Fruit Salad

Making this fruit salad is just easy as can be. You don't have to cook anything. Just open the fruits in can and the other ingredients, mix them together and presto, you have a good fruit salad. But I advise you to put in the fridge for half an hour before eating it for a better taste. My hubby and I love eating this fruit salad. I made this many times already but we don't get tired eating it.

INGREDIENTS:
1 can fruit cocktail
1 can pineapple tidbits
1 can nata de coco (coconut gel)

1 can kaong (palm seeds)
1 can half peaches
1 can Nestle cream
1/2 can condense milk

DIRECTIONS:
Open the first 5 ingredients and drain them well. Put it in a salad bowl and then add the remaning 2 ingredients. Mix them all together. Refrigerate for half an hour before serving.

Spicy Garlic Chicken

I had a spicy garlic sauce ingredients in a box from the store and I just need some 3 pieces of chicken breast to cook with it. I got tired cooking the same recipe of chicken like the afritada and baked chicken so I used these ingredients from the box. It was my first time to use it and I just followed the instructions in the box. Rice was included in the box too. So I cooked the rice and when the chicken was cooked together with the spicy garlic sauce, hubby and I ate it with the rice. I tell you it was so delicious!!!

I Baked Banana Pecan Bread

This is my nth time to bake this well-loved banana pecan bread recipe. It's easy to make and it don''t require a lot of work. My hubby and I just love eating this and it's one of our favorite breads. We still have left-over yesterday when my my step-kids came over to get some of our stuffs. I offered it to my step-son and he said it taste good.

You can see the recipe of this bread by clicking here.

I Cooked Dinengdeng Again

We'll be moving out from our house soon but I still have lots of frozen veggies in my freezer. I have to cook them all before we leave. So I had to cook again dinengdeng a few days ago. I cooked it as simple as I can. My hubby ate some but I ate most of it. I just love vegetables cooked Pinoy style. It taste a lot better than American cooking.

INGREDIENTS:
string beans
okra
squash flowers
fish sauce
water
Knorr tamarind soup base
1/2 cup ground beef
1 onion, sliced
1 tbsp cooking oil

DIRECTIONS:
Pour the cooking oil in a pot. Saute the onion and then add the ground beef. Cook until the beef turn brown. Put two cups of water and fish sauce according to your desired taste and let it simmer. Add all the vegetables and cook for a few minutes. Then add the Knorr tamarind soup according to your desired taste. Cook for a few minutes more then turn off the heat. Serve with rice.

Turkey Meatballs In Tomato Sauce

Last night I cooked again turkey meatballs with sauce using another recipe. I cooked the meatballs with tomato sauce this time. I just made a few meatballs and put the rest of the mixture in the refrigerator because while I was busy forming the meatballs, a friend of mine in the Philippines called me. So I was not able to do much because I can't form meatballs while talking on the phone. We talked for 18 minutes and it was already supper time and I was still cooking. Anyways, to make the story short, the turkey meatballs turned out good and my hubby complained because I didn't make more meatballs. He really likes it.

Ingredients:
***Meatballs***
1 onion -- finely chopped
1 clove garlic -- finely chopped
1 egg -- lightly beaten
1 pound ground white turkey meat
1 pound ground dark turkey meat
1 cup white bread crumbs
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
***Sauce***
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 small onion -- finely chopped
1 clove garlic -- finely chopped
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 can (28 oz size) whole peeled tomatoes -- crushed in a bowl
1 cup water
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons lemon juice
salt and pepper -- to taste
1 cup parmesan cheese -- for serving


Directions:

For the meatballs: In a large bowl, combine the onion and garlic. Add the egg and stir well until it is combined.

Add the white and dark turkey meat, bread crumbs, brown sugar, cider vinegar, mustard, parsley, salt, and pepper. With your hands, work the mixture until it is smooth.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

For the sauce: In a large flameproof casserole, heat the oil. Add the onion. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, for 10 minutes or until the onion softens. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, stirring.

Add the raisins, tomatoes, water, tomato paste, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, then let the mixture simmer gently for 10 minutes.

Set a large bowl of cold water on the counter. Dip your fingers into the water. Pick up 1 tablespoon of meatball mixture and shape it into a ball about 1 inch in diameter. Set it on a plate. Continue dipping your fingers into the water before you shape each ball.

Carefully set the meatballs, several at a time, on a large spoon and ease them into the sauce.

