Meeting Cherimoya

You know what I miss (aside from family and friends!) when I moved to LA?    Eating some fruits that I can have back home like Mangosteen, Rambutan, Lanzones and my most favorite fruit---ATIS (custard apple)!  Actually, I found some at the Filipino grocery. . .  but they were frozen!

But thanks to an FB post of a friend (Thanks again M!), I learned about a fruit which is the closest thing to having an atis!  As luck would have it, when we went to the Farmers Market over the weekend. . . lo and behold, we saw the "fruit"!

Friends, meet . . . Cherimoya!

Image from www.doctoryum.org

(I got the image online because I was too excited to eat that I forgot to take a photo before slicing it, haha)

This is how it looks like inside . .

Just like an atis!  I am sure they come from the same family tree! (Out of curiosity, I looked it up and guess what, they do!)

How does it taste?  Sweet, just like an atis with a hint of guyabano (soursop).  The more I eat it, the more it tastes like guyabano to me (which is another fruit I like).  

I've read that this fruit is rich in vitamins, notably Vitamin C which is good for the immune system and B6 which is good for the brain.  It is also rich in antioxidant which can prevent cancer.  Eating this fruit is also good for the heart because it reduces bad cholesterol and regulates blood pressure levels and heart rate.  Guess I'll be seeing more of this fruit then, haha!  All of these benefits from a yummy fruit!  

But know what. . . my heart still longs for some atis . . .or probably what I really long for. . .are my family and friends back home. =)

A Trader Joe's Fave - Chocolate Croissants!

I had an appointment the other day and came in too early.  To kill time, we went to Trader Joe's which sits on the same lot where we were.  We rarely go to Trader Joe's so it can be a little bit overwhelming standing in the middle of this food and grocery shopping paradise not knowing where to start or what to get because there is just a lot of good stuff!  So I told Hubby to google for top TJ products.  We got a few things but the most I was excited about was the Chocolate croissants . . . or shall we say "Pain Au Chocolat" for a more French feel to it, haha!

I don't really expect a lot from frozen bake-ready products but I'm glad we tried these croissants! They were light, crisp and flaky, just the way I like it.  I will go back to TJ's just to get more of these, haha!

Thanks to Trader Joe's, having freshly baked croissants right at home is possible and is easy as 1-2-3!

1.  Proof (to let the dough rise) the dough at room temperature for 9 hours. I did mine overnight.

The next morning . . . . 

Me:  Amazing!

2. Make an egg wash (just beat one egg) and brush (if you don't have a pastry brush, you can use a paper towel) the top and sides of the croissants with it.  This was the hardest thing I did for these croissants!  Haha!

3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees C and bake the croissants for 20-25 minutes until crisp and quite brown.

Let it cool for a few minutes before serving.

Enjoy with your favorite hot drink . . . and just imagine sipping it at a café in France. 

My Supermarket Fix

I can't believe it's weekend again!  It seems like I just finished putting away the newly washed clothes and its laundry time again! (Weekends are our laundry time)

Besides doing laundry, one of the things we do (I love to do!) is going to the Supermarket, my happy place! 

When you are at the Supermarket, did you ever want to look at other people's carts? (Come on, just say it, haha!)  Well, I do!  Haha!  Not that I'm nosy, I'm just. . . curious!  I'm just curious what other people have in their list or what brand they prefer or if there are new stuff in the market I don't know about or that they might have tried something which is better than what we are using.

So if you are a curious person like me, I am sharing with you some of my favorite (tried and tested) supermarket finds these past few months:

I love to stock up on pasta sauces for those days when you don't know what to eat and you have to eat, haha!  I know that food made from scratch is better and healthier but let's face it, we can't do it ALL THE TIME.

For the pasta sauce, I always buy Bertolli's Alfredo Sauce because it is the best white sauce I've tried and the kids love it!  The kids love it so much that they don't like the tomato-based sauces anymore.  It's creamy and cheesy (it has Parmesan cheese).  It's a good basic pasta sauce which you work around to impress the family!  

