~*Cooking with Bae: Part 1 - Simple Paella & Guacamole*~

J and I had been hemming and hawing for a while about what to cook for our first "Cooking with Bae" sesh. Japanese, Mexican, Italian...so many great cuisines to choose from!



In the end, we settled on a Spanish/Mexican/French fusion - a simple Paella, Guacamole dip and a side of baked baguettes (which we didn't bake ourselves - yes, we cheated!), Ardennes pate and Spanish meats. This was served with a large bottle of Sangria.


Head chef J was in charge of cooking the Paella while I, sous chef MY, whipped up the Guacamole and prepped the table.


For someone who hasn't had very much experience in the kitchen, J did a brilliant job of the Paella! I was pleasantly surprised at how well he took to cooking, and he looked so cute using the spatula when mixing everything up in the frying pan...:) I'll be sure to give him a more challenging dish to cook next time...without my help!


Both dishes turned out very well, but the Paella for sure was the star of the show. J was so proud of himself that he ended up cooking the Paella for some friends when he went back down to London. I've been told that he got massive thumbs-up for his efforts too!


Anyway, here are the recipes that we followed for the Paella and Guacamole...enjoy! XOXO

Paella  (serves 2)

1/2 tbsp of vegetable oil
Slice chorizo (please feel free to be generous with this!)
1/2 diced onion
1/4 tsp turmeric
300g cooked plain rice
100g cooked prawn
50g frozen peas
Lemon wedges (to serve)

1. Heat oil in a frying pan. Tip in the chorizo, onion and garlic, then cook for a couple of minutes until softened. Stir through turmeric, followed by the rice, prawns and peas and 150ml of water.


2. Keep stirring until everything is warmed through and the water has been absorbed. The rice should still be wet. Decorate with lemon wedges.



Guacamole (serves 2)


2 ripe avocadoes, mashed
1 diced tomato
1/2 diced red onion (or a whole one, depending on how strong you want the bite)
Chopped coriander
1/2 lemon for the juice (to taste)
Salt and pepper (to season)


1. Place the mashed avocadoes, tomato, red onion and coriander into a bowl and mix well.


2. Take the lemon and squeeze small amounts of juice into the avocado mixture at a time. Keep adding the juice until you are happy with the taste.
3. Add salt and pepper to season.







J working his magic!



The table! Alfie the cat was "guarding" the food at the time!



Made with love

~*Introducing...Cooking with Bae!*~

Hi everyone!




I can't believe it's been so long since my last post (especially after I promised I would blog more)! I would say I've been super busy with life in general, which is kinda true, but to be completely honest, I've been pretty lazy with blogging over the past few months (or years)...but I'm back now!



Anyway the reason for this post is to introduce a new segment to MyMy's Munchies, which is called...*drum roll*... Cooking with Bae!! And you've probably guessed it...I will be cooking with bae! My boyfriend J (i.e. "bae") and I are currently in a long-ish distance relationship (him being in London and me being 294 miles away up north, near Newcastle), and since we both love food and are trying to find inexpensive things we can do as a couple so we can afford travel fares to see each other, we are going to be experimenting with cooking dishes from around the world from the comfort of my kitchen!



As some of you may know, I really enjoy cooking and trying out new recipes, however J hasn't had a lot of experience in the kitchen and is very much a "sauce from a jar" kind of man. In order to challenge his limits, J has been appointed head chef during our "Cooking with Bae" cookathons, a responsibility I am confident he will undertake very well (though if I get food poisoning, you know why!).

We hope that you will enjoy this segment and maybe learn some new and simple dishes to try out yourselves along the way!

Also, if you are an Instagram user, you can find some of our dishes using #cookingwithbae! Make sure you click the "heart" button to like!

Happy cooking!

XOXO

~*I'm baaaack!! With an Italian Spread to Share!!*~

Hello all!

It's been a while!!



First of all, sorry for being rubbish by abandoning MyMy's Munchies for over a year. To be honest, I had a pretty lazy 2015, plodding on with life, going to work, coming home from work, etc etc...but now I am back and ready to share more foodie posts with you all!