Turn up the heat and let the sauce return to a boil. Lower the heat, cover the pan, and cook for 30 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through.

Serve in shallow bowls; sprinkle with cheese.

Foods For Thanksgiving

We had lots of foods last Thanksgiving Day. Stacy and Sherry cooked ham, dressing (stuffing), green bean casserole, baked sweet potato with marsmallows, dinner rolls, and lots and lots of desserts like pecan pie, pumpkin pie, banana and pistachio pudding. I also cooked lumpia of course. But the lumpia were gone before we started our lunch. We enjoyed eating and the foods lasted until Saturday. Below are some of the photos of the foods that we had. They're yummy!!!

pecan pie
pumpkin pie
banana pudding
pistachio pudding
ham
dressing (stuffing)

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

My hubby and I will be out of town this afternoon until the weekend. We gonna spend Thanksgiving with the kids and grand kids. I'm pretty sure my stepdaughters Stacy and Sherry will be preparing delicious foods tomorrow. I will not be able to update my blogs for a few days or visit any other blogs until we get back. Just leave your messages here and I'll get back to all of you soon. Happy Thanksgiving everybody!!!

Lumpia For Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is just 2 days away and I need to prepare something for the said occasion. My hubby and I will be going to Alvarado and spend Thanksgiving Day with the kids and grandkids. This afternoon I prepared the meat filling for my lumpia. The kids love it so I will make some and take it with us when we go to their place. I will wrap it after I'm done blogging. For sure my step kids would be glad to eat my lumpia again.

Blueberry Muffins

I baked blueberry muffins but this time it was a ready made mix from the box. I used to bake muffins from scratch but I just got lazy this time. My hubby and I just love to eat muffins and every time I baked he ate most of it. Sometimes I give away to my friends. I just love to give something to my friends especially my friends in the church. Hubby knows this trait of mine. I want to bless other people with the foods that I cooked and it makes me happy to see other people happy whenever I give them something to eat. I think I got this from my grandma who when she was still alive, she loved to bless other people by sharing whatever foods she had to our kins who were poor. It's really good to be a channel of blessings to other people.

I Cooked My Squash

As I mentioned in my previous post, I cooked one of the squash from my garden last night. I just mixed it with other veggies from my garden like okra, ampalaya and tomatoes. I just added a little ground beef, onions and garlic and liquid aminos. I really enjoyed it. I still have some leftover from last night and I will eat it again tonight with rice. Yummy, it would surely fill my tummy!!!

INGREDIENTS:
1 squash, peeled and cubed
10 pcs okra
2 pcs ampalaya, sliced
3 pcs tomatoes, sliced
salt or fish sauce (I used liquid aminos)
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.

Squash From My Garden

I harvested a lot of squash from my garden this year. The above photo of squash is just the leftover because I had given away one dozen of squash to my friends. My Filipina friends told me why not sell it to the Asian store here in our place. I was not sure if Lyn, the store owner would want to buy my squash. My hubby told me that I better give the squash away to my friends who would want it. But I have already given all of them and they don't want it no more. Yesterday, hubby and I went to the Asian store to buy lumpia wrappers, munggo beans and coconut cream. I asked Lyn if she wants to buy my squash because I have a lot of it. She said to bring it to her and she will see what kind of squash do I have. Hubby and I brought the squash to her, about 6 pieces and she paid me $11 for it. Not that much but better than just let it stay in our house and rot. Lyn asked if I have more and she will buy it. I told her no more because I gave away a bunch to my friends. Had I known that she would want to buy my squash, I could have sold it all to her and made more money. Oh well, I'm also happy that I shared my squash to my friends and made them happy. One of them cooked the squash I gave her and she gave me some of the squash that she cooked with coconut cream. I still have 4 squash left in our house. I cooked one last night and mixed it with okra, ampalaya, eggplant, tomatoes and ground beef. It was good. I ate it with rice.

Eggless Sweet Potato Casserole

I just love sweet potato casserole. This is one of my favorite desserts. You might want to try this recipe and I'm pretty sure you would enjoy it. This sweet potato casserole is topped with brown sugar and pecans. A family favorite!

INGREDIENTS

* 6 sweet potato -- cooked, peeled and mashed
* 1/4 cup evaporated milk
* 1/4 cup orange juice
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/2 cup white sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 3 tablespoons butter, melted
* 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
*
* 1/3 cup butter, melted
* 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 3/4 cup chopped pecans


DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease one 2 quart casserole dish and set aside.
2. Blend together the sweet potatoes, evaporated milk, orange juice, vanilla, sugar, salt, 3 tablespoons butter, nutmeg and cinnamon. Pour into prepared casserole dish.
3. Prepare the topping by mixing together the 1/3 cup butter, brown sugar, flour and pecans. Sprinkle over casserole and bake for 45 minutes or until hot.

