Weekly Favorites

If I'm too lazy to whip up anything for breakfast, here's our go to meal: cereal, almond milk and lots of berries. 

My husband still haven't decided what TV to get, so I'm stuck watching online streaming on the laptop. Here's my current favorite, Faith, a Korean series. I'm in love with Lee Min Ho, although my husband thinks he's gay.

During my weekly trip to the mall sometime last week, I scored these items from H&M for 20$. How fab! I might just make it a weekly habit :)

My trip won't be complete without a visit to my favorite shoe store, DSW. Don't judge, I'm no shopaholic. I just love to go around the shelves of shoes and trying them on.

On second thought, I think this Franco Sarto wedge sandal is really cute for summer. I couldn't resist the price and I figured it's going to go well with my new Michael Kors tote. It's on clearance at 40% off. Not bad, huh? Perfect summer accessory.

How about you? What have you been up to lately?

Walk in the Park

We came across this really nice park at Foster City just before we were going to do our grocery shopping trip at Safeway earlier today. It was so pretty, serene and beautiful. Sitting there watching the clear blue lagoon was very calming. We took photos and hang out a little bit before continuing our agenda for the day. It's a nice place to have a picnic with the family and kids in their bikes enjoying the fresh air. Just the perfect spot to spend a lazy afternoon.

 

{Leo J Ryan Memorial Park}

{Sitting on one of the memorial bench spread out in the park}

{Found this  in one of the poles at the lagoon. Cool, huh?}

{I'm wearing a sweater from Hongkong, Jeans - American Eagle Outfitters, necklace - H&M, shoes - Forever21, vintage bag, watch -  vintage casio}

{My husband propped his camera in one of the drinking fountains to get this shot.}

{I can't say enough how beautiful this park is.}

{Pretty flowers in bloom.}

Caprese Salad for Quick Breakfast

I had a lot of fresh basil and mozzarella in the fridge so I made hors d'oeuvres for breakfast instead of it being an appetizer. Why not? The husband loved it. Easy peasy.

Ingredients:

• Crackers from Trader Joe's or any cracker of your choice
• Medium tomatoes cut 1/4 inch thick
• Fresh sweet Basil leaves, washed and dried in paper towels
• Fresh Mozarella, sliced to desired thickness
• A few pieces of Prosciutto, divided into little pieces depending on how many crackers you intend to make
• Balsamic vinegar
• Olive oil
• Salt and Pepper

How to Prepare:

Arrange your crackers in a serving plate. Put the basil, tomatoes, mozzarella and prosciutto. Arranging them to whatever suits your mood. Drizzle with a little balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve with your favorite coffee, hot chocolate or tea. Or serve as an appetizer before the main course.

Chicken Prosciutto Wrap

As you all know, I have this obsession with anything Italian. Most of my cooking research revolves around my love for olives, olive oil, pasta, tomatoes, prosciutto and the likes. At my recent shopping trip at Trader Joe's I had a sudden vision of making dinner with chicken and prosciutto. So here it is.

Ingredients:

• 1 Pound or 3 Pieces boneless, skinless Chicken breast
• 1 Clove Garlic, minced
• 1 Stalk of Green onion, chopped
• 2 Tablespoon chopped, Parsley leaves
• 2 Tablespoon Olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon of dry white wine or Sweet Rice wine for drizzling
• Salt and Pepper
• 3 Large Potatoes Yellow Potatoes, sliced 1/8 inch thick
• 4 Pieces Medium sized Carrots

Cooking Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Drizzle or spray baking pan with olive oil. Set aside.
2. Combine garlic, parsley and olive in a bowl. Mix well. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper.
3. Slice chicken in half lengthwise. Pat dry, season with a little salt and pepper.
4. Coat the chicken with the garlic-parsley mixture. Let it marinate for 5-10 minutes.
5. Arrange the potatoes on the baking pan, making a bed for the chicken to sit on top instead of using a parchment paper. Sprinkle a tiny bit of salt if you want. You can skip it if you want to cut back on sodium.
6. Wrap the chicken with prosciutto. Depending on the size of the prosciutto, I cut mine in half and wrapped two chicken breasts in one.
7. Arrange the wrapped chicken on the bed of potatoes. Garnish with chopped green onion and parsley. Place the carrots on the sides of the pan. Drizzle with white wine or sweet rice wine.
8. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the prosciutto turns crisp and brown and the meat no longer pink. Enjoy!

I am not a professional chef but I just love food and I try to experiment on my own. I do a lot of research on recipes online and make a version of my own. I hope you like this dish and let me know what you think.

XoXo

Shrimp Sinigang (Shrimp in sour broth)

For all of you who has been following my blog should know that I am a certified Filipina. I was born and raised in the Philippines and has been for my entire life or until I got married to my husband who  and had various opportunities to work and live abroad more particularly in the US. One of our comfort food is called "sinigang" which means any kind of meat or seafood cooked in a sour soup base. The sour soup is usually made of tamarind pods, guavas, local lime (kalamansi) or ginger lily (kamias). It's been almost a month since we left Manila and the cold weather makes it perfect timing for me to make it for dinner last night. In this recipe, I used the store-bought tamarind soup mix because I can't find any of the above in the Asian supermarket where I shop. I hope you enjoy this recipe. My husband loved it!

Ingredients:

• 1 Pound medium-sized shrimp, cleaned spikes removed.
• 1 Packet tamarind soup base, I used Knorr
• 2 Large tomatoes, sliced quartered
• 1 Medium onion, sliced quartered
• 1 Large Eggplant, cut in 1/4 inch thick
• 3 Bunches of Bok Choy, separated and ends removed
• 1 Medium Daikon Radish, cut in 1/4 inch thick
• 4 Serrano peppers
• 8 Cups water
• Fish sauce and Pepper

note: Depending on the kind of vegetables available in the market, you can also add: Okra, String Beans, Spinach if Bok Choy is not available

Cooking Instructions:

1. Bring 8 cups of water to a boil. Then add the tomatoes, onion, radish and the sinigang powder. Cook for 15 minutes on medium-high heat until the radish color becomes a bit clear.
2. Add the  eggplant, shrimp, bok choy and serrano peppers. Cook covered for 5 minutes or until the shrimps turn pink in color. Season with fish sauce and black pepper.
3. Serve with a hot steamed rice and fish sauce on the side, if preferred.