In My Kitchen

Secure Your Fridge

2009-11-09T10:39:00.001-08:00

Do you have kids that always ransack the foods that you keep in your fridge? Perhaps you have foods stored there like chocolates, liquor or softdrinks that are not good for your young ones health. You need to keep your food safe from "Refrig-A Raiders" whether at home, dorm or the office with the original personal food security system and that's where www.FridgeLocker.com comes in. The site offers Fridge Locker to secure all the contents of your refrigerator like sweets, snacks, sodas, coffee creamer, work lunch, medications, expensive ingredients, off limits diet foods, ice cream, energy drinks, alcoholic drinks and anything else!

Birthday Preparations

2009-11-09T10:37:00.000-08:00

It's already past 2:00 AM here but I'm still awake. I'm just done making a fruit salad for my hubby's birthday today. This afternoon, we went to order a birthday cake for hubby. It's a lot cheaper for me to buy a ready-made cake than to make one. I don't have the skill to make a nice cake with all the icing and designs. Besides, the bakery where I ordered sells cake at a very reasonable price. I ordered twice there already and their cake is moist and not very sweet. Hubby said he love it. I'm pretty sure my hubby will have a good time tomorrow celebrating his birthday. Watch out for the photos because I'm gonna post it here.

Don’t Miss Your Chance To Win $5,000

2009-11-08T05:29:00.000-08:00

Joining contests is a lot of fun. You get to win some cool prizes and it makes me excited. I joined a contest hosted by a fellow blogger last year and I was so happy when I won the first prize which was a cool $100 cash! I also won another contest after that and since then I got so interested in joining contests.

If you are fond of joining contests and win cool prizes, why not join the "You Gotta See This" iLASIK Video Contest hosted by Abbott Medical Optics Inc. (AMO). This is a global leader in laser vision correction and they are inviting people to make a video that shows the importance or impact of better vision through ilasik. You have a chance to win cash and prizes. People have already submitted:
• original music videos
• videos on boxing and swimming
• videos that just show how their daily lives would improve.

The contest is still open for more entries. Just submit a video in one of the following categories:
• “My contacts are getting in the way of my good time”
• “My favorite sport or activity would be so much cooler with better vision”
• “You should see life after the iLASIK® Procedure”

If you are lucky to win the grand prize of $5,000 then you will have money for your Christmas shopping, right? All you have to do is to submit your video and tell your friends to vote for it. Votes are one of the major factors in determining the winners. The rest of the prizes are:

First Prize (one in each video category):
HDTV package — a $2,500 value

Second Prize (one in each video category):
The Flip UltraHD™ camcorder — a $199.99 value

Apple Pancakes

2009-11-08T04:05:00.000-08:00

I've found this great recipe of making apple pancake while I was browsing the internet. I had to copy manually the recipe because our printer is not working no more. I need to buy a new one so it would be easier to print the recipes that I get from the internet. After I printed this recipe, I went to the kitchen right away and tried to make it. It's a good thing that I still have some apples left. I grated the apple using my food processor. Then I just followed the directions, cooked it and voila, I had some delicious apple pancakes. They're so yummy, moist and nutritious. I recommend these pancakes to be eaten with hot cinnamon syrup. I would definitely make this recipe again. Hubby and I love it.

Ingredients

* 1/4 cup butter, melted
* 1 egg
* 1 cup milk
* 1 cup shredded tart apple
* 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1 tablespoon white sugar

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine butter, egg, milk and apple. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and sugar. Stir flour mixture into apple mixture, just until combined.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

New Arrivals From Zenni Optical

2009-11-07T08:19:00.000-08:00

My prescription eyeglasses is out of style already. I'm planning to buy a new one with the latest style and design. I was looking at those Holiday Fun Eyeglasses from Zenni Optical and I think they have nice frames and styles to choose from. They have New Arrivals just in time for the holiday season. I'm an old customer of Zenni because I already bought 2 prescription eyeglasses from them the previous year. Their price is so cheap compared to other optical. Just browse their $8 Prescription Zenni Glasses and you will see what I'm talking about.

