Hello everyone! It is the second Monday of the month already? Can you believe it? Anyway, sharing with you yet another fresh list of low-budget yet highly delicious ulam recipes that your family will surely love! If you are new here in our blog, you may want to check the earlier weekly lists here 

Like the past weeks, we will be sharing seven ulam or full meal ideas that are within the range of Php200.00 for our to five adult portions. The recent headlines on rice prices can prompt us to think for moe creative ways to stay within the budget, so I hope this week list of murang ulam ideas can help:

Filipino budget ulam ideas for the week

1. Chicken Salpicao. Since beef is kind of pricey, and chicken is equally yummy and affordable, why don’t we make some chicken salpicao! All you really need is chicken and lots of garlic and you are all set. If you have extra budget, you can add more mushroom for that yummier umami flavor. Here is a good recipe to check out.

2. Tortang giniling. Fluffy tortang giniling will always be a good budget meal idea. In our house, I just serve it with banana ketchup and everyone is happy! Half kilo of pork and four pieces of eggs will have a long way to go. Since most of us already have a torta go-to recipe in our arsenal, I will just be posting a recipe for beginner cooks. Here, here, here   

3. Tinapang Lumpia. I thought this is a bit complicated a recipe but we can buy frozen boneless tinapang bangus in any grocery, and it is really yummy! Just stuff it in local rice paper, and you will get the kids more excited about eating this kind of fish! The good thing about this recipe is you can also use other types of smoked fish, so just go with your favorite or what the budget permits. Here is a cool recipe to check out.

4. Adobong Sitaw with Tofu and Pork. This is a yummy yet budget-friendly ulam that will get the kids eating string beans. Try this on a weekday! Ladle the sauce over steaming rice and everything will surely be oh so yummy! This is a good recipe to try.

5. Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings and Adobong Kangkong. Just buy 3/4 kilogram of chicken wings, fry it like usual and just drizzle some salt and cracked pepper upon cooking. Pair it with adobong kangkong, and you will have a complete meal! The kids will surely love it. 

6. Chicken Leg Quarters Cooked in Sprite — Buy 4-5 pieces of leg quarters and cook it in sprite — a trending recipe some years ago, and is not promoted to be a mainstay in some households who love the sweet and savory taste of this chicken meal. Use leg quarters instead of whole chicken in this recipe.

7. No-oven Pinoy-style Baked Macaroni – To take a quick break from the rice meal routine, we can serve a no-oven “baked macaroni” which is usually served in parties. To stay within the budget we can use ground chicken instead of beef. We can use our usual Pinoy Spaghetti recipe and just add more cheese as the budget allows. If you do not have a go-to recipe yet, try this fun one. 

So that’s it, hope you will be able to use some (or even all) of the suggested recipes.

Food for the soul

At this point, I hope you could allow me to share with you, one of the bible passages I love to read and re-read. This is from the the Book of Psalms:

"But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness." Psalm 86:15

Thank you for stopping by and till next post!

A happy homemaker is  a Happy Pinay Mommy!

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Hello everyone! It is a Monday once again and it means that I shall be sharing with you a list of budget ulam recipes for the whole week. Like our past affordable ulam ideas, our list this week will again feature viands or main dishes that are reasonably easy to cook, with a budget of P150.00 to P200.00 per dish for 4-5 adult portions.

Making nutritious meals on a daily basis is not just a budgeting challenge, it could also be a planning challenge. Apart from thinking about what to cook, we moms have to make sure we have ingredients at hand. Moreover, we have to make sure that the ingredients are ready to be cooked — meaning thawed the night before. Without a meal plan, it will be harder to have nutritious meals on time, making us rely on processed or ready to cook food, or spend more money on delivery service of meals that are not as healthy as we would have wanted for our families.

Planning healthy meals through budget ulam recipes

Our budget ulam recipes are not just affordable, they are also healthy and balanced. While we moms cannot always readily prepare healthy meals either because of time, budget, or skills constraints, it is a must try to provide nutritious meals whenever possible.

Apart from providing nourishment, striving to cook healthy meals is like investing in your child’s health for the long term. It is like making them get used to eating full balanced meals so that they would prefer healthy home cooked food over processed meals and fast food items.

