Thank you, Jesus, for semi-decent camping gear to help us "brave" our way through the great Southern California blackout of 2011 (shortly prior to leaving for a road trip to NorCal). C had a ton of fun camping out downstairs with mommy and daddy. :)
Friday, September 9, 2011
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Location Highlight: Fletcher Cove & Park in Solana Beach, CA
Now that the sun had decided to grace us with its presence in the afternoons lately in San Diego (and, of course, that C has also figured out that he can't inhale water), I've been taking him to the beach more often and introducing him to the gently-sloped shores of the beach at Fletcher Cove in Carmel Valley. This little area is truly a gem, and while the ramp down to the beach from the park seems daunting at first for a 30+week pregnant woman with a two year-old who runs wildly (and unsteadily) down anything that slopes steeply downhill, it's a worthwhile (short) hike to the bottom.
We've never really had any difficulty finding parking here or nearby, which is what attracts me most to the beach when compared to places like Moonlight or D-Street in Encinitas. In fact, when my husband and I first moved to Carmel Valley, we discovered that access to the shoreline along Solana beach wasn't as bad as the surrounding areas, and we also discovered there were a lot of nice surfable peaks along the beach that weren't exactly on the map (we did surf more often in Del Mar, though).
C loves the park/tot lot. The nice thing about it is the fact that there's a nice, wide tunnel slide that he can easily slide on during sunny days (the key: it doesn't get unbearably hot to slide on). Unfortunately, there are no baby swings, but he's big enough to enjoy the big kid swings now, as long as I don't push him too high.
The beach isn't terribly crowded, and it's easy to find somewhere to put up your umbrella for an adequate amount of shade (we're both dark enough already, so we don't need to work on our tans).
The beach is sloped gently so C can run around pretty bravely in the water (although I stay closeby since he's still really small AND lightweight).
There's a small airport closeby in Carlsbad and a Marine base by Oceanside, so there's no shortage of airplanes and helicopters for Caleb to spot in the sky for added entertainment...
And, of course, nothing beats a sleepy baby taking a peaceful nap on the beach during a sunny day:
We've never really had any difficulty finding parking here or nearby, which is what attracts me most to the beach when compared to places like Moonlight or D-Street in Encinitas. In fact, when my husband and I first moved to Carmel Valley, we discovered that access to the shoreline along Solana beach wasn't as bad as the surrounding areas, and we also discovered there were a lot of nice surfable peaks along the beach that weren't exactly on the map (we did surf more often in Del Mar, though).
C loves the park/tot lot. The nice thing about it is the fact that there's a nice, wide tunnel slide that he can easily slide on during sunny days (the key: it doesn't get unbearably hot to slide on). Unfortunately, there are no baby swings, but he's big enough to enjoy the big kid swings now, as long as I don't push him too high.
The beach isn't terribly crowded, and it's easy to find somewhere to put up your umbrella for an adequate amount of shade (we're both dark enough already, so we don't need to work on our tans).
The beach is sloped gently so C can run around pretty bravely in the water (although I stay closeby since he's still really small AND lightweight).
There's a small airport closeby in Carlsbad and a Marine base by Oceanside, so there's no shortage of airplanes and helicopters for Caleb to spot in the sky for added entertainment...
And, of course, nothing beats a sleepy baby taking a peaceful nap on the beach during a sunny day:
Thursday, July 28, 2011
C's getting his learn on. ;)
As a nurse I get to "enjoy" 3 day work weeks (consisting of grueling 12 hour work days filled with a LOT of heavy hard work), which also means I get to REALLY enjoy 4 mommy days with my son. :)
C isn't the type of child that likes to sit still. We've been giving storytime at the library a good try for the past year, but it usually ends halfway through with him turning around, stating (very confidently) "Go Home NOW," and then jetting for the closest door.
