In My Kitchen

I got the recipe from Southern Living, thanks. Of course with somethings omitted because I do not like it. I made this for thanksgiving and our guests hardly touch it. I ate the left over for two days hahaha. Anyway, I like it with spring mix and I buy the lettuce separately and mix it myself. I don't like the pre-mix. I used the pre-mix when I made this on thanksgiving. No more pre-mix for me, yuck! Ingredients 3/4 c sour cream 1/4 c raspberry preserves 3 tbsp red wine vinegar 1/8 tsp Dijon mustard (I added some honey here) 4 firm, ripe pears (this I omitted because I don't want to eat pears with salad) 2 tbsp lemon juice (for the pears slices) 1 head Bibb lettuce, torn * 1 small head romaine lettuce, torn * 1/2 c freshly shredded Parmesan cheese 6 bacon slices, cooked & crumbled 1/2 fresh raspberries (I put more because I like it) Preparation Whisk together the first four ingredients. Set aside. Peel Pears, if desired; quarter pears, Brush with lemo

These are made with Asian eggplants. You start by removing the skin by roasting or simply put them on your stove top. Turn the burner and grill the skin of the eggplant. Flatten the eggplant after removing the skins. Try not to separate them too much. Dip in beaten egg with salt and black peppers. Cook on a medium high pan with butter, olive oil, or coconut oil. Just like above. With these recipe I added ground pork sauteed in garlic, onions, and tomatoes. I added them right after putting the eggplant on the fan. Then I poured a little bit more beaten eggs. You can refrigerate the left over. Just warm it up in the microwave or warm pan with butter. Make a sandwich like a vegetable burger, with hot cook rice or by itself. Add cheese or ketchup on top.

I found this recipe online two years ago of course, but cannot remember who to thank. Mix flour, butter, salt, onion powder, & cheddar cheese. It will be very powdery. Your hands warmth should be able to make it stick together, like below. Flatten a small piece. About 1/8 of an inch thick. Start pressing with a fish cutter . I am using the smallest of three. Sometimes when the dough is warm enough, they stay in place. All you have to do is slide a thin butter knife to pick them up. Save the scraps. You can pressed them again together and flatten to make more fish. One recipe can fill up two baking sheets. Bake for 10 minutes in preheated 350 °F oven. My children loves them warm. Homemade Gold Fish 1 1/2 c. grated cheese 4 tbsp. butter soften 1/2 c. whole wheat flour 1/4 c. regular flour 1/8 tsp. onion powder 1/8 to 1/4 tsp. salt Mix all the ingredients. Flatten the dough 1/8-inch thick. C

I got this recipe from a social media. It looks so good I have to try it...hahaha. Me and my eyes gets in trouble all the time. I see it, I have to try it because it looks so yummy! Don't get me wrong, it is delicious but my mouth will not cooperate. Eating way too much sweet with flour in the ingredients (mostly wheat) gives me sores. Well, look at the bright side, I will not gain weight for eating too much sweet...hahaha. Two is my limit. Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Filling 1 1/3 c. flour 1/2 c. dark chocolate 2 tsp. baking powder 1 c. sugar pinch of salt Mix well. Add to the above mixture the following: 1/2 c. vegetable oil 2 eggs 1 c. milk Mix again. Filling: 1 package cream cheese 1/3 c. sugar 1 egg Mix well until smooth. I usually cream the sugar & cream cheese first. Then add the egg when smooth. Fill muffin cups halfway with the chocolate batter. Add one spoonful of filling. Then more chocolate batter on top. Bake 12 to 15 minutes

Hard to believe but yes, once in a blue moon I get that. When DH takes the children with him and decided to sleep over his friend's house at the last minute. I realized that not having children in a big house made it so quiet, you can her a pin drop. And this is what I do when this free time comes along. Our kitchen in order and spotless. It stays like this until they got home...hahaha. I love cleaning when no one comes and ask me to do other things than cleaning, just the way I am.

A dear friend of mine I chat with almost everyday told me about this cookies. She works for an Arab family in Dubai. One day one of her college students she sits, brought a friend home and made this cookies. She took a picture and I like what I saw. She said she didn't get the cookies name. So, I Googled folded cookies. I found some pictures. I asked my friend what are the ingredients the person used. All that stand out was cottage cheese. Today I finally found the correct one I wanted from Olga's Flavor Factory. She called this "Soft Farmer's Cheese Cookies." With mine I omitted the 2 tablespoons of cold water and I used small curd cottage cheese (juice & all) instead of Farmer's Cheese. I have to check my local grocery store for the latter. I have never seen it before, but again I wasn't looking for it.

Someone used my picture on the first year I established this blog . He cropped it to make it not noticeable. Come on really? You can't even drop me a line saying "can I borrow/share" or at least give me credit for what I work for. Really Mr. Mendoza?

Yes, DH and I finally finished our walk-in pantry after 2 years being in this house. Money is the big factor in doing so. There are not much here because these groceries came from my kitchen. I haven't bought any extra food yet, because there is no place to store them. The buckets are dry beans that I am supposed to transfer to some jars. Remember my post canning dry goods ? Yap, these dry goods are continuing procedures. I put all the dry beans I buy and can them when I have enough to do one load inside the oven. This is actually an "L" shape stock room. One side is our pantry, the other is our classroom stock room for extra books and school/office supplies. There is another shelf right around the corner that cannot be seen in the picture. And I got these shelves from amazon for $60 with our prime shipping. We bought 6 of them.

