[Maude's Quarantine Kitchen] Filipino-style Spaghetti

I said in my 2020 comeback post that I will try to write about what keeps me busy during the #circuitbreaker in Singapore. And since most of my free time is spent in the kitchen these days, the first dish that I wanted to share with you is my Filipino-style Spaghetti. It's one of hubby's favorites so I know it's quite shareable :) Thinking about it now, I realized that this is my original recipe pala. Maybe my one and only original recipe, meaning I didn't tweak right after googling. Haha! So I am very happy to put it here.

Imma write it down along with the pictures ha, I'm not yet in the vlogging level eh! LOL

First, prep the ingredients:

• 1 large onion, diced
• about 6 cloves garlic (or more, there are no hard rules here! :)), minced.
• 6-8pcs Purefoods TJ hotdog (because it's not Pinoy style spaghetti if your hotdogs aren't red! haha), sliced diagonally
• 600g ground beef (looking at the pics now, bakit parang pork to?! hahaha maybe it's not available that time. So yeah, use beef as much as possible because it tastes so much better. ok, enough blabber >_<)
• 500g pasta of choice. I often use vermicelli but since the COVID19 hoarding episodes here, I've never chanced upon it in the grocery
• Del Monte Filipino Style spaghetti sauce (the largest pack, i wasn't able to check the size, sorry!)
• 2 slices of processed cheese
• 2 tbsp of condensed milk
• Olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• more grated cheese for toppings

Sooo, first step, cook the pasta according to package instructions. Aim for al dente, or better not cook pasta at all. Wow ah. haha! Make sure to add salt in the water. And as I learned over the years, there's no use putting oil while boiling it, just drizzle it with olive oil after draining so it won't stick. But you all know that already, right?

Then, saute the garlic until light brown and add in the onion till it's translucent.

Ground meat, in (channeling Gordon Ramsay!). Cook till it's brown.

Add a little bit of water (maybe 1/4 cup), this will help to soften the meat.

Add in the hotdogs, stir and cover.

Once the water is gone and you can see the meat cooked through, add the spaghetti sauce. Stir it well.

Season with salt and ground black pepper then wait for it to boil. Stir constantly so it won't stick.

Add the cheese and the condensed milk. Oh, I remembered I got this little secret of putting condensed milk from my Tita A some 20 years back! Thanks, Ta! Mix and simmer for 5 more minutes.

Get a serving of pasta and top with the sauce and voila, it's done! Hey, don't forget some grated cheese too!

Serve with a smile to the husband who always requests for it :D

I also made Baby Back Ribs that day, but that's for another post ;-)

Note: This sauce recipe is actually good for more than 500g of pasta. It's just that we are only 2 people here and we like our spaghetti saucy, so 500g it is.

Let me know if you are able to give this a try, ok? :)

Ciao!

Blogging in the Time of COVID-19

Hello there, dearies! How are you all doing?

Well, it's been two and a half years since my last post! So much has happened since then but I'm almost always too busy with life hence the writing hiatus. Now with Corona Virus Disease 2019 taking over the world (and our normal lives), suddenly we all have too much time in our hands. And so I thought of resurrecting this old blog in the hopes of documenting what I got myself busy with in the confines of our home. It's actually mostly cooking and giving in to every craving, watching my weight increase by the day but eating just the same, some try-hard doodling in my planner (which by the way, finally got to be used after xx years), silly and sometimes heart-breaking conversations with my 6-year old daughter (yes, time flies!) and in between those, random musings and daydreaming about life in the time of COVID-19.

The past 2 months have been very challenging for myself and my husband not only because we are stuck inside the house but also because since end of February, we have been away from our darling Madison. As the numbers rose in Singapore, we have decided to leave her with my mom in the Philippines after our vacation because we felt at that time that our family home is a tad more safe for her. In case things get worse (and boy, did it get worse here!), at least she is not exposed to health hazards and she has her aunties (aka her most favorite people in the world) to keep her entertained while in quarantine mode. But then, the hard part is that we are missing her all the time! Our only consolation is that (1) there's Facetime to keep us up to date on what's going on with Maddie; and (2) we have each other to battle the loneliness in a far away land. 

So to keep looking at the brighter side, I wanted to take this moment to write about all the things I am grateful for despite the virus situation. Here goes:

1. I, my husband, Madison and our families in PH are all safe and healthy. While more than three million people have been infected around the globe, we and our loved ones are COVID-free. So for that alone, thanks be to God!

One of our Facetime sessions with our unica hija.