Image from www.villabertolli.com

You can just heat the sauce but I take it up a notch and put some bacon love in it!  Toss some bacon in the pan and wait for the bacon to render its fat because that is what you're going to use when you saute your onion.  I also put some veggies in it.  

I think your picky eater will love it!  (Mine did)

I am a junkie. . .okay that didn't sound right, haha!  I mean I am a junkie. . . I love junk food!  I love Chips and dips!  My most favorite dip. . . Stonemill's Spinach and Artichoke Parmesan dip!

Image from www.shopwell.com

It is best when it is heated. . . warning: it can be addicting!  For those times when I'm lazy to prepare my lunch, I just grab a bag of chips and my favorite soda (must be ice cold!). . . and I'm a happy camper!

I tried using it as an omelette filling too and it was so good!  We had it for 2 days and had to stop because it's just bad, haha!  

(Now I feel like fixing myself an omelette, haha!)

I also like having some instant sauce mix in the pantry.  Lee Kum Kee is one brand that I like.  I've tried Lee Kum Kee's Chicken Wrap sauce (blogged about it here) and loved it!  So I thought of trying their Mongolian Beef which was good too!  

Another Lee Kum Kee product which I like is their Oyster sauce.  Oyster sauce is a staple in our pantry because it just adds or enhances the flavor of the food that you cook.  I love that Lee Kum Kee came out with a NO MSG and Gluten-free oyster sauce!  I just hope it's true, haha!

Since I have a sweet tooth (a really sweet one, hehe) and I love sweet endings, do you know what is the best (ever!!!) brownie in a box in my book?  It is still Ghirardelli's Triple Chocolate Brownie mix. I guarantee this!  

It's so moist and super chocolatey. . . and with choco chips!

The other day, Hubby and I feel like having a fancy dessert. . . at home!  So we just heated the brownie in the microwave for 20 seconds and put a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top and tadahhh . . .

Brownie ala Mode!

Who says you can't have a fancy dessert at home?! 

It was definitely good. . .that I will bake another batch after I put up this post! haha!

Will be sharing more of my supermarket finds in the future.  As they say. . . Sharing is Caring! =)

Have a good weekend everyone!!!

Breakfast of the Chomps

I have a new fave (a new find) breakfast food! =)

Pampanga's Best Chomps - Breakfast Sausages!

They're really good, not salty and tiny (as compared to the regular-sized ones)!   It makes you feel a little less guilty about eating a lot, haha!  While they may be tiny, they are tasty.  Best when eaten hot!

We also love their Boom Boom Hotdogs (I think only Filipinos would have red hotdogs!).  I even saw a pack of Pampanga's Best Hungarian Sausages, something that I have yet to try.

Yes, I am a hotdog lover, I'll choose it over a hamburger (unless that burger is that of Five Guys, haha!).  

For more details about Pampanga's Best products (and their distributors), please visit their website.

TO COOK: CROCK POT SESAME CHICKEN

Hubby and I have been thinking of getting a crock pot or a Dutch Oven last year but never did anything about it.  I want to get one because after watching the movie, "Julie and Julia", I want to try cooking Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon (as they say, when you dream, dream big!  Haha!)

But seriously, I want one because I like the idea of "slow cooking" . . . throwing everything in a pot, let it simmer for quite some time and just let the recipe's ingredients marry one another and let the flavor come around. 

I saw this recipe in my cousin's FB wall (Thanks Ate P for sharing!) and since I don't know when I'll be able to cook it (and I don't have a crock pot), I thought of posting this in the blog to make sure I won't lose the recipe, haha!  (I think I'll start doing this for future recipes that I will see!)

But I won't wait until I have a crock pot to try this recipe!  I'll see if I can do this with whatever pots we have at home.  

This recipe (and photo) is from the FB page of The Recipe Graveyard.

Happy Cooking!

