Alissa Nguyen

#AD When I heard A MINECRAFT MOVIE will be in theaters on April 4th, I just had to make Tot Waffles Grilled Cheese towers. I simplified things by using Grown in Idaho® Super Crispy Tots. I love how easy these are to cook with the options to air fry or bake! They come out super crispy and super delicious. Check your local freezer aisle for Grown in Idaho® fries and tots - and be sure to enter the sweepstakes! 🥔 No purchase necessary. Open to legal residents of 50 US States & DC, must be 18 or older. Sweeps ends at 11:59 pm CT on 4/28/2025. Enter at http://www.growninidahosweeps.com/  & see rules and info on free entry. Void where prohibited. A MINECRAFT MOVIE© 2025 WBEI and Legendary. 🥔 #GrowninIdahoInspired #MinecraftMovie @A Minecraft Movie INGREDIENTS 1/2 bag of Grown in Idaho® Super Crispy Tots (14 oz) 6 slices of cheddar cheese cooking oil spray of choice 1/2 cup bacon bites INSTRUCTIONS: 1. OVEN: Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper. arrange and even layer of Grown in Idaho® tots onto baking sheet and bake at 425F for 15-20 minutes, flipping or shaking halfway through. AIRFRYER: Air-fry at 360F for 9-10 minutes shaking halfway through ‌ 1. grease waffle maker with cooking spray 2. add 10-12 cooked tots with no gaps between them to the hot waffle maker. Close the lid and let the waffle tots cook for 4-5 minutes or until golden brown. 3. carefully remove the crispy waffle and repeat with your second one 4. once your second waffle tot is cooked, add 2 slices of cheese + a spoonful of bacon bits. Place the first cooked waffle tot over it and close the waffle maker. Cook for 1 more minute or until cheese is melted. Serve hot and enjoy!

ROTISSERIE CHICKEN PHO 1 chicken rotisserie chicken 1 onion, roasted 1 knob of ginger, roasted 5 quarts of water Rock sugar the size of a golf ball (can also use regular sugar 1-2 TBSP is good) 2 TBSP fish sauce 2 tsp salt   PHO SPICES (in case you can’t get access to the pre made bag) 2 star anise 1 cinnamon stick 1 cardamom pod 1 TBSP coriander 1 TBSP fennel seeds ½ tsp cloves -       Toast everything on a dry skillet   ADDITIONAL INGREDIENTS Pho noodles Chopped scallion Chopped cilantro Thinly sliced onion (purple or yellow) Siriracha Hoisin sauce Black pepper Thai basil Bean sprouts   INSTRUCTIONS 1. Shred off all the chicken from your carcass and set it to the side.   2. in a large enough pot, add all of your ingredients: chicken carcass/ bones, (toasted) onions, (toasted) ginger,  (toasted) spices, water, rock sugar, fish sauce and salt. Bring this to a boil. As it comes to a boil, you will get foam that floats to the top… scoop it out. Once broth boils, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. (simmer with lid on) 3. After 30 minutes, remove your spice bag. At this point, you can continue to simmer or you can prepare a bowl of pho.   4. Watch my video to see how you can prepare a bowl of pho

Garlic prep!

And passing bad gas😬 EGG BOIL 6 soft, medium or hard boiled eggs 1 stick unsalted butter 1/2 of a small onion, sliced 3 TBSP minced garlic Juice from 1/2 a lemon 1/2 cup chicken broth SPICES: 1 tsp slap ya mama 1 tsp old bay 1 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp onion powder 1 tsp smoked paprika 1 tsp lemon pepper 1 tsp cayenne pepper 1 tsp crushed red chili flakes 1 tsp dried parsley 1 tsp fish sauce 2 tsp sugar 1. Cook your eggs so they’re soft, medium or soft boiled eggs 2. Melt butter then add thinly sliced onions and cook for ~2 minutes. 2. Then add all of your ingredients listed under SPICES. Mix well. 3. Then add 3 TBSP minced garlic and mix. 4. Then add the juice from 1/2 a lemon and 1/2 cup of chicken broth. Let this simmer for 3-5 minutes before turning off heat and pouring it over your eggs.