2. We are able to keep our jobs despite the looming recession and mass layoffs. I work in a French bank as a Business Analyst while J is a Purchasing Manager for a cleaning service company so we've been working from home since Singapore started its circuit breaker measures (that's already a whole month!) Fortunately the internet here is super fast and reliable hence "telecommuting" as they call it has been so far, so good! We received our month-end pay as usual and we don't have to worry about bills and debts piling up. We are lucky, indeed!

Hubby set up work desks in our living room complete with 23-inch monitors,
swivel chairs and even a laser printer! It's a legit home office, I tell you! :)

3. We have well-stocked fridge and pantry. Some people worry about their next meal but us, we only need to think about which craving to satisfy first! I have this long list of what to cook and bake and even though I have to pretend I'm on a Tetris game just to make our food supplies fit in the freezer, I acknowledge what a blessing it is to have a full stock!

(L) One of our kitchen cabinets finally organized according to food groups -- canned goods, spices, baking ingredients, pasta and sauces, etc. (R)The contents of our snack drawer in the bedroom! ;)

4. We have a roof over our head. We and our loved ones back in PH are in the comfort of our homes throughout this difficult period. We have comfortable beds, a/c rooms, a spacious living area and a well-equipped kitchen. And even though our real family is miles away, Jhay and I are together and we are at least able to keep each other sane until everything goes back to normal :)

Who said you cannot party while staying in?

Yesterday, we celebrated Labor Day via a BBQ sesh with our 2 fun-loving housemates.

5. We have friends and the power of technology to seal the distance. Yes we are 3,000 miles from home but we have iMessage, FB messenger, Viber, WhatsApp (name it, we have it!) to make us feel we are still close-at-heart. One day (and I'm claiming, it's soon), we will all be together in our favorite restos or each other's homes and laugh and eat and drink wine and talk about everything under the sun, but for now, our exchanging of foodie pics will have to suffice :)

I miss you, ladies! This is obviously an old photo (look, Maddie's

with me there!) because we don't get to take a decent one these days!

6. I am working on a new hobby. I still have a long, long way to go to master modern calligraphy, but this is a good start. And oh, a valid reason to hoard multi-colored pens! LOL!

7. In this trying and uncertain year that is 2020, one thing remains: our faith in a Divine Power who will make everything better in His own time. Our faith does not falter, in fact it has grown ever so strong as we face this pandemic. We may not be able to physically partake in church service every Sunday but we are thankful that we still have online Mass streaming to give thanks to God and continue praying for healing and providence and good health and inner peace.

There you have it, folks – my short Gratitude List. I hope you are all safe and in perfect health as well, and if you also have some spare minutes, you may want to come up with your own list! Let's all count our blessings, shall we? =)

Now please excuse me while I go prep our dinner. Will post my kitchen adventures next. Ciao!

Our Humble Home (Part 2) - The House Blessing

As promised, sharing with you bits and pieces of the blessing of our humble abode...

Because we only get to stay in the Philippines quite longer during the holiday season, we originally planned to do it on New Year's Day to usher in 2017 feeling more blessed than ever. But then we had urgent family matters to attend to so we decided to delay it to January 8th—just the perfect cap to our  2-week Christmas vacation. It turned out better too because we had more time to prepare and unlike New Year's, most of our invitees didn't have plans for the day so indeed, the house was warmth with the love of family and friends.

Team Blue! It was actually a last minute idea to be color-coordinated

and I was so happy how it looked in photos ^^,

While planning, the only food I specifically asked my husband for was, you guessed it, LECHOOOOON!!! Here in Singapore, half a kilo costs 20 bucks -- that's close to 750 pesos for freakin' 500 grams! We still buy when we can't resist the craving but we always end up wanting more. Finally, we had a reason to buy a whole pig. Yay! We got it from a local Marikina store called L. Silva's and I tell you, it's so good! The meat is tender and succulent and skin crispy and just the right amount of salt. Oh my, I am salivating right now T_T

Let me show you our spread...

All the food was store-bought except for Molo soup which was not in the photo because it's best eaten right off the casserole. Hihi. Pinoy food is just love. Another local favorite from Marikina, at the bottom right, is the Rocha's Puto-kutsinta. Kakanin-lovers (like me!) can easily finish a box in one seating. If you happen to visit the East, do give it a try! :)

Now some photos with our dear guests:

With my maternal grandma, uncle and godson (who is now taller than me at 12yo).

Our favorite aunt from Jhay's side of the famiy, Tita Meg, sis-in-law, and Maddie's cousins TJ and Leanne! :)

With tito, tita and cousins from Mom's side.

