Vongole

Last year my sister had a break from work and finally visited us in summer.  She stayed with us till after my daughter's 8th birthday in December.  It was a wonderful time to catch up and bond again.  The kids loved her around. The last time we saw each other was back in 2010.  Though we facetime and Skype regularly, nothing beats up close and personal.  Her stay with us gave me a huge break in the kitchen as well.  She's one great cook, who pleasantly served dishes to us meal after meal.  One of the meal that caught our attention was Vongole.  It was our first to have this dish.  My kids devoured it each time it's served.

But when I tried it in my kitchen, I couldn't do it just the way she did.  She cooks by taste. She doesn't keep a recipe in hand.  So if you ask her, she'll give you the ingredients, but the rest is up to you. Oh boy!

 

Just like most, I struggle in the kitchen too from time to time. And when I say struggle, that means trouble.  Before I could really whip up a meal, I have to check several recipes and make sure it tastes good in my mind.  When I can't visualize its outcome, it's a no-no.  So just imagine that.  Chaos huh?!

I experiment a lot. I try recipe after recipe.  Often, I modify it till I get the right yum for my family.  I have been experimenting on Vongole that I couldn't get it right.  It's just Vongole for some,  but somehow the recipes I tried just didn't quite hit the right "umph" for my buds. Nothing close to her Vongole.  Finally last night, I hit it off.  I included the recipes  for you to try and let me know how you like it. Critique me!  Perhaps you can help me twist it a bit for a better appeal.

The Recipe

Ingredients:

1 package of spaghetti noodles, cooked according to package instructions.

2lbs clam, shelled

1 cup clam juice

extra virgin olive oil

1 stick butter, unsalted

1 Tbsp garlic, minced

1 medium onions, thinly sliced

3 tomatoes, diced

salt & pepper to taste

red pepper flakes, optional

Gouda cheese, grated

dry white wine
herbs (basil, cilantro, thyme, lime)

Procedure:

1. Cook spaghetti noodles according to package instructions.  Set aside.
2. Boil 2 lbs of clam in a pot of water. Save 1 cup of clam juice for later.
3. In a separate skillet, heat olive oil and butter.  Saute onion till tender.  Add in garlic,diced tomatoes.  Let it cook for 5 minutes till tomatoes are soft. 
4. Add in clams, a cup of its juice, white wine, salt and pepper. Let boil.
5. Add in herbs of your choice.  We used cilantro for this particular dish.  Simmer for another 3-5 minutes.
6. Pour on noodles. 
7. Serve with grated Gouda Cheese on top with red pepper flakes for a little kick.

Serves: 6-8

Leftovers may be packed on any Easylunchboxes for school or work the following day.  Pack them with your favorite side dish, such as fruits, Hawaiian dinner rolls, or trail mixes on yogurts.


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Brown-Bag Challenge: The Final Week (Days 17-21)

Monday: Left-overs Seafood Vegetable LoMein, Roasted Chicken & Fruit Delights

We had a splendid gathering last night with friends at home.  We did a lot of catching up.  And we found ourselves almost eating the entire time we were together.  Non-stop I shall confess.  But we have prepared healthy comfort foods so there's nothing much to worry about extra time at the gym the following day.  The kids did their part of getting to know each other.  Bonding while playing nicely.  But the mess after was a great thing to deal with.  We started late lunch and ended up past bedtime.  So there wasn't enough time to clean-up well & prepare for the next day's brown-bag.  We woke up late and just packed leftovers of LoMein and Roasted Chicken from lunch and dinner yesterday.  A repeat but a comforting meal indeed.

Seafood LoMein

Roasted Chicken

Fortunately, my son had an early release today at 12:30 pm.  So I needed not to worry about him much.  I sent him to school with fruit delights.  A mixture of grapes, strawberries, blueberries, and orange slices that will stuff him till lunch at home.  At home, he ate the LoMein as well and was happy and content.

