Cooking with Tidus: Breaded Potato Balls Recipe

Thank you ASEAN and the long holidays since October for the chance to spend more time with Tidus!

I thought of cooking simple merienda with the kiddo. Tidus often sees me cooking so he is very interested in helping me around the kitchen.

This breaded potato ball recipe was shared by one of the mommies in a Facebook group I joined and this is the second time I'm making it. 

Ingredients: 

5 medium sized potato (boiled and mashed with butter and 1/4 cup evaporated milk) 

Salt

Pepper

1 cup Japanese or panko bread crumbs

1/2 block of Eden cheese, cut into cubes 

Oil for cooking 

I've made a slideshow of the process of how to prepare and cook the breaded potato balls.

It's real easy! I hope you and your kids enjoy. :)

  

Bargains at SM: Dinosaur Lunch Set

I was looking for gifts for some of Tidus' classmates, who are celebrating their birthdays this September, when I found some sale items at the children's accessories section in SM Megamall.

I have had this obsession with dinosaur items for Tidus and was very happy that this lunch kit was at 50% off! There were two designs actually, pink/owl for girls and green/dino for boys.

The original price of the lunch kit was P249.75 so I was able to get the box and tumbler for P125 only.

The box is good for snacks and simple baon and the tumbler, although not thermal, closes tightly and does not spill. And one good thing about the lunch kit is it's BPA free.

The little boy is excited to use his new stuff in school!

Bowling for Kids at Timezone Vertis North

Finally gotten around to taking Tidus to go bowling at Timezone in Vertis North, the new Ayala Mall beside Trinoma.

Tidus sort of has this fixation of playing bowling, that early this year, I bought him a plastic bowling set for his 4th birthday.

Today, I had to drop by the office in Quezon City and I decided to let Tidus tag along and ride the MRT with me (another one of his obsessions).

Since we are so near Vertis North, I decided to bring Tidy to the bowling place and hoped it wouldn't be too crowded.

And was he so happy. I tried to teach him how to play properly though but he had his own "diskarte."

A game costs P125 (10 frames) and luckily we had a lane to ourselves as soon as we loaded his power card at the counter.

After 3 games (sinulit ko na) we went around and tried a virtual bowling game, which he also enjoyed.

I hope they also have these games in Megamall soon.

Blogging again

Okay. Had to make some changes around here.

My days are now filled with work, house chores and a very inquisitive 4-year-old.

These page will be filled with posts about motherhood, some links and products I find useful and of course a lot about my son.

Stay tuned.

Churreria La Lola in Mega Mall

I have seen Churreria La Lola at the SM Megamall Atrium last week but we were in a hurry to go home so I just passed on the opportunity to try it as it opened.

Since it was a holiday today, I trooped the kids and yaya to the food outlet. It was packed! We had to wait for a little while to grab a table.

Ordering also took a while as the  churros were only prepared as soon as you order.

My niece and I had to review the menu for a while since I was not familiar with La Lola (which has a branch in Rockwell). We settled for the Mix Churros (Php 180), which was a combo of their classic churros (3 pcs) and the chocochurros (3 pcs).

The chocochurros I found out a bit later were churros totally covered in chocolate. The classic, of course, was the usual donut-like bread in stick form. The chocolate dip was purchased separately from the churros and we ordered it in medium size (Php 60).

After 15 minutes, our churros arrived and it was in a cone-shaped carton. It also had a hole which can hold the chocolate dip in place.

I really liked the chocochurros, it was chilled but still had the crunchy texture of the churros. My son preferred the classic but without the dip. He's not really a fan of sweet stuff (I know, a 2-year-old who doesn't have a sweet tooth!).

We all enjoyed the churros and we would definitely go back. Maybe we will try the Xuxos next (churros stuffed with Nutella, strawberry jam or peanut butter. Or the churroreo, which comes with ice cream and caramel.

Avocado and egg on toast time

Since I've seen this recipe posted on Pinterest, I've always wondered what avocado would taste like as a spread.

Filipinos are used to eating avocado as a dessert mixed with sugar, cream and milk. Or in their ice cream. Not a viand or sandwich spread.