So without further ado, here is our list of budget ulam ideas for the week:

Weekly healthy budget ulam ideas list 2023

1. Twice-cooked Chicken Adobo with steamed tomatoes and chilled cucumber salad. One of the ways we enjoy plain chicken adobo at home is to cook it twice and prepare simple and budget-friendly side dishes like steamed ripe tomatoes and chilled cucumber salad. Before cooking the adobo, make a salad dressing by combining 1/2 cup of cane vinegar, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper, and 1 tbsp granulated sugar. Mix until dissolved and then add in cucumber slices. Refrigerate. Now it is time to prepare the main dish, just cook your adobo as you normally would and then refry it in oil. The steamed tomatoes on the other hand can be cooked alongside the steamed white rice. Serve everything with steamed rice and a huge smile

2. Laing. Laing can be a bit intimidating to cook but it really is not, and the best thing about it is it is affordable and yummy! Just saute onion, garlic and ginger. Add in 1/4 kilogram of pork or chicken. Once the meat is cooked, add 1 tbsp or more of ginisang bagoong and then 2 cups of coconut milk. At this point you may add in either bird’s eye chilis or siling labuyo or siling pansigang if you want it spicy. Add one tbsp of granulated sugar, mix and then bring to a boil. Taste and adjust the seasoning at this point. Add the dried Taro leaves about 2 fist-fulls (tip: SM sells dried taro leaves, so you can use about half of a P50.00 bag). Bring to a boil and let it simmer uncovered. Stop cooking until desired consistency is met — some like it a bit soupy, some like it just right (about 20-minute cooking time), while others like it nagmamantika which takes a lot longer. Either way the good thing about this recipe is you can freeze leftovers for whenever you crave

3. Crispy chicken neck and pechay guisado. Chicken neck is relatively cheap and you can get about 3/4 kilo to a kilo for less than 150.00. Just season the neck with patis and kalamansi, dredge in cornstarch-flour mixture and deep fry. Your remaining budget could be used to buy 100 grams of ground pork and bunches of pechay. Just saute onion, garlic, ground pork and wait till the meat is cooked. Add oyster sauce and 1/4 chicken cube and 1/2 cup of water. Add the chopped pechay and cook for about three minutes. Serve with a smile!

4. Asado chicken quarters. Sear chicken quarters, set aside. Add 1 cup of pineapple juice, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1 tbsp oyster sauce, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 pc of star anise, 1 pc of laurel leaves, and a pinch of pepper. Bring to a boil. Add in the seared chicken quarters and braise for 20-25 minutes or until the chicken is super tender. Once the chicken is cooked remove it and make a slurry of 1 tbsp of cornstarch to 2 tbsps of water. Add to the braising liquid and bring to a boil. Adjust seasoning to taste, and pour the sauce into the cooked chicken. You’ve got a yummy dinner!

5. Fiesta pancit canton. Who says fiesta noodles are only meant for special occasions? You can cook a happy noodle dish for P200.00. Buy 1/4 cup of chicken breast (chop in bite sized pieces minus the bones of course), the smallest pack of squidballs split in half, and some chicken liver. Add carrots, cabbage and baguio beans. If you are feeling extra generous, throw in a chinese sausage (but that is if you have a left over in the ref because chinese sausage is out of budget already haha). You can then follow this fun recipe      

6. Sweet and sour fish fillet. Sweet and sour fish fillet is so homey, and whatever fish you can buy with budget will always be yummy! Best affordable options include  Pangasius Fillet or Tilapia Here is a good sweet and sour recipe that I have tried.

7. Ginataang Sigarilyas with a side of crunchy tawilis. Sigarilyas (winged bean) in coconut milk is one of the happiest coconut milk based dishes that I loved as a kid, and so I tried offering it to my kids as well. And as predicted, they liked it! Try this fun, fun recipe here,

So that’s it, those are our seven tipid ulam recipes for this week. I hope you check out our website again next week for our weekly budget ulam list.

Food for the soul

At this point I hope you could allow me to share one of my favorite bible passages. This time, it is from the letter of St. Paul to the Romans:

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were yet still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Romans 5:8

Thank you for stopping by and till next post!

A happy homemaker is a Happy Pinay Mommy!

https://happypinaymommy.com/2023/07/12/how-moms-can-carve-a-consistent-prayer-routine/

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Hello Mommies! It is a Monday once again, and it means a brand new entry for our Budget Ulam Recipe Ideas Series for 2023! If you’ve missed the past two entries, You can start with the first one here.

