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!
with Fayewith my HubsBoodle Fight
aftermath of our dinner!with my godson Cyrus!Jaden showing Zach some games“modeling” with our tomatoes!LOLGave these HUGE tomatoes to Faye,I hope she will like them and will enjoy it in her scrambled eggs!heheTill the next Boodle Fight Faye and family!
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!
preparing some of the ingredientsmarinating for 2 hoursbad 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)my happy Hubs
I went to 3 Grocery stores this week because QFC (I rarely shop there) had a pretty good deal on their “mix and match” promo. I’ve read in some couponers/bloggers that this is the time to visit the store because some of the products have “rock” bottom prices. I hardly use coupons now so I was interested to see if they still have cheap prices even without coupons. So after we had dinner at the Outback, I asked the Hubs to go check it out with me. We got a lot of his fave cereals. We stocked up actually because they were like $1.50 each (with coupons, it’s probably $1). He normally has cereal twice a week, so this will last him for a while.
I paid $44 and saved like $71 (i can’t find the receipt),but Im sure I paid $44.
I had rewards points that will expire today,so I wanted to use them. I went to walgreens and wasn’t really planning on buying a specific product. I was planning to get coffee (they’re on sale) because we always drink coffee, or I can send it to the PI in my next balikbayan box. When I checked the clearance they had their detergent soap for very cheap prices,so I grabbed a few and decided to just forget the coffee! I got 4 cheap lipsticks too($2.50 each,on sale for 69 cents), and packing tape (for packing balikbayan boxes).
I paid $9.92 for all,the receipt says I saved $31.50/79% savings
After Wags,off I go to Fred Meyer (they’re just in the same area) to get some ingredients for butter chicken. My hubs requested it this week,and I’ve been looking at Youtubes videos on how to make it. It’s his favorite Indian cuisine and I really wanted to do something nice to him especially that he’s really busy at work and lots of meetings and decisions to make this week!
I paid $34. I did use store coupons and most of what I bought was on sale.
This weekend was really hot so Hubs and I and Riley went to Rattlesnake Lake and enjoyed our afternoon there. We had iced coffee to cool us down and the afternoon was spent taking LOTS of pictures of Riley! It was like a Riley photo session. We couldn’t help it because he was such a good dog and seemed to be loving his day at the lake (he hardly barked at all!). Hubby watched the movie “The Giver” after that, while I opted to stay home and read Karen Kingsbury’s book “A Time To Dance”. I also finished the book “The Fault In Our Stars”, I liked the movie and the book, but I found the book too “highschooly” for me (if thats a word!). On Sunday, we went to the Asian Market because I wanted to eat Jollibee, while Hubs enjoyed a Famous Dave’s brisket sandwich and some ribs! We also watched The Bridge (tv series), and a movie from Netflix. Have a great Monday friends!
Rattlesnake Lake
the cutest
chicken joy!famous Daves ribs!I took a pic of Hubs taking pic of Riley!He loves the attention as always!current book I’m reading
Hubs and I had dinner at Outback tonight. We had a gift card to use and it’s been years since we dined there. Zach availed their unlimited shrimp special. We had a lot of shrimps tonight…I think we are shrimped out for the next couple of months! I had the chicken with mushrooms and cheese, I enjoyed it and Riley enjoyed the left overs! We are just watching the tv series “The Bridge” and drinking our pumpkin spice latte! Happy friday night friends!
so sinful but so good!good thing we have this like once a year…we like outback’s margarita!blue cheese wedge saladZach’s order, he had the tenderloin with unlimited shrimp!I had chicken with mushroom and melted cheese!BOOM PANES!heheZachs “shrimp overload “face!
Nothing says Fall like Pumpkin Spice Latte! It’s one of Starbucks famous fall drinks. I was looking forward to drinking this despite all of the information going around online about the ingredients of the famous starbucks pumpkin latte (how it doesn’t contain pumpkin!). I’ll still drink it, moderation is key! So when I was browsing Pinterest a couple of nights ago, I saw this recipe and tried it the next day because I checked our pantry and we had all of the ingredients. It was so easy and we really liked the result, though we had to add more sugar because my hubs and I prefer our drinks “sweeter”. I will definitely make this again for sure!
We had a nice and quite labor day weekend at home. Hubby had to fix our powder room because of a leaking toilet! It’s all good now. I started reading the book “The Fault in our Stars” (I really enjoyed the movie), I’m almost done with the book and I’m really liking it too (sad ending though). Hubs and I started the t.v series “The Bridge”, so we have been enjoying that so far. Labor Day we had BBQ with my In Laws, we had short ribs, grilled veggies, and I made a filipino dish “sisig”. It’s a famous “pulutan”(appetizer) in the Philippines. I used pork belly and pigs ears. My hubs has been requesting it for a long time. He says it’s one of his favorite filipino foods!I was pleasantly surprised that my In Laws liked it too. You can’t really see the “pigs ears” when the whole dish is presented.
appetizers;our cherry tomatoes were a hit!deviled eggs by Sis In Law!sisigkorean short ribs and chicken I garnished the sisig with my own cayenne pepper from the garden!with my In Laws
Last Sunday after church Hubs and I tried Lil Jons of Bellevue and had brunch there, it was my first time to eat there and I liked their french toast (hubs recommendation) and we will definitely be back there, especially since it’s so close to our church!
