Sinful Breakfast Choices

I'm back to work this week and as always, I am struggling with our menu at home. There are several choices for breakfast nowadays -- there's instant oatmeal, canned goods and several other items you can easily buy from fast food chains.

The husband doesn't like canned goods and fast food thus I'm obligated to choose healthy food. Read: boring breakfast. I know. But do I have a choice? Oh well. But since this is my blog and I get to choose what to post, then I will post something about those oh-so-yummy cholesterol laden Delimondo corned beef, the artery cloggin' bacon and of course, the never-fails-to-make-me-happy pancakes with syrup!!

Come to mama, bebe!

Well, hi there, Mr. Delimondo!

I feel like I'm in pancake heaven!

Ahem, the omelette

These are just some of the sinful breakfast choices that I made - before sleeping. I'll probably be having nightmares about these stuff later. Wish me luck.

What are your breakfast favorites? :)

Soft and Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

Some of the ingredients

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 cup butter , softened
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup crunchy peanut butter
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees C. Prepare cookies sheets. Set aside.
2. Mix first 3 dry ingredients and set aside.
3. In large bowl, blend the two sugars. Add softened butter into the bowl and mix until grainy consistency. Add eggs, peanut butter and vanilla extract into the mixture, beat until fluffy. On low speed, add dry ingredients until fully combined into butter mixture.
4. Drop by rounded tablespoonsful, 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Use a wet or flour coated fork to gently press a crisscross pattern on top of each cookie.
5. Bake until the edges of the cookies are lightly browned, about 18 to 20 minutes. Remove to cool on a rack.

Before going into the oven

On the rack

Review: Prata Wala

I think I have already mentioned several times in this blog that the husband and I love Indian food. :) This is the first time I'm posting something about an Indian restaurant we have tried few weeks back. Actually, this restaurant is the only decent one near our place.

To start off, we had garlic naan bread. I know there are several kinds of bread in the Indian cuisine. So far, I have tried naan, roti/chapati, papadum and paratha. Roti and naan are my top 2 favorites among those that I have tasted. The garlic naan of Prata Wala was just simple. It wasn't over the top garlicky or bland either. For me, with a rate of 1 to 5, this was a 4. :)

A set of garlic naan bread

I had the Chicken Tandoori for my main meal.  I have been craving for barbecue the previous days we ate at Prata Wala that's why I chose this dish. I love the spiciness is just alright for my liking. At first, I was quite hesitant to use the green dipping  sauce (on the right side of the plate) because I'm not so sure what it is. But when I tried it, I was pleasantly surprised how wonderful it complements the zing in the chicken. To be honest, I was taken aback on how generous the rice serving was. :D I have tried my best to lessen my rice intake for the last several years/months (it's on and off) and I was so tempted to finish my plate! But as always, I had to hand over my leftovers to the husband to finish everything. :) 

Chicken Tandoori

This was the husband's meal - Chicken Biryani. If I'm remember correctly, the dipping sauce is curry. The husband was happy with his meal except for the rice -- just like me. He's the one who influenced me to eat lesser rice, actually. I wasn't able to try his food because I was too busy chomping on my tandoori :P According to him, it was one of the good biryanis he's had. Too bad he's not into eggs, so he ended up with rice and the boiled egg for leftovers.

Chicken Biryani with Papadum

For the drink, we had the Milo Dinosaur. Too bad I wasn't able to take a photo of it. I guess I was too busy fussing over the toddler with me who wanted to have the drink all by herself. It was decorated with pretty colored sprinkles on top. That was probably the reason why my daughter was so adamant in having the drink! I like the bountiful Milo powder on top, the reason why I order the drink :)

Overall, we were satisfied and left the place with a smile. I recommend the Chicken Tandoori! Before I forget, I was able to try their veggie samosa with chutney dipping sauce last week. It was really good! I love the crunchy dough and the filling -- potatoes, green peas and cashew nuts. One piece (S$2)makes you really stuffed!

