In My Kitchen

Next To Nature

2012-05-17T13:11:00.001-04:00

My family's lifestyle change dramatically in the last ten years or so. I am more careful on what kind or brand of products to buy for the whole family to consume. I even started to make my own laundry detergent. There are no product in my cupboard that has high-fructose corn syrup in them. It is hard, but I had to keep reminding the whole family that everything I do is for the better.

My husband and I are looking for grapes to plant in our backyard. We would like to make our own spreadable grape and wine. Have you read that grape wines contains flavonoids which have antioxidant? Any antioxidant is a friend of mine, and a glass of wine a day, keeps the doctor away, I always say.

I am not a wine drinker; I think of drinking wine as taking a multivitamins. They are far better than some of multivitamin in the market these days. You need to be very careful and stay on course of what you think is healthy. Furthermore, let me clarify that not all natural ingredients are nourishing. Knowledge is the key factor when deciding and the credibility of the leading or independent manufacturer.

Please check the add to learn about organic wines. Enjoy!

Presented By Wine.com, Purveyors of fine green Wine

Corn Muffin/Bread

2012-04-28T13:40:00.001-04:00

I had the recipe for this for about 2 weeks now, and I finally decided to make them. I got the recipe from DH friend. This recipe include some sour cream and his friend put some Italian twist to it. Not perfected yet, because he hand wrote the twist, and he forgot to add the cooking time.

I cooked it the regular way, and way too crunchy for me. DH, in the other hand enjoyed them.

Below was the way I am supposed to cook it. I kinda missed this part, but since I only have two muffin pans, the left over got thrown in 9x13 pan. Which I am supposed to use. The one below I liked a little because I drizzled it with some honey. I will post about this again soon, with the recipe of course. Enjoy the not so perfect corn muffin/bread for now.

Dreams come true

2012-04-20T21:34:00.000-04:00

Authored by Greg Fletcher

My dreams were finally right in front of me, Corbin’s Coffee shack and lunch; the huge sign read of my newly bought and furnished café’. I had saved for years and worked many unpleasant jobs to be able to hold this one. I had everything in place to open the next day. I went down my checklist for sandwiches and chips at lunch time, and then made sure I had everything for my espresso machine. My husband reminded me I needed to contact cable tv for business owners and line up music channels for my new shop. He reminded me coffee lovers, loved classical music. I got my music lined up for a day of success. The next day at 9:00 I opened up for business, I had a super busy day with many happy customers. At lunchtime my café was packed you could hardly weave yourself through the people. Many were working on work things and school work. The music made for wonderful background noise. My dream was official I had created a place that everyone in my hometown could relax and enjoy themselves.

Tortellini with Spinach

2012-04-20T18:35:00.000-04:00

DH had been bothering me about cooking tortellini for a long time. However, he can't remember what flavor he used to eat when he was little. So, I got tired of waiting and decided to buy three cheeses to start with. It turns out it was the one. I only bought it this time. I need to research or read on how to make this before doing it myself. It's probably easy, but I don't work well now a days when children are all over me while trying a new recipe. I have to wait until DH can do something with them out of the house. Anyway, here is my version. Boiled tortellini, sauteed garlic and onion in olive oil, add the tortellini and spinach. Stir, serve with Parmesan cheese on top.

Perfect for Any Occasion

2012-03-28T14:51:00.003-04:00

Spring, yes, it came early for us this year. I love it when my family can enjoy the outdoor after winter. I sent out picture of my whole family to those who I haven't seen or have never seen relatives of ours. I think it is a delightful gesture to remember us by. I wish I can send them gourmet baskets from www.gourmetgiftbaskets.com, but my fund is limited.

I used to send something like above when I was still working. My sitter to my oldest son got the most of it. I wanted to give her gratification because my son spent more time with her than me. I wanted to show her that I am particularly thankful for what she was doing. In the end I hope she realized it.

I did asked my son if he was treated nice, and his answer was yes. You can never be too careful with other people. The horror stories other parents encounter, I saw one on television when we still have cable. I can't put my children through that. It's not worth the money. I rather die not having things I wanted, remember "wants" is different than "need."

