ABC Wednesday | F and G

I told myself I will complete all 26 letters of the alphabet for ABC Wednesdays, but because I was so busy last Wednesday (I was out of town Thursday), I wasn't able to post my take for letter F. Please allow me to do a two-in-one post this week. :)

My F food is the "Fern Salad." There are different kinds of edible fern, and I do remember my late father buying some when brother and I were still very young (sis wasn't born yet), but I never dared taste it, because as you well know, kids don't like eating vegetables that much. Well, I do eat veggies even when I was young, I wasn't just into leafy ones then.

Anyway, when I took the picture on the right late last year at a weekend market, I told myself I wanted to taste it. I sure can buy a bunch back then, but I didn't know how to prepare it and the weekend market was quite far from our house, so I decided not to buy - as I didn't want to end with wilted fern once I reach home.

May of this year, I was able to finally taste the edible fern, when sis and I traveled with our neighbor Ria in Quezon Province. The salad was served with sliced salted eggs, onion, and tomatoes... as well as canned sardines (in tomato sauce). It was an interesting dish that made me fall in love with it quickly.

Well, salad may not win you friends as Homer Simpson said, but... for sure your body will thank you for eating veggies.

My G picture is the "Graham Crackers," which I had for snacks while on a flight to Manila from Tagbilaran City (Bohol) this afternoon. For this one, I would agree with Wolfgang Puck - airline foods are expensive (a bottle of water cost 50 pesos, but at a supermarket it only cost around 15 pesos), but I am really thankful that I was able to get free snacks for this flight. This was my third time to fly via Philippine Airlines, and on my very first flight we weren't given free snacks as we purchased the promo tickets. When I flew to Cebu City last Thursday, I was given snacks, too, and because I was alone that day (my flight was 6 hours earlier than my mom's flight), I thought I was given free snacks because my ticket was bought at a regular price. For this flight (I was with mom), my mom was given snacks even if her ticket was bought at a promo price, so I guess every passenger at PAL now gets free snacks - something I am happy about, because the other Philippine based airline doesn't give free snacks. :)

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Pizza Inn Taco Pizza Copycat Recipe

Pizza Inn Taco Pizza was our all time favorite back in the day.  You know, the days when eating wheat seemed OK.  Noticed I said seemed.....LOL.  On a whim (and on the day after Taco night with extra ingredients) I decided to look up what exactly was on that Pizza Inn pizza we loved so much.  There is a huge amount of variation in the way folks prepare this recipe and what I wanted was THEIR way.

According to Pizza Inn Menu: "Our Original Thin Crust topped with seasoned taco meat, Cheddar cheese, crispy lettuce, and fresh diced tomatoes."

I usually do just make this sometime after a taco dinner, making sure I make enough meat for leftovers. This way I have enough leftovers for ONE pizza.  It really does make sense to make two pizzas though if you are going to go though all the trouble of browning meat and such.  This would also be a good time considering cooking some of your ground beef ahead of time! ;-D

1 Gluten Free Pizza Crust Recipe
1 can Refried Beans (or about 1 cup of your own ~ heated until soft)
1/2 pound Ground Meat
1/2 packet of Taco Seasoning (Make your own or use Or McCormick)
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Crispy Lettuce
Fresh Diced Tomatoes
A few dashes of Hot Sauce (Optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees with pizza stone inside

Have your pizza peel ready

• Prepare crust according to directs included in link above or use your favorite prepared crust (like Udi's).
• Brown ground beef in a skillet making sure to crumble meat. 
• Drain fat, add water and taco seasoning. Set aside. 
• After crust is partially baked for 10 minutes, take crust out and spread refried beans on top of pie shell (leaving a 1/2 inch rim).  I usually do a thin spread, just to taste so you may have some leftover.
• Add crumbled ground meat on top evenly.
• Bake in oven on top of pizza stone for 10-15 minutes or until ingredients on top are heated through.
• Take out of the oven and top generously with cheddar cheese, lettuce and tomato.  
• Serve with hot sauce and sour cream at the table.

