Celebrating Thanksgiving in the Philippines

This is a late post but I've been lazy updating this blog. Thanksgiving is already more than one week past but I just want to share the pics that we took during the said celebration. We don't celebrate Thanksgiving in the Philippines but being married to an American, we have to prepare something for the said day. We didn't have a turkey to roast but Thanksgiving is not all about the turkey. You are blessed to have one but to tell you the truth, I'm not very fond of turkey. We had that in the states on Thanksgiving but it doesn't taste that good to me. Hubby volunteered to cook burger patties for burger sandwiches and cooked some French fries. It was so humid while he was cooking in the kitchen with only the electric fan running. Hubby was sweating while he was cooking. Poor thing!

Meanwhile, I prepared my agar-agar fruit salad the night before and put it in the refrigerator. I also baked my confetti cake before hubby hit the kitchen. So when it was his turn, the kitchen was humid. We prepared the foods for supper so every body were already home. My 2 brothers and their families were present and my brother-in-law and his family were there too. The celebration is just for the family. Hubby said the blessing and we thanked the Lord for all the blessings He has given us. Everybody enjoyed the foods and the hamburger sandwich and French fries of my hubby was a hit. 

Hubby's Birthday

Yesterday was my hubby's birthday. For a change, we just prepared native delicacies for snacks. We used to have dinner on his birthday but not this time. It's hard to cook a lot of foods especially there was no electricity from 6 to 6 the whole day yesterday. It was only the pancit that my 2 brothers cooked and lumpia that my SIL prepared. It was so hot in the kitchen so I did not bother to cook at all. I cannot stand the heat.

Early in the morning hubby and I went to buy the famous Calasiao puto and puto kutsinta in the market. I also bought nilatikan (more than half the bilao) because I've been craving for it. Hubby had to stay in the car so I can get a good deal, lol! People here in my homeland will raise the price if they see an American. I had a hard time though carrying the stuffs that I bought back to the car.

I thank God for giving hubby to me. I pray to the good Lord to give him more birthdays to celebrate and good health so we can serve Him longer and better. Here are some photos of my hubby's simple birthday celebration.

 

Sauteed Bamboo Shoots (Ginisang Labong)

I love to eat bamboo shoots and I taught my hubby to eat it too. I usually cook it dinengdeng with saluyot, Ilocano style or ginisang labong (sauteed bamboo shoots). There's a lady who always come to the house and sell veggies including bamboo shoots. I told her I am lazy to shred it so the next time she came, she brought with her shredded bamboo shoots. I bought it and cooked sauteed bamboo shoots.

Ingredients:
2 cups of shredded bamboo shoot
1/2 cup vinegar (spiced if available)
4 strips of ginger (sliced in tiny pieces) 
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/3 tsp coarse ground black pepper
1 tsp sugar
1 medium onion, chopped
3 pieces garlic, minced cooking oil

 How to cook:
1. In a casserole, boil the bamboo shoot for 15 minutes then discard the water (pigain).
2. Heat oil in another casserole.
3. Saute garlic and onion until fragrant.
4. Add the boiled bamboo shoot.
5. Then add the vinegar, soy sauce, sugar and black pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes.
6. Serve as a side dish.

Candies and Chocolates

Candies and chocolates are big hit to my family and to the kids that I taught in Sunday School. Every Sunday, I make it a point to give candies or chocolates to all the kids in our church. This is a way to attract more kids to come on Sundays. Also, I give chocolates to those who were able to memorize the memory verses that I give them each Sunday. To my surprise, it really works. I always see the smile on their faces when I told them they did a good in memorizing and of course the chocolates make them smile the more.

I'm planning to buy more candies and chocolates to stock up on from the candy store to give to the kids in my Sunday school class. Seeing the smile on their faces each time I give them candies and chocolates is priceless. Also, they make me happy when I hear them quoting the memory verses from the Bible. This coming Christmas, we're planning to give candies and chocolates to all the kids during our Christmas celebration. We always do this each year. We also give awards to those who memorized the most of the memory verses and to those kids who will win in the parlor games. For sure, candies and chocolates will be given away.

