Holiday Snacks from URC!

Christmas is just around the corner and the folks from URC (Universal Robina Corporation) knows exactly why snacking should be a big part of it. From family reunions to friends catching up, a drink or two is essential, and so is a bowl of Jack N Jill snacks. 

Unbeknownst to a lot of people, you can actually jazz it up and make it a bit gourmet if you please. They recommended a few recipes you can try at the comforts of your own home!

Piattos Nachos 

3-4 packs of regular sized Piattos Cheese (my preferred flavor but you can choose Nacho Pizza instead)

2 cups grated cheese (cheddar or quickmelt)

1 Jar of Salsa

Optional: Sauteed Ground Beef, Pork, beans (boiled til soft), Jalapeños, Black Olives, Onions, Sour Cream, more tomatoes. You can just put chips on a bowl, put cheese and melt it, then put salsa and other components. Serve immediately!

Cream-O Cake

For the sweet tooth, you can do a lot of things with your favorite cookie brand Cream-O. Grab 10 packs of it, separate the cookies from the cream, ground it up and mix it with 1 and a half cup of milk. Layer it alternately with the cream, steam it for 5 minutes (though I prefer mine frozen) add the remaining layers later on. Add a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream or just eat it straight out of the container. Enjoy!

Without cooking skills, you can make a lot of things with these products, and yes, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to make it work. All of these are available in your local grocer or supermarket. You can also get it from your food and grocery apps, it's all about making your what you want to happen. All from our friends at URC! 

Level Up Your Ham Recipes This Christmas with MEKENI

I love Christmas dinners and if that doesn't involve ham, I might be thinking twice about doing that. It's time with family, and having one of the most expected dishes on the table will make it complete. But what have you done with the ham so far? Just slice it and serve right? Well, the folks at MEKENI Food Corporation have a better idea. Time to jazz up your Christmas Ham recipes with them today!

Christmas Ham with Honey Glaze and Pineapple

This will blow your socks off as you mix meat, sweetness from honey and the fruitiness and tangy-ness of pineapple. Simmer 3/4 cup of honey, a cup of pineapple juice, 2 teaspoons cornstarch to make a flurry, a quarter cup of water, 6-8 flour tortillas, shredded lettuce, pineapple chunks and salsa. Combine the honey and pineapple juice, mix cornstarch and water, whisk together till no lumps appear. Use the glaze with 500g Mekeni Deli Premium Ham and serve with the cooked flour tortillas (toast it each side for a few seconds). Think of it like a different kind of taco, like a Christmas version of it. Trust me, it's good!

Christmas Fries

 

If you haven't tried it, don't say it's not good, so basically you're going to make fries out of the 500g MEKENI Pear Shaped Ham. Just cut it into lengthy bite sized pieces, roll it in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs. Fry for a few minutes til it gets golden brown. Take it out of the fryer and sprinkle salt on it, dip in salsa or cheese sauce to make it even better. You'll love it because I've done it quite a number of times during the holidays.

There are tons more that you can do with the Christmas Ham, you just need a lot of patience, a little work in the kitchen so you can come out with a very imaginative dish that your family will love for generations to come. MEKENI knows you can give these recipes a try, so make the celebrations more meaningful with a MEKENI Ham on the Noche Buena table this year. Get them from Mekeni Home2Home Delivery, Mekeni Food Outlets and wet markets near you, I'm going to wait for Christmas to come before I take a slice of this! :) Happy Holidays!

Quick and Easy Chicken Dinner Inspirations

It's raining outside and I'm in the mood to cook. I think I want something hot, something cozy, so I could just curl up at the corner of my room and read a book while consuming a heaping bowl of Chicken Noodle Soup. I'm not a fan of the usual packaged ones and I do the legwork if I can. But to tell you honestly I am kinda scared to buy things in the local wet market because of the ambiance. Good thing we have options like Magnolia Chicken that's got the packaging right.

It looks clean, fresh even to the naked eye. I don't even see those ugly bruises in dressed chicken we usually see in the market. It's cleaned and gutted already so you don't have complicated knife skills to do that yourself. They've got choice cuts too which takes away your not so favorite parts. This solved a lot of fights in the dinner table at home because my Dad and I always wanted the Drumstick and Thigh parts, no kids were hurt during the show LOL.

I saw a documentary in the UK about Free Range Chickens and it did stick with me. I'm glad that Magnolia is actually offering them now in the market. Although they do the dressed chicken well, it's nice to have options. I guess it all boils down to preference, but I do see and taste the difference between the regular and the free range ones. I am also happy that it's actually a big one, so quality wise it's not compromised. In some way, it's more humane, they're not humans but the process they do from raising them til it arrives to the kitchen is admirable.

I also am itching to actually make my own Eggs Benedict. For me, it's something that would spell a perfect breakfast. Mmm... I can almost feel it.

So for different occasions, different lunch and dinners we had chicken at home. This one is a little curry based. Using the usual boiled chicken, with a little turmeric, soy and some chili, this is a spicy smoky invention at home. I always do that.

Saute Chicken in Canola oil, chilis, basil, tomatoes, onions and a little sesame seed, stir fry, it's a lovely dinner.

