This week’s Lasang Pinoy, Sundays’ theme is “Pica-Pica”.  I have two choices for you - one that is relatively healthy and another that you shouldn’t probably enjoy on a regular basis. *wink*

First up, Finger Sandwiches…

To make these, I used lean turkey ham, cheddar cheese, a wee bit of light mayo and wheat bread.  Instead of simply cutting them into squares, I used my newly bought autumn-themed cookie cutters.  Even the cookie cutter shapes are of a healthy theme - leaves, pumpkin and apple!  That ought to count for something. Hee hee.

Ain’t it cute?  Hee hee.  No bigger than my fingers!

Next up, Beef Franks Wrapped in Bacon…

I haven’t fried hotdogs/franks in what seems like forever.  I just boil them in a pan with water.  To make these, I sliced the bacon strips and beef franks in two, wrapped the beef frank slice with the bacon and secured with a toothpick, then fried them in hot oil.  Stick to the finger sandwiches if you’re on a diet and currently undergoing acne treatment.

For a healthier alternative, you may use  turkey or chicken hotdogs/franks in place of the beef franks and a turkey bacon in place of a regular bacon.  But where’s the fun in that? Hee hee!

Have a wonderful weekend and guten Appetit!

I can’t even recall the last time I had Bagoong (Shrimp Paste) Fried Rice!  When we had lunch at a Thai restaurant several weeks ago, I was hell bent on ordering it.  Unfortunately, they didn’t have it (and never will!) because most customers (non-Asians obviously!) will find the smell offensive.  Hmp!

When I found the perfect green mangoes at the Asian Market some time last month, I took it as a cue to make my own Bagoong Fried Rice.  What I couldn’t eat in a restaurant, I just cooked myself! Ha!

To  make, you’ll need garlic, onion, ginger strips, pork slices (about 1/2 cup), shrimp paste, cooked rice, green mango strips and egg.

For some semblance of organization, I set to work on the toppings first:

First, I sliced the green mango into thin strips then set it aside.

Next, I cooked two eggs as an omelette, folding it into three, to resemble a crepe.  I sliced it into strips then set it aside.

After the eggs, I worked on the pork topping next.   I sauted a few cloves of garlic and some onion slices in hot oil then added the pork.  When the pork turned brown in color, I added a bit of shrimp paste and a sprinkling of sugar for a touch of sweetness.  From the pan, I transfered the pork to a small dish and set it aside.

Next, the fried rice.  On the same pan where I cooked the pork, I again sauted some garlic and onions with the addition of ginger slices.  Then, I added about 3 tablespoons of shrimp paste and let it simmer for a minute or two.  Next, I added the rice and made sure to mix the contents of the pan well.  It’s a good two minutes of mixing.  Hee hee.  When the rice was ready, I transferred it into a serving dish.

Time to bring out the prepared toppings!  With the rice sitting nicely on the serving dish, I arranged the egg, pork and mango slices on top of the rice in a neat row.  Voila!  My very own homemade Bagoong Fried Rice. *wink*

Hubby and I added some crushed pepper to our heaping servings of bagoong rice.  The contrast of the salty shrimp paste, the sweet pork and the sour mango just had us craving for more!  Yum!

To say that I was pleased with how this dish turned out is an understatement.  I even took separate photos with my camera phone just so I’ll have copies in a  micro sd card as well.  Hee hee.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

“You’ll forget the sun in his jealous sky; As we eat the foods of gold.” Hee hee. Sorry, Sting!  I just had to borrow these two lines from one of your hit songs.

This week’s Lasang Pinoy, Sundays’ theme is “Fried/Golden”.  Let’s face it, a lot of the best tasting, tummy tickling, finger-licking foods out there are the ones which are fried to a golden brown.  Why?  I don’t know really.  Sad as it may seem, but there’s something about greasy, sinful food that just appeals to everyone who couldn’t care less about calories, fats and slimp pants.  And that includes this blogger. Hee hee.

Here are some homemade goldies…

Camaron Rebosado (100% Made from Scratch)

Breaded Pork Chop (I used a storebought breading mix for this one!)

Here are golden food treasures from fastfoods and restaurants…

French Fries and Chicken Nuggets

Jollibee Fried Chicken (Give me some skin!)

Mixed Tempura

It’s a good thing that I’m still much too full to be craving any of the above listed food.  That might not be the case a few hours from now.  Hee hee hee.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend, y’all!