Watch TV Online

My hubby's day is not complete without watching his favorite tv shows. When he was still working, right after he gets home from work, he turn on the tv and sat their in the living room and rest while watching his favorite afternoon show, George Lopez. He will then ask me to give him something to snack on and eat as he sit on his favorite chair. During night time, he is still glued in front of the tv watching his all time favorite show CSI. Watching tv shows is my hubby's favorite past time. Sometimes we had to argue on what tv show we wanna watch because I'm not interested in the shows he fondly watch.

There were times that I missed my favorite tv shows because of that. It's good there's a TV Online where I can watch the shows I missed. I just open my laptop and watch my favorite program anytime at Spreety TV Online. This site is the free television guide for TV online.. That’s the advantage of having internet and since I am always online, there’s no problem with that. I don’t have to feel bad if I didn’t watch my favorite show. I can watch in between my blogging. Cool isn’t it?

Poqui-poqui, an Ilocano Recipe

This is one of my favorite foods when we were growing up. My late mom used to cook this and I remember I always have this in my packed lunch along with fried fish and rice when I was in high. I didn't know the name of this recipe and I think my mom didn't know it either because she never told us. I remember one of my boardmates in Baguio during my college days used to cook this and she even added carne norte and it added more flavor. That boardmate of mine was from Laoag City but she never mentioned the name of this recipe and I never bothered to asked her. 

I kept cooking this recipe not knowing its name because I love it. I even posted this recipe here but at that time I didn't know its name yet. It was only lately that I came to know the name of this recipe and it's called Poqui-poqui! It's one of the popular recipes in the Ilocos Region. The name sounds weird and it could be the reason why they never mentioned its name, lol! Whatever the name is, I assure you this taste good. Here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

4 eggplants

3 eggs

fish sauce (patis)

1 onion (sliced)

4 cloves garlic(crushed)

3 tomatoes (sliced)

salt

ground beef or carne norte (optional)

Procedure:

1. Grill the eggplants until it's cooked. Removed the skin then sliced and mash the eggplants.

2. Beat the eggs and put a little salt.

3. In a skillet, put cooking oil and saute the garlic and onions. Add the ground beef and some salt. Brown it and cook for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, and fish sauce and cook for 5 minutes. Add the mashed eggplants and cook for a few minutes. Add more fish sauce if needed. Add the eggs and cook for a couple of minutes. Remove from fire and serve with rice and fried fish.

Shanghai Lumpia

I love making lumpia and while in the US, I made it a few times. I love to give it away to my friends too. Our pastor and his family love it so every time I make lumpia, I have to make sure to give some to them. My step-kids and their kids love it too. Here's my recipe and anybody can do it. It's easy to make, crunchy and yummy to the tummy.

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef or pork
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 medium carrots, finely chopped
2 tbsp soy sauce
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tsp ground black pepper
2 packages of spring roll wrappers
1 1/2 quarts oil for frying

In a large bowl, combine, ground beef, onion, and carrot. Make sure to completely mix everything. I suggest getting down and dirty and use your hands. Knead the meat in the bowl if you must.

Gradually blend in the soy sauce , black pepper, oyster sauce, garlic, and salt until all ingredients are evenly distributed.

Cook it in medium-high heat until the meat turns brown stirring constantly. Taste it whether it's salty or not and try to adjust it according to your preference.

Remove from fire and drain the excess grease. After the stuffing mixture has cooled down, begin wrapping it immediately

Lay out a few wrappers at a time on a flat surface, and place about 1 tablespoonful of the filling in a line down the center of the wrapper.

Take the bottom and top edges of the wrapper and fold them towards the center. Take the left and right sides, and fold them towards the center. Moisten the last edge of the wrapper to seal. Now repeat using the rest of the wrappers.


To cook the lumpia, fill a frying pan with about 1/2-inch of vegetable oil. Heat the oil over medium-high heat. Gently place the lumpia into the hot oil and fry until golden brown on all sides.

Place the fried lumpia on paper towels and serve immediately with sweet and sour sauce. Click here for the recipe.

My Firmoo Sunglasses

Summer in Texas is so hot. The heat and the sun is unbearable and wearing a pair of sunglasses when going out is a must. I have an old pair of sunglasses that I use but it's kinda loose on my face. I really wanted to have one so just imagine the joy I felt when I was given the chance to review the sunglasses from Firmoo. I was not given just one but 4 sunglasses for free to review, one for each 4 blogs of mine that they approved. What a blessing! I ordered 3 larger frames and one small frame (just to try how it looks on me). I think the larger frames fit my face very well. Not too tight and not loose. The small frame don't suit the shape of my face but still I will keep it. 

