made
♥ laundry for two (which brought with it more than a few raised eyebrows and curious stares. ok so my laundry basket does look pretty strange with articles of men's clothing in it)
dinner turned out pretty ok after all... if you add one bad portion and one good portion and average it. mine was burnt to a crisp and bordered on being inedible. it certainly looked quite toxic. whereas tom's baked rice actually smelled heavenly and tasted yummy. sigh.
if there's one thing i've learnt from this fiasco, it's that things are never what they seem. if you've got baked rice in the microwave, the cheese may look far from done but it's actually done. keep it in there any longer and it'll lose its elasticity and turn rock-hard, not to mention brown-black instead of a lovely golden-brown.
after i totally screwed up the first one, i was ultra cautious with the second. naturally i reserved the first one for myself. no woman would feed her man burnt food, i think. and i think i might have stumbled on the perfect easy dinner recipe. if you'd like to give hawaiian baked rice a try, here's how i made mine:
♥ first, fill a microwave-safe container with rice to a depth of approximately 1.5cm (or one finger joint).
♥ then, spread a layer of tomato puree (i used Prego's pasta sauce - Traditional) over the rice.
♥ next, cover the sauce with a layer of pineapple chunks, followed by another layer of small squares of ham.
♥ follow this with a generous topping of mozarella cheese.
♥ finally, pop the container into a microwave oven and cook at high heat for five minutes, or until the edges start to turn brown.
only thing is, it's a bit more expensive than the usual simple homecooked meal. the mozarella cheese was just enough for two servings, and it cost $5/pack. then there was the Prego's sauce, $2.70, but we only needed to use 1/3 of the can. the ham was cheap, just under $3, and we used only a quarter of that. i spent just $0.50 on the pineapple - bought a slice to chop up. so all in all, we ate $7.15 worth, while the total amount spent was $11.20.
i think i'll cook again on thursday! clear soup with prawns, egg tofu, and corn. plus a lup cheong omelette, served with rice. mmm.
ying @ 12:07 AM
