Monday Foodstagram II

It's time for Monday Foodstagram once again. Here are the food pics I posted on Instagram last week.


Instant Coffee
FatMumSlim's prompt for that day's Photo a Day was "early," and for me, the best way to perk me up early in the morning is a cup of hot coffee. My favorite instant coffee mix as of late has been San Mig White Coffee.

Sinampalukang Manok
When the girls and I went to the market the day before, I saw a stall selling young tamarind leaves and immediately craved for Sinampalukang Manok, which I cooked for lunch. Gloomy weather calls for comfort food, and this one was a sure winner.

Pancakes and Bacon
I truly don't like my sister to skip meals, so to make sure she eats before she leaves the house for work, I cooked pancakes and bacon for us three girls for breakfast. I used the Maya Pancake Mix for this - the one that only needs water (no need for egg and butter), but I used one part milk one part water just to make it tastier. I rarely cook pancakes in the house as it is not my favorite food - unless I pair it with something savory, but true enough this pancake mix was so easy to work with. I also didn't need to grease the pan, I just mixed the batter, heat the pan and cook. Flipping it was easy, too! For that "something savory," I cooked bacon, something I miss eating. I like my bacon still soft, my sister likes it very crispy... so this was a compromise. It wasn't soft, but not crispy yet.


Salad with Grapes
The good thing about having a big marketplace nearby is the surprise at what you will find. For that day, my mom and I saw a sidewalk vendor selling grapes at only 50 pesos per half a kilo, super cheap compared to the ones being sold at the fruit stands. Walking home, I also got to see a vendor selling lolo rosso lettuce for only 10 pesos a bunch, and for lunch I prepared salad to go with the fried tilapia. It was my first time to add grapes in my salad, and it turned out to be good. Hopefully we get to see more fruits at cheap prices so we can eat healthy without creating a hole into the wallet.

Sausage Meal at Kenny Rogers
Yesterday, us girls went to the mall to eat lunch and shop for groceries. Sister decided to eat at Kenny Rogers Roasters and I went for the Sausage Meal because I wasn't in the mood to eat something heavy. The menu didn't indicate (or it totally slipped my eyes) that rice was included, so instead of coleslaw, I went for Mac & Cheese as my side dish. I was pretty dismayed when I saw my plate...carbs overload! Well, I didn't eat the rice anymore... the muffin and the macaroni were enough for me.

Salad with Mango Vinaigrette
While at the supermarket, I got to see a bottle of Clara Ole Mango Mio! vinaigrette and decided to buy it. Since I still had the carbo horror from lunch, I decided to just prepare salad for us girls - no rice, no other viands... just salad. For protein, I cooked ground pork in olive oil seasoned with salt, pepper, and oregano leaves until crispy, and I also added some cashew nuts. The vinaigrette was sweet and tangy, kinda like Frutos or Fruit Tella candies... but I liked it. Using it, I didn't feel the need to buy mangoes for my salad anymore.

Just six food pictures from last week; hopefully this week I can share more pictures. Have a great Monday, everyone!

Sta. Cruz Food Express

Internet has been erratic for the whole week. I could use my phone to upload images on Instagram, but whenever I use my netbook, doing things took a lot of time - especially uploading images. This post was scheduled yesterday, but the connection was slow, so it is just now that I could share this.


Eons ago, I went with my sister when she visited Quiapo Church. It has been my practice to take a few pictures outside the church, and while snapping a few images, my sister asked me if I wanted to visit the Sta. Cruz Church, which is a long walking distance away from Quiapo Church. I rarely go out the house, and this being a day of enjoying the great outdoors, I was happy to see something new.

It was indeed a long walk, so when we passed by Sta. Cruz Food Express with posters showing affordable prices, I suggested that we eat lunch first, after all it's already quarter to noon.


The place was enormous... and very clean. Just like the usual fastfood / carinderia, diners had to make a bee line to the cashier and order up. Their menu wasn't as extensive, making us choose our food with ease. We just chose went for the value meal as we didn't want to spend that much.


Burger Steak
This was my choice of meal. It didn't taste like Jollibee's, but it was surprisingly good! My sister was also surprised at how it tasted. For a meal less than 50 pesos, it was more than I expected.


Dragon Boat Dumpling with Siomai
Not sure if I got the name of the dish right, but this is like Tamales or Suman. It was something new to us, and it was just okay. The siomai on the other hand, was delicious. It tasted like the Siomai served in bigshot Chinese Restaurants.


Chinese Lumpia
Whenever we go to the Sidcor Weekend Market, we always take home some Chinese Lumpia. Seeing this on the menu made us buy one because it was only 40 pesos, 20 pesos cheaper than the one we buy at the weekend market. Tasting this, I wished this food place is just near our place, because the taste is at par with the one we buy at the weekend market and it was cheaper, too.


Pepper Burger
My sister was uncertain with the Dragon Boat Dumpling, so she ordered this just in case she didn't like the dumpling. The only setback was the bun, but the patty and the dressing as well as the veggies were really good.

Our total bill was less than 200 pesos, and we were able to satisfy hungry tummies. I am not sure if this place is still open as my feet still haven't taken me back to Sta. Cruz, but if it is still open, I hope I can dine there again.

Mabuhay Palace Chinese Feast

If you recall last month, I posted about the Mabuhay Palace Chinese cooking class at The Maya Kitchen - featuring Executive Chinese Chef Sun Bing and Chinese Operations Manager/Executive Chinese Sous Chef Josephine Yu Tanganco-Candelaria of Manila Hotel’s Mabuhay Palace. I wasn't able to attend the event, but The Maya Kitchen was so kind to send me these images so I could share it here on the blog.

Dishes prepared at the feast:
Panfried Chinese Pancake

Shrimp Glazed with Almonds

Soy-Glazed Chicken Stir Fry

Vegetarian ‘Peking Duck’

Water Chestnuts and Anchovy Fried Rice

West Lake Style Minced Lapu-Lapu Soup

It's been raining everyday... such a gloomy weather we have at the moment, and because we all need some liquid comfort during this kind of weather, let me share you the recipe for this soup.

Ingredients:

• 5 grams Lapu-lapu, minced
• 3 grams Straw mushrooms, minced
• 200 grams Soup stock
• To taste Salt
• To taste Sugar
• To taste Chicken Powder
• 2 grams Wansoy, chopped
• 1 gram Rice wine
• 1 gram Sesame oil
• Potato starch, soaked in water

How to Cook:

• Boil minced Lapu-Lapu and straw mushroom, then drain.
• Heat a large wok and pour soup stock in the wok. Add cooked fish and straw mushrooms. Season with salt, sugar, chicken powder, rice wine and sesame oil.
• Once seasoned, add the wansoy.
• Add potato starch until the desired consistency has been reached.

The Maya Kitchen has cooking / baking classes laid out the entire month - if you're interested to be a part of any of their classes, log on to www.themayakitchen.com or e-mail contactus@themayakitchen.com.