I love my Firmoo wrap around sunglasses because they are light, fashionable and chic. So glad that I found this site where I got these sunglasses for free. If you are thinking it will be hard to find the perfect glasses online, you don’t need to worry! Firmoo have a Virtual Try-On System that helps you see how you would look with the specific glasses or sunglasses in order to help you find the right pair for yourself. You can search through Firmoo’s eyeglasses by price, shape, material, frame or size. Here's one of the sunglasses given to me by Firmoo. See the other sunglasses I got by clicking here.

 

Sweet and Sour Sauce

If you love eating lumpia, I'm pretty sure you would love to dip it with sweet and sour sauce. You can make your own sauce by just following this simple recipe.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp sugar
salt to taste
1 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in 2 tbsp water

In a small pan, combine vinegar, soy sauce, ketchup, water, sugar and salt, and boil for 2 minutes. Thicken with cornstarch mixture.

Have fun cooking and enjoy!

Nectresse Natural No Calorie Sweetener

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of NECTRESSE™Sweetener for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I'm careful of what I eat especially sweets because I don't want my blood sugar to go up. I was told by the doctor a few years ago that my blood sugar was high. I also read that sugar feeds cancer and since I am a cancer survivor, I am cautious of my sugar intake. If I use sugar, I prefer the natural sweeter. Boy, was I glad to know about the NECTRESSE™Sweetener that was sent to me to try! This product is made from the goodness of real fruit - monk fruit extract, available where you shop! It is 100 percent natural and zero calories per serving too! I really like the taste of this sweetener more than any other sweeteners out there. Instead of using sugar in my favorite apple pancake, I used the Nectresse Sweetener to give me an all natural sweet taste without all the calories of sugar. It was the perfect substitute for sugar and I loved that I didn't need to use that much! My hubby loved it and so did I. Here' the recipe I made using Nectresse.

Apple Pancake

Ingredients:

 1/4 cup butter, melted

 1 egg

 1 cup milk

 1 cup shredded tart apple

 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

 1 tablespoon NECTRESSE™ Sweetener

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine butter, egg, milk and apple. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and sugar. Stir flour mixture into apple mixture, just until combined.

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

These pancakes are so delicious, yummy, moist and nutritious.

You can use NECTRESSE not only in cooking and baking but also in your favorite beverages and a delicious variety of foods. It is available in both convenient single-serve packets (40 servings) and easy to hold canisters (140 servings) with a multipurpose lid for sprinkling, pouring or spooning. You can buy it now from your grocery stores, drug stores, supercenters and online for suggested retail prices of $3.99 (packets) and $6.99 (canisters).

Visit their website and get a FREE sample of NECTRESSE™Sweetener to try for yourselves. For recipes, samples and more information on NECTRESSE™ visit www.NECTRESS,com. Check out also the video of Lisa Ling below and share it to others. 

 

 

 

Ginisang Sitaw (Sauteed String Beans)

I grew up in a simple home with simple foods most of the time. When we were young, my late mom used to cook for us some sauteed vegetables and they were really good. One recipe that she used to cook was the ginisang sitaw or sauteed string beans. It was always a hit to me and my siblings. My mom was a great cook and I learned a lot from her. This recipe is so simple to make with just a few ingredients. Here is the recipe from my mom.

Ingredients:

1 bundle of sitaw (string beans) cut 2 inch length

1 med chopped onion

3 cloves garlic chopped

1/3 lbs ground pork or beef (optional)

1/3 cup soy sauce

2 tbsp vinegar

1 tbsp brown sugar 

2 tbsp oil

salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Boil the string beans until it's tender. Drain and set aside.

2. Heat oil in a frying pan. Saute garlic then onion. 

3. Add ground pork or beef and stir fry for about 5 minutes.

4. Add some salt and pepper  and continue cooking the meat in low heat.

5. Add the string beans, soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar and stir fry for another 5 minutes or so.

6. Serve with rice.

Baked Salmon

I love eating fish. In fact I can eat fish anyway you cook it. I love fish more than meat. Salmon is so good and I love it baked. Here's a recipe that I got from my good friend Sofia. The first time my hubby and I ate this was when Sofia invited us for supper in their house when they were still residing in our city. I have cooked this recipe many times and hubby and I really love it. I won't get tired having this on my table every now and then. The only problem is that salmon is getting expensive but it's worth it though with all the omega 3 that we can get from it. Anyhow, here's the recipe of the baked salmon. This is really delicious.