No Milk and Process Food for Fifteen Days

2012-03-28T14:30:00.004-04:00

My family is a big milk drinker. When DH and I bought our second and third child to have a bio-magnetic therapy done, they were forbidden to consume milk or milk products and process food. That was fun, because they are very picky eater. Furthermore, I have to read every ingredients on things I am preparing.

One of them will never touch shrimp with no melted butter as a dip. The other one was a little easier even though there is not much to choose from. I had to buy rice chocolate milk. They liked it the most. I even tried giving them the very nutritious & healthy hemp chocolate milk (which by the way very expensive) but they settle with the rice.

During this time, DH and I had to pick and drop-off my oldest son. Well, we don't have time to set in a nice restaurant when traveling and we got our food from a fast food chain. There is not much non-process food on those places. If they only eat salad, everything will be find, but of course a big fat NO.

While at home, I can find something good for them. The milk product problem was very hard. Rice milk does not taste good for making sauce...yuck! My artsy side (that is next to nothing) had a hard time feeding these children. We are due back this coming Monday and I am praying that they can eat anything after the treatment. Or maybe shove all the milk product in their belly before we get there.

The therapist mentioned that their variety of food will pick, but so far NO. They are still picky.

My Brother Angel

2012-03-24T11:45:00.001-04:00

Post contributed by Alfredo Gaines

When my brother told me that he and his wife were moving to Phoenix, Arizona, to be closer to their only child and her family, I was sad. I have always been very close to my brother and now that we are both older and our children have flown the coop, so to speak, we sometimes gather for coffee in the morning or cocktails in the evening and talk and stay connected. When we were younger, and I was a single mom raising two daughters, he did all the handy man jobs around my house, including my yard work on the outside. I do not know what I would have done without him. I don’t know what I will do now. I will be lonely and miss our weekly brother-sister chats. But I certainly understand their reason for moving. Arizona is absolutely gorgeous too. I visited my niece and her family once. My sister-in-law talked with her daughter about helping them get settled into the home they had purchased out there a few weeks earlier. She checked out www.tvbydirect.com to be sure the viewing opportunities were the same ones they have here so she would not miss her favorite shows once they were in their new home. I am going to miss them terribly!

Fruit Trees are Flowering

2012-03-24T11:34:00.002-04:00

I am looking for plenty of canning to do when fall comes...hopefully. Most of my fruit trees survived winter. The only ones that has no flowers as of yet are the apples. The peaches are doing very well and the very first ones to flowers. Then there are plums, and one of the pear. I wish for the bees to pollinate them.

The weather is pretty nice and should (I hope) continue to next week. That's plenty of time for the bees to wake up and start sucking nectar from the flowers. I am crossing my fingers. I need to buy more jars and collect some recipes for the fruit trees on how to preserve (or the best way) them.

WILD GRAPE BISTRO

2012-02-17T21:54:00.000-05:00

The article written by Alonso Kramer

I used my clear wimax internet connection to book a reservation for dinner tonight. My husband called me at work ( which is unusual) and asked if I wanted to go to dinner tonight. Usually it is really hard to get a reservation on a Friday night without booking something way in advance, but today when I got on opentable.com, it was much easier than I thought. I booked a reservation at the Wild Grape Bistro. It is right around the corner from our house. From the outside, it looks like it is located in a strip mall type building, but the food is actually really fabulous. I also like how they put out coupons every week. Each time that we have been there we have had a buy one entrée get one entrée half off. It really makes a difference with the bill. They also allow you to bring your own wine selection and just charge a corkage fee $10 a bottle. That means that you can drink fine wine and not have to pay huge prices for it at the restaurant. It is nice to go out sometime and not spend a whole arm and a leg. It keeps us coming back time after time.

