Ginisang Pechay (Sauteed Chines Cabbage)

Here's another Filipino recipe to add to my lists. I learned to cook ginisang pechay from my late mom who was a very good cook herself. I remember she had a pechay garden in our yard when I was a kid. I love this recipe because I love eating veggies mixed with some meat. This is easy to prepare, delicious with ground beef, and is rich in calcium, iron, phosphorus and other nutrients. We just had this the other day.

Ingredients

1/2 lb ground beef
4 to 5 stalks of pechay, roughly chopped (around 3 to 4 cups)
5 to 6 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, finely sliced
3 pcs. tomatoes, chopped
1 cup water
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsps vegetable oil
salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Prepare pechay leaves by trimming ends and chopping to bite-sized pieces. Separate white ends from darker parts.

2. In a pan, heat vegetable oil. Over medium heat, saute onions and garlic until softened. Add chopped tomatoes and cook until tender.

3. Add in ground meat. Saute ground meat until lightly browned.

4. Pour in fish sauce. Continue to stir and cook for an additional 1 to 2 minutes.

5. Pour in water. Add more as necessary to simmer the meat in and to maintain one cup for when the dish is pulled together. Allow to simmer until meat is fully cooked. Skim off scum that may aggregate on top.

6. Add in white ends of pechay leaves. Cook for around one minute. Combine in dark parts of leaves. Season with salt and pepper. Continue to cook until leaves are slightly wilted, around one to two minutes.

Nilagang Baka (Boiled Beef With Veggies)

This Filipino beef recipe is so yummy especially during cold weather. The hot soup warms the stomach and the beef with veggies are so appetizing. My hubby is not very fond of boiled recipes that's why I seldom cook this. But when I do cook, I really enjoy eating it with rice. It fills me up and this is one of my favorite comfort foods.

Ingredients :

3/4 kilo of beef, cut into serving pieces
1 whole garlic
1 whole onion, peeled
1 bunch of womboc (Chinese cabbage) or pechay or cabbage
4 medium-sized potatoes, quartered
4 pcs. bananas (saging na saba)
salt and black pepper to taste

Cooking procedure:

Place the beef pieces in a casserole and cover with water. Pierce the garlic in several places using a sharp pointed knife. Add the garlic, onion and black pepper to the beef. Season with salt. Set over high heat and bring to a boil, removing scum as it rises. Lower the heat, cover and simmer for 2 hours or until the beef is tender.

Add the potatoes, cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Adjust seasonings. Turn up the heat to medium-high. Place the womboc or pechay leaves on top of the beef and potatoes and boil gently until the leaves begin to wilt. Push down the leaves into the broth, if necessary. Turn off the heat, cover the casserole and finish cooking the womboc leaves for another 5 minutes. Serve hot.

Thanksgiving Celebration

Belated happy thanksgiving to everyone! How was your thanksgiving celebration? I bet you had a good one and was full to the max. We had a family devotion early evening after we were done cooking the foods. Hubby read some verses in the Bible and gave a message about thanking God for all He has given us. Then after our devotion, we sang the song "Give Thanks". We then all sat at the table and ate our Thanksgiving Dinner. We had meatloaf, mashed potatoes, chicken afritada, pancit, rice and refrigerated cake. My siblings were all present and their families. We had a blast though we didn't have some fancy foods like we used to have in the states. We were so thankful to the good Lord for all His blessings and provisions.

Russian Salad (Ensalada Rusa)

I've learned to cook a lot of recipes that I've never cooked before when I went to the US. One recipe that I've learned to cook is the Ensalada Rusa (Russian Salad). My hubby loves to eat potatoes so I searched for potato recipe and I found this one. I have cooked this several times already and hubby and I like it.

Ensalada Rusa is Dominican's favorite salad. It is usually served on special occasions and is a traditional component of the Christmas dinner.

Ingredients:
1/2 lb of potatoes
1/2 lb of carrots
1/2 cup of sweet corn
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup of peas
1 apple diced into small cubes (optional)
i medium red onion
3 eggs
salt

Preparation:
Boil the potatoes, carrots and eggs. Peel and dice into small cubes. Mix in the rest of the ingredients. Adjust salt to taste. Put in the refrigerator for 30 minutes prior to serving.

Hubby's Birthday Celebration

This is a late post but it's better late than never as they say. My hubby celebrated his birthday last Nov. 10th. I prepared fruit salad for him and we had chicken adobo, pancit and I bought a birthday cake for him. We didn't invite anybody. The celebration was exclusive for our family members only. My 3 siblings were present with their families and also my aunt who live with us. We had a good supper and everybody were full. Hubby was so satisfied with his birthday celebration. He enjoyed the foods of course especially his birthday cake.

Birthday Preparations

It's already past 2:00 AM here but I'm still awake. I'm just done making a fruit salad for my hubby's birthday today. This afternoon, we went to order a birthday cake for hubby. It's a lot cheaper for me to buy a ready-made cake than to make one. I don't have the skill to make a nice cake with all the icing and designs. Besides, the bakery where I ordered sells cake at a very reasonable price. I ordered twice there already and their cake is moist and not very sweet. Hubby said he love it. I'm pretty sure my hubby will have a good time tomorrow celebrating his birthday. Watch out for the photos because I'm gonna post it here.