Coat chicken in the usual breading, put in a tea spoon of tabasco, a little sugar, honey, you can have your own hot wings at home.

Roasted chicken with lemon grass inside, prepare rue, butter and water, salt and pepper for gravy. Put it on a hot plate, a little brandy and put on a show. 

For the perfect breakfast, toast bread, put egg in a skillet and poach it for a few seconds. Prepare Behcamel sauce, Bacon, lightly blanch and sautee in butter the tomatoes and asparagus, my perfect Eggs Benedict!

You can also prepare the fluffy scrambled egg, sausages, toasted wheat bread, just make sure you put a little milk on the eggs. It's a lovely day!

If its raining outside, you can prepare a good heaping bowl of Arroz Caldo by using Magnolia Free Range Chicken, put some on top of porridge, with fried tofu, garlic, strips of more chicken, and slices of Magnolia Cage Free Brown Eggs. Curl up on the window and watch the day go by. That's going to put everyone in a good mood!

There's a lot of things you can do with Chicken these days, you don't even have to have a recipe actually. Just try to do it like I do, you check your refrigerator, see what ingredients you can use, check your pantry for some unused spices, put it all together and experiment. Life is good, make sure you enjoy it with good food. Magnolia Chicken is available in my local supermarket, I've seen it in the wet market too. It's a good day to cook, so don't even think about it. Go whip up something for your family, your friends, or even just for yourself. 

Believe me, it'll be good.

Quaker Oats Overnight Breakfast Club

Having the time of my life at the Quaker Oats Overnight Breakfast Club together with other bloggers and influencers from Manila. I already had breakfast but that wouldn't stop me from enjoying one thing that Filipinos have loved over the years, that's Quaker Oats, am I right?

I still remember the days my Mom cooks this before I go t school, or on days that I had to workout and have breakfast first just by adding water (no joke!). I'm sure we all have our stories because it's part of our lives. You may have bought other brands from other countries, but you can't just compare the whole oats which tastes so good anytime of the day!

At the event they had us make the most important meal of the day, that's breakfast! This is some sort of a life hack as they prepare meals for the morning while preparing it ahead of time, like at night. After all it kicks off the metabolism, a thing that healthy families should do. Quaker has base oats, rolled oats, or the oat dairy drink and cereal drinks or just their cookies. Instant, quick cook and rolled oats are for different cooking processes but overall, they are all very high in fiber that aids in digestion and gives you energy for your activities all throughout the day!

You can start by putting in a mason jar half cup of Quaker Rolled Oats, sliced bananas and strawberries, some walnuts, some milk, seal it off and put it on the fridge overnight. That's what you can have for breakfast in the morning. Some even add protein bars, honey, other fruits, or just customize everything so you don't have to skip breakfast. You don't have to prepare the whole day because even if you are busy, you can do this just like Wil Dasovich, Patty, Lauren Young. You just basically doing raw and activating it by soaking it overnight. You get it soaked and you will know everything that you put in your mouth. You can find these in your groceries, local markets, all real stuff. It will thicken up, be creamy, you can check how to do it in OvernightOats.com. 

Wil Dasovich did a version with Mangoes. He likes it more as he likes his fruits in the morning, he adds low fat yogurt, honey, pour in the milk, and chia seeds. He loves anything that has got Omega 3 in them so you can substitute if you have something healthier, I think it's more of texture. 

Then we had our breakfast, a good one at that. There are always different things you can do with it, just work around your lifestyle and make it convenient. To become a member of The Quaker Overnight Brekfast Club, you don't need to be fancy shmancy, just make one and tag QuakerOatsph on IG and you'll get the chance to win prizes from Quaker Oats Philippines too!

Isn't it a good day to have breakfast? :)

KUMAGCOW

Fresh Blogs Fast!

Healthy Splenda Pinoy Spaghetti!

We all have that day where everything doesn't happen to what we wish it would be. Mine just happened recently. There is always one person though who knows something is wrong with me, my Mom. She always prepares the best whenever I'm home because everybody knows my favorite... Spaghetti!

She's been doing legwork for it since I have ever known; so this time I want her to take a rest and let me do the cooking. Problem is my Mom and Dad are diabetic and when they want Filipino spaghetti I usually take out some of the ingredients but it won't feel the same if it didn't have that sweetness. Good thing there's Splenda!

I got the ingredients here!

Pinoy Spaghetti

1 Kg Pasta
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons capers
1/2 cup black olives
1 Kg Lean Ground Beef
1 bottle of banana ketchup
10 pieces of hotdogs
4 cups tomato sauce
1/2 cup tomato paste
1 tbsp Splenda
2 cups water
2 tbsp all purpose flour
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 big block cheese (You can't have enough of it!)

Boil a few liters of water enough to cover the pasta. Drop in the spaghetti and wait for 8-10 minutes or according to package instructions. Leave just a little bit on the pasta because I'm sure you'll have some let to be mixed with your sauce later.

