Protein Fiber Bar

Awhile back I mentioned that lil P had gotten tired of eating oatmeal so I have been finding other ways to get him to eat them. I have done muffins but recently I have created this protein fiber bar that lil P is just raving about. Thanks to Pinterest for the idea!

1/8 cup soy milk
1/4 cup chocolate chips (I used half milk choco and half dark choco)
1 packet of instant Quakers High Fiber brown sugar oatmeal (you can use regular packets too)
1 scoop of chocolate Muscle Milk
2 tbs coconut flakes (optional)
Handful of peanuts (I used Planters)

1) In a microwavable bowl, place milk and chocolate chips and microwave it for 20 seconds at a time. Stir until melted.
2) Add in remaining ingredients and stir.
3) Line a rectangular container with saran wrap, then pour mixture in to the container, pack it tight, then cover.
4) Refrigerate until hardens, then take out the bar by lifting saran wrap up.
5) Remove saran wrap, lay it on a cutting board and cut into desired pieces.

You can actually put whatever you want in the bar. Last night I have prepared a rocky road one with some marshmallow, see below. You can add in raisins or crasins, mac nuts, walnuts, etc. Again the possibilities are endless!

with marshmallows

Meat Jun

Meat Jun is apparently only available in Hawaii's Korean restaurants. It is thinly sliced beef fried with egg batter. I love eating it but never thought I would make it but a friend recently asked for the recipe so I asked my coworker (who has korean home lunches everyday made by his wife) how to make it. I tweaked the recipe a bit so here's my take:

1/8 inch thick rib eye or sirloin tip (ask the butcher to cut for you)
1-1 1/2 c shoyu
2 tbs sugar
2 tbs sesame oil
4 clove of garlic (chopped)
dash of black pepper
flour (1 cup at a time)
eggs, beaten (I buy the carton and I add more as needed)

1) Marinade beef with shoyu, sugar, sesame oil, and garlic. refrigerate overnight.
2) Dust each slice of meat with flour, place them on wax paper and let flour moisten into to meat alittle.
3) When every piece is dusted and moisten with flour, dip eah piece in beaten egg, then fry in oil on both sides until light golden brown.
4) Remove from oil, drain cooked meat with paper towel over newspaper or brown paper bag to absorb the oil. Let it stand for about 5 min before moving the pieces to avoid egg coating from separating the meat.
5) Cut and serve!

I was told that if you dip the flour and not let it sit before dipping in the egg may create egg bubble, and when it bursts, there won't be any batter on that area. So it's best to let it sit and moisten first.

There will be oil splatters so just be very careful!

I tried my very first piece of homemade meat jun, and it was super tasty! so tasty, you don't even need sauce!

Lil P said it is really good! Mr P however, said it's good...but not as good as the restaurant ones. As long as lil P thinks it's good, that is all good in my books. I have packed him a bento for lunch tomorrow! Bento includes fried rice, meat jun, a piece of brownie, and a clementine. =)

Don't forget to like Home Kine Grindz on Facebook! Also a reminder, Pupu Day is coming up on March 1st!!

Stuffed Portobello

Picked up a pack of portobello mushrooms at Costco this past weekend, but we were so busy with lil P's sports that I haven't had time to cook it. I finally had the time to cook this Stuffed Portobello with Tomatoes and Garlic for myself last night. I am so satisfied!

1 Portobello Mushroom
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tbsp soy sauce
half a tomato (diced)
3 cloves of garlic (diced)
1/4 cup shredded Italian blend cheese (or Mozzarella)
2 tsp dried rosemary
dash of black pepper

1) Remove stem on the portobello.
2) Mix olive oil, lemon juice, and soy sauce in a bowl.
3) Brush the oil mixture on both sides of the mushroom, leave remaining oil in the bowl.
4) Broil mushroom on both sides, about 4-5 min each side, starting with the bottom down.
5) Meanwhile, mix in diced tomato, garlic, cheese, rosemary, and black pepper into the bowl with the remaining oil mixture, toss and set aside until mushroom is ready.
6) Pull out the mushroom and fill mushroom with tomato mixture. Sprinkle more cheese on top, broil for another 5 minutes or until cheese is starting to brown.
7) Serve!!

