What exactly is Boba?
Boba are large tapioca balls similar to the ones you can find in tapioca pudding. They’ve gained popularity over the years and have inspired millions of DIY recipes. The pearls have a chewy texture to them and are usually put into sugary drinks or teas. I love enjoying them with sugarless tea because it’s easy to consume more than one serving.

It’s all in the name
I’ve had several types of Boba before but none of them have been so easy or quick to make as the packages made by WuFuYuan. This brand is inexpensive as well! We found our pearls in the heart of Amsterdam‘s Asian shopping district but it’s not too hard to find online. Do be careful where you buy it from though. I’ve seen it go for 3 times the regular price on some websites!

Quick and easy
The last batch of pearls I had took about 4 hours to make. Can you believe that!? It was a mix of boiling and letting the hot water sit to cook the pearls. But these babies take 5 minutes. What a difference it makes! The only down side is that the package recommends consuming the Boba fast. So it’s best to use during a week where you’re craving Boba every day. Or, if you have friends over, it’s perfect for a Boba party.

My favorite drink
I enjoy my Boba with ice matcha and soy milk. I’ve been experimenting for a while now and come up with a good recipe. It’s hard to share because my cup is an old peanut butter jar. But basically I mix up some matcha powder to make a concentrate and let it rest while I fix the rest of the drink. When my Boba has cooled, I add in a huge spoon of honey and mix well. Then I add the mix to my cup and add ice on top. From there I pour on soy milk and add the matcha over that. It’s so satisfying to mix the drink together and it makes for some beautiful photos! I do have a stainless steel Boba straw so make sure you have something that can fit these huge Boba pearls.

Final thoughts
The ones I bought are brown sugar flavor but its not sweet. They’re actually flavorless, how interesting is that? It tastes like how brown sugar smells. You’re going to want to make either a simple syrup or add honey to your Boba pearls. Add your sweetener after cooking the pearls and before they’re in the drink. You can also add the sugar to your drink too, but make sure you stir it up well enough. I tend to take my tea without sugar and milk so if you enjoy the same then this beverage will be a snap to make.

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Smaller gatherings
A normal Dutch birthday party has everyone involved. Since The Netherlands is so small, people can from anywhere to anywhere and return home the same day. I’ve seen people from the north and the far south make it for previous parties. Birthdays are the best time to visit family. The Dutch don’t have holidays like Thanksgiving where entire families gather around a table. So if you take away birthdays, you take away the biggest family event. It’s been rough for some, I can tell you that. But for others, it invites intimate conversations and tighter bonds.

No Kisses
I was shocked about the kisses on the cheek etiquette when I first arrived in The Netherlands. It was interesting and a bit of a novelty for me. But as time went on, it felt so awkward having to give air kisses to people I didn’t know. So I sucked it up and just went with it because it’s part of an old custom. You can say I did breathe a sigh of relief when we had to distance ourselves… No more getting cheek to cheek with strangers!

More expensive cake
The Dutch are super thrifty and from my experience, quantity was more important than quality. Not to say that cakes (tarts) from the local grocer aren’t tasty. They’re super delicious and I would eat them every day if I could. But since we’re just having Sander’s parents over, we decided to splurge and get a more exciting cake. Sander got a few slices of whipped cream cake and apple pie. I was even able to get a slice of Red Velvet cake for myself! Anyone who knows me, knows that I love, love, love red velvet cake. There’s something about the sour flavor of the cake and the cream cheese filling that drives me crazy!

Home deliveries
I used to get so excited around Sander’s birthday. I could venture out into the city and look for a gift for him. Something fun, unique, or something that he’s wanted for a long time. This year.. I drew a blank. Thankfully Sander found something online that he fell in love with. But it’s coming from Japan so he’s going to have to do some waiting!