Vegetable Lumpia

I've been making shanghai lumpia and vegetable lumpia as well. My hubby prefers eating shanghai lumpia that's why I've been making it most of the time. But since I love veggies too, I do make vegetable lumpia whenever I'm in the mood. Hubby likes it too but not as much as he likes the shanghai. My vegetable lumpia is not made of purely veggies. I do add a little ground meat to add flavor in it. Here's the recipe.

Ingredients

* 2 Tbs. olive oil
* 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
* 1 medium-sized onion, finely chopped
* 1/2 C. green beans, finely sliced
* 1/2 C. carrots, finely chopped
* 1/2 C. celery, finely chopped
* 1 C. ground beef or chicken or pork
* 1 C. bean sprouts
* Pepper to taste
* Soy sauce to taste
* spring roll wrappers
* 3 Tbs. water
* Oil for frying
*
* Dip:
* 3 cloves garlic, finely crushed
* 1/2 C. vinegar of choice
* 1/8 tsp. ground pepper
* Pinch of salt
* 1 tsp. shallots, finely chopped
* 1 chili pepper, chopped (optional)

Directions

In a pan, heat oil medium-hot, and then add garlic. When garlic is slightly brown, add onions and ground meat. When meat is browned, add all the vegetables and stir-fry until almost done. Season with pepper and soy sauce. Set aside, draining excess liquid. Separate spring roll wrappers and cover with damp cloth. Take one wrapper at a time, laying each wrapper on a plate. Place a Tbs. of vegetables on the wrapper, and wrap vegetable mixture firmly, sealing the edge with a little water. Heat oil in a deep frying pan on 'hot' stove setting and fry spring rolls until lightly browned. You may use a deep fryer if you want. Serve hot with garlic-vinegar dip.

Dip:

Mix ingredients in a glass bowl and add more vinegar, pepper, and salt as required.

Kitchen Tips (Part II)

Here's the continuation of the kitchen tips which I posted a few days ago. I do hope that it will help others who are following or reading my blog. Here it goes...

To improve the flavor of green string beans, place 1 or 2 small onions in kettle before adding beans.

Singe chicken or other fowl by holding over burner of oil or gas stove.

When baking whole fish, wrap in well-oiled cheesecloth. When fish is done, it can be lifted from baking pan without falling to pieces. To remove cloth, slip a spatula under fish and slide cloth out after fish is on platter.

When prok or beef liver is tough, run it through a food chopper. Season and drop by spoonfuls into hot frying pan.

Wash fresh pineapples thoroughly before paring. Cover parings with water and cook until soft. Use strained juice for making jelly.

To keep muffins from burning around the edges, fill one section with water instead of batter.

Stick 2 or 3 pieces of macaroni in the center of the top of a double crust pie. The juice bubbles up these sticks and prevents pie from running over.

Do not beat egg whites for cakes or meringue until ready to use. If allowed to stand, some of the white will return to liquid.

To prevent onions from burning your eyes, hold them under water when peeling or slicing them.

Kitchen Tips (Part I)

I was going through all my books especially my cook books a few days ago. I got quite a few cook books but the Mennonite Community Cook book caught my eye. The book was sent to me by a foreigner friend whom I met in a dating site way back when I was still single. He sent the cook book to me together with a concordance Bible. This cook book is quite thick with lots of recipes in it. It has also some household hints that are very helpful to housewives like me. I thought of sharing it here.

Dry green celery or parsley leaves until crumbly. Store in covered jars to use as seasoning and fillings.

After rice has been cooked and drained, place a slice of dry bread on top of the rice and cover. The bread will absorb the moisture and the rice will be dry and fluffy.

Before melting chocolate, rub the inside of the pan it is to be melted in with butter. The chocolate will not stick to the pan.

When washing pans and dishes to which food has adhered during cooking, turn the pan outside down in steaming, sudsy water. Food will loosen in a ery short time.

When cookie dough is soft and difficult to handle, place it between pieces of waxed paper that have been floured. Roll to desired thickness, remove top paper and cut cookies.

To gel fruit juices that are difficult to gel, such as peach juice, add 1 1/3 teaspoons plain gelatin to each cup of juice. Soften gelatin in 3 teaspoons juice and add to remaining hot juice. Add 1 teaspoon lemon juice to each quart of fruit juice.

Before discarding the empty catsup bottle, pour some vinegar into the bottle and use in making French dressing.

Pour melted paraffin on the cut end of cheeses or dried beef to keep them from molding or drying up.

Ginataang Kalabasa At Sitaw Once Again

I love cooking and eating veggies. Squash or kalabasa is one of my favorite vegetables. My garden in Texas was full of squash last year and I cooked a lot of it when I harvested. I even gave some to my Mexican neighbor and she said it was good. See how coconut milk enhances the taste of this recipe. I cooked this recipe before and posted it here.

INGREDIENTS:
1 squash, peeled and cubed
a bunch of sitaw (10-15 pcs)
8 pcs okra
1 medium size onion
2-3 cloves of garlic
1 cup of ground beef or
1/4 kilo of shrimp (whatever kind of your choice from the small one to the big ones)
1 cup of coconut milk
oil for cooking
1 cup water
salt and pepper to taste or ginisa flavor mix

DIRECTIONS:
Put oil on a saucepan and saute the garlic and onion, after that put your choice of "sahog" (beef, pork or shrimp), then put the squash and saute for a while then add the okra and the sitaw then again saute again for a while then add the water. Cook for a few minutes and then add the coconut milk and cook until the veggies are done then seasoned with salt and pepper to taste or some ready ginisa mix if you want. Then serve with steam rice.

