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...

Leche Flan

I learned to make leche flan when I was still in the Philippines. It's good for dessert and it's rich and creamy. Since I became diabetic, I seldom eat sweets and if I eat, I just eat a little bit. My hubby has a sweet tooth so once in a while, I cook sweets for him.

INGREDIENTS

* 1 cup white sugar
* 3 eggs
* 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
* 1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk
* 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, melt sugar until liquefied and golden in color. Carefully pour hot syrup into a 9 inch round glass baking dish, turning the dish to evenly coat the bottom and sides. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat eggs. Beat in condensed milk, evaporated milk and vanilla until smooth. Pour egg mixture into baking dish. Cover with aluminum foil.
4. Bake in preheated oven 60 minutes. Let cool completely.
5. To serve, carefully invert on serving plate with edges when completely cool.

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. It's so easy to make and it doesn't need a lot of ingredients too. My late mom used to make these when we were kids and we just love it.

Ingredients
1 cup sweet rice four
3 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.

My Beef Stew Got Burned!

After lunch today, I decided to cook beef stew for our supper. I put the pot on the gas range with the meat and all the ingredients. I wanted to cook it slow to make the beef tender. While it was cooking, I came here infront of the computer and did my blogging. I got so engrossed blogging and also visiting other blogs that I forgot the time. Then I started to smell something was burning. It was my beef stew! I went to see it and the stew was already dry, no more water and started to burn. I had to turn off the gas range and transferred the beef stew to another pot. The bottom part was already burned but the the top and the middle part was still okay. Whew! Me and my blogging. I can't really do two things at a time or I will end burning the foods that I'm cooking.

Creamy Rice Pudding.

My hubby and I love rice pudding. I made it several times already. It is so good for dessert and this recipe is so simple and easy to make. Try it and you will love it.

INGREDIENTS

* 3/4 cup uncooked white rice
* 2 cups milk, divided
* 1/3 cup white sugar
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 egg, beaten
* 2/3 cup golden raisins
* 1 tablespoon butter
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

1. In a medium saucepan, bring 1 1/2 cups water to a boil. Add rice and stir. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
2. In another saucepan, combine 1 1/2 cups cooked rice, 1 1/2 cups milk, sugar and salt. Cook over medium heat until thick and creamy, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in remaining 1/2 cup milk, beaten egg and raisins. Cook 2 minutes more, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and stir in butter and vanilla. Serve warm.

Dinengdeng - Ilocano Recipe

I cooked the vegetables from my garden yesterday. I've been craving for Ilocano recipes that we used to have in our house in the Philippines. What else is better than dinengdeng. I cooked the string beans, okra, saluyot and mixed it with fried crappy fish and fish sauce. Hmmm...yummy!!! It was like I was in the Philippines while I was eating this with rice yesterday. It really filled me up. I gave some to my hubby too but he only ate the vegetables. He doesn't like the fish because he said it was boiled and it doesn't taste good to him. Too bad but more for me.

INGREDIENTS:
string beans
okra
saluyot
fish sauce
water
Knorr tamarind soup base
fish
1 onion, sliced

DIRECTIONS:
Fry the fish. Put two cups of water and the fried fish in a pot and boil. Add the onions 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.

Pistacchio Pudding

The first time I tasted pistachio pudding was in Alvarado. My youngest step-daughter made it and it was good. I searched for the recipe and I tried to make pistachio pudding one time. It's so simple and easy to make. Here's the recipe.

1 small can pineapple
2 c. small marshmallows
1/2 c. nuts
1 can fruit cocktail (save juice)
8 oz. Cool Whip
1 pkg. pistachio pudding mix

Save juices; mix with pudding mix. Pour over ingredients and refrigerate.

"Random Things About Me"

Pinaywie, tagged me with "8 Random Things About Me". Thanks for this tag sis. So get to know me more by reading my post.

1. I love gardening like planting organic vegetables in my backyard and also planting flowering plants in our front yard. Gardening is therapeutic to me and it gives me joy when I harvest my veggies and see the flowers in my front yard.

2. I love cooking pancit, lumpia and puto and give it away to my friends. I can't explain the joy I feel whenever I see people so happy when they receive the foods that I give them. I just love to be a channel of blessings to others.

3. I love taking pictures. I carry my digicam in my purse wherever I go. My friends in the church know this and they said that most Filipinas they know are very fond of taking photos. I am also the one printing my photos in my printer at home.

4. I love shopping but most of the time, I only shop when the items are on sale. I have to wait till they drop down the prices before I will buy it. That's my way of saving money.

5. I love sight-seeing and going to places I've never seen before. I just looking at the beauty of God's wonderful creations. I love nature and beautiful sceneries that are so captivating to the eyes. I can't stop capturing those views and sceneries with my camera.

6. I love God above all. I've been to a lot of testing and trials in life but God is always faithful. He never leave nor forsake me. He is always there to carry me through and His grace is always sufficient for me as I face the trials in life. Jesus Christ is my Healer, Comforter, Lord and Savior of my life. Most of all, He is my coming King. Looking forward to be with Him in heaven someday.

7. I love my husband so much. When we were newly married, I had a hard time adjusting myself to sleep with him in our bed. I was used to sleeping alone but as years go by, I can hardly sleep without him by my side. We're kinda attach with other now.

8. I am a loyal friend. I will stick with my friends through thick and thins. I also appreciate friends who will stand by me when I needed their help and whatever good things they do to me, it will always stay fresh on my mind and in my heart.

Simple rules:
1. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
2. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
3. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
4. Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them they're tagged, and to read your blog.