KIMCHI   5 lbs napa cabbage 1 cup kosher salt (coarse preferred) 1 cup water   1.5 cups water 1/4 cups glutinous rice flour 3 TBSP sugar   1 ¼ gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes) 1 TBSP salted shrimp (or 2 TBSP fish sauce) 1 TBSP minced ginger 6 TBSP minced garlic ½ of a large onion   1 bunch of scallion 3 carrots     INSTRUCTIONS 1.     Cut your napa cabbage into quarters and then into 1-2 inch wide pieces. -       Add 1 cup kosher salt and 1 cup of water. Combine this well and let this sit for 1 hour. Mix it every 15 – 30 minutes.   2.     Meanwhile, combine 1.5 cups of water and ¼ cups of glutinous rice flour. Bring this over some heat until well combined. This mixture will start to thicken and become gooey. -       Add 3 TBSP of sugar and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Then turn off heat and allow to completely cool.   3.     While you wait for step 2 to cool, prepare your veggies—carrots and scallion. Julienne your carrots (its probably better to buy this pre julienned if you get the chance) and cut your scallion 2 inch wide. Set this aside.   4.     In a blender, combine: 1 ¼ cup gochugaru, 1 TBSP salted shrimp (or 2 TBSP fish sauce), 1 TBSP minced ginger, 6 TBSP minced garlic and ½ of a large onion. Blend this til smooth. Set this aside.   5.     By now, your kimchi should’ve been sitting in salt + water brine for 1 hour. You will see that your napa cabbage has shrunk in size and its soft. Thoroughly rinse this under cold water at least 3 times. On the last round, make sure to squeeze out any excess liquid.   6.     Now the fun part.. combine everything. Start with your red gochurgaru paste (step 4), rice flour paste (step 2) and your veggies (step 3). Once this is well combined, add your napa cabbage. Combine well and taste test. At this point is when you need to adjust. (note: if you want to make it saltier, I’d suggest using salt or fish sauce instead of salted shrimp—if that’s what you used.   7.     Once your kimchi taste to preference, you can enjoy immediately or allow to ferment a little before enjoy. To ferment, store in an airtight container at room temp for 1 day and then transfer to the fridge for a couple of days before enjoying.

This is my lazy/ poor man’s galbi jjim recipe (Korean braised short rib). I used beef stew meat (the one you get from Costco) because its inexpensive and I cooked it in the pressure cooker which cuts the cook time by 80%. This meal is a hit with my husband and kids; ages 3 and 6     LAZY/ POOR MAN GALBI JJIM   INGREDIENTS 2 beef* 1-2 carrots 1/2 of a Korean radish or potatoes 8 mushrooms of choice (I used baby king mushrooms) *any cut works. I used beef stew meat from Costco. You can use cuts like: short rib, chuck roast, sirloin.. any cut works tbh   MARINADE 1 small apple, peeled ½ yellow onion (sweet onion preferred) ½ cup Maggi seasoning or soy sauce ¼ cup rice wine, cooking wine or water 1 TBSP sweetener of choice (I used monkfruit sweetener) 1 TBSP minced garlic   INSTRUCTIONS 1.     Soak beef in water just until you’re done prepping the rest of your ingredients. Drain ribs and rinse under cold water   2. Cut your carrots, radish/ potatoes and mushroom to preferred time   3. MAKE YOUR MARINADE: in a blender, add all of your ingredient listed under MARINADE and blend til smooth. (note: I peeled my apple and onions and cut into large chunks so it blends easier)   4. Then pour over your ribs and allow to marinate until you’re done prepping your veggies   5. Place beef, MARINADE and veggies into your pressure cooker. Cook on high for 12-15 minutes.   6. once its done cooking, switch to sauté mode and cook for 5 minutes.   7. I served this with Korean purple rice for the kids and cauliflower rice and kimchi for my husband. It’s especially good with the sauce drizzled all over it!

