Spring is knocking down my door fast and furious. It is spring cleaning time! “Throw out the old and bring in the new” is a common phrase. Unfortunately for me, I am a pack rat. I am guilty of collecting everything and anything so I don’t have room for the new. However, I need to be bold and let go. It’s time to purge, figuratively and metaphorically.

For 2013 resolution, I would like to be audacious and purge all unwanted stuff and rekindle old fun projects, friends, and families. I am applying this resolution to every aspect of my life, personal and business. This will take longer than a year to re-organize everything in my life. I have initiated this goal since 2010. It’s has been on-going. This is the first time I declare it and take accountable for my actions.

I initiated my rekindling 2013 goal with visiting families, old friends, co-workers, and old bosses from my home town, Seguin, Texas in February. I was humbled by their presence during my amazing visit. I learned so much more about each person I visited and also confirmed an old habit about myself. Sometimes, I would be too busy talking and forget to listen. Notice I didn’t write “all the time”… Hee… Hee… Hee… I am definitely looking forward to learn more about myself.

To follow through on my rekindling project, I would like to re-publish my recipe for quick finger food. Both of my children are into gymnastics and rock climbing. We find ourselves spending at least 4 hours at each competition. Eating out all the time can get expensive, so I prepare our own lunches & snacks. One of the popular finger snacks that I like to share is the delicious and easy to eat rice balls. This is a common simple snack for Vietnamese households.

I use the steamed jasmine rice to shape into rice balls. Little sandwich or snack size plastic bag comes in handy. Make sure the rice is still warm. We need it to be sticky so the rice can stick together effortlessly. I use the sandwich bag as glove for my hand. Roll the rice into a small ½” balls that could fit into your child’s mouth with one gulp. That’s it!!!

I serve the rice balls with my chicken finger food which is also posted in one of older blogs or dip them in roasted sesame seeds or Magic Monkey sauce. Make as many as needed. The rice balls are filling and simple to make. It is fantastic for road trips.  Have fun!!!

As far as something new, here is another fun recipe on rice balls that I found on the internet: http://www.instructables.com/id/Simple-Rice-Balls/.

For our next class of Pho Queen Vietnamese Cuisine Series at the Maitland Library in April, we will be making our popular easy and yummy Vietnamese spring rolls and also known as summer rolls.

For more details on our workshop schedule, please visit http://phoqueencooking.com/demonstration.html. 

Want more recipes and fun stories about Vietnamese culture, buy A Vietnamese Kitchen cookbook now (www.PhoQueenCooking.com/phoqueenstore.html) and support Pho Queen.

To view an html of this article, please visit http://www.icontact-archive.com/nfoXEgvjRWamodr9u9hs4GN4Gh837EVI

Note: If you missed my last newsletters, please visit  

www.PhoQueenCooking.com/weblog.html for past newsletters.

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 “You don’t have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces – just good food from fresh

ingredients.”  – Julia Child

UPCOMING EVENTS:

April 28: Spring rolls / summer rolls – Maitland Library

May 19: Vietnamese Vegetarian cuisine – Maitland Library

I also posted a list of local Asian grocery stores in Orlando and Vietnamese restaurants around the Mills & Colonial area. Please visit http://phoqueencooking.com/demonstration.html and scroll down to the bottom of the website.

Love to hear your feedback on your cooking adventure. You can post your

questions / comments on facebook under discussion board:

http://www.facebook.com/board.php?uid=176331282403610

Looking for a special gift for birthdays or any special occasion? Why not the gift

of cooking Vietnamese food? Visit www.PhoQueenCooking.com/phoqueenstore.html for your gifts today.

Pho Queen supports local education. Visit http://PhoQueenCooking.com/education.html to find

out more how you can support your local schools.

Would you like to submit questions, comments, feedbacks, etc to Pho Queen?

We would love to hear from you. Visit http://PhoQueenCooking.com/contact.html.

For more tips and instructional videos on Vietnamese cooking, click on http://PhoQueenCooking.com and http://EasyVietnameseRecipes.com

Hà…

Have fun eating healthy!

http://EasyVietnameseRecipes.com

This past week at the Edgewater Library in Orlando, we learned the energy and balance of the Yin and Yang in food and how they impact individuals.

Food plays a major role in our every day life. It alters our mood and it replenishes our energy. According to Asian traditions, the forces of Yin and Yang shape everything in the universe including food and our health.

Yin qualities include coolness, dampness, darkness, winter, and night. While Yang qualities include warmth, dryness, light, summer, and day. 

Yin foods tend to be cooling energy and Yang foods tend to be warming energy. This has little to do with the actual temperature of the food. Boiled spinach or baked tofu is an example of cooling food property while chilled wine or roast beef is an example of warming food property.

The main idea is to have a balanced diet with both the Yin and Yang in food. Otherwise, your body will create Yin or Yang pattern of imbalance such as slow metabolism, tendency to be chilled, stuffy nose, may be constipated, or restless sleep.  Visit https://www.acufinder.com/Acupuncture+Information/Detail/Yin-Yang+Balance+and+Food+Choice to read more on different patterns of imbalance and ways to balance your food energy.

According to an article from “Properties of Food from a TCM Perspective”, there are certain rules to determine the type of energy a food produces:

• If it grows in the air and sunshine, it is probably yang
• If it grows in the earth and darkness, it is probably yin
• If it is soft, wet and cool, it is more yin
• If it is hard, dry & spicy, it is more yang

Please review http://www.shen-nong.com/eng/lifestyles/food_property_food_tcm.html for more detailed list of different foods and their energy along with the different flavors and their effects upon the internal organs.

