Yogurt Scones

Having a child at home really gave me an opportunity to explore and try a lot of bake goodies. I was looking  for something that I can put yogurt, until i finally stumble on the recipe tips from ikea. I tried the recipe but I find the texture so soft, more like of a pancake than scones, so I made a little bit of revision. I decided to put egg in the recipe and increase the amount of flour a bit. A success on my part for  my little boy enjoyed it.

Here's the recipe:

300 g flour

2 teaspoon baking powder

1 pc egg

50 g butter

200 ml plain yogurt

pinch of salt

cheese for toppings

Preheat the oven to 220 degree celsius. Combine all the dry ingredients, flour and baking powder until thoroughly mixed. Add the rest of the ingredients. Mixed everything aside from the cheese, reserve it for toppings. I used the electric mixer for mixing. Pour it in greased muffin form and topped it with cheese slices. You can top it with anything you like, it maybe bacon, ham or marmalade. You can also add a little sugar if you like. Bake it for 15 minutes. That's it. Really easy and tasty. 

Banana bread

It's my little ones favorite. BANANA. It may be the fruit itself, make it a bread or even a yogurt. To please him with something to eat,you can never go wrong with banana flavor. The all time favorite:) It's actually difficult for me to have stocks of ripe bananas. At home, these are consumed right away. You can now imagine how we love bananas. What i usually do, is freeze the ripe banana until I could accumulate 4 pieces of it. As soon as I have four, I can bake banana bread right away. This recipe calls for 1 teaspoon baking soda, unfortunately I don't have any so I substituted it with 3 teaspoon of baking powder. And it still turned out great. Here's the recipe.

1 cup ripe bananas (usually 4 pcs medium size)
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 pcs eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
3 tsp baking powder

Preheat the oven at 180 degrees celsius. Mix all the dry ingredients, flour, sugar,salt,and baking powder. If everything is thoroughly mixed, then combine the rest of the ingredients, the bananas,vegetable oil and vanilla. Mix everything together, I used electric mixer until batter is formed. Pour the mixture into a greased loaf pan and bake for an hour. Let it cool and grab a slice. Enjoy!

My Kare-kare (ox tail in peanut sauce)

It's part of my typical day to cook lunch for the family. I just usually cook whatever it is that's available. Last night, when I checked the fridge I saw the ox tail and nearly on its expiry date, so that made me think to just put in a slow cooker so it would be hassle free cooking for tomorrow. I let it sit there for 9 hours. So now, I have a very nice broth and tender ox tail ready for my kare kare.

Here's the recipe:

500 g ox tail

100 ml peanut butter

1/2 big eggplant

1 cup green beans

1 cup cabbage

1/2 big pepper

1 tsp. red pepper powder

1/2 pc. onions

1/2 clove garlic

1 tsp oil

1 tbsp sauteed shrimp paste (bagoong)

salt

pepper

Saute garlic and onion in a oil, then put the cooked ox tail and cook for few minutes. Then pour the broth (leave a 1/2 cup of broth for diluting the peanut butter)and add the red pepper powder. Let it boil for few minutes and put all the vegetables, while the veggies are half cooked, pour the diluted peanut butter. Put the sauteed shrimp paste or bagoong and mix until the veggies are done. Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste. That's it!

It would have been nice if I have the tripe, and some of beef slices,but the ox tail that we have is just perfect.Traditionally it should have atsuete but I don't have it so I used the red pepper powder and believe me, it turned out really great.You can use cornstarch to thicken the sauce,but I prefer the sauce thinner. I'll be setting the table now and hubby will be home in a little while.

shrimp in oyster sauce

My Tuesdays and Thursdays are my quick cooking lunch days. Good if I have cooked a dish the night before then all I need to do is reheating the food. My language classes starts at 9 in the morning and finishes at 11 A.M. It's not quite late though, but the walking from school to our flat is around 30 minutes, so when I reach home it's almost time for lunch. In few minutes, my little boy will be complaining and surely would be asking for his lunch, and in a little while again, my hubby will then come home for lunch. Surely, it's one of my hectic mornings, my afternoons will be more of the daily chores which I consider light for there's no pressure to be doing it at once is needed. So here is one of the quick dishes I cooked.

500 g. frozen shrimp

1 tsbp. sweet chili sauce

2 tbsp. oyster sauce

1 tsp. soysauce

1 tsp. butter

garlic powder

1 tbsp. basil

salt

It's very rare that you can see a fresh sea food in the area, so almost always when we crave for sea foods, the frozen ones are our refuge. So here it goes, thaw the shrimp first, then coat with butter, basil,garlic powder and salt, then set aside. Prepare the sauce, just combine the sweet chili sauce,oyster sauce and soysauce, heat and set aside. Sautee the coated shrimp until cooked. Place the cooked shrimp on a plate then pour the sauce. So quick, yet good enough to fill our lunch. Serve it immediately with rice and your favorite side dish or salad.