Fancy Eats
Sander and I love Indian food and we’re lucky enough that we have tasty stuff pretty close by. Normal Dutch birthdays have simple treats, finger foods and cake of course. But with a private party, we could order out and thoroughly enjoy our meal. It’s been a long time since we had Indian food, so it was nice to dig into something familiar. The meal we got had flavors that scream comfort food. It was so accessible to me when I lived in California that I never thought twice about it. But my heritage foods mean more to me than they did in the past. It’s another wonderful reason to celebrate. Because many Dutchies can’t touch spicy food and none of this was spicy!

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Pick your favorites
They say that anyone can cook, and that means that anyone can bake. But don’t pile on the pressure too high! Start simple and start with something you’d die to eat again. For me, I miss American cookies. Cookies are easier for me to make because there’s less clean up. So my first step was to find a cookie recipe that I loved. The perfect texture, the perfect taste… All of these and more contribute to a delicious cookie. I hunted for a few months, trying out several recipes before I found a great one on Joy Food Sunshine.

Note how this recipe is for chocolate chip cookies. But I love how moist and rich these cookies are. And they stay moist for a long time if you keep them covered. So all I did was swap out the ingredients. The cookie base is tasty enough you can eat it on it’s own too. These were the simple things I wanted in the prefect cookies base. It took some effort to discover but it was worth it! The important part of baking is the base, so make sure you can perfect that as you go along. Of course different types of cookies call for different types of things but experimenting can help you develop something unique!

Mix things up
I’ve made several types of cookies with this base to keep things interesting. One week I used chocolate bar chunks which was out of this world. Trust me, if you love sea salt caramel, this recipe is perfect for it. This week I went with white chocolate because I had some left over. If you make the same recipe over and over, you’ll get sick of it. But how else can you practice? If you keep things fresh as you go, it will be easier for you to level up your baking skills and still remain interested. It’s also fun to see how different ingredients change the recipe. My batch of chocolate chip cookies came out so gooey and amazing but a batch of M&M’s cookies ended up super dry!

Keep and open mind
Have you ever had a time when you wanted to make something but you didn’t have all the ingredients? Or maybe you didn’t have enough? Make sure you’re open to improvising! I’ve accidently made some delicious white chocolate and cashew cookies because I bought the wrong type of nuts. Or what if you found a great cookie and just want to bring the flavor to a whole new level? I plan on adding a bit of coffee to my batch the next time I make chocolate chip cookies. I’ve read that coffee brings out the deepness in the flavor of chocolate and I want to try it out! Improving your baking skills can take more than just practicing the same recipe over again. It can also take simple knowledge and experimentation too!

Don’t be scared to move on
As of this week, I’m taking a break from cookies. I made so many and honestly the sugar is no good for me. I’m planning on trying out banana bread this week. I’ve been craving it a lot and I think now is the perfect time to move on to something new! The best way to figure out what you love, is to try a lot of things. But don’t focus on being a jack of all trades. Figure out what works for you and do your best to make it better!

The post Improving My Baking Skills appeared first on A Daily Lee.

How it started
I’m always on the hunt for a good deal when it comes to groceries. I mostly shop from the sale section so when I saw that vegetarian “meats” were on sale buy 2 get the 3rd free, you bet I jumped on it. I was hesitant about cooking vegetarian meals at home though. I’m always open to trying new things. I’ve had vegan products in the past but they were… Less than impressive. So I saw this as a new opportunity to give vegetarian meals a try. What worried me was Sander because he’s the picky eater in the house. So I placed the order and waited for delivery. We’ve ordered online for our local grocer since the middle of last year due to quarantine rules.

How it’s going
It’s been nearly 3 months now and we mostly eat vegetarian “meat”. It’s been an amazing experience too. It looks amazing and even smells like the real thing. Not to mention it’s easier to cook and I don’t have to worry about the sanitation that revolves around meat and handling it. The taste and texture is fantastic! Packaging does still use a lot of plastic, which is unfortunate, but we’re consuming much less meat. It’s easier for our stomachs and better for the environment too. The meals require the freezer either, which is a huge plus. We have a small Dutch freezer and space is limited. The “meat” looks realistic, needless to say. If you told me 10 years ago that I would enjoy vegetarian foods, I would have laughed. But the “meat” has come a long way and I’ll continue to buy it for our consumption.

