Recipe: Century Tuna Basil Pasta

I've been so busy the past two weeks and I've never really had time to cook. Luckily, Century Tuna sent us 6 free cans of tuna (as appreciation to our feedback re: Tuna Mayo) so I decided to cook this really really easy tuna dish - ready in 30 minutes!

Century Tuna Basil Pasta

Ingredients:

1 pack spaghetti (I got the 400g one)

1/4 cup olive oil

2-3 roma tomatoes; diced

3-4 cloves of garlic; grated (minced is fine too)

salt & pepper

2 cans Century Tuna Hot and Spicy; oil drained

1 can Century Tuna in Vegetable Oil; oil drained

(1 can each will do but we wanted more tuna in our pasta; if you want less bite use less of the hot and spicy one)

basil - I forgot to measure but I probably used 1 1/2 tbsps

- Cook pasta according to package instructions

- Heat olive oil in a pan

- Add tomatoes and garlic to pan and season with salt and pepper. Saute for 3-5 minutes.

- Add in tuna; season with salt and pepper (be careful when adding seasonings since the canned tuna has already been seasoned)

- Sprinkle with basil - adjust as desired

- Add drained pasta to the pan and toss together

- Serve hot.

- Optional: Top with grated parmesan

Recipe: Ice Scramble

Ice Scramble reminds me of my school bus days. I'd always look forward to dismissal time so I can enjoy this 10-peso pink slushy ice snack with lots of powdered milk on top sold on the streets. That was then. Now, they're sold in malls in fancier cups.

Since we love Ice Scramble so much we decided to make our own at home. When we were buying ingredients, we didn't see any pink food color so I thought of picking up the red one. My husband insisted that the violet food color has a closer shade to the original scramble - so I picked the violet one. This servers as a reminder that I should never ever trust my husband with decisions concerning colors. Say hello to our ube looking scramble:

I will probably have another post with the right color :)

Here is the recipe:

*we used a blender since we didn't have crushed ice but it turned out to be watery

1 cup evaporated milk

1 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp banana flavor

few drops of red food color

3 cups crushed ice

milk powder

choco syrup

Mix the milk, sugar and banana flavor in a bowl.

Slowly add in the red food color until you get the right shade of pink.

Add the mixture to crushed ice and mix well. Ice proportion may vary so adjust as desired.

Pour/scoop to glass and top with milk powder and chocolate syrup.

You may add rice krispies, marshmallows and other toppings you desire.

Easy Poached Egg

So we were window shopping earlier and found this Microwave Egg Poacher:

All you have to do is crack an egg into each cup, pierce the yolk with a fork and add 1/2 tsp of water to each cup. Put the egg poacher in the microwave and heat for 1 minute 15 seconds (time may vary for different microwaves). I think I overdid ours so I'm setting it to just a minute next time.

Now it's easier and faster to prepare cute breakfast meals :)

Recipe: Oreo Truffles Take 2

The husband wanted cheesecake but I don't have a stand mixer so I had to go with his second favorite: Oreo Truffles.

I used the same easy recipe as I used last time but added just a little bit of white chocolate on top to make it pretty (it is pretty obvious that I'm no good at decorating :)).

Here's the recipe:

Makes approx. 24

-1pkg of Oreos (18oz)

-1pkg of softened cream cheese (8oz)

-Chocolate melts or semi-sweet chocolate (for dipping)

Crush the package of Oreos, either in a food processor or in place in a ziplock bag and use a rolling pin. Once the Oreos are crushed (you want them to be very fine crumbs, otherwise you will have chunks of cookie in your truffles), combine them with the softened cream cheese in a bowl. Mix until it is well blended. Roll the mixture into 1-inch balls and place on a cookie sheet. Put the cookie sheet in the freezer or fridge to harden the truffles. Once firm enough (about 30 - 1 hour in fridge), remove them and dip them into the melted chocolate using a fork. Replace back on cookie sheets and put them in the fridge or freezer to harden. Best when served chilled.

Original Recipe: http://delightfuldessert.blogspot.com/2010/01/oreo-truffles.html

Recipe: Quick and Tasty Stir Fry

"Stir-fries are a brilliant way of getting lots of veggies into your diet without compromising on taste." - Donal (www.thegoodmoodfoodblog.com)

I claim to be on a diet so I decided to give his Zingy Quick and Tasty Stir Fry a try. Plus being Asian, I can't really say no to stir fry.

I didn't want to do just veggies so I added slices of chicken thighs (what diet? :)), shrimp and Chinese sausage. Just go easy on your oil and brown your chicken and sausage first before you put in your aromatics. For noodles, I didn't really know what kind to use - whether it's your normal pasta noodles or Asian noodles - but I decided to use fettucine since the original recipe looked like it used fettucine.

Overall, the recipe is indeed zingy, quick and tasty so if you are into all those things, then give this recipe a try.

Zingy Quick and Tasty Stir Fry

Serves six

250g noodles of your choice

2 tbsps soy sauce

1 tsp honey

Juice of 1 lime

1 red pepper, thinly sliced

2 carrots, grated or sliced in thin matchsticks

½ head cabbage, roughly shredded

2 pieces boneless, skinless chicken thighs, sliced to thin strips

4 pieces Chicken sausage, sliced

1 red onion, sliced into thin half moons

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 red chilli, finely chopped

1/2 lb of shrimp

Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet, drain and set aside.

Whisk together the soy sauce, honey and lime juice in the bottom of a large bowl. Add in the chopped veggies, except for the onion, garlic and chillies, and toss until everything is combined.

Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan until it’s very hot then add in the chicken and Chicken sausage and cook until chicken turns golden brown.

Add the onion, chilli and garlic and stir-fry for about 40 seconds.

Add in the veggies and stir fry until they are tender. You can check this by taking a bite.

Add in the shrimp and stir fry for 2 minutes.

Then add the noodles and toss in with all the veggies until combined, then fry for a further minute.

Original Recipe:

http://www.thegoodmoodfoodblog.com/2010/10/zingy-quick-and-tasty-stir-fry.html

Back In the Grind

The past two quarters have been pretty busy. Starting this week, I'll try to start cooking again :)

April

The first half of the month will be spent packing and wrapping up things here in Minnesota.

The second half will be filled with activities to start up in Manila.

....So I will probably take a break from cooking and trying out restos this month. See you in May!