master of the kitchen

* this post was first posted in Inadvertently Domesticated. my 2nd contribution to the blog.

Link can be found in the title.

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Growing up, I’ve been surrounded by relatives who know good food and know how to cook them. Both my grandmothers on both sides were superb in the kitchen. My paternal grandmother has the best leche flans by my standards in the world! Nothing compares to how each container would produce the perfect flan. My maternal grandmother has the best laing ever, that her recipe can’t be duplicated after the first try. But since they both passed away, who were the lucky ones who inherited their recipes?

Certainly not I. My attempts in cooking can only be enumerated to frying hotdogs, spam, eggs and those easy to cook dishes. In short, pang tamad (for the lazy). As much as I would want to adapt the skill, it seems that it doesn’t like me that much. And did I mention that I have this fear of lighting the stove? Whether using matches or just turning the knobs, how’s that for a wimp?

My mother has been frustrated in attempting to teach me how to cook. How can I learn when during the first few attempts she always had to do it all over again because she wasn’t happy with the way I was doing it. Which left me with a broken heart for cooking, but my mother didn’t stop there. One day she left the house without preparing anything for dinner. She just left me a note on how to prepare adobo. I followed the instructions to the letter but with a few adjustments on the taste. After laboring in the kitchen for an hour, tired, and with no more appetite, I served the “experimental” adobo to my family. I was dreading the reaction from my family. But surprise! They loved it!

It wasn’t the same as my mom’s recipe but my family sure did love my own variation. I never felt so proud. It meant there was still hope for me in the kitchen! I’ve learned to cook sinigang and tinola which is quite easy.

But then, I’d rather leave all the yummy dishes served by P, because he cooks way better than I and he sure beats those other culinary students. Ms C can attest to his famous Chili Con. :) (you have to get us drunk first before we can give you the recipe).

is it time to switch?

i've been discussing this issue with hubby, if we are to "upgrade" kyle to Nido since he's already 4 and is getting all the required nutrients from his daily meals. his milk intake is as follows: the moment he wakes up in the morning, before his afternoon nap, after his afternoon nap and before bedtime. sometimes he asks for milk during the night.

health-wise, kyle's quite big for his age and undoubtedly has an appetite of a 7 year old. he can finish a cup of rice in one sitting. his rice and food intake is actually larger than mine. but he does burn off those by being way active. so obesity for him is out of the question. thank god he isn't into sweets, but we do indulge him on special occasions. we don't want to deprive our kids. chips and sodas are for special occasions as well. the chips and sodas come out at night when the kids are asleep.

but i digress.

with the high cost of growing up milk, we think it would be more practical to upgrade him into the more "generic" ones.

plus the fact that we still have 2 more boys consuming growing up milk. keon, still has a year to go before he does move on up to Nido too.

i'm a bit scared that they might not like having fresh milk at this stage even if it is the most healthy. i should know, i still drink milk up to now.

if only those milk companies cut down on the cost, every mom should be happy. especially me since i've got 3 mouths to feed. LOL

happiness, thy name is Red Mango

i'm not really a fan of yogurt, but if i do get the chance to get my hands on one, i would gladly eat it. so far the only yogurt i had a taste of is the one from nestle.

but with the boom of the frozen yogurt business here in the country. almost everywhere you go, you see a stall selling for-yo. and as an officemate called it, fro-yo is the next shawarma. remember the shawarma craze way back when? fro yo takes the throne today.

i was given the chance to try out one of the most popular fro yo stalls/stores while doing our rounds for the restaurant reviews over eastwoord tuesday last week. aside from the happy tummy from all the good food, we get to try out a dessert place! yey!

and then i met red mango. and i got hooked!

i ordered the fro yo over shaved ice with 3 toppings. special k, peaches and blueberries. and according to the manager, the combination i chose was their highlyu recommended combinations to those who are aren't quite sure of what to get. as a first timer, i felt damn proud of my choice. haha.

the yogurt wasn't that too sour nor too sweet. it was actually just right for my preggy taste. and the mix of the blueberries and peaches and the crunchyness of the special k was a party in my tongue all the way to my tummy. and you can't go wrong with yogurt, it's much healthier than getting a huge scoop of ice cream. one small order is filling enough.

and that's not all red mango offers, aside from the usual fro yo and endless toppings, they also offer coffee and waffles for those who aren't that into yogurt. at least the owners / managemet thought of capturing a market of yogurt and non yogurt lovers.

a bonus: the ambiance is such a good place to hang out post date with you SO or that person you like. not too private, not too public. just the right coziness to chat and enjoy your fro yo.

now hubby and i are looking forward to our own red mango date.


Red Mango is located at:
Trinoma and Eastwood Mall

*photos to follow

experiencing Eastwood part 2

now where was part 1 you might wonder? well i didn't really blog about it yet since i intend to make a few notes about the 5 restos we've raided and sampled their specialties. which, of course has been stuck in my trusty coffee bean and tea leaf notebook for quite a while and the photos, stored in my laptop's hard drive.

and so, for this part 2 update, we raided 3 restos in Eastwood.

but again, this is just a teaser since being OC and all, i have to start with the first batch right? but fret not dear readers, (if i do have readers haha) i shall post asap.

and another Eastwood resto raid is on it's way next week. another happy tummy moment for the little one and of course mommy. haha (and i have to "borrow" some photos from the cosmo girls.)

watch this space for my first ever food review. sort-of :)

LP#57: Nang Matapos

dalawa ang aking ilalahok para sa tema ngayon.

ang una: nang matapos ang kaininan, eto lang ang natira:

yan din ang nilahok ko sa nakaraang LP.

nang matapos na kami kumain, tila toge lang ang natira sa aking plato. hindi kasi ako kumakain ng toge kung katabi siya ng pagkain ko. pang lumpia lang siya para sa akin. haha

oOo

ikalawang lahok: nang matapos ka sa pag-aaral ng nursery

nang makatapos ang aking panganay sa nursery, di mapinta ang kanyang tuwa dahil big boy na daw siya at ready na daw sa big school. tila yata excited nang lumaki ang anak ko. sana naman wag muna, baby ko pa rin siya eh.

oOo

at ang sequel sa nakaraang lahok sa LP... nagsimula kaming maliit lang na pamilya, ngayon magkakaroon na kaming 3 anak! isipin mo yun? :)

maligayang LP sa inyo!