Fish fillet in soysauce

It was a lazy Saturday, all I wanna do is sit in the couch and watch a movie. My hubby whose always been understanding and generous willingly volunteered to cook for lunch. We all love fish dishes, and a special request of mine definitely would be a "fish for lunch please". Johann and I was playing and cuddling while the smell and aroma of the cooked fish made us both hungry. By the way, here's what my loving hubby cooked for us.

4 pcs. fish fillet (shark catfish or pangasius)

1 clove of garlic

1 thumb size ginger

1 pc. red bell pepper (sweet variety)

1 tsbp. soy sauce

sunflower oil

salt

Slice all the vegetable thinly and fry it until crispy, then set aside.Use little oil as possible.Keep warm. Season the fish with salt. Fry until golden brown. This time make sure you have a teaspoon of oil left from frying for you will be using this with the fried fish. Lay the fish on a plate, pour the oil left. Garnish with the fried paprika, ginger and garlic. Pour a tablespoon of soy sauce and that's it. A delish lunch for us. Quite simple but I should say very flavorful and satisfying dish. For fish lover you should give it a try.

Rusticana

We had a dinner at Rusticana in Munich last night together with some friends. It is actually an advance birthday celebration of a friend. There were five of us, 3 ladies and 2 gentlemen. I'm telling you the numbers because you should know who ate this sumptuous spare ribs I have in the picture. It's indeed a bash. The baked potatoes are equally perfect though I'm not really a fan of it. Our little boy was with us though I made sure that Johann had his fill before leaving the house and of course bring along his favorite toy train thomas and lightning mcqueen to make sure everything will be in order. We enjoyed our food just as much as we have enjoyed our conversation. And the best thing is...it's a treat! Thanks Cenen for the wonderful dinner. We really enjoyed it.

Ginataang manok with pineapple and tomatoes

This is one of Johann's favorite. I really never thought my little boy would love a dish with coconut. Most of the kids I knew, from my cousins, nephews to nieces, they would never touch a dish with coconut when they were young as Johann. Well, I should say maybe genetic played a role,my hubby is such a fan of coconut. He just loves every dish with coconut or we call it"gata". Here's the recipe:

1 kg. chicken (cut into pieces)

onions

5-6 tomatoes

1 can pineapple

1 can coconut milk

salt

oil

Season the chicken with salt and brown the chicken lightly for few minutes, then add the onions and tomatoes. Add the pineapple excluding the juice when the tomatoes are a bit soft. Cover and let it cook for about 3o mins or until the chicken is already tender. Do not be tempted to add water, for the juice from the pineapple and vegetables are enough to cook the chicken. Pour the coconut milk, uncover and let it simmer for few minutes, adjust seasoning,sprinkle a little bit of herb, (mine was italian herb)and you're done!

Pork with Beans

 I don't know how this dish is called. So I can never go wrong with the basic description of the pork meat  added with beans.  It's so funny how this dish came about because I was really in hurry that I forgot to cut the beans after I washed it. I only realized it when I was done throwing the beans in the pan. Nevertheless it turned out great.

Here's the recipe:

250 g. pork

beans (depends on how much you like)

onions

garlic

1 tbsp. soysauce

salt

pepper

1 cup water

oil

I used non stick pan so I don't need much oil to sautee the onions and garlic, you will then add the pork until no longer pink. Season with a little salt and pepper, then add the soysauce. Pour a cup of water then simmer for 30 mins. or until the pork is tender, you should lower the heat at this time.Add the beans and let it sit for 10 mins. Then adjust seasoning to suit your taste. I think this is one of the simplest recipe but taste heavenly. We all enjoyed it.

Something like Afritada or Menudo

As I wake up in the morning, I always check what's left in the fridge so I can think right away of what meals to prepare for the day. I thought of having a tomato based filipino food for lunch but not all ingredients needed are available. It may be afritada or menudo. I'm not however sure of what's really the difference between the two. All I know is that both dishes have tomatoes in it. I just wish we have a bigger fridge so I can plan ahead and buy what are needed. So these are what we had and what I cooked.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. vegetable oil

1 pc chicken breast

1 pc pork liver

1 tbsp.  tomato paste

2 tbsp. soy sauce

1 cup water or/(meat broth if you have)

onions

garlic

potatoes

red bell pepper

bay leaves

frozen sweet peas

salt and pepper

Heat the oil, add the garlic and onion, then add the chicken breast and pork liver until no longer pink.  Then add the tomato paste and bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper. Pour the water and simmer for 15 mins. Add the vegetables and simmer until done. It's a bit bland to my taste so I added soy sauce and let the flavors infuse for a minute. And there it is, we have a delectable afritada/menudo or something like that for lunch.

