Ricotta Meatballs in Creamy White Wine Sauce

Today I felt like a contestant in that popular show from the Food Network - Chopped. I had some left-over ingredients which needed to be used up but they seemed to be an odd assortment. Initially, I felt like it would be weird to merge them in one dish, much like in Chopped (though perhaps not as extreme) where contestants are supposed to come with a yummy dish using a medley of ingredients which you don't normally put together. That was my challenge for the day - how to use in one dish a few pieces of sun-dried tomatoes, a little wine, two types of cheeses and ground beef.

Baked Chicken with Olives and Zucchini

Yay for Fall! That means the weather is cooler and we can finally turn our ovens on to bake and cook delicious meals for our family. When I make a savory dish for my family, I try to use simple recipes that I can easily prepare and do not require too much fuss. After all, when school season begins, there are tons of activities to attend to and oftentimes, there isn't a lot of time to make dinner.

Creamy Pasta with Pancetta and Mushrooms

You can never go wrong with bacon and mushrooms! This creamy and delicious pasta with pancetta is our comfort food for sure.  

I am so happy to be living in New Haven, CT! Two yummy reasons are - Whole Foods and Trader Joe's! When we were in  Michigan the nearest Trader Joe's was 3 hours away - to the west in a Chicago suburb and to the east in a suburb of Detroit. That means when we visit either store, we tend to hoard as we don't know when we will return. My hubby is such a huge fan of their salsas so we haul loads of them back home.

Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore

Before I converted my hubby to become a pork and beef lover (particularly ribs), he pretty much ate only chicken. Let me correct that, he ate pork but only in the form of breakfast sausages and particularly the British variety as he believes they make the best sausages in the world - I must say, I do agree. At any rate, he still prefers to have chicken over red meat as he is quite health conscious (I am obviously not as good as him as I love pork too much!).

Sweet and Spicy Shrimp and Zucchini Stir-Fry

In Asian cooking, we like our food to have layers of flavors. It's not enough for it to be just plain salty or savory or even sweet. It's got to be more than that. It has to be a little sweet, a little spicy, quite tangy....a combination of flavors that will excite one's palate - delicious complexity in other words.

Frikadeller (Danish Meatballs)

When we went to Africa, it was the first time we have heard of Frikadelles (or meatballs). We were so happy to have been acquainted with such a dish that I truly begged (ok - asked nicely) to get the South African recipe for the delicious meatballs we had. It was simply amazing that we couldn't forget how wonderful these meatballs tasted. We have made it at home many many times and never tire of it.

Chicken Ramen

In 2009, we went back to the Philippines to visit my family for the Holidays. En route we stopped by Tokyo so we can see what it's like in Japan during the Holidays and also to have a much needed break after that long trip from Chicago. Once we landed and after checking-in at our hotel, we immediately went to search for food (airlines don't feed you much nowadays, do they?).

Rosemary Chicken with Courgettes (Zucchini)

We went to England in 2010 and stayed with my hubby's very good friend, Robin, while in London. His wife was away visiting her family abroad at that time so he was left in-charge of taking care of us and feeding us. Wow, I was almost afraid for him - not that we are difficult guests (LOL) but just because I didn't want him to make a fuss or to be intimidated with our presence.