Beefsteak, Filipino Style

My hubby is not very fond of steaks but when I cooked this recipe, he loved it. The calamansi and the onions added a good flavor for this beefsteak recipe. We call this bistek tagalog in our language.

INGREDIENTS
1 lb beef, sliced into 1/2 inch thick slices
3 pcs. onions
3/4 cup soy sauce
2 pcs. calamansi, juice only
cooking oil

PROCEDURE
1. Marinate the beef in soy sauce and calamansi for at least 15 minutes (or overnight)
2. Slice the onions into rings. Heat oil in a pan and saute the onions, remove and set aside.
3. Using the same pan, fry the beef.
4. Add the marinade and allow to simmer until the sauce has reduced.
5. Top with the onions before serving.

Chop Suey

One of my favorite Chinese recipes is chop suey. I just love vegetables mixed with some meat and this recipe is just perfect for a veggie lover like me. In fact we had this during our wedding anniversary. It was gone so quick.

Ingredients:
1 lb. beef or round steak
Vegetable oil for cooking
4 pcs carrots, sliced
1 c. onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, diced
8 tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 lb green beans, sliced
1 medium size cabbage, sliced
2 pcs. chayote, sliced
1/4 lb mushroom
2 c. water
6 tbsp. cornstarch in 1 c. water, mixed

Cut steak into slivers. Brown in small amount of vegetable oil. Add garlic, onion and saute. Then add soy sauce and 2 cups water. Simmer for a few minutes. Add all the vegetables. Add 2 more cups water. Thicken corn starch with 1 cup water to thickness wanted. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add more water if desired. Serve with hot cooked rice.

Brown Sugar Banana Pecan Muffins

A week ago, I baked again banana pecan muffins. This is my favorite and my family too. I still have a lot of pecans in the fridge. I froze it so it will last longer. BTW, I baked banana pecan muffins before but with another ingredients. I think I like this recipe that I just baked because it has lesser ingredients and the muffins still came out yummy and delicious.

INGREDIENTS:

* 1/2 cup butter, softened
* 1 cup brown sugar
* 2 eggs
* 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
* 4 very ripe bananas, mashed
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 3 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup chopped pecans
* 18 pieces muffin liners

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition. Stir in vanilla and banana. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. Blend the banana mixture into the flour mixture; stir just to combine. Fold in chopped pecans. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tins with liners about 3/4 full and place a pecan on top of each muffin for garnish.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of muffin comes out clean.

Macaroni Fruit Salad

We always have this macaroni salad during special occasions like birthdays, Christmas and New Year's Day celebrations. It's always been our family's favorite because it's really appetizing to eat after meals for our dessert. We also eat it during snack time. Yummy!

Ingredients:

* 1 pkg salad macaroni, cooked per direction on the the package
* 1 large can of regular fruit cocktail
* 1 bottle of kaong
* 1 bottle of nata de coco (clear coconut cubes)
* 1 can of condensed milk
* 2 cans of nestle cream
* 1 medium size bottle of mayonnaise
* Cheddar cheese cut into cubes (optional)

Directions:

1. Drain the syrup form your fruit cocktails and bottles of nata de coco. You can dry them by mixing them all together in a strainer and leaving them there for a few minutes to drain any excess syrup.

2. Place the drained fruit cocktails and nata de coco in a large mixing bowl and add the cooked macaroni, mayonnaise and then Nestle cream. Mix well.

3. Add the condense milk, and then the cubed cheddar cheese, if you choose this ingredient. Mix them all together until everything is evenly blended.

4. Place the bowl inside the fridge and chill for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Then serve and enjoy!

How to Make Fresh Vegetables Last Longer

Vegetables will last long enough for you to serve them to your family if you spend a few minutes getting them ready to store. Here's how.

Instructions:

Step1. Remember that a tomato is actually a berry. It should be stored on the countertop, stem side down and away from direct sunlight.

Step2. Place cucumbers on the top shelf of the refrigerator to keep them from partially freezing. Wrap fresh corn in a damp cloth and store it still in its husk on a shelf.

Step3. Store carrots and celery in the crisper. Cut the green tops off the carrots and place them in a paper bag before storing them. Mushrooms should also be placed in a paper bag.

Step4. Onions, potatoes and garlic should be stored in a basket or wire bin in a dark place.

Step5. Freeze certain fresh vegetables but remember to blanch them first. Cut them up, drop them in boiling water for a minute or so, then plunge them into an ice bath. Dry them and place in plastic bags. Carrots, peas, corn, cauliflower, broccoli and green beans can be frozen this way.

Step6. Dice and freeze onions, celery and bell peppers. Veggies like these that will be cooked thoroughly in the course of meal preparation don't need to be blanched first.

Tips & Warnings

* Never try to freeze lettuce, radishes, potatoes, onions or whole tomatoes.

I'm Back ...

...after more than 3 weeks of no internet. The phone company just restored the line so I'm back to the blogging world. The thieves had strike again and they stole the phone cable, reason why we didn't have internet. In a way it's good because I was able to do some other things but my blogging earnings suffered. Well that's life, I have to be contented with what I have. Now back to my blogging business once again.

Celebrating Our Anniversary

My hubby and I just celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary. Of course if there's a celebration, there are lots of foods to commemorate the event. We bought a goat and my youngest brother butchered it. Then my other brother and his wife and I did the cooking. We started to prepare the ingredients after lunch because the celebration will start at 6:00 PM. We cooked kaldereta, pinapaitan, kilawin, goulash and chop suey. For our dessert we prepared ahead fruit salad mix with agar-agar. This is so good I tell you. We have also made papaya pickles. We finished cooking just in time when the invited friends and neighbors arrived. All the foods that we cooked were all delicious and all the invited guests had a good time eating and celebrating with us. The kaldereta was a hit. It was gone so quick followed by the pinapaitan, an Ilokano recipe.