Have a hearty meal everyone! ^-^

Fruit Delights

Tuesday: Pinwheels and Strawberries:

Ham & Cheese Pinewheels
and Strawberries

Fall weather is officially in.  I can feel the cool morning breeze here in SoCal.  And it's getting harder to rise up early in early to prepare the brown-bag.  Nonetheless, I habe to force myself to prepare for my loved-ones breakfast and lunch tummy fillers.

Today, the brown-bag had sweet Ham and Cheese with Lettuce Pinwheels.  It's one of my son's favorites that I have long forgotten.  It took Healthy Eats' Nutritionist Toby Amiador to remind me that it still exists.  So for a change, I packed that with halved strawberries on the side.  While we ate the leftovers for breakfast.  I have to make one with cheese and one without, since my daughter doesn't eat cheese.  Oh for goodness-sake! Even when we dine out, she'll eat anything as long as there are no cheeses...please :-)  It's not that she's allergic to it, she just didn't like the taste of cheesy dishes.

Hubby packed Chili and Chopseuy Vegetables with steamed rice.  I will be volunteering for my son's school after lunch today so I would have to eat from home before I go.  My choice of anything yummy to eat from home.  Might as well heat up a bowl of chili over steamed rice.  Comforting and fulfilling for a cold day.

If anyone needs a recipe for anything I have prepared, just let me now by leaving a comment.  I'll be happy to provide them for you.

Have a wonderful meal, everyone!

Wednesday: Home-made Cheese Bagel Pizzas

I am a bit excited today to create my home-made pizza bagels, as inspired by the frozen pizzas bought in supermarkets.  My children are pizza fanatics.  And since I pledged on preparing my brownbags as healthy and home-made as possible, I decided to make my own pizza bagels for my kiddos.

It's very easy.  

I just needed 3 ingredients for this. 

A store bought mini-bagels, 

bottled veggie-spag sauce, 

and shredded cheese.  

Pizza Bagels, Plums & Muffin

Procedure:  

Preheat oven at 425 degrees.

Lay-out the bagels on cookie sheet

Spread sauce, sprinkle with cheese, and bake for 10-12 minutes.

Results are healthier, cheesier and yummier pizza bagels.  The kids were excited because they sprinkled the cheese for me.  Next time, I'll just have them do it by themselves, then I'll take it to the oven for baking.  I gave him plums and cupcakes to neutralize the cheezy-ness of his lunch.

Honestly, I'm proud of myself for all the lunches I've made since the start of the challenge.  I never knew I could do wonders when challenged.  I'm happy I made my kids eat a healthier meal each time.  Best of all, my hubby's happy as well.  I guess I will continue this challenge forever.  And I will keep blogging coz it's what makes it exciting as well.

Happy brown-bagging!

Thursday: Pesto Chicken Farfalle

Just to let you know that this is a Broccoli Challenge as well by Kelly. I am doing 2 challenges simultaneously because it inspires me to prepare healthier meals, and encourages my kids to eat healthier as well.  So it's like hitting 2 birds with one stone.  Well.... this one is hitting 2 challenges with one blog and preparation.

Today's brown-bag was Pesto Chicken Farfalle with Broccoli and Nectarines on the side. This lunch is very simple to prepare. I have made the pesto sauce in advance and have stored it in my fridge.  It's made of basil leaves, olive oil, garlic and cheese.  All blended in my blender since I don't have a food processor.  But at times when I'm out, and just crave for it, I make use of any store-bought traditional Pesto Sauce jar.  It works just fine. We have a left-over chicken rotisserie from last night, so I cut it into small pieces to mix with my farfalle noodles.  I separated broccoli from my pesto farfalle because it was by special request.  My 3rd grader is like Kelly, a broccoli fanatic.  He wants to munch his broccoli by itself to satisfy his palate.  But for grown-ups, I tossed it along the pesto chicken farfalle to make it look more appetizing, and not bland.  I topped it off with shredded mozarella cheese.  And of course my fruit dessert would be the famous nectarine wedges.  Blueberry would look better with this but he just gobbled it all up last night before going to bed.  So this is what's left, and we have to make it last.

