Healthier Pancake

Pancake is probably one food that kids can eat over and over and over. Here's my healthier version.

Ingrediets: Pancake mix, Malunggay, banana, cheese, butter

Procedure: Follow instruction of the pancake mix, add minced malunggay leaves. Cook the way pancakes are cooked.

Malunggay Pancake with Banana

Malunggay Pancake with M&M's

Malunggay Pancake with Cheese

Create Your Own Crab Stick Sandwich

Sauteed Mussels with Lots of Garlic and Cheese

If you're into mussels, here's an easier version of baked mussels. It's not baked though,it's actually sauteed mussels with lots of garlic and cheese.

Ingredients: 2 kilos of mussels, 1 block of cheese, 4 garlic, half cup butter

Procedure: Boil mussels til the shells are half open. Let it cool. Remove the top shell of the mussel. Set aside. Saute garlic into the butter until almost brown (not brown). Mix mussells then cheese.

Carbonara ni Mama Ligaya

I experiment on whatever ingredients are available. I tried Vlogging for the first time, and my featured dish - Carbonara ni Mama Ligaya

Ingredients: Pasta, evaporated milk, oil, onion, garlic, butter, Knorr pork cube, mushroom, ground chicken breast, malunggay.

Mini Turon

My kids like turon a lot but they find it hard to bite that I have to cut before serving it to them. For a change, serve turon in bite size.

Photo courtesy of Nora Aquino

Ingredients: Saba, lumpia wrapper, brown sugar and langka

Procedure: 

Cut banana into four. Do the same with the lumpia wrapper. Roll into brown sugar. 

Along with langka, wrap in lumpia wrapper. Fry and serve hot.

Pork Binawangan

Pork binawangan is my mother-in-law's recipe which I had to learn because my husband likes this very much.

Now, I'm proud to say, this Pork Binawangan is one of the few viands I can easily cook. My kids like this and they call it White Adobo.

Ingredients: 1 kilo pork meat (chopped thinly), 2 cans evaporated milk, 3 cloves minced garlic, vegetable oil, pepper and fish salt.

Procedure:  Fry pork meat then set aside.  Saute garlic then mix in fried pork. Pour evaporated milk, put pepper and fish sauce to taste.

Creamy Carbonara

Hold it...This carbonara recipe is not mine. I actually asked Hon of Honey's Home and Leisure for this  recipe because my twin kids like her carbonara a lot. 

Photo Courtesy: Arnold Agulto of ICaptured

Ingredients:

400-500g penne / spaghetti (cook to "al dente")
3-4 tbsp butter
2 Cups chopped honeycured bacon (Purefoods)
1 small can sliced mushroom
2  tetra packs (250ml)  nestle cream
1 370ml Alaska Evaporada
1 tsp McCormick powdered garlic
1/2 tsp McCormick powdered white pepper
parmesan cheese
salt to taste
1 pc. egg yolk
parsley for garnishing

How to do it:

1. In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat, brown bacon, set aside.
2. Lower down the heat. In the same pan with melted butter, stir in sliced mushrooms, nestle cream, alaska evap.
3.  Season mixture with salt,  powdered garlic, white pepper & parmesan cheese.
4. Add in the beaten egg yolk and stir in the cooked penne, mix well.
5. Garnish with chopped parsley.

John's Chicken and Pork Barbeque

Chicken and Pork Barbeque best paired with Suka Pinakurat

Procedure:

In a mixing bowl, marinate the pork and chicken with the ketchup, soy sauce and pepper

Mix well and keep in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes  (turning occasionally).

Over live charcoals, barbeque the pork and chicken til each meat is cooked - turning every few minutes on each side and basting the leftover marinate on the barbeque.

Malunggay-Tuna Sandwich

Sharing my winning entry (2nd placer) for the recently concluded Walter Bread Cook Off, Malunggay-Tuna Sandwich. 

Malunggay-Tuna Sandwich served two ways: for my kids baon and for snacks.

