Filipino Chicken Afritada aka Chicken in tomato based stew/soup

I think its about time I blogged about a Filipino dish. This dish is so easy to make with so few ingredients but tastes like there's a ton of effort. When I was a kid my grandma would make this for me all the time, to the point that even as an adult she would make it when she knew I was coming over. This is my go to dish when I am too lazy to think of cooking something else. It's a no brainer and you will like it. Anyway, on to this dish. These are the ingredients you will need and can be found at any local supermarket. If you're wondering what it tastes like, I would say the closest it tastes like would be Indian Chicken Tikka Masala. This is best served with white Jasmine rice.

Ingredients:
4 lbs chicken (I like chicken wings, but you can use any cut of chicken)
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 can large tomato sauce
2 garlic cloves minced (to save time, I use ready minced garlic but fresh makes it taste better)
1 large onion (I ran out while making this so I used a red onion, the real recipe calls for yellow onion)
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 large potato, peeled and diced into small cubes
2 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon pepper
*1/4 cup of fish sauce (can be found in asian section of market or any asian store...optional but enhances flavor)

Slice and dice all vegetables and place potatoes in water to keep from turning brown, set aside

In a large pot, over medium high heat, add vegetable oil, heat through, add onions and saute for about 1-2 minutes until its a bit translucent, add garlic and saute for about 1 minute.

Next toss in chicken in small batches, browning it.

Then add 1 tablespoon of salt and 1/2 tablespoon of pepper to browned chicken.










Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, and water to pot. Turn heat to high.

 While bringing broth to a boil add potatoes. Boil for about 10 minutes on high and frequently stir together.

Turn heat down to medium low and add bell peppers. Add remaining salt, pepper, and fish sauce.

Stir in everything together, cover pot and let simmer for about 30 minutes until chicken and potatoes are cooked through.

Just spoon some over white rice and enjoy! Happy eating people!

Chinese Sausage and Shrimp Fried rice

Hello all four of you! Well, I've finally had time to put together my fried rice blog Yippeee! Of course it didn't go the way I planned since someone hates me and wants me to always keep me on my toes...so F You to whomever that is...jerk. I really do love Asian Food. If I had to put it on a totem pole it would go in this order: Sushi, Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Indian, and then Filipino (but I only really love homemade Filipino food or Filipino food at parties...I'm Filipino so I'm a little biased...that gives me an idea for my next blog, something Filipino!) Anyway, I digress...

I was eagerly excited to post photos for a step-by-step process but unfortunately I am having technical difficulty on transferring my photos from my memory card to my computer...so without even more further delay on this posting, I will just show the end result. This has a lot of prep work so don't think you can just whip this up on a whim. Most of the ingredients can be found at any local Asian Market. Comment me if you can't find a certain ingredient. Otherwise, feel free to add other meats if you would like.

Ingredients:
3-4 cups cooked white rice, must be a day old...make night before or early in the morning if making at night. Note: Just cooked white rice will not work, it will be too moist.
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 tablespoon sesame oil
1 lb raw shrimp, peeled with tail, deveined, marinated...see below on marinade (to save time you can buy the already peeled and deveined version...but I've tried both and the already peeled tastes like it's been already peeled so I prefer it with the shell on but deveined, costco is my favorite so far)
1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
1 14 1/2 oz can of peas and carrots drained
half a package of Chinese Sausage (located in the refrigerated aisle of local asian market)
1 egg scrambled
1 whole stalk of green onions whites and greens separated (light green to white separated from just green...if you're confused)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

shrimp marinade to be marinaded for 10-20 mins
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon white part of green onions
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon sesame oil
*1 teaspoon Sriracha Hot Sauce (optional)
*1 teaspoon Sesame Seeds (optional)

1 Wok or large Frying Pan

Marinade Shrimp for 10-20 minutes, set aside. Dice Chinese Sausage into penny sized rings or to your size liking. Scramble egg in bowl.

In wok or frying pan over medium heat, place 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and scramble egg. When egg is cooked, remove from pan and set aside on a plate. In same pan/wok add remaining vegetable oil and saute chinese sausage for about 2-3 minutes, remove from heat and set aside on plate. Add sesame oil in same pan, wait about 30 seconds for oil to heat, add remainder of green onions, saute for about a minute, add in shrimp and saute for about 2 min or until pink, add egg and sausage, toss for about a minute, add rice into pan then add soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, and rice vinegar. Turn down heat to medium low. Keep folding in rice to get everything mixed together. If you want to add more soy sauce to have more color, add about a half tablespoon at a time, then mix in, and keep doing so until desired color. (Note: If rice is too dry, you can add in about 1/2 cup of water to moisten it) Last, add peas and carrots, garlic salt, salt, and pepper. Mix in everything, turn heat to low, cover for about 10  minutes to heat rice through. Sounds complicated but once you've done it, you will realize how easy it is and you can use any ingredient in your fridge to add into your rice dish. I like chinese sausage and shrimp so that's always in my fried rice. Please make this dish yours and change it up to your taste buds. Sometimes every now and then, I take pieces of nori (seaweed) and toss it in my rice.

