A Red and Green 11th Birthday Party

Since my daughter was born, I've celebrated her life every year. I'm real big on party themes to keep the eyes happy. When favors, food and decor compliment each other-it makes for incredible eye candy. This year she turned 11 on October and she just wanted a subtle get together with some of her class mates. What mom would disagree with that idea? I fell for it. So hence the small and intimate affair with friends she enjoys.

I loved how all the colors complimented the celebration and the food was simple and prepared in less than an hour. The party started at 4:00pm and by 5:30pm, I was relaxing with my feet up on the ottoman:)

I found these little candy jars over a year ago and just had to hoard them...my hoarding paid off because these were just perfect for favors.

Having less guests means you can splurge on the ones attending and spend more time on the details.

The girls were able to take home sugar cookies for their family as well.

My beautiful baby girl...she fixed her hair for the photos:)

She's showing her gratitude to all in her life.

Mini pizzas, pigs in a blanket and cheese burger sliders.

Little stamped signs inviting everyone to enjoy.

The red magical beverage-Kool Aide in a pretty decanter.

Details are never enough.

The banner I made.

The whole picture.

Take home boxes filled with sugar cookies.

Chocolate covered granny smith apples and strawberries.

They make awesome favors as well.

The monster ice cream cake.

All the party favors the girls got to take home. One said that she knew it was Bella's birthday but she felt it was hers as well.

Fall has Arrived-Sweet Ideas

Even living on an island where the season is pretty much summer year-round, I'm still a hopeless romantic when Fall rolls in. From the multi-colored scenery to the crisp cool woodsy spicy air, a nostalgic feeling sets in as I reflect on our many Fall family vacations. My greatest memories are of the Evergreen State of Washington...where permission is granted to put on boots, scarves and beanies. Oh how I love the layering effects of fashion. As we cruised the freeways bound for Seattle, traffic isn't of relevance anymore as the majestic color of the swaying trees overcome the mood. The fog is thick but we press on knowing that when we get out of the vehicle...Fall will still be awaiting us:)

I am working on some Fall gift and craft ideas so be sure to visit periodically. Scroll below to view the Fall Leaf sugar cookies.

Pikes Place Public Market 2006

Flower vendor at the Public Market

Whole Wheat Pizza

Whole Wheat Pizza

Often times I wish that I had access to healthier food eateries that can serve up delicious-up-to-standards-wholesome-foods at affordable prices. But often times, that isn't so because yummy healthy wholesome foods joints usually come with a high price if they even do exist on Guam.

One of my travel passions is to search for such places and awe in it's goodness. Yes, I am fond of all things wheat...it actually excites me to know

that restaurants offer wheat and grain alternatives.

Here's my brave attempt at making homemade pizza crust for a healthful and satisfying pizza.

The hardest part of making this crust, was waiting for it to rise. That was hard.

I threw on spinach, broccoli, pineapples, mushrooms, chopped chicken breasts and lean ham. Of course there was some yummy marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese.

The pizza right out of the oven. The crust turned out delicious and the flavors married well.

Yup, it didn't last.

I ate 3 small slices with a salad, such a satisfying lunch. YUM!!!

Iron Chef Chamorro Challenge-2011

Please pardon my construction of this blog, have fun and visit again for the recipes.

The display of the secret ingredients and other enhancing agents:

"This is how we Iron Chef-ed"

Ok-before you all say "What? SPAM, you gotta be kidding!!!!", let me give you a little history of the recipes created exclusively for this event. My husband and I decided we wanted to hold a friendly challenge of creating amateur culinary dishes and have judges decide "Who's cuisine reined SUPREME-so hence our very own version of Iron Chef Chamorro and the secret ingredient of SPAM!!!! Yes, that was intentionally a run-on sentence to create a dramatic flare. In this corner-Reed "The Real Deal' Sasamoto vs. Michelle "Bow Down" Sasamoto!!!! Who will win bragging rights and who will be ragged on for a long time?

