Just leave your message...

Am up in the mountain this week... Be back after Labor Day.

Take care everyone :)

Sunday Late Lunch

Both me and my husband feel lazy today. After I read my book for a little while I took a nap. Around 130 in the afternoon a very loud noise on my apartment roof woke me up. I don't know why these people couldn't wait 'till working days to fix something. The banging didn't end until after 10 to 15 minutes. It really did start to annoy me, after a while and these people on to of my apartment roof still didn't stop I went out and was gonna till them that they are disturbing people and why not wait 'till working days to fix whatever problem they're having as long as the problem doesn't cause another people.

Anyhow, I got up and decided cook some lunch. I cooked pasta in white sauce with shrimp. I also made fresh squeeze strawberry and mango juice. In my juice I tried to put sprite and ice on it, I was surprised that the taste was pretty good. I also made some garlic bread, I put butter, cheese, garlic and parsley bake the bread for about 10 minutes and broil for about 2-3 minutes depends how crispy you want the bread.

I wish I still have angel hair pasta available my pasta dish could have been better. Though the dish still taste good 'according to my husband'. Angel hair pasta is one of my list for grocery shopping.

What we ate today

I skip breakfast as usual and but hubby had a bar and a glass of juice. Before we went to Encinitas to re-check the house that we put an offer we stopped by and grab some lunch. We went to Sammy's Woodfired Pizza because they don't allow pets we ordered for take out and had our lunch somewhere else. I ordered an Angel Hair Pasta with Shrimp in white sauce and hubby ordered Hawaiian Thin Crust pizza.

I like the pasta a little bit on the dry side. The one I ordered is a little bit soggy with the white sauce and it smell a little bit funny or maybe I am just not feeling my food. The pizza on the other hand was pretty good it is thin crust but not too thin, the side of the dough is still a little bit thick, I prefer pizza myself a little bit more crisp dough.

Around 7:30pm hubby and I walked to PF Chang to have some dinner. We ordered appetizers and soup. We had Southern Style Ribs, Chicken Wrap, Vegetable Dumplings and Wonton Soup. Hubby had a Green Margarita and I had Jade Martini, my martini taste like there was not much of an alcohol to it but for a glass of martini I was hit and a bit tipsy.

We finished our dinner between 830 and 900 in the evening we still walked back home. My feet were hurting and I felt like I have blisters, so I ended up walking bare feet. Gosh! I can't remember the last time I walked bare feet in the street. I felt better though my feet didn't hurt much anymore.

Cioppino Thursday

PREP TIME	10 Min
COOK TIME	45 Min
READY IN	55 Min

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons and 2-1/4 teaspoons butter
• 1/2 onions, chopped
• 1/2 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 bunch fresh parsley, chopped
• 1/2 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
• 1/2 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth
• 1/2 bay leaves
• 3/4 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
• 3 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons water
• 1/3 cup and 1 teaspoon white wine
• 6 ounces large shrimp - peeled and deveined
• 6 ounces bay scallops
• 4-1/4 small clams
• 4-1/4 mussels, cleaned and debearded
• 1/3 cup and 1 teaspoon crabmeat
• 6 ounces cod fillets, cubed

DIRECTIONS

1. Over medium-low heat melt butter in a large stockpot, add onions, garlic and parsley. Cook slowly, stirring occasionally until onions are soft.
2. Add tomatoes to the pot (break them into chunks as you add them). Add chicken broth, bay leaves, basil, thyme, oregano, water and wine. Mix well. Cover and simmer 30 minutes.
3. Stir in the shrimp, scallops, clams, mussels and crabmeat. Stir in fish, if desired. Bring to boil. Lower heat, cover and simmer 5 to 7 minutes until clams open. Ladle soup into bowls and serve with warm, crusty bread!

Garlic Bread Recipe

Ingredients

1 16-ounce loaf of Italian bread or French bread
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened ( I added a little bit of thick cream)
2 large cloves of garlic, smashed and minced
1 heaping tablespoon of freshly chopped parsley
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Method

Method 1 - Toasted

1 Preheat oven to 350°F.

2 Cut the bread in half, horizontally. Mix the butter, garlic, and parsley together in a small bowl. Spread butter mixture over the the two bread halves. Place on a sturdy baking pan (one that can handle high temperatures, not a cookie sheet) and heat in the oven for 10 minutes.

3 Remove pan from oven. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over bread if you want. Return to oven on the highest rack. Broil on high heat for 2-3 minutes until the edges of the bread begin to toast and the cheese (if you are using cheese) bubbles. Watch very carefully while broiling. The bread can easily go from un-toasted to burnt.

