One of the many things that I miss celebrating Christmas from my home country is the presence of my family. We always come together and cook food that we all love to eat. We sing karaoke and catch up, I miss that so bad. We used to do it too here when my father-in-law was still around but now that he's gone, we kind of drifted off and have our own.
I don't cook much because it is only the four of us so there's no sense of cooking so many food that we won't be able to consume. In a way, it is a stress-free way of celebration because I only have to prepare some of our favorite Filipino food.
This Christmas, this pair of metal meat rakes from Cavetools is a great tool in preparing our Christmas breakfast and dinner.
I made my version of shepherd pie for brunch and shredding the beef was a lot easier with these pulled pork shredder rakes.
This is a heavy duty version of the meat handling claws that I also got from them a while back . My favorite part of that one is the handle, it's a lot easier to shred meat than this rakes. However, this can handle really heavy meat so it has it's advantages as well.
This shepherd pie was so good. It was so cheesy that my son asked for another serving after he ate his first.
I made some lumpia or eggrolls. This is always a hit with the kids and hubby. These are so good to dip in a sweet and spicy sauce or you can make a sauce that you would like.
On Christmas morn, I woke up at 3 o'clock and could not go back to sleep. So after an hour of tossing and turning, I got up and cook.
For dessert, I made some sweet rice. Almost all of the food I made was Filipino dishes. My family doesn't mind. We eat more Filipino food than American food here at home. Hubby got so accustomed with the Asian food when he was overseas so it was never a challenge for me to make dishes.
Some freshly baked dinner rolls to go with the rice noodles.
If you want to purchase a pair of this awesome meat rakes, here's a coupon code to use for a 15% off via Amazon, just enter MEATCLAW15 upon checkout.
Disclosure:The owner of this blog was NOT financially compensated to write this review. I was provided with the complimentary product/s mentioned for testing purposes and to help me facilitate this review but opinions are my own.
There were tons of sweet treats during the Falloween celebration at St. Joseph School on October 31st. Everyone had a blast especially the little ones. They wore their favorite costumes and got lots of treats from the tables that were set up by the parents. If the candies were not enough, the cookies and donuts completed the sugar rush that everybody, young and adults, want. Well, here are the selection of sweet treats from the event. Enjoy!
I hope that we will have this again next school year. This was another event that the new school administration have implemented. I think it is great to have this kind because parents, grandparents, and friends come to school and watch the students interact with everybody.
Question: If you were to pick a sugary treat, which one would you choose among the choices above? Would you go for donuts or cookies?
Our Vegas trip was fun. Our hotel accommodation did not include a complimentary breakfast so we tried to find a place that we can all eat and not break the bank and we found that Denny's was the most fitting for what we like and it is within our budget.
We ate at IHOP one time also but we did not like their food and their price is more expensive than Denny's. When we went to IHOP, I did not eat because I ate something from the hotel so I was surprised to see that the bill was the same as what we pay at Denny's with the four of us eating. So we never came back to IHOP lol.
I like Denny's because their employees were very friendly. One time, we can tell that our server was a Mom because she was very caring towards our kids. My son wrote her a note and we gave her a little extra tip because we loved her service to us.
The portion of their food is always big and we couldn't ate it all so we would always put the left over in a box and feed the birds outside or at the garage of the hotel where birds are hanging out.
We love the food at Denny's, everything we tried there were delicious.
While my husband is a potato, egg, and sausage kind of breakfast lover, I always go for their salad. I love the fact that they have healthy options if you want to avoid the sugar.
My kids love their pancakes and eggs. The reason why we tried eating at IHOP is because they are known to have the best pancakes but it was disappointment because the pancakes that my daughter received was under cooked in the middle. It was burned on the outside but wasn't fully cook inside.
Whenever we go out and eat, the first thing that we looked into is their food but the service being rendered by servers are equally important too. It impacts my decision whether or not to go back to that place.
To the Denny's employees at Las Vegas Boulevard, thank you very much for your warm and great service.
Life in a hurry forces us to adjust every aspect of our lives to a fast-paced race throughout the day. We need quick fixes for everything: transportation, tasks, food. We suffer from time deficiency. It shows in how and what we eat. Are quality ingredients important in cooking?
We don’t give much thought about the ingredients, while ordering at a fast-food restaurant. We want it here and now and move on. Still, we demand high quality and rich flavours from the dishes that we eat. By now we’re used to processed food. Even restaurants find salvation in products that are easier to stock and last longer. This little, dark secret becomes a reality for many restaurants these days. Luckily, there are places, which still believe that nothing can replace the rich flavour of fresh ingredients.
