Easy Creamy Shrimp Linguine Carbonara

Carbonara is one of the most popular pasta dishes in Italy. Most of  Carbonara recipe consists of basic ingredients such as cream, cheese, bacon/seafood/chicken, and egg. Variety demand of pasta increase worldwide, that's why some of international cuisine enhanced the taste and ingredients to make it more tempting to their patrons, some make it more creamier and tasteful to the best of their winning dish.

I used shrimp and beef as the main ingredients,  (I didn't used eggs co'z my daughters are allergic to eggs). I also add creamy mushroom soup as I thought it would be correlate to the eggs. I want to make it more creamier and sweet so I added condensed milk.

Ingredients  

(just basic ingredients that I found in my kitchen)

•  1 cup cream (heavy cream)
• 500 grams of Pasta (Linguine )
• 1 sachet 58 grams creamy mushroom soup
• 2 Tbsp of condensed milk
• 1 cup minced beef, boiled and drained
• 1 tsp margarine/ olive oil
• 1 cup of shrimp (half cooked and peeled)
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 3 to 4 gloves of garlic
• 1 Tbsp of onion
• ½cup of mushroom cut into pieces
• ½cup freshly grated cheese (cheddar cheese not in the photo)

My way to cook.

Pasta-

• Cook the Pasta in a large soup pot of boiling water, add a pinch of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of oil and just follow the instruction directed on the package. Cook the pasta until it becomes tender but still be firm to the bite. Then drain.

Sauce-

• First dilute one sachet of creamy mushroom soup on 1 cup of water. Set aside. 

• Saute garlic and onion in 1 tsp margarine, add the minced beef, cooked the beef until becomes brown then add the diluted mushroom soup.

• Next, add the mushroom and shrimp, cook and stir on medium heat at 5-7 minutes or until the shrimp turns orange. Add salt and pepper to taste.

• Add the pasta to the mixture of shrimp, beef, mushroom and the creamy soup, mix lightly, then add the heavy cream and condensed milk, mixed it completely.

• Serve it right away, with grated cheese to make it truly delightful and cheesy.

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Paddington House of Pancakes

We Live for Pancake 
(interesting phrase from their logo)

Paddington House of Pancake (PHOP) just opened recently. The impact obviously perceives when suddenly a lot of people are craving for pancakes. I can tell by the commotion of netizens who posted positive and negative thoughts about it elsewhere especially on its first two weeks of operation. Our eagerness to know the difference lead us to ventures their doorstep.

On our first visit to PHOP together with our good friend Mdm Sheils and her son Jack, we started to feel the ambiance of the place with a combination of French, American, and Mexican nature. Noticeable are  their displays, wall interior designs ,and center are mostly in their menu's. It was a very nice and comforting place. The romantic atmosphere through the soothing sounds of classic love songs added in the milieu.  

They also have marvelous place dedicated to the kids. Their play section was great with huge blackboards, a lot of colorful toys and books for kids. 

(Could'nt show any better how my kids love to stay here)

Our first visit together with Madam Sheils and handsome son Jack. Enjoying the ambiance of the place and the soothing sound. Taking a lot of snapshots while waiting for all the food to be served.

This was the first dish  we ordered. It was obviously covered with pancake mixture and inside are combinations of seafood, beef, tomatoes, cheese, some veggies and spices. Savory sauce and of course the tasty pancake.

I can't remember the name of this dish. It's like Honolulu or something hehehe, the thin crust is also made from the mixture of pancake tops with pineapple tidbits, beef, different types of cheese, herbs partially its like an Hawaiian pizza but pan of pancake . The fad of pancakes is just all in their dishes from appetizers, main course, desserts. Surprisingly, its a pancake house lol.

The name of this dish is Lucerne, the pan is also made from the mixture of pancake and tops with homemade sauce, fresh tomatoes, cheese, mixed seafood (prawn, mussels, squids) and herbs plus more spices and ingredients on it.

After the next five days, dreaming of the gigantic burger that needs to try before I get sick lol , we visited once again. It was in my dream that I ate the whole bulky burger but in reality I didn't able to do it co'z its really such an enormous and being so conscious in my weight (thanks heaven that I can still hide my fats somewhere) I force myself not, and afterwards we got a nice box back home.

This dish is what they call the Mexican Double Burger. It has sesame puffins pancake bun with double lamb patties, sliced fresh tomatoes, pineapple ring, double layer cheese, a small slice of avocado, fries and salad/gherkins.

(Makakalimutan mo ang pangalan mo pag natikman mo eto) ahaha literally.. Just the name. Its so delish that we forgot the name. Its like Pancake omelet spice with potatoes, zucchini, onion and other veggies, mushroom and the ambrosial grilled herbed lamb or beef shoulder spice with mashed potatoes & yogurt mint sauce. Different dips and side dishes to spice it tastefully.

Like I said earlier, their serving is humongous so we ended up being full without trying out their dessert, it should be but maybe will try it next time we visit.

This place becomes the latest fads to others, the reason why we will surely go back for more enormous dishes. We will probably expect the sweetest dessert and more creation to come along,  it would be the next to dream on lol.

