My little girl was thrilled when she saw what I prepared for her.  She thought it was fancy.  It’s not every day she gets to use a wine glass for breakfast…or any meal for that matter!   I was done layering the fresh bananas and low-fat strawberry yogurt when I found the fresh strawberries in the fridge, so I decided to just use one for garnish.  After the princess of the household was served her breakfast, I proceeded to make a Strawberry-Banana Yogurt Parfait for myself, this time, I included some strawberry slices…

When my daughter saw what I made for myself, her earlier smiles turned into a frown.  Why?  Because, in her very words, “Yours is prettier.”  *sigh*  Well, she may be right that the second one is a tad prettier.  It must be the strawberry slices or the size of the glass which was a lot smaller, or both.  Believe you me that the strawberry slices were just a mere after thought. What’s a mom like me to do?  I offered that we switch, but she didn’t want to. Oh well, lesson learned.

There are endless possibilities for fresh fruit yogurt parfaits.  You will only be limited by the fruits in season and the yogurt flavors available.  Other than breakfast, this make for a healthy and hearty dessert or snack.

Speaking of “hearty”, February is American Heart  Month.  And this parfait is definitely good for the heart.  Take care of your hearts, y’all!  Eat healthy, exercise and live smart (no huffin’ and puffin’ on even electronic cigarettes!).

Have a great week, y’all!

*This is also an entry for Lasang Pinoy, Sundays (La.Pi.S.) for the theme “Hearty”.*

Baked 2-Cheese Angel Hair Pasta

My daughter loved this a lot!  She ate all the strawberries, too!  The pretzels, however, she didn’t lay a finger on.   To be honest, I placed them in the lunch container because I can’t find anything else to put in that slot.  Hee hee.  Abby’s been a very hearty eater the past couple of weeks and I am ever so glad.

(Blushing) Bourbon Chicken Onigiri

This was Abby’s lunch the very Monday after my Mom’s surprise birthday party.  Why?  Because we had a ton of Bourbon Chicken courtesy of Asian Too (Thanks so much again, Bet!).  I ought to make something like this again next week in time for Valentine’s Day.

Fried Zesty Chicken Sushi

I posted the recipe for Deep-Fried Zesty Chicken a few weeks ago.  Leftovers usually are given a make-over and end up in Abby’s lunch bag. Hee hee.  My daughter loves friend chicken (who doesn’t?!) but she won’t eat it with rolls or rice (at least not in school!).  The only way my daughter would eat rice in school is if it were in sushi form, thus, fried chicken sushi.  A mother’s got to do what a mother’s got to do.

As much as I possibly can, my little girl eats home-cooked lunches in school.  What can I say?  I have fun making my daughter’s lunch in the same way some people have fun playing with their ps3. But on rare occasions when I’m feeling overly lazy, I let her have “tray”, that’s Kindergarten lingo for cafeteria food.

Sake (Salmon) Nigiri…

Maguro (Tuna) Nigiri…

I’ll make sure the rice under the salmon and tuna slices will be flatter next time and not bulging at the bottom like you see in the photos.  Still, I think I did pretty good for my first brush with nigiri, but not good enough to have me going on a job search for a sushi chef position. Hee hee. Want to make your own nigiri sushi?  Check out this how-to video.

The rest of the tuna and salmon, we enjoyed sans rice…

The salmon was just so unbelievably good.  It did say “fresh” on the label. Then again, we can’t really trust those labels a hundred percent, can we?  The salmon did taste very fresh and we were very very pleased. *happy sigh*

This wasn’t the first time we bought salmon at Costco but it was the first time we ate it raw.  Hee hee.  We had the courage to do so after our success with the Tuna Sashimi some 3 months ago.  And by “success” I mean we enjoyed the raw fish and didn’t suffer any stomach bug or anything like it.

The tuna was good, too, but to say that it was upstaged by the salmon is an understatement.

I hope to catch some fish at Costco again this weekend.  I’ll enjoy the Superbowl with sushi for my game day chow instead of chips and salsa.