In search of the best flavor
The healthy life style re-introduces us to the world of rich flavor. Processed food and artificial flavors are not healthy. It needs preservatives and chemicals to last. The products lose taste and the dishes have an average, flat taste. That’s why food with fresh ingredients has the upper hand. It’s easy to bring out from those products their best qualities. The dishes are a lot more nutritious and have a far better impact on improving health.
Local supply and seasonal dishes
Restaurants, like Salt Flakes London, know that food is an unforgettable experience. It can only be achieved with fresh and local ingredients. The dishes are visually more alluring on the plate. It’s easier to bring out the best qualities from the cuisine. It’s a real feast of tastes and quality.
The restaurant goers start to notice the beneficial impact of local food suppliers. The items don’t have far to travel from the local farm to the restaurant table. The seasonal menus re-introduce people to the best nutritional gems of local cuisine.
In a fast-paced world, we need to notice the need for a better-quality food. Restaurants, which pay attention to freshness and quality, will be victorious in the race for the best flavour.
#TGIF! Thank God It's Friday, it's been a long week for us because my husband worked Monday. He is off on Mondays but he decided to work this week because he wants to have some extra cash for the coming of Christmas season. But anyway, I was very busy today. I spent my entire morning cleaning our home and after that I prepared some food.
Before I give you the recipe for pancit or bihon or rice noodles, I would like to thank Cavetools for this meat handling claws that made my cooking time a little quicker today. These high quality meat shredding forks is awesome to have in the kitchen if you love to cook because it makes it easier to handle the meat and shred it. I love that I don't have to wait for the meat to get cold before I can shred it. This will be great for pulled pork, chicken, beef, brisket, turkey, hams, roasts. I also love that you can handle it with its barbecue handler paws design. This would be a great gift this Christmas for your Mom or wife or sister who love to cook. You can use the discount code MEATCLAW15 for 15% off via amazon.
Now for the recipe of this favorite Filipino food we called bihon.
Ingredients Needed:
1 pack of rice sticks or bihon
1 lb chicken breast
2 chopped shallots
2 stalks of celery chopped
2 small carrots, peeled and chopped
Chinese cabbage, sliced
1/2 cup of soy sauce
boiled eggs
salt and pepper
1/4 cup coconut oil.
1 chicken cube
2 quarts of water
1 lemon, sliced.
Procedure:
Boil 2 quarts of water, add the chicken cub, and cook the chicken breast. When the meat is cook, take it out the pan and shred it using the meat claws or you can use fork. I used to shred it by my hands and I sometimes get burned since I rushed especially if I don't have enough time. I don't like using fork because it takes longer for me to get it done but you can definitely use fork. Don't throw away the broth.
Cook the noodles in the chicken broth for 5 minutes. The noodles will most likely absorb all of it and the flavor of the chicken.
Boil the eggs and when it's done, dump the hot water and replace it with ice cold water. This would make peeling off the shell easier. Slice the eggs and put it away to garnish the noodles later.
Heat the coconut oil in a pan and saute the shallots, carrots, and celery for 3 minutes then add the Chinese cabbage. Cook for another 2 minutes then add the veggie and meat mixture to the noodles on a separate pan or wok and mix it up. Add the soy sauce, salt, and pepper. Cook for another 5 minutes and then serve while it is hot. Garnish it with sliced eggs and squeeze some lemons on your plate. Enjoy!
Today was a busy day but a very special day for my son. This is the first time he ever invited a friend at our home. My son and his best friend always play at their house but this is the first time he came to our home so I wanted it to be special for both of them. I made a snack platter with veggies and fruits and I also made some pigs in a blanket. Then donuts for sweet treat at the end.
They definitely made use every minute of their time. They played with their car collection after we all ate then they went outside and ride the green machine and the rocker board. They also passed football and watched a movie.
Don't forget to grab a pair of the meat claws on Amazon or at Cave Tools website. It's really a handy tool in the kitchen, I love it!
Disclosure:The owner of this blog was NOT financially compensated to write this review. I was provided with the complimentary product/s mentioned for testing purposes and to help me facilitate this review but opinions are my own.
If it just me, I would cook lentil regularly. I love lentils and I cook it the way we cook our mung beans. My husband and kids love it when I sautee sausages in it. I always have a bag of lentils in my pantry because I crave for it once in a while. Lentils are not only delicious but they are healthy and affordable.
Here are some benefits of eating lentils according to the article that I read online.
a single cup of cooked lentils contains 16 grams of dietary fiber
cooked lentils provide 18 grams of protein per cup
each cup of cooked lentils has 358 micrograms of folate.
a cup of lentils provides 87 percent of the iron men need daily and 38 percent of the amount a woman needs.