Not only Asians believe in the hot and cold properties in food. I found a website that has a list of Haitian hot/cold classification of foods: http://www.salisbury.edu/nursing/haitiancultcomp/haitian_hotandcold_foods.htm.

For our next class of Pho Queen Vietnamese Cuisine Series at the Maitland Library in March, we will be sampling Vietnamese subway or also known as “Banh Mi”.  We will travel to Saigon and shop for our very own Vietnamese subway.

For more details on our workshop schedule, please visit http://phoqueencooking.com/demonstration.html. 

Want more recipes and fun stories about Vietnamese culture, buy A Vietnamese Kitchen cookbook now (www.PhoQueenCooking.com/phoqueenstore.html) and support Pho Queen.

To view an html of this article, please visit http://www.icontact-archive.com/nfoXEgvjRWamodr9u9hs4GN4Gh837EVI

Note: If you missed my last newsletters, please visit  

www.PhoQueenCooking.com/weblog.html for past newsletters.

------------- *** ------------

 “You don’t have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces – just good food from fresh

ingredients.”  – Julia Child

UPCOMING EVENTS:

March 10: Vietnamese subway – “Bánh Mì” – Maitland Library

I also posted a list of local Asian grocery stores in Orlando and Vietnamese restaurants around the Mills & Colonial area. Please visit http://phoqueencooking.com/demonstration.html and scroll down to the bottom of the website.

Love to hear your feedback on your cooking adventure. You can post your

questions / comments on facebook under discussion board:

http://www.facebook.com/board.php?uid=176331282403610

Looking for a special gift for birthdays or any special occasion? Why not the gift

of cooking Vietnamese food? Visit www.PhoQueenCooking.com/phoqueenstore.html for your gifts today.

Pho Queen supports local education. Visit http://PhoQueenCooking.com/education.html to find

out more how you can support your local schools.

Would you like to submit questions, comments, feedbacks, etc to Pho Queen?

We would love to hear from you. Visit http://PhoQueenCooking.com/contact.html.

For more tips and instructional videos on Vietnamese cooking, click on http://PhoQueenCooking.com and http://EasyVietnameseRecipes.com

Hà…

Have fun eating healthy!

http://EasyVietnameseRecipes.com

We learned briefly about different Vietnamese herbs during our last Vietnamese Cuisine workshop at the Edgewater Library. We tasted one of the most popular Vietnamese noodle dish, “bún thịt nướng” or also known as grilled pork noodles. Based on a request from one of our class participants, I am including information and photos for different Vietnamese herbs in this e-newsletter article.

Herbs, also known as “rau thơm” in Vietnamese, are used in many Vietnamese cuisines such as summer rolls, grilled pork noodles, phở, etc. Certain herbs compliment certain food more than others. Perilla or “tía tô”, a purple & green leafy herb is a great example of an herb that serves well with eggplant soup. Anise (Thai) basil or also known as “húng quế” compliments phở tremendously.

These herbs not only taste well with food they also have wonderful medicinal properties that support your body. In general, basil herbs and mints contain high levels of beta-carotene, vitamin A, and many other nutrients and vitamins with low in calories and no cholesterol. Lemon grass is used by eastern medicine to relieve cough and congestion.

Here are a few websites that has more detailed description of the different Vietnamese herbs:

• http://vietworldkitchen.typepad.com/blog/vietnamese-herb-primer.html  (descriptions and photos of each herb).
• http://vietherbs.com/ (descriptions and how to grow & care for them)
• http://pwmf.blogspot.com/2005/10/rau-ci-guide-to-vietnamese-herbs-and.html (provided recipes and usage of herbs for certain dishes)

For our last class of the February Vietnamese Cuisine workshop at the Edgewater Library, our topic will be about Vietnamese desserts. To complete our workshop, we will be discussing the energy of the yin and the yang in food. Last but not least, we will tease your taste buds with our traditional Vietnamese “chè” or rice pudding and send you home wanting more… =).

For more details on our workshop schedule, please visit http://phoqueencooking.com/demonstration.html. 

Want more recipes and fun stories about Vietnamese culture, buy A Vietnamese Kitchen cookbook now (www.PhoQueenCooking.com/phoqueenstore.html) and support Pho Queen.

To view an html of this article, please visit

http://www.icontact-archive.com/nfoXEgvjRWamodr9u9hs4NIV4Mx2HcW6

http://www.icontact-archive.com/nfoXEgvjRWamodr9u9hs4NIV4Mx2HcW6

------------- *** ------------

 “You don’t have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces – just good food from fresh

ingredients.”  – Julia Child

UPCOMING EVENTS:

      February 27: Vietnamese Cuisine Workshop #3 “bun thit nuong”- Edgewater Library

March 10: Vietnamese subway – “Bánh Mì” – Maitland Library

I also posted a list of local Asian grocery stores in Orlando and Vietnamese restaurants around the Mills & Colonial area. Please visit http://phoqueencooking.com/demonstration.html and scroll down to the bottom of the website.

Love to hear your feedback on your cooking adventure. You can post your

questions / comments on facebook under discussion board:

http://www.facebook.com/board.php?uid=176331282403610

Looking for a special gift for birthdays or any special occasion? Why not the gift

of cooking Vietnamese food? Visit www.PhoQueenCooking.com/phoqueenstore.html for your gifts today.

Pho Queen supports local education. Visit http://PhoQueenCooking.com/education.html to find

out more how you can support your local schools.

Would you like to submit questions, comments, feedbacks, etc to Pho Queen?

We would love to hear from you. Visit http://PhoQueenCooking.com/contact.html.

For more tips and instructional videos on Vietnamese cooking, click on http://PhoQueenCooking.com and http://EasyVietnameseRecipes.com

Hà…

Have fun eating healthy!

http://EasyVietnameseRecipes.com