Yummy recipe: Chicken Cordon Bleu

It's been awhile since my last post. I got busy baking cookies for breastfeeding moms and making our weekly menus at home. That's my role - I do the weekly menus and make desserts. I also encourage you mommies to do your weekly menus. It will not only help save you time when doing your grocery, but it will also let you stick to your budget. Plus, it will guide your helpers as to what to feed your kids.

Unlike other moms who have to rush home from work to cook dinner, I am lucky because I married a professional chef. That said, I usually tell my husband what I want for dinner and he does it for me. That means an overwhelming culinary experience of about six years (four years in college and two in culinary school) into my plate.

For every new recipe, my husband Chef Jon usually performs a mini demo to our staff so our cook can re-create them when they appear on the weekly menu. Here's a sample.

Monday:

Breakfast (B): Oatmeal with milk and banana

Lunch (L): Kiwi, Beef Afritada with potatoes, Fried Chicken, Brown Rice

Dinner (D): Ebi Tempura, Beef Gyudon, Cabbage Salad with Sesame Miso dressing, Miso Soup, Brown Rice

Tuesday:

B: Open-faced sandwich with caramelized onions and cream cheese and orange wedges

L: Kiwi, Beef Soup, Grilled Bangus Belly wrapped in banana leaves, Green beans and Brown Rice

D: Avocado, Egg Ampalaya, Chicken Cordon Blue and Calamares, Brown Rice

Wednesday:

B: Orange wedges, Corned beef and Brown Fried Rice

L: Papaya, Beef Sinigang and Brown Rice

D: Ripe Mango, Fresh Mushroom soup, Roast Tamarind Chicken, Steamed Broccoli, Fried Dory, Brown Rice

Thursday:

B: Oatmeal with milk and Papaya

L: Banana, Pork Ribs Nilaga with pechay, Fried Galunggong and Eggplant Torta, Brown Rice

D: Pears, Nilaga Soup, Korean Beef Stew, Grilled Shrimps, Steamed vegetable (beans, sayote and cauliflower)

Friday:

B: Apple, Club Sandwich (Ham, Egg and Chicken Spread), Hot Choco

L: Atis, Beef soup with Malungay, Fried Pampano, Pinoy ensalada (Bagoong with tomatoes and onions), Steamed Okra, Brown Rice

D: Dragon Fruit, Chicken Tinola with Malungay, Baked Pork Ribs, Brown Rice

Saturday

B: Pomelo, Smoked Salmon with Cream Cheese Sandwich

L: Lunch at Mameng's

D: Dinner Date

Sunday:

B: Papaya and Pancit Canton with Egg

L: Lunch at Ama's house

D: Family dinner

I often post pictures of our dinners at Instagram (follow me @raquelchua) and most of my followers ask me for recipes so I am sharing you one on this blog: Chicken Cordon Bleu by Chef Jon.

Ingredients:

4 pcs chicken leg quarter, deboned

4 slices cooked sweet ham

4 long strips Quickmelt cheese (We love Magnolia Quickmelt Cheese)*

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

2 pc eggs, beaten

1 1/2 cup Japanese breadcrumbs

cooking oil for deep-frying

*If you don't like Quickmelt cheese you may use pasteurized cheese (I love Quez-O Cheese)

toothpicks

Procedure:
Place boneless chicken skin side down on a chopping board. Place 1 ham per chicken then a strip of cheese. Roll chicken into a log then seal the ends with 3-4 toothpicks per chicken.

Prepare 3 bowls or plate for your breading.

1st bowl: Combine flour with salt and pepper.

2nd bowl: Place egg and whisk until well beaten.

3rd bowl: Place Japanese bread crumbs.

Dredge the chicken onto the flour mixture, dip into the egg, then completely coat with Japanese breadcrumbs.

After drenching in eggs, coat the chicken with breadcrumbs.

Pre-heat oil for deep-frying. Preheat oven to 350F. When the oil is hot, deep fry chicken until the crumbs are golden brown. How will you know if the oil is ready? Sprinkle some breadcrumbs in the oil. If it bubbles, it’s ready for deep-frying.

Place them in paper towels so it can absorb the excess oil. Then put the chicken onto a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes (325F) or until the chicken is fully cooked with an internal temperature of at least 165F.

Remove the chicken and let it rest on a chopping board, about 5 minutes. Slice chicken into thin rounds and serve immediately. Enjoy!

