Found a little spot that reminded us of another home, halfway across the world. Enjoyed a little halo halo but also eyed some ube and jackfruit tart. Maybe next time.
Jake had some baklava and the kids some chocolate mousse.
I was on the hunt for figs, but the little Middle Eastern grocery was fresh out. Found this little gem down the way. Good to know I can get fresh pandesal (little bread rolls) even in the wild west of Arizona.
The bakeshop was great, will have to come back and try their ensaymadas, a sweet pastry. On the other side of the bakeshop, was a restaurant that served typical Filipino food, including some our faves like pork adobo, lumpiang, and beef tapa. And of course, if you wanted entertainment, there was the karoke machine, a standard in Filipino restaurants.
I caught Guy Fieri's cooking show on Food Network. I loved this show because it was Asian inspired and it even included one of my favorite drinks in the Philippines, bubble tea (which is really almost any kind of drink with tapioca pearls, yum-o).
Here's Guy's video, making it look easy of course:
Make sure you cook the shrimp according to directions! I got the first part right but forgot about the sauce when I sauteed them. I couldn't figure out how they were so bland if there was jalapeno in the recipe! Jake re-cooked them for a tiny bit in the sauce and they were so much better.
If I were to do this again...
I wouldn't! It was way too time consuming and complicated. The only recipe I would make again is the Fruit Salsa but without the mint. I also thought the rice was too sweet.
It would be just as easy to sautee the shrimp in the sauce and eat it that way.
I did manage to go down to my Asian market to get the drink mix and black tapioca pearls to make my own version of my Zagu drinks in the Philippines. I have yet to make them but when I do, I'll have a review for this space.
I ended up making Turnip Gratin. The recipe was simple enough- layer bread, onions, turnip slices and top the whole thing off with Gruyere cheese.
Into the oven...
Out of the oven...
Well the bad news is that the onions were still crunchy and the turnips were over blanched (fancy word for a short boil time). The good news was that the flavor was delicious, but anything topped with cheese usually is.
However, my kids didn't really eat it, even with the cheese on top. Only with my threat of denying dessert did they take a bite. The rule in our house is they at least have to try it before they can say no. And no they did! The turnips acted a lot like potatoes, but with a slightly sweeter taste.
If I were to make again:
Make sure I don't over blanch the turnips
Sautee the onions before putting them in the baking dish
Leave out the bread- it was a little weird
Keep the cheese topping, it added great flavor, and we all know everything is better with cheese
Coleman came home with these from his recent field trip to a farm:
Huge turnips! I have never cooked with them before and of course, I will have to now. So I was thinking of this, something for the grownups or this, of course anything 'fries' is good with the kids. We'll see how it turns out... I'll let you know!
SouleMama‘s {this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.
Looking for a good way to use up the rotisserie chicken you have in the fridge? Try some delicious, easy, healthy Chicken Tortilla Soup. This recipe was given to me by my dear friend Carrie, who introduced me to edamame beans and who at one time helped me devour a whole box of Ding Dongs in our dorm room. Ah, memories.
This is soooo easy-peasy and definitely gets a thumbs up for being a one handed meal- as in, you can have a baby on a hip and still get the soup simmering on the stove! Not to mention it's a hubby-friendly soup in our house.
Ingredients
Favorite salsa (mine was 16 oz.)
Chicken broth- either from liquid, cubes or paste- double the amount of ounces of salsa, for instance mine was 16 oz. so the liquid broth I had on hand was 32 oz.; you can also use water to make it vegetarian
Leftover chicken- shredded, I recommend only half a rotisserie; or use three kind of beans for vegetarian version
Corn tortillas- 6-8 cut into strips, these will dissolve when soup simmers
Various garnishes- shredded cheese, limes, avocado, plain yogurt
{All ready to go}
Directions
Dump in salsa in large soup pot
Dump in broth double that of salsa amount
Shred chicken, dump in
Start simmering
Cut tortillas into strips
Dump tortilla strips in
Check in 15-20 minutes
Eat!
It's seriously so simple that I almost think I'm forgetting a step. This was delicious and my two critics thought so too...
Tips
Don't do what I did and shred the all the white meat rotisserie chicken- because we ate the soup quite a bit later than I made it, it simmered down quite a bit and was thick. Next time I'll do one half.
For some reason, all my soups reduce down quite a bit, leaving them thicker than I would like. Probably has something to do with the fact that I'm cooking while juggling a three ring circus. So for myself, I would add more water right from the beginning, making the ratio 4:1 water to salsa.
Most important- make a double or triple batch because it was awesome! The salsa is great because you don't need to add any spices at all. You can also customize it for a vegetarian dish or hide add more veggies in.
