Pinakbet and Palm Corned Beef

My husband and I were out the other day to do some errands like do some banking, pick-up cds from the public library and buy some stuff.  We went to an Asian Store where they sell our favorite Palm corned beef.  We like this brand because the can contains beef chunks instead of very tiny bits of what they claim to be corned beef and also because they taste delicious and they now come in different flavors.  We bought 6 cans of different flavors as per request of our daughter Charisse.

We also bought some vegies which when combined with what I already have will make a vegetable dish called Pinakbet.

Pinakbet is a vegetarian Filipino favorite dish using different vegetables, sauted in some pork fat and shrimp paste.

Pork fat can be omitted so that it becomes 100% vegetarian and healthier.  If pork is omitted, use 2-3 tbsp corn oil.

Ingredients:
1-2 eggplant, chopped about 1/2 inch thick
1/4-1/2 squash, chopped into 1" x 1" x 1/2" size
1 ampalaya or bitter squash, sliced thinly about 1/4 inch thick
12 stalks string beans (I used green beans about 1 pound), cut into about 2 inches long
1 med onion, sliced
5 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 ripe tomatoes, sliced
1/2 lb. pork belly, sliced into 1/2 " x 1/4" size
1 cup cooked shrimp paste
1 cup broth or water

Cooking Instructions:
1.  in a large wok or frying pan, put pork belly in medium to high heat and let pork render its fat until browned
2.  using rendered fat, add garlic and fry till golden brown
3.  add onion and saute till translucent
4.  add tomatores, saute till soft
5.  add string beans, saute 2 minutes, set aside on the pan
6.  add eggplant, saute 1 minute, add a little water, cover for 2 minutes
7.  remove cover, set aside on the pan the eggplant
8.  add squash, saute 1 minute, add some water, cover for 2 minutes
9.  remove cover, add bitter squash, cover 1 minute
10.  remove cover, add shrimp paste, saute 1 minute then mix everything together, incorporating shrimp paste to all pieces of vegies
11.check each vegetable for doneness, add a little water and cover for a few more minutes if needed or if fully cooked vegies is preferred
12. serve with steamed rice

Corned Beef Omelette

I like eggs - sunny side up, scrambled, soft boiled egg, hard boiled eggs, ground pork omelette and actually any kind of omelette - I like them all.

Two days ago, I made this corned beef omelette.

Ingredients
1 can corned beef
2 large potatoes, peeled and chopped into small size about 1cm x 1 cm.
6 eggs, beaten
1 small bell pepper, chopped into 1 cm by 1 cm
3 tbsp corn oil
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, chopped
salt
pepper

Cooking Instructions:
1.  In a medium size teflon cooking pan and in medium heat,  fry potatoes in 3 tbsp corn oil, add salt and pepper
2.  when potatoes are half-cooked, add garlic and onion in the pan and saute till onion is soft
3.  add bell pepper, saute a little bit
4.  add corned beef, stir so that corned beef and vegies are mixed together
6.  adjust seasoning at this point
7.  pour 6 beaten eggs
8.  reduce heat to lowest heat and cover
9.  when top of omelette is dry or almost dry cover with a plate which covers the entire pan and flip
10. slide back to the pan the omelette's other side and fry until golden brown

WHAT TO DO WITH LEFT-OVER BOILED PASTA

I have this one bowl of boiled pasta left-over from the other day.  Throwing it away is definitely not an option.

Here's one recipe:

Garlic and  Fresh Tomatoes Pasta Recipe
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil (evoo)
parmesan cheese
parsley
optional: 1 can of tuna, remove oil or water or 2 slices of bacon, fried and chopped to bits or cooked smoked bacon about 50-100 grams.

Cooking Instructions:
1.  in a cooking pan, in medium heat, saute garlic in evoo till golden brown,
2.  add bacon or tuna, optional
3.  add chopped tomatoes, cook for two minutes,
4.  add left-over pasta, mix well.
5.  transfer to a serving platter
6.  top with parmesan cheese and parsley and drizzle with additional evoo if desired

Beef Shank Kare-kare (Beef Shank in Peanut Sauce)

I boiled and simmered beef shanks good for two dishes till i's tender this morning.   I wanted to cook nilagang baka today and kare-kare tomorrow.  It is my way of prepping what I will cook for tomorrow and exercising a cost-saving technique by boiling/simmering the beef shanks once instead of twice.

While I was adding vegies to the nilaga,  I am thinking that Marl is not really fond of anything 'soupy' like nilaga, tinola and sinigang.  I decided to finish cooking the kare-kare too.

I used two Mama Sita's kare-kare mix, I added two tbsp. Skippy peanut butter (it's my personal touch) even if its not in the list of ingredients in Mama Sita packet, beans and bokchoy.