I am tagging Juliana, Ging, AidiSan, Lisa, Marly, Juliana

Veggies From My Garden

Well, what can I say? I'm just having a great time harvesting my vegetables from my garden like the camote tops, squash flowers and saluyot to name a few. I've been cooking dinengdeng, an Ilocano recipe that we used to cook in our house in the Philippines. I just mix the veggies with fried fish and add some fish sauce and it satisfies my cravings of Filipino foods. The other day I cooked pinakbet na saluyot because I gathered a lot of saluyot leaves from my garden. I ate a lot after I cooked the saluyot. It was like I was in the Philippines while I was eating the saluyot with fish. Yummy...By the way, all my vegetables in my garden are organic, no fertilizers or pesticides.

Puto With Cheese

I learned how to cook puto from my college friend when my hubby and I went to visit her in California almost 5 years ago. Since then I have been making puto for my friends and of course for me and my hubby. Whenever we have a get together fellowship in our church, I always make puto to take there. I also made a bunch of puto for the missionaries who came in our church last month and they love it. My friends and my step-kids love my puto. It's easy to make and anybody can do it. Here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup self rising flour, sifted
1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
sliced cheese

DIRECTIONS:
Mix all the ingredients except the cheese and beat it well. Grease a small muffin pan and pour the mixture up to 3/4 full. Steam it for about 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted on it will come out clean. Put the sliced cheese 30 seconds before it's done. This recipe will yield 2 dozen puto using small muffin pans.

Award For My Blog

I received this blog award from AidiSan . Thank you so much friend for this award. I appreciate it very much.

And the award is called...



here are the rules for passing on the award:
1. 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
5. Leave a message for your nominee on their blog.

I want to pass this award to Richelle , Ging and Juliana.
, .
.

Pie Crust

If you love making pies and you just don't have a ready made pie crust, you can make your own. Home-made pie crust is better than a store bought one. One of my friends showed me how to make a home-made pie crust and she gave me this recipe. Try it and it's really good to learn to make your own pie crust.

INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 all purpose flour
1 1/4 cup Crisco
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1 tbsp vinegar

DIRECTIONS
1. Mix flour, Crisco and salt.
2. Break egg in a measuring cup and add vinegar and enough water to make 1/2 cup.
3. Add to mixture and blend.
4. Knead the dough and make your pie crust.

Cassava Cake

I just love cassava cake. It's been a few years since the last time I made this. I hope I can make it again one of these days. I'm drooling for this.

Ingredients

* 2 lbs grated cassava
* 14 oz can coconut milk
* 13 oz can coconut cream
* 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
* 12 oz. can evaporated milk
* 1 cup grated coconut
* ¾ cup sugar
* 3 eggs
* 3 egg whites

Topping:

* Sweetened condensed milk
* 3 egg yolks
* vanilla and lemon flavoring to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 F.
2. In large bowl, combine the cake ingredients, reserving 1/3 of the condensed milk for topping. Mix well.
3. Pour equally into two large greased rectangular pans.
4. Bake until firm, about 30 minutes.
5. Mix topping ingredients - the reserved sweetened condensed milk, egg yolks and flavourings - and spread evenly on the two cakes.
6. Bake an additional 20 to 25 minutes.
7. Cool cakes completely and cut each cake into squares.

Burritos and Taquitos For Lunch

Hubby and I had bean burritos and taquitos this lunch. I didn't have time to cook because I was busy talking to my siblings online this morning. 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 this morning. My hubby just cooked it in the oven because we don't have microwave now. I disposed my microwave a more than a couple of years ago since I learned the bad effects of using it. Anyways, we enjoyed the burritos this lunch. My hubby also baked some taquitos in addition to the burritos.

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 everytime 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 characteristic of mine. I want to bless other people with the foods that I cooked and it made 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.

Fish Escabeche

I cooked the crappy fish yesterday and I made fish escabeche. My hubby love it. He doesn't like my fish paksiw so I cook it the other way. I still have a lot of crappy fish left and I will cook it again some other time. It took me a while to clean the fish. Imagine I cleaned 5 crappy fish yesterday. There are still 5 left uncleaned in the freezer. So here's the instructions to make Escabeche.

Clean the fish and sprinkle sea salt and a little pepper inside and out, coat with flour, then deep fry the fish until golden brown then set aside.

Sauce:
1 cup water
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1 pc tomato
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp. corn starch dissolved in 1/4 cup water to thicken the sauce.

Other Ingredients:
1 medium onion sliced
1/2 pc. red sweet bell pepper, sliced
1/2 pc yellow bell pepper, sliced
1/2 pc green bell pepper
About a tablespoon of finely shredded fresh garlic

1. Bring the water to a simmer. Add the pineapple juice, vinegar salt, pepper. Let it simmer for a couple of minutes to cook the vinegar. Add the cornstarch and stir until the sauce thickens.

2. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for another minute.

3. Lastly, add the fish and cook for another minute.

Pecan Pie

I had posted this recipe in my other blog but since this blog is more appropriate for this topic so I want to repost it here.

We still have a lot of pecans and I shelled a bunch of it. My hubby had baked a pecan pie last New Year's Day so it's been a while since we had it. Tonight after we ate supper, I decided to bake a pecan pie. But we didn't have enough eggs in the refrigerator so I asked my hubby to go and buy some eggs. Though it's cold outside, he went to the store and bought 1 dozen eggs so I was able to bake a pecan pie. My hubby and I like it. It was still warm but hubby can't wait any longer so he took a big slice. The pie was still soft and fell apart easily. It's better to eat it when it's already cooled down and settled. I wanna share the recipe here.

Classic Pecan Pie

Ingredients:
1 cup Karo Corn Syrup
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cup pecans
1 unbaked 9-inch deep dish pie crust

STIR first 5 ingredients together, then mix in pecans.
POUR into pie crust.
BAKE at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes.