Recipes for Home Cooked Meals with Dole Chef Mom

As someone who is in charge of cooking and doing the groceries, I always feel like there is a heavy burden on my shoulders to choose the best of what's available in the supermarket. As a home-chef, I feel like I am expected to be the maker of all things wonderful and healthy for my family.  I want to prepare healthy meals, but I don't want to be stressed in the kitchen preparing it.  So I try to be a wise shopper and choose products that are healthy and at the same time convenient for a busy mom like me.  I believe that cooking healthy meals should be fun and easy, so I can also spend time with my family.

As a mom who cooks, there are certain brands that I trust, and Dole is one of them. When I learned that Dole wanted to partner with me for their Dole Chef Mom program, I knew instantly that it was something I wanted to be part of, a campaign that I am proud to be part of.

Here I am with my personalized Dole Chef Mom apron, which I now wear when I cook in my own kitchen. teehee! 





#DoleChefMom

The #DoleChefMom Program was developed to encourage all mothers to prepare home-cooked meals and to break the cycle of eating out or ordering in. That is totally in line with what I believe in - that home-cooked meals are always better and healthier! Also, in our home, cooking is also a way for me to bond with my kids. My kids and I have a lot of fun times experimenting in our #TinyHandsKitchen.

One day last week, my fellow chef moms and I were invited by Dole for an afternoon of cooking fun with Chef Rosebud Benitez at The Cookery Place.

 Me and my fellow #SoMoms:  Neva of Manila Mommy, Mish of Momma 'N Manila, Michelle of My Mom-Friday

 Group photo of all the participants that afternoon

Chef Rosebud is such a talented chef who shares her kitchen experiences so generously. I learned a lot from her that afternoon about trying new and exciting things to prepare for my family. She is a firm believer that we, mommies, should be adventurous with our kitchen creations. You will read more about the recipes she shared with us later as you scroll down this post.

The Cookery Place is a nice venue to hold intimate cooking demos or even kiddie cooking parties. The work area consists of six cooking stations, so each of the moms had one working station to herself.

Thank you to My Mom-Friday for capturing this photo. My smile here says it all. It was really an afternoon of fun with my fellow cooking mamas.

Let's get cooking!!!

Chef Rosebud shared her recipe for Pork Pineapple Cheesy Tacos, which I will also be sharing with you because sharing is caring! Teehee!

What you need:
pork tenderloin, cut into strips
Dole pineapple chunks, drained of syrup
onion, sliced
tomato, cubed
cheese, grated
taco shells
onion, salt, cumin for seasoning
lemon for garnish
oil

What to do:
1. Heat the pan and put a little of the oil
2. Cook the pork tenderloin thoroughly. Season with salt, pepper and cumin.
3. In a separate pan, cook the onions, tomato and pineapple.
4. When done, mix them all together in a bowl.
5. Spoon the filling into the taco shells, and top with cheese.

 Here's my finished product... As you can see, nag-effort pa ako sa plating.

 I am sure my kids will love this so as of this writing I already went to the grocery to buy all the ingredients needed. This is the perfect pre-workout snack for them before they go to their swimming training.

But you know what? The taco filling is good by itself. Pwede pang ulam on its own with rice.

Next recipe that Chef Rosebud shared with us, which I will also share with you, is Chicken Breast with Pineapple Salsa.

What you need:

Chicken Breast

(Fruit Salsa)
Dole Pineapple Tidbits, drained of syrup
Yellow mango, diced
cucumber, diced
tomato, diced
cilantro, roughly chopped
Sugar
Calamansi

(Vinaigrette)
Olive oil
Pineapple juice
salt/pepper


What to do:
1. On a pan, heat oil and cook the chicken fillets. Season both sides with salt and pepper. Raw chicken can be a source of salmonella, so make sure chicken is fully cooked. Set aside when thoroughly cooked.
2. While chicken is cooking, mix all the ingredients for the pineapple salsa in a bowl. Season salsa with a pinch of salt, sugar, and juice from 2-3 calamansi. Adjust seasoning to personal preference.

3. Mix olive oil and pineapple juice and whisk to emulsify. Add salt and pepper to taste. Alternatively, you can also just put the ingredients in a bottle with lid and shake vigorously to emulsify.

Here's the finished product. This is so easy to prepare and so good! I easily finished my plate, even after eating the tacos and getting some food from the buffet table. Ang sarap talaga. Promise!

I think this is the first time that I was given the chance to cook in the kitchen with my mommy blogger friends. It was a fun learning experience for me, especially since the recipes that Chef Rosebud shared are all so easy to recreate at home. As you can see, there are only a few ingredients needed and the directions are very easy to follow.

We are all happy with what we made, and now it's time to eat what we created.

Aside from our kitchen creations, we also had a buffet of snacks on the side.

Don't we just love it when we get together with our mom-friends and we chikka about anything and everything, including tips about how to run our house more efficiently or ways to make our existing recipes healthier though ingredient substitutions? That's the exactly the kind of afternoon we had at this activity.

Try out these recipes. They are so easy to make, you should be done in 30 minutes or even less, if you prepare the ingredients before hand.  I especially like the chicken with pineapple salsa.  The chicken was cooked just right, it was juicy with the right amount of seasoning. The pineapple salsa and salad balanced out the flavors, and it was the right mix of filling and refreshing. It's something that I can serve to my family on a busy weeknight, and I know it is something they will all like.

You know I am always in the kitchen cooking so you can expect that I will be sharing more DOLE-lightful and DOLE-licious recipes with you soon!  

Watch out for my recipe for Hawaiian Pizza, and I will also be sharing with you my tried and tested gluten-free pizza crust for all of you who are intolerant to gluten.  The crust is so easy to make and consist of only 4 ingredients!

AND, I will be hosting a funtabulous DOLE Giveaway on the blog soon! Can't wait to share all the DOLE goodness with my readers!

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