Orange Chicken and Stuffed Potatoes with Vegetable and Cheese Filling

One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.  

                                               - Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own

Dining out every weekend had been a routine for J and me for the past year. It is a way for us to unwind after a week of hard work. We love trying out new restaurants and visiting our favorites.

Even though Scarsdale is sooo out of our usual weekend destinations, we just had to have their donuts!

Impromptu dinner with good friends at Le Petit Cherie in Molito, Alabang

We'll even brave the storm for a slice of Mango Bravo of Conti's. 

Even after our little Queen B was born, we were able to continue our tradition of dining out. It is more difficult as we need at least two hours of prep time before we can leave the house. Also, upon reaching our destination our baby will have to feed first so our initial stop is always the nearest breastfeeding station. In the first few weeks, we are even required to go to changing station (Unfortunately, only a few malls have the breastfeeding station and the changing station in the same room) before we can have our lunch or dinner. I sort of required J to take me out every weekend as it is my only chance to get out of the house and feel like my old self again (Blame it on my postpartum depression!).

Celebrating our little Queen B's 2nd month birthday at Banapple.

We didn't miss the opportunity to try out the first branch of Korean origin coffee shop Tom n Toms in Bacolod City.

Fireside by Kettle to celebrate Georgina Blair's godparent Jek's birthday.

We are now in a different situation. I am employed back then and was just on maternity leave so even if I just stay home all the time I am earning still. We can still dine out but as part of our austerity measures we must limit that luxury. Dinner at a restaurant (not even fine dining ones) may costs more than half of our weekly budget for food at home. So I decided to bring back an almost forgotten pastime of mine: trying out new recipes.

I love to cook. Most of the people I’ve cooked for claim to love my cooking (I believe them because there are usually no leftovers of the dishes I prepared). When J and I got married, we only have to buy a refrigerator and some plates for our kitchen and dining room since I already have tons of kitchen appliances and gadgets. I like recreating dishes I’ve had in restaurants at home. Also, I enjoy trying out new recipes.

Last weekend, I tried out two recipes to serve to my family. These are Orange Chicken and Stuffed Potatoes with Vegetable and Cheese Filling.

I followed Panlasang Pinoy’s recipe for Orange Chicken. I have to do some changes as instead of using chicken breasts I used a whole chicken cut up in small pieces or here in the Philippines we call it “Adobo Cut”. Here is the recipe for the Orange Chicken.

As for the Stuffed Potatoes, I derived the recipe from a book I bought a couple of weeks ago. I will be introducing solid foods to our little Queen B soon and as preparation I bought a book about it.

Annabel Karmel's Baby and Toddler Meal Planner

It contains recipes for babies and toddlers. The recipes for toddlers can also be served to the whole family (I love this part as I am considering Baby Led Weaning). So to practice, I decided to give the recipe for Stuffed Potatoes with Vegetable and Cheese Filling a try.

Stuffed Potatoes

Direction:

Prick medium potatoes all over and brush with oil. Bake in an oven preheated to 190°C (375°F) for 1 to 1.5 hours or until tender. You can also bake them in the microwave. Carefully spoon out the soft flesh out of the skins, leaving enough round the sides so that the skins keep their shape. You are now ready to make the filling.

Vegetable and Cheese Potato Filling

25 g each broccoli and cauliflower, broken into small florets

4 medium or 2 large baked potatoes

15 g butter

120 ml milk

50 g Cheddar cheese, grated

2 medium tomatoes, skinned and cut into small pieces

½ teaspoon salt

grated cheese to finish

Direction:

Steam the broccoli and cauliflower until they are tender (around 6 minutes), then chop finely. Meanwhile, mash the potato flesh with the butter and milk until smooth and creamy. Mix in the cheese, tomatoes, cooked chopped vegetables, and salt. Scoop the mixture back into the potato skins. Sprinkle a little extra grated cheese on top and brown under the grill.

Makes 4 adult portions 

I made some alteration in the recipe. I omitted the tomatoes as I don’t like the combination of mashed potatoes and tomatoes. I also did not sprinkle extra grated cheese to limit our fat intake. Lastly, I added some black pepper because, well, I love black peppers!

We had the two dishes with white rice as no Filipino meal will be complete without rice.

The verdict: The family had a delicious and healthy lunch! My 10 year old niece loves the stuffed potato so much that she had two servings of it. J and my mom agreed that the Orange Chicken is comparable to the ones they had in restaurants. As for me, I am one happy cook! We were able to have an unusual and special lunch (for us as those dishes are not typical fares in our household) without spending a lot.

I can’t wait to prepare all those recipes I have pinned in my Pinterest account and may be even create my own recipes in the future. Happy eating everyone!

#xoxo