I don’t know why I waited this long to make my own salsa.  It’s so easy to make!  The chopped mangoes I added to the original recipe made it even more yummy.   These days, if I could sneak in some fruits to a dish, I would!  Here’s the recipe…

INGREDIENTS:

3 Tbsp finely chopped onion
2 small cloves garlic, minced
3 large ripe tomatoes, peeled and seeds removed, chopped
1/3 to 1/2 cup chopped  mangoes
2 hot chili peppers, Serrano or Jalapeno, finely chopped
2 to 3 Tbsp minced cilantro
1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons lime juice
salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Put chopped onion and garlic in a strainer; pour 2 cups boiling water over them then let drain throughly. Discard water. Cool.

2. Combine onions and garlic with chopped tomatoes, mangoes, peppers, cilantro, lime juice, salt, and pepper. Refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours to blend flavors.

Makes about 2 cups of salsa.

I’ll be sure to double, maybe even triple this recipe next time.  You can add the chilis last, if you like.  That’s what I did because not everyone in our household appreciates spicy food as much Hubby and I do, at least not yet.  So I divided the salsa in two and added chilis only to one of  ‘em.

And to answer my own question at the very beginning of this entry, yes, I am very much ready for Superbowl Sunday.  Although, I would have very much liked to have the Dallas Cowboys playing in it.  Oh well.  Just the same, I’m hoping for a fun and exciting game. May the players be safe.  I’m sure nobody wants them making online life insurance claims.

Have a great week ahead, y’all!  Cheers!

Saturday last week, I thought I should “re-connect” with fondant.  I made a cake for a sweet little girl’s 4th birthday.  The birthday girl loves Ariel, the Little Mermaid.  So I made  her a Little Mermaid-themed cake.

This a 9″(diameter) x 4″ (height) chocolate cake  with milk chocolate and white chocolate chips. It has a perfectly chocolate chocolate filling.  This is a 360-degree cake.  There’s something to see all around the cake.   Here, allow me to give you a short 360-degree tour.

A slight turn of the cake and you’ll see a school of fish and seaweeds and one of Ariel’s sisters.

Another slight turn and you’ll see the back of the cake.  There are starfish and corals and more seaweeds and more sisters of Ariel.  On top of the cake there’s a happy octopus.

Turn the cake just a tad and you’ll find some yellow starfish and you guessed it, another mermaid sister.

And we’re back in front, where you’ll find the birthday girl’s name on a gigantic starfish on either side of which is a sister of Ariel.  Hee hee.

Now, let me give you a closer look of the top of the cake…

That’s Ariel, of course.  I got Ariel and her mermaid sisters at the Disney Store.  So I cheated and didn’t sculpt them out of fondant.  That allowed me time to play with the details.   All other decorations – the rocks, seaweeds, corals, flowers, school of fish and starfish were fondant and gumpaste.  I used some spiced gum drops as well.

At the back of the cake, behind the rocks is a yellow, purple-eyed octopus. Didn’t I tell you this was a fun cake to make?!  I thought I needed to put something behind the grey rocks and an octopus was an easy sea animal to make.

For the sand, I used crushed graham crackers.

Hubby, my little girl and my mom were constantly hovering as I decorated this cake.  They were very excited to see how the cake would come together.  They also had a suggestion or two.  My daughter loved the cake and was already thinking of a birthday cake design for herself!  Hubby loved that I veered away from my usual pastels and used bright colors.  My Mom, on the other hand, couldn’t help saying that this cake looked better than her birthday cakes (THIS and THIS)!  Hee hee.  What can I say, there might be some truth to what she said.

As for me, I love that I had sooo much fun decorating this cake.  At no point did I feel stressed-out during the decorating process.  I was even humming to myself almost all throughout…”Up where they walk, up where they run, up where they stay all day in the sun…”  I wasn’t scrambling for time or anything.  For once, I wasn’t late for the party! No achy arms, too!

