Back in the Saddle

Life's been pretty hectic but I am not complaining this time around. I guess not that hectic because here I am posting some of our recent food adventures :D

balsamic glazed steak rolls

Before our schedules have gotten crazy, I was able to prepare this Balsamic Glazed Steak Rolls for hubby's birthday lunch. I immediately pinned it to family favorites on Pinterest because it was soooo good! Again, I don't follow recipes diligently, I like to tweak the recipes depending on what ingredients I have. I normally forget to buy what I need, hence the tweaking (haha!) For this one I think I didn't have carrots and green onions so I just used bell pepper and zucchini. What I'm saying is, it's not the end of the world when you don't have all the ingredients of a particular recipe you want to try, just substitute.

Since my kids love bread, we try to buy different kinds every once in awhile because they get tired of just the plain loaves. Most recently was a huge bag of ciabatta buns which we used for various sandwiches.

leftover pork chips turned into sandwiches

homemade cheese burger

chicken sandwich

I mentioned about having crazy schedules that's because I am now working (yay!) which meant I have to have meals prepared in advance (ideally) but I normally don't. We are making it work though, even the kids are on board with this huge change in our lives. Leila's probably the one having the hardest time but she does help quite a lot in feeding the boys and maintaining some order in the house (haha!)

beef broccoli

pork stir fry

canned tuna with cherry tomatoes and bell pepper

vegetable salad topped with shrimp popcorn

vegetable salad with spicy chicken breast

Stir fry dishes, salads and canned goods are my best friends lately. I was up 'til 3am last night googling slow cooker recipes and other easy recipes trying to come up with a menu for this week.

slow cooker ribs

grilled veggies for the pasta salad

garden pasta salad

So I guess life is really hectic these days especially when I think about chores (laundry, cooking and cleaning), preparing the kids' lunches and their clothes the night before and mentally preparing myself for work. Days off have become something to look forward to even if I have to spend the whole day doing laundry. I miss my kids so much that I sometimes surprise them by picking them up in school. I did get to prepare a special late night dinner for hubby the other night too.

Lance's yogurt parfait

fried chicken wings with honey soy dip and creamy cucumber salad

24 hours may not seem enough but it's all good. I'm lucky to have found something that I love doing and yet have enough energy left when I get home for my usual chores :D

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

Long Lost Food Pix

So I have unearthed some food pictures from my camera, let's see if I still remember what they are and I'll try my best to describe them.

spaghetti with butter and grated parmesan

My kids love spaghetti however they like the sauce plain meaning no meat or veggies. They tend to sift through the sauce leaving bits and pieces on their plate. During our vacation in New Jersey few summers ago they saw their cousin Tristen eat her pasta this way. It also reminded me of my dad who used to eat spaghetti with only parmesan on it so I tried it with the kids and surprisingly, they loved it! I love it too as it is so easy to prepare, I do eat it too except I put some garlic powder on mine.

honey garlic wings

pizza

We were addicted for awhile on honey garlic wings and pizza which we normally have during movie night. We would rent a movie and literally pig out. We haven't done this in awhile, the movie yes but not the wings and pizza (ugh!)

mixed seafood

Frozen mixed seafood in a bag cooked in canned tomatoes. A little like paella but my lazy and short cut version. Don't forget to enjoy it with fish sauce!

steamed bok choy

Hubby cooked this one. I have requested this again and again and he still hasn't cooked it. I don't know how he did it but it was delicious, so flavorful and had a nice crunch from the bok choy.

Pinakbet

Hubby's favorite pinakbet! I cook this probably once a month so I'm guessing I've already posted this one already. I'm gonna try this bulanglang recipe next time.

grilled beef and veggies

If there's one thing I don't mind cooking everyday it's gotta be steak. I am no expert on steak cooking nor do we buy the expensive steak cuts but I love experimenting on marinades. The one on the picture looks like store bought dry rub. I also found this grilled korean marinated flap steaks recipe from Pinterest which is definitely a keeper!

pork asado

I remember liking this dish when I was little. We always eat it at Goldilocks every time we go to Manila. This and their lechon kawali. I have never learned how to cook it though. While I have attempted cooking it before it was never successful until I tried this pork asado recipe. I tweaked the recipe to my taste, more five spice powder I think.

chopsuey

This vegetable dish has become our recent favorite. I have cooked it more than five times since December. I like to change the veggies every time I cook this just so we won't get sick of eating it. The quail eggs are a must! Thank goodness for canned quail eggs :D

