Mom's Sukiyaki

With typhoon Pedring raging outside, I am craving for some of Mom's wonderfully warm sukiyaki.  Mom is not much of a cook, she feels cooking is a chore and has not much interest in it.  But there are several dishes that she makes really well, her sukiyaki is one of them.  She ensures that everyone's individual bowls have plenty of beef tenderloins in them.  Except my bowl, she makes mine all veggie since I don't eat beef.   

How I wish I was using chopsticks right now to slurp up those noodles and pick the yummy veggies. While the broth keeps me warm like Mom's hugs, which no child ever outgrows.

P.S.

Did not realize this is my 100th post.  When I started this blog in March I never thought that I would be posting as much I have nor would it lift my spirits as much as it has.  I hope to be able to keep at it and make new food discoveries.

Spicy Left-Over Fried Rice

Threw together some left-over lechon kawali bits, chopped up veggies, some shrimps, and a teaspoon of bottled crispy prawn and chili.  The Little Girl loved eating this because I served it in individual bowls and chopsticks. 

Lumpiang Ube Tikoy

This is a snack invented by my Mom.  She wraps up sliced ube tikoy and cheese in lumpia wrappers and then she deep-fries them.  It is a wonderful afternoon merienda treat for the whole family.

Healthy Potato Salad

Potato salad holds a special place in my heart because my Lola Ying used to make this dish every Christmas. Her version had chicken and mayonnaise. I wanted to make a healthier but still flavorful version. I came up with potato with calamansi dressing, green onions and bell pepper.  I would not necessary serve this during Christmas because it is not a rich dish.  Instead it is a good dish to serve when you want something filling but not too high in calories and fat.  First I boil the potatoes, then chop them up.  In a bowl I combine the potatoes with the bell pepper and spring onions.  To make the dressing just slice and juice several pieces of calamansi, then stir in some honey or brown sugar.  Then pour over the potatoes, toss and season with salt and pepper.   

California Crunch Cassava Chips

I joined the Yummy Deals promo last July and I won, yehey!  The prize was P1,000.00 worth of California Crunch Cassava Chips.  We have not had these before so we were really excited to open the bags.  The chips come in two flavors Barbecue and Sour Cream.

The Little Girl instantly fell in love withe the Barbecue flavored chips.  She loved them so much that she finished two bags in one day. She loves that there is a balance of sweet, salty and spicy flavors in each chip. It had become an instant favorite of the Little Girl.  

Corn and Shrimp Bisque

I have had a terrible cough for the last couple of days, so I decided to make me some soup.  I decided to cook without a recipe.  Since I had some shrimp shells in the freezer I decided to make bisque, something I have never made before. I chopped up some garlic and onion sauteed them in a pot, I added about 4 cups of water, and then threw in the shrimp shells. I let this simmer for about 10 minutes, then strained it.  In another pot I sauteed some onions, bell pepper, carrots, corn and peeled shrimps.  I then added the shrimp stock,  seasoned with some black pepper and let it simmer for 15 minutes.   The result was a wonderful merriment of flavors and textures.  The family loved the soup, the Little Girl had 3 bowls and was scrapping the bottom of her bowl. 

White Corn Scoops with Homemade Chunky Salsa

I wanted to indulge today, so I decided to buy me some snacks.  I came across this huge bag of white corn scoops. I immediately thought that this would be great with homemade chunky salsa.  But I was hesitant to buy it since it was quite pricey at P158.00.  I thought to myself  I could use my supermarket rewards points to pay for part of the cost. I ended up paying only P50.00 in cash yehey :) 

I decided not to buy any other snack since the bag is huge. Love how the empty scoops look like, mini cups.  They are good enough to eat on their own, but since they were made as scoops it is best that you pair it with salsa or another chunky dip.

The scoops are a great idea, because there is less of a mess when eating tortilla chips with dips. The Little Girl and I absolutely love the combination of the white corn scoops and the salsa.  

For those that like it spicy, you can top the scoops with chili flakes yum!

Chili Chicken Stir-Fry

The Little Girl is into spicy dishes these days, so I made a quick chili chicken stir-fry dish.

She loves this bottled crispy prawn chili.  She likes mixing it with either her rice or other dishes.

I know it looks super spicy, but the heat is quite mild.  Great combination of spicy, salty and sweet.

Lechon Kawali Honey Bagoong Salad

I was reading the September 2011 issue of Yummy magazine, and it inspired me to make this salad.  The September issue is all about Pinoy food.  It featured a bagnet and honey bagoong dip recipe that I will do soon, but for now I made this salad to satisfy my cravings.  I thought since we were going to have lechon kawali for Sunday lunch, why not attempt to make a lechon kawali lettuce salad and pair it with honey bagoong, topped with some chili flakes.  The combination of the the ingredients was wonderful, though next time I should cut the lechon kawali into smaller bits.  It was a deliciously sinful salad that was worth all the cholesterol and calories. 

The Little Girl's 9th Birthday

She turned 9 this week.  We had a two day celebration for her.  On the first day we told her that after her visit to the pediatrician we would take her to ATC so that she could have a fun day since her birthday was coming up.  What she did not know was back home her Mita was preparing a surprise party for her.  We invited a couple of relatives over to celebrate with us. We told her since it was her special day she could plan the day including where we would eat, as expected she chose North Park and ordered her favorites. 

Crispy pinsec prito

Her favorite salted garlic squid

Yummy yang chow rice

After lunch she decided she wanted to play at Dave's Funhouse, where she and the Little Boy had loads of fun playing and making new friends.  Then it was time to head home when the car pulled into the garage she was so surprised to see that the lanai was decorated in butterflies and flowers. These pretty decorations were all handmade by her dear Mita. 

Here is her beautiful birthday cake

Around the cake were miniature cupcakes

Since we had the big party 2 days before her birthday, on her actual natal day we had ordered some of her favorites for merienda - chicken wings, pizza and tortilla chips from Yellow Cab.  And another cake, this time it was her favorite mocha roll. 

Happy Birthday Little Girl, thank you for bringing to much joy to our lives.  We love you very much.