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.