CROCK POT SESAME CHICKEN

1 1/2 pound boneless/skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons dried onion
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon oil
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons cornstarch dissolved in 3 Tablespoons water
Sesame seeds

Put chicken into crock pot.
Combine honey, soy sauce, onion, ketchup, oil, and garlic. Pour over chicken.
Cook on low for 3-4 hours or on high 1 1/2 – 2 1/2 hours, or just until chicken is cooked through.
Remove chicken from crock pot, leave sauce.
Dissolve 2 teaspoons of cornstarch in 3 tablespoons of water and pour into crock pot. Stir to combine with sauce. Replace lid and cook sauce on high for ten more minutes or until slightly thickened.
Cut chicken into bite size pieces and return to crock pot - can leave chicken in and simmer on low or serve.
Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve over rice.

Checking out this Chicken Inasal

If you have been following this blog, you must have noticed that I have a particular liking for ready-made sauces.  I do because they make life easier . . .because I don't have to go and look for some special ingredients, haha!  Here's another proof that I am. . . Mama Sita's Insasal mix!

"Inasal" means roasted and is a kind of Filipino barbecue which originates from Bacolod, a city in the South of Philippines.  (If I don't have the right info, please feel free to correct me)  Though I know that Iloilo (another city in the South) also has their Inasal version.  Inasal has a more savory taste (its marinade consists of coconut vinegar, lemongrass, ginger, garlic to name a few)  as compared to the traditional Filipino barbecue which is sweeter since the marinade has sugar and banana catsup.  

For this super easy and super quick to prepare recipe, you only need a kilo of chicken and Mama Sita's Inasal mix (175 ml/pouch).  Marinade the chicken in the Mix, for at least three hours or best, if you let it sit on it overnight.

Make a few slits on the meat so the seasoning gets absorbed by the meat

You will also need achuete (annatto) oil to baste your chicken while grilling it.  Please click on this link to learn how to prepare the annatto oil.  Thank you Panlasang Pinoy!

Never thought I'll be able to prepare my own atsuete oil =)  It's really easy!

Set-up your grill and it's barbecue time!  

In manning the grill, Patience is a virtue, haha!

Looking good!

I know, I know. . . it's quite charred!  Haha!

Serve the chicken with rice, drizzle some annatto oil in it and top it with fried garlic bits!   Yum!  Oh and don't forget the dipping sauce. . . we used calamansi and toyo.  The other dipping sauce that is also paired with Inasal is vinegar with garlic, shallots and ginger.   

I am so happy with Mama Sita's Inasal Mix that I have already bought again! 

BUT there is a Chicken Inasal recipe I saw (by Panlasang Pinoy) which I want to try . . . and I will, as long as I find lemon grass and coconut vinegar!  Heehee

My "Sort of" Homemade Cooking Series: Singapore Chicken Curry

I've mentioned in an earlier post about my love for any kind of curry and of Asian Home Gourmet's instant sauce mixes!  What's so nice about these instant mixes is they recreate the flavors of various Asian Cuisine we love so we can prepare and enjoy them at home.  

Because I miss Singapore, we had this . . . 

FOR LUNCH!

This is another fast and easy recipe to cook.  

For the ingredients, you will need the following:

Cooking oil

Garlic, chopped

Onion, chopped

1 kilo of Sliced Chicken

Potatoes

1 packet of Singapore Chicken Curry paste

2 cups of coconut milk or milk (I used coconut milk)

Cooking Directions:

The directions found at the packet of the mix actually calls for you to mix the paste and the coconut milk, let it simmer and put the rest of the ingredients.  But I thought it would make the dish more seasoned if I saute some garlic and onion first =) .

1. Saute garlic and onion.  Add the paste and stir fry for a few minutes.

2. Add the chicken and potatoes.

3. Add the coconut milk and let it boil.

Then let it simmer for at least 20 minutes

Until the chicken and potatoes get tender.

Or until it looks good enough to eat!  Haha!

Here's a prettier picture, thanks to Instagram, haha!

