New dumplings...

So I know that I said that I was not interested in participating in the starvation diet, but unfortunately today I inadvertently did! I was meant to meet a friend for lunch, and we said that we were going to this Thai place in Salamanca who has got pad thai to DIE for ( before you judge, I was only intending on eating a half serving!) but instead, for some reason, she brought lunch and has decided to go to the park and eat it. Why would you organise to eat lunch with someone and bring your own lunch??? Oh well, I conveniently had a meeting at that time, so I ended up staying in the office, which also meant that I could either walk across the road and get a burger, or just go hungry. I went with the latter. 

So to curb my hunger (not that I was really hungry), I ate a Whatchamacallit. It was divine! Peanut flavoured crisp and caramel in a  coating of chocolate! 260 calories later… what was my maximum?

Ok – so I thought that the maximum amount of calories I need to take was 1200 calories, but I just looked on this website (http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm) and it tells me that in order to maintain my weight (which I obviously do NOT want), I would have to consume 1761 calories a day. For weight loss purposes, I would need to consume either 1409 calories or 1408 for extreme weight loss. So there you have it, I have another 1148 calories to eat for the day.

A note about calories - I'm not too diligent about keeping tabs on how many calories I consume. It takes too much trouble, and for someone as impatient as me, I really can't be bothered. I'm just interested in knowing how many calories there are in something so that I can make healthy choices. For example in ice-creams: Magnums, about 270 calories (thanks Calorie King!), but chocolate Paddle Pops are about 100 calories. So to curb my ice-cream craving (and believe me, I have heaps of them!) I eat a Paddle pop ice-cream instead.

For dinner tonight I think I'm going to have some wonton noodle soup. I have leftover broth from making chicken rice and it seems to be a bit of a waste to throw out the broth. Of course, I've already frozen some, but my freezer is not big enough for another container, so won ton noodles it is. Luke loves them and it is something simple and easy for me to cook when I get home after work.

Sometimes I make the dry won ton noodles, but I think tonight it will not be necessary. I'm thinking of also doing some sort of different won tons. My usual won tons were classified as "god awful" by my mother (she doesn't like the taste of pork), but Luke absolutely adores them. Tonight however, I feel like something different. I have been absolutely craving dumplings and I can thank the Big Bang Theory for that. They talk about dumplings all the time and that is all I can think about. And what I can say is that no where in Hobart have I found dumplings which can satisfy my dumpling cravings.

So I'm going to try to make my own. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

3 diced chinese mushrooms (more if you like the taste - but Luke doesn't like it so much, so I used less)

1 grated carrot ( I cut my finger while doing it btw, so be careful!)

Minced pork (I forgot how much I used - like half a packet, so if I had to guess, it would be about 200g)

3 prawns (diced)

Gow Gee skins

Oyster Sauce (about two tablespoons**)

**To be honest, I don't know the measurements exactly, I'm just guessing.

How to make it? Just combine all the ingredients (except the gow gee skins) and mix well. Take a teaspoon of the mixture, put it in the middle of the gow gee skin and fold in half. Wet the edge of the gow gee skin, fold the skin over and seal it. I haven't got any photos at the moment, but will upload some later.

After making the dumplings I just pop them into the boiling broth and add the fish balls and boil for a little bit I then add the two minute noodles (yes, I didn't bother getting the eggy won ton noodles) and cook for about two minutes and served. Voila!! Easy easy dinner.

Whatever was leftover, I just steamed them in a bamboo steamer for about 10 minutes. It is important that these dumplings are steamed before freezing, because it you don't, then the gow gee pastry will get soggy and split. I learnt that the hard way in second year Uni! I had just learnt to make won tons, so I made some and popped them in the fridge, quite looking forward to coming home to eat them. But alas! The stuffing made the won ton skin soggy, so what I was left with was some won ton stuffing with some soggy goo surrounding it. I was quite upset. I wondered why the restaurant I worked at managed to freeze their won tons to use whenever they liked, and I noticed,, they steamed the little buggers first! So there you have it - STEAM YOUR WON TONS BEFORE FREEZING!!!

Ok, I think I've carried on for a while about won tons. I'll end here. Did these won tons satisfy my dumpling cravings? They sure as hell did! Unfortunately, that I all I want to eat now! :) And in case any of you are wondering "Gee, where were the veggies?" - I did make veggies to eat with my noodles! I usually add bok choy in with the noodles, but in this case, I found one of my favourite Asian green and stir-fried it anyway! Can anyone guess what it is?