Since it's avocado season, I've finally gotten around following a recipe at this site.

Real simple to follow:

Mash the avocado, season it with a bit of salt and pepper.

Toast the bread. I spread a thin layer of butter on mine before spreading the avocado. :)

Fry the egg sunny side up (pardon my messy eggs). Place on top of the toast.

Red dots = hot sauce optional.

My niece Gab and I had one toast a-piece. She said she could not taste the avocado that much and was overwhelmed with the egg.

For me, it tasted good. Avocado can be a sandwich spread (aside from being guacamole) and it's taste was a good combo with the egg.

Will scrambled eggs work too? We will see next time.

Pocky Matcha

My good friend Ann went on a vacation in Japan and gave me and Tidus Pocky Matcha as her pasalubong.

























I've seen this green box of goodies in the Family Mart at the office but I did not attempt to buy since I'm not really a fan of green tea or matcha flavored stuff.

Upon opening, I was happy to know the big box contained four individual snack packs because I did not want to open the entire thing and have left overs in case I didn't like how it tasted.

However, I liked how it tasted. The chocolate-almond coating tasted like the usual yummy Pocky chocolate but the stick had a slight bitter taste because of the matcha.

Tidus liked it too! He finished one packet by himself :)

Thanks Ninang Ann for the yummy pasalubong from Japan.

An afternoon at St. Marc Cafe

There's a newly opened dessert place at SM Megamall's Fashion Hall. It's called St. Marc Cafe and it reminded me of this small snack place we went to in Hongdae in South Korea called Spero Spera. The cafe offered coffee and crepes of various types.

St. Marc Cafe on the other hand offers coffee, dessert beverages and various types of desserts, from shaved ice, ice creams, breads, and their signature Chococro.

We ordered three desserts and I must say their sizes are to share. Unless you are really hungry, you can finish one by yourself. I got one of the best sellers, the Choco Banana Fuji. It's a croissant topped with vanilla ice cream, bananas, drizzled with choco syrup. 

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My niece and my son's yaya got tempted by the pretty displays and ordered Strawberry Heaven and Mango Fantasy. Strawberry Heaven had cheese cake while MangoFantasy had pudding. 

We were all satisfied with our orders. We'd definitely go back and try the coffee drinks and breads. 

My version of Adventure Time Bacon Pancakes

I finally got around to making bacon pancakes. When Gaby, my niece, realized what I was doing she said that Finn and Jake of Adventure Time cooked pancakes the same way. So that was what Adventure Time Pancakes are all about.

These pancakes are real easy to do. Just fry the bacon in a non-stick pan. Some like it crispy. But I'm ok with it a bit juicy. Then I just prepared Maya's pancake mix in my Hello Kitty measuring cup. It's easier to pour the pancake batter this way.

Next, I placed two bacon slices on the non-stick frying pan. Then I just poured the pancake batter on top of the bacon. When you feel one side is done, flip the bacon carefully. Remove from pan after a couple of seconds or if you feel that side is cooked.

Voila. It's a little sloppy looking. But it's okay for a first timer don't you think? Tidus approves.

Breadtalk launches new generation breads at SM Aura

Last July 17, Breadtalk opened its 36th branch in the Philippines at the SM Aura Lower Level in Taguig City. Present during the blessing were Breadtalk's officers, Taguig Mayor Lani Cayetano and Mutya ng Pilipinas beauties.

Aside from the opening, Breadtalk also launched their Gen4 breads, which are healthier for their diet-conscious consumers. Before I could discover those breads though I got distracted by this yummy display.

Now, I'm sure you might have guessed that the giant floss bread is an acknowledgement to the store's top selling bread in the country. Well, Breadtalk promises to continuously make their top sellers like the Flosss, Fire Flosss, Hot Chic, Cheese Flosss, Spring in the City, Get Cheesy and the Standard Sausage. Before tasting the new generation breads, I got to taste these top sellers and these are my hauls. 

