A mismatched Aranici and the almost perfect roasted chicken

I was spring cleaning my freezer this morning. There was a slight gap between the freezer door and therefore, "shaved ice" has been accumulating in the freezer. I was clearing the "shaved" ice from the freezer with a spoon into a bowl. I had my little helper with me. She was happily helping me remove the shaved ice. After a couple minutes, she came to me and said, "Mom, can u give me more shaved ice?" I was curious and asked why. She replied, "coz I want to build a snowman!"

This little helper of mine has a creative mind. When she was merely 4 years old, she was helping her dad by sweeping the floor as her dad was drilling the wall and after a couple minutes, she said to her dad, "Daddy, can you drill more?" Daddy was curious and asked why. She replied, "Coz I want to build a sandcastle!"

Now, back to the recipes I've tested. Here and again, two recipes from Just a Taste caught my attention....the Aranici (Cheesy Rice balls) and the Simple Roast Chicken with Garlic and Lemon. These two recipes my family and I had over the weekend immediately became a hit.

However and again, I did some variations to the Aranici. It is actually my first time preparing Aranici. I had slight trouble shaping the rice into ball-like-shape. It did not stick too well. According to Just a Taste, the best rice to use for this recipe is sushi rice. What I had at home was 15 grain rice and basmati rice. So, I opt for the latter. True enough, it did not "stick" too well.

I added dried oregano on top of the original recipe. Instead of parmesan cheese, I used sharp cheddar cheese and skipped the marinara sauce. Honestly, I was struggling to shape the rice in the beginning. Each time I dip the rice balls into the egg, it somehow "disintegrated". At the end, what I did was....I mixed the rice with breadcrumbs. And it works! The rice finally stuck together!

My Aranici...the mismatched shapes prepared by an amateur.

While I was working on the Aranici, I already had the chicken in the oven. I followed the recipe without any variations. It took about 2 hours to actually roast the chicken. Below is my final product. It's simple yet delicious. Recommended recipe.

My Simple Roast Chicken with Garlic and Lemon.

If you have any variations, please do share with us.

Have a blessed day!

Banana Chocolate Poppers

I came across an interesting easy-to-do dessert as I was browsing Just a taste...a very well collected site with interesting recipes which the photos alone was enough to make me salivate.

It's a simple yet appetizing dessert called "Banana Chocolate Wonton Poppers."

Picture on the right is taken from Just a taste.


However, I did some variations to my liking. Instead of using wanton skin, I substitute it with store bought frozen puff pastry. The ingredients are easy to get. I used dark chocolate bits, mixed nuts of hazelnuts, almonds, and sunflower seeds and not forgetting bananas.

There is no specific measurement to this recipe. The photos shown are the steps that I have taken to prepare the delicious sweet pastry.

Cut out the pastry...I used round ring cutter. I put 4 chocolate bits to each pastry.

Sprinkle chopped nuts onto the chocolate bits.

Top with a banana slice or two.

Once all the pastries all filled, cover the fillings with yet another puff pastry. Crimp the edges with a fork to seal and brush the pastry with egg wash. Baked at about 180 degrees.

The final product.

There you go! My kids had 3-4 servings each. It's quite a hit in the family. Will definitely bake this again.

The fillings are pretty healthy I must say. Adapted from Dr Mercola's site, some of the Dark Chocolate's Health Secrets are:

- Anti-inflammatory
- Lowers Alzhelmer's risk
- Anti-diabetic and anti-obesity
- Reduce stress hormones
- May help extend lifespan
- And many more

If your have different variations, do share it us. Happy
baking!

Calories:
Puff pastry (one serving): 65
Dark Chocolate: 6
Nuts: 15g
Banana: 5

The kangkong story...

Well, well, well....I was seriously blur when my fb was flooded with different kangkong stories.  Once upon a time, my hubby was asking..."what's the kangkong story about?" "errr....I don't know lah" I replied. Checked what my friends were actually talking about...."oh....now I know". Duh!!! I don't watch news nor read any local newspaper. It's full of lies, so why waste money on it. So, I didn't read about the kangkong price drop. Only got the info from fb.... Why in the world would he use kangkong as the example....sole example I believe. I don't eat kangkong everyday. What we use everyday is water, electricity, rice (for me lah), petrol for most of us....I didnt vote for "Barang Naik" ya. Reduce those necessities dear PM and the rakyat will be more than grateful. Since the kangkong price drop, we shall eat more kangkong lor. I would usually buy food that is in season because the prices are relatively reasonable. My family and I simply love chili/sambal. Almost every meal we would have curry or chili or something related. If not, I would have a container of sambal tumis in the fridge. When it's rainy season, chili price will shoot up. So, I won't buy chili lor. What I do is, I stocked up dried chili when it's cheap and I grow my own chili!!! My chili plant doesn't harvest that much but still...it's homegrown..it's organic! Let's go back to the kangkong story. We should give credit to our PM since he drop the price of kangkong hor? Copycat mom copied the following from John Swannack's blog about the benefits of kangkong/water spinach... "Water spinach does far more than delight taste buds, however: Its nutritional properties will wow you and strengthen your body. To start with, water spinach’s generous crunch means it is high in fiber, promoting digestive health and regularity. Magnesium, vitamin A and vitamin C abound in water spinach, which is low calories like all other green vegetables. Studies have shown the plant helps control blood sugar levels and can even fight bacterial infections." If I do buy kangkong, I love to stir-fry it with sambal belacan. Talking about it makes me salivate now..:(. If I'm out for a meal, I love to order the sotong kangkong dish with rojak sauce.... My kangkong sambal recipe: 300g kangkong 1/2 rice bowl shallots 1 rice bowl cut red chili 1 tsp belacan Method: Blend all the ingredients except kangkong of course till fine paste. Fry the paste until fragrant. Add kangkong, stir fry for a couple of mintues till kangkong is cooked thoroughly. So simple rite? Do share if you have any kangkong recipes that you have tested and taste yummy!

Copy cat mom is about copying recipes from other blogs but adjusted to my family's liking..:-), copying natural remedies, copying ideas for house decorating, gardening..etc. I'm a wife to a loving husband, a mom to 3 awesome kids, a daughter to 2 amazing couple and a sister to 2 forever-knitted siblings. Im a homemaker who loves to cook, bake, read, googling, cleaning and more. I'm a die-hard fan of natural remedies, cooking from scratch, and a health-freak..well..sort of. Follow me as I post my daily cookings from googling, recipes from baba/Nyonya and gongzhau heritage, natural remedies I've personally tested, places we hv visited etc...sound like a boring blog huh? But I hope mine will be different and be able to touch and change lives!