Anyway, like what I mentioned, the ulam or main dish ideas here are mostly Filipino dishes, or dishes that we Filipinos have adapted to our palate. It feeds a family of 4-5 with adult-portion sizes. The dishes usually cost between P150.00 to P200.00 which is of course much much less expensive compared to ordering delivery food, grabbing take out, or dining in a restaurant (or even in a fastfood).

Of course, nothing compares to the nutritional value of home cooked food, and so, this takes into consideration the labor of love of us moms for our respective families.

This week’s budget ulam recipe ideas

This week’s entries are again easy to cook. Most of the basic ingredients and seasonings are also pantry staples so you would not have to rush to the grocery or the market to buy them. And since this list helps map out seven meals, it will help in your meal planning and grocery shopping making it more cost efficient.

By the way, if you are on the look out for meal plans, affordable breakfast meal ideas, and even kids’ ulam ideas then please do check out our website’s recipe section and baby and toddler meals.

Cheap but delicious ulam ideas 2023

So without further ado here is our list of cheap yet delicious and easy to prepare ulam recipes:

1. Bangus Steak — Instead of high-purine beef, use Bangus and make a Bangus Steak recipe. Of course, use red onions as white onions are still relatively expensive nowadays. Marinate for at least 15 minutes sliced bangus in a mixture of 1/4 cup soy sauce, and about 4-6 pieces calamansi, plus pepper.

In a pan, caramelize some onions and then set aside. Fry the Bangus in the same infused oil. When the fish is fully cooked, add the remaining marinade and the caramelized onions. Add a bit more onion rings and bring to a boil. Simmer for about five minutes and adjust seasoning to taste.

2. Chicken Sotanghon Soup and Crunchy Fried Galunggong – In these days of thunderstorms it is fun to eat noodle soups like our traditional chicken sotanghon soup. You do not need much for this recipe except for a few pieces of chicken breast or whatever chicken cut you prefer. Vermicelli noodles and then spring onions then you are good to go. Pair this is up with crunchy fried galunggong for the win

3. Pandan chicken – You may find Pandan Chicken in the menu of restaurants but it is surprisingly cheap to make. All you need is Pandan leaves, some seasoning and deboned chicken cuts and you’ve got your family an interesting dish that will surely make them ask for more. Here is an easy recipe to follow.

4. Steamed Tilapia with Soy Ginger Sauce. This is a nutritious and very delicious steamed fish recipe. You can use this recipe for steamed Pompano, just sub the fish. With Tilapia you can buy at least 3 medium sized pieces for less than 200.00.

5. Kare-Kareng Gulay. This is another good recipe to make and will surely help the kids enjoy vegetables specifically eggplant, string beans, and pechay. Well if you have kids who could not eat straight up Kare Kareng Gulay, you may add some 2-3 Pork Pata slices so that they could have some meat with their veggies. Here is a good recipe to use.

6. Crunchy fish fillet with thousand island dressing. Yes you can make this party staple as an ordinary-day main dish as it is both affordable and easy to make. Just use your favorite breading on Pangasius fillet and make a mixture of ketchup and mayonnaise as dipping sauce. The breadings that work for us include the usual flour-egg-flour / cornstarch mixture, or the flour-egg-panko breading mix.

7. Chicken Afritada. Who says caldereta is only for special occasions? It is a legit everyday meal since you can buy chicken pieces, tomato sauce, carrots and potatoes for about P200.00 Here is a recipe that you can follow.

So that is our list for this week, hope you visit our website once again next week for new entries to our list of budget ulams for the week.

Food for the soul

At this point, I hope you could allow me to share with you one of my favorite bible passages, this time from the Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians:

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

Ephesians 4:32

Thank you for stopping by and till next post!

A happy homemaker is a Happy Pinay Mommy!

https://happypinaymommy.com/2023/06/29/super-easy-soy-veggie-fried-rice-two-ways/

The post Budget ulam recipe ideas for the week of July 2023 appeared first on Happy Pinay Mommy.

