Steamed Fish and Vegetables

Steamed lapu-lapu, okra and camote tops with sliced fresh tomato.

One of my reasons why I decided to be a full time mother is to make sure that my family eats healthy and since I started staying at home, one of the changes I made on our daily meal is the way we prepare food.

My children loves to eat fried foods but as we all know fried foods are not so good to our health so hubby and I introduced them to a more healthy steamed or grilled foods.

Personally, I prefer to steam foods because it is easier and faster to prepare and you get the full flavor of the meat, fish or vegetable.

One of my favorite fish to be steamed is the spotted grouper or lapu-lapu in filipino.  After drying the fish, I just rub it with salt, pepper and dried rosemary then wrap it in aluminum foil (banana leaf if available) and put it in a steamer.  After a few minutes, the fish is cooked and ready to be served.

To complete our meal, I serve this steamed lapu-lapu with steamed vegetables and steamed rice.  The children loves this dish minus the vegetables but at least they are already starting to love foods other than the fried ones.

Tony Roma's Adventure

Picture from Tony Roma's Website

Last week I met with some of my friends whom I have not seen for some time.  Actually, we just work in the same office but we seldom see each other because we belong to different departments and our work stations are located on different floors of the building.  We just communicate through e-mails.

After some time of discussing as to where we are going to have our dinner, one of my friends suggested that we try Tony Roma's.  I remember when we were still assigned in Japan, we passed by a Tony Roma's place and she had mentioned that she really wanted to dine in this place but we never had a chance because aside from being expensive, it's hard to communicate.

This time, we're here in Manila, no more communication barriers and we have some money to splurge (occasionally).  At last, we conquered you Tony Roma's. 

Looking at the menu book, it's easy to pick what we want because each menu is briefly described.  Our only problem is that we don't know how big is the serving of each menu so we asked the waiter for some advice.  After some question and answer portion, we ordered 1 full serving of Sonoma Salad, full slab of The Original Baby Back Ribs and The Roma Feast.  The two entrees are served with two side dishes.  There are different choices of side dishes  and we chose corn on the cob, coleslaw and baked potato.

When our order was served, our eyes popped because what was said which is ideal to be shared by two can really be shared by four.  It was really a challenge for us to finish all the food in front of us but in the end, we lose ... but there's nothing to worry, taking home of left overs is always an option.

Sonoma Salad

The salad is so crisp and fresh, the chicken is tender and tasty and the dressing is delicious.  The taste of chopped nuts was an added flavor.

The Roma Feast and The Original Baby Back Ribs

The Roma Feast includes Carolina Honey Ribs (a little sweet flavor), delicious chicken BBQ, a little spicy sausage, corn on the cob and coleslaw.  I just can't decide what to pick first.  Hmmm .... delicious!

The Original Baby Back Ribs is mouth watering, so tender and moist.  If I had an additional space in my stomach, I can finish the full slab of this ribs.

All in all, our experience at Tony Roma's was really great.  Real value for our money ... great food ... great service ... great ambiance.  Everything's great.  The bonding time with my friends was perfect.

Looking forward for my next visit and this time, I will try their char-grilled steaks.

It's eating time

 Special thanks to Leo for bringing his camera.  Lesson for a starting blogger like me ... always have a camera ready.  Blogs with pictures are always interesting to visit.

Eggplant and Camote Tops with Panbroiled fish

Yesterday I was so engrossed with cleaning our bedroom cabinet that it was already lunch time and there's only steamed rice prepared for lunch.

I checked the freezer and there's only two slices of tanigi (Spanish Mackerel) left and a few slices of pork.  I decided to cook the fish because it is easier and faster to prepare.

Without any seasoning, I pan broiled the fish for just a few minutes.  In a separate pan, I boiled a small amount of water then I added tomatoes, onion, eggplant and the pan broiled fish.  I seasoned it with salt and a little fish sauce before covering the pan.  After a few minutes, the eggplant was done so I added the camote tops after removing the pan from heat.  This way, the camote tops won't be overcooked.

The pan broiled fish

Eggplant and Camote Tops with pan broiled fish

This dish was usually cooked by my mother when I was young except that she don't broil the fish.  Other vegetables can be used such as ampalaya (bitter gourd), malunggay, pechay or other green and leafy vegetables.


In less than 15 minutes I have prepared a simple yet nutritious dish.

Pan Fried Pork Tapa with Onion

Today we had a simple yet very delicious breakfast. As usual, my husband does the cooking (I admit he cooks a lot better than me).....his menu.... Pan Fried Pork Tapa with Onion.

The preparation was very simple. Last night he marinated the pork (tapa cut) with calamansi, soy sauce, garlic, ground black pepper, balsamic vinegar, oyster sauce, olive oil and dried rosemary and let it stand overnight. There's no specific measurement of the ingredients, it's all about "gut feel".

This morning he pan fried the marinated meat and he used small amount of butter instead of oil. Wohoh, it smelled really good and I can't wait to take a bite. When the meat is done, he garnished it with sauteed onion rings.

True to its smell the pan fried pork tapa is really delicious, very tender and no need of a sauce since the marinade was really absorbed by the meat. The sauteed onion rings is a bonus for this recipe, it tastes really good.

Oh, and about the kids, they were still sleeping when we had our breakfast but we left them with a good portion of pan fried pork tapa....... the onion, me and my husband consumed it all, they won't eat it anyway.