Fried Chicken!

Hello Everyone! I wanted to share this Fried Chicken recipe from the Pioneer Woman! This episode was shown weeks ago on the Food Network and I thought I could do this because I had all of the ingredients. I “rarely” prepare fried chicken because it’s just messy and I can get it so cheap at our local grocery store (it’s decent too,taste wise!). I still made it anyway, because I wanted to make a mess in my kitchen! Not really! It was good and flavorful but I think the amount of clean up afterward wasn’t worth all of the hassle. I had to cut the recipe in half because unlike Ree (the Pioneer Woman) it was just me and the Hubs.

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Chicken marinating in buttermilk.

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Flour with seasoned salt, paprika,pepper, thyme, and cayenne pepper.

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Fried Chicken, Salad,Gnocchi

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Fried Chicken (recipe: Ree Drummond; The Pioneer Woman)

Ingredients:

2 cut-up fryer chickens in 16 pieces

4 1/4 cups buttermilk

5 cups all purpose flour

3 tablespoons seasoned salt,such as Lawry’s

2 teaspoons paprika

2 teaspoons ground black pepper

2 teaspoons ground dried thyme

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, plus more for seasoning

1/4 cup milk

Canola or vegetable oil, for frying

Directions:

Thoroughly rinse the chicken, then cover all the pieces with 4 cups buttermilk and soak in the fridge overnight or up to 24 hours. When you’re ready to fry the chicken, remove the bowl from the fridge and let it sit on the counter for 30 minutes, just to take off the chill.

In the meantime, preheat the oven to 360 degrees F and mix up the breading. Place the flour, seasoned salt, paprika, pepper,thyme, and cayenne (extra if you like heat) in a very large bowl. Stir together well.

In a small bowl, combine the 1/4 cup buttermilk and the milk. Pour the milk mixture into the flour and, with a fork, gradually mix until there are little lumps throughout. This will adhere to the chicken and make for a crispier breading. If necessary, add a little more flour or milk to the bowl in order to make it slightly lumpy.

Heat 1 1/2 to 2 inches of oil in a deep skillet over medium-high heat until a thermometer reaches 365 degrees F. Lowe the heat slightly, if necessary to keep the oil from getting hotter.

Working in batches, thoroughly coat each chicken piece with the breading, pressing extra breading onto the chicken if necessary. Place the breaded pieces on a plate.

Add the chicken to the oil 4 or 4 pieces at a time. Make sure they aren’t sticking together, then cover the pan and fry for 5 to 7 minutes, checking occasionally to make sure the chicken isn’t getting too brown. Turn the pieces over, cover again, and cook 3 to 5 minutes more. All the while, monitor the temperature of the oil to make sure the chicken doesn’t burn.

Place the chicken on a baking sheet and continue frying the rest of the chicken. When all the chicken has been fried, remove the wings and legs to a plate and keep covered. These should be cooked all the way through by now but always check, if any pink juice or meat is visible. If so, return to the hot oil for another minute or so until fully cooked. Leave the thighs and breasts on the baking sheet.

Bake the thighs and breasts for 15 minutes to finish the cooking process. If any pink juice or meat is visible,the chicken needs to continue cooking in the oven.

Weekend Fun!

Hello everyone! Can you believe it’s already August? Next thing we know Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here! Anyways, I hope you all had a great weekend, the Hubs and I had a low key one because last weekend was busy at the Ocean with the family so we wanted to just have a “lazy” time this weekend. We watched the movie “Antman” (it’s been out for a while) and we really enjoyed it! It was such a fun movie:) We got some tacos after at the local taqueria (I ALWAYS get cabeza tacos). On Sunday, we watched our Church service online and dropped donations off at our local Value Village (it’s similar to Goodwill). We had sushi after because the Hubs just has to have his sushi fix every couple of weeks! I stopped at Walmart after because I’ve seen in my Instagram that they have their fall candle collections already.  Too bad they were all out, but I’m gonna check again next week.

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Tacos!

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Car selfie! It’s about time we gotta do a couple selfie!

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A little #OOTD ha!

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Sushi Time!

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We are OBSESSED with Jamba Juices Pina Colada drink!

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Weekend Naps are the best!