4 Remove from oven, let cool a minute. Remove from pan and make 1-inch thick slices. Serve immediately.

Method 2 - Soft

Preheat oven to 350°F. Make the butter, garlic, parsley mixture as above. Make 1-inch thick slices into the bread, but do not go all the way through, just to the bottom crust. Put a teaspoon or two of the butter mixture between each slice. Wrap the bread in aluminum foil and heat for 15 minutes in the oven.

Manicotti Alla Romana

Here's what I cooked for Monday dinner. This is an Italian pasta dish.


PREP TIME: 1 Hr
COOK TIME: 50 Min
READY IN: 1 Hr 50 Min

Servings for 2

INGREDIENTS

1-3/4 teaspoons olive oil
2 tablespoons and 3/4 teaspoon chopped onion
1-3/4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
5 ounces ground beef
3/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/4 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1/4 (12 ounce) package manicotti shells
1/2 cup and 1 tablespoon ricotta cheese
5/8 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup and 1 tablespoon and 2 teaspoons spaghetti sauce, divided
1-3/4 teaspoons butter
1-3/4 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1-3/4 teaspoons chicken bouillon granules
1/2 cup and 1 tablespoon half-and-half
1 tablespoon and 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
3/4 teaspoon chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons and 3/4 teaspoon grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1.) Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute onions until translucent. Saute garlic for 1 minute and stir in ground beef. Cook until well browned and crumbled. Season with salt and set aside to cool.
2.) Cook spinach according to package directions. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add manicotti shells and parboil for half of the time recommended on the package. Drain and cover with cool water to stop the cooking process and prevent the shells from cracking.
3.) To the ground beef mixture add the cooked spinach and ricotta cheese. When the mixture is cool, add the beaten eggs. Spread 1/4 cup spaghetti sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Gently drain the manicotti shells and carefully stuff each one with the meat and cheese mixture; place shells in prepared dish. Lightly cover the dish with plastic wrap or a clean, damp towel to prevent shells from cracking.
4.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
5.) Prepare the white sauce by melting the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour and chicken bouillon. Increase heat to medium-high and cook, stirring constantly, until it begins to bubble. Stir in half and half and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in parsley. Pour or ladle the sauce evenly over the stuffed shells.
6.) Stir the basil into the remaining spaghetti sauce. Carefully pour or ladle spaghetti sauce over the white sauce, trying to layer the sauces without mixing.
7) Cover and bake for 40 minutes. Remove from oven, uncover and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake, uncovered, for 10 minutes more.


ENJOY!!

Meal Plan This Week

MONDAY: Manicotti Alla Romana
TUESDAY: Ultimate Shrimp Scampi
WEDNESDAY: Bolognese Stuffed Bell Peppers
THURSDAY: Cioppino

Banana Lumpia

Is called 'Turon' in my own language. Yesterday, I asked my husband to buy me 4 ripe bananas because I am going to make 'turon' a day after. And yes I did.

I have:

4 Bananas (Depends with their size, I cut them into 2 or 3 parts and then each part I cut them in half)
Refined Sugar
lukewarm water in a small bowl.
Lumpia Wrapper (I use 'Menlo' Wrapper)


After I already cut all my bananas I set them aside and cut my wrapper.

Because I tried to save some wrapper I cut them in half. Cut them in half to have the triangle size both sides.

Now, I have to wrap my banana.

Put your half banana on the widest end side of your wrapper (the widest end should face towards you). Sprinkle some sugar. Bring one end (the Left and the Right corner of the wrapper) into the middle covering your banana).

Roll the wrapper and wet the end of the wrapper with a little bit of water in order to stick.

Dinner Today

Later this afternoon, I marinated chicken thigh and breast. This is Filipino style marinade with lemon juice, onion, garlic, back pepper and banana ketchup. I refrigerated the marinade chicken for a few hours. After my hubby came home we went down stairs to grill the chicken.

We had a pretty good dinner. We also had rice. I am very stuffed couldn't barely get up on my seat on our dining table.

Now, I am thinking to have some Creme Brule'. Maybe later.

Oyster Bar Happy Hour

We went to La Jolla for dinner today. It's been quite a while that we didn't have any oyster. The last time we had fresh oyster was when we were still in Colorado at the Jaxxs Fish House in downtown Boulder. So, today we decided to have some oyster, we ordered oyster shooter, calamari, steamed clams, crab stuffed mushroom, cheese garlic bread, and tacos. I also tried Cosmopolitan and Watermelon Martini, hubby tried LA Scraper and an Ale Beer. You may think that the food we ordered was too much for two people. Actually not the food are appetizer sizes so it's not really too much for two people.

After dinner we walked around by the beach just sightseeing with the beautiful scenery of La Jolla beach. Later we drove back home and stopped by at the Linen's N Things and CVS to look for the Braun cartridge. Too bad that they don't have one.

