Some simple gluten free dishes

L-R: beef red stroganoff with red peppers and spinach; sunny side ups, ham roll , homemade potato chips and sourdough bread with coconut butter, sautéed mushrooms with tomatoes and gluten free sausages on gluten free bread; mixed salad with vinaigrette, spinach, caramelised onions and roast beef on sourdough bread. Just experimenting with some simple gluten free dishes.

Bonus: these dishes are so simple to prepare but maximum on taste. Buon apettito!

  #budgetbeautymommy

Italian Inspiration Day - Homemade Minestrone and Homemade Beef Lasagna

It's Italian inspiration today. Home cooked beef lasagna for lunch and minestrone for dinner.

To amp up on the taste of the minestrone, I've added one drop of Doterra Oregano Oil. Not only it's delicious, oregano oil helps to boost our natural immune system too.

Buon appetito!

Learn more about Doterra Oregano Oil here.

#budgetbeautymommy

Dinner Ideas from Italy, Mexico and Britain

Some food ideas for dinner inspired by different countries round the world.

Top picture is Italian Roast Beef on sliced fresh bread, salad and baked potatoes.

On the left is Mexican shredded pork fajitas with guacamole, grated carrots, tomato salsa, cheddar cheese, sour cream and salad on tortilla wrap.

On the right is the British Roast chicken with roast potatoes, sweet potatoes, radish roasted with garlic and dried oregano. Blanched carrots and bok choy stir fry with garlic and onions with homemade gravy.

So delicious and colourful. I do like my food colourful like the rainbow.

#budgetbeautymommy

Beer Marinated Roast Lamb Dinner

If you don't fancy drinking beer like me but have many cans of beer lying around, why not marinade your lamb with it?

I've marinated the lamb chops with salt and pepper, cumin powder, a drop of Doterra Rosemary essential oil and about quarter can of beer. Then roast in oven about 100C so all alcohol has evaporated. Roast till chops are browning lightly.

It's so yummy with no beer aftertaste. Tried this for dinner yesterday and it was truly scrumptious. Every morsel and gravy was polished right off our plates.

You can find out more about the Doterra Rosemary essential oil here.

#budgetbeautymommy

Creamy beef fillet recipe

Another new creation for my roast dinner. It's so colourful, nutrient dense and delicious.

I've roasted potatoes, Japanese sweet potatoes, pumpkin and red peppers in the oven. I've blanched carrots and stir fried bok choy with onions.

For the meat, I've created a beef fillet with onions, button mushrooms, cooking cream and bacon bits with a pinch of cumin powder, salt, pepper, honey, dried rosemary and dried oregano. It's so tasty.

You can try it out too.

#budgetbeautymommy

Healthy and easy breakfast that kids love

Breakfast for champs! This is how we roll for breakfast.

It's the most important meal of the day to regulate and set the right pace for our metabolism and to nourish our little darlings especially on the first meal of the day.

Plus, most of all it's delicious and breakfast tastes better when it's more fun. So easy to prepare too.

To top it off, I add 2-3 drops of Doterra's Wild Orange in the water for a beautiful flavour and wild orange is great for waking up tiredness and sluggishness.

What is your breakfast like? Share your pics with me!

 #budgetbeautymommy 

How taste and smell can trigger memories - Rosemary Essential Oil

Sometimes all you need is some comfort food.

The smell of sesame oil added to hot porridge with pepper as seasoning really brings me back to childhood days. Studies have shown that our sense of smell and taste can evoke our memory. This is evidently so especially when you're living abroad and the fondest memory we usually have back home is of our mom's cooking.

As you may already know, I'm a huge essential oil advocate. Not just any essential oil but only Certified Pure and Therapeutic Grade(CPTG) essential oil like Doterra's. Speaking about memory, it's interesting to note that smelling Rosemary essential oil is proven to increase memory by 75%! Studies have been done to prove this and came with the conclusion. Wow!

Rosemary has long been linked to memory, with the most famous literacy reference found in Hamlet when Ophelia declares:'There's Rosemary, that's for remembrance: pray, love, remember.'

What is your favourite smell or taste that brings back your childhood memories?

