Teczcape-An Escape to Food

Never would I have thought that fried chicken would one day be featured in my bowl meals because fried chicken - KFC style, the fried chicken we grew up eating, is one of the last food dishes I would cook at home.

Out of sight, out of mind. Well, that was until this $2 off fried chicken coupon was sighted in my supermarket shopping account. And what can be better than using this discount to buy an item that I would never prepare/cook at home.


How about waiting for a double discount deal? That popped up in my mind. I will wait for a 5-dollar Friday - that's when 8-piece fried chicken goes on sale for $5 (vs other times, almost twice the price, about $9); then use this $2 discount on this 5-dollar Friday.Woot! 8-piece fried chicken (mix of fried drumsticks and thighs) for $3! (pardon the overuse of exclamation marks).

That's frugal living (did you know: our family also uses store-bought whole rotisserie chicken to prep the family's protein bowls); and planning ahead is part of frugal living including today's semi-homecooked bowl meal.

A salad fit and mighty as a main dish protein salad bowl featuring shredded chicken, quinoa, red cabbage, Brussel sprouts, snow peas.


Quinoa is nutritious whole grain that can be easily added to vegetable salads and make salads a meal. Make Smoked Salmon Turmeric Quinoa Bowl, Broccoli Cauliflower Celery Quinoa Bowl, Biryani-Inspired Quinoa Pilaf, Asparagus Quinoa Bowl.

When there was leftover curry chicken, we made Curry Chicken Protein Veggie Bowl. But this time, only gravy remaining and no chicken leftover in the curry chicken! The frugality in me simply wants to "save" that precious gravy (can't waste the essence of curry chicken, right?).

The following day, two different leftovers: shredded chicken breast and curry gravy became good friends - combo created by adding leftover shredded chicken breast into the leftover curry gravy, then reheated to make this Shredded Chicken Curry Veggie Bowl.

A few days away from daylight savings when we turn our clock back an hour. The days are getting shorter and temperatures are down to sweater weather.

A warm wholesome bowl of multigrain congee (this Rice Cooker /Multicooker will be useful) is a welcoming meal as we embrace autumn and winter. Call this Surf and Turf as shrimps (prawns) and ground  meat (pork, chicken) are added to the otherwise plain bowl of congee made from brown rice, millet, quinoa.

Edible Chrysanthemum/ Crown Daisy or Shungiku is a floral-fragrant vegetable. They are often added to hotpots and enjoyed like any other "hotpot- friendly" vegetables such as Napa cabbage, Bok Choy, cabbage. 

This lovely great-tasting vegetable also serves as natural flavor enhancer in salad bowls and makes this delicious Edible Chrysanthemum Chicken Salad Bowl.

It can also be prepared as a chilled side-salad or appetizer-salad, make healthy sushi or Korean Kimbap/Gimbap or steamed with fish and/or tofu. 

Made with in-season sweet corn, fresh crisp cucumbers and juicy tomatoes, this Sesame Chicken Salad is easy to put together and very delicious (addictive!) to enjoy especially in the summer months.


It is also the perfect summer protein bowl, created with everyday easily available produce and one the most versatile leftovers - chicken breast. Have you tried this 20-minute Leftover Chicken Breast Salad (and many of its variants) yet? Leftover shredded chicken can be easily reheated/warmed up using small kitchen appliances such as electric food steamers. These appliances including this rapid egg steamer are great kitchen helpers and save the busy cook a lot of time during meal prep.

American-Chinese food. Takeout. I'm guilty of both. Once in a long while, Panda Express takeouts will appear at our dining table. It's out of convenience but honestly, my family does not think the food taste THAT bad - price-wise, checked; food quality, checked; in short, value for money.

Shown below, leftover Panda Express Chicken Teriyaki paired with gluten-free high-protein noodles to make this noodle-style salad.

Besides this updated Easy Garlic Bread Toast recipe, there is also an upgraded version - yet another easy and delicious recipe: Crispy Chicken Skin Tomato Bruschetta.


I love how the leftover chicken skin crisp up while the bread gets toasted in the oven. The chicken skin brought in savory flavors and a wow-factor into this otherwise ordinary bruschetta. Enjoy with this budget-friendly asparagus soup (made from "scraps" you might unknowingly discard).

This fiber-rich multigrain blend of organic farro, barley, wheat berries, buckwheat, red rice, black rice, oats cooks quick and easy. In about ten minutes, the nutty aroma of fabulous grains fills the kitchen, and lingers to flavorsome grain goodness at the meal table.

Substitute multigrain blend with quinoa: make Chicken Broccoli Quinoa Bowl, Chicken Asparagus Quinoa Bowl.

Today, this multigrain blend pairs with freshly steamed broccoli, cauliflower and entree of the day (leftover chicken breast steamed/quick-braised with shiitake mushrooms; vegetarians can choose Tofu Mushrooms Stew).

Store-bought rotisserie chicken is our saviour when it comes to meal prepping for weekdays lunch and dinner (that's 10 meals!)

Make healthy protein bowls in a jiffy such as Chicken Broccoli Sweet Potato Bowl, Chicken Cauliflower Quinoa Bowl; also save and shred chicken breast the next day for Chicken Cabbage Salad, Chicken Broccoli with High-Protein-Noodle Salad, Chicken Salad Sandwich.


No time to shred the chicken breast? Simply enjoy chunky breast meat like an entree, with freshly steamed/roasted vegetables.

