Cooking 101: To Go Instant or Not

In this day and age, one thing I am grateful for is the instant help in cooking. It may be more unhealthy but it has helped me in the beginning of my cooking journey. Remember, I used to be an anti-kitchen person. But the instant food or instant mixes available in the groceries have aided me and trained me. I still use them half the time, but I learned to start from scratch also. Yay!

I just want to share here what I have tried and enjoyed. My hope is that, just like me, rookie cooks won't be scared to begin the exciting cooking journey.

Recently, I mastered my adobo recipe, which someday I will share. Before attempting to start from scratch, we would use ready-made adobo mixes from either McCormick or Mama Sita's. We even tried the adobo sa gata. They were all okay. But I knew I was looking for this particular taste or version of adobo. And so we did use them more than once, adding other ingredients with the hope of achieving THAT taste. I just do not remember what we preferred between the two brands. For now, we no longer use the mixes. I am proud to say, I make my own version of twice-cooked adobo.

My version of twice-cooked adobo

A favorite of ours is the Clara Ole ready-made marinades and pasta sauces. And we still use them until now. For the pasta sauces, we've tried: Chunky Tomato with Three Cheese, Cheesy Pesto, Chunky Tomato with Basil, and Kung Pao. I just started experimenting by using the recipe at the back of each pack. 

A personal favorite is the Chunky Tomato with Basil. I would use tuna with this sauce. For the tuna, I use the brand Permex, which I only find in Landmark, but a friend said it is also available in Cash and Carry. Then I just add olives and parmesan cheese. This is one dish I also am confident to say I love to make and eat.

Another product of Clara Ole that we love is their Hickory BBQ Marinade. We use pork then we bake it. We also tried the recipe at the back of the pack and it turned out good. Super delish!

I was always hesitant to try making sinigang. I felt it was more complicated than the recipes I was following. But with the help of another ready-made mix, I conquered my fear of sinigang. I actually like how it turned out. I use the Knorr Sinigang sa Sampaloc Mix. I just buy the vegetables we eat then cook it. Honestly, I want to try to make it from scratch. Someday.

These are just some of the instant mixes we like using and continue to use. There may have been others we have tried but I do not remember because we probably didn't feel like using it again.

These mixes have trained my taste, now I kind of know what's too salty or bland, what needs more salt or water, etc. I am more confident in the kitchen with the help of these mixes in the beginning. Presently, I prefer to make meals from scratch because it is more healthy, more than anything. But in the future when I look back at the start of my cooking journey, I know I will remember the significant help I got from them.

So there, another cooking journey experience. Hope you continue to take the ride with me.