Sariling Sikap Meals

I am very proud to share the recipe of a salad dressing I made yesterday. I searched the internet for inspiration, specifically one that does not require what we don't have in our kitchen. Apparently, that's too much to ask, even from Google, since there's not a lot in our kitchen to start with.

However, I have Olive Oil, an ingredient that's magical in the sense that it makes almost everything taste better since on its own it tastes good. We have two brands in the kitchen, Dona Elena's Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Turkey, and the one my Sydney-based cousin-in-law Phuong uses, the Wollundry Grove Olives, grown and bottled from an estate in Wagga Wagga, NSW. I use the one from Sydney for special preparations like salads and baked chicken for three reasons: 1) it smells significantly better 2) the bottle is really chic 3) it was a gift from Phuong, with whom I cooked a lot while I was in Sydney. The other, Dona Elena's, I use for frying. :D

So anyway, here's the only salad dressing recipe that I felt confident with, despite the meager resources. I didn't add the lime and berries as it had suggested, but only the base ingredients:

chopped, minced garlic
vinegar
olive oil
black pepper

I didn't mind the measurements though. Just pour it all in until you make the mix edible, or shall we call it, dressingable? :D

Salad dressing mix: minced garlic, vinegar, olive oil, black pepper.


I loves lettuce!
To make easy eating, tear the lettuce into small pieces. Fork in a few leaves, dip in the sauce, coat with parmesan cheese, then fork in strips of chicken. I used the leftover chicken adobo (with no sauce) from lunch. We Filipinos love making adobo recipes our own way, but nang Boning's (our cook) is excellent, let me spread some love (and excellence) by sharing it as well.

Chicken Adobo:

Marinade the chicken with garlic, salt, soy, and sugar. Fry.
Yup, this is it. Did I surprise you?

I find it stupid that croutons are sold off the shelves in the grocery since it's the easiest thing to prepare. Slice the sandwich bread into these tiny cubes then toast. So simplicity! I use wheat bread.

Lettuce love -- goody and healthy!

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Alyssa and I finished the last two heads of lettuce last night so I made Lerma, pop's secretary, buy two more from the grocery store this morning. For lunch, I wrapped the fried fish nang Boning made with a leaf of lettuce then dipped it in American Garden French Dressing which smelled and tasted of too-much mayonnaise. I abhor the smell and taste of mayonnaise so I added Nestle Full Cream to the dressing to make it less mayonnaisey. Still did not work. As a result, I did not have 3 servings of lunch, which is always good.

In the afternoon, I made a sandwich before Iana and I jogged like our lives depended on it (well, not exactly our lives; but definitely the weighing scale's).

I shall call this, well, a yummy sandwich. I'm sorry it does not really look nice, I already had 3 full bites before I took these photos.


What's inside: nang Boning's fried fish, lettuce, parmesan cheese.

Nang Boning's fried fish:

Marinade the fish with salt and garlic. Wait for a few minutes. Before frying, coat in egg and cornstarch.

Nang Boning apparently doesn't know fish talk as she's clueless as to what kind of fish she had just cooked for us. Well, for a start: it has to be boneless. You really couldn't see what you're biting into with the yellowed cornstarch, right?

That work in the middle? That's what our sandwich maker does. We loves it. :D

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Sorry for the hazy cooking instructions. I got these instructions from our equally hazy cook, our dear nang Boning. God bless her!