Choco Banana Berry Smoothie

Though it was a cold day in the Bay, I still had the urge to whip up this glass of yummy goodness! Here's what I used for 1 serving ---

3/4 cup Almond milk
1.5-1.75 cups frozen fruit (I had already chopped and froze 4 large strawberries,  1/2 cup blueberries & half a banana ahead of time)
1 tsp Cocoa powder
1 tsp Honey (add more if you wish)
*optional: top with chocolate whipped cream and sprinkles :)

Blend it like Beckham yo!!... set to chop for several seconds till fruit is macerated,  then blend for a smooth consistency.  Pour in your favorite glass and enjoy!

CHEERS!

Savory Filipino-style Pasta Sauce

Meaty pasta sauce with an Asian twist.

You hungry yet?

 

     Yeheyyy! It's a weekend of no work and that means preparing food that will last a couple days for my family. This is such a simple yet popular dish that in my culture is a must have and is always present at gatherings, parties most especially at birthdays or fiestas. Most Filipinos put slices of "red" hotdogs as the meat for this sauce but I prefer to stick to the usual meatballs and/or Italian sausage meat, and always try to find ways to fuse or incorporate a Filipino twist in popular dishes from other countries. This is my version of the typical pasta sauce marrying it with elements of our Filipino spaghetti sauce. It's sweet, it's savory... it's really good!

Ingredients:

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 large onion, diced

66 oz (4lb 2oz) Ragu Traditional pasta sauce

12 oz Jufran Banana Sauce (banana ketchup)

1 lb Johnsonville Mild Italian sausage meat

1 bag (1 lb 10oz) Rosina Meatballs Italian style, fully cooked

1/4 c fish sauce

1tsp Kosher salt

1 tbsp sugar

pepper to taste

*Note -  the salt plus fish sauce may seem intimidating especially because it's a double dose, but I promise once you top or mix this with your pasta of choice the saltiness will tone down and you will just love the sweet-savory taste of this dish as a whole!

Let's cook...

Choco BananaCado Smoothie

I would have never thought of having both banana and avocado together in a smoothie :) 
... and this one proves to be a delightful option to my usual blended drinks or shakes. This is so creamy and delicious!  

Ingredients for 1 serving:

Half banana, half small avocado (or 1/4 of a large avocado), 1 tsp cocoa powder, 1/2 cup almond milk, crushed ice, honey or any natural sweetener to your liking. BLEND AWAY! Cheers!!

Optional: top with whipped cream and sprinkles

Grapefruit Lemonade

Just before preparing my brunch I make one full round in the kitchen and saw some grapefruit and mangos on the counter. An idea came to mind. But first I needed to know if we had lemons... Yes!! I just had to make a toast to the sun after a long week of rain, so here's how this frosty drink came about - - -

 

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
Juice from 2 grapefruit
Juice from 1 lemon (or half)
Sugar, add and adjust to your liking
Kosher salt, just a pinch
Mango cubes, ripe and yellow/orange (slice one side, score lenghtwise and crosswise then spoon out the cubes)
1 tsp of Torani raspberry flavoring syrup

WHAT TO DO:
In a blender add in a cup to 1.5 cups of ice, pour in all the juice and pulse to crush the ice till you can then use the blend or puree setting. Pour into a glass, add in the sugar and salt, stir and taste. Add in the mango cubes and drizzle with raspberry syrup. The ice will rise to the top and give it a nice frosty look! I am literally finishing up my drink while typing up this blog and OMG the sweet mango offers a delicious contrast to the palette in the sour citrus sea of freshness, it's amazing!

ENJOY!!