Stir Fried Ramen

(almost done stir fried ramen - just before I tossed the noodles together with the
fresh celery and spring onions picked straight from my garden)

I got hooked on cooking ramen the past few days. Who wouldn't be if you have ten packs of this fresh Japanese Ramen from Colon, Cebu City?

Ingredients:

250 gm pack of Japanese Ramen
your choice of meat/seafoods and other what have yous
garlic, onion, red bell pepper
sayote, carrots, sweet green peas (or any vegetables you like/available)
celery and spring onions
canola oil, soy sauce, salt, ground pepper

Instructions:

• Place the ramen/noodles in a bowl with hot water for a minute or two. Drain. Set aside.
• In a wok, heat canola oil, then saute the garlic, onion and red bell pepper.
• Put the meat/seafood and cook it thoroughly in a little amount of water.
• Add in the sayote, carrots and sweet green peas. Cover the wok for 2 minutes.
• Season with a little soy sauce, salt and ground pepper.
• Add the drained noodles and toss gently. Heat through.
• Lastly, add in the celery and spring onions and again, toss lightly.

It's done and is now ready for serving.

Enjoy!

Sweet and Sour Meatballs for Jasmine

This is my baby Jasmine's favorite!

This is a main dish made from ground pork shaped into balls and smothered in sweet and sour sauce.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 kilo ground pork
  
• 1/4 carrots, chopped
• 1 egg beaten
• 1 small onion finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 2 tsp. sesame oil
  
• a dash of salt and ground pepper
• vegetable oil for frying
  

For sauce:

• 1 carrot (cut into your desired shapes)
  
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 2 tbsp. ketchup
• 1/8 cup organic vinegar
  
• 1 tbsp. flour dissolved in 3 tbsp. water
• 1 onion chopped
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• salt and pepper to taste
• vegetable oil for sauteing
  

Cooking Instructions

For the meatballs:

Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl. Season with salt and pepper according to taste. Make round shaped 1 inch size balls. Fry meatballs in hot vegetable oil until brown and drain the excess oil using paper towels. Set aside on a platter.

For the sauce:

Saute garlic and onion in the pan; pour in water, vinegar, sugar and ketchup. Bring to a boil. Place in carrots. Season with salt and pepper. Stir and simmer carrots until tender. Add flour and stir for few minutes until sauce thickens. Turn off heat.

Pour the sauce over meatballs on a platter.

Best served with steaming white rice.

Enjoy yummy Sweet and Sour Meatballs!

note: ground beef is a good substitute for pork

Sam's 9th

It was my Samantha's 9th birthday last Saturday. Being the first among the six kids to celebrate natal day for this year and being her first celebration inside our new home - I made it a point to make her birthday bash somewhat memorable.

With her sisters and dear cousins around - they had fun decorating her choco moist birthday cake with colorful Nips chocolate candies.

We also had spaghetti with red and white sauce apart from the tuna kinilaw, pancit guisado and native chicken tinola. A big hit for the kiddie guests was the stir fried chicken hotdogs.

For the dessert, we had chicken macaroni salad with lettuce and fresh tomato bits.

banana cupcakes baked by my best friend, Presy

Aside from the birthday cake and cupcakes, my friend also made this stromboli (Italian bread) for Sam. She personally prepared the dough, spiced it with some herbs mixed with lots of cheese. The dip was also courtesy of Presy. My kids and their cousins had an enjoyable time in frying and preparing the star of the party - the Stromboli!

Sunday Meal

I love weekends because they mean a lot of time for me to prepare special recipes for my family. Just like last Sunday, I was able to serve these simple but special seafood recipes at lunchtime.

tuna kinilaw

Our home, General Santos City, is best known for tuna aside from being Manny Pacquiao's hometown. The cut I used in making this kinilaw is intended for sashimi but since I have no kikkoman and wasabi available in my cupboard it ended up as kinilaw (raw fish seasoned with vinegar, salt, ginger, onions, cucumber, radish, lemon and chilis).

shrimps with green pechay

My kids and I loved this recipe most. Organically grown pechay from a friend's backyard seemed to be the most perfect pair for fresh shrimps. Sauteed the shrimps and green leafy veggie in garlic, onion and tomatoes and seasoned with Thai fish sauce - very easy to prepare piece.

ripe lacatan for dessert

We all know that banana is a good source of potassium and Vitamin C. Having it as dessert completes our weekend lunch as family.