365 days of food: Korean BBQ: Kalbi

Kalbi

 One of my favorite foods ever!!!!! I love korean bbq, I wish I could find a legit korean bbq restaurant here but too bad so I just make my own at home and tastes so much better! I usually marinate it in the morning and bbq it for dinner.

365 days of food: LOCO MOCO!

LOCO MOCO!

My favorite way of eating a hamburger patty! Its so easy to make, I just shaped ground beef into a patty and grill it  (you can fry it to if you're lazy). for the ground beef mixture I threw in some minced onions, soy sauce and some garlic powder and black pepper. After the patty is done, just top it with some gravy and an egg, however you like your egg, over easy, sunny side up, whatever, I like my egg without the yolk so thats how i made mine. Lol! and y'all know me, having rice ain't even a question anymore!
 

Easy Japanese dish of the week: Chicken Cutlet

 Chicken Cutlet

Ingredients
Chicken Breast (thin sliced)
Panko Breadcrumbs (can be found in the asian section)
Flour
2 eggs beaten
Bulldog brand tonkatsu sauce (asian store)

 Coat chicken breast in flour, dip in egg, then coat with breadcrumbs. Set aside on a plate. Repeat process until you've done it to the chicken breasts. Heat up a pan with some oil in it, fry the damn thing, flip it once or twice til it is a nice golden brown. Make sure it is cooked inside but do not overcook it because the chicken will become dry. You want it nice and moist. Place on top of hot white rice and place some bulldog sauce over it. YUM!

Filipino Dish of The Week: Kare-Kare (Peanut Butter Beef Oxtail Stew)

Kare-Kare
Peanut Butter Beef Oxtail Stew
(pronounced Kah-reh Kah-reh)

I learned how to make this from my mom back home. It's so good, you won't even know its peanut butter! This dish may seem odd to all you non-filipino people, but I love it!

Ingredients
-Beef Oxtail
-String Beans (substitute with Green Beans if none available)
-Asian Eggplant (substitute with the big round one if none available)
-Onion
-Garlic
-Bokchoy
-Peanut Butter
-Beef broth

The traditional Kare-Kare recipe has beef tripe in it but I didn't put it since I cannot find it here where I'm at and a lot of vegetables we have back in Guam aren't available here in South Dakota but it tastes pretty much the same.
I boiled the beef for about 2-3 hours or until its soft. (Pressure cooker=faster!) Dissolve the peanut butter with water and set aside. After beef is soft, i boiled beef broth in a pot, added the garlic and onions and meat. Then added eggplant and green beans. I let those cook for a bit. Then stirred in the peanut butter and bokchoy. I let it simmer for a little bit. It's good to eat on top of hot white rice! YUM!

Busy Bee

Lately I've been really caught up with taking care of Aundrea, our new puppy, chores, and HOMEWORK. Stacks of homework. My eye bags are so ugly. I've noticed I never had the time to take off old nail polish from my toe nails and they were on my toe nails for like about 2 months and not til a few days ago I removed it, I haven't shaved my legs in a month which is like disgusting, haven't gone to the hair salon for a trim in monthsss and haven't been to the gym for a total of two weeks. I soooo cannot wait til we leave for our vacation to Guam, at least we'll have reliable babysitters around such as my mom and mother-in-law. I seriously need some wine or jager bombs and dancing in my system! I have never felt so overwhelmed and tired in my life! Whoever knew motherhood + married life was so hard..... did I mention I married young? Lol! aaahhh...my life is bittersweet, I love it!

It's almost Aundrea's 2nd birthday!

Soo... this is Aundrea's birthday invitation I made for her 2nd birthday party, although I do need to some final touches like the place, time, & etc... (don't mind the ching running across the invite)

She is having a Yo Gabba Gabba theme this year, last year she had a Hello Kitty theme :)

 

A New Member of The Ching Family

Raizo Ching

Nope, not another child but another DOG in our house. He is a purebred Shihtzu and is about 9-10 weeks old. We bought him for a very good price from a nice lady that lives right off of base. I was so excited the past week because I've been in the doggie market for the past months and I really wanted a small fluffy dog for Aundrea and I. I have to say this is like my first real puppy, (as in the kind of dog I would want) my parents never got me any pets when I was a kid lol. So far since Raizo's been home, he sleeps A LOT, he is almost fully housebroken, he whines to go outside to poop but its just peeing that we are working on. He is a bit smarter than I thought because our other dog is really dumb sometimes and stubborn. Aundrea loves Raizo, she always like to hug him and carry him but sometimes I think she gets too excited and squeezes him so I've got my eagle eyes on with her LOL. I have yet to take him for his haircut and all that stuff. :)

Crockpot Time: A family favorite :)

Kalua Pig

Ingredients
Pork shoulder
Cabbage, chopped
Onions,chopped (optional)
Soy Sauce
Liquid Smoke


1. Rub the pork with liquid smoke & place in the crockpot. Put on high and cook for about 6 hours or until pork can be shredded easily.

2. After shredding the pork, place it in a big pan over medium-high heat, throw in cabbage and onions and also add a little bit of the pork juice from the crockpot and stirfry everything together.

