Sibuyas Republic

Nephew who arrived from Baguio City had a post birthday celebration today with just an ice cream and this black forest cake garnished with red, red cherries

Forgive my indulgence. I end up claiming the biggest slice

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Finally, after living in the shelf since December (expiration will be on October), I opened this 800-gram pudding can which were part of the box that sissy-in-law sent days before Christmas last year.

It’s a microwavable pudding made from 40% fruits (sultanas, currants).

Not really a fan of canned or “processed foods”. It altered the natural state of the food to make it more palatable  , but the citrusy aroma wafting in the air after I opened up the microwave, hmmmm…

This was all is left after feasting on the moist pudding. The addition of rum made the easy dessert taste like fruit cake we bought every Christmas. Though, a little overpowering that the little miss just took a bite. I guess, the rum, more than its sweet flavor, was added as a preservative agent.

Have a happy “long” weekend

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Ever had experienced the trouble of finding easy-peasy dish for the family? Cooking, specially, dishes that entails elaborate cooking, can take much of our time. Precious “mommy” time. When we were too busy doing other house chores that adobo or sinigang or nilaga can be the best dish to cook to save much needed time.

One Saturday, when I had loads of house schedules at my back, I decided to pull out a whole chicken from the fridge and hastily made a quick marinade for a quick chicken recipe.

ALL YOU NEED IS:

• a whole chicken (1.2kilos)

• salt

• ground black pepper

• brown sugar

• grated lemon/orange  zest (optional)

PREPARATION:

• Mix together the marinade by mixing the last four ingredients.

• Rub the mixture on the entire chicken. Repeat the process two to three times or you can leave the marinade 1-2 hours for better absorption.

• Set the oven or turbo broiler on high heat.

• Place the whole chicken (along with the marinade) in a round Pyrex.

• Cover the dish to avoid the sugar burning easily.

• After 30-40 minutes, turn the chicken, and baste with the marinade sauce, then cook for another 30-40 minutes or until it becomes golden brown.

This roasted chicken may take longer time to cook, but offers less complicated procedure. Before you knew it, when the chicken’s done, my laundry is done, as well.

Food tripping this week @

One of the many things our family does to enjoy our usual faMEALy day is “barbecuing”. The eldest daughter asked for grilled fish and chicken yesterday. Glad the weather went fine and off we went al fresco dining. 

Here’s the chicken wings marinated in soy sauce, chopped garlic, Worcestershire sauce, ground black pepper, brown sugar, and banana catsup for the color. Chili powder (optional).

Marinating tips:

• Marinated food items shall be stored in the fridge so as not to attract bacterial growth.
• Use/cook the marinade sauce quickly and never try to reuse the mixture.
• Do not froze meat marinades for it will make the meat mushy when cooked.

• Worcestershire sauce or Kikkoman adds depth and enhances flavor to every marinade recipe. Both have salt already, thus, adding salt to the marinade shall be minimal only.

• Brown sugar, with its enzyme-producing enhancement can add tenderness to meat marinades.

• Remember, marinade should enhance the flavor of the meat. Adding herbs and spices shall not overpower the meat flavor itself.

• Acids, such as vinegar, wines and fruit juices can enhance the flavor of the meat, but, too much acid can cause the meat to harden.

• Good marinades shall have a balance mixture of ingredients to achieve great meat flavor.

• 7-UP or Sprite for marinade? Anyone? Except for the sweetness, I am not sure what else the soda can offer to the meat flavor or texture. Hence, I do not recommend it. ^_^

Found this site which post stuffs on marinating techniques and tips. Very helpful, indeed.

Preparing kids’ packed lunch can be daunting. In as much as we wanted to give them nutritious foods, adding veggies or fruits, for instance…One time, I slipped in a banana over the lad’s lunch bag. Lunch box was empty. Great. But, the banana went home…with bruises all over the ripe fruit. The lad said, “Mom, no one in my class ever brought a banana.”

I answered back. “So, be the first one to bring in fresh fruits, it’s a healthier snack/dessert. Bring two more to give your friends.” I never won in that battle.

Thus, lad’s lunch tote only has rice/viand and a sandwich.

But, sometimes, he tells me to drop the sandwich. Must he grow weary of the taste?

Mom’s always in trouble finding what to offer next…

Then, I go back visiting my old favorite bakery in the city and brought home this ube loaf…

Not too sweet, yet very creamy and the taste of the “ube” (purple yam) overpowers the sweetness of the loaf itself.

It’s the kids “baon” to school…until the day came when they wanted a new variant.

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Perfectly Blended’s

Crepes originated in France and consider it as a national dish. Crepes are similar to pancake preparation minus the sweetness and crepes are made thinner and of course, the evolution of many a filling. From the simple sugar syrup to more savoury fillings made from various meats, veggies and fruits.

As I said, pancakes differ from crepes in the sense that the later uses salt in the absence of sugar.

Made this simple crepe recipe and filling made out of what’s available in the pantry.

SIMPLE CREPE BATTER:

• 4 eggs

• 1 cup flour

• half cup milk

• half cup water

• 2 tablespoon melted butter

• pinch of salt

PROCEDURE:

• Combine the wet ingredients. Mix well.

• Slowly add in the flour to avoid lumps.

COOKING DIRECTION:

• Heat a pan.

• Brush with butter.

• Slowly drop about a quarter cup of the butter onto the pan.

• Tilt pan to help spread the batter evenly and to make the pancake thinner.

• Slowly cook until bubbles appear.

• Flip onto the other side. Crepes should be soft not crunchy.

uneven crepe shape...I needed a good pan^_^

For the filling. Got an apple and few “saba” bananas on the fruit tray. Thought the softness of the bananas will be a perfect complement to the crunchy apple.

