Carrot-Pineapple Yogurt Cake

This was the same recipe as the Carrot Cake I previously made, with little tweaks here and there... For instance, I used non-fat pineapple flavored (I couldn't find non-fat plain ones) yogurt instead of the all-purpose cream. Then instead of ordinary crushed pineapples, I used Del Monte Fit 'n Right Pineapple Fruit Snacks (it's got 300mg of L-Carnatine per serving!). I added two pots of these pineapple chunks, with the sweet syrup too. So I didn't have to put sugar anymore! The result? A healthier version of the carrot cake I made earlier, only a lot more mushy at the center, so it turned out to be more like a pudding than a cake haha. But it's quite crispy on the outside, wow. It turned out unexpectedly good!

Melong Tagalog with gatas

Probably the simplest entry ever in this blog- melong/milong tagalog with evaporated milk. I didn't add sugar as I am trying to cut calories (hehe), not to mention, Grandma has diabetes. But the evaporated milk turned out to be quite sweet already, so it was already good without the sugar. I added a sprinkle of Lifemax Mila chia seeds (Salvia hispanica), initially for aesthetic purposes lol (so it's not just plain white with lumps), but it's health benefits are tremendous-> http://www.theperfectgrain.com/, and it doesn't affect the taste at all.

Bacon wrapped Enoki Mushrooms

 

I got the idea for this from Teriyaki Boy restaurant, so I'm assuming it's Japanese... This is extremely easy to make, and oh so yummy. Just wrap Enoki mushrooms in bacon then fry! But I think the one from Teriyaki Boy is grilled.. oh wow, I have to try that...

Mixed Seafood and Veggies

I was surprised how yummy this one turned out to be. I think it was because of the seafood. The seafood- squid, shrimp, crabsticks and mussels, made the dish simply bursting with flavor.
I sauteed onion and garlic as usual, then added the seafood, seasoned it with a bit of soy sauce and pepper, then added beansprouts. I had blanched the green beans and carrots, drained it, then reheated with a bit of butter. Mix them all together and you're done.

the Carrot Cake I love

Carrot Cake... but without the cream cheese icing. Should this be called Carrot Loaf then?
Well anyway, Carrot Cake or Loaf, I can say that this is the best dessert I have ever done so far. I know I haven't made many, but I have done some things, most of which are not in this blog since they were made long before I decided to make this.
The batter is made out of grated carrots, crushed pineapple, flour (I used Maya Cake Flour), eggs, sugar, butter, cinnamon and cream. I might have missed an ingredient or two, but the important thing I want to note was the cream. This was the first time I used cream on my cake, and it turned out better than the previous ones I made where I just used milk. But of course, I cannot be sure if it really was the cream that made the difference, but it probably was. So, yup. That is now my secret ingredient- cream instead of milk. Although, not so secret now that I have written it here... (as if other people are reading lol).

 

For err.. garnish, I used the leftover cream with a hint of vanilla, and the leftover crushed pineapple, and a piece of cinnamon stick. But I preferred the plain carrot loaf, yum!

Creamy Beef Lasagna

 

I am so proud of this dish. Not entirely perfect, but I'm happy it turned out edible. It was actually good! There were two sauces- red and white. The red one is the meat sauce, made out of minced beef, tomato sauce and fresh basil, with sauteed onion and garlic at the start of course. The white is the cheese sauce, made out of butter, a bit of flour, milk and cheese, a dash if salt, then heated and stirred until nice and thick. According the the box of the lasagna I used, there is no pre-cooking required (I used San Remo Instant...). But I still soaked the pasta sheets in water for a few minutes, to soften them a bit.
Then it was onto the layering.... red sauce-pasta-white sauce- red- pasta- white.... until you run out of an ingredient. Just make sure the topmost layer is the cheese sauce so you'd get a lovely top of melted cheese, slightly brown on some parts. Careful not to burn the top layer! If you're worried, cover the top with aluminum foil to prevent the top layer from blacking out and just remove the foil at around the last 5 minutes to give it a nice brown finish.

Croque Monsieur

Croque Monsieur... a very nice name for melted cheese (I used mozzarella) and ham on butter toasted bread. Basically a ham and cheese sandwich. But I'd like to call it croque monsieur. Makes me feel like a professional French chef just mentioning the name.

Honey Garlic Lamb

Hahaha.. I just made this one up. Totally. Quite disastrous lol.
Honey-glazed lamb, pan fried in garlic and olive oil. Seasoned with salt and lots of pepper. Served on carrots and onions (because that's all i had left in the fridge).
Well I probably won't be doing this again lol.. Or if I do, it won't be lamb. I realized I didn't like lamb too much, or maybe it was just the way I cooked it... Maybe I'll try this next time with something more familiar.. like chicken or beef...

Fish and Chips

Now this one here is the primary reason why I'm not advertising this blog to anybody I know. In fact, I'm not advertising this blog to anyone at all! The recipes here can get silly, and it would be embarrassing if mom sees I'm "playing with my food". Okay, let's use the term experimenting rather than playing. You'll see what I'm talking about.



Well this is Fish and Chips. Or at least, that was my goal when I started cooking this. So for the fries, it was just deep fried potatoes. I should've covered them with flour to make them crispy, or cooked them a little bit longer, because they turned out quite soggy. The fish I used was cream dory, then for the batter I used one egg, flour, grated parmesan cheese, salt, and err.. crushed Nestle Fitness Cereals. Don't ask why. I like to experiment, that's all. LOL. (Well actually, the recipe I found said Japanese bread crumbs, or whole wheat cracker crumbs, but as I had neither of those, and as I am itching to cook this, I found the alternative lol). I had put pepper directly on the fish. I realized it probably would have been better if I had put the pepper on the batter so that it would be spread evenly, no black patches here and there.. like in the picture. Well anyway, I served it with a bit of low-fat mayonnaise on the side, and halved calamansi to drizzle on the fish. I crumpled half a page of a spreadsheet newspaper, then I found some brown tissue papers from Starbucks, which I had put on top of the newspaper. Put everything else on top of the pile of crumpled papers and viola... Fish and Chips.

Simple Grilled Chicken Salad

 

Simple, easy to make, healthy and yummy! Chicken breasts marinated in soy sauce and a bit of lime, add a bit of salt and lots of pepper, then grill! Toss in a bed of fresh lettuce, bit of tomatoes and cheese, and drizzle with thousand island dressing.

Chocolate Tapioca Pudding

 

Yummy and very easy to make... just follow the instructions in the box! haha... yup, I used the instant stuff.

To give it a huge chocolate flavor, I added a powdered tablet of cocoa in the tapioca mixture. If you do this you might want to add a bit more sugar than usual, as the cocoa is quite bitter, but of course this depends on your personal preference.

Yorkshire Pudding

A classic, but no, I am not British. haha... I just generally love cooking and want to try different things, no matter the country of origin. But I admit, I am a bit biased to the British, so you might see lots of other British foods here. haha
Well anyway, for this Yorkshire Pudding (pronounced York-sure, or York-sha, I dunno, depends on your accent probably lol), I used the recipe from here:
http://www.hub-uk.com/tallyrecip03/recipe0124.htm

I used cake flour and added a bit of sugar too. And I have to say, it was such pleasure to watch the pudding rise... my heart was rising with it. haha..

Well it's my first time to bake a Yorkshire pudding, and probably only the 4th time I used the oven by myself. So, for me, this is a big accomplishment! :D