Ingredients: Minced malunggay leaves, drained tuna in brine, dried basil leaves, salt and pepper, tomato, cucumber, lettuce and fruits on the side.

Procedure: Mix all the ingredients and voila! As simple as that.

With Walter Bread, the whole family get to eat healthy food, yes, including our dog. Read below the captions to know why...

After cutting the bread into heart shape, two sides are left. This is the part that I eat. I sometimes force my husband to eat with me, lol!

The edges of the bread goes to our dog, Dengue, and the birds who visit us in the morning.

View more photos HERE

My Malunggay Spaghetti

I seldom cook but when I do, I make sure that my children will like what I prepare. I also make sure that what I cook is nutritious.

Sharing today, my Malunggay Spaghetti, one of the few foods I can whip in a flash.

Ingredients: Malunggay (from my kapitbahay), Spag sauce (Filipino or sweet), onions, garlic, carrots, purefoods jumbo hotdog, carrots, and ground pork (for healtheir version I use ground chicken breast), salt and pepper to taste.

Mommy Tip: For the kids to be able to eat all the veggies, mince the malunggay leaves and grate (in very small size) the carrots. The grated carrots and minced malunggay give the spaghetti the thicker sauce. The minced malunggay is always mistaken for italian seasoning, sosyal diba! When I tell my friends and guests it's actually malunggay they're amazed it tastes as good, oh, even better.     

Instruction: Cook pasta according to package instruction. Saute onions, garlic and ground meat. Then add in hotdogs. simmer for 5 minutes. Add spaghetti sauce and half glass of water. simmer for ten minutes. Add the carrots and malunngay. Continue cooking for 15 minutes in very low fire while mixing from time to time. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Ooops, My kids and I were too hungry, forgot to take photos of the finished product. I'll just post My Malunggay - Spaghetti photo the next time I cook (which will probably take place 3 months from now).

Halo-Halo at Home

Summer means heat. Heat means having halo-halo. Halo-halo during summer means spending a minimum of one hundred pesos a day for a family of five. The figure I gave is very conservative because my neighbor sells halo-halo for twenty pesos per  glass.  If my family dines out at restaurants or food chain it's a whole lot different story.

I'm not into sweet food but halo-halo is an exception, along with blueberry cheesecake. So every summer I'd spend a lot for this.  A month ago my husband bought me an ice crusher (around Php700), which saved us a lot of moolah and time going back and forth to our neighbor for that  halo-halo craving.

We started buying the ingredients at groceries, the bottled ones. Then moved on from buying the raw material and cook it ourselves. Not only did we save more money, it has become a family bonding when preparing  halo-halo at home.


Having this many friends come over at home for  halo-halo is now a breeze. 

Next step? My kids are asking me to sell halo-halo.

My Own Crabstick Sandwich

John and I love eating crab stick sandwich at Coffee shops. I've created my home version so when the craving kicks in we don't have to go out.

Below is how I make Crab stick Sandwich at home.

Ingredients: Walter's Sugar Free Bread, crab sticks, egg, mayonnaise, lettuce, salt and pepper, ripe mango (optional) but yummier.

Procedure: Spread the Egg sandwich spread, place the lettuce, then crabstick, then lettuce (the more the healthier), if you have mango, place after the lettuce.

Chinese Tofu and Mushroom in Oyster Sauce

Today is my 38th birthday, so I'm cooking for myself a healthy food that fills me up, no need for rice.

Ingredients: Chinese tofu, mushroom, white onion, Lee-Kum Kee oyster sauce, ground pepper

Procedure: Fry Tofu, set aside. Saute onion and garlic, add mushroom. Put oyster sauce, depending on how salty you want it, dash ground pepper. Add the fried mushroom. Simmer in very low heat until mushroom is cooked, add the tofu.

Egg Sandwich Spread

Growing up in a family with 6 kids, my mother always prepare egg sandwich spread to make sure there's always food to eat when all her kids come home from school.