Vegetable Lumpia

2009-11-05T07:44:00.000-08:00

I've been making shanghai lumpia and vegetable lumpia as well. My hubby prefers eating shanghai lumpia that's why I've been making it most of the time. But since I love veggies too, I do make vegetable lumpia whenever I'm in the mood. Hubby likes it too but not as much as he likes the shanghai. My vegetable lumpia is not made of purely veggies. I do add a little ground meat to add flavor in it. Here's the recipe.

Ingredients

* 2 Tbs. olive oil
* 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
* 1 medium-sized onion, finely chopped
* 1/2 C. green beans, finely sliced
* 1/2 C. carrots, finely chopped
* 1/2 C. celery, finely chopped
* 1 C. ground beef or chicken or pork
* 1 C. bean sprouts
* Pepper to taste
* Soy sauce to taste
* spring roll wrappers
* 3 Tbs. water
* Oil for frying
*
* Dip:
* 3 cloves garlic, finely crushed
* 1/2 C. vinegar of choice
* 1/8 tsp. ground pepper
* Pinch of salt
* 1 tsp. shallots, finely chopped
* 1 chili pepper, chopped (optional)

Directions

In a pan, heat oil medium-hot, and then add garlic. When garlic is slightly brown, add onions and ground meat. When meat is browned, add all the vegetables and stir-fry until almost done. Season with pepper and soy sauce. Set aside, draining excess liquid. Separate spring roll wrappers and cover with damp cloth. Take one wrapper at a time, laying each wrapper on a plate. Place a Tbs. of vegetables on the wrapper, and wrap vegetable mixture firmly, sealing the edge with a little water. Heat oil in a deep frying pan on 'hot' stove setting and fry spring rolls until lightly browned. You may use a deep fryer if you want. Serve hot with garlic-vinegar dip.

Dip:

Mix ingredients in a glass bowl and add more vinegar, pepper, and salt as required.

Kitchen Tips (Part II)

2009-10-31T09:57:00.001-07:00

Here's the continuation of the kitchen tips which I posted a few days ago. I do hope that it will help others who are following or reading my blog. Here it goes...

To improve the flavor of green string beans, place 1 or 2 small onions in kettle before adding beans.

Singe chicken or other fowl by holding over burner of oil or gas stove.

When baking whole fish, wrap in well-oiled cheesecloth. When fish is done, it can be lifted from baking pan without falling to pieces. To remove cloth, slip a spatula under fish and slide cloth out after fish is on platter.

When prok or beef liver is tough, run it through a food chopper. Season and drop by spoonfuls into hot frying pan.

Wash fresh pineapples thoroughly before paring. Cover parings with water and cook until soft. Use strained juice for making jelly.

To keep muffins from burning around the edges, fill one section with water instead of batter.

Stick 2 or 3 pieces of macaroni in the center of the top of a double crust pie. The juice bubbles up these sticks and prevents pie from running over.

Do not beat egg whites for cakes or meringue until ready to use. If allowed to stand, some of the white will return to liquid.

To prevent onions from burning your eyes, hold them under water when peeling or slicing them.

Watch Your Favorite TV Show Anytime At Charter On Demand

2009-10-23T20:33:00.000-07:00

My hubby's day is not complete without watching his favorite tv shows. When he was still working, right after he gets home from work, he turn on the tv and sat their in the living room and rest while watching his favorite afternoon show, George Lopez. He will then ask me to give him something to snack on and eat as he sit on his favorite chair. During night time, he is still glued in front of the tv watching his all time favorite show CSI. Watching tv shows is my hubby's favorite past time. Sometimes we had to argue on what tv show we wanna watch because I'm not interested in the shows he fondly watch. There were times that I missed my favorite tv shows because of that.

Then I heard about Charter Digital which allows me to watch my missed tv programs anytime for FREE. Sounds good isn't it. I can watch my favorite tv shows whenever hubby is not watching his shows. I checked it out to learn more at charter.net/ondemand and found out that if you have a Charter Digital connection, you have a free access to over 6,000 movies that you can watch anytime you want. This is also great if you have kids who can't wait for TV schedules and want to watch kids' shows right away. Charter Digital also does HD shows so that you don't need to have an HD TV in order to watch one. If you are interested to what I am talking about here, just head on and get updates and fun extras on Charter’s Facebook page. So to all my friends in Facebook, you better check this out and have fun.