Not 100% there
I doubt that Sander and I would ever go full vegetarian. We both love bacon and huge bowls of chicken ramen. But any step that I can take towards being healthier and more environment friendly… You bet I’m going to explore those options! So far all the vegetarian meats we’ve had have been super delicious. And it turns out that these soy based meats are even cheaper than the real thing! Who would have thought?

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What is it?
A care package can be anything. It can be goods, clothes, comforting items… The list goes on and on. For me, a care package is a bit of everything from back home that I can’t get in The Netherlands. I grew up in California. Living there spoiled me to the core! I could visit the beach and the mountains in the same day. There were fast food places everywhere and let me tell you, the flavors are to die for. Especially when it comes to heritage food. Now I can’t get Mexican food here but I can connect to my SoCal roots with that good old pumpkin spice.

Pumpkin Spice for days
My mom knows I’m a sucker for limited edition flavors and pumpkin spice is high up there. My favorite pie is pumpkin pie! It’s one of the reasons I look forward to Thanksgiving. Especially now that I live so far from home. Thanksgivings were always strained but now they hold so many memories. But I’m not the only person who enjoyed a pumpkin themed treat. Because of that, Trader Joe’s has a million different produces that chase the pumpkin dream. And of course my mother had to send me some!

All the baking
The important thing about shipping items overseas… Never send perishables! So my mom packed a ton of things that I could bake on my end. Everything from pumpkin spice bread and muffins to pumpkin spice pancakes and oatmeal. She did also send some cookies and biscotti but that’s besides the point. Be careful with what you send! I’m so thankful for the variety she provided me with. I can grab something easily and throw it in the oven when a craving hits. Everything so far has been delicious and I can’t wait to taste test the rest of what she sent.

Interesting flavors
I had never seen Mango gummies before so my mom sent me a pack. They’re so tasty! Mango and peach are my favorite flavors so these gummies hit the spot. However the microwaveable muffins… Were gross. It’s a gluten free protein muffin meant to be made fresh when water and heat is added. I tried it out but the flavor was overwhelmingly egg… So I couldn’t finish it. I mean a muffin that tastes like egg whites? That’s a nope from me.

I’m sad to say that I can’t link to these items from the Trader Joe’s page. Since it’s a store that has produce dependent on location, it’s impossible to have everything online. If you do have a chance to visit one, I suggest you do. Trader Joe’s was one of my favorite grocery stores because of all the amazing food they had. My favorite were the ready made Indian foods. I could come back from work or school and have a hearty and ready to eat meal at any time.

The post Autumn Trader Joe’s Care Package appeared first on A Daily Lee.

Anyway I wanted to talk about something light hearted for my first post back, but I couldn’t find any good ideas. Cue Sander and his European ways.

My mom sent me a bunch of baking mixes in her last care package (which I forgot to write about! Expect that post soon!). Since I have several boxes of Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Bread & Muffin mix, I decided to bake a little. That’s when we got into a conversation about the strange American cooking methods. And that brings us to today’s post… The strange cooking habits I have, as an American!

Cups and spoons
Don’t ask me how we got started on using cups for measuring but I’m stuck. I was lucky to find some measuring cups that fit what I need and I use them every day. I’ve got the 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, and 1 cup… Cups! I make a lot of foods with American recipes so these have been a blessing. Sander has no idea what they mean though. Sometimes I’ll tell him to get at least a cup worth of something and he’s confused about it… I’m sorry Sander! I don’t understand the measuring standards of the Dutch! We also have teaspoons and tablespoons but I could have sworn I saw them in a Dutch recipe at least once before. It could also be wishful thinking.