I know I lack some vegetables we filipinos use like eggplant and banana heart but we like this simple version of beef kare-kare.  I don't have to go crasy looking for the missing vegetables.  I personally don't like eggplant and banana heart in kare-kare anyway.

Try this simple version, I'm sure you would like it. For cooking instructions, follow Mama Sita's.

Btw, we have a very yummy home-made alamang/bagoong from the Philippines.  We brought it here in June 2009.  Don't laugh, 10 kgs. fresh alamang, slow-cooked to perfection by my friend's househelp, we brought here in Surrey.  Mercifully, alamang got past Vancouver Customs and Immigration without incident.


Cheers.

Nilagang Beef Shank (Beef Shank Soup with Vegies)

It is raining today since yesterday and in our family we have food that we crave when it is gloomy and raining.

Yesterday, we all wanted to eat champorado so I cooked and we enjoyed champorado topped with Carnation evaporated milk.  Sorry forgot to take pics.

Today, what I want to eat is nilagang baka (Beef Shank Soup with Vegies).  After simmering the beef shank for 2 hours, I added potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots and cabbage.

Eating Healthy

For couple of years now, I have been talking to my family members (Mar, Marl, Ry and Cha) constantly about eating healthy or making healthier food choices.

For example I would say, "Marl, I cooked some vegies, eat some, it's good."  Or, from time to titme, I would say to all my children , "eat some bananas, they're good", "apples are good, an apple a day keeps the doctor away", "vegies are good", etc... I call this 'brain-washing', I openly admit to it (brainwashing),it took years for my messages to sink in but I guess it finally did..  Persistence is a virtue, LOL.

I would also always remind my eldest, Marl, to drop just one thing and only one thing and it will do him a lot of good - that is sugared drinks.  He likes to drink softdrinks, sugared juices and power drinks a lot and supersize too.  I am very worried about his health and of him becoming a diabetic (like me - got it from my mom).  Now he only drinks water 95% of the time, my estimate.

Slowly, we as a family are choosing healthier food choices and slowly my children broke down their resistance.

The good news - here's list of changes towards eating healthy adapted by my family this year:
1.  rice - from white to brown
2.  bread - from white to multi-grain and whole wheat
3.  drinks - from sugared to sugar substitute to water, green tea and other kind of tea
4.  oil - from canola to corn and I use a lot of extra virgin olive oil
5.  desserts - from cakes, cookes, pastries, muffins to mostly fruits.  We had cake last week though.
6.  meals - from all meat to meat and vegies.  I try hard to always include vegies everyday.

Eliminating all kinds of sugared and artificially sweetened drinks from our lives 95% of the time is a major change for all of us and a huge factor towards being healthy.  The rest of the changes will make us all healthier slowly but surely.

Here's some funny stories:
Marl, who is a meat/burger/fries/softdrinks person, was overheard as saying he brings bananas to work as snack.  He now eats apples too.  He now likes bokchoy and tofu too.  He never liked to eat bananas or all kinds of fruits before.  I consider this as a little miracle.

Cha, when she came home from 11 months of back-packing from New Zealand and Asia exclaimed when she opened the rice cooker to get rice, "brown rice??!!", she was shocked.  She was the last one opposing the change from white to brown.  While she was away, our home has suddenly turned brown rice-eater.  She had no choice, she never said another word, she knew she's not winning this battle.  LOL.

Ry, has healthy choices of his own he's been lecturing me about.  He wants me to reduce salt in our food.  He wants me to use rock salt from iodized salt. 

My husband is the healthiest of all.  He loves everything healthy and he loves fruits and he makes all of us eat fruits by bringing it to us - apples peeled and quartered, strawberries washed and sliced to bite pieces, blueberries washed, etc...

Malou (yours truly) whose favorites are cakes and all kinds of desserts now eats 1 pc. banana for breakfast with tea or coffee.  A few months ago, it would have been a terrible joke if one would imply that one day Malou's breakfast would be a fruit.  I said once, while eating a banana, "never in my lifetime would I think I would be eating a banana for breakfast."  Unimaginable, but hey, nobody said one can't brainwash oneself.  This is a little miracle too.  LOL.

We, like all humans, 'sin' once in a while.  I call it a sin if we buy white bread or choco cake, but I accept that we will 'sin' to satisfy our cravings... then we go back to normal which is the list above.

Chicken Tenders Vegie Stir-fry

I have about 1 lb. left-over chicken tenders from when I made the chicken katsu.  I have defrosted it already, and I have the left-over flour from the katsu process so I thought I better "prep" the chicken for my next dish, for the following day which is chicken tenders with broccoli.   Prep means I already did cooking instructions 1 to 3 - see below - and kept the prepped chicken in the refrigerator. Today though, the broccoli is party somewhat wilted so I used what was still good, added 1 succhini and 1 carrot.  Lesson here is:  in the kitchen "Improvise".  or in other words, be flexible.

