Cooking Momma Donna

By Mommy Donna and Kib - July 06, 2015

If you’re a friend of mine on Facebook or at Instagram, for sure you’re seeing some of my food posts.  I am not a chef, nor studied in culinary school; all those dishes were created out of an experiment.

My long-time friends know that I really don’t cook during my younger years.  Hotdog na lang nasusunog ko pa, haha.  When my friends come over to my house during college years, I let them rule the kitchen.  I let them check out our ref and pantry to see what they can cook for us.  My mom tried to engage me in her cooking preparations when I was younger, hoping that I’ll have a passion for cooking, but still, I don’t like cooking.  I was only forced to cook when my mom had her vacation in the US when I was studying in graduate school.  However, it doesn’t necessarily mean I already embraced cooking during that time.

Moving forward, I just got interested in cooking just very recently, around two years ago.  I got tired of the usual pasta dishes that I eat and suddenly I missed the taste of the pasta dishes from the high-end restaurants that we had visited before.  Apart from that, I got tired of eating local dishes.  Hey, I’ve been eating that all throughout my life!  So my quest for unique dishes started.

I started asking my friends who love cooking about the use of common herbs and spices on their dishes.  Then, I started stocking them in our pantry.  Now, the ‘experiment’ began.


Grilled chicken wings with yellow fried rice and veggie salad

Tofu steak and Vietnamese veggie rice rolls

Various dishes that I prepared for my #balikalindog program


The dishes that I’m most proud of are my pasta dishes.  I cannot just replicate one after the other, they’re all unique every time I cook it.  My mom’s friends even asked me to cook pasta for them, it was so flattering!  They were asking for the recipe but I always tell my mom not to give it.  Of course, it’s a secret, haha.  My friend Millie and her family just can’t forget the taste of my pasta dish.  She tried replicating my dish at their home but she just can’t get the right formula.  Her picky eater kids were able to finish a plate of my pasta dish and she’s so happy about that. 


Pasta with beef tapa

Pasta with kale, dried tahong and crab meat

Pasta with spicy tuyo and arugula

3-sausage pasta carbonara


But here’s one secret: even I don’t cook local dishes often, I still sometimes miss the taste of it, haha. 

My son is my number one fan.  He never gets tired to cheer me while I’m cooking.  Sometimes he would volunteer to help me in the kitchen just doing the basics, like peeling carrots or grating cheese or throwing trash.  He would always commend my dishes that I cook for us.  It’s not that I’m his mom, but my son in general is a person who has high regard on the things around him.  He would tell compliments to a person out of the blue.  He will really express his feelings about a certain situation.  He is such a darling.


Kib cooking some of his favorite dishes


Sometimes, he would also 'prettify' the dishes he cooks!


Gourmet hotdog dish by Kib


Instant pancit canton with carrot toppings



I am still in search for other dishes to cook at home.  Maybe we can have a cookout sometime.  Let’s share recipes!

  • Share:

You Might Also Like

2 comments

  1. I just realized that I don't follow you yet on IG! I just did, heehee. :) Those look good, mommy Donna!

    ReplyDelete