Address:

4 Tampines Central 5, #B1-K19 Tampines Mall, Singapore

Savory Goodies

Here in Singapore, one can easily notice that the locals here munch on deep fried snacks such as fish balls, curry puff, or even chicken wings! Back when my sister was working here, my tatay stayed with her for the first few weeks. While she was working, my tatay would be busying himself by tidying up her room or roaming around the nearby malls and eat Old Chang Kee. Why hello there, cholesterol! :D 

Photo grabbed from Google

I myself like some stuff in Old Chang Kee particularly the Cheesy Chicken Balls and Chicken Mushroom 'O.  But since it's Lent and it's Friday, I thought, why not make my own version of veggie pie? :) It's experiment time once again for me. Haha!

Ingredients:

• 1 pack (500 grams) store-bought puff pastry
• 1/3 cup cubed carrots
• 1/3 cup cubed potatoes
• 1/4 cup button mushrooms, chopped
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 3 cups water
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• onion, sliced
• 1 cube chicken bouillon 
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• salt
• pepper
• paprika
• 1 egg, beaten

Directions:

1. In a pan, heat oil. Saute onion and garlic. Add mushrooms.
2. Add 3 cups water. Mix in the chicken bouillon and let it simmer. Stir in the carrots and potatoes.
3. Season with a little bit of salt, pepper, and paprika. Let simmer until carrots and potatoes are tender.
4. Add raisins. Remove from heat. Let it cool.
5. Unpack the puff pastry. Sprinkle flour on table top. Roll out the dough up to 3mm thick.
6. Using a pastry cutter, cut out the shape that you want for your pie. Make sure to have even number of dough.
7. Grease your baking pan. Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius.
8. Arrange the dough on the baking pan. Spoon the filling onto the dough then cover with another. Seal the edges.
9. Brush with beaten egg. Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

Ready to roll - literally.

Deformed pies :P

Oriental Stir Fried Chicken

Originally, I was aiming for Kung Pao Chicken. Hee hee But I didn't have sesame oil and bell peppers. I still followed around the same marinade though - rice wine, distilled vinegar, sugar, light soy sauce and cornstarch. Instead of bell peppers, I used celery. The husband is my judge, and he said it was great. :D

Ingredients:

• 300 grams chicken breast, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 onion, sliced
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 2 tbsp rice wine
• 1 tbsp distilled vinegar
• 6 pcs dried chilies, chopped
• 150 grams celery, cut into small pieces
• 100 grams cashew nuts, chopped and roasted

Rice wine, distilled white vinegar, garlic and dried chilies

Directions:

1. In a bowl, combine sugar, cornstarch, soy sauce, rice wine and vinegar. Mix well and add the chicken breast. Let it stand for about half an hour.
2. Using a pan, heat the oil. Saute onion and garlic. Add chili peppers and celery. Mix in chicken together with it's marinade. Cook thoroughly for about 10-12 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and pour a serving on a cup of rice. Top with roasted cashew nuts.

Dinner's ready!

Baked Meatless Pasta

It was the husband's birthday yesterday and I'm supposed to abstain from something I like because it's Ash Wednesday. So I thought of preparing something nice but without meat. Since I need to use my tomatoes and cream, I decided to make a creamy tomato pasta.

Ingredients:

• 200 grams fettuccine pasta, cooked as instructed
• 100 grams button mushrooms, cut into quarters
• 10 cloves garlic, minced
• half an onion, sliced
• 2 large tomatoes, chopped
• 1 can tomato sauce/spaghetti sauce
• 1/3 cup melting cheese, shredded
• 1/4 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• dried basil
• thyme
• oregano

Directions:

1. Cook pasta as instructed. Drain and set aside. Prepare 9" baking dish.
2. Fry garlic and set aside as topping. Saute onion and mushrooms. Add tomatoes.
3. Add tomato sauce. Season with salt, pepper and herbs.
4. Mix in heavy cream. Add half of the shredded cheddar cheese and adjust taste.
5. Carefully add the cooked pasta into the sauce. Mix well until well combined.
6. Pour pasta onto the prepared baking dish. Top with shredded cheese and toasted garlic bits. 
7. Bake for about 15 minutes at 150 degrees Celsius or until cheese melts.

