Day 163: Corned Burger Surprise

Leafing through the pages of a six-year old "Smart Parenting" magazine yielded a great result for my "pambaon" blues with the kids.  It was a Back-to-School and Father's Day issue and one of the features was a set of easy-to-follow recipes for children's snack or lunch in school. 

For a budget-conscious Mom like me, this is a perfect treat to make as it veers away from the more expensive ground beef since it makes use of corned beef instead and has shredded potatoes as extender. 

CORNED BURGER SURPRISE

Patty Mixture:

500 grams corned beef (I used the "por kilo" kind instead of canned)

600 grams potatoes (peeled, shredded and drained of excess liquid)

5 tbsp. onions, minced

5 tbsp. flour

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. sugar

1-2 eggs (try one egg first as it might get too wet/soggy if too much egg is used)

cream cheese or ordinary processed cheese, sliced

for Sandwich assembly:

1-2 tbsp. canola oil for frying

burger buns

lettuce

tomatoes

mayonnaise or your choice of dressing

Mix together all patty ingredients until well incorporated. If mixture turns out too soggy, drain excess liquid on strainer before forming into patties.

Get a spoonful of mixture on the palm of your hand. Place a small piece of cheese in the center then add another spoonful of the mixture to hide the cheese and form into a patty.

Fry patties in hot oil. Drain on paper towels. Assemble on buns and serve.

Day 144: Local Razor Clams / "Tudlo Dato" (Rich Man's Fingers)

I was doing the rounds of the Banawa market this morning when I spotted a tray full of local razor clams ("Tudlo Dato" in Visayan lingo). At P100/kilo, I thought it was already a steal. And so with a kilo of these fresh live shellfish at hand, I started to salivate about what's for lunch today.

Just a simple stir fry of these babies turned out to be a sweet and succulent dish that's both hearty and exotic.

Razor Clam Stir Fry

1 kg razor clams / "tudlo dato", rinsed well

5 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 medium onion, sliced

2 pcs. thumb-sized ginger, sliced

5-6 pcs. medium-sized tomatoes, sliced in wedges

2 tbsp. canola oil 

salt and pepper to taste

In a stir fry pan, heat up some oil and fry the aromatics. Once the onions turn translucent, stir in the clams. Season with salt and pepper. Adjust heat to medium and cover the pan. Turn off the heat after 10 minutes. Serve piping hot with rice.

Day 92: Freshly Boiled

After many months of culinary hiatus, I found myself spending more time in the kitchen in just a span of 3 days. I realized that cooking is certainly just like riding a bike, once you learn how to do it, you have it for life.


I was like a kid let loose in a candy store when I discovered a nearby weekend market along an alley. Fresh produce - fruits and vegetables, live native chicken and eggs, and a whole lot of other good stuff were so enticing to see (watch out for my blog entry on this weekend market). 


I only had a few pesos stashed in my pocket, thinking that I was only planning to buy ingredients for a couple of vegetable dishes - Squash and String Beans in Coconut Milk (Guinataang Kalabasa at Sitaw) and Chop Suey.  Those farm fresh native eggs were so tempting that I couldn't help but want to buy a couple or so. However, my daughter spotted a vendor selling freshly harvested peanuts and dragged me to the stall and insisted I buy some. And so, the moolah I was supposedly saving to buy the eggs went to the peanuts...


My little girl was a happy camper on the way home...

Day 91: Weekend Market

The weekend market along the corner of Ramos Extension and Escario Streets.
It begins every Friday afternoon until Sunday afternoon.

Barely on my second day after our move from BXU, I started to miss home terribly...the familiar places, the traffic-free roads, the corner stores and outlets where I buy our needs, and all the other stuff I'm used to there.  Well, my spirits got an uplift when I was told of this weekend market nearby (across the road from where we live actually) that's teeming with fresh produce - fruits, vegetables, live chicken, farm fresh eggs. 

After learning about it, I couldn't contain my excitement and actually rushed to the location with my two girls in tow. It was indeed a sight to behold! Just looking at the cornucopia of goodies made my fingers itch to once again experiment in the kitchen. 