Chicken Tenders Vegie Stir-fry
1 lb. chicken tenders or chicken breast
2 lbs. broccoli or
1 lb. broccoli
1 succhini
1 carrot
4 tbsp oyster sauce
4 tbsp corn oil
1/2 cup flour
1 tbsp minced garlic
salt
pepper

Cooking Instructions
1.  Salt and pepper the chicken (chicken should be drained and paper-towel-dry) and cover with flour
2.  In a non-stick pan, put 2 tbsp corn oil and fry chicken until golden brown on both sides
3.  Set aside on a plate with paper towel
4.  Slice into 1 inch pcs.
5.  In a wok, put 1 or 2 tbsp corn oil, add garlic, fry till golden brown
6.  All chicken pcs to the wok, add 2 tbsp oyster sauce, mix well to coat all chicken pcs.
7.  Remove from pan and set aside on a plate
8.  In the same wok, put vegies all together, salt and pepper, 2 tbsp oyster sauce, cover and let steam for 1 minute or two.
9.  Serve with the chicken on top or side by side or chicken and vegies mixed.
10. Best eaten with steamed rice or fried rice

Cooking Tips
1.  Use as many vegies as you like.
2.  You can adjust the amount of oyster sauce too according to your taste.  More oyster sauce = more salty, so just be careful.

Shrimp Tofu Bokchoy Stirfry

I like tofu and bokchoy and they are present in my refrigerator.  I have left-over boiled shrimp so I thought I would make a dish out of these three major ingredients.

Shrimp Tofu Bokchoy Stirfry Recipe
1 cup steamed or fresh shrimps
1 big bunch of bokchoy, washed thouroughly, drained
2 cubes of medium tofu
5 tbsp oyster sauce
4 tbsp corn oil
1 tbsp minced garlic
salt
pepper

Cooking Instructions
1.  Remove liquid from tofu if coming from a plastic container.  Put in plate with several layers of paper towel to remove liquid
2.  Slice tofu into 1/2 inch thick
3.  In a non-stick frying pan put 2 tbsp corn oil and fry tofu until golden brown on both sides
4.  Set aside tofu on a plate with paper towel
5.  When cool enough to handle, slice fried tofu into desired size.
6.  In a wok, put 2 tbsp corn oil, add garlic and fry until golden brown
7.  Add shrimp and stir fry together for a minute or two
8.  Add sliced tofu
9.  Add 3 tbsp oyster sauce and mix it all together
10. Remove from pan/wok and set aside
11. On the same pan/wok, put bokchoy, salt and pepper and 2 tbsp oyster sauce, cook for a minute or two
12. Put shrimp and tofu back to the pan/wok to mix or to top off the bokchoy or to put side by side
13. Best eaten with steamed rice

Food Shopping in the US

We were so full, we had to walk around a little bit to hopefully expedite digestion process, we ended up shopping in Target.  I know a good price when I see one, so I bought 10 cans of Carnation evaporated milk for 99 cents each, 10 condensed milk for 1.49 each and 1 big container of Sun Maid raisins for 2.99.

Mar was given 3 dollars discount which is 10% of total purchase when he agreed to apply for a Target credit card.

total Target purchases after discount -  US$27

Next stop was Walmart, also in Bellingham.  We eat a lot of pasta so I bought 10 500gms angel hair pasta for 1 dollar each, 10 Spam luncheon meat, facial scrub, night cream, toiletries, 2 Smucker's peanut butter with jelly, etc...

total Walmart purchases - US$64

Last stop was Costco.  I use a lot of extra virgin olive oil, so I bought 2 2L bottle for 19.99.  I use a lot of parmesan cheese too so I bought 2 Kraft parmesan for 9.85.  These are actually packed in 2s.  I bought 4 whole chicken - 1 dollar per pound , 2 packs of pork tenderloin with 4 tenderloin per pack - 2.99 per pound, 2 big resealable bags of chicken tenders, (6 lbs per bag) - 2.40 per pound, big bottle of artichoke, 4 packs of eggs with 24 eggs per pack or a total of 8 doz.eggs - 3.19 per pack of 24, 2 gal. fresh milk - 4.19 for 2..  We also bought big bottles of Vitamin C and Omega 3 Fish Oil and a small bottle of anti allergy pills.  1 pack of 20 bars of Irish Spring cost 7.85.

total Costco purchases - US$207.

Well, obviously, we now have a lot of uncooked food in the freezer and what will happen next is Mar and I will do a lot of cooking.

What we would only be needing in the next two or more weeks are vegies and fruits to go with these meats I have purchased today.

