Showing posts with label brunch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label brunch. Show all posts

Monday, May 19, 2014

We've Been Vegging

I have been laying low since my last post but I managed to take a few pictures here and there. I haven't been trying new recipes one after the other but mostly cooking depending on my mood. Here are some simple but turned out really great in the end kinda food :D

beef salpicao with spinach
beef salpicao with chinese broccoli
This dish called beef salpicao keeps popping on my Facebook news feed that it prompted me to google what it really is. It sounded simple enough to try though I found different variations mostly on what sauces to use. I ended up using oyster sauce and liquid seasoning instead of worcestershire. The buttery taste in the end makes the dish delicious and I've been using this simple concoction on my my beef stir fry lately. I just add whatever vegetables I have on hand.

Bicol Express
As much as I love trying out new recipes, I sometimes find myself craving for old favorites like my mother in law's bicol express. I love food cooked in coconut milk but I've only watched my mom cook veggies (mostly) in coconut milk. I never showed interest in learning the secrets and using canned coconut milk hasn't been a favorite. It's hit and miss for me the first few times I cooked with it but it's been successful lately. I've also learned not to dump too much shrimp paste right away. Anyway, so I cooked bicol express and prayed that it will end up close to my mother in law's or at least decent enough to eat and it ended up delicious (YES!)

honey garlic stir fry
Whenever we end up buying pork loin from Costco, I must come up with a menu so I wouldn't cook the whole thing in just a few days. Usually it's pork steak, breaded pork or tocino but if I want it to last, I'd have to cut it into small pieces, stir fry and add a boatload of veggies. I use this honey garlic sauce which isn't even a stir fry sauce but a marinade whenever I do this dish whether it's beef or pork.

rosemary and garlic steak

steak with crab and corn soup
Gone are the days my kids eat so little. These days it's like four adults in the house. They get their own piece of steak as opposed to only a few bites. I'm not complaining though, it's great to see them eat like that. Steak is one of their favorites. Soon I would need to raise my own cow :P

honey soy chicken wings
Aside from steak, the kids also like to eat fried chicken wings. Put a platter in front of these two and it get sniffed in a few minutes. I did manage to get a few pieces and turn them into honey soy chicken wings for hubby and I. Another simple yet yummy in my tummy dish.

instant noodles
Hubby has to have those instant noodles every time he eats. I find it annoying sometimes because for some reason I'm too lazy to cook them (haha!) Though lately, I've been cooking them even before he asks for his noodles. I've also been adding sesame oil, hoisin, chili flakes, lemon juice and poached egg because let's be honest, those instant noodles taste bland.

cheese curds for poutine
The kids have been off from school for four days. I needed to keep them fed and busy. Another family favorite is poutine. It is supposed to be topped with cheese curds but I usually use mozzarella so I decided to try and make my own cheese curds. Leila was too eager to help and fascinated with the process. We did end up with a small amount of cheese curd out of 4 cups of milk. Not so sure why I ended up with so little but they tasted like kesong puti (Filipino white cheese) according to hubby. I made cheese woohoo!

cake mix brownies
Leila has been bugging me to make brownies so we did. I used a boxed cake mix though using this recipe. It turned out really good. The kids have been eating it directly from the baking dish. We also added chopped Cadbury bars in the brownie batter maybe that's why it ended up sooooo delicious.



This long weekend had been one lazy day after another. All we did was sleep and EAT of course! Last day before they go back to school, I served them brunch. Kids had Nutella french toast, homemade mac n' cheese and a mango. Hubby got cheesy bacon omelette, peanut butter and jelly french toast, mangoes and lemonade.

Tomorrow is going to be a normal day, meaning---LAUNDRY! Tons and tons of them :D

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Cooking the Obvious

Because hubby is on leave, it only means one thing (ok maybe two!) gotta have food and eat when it's time to eat.

grilled honey ham
grilled honey ham, egg, cheese, veggies, sweet mayo
grilled honey ham and egg sandwich
He wakes up late so it's either brunch or lunch already. I usually make it few minutes before he wakes up and because he wakes up at exactly the same time everyday (how creepy is that!), by the time I'm done and everything's set up, we're both ready to sit down and eat a warm meal.

waffle sandwich with bologna, egg and cheese plus lemon smoothie
I wish I have a weekly menu planned but I don't. I always go to bed thinking what's gonna go to the kids' lunch bags, what do I cook tomorrow? It works for me though because between that time when I start thinking and waking up, something just pops up. Either it's a craving, or something I saw on Pinterest but most often than not I mentally add up what's in the fridge/freezer. Like I knew the next day would be a poutine day (just because) I remembered there's a bag of fries downstairs.

poutine and strawberry smoothie
poutine for kids' lunch
It may not be the ideal thing to do but I go with what my gut's telling me to cook. Okay, I'm not sure if it's gut or what (haha!) Actually, I cook whatever makes sense. We have this so I cook it. From time to time we do entertain our cravings and make a special trip to the store to get the ingredient but most often than not it's cooking what we already have.

steamed and fried dumplings
Hubby was craving for dumplings few days ago and I knew eating out wasn't the best option. I would rather spend the money towards buying groceries which I did and the dumplings were only $3.88/bag. They all taste the same to me anyway (haha!)

hot dogs in ketchup, worcestershire, soy sauce and brown sugar
I'm not fond of hot dog in a bun, I would rather eat it with rice actually especially when cooked like that in the picture. Found this hot dog recipe but sauteed mine in garlic and onion, omitted the mustard and added soy sauce.

breaded beef and vegetable tempura
I knew I had beef in the freezer, the kids won't enjoy it if it's cooked like steak. I don't have much veggies either to turn it into (sinigang or nilaga), I don't feel like using it in a stir fry. So I decided to just slice them thinly, season with salt and pepper, roll into cornstarch then fry. I still have zucchini and carrots and decided to do vegetable tempura. Okay the tempura thing was just an excuse to use the deep fryer (again!)

love this thing!
Leila came home from school the next day requesting for the breaded beef again. Who am I to refuse her request? Now I have a valid reason to cook the same thing for the second time. I knew hubby would notice but he didn't complain, partnered it with the pickled veggies I made few weeks ago. The veggies are awesome! I am going to make some more and hopefully pick up some mason jars soon. :D