We are often guilty of judging a food by the way it looks.  In a buffet set-up, we are drawn to food that look good and are presented attractively.  Often, color has a lot to do with our choice.  We like shrimps that are bright orange, carved meat that have a hint of pink, and flan that is golden in its richness.  That’s why it is such a let-down when food doesn’t taste quite as “beautifully” as it looks.

Here are my colorful food pics for this week’s Lasang Pinoy Sundays:

My niece, Macy, had a Masquerade Ball themed 7th birthday party two years ago.  This is her vividly colorful cake…

*whistles*  It’s almost prettier than my wedding cake!  Hee hee.

This is the glazed ham from Abby’s 1st birthday party…

It’s almost a sin to slice it!

Aren’t they pretty?  I say pretty enough for picture frames!  Believe me when I say that they taste as good as they look.  Promise.

This is Abby’s lunch bag.

Abby is only in pre-school but she takes her lunch in school.  It’s part of the montessori training so kids will learn to set-up the table, eat and clean up by themselves.  The school has very strict rules when it comes to the food that goes into the lunch bag.  Juices have to be 100% juice with no sugar added.  There should be no cookies, candies and other types of sweet desserts.  Lunches should also come in containers that the kids can easily open by themselves.  Lunch, as much as possible, should be food that won’t require reheating because there’s only one microwave in class and if all 12 or so kids have to reheat their food, then that’ll be a bit of a problem.

This Abby’s usual lunch fare…

…steamed pork buns (siopao), fruits and some veggies to nibble on.  What she always asks me to pack in her bag though are siomai or dumplings.  Her food containers are sure to come home empty if she has those Asian favorites for lunch.  If it’s anything else, like chicken nuggets or sandwiches, they’ll be half eaten at best.

Thanks to this week’s La.Pi.S. theme, I was introduced to two websites which may just be what I need so Abby can have more fun lunch alternatives.  My friend Meeya led me to KitchenCow.  And through KitchenCow, I discovered LunchInABox.  I love both site’s bento lunches!!!  And I now know that there are a good number of people who make lunches in such an artistic fashion.  I had a sudden burst of inspiration and motivation to make Abby’s lunches more fun, interesting and creative.  I’m excited to buy fun food containers, too!  Hee hee.  Hubby is home-officed so he doesn’t need to pack lunch.  But I might just make him bento lunches as well!  Hahaha!

This is my entry for this week’s Lasang Pinoy Sundays.

Who screams for ice scream?  We do!  Nothing screams creamy more than ice cream, and it’s, uhm, “derivatives”.  Hee hee.  But that’s just my personal opinion.  ;)  I’ve posted photos from our various ice scream expeditions a couple of times already and for this week’s Lasang Pinoy Sunday’s, I chose to repost some of them.

From Marble Slab Creamery :

Non-fat Cheesecake Yogurt with Blueberries.

From Cold Stone Creamery :

Ghirardelli Chocolate with Cookie Dough and

Cake Batter Ice Cream with White Chocolate Chips.

From Baskin Robbins :

Chocolate (I can’t remember, for the life of me, if this is actually Chocolate Fudge.  Sorry!  The bottom line is, it’s chocoalte. )

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

I would love to have a bowl of creamy ice cream right now.  To have it in a condo hotel somewhere would be doubly better.  It’s a long weekend.  I should be on vacation.

I hope y’all had a fantastic weekend!

I’ll be re-posting previously used photos for this week’s Lasang Pinoy, Sunday’s theme, which is “Breakfast”.

Nothing beats a “silog” , that is sinangag (fried rice) + itlog (fried egg) + tapa (marinated beef) or longganisa (Philippine sausage) or tocino (What’s tocino in English? Hee!) breakfast, yes? Since we’re thousands of miles away from home, we have to make do with sausages that resembles the ones from the Philippines in looks but not in taste (not close at all!).

I save the adobo sauce so I can fry left over rice in it for breakfast, that is, if there’s left over rice at all.

It’s nice to run out of bread every once in a while. That forces us to grab a cereal box in the morning. Hee hee.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so make sure you never miss it.  Most schools here in Texas will re-open on Tuesday, so if you’ve got students at home, whether they go to an actual school, schooled at home or getting their degree online , feed ‘em well in the morning!

Have a wonderful week ahead!