Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Description:
This is our favorite when we go to Chinese restaurants! Thank you to my friend, Arlene for the recipe! Now, we can do this in our home and enjoy it! Super yummy!!

Ingredients:
lettuce head, separated, washed and dried
olive oil
chopped garlic
chopped onions
500 grams ground chicken
1/4 cup chopped water chestnuts

(I wasn't able to include this but you can if you want)
1 cup comprises of 1 tbsp chopped mushrooms shitake
1 tbsp chopped oyster mushroom
1 tbsp chopped mushrooms

2 tbsp chopped woodear mushrooms (tainga ng daga)
2 tbsp spring onions
1 tbsp coriander (wansoy)

SEASONING
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp rice wine

Directions:
1. Rinse whole lettuce leaves and pat dry, being careful not tear them. Set aside.
2. Mix all seasoning ingredients in a bowl. set aside
3. In a medium skillet, saute garlic and onions in olive oil. Add chicken and cook till brown stirring often and reducing the heat to medium, if necessary. Add water chestnuts, 1 cup mushrooms and woodear mushrooms. Add the seasoning mixture and cook till sauce dries up a little.


TO ASSEMBLE:
Put lettuce in a plate, spoon a portion of the meat into a lettuce leaf, add spring onions and wansoy. Wrap the lettuce around the meat like a BURRITO and ENJOY.

Croquettas

Description:
I bought and boiled too many potatoes for my Shepherd's pie. What to do with about 1/2 kilo of mashed potatoes? Make croquettas, of course! Good thing I had leftover ground meat from our soft tacos dinner the other night and some grated cheese. Perfect!

Ingredients:
1/2 kilo of mashed potatoes (potatoes mashed with butter and milk)
flour
egg
breadcrumbs
any leftover meat (chicken, pork, beef, etc.)
grated cheese

Directions:
1. Mix mashed potatoes with leftover meat and grated cheese.

2. Put mashed potatoes with meats in refrigerator to cool. When cold enough, form into elongated ovals (or round balls, whichever you prefer) and place in a plate. Place in freezer for a few minutes.

3. Heat oil for frying.

4. Coat elongated ovals with flour then dip in beaten egg. Roll in breadcrumbs then deep fry.

5. Serve hot with salsa or any other dip. :-)

Shepherd's Pie

Description:
My kids love mashed potato! Who doesn't? :-) So I thought of doing this dish complete with vegetables to entice them to eat their carrots and peas. It was a huge hit! Raya actually asked if she can have it for
lunch in school the next day. :-)

Ingredients:
1/2 kilo potatoes
butter
milk
salt
1/2 kilo ground beef or pork
garlic and onions for sauteing
salt and pepper
thyme
basil
1/2 pack of frozen vegetables (carrots, corn and peas)

Directions:
1. Peel potatoes and boil in water with salt.

2. While potatoes are boiling, saute onions and garlic in oil in a pan. Put ground meat and stir around until it browns and crumbles. Season with salt and pepper, thyme and basil. Add the frozen vegetables and cook for 5 minutes stirring constantly. Set aside.

3. When potatoes are cooked, mash them and add butter, salt and milk until creamy.

4. Put cooked meat and vegetables in a baking dish. Layer with mashed potato. Bake for about 20 minutes until potatoes are slightly browned on top. :-)

Lifestyle Changes

A few weeks back, Mier wasn't feeling very well. He thought at first that this was because of his perennial sinusitis. A BP check showed his diastolic a little elevated. We decided to just see a cardiologist just to make sure that all is well. The doctor gave him antibiotics for his sinus problems then asked him to take a full blood check. Turns out that he has high blood sugar, high uric acid and triglycerides, high SGPT and SGOT results. In other words, high everything!

Since both his parents are diabetic, Mier could be considered as diabetic already based on the blood results. Well, he is more than 40 already and should really be watching what he eats. He used to play basketball once a week but when he stubbed his toe a few months back, he has stopped playing. The doctor refused to give him maintenance medicines just yet and says that all these results could be lowered by diet and exercise alone. And of course, less stress in life. :-) Doctor says that medicines are the easy way out and are for life. We won't need this if we eat right and play right.

So armed with this knowledge, Mier and I have talked about some lifestyle changes. More fish and chicken breasts on the menu. Whole wheat bread and gluten free foods. The doctor says we can still eat meat twice or thrice a week but less fat and less rice as much as possible. Mier doesn't want to switch to red rice but I think we can manage with white rice. Fruits can be eaten only with a meal and limited too. As much as possible no sweets.

I had to restructure our menu and plan around our diets. I had to think of fish and chicken dishes that are more palatable. I think so far, I've managed quite well. I haven't heard him complain of my cooking although most of the dishes are experimental. Hahaha! You can check a lot of my new recipes in the recipe section of this blog site.

He has tried to continue basketball and soccer too once a week and he tries to jog or brisk walk twice a week. He plans to go back to biking but needs to fix his bike first I think. We'll be checking his blood again in a month's time and hopefully results will be better already. I think we can manage with a change in lifestyle instead of taking in medications.

With these changes, we hope to teach the kids also to eat healthier and better. They have diabetes genes in both sides of the families (my dad is diabetic too) and I had gestational diabetes in 4 out of five pregnancies. I think this is a wake up call for all of us. Here's to a better life! :-)