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.

twisted puffs

I'm not really fond of junkfoods, but since hubby bought Cheetos Twisted Puffs from the hypermart, I tasted a piece.

Well, it so cheezee. Hehe. Okay fine. It's an expensive version of Jack n Jill's Chiz Curls - only bigger and puffier.

Plum from OZ

I haven't seen a plum in real life, more so tasted one. So when I saw boxes of 'em at Carrefour the other week, I decided to buy a few pieces so I can finally taste them.

Plums look like little red apples from a far. But when you touch them, they're soft like grapes. They taste like grapes, too, with a little hint of sunkist. Well, atleast it's what my tastebuds dictated me when I ate them.

nilat-ang baboy

I missed my mom's homecooked meals, so I decided to make my own version of her Nilat-ang Baboy.

In a deep casserole pan, place a kilo of pork ribs, a litre of water, big slices of red onions, and spoon-sized crushed fresh ginger. Cook it in the stove over medium fire. When the water boils, add salt and pepper to taste. Check if pork is half cook. If it is, add slices of patotoes. Cover the casserole. When potatoes are cooked, add slices of wombok and turn off the stove.

We don't wanna eat overcooked and soggy wombok, do we?

Carrots and Asparagus with Shredded Chicken

I haven't tasted asparagus in my entire life, so when we went to the grocery, I grabbed a packet of it.

When it was to time to cook it, a problem came up. I don't know how to cook the said asparagus. Will I blanch it? Saute? Boil? Deep fry? Or will it just be an accent piece in the dinner table? But then the reason why I spent $1.75 for it is because I wanted to know how it'd taste.

So I thought of blanching it and later mix it with the carrots and chicken in the wok.

Saute slices of a native red onion in 1 tbsp butter. Add the shredded chicken when onion becomes translucent. Add 2 tbsps. of oyster sauce, 1 tbsp. of dark soy sauce, a pinch of salt and pepper. Let it simmer for 5 minutes. Add a cup of water, and let it simmer. Place the carrots and cook it. Salt and pepper to taste when it boils. Then add a mixture of 1 tbsp. of flour and half a cup of water into the wok. Mix it, until the sauce thickens. Add the blanch asparagus. Additional salt and pepper to taste.

turo-turo salpak-salpak

This is like Student Value Meal in foodcourts back home. The only difference is, the servings here is a bit more, especially the "cup" of rice.

This meal I think costs between $4.50-$5.50. And I tell you, it's super sulit. You get a big cup of rice, 2 veggie dishes, and 3 main course of your choice. So that's turo-turo.

Salpak salpak, because the aunties (selling attendants aged 35 up) will just place everything in your plate for "having here" or in a styro container if "takeaway".

The picture above consists of rice, sauteed greenbeans with chili, sauteed cabbage (julienned), sweet and sour pork, Chinese-style pork skin adobo, and 3 pcs chicken nuggets.

This is not only the choices here. There's a.)rice, 2 veggies, 1 main;b.)rice,1 veggie, 2 main; c.)rice, 2 veggies, 2 main; d.)rice, 2 veggies, 3 main.

This is comfort food for me. Gosh, got plenty of comfort foods here lah!

one of my healthy breakfasts

I seldom eat breakfast, it usually is just a cup of coffee or Milo. But when I do, I think it's "calorie pack".

So one Sunday, I prepared something good. Ofcourse there will always be caffeine fix.

Chocolate Gateau

This post is really late, but whatever. I still have to post it here so I can remember that...

I got a gift from hubby last Valentines.

So let's take a look on what's inside.

Let's take a closer look at this Chocolate Gateau which sells $18+ for a small sized cake.

The cake tastes really good. The icing has a hint of pistacio flavor, and the cake's not too sweet.

For the first time in Singapore, I tasted a cake that is NOT cheese cake.

Porridge?

I have a favorite porridge stall in Bendemeer, but apparently, the stall was closed last Saturday. So hubby bought porridge in a different stall. But what the auntie is giving hubby is NOT porridge. Instead, she placed a cup of rice on a takeaway container and laddled tinolang isda over the rice. Like, huh? This is NOT the porridge I know. This is NOT what a porridge looks like.

Aren't tinolang isda delicious? Well, their version is not quite good. We're never buying "porridge" in that stall again.

Sweet and Spicy Sausage and Chicken Soup

This is another attempt in making a soup for my son. I just grab any available produce and meat in the fridge, and try to come up with something healthy, and of course edible.

Saute a 2 cloves of garlic and a small sized, sliced onion in 1 tablespoon oil in a small saucepan. Sprinkle a little salt. Add chicken fillet, cut in cubes, and half an inch thick of sliced sweet and spicy Oriental sausage. Mix well. Add 2 tablespoons of a good quality oyster sauce, then mix well. Let it simmer for 3 minutes.

