The Adventures of a Calamari Queen – Page 34 – Christian, Wife, Mommy, Homemaker, Retired nurse, Fur-mama,living a simple and minimal life!

Valentine’s 2016!

Hi Friends! Happy Hearts day to you and I hope it’s one lovely day with the special people in your life. On Valentines evening, we had dinner with my In laws at SEASTAR restaurant and raw bar (Bellevue location). Originally we wanted to do the Canlis restaurant but it was fully booked (I guess you have to book months in advance for this kind of place). Seastar was also a good recommendation from my In law’s friends so we didn’t mind (especially since it is also owned by Chef John Howie). I was looking forward to this dinner because based from what I’ve read it’s one of the BEST restaurants in Bellevue. It was our first time, so I kinda had high expectations when it comes to a Chef John Howie restaurant. Anyways, the place was spacious, ambiance was great, our server was very knowledgeable she answered every question my DIL had. We enjoyed our appetizers, they were all amazing especially the deviled eggs. Our entrees were good (nice presentation too) but to be honest VERY pricey for the portion we got. I guess you have to bring LOTS of money dining here. We’ll be back again for sure.

Some pictorials while waiting for the In Laws!

OOTD action going on: Loft dress, F21 coat, kate spade bag, target booties

Deviled eggs:salmon gravlax,wasabi tobiko,tangerine,dill. We also got the ahi tartare,bacon, roasted onion,truffle oil.

Maytag blue cheese pear salad (this was good)

I ordered: Sesame-Peppercorn Crusted Ahi (jasmine rice cake,snow peas,ginger soy reduction,wasabi creme)

My DILs order: Cedar Plank roasted wild King Salmon (Chef Howie’s famous salmon rub,smoked broccoli,citrus rice with wheat berries

my MIL and SIL ordered the same thing: seared scallops with beet risotto

For Valentines day we had a casual and lazy time, watched Kdrama (thank you Netflix!), did some errands and had dinner at our fave local Italian place.

Normally we don’t give Vday gifts to each other but this year Hubs and I gave each other gifts. He got me a Henri Bendel bag (my fave bag brand!) and I gave him massage “coupons” worth 4 hours, which he already availed 1 hour of it (way before VDAY!!)..HA!!

Riley thought it was one busy VDAY weekend, and he needs his beauty sleep!

What’s for Dinner?!

Hi Friends! How’s your Friday night going? The Hubs and I are watching a Filipino show (On the Wings of Love), I’m so sad it’s going to end soon:(. We’re also watching some NBA games, and maybe Netflix later! We are staying home because the weather is crappy tonight. Windy and raining and Riley is not loving it.

Anyways, I wanted to share my groceries this week. I’m really trying to save in this area because food is getting expensive and if I don’t monitor this it’s so easy to blow the budget in this area. So far our January food expenses have been under budget. I want to continue this trend in February.

Our groceries this week! I also got some milk that I put in the fridge right away.

Tomato soup,grilled cheese and Pork belly with shrimp paste (Filipino dish)

Home made version of Chicken bowl burrito

Was out and about this week and I stopped at Ross and found these Skechers shoes. I have a similar slip on pair like this gifted by my sister and it’s really comfortable. Once I tried them on the shoes had to go home with me! I’ve been wearing them nonstop!

so comfy (it’s like you’re wearing flip flops made with a yoga mat!)

I got a new rug for our dining table from Overstock.com!

I’ve been watching the Gilmore Girls on Netflix this week. I’ve seen the first 2 seasons years ago (I was still in the Philippines). So far I’ve been enjoying it.

Have a great weekend friends! Happy Superbowl weekend too! The Seahawks are out so I will be rooting for the Denver Broncos.

What’s for Dinner?!

Hello Friends! Happy Sunday:) This is what we ate lately for dinners this last week. I hope you get to eat and cook dishes that you’ve been wanting to eat! Have a wonderful Sunday evening, I’m about to watch a Korean drama with the hubs (we are watching Beating Again). It’s been a while since we’ve watched a KDrama here! HA!

Spaghetti and meatballs (we also had a salad that I forgot to take a picture of)

meatballs in the crockpot! easy peasy dinner!

