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

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

Inspired

Watching food network shows late at night is probably a bad thing. It either makes me hungry or it literally makes the wheels in my head turn. I badly want to make something gourmet or at least something close to it but of course it has to be easy plus I gotta have the ingredients in my fridge. So after watching, I browsed recipes after recipes and found a few that looked promising. I fell asleep inspired.

Morning came and I went on to prepare parmesan crusted pork loin for lunch (easy peasy!) This is a keeper and even the kids loved it. I knew I had to serve it with some vegetables and soup. I was torn between asparagus and zucchini but chose asparagus instead. I used canned mushroom soup (nothing gourmet about it I know) but added bacon bits on top (haha!)

panko, parmesan, oregano, rosemary, garlic salt, pepper

used mayo instead of greek yogurt

ready to throw in the oven

grilled asparagus

I was so excited to plate it even though I had no idea how. I couldn't wait to taste it and it felt like a post Valentine celebration.

tadaaa!

post Valentine's lunch date

I knew the kids would love it as well but theirs didn't include the asparagus and I used the soup as gravy.

kiddie version

He loved it!

Lunch was a success! While the pork loin was in the oven I marinated beef chunks which I was planning for dinner. I found this awesome cumin lime beef kabobs recipe and decided to give it a try. We love beef and I was definitely intrigued about the cumin, I just knew this would be a very flavorful dish. I didn`t have any wooden skewers though but still decided to go through with it and serve lemony grilled zucchini ribbons with it. I also made soup out of canned tomatoes, celery and mixed veggies.

I forgot to take a picture while the beef was grilling but I grilled it on the same pan.

This recipe is another keeper. It was so good I made another batch the next day because we had friends over. And the marinade for the veggies? I`ll surely use it all the time, the veggies were sooo good!

Dessert is probably my most favorite part of a meal but I rarely make them. I did try this fruit salad with pudding recipe but I only used a can of fruit cocktail and a pack of vanilla pudding mix. I served it over graham crackers and cool whip. Again, easy peasy! I never knew a can of fruit cocktail would taste like this when you add vanilla pudding mix. Would definitely do this again with more fruits next time.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S! ALWAYS BE INSPIRED :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