Cooking 101: Meatballs with Sweet and Sour Sauce

Since I'm a wife now, I take care of what my husband and I eat everyday. As I have mentioned in my previous blog entry, I have a routine during the weekdays. Let me just reiterate the schedule: wake up at 4AM, prepare breakfast, shower, wake up my husband, dress up, eat breakfast, go to work, get home by 4PM, prepare dinner by 5-6PM, watch news, shower, wait for my husband to arrive, eat dinner, chat a little, go to bed by 9PM.

It sounds boring but trust me, if you're adventurous in the kitchen, everyday is a challenge. I learned how to cook when I was in high school and a licensed nutritionist-dietitian so I'm pretty much accustomed to cooking. The only trouble I encounter is how to feed a picky eater.

You see, my husband's taste buds are a bit tricky to please. He usually consumes "safe" foods, which means no experimenting, no exotic, no too complicated, and yes, the list goes on. He wants me to stick to usual Pinoy viands.

Well, I'm his opposite. I love to experiment in the kitchen and I love to try foods that I haven't tried yet. So, the solution that I have come up with is to incorporate certain flavors to your usual Pinoy eats.

Recipe #1: Meatballs with Sweet and Sour Sauce

Ingredients:

For the Meatballs:

• 1/2 kilo pork giniling
• 1 medium-sized carrot, minced
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 medium-sized onion, minced
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp sugar
• kinchay, minced (optional)

For the Sweet and Sour Sauce:

• 3 cloves garlice, crushed
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 small red bell pepper, cut into strips (julienne)
• 6 Tbsp tomato sauce
• 3 Tbsp vinegar
• 3 Tbsp water
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• 1 small can of pineapple chunks, drained (reserve syrup)
• a dash of salt

Procedure:

1. Meatballs: Mix all ingredients together. Form into small balls then deep fry until golden brown. Make sure to drain excess oil afterwards.

1.  Sweet and Sour Sauce: Saute garlic and onion. Add carrots and stir fry for two minutes.
2. Add bell pepper then stir fry for two minutes as well.
3. Pour tomato sauce, vinegar, water and pineapple syrup. Mix well, Let it simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Add pineapple chunks and salt to taste.

•  To finish the recipe, add fried meatballs to the sauce and allow it to simmer for another 5 minutes. Serve with steamed rice and a glass of ice cold water.

The idea of not putting too much "sangkap" to the recipe makes it simply delicious. Try it on your picky eaters and I'd bet, they'd eat more than second helpings of rice. My husband did!

Backtrack: Wedding Preparation Part One (The Inspiration)

Okay, I know it's almost a month but somehow, I feel like I have to blog about this. Now that I'm FINALLY out in the open, I think it's better to share all our resources (I'm planning on making a scrapbook but procrastination got the better of me so yeah, an online one wouldn't hurt):

So, I got engaged on January 1st . After that, we had two months to prepare.

First of all, we created our very own spreadsheet file to check our:

• expenses
• designs

• reception
• church
• couturier
• cake

• photograper
• invitation
• souvenirs
• rings

Then, we had to do a few calls to make sure all our principal and secondary sponsors, entourage, flower girls, etc. will be present during our wedding. Alright, let me jot them all down:

• Save the date - check with your chosen church if the date is taken or available. Make sure to complete all requirements (especially the marriage license, OMG, it can take forever to process!). You might want to choose a church that has meaning to you and your fiance.

• Choose your reception wisely - make sure that it's not too far from the church to avoid any hard time for you and your guests.  Also, check if they offer any promos that include the caterer (this would save you so much dough, trust me)

•  Pick your couturier - it's better to allot a month for the bridal gown to be sewn because there MAY be alterations to be done. For me, my tummy was growing bigger everyday so I had asked my trusted "modista" to do certain adjustments on the tummy region (of course, I don't want my baby to be suffocated)

• Choose your designs for your bridal entourage (of course, you MUST already have your designated person) - I did my choosing by browsing wedding magazines. I have chosen my best friend as my Matron of Honor, my sister as my Maid of Honor, my cousins as my secondary sponsors (candle, veil and cord), my sisters as Bridesmaids, my brother as one of the Groomsmen, my fiance's brother as the Best Man and my fiance's nephews to complete the Groomsmen.

• Don't forget the invitations, cake and souvenirs - one of my Ninangs and my fiance's sister were kind enough to sponsor these. If you're not so lucky, make sure you check out Divisoria for more affordable choices.

Okay, I think that's it for now. I'm a bit sleepy. OMG, it's waaay past my bedtime (I have to sleep early for my baby). I'll post some more tomorrow. 

Status: MARRIED

It was the most beautiful wedding I have ever been to. Well, I guess I'm being a bit bias since it's my wedding

Anyway, I don't know why many people are against getting married. It's actually bliss on earth especially when you're married to your best friend.

Our wedding went smoothly although we were almost late (the bridal entourage arrived at EXACTLY 3:45PM!) Good thing it was my uncle who presided the mass or else there wouldn't be any mass at all!

First thing I have noticed on my wedding day was the calmness that I felt. I thought I would be in a panic state but behold, I was feeling zen all the way. Of course I was emotional (being almost five months pregnant and all) but other than that, I was serene, calm and pretty much "glowing". My friends and family told me I was the epitome of a blushing bride.

Also, on your wedding day, get ready to feel (and act) like a celebrity. The photographers will literally be following you and your groom from your house to the reception. Very tiring!

Of course, perfection is impossible to achieve so to help you "get ready", here's a list of the things my husband and I have encountered during our big day:

• no shows - especially when they are part of the entourage. Make sure that you have a proxy available to avoid any interruptions during the wedding proper.
• too many photographers -  this is NOT actually a problem but it can cause a riot during the pictorial because you wouldn't know where to look! A piece of advice: assign one set for the groom and one set for the bride. Trust me, it'll be the best advice you'll ever get
• errors in the program - well, what else can we do? Just go with the flow. Don't be harsh on your MC. Sometimes, he had to do something to fill in between the awkward moments.
• reception flaws - it happens; no matter how long or how meticulous you have talked to the caterer, there will always be a problem such as table setting, red carpet, bubble machine... oh I can go on and on about the flaws but as the saying goes, "the show must go on"

Hmm, let's forget about the flaws and just focus more on the good stuff like:

1. my husband's emotional outburst
2. my vow *ehem*
3. my mommy's speech as well as my mommy tita's speech
4. the cake (yum yum)
5. father-daughter dance
6. my live "Just The Way You Are" acoustic entrance song *swoon*
7. every minute of our wedding! :)

Fast forward to today (at exactly 4 weeks after the wedding)

It has been an awesome ride (so far). I have been doing a routine everyday. Waking up at 4AM to prepare breakfast, get to work by 6AM, go home at around 4PM, then prepare dinner at around 5:30AM. The good thing is even though it's kind of tiring, I am happy to do these things. Seeing my husband happy makes me happy.

I've got great news as well. We just found out the gender of our baby and it's a BOY! Can you believe it? I was teary-eyed when I first saw his two eyes, one nose, one mouth, two arms, two hands, two legs and two feet. The doctor said that we can't do a 3D/4D ultrasound just yet. We have to wait for the baby to reach his seventh or eight month to do that. I can't wait to meet him!

Okay, I promise to write a regular entry every week. I'll start tonight. I have decided to talk more about my baby, married life, cooking and of course, a little about anything under the sun. I want my baby to see this and make my baby boy feel special.

I can't wait to meet you my dear baby boy!