Menu for the Week 006: Stuffed Mushrooms and Calamari with Marinara Sauce

This week, I was craving for Stuffed Mushrooms and Calamari with Brocolli and Red Pepper served with Marinara sauce from Red Lobster.

I really don't like Red Lobster and the dishes that I mentioned above are the only reasons why I visit Red Lobster. Oh and their Pina Colada of course. I'm sorry to say this but I am not a fan of Red Lobster.

I remember when I moved here in 2005, Mr. L took me there for my birthday because he thought that I would enjoy it since I love eating seafood. But since honesty is the best policy, I immediately told Mr. L that Red Lobster is not my cup of tea...as far as seafood department was concerned. Their food just tasted bland, a little bit stuffing, the serving was humongous to my dismay of course and I felt you can get something so much better for the amount of money that you spend at Red Lobster.

Here's a picture that Mr. L took on my birthday lunch at Red Lobster in 2005. Omg, I look so much skinnier and fair skinned here. Excuse the hair of course and the earrings and lack of make-up lol.

I really only go to Red Lobster when my former co-workers, family and friends invite me to go. I'm very easy and flexible when I'm dining out with other people other than Mr. L that's why I don't let anyone know I don't like Red Lobster lol and I always order appetizers and a Pina Colada (if I'm  not driving that is lol) if ever I go.

So, yesterday I decided to make Stuffed Mushrooms and Calamari, Brocolli and Red Pepper with Marinara Sauce just like how they make it at Red Lobster served with a glass of white wine since Mr. L and I didn't have Pina Colada at home. It was very delicious. Mr. L really loved it. We just have to make less though next time because we have a lot lol. At last, we don't have to visit Red Lobster anymore now I only have to learn how to make Pina Colada to truly re-create the whole Red Lobster experience lol.

Mushrooms in packs:


Stuffed Mushrooms before baking them (I kept putting a lot of olive oil but the mushrooms just kept on absorbing the oil so I kept putting more now I know not to put a lot because when they're cooked all of the oil will be secreted out of the mushrooms. I know better now lol):


Cooked Stuffed Mushrooms (with all of the olive oil secreted already lol. We served them with Horseradish Sauce just like how they serve it at Red Lobster):


Red Pepper and Brocolli before prepping them:


Calamari with Brocolli and Red Pepper with Marinara Sauce (the sauce was store bought lol):

Menu for the Week 005: Sweet Potato Soup, Chicken Francese & Pasta

Last week, I didn't cook at all because we had a lot of leftovers from thanksgiving. Guess what?  We still have more. Well, not that much. We still have some turkey, mashed potatoes, one last serving of lasagna, mac'n cheese, apple pie and pumpkin cheesecake. Thank God for thanksgiving leftovers :)

So i decided to cook a few things just to add some variety because Mr. L and I are pretty much getting sick of eating the same food over and over again :).

We still had some uncooked sweet potatoes left from thanksgiving day...


so I decided to make Sweet Potato Soup with fresh thyme and basil:


Some of the fresh herbs that I used today: rosemary, thyme and parsley. I didn't get to take a picture of the basil...I already chopped them up :) Our kitchen smelled so good...



And since we still have a lot of chicken tenders that we got on sale for $3.44 for 1.38 lbs. from last month I decided to make Chicken Francese:

This was my first time to try this recipe. It tasted a little bit different from the ones that we order when we eat out but it still tasted delicious. I definitely need to add more lemon juice and butter to the sauce the next time I make this dish.

I also made some pasta to go with the chicken:


Mr. L and I enjoyed this delicious meal while watching Dexter :) We also had a bottle of white to go with it.

Mr. L and I have been very good in making sure that we weren't wasting food. Well done, Mr. L!

Have a good week everyone!

Menu for the Week 004: Chicken Parmigiana & Pasta

Two Sundays ago I made Chicken Parmigiana and Pasta.