Our Dinner today

Because I've been too busy to do anything in the kitchen, hubby and I decided to go to the Filipino restaurant in Mira Mesa, CA. We had our dinner there, I guess because I feel that i don't have that many options in terms of Filipino food nearby where I live. This restaurant is a lot better than the other two I've been just a few blocks away from each other.

Hubby and I both had 2-items combo. I ordered bihon & pinakbet + gulaman drink, hubby ordered longanisa and grilled chicken + royal true orange. I was thinking to order soda too, but I tried to limit my soda as long as I can.

We went to Goldilocks and bought some pastries for Ate Joy and then we stopped by in Seafood City Filipino market to buy MJ her pedicure item, but unluckily they are sold out.

Fresh Lumpia Recipe

A few people was asking me with my Fresh Lumpia Recipe. Sorry it took me a while to give it to you. Anyway, here's the Fresh Lumpia recipe.

If you are too busy to make your own wrapper from scratch you can replace it with spring roll wrapper =)

Wrappers
2 large eggs
1-1/4 cups water
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup flour
1/8 teaspoon salt

About 3 tablespoons cooking oil

Filling
1/2 cup julienned onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast half, thinly sliced
1/4 pound medium raw shrimp, shelled, deveined, and halved
1-1/2 cups finely julienned jicama
1/2 small carrot, finely julienned
2 green onions, finely julienned
2 teaspoons oyster-flavored sauce
1 teaspoon Filipino fish sauce (patis)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

5 tender lettuce leaves

Getting Ready
Prepare wrappers: In a bowl, whisk together eggs, water, cornstarch, flour, and salt until smooth. Strain batter.

Place a nonstick 8-inch omelet pan over medium heat until hot; brush with 1/4 teaspoon oil. Pour 1/4 cup batter into pan; tilt pan so batter covers entire surface. Cook until edge of wrapper is lightly browned and surface looks dry, about 45 seconds. Loosen edge with a spatula, turn wrapper, and cook 10 seconds longer. Turn wrapper out of pan onto a plate. Repeat to use all batter.

Cooking
Prepare filling: Place a wok over high heat until hot. Add 1 tablespoon oil, swirling to coat sides. Add onion and garlic. Stir-fry for 30 seconds. Add chicken and shrimp; stir-fry for 2 minutes. Remove from pan. Heat 1 tablespoon oil. Add jicama and carrot; stir-fry for 1 minute. Add green onions; cook until vegetables are tender crisp, about 2 minutes. Return chicken mixture to pan; add oyster-flavored sauce, fish sauce, and pepper; cook for 1 minute. Cool.

Cut lettuce in half lengthwise. For each lumpia, place a piece of lettuce on wrapper. Spoon about 1/3 cup filling into center of wrapper. Fold bottom third of wrapper over filling, then fold in sides.

Serve with garlic dipping sauce or a mixture of hoisin sauce and soy sauce.

Breakfast Today

I told myself that I have to start to have some breakfast everyday. This is the very most important meal for the whole day, so I have to put something on my stomach.

It was a success that I finally made something for breakfast. You may wonder what it is. I made some fresh juice & vegetables combines together. This is what I came up with, for fruits (plum & white peach), for vegetables (Carrots & Celery) and honey with a hint of Calamansi.

It was very light yet very refreshing.

Our Dinner Today

On the way home from Palomar mountain after our 2-day camping we stop by at Costco to get some gas because we only have I guess less than half-a-gallon in the tank. After the gas station we went inside the store to buy some seafood for dinner. We were so glad that they still have lobster claws available, so we bought about 2 pounds and a bottle of wine. Our dinner was excellent and we were stuffed. Our food was way better than eating out at the restaurant.

Lobster Claw personally broiled by hubby.

Green Salad with Avocado, Apple and Shrimp Salad on the side from Costco.

Here's our dinner with Mamosa and bread.

Mamosa and Bread am trying to stay away from rice so I replace it with bread for now

Salmon In Red Wine

Makes 2 Serving

2 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
2 Salmon Steaks, each weigh about 6 oz.
2/3 cup Red wine such as Chinon or Beaujolais
1 Tbsp Chopped Fresh Tarragon
TT Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper
Garnish Tarragon Sprigs

* Melt half the butter in a skillet, add salmon and cook each side briefly over high heat.

* Reduce heat and cook salmon 3 minutes on each side, until salmon is opaque and flesh flakes easily.

* Remove salmon from pan, cover and keep warm, Stir wine into pan and boil until reduced by half. Dice remaining butter. Remove pan from heat and stir in remaining butter, one piece at a time. Divide sauce among warmed serving plates, place salmon on top, garnish with tarragon sprigs and serve.

Enjoy!!