Ginataang Baboy with Papaya

So exciting!

Last week I ordered Filipino food through facebook.

We were gonna go there before the Lockdown, but since with

everything thats happening.

We might not be able to go there personally.

But, good thing is that I can still buy stuff from there. 

I received my order yesterday!!

I was so excited like its Christmas!!! :)

There's so many I can make now.

But, of course I have to use the fresh ones first.

And I picked these Papayas!

It's very rare to find a papaya like this anywhere.

I can't say that it's only Asian use this for cooking.

But, Papaya is mostly dessert.

You usually find them already ripe.

Never like this.

I love love Papaya. 

My mom made this dish for us one time when I was still living in the Philippines.

...And ever since, its what I always request for her to make. 

I have been bugging her to make it for me when she was here, but of course we couldn't find the perfect Papaya. 

So, the craving had to wait.

I'm so happy I don't need to wait any longer!!!

I added Pork and Spinach to my Mama's usual dish.

Just so my husband can appreciate it and enjoy it. haha

Ginataang Baboy with Papaya

Ingredients

• ½ lb. pork shoulder cut into cubes
• 1 cup fresh malunggay leaves or spinach
• 1 small unripe papaya sliced into wedges
• 5 pieces Thai or bird’s eye chili peppers
• 2 ½ cups coconut cream kakang gata
• 3 thumbs ginger sliced into thin strips
• 1 medium yellow onion chopped
• 4 cloves garlic crushed
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 Knorr pork cube
• 1 cup water
• 2 ½ tablespoons fish sauce
• 3 tablespoons cooking oil

Instructions

• Heat oil in a cooking pot.
• Sauté garlic, onion, and ginger until the onion gets soft.
• Add the pork and ground black pepper. Continue to sauté until it turns brown.
• Pour the coconut cream and water into the pot. Let boil.
• Add the Knorr pork cube. Set the heat to low. Cover the pot and then continue to cook for 40 minutes or until the pork gets tender.
• Add the papaya and chili peppers. Stir and then cook for 10 minutes.
• Add the Spinach and fish sauce. Continue to cook for 5 minutes.
• Transfer to a serving plate. Serve with warm rice.

I think I did alright with this dish. 

Me and hubby almost ate all of it. 

Not much leftovers. 

Let me know what you guys think!!

xoxo

-Jen

Slow Cooker BBQ Meatballs

Happy Monday friends!

Today is a good day, Woke up with a good news that Italy is now officially on 

"Phase 2"

Meaning that Italy's rules is going to be eased off a little bit. 

It's sad that the kids are not gonna be able to get back to school at least until September.

We are not sure if we are still gonna be here by then..

I guess for now we just have to live day by day. 

I'm just grateful everyone I love are fine. 

Anyways, Today's dinner is a an easy one. 

We may be just home but Monday's are still a busy day. 

Back to normal routine, especially back to Home schooling.

I love, love this dish. 

Very easy to make.

We make this a lot for appetizer before, I decided why not make it a main dish.

Add some veggies, eat it over rice.

That sounds so perfect to me.

Let me know what you guys think!

Slow Cooker BBQ Meatballs

Ingredients:

• 1/2 bag of frozen meatballs
• 1 18 oz bottle of BBQ sauce (or any BBQ sauce of your choice)
• 1 20 oz pineapple chunks with juice
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 Red bell pepper (chopped)
• 1 Green bell pepper (chopped)
• 1/2 tsp Garlic salt

Instructions:

Place your meatballs into the slower cooker. There’s no problem with putting frozen, thawed, or uncooked homemade meatballs. It’s basically up to you.

For this recipe, I used the store-bought one. I used the frozen Fully Cooked Homestyle Meatballs, 30oz. I only need half it of, which happens to be 16 oz.

Pour the BBQ sauce, pineapple chunks in juice, Bell peppers and brown sugar in the slow cooker. If you want to mix the three ingredients before putting them into the slower cooker, that is fine, too. Mix all the ingredients to ensure flavor consistency when the meatballs are cooking.

