I Cooked Pinto Beans and Collard Greens

I've been busy today doing house chores like doing the laundry and cooking. I haven't been cooking that much lately because I've been lazy. Most of the time, hubby and I just eat sandwiches. Sometimes I baked burritos and taquitos that my hubby bought in the store. I've been craving to eat other foods especially Filipino foods. But the problem was, I was not in the mood to cook lately.

Today was one of those days that I cooked some foods for our supper. Just after I ate lunch (sandwich again) I cooked pinto beans. I also cooked the collard greens which I harvested from my garden a few days ago. My hubby love the way I cook them. Of course I cooked rice too that goes with the beans and collard greens. Right now while I'm typing this, hubby is already eating and he said all of the foods I cooked taste good.

Awards From A Friend

These 2 lovely awards were given to me by Sheng. Thank you so much for these. I am honored and I do appreciate it.





Whoever wants to grab these awards in my blog roll, feel free.

Brillante Award

I’m so honored to receive this award from Juliana (NY). Thanks gayyem! I really appreciate you selecting me as one of the recipients. Honestly speaking, I don't consider myself a terrific blogger but a trying hard blogger. I just do the best way I can.

The Above recipients of the Brillante Weblog are welcomed to put the Logo on their personal blogs and have the honor of passing this award to seven other bloggers. Here are the rules for passing on the award:

l. Put the logo on your blog

2. Add a link to the person who awarded you.

3. Nominate at least seven other blogs

4. Add links to those blogs on your blog

Leave a message for your nominee on their blog.

I would like to pass this award to Ging, Sheng and Vicy.

I Won, I Won!!!

Cheers for me!!! I'm so happy that I won the first prize by joining Juliana's contest. This is the first contest that I won since I became a blogger. My effort paid off. Since the start I was really determined to win the top prize. I had a great time reading her posts and making comments in her 3 blogs. She's a good writer and I learned a lot about her. If you have time, visit her blogs and read her posts. She'll be having another contest soon.

Here's her post announcing the winners:

It’s time to celebrate! The actual date of my blog anniversary was not such a day worthy of any celebration because of the mishap. The perfect time to celebrate is today, as I’m also announcing the winners of my first ever contest.

Lisa L. - $100
Mari - $55
AiDiSan - $40
Heidi - $30
Rocks - $25

To all my blogger friends who participated in the contest, thank you very much for your participation. I hope you’ll join me again in the future. I will be glad to have you again. This is definitely not the last contest; there will be more to come.

To the winners, please leave me your PayPal accounts so I know where to send the prizes to. Remember, comments are being moderated, so you need not worry about your accounts getting published.

Cheers!!!!

Chicken Satay

When I was still in the Philippines, there was this restaurant that we always go to because they have a good chicken satay. No other restaurants in that city can cook as good as them. I really don't know how to cook it but I need to learn how especially now that there are no Filipino restaurants in our place. I'm getting tired eating the same food and cooking the same recipe over and over again. I searched for a good recipe of chicken satay and read the reviews so this is what I got. Gotta try this because hubby and I love chicken.

These delicious Thai-style chicken satay are made of chicken marinated in a peanutty sauce, and then grilled.

INGREDIENTS

* 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
* 1/2 cup soy sauce
* 1/2 cup lemon or lime juice
* 1 tablespoon brown sugar
* 2 tablespoons curry powder
* 2 cloves garlic, chopped
* 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
* 6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed

DIRECTIONS

1. In a mixing bowl, combine peanut butter, soy sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, curry powder, garlic and hot pepper sauce. Place the chicken breasts in the marinade and refrigerate. Let the chicken marinate at least 2 hours, overnight is best.
2. Preheat a grill to high heat.
3. Weave the chicken onto skewers, then grill for 5 minutes per side.

A Tag From Vicy

I was tagged by Vicy. Thanks sis. I really appreciate it. I love the flowers too and the message.

