a super easy vegetarian meal you can whip up on busy weeknights...ingredients:  tortillas, portobello mushrooms, onions, garlic, cheese(we used a mozzarella colby cheese combo, but you can use any melting cheese you prefer...or try mexican chihuahua cheese for authenticity) and guacomole fixin's if you would like that on the side...saute sliced mushrooms, onions and garlic in a skillet until tender(i added some leftover zucchini for color)...season with salt and pepper and paprika as desired...heat up a tortilla in the same skillet and sprinkle with cheese, then the filling and top with another tortilla...flip over to brown both sides of your quesadilla...when cheese is bubbly, take out the quesadilla on a plate, wait a minute before slicing into quarters.  tip: i use a pizza slicer for easier cutting.  enjoy!  great with some salsa, sour cream and guacamole or a green salad and some sangria!

this was dinner last tuesday...no recipe was followed, just sauteed tons of garlic in olive oil, added some mushrooms and onions and shrimp...poured this atop some fettucine garnished with a few torn basil leaves...easy...but very rich...oh well i had to use up our last can of aligue(a pasalubong from a friend who went home last year)

had this with some baby carrots and yellow zucchini steamed in the microwave in a little water, no salt or pepper to enjoy their natural sweetness...sprinkled some more dried basil on the pasta since the fresh basil leaves were running low...of course, hubs thought something was missing and had to sprinkle his food liberally with parmesan...for me though, aligue and parmesan are not a good combination

beautiful greenies...our current centerpiece

that's hubs "posing" the zucchini and green apples haha

condiments:

  salad dressing, chopped cilantro and diced mango

hubby's salad had shrimp because he's not a big fan of white chicken meat

salad with dressing and japanese crackers

 

made this for dinner a few days ago.  we've been trying to eat less and more healthy and are trying to have only salad for dinner once a week.  copied the dressing from our asian fusion cookbook.  the dressing is made of fish sauce(i used a vietnamese brand),  fresh lime juice, crushed red chili(i used dried ones from a bottle coz i don't care for the smell of raw ones or handling them for that matter), chopped cilantro and brown sugar(i used muscovado from the philippines, but you can use any old brown sugar you have in your pantry).  the veggies we used are: romaine, bean sprouts for hubby coz he loves them raw, carrot sticks, diced cucumber.  you can also add diced mangoes for sweetness.  actually you can add any veggie you want.  hope we do good on our once a week salad dinner goal.

here's one of the things i did to enjoy our abundance of mangoes this week:  mango refrigerator cake!  it's a super easy wasy to "make" cake at home even if you're tamad to bake and the result is still super yummy.  start with great ingredients.  i used:

italian lady fingers...if you are in the philippines, our local broas or mamon tostado might be good substitutes...i couldn't help munching on a finger or two while making this dessert :)

thinly sliced ripe mangoes (or any luscious fruit you would like to use up, i've tried strawberries and peaches before with great results...bananas sound good too as in banana cream pie)nestle cream and vanilla pudding...nestle cream in tetra bricks is not available here in chicago...i only brought 3 with me and i already used up 1 brick...i should have bought a whole case...you can use pure cream with a hint of condensed milk...or in my case, i used pre made vanilla pudding courtesy of my grocery store because i was too tamad to bring out my mixer and whip up stuff...prep your pan by spreading a thin layer of the cream-pudding mixture on the bottom so the lady fingers adhere to and soften while in the fridgelayer with ladyfingers, cream and fruit until you use up your ingredients or your pan is filled...refrigerate overnight and enjoy the next day...ladyfingers layer

yummy and easy...you can make it as simple or as fancy as you wish...you can add vanilla to your cream mixture or even nuts or chocolate shavings...whatever you are craving :)

Exploring other cultures(and their cuisine!) is always exciting.  Hubs and I visited  Devon in Chicago to have a little taste of India.  There is a whole stretch devoted to everything Indian from food stores to restaurants to clothing and houseware.  There are a lot of Indian families in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs.  I get quite a few Indian students each year too.  Indian cuisine is something Hubs and I have learned to like too.  Some of my faves are their mango ice cream and rice pudding(above).We

had a buffet lunch at the Viceroy of India.  I had samosas(like our Pinoy empanada but has mashed/boiled potatoes and peas as a filling), peas pulao(the fragrant and nutty basmati rice),  butter chicken(in the bowl, boneless chicken cooked in creamy, tomatoey sauce), naan bread and some kind of savory pancake.coconut watertheir take out counterbeautiful, large mangoes sold by the case on the street...could not resist picking up a box :)

intricate gold jewelry

colorful saris everywhere...all different kinds from super simple to fully beaded

sunny bouquet from rennie

sunflowers are one of my favorites :)

st anne's in barrington for the last sunday service

garlicky mushroom quesadillas to go

since I am a fan of Rick Bayless, I couldn't resist stopping by this Frontera Fresco location

this one was inside a Nordstrom in Oak Brook Mall

it's a bright spot where tired shoppers can make a quick stop and have something inexpensive but tasty to eat...everything on the menu was less than 10 bucks

rennie checking out a mac vending machine selling ipods and iphones...what's next?  vending machines for laptops?

ready for dinnerstraight from the oven, smells so gooddoughrisingpandesal mix

I've always wanted to try making yeast bread at home.  I've always thought it would be a challenge what with the kneading and rising etc etc.  So when I saw a recipe on Marketman's site, I decided to try making pan de sal.  I loved the smell of baking bread in the kitchen.  The kneading part was not all that bad.  As for the rising, instead of waiting for hours, I used fast acting yeast which sped up the process.  The verdict?  Not bad for a first try.  We had some for dinner since I did this as soon as I got home from work.  Who liked it the most?  Cappy, our maltipoo.  Haha :)