Mangoes

When we went to Fort Worth last Tuesday, we stopped by the Asian store before heading back home. Hubby and I bought some groceries because it's cheaper there than the Asian stores here. We bought some veggies, can goods, rice, pancit noodles, lumpia wrappers, mungo beans and mangoes. Mangoes there are cheap so my hubby decided to buy 2 boxes. Hubby loves mangoes and he first ate it when he was in the Philippines. But the thing is, mangoes here are not as sweet as the mangoes in the Philippines. For me, Philippine mangoes are the best. But for now, it's better than no mangoes at all. In the Philippines, we have 8 native mangoe trees that are now bearing fruits. For sure we will eat to our hearts' content when we go back there.

Crumbly Dutch Apple Pie

My friend Toni had taught me how to bake Dutch apple pie. We had a cooking session in her house. My hubby took me to her house which is about 12 minutes drive from our house at around 2:00 PM. Then he just came back to pick me up after we're done cooking. I showed Toni how to cook our native cake "puto". When I was done, it was her turn to show me how to cook apple pie. She made a crumbly Dutch apple pie. My husband love apple pie and I took it home and just baked it in our oven because hubby came to pick me up before we had time to bake it. Here's a photo I took before it was baked. Sorry, I forgot to take a photo after I baked it but the pie really turned out good.



INGREDIENTS

* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 cup packed brown sugar
* 3/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
* 1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
* FILLING:
* 2/3 cup sugar
* 3 tablespoons cornstarch
* 1 1/4 cups water
* 3 cups peeled, diced tart apples
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


DIRECTIONS

1. Combine the first four ingredients; set aside 1 cup for topping. Press remaining crumb mixture into an ungreased 9-in. pie plate; set aside.
2. For the filling, combine sugar, cornstarch and water in a saucepan until smooth; bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 1 minute or until thickened. Remove from the heat; stir in apples and vanilla. Pour into crust; top with reserved crumb mixture. Bake at 350 degrees F for 40-45 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

Free Range, Organic Meat

My hubby went to pick up the other day the meat that I ordered from the coop that sells free-range and organic meat. Free range animals are never given growth hormones or antibiotics which is bad for our health. Their cows are all grass-fed and the chickens and turkeys are grain and vegetable fed

This free-ranged organic meat is an exceptional source of protein in your diet because it is free of antibiotics. Over half of the antibiotics fed to mass-produced farm animals including chickens and cows are identical to the ones administered to humans. As has been well publicized in the media, overuse of such antibiotics can lead to strains of bacteria resistance to the antibiotic, opening doors wider to the potential for human disease.

That's the reason I prefer to buy this kind of meat. One more thing is that these meat taste better than those bought in the stores. It doesn't have lots of fats too. I ordered chicken, beef and turkey meat and my hubby paid $120. I told him it will last us for more than a month. Our freezer is full of frozen organic meat now.

Chicken Afritada

My hubby loves chicken afritada better than chicken adobo. That's the reason that I often cook this recipe because he loves it and it's easy to cook. I just cooked it the other day for our lunch. Hubby almost ate it all. I'm so glad he likes my cooking.


Ingredients
# 1 1/2 lbs boneless chicken thighs or breast (1 1/2-inch cubes)
# 2 medium potatoes (sliced 1-inch cube)
# 2 medium carrots (sliced 1-inch cube)
# 2 medium bell peppers
# 1 teaspoon garlic (minced)
# 1 small onion (sliced)
# 1 teaspoon salt
# 135 g tomato soup or ketchup

Directions

1. In a wok, heat a 2 tbsp of cooking oil. Saute the garlic until a bit brown, then put the onion.
2. Wait about 10 seconds and pour in chicken, stir until golden brown. Drop the potatoes and carrots.
3. Pour some water(enough for you to make its sauce) let it boil, and lastly pour in tomato soup or ketchup. When the sauce become thick, turn off the heat. Serve.

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Pinakbet Ilocano

One of my favorite Filipino recipes is Pinakbet. 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.

Venison

One of our friends in the church gave us venison last Saturday. That was the 3rd time that he gave us deer meat, about 9 lbs. I cooked venison stew yesterday and it was so delicious. I love venison because it has only little fats and deers are free range animals. They were not given antibiotics or growth hormones. Next time I will cook venison steak. Our friend said, when we run out of venison, we can ask him again. We're planning to go with him to his ranch and see all those animals that are in there, like deers, turkeys and hogs.