Palitao (Rice Patties with Sesame and Coconut)

We used to make this rice cake in the Philippines whenever there were birthdays or just ordinary days. I remember when my mom was still alive, she used to make these for our snacks. It's so easy to make and it doesn't need a lot of ingredients too.

Ingredients
1 cup sweet rice four
3/4 cups water
3 cups fresh coconut
2 cups toasted sesame seeds
2 cups sugar

Directions
In a mixing bowl, combine the sweet rice four and water to make a smooth dough. With floured hands, shape the dough into small patties, 3 inches in diameter and 1/2 inch thick.
Bring water in a saucepan to a boil and drop in the patties. When they float to the top, scoop them out and coat with grated coconut. Sprinkle with sesame
seeds and sugar and serve immediately.

Sweet Potato Bake

In the Philippines, we cook sweet potatoes by boiling, grilling or making camote cue. It's only when I got here in the US that I got to taste the sweet potato bake. Oh my, it was so good! I really love it so I searched for the recipe and I tried to cook it. I first tried to cook sweet potato bake last year after I harvested my sweet potatoes. I had lots of it from my garden so I cooked sweet potato bake. It turned out good. My hubby and I enjoyed it.


INGREDIENTS

* 3 cups cold mashed sweet potatoes (without added milk and butter)
* 1/2 cup milk
* 1/4 cup butter, softened
* 3 eggs
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* TOPPING:
* 1 cup packed brown sugar
* 1/2 cup chopped pecans
* 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 2 tablespoons cold butter

DIRECTIONS

1. In a mixing bowl, beat sweet potatoes, sugar, milk, butter, eggs, salt and vanilla until smooth. Transfer to a greased 2-qt. baking dish. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, pecans and flour; cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over potato mixture. Bake, uncovered, at 325 degrees F for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown.

My Bottle Gourd

I harvested my last bottle gourd a few days ago from my garden. I cooked it for our lunch and me and my hubby love it. My bottle gourd had made only 3 bottle gourds this time so I cooked it with ground beef.

Ingredients:

* 2 tbsps cooking oil
* a cup (200 grams) ground beef
* 4 cloves garlic, finely crushed
* 2 medium onions, minced
* 1 large (1.8 kg) bottle gourd, cut into 1"x 1/8" cubes
* 3 tbsps fish sauce
* 3/4 tsp ground black pepper
* knorr beef cubes

Procedure:

In a large wok, over medium-high fire. Put the oil and ground beef. Stir-fry until beef is lightly brown. Remove from pan the ground beef. Retain the oil. Put the garlic. Saute until golden brown. Follow with onions. Saute until soft. Put the bottle gourd. Stir-fry for a minute. Add in the fish sauce. Sprinkle the pepper. Mix. Cook until aromatic. Put the beef cube and fried ground beef. Mix well. Cover. Cook until veggie is soft.

Note: No need to put water because the bottle gourd is watery as it is being cooked.

Cute Blogger Award

Thanks to Selina for this one. I appreciate it very much. Thanks for always thinking of me.

Here are the rules:

1. Each blogger must post these rules.

2. Each blogger starts with ten random facts/habits about themselves.

3. Bloggers that are tagged, need to write ten facts about themselves. You need to choose ten people to tag and list their names.

4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged and also to read your blog.

Now here are my ten Random facts about me:

1. I am the oldest child in the family of four.

2. I have a sister and 2 younger brothers

4. I was a consistent honor student from elementary up to high school.

5. I had 2 boyfriends before I met my husband.

6. I love gardening, sightseeing, cross-stitching and crocheting.

7. I like to read the Bible and talk to God through prayers.

8. I love eating vegetables, fish and fruits.

9. I like to go window shopping and end up buying things that are on sale.

10.I am generous and helpful to my friends and loved ones.

Now its my time to give this award to : Marly, Sugar and AidiSan.