I also asked my sisters to invite their best friends over :)

Funny because when we set the appointment at our parish, the priest told us that we should be all set by 11am because he will be there sharp but on the actual day, it was almost 12nn already and he hasn't arrived yet. Jhay had to drive back to the church to check on him and turned out he knew he has a blessing set but when he asked his secretary, the latter lost the form that we filled out! Nastress kami ng slight! Good thing he's also free at 1pm and he asked us to have lunch first and we'll do the ceremony later.

So we just blessed the food and eat we did!!! :D

My uncles butchering the lechon and devouring some of its skin :)

The house isn't that big so we had to set up some tables and chairs outside. In the photo are some of our cousins and family friends.

The kids with the Mommas.

And the teenagers.

It's a full house so hubby and I just sat on the stairs. Buti nga may naka-alala mag-picture sa amin ^^, Usually when we have events, since we are both too busy minding the guest and the activities, we realize that we didn't have a decent photo together only when it's all over.

Jhay's former officemates.

Finally, at just about 1 pm, the priest arrived and the blessing began. It was a quick ceremony but I liked his message of letting Jesus in to our home.

Cute stolen shot of Maddie :)
(Please don't mind my face. Haha.)

The blessing of our bedroom and small altar. The Sacred Heart image on our bed was a housewarming gift from Tita Meg.

Another boo-boo. We already thanked the priest and walked him to his car when one of our relatives reminded us that we have not had the coins blessed yet. Silly! We had to ask him to go back in to do the blessing. Buti nalang he's also very nice :)

After that, we had the paagaw portion already, for prosperity they say. Of course Maddie enjoyed throwing out some coins, too! 

More photos from that day...

Albeit late, my cousins from dad's side were able to make it. They traveled all the way from Cavite, so I am very grateful that they came.

The teens entertaining themselves with some old school charade-type games. I love the bottom photo—they sure were having a lot of fun. Good vibes for the house ;-)

(Top) That's Ate Pants, my best cousin in the whoooole world :) We grew up together playing house and those pretend stoves were from our playsets when we were little. Mom was able to preserve them. Amazing din minsan ang pagka-emo ng nanay ko eh. (Bottom) Nakakatuwa to see our kids playing this time around. We are full-fledged adults indeed!

Albeit veeeerrrry late, my girlfriends made it too! :)

Photo ops in our bedroom. Hihi.

Around sunset, we took a stroll to the clubhouse and saw my sister and her 2 BFFs playing in the subdivision's playground.

And this, friends, is how our community looks like. Ang nice din pala sa pictures kahit walang gate yung houses eh. Haha!

That pretty much sums up our small housewarming event. Till my next (overdue) kwento! A still have a lot, I swear! :D

Our Humble Home (Part 1)

We are two and a half months away from the end of 2017 so let me tell you another late kwento from earlier this year. Remember when I mentioned in this post that we passed on an anniversary getaway because we were saving up for an investment? Well, I am very happy to share with you that we finally got it... OUR VERY OWN HOUSE!!!

Adulting goal #1: a 2-storey 3-bedroom house. Check! :)

It was turned over to us late last year and we've been very happy since. In fact too happy we've been coming home every month! Crazy! But seriously, this is something that I want for my family even before Dad's passing. In fact the day he fell into coma, we were supposed to go house viewing. That's why it's a dream that is so close to my heart. And then Jhay and I had Maddie. The desire to have a house that is truly ours grew stronger than ever. You see, we used to have a very small house and there was one time I heard Maddie saying "Excuse me, fan" (she meant the electric fan—because she cannot pass through). Yes, it was that small. It was the last straw for me. Since then we said no to every seat sale, every mindless shopping trip, every fancy dinner. We thought we'd rather save up to give Maddie a better home.

And then finally it happened. And boy, was it surreal. When we moved in, J and I just couldn't help but look at each other and smile and tell ourselves, "We made it, Honey." I will never forget the first night my entire family slept there. Imagine we only had 2 sofas, an Ikea study table, 1 A/C and some mattresses (the bed frames weren't even there yet), but when I saw how happy the kids were, I swear I really had to stop and look up to hold back the tears. You know, when you get something you've worked so hard for, it gives you a different kind of high. It's actually addictive. Suddenly you want to work harder to tick off all the other things in your bucket list. Suddenly you want the days to go faster so that you could get your next paycheck and buy that appliance or piece of furniture. Suddenly, OTs are okay because it's gonna help you get the goddamn customized closet built to complete your Pinterest-worthy room. Oh God, how do I start thanking You?

Me, my sisters and our Lola dear, on our first night :)

Now done with being all emotional and on to the fun part! House tour!!!