Separate a half a kilogram of beef and put salt and pepper, onions, garlic on it to make small meatballs. Roll on flour and fry until golden brown. Saute in a pan a heap of onions, garlic and evoo then wait for it to become translucent. Throw in the other half kilogram of beef and brown it. Pour in tomato sauce, the bottle of ketchup and water. Wait for it to boil then simmer for a few minutes. Slice the hotdog diagonally and throw it in, simmer another 5 minutes. Throw in the capers and olives then turn off the stove. Put in salt and pepper to taste. Put back the meatballs and let them simmer for around 2 minutes. Then serve.

Serving, just put a hefty amount of pasta on a bowl. Pour in the meat sauce on top and put in as much cheese that they can take, melt it under a salamander or your oven. You really can't have enough of that! You can even put ribonettes of basil if you want to make it a little classy for your taste.

My Mom loved it and it doesn't have sugar. My Dad almost ate half of it LOL. It's the time to share with friends and family. Health wise you don't have to worry because there's Splenda taking care of that. Oh, which reminds me a box of these even had Quaker Oats on it which we'll have tomorrow for breakfast! Merry Christmas guys! :) Get one on stores now!

Now I am Craving for Scand Can Cook!

I enjoy watching cooking shows, yeah you know some of them but this one I'm telling you about is "Scand Can Cook"... since we have cable TV it's easily accessible for me.. but for others who just tune in to regular free TV I guess they should read why I like this stuff...

Tina Nordström is your host and chef in the next season of New Scandinavian Cooking. The charming Tina is by far Sweden’s most celebrated TV-chef. She has built up a big audience in Sweden, Denmark and Norway and her cookbooks have become enormously popular. Get ready for Tina Nordström!

For starters, I read that Scandinavia is a group of Nordic Countries that are geographically situated together. Norway, Sweden and Denmark, with some sources also including the nations of Finland and Iceland consists this group. They however do not have a mark in world cuisine like the French, Americans and Chinese do. Much like Filipino dishes that is starting to tap the world market, Scandinavian cooking is already gaining popularity and how I wish I could get to taste some of the things Tina Nordstrom made on the cooking show... I especially like the way she prepares things, its so simple. Sometimes there are even odd things on the menu... but really they look scrumptious... (maybe I'm just writing again because of hunger!) aaaarghh!

Vodka marinated Sirloin!

Ohhh! The meatballs and potatoes! Yum-o!

They had so many cheeses and just have them marinated in vodka, other alcohols and a couple of spices... geeze... I'm a cheese lover... even those which are not that popular in the Philippines... I like bleu cheese a lot... I know it tastes funky and strong but it's an acquired taste.. now I am addicted to it... I have them on salads, breads and even pizza!

(-_-)" Oh well, I maybe really hungry... lolz... guess I'll have to satisfy myself here with mah cup of tea... I can't eat coz I ate too much pasta earlier and I need to work out later after shift... dang! How can I get thinner if these things always get into mah head... well its a good thing I bought myself a new gymbag... nothing fancy but fits the purpose of getting all my stuff in one pack!

Maybe later I'll stop craving for stuff and get serious working out... lolz... Lord, if I don't get thinner... I hope my friends and everyone else gets fatter! nyahahah!

Scrumptious Seafood! ^_^

Shrimp and Andouille Cassoulet by renowned Chef Brian Landry of Louisiana

WARNING: The stuff you are about to read would make your mouth water and make you further crave for the best seafood! Else, read on! ^_^

When the Gods and the Goddesses of touched the shores of my homeland, it only made one thing clear: they clearly like seafood. The wide variety of Scallops, shrimp, fish, abalone, octopus, crabs and others seen here in the pacific made every seafood lover's dream a reality.

3 Cheese Baked Scallops ^_^ Mmmmm!

I love seafood... my family does too ^_^ and we as a matter of fact never thought of wasting the opportunity to taste the best life could offer. We have our own family versions and recipes, most of which is passed on from generation to generation. Some well kept family recipes that touch down the table every now and then. Our favorite is oven baked/grilled 3 cheese scallops and the popular Calamares, its something good and something so scrumptious that my mom tries to make when there are important family gatherings.

Calamares Oh Calamares!

When you get to taste it, you'll really know that it's something so special... or maybe more than that! ^_^

I went ahead of the pack, I found recipes that can outdone our simple home made delights and possibly try our own versions of it. All located in one simple place called www.GreatAmericanSeafoodCookOff.com. You can all visit the site and choose/vote for their favorite recipe and even get the chance to win the trip to New Orleans prize package.

The recipe I chose the best was Shrimp and Andouille Cassoulet by renowned Chef Brian Landry of Louisiana. Saw the pictures and I've rated this the best! It boasts the flavor of local Louisiana Shrimp, spicy and flavorful Andouille sausage smothered in a thick white bean casserole.

You know me! so the spicier, the better so I'd really like to make this one... I like this compared to the others since it makes use of the richest local produce. Farming these nowadays are really easy, that would greatly be an advantage to anyone planning to only serve the "FRESHEST" and have it still sustainable! We will try this out soon of course... and make our mark in our family's history!

The Great American Seafood cook off picks the best of the best in the United states' recipes and converges them into one place. You can't miss this opportunity to taste the greatest in seafood!