Cheers.

Old Country Buffet

I like eating here because it is cheap - US$8.50 per person including tax.  Also because the food is very acceptable, not bad at all.  Nothing fancy, just plain, good comfort food.

Fried chicken is crispy but not dry at all, mashed potatoes and gravy is yummy and hot, fish in butter sauce is fresh.  

There's soup and salad bar, there's fried chicken, buttered fish, fish and chips, pizza, calzone, meat loaf, grilled chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, some vegies, mexican food, fruits, cakes, cookies, etc...

Unlike most buffets, drinks here is included.  One can have coffee, tea, milk, chocolate milk and all kinds of pop.

Siopao and Chocolate Cake

Siopao because my son Ry has been wanting to eat this chinese steamed meat bun for weeks now.

Chocolate cake because my daughter Cha and I have been craving for this dessert since last week.

Odd pair, I agree but we enjoyed them last night.  There's nothing like eating what your heart (or stomach) desired.

There's this somewhat famous for locals shop called New Town Bakery in Surrey where we got these siopao for Cad.$18.25 while the chocolate cake we bought from Safeway is priced at $12.99 but for card member like me it's 9.99.

Pansit Habhab, Pork Binagoongan and Beef Kaldereta

 Food stories:

We didn't have left-over food for lunch so I cooked pansit Lucban or pansit habhab or noodles from a province in the Phils.  The noodles is authentic, we bought it from Lucban, Quezon and obviously we brought it here in Surrey.

Today I cooked 2.5 kgs pork binagoongan translated in English as pork sauted in shrimp paste for dinner.

Also, I cooked 2 kgs. beef kaldereta or beef stew till its tender but I did not put the vegies yet like potatoes, carrots and bell pepper which I will add tomorrow because this dish is for tomorrow.

Will try to add pics tomorrow.  The pansit is gone, can't take anymore pictures of it.

Cheers.

Food Shopping Canadian Style

My husband and I went shopping today.  We went to Langley, a city 27 kms. from our city of Surrey, to our favorite meatshop.  We bought the ff:
20 lbs. of lean ground beef, 2 kgs. of smoked bacon, 5.5 kg. beef shank
$64.00 total Dickison Meat Shop

Next we went to Costco.
15 kgs. brown rice $30, coffeemate and cheerios
$44.00 total Costco

We left Langley and drove back to Surrey where we stopped at our favorite bread shop.    
3 packs of multi-grain bagel and 1 loaf of whole wheat bread
$11.00 total Gavin's

Our last stop was at Canadian Superstore
side pork (liempo) about 3 kgs at 5.67 per kg
2 kgs of bone-in pork at 2.80 per kg.
1 box of chicken strip 1 kg at 6.99
500 gram of cocoa powder (we want to cook champorado)  5.69
2 big nutella  10.60
4 packs of bokchoy (pechay) 2.16 per kg.
2 packs of tofu 1.98 per pack
2.5 kgs of bananas 1.43 per kg.
garlic 2.8 per kg.
carnation evap milk 1.78 per big can
kellogs cereals 5.98 big box
kosher salt 1.99 (we want to stop using iodized salt)
old fashioned oatmeal (not instant) 1 kg 1.94
$73.00 total Canadian Superstore

It would be interesting to note that some food items here are much cheaper.  For example:

pork shoulder (bone-in but not too big bone) is Pesos126.

ground lean beef is Pesos198.00

Side pork or liempo which is Pesos250.00 in Phils. supermarket is 5.69 here or Peos256.00

I used this exchange rate:   Cad1.00 = Pesos45.00

However, bananas which my family eat couple of times a day cost Pesos64.00 per kg.
Bokchoy, one of our favorite vegie cost Pesos97 per kg.
Generally, prices here are more expensive.

Our monthly budget for food and groceries is $600.00 for five adults.

I cook a lot, and in huge quantity, so that we can eat at least two meals out of one dish.  For me it is wiser to cook this way because for the time and effort I spend cooking, I can feed my family at least twice.  Mar, my husband, helps me when I cook.  He calls me the chef and he knows his position - the sous chef.

Our food today are the ff:
chicken breast in mushroom sauce (left over from last night)
brocolli with ground pork and oyster sauce (also left over from last night)
chicken katsu for dinner

I ate the chicken katsu as a sandwhich.  It was good, comparable to chicken sandwich of Burger King.

Sorry, no pictures.  We keep on forgetting to take pictures of my culinary experimentation.

Cheers.

Palabok

Today is Sunday, I cooked two big pyrex-full of palabok. What I love about cooking big batches of food is that we have food for the whole day. "We" means husband Mario, sons Marl and Ry and daughter Cha, five adults in all.

We all love palabok, a popular filipino rice noodle all-time favorite meal or snack.