In My Pant… ry

In my pantry, you will find lots of processed, high sodium, carb-loaded, high fructose foods that Jillian Michaels would not APPROVE of. The truth is… IF I did have an all natural and organic diet with low sodium, and low carbs, I would most likely have a normal BMI but the reality is, I don’t.

I’m not proud of my pantry, but it is what is is. I strive to cook at least 5 meals a week and its tough to do without having side dishes that can be prepared in 10 mins from boxes or cans or pasta that can be cooked in 15 minutes or less. I do sometimes try to prepare my meals ahead but that doesn’t always work.

I also like to keep supplies and non perishable ingredients on hand. I hate going to the supermarket for just one thing.. I like to stock up on my dry goods and i’m also a fan of buying meats on sale and freezing it. I know this may be frowned upon by many people, but at least I will be able to whip something up for dinner for unexpected guests.

Sometimes I even try to lie to the Mo and say, “there’s nothing to make for dinner, let’s go out!” but he usually knows I’m lying and he checks the pantry and freezer, and find something to suggest that I make.

Kim’s Pantry Staples
Pasta- You can always find something to make with pasta

Canned Spaghetti Sauce– I use this as the primary base to my pasta sauce and add my own special ingredients and fresh tomato and other vegetables

Canned Tuna Fish – Easy Lunch option for the days I forget to buy lunch meat to pack the Mo’s lunch

Boxed Rice – Love all varieties, (Spanish, rice Pilaf, chicken).. it goes good with any meat dish

Chicken Broth– I can make hundreds of soups out of chicken broth, easy soup dishes, just add chicken or seafood and pasta or vegetables

Product Review- Cuckoo 10 Cups Rice Cooker

A rice cooker is a staple in every Asian household. When we bought our house, we were given a few hand me downs from my mother and sister. It would only last a few months before the rice would turn yellow after several hours in the “keep warm” mode or the rice just wouldn’t cook at all. After the the last one gave up, I decided that I wanted to spend an extra few bucks for a quality rice cooker and not a budget one from the local Cambodian markets. After doing several hours of research and getting a recommendation from my friend Nat, we decided to shell out the money for a Cuckoo CRP-G1015F.

Cuckoo Pressure Cooker CRP-G1015F

To my surprise, we were able to buy it online through Bestbuy.com , earning  Best Buy rewards points in addition to using a 10% coupon.

The rice cooker features a “Turbo” function that really works and really does cook the rice in under 20 minutes. This is awesome for when I need to make multiple batches of rice for making trays of Cambodian fried rice or having lots of people over to feed.

It also has various cooking functions for brown rice, sushi rice, porridge, chicken soup and other functions that I have yet to try.

My favorite part is when it speaks Korean to alert you that the rice is done. This usually takes people by surprises, sometimes even scares people.  I know for a fact that both my father and nephew, Nick has been startled by  the talking machine.

Just a little warning that I would not place the rice cooker underneath any Kitchen cabinets as it does release a large amount of hot steam prior to completion of the cooking cycle. I would imagine that overtime, this would cause some wear and tear towards the cabinets.  We leave ours on our dining room table.

Overall, I love my rice cooker and would recommend it to anyone who is in the market for a rice cooker.

Large Batch of Fried Rice Rice Made Using the Cuckoo Rice Cooker

My Workstations

I’d like to pretend that this is how my kitchen always looks, but the truth is.. its usually full of clutter. On the counter, you would normally find my gym bags, wristlet, keys, coupons, wallets, ID’s, etc.. you know how it is.. on the back counter, I usually leave condiments, protein shakes, glasses lying around, I just wanted to take a pretty picture and pretended I had a kitchen that looked like it came out of a magazine.

In addition to my regular kitchen, I’ve had some makeshift kitchens when we were remodeling, or when we were camping.. or when I just didn’t want to cook in the kitchen.

I was actually excited to get this for my 26th birthday from my cousin and aunt. Its an outdoor burner. I like to use it when I don’t want to stink up my house. Some Asian dishes takes more than an Electrolux fan to blow out the strong smell.