This is so flavorful that it's hard to just have one cup of rice!  Yes, it was another Happy Tummy, Happy Mommy moment =) 

P.S.  I still want to go to Singapore for some food tripping!  Haha!  As they say, nothing beats the real thing!

Taco Night (Take 2!)

The last time I made tacos was over a year ago and actually blogged about it here.  Since I still have a bottle of taco sauce, I thought of putting it to good use and had tacos for dinner the other night.

I am blogging about it again because I have a better picture of my tacos! Hahaha!

My first Tacos!

These look better right?! =)  

This time, since I didn't find any Old El Paso Taco Seasoning Mix in the grocery, I got the McCormick brand.  I actually like it because I find it less salty compared to Old El Paso.  By the way, I saw two types of McCormick Taco Mix in the grocery, one made in the US, the other made locally.  I tried the one made in the US because I thought it might have a richer flavor.  I will probably try the locally made McCormick next time to see if they taste the same.    

Another fave ingredient of mine (a staple!) which I adds a layer of flavor to the tacos. . .

Image from www.grocery.thepig.net

I really think this sauce makes a difference!

And one thing I'm most happy about this time is we found THE taco shells!  Haha!  We used hard taco shells before but we prefer (and love!) the taco shells of the Bambi brand.  They are thinner and crispier.  (I hope you can see the difference in the pictures above.)

*Sigh* Blogging about the tacos at 3AM is not a good idea. . . it's making me hungry!  Haha!  Guess I'll just sleep over it and later in the day. . . it's time to do THIS . . .

AGAIN!

Have a nice day ahead! =)

  

Our Favorite Pancake Mix

Pancakes (also called "hotcakes" or "flapjacks") are one of my favorite breakfast food.  It has become the Little Miss' fave as well.  We have tried so many brands before (both local and imported) but I found the pancakes to be dry and bland . . .the thing that made them good?  Butter and maple syrup, haha!  But I'm happy to say, our search for a good pancake mix is over.  

Thanks to . . . 

I am not a pancake expert and I'm sure there are better mixes and recipes out there.  Just saying that this is the best among all the mixes we've tried.  

The pancakes did turn out fluffy and tasty.  One thing I like about this brand is each box contains two- 250 gram packs of the mix.  You can make 6-8 pancakes in each pack.  Directions for preparing the pancake is found at the box.  However, I tweaked their recipe a little bit since the pancakes were a little bit thick to our liking.  Instead of adding 3/4 cup of water, I used 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 cup of evaporated milk.  Another thing I like about it?  Among all the mixes I've tried, Maya gave me the prettiest homemade pancakes, heehee.

    

Since I love sharing my finds to friends, I told a group of friends about the Maya mix and lo and behold, they know about it and that they actually grew up eating this!  So yes, for this particular find, I am the last to know,  hahaha!

But as they say, better late than never! 

And yep, it's going to be pancakes for breakfast tomorrow!!!

I  

Pesto in a Pouch

I love Pesto!  It's one of my favorite (or probably is!) pasta sauces.  I like it in pasta, in sandwiches, as a dip . . . anything where you can put pesto in it!  But I've never tried making my own pesto.  (I will . . . one of these days, haha!)  I just buy the bottled ones I see at the grocery.  I don't have a favorite brand since they just taste umm ok.  Nothing compares of course to freshly made pesto (basil leaves, olive oil, garlic, pine nuts).  But I am happy to say that I finally found "the pesto" for me (the ready made kind). . . and it came in a pouch!

Image from www.claraole.com

It tasted better than I expected!  It had the garlicky pesto flavor I was looking for and the pasta looked good with the sauce, haha!  I will definitely buy hoard some more =)

Just like  the other Clara Ole products I've blogged about in the past (marinade sauce and the Kung Pao pasta sauce), this Cheesy Pesto sauce didn't disappoint too.  I am now officially a Clara Ole fan. . . that I'm going to "Like" them in Facebook, Haha!