We agreed on the secret ingredient 2 days before the challenge, brain-stormed on several ideas, invited friends and family to taste and judge and shopped for our own ingredients. Nerves were shaken and self-doubts surfaced for both of us. It's funny how we cook on a daily bases but we agreed that this challenge felt different...OK, breathe in and out. That's me calming the nerves-well for one, cause I like competition and 2 I don't like losing. Hahaha!

The best part was the excitement of our 10 year old daughter who engaged in this event as well. She delegated herself as the Chairman/Narrator and took off from there. She even made the judges scoring sheets. How cute is that? My baby is loving the culinary world as well and I am so happy.

So hours before the challenge, my husband and I prepped some ingredients because we did not have the luxury of a huge Kitchen Stadium or Sous Chefs, this made things a little less hectic in our kitchen. Thank God he had that brilliant idea of pre-prepping. Then the battle began and before we knew it an hour and 30 minutes flew right before our eyes at lightning speed. The battle was Oh-Va!!!

The three categories included appetizer, entree and dessert. I made a foursome appetizer plate which showcased Asian inspired finger foods, SPAM-Chicken Cordon Bleu with Bacon SPAM Garlic Mash Potatoes and chocolate dipped SPAM with vanilla basil soft serve ice cream. Reed managed to complete 2 dishes, I think they were both in the entree category-Hawaiian style fried rice and mushroom/asparagus stir fry. After the dishes were plated it made it's way to the judges table.

The moment of TRUTH: The judging categories were based on originality, creativity, plating and taste. Each category was scored by each judge for up to 10 points each. The judges ate, scored and tallied their points to determine "who's cuisine reigns supreme". And the 1st Iron Chef Chamorro Challenge winner is--------------------------------drum roll please. tadadadadadadadadadadadada------------------------------Iron Chef Michelle "Bow Down" Sasamoto!!!! And the crowd goes wild. Nothing but love and fun in our Sasamoto Kitchen Stadium.

Roll Up Spinach Tofu Lasagna

Lasagna Roll Ups

When I saw this food post on my friend Louise's Facebook page, I was amazed. I wondered how such a classic dish could look so beautiful and exquisite. So I ventured off to make my version but only after I asked her for some tips and Googled lasagna roll-ups. I came across a video and for the life of me, can't remember the name of the person demonstrating it. I watched and thought I could follow this and use any ingredient I wanted. It was the easiest thing I ever made and it was a family winner. Here's what I did:

Ingredients:

10 Lasagna noodles (boiled)

1 16 0z. Spaghetti sauce

4 cups fresh Spinach

1 package firm tofu

2 Chicken breast

1 pack Shredded mozzarella cheese

1 table spoon Italian Seasoning

Salt to taste

Black Pepper to taste

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use 1 cup of spaghetti sauce and spread on bottom of 9x13 baking pan (set aside).
• cut chicken breasts into small cubes and brown on stove top-when chicken is cooked, add spinach and cooked just until it wilts, add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside
• In large mixing bowl, mash tofu with potato masher or fork, add chicken and spinach mixture then mix in all seasonings, taste for flavor
• Place cooked lasagna noodle on platter, use table spoon to scoop and fill lasagna noodle thoroughly. Put filling on top of spread out noodle.
• Roll lasagna noodle with filling nice and tight
• Place on baking pan with seam down
• smother top of noodle with extra spaghetti sauce
• Sprinkle shredded mozzarella cheese on top
• bake for 30 minutes, serve warm with spinach apple and orange salad.
• Reserve extra sauce and cheese as condiments.
• See picture below.

Spinach, apple and orange salad.

A summery wonderful compliment to the lasagna roll ups.

Ingredients:

4 cups Fresh Spinach

1 granny smith apple

1 orange

1/4 cup sliced almonds

Asian soy dressing or vinaigrette

Layer all ingredients and drizzle with dressing.

Serve with lasagna roll ups

The plated product. Isn't it beautiful eye candy?

That was a dinner well served:)