FILLING INGREDIENTS:

• 1 medium apple

• 3 pieces bananas

• 1 teaspoon butter

• 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar

• salt and ground black pepper to taste

• orange zest

• cinnamon (optional)

COOKING DIRECTION:

• Heat the pan, add in the butter.

• Add in the brown sugar.

• dash of salt and ground pepper

• Add in the grated orange zest.

• Drop in the bananas first then apples.

• Let it simmer for two minutes until it absorbs the sauce.

• Add in a dash of cinnamon. There are people who can’t tolerate its the aroma, so this is optional.

cut the fruits in bite size pieces...

the orange zest will add tanginess to the fruit filling. THUMBS UP FOR THIS.

place desired amount of fruit filling into the crepe...

For the topping. There are a thousand ways to spun up toppings. From sugar syrup, to marmalade, to whipped cream, to ice cream, to chocolate syrup…OR, the more elaborate CREPES SUZETTE.

Before getting to that, me and the rest of the fam will enjoy this basic crepe I made yesterday.

sugar syrup on top. not much for me, please ^_^.

gives me a whole lotta "BURP"...

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Mirage’s

My foodtripfriday

When the cat is away, the mice were playing around, specially in “my” kitchen…

I made Siomai last week, and had saved the unused ground pork in the freezer for later use. And last Saturday, when we had “us girls” day out in the city, we came home greeted by surprise from the two boys (thanks Big R and little R ^_^)  in the family. They prepared this “hamburgers”…complete with uh-oh, blurry photos from the lad’s camera phone…saying, “mom, I took some photos, thought, you might need them for your blog”. How sweet.

Let’s see how’s the boys’ little burgers fared…

Ingredients:

ground pork, diced carrots and potatoes, diced onions, shredded cheese, salt and ground pepper, drops of sesame oil(optional), egg and flour.

• preparing the patties…

boys’ work! never bothered to shape the patties better^_^

• preparing also the garnish…where’s the mayo sweeties?

the garnish…no more lettuce says the hubs^_^

• grilling …

TADA! oddly shaped BURNT patties!!!

• filling the bun…

wonder how many burgers did hubs “devour”…

aint the bun too small for the cheese?

• YUM! 

Photos may not be so perfect, but how precious can it be knowing the dad and the son had their moment grilling burgers…until it gets BURNT TO THE MAX!!! 

Burgers and Cute Quotes on a lazy afternoon?

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When in-laws made a quick visit last Tuesday, I offered each one a plate of my  recent “imitation”. They have no choice but be the judges. Their verdict: Something new…something different….something….

I’m sure if Gordon Ramsay of MasterChef would be around judging these foodies, I’d earned his infamous remarks and fiery expletives. Jeez!

For the recipes in case one is interested, CLICK ON…

Tuna Maki Loaf

Spaghetti Tacos

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If your kids are watching  iCarly on Nickelodeon, most probably, they knew what’s the rage is all about after Carly’s eccentric brother, named Spencer, cooked up an odd combo dinner.

Serving spaghetti on taco shells.

ODD.

Surely enough. Soon after the airing, a media frenzy ensue and, imitators and foodie lovers were soon improvising the iCarly dish. It revolutionized the way kids eat their pasta favorite.

I am riding in the banter, too. For the sake of the little miss here who followed the hype show on Nick.

Let’s do this simple and a little healthier.

WHAT YOU NEED:

• taco shells

• pasta spaghetti

• spaghetti sauce

• cheese

• diced onions and tomatoes

• parsley or celery

PREPARATION:

• I’ll skip the procedure in cooking the spaghetti/spaghetti sauce. (Cliche^_^)

• Place appropriate amount of pasta on one taco shell.

• Add in the spaghetti sauce

• And the grated cheese

• Topped with diced veggies.

Good to go.

Of course, the little miss skipped the veggies on top. After putting the pasta and the sauce, she topped it with sliced cheese. Saying, “Mom there’s no veggies on the iCarly video.”

Closer look to my recent “food imitation”. I had a full “burp” after the second shell. The crunch of the veggies were a great complement to the pasta’s softness.

Enjoy food tripping this Friday @

Continually searching/thinking for quick and easy-does-it recipes for my family is one of the things I am busy at. Aside from doing routinely house chores, doing DIY’s, and, sometimes feeding my vanities. Yes, YAMI, “walang naaaksayang oras”. Specially, when you have a family who eat like pigs^_^.

Hence, mommy in the kitchen needs to grab recipes worth trying out. Thanks  Sassy Chef for the great posties.

My kids loved sandwiches. As I said, sometimes they got bored on things I prepared for them. Finding recipes is easy, but I am not one who religiously followed everything what is stated. I do variation depending on the availability of the listed ingredients.

This Gardenia classic white bread recipe is very easy to do…

WHAT YOU NEED:

• loaf bread

• sliced cheese

• tuna chunks in water

• mayonnaise

• diced bell pepper and onions (optional)

• salt and ground pepper to taste

PROCEDURE:

• First, mix in the tuna chunks with mayonnaise, bell pepper and onion and salt and pepper. Set aside.

• Next, trim the loaf’s edges.

• Flatten each loaf bread lightly using rolling pin.

• Place a spoonful of the tuna mixture and spread evenly on the loaf.

• Top with cheese.

• Roll tightly and wrap in a plastic wrap.

• Refrigerate for at least an hour.

•  Slice thinly and ENJOY this sushi-type roll.

maybe i can perfect the art of rolling the second time around ^_^, the bread’s literally soft:)

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Raya’s