He's a smart boy, but he loooooves being active. He does better in engaging learning play, and he's pretty good at making it self-initiated at times. Thus, I decided to look up some homeschooling and Montessori-based preschool curriculums, and I chose to give them a try.
Considering the fact that he's only two years old, I decided to take the schedules a lot more slowly.. so this week we did the typical one week curriculum over two weeks. I had to learn a lot myself-- a lot of patience, creativity, and adaptability. I mean, I already have to use that TONS with my patients at work (especially the elderly demented ones)... but it's different with healthy children, particularly my own child.
I made our lesson board on a large bulletin board:
And I placed it on one of his toy shelves in a high-traffic area of the house. 75% of the time we pass it, we review at least one item on the board, and a week and a half into the lesson, he can identify the items perfectly (even differentiating between Big A and Small A).
Of course, since he likes to mix up the teaching/learning mediums a big, we do a bunch of different "activities" related to the items we're working on.
For example, we use a lot of tools to learn the letter A. Of course, we have traditional flashcards, which we bought at Target (I'll get to making other kinds as time goes along). We also have refrigerator magnets and bathtime foam letters.
We use internet videos as well... a couple of our favorites are Starfall's ABC letter A exercise and Dream English's Letter A Phonics Song.
Since we're super new to this, we've had to improvise. I did try printing out worksheets on writing out the letter A, but he didn't like the structure of learning how to write... so I figured (newly) 2 years old was a bit early to do the whole writing thing for him.
On the other hand, he wasn't too young to learn the concept of the color red, so I busted out the (erasable) crayons to go over colors and re-enforce "red" with him. Target had some inexpensive window crayons that were on sale, so I bought a box of those home and let him draw in red all over our sliding glass patio/balcony door:
He *LOVED* it. My parents freaked out a bit, of course. ;P
On learning about the number one, it was a bit difficult because he was more a fan of the number 2. In fact, he never really likes to say "one" unless I encourage it, but he obviously understands the concept. I pointed out as often as I could during playing or reading time when there was one thing-- one nose, one truck, one banana-- and I kept on doing so until something happened one day that REALLY made me realize his ability to count and recognize numbers was more advanced than I thought. I mean, there were days when he would take two things (two being his favorite number) and plop them down, saying (respectively) "ONE" then "TWO".. but this surprised me.
We were playing with blocks one day, and I started counting them as he stacked (or positioned) them. To my surprise, he started doing it himself... all the way to TEN! Another thing I found was that allowing him to stack and count his blocks early in the morning bought me time to prepare his breakfast. :)
Which is always something that requires a lot of creativity and adapting since he's a picky eater with no predictable likes or dislikes-- if he likes something one day, it's sure to be rejected sometime soon. :P
We used puzzles and toys (like the box) to re-enforce the concept of squares... and he surprised me with his ability to differentiate between a big square and little square (he can even point it out on our lesson board!
We just started incorporating counting into his playtime... of course, I never stopped showing him what "one" meant... but he was really good at counting his toys, especially to the number five, which he would show me while connecting all his trains.
For the topic/theme of the beach, it wasn't a tough one to do living in San Diego and so close to the beach. My husband and I (well, him particularly) love surfing, so we're there more often than not... and it's somewhere we always go with visitors, particularly in the summertime. We pointed out a lot of things on the beach... especially the little crabs we caught with C's sand pail.
We practiced pinching our hands like a crab. We scooped water with his crab bath toy during bathtime. I even tried teaching him how to do that funky backwards crabwalk, but C would simply laugh and say, "Funny mommy." Ah, well, at least I tried.
All in all not a bad week and a half (still have another half week to go). It's been fun, and I have more ideas for next week, especially now that I have a better idea about what he's capable of. :)
C isn't the type of child that likes to sit still. We've been giving storytime at the library a good try for the past year, but it usually ends halfway through with him turning around, stating (very confidently) "Go Home NOW," and then jetting for the closest door.
