TV dinner and Sherlock Holmes

It was saturday night, my daughter came home from the library doing research and what not, we decided to have a TV dinner and chill out a little after her busy day. She loves the BBC series Sherlock Holmes. I have no clue how many times she watched the episodes, but anyway we all agreed that we are going to watch it again.

So here comes.....Sherlock



we had pizza, homemade and topped with the veggie of our choice




main course was, turkey burger(except i used those hawaiian sandwich bread) broccoli slaw, avocado and baked sweet potato



and last is our asian style crab soup(well this one comes from the package :)...)

I have seen some of Sherlock's episode and  at first me and my husband didn't like him really, we thought he's character is just too much, smart alec and a big show off, but then after a while of watching, you get into the story and i admit we begin to like him :). We watched a few episodes and  before we know it,  it was already 1 am. Everybody is getting sleepy, i looked over to my daughter, she  was already asleep, and we haven't even finish the show.  I have a hunch that we're going to continue this episode tomorrow. We'll see.......

Veggie spring roll and Igado



last night's dinner was this simple yet healthy veggie spring rolls. Inside the rolls are mung bean sprouts my daughters fave and some green beans.




fried rolls




sweet and sour dipping sauce with lots of onions and garlic




and this one was hubby's request "inatayan or igado" sauteed pork and beef liver with lots of bell pepper .



Nilusak

Nilusak is a traditional merienda or snack in the Philippines. I remember when i was in middle school i used to buy Nilusak from the lady across the street from my school. There are so many street foods as what we call them, to choose from. Mostly homemade like Nilusak, yucca root, sweet potato and much more. I don't remember buying potato chips back then. Anyway, Nilusak is a snack made of boiled banana plantain, young fresh grated coconut, brown sugar and margarine. Living here in America makes you crave for these kind of food, so last night my husband was in the mood to make some Nilusak.

saba or plantain banana boiled



young coconut




hubby cracking the coconut, i tell you you have to know this stuff. i can't even do it.



hubby, grating coconut the old fashioned way.



brown sugar mixed with the grated coconut



mix them together



hubby, mashing the boiled banana




mashed banana, mixed with the grated coconut and sugar mixture, plus margarine




the finished product!!!!! A sweet healthy treat for us!



what's for dinner?!

The family decided to have some pizza for dinner, but not just any pizza. It has to be vegetarian and homemade, which is a part of our "eating healthy" diet. So i pulled out my old pizza recipe book and browse through the pages. The Pizza of choice?........Deep Dish Pizza!



here's the pizza dough i made




Veggies of our choice



some pineapple chunks for a little sweet taste



and my homemade Pizza sauce



TADAHHHHHH.........the finish product!



cauliflower soup



my salad plate with a slice of pizza and as usual we finish it off with a nice cup of hot lemon grass tea.
Everything was good. The pizza was filling, just one slice is very much enough for one person. The one thing i like about homemade pizza, is of course you can put any ingredients that you really like. Plus, it's not salty or greasy. That's the one thing i never like about pizza, They can be too greasy and too salty.

Vintage dress!



vintage union made prairie dress



vintage contempo casual bib style dress



vintage electric pleated dress

Recently thrifted and found this pretty vintage dresses. All listings are available HERE
thanks for looking!!

today's dinner



butternut squash soup with croutons


 

salad




pan seared tilapia fillet



stir fried bell peppers and zucchini



homemade bread rolls(pan de sal) pan fried with a dab of butter and garlic powder




my plate




carrot and apple juice(looks nasty but taste good!)




finish up with a cup of lemon grass tea



SIAKOY

Siakoy or what we call the Filipino Donut


My husband has long been craving for this bread. Siakoy is a favorite merienda(snack) among filipinos. It's  fried in deep oil much like a donut. We have tried a few recipes which we found on the internet before but we have no luck, they all turned out hard.

Hubby was so persistent to find the perfect recipe of Siakoy, And at long last we foun it at Manang's blog---KUSINA NI MANANG. Wow!!!!!! She is a saviour!!! We just found the perfect Siakoy recipe. Soft, just perfect to the bite and it taste like the original siakoy we use to buy at the market or street foods. My husband was so happy and very much satisfied, finally he can eat Siakoy anytime he wants to. :)

Thanks to Kusina ni Manang for posting the recipe.