Here's my version:

Ingredients: Mayonaise, salt, ground black pepper, McCormick basil leaves (in this case, I used Italian seasoning for I ran out of basil leaves)

Why I put basil or italian seasoning? I feel that when I put either of the two, the after-taste of mayonaise doesn't stick into my tongue. I'm not much into mayo.

Young Corn and Cauliflower with Quail Eggs

For lack of choices of ingredients inside the ref, I've decided to cook this for

my twins' lunch in school.

Ingredients: Young corn, cauliflower, quail eggs, garlic, onion, salt and pepper, 2 teaspoon all purpose flour, dissolved in 1/4 glass of water.

Procedure: Cook quail eggs by boiling, then set aside. Saute onion and garlic. Add young corn and cauliflower, then the quail eggs. Add the dissolved all purpose. Season salt and pepper to taste.

Chicken Curry

Ingredients: 1 kilo chicken, 3 medium size potato, 2 small carrots, 2 cups coconut milk, curry powder, garlic, white onion, ground pepper and salt to taste.

Procedure: Fry potato then set aside. Saute onion and garlic, add the chicken. Put 1/4 cup of water, bring to a boil (to make sure that chicken is cook thoroughly from the inside. After boiling, mix coconut milk, potato, carrots and curry powder. Saute for about 3 mins. Add pepper and salt. Cover the pan, cook for 15 more minutes on very low fire.

Note: I always make it a point to separate some curry sauce to be use for...

...heart-shaped chicken curry brown rice

Soups with Moringa

Crab and Corn Soup with Moringa Leaves

Ingredients: Crab and corn soup (of you your choince), 1 egg, Half cup moringa leaves

Procedure: Follow the soup instruction at the back label, add moringa. Serv

e hot with foccasia or ciabatta bread

Mushroom Soup with Moringa Leaves

Ingredients: Mushroom soup (of you your choince), 1 egg, Half cup moringa leaves

Procedure: Follow the soup instruction at the back label, add moringa. Serve hot with foccasia or ciabatta bread

Medicinal Values of Moringa oleifera:

Leaves: relieve headaches, expel worms, relieves swelling, heals skin diseases, inflammation of the eyes and ears, bronchitis and inflammation of mucous membranes, scurvy and increase milk production in lactating women

Flowers: are a good tonic, expel worms, treats tumors and enlarged spleen, relieve sore throat, and treat anxiety

Pods & seeds: purify water, treat tooth ache from tooth decay, expel worms, treat problems of the liver and spleen, and relieve joint pain

Roots: used as a laxative and to treat spasms of the colon, treat circulation problems, high blood pressure, kidney dysfunctions and low back pain; for gout, asthma and hiccoughs.

Leaves of Moringa can substitute for meat, soy bean products or dairy products as the leaves have a complete compliment of amino acids, the complete protein that is needed in human nutrition for good health.

Ounce per Ounce leaves of Moringa oleifera:

*contain more vitamin A than carrots for good eyesight and to prevent blindness; contain a high quality vitamin A- beta carotene

*more Calcium than milk for strong bones and teeth

*more Iron than spinach for healthy blood cells

*contain the full balanced compliment of B vitamins, as thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, for brain, muscle and neurological development

*fresh leaves and pods contain high levels of vitamin C, ascorbic acid, which make it excellent for preventing scurvy

*leaf powder is an excellent source of Vitamin E, tocopherol acetate, for DNA and sexual development

Ounce per Ounce leaves of Moringa oleifera:

*contain more vitamin A than carrots for good eyesight and to prevent blindness; contain a high quality vitamin A- beta carotene

*more Calcium than milk for strong bones and teeth

*more Iron than spinach for healthy blood cells

*contain the full balanced compliment of B vitamins, as thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, for brain, muscle and neurological development

*fresh leaves and pods contain high levels of vitamin C, ascorbic acid, which make it excellent for preventing scurvy*leaf powder is an excellent source of Vitamin E, tocopherol acetate, for DNA and sexual development

(Source: Adele Women Association)

Beef Steak

Beef Steak is one of my most favorite viand, and is now my kids' all time favorite. The fried potato is from my Mom-in-laws recipe. Since my husband is used to beef steak with fried potato on the side, I've incorporated it with my own.