Spaghetti

Spaghetti is one of my family's favorite aside from pancit. In fact during most occasions especially birthdays, we always have these 2 great menus. Last Sunday was my aunt's birthday and we had pancit and spaghetti on the table. Guess what? It was the spaghetti which was gone first. The kids as well as the adults love it except my hubby. He doesn't eat spaghetti.

Here's the recipe of Spaghetti, Filipino style.

2 lbs spaghetti noodles
2 lbs ground beef
1/2 lb hotdogs, diagonally sliced
2 6 oz. cans tomato sauce
3 pieces laurel leaves (bay leaves)
1/4 cup brown or white sugar
2 green bell peppers, diced
2 onions, chopped
1 head garlic, minced
3 tablespoons of cooking oil
1 cup of water
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup grated cheese

Spaghetti Cooking Instructions:

1. Cook spaghetti noodles according to package instructions.

2. In a sauce pan or wok, sauté garlic and onions in cooking oil.

3. Add ground beef, ground pork, laurel leaves, bell pepper and a cup of water. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 10 minutes.

4. Add tomato sauce, salt and pepper to taste then let simmer for another 10 minutes

5. Add brown sugar and hotdogs. Continue to simmer for an additional 5 minutes.

6. Serve with the cooked spaghetti noodles and grated cheese on top.

Flour Tortilla

My former Mexican neighbor used to give us homemade tortillas. I'm not really very fond of it but my hubby is. He loves eating it. I asked my neighbor to show me how to cook tortillas and she came in our house and made a bunch of flour tortillas for us. I bought all the ingredients needed. My hubby was so delighted. I had to put the tortillas in zip lock bags and put them in the refrigerator to keep it fresh.

Flour tortillas are not made with a tortilla press, they are formed using a rolling pin to roll them flat and into the round. This takes practice to do properly.

Basic Recipe (10 - 12 tortillas)

3 cups all-purpose flour (not bread flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
about 1-1/4 cup warm water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, shortening, or lard

Step #1 - Mixing the Dough

Stir dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl, folding in the oil or lard. Gradually stir in enough warm water to form a stiff crumbly dough; knead the dough until it holds together, approximately 5-7 minutes. Turn the dough out onto a floured pastry board and again knead it until smooth (3-5 minutes). Once the dough is smooth and no longer sticks to the pastry board, roll it into a "log" shape. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and form each into a ball. Cover the dough balls with plastic wrap and let rest 20 minutes.

Step #2 - Forming the Tortillas

Place a dough ball between two sheets of plastic wrap or wax paper and flatten by hand into a 4" or 5" patty. Use a rolling pin or tortilla pin and, working from the center out to the edges, roll into thin 8-9", round tortillas. Try not to roll over and off the edge of the tortilla as this will make the edges too thin. Turn the tortillas often as you roll. Stretch the dough slightly in your hands as the tortilla is carefully peel off the work surface. If the tortillas tear too easily to handle you may want to reknead the dough.

Note: if rolling out round tortillas is too difficult or time consuming, we have a great alternative. Our electric heated flour tortilla maker produces round, thin precooked 8" flour tortillas in 3-4 seconds and ready to be finished in a hot comal or stored for cooking later. This is a unique and innovative kitchen tool made in Mexico that we have found very handy and effective. See our products page for details and purchase information.

Step #3 - Cooking the Tortillas

Carefully place the tortillas, one at a time, onto a preheated (medium) dry comal or griddle. Within seconds, tiny blisters will appear in the surface of the tortilla. Flip and immediately press down on the tortilla with a wide spatula or flat wooden paddle, apply gentle but firm pressure all over the top. This will cause the tortilla to puff from the steam inside. Blisters will form over most of the tortilla surface as you press down. Turn the tortilla again and press the other side until the blisters turn a light golden brown; the tortilla should remain soft. If the tortillas stick to the comal or burn reduce the heat. The cooking time should be less than 1 minute. Do not overcook.

Stack the tortillas as they are cooked inside a cloth towel lined tupperware container or tortilla warmer. Make sure to seal the container so that they can "steam" while you finish cooking the rest of the batch. For the best taste, serve the tortillas while still warm and fresh.

Fish Secrets

I love eating fish and I can eat it any way it is cooked. But do you know that there are ways in handling fish so they will last long and won't spoil easily? Here are some fish secrets that you might not yet know. Read on.

• When cooking thicker fish steaks, you can tell they’re ready by making a small cut in the center. It’s ready when the cut is milky white or opaque.
• Fresh fish shouldn’t smell at all – if it does, that means it’s been around too long.
• Experts say that fresh fish should feel like your own flesh. It must come back up when you press it down.
• Choose fillets that are moist and free of drying or browning around the edges.
• Store live clams, oysters, mussels and crabs in well-ventilated containers and cover with a damp cloth or paper towel.
• Cook fish for about 10 minutes per inch of thickness. For example, a 1-inch thick fish fillet should be cooked for 10 minutes.
• Don't buy cooked seafood products which are right beside raw seafood products in the display case - they may be contaminated.
• Be careful when handling fish since it can bruise easily. Lift the whole fish gently with both hands. Don't hold it by the tail.
• When freezing large quantities of fish, place a piece of the wrapping material between each. They'll separate easily and will make thawing quicker.
• Add 5 minutes to the total cooking time for fish wrapped in foil or covered in sauce.