He's a smart boy, but he loooooves being active. He does better in engaging learning play, and he's pretty good at making it self-initiated at times. Thus, I decided to look up some homeschooling and Montessori-based preschool curriculums, and I chose to give them a try.
Considering the fact that he's only two years old, I decided to take the schedules a lot more slowly.. so this week we did the typical one week curriculum over two weeks. I had to learn a lot myself-- a lot of patience, creativity, and adaptability. I mean, I already have to use that TONS with my patients at work (especially the elderly demented ones)... but it's different with healthy children, particularly my own child.
I made our lesson board on a large bulletin board:
And I placed it on one of his toy shelves in a high-traffic area of the house. 75% of the time we pass it, we review at least one item on the board, and a week and a half into the lesson, he can identify the items perfectly (even differentiating between Big A and Small A).
Of course, since he likes to mix up the teaching/learning mediums a big, we do a bunch of different "activities" related to the items we're working on.
For example, we use a lot of tools to learn the letter A. Of course, we have traditional flashcards, which we bought at Target (I'll get to making other kinds as time goes along). We also have refrigerator magnets and bathtime foam letters.
We use internet videos as well... a couple of our favorites are Starfall's ABC letter A exercise and Dream English's Letter A Phonics Song.
Since we're super new to this, we've had to improvise. I did try printing out worksheets on writing out the letter A, but he didn't like the structure of learning how to write... so I figured (newly) 2 years old was a bit early to do the whole writing thing for him.
On the other hand, he wasn't too young to learn the concept of the color red, so I busted out the (erasable) crayons to go over colors and re-enforce "red" with him. Target had some inexpensive window crayons that were on sale, so I bought a box of those home and let him draw in red all over our sliding glass patio/balcony door:
He *LOVED* it. My parents freaked out a bit, of course. ;P
On learning about the number one, it was a bit difficult because he was more a fan of the number 2. In fact, he never really likes to say "one" unless I encourage it, but he obviously understands the concept. I pointed out as often as I could during playing or reading time when there was one thing-- one nose, one truck, one banana-- and I kept on doing so until something happened one day that REALLY made me realize his ability to count and recognize numbers was more advanced than I thought. I mean, there were days when he would take two things (two being his favorite number) and plop them down, saying (respectively) "ONE" then "TWO".. but this surprised me.
We were playing with blocks one day, and I started counting them as he stacked (or positioned) them. To my surprise, he started doing it himself... all the way to TEN! Another thing I found was that allowing him to stack and count his blocks early in the morning bought me time to prepare his breakfast. :)
Which is always something that requires a lot of creativity and adapting since he's a picky eater with no predictable likes or dislikes-- if he likes something one day, it's sure to be rejected sometime soon. :P
We used puzzles and toys (like the box) to re-enforce the concept of squares... and he surprised me with his ability to differentiate between a big square and little square (he can even point it out on our lesson board!
We just started incorporating counting into his playtime... of course, I never stopped showing him what "one" meant... but he was really good at counting his toys, especially to the number five, which he would show me while connecting all his trains.
For the topic/theme of the beach, it wasn't a tough one to do living in San Diego and so close to the beach. My husband and I (well, him particularly) love surfing, so we're there more often than not... and it's somewhere we always go with visitors, particularly in the summertime. We pointed out a lot of things on the beach... especially the little crabs we caught with C's sand pail.
We practiced pinching our hands like a crab. We scooped water with his crab bath toy during bathtime. I even tried teaching him how to do that funky backwards crabwalk, but C would simply laugh and say, "Funny mommy." Ah, well, at least I tried.
All in all not a bad week and a half (still have another half week to go). It's been fun, and I have more ideas for next week, especially now that I have a better idea about what he's capable of. :)
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Beef Stroganoff :)
In nostalgia of meals at Mitchell Hall during my time at the academy, I like to make beef stroganoff from time to time. My husband grew up eating it on rice while I went through "college" eating it on egg noodles. Either way is good... although I have to admit the rice soaks up the thick and creamy sauce very, very well.
