What To Do With Leftover Beef Steak?

On my previous post (Our Anniversary Celebration At Home), you saw that we have some good slabs of beef for our dinner. And yes, with all the side dishes, the cake, we weren't able to finish all the meat. But it would be a waste to throw them away since you can never reheat it as good as the first time you cooked it. The came the idea of making something out of it.



After our anniversary day, we planned of going out of town and celebrate outside as well. Then we need to pack some food so we do not need to find stores to buy stuffs.

Happily, we have some leftover cream cheese from the cake that we made, we also have wraps from the burrito that we ate the other night. It was perfect! Everything we need was there from the wrap to the filling.



I tried to cut the steak as thin as possible so it will be easier to have them in the wrap. Thankfully, my MIL owns a very sharp Japanese knife, made the job easier.



On the wrapper, spread a good amount of cream cheese, squeeze some garlic mayonnaise (you can use plain), place the beef strips, top it with some roasted red peppers and sprinkle with nice green salad (arugula, lettuce, cucumber, or whatever green vegetable you have).



Roll them tightly and cut them into pinwheels or to your desired size (if you don't want to cut it, it's okay too!). I remembered making it with tuna when one of our friends had their farewell party, it was actually G's idea. He loves pinwheels, easy to make, not messy and convenient to have.



So if you are going to make one tonight, or on the weekend, here are the ingredients to recap:
- tortilla
- leftover steak
- cream cheese
- mayonnaise
- roasted red pepper
- salad (your choice of greens)

A friend of mine made it with salmon slices and it is a nice lunch for a small trip to the zoo. I hope you can try to make one too!

Our Wedding Anniversary Celebration At Home (During Lockdown)

Every anniversary deserves a celebration. Last year, we stayed at home in the morning, played some video games together then in the evening, we visited a club house and had an unlimited buffet for dinner.

This year, there is no way that we can go out to a restaurant due to the pandemic. They only sell to-go food and most of them were snacks and fries. To make it memorable, we went out of town to visit the nearest Asian grocery store. There we ate Chinese take out and bought ingredients for some dish in mind. We also walked around the city center and bought some good scented bath bombs, a pair of shoes and some fresh strawberries and raspberries. The night before, I've actually made a cake already. It is a gluten-free and lactose-free strawberry vanilla drip cake.



For our main course, we had good fresh slabs of beef steak. It was my very first time making one and I am a bit worried that I might overcook it. G saw online that you just need to cook the sides first until brown then the front in back for about 8 minutes, while flipping it to prevent it from burning. The thing is, the meat we bought was already seasoned so I thought I do not need to add anything else. I was wrong.



I did added some more butter to the oil, some crushed garlic and fresh thyme leaves. But I did not reseasoned them before serving. I could have been more palatable to the taste if I just did that. It's okay, I learned my lesson. For next time. :)



Finally, it was time to eat. G finished setting up the table at the back of the house and he did it very well. What do you think? I love how romantic it looked, of course with matching background music from a group that plays saxophone.



It was so memorable. We had our own meal at home, but still as glamorous as the one in a restaurant. There were also sides that were available in the fridge, just threw everything in and viola!

There we stayed until its so late that the ambiance became even more romantic. Our light was the candles on the side giving it a nice redish color (refer to the cake photo on top).

And that's it, we finished the day with an amazing night and awesome homemade food.

Here are the videos of how we celebrated our wedding anniversary last year. Enjoy!

Making Spring Extra Special with Vietnamese Spring Rolls

In the middle of the spring season is the best time to serve this fresh and light dish that I love from the land where I left my heart, Vietnam. There's still no way or even a chance to be able to visit that country again so I am recreating their traditional dishes. My husband is one of an avid lover or Viet food so I thought of making some for dinner.

Here's Gỏi cuốn or commonly called Vietnamese spring roll. One of the main ingredients of this dish is shrimp. But because I cannot have it due to my allergy to the crustacea group of shellfish. Sad right? I altered the recipe with fried pork belly in butter, seasoned with salt, pepper and hoisin sauce.



Back home, I only use the meatloaf in can, SPAM, because it is cheap and easy. Surimi, or imitation crab meat stick in another option.

The fresher the greens, the better. Here I am including fresh romaine lettuce (I like how subtle it taste), rice vermicelli (which I soaked in boiling water for 4 minutes, drained and rinsed in cold water), cilantro, basil, mint, cucumber, carrots, bell pepper and celery.



At first, my wrap was a little bit loose. But in the end, it feels like I've finally mastered rolling it. It takes time to firmly roll them but the end result is almost near to perfection (just like the authentic one).

It is so fresh and truly satisfying. With the Vietnamese fish sauce on the side, it feels like we flew back to Vietnam.

So if you are going to make one tonight, or at the weekend, here are the ingredients to recap:
- rice wrapper
- romaine lettuce (or any kind of lettuce that you want)
- cucumber
- carrot
- celery
- basil
- cilantro/coriander
- mint
- rice glass noodles or vermicelli
- shrimp / pork / chicken



For the dipping sauce, you have an option of the fish sauce or the peanut sauce. I am only used of having the fish sauce (Nước Chấm) because that's what they always have in Hanoi (the northern part of Vietnam). But in Ho Chi Min (Saigon), peanut sauce is commonly used. They both taste good so you can even have both.