Some Bubbly on your Table

2012-02-15T18:40:00.007-05:00

This is a great gift in my opinion. Just make sure the people you are giving it to love the taste of wine. I heard a glass of wine a day is healthy for human, especially grape wine. If you have someone in mind who will enjoy wine, try Wine Gift Basket. Yes, they do deliver to all 50 states. I have a few associates who will definitely enjoy these. I'll have to find out what kind they like the most first. And yes, they savor it with their dinner too.

Brought To By Wine.com, Purveyors of Fine Wine and Champagne

Plain Yogurt

2012-01-25T13:12:00.003-05:00

Remember my home made chicken pieces I make for my ever picky child? Yes, the same exact one, I made it better. I marinade the flatten chicken pieces at least overnight in yogurt and honey Dijon mustard (the flavor my child like). I saw it at one cooking show on PBS. He said that it leaves the chicken tender and juicy. He wasn't kidding.

In addition to tenderness and juicy, you can really taste the spices you put in them while marinating. My child likes them more than before. If I can only add more vegetable variety in his diet, I will be a very happy mother.

The Kitchen of my Dreams

2012-01-16T18:26:00.006-05:00

The kitchen of my dreams, yes only in my dreams. Unless DH and I figure out how to do a kitchen remodeling, that we can easily afford. I love the traditional styles with light wood color cabinets. Can you imagine how much baking I will be doing with the below examples? You will not get me out of that kitchen.
Every time I wanted to use my kitchen counters; cleaning is a must. Cleaning as, removing all the appliances on it before I can do anything. Even the cupboards that I have, are not enough to hide everything. I enjoyed viewing the example from this website. Just looking at them is enough for me, as for now. Maybe when our children are bigger, we can eventually try remodeling it with their help.
We can also add a pantry when we do. I don't have to go down the basement when I need something. All the things I needed will be in the kitchen, where it should be. The pots rack we have will fit perfectly on top of the sink just like the picture above. I can't wait! Ok, back to browsing more kitchen styles, come and join me.

Canned Dry Goods

2012-01-08T17:31:00.005-05:00

I read this from one of DH emails. This is suppose to last 20 to 30 years. I will let you know in 20 years if they really last. We are storing food for rainy days or at least enough for one year for a family of six.

I need to buy more jars to put everything I saved (dry food) so far. I have three packs of these jars. One pack with tomatoes and and the rest are below. Now I need to find room in our pantry for these.

They used to lived in a buckets with lids. These actually is half of one bucket. I will be needing a lot of these jars...whew! They are unbleached flour, Quinoa (really good for human), and seven grains mix (hard red wheat, oat groats, tritcale berries, dehulled barley, rye berries, soft white wheat, spelt berries).

Oh, btw, sterilized jars. Filled with dried food (nothing oily), set them on cookie sheets, open. You can place four cookie sheets in the oven. After placing everything inside, set the oven on 200°F and leave the jars inside for one hour. When done, used a mitten to take one, wipe the rim with damp cloth or paper towel, then re-place the lid. Repeat until all the jars are out of the oven. Let them cool, and store somewhere that the temperature will not rise up to 72°F.

New Waffles

2011-10-27T09:28:00.002-04:00

A very quick shot this morning. I did not plan on making this but DD have other thing in mind. She wakes up when we are ready to start with classes and asked if I can make waffles. I do hate it when any of my children decided to ask me something when I am ready to do other things. I don't mind cooking anything that they wanted to eat, however, when our schedule is limited I get very prostrated.

Anyway, again with no decoration here is what I made in our new waffle maker we bought last year...I think.

Sick Day

2011-10-23T06:17:00.001-04:00

I appreciate the guest post, Jewel Rodgers

I rarely stay home from work. I have been known to show up to work so sick that my manager has sent me home. I literally have to not be able to move or talk to not make it in. Last week, I was feeling under the weather, but of course, I made it to work. My manager informed me that I looked terrible and was worried that I was going to get everyone else sick. She sent me home at ten in the morning. I did not have anything to do, so went straight home to take some medication , get in the bed, and try to get well so that I wouldn’t get sent home the next day. I have to admit, I loved staying at home. I put on my pajamas, heated up some tomato soup, curled up with my dog in the bed and watched EXPERT SATELLITE. I did not check my e-mail or answer my phone. Relaxing and watching television with absolutely nothing to do was pure relaxing bliss!