You can put this stuffed portobello over brown rice, and pour the dripping all over. YUM. You can also serve this alone as a pupu, that's what Hawaii calls appetizer. Home Kine Grindz Facebook page is hosting another round of "Let's Eat Local Grindz" online event! We're going to have a Pupu Day on March 1st! If you are interested in joining in the fun, simply get or make a Pupu, or an appetizer, and post a pic on the Home Kine Grindz Facebook page!We had a pretty good turn out at the 1st event of Loco Moco Day. You can see the different pic from the last event here. Hope you can participate with us this time! Click here for more details and join in!!

Kim Chee Mandoo

I bought some mandoo wrappers not long ago, as i have been craving to make some!

Mandoo wrappers (the round kind)
long rice (small bunch)
1/3 cup ground pork
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup of kim chee (or kim chi), diced
3-4 tsp kim chee juice
2 tsp salt
2 tsp garlic powder
2-3 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp of sesame seeds (crushed)
dash of black pepper
dash of white pepper
drizzle of sriracha sauce (i finally spelled it right!)

1) Soak long rice in warm water, when it's easier to bend, cut them with kitchen scissors to about 1 to 1.5 inches in length. Leave them to continue to soak as you prepare the meat.
2) In a bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients (minus the wrappers) together.
3) Take a small amt of mixed meat and microwave it for 15 seconds and taste to see if it needs more salt, pepper, kim chee, etc. Then adjust your meat mixture accordingly.
4) Mix in the long rice.
5) Place about 1 to 2 tbsp of meat mixture in the center of the wrapper, wet half circle of the edge with water (the one you used to soak the long rice is just fine! save water!).
6) Fold the dry half edge to the wet half edge an seal. You can make it fancy by over lapping like i do if you like, just make sure you press them sealed with your hands. (took me mandoo dishes before i mastered it) It's ok If juice comes out of the mandoo. just make sure you seal it shut in the end.
7) Heat about 4-5 cups of water in a small pot. When all the wrappers are done, dunk them in the boiling water and do a quick "blanch". I dunked and pull out each mandoo one at a time.
8) Heat a skillet to medium high, drizzle some sesame oil on the skill.
9) Pan fry the mandoo until golden brown on each side. you can also deep fry with vegetable oil.
10) Serve!

These babies are so tasty, you don't even need sauce! needless to say, Mr. P and I ate the whole thing in less than 15 minutes, as we were standing by the kitchen counter talking! Good thing I snapped a couple of pics first!




The Loco Moco Day came and went. I had not reached my goal of 50 plates. But I am super stoked to get 10 photos!!! Top it all off, I am so proud half of them were homemade, and 4 of those are currently living outside of Hawaii! Way to represent people!! Stay tuned for next months Let's Eat Local Kine Grindz! If you want to join in the fun, just like the facebook page!! Here are the pictures of Loco Moco Day!

From JF @ Byron's Drive-In

From DW: Homemade Loco Moco over Kalua Pig Fried Rice

From KM

From DM @ Tanaka Saimin

From HD @ L&M

From BB: Homemade Turkey Moco with Mushroom, Onions and Homemade Gravy

From YF: Homemade Loco Moco with Basmati rice

From JL @ Tan Tan Ramen (Curry Loco Moco)

From RB (Hubs of BB): Homemade Turkey Moco

Homemade Loco Moco

Today is Loco Moco Day! So here is my version of the hamburger patty, similar to my hamburger steak, with a little more garlic and no hidden veggies.

Hamburger Patties

1 lb ground beef

2 pieces of bread end

1 egg

3 garlic

half an onion

1 tbsp hawaiian salt

2 tbsp worchestershire sauce

2 tsp black pepper

1 tbs garlic salt

1) Place ground beef in a large bowl.

2) Place bread ends on food processor and pulse until fine, pour over ground beef.

3) Place garlic and onion in food processor and pulse until fine, pour over ground beef and breadcrumbs

4) Add the rest of the ingredients and mix with hand (I used a glove)

5) Form into patties, place them on a heated skillet and press the middle to built an indent.