Good luck...it's all about trial and error and I won't judge you...too much.
Please let me know if you would like me to do a certain dish I've posted on FB...Until my next post peeps!

Sick and Not Forgotten

To the Four people that read my blog, one of them including me, I have not forgotten about you. I have had an extremely busy week. I was in Vegas for 1 1/2 days, driving straight from Vegas at 3am to work including a lunch, took a day off to attend a taping of Ellen's 12 Days of Giveaways, worked until midnight with paperwork on Friday night, and now  I'm sick. I wanted to update my blog about the super tasty fried rice I made the other night but I have very little energy right now and have been sleeping most of the day.

The little joy I've had today was watching my son dance along to "Jake and the Neverland Pirates." I can't help but laugh every time I say "Jake and the Neverland Pirates." For the longest time I kept calling it "Jake and the Neverland Ranch" (Michael Jackson's estate). I seriously thought that was the name of it!

I have watched the taping of Day 2 of Ellen's show and I look like a total creeper trying to get into the aisle as she does her dancing segment.

Yup that's me! But I don't care, I scored a bunch of awesome swag.

I have nothing left in me to write soooo....

Well, I guess this blog will suffice. Tomorrow I will upload recipe for Fried Rice, so stay tuned.

Am I the only one that always seems off when traveling for work?

Okay, so I travel for work A LOT. Mostly I'm in Las Vegas, but sometimes I go to exotic places like... Philadelphia and whenever I change time zones my whole body just goes into shock. I usually work harder than ever because whenever you're at a sales function you don't sleep and you have working lunches/dinners/breakfasts/snacks/dreams....you think I'm kidding...then ha for you. Anyway, I woke up with the usual bloodshot eyes, congested nose, matted hair on my head this morning here in Vegas. Sounds awesome right? Sound's like I partied hard, drank all night, showed some boobs? Nope I'm just a 31 year old mom with a toddler who drove 5 hours straight to Las Vegas and woke up at 5am but slept at 12am.

Pretty much had room service all day. Too lazy to venture out while driving around to harrass doctors and convince them why my product is the best out there so I opted for breakfast in bed before heading out, grabbing expired stuff out of the bat cave of a storage facility that I keep and got something yummy to replace that disgusting chinese food I had the night before. Corned Beef Hash...it was yummy! I highly recommend it if you're staying at the classy Bellagio.

Well after a heavy breakfast like that you would think I wouldn't have room for my favorite sushi place out in Henderson, NV, home of the homeless people that wear brand name clothing. I saw a homeless guy today with a sign saying he was hungry but noticed he had super expensive clothes on...I kept thinking, "well maybe you shouldn't have purchsed that expensive gear..." I know, I'm mean. I gave him 5 bucks and he said "Thank You" but you could tell in his eyes he was really greatful....I seriously go off on tangents.

Anyway, for lunch I always go to Sin City Sushi. It's an All You Can Eat Sushi place, otherwise acronymed AYCES, and their Garlic Tuna Nigiri is AMAZING, not to mention their Salmon Nigiri! Here is an old photo from my last trip and not one from today because the weird fat guy sitting near me kept giving me the "Love Eye" and frankly, it creeped me out. But please, if you're ever out in Henderson, NV please check them out because they are awesome.

I am actually supposed to be asleep already. I'm planning on driving out at 3am because I have huge day tomorrow for work and I have to be in San Diego. Some might ask why I didn't just fly...well it's too long of a story and this blog is already too long and I've lost interest. So, let me just finish off with my yummy dinner for the evening. 2 different types of pizza from the in-room dining of the Bellagio. I ordered tonight two pizzas, yes, just for me! Have I told you I like food? Anyway, I got 1 Margherita Pizza and a Sausage, Mushroom, and Pepperoni pizza. They were delicious.

Tomorrow I am on a mission to make my Fried Rice so that will be my focus for my next blog...Thanks for reading all 2 of you!

Food and Traveling

Okay, so, I travel for work to Las Vegas at least once a month and stay for about a week in Las Vegas. Before you start doing the "Wooooo! Vegas" it's not as great as  it seems. I love Vegas with the girls. I love Vegas for vacation. Vegas for work bleh. The only cool thing I look forward to is eating out here. I mean, I am a pig. I love food and everyone knows it. I don't segregate either. I eat everything. Well, my company pays for my meals while I'm out here because I have to stay in a hotel.

Today's stay is currently at the Bellagio. I love the Bellagio. This is the first time I've ever stayed here but if I had to pick one buffet to always go to, it would be Bellagio. Again, I love food. Have I already established this? They are the only buffet I know on the strip to have Alaskan King Crab legs that I just salivate over. Tonight however, I have work to do and definitely couldn't do the buffet thing so I opted for Chinese take out. Well there isn't a place close by for me to grab something so I had to settle for their "fine dining cuisine" Jasmine. I ordered two entrees, Seafood fried rice and Honey Walnut Shrimp which sounded great. I would order those back home in San Diego. Each item was close to  $30 a piece! Back home, I'd probably spend less than $30 for both. Anyway, I was hoping at least the portions would be decent, well, they aren't. I am annoyed for having spent $60 on food I don't really want. The shrimp look great but the rice...I can make better rice than that. Ugh...anyway, I'm going to eat now and hopefully it tastes awesome. Here are the photos of my food. Enjoy looking at $60 worth of food which should have cost $25. Blah Blah Blah....tomorrow I eat buffet.