Sweets galore
When it comes to sweets, America’s on the ball. Everything we make is overly sweetened because let’s face it… Americans love to over indulge. I’m guilty as well. I prefer to make American brand cakes instead of Dutch brand. My palette is different from Sander’s and so are my cravings. He loves to reach for snacks with milder flavors. Sander does love M&M’s though, so that’s a win I suppose. But I’ve gotten a lot of comments on how my desserts are super sweet, and honestly, I like them like that!

Unique flavors
Sander mentioned before that I use a lot of baking soda in my baked goods. Now I can’t say that the Dutch don’t use it because they might. But then I did notice the difference in the normality of our meals. Dutch pancakes are flat and can be savory or sweet. I’ve had them with cheese and ham, or apples and ice cream! We eat them so rarely that I don’t even have a post about them. I’ll be sure to do that later. Back to the matter at hand. American pancakes call for both baking soda and baking powder for that wonderful thick cake. Our syrup is watery and sweet enough to pucker your mouth. Dutch syrup is thick, almost like molasses. We pair our American pancakes with Dutch syrup because maple syrup is almost €5 a bottle!

Interesting measurements
This was the topic we laughed most about. A pinch. A dab. A splash… Add according to taste. Sander demanded I explain what all these terms meant. And said “Well, you know. Add a dash of pepper, like you dash the pepper into the food or whatever. Or a splash of wine, splash it into the pan. You gotta eyeball that stuff.” And he said it was irresponsible! I don’t disagree with him, that cooking as an American brings about adventurous meals. There was one time I didn’t have cumin and so I added taco seasoning to rice to imitate it. I can’t say it was a reasonable thing to do but boy was that rice tasty!

The thing about cooking like an American, is that you customize your meal. Love garlic? Add more! Hate salt, add less or skip it. I love when recipes say add a heaping amount. Like what does that mean? It’s all up to you! I’m going to add a heaping amount of whipped cream to my cheesecake. Because in my opinion, that’s how my cheesecake will taste amazing! Sander will skip that though.

The post Strange Cooking Habits I have as an American appeared first on A Daily Lee.

Flavors galore
Did you ever watch the movie Ratatouille and wish you knew what Remy the rat was talking about. How mixing flavors can give you sensations you’ve never had before. Yea. That’s what I wanted to do. So I went with cheeses, meats, fruits and other goodies that could pair well with each other. I did a bit of research and went with our best options. Let me tell you, it was worth it. The experience was amazing and I would recommend you trying the same.

Planning is everything
It’s safer to order our groceries from home and have them delivered. So for a little over a week we had items in our order that I worried about. See when the entire town is ordering from the same 4 stores… It can be hard to get everything you need. I’ve had my favorite peanut butter sell out before I could have it. Our dessert was an amazing Stroopwafel cake and I wasn’t sure if we’d get it! We got lucky in the end and oh man, was it heavenly!

Childhood memories
Hocus Pocus has been a Halloween movie for me since I was a kid. I’m so happy that it still holds up well today. Sander hasn’t seen it as many times as I have so it’s always great to see his reaction when something new happens. I haven’t had the time to watch a lot of movies this year (that list is incomplete). I knew that I had to at least watch one Halloween movie and its always going to be Hocus Pocus.

Celebrating with loved ones
Honestly while this Halloween dinner was amazing, it wouldn’t have been as good if Sander had not been with me. We laughed, we stuffed our faces and generally had a wonderful time. It’s moments like these that I cherish. The simple and happy times. And even though we couldn’t celebrate Halloween with a party, I think that this dinner date was just as good.

Happy Halloween folks! Stay smart, stay safe, and I’ll see you in November!

The post Halloween Date Night appeared first on A Daily Lee.

But I can’t eat chocolate. It’s terrible for my skin and counterproductive to me and my bareface routine. I had to improvise. It’s not easy to find American Halloween goodies but My American Market came to the rescue! I picked out a few Halloween treats that I could enjoy… But not to many so get into my Halloween candy haul!

