My Husband's Favorite Chicken & Tomato Pasta

    Yesterday, I cooked my favorite Italian pasta dish, chicken and tomato pasta, for dinner. I sometimes cook this pasta because it's easy and quick to cook, and it's so delicious. My husband really loves this pasta more than I do. Indeed, he told me that it was the best pasta dish he has ever had, and he ended up having three servings of this pasta last night!

Ingredients (4 Servings)
12 oz of linguine pasta
1 teaspoon of salt
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 clove of garlic (chopped)
1 lb of chicken breast (cut into small pieces)
4 tomatoes (chopped)
1 red bell pepper (chopped)
1/2 cup of white wine
1/2 cup of chicken stock
1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons of milk
1 teaspoon of lemon juice



1. Bring water with salt to the boil. Add the pasta and simmer for about 9 minutes until tender.

2. Heat the oil in a pan and saute the garlic and chicken for a few minutes until golden on both sides.

3.Add the tomatoes and bell pepper, and continue to saute until well blended. Add the wine and simmer for 2 minutes. Add the chicken stock and simmer for a minute.

4. Add half of the Parmesan cheese into the pan, and stir them.

5. Drain the pasta and toss to the chicken, and stir them.

6. Mix milk and lemon juice. Add mixture and the remaining Parmesan cheese to the pasta.

7. Enjoy!



      This is my entries related to my favorite recipe.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/recipes

       This is my entries related to cooking.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/cooking


       These are my entries you might like.

■Top 10 Most Popular Japanese Foods

■My Top 15 Must Eat Foods in Japan - My Favorite Japanese Foods

■How to Make Tamago Kake Gohan - Raw Egg on Rice

■Top 10 Products You Should Buy at Japanese Supermarkets (for Beginners!)

■8 Interesting Japanese Kitchen Gadgets!

■My Top 10 Favorite Japanese Snacks

■My Top 10 Favorite Japanese Sweets

■How to Make Japanese Deep Fried Chicken, Kara-Age

■How to Cook Japanese Curry

■Top 5 Most Popular Japanese Curry Sauce Mix

■How to Cook Miso Soup

■How to Make Tamagoyaki, Japanese Omelette

■Top 10 Products You Should Buy at Daiso

My Ugly Door Knobs

     When my husband and I bought our home about three months ago, our dated home needed renovating a lot. The kitchen was so ugly and all outlets were so tired and cracked. Right after we purchased our home, he told me that he didn't like all old knobs in our home, but I didn't really think the door knobs need to be replaced soon because we needed to renovate a lot of major areas at that time. It was an overwhelming amount of work to do for our home.

     After finishing installing laminate flooring in our second bedroom this month, I started to think the knob should be replaced as he told me before. It's probably not so difficult. We will do it someday anyway, so the sooner the better, right?

    This second bedroom door knob doesn't look too bad from a distance, but ....

     when you look it up close, you will notice that the door knob has some paints on it like our old outlets. :(

Bedroom Door Knob

    It definitely needs replacing... 

Bedroom Door Knob

     This is the door knob for the walk-in closet in our master bedroom. 

Closet Door Knob

     The door knob on the back side of the closet door is completely different from bedroom door knob, so I need to purchase two types of door knobs, privacy ones for bedrooms and bathrooms and dummy ones for closets.

Closet Door Knob

      Because we love contemporary style, we would like to replace the old knobs to door levers. He loves door levers like ones in our previous apartment.

Door Lever in Our Previous Apartment

      We will order new door levers tonight, and I hope we can replace old ugly door knobs to new levers this weekend or the following week. :)


      My entries related to home renovations can be seen here.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/home%20renovations    

Milk Cream Stick from Cream Pan

       I've purchased this bread, Milk Cream Stick from Cream Pan, at Seiwa Market, a Japanese supermarket in Costa Mesa. Cram Pan is a very popular Japanese bakery located in Tustin. Seiwa Market has recently started selling some bread from Cream Pan. :)

Milk Cream Stick from Cream Pan

       Their most popular bread is "Cream Pan", which is fluffy bread has custard cream in it. However, my favorite bread is Milk Cream Stick, a french bread has sweetened butter cream in it. 

