Mommy Tips: Weekly Menu

Weekly Menu for June 24 to 30

If you have been reading our blog and chance about our post of who we are I made mention that I am into planning our weekly menu. Why??? because I wanted to save money. I don't like wasting food and other resources. I wanted our household to be very kin on not wasting anything. It's not only the food that I am very particular about. I also save on electricity and water. I always close the lights when it's not needed (unless my husband comes in and opens all the lights, which I close after him! hahaha). Open our veranda doors for air instead of the electric fan.

For about a year now I have been successful with this planing of menu. =) We have managed to cut our grocery purchase down to half (beaming with pride!!!) and I have also managed to cut down cholesterol counts, sugar counts and sodium from our quarterly blood-test. =) Today, I have decided to share with you guys our weekly menu. I hope you guys can learn something from this.

Monday:
Breakfast: 
Beef Tapa with Cucumber and Tomatoes side dish, 
Egg (optional), Fried Rice, 

Drink: Coffee or Hot Chocolate (I like Antonio Pueo Hot Chocolate Drink) 

Lunch: 
Sinigang na Hipon with kangkong and labanos, 
Plain Rice and Fried Bangus Belly
Fruit: Ripe Mango (1 slice only)

Dinner:
Soup: Soup of sinigang from lunch with veggys
Tortang Talong, Fried Chicken and Rice

Fruit: Papaya

Tuesday:

B: Oatmeal with fresh apples, Spam and Coffee or Soy Milk

F: Mango (1 slice only)

L: Pork adobo, Rice, Beef clear soup with carrots
Gisadong Baguio beans with giniling or shrimps
F: Papaya

D: Amapalaya guisado, Steamed Lapu-lapu with soy sauce or Fish fillet with (I like Jufran) Sweet Chilli sauce, Rice and Nido soup
F: Orange slices

Wednesday:

B: Chicken Arozcaldo or Tokwa Arozcaldo

F: Apples Slices or Banana

Lunch: Breaded Liempo, Rice, Paksiw na bangus with Talong and Ampalaya
F: Melon/Orange slices

D: Pork or chicken Menudo, Grilled Bangus Belly with Tomatoes, salt and onion stuffings, Steamed okra with bagoong or other veggy
F: Melon/ Avocado

Thursday:

B: Ham and Cheese Sandwich with coffee

F: Banana / Papaya

L: Chicken or Beef broccoli, Fried Tilapia and Misua Soup with garlic (optional)
F: Avocado

D: Korean Beef Stew with carrot wedges, Toge guisadoa and Fried Dilis.
F: Melon

Friday:

B: Longsilog with coffee and cucumber salsa

F: Banana

L: Mongo guisado with beef or pork ribs and dahon ng ampalaya and Fried Tinapang bangus
F: Kiwi

D: Fried Chicken, Cream of mushroom soup, mashed potatoes and Steam corn
F: Kiwi

Saturday:

B: Oatmeal with Ma-hu and coffee

F: ponkan

L: Chopsuey with chicken liver, shrimp and pork slices and Beef nilaga with pechay and Repolyo
F: ponkan

D: Eat out (bonding) 

Sunday:

B: Fried Dangit with cooked kamatis (as sauce), egg, and garlic fried rice with coffee

F: Pomelo

L: Pancit guisado, grilled pork bbq and halabos na hipon w/ ginger
F: Pomelo

D: Eat out.

As a rule of thumb for every 1 kilo that is good for 10 people, of-course in small servings =). If you are on a diet you may substitute the White Rice to Red Rice. In our house we use Red Rice. You may find the red rice a bit hard. What I do is we wash the rice and the measure the water and let the rice soak on it for a good 30 minutes before we cook it. This will allow the rice to soften.  

If you are pregnant and is on a strict diet or maybe suffering from Gestational Diabetes, my nutritionist Dra. Virgith Buena suggest that I take fruits first before every meal, followed by soup, then veggies (salad or regular cooked veggies) and proceed with my meal. Before you can even finish your main meal your already full.

If your on breastfeeding incorporate more Clam soup, Tinola Soup with Malungay Leaves and other leafy vegetable.  

As a healthy alternative you may want to use lean Pork, Lean Chicken or Lean Beef. If your not keen on using lean part specially the chicken you may buy thigh fillets without the skin. We also use Free Range Chicken or Native Chicken for our soups and Chicken Dishes. 

I hope in some way I have help you. =) I will try to upload another menu next week. =) Again I said I will try! hahaha! =) 


~~~Mommy Raquel

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