Here's the recipe... I believe you can substitute ground beef to make poor man's stroganoff; however, keep your eyes open on the weekly grocery ads for sales on chuck roast. We got ours for more than half off, so it came out to be fairly cheap anyways. :)
Ingredients
2 pounds beef chuck roast, cut into thin strips (not too long)
salt + pepper as desired
1/3+ cup cooking wine (either white or red, depending on preference or craving)
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
some butter (appr. 4oz)
8oz mushrooms
1 small brown onion, diced
1-2 cans condensed beef broth (depending on how thick you want the sauce)
4 tbsp all-purpose flour or cornstarch (or combo of both)
1tsp mustard
1tbsp worcestershire (sp?) sauce
1/3 cup sour cream
1/3 cup cream cheese
Instructions
STEP 1: Marinate the beef! The original recommendation was to just marinate it in cooking wine. I rubbed it in salt, pepper, and garlic and added a touch of beef broth so everything was covered... and then I let it sit, covered in the fridge for a couple of hours.
STEP 2: Heat a large skillet to medium heat and coat it with butter for cooking... I'm sure cooking oil is fine, too. I then added the mushrooms first, out of habit, since I like to cook mushrooms first when I add them to my food. Once the mushrooms reach a desired level of "cooked-ness," just separate them (away from heat) in another bowl and hold onto them until later.
STEP 3: Now add the diced onion to the pan and let it cook in the juices already there. Some people like to brown the onions slightly, but I like to cook them for awhile (at least 5 minutes)... just a habit I have, too.
STEP 4: NOW add the beef strips to the pan and brown them quickly. Since there are a lot of strips, there's a lot to brown. Just take your time with it. ;)
STEP 5: (You can do this while the beef is browning or even before you start frying) I find this helpful to do if I'm using flour or cornstarch to make a thick sauce from scratch. Basically, set aside a tiny amount of beef broth and pre-mix the flour and/or cornstarch so it's already pretty much liquefied. This way they mix fairly smoothly and flawlessly when you add it to the rest of the broth and food that's cooking. It's difficult to do this in a pot or pan full of other stuff.. it gets gunky and cakes on top of items in the pot/pan.
STEP 6: Pour in the broth/flour mix and the remaining broth into the pan. Bring the food to a boil (stirring constantly) and then lower the heat slightly. Stir in the mustard and the worcestershire sauce.
STEP 7: Cover and let it simmer for 60 minutes (or until the meat is tender).
STEP 8: Five minutes before serving/finishing, stir in the sour cream, cream cheese, and mushrooms. If desired, you can also add a little extra cooking wine for taste... but it shouldn't be necessary since you already marinated the meat in the wine earlier.
Enjoy. :)
Here's the recipe... I believe you can substitute ground beef to make poor man's stroganoff; however, keep your eyes open on the weekly grocery ads for sales on chuck roast. We got ours for more than half off, so it came out to be fairly cheap anyways. :)
Ingredients
2 pounds beef chuck roast, cut into thin strips (not too long)
salt + pepper as desired
1/3+ cup cooking wine (either white or red, depending on preference or craving)
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
some butter (appr. 4oz)
8oz mushrooms
1 small brown onion, diced
1-2 cans condensed beef broth (depending on how thick you want the sauce)
4 tbsp all-purpose flour or cornstarch (or combo of both)
1tsp mustard
1tbsp worcestershire (sp?) sauce
1/3 cup sour cream
1/3 cup cream cheese
Instructions
STEP 1: Marinate the beef! The original recommendation was to just marinate it in cooking wine. I rubbed it in salt, pepper, and garlic and added a touch of beef broth so everything was covered... and then I let it sit, covered in the fridge for a couple of hours.