Easy Quiche

The first time I ate quiche was during the mother and daughter banquet in our church which was held in a restaurant. They served different foods but this one was new to me since I never ate it before. I got curious how to cook it because it was so good. My friend told me it was just easy and so here is the recipe that I searched and I have to try it as soon as I have the ingredients.

INGREDIENTS

* 8 slices bacon
* 4 ounces shredded Swiss cheese
* 2 tablespoons butter, melted
* 4 eggs, beaten
* 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 1/2 cups milk

DIRECTIONS

1. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9 inch pie pan.
3. Line bottom of pie plate with cheese and crumbled bacon. Combine eggs, butter, onion, salt, flour and milk; whisk together until smooth; pour into pie pan.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes, until set. Serve hot or cold.

WE ARE THE WORLD TAG

I was tagged by Eva and it's only now that I've seen it because I was away for 2 weeks. Things happened unexpectedly beyond my control. Hubby got sick but I thank God he's okay now. Anyways, thank you so much for this tag Eva. I appreciate it.

You do not have to be tagged to play along. The game is simple and so are the rules.

1. Copy from *Start Copy Here* through *End Copy Here*

2. Add your site(s) to the list. Just be sure to post at each site you add.

3. Tag as many bloggers as you like so the list keeps on growing.

4. Let me know your blog’s name and url by leaving me a comment HERE. I will add you to the master list.

5. Come back and copy the master list back to your site, often. This process will allow late-comers to get as much link benefit as the first ones in.

We Are The World Bloggers Master List:

1. Emila Yusof 2. The Other Side of Emila 3. Mariuca 4. Mariuca’s Perfume Gallery 5. Meow Diaries 6. Unlisted One 7. Spiff, the Spaceman 8. My Sweet Escape 9. Nota Nurul 10. Life’s Tapestry 11. Spontaneous Insignificancy 12. LadyJava 13. Miss Igorota 14. AnnyBoo 15. Yoon See 16. Jia’s Life 17. Nessa’s Mumblings 18. Also Mommy 19. The Walk of Life 20.Pretty Firefly 21. Untouchable EARTH 22. Baterya 23. Comedy Plus 24. Bain Cardin 25. Strawberry Milkshake 26. Turn-U-Off 27. Jom Heboh Di Sini 28. Notes by Marvic 29. Memoir Mez 30.Origena 31.Walking Newspaper 32. Bluedreamer 34. Breaking the Boundaries 35. Life According to Me 36. A Great Pleasure 37. Time Goes By 38. Kancing itu Butang 39. In my Kitchen 41. Fyzal’s Territory 40. Wiggy’s World 40. A Simple Life 41. A Taxi Ride 42. Single Life of Me 43. Little Bits of Info 44. Ode to Adrienne 45. KMP 46. Simple Happy Life 47. Chuchie's Hideaway 48. Seiko's Diary 49.SURVIVOR:the REALITY of my LIFE 50. Mom's Special Diary 51. Her and History 52. Basic Bloganomics 53. My Daily Thoughts and Moods 54. My Overview 55. My Daily Business 56. Starbucks City Mug 57. Yellow n Pink 58. All About Life 59. In My Kitchen



ELITE BLOG ARTIST AWARD


Anybody can grab this tag if you want to.

Old Fashion Pancakes

In our house, pancakes is one of our favorites for breakfast or snacks. My 2 nephews love pancakes so every time I cook, I make it a point to give them. They just live next door. The easiest way to cook pancakes is to use a ready mix from the box and in just a matter of minutes, pancakes are ready to eat. But making pancakes from scratch will yield more and you can save money too. So why not try this recipe and you'll see and taste how easy and yummy these pancakes are.

INGREDIENTS:

* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 tablespoon white sugar
* 1 1/4 cups milk
* 1 egg
* 3 tablespoons butter, melted
* I tsp vanilla

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk, egg and melted butter; mix until smooth.

2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

New Facebook App

We all know that there are lots people all over the world who are struggling to recover from their addictions. In fact, I know some people in our place who are having a hard time to stop their vices or addictions. Some people opted to go to a rehab center but for those who can't afford it, they are searching for a place to voice out or express how they feel and get some insights and suggestions too. Well, if you know somebody who has the same problem as above, why not tell them to join InTheRooms , a social networking in the world wide web.

For those who have never heard of In The Rooms, well, it is an online recovery community with more than 50,000 members worldwide that connect regularly to form one of the biggest recovery social networking sites on the web. If you signed up in Facebook, you can now add the InTheRooms Facebook App to your Facebook profile and if you know somebody who is in the process of recovery then you can invite him or her to join and share their experiences. Both hubby an I are in Facebook and we gonna have to inform our friends about this app. I'm sure this will help people who are in the recovery process from addiction.

Chicken Empanada

I haven't been cooking lately because I let my brother do the cooking in the house. He's a very good cook and since we've been here, hubby and I had gained weight. We've been eating too much. I can't help it because it's hard to resist those delicious foods.

Anyways, I would like to post here again the recipe that both me and my hubby love, empanada. I used to cook it before when we were in Texas. I'm planning to cook this again one of these days.