The only downside to this neighborly trip is the price...I was taken aback at how expensive it is here. Well, if I got the stuff in the supermarket, surely it'll be more pricey so this was the best alternative. Gosh!!! I so miss the "bagsak-presyo" produce of Butuan!!! Imagine, here, the bananas are priced per piece and not per kilo. There goes my kids' favorite fruit...we'd probably consume dramatically less here than we did back home...

With my small eco bag filled with as much as my budget would allow, I set for home, quickly planning in my head the cooking trip I'll have this weekend...dum dee dum...

Day 64: Burger Madness

The photos say it all!!!  My litle CeeJae loves her burger...and she doesn't care much for the brand...be it Jollibee, McDonald's or the neighborhood "buy 1 take 1" deal (as shown here).  Give her a burger and she'll devour it...

Day 51: Spaghetti Sunday

My three kids are typical youngsters who love Pinoy-style spaghetti. It's no wonder that it's on top of their minds whenever we pass by the towering signages of either Jollibee or McDonald's.  However, ever since discovering that a typical meal at any of these two outlets would cost our brood of five at least P350, we've tried to lessen, if not eliminate, going there for meals.

The last time the kids were treated to their fave spaghetti was over the Christmas holidays in Cebu. I knew they'd love a spaghetti weekend so I tried to fit the meal budget so that I can prepare their favorite. Looking for frugal means to still enjoy a childhood favorite, I discovered that using certain ingredients could still make a mean spaghetti without being too expensive. Instead of ground beef, I use CDO corned beef that's being sold per kg at the grocery. By substituting such, I can still afford to add mushrooms and hotdogs to the recipe. As for the hotdogs, I use the secondary hotdog line of a famous brand - in this instance, instead of the CDO premium Bibbo brand, I use their Idol brand. The kids would barely notice the difference since it's mixed in the sauce anyway. With a budget of P260.00, I was able to make enough spaghetti that stretched to three meals. The first two meals were with pasta and the third one was with rice already as the pasta ran out. Not bad eh?

As you can see, the kids had bulging bellies after eating and it was "clean plate" all the way!

Day 30: So you wanna be a chef eh?

"I want to do that, Mom" were the six words I heard my only son speak when he saw the very first episode of Junior MasterChef Australia.  Then he kept repeating, "I want to be a junior MasterChef too, Mom." 

So how does a Mom react to that? Well, my son has always been fascinated with food, at least eating it. I never considered him being interested in cooking although I've noticed he'd always ask things whenever he finds me doing something in the kitchen.

I thought it was wonderful that he's beginning to take interest in cooking so I told him that if he really wanted to be MasterChef, he needed to learn one of the most basic cooking skills - boiling rice. He pretty much did a great job the first time that he's gotten used to cooking the rice for dinner and weekends now. 

A few days ago, I found out that there's actually auditions going around for the Pinoy edition of Junior MasterChef and I thought that maybe under my tutelage, I can get Jarred ready to actually join the contest in the next year or so. Who knows? Maybe my son is destined to be a chef...not bad eh?

Day 5: I Love Papaya!!!

Due to the incessant rains today, afternoon classes were suspended so I had to fetch Jarred from school at midday.

Upon arriving home, he checked out the fridge for something he could snack on and he discovered the papaya slices that were chilling inside. He quickly took a spoon and started to munch on this pretty healthy snack.

I told him that papaya is a rich source of Vitamin A which is good for the eyes and that made him even more excited to finish the plateful of fruit in front of him.

Day 4: A Reunion of Sorts

When hubby and I were still dating, there was a hole-in-the-wall batchoy place that we would frequent in the Capitol area in Cebu. It was called Carlo's Batchoy. It was just an open-air outlet where people from all walks of life would frequent to get their fix of hot, steaming batchoy. 

Shortly after arriving in Cebu for the holidays, I wandered off to the place where I knew Carlo's was located and was surprised to find out it wasn't there anymore. It took two more days of leisurely walking along the Capitol-Fuente area to discover where this batchoyan eventually moved to. Well, it underwent a face-lift and is now an air-conditioned place located at the row of stalls called "Boulevard". The price of a bowl of special batchoy with egg didn't change from years ago...what changed though is the serving size and the amount of "goodies" in every bowl. 