Ingredients
1 lb salmon fillet
1 cup sour cream
1 cup crab legs imitation, shredded
1/2 tsp lemon juice
salt
black pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place the salmon in a baking dish.
Sprinkle salt and black pepper to the salmon.
Mix together the sour cream, shredded crab leg imitation, lemon juice and a dash of salt.
Cover the salmon with the mixture and bake for 30 minutes.

Drink To Your Health

To be honest, I don't drink because I don't like the taste and the effects afterwards especially the hangover. People drink, and it’s usually for a reason like celebration, loneliness, depression, insecurity, stress, or the worst of all, boredom. I’ve rarely seen people drink for reasons other than those. Some people drink because it goes well with food, and that isn’t bothersome to me. If you drink and you’re happy about it, then that’s great for you. I recognize that there are benefits to drinking as well. Sure a glass of wine a day is supposedly good for you. They said that the best bite of your steak is the first bite because steak coats your tongue in a film that inhibits taste. Red wine dissolves that film. The only time I use wine is when I make a fruit cake, lol! If you want to celebrate, then here's a toast for you. Be sure you can control yourself and don't put the wine into your head. Drink to your health! Visit wine online and learn more about wine.

Presented By ONEHOPE Wine Online Fifty Percent of Profits Go To Charity

Pancit and Lumpia

Since hubby and I got back here in Texas last month, I only had the chance to cook maybe three times because we're enjoying the foods that my step-daughter has been cooking for us. Guess what I cooked? It's none other than the all time favorite of my step-kids and friends, lumpia and pancit of course! Hubby and I had to drive 40 minutes to the Asian market just to buy the lumpia wrappers because they don't sell in the nearby grocery stores. I brought a few packs of pancit noodles from the Philippines so I didn't have to buy it here.

At first I only made 25 pieces of lumpia but it was all gone in a few minutes and  I cooked 1 big pack of pancit. I guess the kids missed my Asian cooking so they enjoyed eating what I cooked. After just a few days, I was in the mood again to cook some lumpia and pancit and this time I made 75 pieces of lumpia. That's a lot, huh! And guess what, it was all gone now, lol! They love my cooking huh!

Last week, I made 50 pieces of lumpia and I gave it to our new pastor and also to our former pastor in our church. They told me my lumpia was really good and they love it. I just wished I took some pics of the lumpia that I cooked but I forgot to do so. Maybe I will next time. I'm supposed to teach a lady in our church how to cook lumpia today but seems like she forgot about it and she's not yet here. Oh well, I will just update my blogs which I haven't done regularly since we've been here in Texas. 

Turkey Meatballs

I had been in the mood to cook meat recipes the past couple of days. The other day I decided to cook the ground turkey that was in my freezer for a few months already. I planned to make egg rolls out of it but then I changed my mind. Instead, I made some meatballs. It was my second time to make this recipe and I was so delighted with the outcome. My hubby commended me for this recipe and he's been eating it with his vegetable salad. I plan to make this again in the days to come. It is so simple and easy to make. Here's the recipe.

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.

Black Beans With Bitter Melon and Meat

Hubby and I love beans, like pinto, navy, mungo, white and black beans. We love variety so we don't get tired eating the same beans, lol! I love beans mixed with veggies like malunggay, squash flower and bitter melon leaves or the fruit. This time, I cooked black beans with sliced bitter melon mixed with the leaves. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups black beans

1/2 lbs pork, sliced (but I used ground beef instead)

10 cups water


4 cloves garlic, minced

1 onion, chopped

1 root ginger, sliced

1 pork boullion
 cube

2 tbsp fish sauce

2 medium pcs of bitter melon, sliced

cooking oil

1/2 tsp salt

How to cook black beans with bitter melon:

1. In a pot, sauté onion, garlic and ginger in cooking oil.

2. Add the meat.and salt. Saute for another 3 minutes.

3. Then add water.

4. And the black beans.

5. Bring to a boil. Stir occasionally. Remove scums as it rises.

6. Add the pork or beef bouillon and the fish sauce.

7. Simmer until the beans are soft.

8. Add the sliced bitter melon. Simmer for 5 minutes.

9. Serve hot with steamed rice.

Ginisang Bulaklak Ng Katuray (Sauteed Corkwood Tree Flower)

I bought the katuray or corkwood tree a couple of years ago and it's now yielding flowers. I planted it in front of our house, outside the fence. This is a seasonal vegetable and the tree yields its flower during summer. It gives a lot of flowers almost everyday. It's best to cook it as salad or ginisa (sauteed). Most Ilocanos love this veggie and I don't know if it's true but they said it's good for people with high blood pressure.

