pizza n pasta

My family is a big fan of pizza and pasta dishes. How we wish we could try Mario Batali's Pizzera Mozza in Marina Bay Sands. If only we could just go there any time and dine. But no siree, there's a reservation for atleast a month to dine there.

Anyway, during the first few months of my 3rd pregnancy, I was craving for pizza every week. But not just any pizza. I was craving for the pizza that's only available in Cebu. Crazy! If only Cebu is just a train away, no?

So just to give in to my craving, we went to the only nearest pizza and pasta place. It was my favorite when I first came here in SG. But lately, I've noticed the taste isn't the same as before; like in 2005 and 2006.

But like I said,I was craving and I have to give in to my craving. And Pastmania is the nearest from our place.


Margherita


Creamy Chicken

Carbonara

I don't know if it's just my hormones, but the pasta sauces, tastes different.

Bacon and Broccoli in Tomato Sauce

• Fry bacon, cut in half an inch, in 1 tbsp oil for about a minute.
• Saute broccoli flowers in.
• Season it with 1tbsp soy sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Add half a cup of water. Leave it to simmer.
• Lasty add half a cup of tomato sauce. Stir.

Adjust seasoning if needed.

pork and potato stew

Whew! It has been awhile since I posted last in here. I have been very busy with other things, but I have been cooking almost everyday though. The recipes were just repeats, only that I put a substitute (or just simply omit an ingredient).



Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, I decided to cook something else for my son that I haven't cooked before. I looked at it up on the free recipe at the back of chicken stock box. Apparently, there's no available chicken parts in the freezer so I decided to do it anyway using slices of pork. And to make it my own, I did some alterations.

In the original recipe, it's Chicken Stew with carrots and other stuffs. But with my recipe since I have not a single carrot and other stuffs to go with it, I just thought of just potatoes since it's the only available ingredient in the kitchen.

Heat a tablespoon of sesame oil in the pan and toss in chunks of potatoes in medium heat. (It is important not to burn the sesame oil.) Stir and leave it for 2-3 minutes. Add julienned onions and crushed garlic and stir. Throw in chunks of pork. Season it with salt and pepper and a tablespoon of grade A dark soy sauce. Stir. Add 2-3 cups of water. Leave it to simmer.

Prepare a tablespoon of flour mixed in a half cup of water. Stir well.

Try tasting the stew and check if it is seasoned well. If not, season it to taste. Once potatoes and pork are cooked and tender, add the flour and water mixture unto your stew and stir. When you see that the stew is a little thick, turn off the fire. And you're ready to serve!

the switch

I am BIG fan of iced tea's -- lemon, raspberry, strawberry to mention a few. I dunno. There's something in it that I find so addictive. I most especially love TGIFriday's strawberry iced tea. It's a little pricey than there regular one, but it's worth it.

Anyway, a couple of months ago I read from Mr. Yahoo! that green tea can aid in losing weight aside from the detox thing it does in our system. And just by reading the words losing weight, my went ga-ga, that the following day (good thing it was a Saturday and hubby didn't have to go to the office) I went to my my all-time favorite hypermarket and grabbed 2 different flavors of green tea. And they taste really good. Well, not at first if you're used to lemon flavored Nestea or Lipton iced tea since it isn't that sweet and there's this some kind of flower petals after taste. But you'll get used with it. And trust me, you'll get hooked with it after a few gulps.

So now, I consider my self a green tea lover. If this could help me in shedding these excess pounds and giving me radiant skin, why not. Besides, I'm trying to live a healthy lifestyle now. I'm not getting any younger, you know.

another takeaway

I went to Vivo City last Saturday with my boys to check on what the fuss was about. Well Vivo City is another family mall here in SG. Yepeeeh!

Anyhoo, I like where their foodcourts; Kopitiam and Banquet, are located. It is indeed very accessible to people taking the MRT.

We were suppose to try a new fastfood; Superdog, but we were running late and our little master needs to eat his dinner. So opted for a takeaway congee in Kopitiam. And since we also have to eat, I ordered Spaghetti and Seafoods in Chops and Chips, whose stall is besides the one selling a really good congee.

I'll go to the verdict. The meal I ordered is a good value for money at $6 since the portion is big enough for one. The spaghetti however is bland, tasteless. Okay, so imagine this: cooked spaghetti splattered with unsalted, no herbs tomato sauce with traces of tomatoes from a can. Well I dunno how it was cooked. But it was just so bland. I was so hungry, though, so carry na rin.

The seafood stuffs were pieces of calamari rings, shrimps and fish fillets. At least I liked the seafoods.

Rate: 2 stars

Carbonara

Hubby is a pasta lover. Whenever there's an occasion at home, say like birthday, Christmas, New Year, he'd always request for lasagna, carbonara, spaghetti or baked macaroni.

But of course his requested is not restricted to special occasions alone. Like last Saturday night, he asked me to make carbonara for lunch the following day (Sunday). When I checked the kitchen pantry if I still have any available pastas, I was only able to find fussili and spaghetti. Well, fussili's not an option since hubby doesn't like them. Weird, coz for me, it IS still pasta.

So came the "big day" for hubby. He woke me up and said that the onions and garlics were already minced. Well, thank you!

I first cook the carbonara sauce before the pasta since the sauce takes a while to make.

So how did I cook my own version of the carbonara sauce? (The recipe is for 1K of spaghetti.)

Place 2-3 tbsps of oil in a deep saucepan. Add 2 tbsps of Anchor butter. Saute 1 bulb of minced onions, once butter has melted, until translucent. Saute 5 cloves garlic, minced. Add 1/2K of ground pork. (Make sure you have a class A ground pork.) Season it with 2 tbsps of soy sauce, salt and pepper, dried oregano, dried basil, dried rosemary. (Of course the amount of dried herbs you place depends on you. I don't measure the dried herbs whenever I cook pasta dishes.) Mix well. Make sure the ground pork is well coated with the soy sauce and dried herbs. Leave it to simmer for 10 minutes. But stir it once in a while to check if the mixture became dry. This is what we will avoid.

Add 2 big cans of Carnation Evap (Marigold Evap is also good) and 2 big cans of Nestle Cream into the pork mixture. Mix well.

Cook for 20 minutes. Don't forget to stir the sauce occasionally. While the sauce is cooking, cook pasta is directed in the package.

extra stout and rum refresher

For someone who drinks occasionally, last night was a little treat. Well, not that I love to drink beer or liquor or any hard drink. I'm sort of the I-will-try-so-I-would-know-how-it-would-taste kind of person when it comes to drinking.

Guinness Extra Stout is hubby's choice for our taste test, while mine is a Tropical Peach Bacardi Breezer.

I had a gulp of hubby's Guinness, and it tasted like Cerveza Negra, only a little sweeter like raisins sweet. According to hubby, Guinness is too strong for him. (Hubby is an occasional drinker like me.)

The Bacardi Breezer that I had tasted like a powdered antibiotic that's diluted in water. It is sweet, yes, but only has a little alcohol content in it. I think this is made for someone who rarely drinks, or whose alcohol tolerance is minimal. Example, ME.