Taking Turns in the Kitchen

Guess who's doing most of the cooking these days? Hubby! I hate to admit it but he exerts more effort looking for recipes, meticulously trying them out and washing the dishes after. I feel (kinda) spoiled :D

LOL :P

These crab and cream cheese wontons were a hit. They're scrumptious! Hubby pre made a big batch the night before which I deep fried the next day. No crumbs were left.

crab and cream cheese wontons

Few months back, we did nothing but eat out, mostly Chinese food. This was back when we didn't take turns in the kitchen. One look at the dirty dishes in the sink and I just cringe. By the time I clean up, I don't want to cook anymore. So we just load the kids in the car and go eat somewhere else. Eating out can be very expensive and unfortunately, we don't have a favourite place to eat in our city. Good thing hubby and I are now sharing responsibilities at home especially cooking. Instead of ordering a $12-$15 stir fry dish in a restaurant, we can enjoy the same dish at home for a fraction of that price.

chicken stir fry

When hubby cooks, he really is into it. He was sending me pictures of these while I was at work. The kids also brought these for lunch in school the next day.

spam musubi

OMG! Love sushi.

sushi galore

I still do my share of cooking, I do love trying out new recipes but unlike hubby I have no patience following the whole entire recipe. How do I decide on what to cook? I usually rely on what I crave for or what I think hubby wants or the rare days when I get this urge to be adventurous and wants to try something new like this Beef Stroganoff recipe. I didn't serve it over pasta of course, I figured it would still be good with rice :D

beef stroganoff

This eggplant omelette is a favourite of both hubby and I but I don't make it quite as often because it's too much work so when I get to cook these babies..we devour them :D

eggplant omelette

Before the kids and I left for the School Council meeting, I already boiled the beef for the Beef Pares and left it all to hubby to finish the dish. He was texting me how good it turned out and all throughout the meeting I'm pretty sure I was zoning out and imagining what's waiting for me at home--comfort food at its best indeed!

beef pares

My very first cheesecake! Lance asked me to buy chocolate cream cheese but I guess he didn't like it because it's been sitting in the fridge for awhile so I dared make it into a cheesecake. It turned out delicious especially for a first timer. I can't wait to make a blueberry one!

chocolate cheesecake

I stocked up on coconut milk for my pina coladas but I've been craving for sticky rice cake. My version includes screwpine (pandan) essence, hence the green color.

biko pandan

I babysat two little boys on my day off so I prepared two snacks. One that is healthy and one that's not haha! Vegetable tray and leftover candies from Halloween served on a cupcake tray :D

veggie tray + treats!

Believe it or not, I love eating raw veggies. If only I could eat them everyday eh?

lunch at work

I made a huge pot of crab and corn soup the other day, added some goldfish crackers so the kids will eat it. Surprisingly, they did.

crab and corn soup

I was going to make this Italian Sausage Bake recipe but I had some brussels sprouts to use so I added that to the potatoes and decided to wrap the sausage with bacon because who doesn't love bacon, right?

bacon wrapped sausage over potatoes and brussels sprouts

 I was searching for recipes that include sausage and chicken the other night before I went to bed. I decided to try this chicken and sausage gumbo recipe. I was too scared that I would burn my roux that's why mine turned out lighter but it tasted really good even though I didn't follow the instructions (yet again!)

chicken and sausage gumbo

For supper tonight, hubby's cooking Jambalaya. Hopefully it tastes as good as it smells.

Jambalaya

Before I end this post..here's me with my attitude apron haha! :D

ooh la la!

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

Something's Fishy

I'm trying to post regularly hence the shorter posts. We craved for fish and breaded pork and when we crave for something it's gotta be on the table ASAP!

The recipe for the breaded pork came from a friend of ours. I used pork loin instead of pork belly (next time I will use pork belly). Marinade consisted of fish sauce, lemon juice and garlic. Breading used was a mixture of cornstarch, flour and crushed potato chips. I tried two versions, the first one I used both cornstarch, flour and BBQ potato chips. The next one I only used flour and plain potato chips. I prefer the first batch I made, using BBQ potato chips adds more flavor and using both cornstarch and flour makes it crispier.

cornstarch, flour, bbq potato chips

breaded pork

The fish sauce is probably the surprise ingredient there. I wouldn't have used it for marinades but flavor wise it's awesome (just ignore the smell!)

pinaputok na tilapia

Speaking of fish...I made broiled stuffed tilapia  for a change and chanced upon butterflied milk fish so I marinated them in vinegar, salt, garlic and ground pepper paired with boiled spinach, chopped tomatoes and onions seasoned with fish sauce and lemon juice.

daing na bangus w/ boiled spinach salad

Now, if only I can open some windows and get rid of the fishy smell :D

If I Could I Would

chicharon

Pretty sure I have posted this before but I haven't made this in a long time. Yup, it's that special it warrants  its own post. I don't even remember the last time I made chicharon (pretty sure it's close to a year or maybe more).

I found some pork skin with a little fat (trimmed from pork belly) inside the freezer. I usually save this for pork sisig but decided on chicharon instead. It is one of Lance's favorites and of course hubby's, okay and mine too.

Those store bought ones are nothing compared to these. If I wasn't afraid of the oil splatter I would make these in large batches and probably munch on them 24/7. Maybe not 24/7 but pretty close to it :D

There's Something About Rice

Hubby has been bugging me (non stop) about a certain rice recipe he tasted (maybe once?) many many years ago in Cagayan de Oro. He can't even remember the name of the dish thought it was kiam pung and one look at the recipe and I wasn't interested. It seems like adobo rice  to me anyway, he researched and researched until I remembered a friend's post on facebook. Turned out it's pork steamed rice (Cebu style).
We tried it last night and it was a success, hubby's craving satisfied (Thank God!) We used this recipe as a guideline.

Instead of pork tenderloin, I boiled pork belly and used the broth to cook the rice the rest of the broth saved for the sauce. Along with the pork belly I also threw in chicken breast and shrimps. Sauce was basically the broth flavored with worcestershire sauce, oyster sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil and Chinese wine. Seasoned it as per our taste (as usual).

I made two batches (as requested). The cooked rice turned into fried rice seasoned with oyster sauce (first batch). The second was seasoned with soy sauce. Not much difference when you look at it but I think I prefer the soy sauce flavored one.

first batch

There's really something about rice that makes it impossible for us not to eat it on a regular basis. Next time I cook fried rice I will cook it in broth beforehand instead of plain water. It's more flavorful and has enough oil already (that's because I made my own using pork belly hence the oil).

second batch

Few days ago I made shrimp fried rice. Loaded it with whatever cold cuts I can find in the fridge, scrambled eggs, mixed veggies and shrimp. Love eating in a bowl! So easy to bring it in the living room and just eat and watch TV :D

Dear rice, I wish I can give you up :D

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 :-*