Kitchen Tips (Part I)

2009-10-23T20:07:00.000-07:00

I was going through all my books especially my cook books a few days ago. I got quite a few cook books but the Mennonite Community Cook book caught my eye. The book was sent to me by a foreigner friend whom I met in a dating site way back when I was still single. He sent the cook book to me together with a concordance Bible. This cook book is quite thick with lots of recipes in it. It has also some household hints that are very helpful to housewives like me. I thought of sharing it here.

Dry green celery or parsley leaves until crumbly. Store in covered jars to use as seasoning and fillings.

After rice has been cooked and drained, place a slice of dry bread on top of the rice and cover. The bread will absorb the moisture and the rice will be dry and fluffy.

Before melting chocolate, rub the inside of the pan it is to be melted in with butter. The chocolate will not stick to the pan.

When washing pans and dishes to which food has adhered during cooking, turn the pan outside down in steaming, sudsy water. Food will loosen in a ery short time.

When cookie dough is soft and difficult to handle, place it between pieces of waxed paper that have been floured. Roll to desired thickness, remove top paper and cut cookies.

To gel fruit juices that are difficult to gel, such as peach juice, add 1 1/3 teaspoons plain gelatin to each cup of juice. Soften gelatin in 3 teaspoons juice and add to remaining hot juice. Add 1 teaspoon lemon juice to each quart of fruit juice.

Before discarding the empty catsup bottle, pour some vinegar into the bottle and use in making French dressing.

Pour melted paraffin on the cut end of cheeses or dried beef to keep them from molding or drying up.

Your Car Parts

2009-10-19T10:27:00.000-07:00

My husband knows how to do auto mechanic works. When there's something wrong in our car, he's the one fixing it. My hubby used to have a wrecking yard before so he has a good experience in fixing cars. He told me that when buying car parts, he considers carpartswarehouse.com as the leading provider of auto parts online. They have a large selection of wholesale prices for all major auto maker parts which you can see in their easy to use car parts catalog. You can shop with confidence in their site and get free shipping. So check out http://www.carpartswarehouse.com for all your car parts needs.

Ginataang Kalabasa At Sitaw Once Again

2009-10-19T10:15:00.000-07:00

I love cooking and eating veggies. Squash or kalabasa is one of my favorite vegetables. My garden in Texas was full of squash last year and I cooked a lot of it when I harvested. I even gave some to my Mexican neighbor and she said it was good. See how coconut milk enhances the taste of this recipe. I cooked this recipe before and posted it here.

INGREDIENTS:
1 squash, peeled and cubed
a bunch of sitaw (10-15 pcs)
8 pcs okra
1 medium size onion
2-3 cloves of garlic
1 cup of ground beef or
1/4 kilo of shrimp (whatever kind of your choice from the small one to the big ones)
1 cup of coconut milk
oil for cooking
1 cup water
salt and pepper to taste or ginisa flavor mix

DIRECTIONS:
Put oil on a saucepan and saute the garlic and onion, after that put your choice of "sahog" (beef, pork or shrimp), then put the squash and saute for a while then add the okra and the sitaw then again saute again for a while then add the water. Cook for a few minutes and then add the coconut milk and cook until the veggies are done then seasoned with salt and pepper to taste or some ready ginisa mix if you want. Then serve with steam rice.

Sun-Bird Makes The Difference

2009-10-19T09:35:00.000-07:00

Though my hubby is American, he loves to eat Asian foods. It's my fault, I got him addicted into it. He said he loves my cooking. Before he met me, hubby don't eat vegetables. His meals generally consist of mashed or fried potatoes, burger sandwich and pizzas. But after we got married, he became addicted with Filipino and Chinese foods. Whatever I cook he eats. Being a Filipina, I love to cook stir fry vegetables. My youngest step-daughter don't like to eat vegetables but when she tasted my stir fry veggies mixed with beef, she said it tasted so good. Since then, she enjoyed eating it.