Cook it in the slower cooker on high for 1 hour, then, turn down the slower cooker to low and cook for another 2-3 hours or until the meatballs are fully cooked.

Served while hot.

This is so perfect with rice. 

Enjoy!

xoxo

-Jen

Homemade Pizza Night.

Hello friends!

How's your weekend going?

Another day, Another Quarantine day for us.

..But guess what??

We got to walk for 500 meters today!

It was so nice to able to get some fresh air.

They are allowing people to walk 500 meters away from your house. 

We really feel bad for the kids, they have been home for over a month now. 

Today was a holiday, Everything is closed so no one's out.

So it was a good day to go for a walk.

Take the kids for biking even just for a little bit.

The beauty around that I miss seeing!

When we got home it was about dinner time and it's Pizza night!

Hubby mostly made these and I was just his assistant. 

It was fun cooking night together!

Let me know what you guys think!

Ingredients

For the Dough:

• • 2-2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour OR bread flour* divided (250-295g)
  • 1 packet instant yeast (2 1/4 teaspoon)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8-1/4 teaspoon garlic powder and/or dried basil leaves optional
  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil + additional 
  • 3/4 cup warm water** (175ml)

  
  

  
  

  Instructions

  • Combine 1 cup (125g) of flour, instant yeast, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. If desired, add garlic powder and dried basil at this point as well.
  • Add olive oil and warm water and use a wooden spoon to stir well very well.
  • Gradually add another 1 cup (125g) of flour. Add any additional flour as needed (I've found that sometimes I need as much as an additional 1/3 cup), stirring until the dough is forming into a cohesive, elastic ball and is beginning to pull away from the sides of the bowl (see video above recipe for visual cue). The dough will still be slightly sticky but still should be manageable with your hands.
  • Drizzle a separate, large, clean bowl generously with olive oil and use a pastry brush to brush up the sides of the bowl.
  • Lightly dust your hands with flour and form your pizza dough into a round ball and transfer to your olive oil-brushed bowl. Use your hands to roll the pizza dough along the inside of the bowl until it is coated in olive oil, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and place it in a warm place.
  • Allow dough to rise for 30 minutes or until doubled in size. If you intend to bake this dough into a pizza, I also recommend preheating your oven to 425F (215C) at this point so that it will have reached temperature once your pizza is ready to bake.
  • Once the dough has risen, use your hands to gently deflate it and transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead briefly until smooth (about 3-5 times). 
  • Use either your hands or a rolling pin to work the dough into 12" circle.
  • Transfer dough to a parchment paper lined pizza pan and either pinch the edges or fold them over to form a crust.
  • Drizzle additional olive oil (about a Tablespoon) over the top of the pizza and use your pastry brush to brush the entire surface of the pizza (including the crust) with olive oil. 
  • Use a fork to poke holes all over the center of the pizza to keep the dough from bubbling up in the oven.
  • Get your toppings ready (Below)
    For the toppings:

• ¼ c. BBQ sauce
• 8 oz. grated mozzarella cheese, divided
• ⅔ c. cubed ham
• 5 slices cooked bacon, chopped
• ½ c. pineapple tidbits
• Thinly sliced red onion
• 1 tbsp. chopped cilantro
• ⅛ tsp. red pepper flakes

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Place the prepared dough in the oven and bake for 5-7 minutes, remove and set aside
3. Spread the BBQ sauce over top, then half of the mozzarella cheese. Add the ham, bacon and pineapple tidbits, then top with remaining mozzarella and the sliced red onion (however much you prefer).
4. Place in the oven and bake for 7-10 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is melted. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes, then sprinkle with chopped cilantro and red pepper flakes. Allow to cool for 2-3 additional minutes, then cut and serve.

Hubby also made another pizza with his choice of toppings.

You can pretty much put whatever you want, thats what I love about making homemade pizza.

This one has Alfredo sauce, Sausage, olives, pepperoni and of course shedded cheese. 

It was soo good!!!

Enjoy!