I have promised myself that I will be more active in 2016, and it's been a pretty good year so far! I am currently training for my first 10k run (eeek!) which my friend Rachel and I will be doing for Cancer Research, eating better (ish...weekends don't count!) and generally trying to live a happy and healthy life. I'm also in the process of going through something really big (aaaahhh!!!), but more on that once everything has been finalised.

Anyhoo...food!

Recently, my mum and I decided to prepare an Italian-inspired dinner with lots of bread, olives and anything Italian we could find in our local supermarket. We decided on Italian food that day based on my mum's olive and bread craving, as well as her being super hungry. She was literally grabbing anything she could find in Sainsbury's and sticking them in our shopping basket. Note to self - don't go shopping whilst hungry!

With our mounds of stock, we prepared our spectacular spread which consisted of the following:

- Bruschetta (oven-baked tiger bread with garlic butter, basil, tomato, mozzarella cheese and Italian ham)
- Bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, with a side of black and green olives
- Ham, feta cheese (OK, so we turned Greek here...) and sundried tomato skewers
- Sliced avocado drizzled with olive oil
- Courgette and carrot "vegetti" with Bolognaise sauce

All washed down with a bottle of super sweet dessert wine (you can find a great selection in Sainbury's).

And here is how it all turned out...

~*Merry Christmas - 2014!!*~

Hello peeps! First of all, a very MERRY XMAS to you and all of your loved ones! I hope you enjoyed your day as much as I did :)

For the past couple of years, I have blogged about my family's Christmas eats and decided to continue this tradition by doing it again this year. As mentioned in previous years, I feel very lucky to be from a multi-cultural background and to have grown up with such amazing food from the Philippines, Japan and England, and from other countries too.

This Christmas, my mum did the usual and laid on an amazing spread of foods from our cultures. We had the traditional English Christmas dinner (Turkey, vegetables, Yorkshire Puddings, etc), Japanese Sushi, as well as a wide selection of typical Filipino Xmas foods, such as Jamonado (sweet ham) and Morcon (beef role). We also had a few buffet-style nibbles on the table, such as breaded scallops and mozarella sticks - yum!!

Here are a few photos of the amazing food we had on Christmas day, plus some personal favourites of my family. 

"Pigs in Blankets" (chipolata sausages wrapped in bacon) - a favourite during Xmas eaten with traditional Turkey dinner.

Breaded scallops and prawns.

The Christmas spread :)

One half of the food table.

The other half of the food table.

Spread xx

Me and my mum before dinner xx

Mum, my sister-in-law and I with our "Jungle" cocktails.

My mum, sister-in-law and I :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS & ALL THE BEST!! XXX

~* Peanut Butter & White Chocolate Cookies (Only 4 Ingredients!!)*~

Autumn always puts me in the mood to bake, especially on lazy Sundays when everything feels so cosy and homely in the flat.

The recipe I am sharing with you all today is for Peanut Butter & White Chocolate Cookies, a delicious treat which is ideal to share with friends and family. Made up of only 4 ingredients, it is super simple and inexpensive to make!

I know this isn't as healthy as my usual recipes, but we're all allowed a treat every once in a while, right? :)

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups of Peanut Butter (smooth or crunchy - I used crunchy)
• 1 1/2 cups of Caster Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 1 cup of White Chocolate Chips (you can use milk or dark chocolate if you prefer)

RECIPE

• Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.

• Put the Peanut Butter, Caster Sugar, Eggs and Chocolate Chips into a bowl and mix together until smooth to create the cookie dough.

 

• Form small dough balls by using a round tablespoon (or you can use your hands). If desired, coat the outside of the dough balls with sugar for extra sweetness.
• Place the dough balls onto the baking tray and ensure they are at least 2 inches apart from each other.
• Slightly flatten each of the dough balls with your hand or spatula. For extra deliciousness, place a few extra chocolate chips on top of each cookie.

• Bake for 6 to 8 minutes, or until the cookies are slightly browned on the bottom. Be careful not to over-bake!
• Once the cookies are done, let them cool on the baking tray for 1 minute, then transfer onto a wire rack to cool completely. 