#budgetbeautymommy

Homemade pumpkin porridge

Pumpkin porridge ingredients: napa cabbage, winter melon, pumpkin, 2 1/2 cups rice

Rosemary Essential Oil for memory

Gluten Free Recipes: Homemade Japanese Salmon Fish Head Miso Stew Recipe

Tonight, I've cooked up a storm again after my meal prepping yesterday. I've made a big pot of Japanese Miso Salmon Fish Head Stew and another huge pot of bolognese sauce from scratch - all for the very first time! And they are both gluten free. Get more ideas for Gluten Free Recipes

Making the Japanese miso salmon fish head stew reminded me of my Dad. He loves eating fish head and he's passed that passion on to me. It's a pity I've never gotten to make this stew for him, though. It's funny watching him eat fish head, as he totally annihilates the entire fish head with ease like in cartoons, with just the bones remaining. He used to tell me when I was a kid, that the best parts of a fish are the head, skin, fins and tail. I'm convinced my dad was a bear in his previous life! They seem to share the same preference. I'm not kidding ☺️

I've left the two big pots on the stove after finished cooking as I was quite lazy to transfer them into containers. Out of the blue, at about 2 something in the morning, I've just decided to transfer my salmon fish head stew into containers. Just as I was wrapping up, I smelled something burning. I thought I left the stove on but it smelled like burning plastic and it's strong. I realized that one of my adaptors in my store room was burning up in the middle of the night! 

My late dad must have blessed me and my family because had I fallen asleep, there could easily be a short circuit and a fire while we are fast asleep.

Sometimes, things happen for a reason such as tonight, my strange behaviour transferring stew in the middle of the night. I'm grateful that my family and I have avoided a possible tragedy at home 🙏 

Anyway, if you're wondering, my salmon fish head stew tastes naturally sweet and comforting. My bolognese sauce looks and tastes amazing. I'm a happy budget beauty mommy. I feel like I've won the jackpot tonight 😄

#budgetbeautymommy,

Ingrediets for my salmon fish head stew: 1 white radish, 5 fresh shitake mushrooms. 1 packet enoki mushrooms, 1/2 large carrots, 1 packet soft tofu cubed, 3 pieces of dried wakame(seaweed), homemade vegetable broth as soup base, 3 tablespoons of miso, 1 large salmon fish head or 2 medium sized salmon fish head halved

Show your love for your family through cooking

One of the simplest ways to show you care and love for your family is through your cooking.

I'm a huge believer in nutrition and eating fresh and healthy, thanks to my mom. But eating healthy doesn't mean you skimp on taste either. Healthy food can just be as tasty, if not even more delicious than junk/commercial food.

 For dinner, I like to do a simple roast dinner with lots of veggies. I like to have at least 3-5 different veggies served during dinner. I only use organic vegetables as much as possible and only use extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil.

 It takes about 30-45 mins to cook.

In fact, cooking can be quite therapeutic.

It's really a bonus when you see your family enjoying your cooking with no leftovers.

This is my roast lamb with roast potatoes, grilled tomato, boiled carrots and homemade onion marmalade with balsamic cabbage and enoki mushroom stir fry, drizzled in homemade gravy. Gluten free, dairy free and sugar free meal.

‪#‎budgetbeautymommy‬ ‪#‎homecooking‬ ‪#‎healthyfoodideas‬ ‪#‎glutenfree‬‪#‎dairyfree‬ ‪#‎sugarfree‬

Hearty Rainbow Chicken Stew

Happy breaking fast, fellow Muslim friends! 

When we break fast, it's good to have a hearty meal that's nutritious yet easy to prepare. They say eat a rainbow to get the best nutritions.

So do try my hearty Rainbow Chicken Stew. It's gluten free and dairy free too. 

Ingredients: 

4 chicken drumsticks (free range chicken)

1 large purple sweet potato

1 white radish

2 large carrots 

1 large florelle pear

Method:

1.Marinate chicken drumsticks with salt and pepper, 2 tsps cumin powder and 1tsp turmeric powder.

2. Chop up the vegetables till bite size. 

3. Heat up the pan with olive oil and sauté gently the onions and garlic till brown in low heat.

4. Add all your vegetables in and stir fry till they start to caramelise. Add salt and pepper to taste and a dash of balsamic vinegar. 

5. When vegetables are browning, add in your chicken drumsticks and brown both sides. 

6. Transfer all vegetables and drumsticks to casserole pan and add vegetable broth. I make mine from parboiling vegetables. All natural goodness. Put your casserole pan into the oven and set on high heat 200C for 15 minutes or till broth is boiling in pan. 