I Cooked For My Hubby's Birthday

It's my hubby's birthday today so I tried to cook something for our lunch. I usually get lazy cooking so early but since it's my hubby's birthday I cooked his favorite mashed potatoes and I baked chicken leg quarters using the shake and bake mixture from the box. I also cooked collard greens, the last batch from my garden. So when he came home for lunch he ate what I cooked and he likes it. We'll be going out to eat tonight in the restaurant. I still have the 2 gift cards from 2 of the restaurants here in our place that I received as gifts from my church family during my citizenship celebration. We will use one of it tonight to celebrate my hubby's birthday.

Know Me A Bit

This tag came from Selina. Thank you sis.

As you may not know it, I only accept very few tags it's because I feel lazy doing them, sorry friends to be so upfront. This tag below sounds interesting so I thought of doing it with an open heart so my readers or visitors will know a bit about me.

A. Attached or single?~~~married
B. Best friend? ~~~Jesus Christ and my husband.
C. Cake or pie? ~~~cake
D. Day of choice?~~~ any day, but I like Sunday the most
E. Essential item?~~~my PC.
F. Favorite colour?~~~pink
G. Gummy bears or worms?~~~Gummy bears
H. Hometown?~~~Laoac
I. Favorite indulgence?~~~internet, eating, reading God's
J. January or July?~~~January
K. Kids?~~~none but I love kids
L. Life isn’t complete without?~~~God, my husband, family and friends.
M. Marriage date?~~~September 11
N. Number of magazine subscriptions:~~~ none
O. Oranges or apples?~~~both
P. Phobias?~~~heights
Q. Quotes?~~~If God is with us, who can be against us.
R. Reasons to smile?~~~ when I see color white and green opps on my screen.
S. Season of choice?~~~Spring ,Fall
T. Tag 5 people.~~~anybody can just grab this if you want to.
U. Unknown fact about me?~~~I trust my instinct.
V. Vegetable?~~~brocolli, cabbage, and Filipino veggies
W. Worst habit?~~~ staying infront of the PC for hours
X. X-ray or ultrasound?~~~none
Y. Your favorite foods?~~~pinakbet
Z. Zodiac Sign?~~~ Leo

Ground Beef With Potatoes

I wanted a quick and easy meal for me and my hubby so I just thawed the ground beef (from grass-fed cow). Then I peeled and sliced 2 potatoes and also onions and garlic. I saute it using olive oil. It was so good to me.

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
2 medium size potatoes, peeled and diced
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil

Directions:
Saute the onions and garlic with olive oil. Put the ground beef and cook until brown. Put the diced onions and season with salt and pepper. Cook until it's done about 20 minutes.

Top Seven Countries

As we celebrate the United Nations month this October, I'd like to start this chain of the top 7 countries I like or admire the most.
The list below are based on the places that I already been/traveled and want to visit someday.

1. Philippines- my native land and where my heart is.
2. USA- My second home.
3. Japan- I want to visit my friend Sofia and her family. I miss them.
4. Switzerland- Because they have beautiful parks and sceneries there.
5. Italy- Because I think it's a historical place.
6. Hong Kong- Because I want to shop there.
7. Australia - Because I want to see the land down under and the kangaroos.

Thanks Selina for this tag. I appreciate it girl.

Now I'd like to tag Marly, Richelle, Alf and Ging.

Pink Sisterhood - Breast Cancer Awareness Tag

This tag is from Richelle . Thank you for this tag and I really appreciate it.

**start copy***

1. Put the logo in your blog.
2. Add a link to the person who shared it with you.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs
4. Add your link to the list of participants below
5. Leave a message for your nominee on their blog.

PINK Sisterhood
1.Fara 2. Massy 3. N.O.Y 4. Mariuca 5. A Great Pleasure 6. Benchiegrace 7. Grace 8. Jhelea 9. Richelle 10. Lisa and YOU Next!

***end copy***

I'm tagging Marly, Selina and Ging.

Turkey Meatballs

I cooked turkey meatballs the other day. I just baked it and I put the leftovers in the refrigerator. My hubby and I ate it again the next day and it saved me time in cooking. I just wish I will just eat and not have to cook. That was my life way back in the Philippines. How I miss it!

Anyway, here's the recipe for this turkey meatballs. These oven-baked meatballs are fast and easy to prepare. You can serve them with pasta and spaghetti sauce or just eat them with ketchup. Feel free to substitute lean ground beef for the ground turkey. The turkey should have at least 7% fat."

