Lomein Noodles Recipe

When I got Sick with Covid, it really messed up my sense of taste.  Everything tasted horrible, even water.  I wasn't eating for about a week, hence I lost 7 pounds within that time period.  I am very grateful for a couple of Pinay friends I have in the area.  They brought me delicious foods and snacks.  Although I couldn't enjoy it at that time, it made me so happy to know that they were there for me, it cheered me up.  From the bottom of my heart, thank you Ate Agnes and Ana for the tasty homemade food and snacks.  

They even picked up some Asian goodies at the oriental market and dropped it off at our home.  One of those goods is the pack of lomien.  I have never tried this kind before but thankful for them for letting me try it.  I made half of it the other day and hubby and daughter said it was delicious.  Below is the simple recipe for it.

Ingredients:

• lomien noodles
• vegetable of your choice. I used what I have available in the friedge - bell peppers, napa cabbage, regular cabbage, and scallion (not in picture).
• pork or seafood
• coconut oil or whatever oil you prefer
• half onion, diced
• one clove of garlic
• knorr liquid seasoning or even plain soy sauce will do

Procedure:

• Cut or dice all the  ingredients to desired sizes
• Boil water in a pot. Place the noodle into the boiling water for 60 seconds until soft then drain.
• In a wok, add a couple of tablespoon of oil.  Fry the meat or seafood until its brown.
• Add onion and garlic, then the veggies.  I added two kinds of  cabbage because the regular cabbage is crunchy and the napa is soft and sweet.  
• Stir the noodles with the meat and veggie mixture and add the soy sauce and sprinkle black pepper.
• Top it off with green onion and enjoy!

 

For dessert, I made plantain banana cue.  Bonapettit!

Acharang Ampalaya #PickledBitterMelon

As the name entails, this kind of melon or gourd is bitter.  Why do Asian like this kind of vegetable?  Well, it's delicious when cook or prepared right and for its health benefit.  

Here's a list of Benefits of Ampalaya  according to research

• Antiviral effects. 
• Alleviates common cold. 
• Treats gastrointestinal problems.   
• Regulates blood sugar. 
• Have Antioxidant Source
• Prevents Free Radicals
• Acts as Anti-Inflammatory
• Boosts Immune System
• Source of Calcium, Iron, and Phosphorous
• Prevents Infection
• Helps Losing Weight (ampalaya has lectin, a substance which obtains a non-hungry effect)
• Promotes Digestion System
• Treats Constipation and Diabetes
• Lowers Cholesterol Level
• Prevents cancer and treats tumor
• Promotes heart and liver health
• Treats Rheumatism, Gout, respiratory, and eye problems
• Promotes skin health
• Relieves Wounds and Burns
• Treats Psoriasis
• Promotes Hair Health

Ampalaya is not   a favorite vegetable of mine but I eat for the sake of the health benefits I listed above.

Anyway, this year, my bitter melon plant did so well and I couldn't cook them all.   I sold some of it and also gave some to friends.  Even now that it is getting cold, it is still producing fruit so I picked the young ones and decided to make an achara or pickled it.

I added some sweet chilis to eat to counter the bitter taste. You can find the recipe at the bottom.

It is so nice to grow your own vegetable, you can pick them whenever you want or need them.

I let some of it ripen so I can save seeds for next  gardening season.  

When I was a kid, my favorite part of the ampalaya is the red skin that covers the seed, it is edible and its sweet.  If you haven't try it, you should  and discover the surprise treat from  a ripe amapalaya.

Pickled Bitter Melon or Acharang Ampalaya Recipe

Ingredients:

• Amapalaya
• 1 medium kohlrabi or carrots
• 2 Italian sweet peppers
• 2 teaspoon salt
• A handful of tobasco peppers (optional)
• 2 cups white vinegar
• 2 cups white sugar
• pickling spice 
• a piece of ginger, minced
• 1 onion, sliced 
• 3 bay leaves
• peppercorn kernels

Procedure:

•  Gather or pick your ampalaya or you can buy it at the Asian store.  Open each of  it with knife and scrape the gut, leaving just the meat of the ampalaya.  You can use  spoon to easily remove it.  Then slice them thinly or whatever size you desire.  Soak it in water with salt for 15 to 30 minutes.
• Slice the other ingredients (onion, ginger, peppers, kohlrabi).  You can add whatever vegetable you like.  I added kohlrabi instead of carrots because I had one left from my garden.  If you like garlic, you can add some too (I'm not really a fan of bawang so I opted out.   
• Prepare the pickling juice.  Pour the vinegar in a pot, add the sugar and stir it until it dissolve, let it boil.
• Some prefers to blanch the ampalaya to retain its green color but since I soaked it in salt water mixture, I didn't want to fool with it.  
• In a clean jar, arrange your vegetable and  add the bay leaves and pickling spice on top.  
• Pour the vinegar mixture on the jar and close the lid.  Refrigerate for a week to let the vegetable absorb the pickling juice.
• Enjoy

Okay, this is my first time  preparing ampalaya this way.  I just didn't want to waste the young ones. I gotta say, it's probably my favorite way of eating amplaya now.  It's crunchy and sweet, it's still a bit bitter but the sweetness of the juice cancels the bitterness.  I love eating achara when I am eating fish.  Give me a feedback when you decide to use this recipe through the comment below.  Thanks for reading and visiting this food blog.

16 Mini Pancakes forour Daughter's 16th Birthday

 I made her blueberry mini pancakes on her birthday, 16 of them.

Not the best but hey, I tried ha ha.  She enjoyed it anyway so that's what mattered.

She's like my husband who likes pancakes.  My son takes after me who isn't fond of eating pancakes for breakfast.  I mean, we do eat it when  we have it but if we have a choice, we eat something else.  Dad and daughter loves it though.

I grew up in a big family so we didn't really celebrate our birthdays so I kind of associated my lack of creativity when it domes to this department of parenting lol.  I know, that's just an excuse but, hey, it's me.

Food we ate during the Pandemic

 Meal kits deliveries was an awesome option during  the pandemic's quarantine period.  I have tried  few companies that offers them and there are some that we like and other's that we can do without.  It was a fun learning experience for my daughter as well.  She gets to try to cook  each meal kit.

Here are some of the menus that we cooked.  I won't specify what they are and who the meal delivery companies are but we had fun trying to create or cook each meals.  Some are Mediterranean, some are asian, and most are  American cuisine.

This chicken with basil pistou dish was really good.  I would like to make this again one day.  The good is, I have the recipe so I can make it again anytime I want to.

The ingredients you need for this is chicken cutlets, basil pisto, roasted red peppers, artichoke hearts, fennel, jasmine rice, green chard, and dates,

This pork bowl is a menu that we like very much.  My daughter have perfected  the way to make it so we buy the ingredients from the store and cook it when we crave for it.

Seared cod and peppers with coleslaw and potatoes.  This is not something, we will buy again.

My husband like this steak and cheddar melt.

Korean spicy noodles for breakfast.  I added some greens to make it healthier.

I like this honey mustard salmon dish.  This dish only calls for 6 ingredients; salmon fillet, honey mustard sauce, rainbow carrots, brocolli, red onion, and smoky mustard and thyme blend.  I thought this was the easiest dish because you only need to sear and roast, there's no elaborate process.  I like how it has a complete set of protien.

This Caribbean shrimp and coconut rice was okay.  It's not something I would cook again for the family because they are not very fond of seafood.  

I cooked this lima beans in coconut  milk and added some squid tentacles just for me.  As I mentioned above, my husband kids only eat certain seafood, I like  any type of seafood dishes.  I grew up eating only seafood so I am used to it.

Pasta and chicken dish with mushroom sauce, not a fan of this but thought it was an alright dish.

We have a lot of dishes that we tried which I wasn't able to take a photo of  but pandemic definitely opened us to a new challenge in making food.  I thought it was a great challenge though.  My daughter learned to cook few dishes and  so did I.  How about you?  What did you cook during the pandemic?

Class 2021 Reception

 Graduation is exciting especially for the kids.  Parents get to cheer their kids on  and happy to see them finish a chapter in their young life.  This year's reception was held  at Holiday Inn, just like the previous years and the food was catered by Undo's restaurant.

Class 2021's  graduation cake, thanks to the Homeroom Moms for preparing the deserts and  treats.

Undo's food was okay but it wasn't bad.

I think the most important thing is that, the kids had so much fun before they parted ways.