Chicken Parmigiana before baking it:


Chicken Parmigiana:


Pasta made from the excess sauce from the Chicken Parm:


It came out very good. The sauce was very light and wasn't heavy at all. Mr. L always cooks the noodles because I always get worried that I might make it mushy. It came out perfect compared to the ones that he made in the past. It was perfectly al dente :) Thanks Mr. L!

I finally know how to make Chicken Parm. This is one of the dishes that Mr. L enjoys when we visit his family. He really loved the one that I made. It's a different recipe from his family but we love it! This will be one of the dishes that we will constantly cook in our home.

Next step is perfecting Eggplant Parmigiana or Eggplant Rollitini because the one that I made in the past didn't come out perfect :) I will keep you posted when I make it.

Today, I'm making Chicken Francese with Pasta and Sweet Potato Soup.

Menu for the Week 003: Lechon Kawal with Mang Tomas Lechon Sauce

Yesterday, Sunday, I made Lechon Kawali (Pan-Roasted Pork) with Mang Tomas Lechon Sauce for our lunch.

A couple of weeks back we went food shopping at one of the Asian groceries that we used to go to in Little Ferry, NJ, called the HMart (which stands for Hanahreum = Han-Ah-Reum). They sell a lot of Asian goodies ranging from Chinese, Japanese, Filipino and a lot Korean goodies, etc.

(Note: Image was taken from HMart's website)

Their produce section is unbelievable they have a wide selection of vegetables and fruits specifically of Asian vegetables that you hardly see in regular groceries like Shop Rite or Stop N' Shop. They are also very affordable and you don't necessarily have to buy them in bulk which is one of the few things that I find annoying at some of the regular groceries.  Regular groceries usually sell produce in bulk and on sale and some of them are really not good anymore and sometimes its just too much to get for both Mr. L and I. Being that I am Filipino I prefer buying things "tingi-tingi" or "bit by bit" or in smaller quantities to make sure that everything that I prepare is fresh and doesn't go bad right away because I hate wasting food. Although buying in bulk is cheaper and is a norm for Americans, I prefer buying produce in smaller quantities only because I'm only preparing food for Mr. L and myself. Now buying in bulk for meat that are on sale is another story and I'm all for that lol.

(Note: Filipinos are known for buying items in "tingi-tingi" translation "bit by bit" or  "smaller quantities" like buying shampoo, conditioner and toothpaste, etc. in sachet form to make it more affordable and convenient for the less fortunate to get their basic necessities. So selling items in sachet form is really big in terms of marketing goods in the Philippines.)

Also, HMart has a lot of seafood selection like crabs and shrimps (take note that the shrimps shells and heads are still intact lol), etc. They also have a lot of Korean meat for Korean barbecues. They sell a lot of stuff but you just have to be vigilant to identify which meats are cheaper here vs. regular groceries but more often than not meat and seafood are definitely cheaper at HMart vs. regular groceries.

And so I saw some pork liempo, which I was going to use as a sahog for the pancit that I prepared on my birthday but they didn't sell them in a really really smaller quantity (lol) so I decided that I'll use most of them to make Lechon Kawali. The liempo though was thinly sliced so it kind of looked like thick bacon strips but it's all good because I think I got the whole thing for $5 which is very good.

So I decided to simmer the pork in a pot with water, salt and pepper and I added some garlic too because we have a lot of garlic and I wanted to use some of it before they go bad. After simmering it, I laid it on a cookie sheet wrapped with foil so I can bake it. One of my friends and college classmate, Sue Anne, recommeded that I bake my lechon kawali which I did. It's so much easier to do it that way.

After they were done baking, I chopped them off in pieces. Here's the result:


Mr. L and I enjoyed it with white rice, some veggies and Mang Tomas Lechon Sauce (which is a must condiment for every Filipino household it goes well with everything: chicken, beef and pork, etc). It tastes so good yet it so bad for your health lol. This was definitely a perfect Sunday lunch.