Tuna Pesto Pasta
My sister's lunch box =)

For this quick Tuna with Pesto pasta recipe, I used the following ingredients:

- Olive oil 

- Garlic

- Clara Ole Pesto sauce

- 250 g of Pasta

- Canned tuna flakes (I always use the spicy one)

- Black Olives

- Button mushrooms

- Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Cook pasta as instructed in the box.

2. Saute garlic, add the tuna, mushrooms and black olives

3. Add the pesto sauce and stir.

4. Add the pasta noodles.

5. Season with salt and pepper if needed.

Bon Appetit!

Have a nice weekend ahead!

Quick and Easy Bulgogi

One of our favorite Korean dishes is Bulgogi because of its barbecue taste.  Bulgogi literally means "fire meat" in Korean.  I haven't eaten Korean food for quite some time so when I saw this bottle at the supermarket, I was thinking of getting it.  Just "thinking". . . because the problem with ready-made sauces is it can be a hit or miss.  But reading the bottle's label, the manufacturer (CJ Brand) claimed that this is the No. 1 Bulgogi sauce in Korea from 2005 to 2010.  And that was enough to convince me to try it, haha!  I got one, crossing my fingers, hoping that this is going to be more of a hit!  

It also says that it has Korean Pear and Apple which creates a natural sweetness and fruity flavor.  When I googled for Bulgogi marinade recipes, most of them actually call for some puree or juice from apples or Korean Pears.  I guess this marinade sauce is close to the real deal then.  (If you want a basic Bulgogi marinade recipe from scratch, please click here ) 

For this easy peasy recipe, you just need the following:

- Bulgogi Marinade

- Chicken Breast (or your preferred meat) - sliced thinly

- Yellow onion, chopped
- Onion leeks, chopped

I'm sorry I don't have measurements, I just eyeballed the amount of marinade to be used for the meat.  I suggest you go easy on the sauce since it's salty.  You can always adjust the taste when you cook.

Cooking Instructions:

Just marinade the chicken with the sauce and chopped onions

Mix everything and  let it sit overnight

You can grill, stir-fry or broil your meat.  I chose to stir-fry it.  To add some color and some more flavor, I added some chopped onion leeks.

Serve with steaming hot rice. . . and a SMILE! =)

This Bulgogi (from a bottle!) was a success!  I'll definitely make this again.  Next time, I'm thinking of adding mushrooms or bell peppers and probably a drizzle of sesame oil =)

Happy Cooking!

One Fruitful Day

One thing I like about doing the groceries in the US is finding produce that are new to me . . .. such as this yellow spiked fruit (or is it a vegetable?)

Meet  Kiwano . . .

Wonder how it looks inside?  

Image from whatscookingamerica.net

It is also called the African Horned Melon.  This fruit is native to South Africa but is now also grown in New Zealand and some parts of California.  How does it taste?  WikiHow descrbed it as . . ."When picked green and allowed to ripen, the fruit tastes like a mix of cucumber and kiwi fruit.  When it's picked fully ripe, it has a banana-like taste."  

I also read somewhere that it has a unique citrusy flavor, and another site wrote that it tastes like a mix of lemon and banana.

I guess we can say that this is one dynamic fruit, haha!

And another interesting find, the Pepino Melon . . .

Found this post from a blog wich gives us a good idea about this fruit.

Not a true melon, the Pepino is actually in the nightshade family, which includes tomatoes and eggplants. A native of South America, Pepinos are grown in many countries, including Ecuador and New Zealand. Inside this thin-skinned beauty is a golden-yellow flesh with the texture of a fine, juicy melon and the distinctive aroma of honeydew, pear and vanilla. The Pepino has a subtle, mellow flavor with less-sweet hints of melon and cucumber.

Imagine. . . the aroma of honeydew, pear and vanilla . . . it can be the next scent for Bath and Body! Haha!

It was indeed a fruitful trip to the grocery . . . I wonder what is in store for me on my next trip!

Hope you're all having a great weekend! =)