Sorry for the low quality photo

The Husband's Birthday - Pineapple Carrot Cake

Way back in high school, I can vividly remember my Nanay baking a carrot cake. Being estranged to veggies back then, it felt weird having a cake with veggies! I mean, cakes are supposed to be just made of sugar, eggs and flour! 

When I met my co-worker who was gaga about carrot cakes, I thought, "Why not give it a shot?" The first bite reminded me of home. True enough, having a slice made me feel the warm love of my Nanay. Cheesy! It's weird that I'm being serious here. Don't forget the artery-clogging cream cheese that leaves a smile on my lips after every bite :)

Before I forget, the reason I made this cake is because, it's the husband's birthday. Happy birthday my every loving, husbandry! :)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 2 cups shredded carrots
• 1 can (8oz) crushed pineapple

Frosting:

• 1 pack 8oz. cream cheese
• 1/3 cup confectioner's sugar
• 1 tbsp butter, melted
• 3 tbsp milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven at 170 degrees Celsius. Grease two 9 inch pans. Set aside.
2. Sift the first 5 dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon) Set aside. 
3. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, sugar, vanilla and oil. Carefully add the dry ingredients into the mixture. Fold in the shredded carrots, crushed pineapple and chopped walnuts. Continue to beat until well combined.
4. Divide the batter into the two prepared pans. Bake for about 45 minutes and when the top turns golden brown. You can check by inserting a toothpick in the middle of the cake and if it comes out clean, the cake is done.
5. Un-mold the cakes into cooling rack and let them cool for about 20 minutes.
6. Prepare the frosting by beating the softened cream cheese in a bowl. Add the sugar carefully and the butter as well. Adjust sweetness according to your preference and if you like it a bit runny, add milk.
7. Arrange the cake on your preferred container. Place the first layer and spread an even layer of the frosting. Add the second layer and frost all the way to the bottom.
8. You can decorate the cake with additional chopped walnuts or with festive carrot candies.

before it goes into the oven

Frosting was too runny!

Daiso Day and Fruit Ice Lolly

Earlier today, we went to Daiso. A store that sells affordable and very useful items. Everything sells at S$2 each! I was so happy to find out that the nearest outlet is just about 20 minutes away from our place. So off we went.

3 pcs silicon baking pan

Colorful ice lolly molds

I thought of making ice cream lollies today since my tot won't eat the watermelon I bought. Good thing I still have vanilla ice cream sitting in my fridge.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups vanilla ice cream

1/2 cup watermelon, cut into small cubes

Directions:

1. In a bowl, mash the watermelon. If you have blender, better to puree the watermelon pieces and blend with ice cream thoroughly.
2. Carefully, pour the mixture into the the molds. Let freeze for about 3 hours or until solid.
3. Unmold the lollies by soaking the mold into water for about 3-5 minutes. Enjoy!

Mixing the crushed watermelon with the ice cream

The ice cream turned pink

I only used up 3 of the molds :)

My tot enjoying her ice lolly

Lemon Citrus Pudding

Over the weekend, we ran out of snacks so I thought of making this pudding. It's very similar to a lemon bar except for the flaky crust which is loaded with butter. :)


Ingredients:

• 4 eggs, separated
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 2 tbsp butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cups white sugar
• 3/4 cup sifted all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease 8" baking dish. Set aside.
2. In a bowl, beat egg yolks, lemon juice, lemon zest and butter until it thickens. In another bowl, mix sugar, flour and salt.
3. Alternately, add milk and the dry ingredients into the yolk mixture. Beat well every after addition of ingredients.
4. In a bowl, beat egg whites until stiff. Fold this into the mixture carefully.
5. Pour batter into prepared baking dish. Place a bigger pan with water inside the oven and set the baking dish here. Bake for 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Almost similar to a lemon bar