First off: the living and dining area

This part of the house is very basic. I decided to put in more effort on the design later because I have to stick to a budget. But I'm okay as long as the I have a pretty nice TV, comfy sofas to sit the entire family and a decent dining table. All from SM Home and SM Appliance Center. My pangarap furniture and mirror wall on the dining area can wait :)

Oh, did you notice our dining lights? I first saw such on Anne Curtis' house feature in Real Living and I got smitten. Then I saw that Jenni Epperson has them too! Unfortunately, I don't know where to get the exact Tom Ford pieces (and whether I can afford it.. haha!) so I got mine from Lazada. Actually, I got a bit disappointed when it was delivered because it's a lot smaller than the advertised photos but thankfully when the three of them were hung, it still worked! Oh boy, copper is just love! ❤️❤️❤️

Now let me show you the wet and dry kitchen that honestly still need a lot of work. 

I got the wet kitchen made by a neighborhood karpintero and for me, it's just okay—not perfect, but not too bad either. I wanted more hanging storage but figured it's gonna make the room smaller (and hotter) than it already is. Maybe I will just put some ledges so I can keep an array of spices (pangarap ko din yun!) and other decorative stuff there. I must visit Ikea soon.

The dry kitchen is already built when the unit was turned over, so I decided not to touch it—just not yet. We only bought the purple fridge (which I loooove!) and all the small electronics. It's still missing my KitchenAid but that has to wait till I'm settling in the Philippines for good.

Also, when I have a budget na, I want to add backsplash to the walls. It's quite plain and boring now. I want to squeeze in a mini bar there somewhere too, but this time I plan to consult professionals so I can make better use of the space. Do you know a contractor who is good but not too expensive? Referral pls?

Now, let's go up, shall we?

As I said, the house has 3 bedrooms upstairs. I converted the smaller of the common rooms into Maddie's playroom.

I have always wanted a pretty pink room full of toys, so this is another dream come true. For a few months, this was my baby girl's happy place but later, she started complaining, "My playroom has no aircon!" So needless to say, I have another addition to the long list of items to save up for. Kaloka na ang mga bagets ngayon!

This naman is the other side of the room...

So cute the wall decal, right? It's actually a growth chart, pero awa ng Diyos Maddie is now turning 4 years old and I still haven't marked her height. I got it from the US along with my Corelle plates and T-fal cookware and asked my friend to pack a Balikbayan box for me. So much cheaper there, I tell you!

The other room naman is what Maddie calls Aunties' Room.

Since it's also not too big, I opted for a double-sized bunk with pull out. It's perfect for my mom and 5 sisters. In the morning there's more space because they can put away the pull-out bed. I had it customized because the furniture stores only had double-single bunks. It's a bit costly due to the size and also because it's hardwood but for me since it's gonna last for some 10-15 years, it's not bad narin. My only problem with this room is I cannot fit in enough clothes storage. It has space only for a 3-door wardrobe, and it's barely enough for 6 ladies.

Lastly, the Master Bedroom. 

Because idol ko si Mommy Fleur, I also chose a gray accent wall. But i guess my shade of gray is quite light it's not noticeable in photos. It's still a long way to go to a Pinterest-worthy room. I didn't go all out with the furnishings too because we hardly stay there. Again, I'll put in more effort when we're coming home for good. But wait, can I just tell you how much I adore our bed? This is the one thing that we really splurged on because we all deserve a peaceful, comfortable sleep after a hard day's work. As in even when we're in Singapore, we look forward to our vacations because we miss our bed. Haha! The tufted headboard is a must for me, and the drawers are nice-to-have but because it's custom-made, I got to have them both! I really opted for hardwood because we are both on the heavy side and Maddie sleeps with us too. Our Slumberland mattress we got at 50% off at SM with 2 pillows free so it's sulit. The night stands are free as well with the 2 beds so the price is not bad at all.

Our room also has provision for a huge closet but because I want to maximize the space again and I have too many specifications, the best option is to have it customized. If only we have Ikea in PH, no? I started asking for quotation but my goodness, 60k minimum! Marami-raming weekend work pa ang kailangan ko! :P

This pala is the master bathroom. Actually all 3 T&B look the same. I just upgraded the shower head—it used to be the very old school shower.

I forgot, we also have this small space upstairs that I want to convert into a study area since we still have 4 students in the family.

I’m just looking for an L-shaped desk to accommodate two computers. I told you, I have sooooo many things in my to-buy list I sometimes just want to try my luck in the lottery so I can buy them all at once (as of this writing somebody won 8 freaking million SGD!).

Okay, I think I have shown you almost all the corners of the house (except for the small room downstairs which I don’t have a decent picture of). Long, long way to go to achieve my dream house but we’ll get there. As they say, nothing worth having ever comes easy. Baby steps lang, mga beshie! Hihi.

I wanted to share with you the house blessing too, but I'll save it for part 2. Stay tuned! :D