Long Weekend at Home.

M and I got to visit home (Cagayan de Oro) last Holy Week. It was another good chance to indulge on food we miss.

As soon as we arrived, we found ourselves at:

Hungarian Sausage with mashed potatoes
at Vienna Kaffeehaus. 

This Cebu franchise which serves Austrian dishes will always have a special place in our hearts. Wink. I ordered my usual Hungarian sausage and M ordered a cheese weiner with mashed potatoes too.The sausage and spuds have decreased in size. That was sad. The price increased too. Inflation is a heartbreaking thing.

Turon

This huge crispy and sugary banana-langka wrap is found in the streets of CdO. I don't know of anyone who makes Turon the way this particular street vendor does. No scrimping on the sugar, wrap, nor of the bananas and langka. When you bite into one, the coating breaks in sugary shards. You can actually see the shards in the photo. It's so big, so we cut it in half and share the calories. For less than P20--winner!

We also chanced upon the opening of a new branch of Chicken Charlie along Borja Extension, CdO. Now, we haven't tried this here in the metro because it was always so full at that time we tried. With the advent of all these crispy fried chicken craze that is Bon Chon, Manang's Fried Chicken and even Chowking's Chinese Style Fried Chicken , we had all forgotten to try Chicken Charlie. 

with Soy Garlic Sauce & Hot Sweet Sauce (with the sticks)

These were big pieces of drumsticks. I think I like the Soy Garlic sauce much better than the kimchi flavored foreign counterpart. But the foreign counterpart has crispier chicken.

Cheesestick Dynamite- cheese and jalapeno rolled in lumpia. A hit.

Since it was nearing M's birthday, we were treated to dinner at another Cebu franchise- the Filipino specialty restaurant Cafe Laguna. Everything's always good here. We had-

Adobong Kangkong

Pinakbet

Kinilaw (Cebu style)
They put mayonnaise. Not my thing.

Maja Kalabasa

This is so creamy, light and refreshing. 

I like that it uses a vegetable to highlight the coconut cream based flan,  so I can imagine all the beta carotene coming into my system while I eat dessert. 

I forgot to take a photo of the yummy Kare Kare and the Sizzling Bangus. Next time.

That was a good dinner. And a really good home visit. :)

Until next time, Cdo. Have a great summer.

Trying to Eat Healthy

The past few months, I've been trying to eat healthy. I've been skipping a lot of canned goods and noodles, as well as cookies. Lately, I see myself wolfing down the bad stuff. I blame the weather, stress, whatever. All bad stuff.

The good news is that I was able to take a couple of shots of my good food stuff. This should keep me inspired.

I love fresh ampalaya (bitter gourd). My Mommy forced me to eat them raw when I was a kid, and it seems that this notorious vegetable has crept its way into my heart. I especially love it sliced thinly and tossed with fresh tomatoes, onions and seasoned with vinegar, salt and pepper. It's such a palate cleanser. Refreshing and very, very healthy.

The ampalaya is packed with loads of iron, and the tomatoes are full of vitamin C. It's a powerful combination of vitamins. Cheap, too.

I got lucky with this bunch.

They were the freshest that I've gotten in my three years stay in the metro.

I tossed in some fresh, cubed cucumbers too. Yumm.

I also tried to substitute some good ol' gulaman as dessert. It's not so bad, but they are not as sweet. The good thing about gulaman is, they're made of seaweed, and not of crushed bones of whatever animal. Yes. Check out the labels of your favorite jellies, and Google them.

I used some red gulaman and poured in some strawberry Kool-Aid.

A good ratio to use would be 3 cups of water to 1 bar of gulaman. This should get it firm and jiggley.

I should try other flavors.

What's your healthy food? :)