In another small saucepan, blanch sweet peas and 1 inch long cut carrots until the peas turn bright green and the carrots, golden orange; and shock it iced cold water to stop it's cooking process. Transfer the cooked sweet peas and carrots in a kitchen towel to dry.

Pour 3-4 cups of water into the sausage and chicken mixture. Bring it to a boil in medium-low fire. Season it with salt and pepper to taste. Just before the soup is cooked, add a tablespoonful of flour and water mixture, and pour it into the soup to thicken it. Bring it to a boil for another 5-7 minutes, or until you like it's consistency.

Transfer cooked carrots and sweet peas into the soup before putting the stove fire off. Mix.

And there you have an Oriental flavored soup.

worst homemade pancakes

This is the worst homemade pancake I've ever had!

Okay, so it was 10am on Tuesday, last week, and hubby was craving for something. Since we don't wanna spend on non-necessities (it was Chinese New Year), he decided to cook the Pillsbury Pancake Mix that I bought 2 months ago. (It's expiration date is still months away.)

So he was in the kitchen for a good 30 minutes, only to return with a dry and half an inch thick pancakes! Like whatta! The big pancake box had 2 packets of dry mixture (obviously for 2 breakfasts), but he combined both and laddled more than enough of the mixture unto the pan, which resulted to some uncooked portions. Not only that, the butter that was available in the fridge was the cheapest kind that we bought from the hypermarket. Urgh! I promised my self not to buy that cheap butter again. And I promised not to let hubby cook pancakes, unless I am in the kitchen to supervise.

No pancakes for sometime. I had a bad experience, really. It wasn't the manufacturer's fault. It was the person who cooked it.

I don't wanna think about it. Happy thoughts! Happy thoughts! Happy thoughts alone!

good buys

Cappuccino Popcorn from Carrefour SG
This $3.30 finger food is an oh la la! I haven't tasted anything like it ever, in my 27 years, and I'm addicted to it. Every time I go to the hypermarket, I always go to the section where it is displayed. I so seldom have my coffee, so this is a great caffeine fix for me.


Marshmallow Tray
This is a really, really good buy at $7; plus the expiration date is in the following year. This can serve as a snack, a topping for your favorite cup of choco, or even for your S'mores.

Each tray has it's distinct flavor - green apple, papaya, mint, vanilla, lemon and grapefruit. Well, atleast this is what my tastebuds had recognized.

So there. I'm actually on the look out for other cheap finger foods, most especially that it's the Chinese New Year (CNY). I know there'll be lots of goodies available. All I have to do is search for them. Chinatown? In the heartlands? 711? I'm there!

BDH pizza

Hubby made this one Saturday for brunch. Since he made it, I call this BDH pizza. BDH pizza is your classic cheese pizza. When I say classic, I mean regular.

This is how he made it:

Cut small Vienese in half. (Vienese is like a French bread, but soft.) Spread a little unsalted butter on top. Spread a good amount of tomato sauce. Top it with grated mozzarella and cheddar cheese. Bake it at 425 degrees F for 7-10 minutes.

Et voila! You have your simple but delicious cheese pizza.

hopia like it

Every time I visit Manila, I make sure that I drop by Eng Bee Tin at Binondo for their delicious arrays of Hopia.

Hopia is a bean filled pastry. I just learned from this page that there are two types of hopia; the flaky type and the cake dough type. Well, I have personal favorites of the two types of hopia that are found at the local groceries in my hometown and in Eng Bee Tin.

For this entry, though, I'll talk about the hopia that's made in Perak, Malaysia; which hubby's boss gave it to him.

SIN JOO HEONG CONFECTIONERY : Perak, MY

This is a flaky type of hopia, with a sweet bean filling. It's not comparable to my favorites back home, but it's good enough.

quick and healthy breakfast

1. Toast wheat bread or white bread until golden brown.
2. Spread your favorite flavored yogurt on it.
3. Top with slices of bananas.

This toast goes well with coffee or hot Milo.

February 7, 2007 menu

These were the foods I prepared for our 3rd civil wedding anniversary.

****************************************

M E N U

****************************************

HOT CHOCOLATE WITH MARSHMALLOWS & CHIPS AHOY! S'MORES

*Heat Dutch Lady chocolate drink and chocolate chips or any chocolate of your choice in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk mixture when chocolate drinks starts to simmer and chips melt. Once the chocolate chips are all melted, transfer it to a mug and garnish marshmallows on top of the hot drink. For a little secret, drop pieces of chocolate chips and let it melt slowly in the bottom of the mug.