Ingredients: 1/2 kilo beef (sukiyaki cut), 1 cup soy sauce, about 20 pieces kalamansi, 1 whole (big) white onion, 1 clove garlic, 1/4 cup vegetable oil, 2 pieces potato.

Procedure: Marinate beef with kalamsi, toyo and garlic for an hour (longer is better). Fry the potatoes, set aside. Boil the beef, along with the mixture. After boiling, set aside the sauce. Saute the onion, set aside. Quick-fry the beef, then add the sauce. Boil in low heat for about 5 minutes.

I serve it with heart-shaped beef steak brown rice

Pandesal Bacon Mushroom Melt

Good for kids snack or "baon" to school.

Ingredients: Purefoods Lean Bacon, Walter Bread's Pandesal, Magnolia quickmety cheese, Jolly's mushroom

Prodedure: Fry bacon. Place on top of pandesal, followed by mushroom and cheese. Oven toast for 2 to 3 minutes, depending on how one likes the bread done (well-toasted or not).

Shrimp with Coconut Milk, Moringa and Water Spinach

Ingredients: 1/2 kilo shrimp, 1/4 cup malunggay leaves, 2 cups kankong leaves, 1 pc Knorr pork cube, 1 cup kakang gata (fresh from the wet market), 1 pc medium size white onion, garlic, 3 pcs. sili.

Procedure: Saute onion and garlic. Add in the shrimp and Knorr cubes. Saute for about 3 minutes, then pour the coconut milk. Add the maringa and water spinach. Cover and let simmer (on low fire) until it boils. Add the pepper on top.

FACTS ABOUT SHRIMP

Like eggs, shrimp has gotten a bad wrap due to its cholesterol content. Contrary to past beliefs, eating shrimp does not significantly increase your LDL cholesterol levels but has been shown to increase your HDL (good) cholesterol levels.

It is a very low fat food containing only 1g per 3oz. serving which is mostly polyunsaturated, containing moderate amounts of omega-3 fatty acids - which we all should know by now is a very good thing!

Shrimp is a very convenient food that can be eating just about any way and tossed into just about any dish. It is extremely high in protein and other nutrients giving this relatively inexpensive food a lot of bang for its buck.

For starters, eating shrimp and other seafood products regularly (3 times per week) can:
• Reduce the risk of many types of cancer
• Boost your mood and decrease depression
• Help prevent anemia
• Reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, osteoporosis and Alzheimers disease
• Increase energy
• Promote healthy bones, teeth and gums
• Increase your HDL (good) cholesterol levels
• Boost your immune system
• Promote brain health

Shrimp is low in fat and calories but is an excellent source of Protein, Selenium, and Vitamin B12 and is a very good source of Iron, Phosphorus, Niacin, and Zinc.
1 - 3 oz. serving has:
• 84 calories, 1g total fat, 0 saturated, 166mg cholesterol, 190mg sodium, 0 carb, 0 sugar, 18g protein - 36%
• 48% Selenium - Selenium helps rid the body of free radicals that lead to cancer as well as strengthen the immune system preventing infection and illness.
• 21% Vitamin B12 - Vitamin B12 is needed for normal nerve cell activity as well as red blood cell production which helps prevent anemia. It is also needed to help make DNA, the genetic material in all cells. It helps your cells metabolize protein, carbohydrate and fat and is needed for the production of the mood-affecting substance called SAMe. It works with folic acid to control homocysteine levels to prevent the increase risk of heart disease, stroke, osteoporosis and

(Source and txt: EmpowHER)