Perhaps in God’s time and God willing, I can turn my hobby into a business (and secure a business insurance in the process).  Hmmm, maybe.  Why not, right? Like my Mom always says,”It’s free to dream.” *wink*

Cheers, y’all!

Our salads are usually just spring mix veggies with sliced tomatoes and cucumbers.  I love throwing in some diced mangoes, too, whenever I have some.  Last Monday, I traded fresh black berries and sliced strawberries for the tomatoes and cucumbers…

I have to say, I loved it!  I loved how the strawberries added a burst of color to the salad.  Most importantly, I loved the sweet and tangy kick from the berries.  Too bad for hubby, who isn’t very fond of blackberries…except maybe for the techie kind. Hee hee.  I made Honey Vinaigrette Dressing to go with the salad.  It’s pretty much the same vinaigrette dressing I posted on THIS ENTRY, except that I substituted the sugar with (Texas) wild raw honey, which is the healthy kind of honey.

Homemade Honey Vinaigrette Dressing

INGREDIENTS:

1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup rice vinegar
3 Tbsp sesame seed oil
5 Tbsp wild raw honey
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp minced ginger root

DIRECTIONS:

Mix all the ingredients then transfer to a bottle and shake thoroughly. Toss the salad with the dressing just before serving.

There you have it.  It’s a win win combination: fresh vegetables + fresh fruits + homemade dressing with wild raw honey = a very happy body. I hope to be sporting a new and natural glow soon.  Just maybe, I will no longer have to look for exposed acne solution.

Cheers to fruits and veggies! Load up on ‘em!;)

My Mom, as I’ve mentioned several times in previous entries, isn’t really fond of cake, with the exception of ice cream cakes.  But chiffon cake, she will eat…specially if baked and decorated by me.   The top tier is an 8″ Chocolate Chiffon Cake. while the bottom tier is a 10″ Mocha Chiffon Cake.

The cake was not iced as smoothly as I would have wanted, but, I dare say there’s a charm to an imperfectly iced cake that’s all it’s own.  Hee hee. *wink*

For decorations, I only used fresh strawberries and brown M&M’s (Yes, those are M&M’s and not prenatal vitamins. Hee hee. ).  When I was done decorating the cake, there were no brown streaks on the sides of the cake from the M&M’s.  I was horrified to find the streaks of brown when time came to take the cake out of the fridge.  Oh well.

I love love Party City.  That’s where I got the sparkle candles and the “Aged to Perfection” candle.  Perfect accents for a very simple cake.

I had fun decorating this cake, stressful as it was.  While decorating the cake, I had friends asking me where the scotch tape is, where the salt and pepper are and a daughter who was getting worried that she was still in house clothes and guests are already in our house, etcetera, etcetera.  Hee hee.  I would go through all this fun again in a heartbeat!

Cheers to birthdays!  Cheers to surprise parties! Cheers to awesome friends!  Cheers to Mommy!

Grilled Chicken Tenders

I grilled about a pound of chicken tenders.  To give it some flavor, I depended solely on Emeril’s All Natural Chicken Rub.  I patted the chicken tenders dry, and then brushed some olive oil on them.  Then, I rubbed each piece with the chicken rub.  You only need 1 teaspoon per pound of chicken.  I let the chicken tenders marinate in the oil and chicken rub for at least 30 minutes before I proceeded to grilling them.  And this was the result…

The chicken tenders came out surprisingly flavorful!  It complimented the salad I prepared that day.  Some of you might want to have a dipping sauce to go with it.  My family used the salad dressing, a homemade vinaigrette, as dipping sauce.  Hee hee.

Grilled Tilapia Fillet(s)

For the Grilled Tilapia Fillets, I gave the Emeril Original Essence a try and used it the same way I used the chicken rub.  I prepared the fillets as I did the chicken tenders.  And this was the result…

The fish did come out a little bland.  I guess the original essence, unlike the chicken rub, can’t really stand on it’s own.  Maybe it’s really meant to be a flavor enhancer.  So next time, I’m thinking I should sprinkle some salt on the fish (or whatever meat I’m using) first and maybe add some lemon as well.

