Chicken breasts are mostly what Mark's diet consists of. Whenever he's at the military camp, he usually eats boiled (or sometimes steamed) chicken breasts without even a pinch of salt or pepper. I can just imagine how sad his meal times are. So whenever he comes home on weekends, I make sure that he gets to enjoy what he eats without having to compromise his healthy growing body. :p

I've cooked grilled chicken for him several times already and I prepared Chicken Broccoli for him just recently, so those were definitely out of my list. I remember him requesting me to cook something with tomatoes and  so Chicken Cacciatore was what topped my head.

Cacciatore means "hunter" in Italian. In cuisine, it refers to a meal prepared "hunter-style" with tomatoes, onions, and herbs, and is popularly made with braised chicken. Chicken Cacciatore is a dish in itself, but it may also be paired with pasta or even with rice. Fancy and complicated as it may seem, Chicken Cacciatore is very easy to make. Let me share with you guys my version. :)

Chicken Cacciatore over Whole Wheat Fusilli

Ingredients:

2 450g-packs boneless skinless chicken breast halves

8 pcs medium-sized ripe tomatoes, cut into cubes

2 tbsp ground black pepper (for sauce) and another 1 tsp (for chicken) 1 tbsp olive oil for frying

2 tbsp fresh parsley, finely-chopped 1 250g-can whole button mushrooms, thinly-sliced 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 medium-sized onion, chopped 2 tbsp dried oregano 2 tbsp honey whole wheat fusilli or brown rice

I've been living away from home for almost a month now.  It's actually my first time in 28 years to be away from my family. And because of that, I have no choice but to do everything, house chores specifically, all on my own. If there's one chore that I love doing the most, it's definitely cooking! And even though I'm not accustomed to being alone and doing everything by myself, I still find joy in it because I get to cook every single day, especially on weekends when I get to cook for Mark. :D

While cooking is really a no-brainer task for me, cooking for a bodybuilder is another thing. I always have to improvise and know healthier alternatives to usual ingredients that 'normal' people eat. :p Here's one of the 'healthy' dishes that I've cooked for Mark. :p

Chicken Broccoli

Printable Recipe: Chicken Broccoli

Ingredients:

450g chicken breast fillet, cut into strips

2 cloves garlice, minced 1 medium-sized white onion, cubed (red onion may also be used) 1 can button mushrooms, drained and sliced 1 medium-sized broccoli, cut into florets

2 tbsp honey 3 tbsp oyster sauce 1 tsp soy sauce 1 tbsp olive oil 1 tbsp ground black pepper

It's been a while since I got to update my blog again. My last post was actually 3 weeks ago. -_- I'm just busy with some things lately that I can't even squeeze in a little time to write, but I'm still very glad and thankful that the traffic in my blog did not decrease. I'm even getting offers from advertisers on my blog. Thanks to my recipe posts! And so, here, I'm posting a recipe once again. :D


Pork Estofado is a stewed pork dish which is somewhat comparable to pork adobo and patatim--with vinegar, soy sauce, and garlic as the main ingredients--but the use of fried plantains makes this dish distinct. Aside from fried plantains, some recipes also use carrots and pineapple, but I grew up having my dad's version with fried pandesal.

Beef Caldereta is one of my Daddy's specialties which the whole family loves. I've tried different versions of this dish, but nothing still compares to my Daddy's caldereta. :D


I'm fond of just watching my Daddy cook especially the dishes which I haven't tried cooking yet. Though I'm not really sure if he also used liver spread and butter, it turned out to be a hit when I tried cooking Beef Caldereta for the first time. Got to cook this dish once again just a few months back, posted the photo of it online, and I've been getting requests for the recipe since then.

The Christmas season is over and indeed 2014 has just started, but hey, we've only got a couple of months left before summer here in the Philippines. Oh how time flies! But I guess the weather's having a hard time catching up. :p Yup, it's been so cold since last December and it's getting colder by the day. I also heard we will still be experiencing a lot colder weather in the coming months. Brrrrr!

Windbreakers and blankets do come in handy, but is there a better way to keep yourself warm than enjoying a hot bowl of soup on a cold weather? Aside from Arroz Caldo, here's another family favorite that's perfect for the cold weather. Sharing with you this recipe, which I learned of course from my dad. :)

Lomi

Printable Recipe: Lomi

Nope, I wasn't on a blogging hiatus. I was just busy (the happy kind of busy) with something for the past weeks. I will share the details on my next posts so watch out for it. :D

I have quite a number of posts about our family feasts here in this blog and more often than not, Ginataang Alimango is always included in the menu. I've been receiving messages and emails requesting me to post the recipe, but since it's my dad who always cooks, I don't really get to take pictures for the recipe.


Luckily, a couple of weekends back, I was able to finally cook Ginataang Alimango for the first time, of course using the recipe that I learned from no less than my dad. :)

When we were planning for the Mother's Day and Jaoey's 11th Birthday celebration, daddy asked if we could make a Graham refrigerated cake. And Gia and I, being very much excited for it, gladly obliged. :)

We've already made refrigerated cakes before with fruit cocktails and peaches, so we decided to use mangoes this time. And since we're also adding in some cheddar cheese, we coined its name as Queso Mango Float. Here's another recipe to satisfy your sweet tooth!