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STEP 2: Heat a large skillet to medium heat and coat it with butter for cooking... I'm sure cooking oil is fine, too. I then added the mushrooms first, out of habit, since I like to cook mushrooms first when I add them to my food. Once the mushrooms reach a desired level of "cooked-ness," just separate them (away from heat) in another bowl and hold onto them until later.
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STEP 3: Now add the diced onion to the pan and let it cook in the juices already there. Some people like to brown the onions slightly, but I like to cook them for awhile (at least 5 minutes)... just a habit I have, too.
STEP 4: NOW add the beef strips to the pan and brown them quickly. Since there are a lot of strips, there's a lot to brown. Just take your time with it. ;)
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STEP 5: (You can do this while the beef is browning or even before you start frying) I find this helpful to do if I'm using flour or cornstarch to make a thick sauce from scratch. Basically, set aside a tiny amount of beef broth and pre-mix the flour and/or cornstarch so it's already pretty much liquefied. This way they mix fairly smoothly and flawlessly when you add it to the rest of the broth and food that's cooking. It's difficult to do this in a pot or pan full of other stuff.. it gets gunky and cakes on top of items in the pot/pan.
STEP 6: Pour in the broth/flour mix and the remaining broth into the pan. Bring the food to a boil (stirring constantly) and then lower the heat slightly. Stir in the mustard and the worcestershire sauce.
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STEP 7: Cover and let it simmer for 60 minutes (or until the meat is tender).
STEP 8: Five minutes before serving/finishing, stir in the sour cream, cream cheese, and mushrooms. If desired, you can also add a little extra cooking wine for taste... but it shouldn't be necessary since you already marinated the meat in the wine earlier.
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Enjoy. :)
January rain and February showers...
...spring forth March flowers!
I know I keep on posting pictures of spam with these beautiful orchids, but they never cease to blow me away with how much they keep on blooming! Joel bought these from an orchid sale at the hospital in March 2010, and they're still blooming strong.
Working at the hospital, we tend to like using things that are sterile in order to prevent infection from spreading between patients... which means there's quite a bit of wasted trash that we produce each day. An example is the flip-off tops that we toss out with each single- and multi-use iv vial.
From these colorful little doodads, I made some flower-shaped id badge holders for my cousin's coworkers, who saw the badge holder I made for her during Christmas and requested some:
Not bad for recycled goods, eh? ;)
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I know I keep on posting pictures of spam with these beautiful orchids, but they never cease to blow me away with how much they keep on blooming! Joel bought these from an orchid sale at the hospital in March 2010, and they're still blooming strong.
Working at the hospital, we tend to like using things that are sterile in order to prevent infection from spreading between patients... which means there's quite a bit of wasted trash that we produce each day. An example is the flip-off tops that we toss out with each single- and multi-use iv vial.
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From these colorful little doodads, I made some flower-shaped id badge holders for my cousin's coworkers, who saw the badge holder I made for her during Christmas and requested some:
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Not bad for recycled goods, eh? ;)
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Mmmmmusubi!
Mmmm... Musubi. I love spam musubi. I first had it when my cousin returned from a 1-year hiatus to Hawaii, and I've loved it ever since. Most people cringe at the mention of Spam, but mention it in almost any Filipino household (I'd say 99%... you have the rare ones who join the "dark side" of the vegetarian and vegan movement), and you're sure to make some mouths water.
I like to marinate my spam before frying it for my musubi. I base my marinade on a recipe from the Honolulu Star-Bulletin that I found online a long time ago. It's always changing and always done to taste... and it goes a little something like this:
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup mirin
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon grated/minced ginger
1/8 - 1/4 cup tonkatsu sauce
1/8 - 1/4 cup korean barbecue sauce
1/8 - 1/4 cup brown sugar
* sometimes I add something spicy, too... like Sriracha Hot Sauce
I always adjust it based on what sauce is available at home... and what else I feel like adding at the time.