Baked Eggplant with Cheese

Last week, I thought of making a Greek veggie dish for the husband. While I was at the grocery, I decided to make something with eggplant. Then I realized I still have some leftover feta cheese at home, so I just tried to look up for some nice recipe guides online.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb eggplant (the oval shaped, dark skinned type)
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• sea salt
• coarsely ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup cheese (feta or mozzarella)
• 2/3 cup tomato puree
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 1 medium-sized bell pepper, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• paprika
• garlic powder

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease a 9 inch pan. Set aside.
2. In a pan, saute onion, garlic and bell peppers. Add tomato puree and paste. Season with salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder. Let simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. Using a mandoline, slice the eggplant thinly. Coat each side with olive oil.
4. Arrange the eggplant slices on the pan. Season with salt and pepper. Top with crumbled cheese and the tomato sauce.
5. Bake for about 40 minutes or until the eggplant becomes tender.

Whole Wheat Banana Muffins

I know. :) This is the second time I'm posting about banana muffins. The husband is not happy about it. You see, he doesn't like bananas. I, on the other hand, love it. So, he doesn't have a choice because I'm the baker in the house and he's not :P

My sister actually gave me this recipe to try. Since it's the 16th of the month, my tot just turned 2 years and 5 months today and I want to celebrate it with the muffins I made. Hehe I know it's a pretty lame excuse. I want to make muffins. Period.

Ingredients:

• 1 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup margarine, softened
• 2 eggs, separated
• 3 bananas, mashed
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven at 180 degrees Celsius. Grease muffin trays. Set aside.
2. In a bowl, cream butter and 3/4 cup sugar. Add egg yolks. Mix in mashed bananas.
3. Using another bowl, dissolve the baking soda into the buttermilk.
4. In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients like flour and salt.
5. Alternately add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk into the butter mixture. Add the chocolate chips.
6. Whisk the egg whites together with 1/4 cup sugar. Do this until the egg whites reach stiff peaks.
7. Carefully fold the egg whites into the banana batter. Make sure you fold it, and not mix or else you'll lose the essence of your stiff peaks. :)
8. Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Soft peak

An indication that it has reached stiff peaks

With M&M's topping

Fudge-y Brownies

I was craving for fudge brownies earlier today and thought of making one. Oh the convenience of having my own oven! :) Good thing I was able to come across a recipe online that doesn't need a lot of ingredients. I have all the needed stuff in my pantry - yehaa!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter/margarine, softened
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cup sugar (can opt to use brown)
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease 9x13" pan. Set aside.
2. In a bowl, cream butter and add the cocoa powder. Carefully add the sugar.
3. Mix in the eggs one at a time. Add vanilla extract.
4. Slowly add the flour and add ons you want such as nuts or marshmallows.
5. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Check once done if toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
6. Turn upside down on cooling rack. Let cool for about 20-30 minutes. Cut into squares.

At least, not much cracks

Guide: http://vegetarian.about.com/od/desertrecipes/r/fudgebrownies.htm

Double Berry Trifle

It's lalala day today! It seems that everybody's in the mood for some lovin', eh? :)

Ingredients:

• 100 grams strawberries, washed and cut into slices
• 150 grams blueberries, washed
• vanilla ice cream
• 5-6 pcs any cookie/biscotti you can find
• mint leaves

Directions:
In a clear glass, crush the cookies. Top with sliced strawberries and blueberries. Scoop vanilla ice cream and repeat the process. Top with mint leaves.

French Breakfast on Love Day

Happy Valentine's everyone! :) Since it's Valentine's, I wanted to prepare special meals all throughout the day. I'm not so sure if we will be going out tonight, though. :/ But anyway, for starters I made Potatoes Au Gratin.  It's my first time to make this dish and I'm excited as to how it will turn out. I hope the whole gang would love it. 

Ingredients:

• 4 whole Russet Potatoes, washed and scrubbed
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/3 cup mozzarella
• ground pepper and rosemary

Directions:

1. Prepare baking dish by greasing it up. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
2. Clean and scrub potatoes. Slice them about 1/4" and cut into fourths.
3. In a bowl, whisk milk, cream, flour, garlic powder, rosemary and pepper.
4. With the greased up baking dish, arrange 1/2 of the potatoes at the bottom and pour about half of the mixture. Repeat until potatoes and cream mixture are both used up. Top with half of the cheddar cheese.
5. Cover with foil and bake for about 30 minutes.
6. Remove foil and top with remaining cheese (mozzarella and cheddar) and bake for another 15 minutes or until potatoes turn brown and mixture is bubbly.