Do you like this dish too? And have you made your own Vietnamese spring rolls?

We Always Love Our Sushi Nights

Who doesn't love sushi? My family in The Philippines and my in-laws in The Netherlands were all fond of sushis. I'm so happy about that! Why? I love making them. Once or twice a month, we have sushi nights.

It is now easier to get ingredients than before. That is where we live back home and even here in Europe. Well guess what? There are more available stuffs for sushi here than in our place in PH. Here in NL, I can easily buy smoked salmon (easy to cut and readily available in the supermarket), pickled ginger (we need to make one ourselves though it is not that difficult), and even miso soup (which I never found in our local grocery store).



Yes, it amazed me how things are so available at hand here. I really appreciate the small packages of ingredients if someone just feels like making some. Most of the people living in one roof vary from one to four. Just like this pack of nori sheet that contains five pieces. For a small family, it is better to have a choice of this than that of ten. With our situation of having four people at home, this pack is just perfect. We cannot eat more than five rolls of sushi. They even have a sushi kit that contains everything you need, from the sushi rice to the bamboo mat. (This is an organic review, not sponsored.)



I also love including some egg omelet rolls on our sushi nights. They're very easy to make. I just whisk some eggs, season with salt and pepper, and fry just like what they do in Japan or Korean (fry, roll, repeat). Sometimes I add bell peppers, tomato, onion, and other vegetables. It is called Gyeran Mari in Korean.



Here are my base ingredients:
For the Sushi Rice:
Japanese / short grain rice
White vinegar
sugar
pinch of salt

Cook rice. Place rice in a mixing bowl to cool. While still warm, add vinegar, sugar and salt.

Basic sushi filling:
Nori sheet
cucumber
smoked salmon/sushi-grade salmon
Avocado
Mango
Surimi / Imitation crab stick
Spam / Canned meatloaf

Sushi Dip:
Wasabi
Light soy sauce
Mayo
Pickled Ginger (optional)



And here's my plate of the sushi I made and picked. I'm now going to enjoy eating!

Products mentioned are from http://www.saitaku-food.com/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/WeAreSaitaku/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wearesaitaku/

Do you like sushi too? Do you make sushi at home?

1-Minute Chocolate Chip Cookie That Will Save You From Your Cravings Any Time!

Every girl has their own cravings. Most especially when it's that time of the month again when they are turning to be more emotional, vulnerable and frail. I have to admit it, I am one of those who want sweets from time to time. I love sugary food when I feel sad. And yes, that's exactly when my period will come.

Happily, there's just one thing I like to eat on these days. I'm easily satisfied with cookie dough ice cream (love that pint of Ben & Jerry's classic ice cream!) or a big piece of freshly baked chocolate chip cookie. But if these items are not available at hand, why not make one ourselves, right?



If you have a microwave at home, give thanks to your parents or the one who made it available for you. Your chocolate chip cookie craving is to be satisfied!



Here's what you need.

In a bowl, mix together;
1 tbsp melted butter
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp white sugar
1 egg yolk
little vanilla

Then add:
3 tbsp flour
pinch of baking powder
pinch of salt
2 tbsp chopped chocolate/chocolate chips
splash of milk

Mix everything in a bowl and microwave on high (1000W) for 60 seconds. You can also use dark chocolate or white if you like.

It's so easy that everyone can do it. Thanks to my husband who made it even though it was already late last night. Try it and let me know how it came out!

Easy Quarantine Drink: Fresh Strawberry Milk

We've made it to May! Wuhoo! I hope everyone's doing fine despite the pandemic that's happening around the globe. And since this is our second month on an intelligent lockdown (or RMO/Restricted Movement Order / ECQ/Enhanced Community Quarantine in your areas), there's nothing more to do but try a lot of things. Well for this post, it is not something that I just recently saw online but a regular drink that I normally have every time we go to Europe. Because strawberries are always very easy to find, and sometimes comes in a very good deal, there's always a bucket or two in the fridge. (Oh wait, have you heard the new trend, WHIPPED STRAWBERRY MILK? I just looked it up prior to this post.)



It is actually inspired by our dear daughter (a friend who we call and treat as a daughter cause why not? She's lovely! Haha) in The Philippines. She loves aesthetic and fancy drinks and I've seen her made some before. If I am not mistaken, it is a Korean drink (or maybe Japanese).



The IG trend #whippedstraberrymilk is made of strawberry Nesquik, heavy cream and milk. Well, I do not have pink nesquick at hand and I love being natural. All I used was fresh strawberries, a teaspoon of sugar and a splash of cold milk.

I chopped the strawberries into small pieces, set the half aside and mashed the other half. With the mashed part, I added sugar and put it in the microwave for 20 seconds. After it cooled off a bit, I poured it in a glass, added a splash of cold milk, and topped it with the remaining strawberries. That's it. Sugar isn't actually necessary, I mostly omit it but this time, I want it to be a little sweeter.



And there is your fresh and yummy strawberry milk, perfect at any time of the day.

Here's a short video of how I made it. Enjoy watching!