I made these in celebration of the first surf session I had with my brand new 5'8" Rusty Pirhana, which my husband bought at an AMAZING price at the Mira Mesa Rusty Warehouse. The board is *AMAZING* and fun.
My husband completed the package with some Future Fins that he thought would complement my surfing style (haha... as if I were good enough to have one) and weight... the John Johns! :)
I can't wait to take it out more often.. especially as the weather gets warmer down here.
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I like to marinate my spam before frying it for my musubi. I base my marinade on a recipe from the Honolulu Star-Bulletin that I found online a long time ago. It's always changing and always done to taste... and it goes a little something like this:
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup mirin
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon grated/minced ginger
1/8 - 1/4 cup tonkatsu sauce
1/8 - 1/4 cup korean barbecue sauce
1/8 - 1/4 cup brown sugar
* sometimes I add something spicy, too... like Sriracha Hot Sauce
I always adjust it based on what sauce is available at home... and what else I feel like adding at the time.
I made these in celebration of the first surf session I had with my brand new 5'8" Rusty Pirhana, which my husband bought at an AMAZING price at the Mira Mesa Rusty Warehouse. The board is *AMAZING* and fun.
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My husband completed the package with some Future Fins that he thought would complement my surfing style (haha... as if I were good enough to have one) and weight... the John Johns! :)
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I can't wait to take it out more often.. especially as the weather gets warmer down here.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Oceanside: a window of sunshine during rainy season...
My husband and I were able to enjoy a three day weekend together, and we started it off as a family day with my parents. Despite the pouring flurry of rain we had over that week, the sun peeked out for a few hours, presenting us with a window of opportunity to go for a walk around the Oceanside harbor area and have some fish and chips. :)
Why hadn't we done this earlier (when we originally moved to Oceanside)? The harbor is a nice, entertaining walk. I'd definitely do it again, especially when the weather lightens up.
We even found another little fishing pier... tiny and not as crowded as the Oceanside pier. I can't vouch for as much fishing success here, though...
...but it looks like a great place to have a picnic or lunch with lolo and lola! Besides, Caleb made a "friend" that day:
The walk was mellow, but it was still long enough to get our appetites worked up. Before we knew it, we turned around and headed back to Harbor Fish & Chips for some... fish and chips! Yum, yum, yum!
We finished our outing by visiting a local sunbathing sea lion pair who were bullying a third sea lion... poor guy just wanted to chill, but they wouldn't let him join them!
All in all a good mellow day. :)
Why hadn't we done this earlier (when we originally moved to Oceanside)? The harbor is a nice, entertaining walk. I'd definitely do it again, especially when the weather lightens up.
We even found another little fishing pier... tiny and not as crowded as the Oceanside pier. I can't vouch for as much fishing success here, though...
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...but it looks like a great place to have a picnic or lunch with lolo and lola! Besides, Caleb made a "friend" that day:
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The walk was mellow, but it was still long enough to get our appetites worked up. Before we knew it, we turned around and headed back to Harbor Fish & Chips for some... fish and chips! Yum, yum, yum!
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We finished our outing by visiting a local sunbathing sea lion pair who were bullying a third sea lion... poor guy just wanted to chill, but they wouldn't let him join them!
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All in all a good mellow day. :)
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Mmmm... Brownies... and Breakfast Sausage... and then some... :D
It's difficult to pass up super cheap brownie mixes at the supermarket when they're on sale... they're like an insta-dessert you can easily make at home (and that it's practically impossible to bake wrong... even though I admit to fudging them up a couple of times in the past). Besides, brownie mix gives me more time to enjoy being around my family WHILE enjoying the brownies... and it's kinda fun making them without having to think too hard about it, too. :)
Mmmm... easy, tasty yumminess. :)
On another note, I used my three day weekend as an excuse to eat well while also eating easily.. which gave me an excuse to buy some Jimmy Dean maple-flavored breakfast sausages and make little breakfast sandwiches with English muffins, over-easy eggs, cheese, and tomato. The tomato was an excellent added touch that my husband came up with at the last minute:
And an added bonus: the valentines day rosebuds finally bloomed. Too bad they didn't last as long as we were hoping...
