Grilled Edam Cheese and Honey Sandwich

I've been eating a ton of green vegetables lately that I wanted to taste something different, even if maybe they're not really healthy for me. Cheese, especially Cheddar and Cream Cheese are a no-no for people who have acid reflux disease or GERD. But I wanted cheese! So the next best thing is to have cheese with low fat and skim milk and that's Edam cheese. Here's how I did it:

Hotdog Potato Spinach Medley

There are days when I couldn't help myself and I eat the kinds of food that are a no-no for people with GERD like me (like chocolates,coffee, alcohol, anything with tomato, garlic and onions even in small amounts), thinking that I can get away with it. Well, sometimes, I can but when I do it for two or three consecutive meals, I end up not feeling so good afterwards. Tsk, tsk. 

On this particular day, I was running out of groceries and food I can eat. Actually I've been running out of groceries  for a week now (been doing 18-hour shifts at work coz I need the moolah to fund my summer escapades beginning next month... will be visiting Bacolod and Cebu again; will be living in Siargao for two weeks and learn how to surf in Cloud 9 as promised; have plans of diving in Anilao and surfing in Baler, plus of course my addiction to windsurfing. So you see, I really need a lot of funds. Hehehe.). Anyhoo, our fridge don't have much in it at the moment except for a few hotdogs, potatoes, a bottle of mustard, and some spinach. Good thing that my hubby, Peter, has a talent for concocting wonderful homemade dishes out of scrap. So this is what he did to come up with his yummy Hotdog Potato Spinach Medley :

Tofu Heaven - Healthy and Tasty

It was a chilly night and both our pantry and fridge were out of stock. No more eggs, no more veggies, no more fruits. All I have in there were two bottles of Vodka Ice and a bottle of Mudshake (from Halloween's... Actually, we still got 2 cases of San Mig Light and Vodka Ice in there, tsk, tsk)). If I were still my old self, I'd forego eating (or maybe I'd order several dishes from Jollibee) and just drink the Vodka Ice. Unforunately, I can no longer afford to be my old, unhealthy self. This GERD has completely changed my eating habits and has made me more conscious of the food I ingest.

Then I saw this square piece of package at the far end of the chiller. I completely forgot we bought tofu the last time we did the groceries.

What to do with it? I can't just grill it. I can't fry it. I can't put vinegar in it. The feeling of depression over food was slowly returning but I clawed my way back to my happy place and that's when it hit me.

Strawberry Salad with Chicken Bits

This has been my diet for the past week, well, since I got back from Baguio basically. I bought some lettuce and strawberries so I really have no choice but to eat them. The other day, I ordered some dishes from Chic-Boy, one of which was a whole roasted chicken, that I haven't finished yet so you can also see chicken bits in my strawberry salad.

Tofu Steak Fried in Honey and Rosemary withTuna & Tomato Sauce

I did this less than thirty minutes ago... It's so easy. The following are the ingredients you will need:

• a block of tofu
• ground pepper
• salt
• rosemary
• basil
• sage
• thyme
• tomatoes
• bell pepper
• onions
• garlic
• spaghetti sauce
• mushrooms
• ketchup
• can of tuna

Fried Chicken Liver in Butter and Honey + Tuna Adobo with Veggies

After a looong break, I'm back!


Should you wish to find out what have I been doing lately, just head over to SEXYNOMAD, my main personal blog.

Anyway, vacation is over, I'm back to doing 2-3 jobs at a time, which I love by the way, but I still want to make sure that I can find a window in my busy schedule to practice cooking (and food photography too!). For this week, I was able to cook twice --- first was yesterday when I just prepared an old potato dish I already blogged about. Then the second one was earlier this evening. I was craving for some Tuna Adobo and Chicken Liver and I thank the universe that I still have the ingredients inside my fridge. I need to do some groceries soon though so I can start experimenting with other recipes. Hopefully, I can prepare something from one of my cook books rather than just going by my gut feel just like what I said in my personal projects site, TheJenAdamsProject. ^_^



Anyway, here's what I cooked a while ago. Please take note that when I did this, I didn't measure my ingredients. I just went with my gut feel. Hihihi.



Fried Chicken Liver in Butter and Honey

I dried my chicken liver parts a bit using tissue paper. Then I dashed them with pepper and salt to taste. I set them aside for a moment.



I put my old sauce pan on the stove and turned up the heat. I placed a thin slice of butter and some honey on the pan. As they were melting, I put my chicken liver. I fried them until they were a bit burnt by the simmering butter and honey. I like it that way.

Once it was fried the way I liked it, I set it aside.

Peter's Holiday Dishes

My hubby, Peter, is currently on a long holiday break. He seldom cooks for me anymore due to his work schedule so now that he is at home with me, I let him take over our kitchen and in the process, I learned how he did some of his wonderful healthy dishes:

Grilled Tofu in Onion and Mushroom BBQ sauce

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/8 cup water
• 1/8 cup vinegar
• 1/8 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 clove garlic, minced fine
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 200g button mushrooms, sliced
• 2 packs of firm silken tofu, cut into cubes

Grilled Angus Rib Eye Steak with Sweetened Vegetables and Fried Baby Potatoes

My sister is currently staying with us. She has never tried any of my cooking so I wanted to impress her a bit. I prepared my favorites for her --- grilled rib eye steak, sweetened mixed vegetables and of course my fried baby potatoes.

The trick to making the perfect rib eye steak is to thaw the meat properly, wipe it with a clean cloth or tissue afterwards so that it will brown well, dash both sides of the meat with lots of pepper and salt and grill each side of the meat on a nice oiled hot grill pan for four minutes each. This amount of time would be enough to brown the surface, keep the meat tender while keeping the inside pink and medium rare.

Buttered Salmon Delight, Honeyed Veggies, White Wine and Almond Vanilla & Pistachio Ice Cream

This has got to be the best salmon I've ever tasted so far and I made it myself! I cooked it the way I grill rib eye steaks, only this time, each side must be fried in butter for 2 1/2 minutes, medium heat. This will ensure that the salmon turns pink and not brown.

What I did first was to thaw the two pieces of salmon we have. Once they're all thawed out, I wiped the fish using a clean cloth. This made it easier for the salmon to turn pink later on. I then sprinkled both sides with salt and pepper. Afterward, I put one in my pan with the melted butter. Once the first salmon was done, I did the same thing with the second one.

Fried Potatoes, Toasted Meatloaf, Scrambled Eggs, Fried Veggies in Honey and Fried Bread

Remember when I told you that I had a very big breakfast yesterday? Well, it was so big that I had leftover meatloaf, scrambled eggs and rice. I just reheated everything (toasted the meatloaf) and added TWO more dishes to the mix --- my own version of French fries... only it's not French. I so loooved my fried baby potatoes the other day that I made some again, only this time, I didn't toast them as much. I'm telling you, if you do this, you will never eat French fries in some fast food outlets ever again. The one I made is so much more healthy with none of that overused saturated fats that can cause cancer. It's even better than those German potatoes served in German beach resorts. I should know! I had some over the weekend and they tasted like paper. Mine are so much yummier!

I used my old little frying pan (the grill pan is so heavy and so high maintenance for me), poured canola oil and let it heat for a while. Then I placed my sliced baby potatoes one by one to make sure that they are spread out so they can brown evenly. Notice that I did not peel the skin. That will add texture as well as fiber to my diet. I then sprinkled a bit of salt and pepper. After about 3 minutes, I turned each one to the other side then waited 2 more minutes. I served them hot. Scrumptious!