Milk Cream Stick from Cream Pan

Milk Cream Stick from Cream Pan

      It's because it always reminds me of my high school life in Japan. When I was a high school student, I often purchased this kinds of bread at my school cafeteria. Have you ever watched scenes of Japanese high schools from Japanese TV drama series or Japanese animation? Many high school students run to the cafeteria and try hard to buy their favorite bread. Go, grab and pay! It was so high competitive to get my favorite bread there! It's like Black Friday Sale in U.S. to me. :) However, it's one of my best memories in my high school life in Japan. :)


Seiwa Market
3151 Harbor Blvd 
Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Cream Pan
602 El Camino Real 
Tustin, CA 92780



     My entries related to Japan can be seen here.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/Japan

       These are also my entries you might like.

■Top 10 Products You Should Buy at Japanese Supermarkets (for Beginners!)

■My Top 15 Must Eat Foods in Japan - My Favorite Japanese Foods

■Top 10 Most Popular Japanese Foods

■How to Cook Japanese Curry

■How to Cook Miso Soup

■8 Interesting Japanese Kitchen Gadgets!

■My Top 10 Favorite Japanese Snacks

■My Top 10 Favorite Japanese Sweets

■Japanese Instant Noodle Haul

■Japanese Cup Noodle Haul

■Myojo Chukazanmai, The Best Japanese Instant Noodles!

How to Make Coffee Marble Ice Cream - Vanilla Ice Cream with Coffee Swirl

      I made this coffee marble ice cream, vanilla ice cream with coffee swirl this summer. As you can see the photo below, it looked like beautiful gorgeous marble. :) It was a perfect with creamy vanilla and bitter coffee swirl. :) Anyway, I'm going to share with you how to make coffee marble ice cream.

■What You'll Need■
3 Egg Yolks
90 g (3 oz) of Sugar
200 ml (6.7 fl oz) of Milk
230 ml (8 fl oz) of Whipping Cream
2 Teaspoons of Vanilla Extract (Vanilla Flavor)
1 Tablespoon of Instant Coffee Powder
1 Tablespoon of Water

1. Put egg yolks and sugar into a bowl. Whisk together until completely combined.

2. Pour milk and whipping cream into a sauce pan. Heat it over a low heat. Stir constantly to prevent the milk from boiling over. Scoop out two scoops of hot mixture, and pour them into the bowl of egg cream mixture. Mix them thoroughly.

3. Slowly pour the egg cream mixture into the sauce pan. Stir constantly and keep cooking until the mixture has thickened.

4. Add vanilla extract and stir.

5. Strain the mixture into the bowl. Place it on water and stir. When it's getting cool down, place it on ice water until it's completely chilled. (When glass changes temperature rapidly, it's likely to break, so place glass bowl in water bath first. Then place it in ice water bath.)

6. Chill the mixture in refrigerator for hours.

7. Attached chilled ice cream maker to the stand mixer. Pour the chilled mixture into the bowl. Stir until an ice cream consistency is formed.

8. Mix instant coffee powder and water.

9. Transfer the ice cream into the container.

10. Add the instant coffee mixture over the ice cream. Stir a little. Freeze the ice cream for hours.

 11. Enjoy!

       My entries related to coffee can be seen here.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/coffee

      This is my entries related to my favorite recipes.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/recipes


       These are my entries you might like.

■Japanese Drip Coffee Bags - UCC & KEY COFFEE

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Before and After Kitchen Flooring - Easy and Affordable Peel-And-Stick Vinyl Flooring!

"UPDATE: I've redone this kitchen flooring project with using Gorilla Glue eventually. If you are planning on installing this peel-and stick vinyl flooring, you'd better to check out my newer entry, Redone Peel-And-Stick Vinyl Flooring in Our Kitchen."

