Ginataang Bilu-bilo Once Again

 

 

One of my favorite snacks here in the Philippines is ginataang bilu-bilo. We used to have this when we were kids because my late mom loved to cook this. Since we've been here in the Philippines, I cooked this many times already. At first I didn't do it right but on my 2nd and 3rd try, I did it better. It tasted and looked better compared with my first try. I think, next time I will cook it, it will be perfect, wink!

INGREDIENTS:

2 c glutinous rice flour and water

6 c of coconut milk (about 2 pieces coconuts)

5 pcs saging na saba

2 pcs medium cassava

1 c of ripe jack fruit

½ tbsp anise seeds

1 c sago

sugar to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Peel and cut into desired sizes the saging na saba and cassava. Add just enough water to glutinous rice and mix it. Form the glutinous rice into tiny balls or bilu-bilo. Prepare strands of langka for aroma and have 1 c sago ready.

Extract milk from the ground coconut by adding 2 cups of water; set aside the first extraction or coconut cream, which should yield about 2 cups of coconut milk. Add another 4 cups of water to already extracted ground coconut and from it, extract a less concentrated coconut milk; this is your 2nd extraction.

Cut the jack fruit flesh into strips.

Let the second extraction of coconut milk boil in a big pot with the cassava; once boiling, put in the saging na saba, glutinous rice balls, jack fruit, sago and anise seeds. Add more water as needed.

Add sugar according to your taste and let it cook. Put in the coconut cream and let it boil once just before serving.

Mung Bean Sprouts With Beef, Veggies and Tofu

Years ago, I didn't like sprouted mung beans. Of all the veggies, this one didn't appeal to my taste buds. When hubby and I arrived in the Philippines almost 3 years ago, my late sister loved to cook this recipe and she gave me some. The way she cooked it didn't taste bad so I learned to like this food. Now, I tried to cook it myself because it reminds me of my sis. It's just simple and I just used the available ingredients from our refrigerator.

Ingredients:

1 pack sprouted mung beans
1/4 lb green beans, sliced
2 carrots, sliced
1 chayote, sliced
2 pcs tofu, sliced
1/4 lb ground beef
4 cloves garlic
1 onion
cooking oil
1/2 cup water
soy, fish sauce, salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:

Clean the mung bean sprouts very well to remove any unnecessary particles. Heat the pan and put oil and sauté garlic first. When the garlic becomes light brown you can now put your onion. After this you can now put your ground beef. Cook for 5 minutes and then add the tofu and put fish sauce. Cook for a 5 minutes then put the green beans, carrots and chayote, mung beans sprout and put some soy sauce into it as you pour the water. Checks the taste if it is okay; if not just sprinkle some more salt and black pepper into it. Finally, remove from heat and serve with rice.

The Clean House

This guest post from Lenny Mcknight

There’s nothing like coming home to a clean house which is why I finally broke down and hired a housekeeper. I love being able to do it all myself but with the promotion I’m going to have to cut way back on the time I spend at home and really up my hours at the office. Shelly seems really great though and I love how clean she gets everything in my house from the microwave to the baseboards. I went to securitychoice.COM/ before I hired her so she and I have had to pick a password she can remember so the police don’t get called every time she comes over to clean! Even my neighbors were alarmed the first time she pulled up in her huge van! Anyway, I totally trust her and it’s been great to find someone through referrals rather than just online because I don’t have to worry about her taking anything or not doing a really good job. I hope we get to keep her around for years to come!

Hubby Wants A Freezer

It's been a year since hubby and I bought a new refrigerator. It's a 12 cubic foot refrigerator with deodorizer inside and a nice pink flowery design in front of its door. They said this is a new arrival. It's been a while that hubby wanted to buy a new and bigger ref because our old refrigerator is so small, only a 6 cubic foot. I like our new ref, it has more room for meat, ice, foods, veggies, etc. Hubby can make now his iced tea and put it there. Before, there was no room for his big pitcher with his tea. We bought our refrigerator on installment basis payable in 6 months and it's already been paid off.

Now my hubby wants to buy one of those new freezers that we have seen in the appliance center where we bought our refrigerator. He said we can store more meat, fruits and vegetables for a longer period of time so we don't have to go to the grocery store very often. He wanted to have even just a medium size freezer, like the one we had in Texas before which I used to store the free-range meats that we purchased from the coop. We used to buy meats from free-range animals and also grass-fed beef and we purchased meats in bulk which is good for a month because the coop only sells meat once a month. If we have a freezer, we could store more meat for a longer period of time.