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Mmmm... easy, tasty yumminess. :)
On another note, I used my three day weekend as an excuse to eat well while also eating easily.. which gave me an excuse to buy some Jimmy Dean maple-flavored breakfast sausages and make little breakfast sandwiches with English muffins, over-easy eggs, cheese, and tomato. The tomato was an excellent added touch that my husband came up with at the last minute:
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And an added bonus: the valentines day rosebuds finally bloomed. Too bad they didn't last as long as we were hoping...
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Thursday, February 17, 2011
Springtime in (Sometimes) Sunny San Diego
We've been getting quite a bit of rain and dreariness this winter, so the little pockets of sunshine that come by have been quite a blessing. I guess that's just me being a sissy: winters here are nowhere close to how cold they were in Colorado Springs at 7,258 feet above sea level. After moving to San Diego, it's difficult to NOT get acclimated to San Diego's version of cold. The very thought of surfing in San Francisco, where I first learned how to surf, makes me want to cry.
Unfortunately, our baby boy had been battling a cold for a few days, so he spent a few of the sunny days indoors. Thank goodness for this Craigslist score, quite possibly one of the coolest Christmas gifts we could ever buy for a mere $25:
Cold, rainy winters in San Diego often make us long for warmer winters... like Hawaiian winters... and this longing led to us mustering the motivation to make a Hawaiian pizza that was more Hawaiian than, say, the Hawaiian pizzas offered at most pizzarias. Why limit yourself to Canadian Bacon when you can have Spam and Portuguese Sausage instead? We finally decided to make our own personalized version of a Hawaiian pizza using on pizza sauce and crust from Trader Joes... and tossed in some sweet maui onions, just for an additional topping.
Don't the Portuguese sausage and Spam look delicious? ;)
My husband decided to toss all the ingredients on top of the sauce...
...so we ended up with the cheesy goodness you see below:
Mmmmm.... talk about some sweet-and-savory goodness! Next time we make it, we hope we find some slightly spicier Linguica... just to add a little more pizazz to the mix. :)
Unfortunately, our baby boy had been battling a cold for a few days, so he spent a few of the sunny days indoors. Thank goodness for this Craigslist score, quite possibly one of the coolest Christmas gifts we could ever buy for a mere $25:
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Cold, rainy winters in San Diego often make us long for warmer winters... like Hawaiian winters... and this longing led to us mustering the motivation to make a Hawaiian pizza that was more Hawaiian than, say, the Hawaiian pizzas offered at most pizzarias. Why limit yourself to Canadian Bacon when you can have Spam and Portuguese Sausage instead? We finally decided to make our own personalized version of a Hawaiian pizza using on pizza sauce and crust from Trader Joes... and tossed in some sweet maui onions, just for an additional topping.
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Don't the Portuguese sausage and Spam look delicious? ;)
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My husband decided to toss all the ingredients on top of the sauce...
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...so we ended up with the cheesy goodness you see below:
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Mmmmm.... talk about some sweet-and-savory goodness! Next time we make it, we hope we find some slightly spicier Linguica... just to add a little more pizazz to the mix. :)
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Healthier Filipino?
With aging family and their accompanying health issues, it's always a challenge finding new ways to enhance their diets while respecting the lifestyle and habits they're used to. Let's face it: it's difficult to ask someone who's lived for so long to make drastic changes to the way they've lived for so many years. I mean, they gotten by okay this far, right? Besides, I need to find ways to make the food I love enjoyable for my little one, too.