Queso Mango Float

Just like what I said before, I always make sure that I get to cook Mark's favorites whenever he comes over at my house for a visit. Aside from his all-time-favorite Kare-Kare, I also learned that he has come to love my version of Pork Steak. :D Thanks to my mom for teaching me the recipe. :)

Pork steak is actually a twist on the Filipino dish, Bistek Tagalog (Beef Steak), as it has the same ingredients and just differs with the main ingredient which is the meat. Paired with steamed rice plus Ensaladang Kamote (Camote Tops Salad), I'm sure this dish will be a family hit, just like how it has always been for our family. :)

Pork Steak

It was actually my baby brother, Jaoey, who first saw this idea on the internet moths back. He was delighted when he showed it to me and made me promise that we'll make some at home. And so one Saturday afternoon, I obliged. :)

I'm not actually sure with the name of this dish, but this is basically just the ordinary spaghetti that most of us grew up with, preparation- and taste-wise, but with an added fun and excitement to it. :D

The spaghetti noodles are stuck into the hotdog chunks, making it look like the noodles are oozing out from the hotdogs. :D

Hotdog Spaghetti

Last Wednesday was Ash Wednesday which marked the start of the season of Lent. And since meat is not allowed during the season, the next best alternative would be fish.

Fried fish would always be a common dish during Lent, but this tends to be dry and bland, so I'm sharing with you this easy sweet and sour fish recipe that I'm sure you'll enjoy. It's basically deep fried cream dory chunks and deep fried tofu in sweet and sour sauce with pineapples, onions, and bell peppers.

I cooked this for lunch on Ash Wednesday and my family loved it! :D

Sweet and Sour Cream Dory with Tofu

Being a girlfriend of a bodybuilder for more than 8 years now, I have already known and mastered Mark's needs especially when it comes to food. I enjoy cooking and I love to cook especially for my loved ones, and that of course includes Mark. I know how strict his diet is but that didn't stop me from cooking for him. Thank God for off-seasons from competitions, Mark can get to enjoy my home-cooked specialties. :D

Whenever Mark comes over our house for a visit, if my dad's not around, I make sure to prepare something that will surely satisfy his big appetite. I also see to it that I prepare different dishes for him for his every visit.  I already cooked Kare-kare for him before, so that's definitely out of the list.  I knew how Mark loves to eat chicken so I decided to cook Chinese-style Roasted Chicken for him when he paid me a visit at home a few weeks ago. :D

I actually learned this recipe from my dad.  It's basically roasted chicken with soy sauce plus star anise, where the distinct Chinese herb taste comes from. :) I have already perfected this recipe and so whenever there is roasted chicken in the menu in our family feasts, I am always tasked to cook it. Here's one simple yet delectable recipe that I'm sure you'll enjoy just as how my family and Mark did. :)

Chinese-style Roasted Chicken

I celebrated my 27th birthday last January 3 with my loved ones over a simple lunch and dinner at home, since my dad had to go to work and my baby brother had to go to school. I knew that Mark was coming over for lunch and so I asked him what he wanted to have. Without any hesitations, he immediately replied "Kare-kare!". Haha!

Kare-kare is a Philippine stew made from peanut sauce with a variety of vegetables and meat which usually comes from oxtail, beef, and sometimes ox offal or ox tripe. Meat variants may also include goat meat or chicken, but I grew up eating Kare-kare made from beef and pork tenderloins. It is best eaten with shrimp paste (bagoong) over a hot steamed rice.

I first tried to cook Kare-kare back in college (using the recipe that I learned from my dad) when I was the acting chef at home that time since my parents were in the US. And as a first timer, my Kare-kare was a hit!

I already knew that Mark would answer Kare-kare since it's his most favorite dish. It's also my mom's favorite so I decided to cook it for my birthday lunch. :) And on my second time to cook Kare-kare, my family, especially my Mom and Mark, loved it so I decided to share with you guys this simple yet delectable recipe. :D

Kare-kare

Filipino-Style Spaghetti

My dad loves to cook, as all of you already know, and being a true blue Ilocano, Ilocano delicacies of course are one of his specialties. Good thing I have mastered his cooking skills over time. :)

One of the Ilocano delicacies that I can cook perfectly is Dinuyduy. :p It's basically a mashed squash soup. :D It's a perfect appetizer. It may also be paired with any fried dishes like pork, chicken, and fish. It's even perfect for children who are picky eaters especially when it comes to vegetables.

Dinuyduy

I've already posted before that buttered veggies with gravy may be a good complement for pork, beef, and fish dishes; and so I'm sharing with you this simple yet delectable recipe of buttered veggies paired with fried cream dory which I cooked for lunch a few weeks back. :)

Cream Dory Fillet with Buttered Veggies and Gravy