Happy New Year To All !!!

HAVE A GREAT YEAR 2008!!!

Holiday Greetings to Everyone.....

Given the time constraints that I have been under this year I wanted to send some sort of holiday greeting to my family, off and on-line friends, and readers, but it is so difficult in today's world to know exactly what to say without offending someone.

So, I wish to say the following:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non- addictive, gender neutral celebration of the summer solstice holiday, practiced with the most enjoyable traditions of religious persuasion or secular practices of your choice with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.

I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2008, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make our country great (not to imply that it is necessarily greater than any other country) and without regard to the race, creed, colour, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.

By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms:

This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/himself or others and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.


Best wishes,
The Addams Family (Leo, C.A., Kulit & Luigi)



Disclaimer: No trees were harmed in the sending of this message; however, a significant number of electrons were slightly inconvenienced.

Weekend Snapshots - Mosquito On Fruit Salad

My hubby and I, as we were finishing our snack yesterday, the last batch of fruit salad in the freezer, this mosquito dived into it. Sad for the insect, he died! (",)

Blog Of The Month Award

Thanks sis idealpinkrose for this award. I really appreciate it (",)

I'm sharing this to fretz, ging2x, juliana, pretty, belle, janine, yen, retche, precious

Meatballs & Vegetables In Oyster Sauce

The meatballs in my ingredients are the excess of the Lumpiang Shanghai (Meaty Spring Roll) mixture I was making earlier with Andeng for tomorrow's Media Noche (New Year's Eve) Celebration. Andeng is my hubby's cousin. She's staying with us until she gets her work visa and leaves for Bahrain. Here's the recipe.






Ingredients:

• cooking oil for frying
• 12 pcs meatballs
• 2 tbsps sunflower oil
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 medium (75 grams) red onion
• 2 medium (75 grams) red plump tomatoes
• 1/2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 cup water
• 2 tbsps oyster sauce
• 1/2 head (250 grams) cabbage
• 1 pc (100 grams) potato
• 1 small (80 grams) carrot
• 1 pc (30 grams) red bell pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

thickening agent:

• 1 tbsp tapioca starch or cornstarch
• 1/4 cup water

Procedure:

Fry the meatballs until golden brown. Set aside.

Meanwhile, cut the cabbage into chunks. Julienne the potato, carrot and red bell pepper. Cut into half the onion & tomatoes. Slice thinly. Finely pound the garlic. Combine the thickening agent in a small bowl. Mix well.

In a wok, place over medium-high fire. Heat moderately. Put the sunflower oil and garlic. Saute until golden brown. Follow with onion and tomatoes. Saute until soft. Pour the fish sauce. Saute and mash until aromatic.

Add water, oyster sauce, cabbage, potato, carrot, red bell pepper and black pepper. Pour the thickening agent. Mix well. Cover. Cook until veggies are done, about 4-5 minutes.

Serve with rice.

Best "Bad Credit" Offers Online

There are a considerable number of consumers today in the U.S. with "bad credit" standing, and it keeps on growing on a daily basis. Most of them are quite hopeless in acquiring a new loan that will in-part finance their previous bad credit loans. This usually happens to consumers with bad credit loans from credit companies and other lending institutions. New loan approval is a lot harder for these people. There are several online resources that offer tips and advice to people where and how they can acquire new loans and get a better chance of approval.

Badcreditoffers.com is one of the best online resources that offers available "bad credit" to consumers. They have several loan choices you can select from auto, home, credit to personal. Their expert staff monitors the credit marketplace daily for the best offer available to consumers that will fit according to their financial needs regardless of their bad credit ratings. Website visitors can easily compare dozens of bad credit offers feature from major providers that best fit their needs. Consumers now have a better chance to rebuild a good credit standing.

For a quick result, you can apply online for your choice of loan.

"Giniling Ala Bistek" (Steak-style Ground Pork)

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup sunflower oil
• 3 pcs (350 grams) white onion, sliced thinly, ring-cut
• 1/2 tbsp liquid seasoning
• 6 cloves garlic, finely pounded
• 1/2 kilo lean ground pork
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 7 pcs (80 grams) Philippine lemon, topped
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 pcs (180 grams) potatoes, julienne

Procedure:

In a wok, place over medium fire. Heat lightly. Put half of the oil. Dump the onion, Stir-fry until soft. Remove from pan. Set aside.