This short rendezvous at an old familiar place also gave us the opportunity to bond as a family even for just a brief moment. There was laughter, loud exchanges of everyday experiences - from the funny issues at work to mundane ones like taxi escapades. On our way home, we couldn't pass up not having some shots of the Cebu Capitol building at night. Passersby and motorists probably thought we were some crazy bunch roaming the streets but they didn't know we were a family finally having a long-awaited reunion.

Day 305: What happens at midnight

Knowing that my brood are nuttyholics (including hubby), I always keep a stash of cracker nuts for those weekend midnight snack bonding moments. Aside from nuts, the entire family also enjoys snacking on "cornicks". It's a good thing these stuff are cheap compared to the usual chichirya fare available in the market. Want some?

Day 303: A Faerie Princess Birthday

Before celebrating Halloween, All Saints' and All Souls' Day, a very special day is remembered in the family. The big princess of the house, CAITLIN ALYSSA turned 4 years old today. To make her day truly memorable, I let her wear her fairy wings, wand and tiara during lunch. She sure looked so beautiful in her faerie costume. 

The family enjoyed a buffet lunch at Mom's Finest Buffet where the fare included bam-i, crispy chicken, braised spareribs, four seasons vegetables, pork sarciado and fancy dessert choices. After a brief afternoon nap, the kids had fun swimming at Almont Inland Resort. Beaming with happiness, Cailie didn't expect to receive a gift upon arriving home and she was all smiles when she discovered her birthday loot - Dora belt, two Hello Kitty ponytail holders and a pair of Hello Kitty shoelaces. She was doubly happy to know that Kuya Jarred purchased part of her gift using his savings.

It was simple and yet for my Cailie it meant the world...Happy Birthday sweetie!!! We love you!

Day 297: Going Chinese

There aren't many dining places in Butuan so whenever a new one opens up, we make it a point to try it out to see if it's any good or not.

A couple of years back, the owners of the CARAGA-original Rose Bakeshop tried their hand at fine dining with their duo-resto, Rosario's and Rosario's Grill. We were actually impressed the first time we dined at Rosario's since we were treated to authentic Hong Kong-style cooking. I remember ordering the Fish Lip Soup and Beef Brisket with Taro Hotpot and they were both marvelous and truly didn't disappoint.

The only drawback with their fine dining restaurant is the price...but what can you expect from a fine dining place, right? Well, maybe the owners got wind of this reaction from the market and tried to brew up something more affordable for the wider mid and low income brackets. 

A couple of months back, they opened Dim Sum House, a lower-end version of their popular Rosario's sans the high-end price. It was definitely a good alternative to the more popular Chowking and give it a few years, I can see Dim Sum House giving it and other well-known Chinese fastfood chains a run for their money. This new place specializes on rice toppings and quick dimsum items. Surprisingly, it also has a decent smoothie and dessert spread. But what about price? Well, it was a wonderful surprise that their food items were very affordable...in fact, I thought they were on the cheap side when I saw the size of their servings. For taste and price, Dim Sum House is definitely two thumbs up!

Day 256: Yummy Tater Treat

We love potatoes - in whatever shape, form or style. French fried, mashed, cubed or diced in a dish or simply made into crispy chips. Little CeeJae attacked this heaping plate of thin and crisp taters with gusto, savoring each crunchy and delicious bite. 

Day 243: Culinary Prize

Guess what was delivered to my doorstep today? The cookbook from Unilever Foodsolutions which I won at an online contest finally arrived! A few weeks ago, I "liked" a fan page on FB and learned a lot more about cooking. At the time, there was an online contest regarding "Your Adobo Story". I decided to submit my entry on Adobong Pusit and a week later, I received a message announcing that I won a copy of "Around the World in 80 Plates". Thanks to my good friend, Caren for hooking me up to So Pinoy Dishes in Facebook. It has truly inspired me to keep on exploring and discovering the culinary artist in me. 