     Last Saturday, my husband and I finally installed peel-and-stick vinyl flooring in our narrow kitchen!

Before 1

      Originally, the floor was beige ceramic tiles with dark brown grout. It didn't look too bad after painting cabinets white and installing new t-bar pulls, but I didn't like some of the tiles were cracked and had 80s look. :(

Before 2

    This is the photo of after installing new kitchen flooring. Now, our kitchen has modern look by installing new floor. :)

     We cannot still believe that the floor is vinyl tiles! The texture of the flooring is so gorgeous. The tiles actually have a beautiful natural wood grain texture on them. :) It was very easy to install them. Indeed, we installed peel-and-stick vinyl tiles in only three hours! In addition, the floor in our small kitchen cost less than $40! We bought the vinyl tiles at our local Lowe's.

Style Selections 6-in x 36-in Driftwood/Gray Peel-and-Stick Rustic Residential Vinyl Plank

     Each tile has arrows on the back to teach the direction of the wood grain. It was so helpful. :)  

        First, we moved our old small 18-cu ft refrigerator to our living room because we will buy a new bigger refrigerator next month anyway. It was very easy to move the heavy refrigerator (maybe 200 to 300 lb) with using Cosco hand truck. We didn't move other kitchen appliance such as a gas stove and dish washer.

        Then, we started laying vinyl tiles. We cut them with a utility knife and laid them on original ceramic tiles.

        Three hours later ...

      This month, we bought this kitchen mat, The Chef's Kitchen Resilience Cushion Mat 20"x 39", at Costco. I am glad that it really looks good on this floor. :) By the way, I love this mat because it is very comfortable to stand on and easy to clean.

The Chef's Kitchen Resilience Cushion Mat 20"x 39"

The Chef's Kitchen Resilience Cushion Mat 20"x 39"

     We are really happy with our kitchen got a new look. :) 

      Our next project will be probably making a build-in-trash can, and I cannot wait shopping a new fridge for our kitchen. :)


This is my entry you might like.
■ Redone Peel-And-Stick Vinyl Flooring in Our Kitchen

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     My entries related to home renovations can be seen here.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/home%20renovations

Nissin Raoh Review, Umami Tonkotsu & Soy Sauce

     Last week, my husband and I bought Nissin Raoh Instant Ramen at a Japanese Supermarket. When we lived in Japan, we loved Raoh instant ramen. Because they are usually more expensive than other instant ramen products in Japan, we didn't often eat them. Last week, I found that Nissin Raoh instant ramen was on sale at my local Japanese supermarket in the U.S., so we couldn't miss out on that sale. :)

Nissin Raoh

     Tonight, my husband finally cooked Nissin Raoh. It was our first time to eat Nissin Raoh in the U.S. (We had Nissin Raoh in Japan many times though.) We tried Umami Tonkotsu and Umami Soy Sauce today. I'm going to share my reviews on Nissin Raoh with you.


Nissin Raoh Umami Tonkotsu

     Nissin Raoh Umami Tonkotsu was instant ramen noodles with pork bone based soup, which is called tonkotsu ramen (豚骨ラーメン) in Japanese. The texture of noodles was very authentic. It didn't taste like instant noodle. Actually, it was not too bad, but we didn't think it really tasted like tonkotsu ramen. It's just too milky. Since we grew up in Fukuoka, where is the most famous place for tonkotsu ramen in Japan, we think we might be too picky when it comes to tonkotsu ramen. I thought Nissin Raoh in the U.S. was very different from one in Japan. Unfortunately, it was too Americanized. We thought the best tonkotsu instant ramen for now is Marutai instant ramen.



Nissin Raoh Umami Soy Sauce

     We also tried Nissin Raoh Umami Soy Sauce. The texture of noodles was so good just like Umami Tonkotsu, but I was not happy with the soup. Again, it was very Americanized. Indeed, we think that Chukazanmai Soy Sauce Flavor is much better than Nissin Raoh.