This meal today takes no more than 10 minutes cook time, with another 10 minutes preparation time to slice/prep the veggies. If you already have the veggies sliced/cut in advance: Congratulations! Because dinner will be ready in no more than 20 minutes, just like this 20-minute Sous Vide Beef Salad Bowl.

This Curry Chicken Protein Veggie Bowl should have been done earlier but it's never too late and especially in the chilly months of winter, there has never been a better time for curry (and spice!). The idea of curry chicken in a protein/ grain bowl came about because of some leftovers we had from takeout curry chicken. Out of convenience, the curry chicken reheated the next day became perfect accompaniment with regular daily veggies.


The chicken and potatoes in the curry made up the protein and carbs, and with the freshly prepared veggies - it is a delicious, healthy and balanced meal.

Oh, the dressing? It's the curry gravy! Just drizzle (no, DRENCH!) over the grains/ veggies.

Mango means summer, summer means mango.

Mango puts up a summer theme today and brings in sweetness to complement this savory veggie chicken salad bowl made from broccoli, green beans and chicken. Try any of these veggie chicken combinations e.g. Broccoli Cabbage Chicken Salad or Broccoli Chicken with Corn and Sweet Potatoes , add juicy sweet mangoes to it and you got a fresh summery salad.

Theme days or theme nights make meal planning so much easier. In our family, Wednesday and Friday means sandwiches/wraps lunches e.g. Chicken Salad Sandwich, Rainbow Veggies Wraps.

Do you have a theme day or theme night?

On sandwich Wednesdays and Fridays, the brain is switched to auto-mode for lunch preparations. There is no need to even think of what's for lunch and THAT, ITSELF is a real time-saver.

The "sandwiches" can come in different forms - sandwich pockets. wraps, burgers.

Meatballs are worth making a batch because they are so versatile. Use them in soups e.g. Chives and Meatballs Soup, stews e.g. Lion's Head Meatballs Braise with Napa Cabbage, and of course, perfect add-ons to grain bowls and veggie bowls!

Steamed assortment of vegetables, roasted sweet potatoes, with quinoa and homemade meatballs 

Remember these homemade meatballs? It is going to be an easier recipe today, keeping it homemade and simplified from the last time.

The fuss-free preparation tips and tricks from the previous recipe, such as oven-roasting the (batch of) meatballs and making uniform bite-size meatballs to manage cooking time, carry over to this recipe.

Not chicken salad sandwich or wrap, but assembled and built as chicken burger filled with leftover shredded chicken, kale and cucumber.


Avocado, mashed and smeared on the bun, replaces the oil-based dressing used in this chicken salad sandwich.

This can also easily come together as salad without the bun (carb-free option).

One of the taboos during Chinese New Year is not to eat porridge /congee on the first day of Chinese New Year because porridge (seen as food for the poor) brings poverty. It is now way past the fifth day of Chinese New Year, so no more food taboos! Besides, it is unseasonably cold here in California almost the middle of February, so a bowl of piping hot porridge instantly delivers warmth and comfort in the chilly nights of winter.

As natural as how the body works, when we grow older, we should revert back to eating like a growing baby? Exaggeration, you might say. The point is, consuming easily digestible food like this Shirasu Millet Porridge, especially during the night does not overload our digestive system and works better for the body.


A one-pot millet porridge/ congee, cooked with high-in-calcium shirasu (sardine whitebait), zinc-rich organic ground chicken, iron-packed watercress and beta-carotene-loaded carrots, is nutritious, wholesome yet light and comforting. For vegetarian, omit the chicken and fish in this recipe, and try this Kabocha Squash Millet Congee.

The lunch bowl today is similar to this healthy and delicious Broccoli, Cauliflower, Chicken Quinoa Bowl. Routine might not be be a bad thing after all.

Batch-cooking quinoa and chicken breast leftovers are all part of meal preparation and that really got me into the groove of such a meal combination (or shall I say, post-workout worthy meals).

Come meal time, all we need is re-heat the leftovers, roast some sweet potatoes or potatoes and steam fresh vegetables (Note: Steaming vegetables is a gentle quick-cooking method that maintains vegetables' nutritional value and beautiful color).

There is nothing special about this pot of udon noodles. Though prepared with quite the basic everyday ingredients that you find in a working kitchen, this simple homecooked one-pot noodles is still very flavorful and satisfying that you slurp till the very last strand of noodle.

It does not have to be special. It just have to be pure comfort. A bowl of noodles with tender-cooked vegetables in light fragrant broth is absolutely warm comfort in the chilly months of winter.


With some "help" from advanced meal prep. e.g. dicing the carrots and celery, choosing the "easier" onion i.e. green onions to slice, this pot of noodle can be put together very quickly, start to finish in one same pot!

Leftovers from Tandoori Chicken Salad? The leftovers can conveniently be used as fillings for sandwiches and wraps; and especially when making sandwiches using pita bread, this Tandoori Chicken Salad can easily be stuffed into the bread pockets.

What if you did not make Tandoori Chicken Salad? Don't worry, this Easy Chicken Salad made from leftover rotisserie chicken will also do the trick.

YESsss, yes, and yes! Of course, leftover turkey works perfect and in fact, so appropriate after all the Thanksgiving turkey leftovers.

Leftover chicken does wonders to salad or grain bowls; not only it saves time during grain bowl preparation, it is also a quick and easy protein add-on to any meal.

Today, we have leftover (leftover from Indian take-out) tandoori chicken, shredded and topped over a salad base of cherry tomatoes, arugula, lettuce and cucumber.


For vegetarians, replace the chicken with Korean Spicy Chilled Tofu, Korean Spicy Baked Tofu or Soy-Roasted Tofu.