Day 241: BCBP-Butuan's 14th Anniversary

Despite a hectic week, the Lord has blessed hubby and I with the time and opportunity to help out with the preparations for the 14th anniversary of our BCBP community in Butuan. It was an out-of-town celebration and details on food, the mass and program had to be planned and laid out well.

All in all, everyone had their spirits renewed with the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, their tummies filled with scrumptious food and their bodies and minds juggled a bit during the fun games.

It was a wonderful event for brothers and sisters in the community to bond with each other and their families. We look forward to many more of these in the future.

Day 240: A Taste of Heaven

The boxes of Oreo cookies and Pancake batter mix have been sitting on the pantry shelf for a couple of weeks now since I first planned to make a sweet surprise for the family. Knowing how my son, Jarred loves Oreo cookies, it took great effort on his part to resist popping open the box and devouring the goodies all at once. He and his siblings kept on asking when I'll finally make the "goodies". Well, after a tiring week of school activities, I finally had the time to make good my promise to the little ones and my big one. 

This recipe has done its rounds over Facebook for sometime and I was curious to find out if it was really as good as people have been commenting about it...

OREO SURPRISE

1 box Oreo cookies (2 packets)

1 pack instant pancake mix

1/4 cup water or milk

1 1/2 cups canola oil (for deep frying)

Preheat pan then add oil for frying. Prepare pancake batter according to package instructions. For creamier batter, use milk instead of water. Dip each cookie in the batter and when fully coated, drop each one slowly onto the hot oil. Flip when lightly browned on one side and brown the other side. Lift from hot oil right away to prevent burning. Cool for a while. Enjoy while warm.

So, was it a taste of heaven? Well, hubby and I enjoyed it. The first bite was the best one...with the soft dough breaking to let the sweet richness of the melted Oreo explode inside the mouth. One or two morsels would be enough as it was too rich to enjoy too much of. Well, for the kids, I guess having their Oreos and pancakes separately was still a much better idea for them.

Day 229: Golden Kernels

As I was exiting the school gate with my son today, these golden orbs attracted my eye. A local vendor with his "kariton" was busy arranging his fare when my three kiddos cajoled me into buying some for their afternoon snack. Well, gullible me gave in to the temptation as well, not being able to resist the smell of freshly boiled corn on the cob.

Well, I wasn't able to capture a photo of the remnants of our corn snack but suffice to say, even 1-year old CeeJae had a hey day snacking on these golden kernels.

Day 224: Hunger Aftermath

This was what our table looked like after a hunger storm...

You can guess how much we enjoyed that bowl of steaming hot Bulalo...

Day 220: Jollibee Kids Party

Many years ago, when my firstborn Jarred Andrei was still a toddler and we were still living down south in GenSan, he celebrated two of his birthdays (2nd & 3rd) with Jollibee Kids parties. Those two occasions were birthday packages won from promos of the popular EQ Dry diapers. Today, we were invited to the 5th birthday of Mariella, the eldest daughter of our ka-Bro and Sis in BCBP, Jeff and Manette Dellosa, celebrating it with the ever-popular Jollibee Kids party.

It was indeed deja vu time as I recalled the similar games and songs played during the party. Not to be missed of course is the special appearance and participation of the great bee himself - JOLLIBEE!!!

All three of my kids had a blast with the games, dance numbers and yummy food. Thanks for inviting us, Dellosa family!

Day 217: Truly Pinoy

Ask any Pinoy abroad what food they miss most from home and I'm sure Jollibee would be on their top 5 list. A brainchild of the Caktiong family of Davao, it began as a small Magnolia Ice Cream House in Cubao, Quezon City originally named JollyEgg. Over the years, the business evolved into a hamburger/fries fast food outlet and eventually changed its name to the ever famous JOLLIBEE. 

The unique Filipino flavor in their food offerings is probably one of the main reasons why its such a hit for us Pinoys. Nowadays, the famous bee mascot is a familiar landmark anywhere in the country and is even making its presence felt at key cities in Asia and North America.

My own kids have developed a love affair with Jollibee - having the Yum Burger, Jolly Spaghetti and Crispy Fries as their top favorites. Of course, it doesn't hurt that most outlets have a play area where they can spend hours of wonderful playtime.

What's your favorite Jollibee food item?