Have a hearty breakfast, everyone! 

Strawberry Thumbprints

• Ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• strawberry jam

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease pan lightly. Set aside.
2. In a bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add the egg and continue to beat.
3. Mix in the rest of the ingredients and mix until well blended.
4. Roll out the dough on an even surface. Use a roller if needed. Roll it to make 1/8" thick.
5. Using cookie cutters, you can cut up the dough with whatever shape that you like.
6. Gather up the remaining dough and roll out again. Repeat until everything is used up.
7. Place the cookies on the greased pan. Make a thumbprint mark on the center of each cookie and top with strawberry jam.
8. Bake for about 12 minutes. Keep in mind these do not turn brown.

Cute cut ups

Cooling 'em!

Guide: http://www.food.com/recipe/strawberry-jam-tarts-cookies-135768#ixzz1m4Cj945Y

Cheesy Mushroom Frittata

It's always a must to have breakfast to kickoff a busy day! Today, we experimented with frittata. I rummaged through our fridge and checked what stuff we can use for one. Since I have milk, mushrooms, and cheese, I opted to have Cheesy Mushroom Frittata.

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs, well beaten
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/2 cup button mushrooms, sliced
• 1/4 cup cheddar cheese
• coarsely ground black pepper
• oregano and parsley

Have a slice to perk your day up!

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease 8 inch baking pan. Set aside.
2. Beat the eggs, add milk and season with black pepper and herbs. Pour mixture in prepare pan.
3. Top with mushrooms and shredded cheddar cheese. Bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Velvety Cuppies

The past few days have been really hectic. Not just for me but for our whole family. Crazy and I'm not liking it! Anyway, I was able to squeeze in a bit of time last night to make these lovely Red Velvet Cupcakes.  Although I wasn't really happy with how they turned out, still I wanted to post this since it's my first time to make these. And as always, the husband and the little girl both loved it! :)

Ingredients:

• 4 tbsp butter, softened
• 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 large egg
• 3 tbsp unsweetened Bensdorp Cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp red food coloring
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp distilled white vinegar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease muffin trays. Set aside.
2. In a bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. This will take around 3-4 minutes. Carefully add the egg and turn the speed to high. Make sure to get everything on the side and well incorporated in the mixture. 
3. In a separate bowl, mix cocoa powder, vanilla essence, and the red food coloring to create a rather thick paste. Slowly add this to the butter mixture thoroughly until combined. Make sure the entire batter gets even color.
4. With the slow speed on the mixer, add the half  of buttermilk carefully. Then mix in half of flour and salt as well. Scrape the sides of the bowl again and repeat the process with the remaining buttermilk and flour.
5. Add baking soda and the white vinegar and turn mixer to high for about 3 minutes.
6. Now pour the batter into the lined cupcake pans and bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
7. Take the cupcakes out of the pan and let them cool on the rack for about 20 minutes before you start frosting.

To Make the Frosting:

• cream cheese, softened
• confectioner's sugar
• butter, softened
• evaporated milk

When making frosting, I just usually estimate the measurements. I used about 3/4 of the softened cream cheese and whisked it. I added around 3tbsp of confectioner's sugar, 2 tsp melted/softened butter and 2 tsp milk.  You can adjust the taste according to your preference. Make sure not to over beat as this will result to a runny frosting.

Adjust sweetness and consistency with milk and sugar

Sorry, amateur decorator here!

Ahhh... Suman!!

Last month, we had a small "side line" during the holiday season. We sold puto and suman to some Filipinos in the husband's office. :) Hihi Good thing the nanny knows how to make suman without having to look at any recipe book. I took care of the puto while she did the suman. It was fun because cooking is something we enjoy and we also got to earn money during Christmas!