Chicken curry (I sort of followed Pioneer Woman’s recipe)

Left over kare-kare (cook once, eat twice, kind of dish!)

Taco Night! we also had sweet potato fries with garlic aioli (homemade! it was delish)

We also ate out a few times over the weekends!

Red Robin last night for a casual saturdate with Hubs! used a giftcard for this dinner!

Dinner at RAM (this place is just 4 minutes drive from our house!)

Friday Lunch date at chick fil-a! I LOVE their spicy chicken sandwich and iced coffee. The hubs likes their chicken nuggets and milkshakes! We’ve been there twice this last week!

Kare-Kare!

Hi Friends! Hope you’re having a great weekend:) I wanted to share a Filipino dish that I cooked early this week, Kare-Kare. It’s an oxtail dish with a thick peanut sauce. Now a days, in Filipino restaurants and homes they use beef, seafood, and other kinds of meat instead of oxtail (I personally like Oxtail). I rarely make this at home (I think this is my second time to make Kare-Kare (but I always order this if we’re in a Filipino restaurant). It’s a comfort food for me! I watched a couple of youtube videos (just searched for Kare-Kare recipes) and checked some kare-kare recipes online too for inspiration. I used my crockpot to tenderize/cooked my oxtail meat (just to save gas, instead of the stove). It was cooking for 7 hours then I finished it in the stove to make the peanut sauce. Traditionally, you mix all the veggies in at the end together with the sauce but I decided to plate them separately this time. I sautéed the eggplant and steamed the green beans and bok choy. The Hubs and I prefer it this way. Last year, when we visited Manila, I remember we had Kare-kare and the restaurant presented it this way too.

This is my new crockpot and I’ve been using it a lot lately!

I sautéed some minced garlic(3 cloves) and chopped onions(1 medium), then added the cooked oxtails and broth (approximately 6 cups). You can add more broth for a thinner sauce;let it simmer. I added the peanut butter (1/2 a cup) and stirred until it dissolved. In a small bowl I added 1 teaspoon of achiote powder mixed with 1/2 cup broth,once the powder dissolved I added it to the sauce. The achiote is the ingredient that will give the dish that classic orange color. I then seasoned the sauce with salt and pepper. I didn’t use a lot of salt though because Kare-kare is always paired with shrimp paste when eaten.

My kare-Kare (sprinkled with chopped peanuts).

Happy Cooking and eating Friends!

What’s for Dinner?!

Hello friends! It’s been a while since I last posted here. Life got a little hectic. I’ve been wanting to share our dinners since last week but I wasn’t able to. Here’s our meals for the last 2 weeks or so. I’ve been cooking most nights but on the weekends we go out or have take out. I hope you’re all having a good week and happy cooking!

chicken wings adobo (my fave chicken part)

grilled pork chop,roasted sweet potatoes,roasted jalapeno poppers,avocado

take out food from our fave Indian resto

My husband had banana blossom for the first time when we visited the Philippines last year. He really liked it and he’s been NAGGING me to try cooking it for him. We got the blossom at the Asian market and I found the recipe on youtube (panlasang pinoy). He liked it and said I’ll have to make it again(we’ll see!).

daing na bangus(milkfish),banana blossoms in coconut milk

crispy potato with red bell pepper,onions,parmesan cheese

breakfast for dinner:scramble eggs,bacon,rice,coffee

our homemade version of “chipotle” steal bowl

we also had take outs and dine outs for the last couple of weeks:

Dinner at Big Fish (local resto) after watching Starwars

Brunch at Lot No. 3 in Bellevue after Church with Julia (SIL)

Spaghetti with Truffle Butter

Hi friends! I wanted to share a very simple recipe from Ina Garten. I watched her show last month when she prepared this dish and it was so easy and looked good. So when my Dad InLaw went to Seattle during Christmas week we asked him to stop at Dilaurentis ( a specialty store in Pike place market) to get me some truffle butter. Truffle butter is so inexpensive compared to truffles themselves. This is a quick side dish and perfect for a busy weeknight dinner with family. Zach was raving about it! Happy cooking friends!

Basic ingredients!

