Avocado Slice

Today is July 31, the last day of the Nutrition Month. Almost all schools celebrated this event in every school year. Our school is not an exception. Two to three weeks ago, we had "Paunay" in school (this is selling of home grown products) and one of my students approached me after my class and asked me if I would like to buy some fruits. Well, I'm not a fruit lover, much more of a junk lover, so I asked what were the fruits they were selling. She named a list and my eyes picked the word "Avocado, 20 pesos per kilo." What? 20 pesos only? (Well, as I've said, I'm not a fruit lover and thus I thought this fruit is supposed to be expensive). So, I told her I'll buy one kilo.

Lunch time that day, I saw a plastic bag on my cubicle with my name on it plus the amount 20 pesos. Well, this must be it. (Mind you, I didn't pay for the avocado yet). When I touched the bag I discovered how hard the avocado is. Is this fruit supposed to be hard?? Then I found out it wasn't ripe yet. Frustrating but no complain, remember, I haven't paid it yet.

Three days passed and I forgot about the avocado. Finally, Thursday came and I noticed the bag was moist. I touched the avocado and (like magic!) it was ripe already, hahahaha... plastic bag are the most effective way to ripen the avocado, that I have discovered!!

I brought the fruits home and was very proud to show it to my mother. But, she said, "Avocado makes your cholesterol go up!" Meaning, she will not eat it!!

What am I supposed to do with it?

So, I grabbed my collection of recipes and searched for one that will get rid of these avocados. And, here it is:

Crust:

1 (200g) crushed Graham

1 225 g Buttercup Rich-Tasting Margarine, melted

Filling:

250 ml Alaska All-Purpose Cream

168 ml Alaska Condensada

3 avocados

pinch of salt

1. In a bowl, combine all ingredients for filling. Mix it well to fully combine. Set aside in the refrigerator to chill.

2. In a separate bowl, combine Graham and Buttercup Margarine until crumbly. Press into a dish using the back of a spoon.

3. Pour in prepared filling into the crust. Freeze for at least 1 hour before serving.

I guess I'm going to love this fruit after making this recipe :))

Lumpiang Isda

Today is Father's Day. Since I can't celebrate this day with my father (well, he's six feet under the ground), I might as well cook something that he would sure like.

Here goes:

1 tbsp oil

3 cloves garlic

2 small onions

1 can tuna flakes in brine, drained

1 medium carrot, chopped

25 pcs lumpia wrapper

1/2 tsp salt

1 pc egg

1/4 tsp black pepper

2 pcs chili pepper, chopped

1 cup oil for deep frying

1. Heat oil. Saute garlic and onions. Add tuna flakes.

2. In a bowl, mix sauteed tuna, carrots, salt, egg, pepper, and chili pepper.

3. Put a tbsp of fish filling on each wrapper. Roll and seal ends with water.

4. Deep fry. Put in paper lined platter to drain off excess oil.

Enjoy this with your father this father's day! :))

Hotdog Omelette

For this week end I decided to make something easy since my niece (the one on the right side;

tired after our cooking session) wanted to help. Here we go:

2 pcs medium potatoes, cut into strips and fried

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 pc medium onion, chopped

4 pcs regular-sized hotdogs, minced

1 pack 200 g original style tomato sauce

1 tsp hot sauce

1 pc medium red bell pepper, cut into strips

5 pcs eggs

1 small can evaporated milk

1. Beat eggs. Add milk and 1/3 tsp iodized fine salt. Cook eggs into an omelette. Try to retain the round shape. Transfer onto a plate.

2. Saute garlic, onions, hotdogs. Pour the tomato sauce and 1/2 cup water. Season with 1/4 tsp iodized salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, 1 tsp sugar, and hot sauce. Add bell peppers. Simmer uncovered for ten minutes. Pour on top the omelette and top with fried potatoes.

Serves 8.

Baboy with the Asignar's Bagoong

The weekend before classes starts. Ugh! Frustrating. I don't want to go back to school yet.