Here's what you need:

• 1/2 kilo glutinous rice, soaked overnight
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 4 cups water
• 1/2 tbsp salt
• banana leaves for wrapping
• 2 cups coconut milk
• 3/4 cup brown sugar

Wrapped suman

Latik

Directions:

1. Soak the glutinous rice in water. Do this the night before cooking it or at least 5 hours.
2. In a deep pot, mix the sugar, coconut milk, water and salt. Let it simmer until it boils.
3. Once the mixture is boiling, add the soaked glutinous rice. Cook until the rice has absorbed all the liquid mixture.
4. Check if the rice cooked. Make sure it's fluffy and tender. Remove from heat.
5. Wrap the rice immediately on the banana leaves. Make sure the leaves are soft enough to be folded and won't tear. If not, you can soak these into boiling water then dry roast them over a griller.
6. Put all the wrapped suman in a deep pot and fill with water just the same level of the contents. Boil for an hour.
7. To make latik, mix brown sugar with coconut milk in a pot. Bring to boil until mixture becomes thick.
8. Serve suman with latik.

Thursday Tinola :)

Last Thursday, we had Tinola for dinner. My daughter loves soup and noodles. Since she had noodles the previous days, I wanted her to have rice and soup this time. I think she needs to have more variety in her diet because all she wants to eat are those that are easy to swallow. She's too lazy to chew her food! Oh well. But there are times she loves eating chicken and fish. :) I guess I'd have to introduce different kinds of dishes every now and then.

Anyway, back to Tinola. :) I actually don't like this dish when I was younger. You see, I had a bad experience when I was in college. Not that it's traumatic but I just had a hard time letting go. Haha To make the long story short, when I got home from school, our helpers didn't expect I'd go home for lunch that day so they let the manikurista (manicurist) eat my share. Grrr. I know it's shallow but still. :)

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp cooking oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pc (about 2in), peeled and sliced
• 1 whole chicken, chopped into serving pieces
• 1 unripe papaya (green skin) or chayote, peeled and cut into bite-size
• 1 cube chicken bullion
• 4-5 cups water
• salt and pepper to taste
• fish sauce (optional)

Directions:

1. Clean the chicken by washing the pieces and pat them dry to avoid contamination. Set aside.
2. Using a large deep pot, heat the oil over medium fire. Saute onion and garlic then add ginger. Add chicken then season with salt and pepper.
3. Pour water into the pot. Mix in the bullion and wait until it fully dissolved with the soup. Adjust taste with fish sauce according to your preference. Let it simmer for about 10 minutes.
4. Add papaya and let it cook for 5-7 minutes. Check if chicken is thoroughly cooked, the meat should be white and NOT pink.
5. Add chili leaves and turn off the heat. Let it stand for about 2-3 minutes with the cover on. Serve hot with rice.

Let's eat!

Pancakes for Breakfast

Things have been crazy this week. I got a job (yay!) and I was emotionally and physically ready for all the changes! Yes, I have been psyching myself up with the thought but it's different when reality kicks in. And I just had one day notice!! I was accepted Wednesday and was asked to report the next day. I was supposed to wear black bottoms for our uniform and as luck would have it, I don't have any black trousers here with me! Uh-oh. But anyway, I'm still glad I got the job. :) With these changes, I'd have to prepare almost everything the night before just so we will have a smooth sailing day for the nanny and my daughter at home.

I prepared the batter for my Buttermilk Pancakes the night before because I didn't want to wake up really early to make these. Here's what you need:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 cups buttermilk
• 2 large eggs
• 4 tbsp butter

Add 1 tbsp of lemon juice, add more milk to make it 1 cup

Directions:

To make 1 cup buttermilk:

1. Take the one tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice into liquid measuring cup. 
2. Then add milk to make 1 cup. Let it stand for about 5 minutes.

To make pancakes:

1. In a bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. 
2. Carefully, add eggs, buttermilk and butter. Mix well until well blended.
3. Batter should have small to medium lumps just like the photo below.

A bit lumpy