A New Friend of The Family

2011-10-21T11:11:00.005-04:00

Let me start by saying no, it's not a person but VINEGAR. I found so many uses for vinegar and I am loving it. I got the marks in my pots and pans erase with a few drops of vinegar. You know the marks after leaving a hot dish in them for a few hours. Yes, those marks. I usually have to scrub them until I can see the scouring pad marks. Not anymore, goodbye marks the easy way for me now.

Our children love to play with markers, pens, and pencils from relatives. And they always use our walls as their papers, like we are running out of paper, (we have plenty to go around). Water, vinegar and dish soap erased them. Of course it takes a while because I don't want to have a bare wall (no paint), so I am taking easy on scrubbing it.

Our bathroom sink is made from ceramics. Since the bathroom is closer to the classroom than our kitchen, our children always empty their paint brushes wash in the bathroom sink. The tempera paint sticks to the ceramics. I tried brushing it with soap or bleach, they don't go away. I had such positive outcome with the walls and tried the same mixture. When I was finish, I cannot believe my eyes. It looks like it was a new sink.

We have a a well and our pool filtering system always get clog with lime/calcium from the water. And concentrate vinegar does the job. Even with our faucets. I will do it with our shower head very soon because our shower is not a shower anymore. More like a faucet the way the water comes out of it.

Thank goodness for distilled white vinegar. It is my cleaning savior.

Eggplant Rollatini

2011-09-29T05:43:00.000-04:00

Yes, I love, love this eggplant recipe. I found this at our friends house on one occasion and I had to try making it. Which I did. Of course this is my very first try and not as good as the one in our friend's house.

I just need to adjust the cheese measurement I put in mine according to my taste. However, I am the only one that eat a lot of vegetable in my household. I probably eat enough for the whole family...lol. I definitely recommend "eggplant rollatini." Just type the name on your search window and you should find plenty of recipe.

Having Kids

2011-09-27T10:39:00.001-04:00

Guest written by our friend Gladys Fuentes

When my husband and I were dating, and even in our first few years of marriage, we went out all the time. We went to see movies almost every weekend. We went out to dinner at least twice a week. We went to concerts and college football games and traveled to every state within a six hour driving distance. However, after we had our first child two years ago, we were no longer able to go out as much. I began working part-time instead of full-time, so our income decreased and we were not able to afford going to movies and concerts as much as we used to. We actually did not have cable TV at home until after we had our first child because we were never home to watch it. Now that we’re home a lot more and cannot afford the entertainment that we used to, we decided to get cable from Direct TV. Now my husband and I go on “dates” after the kids are asleep, and we usually watch a movie or a show that we both enjoy. Times have changed in our house, and I miss the days when we would travel or go to the movie theater, but I am glad we did those things when we could, and I would not trade these kids for anything.

Something Goes Wrong

2011-08-26T14:07:00.003-04:00

On January we got invited to a potluck party. It's sort of New Year's Day party but it wasn't New Year. Since my cinnamon rolls was always a hit every time I cook it in the past, I decided to bring a batch along with herb roast. Well, I'm not really sure what happened but, that batch did not came out the same as before. I tasted it first and warned everyone. I was so looking for good phrases for my hard work and nothing came out of it :)).

Easter dinner, I bought a roast beef not knowing it was already seasoned and cook it the regular way, turned out really, really salty. My FIL offered to bring some pre-made meal before the dinner and we opt not. Then the meal I made was horrible...ack!

July fourth party moved to last week because of rain. My ever famous Hershey cocoa chocolate cake turn very very cocoa-we. It taste I put too much cocoa in it. How are all this recipes gone bad? I can see the mistake with the Easter dinner, but the cinnamon rolls and chocolate cake? I was always able to cook them perfectly.

I blame my DD for always talking to me while I was making them. I kept on telling them to watch, but no, she needs to asked questions and sometimes I forget the measuring count for the ingredients. Sometimes I start making some other meals than intended. I can't wait for her to grow a little taller so that she can work in the kitchen by herself.

