Coupons and What They’re Used For

 Hey everyone!

In an effort to save cash these days in this completely effed up economy, I have started couponing.  No where near the extreme stuff you see on TLC’s Extreme Couponing Extreme Couponing, but just attempting to save some money here and there.  It’s amazing the types of deals that one can get just by going through your Sunday circulars.  Just make sure they are things that you use.  In my case, as you’ve seen from my blog, I use a lot of bottled tomato sauces and pasta, so the coupons that I find in the Sunday advertisements really saves me a little bit of money.  And quite honestly, it’s kinda relaxing clipping coupons on Sundays…

Try it out… just make sure the coupons are for items you use… otherwise, you are just being wasteful.

Onward and upward,

-Vince

Curried Cabbage

 Have you ever bought a head of cabbage and had no idea what to do with it?  I mean, people braise it and stir-fry it, but somehow it always ends up tasting the same; kinda bland.  Well here’s a great recipe for those that want to amp up the flavor on your cabbage dish!  Let’s do this…

1 Small head of cabbage with the core removed and sliced

2 carrots, peeled and sliced on an angle

1 half of a large onion, sliced

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

3 strips of bacon, chopped

1 cup of chicken broth

3 tbsp. of curry powder

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. red chili flakes (or to taste)

1 capful of apple cider vinegar

a few dashes of worcestershire sauce

a few dashes of hot sauce (of your choice)

½ cup of frozen peas

Cabbage

Bacon

Onions, Garlic and Carrots

Chicken Broth, Worcestershire Sauce, and Hot Sauce

In a pot over medium heat, render the fat of the bacon.  Sautee for 5 minutes, or until the bacon is crisp.

Add in your onions and carrots and allow them to sweat in the bacon fat.  Once your onions are translucent, add in your dry seasonings.  Then add in your cabbage.

Once your cabbage has begun to sweat and get tender, then add in your chicken stock and the rest of your liquid spices.  Simmer on low, covered for about 15 minutes.

At the very last minute, add in your peas and cook for one more minute.

Voila!  Curried Cabbage.

Serve as a side dish, or as the main course, over rice or your grain of choice!

Enjoy!

Onward and upward,

-Vince

The Beauty of Saturday Breakfast...

In previous posts, I’ve talked about the memories that a certain Filipino breakfast brings me.  But I never really talked about how a home cooked breakfast, no matter what it is, makes me really feel.  After a long work-week of instant oatmeal, hardboiled eggs, and pay-by-weight steam tray “country breakfasts”, I take pride in cooking a homemade breakfast. 

One of my earliest memories (Well hell!!!  This is a pretty recent memory!!!!) is the memory of waking up on a Saturday morning (never Sunday mornings because we were rushing to get to Church) to the smell of bacon frying,  the sound of sausage cooking, and to the pouring of the occasional flapjack onto a cast iron griddle.  I would wipe the sleep from my eyes, throw on my slippers, and rush downstairs to set the table so that we could sit down and eat.

With my father sitting at the head of the table, my brother and sister sitting across from me, and my mother sitting by my side, we would sit at the table and have discussions about everything.  My brother and father would argue about the simplest things; how algebra works or the inner workings of the car, while the rest of us sat by and watched them go at it.  My sister and I would go back and forth from the table, refilling platters with whatever breakfast food needed to be refilled.

When my mother had enough of the back and forth bickering between my brother and pops, she would sit with her face smooshed up and say “OK.  STOP IT NOW.”  Man… the memories.

This memory is cool, don’tchathink?  Well, here’s something even cooler.  We still do this.  My family is a busy one; the Valle kids have moved out of the house, my sister has a family of her own, including her husband and her 3 kids, myself with my partner, and my brother with his girlfriend, we all make attempts during holidays to replicate this.  We all meet at Casa de Cascade Lane and breakfast happens. 

When my nieces and nephews stay with my parents overnight, my parents wake up first thing in the morning and make breakfast for the kids, the same way they did for us when we all lived in the house.

As I’m writing this, tears of joy are starting to well in my eyes, because I now have a tradition to pass on to our children.