     As I mentioned in my previous entry, we sometimes purchase Nissin Raoh in Japan when we visit our families there. Because Nissin Raoh in Japan is one of our favorite instant ramen, we were a little disappointed in Nissin Raoh here. :( They were not too bad but not as good as ones in Japan.

    My entries related to Japanese instant ramen can be seen here.

    My entries related to Japanese noodles can be seen here.

    My entries related to Japan Haul can be seen here.
 
    My entries related to Best Japanese Beauty Products can be seen here.

    My entries related to Japan can be seen here.

    My entries related to cooking can be seen here.

    My entries related to my favorite recipes can be seen here.

    My entries related to foods my husband cooked can be seen here.


       These are also my entries you might like.

■Japanese Instant Noodle Haul

■Japanese Cup Noodle Haul

■Myojo Chukazanmai, The Best Japanese Instant Noodles!

■Hiyashi Chuka, Japanese Summer Cold Noodles 

■Top 10 Products You Should Buy at Japanese Supermarkets (for Beginners!)

■My Top 15 Must Eat Foods in Japan - My Favorite Japanese Foods

■Top 10 Most Popular Japanese Foods

■How to Make Japanese Deep Fried Chicken, Kara-Age

■How to Cook Japanese Curry

■How to Cook Miso Soup

■8 Interesting Japanese Kitchen Gadgets!

■My Top 10 Favorite Japanese Snacks

■My Top 10 Favorite Japanese Sweets



 

Takoyaki for Weekend Lunch

       Today, my husband and I had takoyaki for lunch. As I mentioned in my previous entry, we love takoyaki very much since we used to live Osaka, which is famous for takoyaki. We purchased this frozen takoyaki, Tsukiji takoyaki at Japanese supermarket here in the U.S. weeks ago. :) 

Tsukiji Takoyaki

    We topped them with takoyaki sauce, Japanese mayonnaise, bonito flakes and aonori. I love having takoyaki with some shredded red ginger. :) They were perfect! We enjoyed our Saturday lunch today. If you have never tried takoyaki, you really should try them. As I mentioned in my previous entry, Most Popular Japanese Foods, takoyaki was chosen one of the most popular Japanese foods by foreign tourists in Japan in 2015. You can purchase frozen takoyaki at most Japanese supermarkets in the U.S. 

     My entries related to Japan can be seen here.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/Japan



       These are my entries you might like.

■Nissui Frozen Takoyaki

■JFC Frozen Jumbo Takoyaki  

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■Top 10 Products You Should Buy at Japanese Supermarkets (for Beginners!)

■Top 10 Most Popular Japanese Foods

■My Top 15 Must Eat Foods in Japan - My Favorite Japanese Foods

■8 Interesting Japanese Kitchen Gadgets!

■My Top 10 Favorite Japanese Snacks

■My Top 10 Favorite Japanese Sweets

■How to Make Japanese Deep Fried Chicken, Kara-Age

■How to Cook Japanese Curry

■How to Cook Miso Soup

■Top 10 Products You Should Buy at Daiso

Starbucks Haul - Starbucks VIA Instant Coffee

    Last week, my husband bought four boxes of Starbucks VIA Instant coffee on the way back to home from his work. As I mentioned in my previous entry, we just bought Nescafe Reserve Premium Instant Coffee at Costco, and actually we still have many left. He told me that he found that Starbucks VIA Instant coffee was a buy one get one free sale at Starbucks, so he couldn't miss out on this deal. :) We don't usually drink instant coffee, but we have had Starbucks ones before and loved them. Their instant coffee is way too good and tastes like freshly brewed handcrafted coffee! However, they are always very expensive compared to other instant coffee brand such as Nescafe, so the 50% off for Starbucks VIA was not too shabby. :)

Starbucks VIA Instant Coffee

      The day he brought Starbucks VIA to home was at night, so we tried Starbucks VIA Italian Roast Decaf one. It was rich and bold, and we loved it. We enjoyed decaf black coffee with some cookies after dinner. :)

Starbucks VIA Italian Roast Decaf

      By the way, the packaging was so cute. :)

Starbucks VIA Italian Roast Decaf

    If you cannot find a buy one get one free sale for Starbucks VIA instant coffee at your local Starbucks, you can find ones with great deal at Costco now. Starbucks VIA Colombia instant coffee is $3 off at Costco through this weekend.


