As a newlywed, my cooking skills were close to non-existent. At our home in Bulacan, it was my mother who is the queen of the kitchen. I also think I eat so little then. No wonder I was way thinner back then.
Now that being a homemaker is my full-time career, I have no choice but to plan meals and cook. We are raising a toddler whose appetite seems to grow by the day.
I can cook. Just give me a recipe and I would do it. We lived on sandwiches and salad back in Cebu. But that can't happen now as I have to plan my menu around our little boy, too. Our meals need to be kid-friendly.
I plan our menus but I don't have several meals plan to rotate. I have favorite dishes and I discover new ones from browsing blogs and Pinterest.
Our dishes for the week should be based on these categories:
- Beef
- Fish/Seafood
- Pork
- Poultry
- Pasta
- Soup
- Sandwich
I try my best to incorporate and "conceal" as much vegetables into a dish. I also like using the slow cooker so one dish must be a slow cooker version.
I collect recipes throughout the week. I have gone paperless now and keep all my recipes in a folder in Pages. Their recipe template includes an image so I always put a photo of the dish so I know what the outcome should look like.
I pick out the 7 dishes for one week. By Saturday, I would have finished my grocery list.
Since Filipino dishes are not widely available here, I found that I am cooking more and more of it. A big thanks to Ang Sarap blog for all the easy-to-follow recipes.
Our three favorites:
Pancit Molo
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Skinless Longaniza
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Pinoy Spaghetti
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Another blog where I get my recipes from is Gina's Skinny Recipes. It's a low fat version of most dishes. In our recent annual medical exam Jed and I were warned to watch what we eat or our blood levels would be in danger. Now, it's hello healthy low fat recipes.
I am loving these recipes:
Asparagus and Poached Eggs Over Pasta
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Crock Pot Bolognese Sauce
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For recipe ideas, chekc out my Food board on Pinterest. I have over 280 recipes pinned.
How does your menu planning work? And what are your favorite recipes?
Happy cooking!