Peep Marshmallows
Peeps are either loves or hated. These ones are marshmallows, sweet in flavor with a gentle sugar coating on the outside. They’re soft and oh so delicious. Peeps appear for Easter when they sell shaped as baby chicks, hence the name Peeps. But the company branched out after a while and made Halloween and Christmas flavors. While I enjoy the traditional flavor of these bad boys, I love the Christmas flavor more. Those are peppermint and amazing with hot chocolate… Which I can’t have now anyway…

Candy Corn and Autumn Mix
This is another candy that gets a lot of hate! But in recent years the taste of this has improved by ten fold. In the past this candy was criticized for its waxy texture and strange taste but now it’s delicious. It’s pretty much sugar in fun shapes but I’ve seen people get creative and bake it into cupcakes and pies. I’d like to try a crack at it so I bought some too!

Trolli Sour Brite Bats, Cats and Rats Gummies
Tasty gummies wrapped in a sweet and sour coating… There are tons of variations to the shapes but the nostalgic flavors are always the same. I got some because it’s been ages since I last ate them. Sander loves them too so it’s a win/win!

You can check out their Halloween selection here. But be warned, they sell out fast!

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My American Market is an online store based in France that imports goods from both America and Canada. It’s a communicative store and ultra easy to order from. Let me share what I indulged in on this order. Yes, this order, because I’m sure I will order more in the future!

The Goods

ACT II MICROWAVE POPCORN – BUTTER
I grew up with this flavor of popcorn and I’m so excited it was in stock. Our local store has two flavors for popcorn, salty or sweet. I’ll eat the salty one but I refuse to do the sweet. It feels nice to have buttered popcorn in the house again! Popcorn has always been my favorite snack so we’re going to pop the first bag this weekend and watch something juicy. We finished Unsolved Mysteries and we’re dying for more. I watched the show growing up so it’s been a huge nostalgia fest in our home!

CRACKER JACK POPCORN BAG
Cracker Jacks were something that will contradict the first item… These are caramel coated popcorn pieces. And I said I don’t want sweet popcorn but these are caramel coated! They aren’t sweet. They used to come in a box with a little toy and that pretty much sums up what it was like growing up in American in the 1990’s. Everything is unhealthy and comes in a box with a toy.

STASH TEA PUMPKIN SPICE DECAFFEINATED TEA
I’ve has Stash brand tea before and it’s not the strongest tea but this is pumpkin spice flavored. Now don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed making my own pumpkin spice. But there’s something about waking up in the morning, on a cold winter’s day, and pouring yourself a ready made cup of pumpkin spice. It’s about having the easy way of doing things and premade tea mixes are right up that alley.

MUNCHIES CHEESE FIX SNACK MIX
Oh boy, this took me back real far into my childhood. All the goodness of the ultra cheesy chips I grew up with, this bag contains it all. It’s nostalgia in a bag but I have to limit how much I eat. More than a few chips and I feel sick! I wasn’t expecting that! It’s because it’s been ages since I’ve had junk food and my body isn’t used to it. Ah, oh well.

CHEETOS CRUNCHY FLAMIN’ HOT
It’s no secret that Americans love them Spicy Hot Cheetos… And now I found a place that sells them for a reasonable price! The flavor is so damn good and I can’t resist making a sandwich with some chips on the side. The sad thing is that these guys are junk food… And I feel sick after eating them. So while I enjoy stuffing them into my mouth, I can’t say my stomach appreciates it. I guess it was about time that I stop loving the junk food of my 20’s. I’m not young anymore and it’s healthier for me to stay away from them… But man, I still love that flavor!

MCCORMICK’S TACO SEASONING MIX
I haven’t used this yet but I hope that it will add some flavor to our tacos. The Dutch flavoring we buy isn’t as good as the stuff we get in America. I’ll try and update this post when we do use it!