WS Foodie Wednesday #!

this week's running topic of commitment takes on food this time and what better way to share how much you love your spouse through food.

admittedly i am not a domestic goddess and nor do i have the skills in the kitchen. hubby has that covered. his recipes are soul food - to me and most especially the kids. all the food he prepared for the kids were polished off in mere seconds.

here he is preparing his ever famous chili con. (sorry we can't share the recipe. family secret eh) sharing the moment is my best friend. :)


and the finished product:


if you convince us enough, hubby might send some over. hehehe

Kitchen God

hubby, as most of my friends know is the better cook between the two of us. to date, he has his signature dishes that friends rave about and request to have it served during get togethers or if they just crave it.

and as i had pluked over the long weekend, hubby's creamy tuna pasta was a hit at home. as usual.

so how does he do it? simple, it's all in the taste. no measurements at all. call him mr. unconventional chef.

basically, the ingredients are:

garlic, chopped
onions, chopped
pepper. to season
salt, to season
nestle cream, the one in the tetra pack
milk, full cream or non fat. we use nestle milk
cheese, quickmelt preferrably
and century tuna, in vegetable oil.
the tuna's vegetable oil used to saute the garlic and onions.

unfortunately, i don't have the photos to show the creamy goodness that it was. but there's going to be a next time.

at least now, during the holy week, we won't suffer from eating mackarel in glass noodles every good friday. now we have an alternative! yey!

the takoyaki quest has ended

i've been one of those people who have been exposed (and addicted) to takoyaki balls ever since i was kid i fondly remember going to SM Makati usually after mass to do some grocery shopping. while waiting for mom to pay, dad and i would head over to the samurai stall and order ourselves takoyaki balls. either to share or one order each.

all the while i thought this was the authentic one. then discovered this stall when our office was located in robinsons galleria. but i wasn't the same as the one in samurai. it was more of a veggie takoyaki ball.

then, a good friend (hi shar!) revealed a secret. somewhere tucked in makati a jeepney ride away from our house, authentic takoyaki balls are made. i must find this i say and try it out.

and try it out we did!

upon entering the area, we were greeted with a japanese man manning the glorious balls. oh yes my babies i shall taste you soon, i thought. we entered the restaurant, and greeted with more japanese men. a golf game in japanese was showing on the tv.

we proceeded to order. (sorry no photos to share here. :( totally forgot to do so, being excited and all) first off, we ordered the cubic steak which was one of the specials that day, chicken cordon bleu and of course, those lovely takoyaki balls. hubby ordered grape shake while i ordered mango shake.

can i just say that the cubic steak was good! as in really good. they are of course in cubes (duh, cubic steak haha) and the meat was actually soft and melt in your mouth. the steak were resting on potatoes ala hash brown thatwere really good too. for sure hubby and i will order this again when we come back. the chicken cordon bleu on the other hand, was a bit so-so. i couldn't taste the cheese and the ham. and i just foun it odd that it was topped with tomato sauce.

now, do i really have to do a review of the takoyaki balls?

it was the best! among all the others i have tasted, this was indeed the best there is. and as mentioned, all ingredients were authentic - stuff you'd find when you do order one in japan. even hubby who had the shock of his life when he found out that it was made up of octopus bits and not squid. but he actually had more pieces than i did. and yes, he said these balls were much better tasting than the ones he tasted before (galle takoyaki balls).

total bill for this late night dinner cost us around P800.00 which is ok considering we were really satisfied with our food. and for sure we're going to go back and attack those balls and try out the other restos as well.

(hubby got quite disappointed when he found out that they don't serve sashimi or even california maki)

we're definitely going back to hana in little tokyo. :)

want to know more about Hana? check out Kitchen Cow's review HERE

LP46: Tipanan

di ba't napakasaya tignan ang pinagkainan ng malinis at ubos ang pagkain?

isa ito sa mga paboorito kong kainan na balang araw eh maisasama ko ang aking kabiyak para matikman din nya kung gaano ka-sarap ang pagkain nila.

sa susunod namin tipanan, dito ang tungo namin.

happy LP sa inyo! ako'y muling nagbabalik! =)

peanut butter drams!

now i'm definitely going back to them for this:

this is a welcoming treat when i read this in my email.

here's what they said:

Krispy Kreme has an "irREESE'Stible" offer - The NEW REESE'S Peanut Butter Doughnuts!

Your favorite Reese’s peanut butter is now on a Krispy Kreme doughnut!
Available in 3 variants - NEW Reese’s Peanut Butter & Kreme, an irresistible Reese’s peanut butter mixed with creamy vanilla icing on a Krispy Kreme doughnut.
NEW Reese’s Peanut Butter & Chocolate a perfect combination of Reese’s peanut butter, vanilla and rich chocolate on a Krispy Kreme doughnut and the
Reese’s Pieces & Kreme, a chocolate iced Krispy Kreme doughnut topped with crunchy Hershey’s Reese’s peanut butter candies drizzled with creamy caramel.
Visit your nearest Krispy Kreme store today and grab a dozen to share with your friends!

Taralets! time to invade KK! yey for peanut butter lovers!

happy burger day!! burgers at 50% off!

tara!!