INGREDIENTS:

* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 (20 ounce) package ground turkey
* 1 egg, beaten
* 1/3 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
* 1 onion

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish with the olive oil, and place it in the oven while preheating.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the ground turkey, egg, and bread crumbs using your hands. Using an ice cream scoop if possible, form the meat into golf ball sized meatballs. Place about 1 inch apart in the hot baking dish. Press down to flatten the bottom just slightly.
3. Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, then turn them over, and continue baking for about 5 more minutes, or until somewhat crispy on the outside. Serve with pasta and sauce or however you'd like.

A Grateful Heart

I have been tag by Richelle. Thanks for this one.

Ten Reasons to be Thankful Today!




Here are the rules:

Add your Blog to the list. If you’re keeping multiple Blogs, it’ll be fine if you add them all up and just post your answers in one of those Blogs.



2. IMPORTANT: kindly get back to me [architect] so i will be able to visit your sites, read your answers and include you in the Masterlist.



3. Please do copy from Start to End.



4. You may tag as many online friends as you please.Copy this Participants List:



sweet..pretty..naughty, Memory Filled Sweety tots, My Life in this Wonderful World, My Online World, Living A' La Mode, From This Side.My Life's Journey in Italy, In My Kitchen, Your Blog here.



I have been caught up with a lot of things at work and I have focus all of my attention on my troubles at work that I failed to see all the wonderful blessings I have.

This tag helped me appreciate the graces that I have are a lot more compared to the things that worry me at present.:-(

And my list of things I’m grateful for are:

1. I thank God for my life, without Him I am nothing.
2. I thank God for giving His Son Jesus who died on the cross for my sins.
3. I thank God for the joy of my salvation.
4. I thank my husband for loving me unconditionally.
5. I thank my family for their love and support.
6. I thank my church family for their love and prayers.
7. I thank all my friends whom God has given me.
8. I thank all the advertisers who's been giving me the chance to earn money.

These are some of the things and people I’m grateful for. Thank you... You make my life complete...:-)

I'm tagging Ging, Selina and Marly.

Lumpia Was A Hit

I cooked 125 lumpia on my citizenship party last Sunday evening in our church. It took me 2 days to make it because I get tired making it in one setting. I cooked it in 2 frying fans on Sunday afternoon so I can cook it faster. Hubby and I brought it in the church together with the baked burritos and the cake made by Ann's mom-in-law. As expected, the lumpia was a hit. There were a few leftover of the lumpia and I told everybody that they can take it home and sure they did.

My Cakes

I had my US citizenship party last Sunday in our church and my friends made 2 cakes for me. They decorated it with the US flag. Oh my, I was so happy to see those two cakes when they gave it. They were so uniquely decorated with icings of different colors and also with the US flag. My church family brought some foods and I brought 125 lumpia and some burritos that we bought from the store. I made the lumpia myself and everybody love it. The cakes were so soft and delicious. One of the cakes was chocolate and the other was a combination of yellow and chocolate cake. I really enjoyed my citizenship party and thanks for my church family for organizing it and bringing foods and making drinks. They also decorated our dining tables with US flags. I can't thank them enough.

We Need Friends

Thanks Twinks for passing this lovely poem to me.

We need Friends for many reasons,
all throughout the season.
We need Friends to comfort us when we are sad,
and to have fun with us when we are glad.
We need Friends to give us good advice,
We need someone we can count on,
and treat us nice.
We need Friends to remember us
one we have passed sharing memories
that will always last.

Spread the Poem of Friendship.
1. Everyday Life 2. Words of Love 3. Sheng’s Simple Thoughts . . . 4. good thoughts, good trades 5. Ours and Our Kids 6. Jengspeaks 7. Jacque 8. Snippets of My Mind 9.Melisse’s Domain 10.Seize The Day 11. Living A’ La Mode 12. Simple Delights 13. Motherhood in a Nutshell 14. Ness 15.World of Technology 16. MyDailyWebJournal 17. A Simple Life 18. Momma Wannabe 19. Everything Has A Reason 20. Twinkletoe Writing Space 21. In My Kitchen 22. YOU'RE NEXT

Passing this poem to: Richelle, Ging and Cecil. Your turn to spread this friendship poem guys. Have a great day!

Hubby Cooks Breakfast

My hubby is cooking eggs for breakfast right now while I'm here busy blogging. He took the day off from his work because we're going to attend a funeral of one of our church members this afternoon. I can hear him now cracking the eggs and he's also baking some biscuits that will go with it. My hubby can cook too. In just a few minutes we'll be eating our breakfast.

