Chili con Carne

Description:
Mier bought a recipe magazine with Chili con Carne on the cover. Definitely a great picture to make me salivate and crave for some. Good thing I had some red beans stashed here and had all the ingredients ready for cooking. We invited my sister, Mabel, and her husband, Mackie, over to share it with us. Yum! AND lots of leftover afterwards too.

Ingredients:
1 pack red beans soaked overnight
1/2 k ground beef
garlic
onions
1 small pack tomato paste
1 pack tomato sauce
cumin powder
chili powder
dried oregano
salt
pepper
grated cheese
strips of lettuce
crushed taco shells

Directions:
1. Make sure that red beans are soaked overnight and soft before cooking.
2. Saute garlic and onions in hot oil.
3. Add ground beef and season with a little patis (or salt but I find patis tastier). Simmer until beef is brown all over. Stir to make sure that beef does not clump together.
4. Place red beans in a slow cooker. Add the cooked ground beef, tomato paste, tomato sauce, cumin powder, chili powder, dried oregano and season with salt and pepper. Mix it thoroughly and place in high.
5. Cook until beans are tender. You can add water if you want a thinner consistency.
6. Place on a bowl and garnish with grated cheese, strips of lettuce and crushed taco shells.

After her Nap

So nice to wake up with her smiling face right beside me. She let me take her photos and is such a willing subject. My darling Alyssa is not a baby anymore. She is a sweet and smart girl soon to be a big sister. :D

Chef Pala!

Two year old Alyssa says to our Yaya Annie: "Annie, you are a good SHET!"

Me: "Huh? What do you mean, Alyssa?"

Alyssa: "Annie can cook well."

Ahhh.... Alyssa meant CHEF! Hehehe!

Eggplant Parmagiana

Description:
Here's one of Mier and my favorite dishes at home. Usually I boil the eggplants but this time, I tried roasting them in the turbo broiler and they turned out just fine. :D

Ingredients:
5 eggplants
1/2 kilo of ground pork
3 cloves garlic
1 med onion
tomatoes
tomato sauce
salt
pepper
thyme
basil
2 packs tomato sauce
Parmesan cheese
grated cheese
Mozzarela or quick melt cheese

Directions:
Eggplant:
1. Place eggplants in turbo broiler and broil for 30 minutes at 150C.
2. Remove eggplant from turbo and remove skin.
3. Slice eggplants into strips depending on the size you want.

Meat Sauce:
1. Saute tomatoes til soft. Add garlic and onions.
2. Add meat. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle dried thyme and basil leaves. Cook meat til brown. Simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Add tomato sauce and let simmer for another 10 minutes.

Assembly:
1. Layer a baking dish with eggplant slices.
2. Add meat sauce.
3. Add grated cheese (I had some grated quezo de bola which I added)
4. Repeat eggplant and meat sauce
5. Top again with grated cheese, lots of parmesan and mozzarela.
6. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until cheeses melt on top.
7. Serve with bread.

Fish Steak ala Pobre

Description:
Found these fish (Laya) in the grocery that looked good to eat. I thought of making Fish Tinola but found out too late that I forgot to buy vegetables (pechay) for the soupy dish. I decided to just marinate it and fry it instead. Turned out quite well! Raya loved it and even had seconds that evening. On leftover day (a few days after), the three girls had it again and it actually tasted yummier. :D

Ingredients:
1/4 cup calamansi juice
soy sauce
worcestershire sauce
knorr seasoning
garlic (minced)
butter
olive oil

Directions:
1. Marinate the fish with calamansi juice, little soy sauce, some worcestershire sauce and knorr seasoning.
2. When time to cook the fish, heat butter and olive oil in pan.
3. Fry the garlic until brown. This is tricky. When the garlic turns a little brown already, start removing them or you might burn the garlic.
4. In the same pan, fry the fish being careful not to overcook. About 2-3 minutes per side only. Remove from pan.
5. Place marinade in pan and let boil for a minute or two. Pour sauce over the fish and sprinkle garlic on top.
6. Serve hot!

Model in the Making

Alyssa was dressed up and all ready to go when she started posing. She loved her outfit, little fashionista that she is. Couldn't resist taking these photos of her. She's so adorable!

Playing in the rain on Father's Day

We had a full day during Father's day. Our ever reliable yaya asked for a day off because it was her birthday the day before. How could we say no when she seldom even goes out? So it was really truly a family day for us. We started off with breakfast at McDonald's. We would have gone to some place fancier but the kids were hungry (I think Mier was too) and McDo was an instant food supplier.

After breakfast, I wanted to buy some stuff at Gaisano City (Speedo cycling shorts for only P50! And some Girl Scout paraphernalia for Raya) so off we trooped to our favorite bargain mall. Mier found some Lego plates which he has been looking for and a big Lego ship all at a bargain. He also got the girls those new Toy Story 3 toys, which the girls were so thrilled about.

Then off we went to my parent's place for lunch. We ordered a leg of lechon baka and potato salad for a yummy lunch with everyone. We were just sooo full! Sorry, no pictures for that scrumptious meal. Hahaha!

When we got home, it suddenly poured! Mier asked the girls if they wanted to play in the rain and they were just really enthusiastic. It was a good day to spend with family. I think Mier enjoyed it just as well.