I will have to include the recipe of this yummy lentil next time.
I started my vegetable garden a little bit late this year so some of my plants are just now starting to bear fruits. However, my herb garden is doing so well and it's thicker than ever. I have plenty of mints, parsley, and oregano. The sweet potato I planted is also doing great so I have been harvesting the leaves. It is really good on soup and a friend of mine love juicing it. Having a garden is the best feeling. When you grow your own veggies, you can confidently serve it to your family without the fear of chemicals or pesticides. We love fresh veggies any day. I wish we could garden all year long. I would love to have a green house someday, it would be nice!
One of the many tools and gadgets that we have in the kitchen, salad spinner is the most used during the summer because we eat a lot of salad. Salad spinners makes it easier to clean the greens and other fruits and veggies. I love this salad spinner that Cavetools sent me to review.
I love that this salad spinner is not only for leafy greens but it is best to use in washing fruits, vegetables, berries, peppers, pasta and a lot more! It is dishwasher safe so it is easy to clean. It also has a vented lid so you can rinse it easily. This can hold more than three quarts of veggies which is really nice. I love the large salad serving bowl. You can wash your greens from the serving bowl and quickly dry it off using the high velocity turning knob.
If you want to purchase one, please use the coupon code SALAD15 for 15% OFF the price via amazon.
Disclosure:The owner of this blog was NOT financially compensated to write this review. I was provided with the complimentary product/s mentioned for testing purposes and to help me facilitate this review but opinions are my own.
Before I give you the recipe to one of my favorite childhood snack, let me show you the new kitchen items that I received from Ozeri. First is the double wall thermo glass . I love these glasses, because they are heat and shatter resistant so you can also use this for hot coffee or tea. The double wall design is created to keep your hands cool with hot drinks and free of condensation with chilled beverages. Now, most regular glass is not microwave safe but this is an exception. You can try it for yourself, I did and I was amazed.
The milk frother is fun to have especially if you have kids like my son who loves milk and milkshake. I had a set of this with pitcher before and my daughter uses it a lot to make her brother something special for his milk treat. This is a petite gadget and yet powerful. It whips up foam in as little as 10 secs. If you love cappuccinos, lattes, espressos, hot chocolates, shakes and frappes, this is ideal for it. The set includes an egg beater to whisk eggs, soups, dressings, sauces and other non-solid food items, and a propeller-shaped attachment for mixing cocktails.
The last but not the least is the wok. I have had their wok before and loved using it everyday when I cook but just like anything else, it gets worn out especially if you use it lot like I do in my kitchen. I am glad that I have a new one.
What I love about this wok is that it delivers unprecedented non-stick performance without releasing harmful fumes or toxins at high temperatures. It is scratch resistant and I love that it is super easy to clean. The depth of the wok is a great advantage to me because I hate splatters all over the counter.
When I get new kitchen gadgets, it really inspires me to cook my family's favorite dishes.
I always make sisig, a favorite Filipino dish. Since my son can't handle spicy food, I always make sure to get him a separate dish before I add the peppers. Sisig is great to eat with rice. You can check the link for the recipe.
Before I give you the recipe for polvoron, here's a little info about this yummy treat. Polvoron is shortbread-type of cookies made with a soft, crumbly mixture of toasted flour, powdered milk, sugar butter, and nuts or any other seeds that you like. In the Philippines, they normally use peanuts because it is the cheapest nuts you can buy but you can use just about any kind like almonds.
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You will need the following:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups skimmed milk or powdered milk
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter, melted
1 tbsp chia seeds
1 tbsp flax seeds
1/2 cup chopped and toasted almond.
Procedure
In a big bowl, add the flour, skimmed milk, and sugar. Mix it well. Mixing the three ingredients will eliminate the issue of the milk forming into lumps when in the pan.
In a heated wok, toast the chia and flax seeds.
Add the flour mixture and start mixing it until it is toasted.
Add the toasted almonds.
Pour in the butter and mix it well.
Turn off the heat and transfer it to a bowl and let it cool.
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You can put it in a mold and wrap it for future consumption. I just put it in the jar because I don't have a wrapper. I love snacking on it with my coffee or tea. To purchase any of these items, visit the links below:
Disclosure:The owner of this blog was NOT financially compensated to write this review. I was provided with the product/s mentioned to help me facilitate this review but opinions are my own.
This blog does not focus on food only but also include different kinds of spices that affects our lives. So hang in here and explore the world of fun with us. Please bear in mind that little bit of this and a little dash of that makes a Sumptuous Life!
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