Pesto Farfalle, Broccoli,
Nectarines

My husband didn't pack his brown-bag today because of a lunch meeting this afternoon.  Lunches will be provided in their office.  So I guess, we'll consider that as his brown-bag for the day.  I'm crossing my fingers that he'll make healthier choices though.

Have a wonderful brown-bag everyone!

Friday: Fancy Garlic Rice & the Works:

Hurray! It's the last day of Healthy Eats' brown-bag challenge.  I must say I did fairly well and made everyone happy.  I have fulfilled my goal and my kids are eating healthier.  But it will never be the last day for my brown-bag chore.  It actually just began.  And I have pledged to myself that I will continue to pack and create healthy lunches for my family, and share ideas as well with other moms in need.

Garlic Rice, Strawberries

and Choco-fudge Muffin

Today's brown-bag is garlic rice with hotdogs, corn and sweet peas.  For healthier option, try QUINOA as a substitute to rice.  Strawberries and a choco-fudge muffin for dessert.

I stir-fried my hotdogs bits with garlic and oil.  I made sure that the hotdogs are slightly browned before I add in the rest of my ingredients (cooked rice, corn kernels, and sweetpeas) over medium to high heat.  You can actually add in carrots as well, edamame or broccoli, depending on what you have in stock.  Then let it cool before packing so as not to create dew inside the container.  I was told that dew is responsible for spoiled rice if you packed it still hot.  Or you might want to throw in ice pack in the lunchboxes to be safe.  I do all the time since he likes to eat his food cold anyways.

Recipes to follow.  Please check back later.

We're teaming up with fellow food bloggers to host a Brown-Bag Challenge, a month-long initiative to eat consciously and save money by packing a lunch each weekday instead of eating out. Join us here and share what you're eating on Facebook andTwitter with the hashtag #brownbag.

I'd like to link this up with Family Fresh Cooking's Project Lunch Box - Week 2.  Feel free to click on the badge to be linked back to Family Fresh Cooking's post.

Day 20: Pesto Chicken Farfalle with Broccoli and Nectarine

We're teaming up with fellow food bloggers to host a Brown-Bag Challenge, a month-long initiative to eat consciously and save money by packing a lunch each weekday instead of eating out. Join us here and share what you're eating on Facebook andTwitter with the hashtag #brownbag.

Just to let you know that this is a Broccoli Challenge as well by Kelly. I am doing 2 challenges simultaneously because it inspires me to prepare healthier meals, and encourages my kids to eat healthier as well.  So it's like hitting 2 birds with one stone.  Well.... this one is hitting 2 challenges with one blog and preparation.

Today's brown-bag was Pesto Chicken Farfalle with Broccoli and Nectarines on the side. This lunch is very simple to prepare. I have made the pesto sauce in advance and have stored it in my fridge.  It's made of basil leaves, olive oil, garlic and cheese.  All blended in my blender since I don't have a food processor.  But at times when I'm out, and just crave for it, I make use of any store-bought traditional Pesto Sauce jar.  It works just fine. We have a left-over chicken rotisserie from last night, so I cut it into small pieces to mix with my farfalle noodles.  I separated broccoli from my pesto farfalle because it was by special request.  My 3rd grader is like Kelly, a broccoli fanatic.  He wants to munch his broccoli by itself to satisfy his palate.  But for grown-ups, I tossed it along the pesto chicken farfalle to make it look more appetizing, and not bland.  I topped it off with shredded mozarella cheese.  And of course my fruit dessert would be the famous nectarine wedges.  Blueberry would look better with this but he just gobbled it all up last night before going to bed.  So this is what's left, and we have to make it last.