We’ve all been loading up on our leafy greens, if you noticed.   That should have been the case all this time.  Nevertheless, we feel good that we’ve taken small steps to healthier eating.  I hope you do, too…to help prevent and fight sickness  (yes, even prevent hair loss and other health concerns!).

Have a good week ahead, y’all!  Cheers!

How can a chocoholic resist?  Well, a chocoholic can’t.  There’s just no point trying.  How can you when they look and smell so sinfully and irresistably delicious!  These are priced at $2 each and are approximately 2in x 2in x 1in in size.  But if you buy 4, you you get 2 free!  So we went all in and got 6 fudgy fudge!

There’s an assortment of flavors and we made sure we got 6 different flavors: S’mores, Raspberry, Cookies and Cream, Mint, Caramel and Dark Chocolate.  $8 for fudge turned out to be a worthy spend.  They were so rich and yummy and just plain fudgy!  I dare you to finish one square in one sitting!  Hubby and I had to share one piece and take bites alternately.  We finish 3 of the 6 that night.  The rest, we saved for the next day. *wink*

S’mores and raspberry turned out to be our little girl’s favorites (and mine, too!).  After one bite, of these two flavors, she politely asked us to “save” them for her.    That’s her way of marking the two flavors with an invisible label that bears her name.  How’s that for fudge identity theft protection? Hee hee.

This is an entry for Lasang Pinoy, Sundays (La.Pi.S.) for the theme “Chocolate”.

A few weeks ago, I received a couple of VIP coupons from General Mills through MyBlogSpark.  They couldn’t have come at a better time.  You know how a lot of people resolve to make better food choices and eat healthier at the start of the new year.  You can count us among  those people.

We’ve been loading up on cereals come breakfast time these last few days.  I got four different kinds of General Mills cereals with my coupons.  I love how the nutrition information is just right there on top of the box…

and all the cereals are guaranteed whole grain.  My 5-year old daughter used to be not so overly fond of cereal, but she is now.  She loves the Honey Nut Clusters and even requests for it in the morning.  She likes this more than Kix, maybe because Kix is less sweet.  Well, if she won’t finish the box of Kix, I will.  I can snack on those puffed balls, with or without milk!

Of the four cereals we bought, I thought Raisin Bran will be my favorite.  But after I tasted Basic 4 this morning, it was love at first bite.

What’s not to love?  It is a blend of tangy fruits, crunchy almonds and a wholesome variety of grains.  Plus, it is low in saturated fat and cholesterol!  It’s truly a yummy treat to look forward to in the morning.

Instead of whole milk, I use Organic Rice Milk with my cereals.  But that’s just me…and my mom!

Here are other healthy benefits one can derive from a bowl of cereal:

• Ready-to-eat cereals, including presweetened cereals, account for only 5% of sugar in children’s diets.
• Ready-to-eat cereal is the No. 1 source of whole grains in a child’s diet today.
• More frequent cereal eaters tend to have healthier body weights and lower Body Mass Index measures.

Studies also demonstrate the benefits of eating breakfast. A 1998 study showed that children who eat breakfast tend to perform better at school. Compared to children who skip breakfast, children who eat breakfast score higher on tests, are less likely to miss class or be tardy, have fewer reported discipline problems, and make fewer trips to the office.

You would be happy to know that General Mills announced a commitment to further reduce sugar in cereals advertised to kids under 12 to single digit grams of sugar per serving. The company has already been reducing sugar in cereals while increasing key nutrients, such as calcium and vitamin D, and providing whole grain.

Remember, breakfast is the most important meal of the day!

Disclosure: General Mills through MyBlogSpark provided the author (that would be me!) with coupons to try out the products.  The author was also provided with the information on the health benefits of cereals.