BUN BO HUE   BROTH 2 onions 5 lbs pork bones (or beef bones) 8 oz frozen (minced) lemongrass* 10 liters of water 2 TBSP salt 4 TBSP fish sauce 2 TBSP shrimp paste 2 TBSP sugar 2 tsp msg 2 TBSP chicken bouillon 0.7 oz tamarind soup base powder (1/2 a bag) *I used frozen minced lemongrass because its what I had. If you are able too, use fresh lemongrass stalk. You need 10-15 stalks. Discard the leafy ends of the lemongrass and use only the thick stem part. Make sure you bruise your lemongrass before use. To bruise, take the spine of your knife and beat your lemongrass (this helps release flavor)   FOOD COLORING 1 cup oil of choice (I used Chosen’s Avocado Oil) 6 oz annatto seeds 4 TBSP minced shallots 4 TBSP minced garlic 4 TBSP minced lemongrass   SPICY SATE   TOPPINGS Noodles Meat of choice* Scallion Cilantro Onions Herbs *I used thinly sliced beef and beef balls because that’s what I had but other popular meat topping choices include: cha lua (Vietnamese ham), shrimp balls, beef shank/ brisket   INSTRUCTIONS 1.     BROTH: In a large pot, add: onions, (blanched) pork bones, lemongrass and 10 liters of water. Bring to a boil. -       Once boiling, season with: salt, fish sauce, shrimp paste, sugar, MSG, chicken bouillon and tamarind powder. -       Bring this back to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for AT LEAST 3 HOURS. After simmer, pour your broth through a fine strainer. You can discard everything in your strainer so all that is left is your broth -       Taste test your broth and adjust to preference. -       Note: I reserved my pork bone and picked the meat off the bones. This part out the meat is very tender and my kids loved it! -       Now that you have JUST your broth, add your FOOD COLORING (instructions to make FOOD COLORING BELOW)   2.     FOOD COLORING: first, you need to make red oil. In a pot, add 1 cup of oil of choice and 6 oz annatto seeds. Bring this over some heat. -       Once oil starts to bubble, immediately turn off heat and pour through a fine strainer. USE ONLY ½ OF YOUR OIL.. save the other ½ for your SPICY SATE. -       Now that you have ½ cup of red annatto seed oil, add minced shallots, minced garlic and minced lemongrass. Cook this just until it starts to get aromatic and then turn off heat. Pour this into your BROTH once you’ve strained your BROTH.   3.     Your broth is done, assemble yourself a bowl. Go to part 2 if you want to see how I made SPICY SATE

MULTI GRAIN PURPLE RICE   15 lbs short grain 4 lbs sweet rice 3-4 lbs pressed barley 1 lb black rice 4 lb peeled mung bean   Mix this all together and cook as if you were cooking white rice

Maybe I could’ve been a better mom and rotated their heads more when they slept to prevent this? Or carry them more? Or not be in labor for so long? Or maybe I’m their mom so I notice every little thing about them. Regardless, I’m glad services like this exist to make their heads perfect!

KOREAN BRAISED RIBS (GALBI JJIM) INGREDIENTS 4 beef (short) ribs (about 4lbs total) 2-3 carrots, cut large chunks 1/2 of a radish or daikon, cut large chunks MARINADE 1 apple 1 yellow onion (sweet onion preferred) 1 cup Maggi seasoning or soy sauce 1/2 cup rice wine, cooking wine or water Sweetener of choice* 2 TBSP minced garlic *omit is ok, I’ve made this without sugar and it was still so delicious! I used about 1 tsp of stevia INSTRUCTIONS 1. Soak beef ribs in water just until you’re done prepping the rest of your ingredients. Drain ribs and rinse under cold water 2. MAKE YOUR MARINADE: in a blender, add all of your ingredient listed under MARINADE and blend til smooth. 3. Then pour over ur ribs and allow to marinate until you’re done prepping your veggies 4. Place ribs and sauce into an instant pot and pressure cook for 10-12 minutes. After 10-12 minutes of pressure add your carrots & daikon but make sure it is submerged in your sauce. Cook for another 10-15 minutes or until your carrots are fork tender. 5. This is good with rice but my husband ate it with shredded cabbage and it was really good especially with the sauce drizzled all over it!

We’ll work on actually eating it next time. He went from “eww” and not wanting anything to do with it to actually cracking it open & scooping it out… baby steps lol

I’m still learning the settings on my camera so some parts might look a little pixelated. Sorry! POT ROAST 2 lb chuck roast 10 cloves garlic, crushed 2 carrots, chopped 2 celery, chopped ½ of a large onion (or 1 small), chopped 1.5 TBSP tomato paste 1 cup red wine 2 bay leaves 2 sprigs of thyme 2 springs of rosemary 2 cups of beef broth   1.     Generously salt and pepper your chuck roast. In a dutch over or an oven safe pot, heat up some oil and then sear your chuck roast until there is a nice crust on both side. Remove from heat and set aside for later.   2.     In the same pot, cook your crushed garlic for 20-30 seconds, just until its fragrant.   3.     Add your carrots, celery and onions. Cook for 5 minutes   4.     Then add salt to taste, tomato paste and red wine. Cook for 2-3 minutes   5.     Then add bay leaves, thyme and rosemary. Cook for another 2 minutes   6.     Then add sear chuck roast back in along with beef broth. Bring this to a boil. Once boiling, turn off heat and transfer to oven.   7.     Bake at 300F for 3 hours.   8.     After 3 hour, carefully remove the beef and set it aside.   9.     Your pot should have the remaining: veggies, spice and liquid. Pour the liquid through a fine strainer. You can discard everything inside but RESERVE THE LIQUID.   10.  Bring the liquid over high heat and cook for 5 minutes. Your sauce will slightly thicken.   11.  Serve this with some veggies over some mashed potatoes. Drizzle the gravy sauce on top and garnish with chopped/ minced parsley.