Today for Willa's one year anniversary at Food Trip Friday, here is my entree "Special Ensaymada" from my kitchen. This is a lot of work to make however, I was able to make it. I think they call it special because of the cheese in the ingredients. (who knows...lol). I added white cheese and creamed butter with sugar. My family did not like it very much. Like I said there are only 3 of us who ate it. I still have 4 left and I put them in the freezer for later. The recipe called for 20 pieces, but being sooo sticky and soft I was able to make 18 pieces. Below it what it looks like after taking it out of the oven. The dark speckled are the cheese I mix in with the dough. Below is what they look like after making the spiral and rising for the fourth and last time, before going into a 350°F oven for 15 minutes. The recipe can be found in my previous post and read about my mishap also. I will make this again when I have fellow filipino guests in my

As I mentioned before , painting it red and I did. You can still see the yellow pot on top of my freezer. The boxes on the left/in front of the freezer are the two extra shelves that need to go to DH office and to the laundry room. The brown door is our walk in pantry. Across from the pantry which cannot be seen here is our laundry room. The painting was done around August. Please excuse the forehead print on the glass... :)

Well not actually a bread, but sweet. Yes a very sweet bread just like banana bread. Great with tea or coffee. Another accomplished recipe. If you want the recipe you can Google it "Spanish Bread" recipe.

These bell peppers took forever to grow, fruit, and ripen. I been wanting to make roasted bell pepper cream sauce. Hopefully I can finally make it this winter. I sliced them after roasting and removing the skins. Stuff them in jars along with sprigs of rosemary fresh from my garden also, garlic, and filled with olive oil. Keep in the fridge before using.

From a box, LOL. The couscous is from the box. I made the recipe that came with it. Next time I will be making regular lemon rosemary chicken breast over couscous.

To stay cool this summer try making fruit ice pop. I also used the name ice candy because I grew up eating these and that is what we call it back home. I have six flavors here. Orange is cantaloupe, yellow is mango, purple at front is purple yam, same color at the back is mung beans, green is avocado (my personal favorite), white on the left is buko (young coconut), and the white on the right is jackfruit (its white because the base is milk, I only added pieces of jackfruit, it's from a can). Simply mash/blend any fruit without skin & seeds of course. Add sugar and powder milk, this depends on how sweet you like them. You can also used cream or regular milk. Put them in a plastic container using a funnel (they call it "ice candy disposable bag" at amazon), make sure to leave about 2 inches off the top for closure. If you are good at tying them, you can probably get away with only 1 1/2 inch. Below are mango flavor mixed with milk, that is they look light ye

I made some of these last week and I didn't get enough and made more today, I had a chance to take a picture. If you are interested about the recipe you can google it as "tinola recipe." I only used chicken wings, others parts of the chicken takes a long time to tender in my opinion. Chicken wings, chayote, pepper or motinga/horse raddish leaves, ginger, lemongrass, onion, garlic, 1 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp fish sauce, & chicken broth or water. Salt and black pepper to taste. I put some hot pepper flakes on this too for a little zing.

Yes, our big kitchen is finally done. It only took us two years to finished it, (way too long in my opinion). Dining area. I am still waiting for DH to help me with the plug under the window. He turns the power off and I add the plug. Going to the back deck. The door needs cleaning, I know. Painting it red is more like it :) . The opening from the living room. My pot rack is still not up. I'm waiting for DH to removed the upright freezer where my rack will go.

I finally switch my kitchen to almost natural dishwasher detergent. Well I call it almost because I read that there are so much debate about Borax. At first I was only using the above mixture. One part of borax and washing soda, and half part kosher salt. I wasn't happy with the smell so I added (below) 2 packs of kool-aid and half part citric acid. I don't mix the salt in my mixture because they turn into clamps. I just add half a teaspoon on every wash.

Another attempt on decorating. I swear I will get better in age...hahaha. YDS enjoyed the well (my well) decorated food than not. The bottom one was too sweet he said. One or the other will be fine, but not both whipped cream and maple syrup.

Trying my none existent decorating/presentation talent here...hahaha.. Yes, cinnamon rolls . My family had been asking for this in months. Like I mentioned before, when I don't feel like making something then I do it, the finish product does not come out right. They are very persistent and I gave in.

I had enough of winter and my mind is wanting some summer, well anything warmer than 32 deg F is very much appreciated. When I opened blogger the blogs I am following shows up. And one in particular stands out because she is already prepping her allotment to plant, plus some of her bulbs are already out. I am so jealous, I missed my hometown. Anyway, here is my dinner tonight. Stir fry veggies (broccoli/carrots/cauliflower/red & green bell peppers) because I miss warm temperature already. Mind you it's MARCH and I still have a foot of snow on the ground and it's snowing right now while I am typing this. I like my veggies with some crunch in them. Looks pretty doesn't it. Pictures are taken by LG G2 camera.