Albondigas Soup (Meatball Soup)

Today I did my favorite thing with the leftover turkey, well what was left of the carcass that is. I love making stock. You can manipulate the broth to whatever your liking from making soups, putting in casseroles, and really adding that extra oomph when making stews.  So I had a dilemma of what to make with the end broth. My son likes ground beef and my husband likes soup so today I decided to make Albondigas soup aka meatball soup. Of course I picked the hottest freaken day in San Diego to make soup so you can just imagine the amount of sweat I was having while making the broth and then the soup. I completely forgot to take photos this time as I was in the process of cooking so too bad for you or really too bad for the one person who reads this blog which is me. So really, too bad for me.

Anyway, this soup is really easy. It looks more complicated than it is. The aromas in the kitchen will make you think you're in El Torito...kidding, maybe....but I do love the smell of cilantro.

I guess I'll get to how the process works. First let's start with the turkey carcass.

Things you will need:
1 large onion
2 boullion cubes
1 really disgusting looking carcass of bones from your Thanksgiving turkey

Take a large stock pot and fill with water, cut onion in half and place in water, add boullion cubes and disgusting turkey carcass. Put on high until it boils then turn down to low. Let simmer for about 3 hours. Strain liquid through colander into large tupperware or another stockpot. In my case I used another stockpot. You can freeze the broth and use for later or make a soup right away. I made a soup.

Here is the recipe for Albondigas Soup:

Meatballs
2 pounds ground beef
1 egg
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup uncooked white rice
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Soup
10 (about) cups broth
4 carrots, sliced
1/2 large onion, chopped
4 stalks celery, sliced
1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chile peppers

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (7 ounce) can diced green chiles, drained
1 bunch cilantro leaves, chopped
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons ground cumin

Bring broth back up to a boil over medium heat.

Alright its time to get dirty. Don't be afraid to use your hands! Combine ground beef, egg, bread crumbs, rice, cumin, garlic powder, and salt in a large bowl. Mix well with your hands! Your hands will smell for a day but your tastebuds will thank you! Form the beef mixture into a 1 inch meatball. Turn the heat down and simmer and drop the meatballs one by one slowly into the broth.  


Next, stir in the carrots, onion, celery, canned diced tomatoes with green chiles, tomato sauce, canned chiles, cilantro, garlic powder, oregano, and cumin. Simmer the soup for 1 hour to cook the vegetables and blend the flavors. 

The end result...ultimate warm goodness even on a night where it's 80 degrees and almost December. 

The Moist Maker aka MY SANDWICH

I hosted Thanksgiving this year and LOVE leftovers. My favorite thing to do is take leftovers and make them into new meals. Here is an example of what to make with those favorite things from Thanksgiving and make it into something comforting yet tasty and also  laugh every time you bite into it because of where the idea came from! (Please know, I've never gone to culinary school and this is just coming straight from experience in my kitchen.)

If you're an avid Friends watcher like I am with my closest girlfriends (Cheyanne, Lis, and Trina), then you are all aware of the Thanksgiving episode where  Ross's character gets upset because someone at his work stole his leftover Thanksgiving sandwich. I will enclose the youtube video of the episode at the bottom. Anyway, here is my attempt at MY SANDWICH! AKA The Moistmaker.

You'll be pleasantly surprised  at how yummy it is and if some jerkoff from work stole your sandwich they'll be calling you "Mental Geller" for wanting to kill whomever for taking your sandwich! Enjoy!

Makes 2 Servings
6 slices sourdough bread (toasted)
1/2 cup of gravy
1/2 cup of stuffing
1/4 cup of cranberry sauce
1/3 cup green bean casserole (optional)
1/3 cup mac and cheese
2oz turkey meat (or desired amount)

Toast bread in toaster oven or toaster to desired toastiness. While bread is toasting reheat turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, mac and cheese, and gravy for approx 25 sec each or if all together minus the gravy for approx 1 min. Gravy place in microwave safe dish and heat for 35-40 sec or until hot.

Place one piece of toast to soak up gravy for 10 sec on each side, place the other 2 slices aside to be used in a bit

Spread some gravy on the other 2 slices of bread

Spread stuffing on both slices of bread

If you don't have any mac and cheese/green bean casserole, skip to next step, spread mac and cheese on one slice of bread and green bean casserole on the other slice

Place turkey pieces on each slice of bread

Place desired amount of cranberry sauce on each slice of bread

Place gravy soaked bread on top of one of the slices of bread

Take the gravy topped sandwich and flip onto the other slice of bread so the gravy soaked bread is in the middle

Serve with a side of Mashed sweet potato/yams or whatever you want...

And there you have it...MY SANDWICH! The Moist Maker!

For your viewing pleasure
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Of3b4ZzJJuk