Baptism Over the Weekend

2011-08-17T12:32:00.002-04:00

We went to our friends' house on Saturday afternoon. I brought kabobs, corn, and Napa cabbage salad for our dinner. I don't want to be a bother because they have three little children and when his wife do something, he is the one doing more.

It was a very tiring weekend for me. I cooked the kabobs (she helped me put them on a skewers). Their little one was getting baptize on Sunday noon. And what a rainy day that was. I think the High Almighty is telling them not to do it...he he he. Their house was packed and there was some cabbage salad from the night before and we also serve it. I cannot believe how fast it disappeared. Almost everyone who loves salad praise me on how delicious it was. Well, thanks to DH friend Bob from NJ for it.

While in church DD asked a lot of questions about chanting, the word Amen and why they say it, kneeling and crossing oneself. The man sitting next to DH sing very loud, he is probably telling us something like, "how come your children don't know anything about Christians or Catholic church?"

I am sorry, I know they are good people, but...yes that, there is always but. People like him don't need to shove his belief on other people. The very same reason why this country is the way it is right now.

Anyway, that's it for this week. I have plenty of things to do to prepare for the first day of school.

Rita's

2011-07-27T11:56:00.003-04:00

Do you have one in your area? The children and I went out to get DH some tobacco yesterday and the place was close to Rita's. The whole family love their product. Well, the children wanted me to buy them some but I told them that we need to take daddy with us. Sure enough, I told DH when he got home from work and after dinner we all went there.

Before we always buy for everyone, and the children never finished theirs and DH ending up eating it all up. I guess we never been out for sometime and DH was surprised last night that our children finished what they got. As soon as we got them something we left and went home. Poor DH didn't have anything to eat...lol.

We now know to buy each one something. DH was disappointed, however, he is always out and about and can buy himself something.

Customer Service Stinks!

2011-07-22T16:52:00.001-04:00

Thanks to Wm Rowe

I think one of the most obnoxious things in the entire world is customer servicelines. They all always say that they have representatives that are ‘available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.” That is always such a joke! Even when you call during normal business hours, there still usually isn’t someone available until 30 minutes later. Then they get mad at you when you’re not overly excited to talk to them because: a.) your product doesn’t work in the first place which is why you are having to call, and b.) now you’ve just wasted 30 MORE minutes of your time to try to ask them why your product isn’t working. Even online help centers aren’t the best, because they try to give you computer generated answers based on the key words in your query. One such place I should look for help with customer service for my high definition television is: ExpertSATELLITE.com. I need to call in with them, and I’m hoping that they are better than the rest with response time!

Fresh Peanuts

2011-07-17T16:06:00.004-04:00

Actually, I like it fresh boiled peanuts with salt. I am very lucky that DD is not allergic to the smell of boiling peanuts. DH usually share it with me, however, he likes it really salty. That means I have to boil them a few times to get the shell soak through and have the taste of salt inside.

If I can't find fresh peanuts, I settle for dried raw peanuts.

Guess What

2011-06-28T14:29:00.002-04:00

Firefox decided to update my browser, and now the entrecard tool bar is not compatible with firefox 5.

So, until EC decided to update the tool bar, I will not be able to return drops when it is convenient for me. I don't want to re-install the all firefox because the last I did it, my back, refresh, forward buttons got messed-up. I will leave it alone for now.

Broccoli Salad

2011-06-24T08:54:00.002-04:00

Another recipe that is over due. I got the recipe from DH friend a long time ago and I never really tried very hard making or buying the ingredients. And finally, I got some made. Of course DH love it because he knew how it taste.

1 pack cooked bacon (crumbled)
2 crown broccoli
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp sugar
1 c mayonnaise

Rinse the broccoli and separate the floweret. I let it set in the fridge until crunchy or rinse them in icy cold water. Mix the rest of the ingredients, pour on top of broccoli and mix until the dressing is well blended then add the crumble cook bacon. Yum!