Venison Adobo

I blogged before that our friend in the church who is a hunter and have a big ranch had given us venison, a deer meat. I had been cooking it like the way I cook beef and it really taste so good. Venison has little fats unlike beef. I tried cooking venison stew, steak and venison adobo. I'm loving it, delicious and yummy.

Burritos For Lunch

Hubby and I had eaten bean burritos for our lunch today. I didn't have time to cook because I woke up late. I didn't make the burritos. I don't know how to make it and haven't tried yet. My hubby bought the bean burritos in the store. It's been a while since we ate burritos so I requested him to buy yesterday. I just cooked it in the oven because I don't have microwave now. I disposed my microwave a couple of years ago since I learned the bad effects of using it. Anyways, we enjoyed the burritos and it was filling.

My Hubby Cooked Supper

I was busy cleaning our house this afternoon. Our back room was cluttered and I had to put things in order. That room became our junk room. There are only 2 of us in the house but we have lots of stuffs scattered around. I've been busy blogging most of the time that I didn't have time to clean our house. I asked hubby to cook our supper since I was busy cleaning the back room. He obliged and he cooked green bean casserole and potato casserole. He put a lot of cheese in his potatoes and I'm not very fond of dairy. I just ate his green bean casserole and I just ate a little of his potatoes.

Pumpkin Pie

This is the traditional holiday pumpkin pie. This classic recipe has been on LIBBY's Pumpkin labels since 1950. This pie is easy to prepare and even easier to enjoy. Just mix, pour, bake for a delicious homemade tradition. I always make this pie during Thanksgiving and also during ordinary days.

Ingredients:

* 3/4 cup granulated sugar
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
* 2 large eggs
* 1 can (15 oz.) LIBBY's 100% Pure Pumpkin
* 1 can (12 fl. oz.) Evaporated Milk
* 1 unbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) deep-dish pie shell
* Whipped cream (optional)

Directions:
MIX sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger and cloves in small bowl. Beat eggs in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk.

POUR into pie shell.

BAKE in preheated 425° F oven for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350° F; bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate. Top with whipped cream before serving.

Burger Patties

My husband loves burger sandwiches. In fact this is what we had for lunch today. I cooked beef burger patties. My hubby went to buy some buns while I was cooking. He also bought chips. When I'm done cooking, I called hubby to eat. Would you believe, he ate 4 burger sandwiches? That's how he loved it. He even asked me what did I put in the patties because he said it tasted so good.

INGREDIENTS

* 2 pounds lean ground beef
* 1 (1 ounce) package ranch dressing mix
* 1 egg, lightly beaten
* 3/4 cup crushed saltine crackers
* 1 onion, chopped

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the grill for high heat.
2. In a bowl, mix the ground beef, ranch dressing mix, egg, crushed crackers, and onion. Form into hamburger patties.
3. Lightly oil the grill grate. Place patties on the grill, and cook 5 minutes per side, or until well done.

How To Poach An Egg

I love eating eggs because it's rich in nutrients that are good for the body. Aside from scrambled eggs, I love my eggs either boiled or poached. I heard that boiled or poached eggs are better than scrambled/fried because you don't use cooking oil. So I tried to poach my eggs once in a while. Since you do not need butter or oil, poaching is a very healthy way to prepare eggs. The perfect poached egg will have a nice undisturbed yolk surrounded evenly by a shiny opaque oval of egg white. Presenting the perfect poached egg is a guaranteed way to impress a breakfast or brunch guest, but it can be tricky to master. Here's how to do it.

Steps

1. Set a saucepan to boil that is about two-thirds full of water.

2. Add a dash of white vinegar (while it's not absolutely vital, it helps the egg's appearance - the vinegar coagulates the egg white turning it into a perfectly poached egg). Any other vinegar apart from white vinegar (balsamic, red wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar) will stain the eggs and likely add an undesirable flavor.

* The fresher the eggs, the better they poach. An egg straight from the chicken will poach without any need for vinegar.

3. Crack an egg into a ramekin, small bowl or soup ladle.

4. Spin the boiling water to cool down the water before you drop in the egg. You will want to bring the water to a temperature of about 160-180ºF (71-82ºC).

5. Carefully lower or drop the egg into the center of the whirlpool. Make sure that you do not drop the egg into boiling water (100ºC/212ºF), as this will toughen the eggs and make them unpalatable.

6. Wait 3-4 minutes until cooked.

7. Remove with a slotted spoon. Work quickly to transfer each egg onto the plate, letting excess water drip back into the saucepan. Poached eggs should be served as soon as they are pulled from the water. Poached eggs get cold quickly, and cold poached eggs are decidedly less than perfect.