And that's it!! Hope you enjoy these lovely cookies as much as I did - bon apetite!

~* Pasta alla Checca*~

Time for another simple pasta recipe!
 
This one is Pasta alla Checca, a super easy yet delicious pasta dish which is ideal if you want to prepare something quick for the next day.

I was inspired to prepare this after watching Benji Travis (of Benjiman TV on Youtube), who totally swears by this dish, and I really wanted to see what all of the fuss was about.

If you do decide to try this dish out, I would recommend preparing the "alla Checca" (the pasta sauce) the night before you plan to serve this, as the longer the ingredients are left to marinate together, the stronger the bite.

I hope you enjoy this bowl of deliciousness as much as I did :)
 
INGREDIENTS (serves 2)

• Any type of pasta (I used Spaghetti for my version)
• 3 ripe Tomatoes (cut into small pieces)
• Fresh Basil (cut into small shreds)
• Minced Garlic (fresh or jarred - I used jarred garlic for my version) - the amount depends on how garlicky you want this to be! I love garlic so I added 3 heaped teaspoons.
• Olive oil
• 1 ball of Mozzarella Cheese, cubed
• Salt and Pepper to season

RECIPE

• Put the tomatoes, basil and garlic into a mixing bowl.

• Add enough olive oil to cover the mixture, then stir everything together.

• Cover the mixture with cling film and place into the fridge, leaving it to marinate for a minimum of 2 hours (I would recommend allowing 4-6 hours).
• Once the mixture has marinated, boil water in a pan and cook the pasta of your choice.
• While the pasta is cooking, add the Mozzarella Cheese to the marinated mixture, and stir. Season with salt and pepper.

• Once pasta is done, drain the water and add to the mixture. Stir everything together.

 

And that's it! I told you it was easy!

Why not treat yourself and serve with some garlic bread and a side salad? Mmmm!

~* MyMy's Super Healthy Turkey & Veg Casserole*~

Today, I am going to share with you a very simple and healthy recipe which I created using a variety of ingredients which I had in my fridge.

 

I try and lead a generally healthy lifestyle and always ensure that there are tons of veggies in the fridge, and you'll see that I used quite a bit for this particular dish.

 

I was inspired by one of my favourite Filipino dishes called "Afritada" (a tomato-based chicken dish), so those who are familiar with this will see the similarities between the two.

 

This dish would be ideal for a hearty, low-fat dinner for the family and can be eaten with rice or bread, or even on its own.

 

Hope you enjoy this dish as much as I did :)

 

INGREDIENTS (this makes a big pot!)

•  600g of diced Turkey Thigh (as you can see from the photo below, I had been hitting the bargain aisle again!!)
• 1 can of chopped tomatoes
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1/2 chopped yellow pepper, diced with the seeds removed
• 1 small sweet potato, chopped into cubes
• 1 cup of frozen mixed veg (peas, carrots and green beans)
• 3 tablespoons of chickpeas
• Handful of fresh spinach
• Salt and pepper to taste (I only used a minimal amount)

RECIPE

1. Take a large saucepan and heat some oil (preferably olive oil or a couple of squirts of "Fry Light" for frying) over a medium heat. Once it is hot enough, add the diced onion and cook for 1 1/2 minutes.
2. Add the diced Turkey and cook until the meat changes to a light colour.
3. Stir in the can of chopped tomatoes so that it covers the Turkey and onion mixture. Leave to simmer over a medium heat for around 5 minutes.
4. Add the sweet potato and allow the mixture to simmer for a further 7 minutes, or until the potato is cooked through.

5. Place the chickpeas, peppers and frozen mixed vegetables into the casserole mixture, and again let them cook for a further 4-5 minutes. If the heat is too high, feel free to adjust it to a lower setting.

6. Add the spinach to the top of the mixture and cover the pan with a lid. Allow to simmer until the spinach begins to wilt. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and mix.

 

7. Serve up and enjoy! I served this with a small portion of brown rice, but as mentioned earlier, it can be served with bread or on its own too.