3. While frying, sprinkle some soy sauce over everything to add some taste (however much you like, probably the more the better )

4. Place it back in crockpot to keep it warm & eat with hot white rice :)

My Little Artist

 Aundrea is almost two and I am still sort of having a hard time getting her to pronounce some words, but not much I can do, I don't wanna force her for I'm afraid she'll lose interest in trying to talk but she's progressing! I talk to her all the time and read to her as much as I can, but I've noticed her big interest in drawing and coloring. It's all she loves to do and it keeps her pretty occupied.

Pantry Raid!

 I'm so upset with the asian section here at the commissary, saddest asian section EVER. Ichiban noodles taste soo much better than the Top Ramen brand! We've got some curry cubes and a can of candy.

 Champorado and Arrozcaldo instant mixes my mom sent us but I don't really like to eat them cause homemade and fresh is the best! But champorado is basically chocolate rice soup, it is pretty good. Arrozcaldo is soup with chicken, rice, ginger, and garlic in it, reeeeally yummy comfort food especially on a cold day.

 A bunch of cereal and beans from WIC, that I never eat. Lol!

 More filipino stuff such as Crispy Fry for fried chicken, Mama Sita's sinigang mix, puto mix, also miso soup! yummmm

 Gotta have panko breadcrumbs and sake!

 Mongo beans and pancit bihon noodles!

Soy sauce is a must in our house!

Planning Ahead: Thanksgiving Menu @ The Ching's Residence

Since its almost Thanksgiving, I already had some ideas in mind for what I wanted to prepare for Thanksgiving dinner and at least I'll remember by then exactly what I wanted lol!

Entrees

Baked Cornish Game Hen

Roasted Turkey w/ Oyster Stuffing on the side

BBQ Ribs (maybe)

Hibachi bbq Chicken

Sides

Pancit

Lumpia

Chicken Kelaguen w/ Titiyas

Corn on the cob

Potato Salad

Veggie Chop Suey (maybe)

Baked Mayo Mussels

Poki

Desserts

Puto

Pumpkin Rolls

Bunelos Aga
Cheesecake

You Know I Love You, Don't You

Back Home & All Around The World

 I have friends that I really miss!

Bulldog Rant

 Meet our dog, Stussy. He is an American Bulldog and is about 7 months old and weighs about 50-60 pounds. He's a great looking dog, but the things he does really frustrate me. Since summer came in, we've been making him stay outside during the day and bringing him inside at night. With winter creeping in, we've been letting him chill inside the house but just in the kitchen with a gate up, I don't allow him in the living room because its all CARPETED and the last thing I need is having to pay for new carpet (We're only renting out this house!)

A few days ago, I walked into the kitchen I found out that Stussy chewed on the wood near the window and the corner of the wall!
I'm still pretty pissed off about it, I don't know what the fuck to do about this but have my husband find a way to repair it. Our dining table is also sitting in the kitchen as well and I'm so worried that soon he'll start to chew on it. I have been forced to make the decision of moving all of my daughter's toys to her room and putting our dining table in the living room, at least during the winter time. -_-

God, please just have someone buy our dog................ARGH!!

My "Better Than Breakfast at IHOP" Breakfast

 Garlic Bacon Fried Rice & Corned Beef

YUM!

Filipino Food of The Week: Turon (Banana Lumpia)

 Turon
I was craving for this a few days ago, my mom used to always make these for merienda (afternoon snack) when I was back home in Guam. 

Its easy to make, all you need is:
bananas
lumpia wrappers
brown sugar

cooking oil
water

1. Cut bananas in half, then slicing each half lengthwise.
2. Some people like to dip the banana in water and sugar before wrapping it but I didn't since bananas are sweet enough for me already so you can go ahead and wrap each banana with the lumpia wrapper.
3. Tap some water over each lumpia and sprinkle brown sugar over it.
4. Fry until golden brown.

Life as.... (copied & pasted post from my Tumblr)

                                           
Life as a mom at 21 is pretty challenging. Since my daughter was born, I had made a decision to be a stay-at-home mom until I feel I am ready to let Aundrea go into daycare or preschool. I want to be there to experience her "firsts moments." Its also really nice to have that special bonding time with your child. When Aundrea is in a good mood, I do try to teach her all the basic shapes, numbers, ABC's, and help her pronounce easy words. From time to time with my husband always working, things become overwhelming. I am pretty much responsible for most of the cleaning around the house, grocery shopping, a few errands, cooking, and caring for Aundrea. (sometimes feeding our dog, Stussy as well)
     
With a toddler that constantly likes to make a mess and color with crayons a lot, these cleaning supplies have became my bestfriends! Especially the magic eraser! My life has dramatically changed from drunken nights out at the clubs with friends to having family dinners with my husband and daughter and staying up late to clean after everyone.

Yeah, I know I'm home most of the time but I'm not always perfect. Sometimes I do have a few dishes in the sink and a basket of unfolded clothes lying around. I do put some chores off for I am a student as well working on my bachelor's degree. (I'm not that much of a bum ok! lol!!) I barely find time during the day to do some schoolwork so I rely on the times when my husband gets home from work and at night when Aundrea's fast asleep.
                       
I do not know exactly how I manage my time, but everything is working out well, everything just flows perfectly. :)
                                     
                                                   OHANA <3