Oven cooked yam + beef

For a while, I got so lazy and just wanted to eat out all the time, which is very expensive and unhealthy. I got back to cooking because my friend showed me her friend's Facebook pictures of 100+ meals cooked, and I was totally inspired since I wanted to broaden my cooking menu and try cooking new things.

I also got sick of making claypot rice over and over again as my dinner meal plan, so I started cooking food in the oven. For lunch, I made potato wedges in the oven. For dinner, I continued this trend and cooked some beef and yam in the oven (early Thanksgiving much?) 

Basically, I marinated the beef using salt, cornstarch, oyster sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, and a little bit of MSG (I know, MSG is bad so I didn't add too much :) I coated the yams in some oil so it didn't stick to the pan (I didn't have any parchment paper). I just tossed everything in the pan and cooked on 350 degrees- the beef took less time (approximately 15-20 minutes) so I took it out first. However, the yams took longer (I even had to add some more oil to get it to ripe faster)- about 35-40 minutes. It took a lot of discretion and patience, but it was SO DELICIOUS! This meal kept me inspired to cook again. My new goal is to cook new savory foods and expand my knowledge of cooking. 

Chocolate Pancake

Pancakes are my NEW OBSESSION! So it all started when my roommate craved pancakes that her mom makes. She then bought this pancake mix called Aunt Jemima and made some pancakes. I got hungry for breakfast one day, so I made it, and although I do prefer making everything from scratch (that is my motto), the mix is amazing! I followed the recipe on the box but I halved everything.

I really craved chocolate pancakes, the ones with chocolate chips inside, but I was too broke to buy chocolate chip morsels at Walgreen's (they were about $5!) so I got an idea: use that Starbucks' Hot Cocoa Mix that was sitting up on the kitchen cabinet and infuse it with the milk.

The end product: I got TWO LARGE CHOCOLATE PANCAKES!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Aunt Jemima pancake mix
3/8 cup milk
1/2 tablespoon oil
1 egg (I didn't halve the egg because it was pretty small and it made the pancakes more moist, which I like)
1 tablespoon hot cocoa mix (I'm pretty sure you can use regular cocoa powder as well) 

How to Make:

1. Heat up the milk a little (not boiling) and mix in the hot cocoa. 
2. Add it to the rest of the ingredients. 
3. Heat up saucepan with a little oil on medium heat. Don't forget to turn it over quick because it heats up pretty fast!
4. Enjoy!