Taking Photos...

I love taking photos of just about anything like my cute, li'l niece when she's having fun and trying to show off her talents to us. I also love taking pics when hubby and I go somewhere especially to places that I've never been to. Scenic views, nature, parks, flowers, beaches, plants, trees and mountains captivates my attention. I love clicking my digicam whenever I see these interesting subjects. Of course I won't forget taking souvenir photos on special occasions like birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, New Year, Thanksgiving, etc. The memory card of my camera is already full that's why I'm thinking of transferring the photos to a CD or have them developed.

I already have a bunch of photos printed out and I put them in photo albums and every time we have some visitors, I show it to them. Some of the photos were printed in the store like Wal Mart but then hubby got so lazy to drive and wait on me whenever we go to the store to have our photos printed so I asked him to buy a printer, ink and photo papers. Now, I am the one printing our photos. Cool isn't it? I just need to buy more photo albums for our photos.

Mixed Veggies

Once again, I cooked my favorite veggies which I love and I won't get tired eating. It's a combination of squash, okra and bitter gourd mixed with ground beef. I taught my American hubby to eat veggies. Before he met me, he told me he didn't like to eat veggies. All he ate were hamburger sandwiches, pizzas, potatoes, beans, chicken fried steak, etc. But after we got married, I always cooked veggies and I introduced it to him. He began to eat and like it. He told me that the veggies I cooked taste a lot better than the veggies being cooked in the US. I have to agree with that. Hubby and I went to eat many times to buffet restaurants in the US but the veggies they serve there don't taste that good. It has a so-so taste according to hubby unlike my cooking which is so yummy and delicious.

Celebrating Our Anniversary

Hubby and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary last September 11th. How time flies! It feels like it's only been yesterday when we said "I do". This is the 3nd time that we celebrated our anniversary here in my homeland. The first time was in the year 2004 and then 2009 and this year 2010. We planned to just go out and eat because I don't want to prepare and cook. It's so tiresome and I just want to eat and enjoy but then my sister needed my help. She's been sick and she needed to have a dextrose that day. Hubby understand so we ended up cooking in the house. I asked Jhun to cook goulash and my brother Celso fried the chicken wings and my 2 nephews grilled pork chops and my brother made dinakdakan. We ordered pancit and bought ice cream so that was it. We ate supper just us and my family. We didn't invite anybody.

Sweet Potato Bake

I know it's been a while since I updated this blog. Finally, I'm here now and making a new post. It doesn't mean that I haven't been doing anything in my kitchen. In fact I've been cooking a lot lately than the previous months. Only, I was just too busy and lazy to make a post here.

The other day I cooked the sweet potatoes that I bought. Actually, I bought 6.5 lbs of sweet potatoes in the market. I gave some to my sis and they boiled it and ate it just like that. The rest I cooked and made sweet potato bake. It's the 2nd time that I made this recipe and my hubby always love it. He loves sweet you know. I gave some to my nephews too. Here's the recipe:

Sweet Potato Bake

INGREDIENTS

* 4 cups cold mashed sweet potatoes (without added milk and butter)
* 1/3 cup brown sugar
* 1/2 cup milk
* 1/4 cup butter, softened
* 3 eggs
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

* TOPPING:
* 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
* 1/2 cup chopped pecans or rolled oats
* 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
* 2 tablespoons cold butter

DIRECTIONS

1. In a mixing bowl, beat sweet potatoes, sugar, milk, butter, eggs, salt and vanilla until smooth. Transfer to a greased 2-qt. baking dish. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, pecans and flour; cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over potato mixture. Bake, uncovered, at 325 degrees F for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown.

My Birthday Celebration

I celebrated my birthday last August 5th with my family, friends, relatives, neighbors and my Sunday School kids. I just had a simple celebration with just 5 menus and 2 roll cakes. I wanted to have more foods but it's hard to cook a lot and I only have my brother to help me. It's good my sister-in-law came home early from work at around 3: PM so she was able to help us. She helped prepare the veggies and she cooked chop suey. I cooked goulash and my brother cooked beef caldereta, chicken adobo, rice and fried chicken legs. My guests arrived at around 5:30 PM but we finished cooking at around 7:00 PM. We started eating at around past 7 and the first menu that was gone was the chop suey. We only had a few fried chicken legs so we did not really serve it openly. I forgot that one pack of uncooked chicken legs were still in the refrigerator. I didn't see it when we were cooking. My brother only cooked one pack of chicken legs. My 2 nephews love the fried chicken legs, they said it's like the chicken joy from Jollibee.

Cooking a lot makes me tired so maybe next time that there will be another occasion I will just ask my neighbor who is a caterer to cook foods for me. Anyways, my guests got full and some of them even took home foods for their housemates who were not able to come. I enjoyed my birthday and I thank God for another blessed year in my life. Hubby didn't give me any gift but his mere presence and love is enough for me. I can live without any gifts as long as I have my loved ones who love and care for me and my Jesus who is my rock, Healer, Lord and Savior of my life.

Green Chile Beef Enchilada

This recipe is easy to make but it's delicious. I got this recipe from my step-daughter Shelly. She cooked this on her birthday 2 years ago. My hubby loved it that's why I made the effort to cook it for him. We ate this during supper and we just paired it with vegetable salad. Here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb ground beef
1 can cream of chicken
1 4oz can of chopped green chilies
1/2 lb shredded cheddar cheese
1 onion, chopped
6 corn tortillas cut in half

DIRECTIONS:

Brown meat in skillet, drain. Pour into saucepan the cream of chicken, green chilies, 1/4 can of water and heat to almost boiling. Begin layering in a baking dish corn tortillas, meat mixture, onions and cheese. Make 2 layers. Bake at 325 degrees until it bubbles around 30 minutes.

Vernice's Birthday

My niece Vernice just turned two last Wednesday and of course we celebrated with family, friends and loved ones by eating the foods that we prepared. My brother cooked pancit, beef caldereta and fish patty and my sister-in-law cooked chop suey. On the other hand, I cooked goulash, lumpia and chicken afritada. Hubby and I also bought a birthday cake for her. It was a late dinner but we had fun. My niece is now officially in her terrible two's and she's been acting that way a few months ago. Despite that, she's still lovable, sweet and cute and she's the apple of our eyes.