My husband didn't pack his brown-bag today because of a lunch meeting this afternoon.  Lunches will be provided in their office.  So I guess, we'll consider that as his brown-bag for the day.  I'm crossing my fingers that he'll make healthier choices though.

Have a wonderful brown-bag everyone!

Day 16: Linguine with Shrimp and Lemon Oil

We're teaming up with fellow food bloggers to host a Brown-Bag Challenge, a month-long initiative to eat consciously and save money by packing a lunch each weekday instead of eating out. Join us here and share what you're eating on Facebook andTwitter with the hashtag #brownbag.

Last night I was feeling a bit adventurous and tried Giada De Laurentiis' Linguine Recipe for today's brown-bag.  We've never had pasta that is not either tomato-based, cream-based or pesto.  So when I stumbled upon this recipe online, I was excited to try it out. My family loves lemon-dishes and most of all, shrimp!  It's a perfect combination.

I included the recipe as well for easy reference.

Linguine with Shrimp and Lemon Oil

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

Prep Time:

10 min

Inactive Prep Time:

--

Cook Time:

15 min

Level:

Easy

Serves:

4 to 6 servings

Linguine with Shrimp
& Lemon Oil

Ingredients

For the lemon oil:

• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 lemon, zested

For the pasta:

• 1 pound linguine pasta
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 shallots, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 16 ounces frozen shrimp
• 1/4 cup lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
• 1 lemon, zested
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3 ounces arugula (about 3 packed cups)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions

For the lemon oil:

Combine the olive oil and the lemon zest in a small bowl and reserve.

For the pasta:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid.

Meanwhile, in a large, heavy skillet warm the olive oil over medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add the shrimp and cook until pink, about 5 minutes. Add the cooked linguine, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, and pepper. Toss to combine. Turn off the heat and add the arugula. Using a mesh sieve, strain the lemon zest out of the reserved lemon olive oil and add the oil to the pasta. The zest can be discarded. Add some of the cooking water to desired consistency. Add the chopped parsley to the pasta and toss to combine. Serve immediately.

* Shellfish

Warning: Consumption of raw or undercooked shellfish may substantially increase the risk of foodborne illness.

Hash Corned beef
with toast & grapes

And of course, my 3rd grader wanted his own brown-bag menu.  And this is what he brought to school today, which he enjoyed munching it as early as breakfast time.  Hash Corned beef, Toast and Grapes.  This should be my next project.  Learn to make my own corned beef so it would be a healthier option for kids to eat.  No need to worry about preservatives, plus it's always fresh.



I wish everyone a hearty meal.


Have a great weekend ahead of you!  
See you next week, which is our final week of the challenge. 

Day 11: Spaghetti Galore

We're teaming up with fellow food bloggers to host a Brown-Bag Challenge, a month-long initiative to eat consciously and save money by packing a lunch each weekday instead of eating out. Join us here and share what you're eating on Facebook andTwitter with the hashtag #brownbag.

It's Spaghetti Day for us. This is the first time my son brought spaghetti to school with shredded cheese topping.  Have to cut noodles shorter. About 1/2 an inch for a mess-free lunch. So he need not worry about tomato stain on his lips the whole day. I gave him grapes to snack on it when he's still hungry, or for afternoon recess. My boy has better appetite nowadays. I guess having variation in daily brown-bagging did the trick. It seems like he's more excited to take his lunch to school than me.  My hubby took the same with salad on the side.

It's the last day for Week 3, and I'm glad I was able to fulfill the lunches for the whole week stress-free. I'm looking forward for the coming week...actually this week since I posted this late.  I had a busy Friday and weekend.  I had a take-home work from my daughter's preschool, then we went to Universal Studios Hollywood.  And that's the exact reason why I wasn't able to publish this blog on a timely manner. I apologize for that.  But I'd still make it to the Tuesday's Round-Up anyways.

Happy brown-bagging!!