 

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Grilled Tuna Belly

I grew up eating a lot of tuna belly in the Philippines because our area just has an abundance of seafood. I do not remember eating frozen seafood, especially fish for that matter! It’s kinda different here in Washington state, the “fresh” ones are so expensive and the frozen are not the best quality I’ve had. Oh well! That’s why I get so excited to go to the ocean because we always get fresh seafood, like tuna belly. The fishermen got it in the morning, and we cooked it for dinner the same day! It was so good:) When we got back home I just prepared the rest of our tuna belly because I didn’t want to freeze anything.  I don’t mind having tuna belly for consecutive days if it is fresh and I don’t get to have it often. I marinade it in soy sauce (I used less sodium,1/2 cup), 4 or 5 tablespoon of olive oil, chopped garlic (3 cloves),then pepper. Marinated it for 4-5 hours. Then I grilled it for 4 minutes each side (medium heat). Enjoy with rice and dipping sauce (like vinegar or PINAKURAT is what I used;it’s a famous filipino vinegar.)

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Westport and Ocean Shores, WA

Hello, Everyone! Last Friday morning  we went to Westport (together with my Hubs family and our doggies) and Ocean shores for some family bonding (we got back yesterday afternoon). We’ve been wanting to do this for a while now because we wanted to bring the doggies to the Ocean and get some fresh seafood.  Zach spent a lot of time at the Ocean during summer vacations growing up and they usually stayed at the Discovery Inn (sadly it’s in the process of renovation) and it’s not the same place anymore.

We did the usual things like go to Brady’s oysters for smoke seafood, get fresh tuna belly at Westport, spent time in the Ocean (the doggies had the blast), played some games, had s’mores one night at the Ocean with deer watching us. We really liked our rental, spacious and was more than enough space for all of us. Hopefully this will be a yearly thing for the family:) *picture overload about to happen!

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Westport

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Going to buy tuna belly and loin (so fresh, they got it that morning)

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This guy was preparing our Tuna Loin (so good when it’s so fresh)

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Pictures of our condo:
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Our bedroom

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My In laws room

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Lexy hanging out at Julias room

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We had tuna belly,shrimp, steamed clams in white wine and bread! Delicious!

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The face Riley and I make when it’s too hot and too loud because of the motorcycle show!

 

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With my Dad In Law Phil!

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The deer hang out with us while we had s’mores

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Grilled Rosemary Lamb Chops!

I made these grilled Lamb chops tonight and the Hubs said he liked them. I rarely make Lamb dishes because I really don’t like lamb (I only eat it in gyros) but Zach likes it so I make it for him. I got the recipe online (epicurious.com but it says Bon Appetit July 1995 on the recipe). I will probably prepare this again because it was easy and quick and I had all of the ingredients, except for the lamb 😉 After marinating for 4 hours I decided to use our gas grill instead of what the recipe was calling for.

Grilled Rosemary Lamb Chops

Ingredients:

3/4 cup balsamic vinegar

6 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

3 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary or 3 tablespoons dried

6 garlic cloves,minced

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

12 1-inch thick lamb chops,fat trimmed

1 1/2 cups mesquite wood chips,soaked in cold water 1 hour (optional)  *I skipped this

Preparation

Mix first 6 ingredients in small bowl. Place lamb chops in single layer in 13x9x2 inch glass. Pour marinade over. Cover with foil and refrigerate 4 hours, turning lamb chops occasionally.

Prepare barbecue (medium high heat). When coals turn white, drain chips, if using, and scatter over coals. When chips begin to smoke, season lamb with salt and pepper and place on grill. Cover; grill chops to desired doneness, basting often with marinade, about 4 minutes per side for medium rare. Transfer to platter and serve.

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Marinade
Marinade

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Happy Birthday Julia!

Hello friends! Last weekend we celebrated my Sister in Law Julia’s birthday. My In laws ordered Ribs and fix-ins at Famous Daves (In Renton). It’s one of our fave BBQ places here in the Pacific Northwest! Too bad the restaurant is far from our place (I think it’s a 40 minute drive) depending on traffic. The Hubs made cornbread too because you can’t have ribs without some cornbread! We ate out on the deck because it was nice day and my MIL has covered the deck in pretty flowers, so we just had to eat outside. Happy Birthday Julia, many blessings to come your way!

yummy ribs
yummy ribs

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cornbread
cornbread
MIL and her humongous  plant
MIL and her humongous flower baskets

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view!
view!

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Being Silly while singing the Birthday song for Julia and Riley!

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One of Julia’s B-day gift from her parents (Lenox figurines)

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Auntie giving Riley watermelon!
Auntie giving Riley watermelon!