Ingredients:

2 handful of bulaklak ng katuray

2 tablespoon fish sauce

3 tomatoes

1 onion, sliced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon cooking oil

1/4 cup water

Cooking Instruction:

1. Remove the pistil or the long stem-like on the central portion of the katuray flower

2. Cook the flower in boiling water for about 2 minutes. Remove from water and set aside.

3. Heat cooking oil in a pot, saute garlic, onion and tomatoes until soft and fragrant.

4. Add fish sauce

4. Add the flower and mix.

5. Serve with rice.

Eggplant with Eggs and Tomatoes

My late mom used to prepare this recipe for us during my younger days. It's another method in cooking eggplant aside from frying it with eggs. I love this food and whenever I eat this, it reminds me of my mother. During my high school days my mom used to packed this together with fried fish for my lunch that I take to school. Those good old days, sigh! I miss my mom.

Here's the recipe from my mom.

Ingredients:
4 eggplants
3 eggs
fish sauce
1 onion (sliced)
4 cloves garlic(crushed)
3 tomatoes sliced)
salt

Procedure:
1. Grill the eggplants until it's cooked. Removed the skin then sliced and mash the eggplants.
2. Beat the eggs and put a little salt.
3. In a skillet, put cooking oil and saute the garlic and onions. Add the tomatoes and fish sauce and cook for 5 minutes. Add the mashed eggplants and cook for a few minutes. Add more fish sauce if needed. Add the eggs and cook for a couple of minutes. Remove from fire and serve with rice and fried fish.

Hubby Cooked Corn Bread and Meat Loaf

Corn bread is one of hubby's favorites. He likes to eat it with chili. Since we were here in my homeland, he missed it terribly. The grocery stores here don't sell any corn meal. We've been to bigger grocery stores but still they don't have it. Boy, was he glad when my God-daughter sent us a corn meal mix! He said it would have been better if it's just the regular corn meal which he can make corn bread from scratch and it's cheaper. He cooked the corn meal mix after he bought some ingredients to cook meat loaf because he said corn bread goes well with meat loaf. He used a round baking dish, I don't know why. We have a rectangular baking dish but he preferred the round one. When it was already cooked, he took it out from the oven and he was in a hurry to slice it. Hence, the result was uneven slices because the corn bread was still hot and soft. The verdict, the corn bread was okay but too sweet for us. The corn meal mix was sweet unlike the corn meal that hubby used to make in Texas. That's the reason why hubby prefer the regular corn meal with no sugar.

Next, hubby cooked the meat loaf. Did I tell that hubby was the one who taught me how to cook meat loaf? I am so glad that he really can cook when he wants too. So here's the meat loaf that he cooked. The verdict, it was yummy to the tummy!

White Beans With Malunggay

Hubby and I love beans like pinto, mung beans, navy beans, white and black beans. He said he grew up with beans and potatoes and I grew up with beans and rice, lol! What a pair! Both of us are not so picky with foods as long as it's not spaghetti for him and not pork for me. I used to like pork but I gave up eating it six years ago due to health issues. I prefer healthy foods for me and hubby.

I cooked this white beans with malunggay a few days ago. I always love to add veggies with my beans. If malunggay is not available then I add ampalaya (bitter gourd) and since I don't eat pork, I added ground beef instead.

Here's my recipe:

Ingredients:

1 pack white beans (soaked overnight)

1/2 lbs ground beef

2 medium onions (sliced)

4 cloves garlic (minced)

ginger (crushed and sliced)

fish sauce

salt

1 bunch of malunggay

water

Directions:

1. In a frying pan, put oil and saute the garlic and onions. Add the ground beef, fish sauce and cook until brown. Remove from fire.