Chicken Empanada

Ingredients:

Dough:
2 cups flour
1/2 cup shortening
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 egg
ice water (enough to make a ball)

Filling:
1 chicken breast, boiled and himayin
2 medium potatoes, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic
canola oil
salt
pepper

Instructions:

Mix the ingredients for the dough. Knead it well using a rolling pin. If the dough is already okay and doesn't stick to your hands no more, cut it into pieces according to your desired size. For the filling, sautee the garlic, onion, chicken then add the rest of the ingredients. Put salt and pepper according to taste. If it's already cooked, let it cool first. Then form a ball of the dough that you cut into pieces and roll it with the rolling pin to flatten. Then put the filling about 1heaping tablespoon. Then wrap it. Use a fork to seal the edges. Beat 1 egg and just use the yolk. Apply it to the empanada using a brush before baking. Bake it for 20 minutes at 375 degrees.

Back To Zero

What can I say? My blog's PR was ripped off by the high and mighty G from PR2 then down to PR1 and now PR0. This has been expected of course. This is my 4th blog that was demoted but the good thing is, it took more than a year before Mr. G finally took away my blog's PR. This blog of mine had the longest period that had the PR among my blogs that do paid blogging. Within that period, I did a lot of paid blogging and of course this blog made me some money. I didn't really expect that this blog's PR stayed that long compared to my other blogs. Goodbye PR. Hope Mr. G will give you back to me. If not, it's okay. I made some money anyway...

Squash With String Beans

I just love eating squash with string beans mixed with ground beef, ampalaya and okra. We just had this the other day and it's so delicious I tell you. I won't get tired eating this over and over again. It's one of my favorites. It's good to eat this with rice, Hmm, yummy!

INGREDIENTS:
1 squash, peeled and cubed
10 pcs okra
2 pcs ampalaya, sliced
salt or fish sauce
cooking oil
ground beef
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
1 1/2 cup water

DIRECTIONS:
Pout the cooking oil and sautee the garlic and onion. Put the ground beef and brown it. Add water and let it simmer. Add salt or fish sauce, and all the vegetables. Cook until the vegetables are soft. Serve with rice.

Celebrating Father's Day

I know that this is a late post but I just want to share here what we had during Father's Day. Though our father is no longer with us because he passed away 9 years ago, we had a little celebration with my kinfolks who are also fathers like my brother, my brother-in-law and his dad and of course my hubby. We just bought most of the foods that we had because we didn't have enough time to cook after church. We had pancit palabok, lechon manok, shanghai lumpia, cake, etc. By the way, we were in Baguio during Father's Day at my brother-in-law's house. Here are some photos.

Foods Again!

It's been too hot here lately, it was in the 90s and it made me sweat a lot. I felt so uneasy and uncomfortable. To beat the heat, my family and I went to the beach last weekend and dipped ourselves in the water. We brought with us some foods for lunch. I don't know why but whenever we are in the beach, I have a very good appetite. I ate too much and after that I felt sorry because I know I've been gaining weight. The last time I hit the scale, I had gained 10 lbs since we were here. I don't really like it but I can't help eating those yummy foods in front of me. My hubby had also gained a lot of weight. We have to do something. We need to shed off those excess pounds. Anyways, we enjoyed swimming and of course eating the foods that we cooked like beef caldereta and squash and string beans with ground beef..

My Blog Codes Messed Up

I was so upset when I checked out this blog of mine this morning and found out that the layout of this blog was messed up. I was wondering what happened and so I had to send a message to Ivy asking her to help me fix the problem because she was the one who made this nice blog layout of mine. I was so restless so I checked the layout codes and I found out it was messed up. I had to compare it with the codes of my other blog Precious Words that Ivy had made for me and found out what was wrong in my blog. The IZEA claim codes was inserted somewhere in between the codes so I had to delete it and voila, my codes are working now. I really don't know how the codes had messed up because I didn't edit the codes. That's a puzzle to me but I will not rack my brain thinking how it happened. I was blog hopping after I fixed my blog and I found one blog who has the same problem. I don't know if the blog owner is already aware of what happened to his blog and I'm pretty sure he would be wondering too once he found out. But I'm relieved that my blog is okay now so blogging goes on.

Kare-Kare

I’m posting another great Filipino recipe. It’s kinda tiring and complicated (well, at least for me) but it’s worth the effort making it from scratch. Kare-kare is a famous Philippine dish which is often referred as a stew. It is made of peanut sauce and is added with different kinds of vegetables, stewed oxtail, beef and offal or tripe. The delicacy is usually eaten with bagoong or shrimp paste. It is also spiced with chili, added with calamansi or lime juice.

Ingredients :

250 g. of ox tripe
250 g. of ox tail
250 g. of ox leg
1/8 c. of annato seeds
1/2 head of cabbage
1 bunch of pechay
1 bunch of sitaw (long string beans)
1 eggplant
1 puso ng saging (heart of banana plant)
1 c. of peanut butter
1/4 c. of rice flour
1 whole garlic, minced
2 onions, diced
5-6 c. of stock
2 tbsp. of cooking oil
salt to taste

How to :

Wash ox tripe, tail and leg well. Place in a large casserole and cover with plenty of water. Bring to a boil, removing scum as it rises. Cover and simmer until tender, about 4 to 6 hours. Transfer meat to a plate, cool and cut into serving pieces. Strain stock and measure 6 cups (you may need less but it’s better to be prepared).

Cut cabbage half into 2 and remove core. Cut off roots and 1/2 inch of stalks of pechay and discard. Cut of roots of sitaw and cut into 2″ lengths. Discard tough outer layers of puso ng saging and cut inner layers into 2″ x 2″ pieces. Cut eggplant into 2″ x 2″ cubes.