Add the rest of oil to the wok. Put the garlic. Saute until rich golden brown. Put the ground pork, black pepper and soy sauce. Squeeze the Philippine lemon, strain the seeds. Mix well. Cover. Bring to boil. Mix again. Lid back on. Cook for 6-8 minutes.

Put the potatoes and cooked onions. Mix. Lid on. Bring to boil. Then, decrease fire to medium-low, cook for 5 minutes.

Serve with warm cooked rice.

Photo Hunters - Theme: "Messy"

photo hunt

The picture was taken almost two years ago. A messy background. Rhonaville Townhomes was still under construction the time I took this. The place is near our home and secured, my kid can skate all he wants without me worrying about the vehicles that he might bump into.

Benefits of Paid Reviews from Pay Per Post

I've been blogging for more than a year now about cooking tips, recipes, and about family matters. I put considerable amount of time, effort and resources doing the things I like to blog. One of them is writing and publishing useful information that will benefit not only me, but other people as well looking for these particular information.

Maintaining a blog requires time, effort and money. It's quite a while now that I've looking for ways to at least minimize the cost of internet connection. One thing that I'm always considering besides accepting site-displayed advertisements is reviewing a product that I'm interested with and relevant to my blogging niche. Here come Pay Per Post opportunities. One fellow blogger referred me to it. I've seen a lot of bloggers doing reviews provided by Pay Per Post on a regular basis. Now, why I did not think of that before? It's quite an incentive for me doing the things I like--blogging and at the same time earning from it. I've also heard that Pay Per Post is paying bloggers quite well doing reviews. So, I recently signed-up and try it myself.

I've been itching to buy a decent digital camera for quite sometime now, I guess the chances of owning it is a more realistic now because of the money that I will be earning from Pay per post.

Ihaw-ihaw Sa Kanto (Grilled Foodies In The Corner)

Pinoy-style street food: The guy in the picture is selling different kinds of grilled foods, from chicken leg & breast barbecue up to the chicken internal organs, like the chicken heart, small intestines, kidney, liver & gizzard. As well as pork. After grilling, they are brush with banana catsup and oil, then, dip in a specially made vinegar with chopped onions, chilis, sugar, salt and black pepper.

"Inihaw Na Puso Ng Manok" (Chicken Heart Barbeque)

I bet you, they are good and delicious. As you may know, we eat this stuff sometimes, though they say it is not clean because of how they are prepared and handled. Also, they are bad for your cholesterol and uric acid (",)

Before hitting home, after my kiddo's skating lesson and practice at the rink. We bought our dear Luigi some chicken heart barbecue and chicken intestines for our pasalubong for him.

"Arroz Caldo" (Chicken Congee)

Ingredients:

• 400 grams uncooked glutinous rice (malagkit)
• 8 cups water
• 3 tbsps cooking oil
• 8 cloves garlic
• 50 grams ginger
  
• 2 large (100 grams) red onion
  
• 2 pcs (650 grams) chicken thigh & leg part
  
• 250 grams chicken liver & gizzard
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup fish sauce
• 10 cups hot water
• 2 pcs chicken cubes
• 1 tsp iodized coarse salt
• 3 leaves pandan, tied in a knot
• 1 heaping tsp of wild saffron (kasubha)
• 6-8 pcs or more shelled hard-boiled chicken eggs

Procedure:

In a medium thick bottom casserole, put the uncooked glutinous rice. Wash twice. Drain well. Put water. Cover. Place over medium high fire. Bring to boil. Then, decrease fire to very low. Cook with lid on for 15 minutes. Mix well. Continue cooking for another 10 minutes. Remove from heat the casserole. Set aside until needed.

Meanwhile, pound finely the garlic. Slice the ginger into julienne. Cut in half the onion, then, slice thinly. Cut into very small pieces the chicken. Cut into two each chicken gizzard & liver.

In pan, place over medium-high heat. Put oil, garlic and ginger. Saute until garlic is rich golden brown. Follow with onion. Saute until translucent. Put the chicken, liver, gizzard, black pepper and fish sauce. Stir-fry until very aromatic.

Add the cooked glutinous rice, hot water, chicken cubes, salt and pandan leaves. Mix well. Cover. Bring to boil. Stirring often.