The secret of my good cooking is the Sun-Bird seasoning. This is America’s #1 Asian seasoning brand. Sun-Bird seasoning products give food a true, authentic Asian flavor. It is very much affordable even if your budget is tight. They have variety products for stir fry, fried rice, chow mein, honey sesame chicken, pad thai, thai curry - and many more. Sun-Bird lets you put something a little more exciting on your table. Even if you're just an amateur cook, you will have a delicious and sumptous foods if you use their seasonings. You can find Sun-Bird’s Sauce Mixes, Soup Mixes and Classic 3-step Meal Kits in your grocer’s Asian section. Try using these products and it will make a lot of difference in your cooking.

Right now, Sun-Bird is giving away 15 Blu-RayTM Disc players. Entry forms can be found at your grocery store, where Sun-Bird seasonings products are sold. Contest runs through October 31, 2009. Hurry, visit your local grocery stores today and buy these products then join the contest. Who knows, you might win.

Beefsteak, Filipino Style

2009-10-19T09:15:00.000-07:00

My hubby is not very fond of steaks but when I cooked this recipe, he loved it. The calamansi and the onions added a good flavor for this beefsteak recipe. We call this bistek tagalog in our language.

INGREDIENTS
1 lb beef, sliced into 1/2 inch thick slices
3 pcs. onions
3/4 cup soy sauce
2 pcs. calamansi, juice only
cooking oil

PROCEDURE
1. Marinate the beef in soy sauce and calamansi for at least 15 minutes (or overnight)
2. Slice the onions into rings. Heat oil in a pan and saute the onions, remove and set aside.
3. Using the same pan, fry the beef.
4. Add the marinade and allow to simmer until the sauce has reduced.
5. Top with the onions before serving.

Ride A Bike

2009-10-17T08:37:00.000-07:00

It's been a while that I've been bugging my hubby to lost weight. He had gained weight these past few months, not only him but me also. One way to shed off those excess pounds is to ride my stationary bike for at least 30 minutes a day. It make me sweat after that. I've been asking my hubby to ride it too but he don't like it. What he did, he fixed the old bike of my father that was kept for many, many years. He repainted it and bought new tires and pedal and now it looks great. It almost look like new like one of those xyz bicycles that I've seen online. They really look nice. Now hubby had started riding his bicycle and it made him sweat and I hope it will help him lose some weight.

Chop Suey

2009-10-17T08:09:00.001-07:00

One of my favorite Chinese recipes is chop suey. I just love vegetables mixed with some meat and this recipe is just perfect for a veggie lover like me. In fact we had this during our wedding anniversary. It was gone so quick.

Ingredients:
1 lb. beef or round steak
Vegetable oil for cooking
4 pcs carrots, sliced
1 c. onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, diced
8 tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 lb green beans, sliced
1 medium size cabbage, sliced
2 pcs. chayote, sliced
1/4 lb mushroom
2 c. water
6 tbsp. cornstarch in 1 c. water, mixed

Cut steak into slivers. Brown in small amount of vegetable oil. Add garlic, onion and saute. Then add soy sauce and 2 cups water. Simmer for a few minutes. Add all the vegetables. Add 2 more cups water. Thicken corn starch with 1 cup water to thickness wanted. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add more water if desired. Serve with hot cooked rice.

Join the Adventure with Jacks Quest!

2009-10-15T07:13:00.000-07:00

In a couple of weeks time, Halloween will be here. I bet most people are excited to wear their costumes that they bought for that day. If you don't have a costume yet, it's not yet late to Buy Halloween Costumes Online or in a Halloween Store Near You. You can choose from their line of collections the costume that will catch your attention. My hubby doesn't celebrate Halloween because he said it's for the devil. But last year I wore a flapper costume and I just posed, danced and turned around in front of my hubby. He was amazed and he just laughed out loud.
Right now Jack's Quest, the spokesperson for HalloweenAdventure.com wants to invite all the people from all over the United States to tell and show their Adventures from the last Halloween Season. Just go to their website and submit your Halloween adventures either stories, photos or videos and America will vote on them and the best adventures will win. You can also vote for your favorites. I just joined and submit a photo. Please click the button below to vote for me.

