Macaroni Aioli with Kielbasa

I came home surprisingly early today. I even had time to whip up a quick pasta dish for myself with whatever I could find in my pantry. The basil in my garden feels a little bit neglected since I haven't used it in a while so I added it here. Tomatoes and basil, marriage made in heaven, right?

Last Minute Macaroni Aioli Pasta with Kielbasa Sausage
Good for one



You will need
1 small handful of dried macaroni (or any pasta you like), cooked shy of al dente (about 6 to 7 minutes)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 to 2 pinches of anchovies in oil
2 Tomatoes, diced
Kilebasa, julliened
Handful of basil, sliced into ribbons

1. While pasta is cooking, saute the Kielbasa in olive oil until slightly curled. Reduce heat and add the garlic, anchovies and tomatoes. Do not brown the garlic.
2. Add the cooked macaroni and a little bit of the pasta water.
3. Turn off the heat and add the basil.

This dish was surprisingly good. As I was developing this recipe in my mind on my way home, I wasn't sure how the flavors will compliment each other (I was supposed to add bell peppers but I was fresh out). I think I'll make this again. You can certainly add cheese here but it doesn't really need it. The anchovies and sausages provide just the right amount of saltiness and the tomatoes balance the aioli quite nicely.

Typical breakfast

With hubby's new "diet" requirements, I find myself eating the same things as well. Today, I had instant oatmeal and muesli for breakfast.



Hmmm....

Tocino, longganisa and daing na bangus win by a mile. If only they didn't go straight to my waist... (insert wishful thinking here)

Chicken Barbecue Sticks

I'm trying my best not to disrupt hubby's food "traditions". I'm trying the swapping thing to help both of us be healthier.

Hubby's nutritionist told me to limit hubby's intake of fried foods, fatty foods and have more fiber in hubby's diet. Vegetables and fruits should always be present in all meals. Use olive oil instead of regular oil. Seems simple enough but, (there's big BUT) if you're like us who love pork, sweets and anything sinful, it's a major change. We still like to eat foods that we love.

We love barbecue. Since we can only have pork once a week, no skin on the chicken, I just purchased some raw chicken barbecue sticks from the supermarket, already cut and threaded. I used a classic Filipino barbecue marinade and just made a bit healthier by using chicken breast meat. I hardly measure anything when cooking savory foods. The measurements for the marinade are just an approximation.

Chicken Barbecue Sticks



12 sticks of raw chicken barbecue, marinated in:
1/4 cup Soy sauce
1/5 cup Calamansi juice
5 cloves (or more) of chopped garlic
Pepper
1/4 cup banana catsup
Optional: 7 up

Grill on hot coals until done.

We had some blanched squash and green peas with it. It was surprisingly good. Who would have thought?

Strawberry and Raspberry Granola Crisps

I saw some frozen strawberries and raspberries at the supermarket last weekend. Hubby asked me when I will cook again (which is dagger straight to my heart). He misses my cooking. Awww.

I decided to use the frozen strawberries and raspberries that we bought in the supermarket. I'm trying to get hubby's weight down by swapping things so that he can still enjoy the usual things that I make but with a healthier twist. I made this crisp recipe using as little as sugar and butter as possible without sacrificing taste. I also added granola for a crunchy twist. Here's my recipe (I didn't measure anything):

Strawberry and Raspberry Crisps
Serves 4



1 to 1 and 1/2 cups of frozen strawberries, thawed
1/2 cup frozen raspberries, thawed
1 Tablespoon of sugar for sprinkling
1/4 cup flour
Pinch of salt
1 Teaspoon sugar
1 Tablespoon of butter
Pinch of salt
Handful of granola

Procedure
1. Preheat oven.
2. Sprinkle the berries with sugar. Let stand.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, butter, salt and sugar until it resenbles bread crumbs. Add the granola and mix well.
4. Place the berries in ramekins, top with the granola mixture.
5. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until the topping turns brown and berries are bubbling.

Hubby prefers his version with a scoop of frozen yoghurt on top :-)

Hubby's healthy iced mint tea

Ok, so here we are post op, doing my best to provide healthy meals for hubby at home. Hubby refuses to bring a packed lunch to work and deemed it "uncool" to bring his own food. So, the loving wife that I am, I always ask him what he's been eating. He answers mostly Subway grilled chicken or turkey sandwiches on whole wheat bread (I'm hoping he's telling the truth, he he he). Imagine my horror when he told me that he usually have bottomless iced tea with his sandwiches. Whaaaat?!! Those sugary drinks are the main cause of the spare tire in the first place.

As a compromise, I make him bring Mint Iced Tea to work. Hubby's Mint Iced Tea uses freshly brewed mint tea, fresh calamansi juice and honey instead of sugar.

Honey is a healthier alternative to sugar and since hubby's unwilling to give up his beverages, this is a healthier alternative. He seems to like it.

I also make him bring fruit to work so that he can munch on them instead of chips.

I have no photo of hubby's iced tea but do have one with him in a dress :-)

Healthy Spring Roll

Hubby was ordered by his doctors (yes, plural) to lose the spare tire hanging around his mid-section for the past ten years or so. I get part of the blame for contributing to that. Doctors' orders, low fat high fiber diet. That means so more fried stuff, less pork and chicharon should be obliterated from our grocery list (dang!).

I think that we've made some progress already with hubby's eating habits. We've lessened our pork intake by 85% (yes, I used a calculator to compute that). Pork will be consumed only once a week, reserved for family lunches at LP. Fortunately, hubby's doing his best to adhere to my "plan".

Hubby likes fresh spring rolls. This is my simple, no fuss version:



Ingredients:
Rice paper
Cucumber, julienned
Crab sticks
Carrots, jullienned
Bunch of cilantro

1. Soak the rice paper in warm water, when soft, remove from water and lie flat in a kitchen towel.
2. Add the filling to rice paper and wrap like an envelope. Roll. Slice diagonally in half.

I did not make any dipping sauce with this because hubby prefers spring rolls without it. A peanut dipping sauce will be a great accompaniment.

The spring rolls turned out great. The little buggers are a little tricky to roll at first but I think they turned out fine, after I've sliced them in half to expose the colorful filling. The spring rolls just need a bit of salt after you've had your fifth. Other than that, they were huge hit with hubby.

Some mint leaves inside the spring roll will also provide an extra zing to this dish.

Happy

I am so happy that the super typhoon "Pepeng" has veered off from the Philippines. It is a wonderful rainy day today!