6) Cook both sides until done.

To make Loco Moco:

1) Place rice on the plate or bowl (white rice, brown rice, hapa rice, brown rice quinoa, barley quinoa, etc)

2) Top with cooked hambery patties.

3) Top with a fried egg

4) Drizzle with brown gravy

Mr. P helped with the cooking last night so he already had his loco moco for dinner. He said it was really good! So I decided to pack up for my Loco Moco Day bento. Using the fuel container, I have loco moco (with hapa rice and egg whites) on the bottom tier, top tier has layered jello and apple slices.

Adding this to "What's for Lunch Wednesday!" It's been awhile!!!

Hope you got a chance to like Home Kine Grindz Facebook! I am seeing alot of Loco Moco pics today! yay!!! Have a Loco Moco Day!!

Buttery Ranch Honey Wheat Pretzels & Facebook Launch!

These are super popular treats at school fairs or at the bake sale. This is the other YUM snacks I love to eat besides my popular furikake chex mix! The great thing about these pretzel snacks is you don't have to BAKE it!!

1 bag of honey wheat pretzels (I used the safeway brand)
1/4 cup buttery flavor popcorn oil
1/2 pack of Hidden Valley Ranch mix (the powder form)
1/2 tbsp garlic powder
1/2 tbsp dill weed (opt)

1) Place pretzels in a large ziplog bag (you may remove excess salt on the pretzels first , if you wish).
2) Pour oil over pretzels, toss until evenly coated.
3) Sprinkle ranch mix, garlic powder, dill weed, and toss until evenly coated.
4) Separate and place them in smaller ziplog bags or airtight containers.

I literally took less than 10 minutes to put these together! I didn't have dill weed, so I omitted. It tasted just as good. The ranch makes this snack very flavorful. Now i don't have to find them at bake sales. :)

























Btw, I have finally launched a Facebook page! Please like the page here as I will be doing some online events! First stop, we're kicking off local kine grindz Hawaii Style with a Loco Moco Day on Feb 1st! Eat a loco moco plate (buy them or make your own healthier version), take a pic and post it on my page labelled with "Loco Moco Day: " For those of you who want to participate but have no clue what Loco Moco is, it's basically a hamburger patty, topped with fried eggs, and smothered with gravy, all over rice. Of course there are different versions of loco moco pending on your diet. If you're watching your weight, here's my suggestion: you could go for a garden patty, or tofu patty, topped with egg whites, smother with gravy made from low sodium beef broth cooked with finely diced onions and mushrooms.

I'm going to make my own for dinner on Loco Moco Day. Our goal for this event is 50 plates/pics. Are you in on Loco Moco Day on Feb 1st?? Would love to see your pics!! =)

Moist Cupcakes

I do alot of semi-homemade food, mostly because I don't have the time or ingredients to make them entirely from scratch. When I bake cakes and cupcakes, I use boxed cake mix. When I did my Star Wars cake, although I love the way it looks, I didn't like how it crumbles and falls apart when you cut it. I finally figured out the secret ingredient to make the cake from boxed cake mix moist -- pudding.

Moist Cake/Cupcakes using boxed cake mix

1 box of cake mix (I used german chocolate on this one)
1 box of pudding (4 serving one)
4 eggs
1 cup water
1/3 cup oil

1) Mix the cake mix and pudding together in a large mixing bowl.
2) Add in the eggs, water, and oil and mix until combined.
3) Pour batter into pan or lined cupcake pans.
4) Bake for 50 minutes for cake, or 35 mins for cupcakes (or when insert toothpick comes out smooth)

Seriously, don't you think the cupcakes even LOOK moist on the picture itself?! I will never bake cake without pudding now!

This past weekend I hosted a baby shower. Although the mom-to-be decided she wants to bake her own cupcakes, I pleaded to decorate it. I was excited because I can finally get to do the homemade frosting recipe given by Oh Happy Cakes . The frosting can stay outdoor and stays in place without melting. The baby shower theme was cherry blossom tree with birds. I am proud of what I did and I put them in these cute single cupcake containers by PoshBoxCouture, these containers made it easy for anyone to take home!