Ginataang Kalabasa At Sitaw

I already harvested a lot of my squash from my garden, also string beans and okra. I even gave some to my Filipino friends. So yesterday, I decided to cook ginataang kalabasa at sitaw and I added okra too. All my veggies were freshly picked from my garden. My hubby love it. I even gave some to my neighbor here. Here's the recipe

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.

Butterfly Award

I would like to thank my fellow Ilocana for this cool award. Thank you girl. I appreciate the thought.

Here are the rules:

1. Put the logo on your blog;
2. Add a link to the person who awarded you;
3. Nominate 10 other blogs;
4. Add links to those blogs on yours;
5. Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs;
6. Give a reason why you consider their blogs cool.

I would like to award this now to the following people whom I consider has the coolest blogs and I enjoy visiting and reading their posts:

Juliana
Ging
Richelle
Selina
mom of four

Making Lumpia

I was busy making lumpia last night for my US citizenship party in our church this coming Sunday evening after our service. Hubby was in the computer and surfing the internet. When he was done, he got the camcorder and all of a sudden he took photos of me. I didn't want to pose because I was not ready but he kept clicking the camcorder so I had to pose and showed the lumpia that I made. When I checked the photos that he took they were not that clear. Hubby didn't turn on the flash of the camcorder. He said he doesn't know how to do it. I told him I have to look at the manual because I can't figure out how to do it either. I have already made a lot of lumpia for Sunday night. I still have to make more just to be sure that everybody in the church will have their share of my lumpia because they all love it.

A Simple Celebration

It's been a few days since the last time I updated this blog. I've been busy doing some other things. I had my US citizenship oath ceremony last Thursday at Arlington Convention Center here in Texas. I was so glad that finally, my immigration journey came to an end. I am now a full pledged US Citizen. Yesterday, my friend Ann, her hubby and their baby came to our house and we had a simple celebration. She requested me to cook pancit and also I cooked puto and lumpia. In addition to that, I baked a store-bought pizza. Ann brought lemon-pepper chicken from Wal Mart and she also gave us a big box of Cheerios cereal, peanut butter and sliced cheese.

Ann loved my pancit and she said she's going to miss it when we go back to the Philippines and live there. We'll, we enjoyed our supper last night and I gave Ann some pancit to take home.

Pancit For My Neighbor

Yesterday afternoon, I was busy cooking in my kitchen. It was my neighbor's birthday and I cooked pancit for her. She fell in love with my pancit the first time she tasted it. It was my hubby who went and gave her the pancit for a couple of times. She told my hubby a couple of weeks ago that she really love it and she asked him if I can cook pancit for her birthday. My hubby said I might and he told me about it. I said that I'm willing to cook pancit for her birthday. They are good neighbors of ours. Her husband mows our yard and even trim the edges of our grass several times already. Hubby told him he's been spoiling us. So in return, I gave them pancit and lumpia everytime I cook. Yesterday, when my hubby went to give my neighbor the pancit for her birthday, hubby said she was so happy and she said, "Yey!". If you want the recipe for my pancit, just click HERE.

My Page Rank Went Down

I was so happy a few days ago that this blog of mine got a new layout but yesterday I was so disappointed. The PR of this blog was demoted. It went down from PR 2 to PR 1. I wasn't that surprised no more since three of my blogs were ripped off of their PRs a few months ago. First, My Colorful World blog was ripped off of its PR 2, then My Online Journal and Thoughts Of Me were ripped off of its PR 3 several months ago and never gained back the lost PRs. Those blogs of mine had made me money when they still have the PR. Until now they still do but it's not as much as it used to be. PR really helped in paid blogging.

But what really puzzled me is my blog Precious Words which was slapped by Google of its PR 2. I don't do sponsored reviews in that blog. It's purely devotional, inspirational and personal testimonies were posted in that blog authored by me and my hubby. Why did the high and mighty G took away the PR. I just don't understand. Anyway, since that blog is not for making money, it's okay. It just made me wonder what's the basis of mighty G in ripping off the PR from that blog. I know a lot of bloggers' income were affected with this PR ripped off by mighty Google and that includes me.

