Prawn, ginger and coconut vermicelli soup - Thai inspiration

I quite knew it wouldn't be easy to conciliate children, dinosaurs, work, a passion an obsession for cooking and eating, a healthy and balanced dietary, and a cooking blog. Well I never claimed I would post fabulous recipes everyday, anyway. But what I did not expect was that No.2 would start teething and having poor poor or quasi non-existent nights, the same week I would finally start my blog!
Consequence: As usually, when I am under stress or tired, I compensate with food - Catch 22!
Tonight, I thus chose a rich and comforting, but so easy, Thai-inspired prawn vermicelli soup, a tiny bit spicy (or more just as you like!)

Ingredients (6 servings)

- 36 raw prawns, peeled (tail on)* 

- 300g rice vermicelli (dry)

- 350g of mixed veggies including: strips of red capsicum, broccoli, thin strips of carrots, chopped spinach, chopped green beans*

- 10g chinese black mushroom (dry, also found as dried fungus)

- 165 ml coconut cream

- 1.5 L chicken stock* 

- 40g fresh ginger, crushed

- 1 or 2 tsp red curry paste (to your taste)

Pork Chili Con Carne

My dinosaur loves this Mexican-style one-pot meal: A pork chilli con carne. So do I!
It is very rich, reasonable time-wise (for a slow-cooked meal) and so rich.
Instead of beef I used lean pork, but a more fatty piece like pork shoulder or leg would be yummy too. I used pork because it gets tender faster than chuck steak beef or blade steak. I also added corn for the crunch.

Ingredients (6 servings)

5 min preparation + 40 min cooking

- 600g lean pork, cut into 2 cm pieces

- 1 can whole peeled tomatoes, chopped*

- 2 cans kidney beans, drained but not washed

- 1 can corn, drained (whole kernel)

- 1 onion, sliced (French cut)

- 2 garlic gloves, crushed

- 1 tsp chilli powder (or according to your taste)

- 1 tsp olive oil

- 1/2 tsp sugar*

- salt, black pepper