Hint: if you are using boneless chicken breast fillet, there is no need to cook inside the oven. Skip the oven part as they quickly cook during deep-frying. Boneless leg quarters are far thicker so they need to be finished off inside the oven. If you don't own an oven, you can continue cooking by oil.

Happy cooking mommies!

- Mommy Raquel

Upscaling used containers

Upscaling or upgrading used containers that you have at home is not only a fun activity that you can share with the kids, but it is also an opportunity to teach them how to contribute to the environment by recycling and avoiding unnecessary waste.


Those are two great reasons to get into upscaling in the first place even though those weren't my primary reasons for deciding to decorate a used plastic container that has been keeping Caitlin's tea set for months.


My initial thought was only to cover up the container to make it more appealing so I got a purple cloth, ribbon, garter, matching thread and brought out my machine for an hour of sewing. And in another container, I simply put paper stickers and a few scrapbooking decors and glued them on the box.


The results were better looking boxes for Caitlin's toys.


Earlier, I also put ribbons around a used sardines bottle and converted it into a hair clip container.


With more toys and other children's stuff piling up in the house, it's a challenge to keep everything tidy everyday and containers - big and small - always come in handy to keep some toy parts together or just hide away all the mess.


I am sure there are a lot of used stuff lying around in your house that - with a little imagination - could turn out to be something else more beautiful.


Happy upscaling!


- Mommy Smiley



A used cookie container.

Putting cover on a used container.

Decorating a used box with stickers and craft materials.

Stacking them.

Making use of an old cookie container.

A box to put away some of her toys.



Hair clip organizer.

Another view.

Lactation cookies giveaway winners

The results are in and we are happy to announce the five winners of a week’s supply of Mama Chow’s lactation cookies baked fresh by pastry chef Raquel Chua of Ginquelrus and co-blogger of Everyday Mommy Diary.

Mama Chow’s lactation cookies are packed with commonly used galactagogues such as oats, flaxseed, and fenugreek. Galactagogues are any substance believed to increase breastmilk supply.

These cookies are great for sharing – even for those who are not nursing such as your spouse or another child in the house. For breastfeeding moms, just take three to four lactation cookies a day. Results vary on individuals. Direct feed your child whenever you can to stimulate more milk supply.

The winners are:

Melody L. Liwanag

Leira Bhagwani Pagaspas

Dyann Alon-Alon

Roxi Roman-Santiago

Jennie Lyn Cuyco

Congratulations, you have been e-mailed for instructions on how to claim your prize. Thank you for joining Mama Chow’s lactation cookies giveaway!

Join Mama Chow's lactation cookies giveaway

It has been a blessing to be able to breastfeed my first son since birth and up until now that he's beyond one. But my experience is not without its difficulties.

I also experienced low milk supply during the times that I had to be away from Sam for work. At least, that was how I felt when I was able to pump less and less milk for storage in the freezer. So when I stumbled upon a lactation cookie recipe, I lost no time to try it out and even refine it to my own taste and liking. I gave away some to my other breastfeeding mommy friends and much to my surprise, they not only loved the taste, but the cookies also helped increase their milk supply.

So in much the same way that my own lactation cookie recipe helped me when I needed to pump more breastmilk for my son, I hope these cookies will also aid in your breastfeeding journey.

That said, I am donating one week supply of lactation cookies to five breastfeeding mommies who have been so kind-hearted at giving some of their pumped breastmilk to those in need at the social network Human Milk for Human Babies - Philippines.

Mama Chow's Oatmeal Lactation Cookies

 

But not only that, I am also giving away for free another weeklong supply of lactation cookies to five breastfeeding mommies who are struggling with their milk supply.

Mama Chow's Oatmeal Lactation Cookies are packed individually.

How to get the lactation cookies for free:

1. You must be a member and a breastmilk donor of Human Milk for Human Babies to avail of the weeklong suppy of Mama Chow's lactation cookies for breastmilk donors.

2. Look for the giveaway icon on this blog or go to Everyday Mommy Diary on facebook, look for our giveaway through Rafflecopter, and join.

You may get the giveaway widget here to share and post to friends who may need boosting of their breastmilk supply: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/share-code/Y2Y3NjAzZWIxYzY1OTYzNWFmN2EyZjA4MDQwMWFlOjE=/

I send these cookies with love and hope that more mommies will endeavor to provide what's best for their babies: breastmilk. And also the thought that however difficult breastfeeding may be for some, pray to endure because breast is still best.


- Mommy Raquel


NB: take three to four lactation cookies a day. Results vary on individuals. Direct feed your child whenever you can to stimulate more milk supply.

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