Banana Heart Burgers

We've been having these banana heart burgers lately. I find it delicious and for people who are vegetarian, theses burgers are for you. It is healthy and yummy to the tummy. The lady who come to our house regularly and sell vegetables have been selling to me these banana heart blossoms for a cheap price, way cheaper than those they're selling in the grocery stores. She told me that it's good to cook them for burgers so I tried it. The result is a nutritious and delicious burgers. My hubby and I love it!

Banana heart flowers or banana blossoms, similarly to bananas are an excellent source of potassium, plus the vitamin’s A, C and E. According to research at the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, which studied the flowers of musa paradisiaca, banana flowers have tremendous nutritional value. They are a good source of fiber and protein. The flowers contain a class of phytochemicals known as saponins. Saponins lower LDL ,or bad cholesterol, boost our immunity against infection and are thought to inhibit the growth of cancer cells. They also have antioxidant activity and so can reduce our risk of chronic disease such as cardiovascular disease. Banana flowers are also an excellent source of flavonoids. These phytochemicals found in many plant based foods help prevent damage to DNA cells by neutralizing free radicals. They also help lower cholesterol, are anti-inflammatory, anticancer and anti-aging.

Ingredients:

Banana blossoms, preferably saba variety —- 1 cup

Flour —- 1/2 cup

Egg —- 2 pcs

Cooking oil

Black pepper —- 1/4 tsp black pepper

Salt —– 1 tsp salt

Garlic —- 1 pc

Onions —- 1 medium size onion

Procedure:

1. Get your banana blossom.

2. Remove the matured bracts but save all the young banana fingers.

3. Wash thoroughly in running water and rinse well.

4. Chop thinly (young bracts and fingers) and cook with small amount of boiling water until tender. Drain and set aside.

5. Saute onions and garlic. Mix with the cooked banana blossoms together with the rest of ingredients.

6. Fry two spoonful of mixture until golden brown.

My Homemade Maja Blanca

Maja Blanca is one of our family's favorite desert. I learned to cook it many years ago. Whenever we have special occasion or celebration in the family, it's always included in the dining table. When I was working in a public high school, I even got some orders from the teachers and also I sold some in our school canteen.

I even taught my late sis how to cook it so when I went to live in the US, she was the one cooking for the family. I passed down the recipe to her but sad to say, the Lord called her home last year. I missed her so much. Since I came back in my homeland, I tried cooking this recipe again. It bring back memories.

Ingredients:

200 grams Cream Cornstarch

1 can sweet whole kernel corn (canned)

1 1/2 c white sugar but I use brown sugar instead, it's up to you to adjust the sweetness depending on your preference

1 can evap milk

1 can condensed milk

1 matured coconut (grated)

1 young coconut, grated (optional)
3 cups water

grated cheese

1. Place grated coconut in a cheese cloth. Squeeze the coconut to get all the coconut milk adding water in it. I usually squeeze it twice. The total coconut milk with water should be 6 cups. Set aside.

2. In a mixing bowl, combine corn, cornstarch and sugar and mix well. Add coconut milk with water, evap and condensed milk and grated young coconut. Pour into skillet or "palayok" and bring to a boil on a medium fire and simmer, stirring constantly, until mixture is thickened.

3. Grease pan or mold with cooking oil. Pour the mixture in and top with cheese. Let set until cool. Refrigerate.

Papaya Shake

I bought a ripe papaya today. I ordered it from the lady who always come to our house to sell vegetables. She told me it was from her papaya plant. I washed it and put it in the fridge to let it cool. After lunch, I took it out and made a papaya shake for our snacks. I shared it to the hubby and my two nephews and they love it!

Papaya is believed to have very good laxative properties and often used to remedy digestive problems. It is reported that the juice has an antiproliferative effect on in vitro liver cancer cells, probably due to its component of lycopene or immune system stimulation.


Ingredients:


2 cups properly ripened papaya, skin and seed discarded.

3 tbsp brown sugar or honey

1 cup evaporated milk

1 tray ice cube

1 cup chilled water.

Procedure:


Just put everything into the blender: ice cube first, followed by water, papaya, sugar and milk then cover tightly and pulse it several times until the ice cube and ripe papaya flesh are broken down and have blended evenly with the other ingredients.


Pulse it a couple of times more until a smooth, rich and creamy consistency is attained. As always reminded in making smoothies, do not over mix.


This is best served during breakfast when aide in the digestive system is much needed. But of course, it also goes well in between meals or during break time with your preferred snack or merienda or as a quick quench to replenish lost energy during a tiring day.