Nutritional Facts
This can vary based on your actual ingredients but mine was as follows:
Somewhere in bloggy land I read about brownies. Yum, I thought, I needed to make some of those. I was going to buy the Ghiradelli box but looked at the ingredients and decided to do it from scratch. I'm not really sure if from scratch is cheaper- I bought the Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate chips and that alone was the price of the boxed version.
Next I was in search of the perfect fudgy brownie recipe. I looked a few online and decided on this one, because it called for chocolate, rather than cocoa powder.
Look at all that butter!
Had to add in 1/4 cup of wheat flour because I ran out of flour! Oh, I had just gone to the store too. I hoped the chocolatey goodness would cover it up.
Smells delicious...
Cooked to perfection.
I don't think these will last long.
But they did last long enough for breakfast. Who doesn't need a little brownie for breakfast every now and then?
These brownies were delicious but not fudgy enough for me. Oh well, I guess I will have to try to make more brownies.
Eating Halo Halo with my boys, an interesting mix of sugar palm, coconut gel cubes, jackfruit, mongo beans, ice and evaporated milk. A small reminder of the Philippines. Yum!
If you are adventurous and want to try this recipe, here it is:
Shaved ice, or ice from Sonic
Various gelled fruit, think fruitcake, from Asian grocery store, ours had a Filipino aisle
Beans, use ones in Asian grocery store because they soaking in a sugar syrup, I like the white beans better than mongo
Optional: wafer sticks, ube or mango ice cream
Evaporated milk, drizzle on top
Directions: Two scoops of ice, then have kids pick what they want to put in, pour a small amount of the milk on top and dig in! This dessert looks more impressive in tall clear glasses but bowls work better for kids. A simple and easy way to experience a cultural dessert.
Now that I have one kiddo in Kindergarten, I make a lunch for him to take usually every day. I'm used to making my own and Jake's but kids are different. They need things to be simple- easy to open, easy to eat and easy to drink.
There are lots you can buy that would make this job much easier- juice pouches, individual snack bags and things like Lunchables. Not that those are bad, I was just shooting for a more wholesome, green approach to this whole lunch thing. I figure he has years to go before he'll be having sodas with chicken sandwiches smothered in barbecue sauce and ranch- wait that was me! Hopefully, by the time he gets to buying his lunches full time, there will be more variety than the chicken sandwich and deep fried taco shell.
I wanted to get these lunch boxes or maybe these, but then realized those choices were a strain on the wallet. Also, what if they got lost/damaged (as things usually do with 5 year old boys?). So I found these, but then saw the Ziploc version in the grocery store and I was sold. Normally they are $9 for a pack but I got them on sale for 2 packs for $7.
Little comparents for everything, a snap top lid (good enough for applesauce but not ranch dressing), and it was cheap. It probably had thinner plastic than the other ones, but for the cost I was not worried. Besides, if they get too disgusting, like if I forget to wash out the container for a week or the dog decides it's a chew toy, no worries, then I can toss.
Another thing that was worth the money and has made lunch/soccer practice so much better is the water bottle from Thermos (you can see it in the picture above).
It's double insulated stainless steel that will keep drinks cold up to 12 hours. One day Coleman came home and he still had ice in it, even after being at school all day!
We bought it even though it was pricier than the other ones ($12) because we were looking for something that wouldn't "sweat" all over his papers in his backpack. I tried the whole sock thing but that didn't work.
We liked it so much I bought myself one and fill it up several times a day, helping me to get my daily water intake. Mine was $20. Then, a few weeks later, I bought Jake the bigger one because he works at the zoo and hikes around all the time. His is 24 oz. and was $25. Eventually I will buy one for Carter. These are great- we fill them up and take them when we have to run errands so we are saving money (as well as inches on our waists) by not stopping and getting drinks.
One of the things I don't like is that the smaller ones have straws, which means if you have anything other than water in them and leave them in a warm car... let's just say gross things and explosions can happen. So our rule is we keep water only in them. Jake's bottle has a snap lid with no straw so he can have juice in there if he wants.
So my last post was about the ultimate cookie but forgot the photos! My brain must have still been thinking about wine, I mean, my girls-only weekend (more on that another time)...
Seriously, I thought about not adding them because I really didn't need to but then I remembered this one:
That is my goof ball, adorable hubby who loves baking more than I do. He likes to take over help me with any kind of cooking, especially cookies, in the kitchen. He's the comfort food cook and I'm the healthy cook (usually!).
Then of course, another "helper"...
All he really wanted to do was lick the spoon though!
Now... the stars of the show:
Do you like my creative cooling rack? One day, I'll get a real one but this worked just fine because those cookies didn't last long!
