Tuesday, January 28, 2014

One Colorful Afternoon


Minutes before the kids arrived from school, an idea popped on my head---rainbow spaghetti! Saw this on Pinterest awhile back but too scared (of the mess perhaps?) to try it. To be honest, I prefer working alone in the kitchen but spending time with the kids doing something exciting is also priceless. Besides, there's more to life than watching tv and using the ipad right?

green and purple for Leila
blue and red for Lance
Kids and mess are most definitely interrelated but hey, if it makes your kid creative, so be it. Playing in the rain, getting all muddy, going home with ripped or stained clothes are just some of the perks of being a kid. I think, when you don't let them get down and dirty, it somehow diminishes their sense of adventure.

taste test!
I want them to grow up bold and brave (not daredevils) but really exciting people. Someone who isn't afraid to get out there, confident and full of life, as colorful as these rainbow spaghetti :D

tada!
Look at that, so pretty! I wish we had more food color (next time there will be yellow and orange). The kids were so happy with how the rainbow spaghetti turned out. They want this for their lunch tomorrow.

how cool is that?
I can't wait to get more food color and try it on other pasta shapes. This is great for a rainbow themed partyyy!

eating time!
the finished product!
The kids' verdict? It tastes like regular spaghetti (of course!) but it's more awesome. Yay! Good job mom :D

Monday, January 27, 2014

What a Week!

As promised, I started taking pictures of food again. Some, if not most have already been posted before. When they get posted again it only means one thing, they're a favorite!

Let me start with some adobo perfection! In our palate this is the perfect adobo. This is how we want it cooked. Some people prefer it with sauce while we like it fried. The good thing with adobo is that it has a lot of variations. It can be pork or chicken or both, vegetables, etc. Sometimes I add egg but most of the time it's chicken and pork.


I have been cooking adobo for more than twenty years but it's only recently that I have learned how to cook it properly. This was after I watched my mother in law how she cooked hers. She boils the eggs along with the meat and takes the eggs out when they're done. If and when I add eggs, I boil them separately because my pot isn't too big to accommodate everything. She also fries them by batches (this I didn't know) which makes a huge difference.


When cooking adobo, the most important thing to remember is to slow down on the soy sauce. I used to put a lot and always end up with very dark and salty adobo. I would remedy it by adding water, more vinegar or sugar and it doesn't always work.  So now I measure (which I rarely do) and put a cup of vinegar and a cup of soy sauce, lots of chopped garlic, generous amount of pepper and let it cook for an hour. I don't open the lid every five minutes or so, maybe mix it 2 or 3 times and that's it. I add sugar, salt or garlic salt in the last 10 minutes. Pretty simple really though I should measure the amount of sugar and salt I add in the end. Just remember don't add more soy sauce, if it needs saltiness add salt. If you like it fried then fry it in batches because they will get crispier that way. Some would put these bad boys back in the sauce (I don't) but I save the sauce just in case. I can eat this everyday!

We went to a party one weekend and brought home turkey, turned it into soup after a few days. That's what I love about Filipino parties, lotsa food to eat and don't forget the take home part (haha!)

garlic, corn, carrots, beans, celery, turkey
Turkey soup
Good thing I remembered to pick up tofu last time we shopped. I have been planning to cook pork and tofu but I always forget the tofu. I was cooking this for dinner when hubby unexpectedly went home from work, turned out he's sick.

boiled pork belly
fried tofu
rice porridge with chicken, egg and tofu
Since hubby (and I later) got sick, I just had to make rice porridge topped with fried tofu as well. Also fried the pork belly and paired it with the pickled vegetables I made.

cauliflower, carrots, bell pepper, jalapeno, celery, zucchini
I couldn't wait to buy some mason jars so I emptied a few bottles from the fridge, added whole peppercorns and garlic along with the pickled veggies.

pickled vegetables
Also cooked milk fish and shrimp in tamarind soup to battle the virus going around the house. Leila loves sinigang and would eat this every single day.

sinigang na hipon ang bangus topped with spinach
I just can't get enough of leafy greens and had to cook spinach adobo. This time around, I added pork stock instead of plain vinegar and soy sauce. For some reason it works better this way when using vegetables.

spinach adobo
Mid week I was the one feeling a lot worse and delegated hubby to cook dinner. He cooked bok choy with oyster sauce using this recipe. We tweaked the recipe by adding ground pork.

bok choy with oyster sauce
Everyday I find myself awake before 6am. Finally have a reason to cook a proper breakfast turned brunch since the kids and hubby wake up a little close to lunch time most of the time. I promised myself we will eat more oatmeal at breakfast.

honey raisin bread, cheesy omelet, tater puffs and oatmeal
All throughout the week, while recovering from colds hubby and I were mostly on bed rest while the kids are in school. Over the weekend and a dozen or so daytime naps made us awake at night. We used to eat rice for midnight snack, usually leftovers from dinner but always rice (hello calories!) We have improved though since December, it rarely happens anymore. Fine, we ate the sausage with rice but last night we had sandwich (haha!)

grilled sausages
So we ate these with rice but hey, we had celery sticks on the side :D

celery sticks with ranch dip
For me to enjoy a sandwich, it has to be loaded with veggies then fried in butter or margarine or else I'd rather eat rice and some leftovers :D


Started off by grilling bologna with grated mozzarella cheese on top. Spread sweet mayo (mayo, mustard and pinch of sugar) on the bread. Piled up with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, then fry or grill on butter/margarine. Trust me, it's really good!


And while the rest of us were enjoying these yummy food, Lance settled on his all time favorite---cheesy hotdog! Basically hotdog on a bun with a generous amount of grated cheese on top baked until the cheese melts. He can eat three in one sitting :D

cheesy hotdog
What a week it has been! Thank God the kids were spared from the virus. One cranky hubby is enough (haha!) Just kidding!

Happy 10th Wedding Anniversary B :-*

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Always Be My Babies

My babies! Where did the time go?


Mr. Mayor and the artist during career day in school. Lance was confused whether he wanted to be a president or a mayor but settled on being a mayor instead. According to him, he wants to take care of a city. He actually wanted to be an astronaut but after seeing the movie Gravity, let's just say he changed his mind. Next thing I know, he's telling me he wants to be a pilot. Kids and their dreams!

Leila on the other hand wants to be an artist (sometimes a nurse) or sometimes nothing (lol!)


Lance just turned 9. No birthday party this time around (he chose cash!) We surprised him with pizza and watched a movie.


Sweet Leila! Beware though she's got the temper of a bull. She likes to dress up more than five times per day. She likes to make a mess and she isn't a morning person (ugh!)


Definitely a daddy's girl!!!


Loves cooking with mommy.


Lance goofing around for the camera. This picture was sent to me by his friend's mom.


They love to play after school. Most of the time they take so long and I start to worry (ugh!)


I always sit by the window and wait for them to come home.

:D

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Summer Road Trip 2013

Also found some pictures from our summer road trip to Idaho last year. Some pictures were taken by my little photographer Leila.

First stop was in Cranbrook, BC.


Somebody enjoyed taking pictures :D


Welcome to Silverwood Theme Park!


Boulder Beach


M O N T A N A


I needed this trip so bad after mom's sudden passing. It was a wonderful trip despite the timing and the kids had so much fun, that itself made this trip all the more memorable.

'Til our next road trip :D