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Weekend Fun!

We had a great weekend here in the Puget Sound, with the weather hitting 90 F and the Blue Angels in town. I didn’t cook this weekend, thus we ate out and did take out.  I do not want to be in the kitchen cooking when it’s this hot out.   We finally saw the Dark Knight movie last Friday night and Hubby liked the ending so much:)  Today (Sunday) we also had a picnic at Kirkland Marina Park and got lucky because we saw a little of the Blue Angels performance. Our weekend in pictures:

friday night dinner at John Howie steakhouse!
Zach’s car got a wash!!
yikes!
wedding in the park
made bagel with lox, red onions, and capers for my hubs!
Al fresco dinner before the movie!
Been wearing dresses during these hot summer days (wearing: target dress,sandals (gift from sister)
Kirkland Marina Park
Hubs
silly dog!
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our picnic food: milk tea and gyro
gyro,reminds me of shawarma in PI
cuddle buddy
with my lovey!(wearing:target shirt,old navy pants,toms shoes)
pretty flowers in the park!
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sunday night dinner: craving for crispy KFC!go calories go!
mexican for my hubs!
chorizo  and beef tacos
weekend purchase: north face light weight raincoat jacket! i’m so loving the light cyan color:)

Savings!

I shopped at Walgreens and Fred Meyer (kroger affiliate) today.  I wanted to get some coffee creamer at Wags (sale for 2/$3,original price is $2.49). Luckily,I got some pretty good deals at their clearance section with the vegetable oil and hand sanitizers(original price $2.79, clearance price .69 cents). For my Fred Meyer trip, I used coupons on most items except for the milk and veggies.I think I did OK:-), Hope you had great savings!!

I paid $15 (after sale and coupons and clearance price)
Fred Meyer trip, I paid $35
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Yesterdays shopping was at Target: I paid $17, the original price of $32..The sandals was my fave deal!

free pens at target!

Savings!!

I shopped at the Asian market and Fred Meyer(kroger affiliate) this week. I only took a picture of my FM trip.My favorite was the organic tomato sauce(original price 99 cents,sale price 65 cents) and the milk (original price $1.85, sale for $1).

Paid $42,after sales and coupons..

American Citizen

I’m officially an American citizen today!  I took the test and did the Oath Taking this afternoon.  I’m grateful that I’m living here in USA, and I know a lot of my friends back in the PI would like to be living and working here in US but just don’t have the opportunity to be here (land of the free!!).  The Lord made it “easy” for me, the Love of my life happens to be an American thus the process of applying to become a citizen was “quicker”.  There were 58 candidates from 26 countries (from Canada to Cambodia). Thanks to my Hubby who took the day off to be with me today and take pics of the event:)

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cute Chinese American citizen boy,holding the flag!
me receiving my certificate (hubby wasn’t very happy that I didn’t stop to pose!)
it’s like graduating or something!hehehe
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after the ceremony,I have to eat Filipino fried chicken! I just can’t abandon my filipino appetite!hehehe

AntiPasto Salad

I’m not a big Rachael Ray fan but I subscribed to her magazine because I like food magazines that have lots of food pictures, thus easy to follow whenever I’m cooking.  I got this salad recipe from the latest issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray.  Simple and delicious pasta salad.  I paired it with chicken marsala.

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I used campanelle pasta

Buko Pandan

I had my friend Faye and her family for dinner tonight.  It was such a nice summer day!  I wanted to eat outside and  grill some pork belly and bangus (milkfish). We got lucky because it looks like tomorrow we will have some rain again.  Anyways, for dessert, I prepared this Filipino dessert, Buko Pandan.  I got all of the ingredients from the asian market here in WA.  Pandan (screwpine leaves) can be bought frozen in most Asian markets( I didn’t get any) because I opted to prepare it the easy way and use pandan extract.  I also added nata de coco(pandan flavor) because I like the texture of it.  I got the recipe online (www.panlasangpinoy.com)

some of the ingredients
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so good with vanilla ice cream

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cup young coconut strips (Buko)
  • 5 ounces condensed milk
  • 8 ounces Table cream or all-purpose cream
  • 3 ounces powdered gelatin
  • 1 1/4 cups water
  • 6 drops Buko Pandan flavoring
  • 2 scoops vanilla ice cream (optional)
  • 1/2 cup small tapioca pearls, cooked (optional)

Cooking Procedure

  1. Combine water and powdered gelatin then stir using a spoon.
  2. Add Buko Pandan flavoring then stir until everything is evenly distributed.
  3. Heat a saucepan and pour-in the mixture. Bring to a boil while continuously stirring.
  4. Turn off the heat and transfer the mixture to a mold. Allow the temperature to cool. The texture of the mixture should be firm once cooled. You may also place this inside the refrigerator for faster results (allow the temperature to go down before putting-in the refrigerator).
  5. Combine condensed milk, table cream, tapioca pearls, and young coconut then mix well. Allow the texture to thicken by chilling in the refrigerator or freezer for a few hours.
  6. Slice the firm gelatin into 1 inch cubes then combine with the condensed milk-cream-young coconut-tapioca mixture.
  7. Transfer to individual serving platters or cups then top with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.
  8. Serve and Enjoy.

More Pictures of our dinner tonight:

grilling pork belly
pork belly
yummmmmm
grilled pork belly and bangus and adobong sitaw:)
chicken wings;inasal style
with faye and her family

 

 

 

 

 

Chicken Marsala

Quick, easy and delicious Chicken Marsala recipe I saw online.  I made this tonight and will most likely cook this again:-)

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🙂 chicken marsala with antipasto salad for dinner

 

Ingredients:

2 skinless,boneless,chicken breasts

salt and black pepper

1/2 cup all purpose flour

up to 1/2 cup olive oil

8 ounce sliced mushroom

2 tablespoon butter

1/2 cup sweet marsala wine

1/4 cup chicken stock

1/4 cup sherry or dry white whine

optional:2 tablespoon heavy cream

Garnish with parsley

 

Instruction:

1. plot each chicken breast through the middle to make 2 pieces. Place plastic wrap over them and pound each one flat using a meat tenderizer/mallet until they are about a quarter inch thick. Season a good amount of salt and pepper on both sides. Place flour on  a plate and dredge each piece of chicken in it.

2. Heat the oil over medium high heat and when the oil is hot, fry each piece for 3-4 minutes on each side until golden brown. Remove chicken and place them on a serving platter covering with foil.

3. Reduce the heat to medium and add butter and mushrooms. Saute mushrooms for 4-5 minutes making sure to season them with salt and pepper lightly. Add marsala wine,sherry,cream,and chicken stock allowing the liquid to reduce slightly. Pour mushrooms and sauce over the chicken and serve.