Menu for the Week 002

It was my birthday this week so I made a lot of food. It's been a little bit hectic for me but it's all good it's better to be busy than to do nothing at all and watch the days go by...
Here's our menu for the week:
Steamed Shrimps:


Adobong Alimango (Stewed Crabs):


It's my birthday week so I made a few dishes that are my favorites and reminded me of dishes that my mom prepared at home. So I steamed some shrimps and prepared Adobong Alimango. It's been ages since I had these dishes. Mr. L doesn't eat either of these dishes so I only got a few shrimps and crabs since I know that these dishes will all be for my personal consumption. Anyway, yay! The crabs weren't as big though as the ones that are sold in Manila. They were really tiny but oh so good. This was my first time to prepare both dishes. Oh my what a treat! Truly worth it. When Mr. L went away for a night this week for a business trip I even ate my shrimps with bagoong but I made sure that I opened all the windows and left the vent in the kitchen open and lit a lot of scented candles to make sure I didn't stink up our house and to ensure that I don't hear any complaints from our neighbors lol. At syempre nagkamay ako (I ate with my bare hands)! Mr. L was laughing on my birthday night as I was devouring my shrimps and crabs! It was almost like he was watching a savage eat lol!

I also prepared pork ribs since the ribs were on sale a couple of weeks back at Shop Rite (2 racks of ribs for $10). So I halved it and made these...
Korean Barbecued Spare Ribs:

This has been our favorite. I usually make this when we have ribs.
Spare Ribs with Black Beans:

This was our first time to try this recipe. I think we were suppose to use Chinese Salted Black Beans for this but we couldn't find one so we decided to use regular black beans. It still tasted good though. It would've probably tasted better if we had used those Chinese Salted Black Beans.

I also made Chinese Vegetables with Mushrooms and Oyster Sauce:


And of course I made Pancit Canton:

It has always been a Filipino tradition to serve noodles (any kind of noodles like spaghetti or vermicelli) on your birthday to symbolize long life. And you always have to make sure that you don't cut or half the noodles since it characterizes the length of your life. I know it all sounds too funny but I believe it anyway. I have nothing to lose if I don't :)

Menu for the Week 001

Here's our menu for the week. This is what I made this weekend for our meals: dinners and packed lunches.

Hot Italian Sausage and Peppers


White Sauce Pasta with Chicken and Ham


Sausage Pasta


We've made tons of these so hopefully this will last us the whole week if not longer lol. I made these dishes since sausages and chicken breasts were on sale a couple of weeks back at Shop Rite. We've been trying to purchase meats that are on sale and work our menu around those meat. We've also been veering away from popular brands for some of our canned goods and cleaning products and searching generic brands like Shop Rite brands since they are way more cheaper. We've been seriously trying to figure out ways to strech our dollar : ) It's all good : ) Anything to save a buck here and there. With this stinky economy, you really have to nickle and dime your way and we all have to be a frugalista to survive this economy. A dollar goes a long way, honey! Yeah!

Easter Sunday Treats

Here's another round of long overdue photos of treats that I made for Easter Sunday 2009 to bring to my in-laws down the shore...

food for the gods:


sugar cookies:




white chocolate biggies and sugar cookies:


Hay, I used to always tell my mom and Mr. L that I think I would end up dying of diabetes...because I love eating sweets.  I don't think I have a sweet tooth, I think I have a set of sweet teeth. :) lol

Fantasy Football Draft Cupcakes

Last weekend I made mini-Yellow Buttermilk Cupcakes with Fluffy Vanilla Frosting (in yellow, green and light blue) for Mr. L's Fantasy Football Draft...


Here are the cupcakes right before I placed them inside the oven


Cupcakes after taking them out of the oven


Cupcakes in my stackable cooling rack


Cupcakes in yellow fluffy vanilla frosting. I used my new Wilton Dessert Decorator Pro to make the icings.


Cupcakes in green fluffy vanilla frosting. I used my new Wilton Dessert Decorator Pro to make the icings.


Cupcakes in super light blue fluffy vanilla frosting. I used my new Wilton Dessert Decorator Pro to make the icings.


They were delish. I'm glad Mr. L and his friends enjoyed the cupcakes :)