Place rice flour in a skillet and toast over medium-high heat until golden. Set aside.

In a casserole, heat oil over medium heat. Add annato seeds and “cook” until they render color and the oil is a bright red. With a slotted spoon, remove annato seeds and discard. Increase heat to medium-high and saute onions and garlic for about 30 seconds. Add meat pieces and cook until they absorb the color or the oil. Pour in 4 cups of stock and bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium and add vegetables in the following order with a 2-minute interval : sitaw, eggplant, puso ng saging, cabbage and pechay.

Meanwhile, mix peanut butter with 1/2 c. of stock. Mix roasted rice flour with 1/2 c. of stock. Once the pechay has been added, pour in peanut butter and rice flour mixtures into the casserole. Stir to blend well. Season with salt. Cook for about a 2 minutes until sauce is thick.

Serve hot with bagoong alamang.

Saluyot (Jute)

I love eating saluyot or jute not only because of it's good taste but also because of the nutrients that I get from it. It's saluyot season nowadays and so we always eat pinakbet na saluyot. Surprisingly, my hubby love it too. I also love mixing saluyot with other vegetables when cooking. It gives good taste to it. I know some people don't like to eat saluyot but they don't know what they're missing.

What is in saluyot that should merit your attention? Firstly, it is rich in beta-carotene for good eyesight, iron for healthy red blood cells, calcium for strong bones and teeth, and vitamin C for smooth, clear skin, strong immune cells, and fast wound healing. In other words, saluyot is a nourishing green leafy vegetable. Secondly, it is the legitimate source of the world's raw materials for containers of rice, corn, sugar, mongo and other commodities.

Saluyot is a leafy vegetable popular among Ilocanos, pasao, pasao na bilog or tagabang among Tagalogs, and lumbal, sumpa or panigbin among Visayans. Saluyot is easy to propagate, you can start harvesting the leaves after one month. It is easier to plant saluyot than any other crop since you don't need pesticide and fertilizer to grow the crop.

Here's a good recipe from saluyot:

Saluyot With Labong

Ingredients:

3 cups rice washing
2 medium tomatoes, sliced
4 tsp bagoong isda, mashed and strained
1 cup labong
3 cups saluyot leaves
3/4 cups malunggay leaves
1 medium piece broiled bangus, cut into 3 slice

Procedure:

Boil rice washing together with tomatoes. Add bagoong sauce. Mix in labong and let simmer for 15-20 minutes or until labong is cooked. Add saluyot, malunggay leaves and broiled bangus and continue simmering for 3 minutes.

Top 10 EC Droppers

I know this is a late post but it's better late than never. I just want to acknowledge the top 10 EC droppers here in my blog. Thank you very much for coming by and visiting this site during my absence. I didn't get the chance to drop EC last month in other blogs since we didn't have our phone and internet service due to typhoon damage. I'll make it up to you guys. Once again Cacai's Step and Journey made it to the top. I'm amazed, thanks a lot girl and also to all those who came and dropped by.

Dropper # of drops Cacai's Step and Journey 29 My Loonyverse 4 heavenly delight 4 Another Fine Meal 3 My Life's Events And Anecdotes 2 Naokos Cooking 2 Denise Lee 2 My Absent Mind 1 Pat's Encaustics - Art in the Wax 1 The Peach Kitchen 1

Foods To Celebrate

I mentioned in my previous post about the foods that we had for my niece Vernice when she turned 10 month old last May 28th. Now I can post the photos taken that day because we just got back our phone and internet connection 2 days ago. I was the one who cooked the pancit bihon guisado and chicken afritada and it was a hit. The pistachio pudding didn't turn out good though because they don't have cool whipped topping in the groceries here so I used all purpose cream and it was not a good substitute. My pistachio pudding turned out watery but then my 2 nephews loved it. They said it tasted good. It was their first time to eat it and so they don't have anything to compare to. Anyways, we enjoyed eating and we all had a good time.

baby Vernice at 10 month old

come and eat pancit, chicken afritada, rice and pistachio pudding

Vernice with my sis Violy and her hubby Jhun

Vernice with cousins Kenneth and Mark

Vernice with parents Celso and Vivian

Vernice with me and hubby

Goulash For Our Supper

I cooked goulash last night because it's been a while since I cooked this recipe. We've been eating mostly veggies, fish and rice and for a change I decided to have pasta for our supper last night. I gave some to my nephews and they were so happy because they love pasta. Here's the recipe of the goulash that I cooked. It's so easy to prepare. Hubby and I love it.

1/2 lb. elbow macaroni
1 lb ground beef sirloin
1 small onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
2 c. tomato soup or spaghetti sauce
1 c. shredded mozarella cheese
salt
pepper


Prepare the macaroni according to the package instructions.

Saute the sirloin and onion in a skillet until the meat is brown and the onions become translucent.

Drain the fat off. Add tomato soup or spaghetti sauce and the salt and pepper to the meat. Bring to a boil then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about 10 min.

In a large pot, combine the noodles, meat mixture, and shredded cheese. Allow this to simmer for about 20 minutes or until heated through and the cheese is melted. You may need to add up to a cup more of the tomato soup if it's too dry.

Pancit Bihon Guisado

My niece Vernice turned 10 months old today and I decided to cook pancit bihon and chicken afritada to celebrate. After I cooked, my siblings and their families came to eat and we ate the foods that I cooked. Pancit is always cooked when somebody celebrate her/his birthday and you know what, my pancit were all gone and nothing was left for me this morning.