Shrimps in pineapple juice

I rarely cook shrimps but when I do there's always a chance nothing's left for me. My friend taught me this recipe. I eyeballed it though (pineapple juice, brown sugar and soy sauce). I have posted this previously.

grilled shrimp

I forgot the exact marinade I used for these shrimps. Pretty sure there's lemon and soy sauce in there :D

crispy smelts

Leila goes crazy over these crispy smelts. She can eat a ton with lots of rice too. Lance is another story, as much as he loves fish he only wants tilapia. He doesn't like eating the bones and tails of these smelts (tsk tsk!)

pork in mango curry sauce

I scored a few free indian and thai sauces a few months ago. I used the mango curry sauce on pork instead of chicken. I bet this sauce will work on shrimps too.

fish and chips

When we went to BC back in June, we stood in line for hours just to get a taste of fish and chips. They're amazing! I still have to get the right batter though :P

vigan longganisa

We don't go to the Asian stores anymore because I tend to buy stuff we don't normally need. But when we do go there I like buying longganisa, frozen grated yam, and other whatnots.

adobong kangkong

This particular dish I don't get to cook as much as I want to because this type of water spinach isn't always available which reminds me that I really need a trip to the Asian store ASAP.

ube halaya

And lastly, one of our favorite desserts. I can't believe how easy it is to make this and that's mainly because one can buy it already boiled and grated. I use one can of condensed milk per one pack of yam and close to a cup of butter and lotsa lotsa grated cheese on to!

I'll take more pictures soon. Glad to be back :D

Two Weeks of Nothing But the Best and Yes, I am talking about FOOD!

I haven't been around lately because I got preoccupied with my daughter's 5th birthday which I will be blogging later. Halloween, birthday and all these changes in the weather (Hello Winter!) made me pretty busy for the past few weeks. I have so much food posts maybe two weeks worth of food which I can't wait to share and maybe include a few recipes.

WARNING: This is going to be one LOOOONG post!

It's Sunday and I always feel like making special dishes on this day so I made our all time favorite sizzling steak. Nothing special about it really since it is so easy to make. Serving it on a sizzling plate made it more special hehe! It's just regular beef rubbed with montreal steak spice, grilled, transferred onto the sizzling plate, gravy on top and served with buttered veggies (I used the roasted gourmet ones) and white rice.

Monday is a busy day for me so I'd like to keep it simple. I made omelette using leftover sugared ham. Slices of ham splashed with some sugar while frying, chopped and mixed with beaten eggs.

Tuesday, when hubby is on evening shift, I like easy to prepare meals. He likes to eat the moment we come home after bringing the kids to school so most of the time, we end up having brunch in front of the TV while watching a movie. That means I only have less than 30 minutes to come up with something delicious. This stir fry beef sauteed in ginger and vinegar is one of my favorites. Saute garlic, onions and ginger, add beef and cook until they're not pink anymore, season with salt and ground pepper, chili flakes, add vinegar and boil for 3-5 minutes, adjust taste. This dish is done in less than 10 minutes!

Midnight snack is this sweet macaroni salad. It's ordinary chicken macaroni salad with mayo except we add condensed milk to sweeten it up. We are addicted to this and as I write this piece, I have a batch which I just made last night. Boil macaroni and drain, add mayo, condensed milk, boiled chicken, sweet relish, pineapple tidbits, cheese chunks and salt. 

Wednesday. Hubby requested for soft boiled eggs. Good thing I have this egg thermometer, I have no idea how to make soft boiled eggs hehehe. All I remember is how my mom used to feed my brother and I soft boiled eggs in the morning which I despise so much. I can only eat scrambled or the white part, not much an egg fan but hubby is, so there you go, soft boiled eggs. YUCK :P

This is eggplant omelette. Another one of our favorites since I rarely make it. It's just too much work especially if I grill indoors but it's delicious so depending on my mood I might make it again soon. Poke eggplant using a fork prior to grilling, take off skin, flatten and submerge into beaten egg mixture. Egg mixture is seasoned with salt and pepper. Fry in a non stick pan. Serve with rice, soy sauce and lemon or ketchup.

My kids freaked when I surprised them with nachos and cheese. They were all over it. These are actually hard tacos which I broke into pieces. The cheese sauce I made out of grated cheese, Cheezwhiz and milk.

Lance had to have the largest serving!

my taco monster! she made her own filled with sour cream

Thursday. I had some more leftover ham so I slow cooked it with hickory barbeque sauce the night before.

