Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Skydreamer Eats: Ham and Cheese Sandwich


One hot afternoon, after watching BFF (Babe for Food - a Cebuana food blogger) make Croque Monsieur, I decided to make one without the oil. I'm pretty sure BFF's version is delightful, and you can find her video about it HERE.

Now for my version, I used the following:

Sweet Ham (cut in quarters)
Ham Sandwich Spread (I used Lady's Choice)
Cheese (I used Eden)
White Bread (I usually go for wheat bread, but did not have those at home last week)
Homemade Pesto (optional) - for my homemade pesto recipe, click HERE.

*Now, if you're anything like me, homemade pesto is the bomb! If you haven't tried it yet, just once - go and make your own - it will change your life! :D

1. First, cook your ham in a non stick pan without oil, about 1 minute or so.
2. Take out one slice of white bread, and put a layer of ham sandwich spread. Add 3-4 ham slices.
3. Take another slice of white bread, put a layer of ham spread and pesto. Add 2-3 slices of cheese.
4. Take out your sandwich maker, and heat your sandwich until they're quite hot (usually, they will turn a golden brown, but I made mine a little bit underdone, hence the white bread in the picture below looks pale).
5. Cut the sandwich in half.
6. Serve to your loved ones and enjoy!

A really easy afternoon snack, and it won't take you 5 minutes to make!

Thanks BFF for the idea. :)




easy-ham-and-cheese-sandwich
Ham and Cheese Sandwich
 
Try it and let me know what you think! :D

Sunday, May 26, 2013

His Royal Cuteness - May 2013


On our way to see daddy yesterday afternoon. We bought the cutest little swimming trunks for our baby boy. Stay tuned for the next post! :D



My little big boy

BTW, I'm using Human Nature's Petal Bloom Blush - it has a nice coral color and gives a subtle glow to anyone using it.

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Skydreamer dines in Cebu: La Vie Parisienne

Read all about my wonderful time in La Vie Parisienne by clicking HERE.

La Vie Parisienne is the newest place in Cebu where you can find french macarons. La Vie Parisienne means The Parisian Life in English, and they also sell french breads, cheese and wine. Now, I haven't actually been there, but my husband and baby boy went there a couple days ago to get some macarons for me.

The flavors he got for me were mango, pistachio, caramel and chocolate. Their macarons are, in one word - amaaaazing. Finally, I understand the rest of the world's fixation of these delicate sweets. Finally, I can say that my P40 for one small macaron is worth it. It was very rich, almost fudgy in the middle and it wasn't too sweet. From the flavors we picked, I loved the caramel and chocolate the most, and mango the least (I didn't get to taste the pistachio flavored macaron).




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French Macarons from La Vie Parisienne



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La Vie Parisienne's Box of Four 

                                          


La Vie Parisienne Information:
Address: Gorordo Avenue, next to La Maison Rose
Operating Hours: 7AM - 12MN
Contact Number: 260 4388

Try it, and let me know what you think! :D

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Skydreamer Eats: Pesto Butter Porkchop

One of the best things in life is pesto butter porkchop. I used to eat this a lot in Brown Cup, a coffee shop in IT Park; however, there are times when they don't have pesto, and when they do, the ones they use are store bought. Since we had pesto at home, Moses decided to make some for us.

I don't exactly know how he made this, but based on what I know, he fried some pork chops and when it was done, he added butter and homemade pesto.

It tasted great - even better than the ones sold in Brown Cup. It's a lot cheaper too, because we just made them at home. :D

To make your own homemade pesto, click HERE.



easy-pesto-butter-porkchop-recipe
homemade pesto butter porkchop
 
Try it, and let me know what you think! :D

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Skydreamer Eats: Korean Soy garlic chicken

One of my fastfood guilty pleasures is Bon Chon's soy garlic chicken. I love it so much, that I researched online how to make it. At first, I used Mccormick's ready made Korean soy garlic mix. It was ridiculously easy to do, but tasted nothing like Bon Chon or Chosun Chicken (that Korean place in Mango).