~Start Copy Here~

1. Copy from start to finish

2. This letter should be pass on to your closest friends online.

3. Add your name and URL blog
~Start Copy Here~

1. Copy from start to finish

2. This letter should be pass on to your closest friends online.

3. Add your name and URL blog HERE!! .

1. Wheng
2. Hazel
3. Janeth Vicy's Life Journey
4. Denz Recreational
5. Cecile's life is good and beautiful
6. Anneberly's Beyond the Rave Reality
7. Rock's God's Best Gift
8. Shimumsy
9. In My Kitchen
10.You're Next!

4. Get back to Me In My Kitchen and leave a comment once you’ve passed on the letter. Will then visit your site to make sure your links are complete and proper.

5. To ensure everyone receives equal link benefit, UPDATE your list regularly!

It's true I have never seen you


and we have never met,


Never shaken Hands or


even truly hugged and yet!


I know for sure you care for


me by the kindness that you give.


And our keyboards keep us


together doesn't matter where we live.


So I give you this gift to


put a smile on your face


and to let you know in my


heart you have a special place.


~End Copy Here~


I wanna pass this now to my good friends even though we haven't met yet in person. Let's always be friends Juliana NY, Aninganing, Juliana.
and Alf.

Pancit Palabok

Pancit Palabok is also known as Pancit Luglug and are essentially the same dish, with the difference being primarily in the type of the sauce used. I like pancit palabok but not as much as I like pancit bihon guisado. But for a change, it's good to cook other pancit recipes once in a while. I remember when I was still in the Philippines, I used to order pancit palabok in a restaurant and they really cooked it good. Now I miss it because there are no Filipino restaurants here in our place. I have to cook it if I want to eat it. Here's a recipe of pancit palabok.

Ingredients:

* 8 oz Pack rice noodles
* 1 tb Annato seeds(achuete)
* 1 c Shrimp juice
* 2 tb Fish sauce (patis)
* 2 1/2 tb Cornstarch mixed With 1/4 cup water
* 1/2 lb Shrimps shelled and fried
* 3/4 c Finely crushed chicharon -(pork rinds)
* 3 Cloves garlic; chopped and -fried
* 2 tbsp Green onion chopped
* 2 Hard boiled eggs
* Salt and pepper to taste


Instructions:

Soak noodles in boiling water for 20 minutes or until softened. Drain well. Set aside. Let the soaked annato seeds stand for 20 minutes then roll seeds with your fingers until you extract the color. Discard the seeds. Add annato water to shrimp juice in a saucepan. Season with fish sauce salt black pepper. Stir in the cornstarch simmer until thick stirring continuously until thickened. In a plate put the noodles pour sauce over it then sprinkle crushed pork rinds shrimps fried garlic green onions. Arrange sliced eggs on top and lemon wedges on the side. To serve toss pancit mixture and sprinkle with lemon juice to taste.

Stir Fry Collard Greens

I harvested some of my collard greens already and the rest are all ready to harvest. At first, I didn't know any recipe for collard greens because we didn't have that in the Philippines. But I had to think of how to cook it so I came up with a recipe. I remember we used to cook pechay in the Philippines and the collard greens belong to the same family as pechay. So I cooked it the same way as we cooked pechay and to my surprise it turned out good. My hubby who didn't like collard greens said he didn't know that it can be cook that way and tasted so good. In fact, he didn't eat collard greens before he met me but this time he ate a lot of my recipe. So I had to cook again today after I harvested some stalks of my collard greens and my hubby was all praises with my recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

3 stalks collards greens, washed and sliced
1/2 lb ground beef
1 tomato, sliced
1 onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, sliced
2 cups water
2 tbsp cooking oil
soy sauce
1/2 tsp salt
pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Pour the cooking oil in a medium pot. Saute the garlic and onions. Add the ground beef and the salt and cook until the beef turns brown. Add the tomatoes and simmer. Then add the collard greens and soy sauce. Cook until the leaves and stalks are soft. Add pepper. Remove from heat and serve with rice.