How come students get so excited at the start of the school year? Well, teachers are not excited, except for the pretentious ones :P

Well, to boost my spirit before the start of the school year, I decided to cook something that I love to eat when I was small but wasn't able to eat after my father's death since my mother decided to go for a healthier lifestyle and refused to cook this recipe.

Well, my recipe includes the Asignar's bagoong which is really delicious, trust me! Without this bagoong, this recipe will not work out :D

Here goes:

4 slices of pork kasim

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 small onion, sliced

1 tbsp ginger strips

50 g tomato paste

4 tbsps bagoong

1 pc siling haba, sliced

Heat 3 tbsps oil, then brown the pork chunks. Set Aside.

Saute garlic, onion, ginger, tomato paste, bagoong, siling haba and pork chunks. Add 1/2 cup water. Simmer for 20 minutes or until pork is tender.

And it's done!

Can you smell that? delicious!!!

Hawaiian Wanton

Another weekend... another

brainstorming to do... what am I going to cook this time???

I was browsing through my recipe book the entire friday night.

Guess what? I decided to cook this recipe.

This is one easy recipe to make, but takes long to prepare and will cost a lot of money especially if you have none of the ingredients in your cupboard.

Here goes ...

You'll need:

1 pack (100 pc) wanton wrapper

For the filling:

1/4 kg ground pork

100 g singkamas, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp flour

3 stalks green onions, chopped

1 can (234 g) crushed pineapple, drained (reserve syrup)

Combine all ingredients for filling. Season with 2 tbsp soy sauce and 1/8 tsp pepper. Mix well. Place every tsp of mixture in wanton wrapper. Moisten edges with water. Fold to form a triangle, then press edges together. Drain on paper towels. Set aside.

Sauce:

1/4 cup ketchup

1/4 cup red cane vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

2 tbsp cornstarch, dissolved in 1/4 cup water

reserved pineapple syrup

Combine sauce ingredients in a saucepan. Add 1/3 iodized fine salt. Simmer until thick. Serve with fried wanton.

Makes 7 servings.

Ham and Macaroni Salad

It's the weekend ones again and it's time for me to cook another recipe. I hope this will be perfect.

May 21 is the birthday of my nephew, the last day for my research class (meaning final exam), and the "End of the World" (which will end at six in the afternoon [I'm writing this blog May 22 at 8:10 in the morning, ironic! :) ] ) according to one religious group.

I started the day with a co-teacher in Jollibee (we had breakfast), after which we took the mind wracking research test. With everything done, I went to the grocery store to buy the things I need for my weekend project: salad.

Since there are many food at home due to my nephew's birthday, I decided to make a salad.

These are the things I need:

200 grams salad macaroni, cooked

1 medium onion, chopped (with the help of my niece, Julinne)

2 pieces red bell peppers, chopped (again with the help of my niece, Julinne)

234 grams pineapple tidbits, drained

220 grams all-purpose dressing

35 grams grated cheese

200 grams cooked ham

Here's how:

1. Combine macaroni, onion, bell peppers, and pineapple.

2. Add ham and all-purpose dressing. Mix well.

3. Add grated cheese.

Serves 4.

Total expenses: 145.25 pesos.

Chili Chicken with Black Beans

For this weekend, I decided to make something from my Chicken recipe book. Well, since this is the first time I'm going to cook chicken, it should be something easy as well. I went to the grocery store early this morning (would you believe the store wasn't even open yet when I went there??? :)) to buy the things I'll need for today's cooking adventure. These are the ingredients I bought at that very early hour:

3 pieces small chicken breast fillet halves, sliced into 1/2" strips

2 tbsps Maggi Savor Classic

2 tbsps cooking oil

2 cups chopped tomatoes

1 chicken broth cube

1 tbsp chili sauce

1/4 cup water

1 1/2 cups cooked black beans, drained

After getting all these ingredients, I went home and started cooking.

Here's how:

1. Marinate chicken in Maggi Savor for at least 10 minutes. Set aside.

2. Heat oil and stir-fry tomatoes until limp.

3. Stir in broth cube, chili sauce, and chicken with marinade; cook until chicken is lightly browned.

4. Pour in water. Let simmer and add cooked beans

5. Serve lukewarm with rice or pasta.

Serves 4.