Month

My husband and I attended a dinner a couple of nights ago with friends. It was hosted by Cherry and her husband; the two people who love throwing dinners and parties here and there. They just got married last year and they are still enjoying the couple life. I heard they’re planning to have children next year so they’re making sure they’re enjoying life with friends while they’re still free from the difficult but fulfilling responsibilities of a parent. Cherry loved to serve food buffet style. She said in that way, people will truly get to eat what they wanted to eat.

During the party, while my husband was talking to some of her buddies, I was with Cherry and the girls in the kitchen. We were helping her a bit with the empty serving dishes. That’s when I noticed the meat resting at one of the serving trays. She told us it was veal. Since I haven’t tried veal before, I snatched a small piece and popped it into my mouth. I was so surprised by the taste! Veal was so flavorful and the meat was so moist and juicy and just so perfect! I had to ask her for the recipe to that and I am posting a copy of this on the next page. Enjoy all this veal-y goodness!

Photo and recipe courtesy of Homemade Mommy.

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Quick Tip: Serve with rice and vegetables, if you like.

Pot roast is a favorite at our family get-togethers. Every time there is a reunion, one member of the family is assigned to cook his or her own version of pot roast. When it comes to this, we, the younger generation (my cousins, my brother, and I) usually leave the floor to the older generation (my mom and my aunts, most of the time). We might have an advantage when it comes to pasta dishes, but when it comes to old-fashioned recipes, they are the experts.

Last time, it was Aunt Lyn’s turn to cook pot roast. Her pot roast is similar to Grandma’s except there’s a bit of a twist. Hers is the spicy type. She has a secret bottle spice that she bring sto every reunion and she always puts them in every dish that she prepares. The good thing about her spice though is it’s not that hot. It’s actually more flavorful that it brings out the savory taste of whichever meal she’s preparing. Her pot roast was successful. Everyone in the family loved it, including the kids whom we fed just little pieces because of the spiciness. However, even Aunt Lyn keeps saying that Grandma’s pot roast is still the best. And I agree.

Photo and recipe courtesy of Recipe Lion.

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Quick Tip: You can serve this with red wine, if you like.

Anna, one of my kids’ favorite maternal aunts, visited last time while she was in the city. She spent the night with us even though she was staying in a hotel just because I wanted a night of catching up with her while the twins wouldn’t want to let her go. Anna couldn’t say no to the twins. I know because I couldn’t say no to the two of them either. Those identical dimpled grins are something you couldn’t shake your head to. You will just always nod. It’s easier for us though because we’re their parents. But the others couldn’t say no to the charm of those grins.

Anna asked to cook for us and we allowed her to. I accompanied her to the kitchen while the boys and their papa are playing in the living room. I learned that Anna was truly a bit busy lately because of projects here and there. They’re bringing her to different parts of the US just to seal deals. I kind of missed her because she’s one of my younger cousins whom I am close to. And I am glad whenever we have a chance such as that one. That night, we enjoyed a hearty lamb stew that she made along with crusty bread and salad. The lamb stew was so good that I had another bowl after my first. We also had ice cream for dessert just because we wanted to. It was truly an enjoyable evening. A copy of the lamb stew recipe can be found after this page. I hope you will love it!   

Photo and recipe courtesy of Food.com.

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Quick Tip: The original recipe here called for rutabagas, but you can change it to potatoes and add herbs.

My twin boys are not really that picky. While it’s true that they don’t finish all of the vegetables on their plate, they eat them. They actually enjoy eating them. They just get easily “tired” of eating the same thing, but that also applies to any meat they eat. However, I found out that my sons will eat anything that has a “perfectly balanced” taste. What I mean by perfectly balanced is that, there are a couple of extreme flavors going on in the dish, but they blend so well together that they taste absolutely divine. A good example is this apricot pork loin recipe.