Yellow Squash Casserole

Tender squash, gooey cheese and crunchy crackers make this a memorable side dish or a hearty main course. This is a great dish that can be made with low-fat ingredients and is still just as good!

INGREDIENTS

* 4 cups sliced yellow squash
* 1/2 cup chopped onion
* 35 buttery round crackers, crushed
* 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
* 2 eggs, beaten
* 3/4 cup milk
* 1/4 cup butter, melted
* 1 teaspoon salt
* ground black pepper to taste
* 2 tablespoons butter

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. Place squash and onion in a large skillet over medium heat. Pour in a small amount of water. Cover, and cook until squash is tender, about 5 minutes. Drain well, and place in a large bowl.
3. In a medium bowl, mix together cracker crumbs and cheese. Stir half of the cracker mixture into the cooked squash and onions. In a small bowl, mix together eggs and milk, then add to squash mixture. Stir in 1/4 cup melted butter, and season with salt and pepper. Spread into a 9x13 inch baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cracker mixture, and dot with 2 tablespoons butter.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Beef Tamales

My hubby and I love tamales. Making tamales is time consuming but it's all worth it after you cook this recipe. This recipe makes a lot, but if you're going to go to all the trouble of making tamales from scratch, you might as well have a party! You will need butchers' twine and a large pot with a steamer basket to make these. May be frozen up to 6 months in heavy-duty resealable plastic bags. To reheat, thaw in refrigerator and then steam until heated through.

INGREDIENTS

* 4 pounds boneless chuck roast
* 4 cloves garlic
* 3 (8 ounce) packages dried corn husks
* 4 dried ancho chiles
* 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* 1 cup beef broth
* 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
* 1 teaspoon ground cumin
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano
* 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
* 1 teaspoon white vinegar
* salt to taste
* 3 cups lard
* 1 tablespoon salt
* 9 cups masa harina

DIRECTIONS

1. Place beef and garlic in a large pot. Cover with cold water and bring to a boil over high heat. As soon as water boils, reduce heat to a simmer and cover pot. Let simmer for 3 1/2 hours, until beef is tender and shreds easily. When beef is done, remove from pot, reserving 5 cups cooking liquid and discarding garlic. Allow meat to cool slightly, and shred finely with forks.
2. Meanwhile, place corn husks in a large container and cover with warm water. Allow to soak for 3 hours, until soft and pliable. May need to weight down with an inverted plate and a heavy can.
3. Toast ancho chiles in a cast iron skillet, making sure not to burn them. Allow to cool and then remove stems and seeds. Crumble and grind in a clean coffee grinder or with a mortar and pestle.
4. Heat oil in a large skillet. Mix in flour and allow to brown slightly. Pour in 1 cup beef broth and stir until smooth. Mix in ground chiles, cumin seeds, ground cumin, minced garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes, vinegar and salt. Stir shredded beef into skillet and cover. Let simmer 45 minutes.
5. Place lard and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whip with an electric mixer on high speed until fluffy. Add masa harina and beat at low speed until well mixed. Pour in reserved cooking liquid a little at a time until mixture is the consistency of soft cookie dough.
6. Drain water from corn husks. One at a time, flatten out each husk, with the narrow end facing you, and spread approximately 2 tablespoons masa mixture onto the top 2/3 of the husk. Spread about 1 tablespoon of meat mixture down the middle of the masa. Roll up the corn husk starting at one of the long sides. Fold the narrow end of the husk onto the rolled tamale and tie with a piece of butchers' twine.
7. Place tamales in a steamer basket. Steam over boiling water for approximately one hour, until masa is firm and holds its shape. Make sure steamer does not run out of water. Serve immediately, allowing each person to unwrap their own tamales. Allow any leftovers (still in husks) to cool, uncovered, in the refrigerator.

Squash Flower Recipes

SQUASH FLOWER PATTIES

BATTER:

3 eggs
1 heaping tbsp. Parmesan grated cheese
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 c. milk
1/2 c. flour

Remove the stems from the squash flower or blossom; open the flower. Wash and drain on a paper towel. Combine batter ingredients. Dip each flower separately into the batter. Fry in hot cooking oil. Drain on paper towel.