confidence boost🍒✨ @stylesbysimon

10 MINUTE MISO SOUP   INGREDIENTS 8 oz firm tofu ¼ cup chopped seaweed 4 cups water 1 tsp (hon)dashi powder 4 TBSP miso paste Chopped scallion     INSTRUCTIONS 1.        Cut tofu into small bite size cubes. Set aside.   2.        If you need to, then roughly cut dried seaweed. If you bought yours already chopped, you do not need to do this.   3.        In a pot, add ¼ cup water, 1 tsp hondashi powder, dried seaweed and tofu. Bring this to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 3 minutes.   4.        After 3 minutes, add your miso paste and immediately turn off heat. (note: you can strain your paste so its not grainy—this is preference. I did not strain)   5.        Then add chopped scallion and enjoy.

I was not expecting the end🥺 my sweet boy❤️

Who let me play with sound effects😭😂 DAKDORITANG Recipe is from @maangchi with a couple of minor changes   2 lb chicken (I used chicken drumsticks) 2 cups chicken broth 3 carrots 7 yukon gold potatoes (or potatoes of choice) 2 jalapenos     PASTE ¼ cup low sodium soy sauce ¼ cup gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes) ¼ cup gochujang (Korean red pepper paste) 1-2 TBSP sugar (I used monkfruit sweetener) 2 TBSP minced garlic 1 small onion, cut in large chunks   INSTRUCTIONS (do this in the pot you are gonna cook with for easy clean up) 1.    In a mixing bowl/ the pot you are going to cook with, add: low sodium soy sauce, gochugaru, gochujang, sugar, minced garlic. Mix well until a chunk paste forms ten add onions.   2.    Before you add your chicken, cut some slits into them. Then add chicken into your paste. Mix well.   3.    Then add 2 cups chicken stock. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.   4.    Meanwhile, prepare your carrots and potatoes. Cut your carrots in large chunks and since I’m using Yukon gold potatoes, I cut them in half. (note: if you finish prepping your veggies before the 20 min is up, I suggest soaking potatoes in water to avoid browning).   5.    After 20 minutes, add your carrots and potatoes and cook for another 20 minutes. Make you’re your veggies are submerged in your broth and you baste your chicken with your broth every 3-5 minutes.   6.    After 20 minutes, your potatoes and carrots should be fork tender. Turn off heat and top with sliced jalapenos.

SESAME LEAF BANCHAN/ SIDE DISH   ~50 sesame leaves (or perilla leaves) 1 TBSP fish sauce 1 TBSP soy sauce 1 TBSP sweetener of choice (im using agave) 2 TBSP gochugaru (korean red pepper flakes) 1 TBSP minced garlic 1 scallion, chopped 1 TBSP toasted sesame seeds

SPAGHETTI – MY WAY   1 lb of spaghetti 1.5 TBSP minced garlic 1 onion, chopped 8 oz mushrooms, sliced 2 jars of Rao’s spaghetti sauce (28 oz each) Frozen meat balls   TO SEASON: Fish sauce Sugar (I used monkfruit sweetener) Mushroom bouillon   TOPPINGS Chopped cilantro Chopped scallion Fried garlic Fried shallots Parmesan cheese Red pepper flakes     1.    Cook spaghetti noodles to preference. (note: I do not salt my pasta water)   2.    In a pot, heat up some oil and cook garlic til fragrant.   3.    Then add chopped onions and cook until slight translucent   4.    Then add mushroosm and cook for 2-3 minutes   5.    Then add Rao’s marinara sauce and frozen meatballs. Give this a good mix   6.     Then season with fish sauce, sugar and mushroom bouillon. Bring this to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes.   7.    After 20-25 minutes, taste test. If everything is good to go, then assemble yourself a bowl.   8.    Spaghetti noodles > spaghetti sauce > chopped cilantro > chopped scallion > fried garlic > fried shallots > parmesan cheese > red pepper flakes

I forgot to include a few sauce bottles but you get the idea… I cook 4-5 times a week. I don’t like to cook over the weekend so weekend meals are usually left overs, take out or packaged food like the sundubu kits or cold noodle kits. A lot of this was a restock that I’ll be using over the next several months. Lmk if you want to see more grocery hauls!

FISH SAUCE   12 oz coconut soda (or water) ¼ cup sugar (or sweetener of choice.. I used monkfruit sweetener) ¼ cup fish sauce 2 TBSP white distilled vinegar Minced garlic 2 tsp garlic chili paste (or sambal/ olek) Chopped thai chili, optional