Tender adobong liver and gizzard ng manok recipe

Tender adobong liver and gizzard

• 500g chicken liver
• 500g chicken gizzard
• 1/4 cup soy sauce (less or more depending on your seasoning preference)
• 1/4 cup vinegar (less or more depending on your seasoning preference — you may use a combo of white vinegar and apple cider for that extra ooomph)
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp coarsely ground pepper
• Whole pepper
• 6 cloves of garlic (crushed or minced depending on your preference)
• 1 medium sized onion, chopped
• 1 inch ginger thinly sliced
• Laurel leaves
• Vinegar and rock salt for preparing the liver and the gizzard.

Vinegar and rock salt soak is my first step in prepping both the liver and hizzard in this tender liver and gizzard adobo recipe!

1. Wash the gizzard with salt and vinegar and water. Soak for about 10 minutes, wash then boil to tenderize in water and vinegar. Boil for about 15-20 mins.

This is how the liver and the gizzard looks after preboiling it.

This tender adobong liver and gizzard recipe will make you reach for more rice!

A happy homemaker is a Happy Pinay Mommy!

Leaving you with a video on the health benefits of chicken liver:

How Puffy Should Your Mattress Be?

The post Tender Adobong Liver and Gizzard Recipe appeared first on Happy Pinay Mommy.

How to cook easy misua patola soup recipe

Let’s cook! Misua patola is one of our favorite soupy ulams. Even my picky eater of an eldest daughter, Achie loves it. Easy misua patola soup is also a very affordable dish that can be prepared in about half an hour.

Easy Misua Patola Soup

The Misua Patola Soup recipe is simple but very hearty. It can be eaten by itself or can be eaten over steaming white rice.

Different types of misua

There are different types of misua in the grocery, and much as i wanted to buy the boxed ones which has bigger noodles, they ran out of stock the day i did my food shopping.

I grew up eating this dish with the patola sliced into round shape. I modified the slice of the patola in my version though so that it will be easier for my baby and the toddler to grab the patola strips. This also makes it safer for them to eat. Yes you read it right, they grab it because sometimes they become impatient about using their utensils when they are eating their favorite misua.

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You may also want to read:

• 30-Day P100.00 Ulam Budget Meal Plan
• Filipino Budget Ulam Ideas below 100 Pesos 2017 Edition
• Eight Filipino Recipes under P100.00 — 2016 Edition
• Ulam Baon Ideas for Kids Part 1
• Lunch Baon Ideas for Kids Part 2
• Seven ways to save on grocery shopping
• Filipino Lumpia Recipes under P100.00
• How to cook Tortang Ampalaya
• How to cook Crispy Liempo

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Recipe for Misua Patola soup

For those who may not be familiar as to how to cook this dish, here is a rough guide:

Ingredients for the Misua Patola Soup:

Ingredients for the easy misua patola soup recipe

• 1 medium onions chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 medium sized Patola, sliced
• 200 grams Ground Meat (beef, chicken or pork, depending on your preference)
• 2 -3 Cups Chicken Stock or Plain Water
• Misua
• Patis
• Ground Pepper

Cooking Procedure:

1. Saute onions and garlic.

2. Add lean ground pork (about 200-250 grams) – i usually pre-boil my ground pork, but it is up to you if you want to saute it thawed or pre-boiled.

3. Add in the patola and then about three cups of chicken stock or plain filtered water. Chicken stock can be easily made by boiling chicken bones along with onions, garlic, and cabbage or any extra veggie you have at home.

4. Cook for about 5-10 minutes.

5. Add in the misua and let cook for another three minutes.

6. Just eyeball the amount of water since misua may absorb much and you may have to add more.

7. Once the misua is cooked, YOU CAN NOW SEPARATE A PORTION FOR YOUR BABY AND TODDLER SO THAT THEY CAN HAVE IT UNSEASONED.

8. You can now season the misua-patola for adult consumption. You can season it with either patis or salt, and the some pepper.

9. Serve immediately.

Another P100 budget ulam idea — easy misua patola soup recipe

For more recipes, meal plans, budget ulam ideas etc please feel free to check out our budget recipes, and meal plans section here in our website. We also have a Facebook album of P100.00 Budget ulam recipes as well as meal plans. Our Instagram account is also regularly updated of recipes, baby and toddler food ideas, pre-schooler’s baon suggestions and other local mommy resources and musings. Same goes with our Pinterest account, so hope you can follow us in our social media accounts.

Till next post.

A Happy Homemaker is a Happy Pinay Mommy!

Here’s a video on how to make hand-pulled misua:

Taking the stress out of working from home

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