Soup with Squash Flowers

1 lb. squash flowers
1/2 cup olive oil
1 small celery stalk,diced
salt
1 small onion
diced pepper
1 qt. chicken broth
1 garlic clove, minced

Chop the squash flowers finely. Leave 4 to garnish the soup adding them to the cooking broth during the last 5 minutes. Saute onion, garlic, and celery with the oil and continue to cook until nearly tender. Add broth, already hot, then add the zucchini flowers. Continue cooking at a simmer for 30 mins. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve hot. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Serves 4.

Squash Flowers

I harvested a lot of squash flowers from my garden already. Everyday as I wake up, my destination is my vegetable garden at the backyard. I have to be careful though because there are lots of bees eating the pollen of the flowers. I have to shoo them away before I will cut the flowers with my scissors. After harvesting the flowers, I put them in a plastic bag and put it inside the refrigerator so it will last longer.

Cleaning & preparing squash flowers
An hour or two just before cooking, place the flowers in a colander and rinse them well inside and out with cold water. Gently tug the petals open and fill with water. Stick you finger inside the flower to dig out any insects that may be trapped inside. If the flowers are not dry by the time you're ready to cook with them, just pat them lightly dry with a paper towel.

While some squash flower connoisseurs advocate removing the innards of both male and female flowers, others prefer leaving them in with no ill effects. Personally, I leave the flower as intact as possible to get the most vitamins and nutrients from this rare treat -- I suspect this may also contribute to added merriment around the table after consumption.

Dried Fish

Our friends Arlene and Raul gave us some dried fish before they moved to Japan. They gave us one pack of Tawilis and one pack of Danggit and some other dried fish which I don't know the names. They also gave us some fresh fish like crappy and gg. I used to eat dried fish when I was still in the Philippines but I don't eat that much salted fish now. I talked to my friend Ann and told her that I wanna share her some of my dried fish. She said she likes them so hubby and I will be going to her house next week to visit her and give her some fish.

Sweet Home Blogger Awards

I got this sweet home blogger awards from Sheng. Thank you sis. I appreciate it.



I am passing it to all my co-bloggers here. So grab it now guys.

Spinach Quiche

I first tasted quiche during the banquet that we had in our church. One of the ladies said that it's just easy to make. So I had to find the recipe of quiche and I came up with this. It's quite easy to cook indeed.

PREP TIME 10 Min
COOK TIME 1 Hr
READY IN 1 Hr 10 Min

INGREDIENTS

* 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
* 1 bunch green onions, finely chopped (white parts only)
* 4 eggs, beaten
* 1 (16 ounce) package cottage cheese
* 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
* 1/4 cup crushed croutons

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9 inch pie or quiche pan.
2. Place spinach in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until soft. Drain off any remaining liquid. Stir in green onions, eggs, cottage cheese and Cheddar cheese. Pour mixture into prepared pan.
3. Bake uncovered in preheated oven for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with crushed croutons. Return to oven and bake for an additional 15 minutes, until eggs are set.

Adobong Okra

I cooked okra adobo a few days ago and surprisingly, my hubby love it. He liked fried okra but I'm not really very fond of it so I cooked it Pinoy style. I added ground beef and it really tasted good. We still have lots of okra so I cooked again yesterday. I really, really love it.

Ingredients

20 pieces of young okra
1 cup ground beef
2 tbsp cooking oil
5 cloves garlic
1 medium sized onion, sliced
1 cup water
3 tbsp. lemon or lime juice or vinegar
3 tbsp. soy sauce
Patis (fish sauce)
dash of ground black pepper

Directions:

Heat oil in a pot and saute garlic until brown; onions until transparent; and then add the ground beef and brown it. Add water, patis (fish sauce), okra, lemon or lime juice or vinegar and soy sauce. Simmer until okra is tender. Add ground black pepper. Serve with rice. Yummy!