Ingredients:

1 8 oz. pack pancit bihon noodles
1 cooked chicken breast, shredded
3 1/2 cups of chicken broth
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1/2 cabbage, sliced into strips
1 onion, peeled and sliced
3 cloves of garlic, crushed and minced
2 carrots, sliced into strips
1/2 cup shrimps, shells removed
3/4 cup diced celery
1 cup sliced green beans
soy sauce
black pepper
garlic powder
onion powder
cooking oil

Directions:

1. Grease a pot and saute the garlic and onions. Add the shrimps and chicken and cook for a couple of minutes. Add 1/2 cup chicken broth and 1 chicken bouillon cube. Add all the vegetables and season with soy sauce and black pepper according to your taste.

2. In a large pan or wok, put the 3 cups of chicken broth. Add 2 tbsps of cooking oil, soy sauce, 1 chicken bouillon, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and let it simmer. Add the pancit bihon noodles stirring constantly and cook it till the noodles are tender and had absorbed all the broth. Then add the vegetables and mix it altogether.

It's Been A While

Well, it's been a while since the last time I updated my blogs. The main reason is we had no internet connection since the typhoon destroyed the phone lines in our place. The sad thing is there were only 2 span damaged and unfortunately, we were the ones affected. Right now our phone line is not yet restored so I'm here in the internet cafe. I don't know when will we have our phone and internet connection back. I hope it will be soon. I miss blogging really.

Vegetable Lumpia

Lumpia is one of my specialty. I used to make a lot when we were in Texas. During my citizenship party last year, I made more than a hundred pieces. Most of the time I make Shanghai lumpia (I used ground beef, chicken or turkey though) because hubby prefer it than veggies. I removed pork from our diet a few years ago because my nutritionist told me that pigs are scavengers and pork is not good for my health. I also make vegetable lumpia sometimes and still hubby likes but not as much as he likes the meat lumpia.

During my nephew's birthday a couple of weeks ago, my sister made vegetable lumpia and it turned out good but my hubby said that my lumpia taste better. I got a fan here, LOL!

Here are the ingredients for vegetable lumpia of my sister:

bean sprouts ( as many as you want)
1 small bowl ground beef or any meat that you prefer
1 carrot
1/4 baguio beans
salt and pepper
1/4 cabbage
Onions
garlic
3 squares tokwa - diced
oil for frying
lumpia wrapper

How To Prepare:

First, sautee garlic, onions, tokwa and ground beef in oil.
Add the vegetables( bean sprouts, carrot, baguio beans and cabbage) if beef is ready.
Add salt and pepper to add flavor.
Set aside if ready.

Next, let the sauteed ingredients to cool before wrapping it with lumpia wrapper.
After which, set the frying pan, heat oil and start frying!
Use a paper towel to remove excess oil.
Serve hot!

My Nephew's Birthday

We had some yummy foods during my nephew's birthday. We were in Baguio so we celebrated it there. My sister and her hubby had cooked foods like spaghetti, pancit palabok and vegetable lumpia. While the lumpia was being cooked, my hubby and I had already eaten quite a few. It was really good. We didn't have much sweets because both my brother-in-law and his dad are diabetic. So we just drink iced tea after we ate. Anyways, we enjoyed the simple celebration.

Pancit Palabok

My hubby had been tired eating pancit bihon because I always cook that when we were in Texas. It surprised me though when he tasted the pancit palabok that we ordered from Tea House in Baguio because he loved it. It tasted different from the pancit bihon that I used to cook. I haven't tried cooking pancit palabok yet but my brother-in-law is very good in cooking this. In fact he cooked it during my youngest nephew's birthday the other week. Here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:

500 grams pancit noodles ( rice glass noodles)

100 grams shrimps, peeled, deveined, and chopped (save heads for shrimp stock)

300 grams tinapa (smoked fish), fried and flaked (take out the bones!)

200 grams pork, sliced into bit-size pieces

4-6 eggs, hard-boiled and sliced

1-2 cups pork cracklings, pound or grind in food processor

1/2 cup green onions, chopped

1 med size onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, crushed

salt, and patis (fish sauce) if you wish

2 packs Mama Sita Palabok Mix

water

2-3 tbsp cooking oil

calamansi (Filipino lime)

DIRECTION:

1. Soak shrimp heads (and mash with a spoon if you must!) with 1 cup boiling water for about 5 minutes. Drain and set liquid aside. This is your shrimp stock.

2. Cook glass noodles according to package instructions. Set aside.

2. In a large pan, heat oil. Saute garlic and onions over low heat. Add pork, continue stir-frying until cooked. Remove pork and set aside.

3. Saute shrimps in the same pan only til they turn orange. Remove from pan.

4. Dissolve Palabok mix in cold water (follow package instructions). Pour dissolved mix and shrimp stock into pan used for sauteing. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring once in a while. Simmer until sauce thickens. Season with salt and patis (fish sauce).

5. Arrange noodles on a plate, and top with sauce, pork, shrimps, smoked fish flakes, pork cracklings, green onions and sliced eggs. Squeeze calamansi juice over your plate of pancit palabok if desired. Enjoy!

Three Awards

I am so thankful to Sheng for giving me these three awards. I really appreciate it and thank you girl for always visiting my blog and leaving a message. I am so pleased!





Now I am passing this to Chelle, Cacai and Alf.