KELLOGG’S POP TARTS FROSTED COOKIES & CREAM
Oh boy, the memories with these! Remember when I said I wasn’t eating chocolate? Well all that went out the window when I saw these on the site. I love me some cookies and cream and Poptarts? Get outta here! I was in heaven from the first bite but I know I can’t order these again. It’s got so much sugar, it’s too much for this 32 year old!

CHIPS AHOY! CHEWY REESE’S PEANUT BUTTER CUP COOKIES
Anyone who has ever tasted Chip’s Ahoy knows that familiar flavor they all have. While these cookies were super tasty, the peanut butter was difficult to taste. But I love these cookies to begin with so it wasn’t too much of a disappointment.

MEIJI HELLO PANDA BITE SIZE CHOCOLATE COOKIES and MEIJI CHOCOROOMS STRAWBERRY
I got this for Sander because he’s a huge fan of cookie and chocolate snacks. These were on sale so I got a ton of them for him. He enjoys them as an after dinner snack when he plays racing games with his gamers guild.

Ordering and Shipping
My American Market is like any online store. Search the site, order up, and wait for the package to come in. Ordering, payment and processing was easy and quick. I ordered on a Sunday and was able to get everything but Saturday. This store is in France so it was pretty fast for it to come in! And our order was over a certain amount, we got the My American Market Collector’s bag and a Harry Potter creature Gummy for free!

Please note this isn’t sponsored. Everything was better than expected and you bet I’ll be back around autumn time for all those Halloween goodies!

The post My American Market Shopping Haul appeared first on A Daily Lee.

And I have to be 100% accurate! One time I wrote down ginger ale and he came back with two small bottles. I had planned on using the large bottle to help me dispose of some frying oil but instead I was stuck with bottles that were too small for that!

So now I make a list and hope all goes well. Let me talk about a little of what we usually get each week.

Meats and Veggies
The Dutch dinner is typical and not too unfamiliar for me. It’s meat and veggies at its most basic. Sander always has a helping of fries to go with his meal. For a more exciting meal we have meat and veggies with a grain. Sometimes we have homemade Chinese or Indian food. No matter what the actual meal, it always starts off with meat and veggies. Our most purchased meat is chicken since it’s light and easy to cook. There are rare times when we get beef or pork but those are special occasions. The last time we had beef was for Christmas and I can’t remember the last time we had pork!

Always room for snacks
Oh boy, Sander and I are snack monsters. We have a small grocery budget for all things tasty. He’ll help himself to a cookie or a bowl of M&M’s around 8pm. I stopped having snacks after 7pm but I love to enjoy a stroopwafel after dinner. And right around 2pm is when I sit down with some sunflower seeds and a good Youtube video. We love to get other snacks too, like the custake cakes found on Uit Paulines Keuken. They’re to die for and I have to fight to stop at one cake!

Simple lunches
I made a recent post about how I have simple lunches that keep me sustained throughout the day. I enjoy a simple meal because it helps to cut down on grocery costs and simple for Sander to pick up. And of course who doesn’t enjoy a meal that takes 10 minutes to make? Keeping a simple lunch routine helps me save time and energy!

Special Pancakes
Every Sunday I make fresh pancakes from scratch. It’s been a tradition for us for the past 4 years. So there are a few special things we need to pick up for them. On top of our breakfast grocery list, are flour and butter, of course. But I make buttermilk pancakes. So we grab the Dutch version, karnemelk. It comes in a small carton which is perfect for a single patch of pancakes. But let me tell you, that batch of pancakes makes enough for 3 days! Currently we’ve been having blueberry pancakes because Sander had never tried them before. And he’s hooked!

Pizza!
Now hear me out on this one. Sander and I have a store bought pizza once a week. I love pizza so much that I don’t mind having it week after week. It’s a great splurge meal for us because it’s so easy to make. And I know pizza isn’t the healthiest of meals. But it’s a great way for us to sin cheaply because store bought pizzas are a fraction of the price of a pizza joint!

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