This is  my favorite though: 

I dunno what it is exactly called but it's the perfect breakfast bread: toasted bread, ham, with a sunny-side up egg topped with cheese. I was looking for me and my sister's favorite chocolate croissant but Breadtalk's General Manager James Aguilar explained that they sometimes pull out breads to give the customers a chance to experience other breads. Come to think of it, when Pia and I go to Breadtalk, we only buy the chocolate croissants haha. So yeah, don't go to Breadtalk always buying one kind of bread. Buy different ones! 

Ok, now on to the new breads. Breadtalk Managing Director Winward Chu explained what each bread was made of as he placed each plate before us bloggers. The bread we tasted first was the Kpop Chicken or Claypot Chicken. It might not look that appetizing (it looked liked it was made of ube) but the bread was actually very savory with a flaky outer crust. 

Next on the plate was the Sweet Potato Pot, which was a baguette infused with black sesame filled with steamed sweet potatoes. I dunno why it reminded me of hopia and how it was perfect for those who are weight conscious. The Sayang Sardine bread came up next and for me it was a sort of tribute to the classic Pinoy pandesal with sardinas. We also tasted the Big Apple Bread, which was a hit for me because I really love apples. The Coco Fuji was milk custard cream sandwich and the filling reminded me of Ferrero chocolates and Nutella. And last but not the least was the Yaya Eggtart and it instantly became another of my favorites because of the not too sweet egg custard, flaky crust and the sprinkled sugar on top was burned just right. The new generation breads will come out soon in all Breadtalk branches so watch out for these. 

  

Of course the Sanrio cakes inside the ref standee did not escape my attention. I plan to buy a Hello Kitty cake for myself and a Kerroppi cake for Tidus soon. 

Oh and before I end this, I met this adorably weird guy outside the Breadtalk store. 

Maybe you'd like to go out on a date at Breadtalk with the Flosss Monster one of these days, huh? :) 

SM Hypermart Bakery

Gaby and I passed by the SM Hypermart at SM Megamall last Saturday and we were immediately attracted by the yummy goodies at their bakery. First that caught our attention was their ham and floss bread.

Gaby ate most of this one. She said it tasted real good, with the floss being like that of Breadtalk's. The ham side had a little sweet and mayonaisse-y taste which she said can be a very good snack in school.

Next that made me curious was this green bread (my favorite color is green by the way). It was matcha flavored bread with red bean filling.

I liked the bread, which had a sweet taste and texture like that of an ensaymada. There was a bit of a bitter taste, probably because of the matcha tea flavor. However, I wasn't too fond of the filling. It was too sticky for my taste. Tidus' nanny liked it though and finished the bread for me. 

I'm also fond of spring onion flavored stuff (like crackers and hopia) so I bought the spring roll, which upon close scrutination, had floss too.

This bread I really liked. It was soft and tasted of spring onions plus the floss added to its savory flavor.

Of course, I would not forget to buy the store's Japanese cheese cake because of ...

Hello Kitty! The cake looked like leche flan but it was actually very soft cheese cake. Not too sweet, just right and you can absolutely taste the cheesiness in it. Tidus likes this one too.

Over all me and Gaby were satisfied with our SM Hypermart Bakery experience. And all these bread were purchased for only a little over 100 pesos. We would definitely go back again.

Mister Donut Cafe in Greenhills

When I heard about the Mister Donut Cafe in Greenhills selling pon de rings, I immediately dragged my niece Gaby to buy some for Tidus' 4th month birthday. I expected the store to have the donuts we bought in Korea and Taiwan but it was really the pon de rings they imported.

Gaby and I also decided to have our merienda there so we ordered their bacon croissant and baked macaroni. Both tasted okay, not exceptional though.

We enjoyed our time inside the cafe because we also chose to sit by the windows and on their huge red chairs.

 

As for the pon de rings, we ate them at home after Tidus touched them (hehe). Well of course me being a fan of Mister Donut in Korea and Taiwan, it tasted a bit different for me. The sansrival flavored donut was a tad too sweet. The almond covered one was okay but J.Co's version of it (the al capone) tastes better. The one I liked the most was the chocolate covered pon de ring. It wasn't too sweet and the flavor blended well with the donut.

Next time we go there, I'm probably gonna try their other donuts and desserts.