Vegetable and Macaroni Soup with Crispy Bacon Bits

My toddler Samantha is such a joy to feed! She now eats table food and almost everything that I serve to her big sister, Sophia so that means kitchen time is back to easy for me. I no longer make separate food for the tiny one. No more boiling and mashing and storing. My baby foodie now eats freshly-cooked food. Thank God for daughters who love eating as much as I love cooking! It's not always a walk in the park, though. There are days when one of them, or sometimes both, feel like being judgy as if I'd feed them something gross. Well, I've made myself a general rule when it comes to my relationship with food and motherhood—while I enjoy seeing my kids finish their plant-based meals, I still acknowledge the fact that they are humans who deserve to enjoy 'delish dishes'. 

What I mean by delish dishes are food our generation has always loved when we were kids (uhm till now actually). Like spaghetti, burger, fried chicken, pizza, and what-have-yous. Back then, it's every child's dream to eat those on a regular basis. Jollibee was like the god of happiness in the 90s! But not me. As a kid, I was happier to have nilagang baka, pancit and chicken macaroni soup. In fact, I knew my mama, who's a widow, has extra money when she makes us creamy and hearty macaroni soup. She paired it with fried fish or breaded pork chops. It was one of the best memories of my childhood... watching my mother cook for us. Her version of macaroni soup has julienned carrots, shredded cabbage, chicken pieces and sliced hotdogs. I loved my mama's soup but now that I'm a grown-up and have learned the risks of eating hotdogs regularly, I have almost taken that out of our grocery list. Also, pink soups mean there's food color. But guys, this recipe still has processed meat. Why? Duh, bacon!

Chicken and Broccoli Stir-Fry with Crispy Tofu

Please don't hate me – I'm one of the lucky moms who has a kid and a husband who regularly eat veggies. In fact, my not-so-little foodie, Sophia actually requested for chopseuy when we had lunch in Baler last summer. With that said, I usually find it easy to serve them veggie dishes. In my close to a decade experience of homemaking (I feel sooo good writing that, wow 10 years can you imagine), it's apparent for me to have already memorized the food my husband likes. As for my growing girl, every new meal is a discovery.

One time, I served her fried tofu. She asked me what it was then said she doesn't like it. I urged her to try it first and dip it in the sauce I made. I knew she loved it when I saw a tiny smile in the corner of her lips as she chewed. My homecooking mama heart was so happy! That's when I was sure she will love it added in dishes that she already eats. Hence, I served her Chicken and Broccoli Stir-Fry with Crispy Tofu. Yum.

Ginisang Labong at Saluyot

My husband's family has been in this neighborhood since the early 1980s. So they basically know each and everyone in the area. In fact, if you get lost coming here, ask for our surname and they will direct you to our house. Just don't do bad things to us; you won't like what can happen to you, haha. Anyway, my favorite benefit of living here is the good number of community vendors that often knock on our door, er, gate. One of them is Grace, an old woman who sells fresh produce from her own harvest. My pure Bicolana mother-in-law, Mama A, gets fresh gabi leaves from her that she cooks into laing. One day, Grace cheerfully arrived with fresh labong (bamboo shoots). I was so excited I bought it all! Then Mama A prepped it for cooking by boiling and extracting the not-so-pleasant taste of its liquid. Para daw "walang kati". The next day, she bought saluyot, tomatoes and ginger. I bought bangus. We were on a serious mission for some tasty dinengdeng! However, Mama A had allergies that day so I skipped using bagoong isda for this recipe, making it a simple guisado. 

You know what, okay lang naman 'cause I used fish sauce (patis) instead and the natural flavor of fried bangus made it more delish. To be honest, this was the first time that I cooked this! I was so happy it was a success and that my tweener foodie loved it so I'm sharing this with all of you.

Ginisang Sayote at Carrots

Mashed sayote was Sophia's first food. Eversince, the unassuming and versatile veggie has been a mainstay in my grocery list. It's so easy to feed to kids! In fact, Samantha just had a mashed sayote with breastmilk today. Our baby bear loved it, too – no spills, no mess! So I'd like to share my recipe with you. 

No-brainer dish ito for someone who knows how to cook but I'm sure, a lot of you want to know a fail-proof base recipe of a guisadong gulay. This one can be altered by adding other veggies that match sayote. Serve it for lunch, dinner or for your families' baon along with fried meat. Ready to cook?