Saturday Breakfast

Onward and Upwards,

-Vince

Chicken in Mushroom Thyme Sauce

Do you ever have issues trying to figure out what to do with your chicken breasts?  Do you ever feel like you are constantly making the same dishes with chicken breast?  After going through my shelf of cookbooks, I came across my Campbell’s Kitchen Recipe Collection.

The Campbell's Kitchen Recipe Collection

 Now… I’m never really good with staying true to the recipe in the book, because I like to cook by what I have in the cupboards.  So here’s my rendition of Campbell’s Fish & Vegetable Skillet, only made with chicken and veggies that I had laying around.

4 chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized cubes

4 celery stalks, chopped

4 carrots, peeled and chopped

1 half of a large onion, sliced

4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 tbsp. granulated garlic

1 tbsp. granulated onion

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

1 tbsp. of dried thyme

1 tbsp. of dried parsley

1 tsp. of red pepper flakes

1 tsp. of paprika

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp. of worcestershire sauce

1 cup of chicken broth

1 can of cream of mushroom soup

½ cup of water

4 chicken breasts, cubed

Carrots, Celery, Onions and Garlic

Chicken Broth, Olive Oil, Worcestshire Sauce,  and Cream of Mushroom Soup

All the herbs and spices

Now that you have the ingredients… lets get it in with the process!

In a hard-bottomed pot, heat up the olive oil over medium heat.  Once hot, add your chicken to pot and allow to brown on all sides.  About 5 minutes.

Browning chicken

As your chicken is browning, add the red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.

Browned chicken with spices

Once you’ve browned the chicken, add in your vegetables and allow those to sweat and release their liquid. Cook for about 3 minutes.

Chicken and veggies

Once you’ve cooked the vegetables for a minute, add in all of your liquids, the can of cream of mushroom soup and the rest of your herbs and spices. 

Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer.  Cover and cook for another 20 minutes.  This should be plenty of time for the flavors to meld and be merry.

After your 20 minutes is up, uncover and turn off the heat.  Let the dish stand for about 10 minutes so that the sauce thickens up.

Thickened and reduced sauce

Serve with your favorite starch… As you can see, I have an affinity for rice (Duh… I’m the Filipino Foodie), but this dish will go great on a baked potato, with a side of buttered noodles, or even a few croutons.

I love this dish because it’s a quick cook.  It’s flavorful, savory, and can feed an army.  It’s even better the next day! 

Try it out!

Onward and upwards,

-Vince

Different Palates, Different Tastes in Foods

I was talking to my cousin today and I was discussing with her the fact that one's palate affects your tastes in restaurant.  Have you ever found yourself in the situation you took a suggestion from a friend on a restaurant and did absolutely love the restaurant?  I’ve been in this situation on numerous occasions… the food at that particular restaurant just wasn’t my cup of tea.  Not that the food itself was not good, but the combinations on the plate didn’t go well together.  As the Filipino Foodie, I feel that when a combination of food comes to you on a plate as a meal, the combination should go together, right? 

What are your feelings about this?  Are there certain friends that you take food suggestions from?  Are there certain people that you can’t take their suggestions?  Tell me about your experience!

Onward and upward,

-Vince

Chicken Adobo...

Adobo is the quintessential Filipino dish.  If you know anything about Filipino food, there are two dishes that come to mind, (1) adobo and (2) lumpia.  So, for this week’s Sunday dinner and this week’s “leftover” meal, adobo it is.

So what is adobo?  Adobo is meat or seafood that has been stewed in a mixture of soy sauce, vinegar, garlic and bay leaves.  Adobo can be made out of anything under the sun; fish, pork, beef, or chicken.  It can be on the drier side, it can be more saucy.  It just all depends on what you’ve grown up with.  My version is saucy and made with chicken thighs.