2. Put the beans in a pressure cooker with water and salt. Add the beef, ginger and cook for 40 minutes. If you don't have a pressure cooker, use regular pot but cook it longer around 1 and 1/2 hours or until soft.

3. Add the malunggay and add more water if needed. Add fish sauce depending on your taste. Cook for another 5 minutes. Serve with rice.

Buridibod, Ilocano Style

Malunggay is in season once again and we have one at the back of our house yielding lots of malunggay every other day. My brother climbed our roof top and got lots of malunggay so we can cook buridibod, an Ilocano recipe. I am an Ilocana so I love this recipe so much. Even my hubby who is a Caucasian learned to love this food. He can eat a lot of malunggay, and he calls it now green hotdogs, lol! We got that name from Aika because that's what her hubby calls it. In fact, while we were eating the malunggay, we were thinking about them. Hope they are here with us so they can enjoy too eating buridibod.

INGREDIENTS:
4 pcs camote
6 pcs eggplant
10 pcs malunggay fruits
alukon (baeg)
samsamping (Ilocano word, don't know what they call it in Tagalog)
fried fish or ground beef (I used ground beef)
shallots or onions
patis
fish sauce
water

DIRECTIONS:
Peel the camotes and cut them in to cubes. Clean and wash the samsamping and alukon. Peel and cut the malunggay. Brown the ground beef and put patis and the chopped shallots or onions. Then boil some water in a pot for the fish sauce. Add the ground beef and the camote cubes and let it cook. Here, you can prefer your buridibod somewhat drier or soft and pulpy. if you want a pulpy buridibod, boil the camotes some more or you can mash it by using a ladle. But mash it not too mushy so enough broth remain. you have to retain enough broth for your souping purposes. when the camotes are cooked, put in the malunggay, eggplant and samsamping and alukon and let it cook for some time. Serve with rice.

Chicken Dumplings Salad

I learned this recipe from a good friend of mine more than four years ago in Texas. I have made it several times already and it was a hit to my hubby and also my friends. The recipe don't need a lot of ingredients because if it does, I don't like to make it. Lots of ingredients turn me off. So this recipe is so simple and easy to prepare.

Ingredients:

2 cans pineapple chunks
2 cups chicken breasts, cubes (cooked)
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 1'2 cup seedless red or green grapes
1/2 cup chopped peanuts

Dressing:
1/3 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp half and half or evaporated milk
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp mild curry powder
1 tbsp apricot jam
salt and pepper to taste

Direction:

Just mix all the ingredients and the dressing. Refrigerate for an hour before serving.

Getting healthy in 2012

Guest post written by James Grant

One thing that I really want to do in 2012 is finally get my health in line. I have high cholesterol and I really need to change around my diet and my lifestyle so that I can get to a much healthier place.

I've been doing research on how to get healthy in a realistic way. I know that I'm not going to want to go out and run a marathon, ever. So I'm trying to take a realistic approach. While I was online looking up that stuff, I ran across the site miracle ear. I looked through it and decided to go and get fitted with some hearing aids, like people have suggested to me before.

I'm also going to hire a personal trainer, because I know that if I'm paying someone to tell me how to exercise, I actually will do all that they tell me to do if at first to just get my money's worth! I'm hoping that I'll start feeling a lot better too so that it will serve as even more motivation.

New Year 2012 Celebration

This maybe a late post but it's better late than never. Lat New Year's eve, I was so busy preparing and cooking for our Media Noche. It was only me and hubby plus my brother who celebrated New Year so I didn't really prepared a lot. Just enough for us and also included some to give away to my neighbor. Hubby helped by making his favorite potato salad. I made first the fruit salad because it's the easiest one to make. I just open the cans of fruit cocktail and mix it with the Nestle cream and a little condensed milk. After mixing I put it in the fridge.

Next thing I did was to cook the chicken barbeque. I marinated  the chicken a few hours before so I just had to put it in the wooden stick and cooked it in the electric grill. When it's done cooking, I cooked the hotdogs in the frying pan and then put it in the barbeque stick and I added colored marshmallows for good presentation. I didn't cook pancit because hubby said he got tired eating it. We didn't buy a cake either because it's only the three of us. So midnight strike, all people were busy making noise in the streets and lighting firecrackers and fireworks. I called my hubby and my brother to come and eat the foods prepared on the table. We thank God for blessing us the past year and also for giving us another year. Happy 2012! Thank you Lord!

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