Food this week – Page 3 – The Adventures of a Calamari Queen

What we’ve been eating lately!

Happy Wednesday all! It’s still HOT here on our side of the country, and I’ve been enjoying iced coffee lately. I just had one with my Mom In Law earlier at Starbucks. Anyways, we’ve been eating most of our meals lately at home (aside from tacos and take-outs during weekends) and I wanted to share what we’ve been having lately:

Stir Fry pork belly and string beans (I think it's called snake beans in one of my chinese cookbook) — Stir Fry pork belly and string beans (I think it’s called snake beans in one of my chinese cookbooks)

Breakfast for my hubs! yogurt with strawberries and bowl of cantaloupe! — Breakfast for my hubs! yogurt with strawberries and a bowl of cantaloupe!

Steaks that I prepared! Normally it's the Hubs who do the steaks here but he was busy lately that I had to do it. It turned great:) — Steaks that I prepared! Normally it’s the Hubs who does the steaks here but he is busy lately so I had to do it. It turned out great (according to him)

Filipino breakfast for dinner! Milkfish and eggs.

Chicken coconut curry (recipe from panlasangpinoy.com)

grilled shrimps for tacos — grilled shrimps and mango avocado salsa for tacos

excuse the bad angle and the chin, the Hubs wanted to take a pic of me preparing the Ribs!hehe

Oven Baked ribs and coleslaw (we had ribs two nights in a row because I prepared 2 racks)

Take-outs and dinner out (Hubs and I try to support our local, small business/restaurants in our area)

Sushi from our neighborhood — Our neighborhood Sushi place (it’s our fave)

pulled pork from Dickies bbq (another Issaquah restaurant)

Pork Blood stew (dinuguan) kare-kare (oxtail meat in Peanut sauce);from the Asian market in Seattle — Pork Blood stew (dinuguan) and kare-kare (oxtail meat in Peanut sauce);from the Asian market in Seattle

Pizza from a food truck place (so good for the price, we'll be back for sure) — Pizza from Tuscan Pizza food truck (so good for the price, we’ll be back for sure)

I do not cook every day. I try to follow the “cook once, eat twice” rule. These are the meals (mostly dinners) we’ve been eating for the month of June and this 1st week of July. Happy cooking and eating friends!

Thanksgiving 2014!

Hello family and friends! I hope you all had a great thanksgiving (if you celebrate this Holiday) and stuffed your belly with yummy food! We hosted this year (2nd in a row now) and I think we will be hosting for the coming years too. I really don’t mind because everyone (my husband’s side of the family) shares responsibility in the food department. We enjoyed thanksgiving dinner and watched the Seahawks beat the 49ers (it was a boring game because I think the 49ers forgot how to play football!). Around 11pm when I was already in bed, the Hubs wanted to go check out target because he wanted to get something related to his computer! So off we go to 2 Targets and I’m glad he got what he wanted. We also checked out Walmart for candles (my new obsession lately) and there were a lot of people but nothing like what I normally see on T.V. I don’t think I will do it again. I prefer shopping online because the deals seem to be the same and it is more convenient.

My Thanksgiving table 2014; just bought flowers because I wanted just a simple table. — My Thanksgiving table 2014; just bought flowers because I wanted a simple table.

I made lechon belly(roast pork belly) because we wanted my DIL to taste it

someone's enjoying his dinner! — someone’s enjoying his dinner!(pic from the iPad so it’s blurry)

watching football and Riley is so over the game!

The next day (Friday) it’s a family tradition for all of us to walk around downtown Seattle and window shop. The weather was so nasty that we only stayed for 4 hours. It was still a nice time with my In laws though.

sorry for the ugly background!the Hubs just asked me to turn around.. — sorry for the ugly background!the Hubs just asked me to turn around…can barely see macys;).

Did you get me something mom?-Riey — Did you get me something mom?-Riley

Weekend Fun!

Our weekend was wet and quiet! Fall is here and it’s been a rainy weekend here in the PNW! We didn’t do a lot because Riley is still healing from his surgery so we didn’t want to leave him alone for a long time so we mostly stayed here at home. We did watch the movie “The Maze Runner” because Hubs read the book series so he wanted to see if they did them justice. He said the movie wasn’t so bad compared to the book! I enjoyed it too despite me not reading the books. After the movie, we ate at the Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant because it was close to the theater and we’ve been wanting to try it. The place is like a sports bar, lots of big TVs all over the place and college football playing everywhere while we dined. The wings were good too, meaty and flavorful. I really liked my order. I had the chicken wings with parmesan garlic sauce. The Hubs had the traditional chicken wings (buffalo hot sauce) and he said it was just OK. We also shared their fried cheese curds (my first time to have it) and it was the BOMB! I will probably go back just for that alone!

This is Zachs drink! — This is Zach’s drink (twisted margarita)!

After church this morning, we had lunch at Genki Sushi at Factoria Mall because the weather is cold and wet and I “needed” some Ramen in my system!

I got a free candle coupon from Bath and Body works and I picked this one! Smells delicious! The hubs doesn't care for this one. — I got a free candle coupon from Bath and Body works and I picked this one! Smells delicious! The hubs doesn’t care for it though.

I baked pineapple cake this evening! don't be too impressed this is just from a cake mix! — I baked pineapple cake this evening! Don’t be too impressed this is just from a cake mix!

YAY for boots season! I got this from amazon and it's so comfy! Original price:100$,I got it on sale for $20! So comfy yet cheap! My kind of deal:) — YAY for boots season! I got this from amazon and it’s so comfy! Original price: $100, I got it on sale for $20! So comfy yet cheap! My kind of deal:)

Hope you had a great weekend family and friends! I’m off to spend some time with my Hubs and my lovey Riley!