I'm really no expert in cooking.I just try the best I can and I'm glad my little boy enjoy his lunch. He actually had his bowl finished. What else a mother could ask for? 

Here's the photo of it. It's taken just before my hubby arrived for lunch.

no time to cook?

I was totally lazy last monday and I want to eat something light and easy to prepare. I looked into the cupboard and there I remember we bought basil pesto last Saturday. I checked the canned goods and I saw tuna, so I say to myself..perfect! I can have tuna pasta with pesto. Nothing is complicated, I just cooked the 250 g. pasta according to the package instruction.

for the sauce:

olive oil

garlic

1 can tuna

150 g basil pesto

salt

Pour the olive oil in a skillet, add the garlic, tuna, basil pesto and season with salt. Then just mix the cooked pasta.

there we already have a tuna pasta with pesto..so easy right?here's a pic of what we had for lunch.

It may be very light for jerome so I decided to add some salad. Again, nothing is special, I just used whatever was available.

oak leaf lettuce (green variety)

green olives

black olives

paprika

cucumber

tomato

just mixed everything and pour the salad dressing. Its a ready mix salad dressing which you can buy in the supermarket. What I use was vinegar and oil, Mediterranean art. Here's a picture of the salad:

We had enjoy the meal,though so light and easy, just good enough for the lazy day.

apple muffins

One of our friends here told us about the Nestle ready mix muffins, everything is prepared, all you have to do is pour in the moulder. These muffins really taste so good. Just perfect enough, not so sweet, and the texture is just perfectly right. I miss those muffins, i never got to see one in Minimal nowadays. All I could think of is Nestle muffins might have been banned here, perhaps because of GMO (Genetically Modified Organism),not really sure about it=(. I love muffins really, so i thought of buying other mix pack, where you still have to prepare little things to make it a real yummy muffins. Just add an egg, butter and milk, mix it altogether...in a few minutes muffins got to be ready, of course you have to bake it. There's really nothing that much today so i think of posting the photos of apple muffins that i have here. These may soon be inexistent so better at least i took some pictures of it.

food stories

Yesterday,tuna was been our dish for breakfast and I cooked some pinoy style spaghetti-the sweet taste tomato sauce..for lunch as well as dinner.I don't usually eat a lot in dinner time..so there has been a spaghetti sauce leftover. Since its Sunday,we attended a mass and right afterI become so hungry.It's already a late breakfast so what we have are the leftovers -the tuna and spaghetti sauce. I made the tuna a sandwich and the spaghetti as a sauce for nachos sprinkled with mozarella cheese.It's yummy!=)we had after all a breakfast that is a real quick to prepare. Jerome promised me that he'll gonna cook kare-kare for our lunch.I've been so excited 'coz it's been really a while that i never had the taste of the famous peanut sauce. The ingredients were not really complete, we just utilize what we have in the kitchen.Guess what!it turned out to be like an authentic kare-kare from cabalen! I should have taken a picture of it,unfortunately I forgot and too late to take the time the thought of it cross in my mind.=(ubos na eh!

We're supposed to go to Flughafen but we're just so lazy to go outside.Jerome is actually teasing me that I am couch potato. I only watch tv and that's almost for the whole day and have my break if its eating time! Today, is another ordinary weekend but filled so much with food trip stories.

frutti di mare

Speaking of cooking..i'm not really good into it......but i'm learning. I know now few pasta dishes....hmm.. I feel like i'm in the Italian resto and savoring the aroma and taste of real pasta!! Frutti di mare is one of my favorites..the calamari,shrimp and the mussels make it more palatable to me.hmmmm...yum..yum.

Here's the recipe:

Mafaldine ai Frutti di Mare

• [ S E R V E S F O U R ]
  
  
• Mussels - 1 lb.
• Clams - 1/2 lb.
• Shrimp - 1/4 lb.
• Calamari - 1/4 lb.
• Olive oil - 1/3 cup
• Tomato sauce - 2 cups
• Fresh tomatoes - 2
• Fresh basil leaves - 8
• Italian parsley - 1 bunch
• White wine
• Garlic - 4 cloves
• Salt
• Chile flakes
• Mafaldine pasta - 1 lb.
  
  

1. Drop pasta in salted boiling water and stir with a fork.
   
   
2. While pasta cooks (about 8 minutes), add the garlic to the oil and a little parsley and roast until blond. (2 minutes)
   
   
3. Add the wine, mussels, and clams. Cover, cooking for about 4 minutes or until seafood opens.
   
   
4. Add shrimp, tomato sauce, calamari, basil and cook for 2-3 more minutes.5. Drain the pasta and toss in the sauce.
   
   
5. Garnish with more parsley.
   

So easy yet so tasty. I just love pasta. This made me inspired to learn more pasta dishes..and enjoy it.Its actually best to learn this things if you really love this..aside from you can save pennys for it and time as well in finding a right restaurant.I would love to learn more...=)