Have a great week ahead!

xoxo

-Jen

Pulled Pork Tacos

I love love Taco night!!!!

Have I mentioned that my husband makes the best Taco.

Plating wise I had to help him but everything was all him. 

I think my cooking is okay, but I swear he's the best cook.

Our weekends definitely has been a lot about homemade food, yummy drinks and just a lot of family time.

We don't know how long is this lockdown going to be. 

But, for now we are just going to enjoy all of this family time we have.

Anyways, this is a really good Taco recipe!

I prefer Pulled pork more than anything and hubby had the best idea for making it in the crockpot.

Let me know what you guys think!!

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Tacos

Ingredients

• 3 pounds pork shoulder roast
• 1 onion diced
• 4 garlic cloves minced
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• juice of one lime 1-2 tablespoons
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt plus more to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes

Instructions

• Mix together the chili powder, cumin, paprika, salt, oregano and red chili flakes, set aside.
• Add the chopped onion and garlic to the slow cooker with the tomato paste, lime juice, and just 1-2 teaspoons of the spice mixture. Stir everything together until fully mixed.
• Sprinkle the rest of the spices all over the chuck roast, patting to help it stick to the meat.
• Place the meat on top of the onion mixture and set cook on low for 8-9 hours. Total cooking time will vary for different roasts.
• After meat has cooked, use two forks to shred the meat, removing any large pieces of fat or gristle as you find them. (If the meat is still too tough to shred, it needs to be cooked a little longer. Cook for an additional 30-60minutes and check it again.) Stir to mix well with the sauce. Cover and continue to cook on low for another 30-60minutes.
• Before serving stir well again to mix the meat with the sauce. Taste meat and season with more salt to taste.
• Optional Step: To create crispy carnitas, heat a heavy skillet (cast iron is best) over medium high heat.  When pan is hot, add 1 tablespoon of oil.  Add the carnitas in batches, careful not to crowd the pan.  Drizzle a few tablespoons of the cooking liquid from the crock pot over the meat as it fries.  Once bottom is crispy, turn the meat, until desired crispiness is reached.
  For the Tacos:

Ingredients

• 2 cups Slow Cooker Mexican Shredded pork Can be made ahead of time
• 8 small corn tortillas or flour tortillas, if you prefer
• Sour Cream

For The Cilantro Lime Slaw:

• 3 cups cabbage thinly sliced
• 3 carrots shredded
• 1/2 cup cilantro roughly chopped
• 1 japaleno diced
• 2 tablespoons lime juice about 1 lime
• ½ teaspoons coarse sea salt or to taste. Use half the amount if using regular table salt.

Instructions

To Make The Cilantro Lime Slaw

• Add all ingredients for slaw to a large bowl, toss together until fully mixed.  Set aside.

Assemble Tacos

• Optional step: Heat a skillet over medium heat.  Spray the tortillas on both sides with a little oil.  Heat the tortillas in a skillet until starting turn golden and a bit crispy.  Flip and do the same on the other side.
• In one tortilla, add about 1/4 cup of the Mexican shredded pork, top with cilantro lime slaw and sour cream.

It was on of the best Tacos I had!

So yummy!

Enjoy!

xoxo

Everyday

"Everyday may not be good

But, there is good in every day."

Easter Sunday

Last weekend we celebrated Easter at home. 

We usually just celebrate at home but the only difference this year is we had to do

Easter Egg hunt in or Backyard. 

I actually thought we won't be able to do it because even getting those plastic eggs

was not easy. 

But, I'm glad it worked out well.

Easter dress.

Easter Bunny came!

These boys are so happy.

We did our Easter egg hunt and I think it felt different for my first boy.

Because, every time we do it he had to fight for those eggs with everyone.

This year, he have all those eggs to himself.

So it was a calm but fun Easter Egg hunt.

It was a beautiful day!

While waiting for our Dinner to finish we played some Badminton.

We've been playing a lot of this to kill time and do something different for our workout.

It's fun.

I hope you all had a good Easter weekend.

Ciao, Ciao!

-Jen