One of my favorite things to do is find ways to make some of the dishes I've grown up with slightly healthier. Yes, it does change the way they taste slightly... but you got to give a little if you're going to take a little. Take adobo, for example. I can't help but wonder if the original dish started similarly because it's hard to believe that people consumed so much MEAT in an island country without throwing in veggies to supplement. Haha!
Then again, I do remember an old college friend of mine confessing to me, after eating adobo for the first time, "Karm... I actually ate a chunk of fat... and you know what? I tasted GOOD! I wanted to eat all of the fat on the meat." Take that, health freaks! ;)
When I make the adobo, I often use boneless, skinless chicken thighs. To cut on cost at times (when I have the time to spare, of couse), I will buy the bone-in skin-on thighs and de-bone/de-skin them myself... and I trim off a bit of the fat. An old roommate of mine used to only use chicken breast, but I find chicken breast dry and uninviting. While dark meat is fatty, chicken thighs tend to be more economical as chicken breast... and just about as "healthy." Besides, they're one of the recommended meats in the hypertension-battling DASH diet.
When I cook the adobo, I tend to brown the chicken first and then proceed to cook the rest like a stew... and then I add all kinds of veggies, including (ta-da) zucchini! It gets very colorful and tasty... and I'm sure that there are other variations of veggies I can add, especially if I have to take the beans away (for my father's gout... poor guy!).
Anyhow, the end-product is still delicious and wrought with much vinegar-soaked glory. My husband is happy with the addition of veggies (since he's very health-conscious), and it gets my son to chomp down on veggies happily... AND, at the very least, my parents happily tolerate it when they have to eat it. ;)
On another note, my son (in his pickiness) also loooooooves SPAM with a passion. Luckily, I tricked him into eating the low sodium stuff. While most white people cringe at the thought of him eating "ham in a can," I don't mind it at all, since it gives me an excuse to make some, too! Besides, it's fun and easy to present it in a cute little package.
I can't wait until he's big enough to manage a Spam Musubi on his own. :)
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One of my favorite things to do is find ways to make some of the dishes I've grown up with slightly healthier. Yes, it does change the way they taste slightly... but you got to give a little if you're going to take a little. Take adobo, for example. I can't help but wonder if the original dish started similarly because it's hard to believe that people consumed so much MEAT in an island country without throwing in veggies to supplement. Haha!
Then again, I do remember an old college friend of mine confessing to me, after eating adobo for the first time, "Karm... I actually ate a chunk of fat... and you know what? I tasted GOOD! I wanted to eat all of the fat on the meat." Take that, health freaks! ;)
When I make the adobo, I often use boneless, skinless chicken thighs. To cut on cost at times (when I have the time to spare, of couse), I will buy the bone-in skin-on thighs and de-bone/de-skin them myself... and I trim off a bit of the fat. An old roommate of mine used to only use chicken breast, but I find chicken breast dry and uninviting. While dark meat is fatty, chicken thighs tend to be more economical as chicken breast... and just about as "healthy." Besides, they're one of the recommended meats in the hypertension-battling DASH diet.
When I cook the adobo, I tend to brown the chicken first and then proceed to cook the rest like a stew... and then I add all kinds of veggies, including (ta-da) zucchini! It gets very colorful and tasty... and I'm sure that there are other variations of veggies I can add, especially if I have to take the beans away (for my father's gout... poor guy!).
 |
Anyhow, the end-product is still delicious and wrought with much vinegar-soaked glory. My husband is happy with the addition of veggies (since he's very health-conscious), and it gets my son to chomp down on veggies happily... AND, at the very least, my parents happily tolerate it when they have to eat it. ;)
On another note, my son (in his pickiness) also loooooooves SPAM with a passion. Luckily, I tricked him into eating the low sodium stuff. While most white people cringe at the thought of him eating "ham in a can," I don't mind it at all, since it gives me an excuse to make some, too! Besides, it's fun and easy to present it in a cute little package.
 |
I can't wait until he's big enough to manage a Spam Musubi on his own. :)
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