Boodle Fight!

I prepared Boodle Fight dinner for my friend Faye and her Husband Roger when we had them last night. It’s been a while since we had them,and we always wanted to try a Boodle fight kind of dinner so last night it finally happened! Boodle fight is a military style of eating where long tables are prepared with food on top of banana leaves (urbandictionary.com). Although our dinner was not as “authentic” because we didn’t have any banana leaves, and we used plates and forks, the boodle fight idea was there. I prepared Pork Hock Humba, Chicken wings Inasal (grilled), Chopsuey (stir fry veggies), Shrimps, Grilled pork belly, grilled bangus (milkfish). We still have left overs but it’s not a lot because the portions were just enough. We had Ube (purple yam) ice cream for dessert that Faye bought. It was so much fun and the weather was great so we spent most of our time on our patio. I hope you had a great weekend friends!

"modeling" with our tomatoes! — “modeling” with our tomatoes!LOL

Gave these HUGE tomatoes to Faye,I hope she will like it and will enjoy it in her scrambled eggs!hehe — Gave these HUGE tomatoes to Faye,I hope she will like them and will enjoy it in her scrambled eggs!hehe

Till the next Boodle Fight Faye and family!

Butter Chicken!

I made this Indian dish last night because my Hubs has been requesting/challenging me to make this because it’s his favorite Indian dish. So I started watching “how to” cook videos on YouTube regarding Butter Chicken. This is the recipe/video that I followed youtube vid. I had to buy a couple of spices that she used because I don’t have it in my pantry (like Garam Marsala). I did adjusted and didn’t follow her measurements specifically, like I added more brown sugar,more cream, etc. In her video, she used chicken breast while I used thigh(it’s just our preference). My Hubs enjoyed it a lot, I think he said it’s OK with him if I’ll cook this once a week:) I’m glad that the dish turned out great,because this is my second time cooking Indian food (I cooked Tandoori Chicken before) and it’s kinda hard if you’re not familiar with some of the spices they use in their cooking. It encourages me to try other dishes when the recipe isn’t a disaster!

bad picture(i really need to practice taking pics)

i think she used cilantro for garnish,i used parsley (its what i have in the garden)

MIA!

Hello everyone! I’ve been MIA for the last 2 weeks because my older sister visited me here in Washington (State) and we just spent a lot of time doing fun things (shopping, dining, gardening, hiking, watching movies) the kind of fun things you do with your siblings! She’s already back in NYC (visiting my other sis), then off to Hawaii to yet again visit another sis! A lot of traveling for her but she loves to travel so she doesn’t mind. I’ll be posting about what we did while she was here because it such a great time and we miss her already. First weekend she was here, we went to see the Blue Angels (it was part of the SeaFair weekend). It was pretty cool to see them perform, it was kinda loud but I guess that’s part of the craziness! Hope you enjoy the pictures:)

Sis and I having a little picnic with friends while waiting for the Blue Angels!

After a fun long day we decided to have yummy seafood on the patio to enjoy the nice weather too! We had crabs and shrimps that we got from Costco! Seafood on a summer night…my kind of dinner!

Dungeness Crabs (my have) — Dungeness Crabs (my fave)

Food we’ve been eating lately!

Hello everyone! It’s been a nice summer here in the PNW and we are spending more time outside (mostly in my garden and patio), soaking up the sunshine! Just wanted to share what we’ve been eating and cooking here!

Roast Chicken and green beans (with lots of cheese)

vegetable fried rice with siracha — vegetable fried rice with sriracha

takeout fave:crispy garlic chicken,pad thai

mexican takeout:beef taquitos and nachos

grilled calamari and sauteed calamari,roast beets

Sister’s Visit in Seattle!

My sister joined the Seattle Rock n Roll last weekend (she’s from New York). Two of her friends joined her because they’ve never been to Seattle. It was so much fun doing the touristy things with them and spending time with family and friends. We miss them already ,but hopefully we’ll see them again later this year!

enjoying the view of Seattle in Alki Beach

dinner at Duke's! we enjoyed the sunset while having dinner here. — dinner at Duke’s! we enjoyed the sunset while having dinner here. This is my crab cake dinner:)

day of the race! early morning to avoid traffic in Seattle!

What we’ve been eating lately!

Hello all! I’ve been wanting to post some of the food we’ve been eating lately but I’m kinda lazy in the posting department:) We try to eat real food and less processed food in our house, but let’s be honest Hubs and I over indulge with treats and junk food (hello ice cream!) more than we should. As a homemaker, it’s my job to make sure we are eating healthy and well balanced meals. Happy cooking and eating friends!

after shopping at costco! the pulled pork is pretty decent:) — after shopping at costco! the brisket is pretty decent:)

super nachos from our fave mexican place

beef bulgogi from trader joe's — beef bulgogi from trader joe’s

Tinolang manok (Filipino version of Chicken soup)

spicy pork belly dish(takeout from a chinese restaurant)

Hubby had Jimmy John sandwich while I had the soup

Food This Week!

Some of the food we had this last week:

Ravioli (trader joe's) in sage butter — Ravioli (trader joe’s) in sage butter

scramble eggs, strawberry in balsamic glaze,OJ (breakfast for hubs) — scrambled eggs, strawberry in balsamic glaze,OJ (breakfast for hubs)

moscato wine,grilled asparagus,mashed potatoes

spaghetti and meatballs,garlic bread,salad (all from trader joe's — spaghetti and meatballs,garlic bread,salad (all from trader joe’s)

We ate out also this week: RAM and Genki sushi

RAMS vanilla milkshake (i didn't like this, i will not order this again) — RAMS vanilla milkshake (I didn’t like this and will not order it again)