7. Transfer the pan to upper rung of oven and bake for 20 minutes in medium heat. Bake till broth is reduced to about half. 

8. Serve and garnish with fresh basil leaves. 

Bonus: it's really tasty and very easy to prepare. And very little washing to do. 

‪#‎budgetbeautymommy‬,

Best time to bond with family - over Sunday brunch

Sundays make great time to hang around as a family over brunch. Why not enjoy a nice continental breakfast with some fruit with your dearest?

A tip: When you grill your tomatoes, add a small pinch of brown sugar on top of the tomatoes. They add crazy nice flavour to the grilled tomatoes!

‪#‎budgetbeautymommy

Continental breakfast for brunch - cooked with love

Breakfast Bowl Recipe

Good morning Budget Beauty Mommies!

Have you had your breakfast? Try my bacon egg breakfast bowl. It's so easy to prepare and so tasty.

Method:
1. Cut off top of buns and place on roasting pan lined with foil. Get your oven heated to 170C.
2. Brown your roughly chopped bacon in a pan. When ready, transfer to buns.
3. Add grated cheese on top of bacon.
4. Break an egg into each bun.
5. Add a small pinch of nutmeg and cayenne pepper as topping.
6. Pop in oven for 30 minutes.
7. Serve with slices of fruit. 

Enjoy!

Bonus: While preparing breakfast, I managed to sneak in ‪ Oil Pulling and Cinnamon face mask. Talk about having me time while family is still blowing bubble.

Check more out on Budget Beauty Mommy!

Breakfast Bowls - Eggs, Bacon and Cheese!

5 Avocado Recipes for Picky Eaters!

Avocados are so healthy with all the good fats and protein. But it's an acquired taste and most of our little darlings don't really fancy it. Here are 5 ways to sneak avocado in without protests!

1. Ok this is obvious to our kids but the taste is spectacular. Cut avocado in half, dice it and serve with a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Really tangy and tasty, not forgetting healthy.

2. Use it as a spread instead of butter on toast and crackers. Then layer on your favourite toppings.

3. Guacamole is such a healthy dip. Pair it with celery and veggie sticks. Ok if the little darlings insist, add in some cheese sticks and crisps too. 😉

4. Try a summer avocado fruity salad. Slice them thin and it really brings out the taste of the fruit and veggies. Add a healthy vinaigrette instead as dressing.

5. Instead of mayonnaise on your sandwiches and burgers, try avocado slices instead. They add a nice creamy flair to your sandwiches and burgers.

Check more out on Budget Beauty Mommy!

5 Avocado Recipes Your Kids Will Love!

Beef Cauliflower Fried Rice Recipe - Gluten Free Recipe

Thinking of cooking dinner tonight?

Try my beef cauliflower fried rice - an alternative to fried rice. It's gluten free and who says gluten free food has to be bland and boring? To substitute soya sauce with a gluten free alternative, try Tamari Sauce instead. Just as tasty!

Tip: Instead of using rice, substitute with roughly blended cauliflower. The texture is almost similar.

Bonus: you get your kids to eat more vegetables without any fuss.

Check more out on Budget Beauty Mommy!

My homemade gluten free beef cauliflower fried rice

Brainfood to Grow our Kids' Brains

Our precious darlings need lots of good fats to grow their brains.

I try to give avocados, oily fish like salmon and mackerel; olives, nut butters and seeds and lots of organic virgin coconut oil and extra virgin olive oil to increase the good fats.

One tip: sometimes our little darlings can develop food allergies if we give them a certain food everyday. So rotate their food every four days instead.

Bonus: With more good fats, it helps budget beauty mommies to stay calm everyday and have beautiful supple skin!

Check more out on Budget Beauty Mommy!

Fatty foods = Brain Foods

Homemade Fajitas Recipe

Homemade fajitas - really simple to prepare!

Marinate red peppers and chicken slices with onions, cumin powder, paprika, cayenne powder, garlic, honey, lime juice, Mexican chilly, salt and pepper

Homemade guacamole with blended avocado, chopped tomatoes, a pinch of salt, Tabasco and lime juice

Other ingredients include taco shells, grated cheddar cheese, organic sour cream, ice berg lettuce slices and chopped tomatoes with onions and lime juice.

So easy and so yummy!

Check more out on Budget Beauty Mommy!