Pinakbet Ilocano

I posted this recipe here before but I just want to repost it again. One recipe that I always crave to eat is pinakbet. This is one of my favorite Filipino recipes. We always had this recipe in our house way back when I was still there in the Philippines. There are many variations of cooking Pinakbet but I like the Ilocano style with ampalaya. I think pinakbet is not complete without it. I won't get tired eating pinakbet even everyday. Hmmm... yummy.

Pinakbet Ilocano

Indgredients:

* 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
* 2 tbsp. garlic, minced
* 1 large onion, chopped
* 1/4 kilo pork, thinly diced
* 7 small tomatoes, cubed
* 4 tbsp. bagoong
* 1 cup warm water
* 2 medium sized eggplants, sliced
* 1 medium sized Ampalaya
* 5 medium sized okra (ladies fingers)


Directions:

1. Heat Oil in a saucepan and saute garlic and onions.
2. Add pork and half a cup of warm water. Stir and cook until meat is soft.
3. Add ginger and tomatoes and cook for 10 minutes.
4. Add the bagoong and remaining half-cup water. Bring to boil.
5. Mix in the Amplaya, eggplants and okra.
6. Simmer for 15 minutes. Serve Immediately.

Here's a video for Pinakbet.

Green Bean Casserole

Here's one recipe that I love to cook and eat. It's easy to prepare and it taste yummy too. I first tasted this recipe on my first Thanksgiving here in the US. Stacy cooked it and I really like it. here's the recipe.

INGREDIENTS

* 4 (15 ounce) cans green beans, drained
* 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken and mushroom soup
* 10 3/4 fluid ounces milk
* 1 (6 ounce) can French fried onions
* salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, mix the green beans with the soup and milk. Gently stir in half the French fried onions. Transfer to a non-greased 9x13 inch baking dish, and season with salt and pepper. Top with remaining French fried onions.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 30 minutes or until bubbly. Serve hot.

Kutsinta

Kutsinta is one of my favorite native cakes in the Philippines aside from puto, tupig and palitao. I used to buy bunch of it everytime I go to the market when I was still there. I searched the recipe of this and luckily I found it. I would want to try to make it one of these days.

Ingredients:
1 c rice flour
2 c brown sugar
1 1/2 c water
1 tsp lye water
grated coconut

In a mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients and mix well...

Pour into muffin cups, until half full.Steam in a large pan with a cover; the water should be 2 inches deep. Cook for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Let it cool before you remove from the muffin pans and serve with grated coconut.

Holy Cow Beef

For more than 2 years now, my hubby and I have buying meat from free range and grass fed cows. The owner operates an Angus cow/calf operation that produces "home-grown, pasture-raised/finished" beef. They had raised their animals by employing rotational pasture grazing on native Texas grasses, winter annuals and select introduced grasses. Their cows were never given growth hormones, antibiotics or pesticides. Their animals are finished" in the most natural and low stressed conditions. The Holy Cow meat taste a lot better than those meat sold in the supermarket which are not grass fed. It's not as fatty and also you can really tell the difference when you eat them. It's so delicious.

I order the meat once a month from a lady who placed the order that she got from other people and the meat is delivered into her house. My hubby went to pick up my order yesterday. I ordered 10 lbs of ground beef. I love cooking meatloaf, goulash, beef enchilada and also I mix the ground beef with my veggies whenever I cook them.

My Blog's New Look

I just love the new look of my blog courtesy of Ivy. Thank you very much girl. I am so happy with the outcome. She did a very good job. I've been wanting to change the old template but I don't have any idea how to make a template design. I am just impressed with people like Ivy and others who knows how to make a blog layout. Yesterday, I asked Ivy to make a layout for this blog. I told her what I want, an apple green color for this blog with three columns. I also wanted my pics in the header with scrapbook designs. Today she was done doing it. She did it so fast. I'm really impressed. Thank you girl.

Sapin-Sapin

Here's another native cake recipe in the Philippines. I used to buy sapin-sapin when I was still a student during our recess time. It's soft and sweet and I love it.

Ingredients:
1 Can Condensed Milk
1 Can Coconut Milk
1 1/2 Cups Sugar
1 3/4 Glutinous Rice
Food Coloring

Mix all ingredients together..except the food coloring. Divide the mixture into 3 .. white..purple..yellow.. Grease the round pan... Steam the white mixture first for 15 minutes. Then, put the yellow mixture on top of the white mixture and steam for 15 minutes. After that..add the purple mixture and steam for 15 minutes. Let stand for 30 minutes to cool down. ..fry grated coconut until brown or make your own latik..then sprinkle it ontop...