Pork is already naturally flavorful. Add the taste of the apricot and the savory flavor of pork will be touched by the sweet flavor of apricots. The sweetness balances the too rich flavor of the pork, making it taste just right. The freshness brought by the apricot is the kick that everyone will truly enjoy in such a kind of recipe. My sons’ plates were empty right after dinner. And that rarely happens! I was too happy I fed them with two cookies each instead of one for their dessert. It’s good to reward them once in a while.

Photo and recipe courtesy of Recipe Lion.

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Quick Tip: You can use any type of preserves if you like.

Who loves making breakfast casseroles? I do! I love making them because other than the fact that they save me sometime most especially when I have to deal with two adorable grumpy kids in the morning and one playful husband who teases them. I swear I need to stop him from doing that. He just loves teasing Chiyo and Calvin in the morning when they actually got the morning grumpiness from him. So anyway, this little family of four loves eating breakfast casseroles just because you can put anything in the casserole that you know your family will love so it will surely be a hit!

My cinnamon roll casserole recipe came from my own mom. When I was a kid, she told me I love cinnamon so much I almost sold our house just to get a box of it. I didn’t want to ask how that happened because I am sure it will embarrass me, but you get the drift. Because of my cinnamon addiction, my mom made a recipe out of grandmother’s cinnamon roll recipe. My husband loves having these in the morning because of the sugar rush. It’s also good with his morning coffee and you can actually see how coffee and sugar can brighten up his day. My sons love these too. I just always make sure they don’t really stuff themselves too much because it’s sweet. A copy of the recipe for this sweet breakfast casserole can be found on the next page!

Photo and recipe courtesy of Ann’s Entitled Life and The Great Groceries Cart.

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Quick Tip: If you have a small slow cooker and want to make half a recipe for 2-3 people, it might work. Just watch the cooking times.

I almost lost a friendship a couple of weeks ago because I forgot that I was supposed to attend a potluck. Okay, so maybe “losing a friendship” is something a bit grave. But Susan wouldn’t have talked to me a for a week if I wasn’t able to attend her potluck. I promised pasta, but I was too busy the whole week I wasn’t able to think of the perfect pasta to bring.

I knew I had to bring something that everyone would love. That’s the point in potlucks. You have to take into consideration everyone who’s coming, if not all. At least most of them should at least like what you’re going to bring or else yours will be the only dish not empty by the end of the day.

I found this no-fuss pork chop casserole recipe when I was desperately searching for the meal that’s easy to prepare and easy to bring. This is truly no fuss! I even had time to help my sons with their assignments before the baby sitter arrived to take over. I didn’t like leaving my sons, but there are times I just can’t say no to friends. I rarely see them too, so when they invite me for dinners, I usually come. I will be sharing this pork chop recipe with you in the next page so you can see for yourself how easy this delicious casserole is!

Photo courtesy of Pinterest. Recipe courtesy of Recipe Lion.

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Quick Tip: Serve these pork chops over rice and the soup broth absorbs into the rice and chops as they bake.

We are very close with our families. My husband and I both grew up in families who value blood ties more than anything in the world. He became a bit independent earlier than me though because he’s been working hard since his teenage years while my parents wanted me and my brother to concentrate on our high school studies so I started with part-time jobs while I was in college. We met in college and we started out as friends, part of the same caboodle. When we were just friends, I already met his Aunt Luna. She’s his coolest aunt. Cool in a way because she’s so liberated and she always tried so hard to understand the younger generation.

Now that we’re married, Aunt Luna is a constant visitor in our house. Whenever she visits, she always cooks for us. She also makes sure that she always teaches me a new recipe so that I can add it to my list of recipes that I cook for my family. One of the things she recently taught me was this crockpot chicken recipe. It’s easy to make and it’s very tasty too. It has cream on it, chicken, and rice. It’s a complete meal in one pot! When she cooked it for us, my sons and my husband loved it. So I added this recipe to my everyday choices. You can find a list of the ingredients and instructions on the next page. Enjoy this recipe!

Photo and recipe courtesy of Recipes That Crock and Faithful Provisions.

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Quick Tip: You can serve this with salad on the side and your favorite wine.