*Place 3 cookie chips topped with a big sized marshmallow in a microwave. Heat high for 10 to 15 seconds or until marshmallow is puffed. Place and press lightly a cookie on top of every puffed marshmallow to secure it.

****************************************

CHEESY BAKED PORK CHOPS MARINATED IN LEMON AND HERBS

*Marinate 4 pieces pork chops in juice of 1 lemon, dried thyme, dried oregano and dried rosemary for atleast 3 hours. When the chops are ready to be baked, place the chops marinade in a baking dish. Season chops with salt and pepper on both sides. Place the chops on the baking dish, toping each chop with an onion sliced. Drizzle a tablespoon of oil, preferrably olive oil, on the chops. Bake it for 30 minutes on a 400°F oven. Take the baked pork chops out of the oven. Top each chop with a teaspoon of butter and a tablespoon of grated cheese. Return it to the oven and bake it for another 5 minutes, or until the cheese has melted.

****************************************

FUSILLI WITH BROCCOLI AND SPICY ORIENTAL SAUSAGE

*Saute chopped onion in 2 tablespoons of oil. Once onion becomes translucent, add the chopped garlic. Sprinkle a pinch of salt and a dash of pepper. Then add the sausage which is cut in cubes, and a tablespoon of oyster sauce. Leave it to simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in 3-4 handfulls of fusilli. Add 5-6 cups of water. Leave it to simmer until pasta is half cooked in medium-low heat. Season it with salt and pepper to taste. Add a pinch of dried rosemary. Stir. Add broccoli. Let it simmer until both the fusilli and broccoli are cooked.

****************************************

RUBY-ICED CHOCO JIGGLERS CUP

*Cook raspberry flavored jelly according to package instruction, and transfer it into a cup. Refrigerate until firm. Once jelly is set, heat a cup of milk chocolate drink and a handful of grated dark chocolate in a small saucepan. Keep stirring until the chocolate has melted. Let it simmer for a few seconds. Pour the hot chocolate over the jelly. Freeze the chocolate drink. Just before serving, place 3-4 tablespoons of raspberry yogurt and top it with grated dark chocolate.

note: Yogurt is optional.
****************************************

The Best at Max's

Breakfast, brunch, lunch, snacks or dinner visit Max's. Eating solo, with a date, a group of friends, or with family eat at Max's.

Max's Restaurant is a Filipino restaurant which has it's beginnings after WWII. The restaurant now has different branches in Metro Manila, Northern and Southern Luzon, Cebu and California, USA.

Shortly before returning back to Singapore, hubby and I decided to eat at Max's Restaurant once again. It had been two whole years since we last dined in at Max's.

Without even looking at their menu, we ordered for our usuals: Lumpiang Shanghai, Max's Fried Chicken (half), Camaron Rebosado, bottomless Iced Tea and 4 servings of rice.

As usual, the taste of their food never failed us. We went home full and happy with a takeaway in hand.

Camaron Rebosado

Max's Fried Chicken

Lumpiang Shanghai

xs: Hubby's parents had their wedding reception at Max's Restaurant.

Stars and Stripes

Located on the 2nd level of SM Mall of Asia (PH), Stars and Stripes is your classic American restaurant. Though they have Tapsilog in their menu, which is so Filipino. hehe. It's what I ordered, though. Didn't have time to choose from their menu, since my son was feeling cranky that night (for the first time, ever).

Tapsilog

Tapsilog is just a plain beef and egg meal (tapa=beef;itlog=egg), but so so yummy. The picture above is actually my plate, but as you may see there's a chicken finger between the eggs and beef and onion rings beside the rice, since hubby placed them there from the appetizer platter. (He very well knows that I couldn't get from the platter simply because I was busy feeding our son, and he's pretty sure his brother will finish every single appetizer.)

The picture above is what my brother-in-law ordered. I think this is one of the most highly priced meal on the menu. (So typical of him.) I couldn't remember what this is called, though. But it's fish with mashed potatoes and button mushrooms. According to my b.i.l., it tastes good. Well I have yet to find out.

I couldn't tell if Stars and Stripes is expensive or not, since we weren't the ones paying for dinner that night. Thanks to the mother-in-law of my s.i.l. for the delicious meal we had. Oh, she paid, too, for the plain porridge (David's Tea House) for my son.

I've read from other bloggers who've tried Stars and Stripes that their Pasta with Roasted Shrimps and burgers are not that good. The first being too creamy.

Must try: old-fashioned thick vanilla milkshake : steaks : chops

NOTE: Not advisable if dining in with a child who needs a high-chair. The restaurant only has 1. (Based from a personal experience.)

Sliced Fish Hor Fun

I've asked hubby to buy me this meal twice, since the first time I took a photo of it, the result was blur. Besides I find it's taste interesting.