So I searched around the net and found a relatively easy recipe from James Strange:


I asked my husband to cook for us since he's better at it than me. One of the ingredients listed is mirin, which is a form of Japanese rice wine, but has less alcohol than sake (definition from Wiktionary). Since we couldn't find it here, hubby substituted it with apple cider vinegar; we followed everything else in the video. Also, we used Kikkoman soy sauce. 

Here's the finished product:



easy-bonchon-chicken-recipe
Korean Soy Garlic Chicken
 

So, how was the chicken? I'd have to say that the homemade version is a lot better in taste, and although our chicken wasn't as crispy (even though we deep fried them twice), the meat was definitely more tender and juicier than Bon Chon's. I love our family's version and we make a batch of this at least once a month.

Try it, and let me know what you think! :D

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Skydreamer dines in Cebu: Vanille Cafe and Patisserie

Happy Mother's Day to my mom and to all the mothers out there!

To celebrate that, I have a special post about french macarons. After all, who doesn't like to have a taste of la vie Parisienne?

I first tasted these delicate sweets a couple years back and although I feel like it's too sweet sometimes and a bit on the expensive side, I still get a couple of macarons every now and then.

In Cebu, I love Vanille's hazelnut and pistachio macarons. I take them with coffee to balance the sweetness. It's also great with hot tea.



french-macarons-in-vanille-cafe
Hot Cafe Mocha with hazelnut and pistachio macarons
  Vanille Patisserie Information:
They have a branch in SM Northwing
and a stall in Ayala Center Cebu
Facebook Page: Vanille

Thursday, May 9, 2013

My Face Deconstructed

I don't normally do a beauty post, but that doesn't mean I don't love makeup. So just for today, humor me while I interrupt my usual foodie post with this:



Products I used last night

Face:
The Body Shop Extra Virgin Minerals in Rose Ivory
Human Nature Perfect Coverage Mineral Foundation in caramel

Eyes:
Elf Eyelid Primer in Sheer
Milani double impact blush coffee n cream 03
Chanel Quad Eyeshadow
LA Girls Fineline Liquid Eyeliner
Tarte Lights Camera Lashes

Cheeks:
Human Nature Mineral Blush in Petal Bloom
Rimmel Mono Eyeshadow in Spun Gold

Lips:
Avon Extra Lasting in Always Rose
Maybelline Colorsensational in Summer Sunset




Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Skydreamer dines in Cebu: Royal Krua Thai

Ever since Thai food was introduced to me more than six years ago, our family has always celebrated birthdays, celebrations, out-of-town visitor lunches/dinners and everything in between in Krua Thai SM and sometimes Siam in Ayala (when we're too lazy to go all the way to SM).

A few days ago, we had dinner there and as usual, their food did not disappoint. For appetizer, we had fish fillet. For our main course, we had their Thai Crispy Pata, Chicken in Yellow Curry Paste, and Pork in Oyster Sauce. And we also had a platter of jasmine rice and bagoong fried rice.

I know that a lot of people say that most Thai restaurants here are not authentic and most of the food are fused with Filipino taste, but it's ok with me. I'm not very high maintenance when it comes to food. As long as it tastes great for me, that's fine. Royal Krua Thai will always be our go-to Thai restaurant.




thai-crispy-pata-at-krua-thai
Thai Crispy Pata



bagoong-fried-rice-at-krua-thai
Bagoong Fried Rice



pork-in-oyster-sauce-at-krua-thai
Pork in Oyster Sauce



fish-fillet-appetizer-at-krua-thai
Our appetizer: Fish Fillet (Dory) - it was in my opinion, a bit dry



chicken-in-yellow-curry-paste-at-krua-thai
Chicken in Yellow Curry Paste - YUMMM!!!
 Krua Thai Information:
I cannot find their website, but this is their Google Plus link: Krua Thai