We had a simple salad to go with the pasta.

Tagliarelle with Truffle Butter (Ina Garten from Foodnetwork online)

*I didn’t have the tagliarelle pasta that Ina used, I only have spaghetti so that’s what I used instead.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup heavy cream

kosher salt, ground pepper

3 ounces white truffle butter

1 (8.82 ounce) package Cipriani tagliarelle dried pasta or other egg fettuccine

3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

3 ounces Parmesan, shaved thin with a vegetable peeler

Directions:

Add 1 tablespoon salt to a large pot of water and bring to a boil.

Meanwhile, in a large (12- inch) saute pan, heat the cream over medium heat until it comes to a simmer. Add the truffle butter, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, lower the heat to a very low, and swirl the butter until it melts. Keep warm over ver low heat.

Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook for 3 minutes, exactly. (If you’re not using Cipriani pasta, follow the directions on the package.) When the pasta is cooked, reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water, then drain the pasta. Add the drained pasta to the saute pan and toss it with the truffle-cream mixture. As the pasta absorbs the sauce, add as much of the reserve cooking water as necessary to keep the pasta very creamy.

Serve the pasta in shallow bowls and garnish each serving with a generous sprinkling of chives and shaved Parmesan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve at once.

What’s for dinner?!

Hi Friends! Happy Monday:) One of our “goals” this year is to really be intentional with our family budget. I’m responsible for budgeting, paying bills, getting groceries, and making meals while the hubs earns the money! We’ve already talked/made plans this past weekend about our financial goals for the year so I’m glad that is taken care of. Anyways, I wanted to share our dinners last week (after Christmas) and our menu plans for this week. I did the grocery shopping this week and came under budget (YES!). We have well stocked refrigerators right now and I plan to use what we already have for the coming weeks. Here’s to saving money and cooking at home!

Beef caldereta ( filipino version of beef stew)

Bittermelon with eggs,grilled pork belly

Veggie fried rice,chicken shiomai,shrimp

Here’s our meal plans for the week:

M: Leftovers (we had beef caldereta; it’s a filipino version of beef stew)

T: Pasta with truffle butter (Ina Garten recipe),salads

w: Pork chop, rice, green beans

Th: Leftovers

F: Take out/Pizza

S: Chili

Sun: Salmon,veggies

*Our breakfast are usually :coffee and toast,yogurt,cereals,oatmeal then sandwiches and leftovers for lunch.

My groceries this week. The fridges are already stocked so I only bought produces that will be good this week, and I got some meat that was on sale that I can freeze for consumption in the coming weeks. Meat prices are getting ridiculous so I try to save money this way.

Happy New Year!

Hello 2016! How was your New years day friends? Ours was relaxing, the way I like it! NYeve we had Zach’s parents over and we ordered sushi and Chinese food. We watched the times square celebration on tv and then called it a night! This was the first time we missed the Space needle countdown celebration. It was just a long day for us. I’ve been having a cold for the last couple of days (I’m sleep deprived lately) and Zach did some errands with his dad most of the day yesterday. This afternoon, we had a little family walk. Riley loved it and had a blast. I hope you’re having a great 1st day of the year so far!

My mom in law gifted me this cookbook! Browsing while enjoying my coffee!

Almost the end of the year!

Hello friends! Just a quick chat here..can you believe it’s almost 2016? Time flies so fast! It’s been a tiring and relaxing kind of day here. Tiring because I did some cleaning and relaxing because I took a nap after! We will have a quiet NYE here at home. We are thinking of just ordering chinese food and watch the Space needle celebration live on TV. Have a great and safe NYE celebration friends!

Sent this photo to my Hubs! Loving his gift to me?

Cleaned our closet using the KonMari method!

Removed the Christmas decors on the mantle,we only have the Christmas tree now.

What we ate lately!

Hi Friends! Happy Monday! It’s been a while since I’ve posted “what we ate lately” and I’ve been meaning to post most of my dishes here but Thanksgiving and the Christmas season was happening! Anyways, I cooked 70% of the time, the rest we did takeout (especially during the weekends). This may seem like a lot of food but remember we had these meals over 2 months. Happy cooking and eating friends!