So how is it made?  Here we go…

1 package of chicken parts (I used thighs)

1 large onion, chopped

1 shallot, chopped

4-5 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tbsp. pepper

equal parts soy sauce, vinegar, and water

2 bay leaves

1 tbsp. of vegetable oil

Black Pepper and Bay Leaves

Shallots, Garlic, and Onions

Vinegar and Soy Sauce

Chicken Thighs

Let’s talk about why I’ve put shallots in the adobo.  Shallots are not classically used in adobo, and neither are onions for that matter, but I feel like adobo is one of those versatile dishes that you can add or subtract certain flavors as long as your base is the same (the soy sauce, vinegar, and water).

In your largest pot, sauté your onions and shallots until they are translucent.

Shallots and Onions Sauteeing

 Then arrange your chicken parts in the bottom of the pan, skin side down, and attempt to get a decent browning on the skin.  Add in your pepper.

Then add all of your liquids and make sure that all of your chicken parts are in the liquid.  Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer.  Add your garlic and bay leaves… then simmer for another 45 minutes.

Simmering Adobo

Once all of your chicken is cooked, meal is ready!  Just cook up a pot of rice, defrost your favorite vegetables and you have dinner made!  And I have yet to meet anyone that doesn’t like adobo chicken.  Try this one out on your family… It’s even better the next day!

Adobo done!!!

Adobo, Rice and Veggies

Let's DIG IN!!!!

Onwards and upwards,

-Vince

P.S.  YOU FINALLY GOT A FILIPINO DISH!!!! BWHAHAHAHAHAHA!

A Grocery Shopping Trip

So, E and I have been back from the San Francisco Bay area for about a week now.  But this entire week, we’ve been eating all things frozen, delivered, and “taken-out”.  It was about that time to go grocery shopping.

A little back-story about my first grocery shopping experience… I moved out of my parent’s house at 22 years old and immediately moved in with my brother in Oakland, California.  A few months later, I moved into a place of my own (with a couple of roommates of course).  I never did the grocery shopping when I lived with my parents, and my brother did a great job of teaching me the basics.  Although there was a Safeway not too far away, I discovered Trader Joes… the place where my culinary experiences began.  I walked into the store in awe, that it was so small, but had everything that I could’ve needed.  Unlike other large-scale grocery stores, Trader Joes always felt like a warm hug; non-intimidating, and welcomed me with open arms.

TRADER JOES!!!!

Back to present day.  There isn’t ONE Trader Joes close to our place.  So I either drive to Annapolis, MD or Alexandria, VA to go grocery shopping.  Don’t judge me, it is just where I am comfortable.  (Even though I am doing more of the every day shopping at Wegmans… hehehehehehe).  So I drove out to Annapolis this morning, and walked into Trader Joes with my reusable bags so that I could stock our fridge, freezer and cupboards with food. 

What was on the shopping list, you ask?  Better yet… you should be asking… what “wasn’t” on the shopping list.  I feel like every time I walk into Trader Joes, I walk out with a TON of food.  Everything from eggs and cheese, fresh salad mixes and chicken breasts to frozen veggies and juice.  I tend to keep a lot of things in the freezer and cook from what is in stock.

What made this particular shopping trip “a trip” was that, as I entered the line with my FULL cart, the person behind me in line said something to the effect of “wow, you must be feeding an entire family.”  I had to break down and tell them, “Nope, not at all, it’s just my partner and I in the house, but I only do big shopping once every month and a half.”  The lady looked at me in awe.

As the “Crew Member” (what Trader Joes calls their employees) started to ring me up, he said… “Gosh, this has got to be at least $200 worth of food.”  I looked at him and simply smiled.  As he rang up the last item, the bill came in at $126.  BOOO YA!!!!  He had to call over another crew member and show her my bill.  She sat in awe of my bill… the fact that I rolled out with tilapia fillets, ground turkey, drumsticks, a TON of frozen veggies, 4 bottles of juice, and a bunch of fresh things made her jaw drop.  She says to me “I’ve never seen ANYONE walk out of this store with this amount of food for that amount of money.  You must be a power shopper.”  I flashed the pearly whites and said, “I never spend more than $130 dollars here, ever.”

I write this to say, you can eat well and healthfully, for fairly inexpensively.  Do the math for you and your family… and see how you can take advantage of the savings… and the flavors…

Onwards and Upwards,

-Vince