Persimmon Bread

persimmon bread


My daughter's friend gave us a bag of persimmon fruit the other day freshly picked from their backyard. They are the baking kind of persimmons. I like eating them though they are really soft and mushy, but so sweet. I have a lot of them and i really have no clue what to do woth the rest it. So, I googled a few recipe and found this one from Allrecipes.comhttp://allrecipes.com/recipe/persimmon-bread-i/

Although i never had persimmon bread before nor  baked them , i have no clue what it's upposed to taste  like. I say, it's just like baking banana bread really. But i enjoyed the moist and sweet cake like consistency of the bread. Nice with a cup of hot coffee.

Lenguas De Gato



Lenguas de gato (cat's tongue)

I baked this cookies right after new year. I have saved a few eggwhites from my Crema de fruta cake. I didn't want to waste the whites so i decided to bake some lenguas de gato. The preparation was simple, only needs patience to pipe those thin layer of cookie dough on the sheet.  I got this recipe at this blog, KUSINA NI MANANG. Trust me if you love baking, you would love to visit her blog.
This sweet crunchy lemony cookies are soooo good! The kids and the adults will surely love it! They are even good when dipped in hot cocoa, they turn soft and melts in your mouth, YUM!

TEA TIME!!!!!! :)



weekend feast



fried chicken, ampalaya(bitter melon) salad and pickled cabbage

It's the weekend so i gave ourseleves some slack. As i have mentioned, we're trying to cut our meat consumption and eat more veggies and fruits. But also, i didn't want to completely deprive the family from eating meat, or else someone is going to complain!

the meal was just simple

Weekend Feast!

clockwise:  fried chicken, pickled cabbage, ampalaya salad (bitter melon)


It's the weekend so i gave my family some slack! Oh yeah!!! or else someone is going to complain. As i have mentioned on my past posts, we are trying to cut our meat consumption as much as possible. It's been a week straight now, our daily meal consist of veggies, salads, rice and fish. But I also didn't want to deprive ourselves from eating meat at least on the weekend. So today was the lucky day for the meat eaters!!!!

The meal was just simple, healthy and delicious. Even though there's meat on the table i still want to add a few colors here and there. My fried chicken was dipped in a light tempura batter so it gets the crispiness when you bite at it. I have some pickled cabbage on the side to go with the fried chicken. Pickled veggies are a great condiments when eating fried foods, it helps dissolves the fat. Also , i have some ampalaya salad with tomatoes seasoned with spicy vinegar, salt and pepper. Ampalaya(bitter melon) can be eaten raw or cooked, and the health benefits are wonderful. Ampalaya is good for diabetic people. You can even drink ampalaya tea, mostly available at the asian market.

 The meal was that simple, yet  it's a fantastic feast!!!!

Trying to eat healthy

salad and pan seared tilapia fillet with cream sauce



homemade mushroom soup with garlic croutons

Hi everyone!
Now that the holidays are over, i dont have any excuse to eat just whatever i want (finger's cross).
So last night, i prepared a healthier meal for the family. Some fish, salad and soup.

Hubby and daughter APPROVED!!!  Done Deal!  :)

New year's eve

everybody was so busy that morning, (my daighter cooking her spaghetti)
i need to get all the food done for lunch before my sis-in-law and the rest of the gang head down to LA for the new year.



finally, past noon table is ready



i had the traditional 13 kinds round fruits, for good luck (filipino tradition)

Ube haleya, (purple yam)



halabos na hipon (stir fried prawns)




salmon with pesto-mayo dressing




biko(sweet rice)



sinugba (grilled pork)



sisig (chopped grilled pork mix with sisig powder mix)




crema de fruta




Lola(grandama) Celsa getting ready to bless our food




beautiful photo of us :)




nom...nom.....nom....



later taht evening, my daughters friend came over, waiting for the count down.

at exactly 12 midnight, we all rushed outside the backyard to tie our wishes on this little ficus tree. We do this every year. we each wrote our wishes on a piece of paper and tie them on the tree, if your paper stays on the tree for the whole year chances are one of your wishes will come true ( as i was told) but if it falls, well better luck next year :) i'm not sure if it's true or not but its has become a part of our new years celebration. My Aunt was the one who told me about it, it's a japanese tradition she says, so i adopted the idea myself since i was in high school. I far as i can remember some of my wishes have come true :)!!!! The kids gets all excited when i explained it to them, so they all joined even if it's new to them. They had fun though.

Happy new year to all and may all of your wishes come true!!!!!!