Enough of meat talk for a bit and since we don't have any neighbors downstairs, it was my chance to cook dried fish woohooo! It smells but it's yummy paired with scrambled eggs cooked in so much tomatoes. Yummiest dinner ever! Febreze was my bestfriend for a couple of days :P

Friday (woot!) I love beef because they are easy to cook and so flavorful. I prepared beef steak topped with fried onions. Marinate slices of beef in soy sauce and lemon juice, pan fry until their juices come out. I usually slice them into bite sized bits, throw them back into the pan along with the rest of the marinade and boil for 5-7 minutes more, fried onions on top and serve with rice.

Yayy for Saturday! We were going to a birthday party that night meaning, no need to cook for the whole day just whatever leftovers we could scrape and save the appetite for later haha. I did some baking though. I made Butter Mochi to bring to the party. I love making this, the smell is sooo good and it tastes just as good.

There goes a week of nothing but delicious food for my family. Wait, there's more!

kids' fave Perogies

sweet spaghetti

garlic bread

To kick off Leila's birthday week, I made spaghetti and garlic bread. I used the ends of loaves which I save specifically for homemade garlic bread or pizza bread. Melt butter in microwave, add garlic chips or chopped garlic, parsley and salt to taste. Spread over toasted bread or bake for 7-9 mins 400 F. Kids gotta have perogies at least once a week and I bought a ton when it was on sale.

Costco roast chicken

We now buy our meat in Costco and we couldn't resist buying their roast chicken. It's the most delicious chicken compared to other supermarkets around, and cheap too. I refused to finish it in one sitting haha, put the leftovers in the fridge and reserved it for hubby to eat on the days I volunteered in school.

Beef Mechado

Again, my love affair with beef. This is one of my favorites (as you know by now, I have a lot of favorites haha!) Slices of beef, two canned tomatoes, bay leaves, lemon juice, soy sauce boil until tender, season depending on your taste. Add a tablespoon of butter five minutes before you turn off the heat. You can add potatoes, carrots and bell pepper as well.

These are two different batches of Boiled Beef Soup. I have learned from my mother in law to include pork and chicken as well and to use a secret ingredient which I'm about to spill. In a large pot, boil chunks of beef (with fats or bones preferably), pork, chicken and ham bone (I saved this from last Easter's ham) or smoked pork hocks (available in groceries or meat shops). The ham bone or smoked pork hocks are optional but they do add so much flavor. Add whole black peppercorn, salt and boil for one hour, add beef stock/water and salt as needed. After an hour, transfer to a slow cooker, set on low for 2-3 more hours. Green beans, potatoes, carrots, cabbage and chick peas can be added. This is an all time favorite and so far we're having this week after week. Perfect for winter!

egg plant with meat sauce

I learned this dish from my mom. We would have leftover taco or spaghetti meat sauce and she would pour it over fried eggplants. I love recycling leftovers, creating something unexpected and yet delicious in the end. Fry eggplants until brownish in color. Saute garlic, onions and ground beef, add tomato sauce or any tomato based sauce or use any leftover sauce you might have. Pour sauce over the eggplants.

chicken macaroni soup

We are obviously into soups these days. Temperature went down to -27 and it ain't funny. I have a feeling I'll be cooking soups all winter long. Saute garlic and onions in butter, add pre-boiled chicken, hotdogs (optional) and the macaroni. Add chicken stock, boil until pasta is cooked, season with salt and ground pepper. Add carrots, cabbage and evaporated milk few minutes before you turn off the heat.

stir fry beef

I was exchanging recipes with a former dormmate over at Facebook the other day and she taught me this beef stir fry dish. Beef, oyster sauce, vinegar, salt and pepper were the only ingredients according to her. And since I am a sucker for easy recipes, I tried it right away. Stir fry beef in hot oil, season with salt and pepper, add oyster sauce and a little amount of vinegar. I didn't quite get the taste but maybe I put too much vinegar and not much oyster sauce. This dish however has a potential if only I'd get the right proportion of the ingredients.

canned spicy sardines

I was at my laziest over the weekend. It was snowing nonstop and all I wanted to do was curl up in bed. I napped every chance I got and we only went out that day to go to church. Lazy me just opened a can of spicy sardines and sauteed it in a lot of onions. This is the kind of dish we enjoy back home during rainy days. Served with rice, fish sauce and lemon, what more can you ask for? It tastes as good as any other dish out there, at least in my opinion and especially if you don't get to eat it everyday.

I cooked sauteed green mung beans the other day and I saved two cups of boiled mung beans for myself. I remember eating this as a kid. Boiled mung beans served with evaporated milk and sugar. It's yummy for me, I felt like a kid and didn't share it with anyone :P

Don't say I didn't warn you, it is indeed a very long post. I hope you had fun reading and feel free to drool :D