Ohana

Ohana restaurant opened a couple of weeks ago in Issaquah, in the old La Costa place (Mexican restaurant that’s been in Issaquah for 30 years). Hubs and I were really looking forward to trying this place because we love sushi and some Hawaiian dishes like spam musubi, kalua pork, and poke. After Church last Sunday we finally decided to check Ohana (they also have one in Belltown), I personally had high expectations because I noticed they’ve been under construction for a while now so they must be doing something big in there! I really liked the atmosphere the moment we entered,  It did remind me of our vacation in Maui years ago. It was spacious too! The servers were attentive and really friendly. The food was decent, I ordered Loco Moco (the meat was too well-done for my liking but the sauce/gravy was flavorful) the one I had in Maui is still the best for me though. We shared an order of spam musubi, which had too much rice in our opinion (there’s this place in Renton that serves good spam musubi (Aloha Grill)) and Hubs had sushi. He thinks it was pricey for what he got. Over all a good experience but we probably won’t be back for a while just because the value wasn’t there for the price.  The sushi was pretty over priced for the portion size / quality.

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Miso Soup

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Loco Moco

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This was really good! Salmon and Yellow tail..

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Liking this gravy on my Loco Moco dish!

 

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Spam Musubi

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Issaquah Farmer’s Market

Happy Weekend friends! Hope you had a restful and fun weekend with your loved ones. We (Hubs and I) went to our local farmer’s market yesterday (Saturday morning) and got some fresh and cheap produce. I always enjoy going to the market and exploring booths. I wish they were open everyday! Our market is open June – September (maybe till October?), so I always make sure I get to do this in the summer, after all they’re not around the whole year. One of my favorites are the fresh and very affordable flowers (they remind me of Pike Place Market and the flower section they have displayed!). They’re so pretty and the prices are not bad:) We skipped the food area because the lines were long, but they have decent selections like Thai, Greek, Mexican, Pizza, etc.  We got some fresh corn, berries, sugar peas. We’ve already enjoyed the corn and berries, both were delicious.

local musician playing!
local musician playing!

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lovely flowers!
lovely flowers!

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Food truck!
Food truck!
He's done doing this farmers market thing!hehe
He’s done doing this farmers market thing!hehe
Got flowers for our friend Lena!
Got flowers for our friend Lena!
We had the corn tonight with left over ribs and it was good!
We had the corn tonight with left over ribs and it was good!

We ended up going to Fat Burger after the market because I’ve never been to this Burger chain. I remember years ago when I asked Zach what the “worst” burger for him was and he answered “Fat Burger”! haha..so I’ve always been curious and wanted to check this place out, and see if he’s exaggerating or what! So off we go and I think the burger was decent, a little dry but definitely not the worst on my list! It actually  reminded me of Jollibee  burger (famous Filipino fast food). The place was cozy and lots of family we’re there too. I still prefer Five Guys over this place though.

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The Onion rings were bland though!
The Onion rings were bland though!

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:

Lasagna (I used 2 kinds of cheese here)
Lasagna (I used 2 kinds of cheese here)
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)
grilled salmon with herb butter
grilled salmon with herb butter
Oven baked chicken
Oven baked chicken
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.
Filipino breakfast for dinner! Milkfish and eggs.
4 cheese ravioli in brown butter!
4 cheese ravioli in brown butter!
Chicken coconut curry (recipe from panlasangpinoy.com)
Chicken coconut curry (recipe from panlasangpinoy.com)
grilled pork belly and eggplant omelet
grilled pork belly and eggplant omelet
grilled shrimps for tacos
grilled shrimps and mango avocado salsa for tacos
Beef stew (filipino style)
Beef stew (filipino style)
excuse the bad angle and the chin, the Hubs wanted to take a pic of me preparing the Ribs!hehe
excuse the bad angle and the chin, the Hubs wanted to take a pic of me preparing the Ribs!hehe
adobong green beans
adobong green beans
Yum
Yum
Oven Baked ribs and coleslaw
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)
pulled pork from Dickies bbq (another Issaquah restaurant)
Tacos and burritos
Tacos and burritos
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
conveyer sushi after church
conveyer sushi after church
Cheap Ramen always Hit the Spot!
Cheap Ramen always Hit the Spot!
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)
Tacos and Tortas after church
Tacos and Tortas after church

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!

 

Seafare Weekend!

Hello Friends! A couple of weeks ago, we went to Alki beach in Seattle (met with my In laws, they went biking that day) to see some “pirates” as part of the Seafare 2015 activities this year. It was Okay for me and we’ll probably not do it again next time just because it was too crowded, too loud (from the pirate cannons) and too hot especially for Riley! The parking was terrible, we had to walk almost a mile just to park the car. We did enjoy hanging out with my In laws for a while  though and got some Filipino products after from Foulee (one decent Asian market in Seattle .) Hope you’re having a great day, we are enjoying some sunshine here in the Pacific Northwest and it’s just glorious:)

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