Brown Sugar Banana Pecan Muffins

2009-10-15T06:39:00.000-07:00

A week ago, I baked again banana pecan muffins. This is my favorite and my family too. I still have a lot of pecans in the fridge. I froze it so it will last longer. BTW, I baked banana pecan muffins before but with another ingredients. I think I like this recipe that I just baked because it has lesser ingredients and the muffins still came out yummy and delicious.

INGREDIENTS:

* 1/2 cup butter, softened
* 1 cup brown sugar
* 2 eggs
* 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
* 4 very ripe bananas, mashed
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 3 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup chopped pecans
* 18 pieces muffin liners

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition. Stir in vanilla and banana. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. Blend the banana mixture into the flour mixture; stir just to combine. Fold in chopped pecans. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tins with liners about 3/4 full and place a pecan on top of each muffin for garnish.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of muffin comes out clean.

Get Ready For Trick Or Treat

2009-10-14T21:17:00.000-07:00

Halloween is fast approaching. This is the day that most kids are eagerly waiting because they get to go trick or treat to different houses and get some candies. Also they are so excited to wear their costumes for that day. Most stores now are displaying and selling those stuffs for halloween. So parents are you ready for that day? Your kids will do a lot of walking going house to house for trick or treat on Halloween. So why not prepare them by giving them a healthy diet. A healthy alternative for Halloween's treat is something like the shelf stable Tetra Pak cartons milk. It is healthy and nutritious and it's available in chocolate, strawberry and plain white flavor. It is convenient on the go and you can have a yummy treat anytime any day. Instead of giving your kids soda to drink which is not healthy, why not give them milk. Hershey's and Organic Valley wants to spread the word about their Trick Or Treat Me campaign. Visit their site and give them your support by clicking Trick Or Treat Me on Twitter. For evry tweet you sent to your friends, Tetra Pak will donate 10 cents to the World Wildlife Fund. This is for a good cause and I'm pretty sure it will be fun.

Macaroni Fruit Salad

2009-10-14T19:19:00.000-07:00

We always have this macaroni salad during special occasions like birthdays, Christmas and New Year's Day celebrations. It's always been our family's favorite because it's really appetizing to eat after meals for our dessert. We also eat it as our snacks. Yummy!

Ingredients:

* 1 pkg salad macaroni, cooked per direction on the the package
* 1 large can of regular fruit cocktail
* 1 large can of tropical fruit cocktail
* 2 bottles of nata de coco (clear coconut cubes)
* 1 can of condensed milk
* 2 cans of nestle cream
* 1 medium size bottle of mayonnaise
* Cheddar cheese cut into cubes (optional)

Directions:

1. Drain the syrup form your fruit cocktails and bottles of nata de coco. You can dry them by mixing them all together in a strainer and leaving them there for a few minutes to drain any excess syrup.

2. Place the drained fruit cocktails and nata de coco in a large mixing bowl and add the cooked macaroni, mayonnaise and then Nestle cream. Mix well.

3. Add the condense milk, and then the cubed cheddar cheese, if you choose this ingredient. Mix them all together until everything is evenly blended.

4. Place the bowl inside the fridge and chill for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Then serve and enjoy!

My Favorite High Fashion Eyeglasses

2009-10-13T11:31:00.002-07:00

I wear prescription eyeglasses. In fact I have quite a few. It's hard for me to see things from a distance and I can't read small prints without wearing eyeglasses. Some of my eyeglasses were bought from an optical in our city. They were so pricey and the and the thing is they don't look good on me. Then I came across Zenni optical which sells very cheap eyeglasses. You heard it right. Zenni Optical offers low cost frames and eyeglasses. In fact they have lots of customers and later on I was one of them. Also my friends were happy customers of Zenni because they sell quality but very cheap $ 8 Rx eyeglasses. It's a good thing that I made a copy of my eyeglasses prescription so I was able to order my eyeglasses from Zenni. After a couple of weeks, my eyeglasses arrived in the mail and I was so pleased. The frame looks good and I really like it. You can read in CBN news How You Can Start Spending Smart when you buy eyeglasses from Zenni. So, why not order your prescription eyeglasses from them? My favorite high fashion eyeglasses are posted below. They look cool isn't it? It can match my outfits and it would surely make me look great. I hope to buy it next time.