     These are my entries you might like.

■Starbucks 2016 Anniversary Collection

■Starbucks 2015 Anniversary Collection

■Starbucks Hawaii - Traveling the Big Island, Hawaii - Day 2-2/6

■What They Sell at Starbucks Reserve Roastery & Tasting Room - Traveling Seattle, Day 2 - 5/9

■The Original Starbucks - Traveling Seattle, Day 1-6/7 


        This is my YouTube channel.
Ringo's Coffee Channel

       My entries related to coffee can be seen here.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/coffee

        My Starbucks entries can be seen here.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/Starbucks

       This is my entries related to my Starbucks collections.
 http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/Starbucks%20mugs

       My entries related to Starbucks Japan can be seen here.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/Starbucks%20Japan 

       My entries related Costco can be seen here.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/Costco   

Shopping Kitchen Flooring

My Kitchen Flooring

       Last weekend, my husband and I went to Lowe's to see peel-and-stick flooring for our kitchen. When we bought our condominium about two months ago, we decided to update the kitchen flooring, which is ceramic tiles. A few of the tiles in the kitchen have cracked. At first, I wanted to replace an entire flooring with new stylish ceramic tiles, but he told me that it was not a good idea because installing ceramic tiles wouldn't be so easy. He preferred vinyl flooring just like our previous apartment which had one in the kitchen and bathroom. We know vinyl flooring is durable and comfortable under foot. Beside all that, it's easier to install and very affordable. :)

     That's why we looked for vinyl flooring at Lowe's. There were many flooring products we could choose from.

at Lowes

       I always wanted to check groutable peel-and-stick vinyl tiles at Lowe's because I saw this photo on Lowes.com and were impressed at how beautiful it is. It looked like stylish ceramic tiles.

Photo from Lowes.com

     Indeed, it looked good quality and was very affordable, but it seemed too wide for our narrow kitchen. If I want to grout it like the photo above, I should cut it in half or so with a utility knife.

STAINMASTER 6-in x 24-in Groutable Casa Italia/Gray-Brown Peel-and-Stick Travertine Luxury Vinyl Tile

     There were many groutable peel-and-stick vinyl tiles there.

       This peel-and-stick vinyl flooring was not groutable but was my second option before we actually went to Lowe's. It looked like nice wood flooring. Because it doesn't need to be grouted, it's much easier to install and costs less than groutable ones. He told me that it might be easier to clean up than groutable vinyl tile flooring. We thought this would be perfect for our kitchen flooring. :)  

      There was also another color. 

Style Selections 6-in x 36-in Antique Woodland Oak/Brown Peel-and-Stick Rustic Residential Vinyl Plank

      Yesterday, I finally ordered the peel-and-stick rustic vinyl flooring. We hope we can install it this weekend. :)

Style Selections 6-in x 36-in Driftwood/Gray Peel-and-Stick Rustic Residential Vinyl Plank

      My entries related to home renovations can be seen here.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/home%20renovations

How to Install A Spring Door Stop

    I didn't like the old and tired door stop in my second bedroom even though it worked great and didn't have any problem other than its tired look.

     Last night, I finally replaced it with a new spring door stop. It was super easy to install, and I am happy with its fresh look now. :)

        A door stop is very inexpensive, so it was a great idea to install new one. :) I'm going to share with you how to install a spring door stop.

What You'll Need
A Wrench (in order to remove an old rigid door stop)
A New Spring Door Stop
A Screw Driver


1. Remove the old rigid door stop with using a wrench. If your old door stop is not rigid one, you might not need a wrench to remove it.

2. Screw the plate to the baseboard. 

3. Turn the spring into the mounting plate.

Super easy!

     My entries related to home renovations can be seen here.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/home%20renovations