Other Great Taco type pizza's on the web:
Celiac Family's Mexican Pizza
You really should look at Cook It Allergy Free's gorgeous Mexican Pizza
Here you can find Diane from the Whole Gang's pizza over at Ginger Lemon Girl

I will be linking this recipe up to the following linky's:
Slightly Indulgent Tuesday over at Simply Sugar and Gluten Free
Mommy Solutions (Tuesday) at The Mommy Club
Gluten Free Wednesday over at Gluten Free Homemaker
Real Food Wednesday 
Works for me Wednesday
Creative Juices Thursday @ Momnivore's Dilemma
Potluck Friday @ Ekat's Kitchen

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Menu Plan Monday: Week of August 29th, 2011

I ran into some awesome deals at the grocery store this past shopping day.  Ground meat was 1.69 a pound, chicken was $.88 cents a pound, Ham butt was 1.29 a pound.  I purchased and prepared a months worth (woven in between the fabrics of time that I was studying). I really should have gotten and pressed more hamburgers.  Oh well.  This week Ground meat, chicken and ham are the theme.

Monday:

Ham Steaks, macaroni and cheese, baked beans.  I am slicing off the larger half of ham from the bone and then slicing it into steak portions.  

Tuesday:

Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, broccoli

Wednesday:

Fried Chicken Thighs, potato salad.

Thursday:

Navy Bean and Ham soup, Cheese Rolls (a new recipe/method), home made cookies. I should be in a good place at this point with my studies and should be able to get this all done.  I'm using the remaining half of the ham and bone for this soup and tossing it all in the crock pot.

Friday:
Pizza, Salad and a Movie! The pizza crust here is good, my wheat eaters actually prefer it to the wheat kind.  I have started to replace the almond meal with flax and that works out nicely and I think actually gives it an extra crunch.  The real secret to these pizza's I make is the Pizza Sauce.  If you have not tried it yet, you really should!!!

Saturday:
TBD

Sunday:
TBD

Monday is actually Labor Day and we are all off in this household.  As I mentioned above, I have a few dinners made up in the fridge, such as: Home Made Hamburger Helper, Taco Meat, Chicken thighs, and cheese enchiladas.

I will be linking this to Orgjunkie's Menu Plan Monday.  A wonderful (and free) resource for menu planning ideas.  

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Vegetarian Fried Rice

Meatless Meals

I am not going to pretend that this is an Asian meal, it is not.  The only thing Asian about it is that it has Sesame oil it it, LOL.  I LOVE sesame Oil though.  Its very good and I just LOVE the smell the sesame oil gives this dish.   Go ahead and get yourself some rice paper wrappers and make some Spring rolls to go with it.  Its not that much more trouble, you already went though all the trouble to chop up all the veggies so why not?

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
3 Tablespoons Sesame Oil
2 Eggs, beaten
1/2 cup Onion, chopped
1 Tablespoon Garlic, minced (about 2 cloves)
1 cup Carrots, shredded
1 cup Green Beans, French cup, chopped
1/2 cup Celery, chopped on the bias
2 cups dry rice, cooked to package directions
   (Jasmine would be lovely but I usually use long grain white/brown)
2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce (Make sure it's Gluten Free)

• Heat a 14 inch deep skillet over high heat until a bead of water vaporizes in 1 to 2 seconds of contact.
• Add 1 tablespoon of Sesame Oil and 1 tablespoon of Olive Oil into the pan.  
• Add Eggs and scramble making sure you break the egg into very small bits.  Set aside.
• Add 1 tablespoon of Sesame Oil and 1 tablespoon of olive oil into pan again.
• Add Onion and Garlic.  Cook on high stirring often for about 1 minute.
• Add 1 tablespoon of Sesame Oil and 1 tablespoon of olive oil into pan for a third time.
• Add all the vegetables and stir fry over medium for 2-3 minutes.  
• Add rice, egg and soy sauce.  Increase heat to medium-high and cook for 2-3 minutes, making sure to stir and break up rice.  

Recipe Adapted from "The Breath of a Wok" by Grace Young

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

News Flash

I will leave the house early tomorrow so I am now posting this update. :)

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Recipe | Sinanglay

When sister and I attended the Yummy Magazine Cooking Demo, we were given copies of the recipes of the dishes cooked, and Knorr also gave recipe sheets of dishes cooked with Knorr's newest products - the Gata Mix (instant coconut milk mix) and the All-in-One + Meaty seasoning. This week, I am trying to build the habit of incorporating vegetables in my daily meal, I decided to cook this recipe for dinner last night.