Sprinkle the wild saffron on top. Mix. Cook for another minute.

Serve hot. Drizzle with Philippine lemon juice (kalamansi) and fish sauce (patis). For more enticing taste, top with toasted garlic and minced spring onion. You can also add hard-boiled eggs.

My Little One's Christmas Party In School

I should have posted this last week but due to busy schedule... So here it is... This was taken last December 20. My kiddo's Christmas party in school. Click here to see more pictures.

"Pork Chops & Potatoes With Salted Black Beans"

Ingredients:

• 8 small pcs (750 grams) pork chops
• 3/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 4 tbsps soy sauce
• 1 tbsp + 2 tbsps + 2 tbsps sunflower oil or any cooking oil you have
• 3 small (200 grams) potatoes
• 10 grams ginger
• 6 cloves garlic
• 2 large (100 grams) red onion
• 4 medium (150 grams) red over ripe tomatoes
• 1 can salted black beans (tausi), washed & drained
• 1 pc (30 grams) red bell pepper
• 2 cups water

Procedure:

In a bowl, combine the pork chops, black pepper and half of the soy sauce. Mix. Set aside.

Bruise the garlic, then, chop with skin on. Slice the ginger into julienne. Finely mince the tomatoes and onion. Coarsely chop the salted black beans. Remove the seeds and slice the red bell pepper into strips.

Place a wok in a medium-high fire. Meanwhile, skin the potatoes. Cut into four wedges each potato. Put a tablespoon of oil in the wok. Heat moderately. Add the potatoes. Stir-fry for 3 minutes or until sides turn light brown. Remove from pan. Retain the oil.

Add 2 tbsps of oil to the wok. Lightly pan-fry pork chops on both sides, about 10-15 seconds on each side. Set aside. Reserve the marinade.

Back to the wok, add the rest of oil. Put garlic and ginger. Saute until garlic turns light brown. Follow with onion and tomatoes. Saute and mash until limp. Add the salted black beans and red bell pepper. Stir-fry for 2 minutes.

Pour water, the rest of soy sauce and marinade. Put back the fried pork chops along with its drippings. Mix. Cover. Bring to boil. Then, decrease fire to low. Simmer for 20 minutes.

Put the fried potatoes. Mix. Cover back on. Cook for another 10 minutes.

Serve with warm cooked rice.

Wordless Wednesday #2

"Mr. Froggy clinging on our Philippine lemon plant."

Pretty Bedding Designs For Young Girls

As I was surfing the net to find a birthday gift for my little one's skater friend. She is a young girl and we want to give her something unique, something that she truly likes, something she will remember us.

I came across with the site, Vision Beddings and their products for Girls Bedding. I was so amazed by their wide selections of choices of beddings for young girls, not just the typical pastel colors and girlish designs. They offer sporty and outdoor activities designs for young girls. They have nature themes to animals designs. They can even accommodate your own created designs, print it in your beddings, like your favorite pictures or images. One more thing, they are authentically made in the United States.

Young girls nowadays have strong sense of who they are, some is the typical girl who loves pink, butterflies and flowers. Some is the sporty type who loves the boyish and outdoor stuff. Others have their own way of expressing their own creativeness.

Whoever they are, who they want to be, definitely, they can express their own-style personality through these wide selections of girls beddings. Giving them the comfortable feeling while resting or sleeping in these beautiful designs beddings made personally or customized for them.

Noche Buena

Our simple but satisfying Noche Buena, consists of Purefoods Fiesta Ham (hubby's favorite Noche Buena food), Gardenia's White Loaf Bread, Grandma's Fried Chicken, Maman's Istapeggi (my version of Pinoy-style Spaghetti & my Little One's request) and Fruit Salad (",)

Have a Blessed Christmas to all!!!

Merry Christmas To All!!!

Christmas Glitter Graphics

Weekend Snapshots - Pancit'on

The noodles you see in the picture is my Little One's all time favorite food, "Lucky Me Instant Pancit Canton". Though, not recommended by his pediatrician to feed him often, it is still a junk food considering it has a high-content of sodium and msg. An occasional treat for him, once a month. He loves this so much that he always begs for it (kung makikita nyo lang ang mukha nakakaawa talaga!). He had this yesterday for his snack in the afternoon. Yeap, my kid is little in size but he has a huge appetite.