The smell reminded me of North Park (which I wasn't able to visit when I was in Manila for the holidays). The taste is a fushion of vinegar and chili which stirred my appetite; plus it has a little hint of sweetness - which I don't know where it came from.

HOR FUN - a thick flat rice noodle

Rate:

Affordable Waffle

If you're tight on budget and is craving for sweet or just plain hungry, why not try the waffles of Q Bread?

They're made right infront of you. And while waiting for your order, you may find a dollar bread, too, or perhaps some other breads on sale.

The waffle itself may be greasy compared to the waffle I always order at Pancake House, but this is a dollar goodie I'm talking about.

Taste: B
Value for Money: A

Porridge as Usual

It was 10a when hubby and I decided to go to Boon Keng to buy bread and waffles and an M1 top-up card. But since it's near Bendemeer Hawker Centre, I told him to buy our son his favorite porridge.

So we went to this food stall which only sells porridge; Golden Pork Porridge House. It is where hubby usually buys porridge, since I've rated it as the best porridge I've tasted in SG.

Aside that it's tasty, Chicken Porridge only costs $2.2o. It really is a good buy.

I've tasted the chicken porridge version over at Suntec which costs $3.60, yet nothing compares to lola's porridge at the Bendemeer Hawker Centre.

This is how they made their porridge:

1. scoop a laddle full of prepared stock in a saucepan
2. add a laddle full of prepared plain porridge into the saucepan
3. stir briskly
4. while waiting for the porridge to simmer, add cooked chicken strips (minus the chicken skin) into a takeaway container, and chopped scallions
5. put a dash of oil into the saucepan (which I believe is either sesame oil or peanut oil) and stir the porridge once more
6. pour the cooked porridge over the chicken strips and scallions, top with slices of cooked fried tofu and a dash of Crab brand pepper mixed seasoning.

Our son had really a delicious Sunday breakfast. Of course I get to finish his porridge. *wink*

SiMpLe mEaLs

Since my son has started eating solids, it left me no choice but to cook dishes with soup that goes with his plain porridge.

To be honest, I am a food critique than a cook. Yes I can make a good Carbonara, Spaghetti and Lasagne, cook Adobo (Cebu-style) and Humba, fry some eggs, bacon, sausages, hotdogs, meatloafs- you know, all those canned goods; but I haven't actually cooked a soup dish. This had me worried.

I was worried that my baby may not like it, since like his daddy, he's also supper choosy with what he eats.

Anyway, when we got back to Singapore, I made sure that there are a few vegetables in my grocery list.

So far, here are 3 "soup" dishes I've made.

1.) Chicken and Wombok Soup

I sauteed red onions and garlic in oil, then add sliced chicken fillets. I seasoned it with salt and pepper, added 2 tbsps. of dark soy sauce and left it to simmer. After 5 minutes, I poured 2 cups of water and waited for 15 minutes more before finally adding the wombok into the pan. Of course, I adjusted the seasoning.

2.) Chicken and Broccoli in Oyster Sauce

Place trimmed and wash broccoli in a pan, season it with salt and pepper. Saute broccoli in 2 tbsps. of oyster sauce, leaving it for 3 minutes to simmer. Add left over meat (in my case, chicken), then add 1.5 cups of water. Let it simmer for 8 minutes, or until broccoli is cooked (not overcooked). Adjust seasoning.

3.) 2 Beans and a Cabbage

Saute garlic and onion in oil. Stir in 1/4 kilo of ground pork and season it salt and pepper and 1 tbsp. of dark soy sauce. Leave it to simmer for 3-5 minutes. Add diagonally-cut French beans and leave it for 3 minutes to infuse it's flavor with the meat. Add washed bean sprouts and mix it into the pork mixture. Add 2 cups of water. Adjust seasoning. Wait until it simmers, then add in the cabbage.

This is basically the soups I've came up with. So far, it was edible and my baby has eaten his porridge that was mixed with the soup I've cooked.

Hong Kong Mee

Last week, hubby went to TS 21. As usual, he was treated to lunch which he did not eat, simply because he is not a fan of noodles.

Lucky for me, I get to try a different local fare.

Let me introduce to you, Hong Kong Mee!

I don't know why they call it Hong Kong Mee. Perhaps this is the cousin of Singapore Fried Noodles, eh? *Just kidding.*

I'm guessing this recipe is originally from Hong Kong and the locals from Singapore who got to taste this delicious fare in Hong Kong brought with them the recipe back home. Perhaps made some variations to the dish, but still called it Hong Kong Mee.

This dish is good for picnics, potlucks, family get-togethers, or even for an afternoon snacks.

This for me, is one comfort food.