How to Make Fresh Vegetables Last Longer

2009-10-13T11:31:00.001-07:00

Vegetables will last long enough for you to serve them to your family if you spend a few minutes getting them ready to store. Here's how.

Instructions:

Step1. Remember that a tomato is actually a berry. It should be stored on the countertop, stem side down and away from direct sunlight.

Step2. Place cucumbers on the top shelf of the refrigerator to keep them from partially freezing. Wrap fresh corn in a damp cloth and store it still in its husk on a shelf.

Step3. Store carrots and celery in the crisper. Cut the green tops off the carrots and place them in a paper bag before storing them. Mushrooms should also be placed in a paper bag.

Step4. Onions, potatoes and garlic should be stored in a basket or wire bin in a dark place.

Step5. Freeze certain fresh vegetables but remember to blanch them first. Cut them up, drop them in boiling water for a minute or so, then plunge them into an ice bath. Dry them and place in plastic bags. Carrots, peas, corn, cauliflower, broccoli and green beans can be frozen this way.

Step6. Dice and freeze onions, celery and bell peppers. Veggies like these that will be cooked thoroughly in the course of meal preparation don't need to be blanched first.

Tips & Warnings

* Never try to freeze lettuce, radishes, potatoes, onions or whole tomatoes.

Yamaha Motorcycle Parts

2009-10-13T08:26:00.000-07:00

I bought a Yamaha motorcycle many years ago and my brothers are the ones using it. They just give me a ride if I want to go somewhere. I'm glad to say that until now it still runs good only it needs a repaint to make it look nice. I was just asking my hubby to repaint it and he said he can do that. I will just have to buy some yamaha motorcycle parts and accessories online at CruiserCustomizing.com. This site offers national cycle parts and accessories for your motorcycle. They've been serving the public since the 90’s with a large selection of custom chrome motorcycle parts and accessories, motorcycle exhaust systems, motorcycle helmets, motorcycle jackets, and an awesome selection of all the motorcycle gear and motorcycle riding apparel. I'm pretty sure you will find just what you want to give you and your ride that custom look.

I'm Back ...

2009-10-12T20:17:00.000-07:00

...after more than 3 weeks of no internet. The phone company just restored the line so I'm back to the blogging world. The thieves had strike again and they stole the phone cable, reason why we didn't have internet. In a way it's good because I was able to do some other things but my blogging earnings suffered. Well that's life, I have to be contented with what I have. Now back to my blogging business once again.

First Impression

2009-09-17T08:17:00.000-07:00

They said that first impression is lasting. Every time I meet or see a person for the first time, an impression is formed in my mind based on his or her behavior, actions, mannerisms, body language and the way they talk and dress. Others try to put an Attractive Appearance just to make a good impression. Within the first few seconds, people pass judgment on others. If you want to know what others think of you just visit the above link and upload your photo. Your photo will be valued by the site's visitors who will be using their mouse to mark any part of the photo they found most attractive. In other words, visiting the site later on, you'll be able to find out what other people pay most attention when they see your picture for the first time. The results of the assessment will be shown on your profile. When other people have analyzed your picture and found out some pecularities in your appearance, you will be able to see all the users' comments and give your reply.

Offeretti

2009-09-12T01:56:00.000-07:00

To those who have a facebook account like me who loves to shop online using discount coupons, why not use Offeretti Offer Search Engine to search for coupons, promotions, special deals, discounts and bargains from local retail businesses. Shopping is great and enjoyable if you find some good deals online. Offeretti's mission is to help customers find the right offers at the right time.