Sinanglay (Tilapia Fillets Wrapped in Bok Choy)

{recipe from: Knorr | Serves 5}

Ingredients:

• 6 pieces tilapia fillets
• 3 tablespoons calamansi juice
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 2 bunches pechay (bok choy)
• 3 medium sized tomatoes, deseeded and minced
• 2 pieces medium sized onions, minced
• 1 pack Knorr Ginataang Gulay (Sitaw at Kalabasa) complete recipe mix
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 stalk lemongrass (white part only)
• 2 pieces chili fingers

How to Cook

• Season the tilapia fillets with calamansi juice, salt and pepper.
• Wash the pechay leaves and dry.
• Carefully wrap the fish with tomatoes and onions in pechay leaves. Secure tightly using a strand of lemongrass leaf.
• In a medium sized pot, dissolve the Knorr Ginataang Gulay complete recipe mix with water and bring to a boil.
• Add the lemongrass bulb and chili fingers. Lower the heat and let it simmer.
• Carefully place the wrapped fish one by one in the pot. Let this cook covered for about 10 minutes.

Notes to Consider:

• You can also use lemon or lime if calamansi is not available.
• In case the Knorr Ginataang Gulay complete recipe mix is not available where you're at, you can use freshly squeezed coconut milk, but you have to adjust the seasoning. The Knorr mix is actually a complete mix in itself - no need to add any more seasonings.
• Use the big bok choy leaves, and if the white part behind the leaf breaks while wrapping the fish, cut off this white part (kinda like filleting the leaf) to make leaf flexible.

When I planned to cook this dish, I wanted brother to buy 1 large tilapia so I can fillet it easily and I can cut the fillets in similar sizes, but when brother went to the market, I wasn't really able to give him my market list because he told me he didn't have that much money. When he got home, he told me he bought some tilapia for me and to my surprise, he bought itty bitty size tilapia (my palm was even bigger than the fish). Since he bought the whole fish, I had no choice but to fillet each of the fish one by one - which ate most of my preparation time. If you plan to cook this, I suggest you can your fish vendor to fillet the fish for you.

As for the wrapping part, don't stress too much if the fish wasn't "properly" wrapped - just secure the fish and the tomatoes and onions in the leaf (or leaves - in some fillets I had to use 2 leaves). Once you place the wrapped fish in the pot, the steam would wilt the leaves and hug the fish.

Other than the filleting and the wrapping parts, this dish was fairly easy to cook - and it became much easier using the Knorr mix. Our family is big Knorr users - from their liquid seasoning to bouillon cubes to their soup mix, we really love Knorr products. Actually, even before the cooking demo, we already tried using their Ginataang Gulay complete recipe mix and we all loved it. Again, I'd like to say that if you are going to use the Knorr mix, don't add any more seasoning in the dish (except the salt and pepper you used on the fillets, of course) because you might end up with a very salty dish if ever.

Serving the dish, both my mom and sister loved the dish, and I was surprised at how delicious ginataan, tilapia, and pechay taste together. Brother on the other hand hoped to taste a little more ginger in the dish, and I might try that one (adding ginger slices) the next time I cook this dish.

ps - If you're a Nokia phone user, you can download Knorr's "Cooklet" application via Ovi - just go to Cooklet.PH and follow the instructions.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Menu Plan Monday: Week of August 22st, 2011

Last weeks packed lunches went ok.  That's it, just OK. Turns out the two microwaves at my kids school typically has a very long line of kids waiting to heat up a lunch.  Add in two microwave Macaroni and Cheese cups (the gluten kind) and you are in for a very long wait.  They only really have a total of 20 minutes to heat and eat so a 10 minute microwave line is a problem.  I decided that since my kids will be gluten free forever (can't cure Celiac) and the best options for gluten free lunches are the microwaveable kind.......I have decided that I will DONATE a 3rd microwave to the lunch room. I believe that I will get my monies worth out of that donation over the next 12 years.  This donation of a 3rd microwave to the lunch room will make that long line go quicker.  I already spoke to the Chief Lunch Lady and she is A-OK with my donation.

My son did not like the pizza bagel last week.  I used spaghetti sauce and whenever I do that, he says that don't like the pizza (even if he does not know how I made it).  My daughter, however, told me she LOVED it!!!  This week I picked up some Udi's Pizza crust and cut out some circles to make lunchable pizza crusts.  We'll see how that goes.  My kids favorite lunches so far are Corn dogs, pizza, chicken nuggets and nacho chips and cheese.