Just sharing with you these experiences and the food that we tried. Never been really sure for what it has or it maybe. These are all my thoughts and understanding. The menu that we shared for the first time cost us $70 (drawback,? It maybe a little bit pricey, but for the size of the dish that are huge, it was just right). The second time we visit (with just us) it cost us $52.

Verdict     : Food is delish

                : Place is awesome
                : Service is great
                : Price is pricey lol.(noted, not so-so, just depends)

https://www.facebook.com/PaddingtonPancakes

Contact no:  2331668

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Story of Our Holiday (Simple plan for Hari Raya Holiday)

What makes a holiday jubilantly splendid? Family bonding at its finest!That would be spending the whole day with your family and friends added with FUN. 

These made our holiday a joyous one. To my hubby, four-days of no work  is equivalent to a precious vacation to us. Relaxation and rest are the first on his list. We planned for the things we’d love to do. As we are excited for the coming holiday, we advanced our simple plans before the day itself. This is where our simple joys begin…

Thursday Night- The Smurfs 2 
Movie date with our lovable kiddos.

We watched their favorite all time movie- The Smurfs 2. It was a cheerful night to them. Watching while eating inside the theater is priceless. 

         After the movie, we headed to McDonalds for a cup of coffee and icey creamy sundae for our kids. To make the time more enjoyable, we gave the kids an hour to play by themselves.

Gloomy Fridays, TGIF! Hurry! Starts the day!

                       

Morning...Pause

              Ssshhhssshhh, as I stated earlier, first in my hubby's list is relaxation and rest but due to the not-so- convincing weather, sleeping is the better best way of relaxing. At around 2pm, I was forced to wake up co'z I am starving. I served the brunch at 3pm. At 5pm we drove to Empire Hotel, looking around the whole place again for the 'nth time. Somehow we missed the place especially the nights spent with friend and family.

As part of our Hari Raya Holidays, pure goodness and building family memories are often shared at home. As wonderful as those memories, we ate ice cream, DOUBLE DUTCH ICE CREAM, which we think is the best for our kiddos as our Friday holiday treat. 

Bright Saturday

         It wasn't totally gloomy either sunny, without casting an eye over for whether it will rain or not, we packed up our beach stuff, suits, tent, food (marinated pork and chicken), BBQ grill, water jug and a lot more. At 9am we drove to Tungku beach for another relaxing beach picnic.

 

Barbeque is the best meal for beach and outdoor outing specially with group outing. Everyone can enjoy grilling the bbq's while having a chat with friends at the same time getting hungry while waiting for it to be cooked and that's the best part. Getting very hungry that you can eat a horse before it'd cooked lol. After lunch, it's time for me to relax and for my kids and hubby to swim again and play. It was a bright Saturday filled with fun and happiness, but as the sun goes down, it is also the sign for us to leave. 

         By the time we arrived home the sky became gloomy and then rain started to pour. It was our prayer that God may bless our day and may keep us safe. We thank the Lord for answering our prayers. His timing is great! Praise God for a wonderful picnic.

 Rainy Saturday isn't over yet. Gone are the nights when the kids are supposed to stay in bed especially when surprises are made. I purposely made my kids melted chocolate over the choco-fountain. It was indeed a fun-filled, chocolatey, night for my sweeties.

Blessed Sunday

        Our Sunday became extra special with a fellowship of our very good friend Mdm Sheils. We spent the whole night together with her handsome prince/son Jacklord. First stop was in Paddington House of Pancake, another new food addiction in town. (maybe I could blog for this one next time) 

>>> http://agapelovephotographs.blogspot.com/2013/08/paddington-house-of-pancakes.html

        We talked a lot, shared future plans, revelation, chismax lolz and the good thing that we always cherish about her was she always share with us the good news. My personal spiritual consultant, how blessed we are to know her. Thanks a lot Madam.

Back to Paddington, 

         Another favorite place to dine, why? There's a huge play section for kids to play and enjoy, best part for families (like us) with small kids.

      After dinner at Paddington, we moved to Coffeezone for another coffee chat. Another hour of fellowship and inspiration from Madam, longing for this coffee chit chat for a longest time, thank you!

Monday Blues

           Our Monday was supposedly a whole day of rest, but since it’s the last day of our short holiday on Hari Raya, we visited the unveiling new display set up at NBT, their colorful refreshing, Hari Raya Eidil Fitri giant festive display. We huddle together with the other crowd to have some snapshots using our phone.

   Afterwards we decided it would be fun to take the girls out for dinner  with their favorite food Jollibee chicken joy and Ayam Penyet!

 And for the finale,  another half an hour of playtime.

               It's always fun for us to see our kids having a big smile  on their faces with just a simple bond together, it may not be a long holiday for us and it may not be done on a luxurious place or a new/unique place, but what's important is how we manage to make it enjoyable and valuable not just for my hubby's rest day but importantly, for all of us to enjoy the simple plans we made. Thanks be to God for the guidance and for the blessing we received every day.

           
           Thank you Addi! 
        The simple plan for the short Hari Raya Holiday was fun for the whole family.  

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