Happy Labor Day Weekend Friends! With all the labor day sales going on right now,I just wanted to share my recent “hauls” that I purchased within the last 2 months (with the exception of the groceries of course!). I rarely buy things full priced, I always try to wait for sales/clearance and I love going to discounts stores like HomeGoods, Ross, and Marshalls. I also checked online shops like Groupon, LivingSocial, Zulily for good deals. I have several gift cards (from bday gifts, Christmas) that I wanted to use before the cards were completely drained. I forgot that I even had them!
I got this Kcup drawer at Zulily for $20;original price $36. I got the Teeccino herbal coffee at Amazon.Having coffee in the morning so so easy now!I finally got another vacuum cleaner for our 2nd floor. It’s a Dyson DC39 multi floor vacuum.
I’m so loving this Dyson vacuum cleaner. It’s really light and powerful. I only use this for the second floor of our house (no wood floors). I got this in a Groupon deal for $251 (it’s refurbished but works like new). I’ve checked the price in amazon it’s around $449 new!
After gift cards I paid $20 for all perfumes!
I have gift cards from Homegoods/Marshalls and I saw these perfumes on clearance, they looked like a pretty good deal. Speaking of perfume, I also used my Nordstrom gift card and bought Jo Malone perfumes. They smell so good and light. I love it! I got the Nectarine Blossom and English Pear.
I also got a Mac lipstick!
And now to the more “exciting” parts, my grocery this week. I shopped at Fred Meyer and another local discount store in Issaquah, Champion Grocery. I think Champion Grocery is my new go to store, they don’t sell fresh produce but they do have the basic staples like coffee, dried fruits and household stuffs.
Champions Grocery: my fave deal was the Kcups! $7.50 for 36 Kcups; i checked on amazon their 40 kcups cost around $25! This Haul cost me $47:) I will probably pay around $100 if I bought this in the regular grocery store.Fred Meye:paid $70other side of the pic!weekly milk delivery:$11
Couple of weeks ago, we had our first camping trip (the 3 of us) with our friends. The camping site is around Mount Rainier National Park. It was fun, tiring (in a good way), and just great time hanging out with our friends. Riley was so good 90% of the time, he didn’t like our sleeping bed so much. He had a hard time on it, after all he sleeps in a comfy california king bed with us (he’s so spoiled!). It’s my first camping experience here in the U.S (the Hubs had a lot of camping experiences), and I really like it. Being in nature, no computer / tv, and relaxing with my hubs and friends, eating “camp” food were my favorite parts. We also went to the Sunrise Visitor Center hoping to see and take some nice pictures of the mountain but it was totally blocked by clouds :(. It will definitely not be our last camping trip!
Hubs setting up our tent!
chipmunks
my precious!
dinner
smores timeRiley can smell but he can’t eat smores(dogs can’t eat chocolate)
HubsThis is Riley’s “I miss our comfy bed” look!cooking breakfast!Coffee time!
Sunrise Visitor centerfamily picture (too bad it was such a cloudy day)
I made this Pork Belly Humba a couple of weeks ago and I just wanted to share this because it’s really easy and such a hearty filipino dish. It’s similar to the famous adobo (cooking style) but the major difference is the flavor because of the pineapple juice. One of my favorite sites to follow for Filipino dishes is the Panlasang Pinoy site. The directions are simple, and he also has a video so it’s easy to see and follow the procedures. Although I “adjusted” the recipe (I only put 1 bay leave;no banana blossom) because my Hubs doesn’t like bay leaves, and seasoned it to my liking (I added lots of pepper). It turned out great! I only wish I had doubled the recipe so I could have extra humba in my freezer. Oh well, I can always go to the asian market and get all the stuff I need to make this dish again.
it’s so important to brown the meat,DO NOT skip this part.
I added eggs in the last 10 minutes of cooking time because I like eggs with my humba
I sprinkled a little parsley just for color!dinner time!
Humba Recipe (www.panlasangpinoy.com)
Ingredients
2 lbs pork belly 1 cup Pineapple juice 1 large onion, diced 5 cloves garlic, minced 2 tablespoons salted black beans 2 tablespoons soy sauce 2 tablespoons vinegar 2 ½ tablespoons brown sugar ½ cup dried banana blossoms 2 pieces dried bay leaves 1 teaspoon whole peppercorn
Cooking Procedure:
Heat the cooking pot then brown the pork belly. Add the onions and garlic and cook until the onions are soft. Put-in the soy sauce, peppercorn, bay leaves. Pour-in the pineapple juice and let boil. Simmer until the pork is tender (add water as needed). Add the vinegar and wait for the mixture to re-boil. Simmer for 3 minutes. Spoon-in the salted black beans and brown sugar then simmer for 5 minutes. Add the dried banana blossoms and simmer for 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a serving plate and serve. Share and enjoy! Number of servings (yield): 6