I start back to school today.  Monday and Wednesday's I will only get home in time to get the children. I plan to try and serve easy dinners these days.  I also used my Friday off last week to start with my Friday Baking Day.  I made Whole Grain Flat Bread, a loaf of regular sandwich bread, Pizza Crusts and breaded my chicken fingers. Now I am all ready for my week ahead and won't feel stressed about dinners.

Monday:

Crock Pot Roast Beef, Broccoli

Tuesday:

Breaded Chicken FIngers, Wild Rice, Broccoli

Wednesday:

Hotdogs, Baked Beans, Jiffy Corn Muffins

Thursday:

Taco Dinner on Soft Corn Tortillas, Rice and Beans

Monday:

Taco Pizza Night

Saturday:

WWE at the FedEx Forum for the boys, girls will have dinner and a moive

Sunday:

Spaghetti Dinner

I will be linking this to Orgjunkie's Menu Plan Monday.  A wonderful (and free) resource for menu planning ideas.  

CeliacFamily is hosting the Gluten Free Menu Swap this week so be sure to go over there and visit her.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Foodie 365 | Week 33

At first I was posting my Foodie 365 posts every Saturdays, then lately I was posting it every Sundays for the Yummy Sunday meme, but because I was busy cleaning my closet and I played "the Sims 2" yesterday, my post is obviously very late.

Without further intro, here are the foods that made up my Week 33:

225. Chatime

Robinson's Galleria

After sis and I attended the Yummy Magazine Cooking Demo, we passed by Chatime, which sis said serves good milk tea drinks. I went to order their bestseller - the Pearl Milk Tea, while sister went for their Mango Smoothie because I already ordered her first choice. :)

My first milk tea drink was Chowking's nai-cha, and I didn't like it because it had a very strong taste. The pearl milk tea of Chatime is much, much better... and I really love to have a taste of it again.





226. Jolly Hotdog

Lazy weekends again... and we opted to have foods delivered. Obviously, I went for their hotdog sandwich because I am trying to eat less (hekhekhek).





227. Laguna Afritada

There are so many recipe food memes, and I hoped to join all of them, but I admit it was difficult to try at least two recipes a week. This week, though, I was able to cook one - the Laguna Afritada. If you want to try it out, you can check the recipe HERE.





228. Chicken, Tofu, and Mung Bean Sprouts

Us siblings are big chicken eaters. We can certainly live eating fried chicken everyday. For tonight's dinner, sister requested for fried chicken, and brother used the McCormick Buffalo Wings mix to bread the chicken and because sister wasn't into spicy dishes, the sauce was served on the side. Brother also cooked the firm tofu in oyster sauce and chili garlic sauce, as well as stir fry some mung bean sprouts just to add a vegetable to the meal.

This plate was my dinner for that day - a piece of thigh fried chicken, 1/4 cup of bean sprouts, 10 pieces 1x1 cube tofu, and 3/4 cup of rice.





229. Spicy Pesto-Carbonara Pasta

This wasn't my main dinner that night, but I did get to taste some of this pasta, which our neighbors gave us. At first glance it looked like carbonara (minus the cream) because of the toasted bacon bits, but under the nest of spaghetti were chopped herbs, and some slices of button mushrooms and black olives. Although way too spicy, it was also delicious, and I am thinking of cooking it my way, too.





230. C-Lium in Water

Even if I am cutting back on food, I notice that I am not taking in enough fibre - I don't eat that much fruits, I cannot encourage myself to eat oatmeal and it's not always that we eat veggies. The solution I came up with was to buy C-Lium Fibre.

Honestly, it didn't taste good and my body had some negative reactions to it, but my sister told me I shouldn't give up on it quite easily because in time my body will adjust to it well enough. For now, I am just thankful that I am getting a little help introducing fibre in my body.





231. BLT Crepe

Crepes & Cream - SM City Fairview

It was QC Day so mom was home. Us three girls went to watch "the Smurfs" in 3D as well as do grocery shopping. Before going home, mom asked if we could have some snacks, and since sister is craving for ice cream the past few days, we went to eat snacks at Crepes & Cream. They went for the ice cream crepes, while I opted to go savory - because I think tomatoes and lettuce was a good option compared to ice cream.

I took this picture while they were preparing my crepe. They wrap the crepes and serve it in paper cones, so I took the picture before they folded the crepe.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad