In the Kitchen: Tortilla Empanada with Tamarong Fish Filling

Good morning moms! How are you doing on a Monday?

Yesterday, I decided to have a relleno. Not exactly though, just the filling only...and since there's no bangus these days in town, I just use the tamarong fish. I don't know how you call this fish in your own dialect or in Tagalog, but that's it's name in Hiligaynon. See this photo from Flickr.What happens in town kasi, is pag yun ang kuha ng mga dakilang fishermen sa amin, yun na lahat ang isda na mabibili mo from the vendors. Unless during our marketing day, Wednesday and Saturday that vendors flock in a place and offer a variety of fish which they get from other towns.

So, it seems that these days are tamarong days... =) That's why if you stick to the common ways of cooking this kind of fish, always, your taste buds are going to crave for something different. What I like to do with this is to fry it and cook vegetables with it like laswa, or just sauteed vegetables with fried fish. 

OK. Let's go back to relleno...I'm not gonna call it with that anymore because when we say relleno, what comes to mind is always the fried bangus with a filling inside. So, let's say it's a Tamarong Fish Filling. =)

Ingredients:

2 eggs, beaten

4 medium sized tamarong, boiled, bones and skin removed (fillet) mashed

garlic and onion

cooking oil

salt and seasoning

black pepper

1 medium sized carrot, diced

1 small potato, diced

raisins

1/8 cup water

Procedure:

1. Mix thoroughly the mashed fish meat and egg. Set aside.

2. Saute the garlic, onion, carrot and potato.

3. Put a pinch of salt and seasoning, add water. I just needed a very small amount of water enough to tenderize the veggies.

4. When tender and almost no water is left, add the fish and egg mixture.

5. Season to taste, you may add a little black pepper  and raisins and just mix until it is cooked.

Yan na ang filling, pero inulam namin yan and I'm so happy napadami ang kain ng niece and son ko! =D

But then, I found some flour in the kitchen and just made a tortilla dough  and stuffed it with this filling, sealed and fried it just like an empanada.

Not bad for the first time, right?

Guys, I'm not born in a family of cooks or chefs, but I am teaching myself, experimenting, trying, documenting, and always inspired to make it. Just like my sister who has become a pastry chef in a cruise ship. 

As long as the people I love enjoyed the meal I prepared, I'm satisfied with what I made and I'm happy to share them with you. If you happen to have suggestions to make the dish better, I am happy to read it from you. Please feel free to comment on. I love learning!

I'd like to leave you with a quote that has inspired me not to be hopeless in the kitchen ever since I heard it:

"Anyone can cook"

                                                                                                   - Gusteau in the movie Ratatouille

Jungle Safari Birthday Cake

Five months to go pa before K turns two, but I'm already planning for his birthday. I admit, I am that excited because I want to undo things. It was a fail for me when I prepared his first birthday. Kasi naman Mark and I always reminded ourselves that we won't spend very much for the party and we underestimated the budget allotted to it. What happened was, we spent more than the estimated amount and yet the things that were supposed to be there during the party were not even bought.

So mommy's going to make his second birthday a real success. I know, he's too young to appreciate everything, but with the help of technology, everything will be documented and someday he will see all these things - someday he will feel blessed and loved to see how his 2nd birthday was planned and done. For the theme, I'm thinking of having a Jungle Safari Party, it's because he simply loves animals! He's all too familiar with the jungle animals given the fact that he's exposed to Lion King movies and the Baby Brainy animals part. He's not also scared of animals he sees around. Future vet kaya sya? =)

Then, my latest interest is baking - swear, I really love to! If only I have my own materials, that's why a mixer and oven are in my wishlist (gosh! I already have a very long wishlist!). I want to make my son's birthday cake - of course - to add more touch of love in it!

I was searching the web for themed birthday cakes and I just found in pinterest exactly what I like! See here...

 

Source: flickr.com via Darla Manninen on Pinterest

Isn't this really cool? Truly, one of my inspiration! But if I'm gonna make a cake that really looks like this, it would be hard for me to slice it and destroy this work of art! Hehe!

Snow White and the Huntsman - Chika Lang!

I am not really into movies these days. A movie theater is a 6-hour travel from town, watching online is not my pick because it's too slow to load and I haven't bought or rented a DVD of any movie lately, too.

To my luck, last Tuesday, my brother's girlfriend lent me a DVD of Snow White and the Huntsman and yesterday ko lang sya napanood. Di pa straight viewing yan kasi from time to time I needed to go somewhere to another part of the house. So pause and play ang drama ko kahapon. =)

At first, I didn't like the idea of Snow White being paired to the huntsman because I preferred William for her...hehe..at first look kaya William was more handsome and heroic than the huntsman, whom I never learned the real name. But then, sige na nga lang, when he appeared with a clean look at the last scene, it changed my mind na agad-agad...at the last scene pa talaga ha! From the start until before the last scene kasi I had hopes that at the end, Snow White and William will eventually get married, you know, like the typical happy ending of fairy tales. Oh sya, si huntsman na... and besides his kiss was the one who woke Snow White up, so he must have the true love Snow White needs regardless of who looks more handsome. =)

Day Off Ba 'Ka Mo?

It's Thursday and I declared a day-off as a housekeeper in the house! So, ayan, ang dami-daming kalat wherever I look in the room. =)

So, I would like to cancel my self-declared day-off and get back to work as soon as I finish this post. My little darling is sound asleep, and then I'll be hitting the bathroom, too.

***Sigh**

This is the life of a WAHM without a maid. But still, I don't want to get one again....Nagmamatigas lang, hehe. Kaya ko pa naman, kahit ang hirap hirap na. Harhar...drama!

Anyway, despite the fatigue I get from housekeeping + mothering + online teaching + crocheting, my little boy still managed to make me smile and be blessed and to continue to be inspired.

He's reading the book and he reads it in Chinese! Haha! Di ko maintindihan eh. =)

Anyway, here's my niece wearing the headband I made.

Pretty, right?

The Wife of Noble Character

Proverbs 31:10-31

A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.

Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value.

She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life. 

She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands.
She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar.
She gets up while it is still night; she provides food for her family and portions for her female servants.
She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks.
She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night.
In her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.
When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
She makes coverings for her bed; she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes. 

She is clothed with strength and dignity, she can laugh at the days to come.

She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: 

 “Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.” 

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

Although we can say that this was written in a far different time and culture, but still we can always learn something from this, right?

I can just agree to all of what this says, but I know I am also far from that kind of wife. But then, I want to walk its way for I believe this is the better way.

Beautiful Monday!

Today, Kristoff and I took a walk to her grandma's house. Yes! We went out a few minutes before 7, I think. I just decided to visit them before doing any house chores, because for sure, they are always undone even if I stay home, they only leave me tired.

It was a good break, a good start of the day, of the week. :)

We ate our breakfast there, and the grandma was so happy to see her grandson. As usual, we chatted about plants and flowers, that's something that my mother-in-law and I have in common. :)

And to start off the week, here are the things that really give me pleasure:

1. This rose. Did you know that this is her first flower? I planted a looooot of roses more than a month ago. However, the typhoons that came by brought flood and caused the death of some. Nobody was tending them too when we took a vacation. But still, even a few has survived, I'm very thankful. The last two weeks, I've been putting them somewhere in the yard where the morning sun can shine on them and in the afternoon, I place them back to the shade to prevent the evening rain from drowning them. And this paid off! Just look at this beauty!

 2. A crochet flower headband. I bought a pattern from Emie Grace Collection a few months back and finally have my crochet headband. My first! And I'm going to give this gift to my niece and new goddaughter tomorrow on her Christening and first birhday! Yippee! Pretty right? I'm planning to have this as a new line of business...hmmm...

What are the things that gave you pleasure this week lovies?

Tiring, Surprising, Rewarding Wednesday

Good evening moms! How's your Wednesday?

I'm thankful that the day started off sunny, I did the laundry - there was a lot due to the past busy and lazy days plus the non-stop rain. I have to pat my back because I'm done with most of it, just a few whites are left. Yay!***Clap, clap, clap!**

In the afternoon, Kristoff and I went to a birthday party. I haven't taken photos of the set-up and the food, but I'm so impressed and inspired. They have the mickey/minnie mouse theme. Everything's nice and organized. I like this party 'cause it made me relaxed from the tiresome morning all-out laundry duty. :)

But one thing I discovered with K at the party, sumasabay sya sa mga toddlers na mas matanda sa kanya! Lol! Actually, we noticed before that he likes to play with older kids rather than younger ones. But at the party today, he did mimic what the 2 1/2 year old was doing.

When we arrived, it was a little late, they were already blessing the food. However, my friend's kid, the 2 1/2 year-old was already eating on the kiddie table. Di na papigil eh. I like her din, she looks so cute gobbling the food.

I was surprised when K approached the table and wanted to seat on the kiddie chair, so I assisted him. Then, he tried to open his styrobox that contained the food. I opened it for him. He grabbed the spoon and fork. Tama naman ang pagkakahawak!  He used the fork for spaghetti and then picked with his hand the foodies placed on sticks.

Nakakatuwa!  My son just surprises me every time. At home kasi, almost always ko syang finifeed, buti na lang that during the few times that I allowed him to grab a spoon and fork during meals, he already made use of that experience and applied it today at sa party pa ha!

Kaso lang, andali nyang nainip, I had to feed him myself 'cause he started playing with his food na after say 10 minutes of trying to put some on the spoon or fork.

He also participated with the pabitin, he understood that he has to grab something from there. But due to the crowd of kids, we moms just carried the littlies and we ourselves grabbed the pabitin. Hehe! Parang five year-olds lang kami ah. I got him a mini hellicopter anda mini racquet.

When we got home, he was already very sound asleep. The baby was soo tired eh.

Then I got a surprise placed at the bench at home, it's a box, and it's from Zalora! Yey! I got my new flats, perfect for some casual getup I could just pull off if the need arises. Hehe. I like it because the design makes me look tall!

Isn't life great?

Being exhausted is a normal part of being a mom, and it's totally alright because we're doing it out of love. When we see the hubby or the kids happy, then it makes us feel the same, too. But to have another thing that makes us feel rewarded, like that thing above, is a bonus.

By the way, have you checked out picmonkey  lately? I love their Halloween themes! Can't help but include this.;)

In the Kitchen: Pork Adobo with Banana

 

It's rainy today and I felt like I wanted some pork on the table. I couldn't leave the house because as you know it's only me and K here during the day. Fortunately, our suki pedicab driver, happened to pass by so I requested him to buy me ingredients from the wet market.

He bought 1/2 kg of pork and sliced unripe jackfruit. I was craving for that eh. But then I found some saging na saba in the tray which were already too ripe. No one in the house likes to eat them in that state but I thought it would be better to cook them rather than throw them away.

I remember Mark cooked adobo with this banana plus sweet potato, so I decided to cook the other half of the pork like that one minus the sweet potato.

Ingredients:

1/4 kg pork

salt

Ginisa Mix (seasoning)

3 cups water

1 cup sliced saging na saba banana

1/4 cup vinegar

1/4 cup soysauce

1 bulb onion chopped

4 cloves garlic chopped

Procedure:

1. In a pan, saute the garlic onion and pork.

2. Put a pinch of salt and seasoning.

3. Add the water and boil until pork is tender. Add the vinegar and soy sauce. Simmer.

4. If only a little water (sauce) is left, add 1 more cup and put the banana. Let it cook.

5. Taste and adjust according to your preference.

Guys, I'm not born in a family of cooks or chefs, but I am teaching myself, experimenting, trying, documenting, and always inspired to make it. Just like my sister who has become a pastry chef in a cruise ship. 

As long as the people I love enjoyed the meal I prepared, I'm satisfied with what I made and I'm happy to share them with you. If you happen to have suggestions to make the dish better, I am happy to read it from you. Please feel free to comment on. I love learning!

I'd like to leave you with a quote that has inspired me not to be hopeless in the kitchen ever since I heard it:

"Anyone can cook"

                                                                                                   - Gusteau in the movie Ratatouille

From the Heart of the Seaman's Wife

As of this time, Mark is on his way to the US to join his ship, Kristoff and Mom are sound asleep. And I have just finished evaluating my students in the online report.

It's a little bit busy today, running errands with Kristoff in my arms, getting rid of the virus while K was asleep and while he's playing around, doing the house chores while he's watching the Brainy Baby video which has now become his favorite instead of Lion King. And in every moment of each, there was Mark calling me or me calling him.

We could only hear our voices, I know. So it might as well be the same if we talk through phone while he's still in Manila or when he's already on board. But no. There's really a difference, psychologically when the person is physically miles and miles away from you. Manila is reachable in less than a day. But continents? 

I am not whining at all. I'm just expressing a humanly emotion - the longing for my other half........thinking of the 9 months that we're going to be apart.

But then again, we have to bear it, if it's the way we can give brighter future for our family, especially for the kids. Mark and I promised that we would never let our kids experience the kind of hardship that we had due to poverty. And I feel so blessed that he's very responsible to reach that dream of ours.

We always say, 9 months is short, so as to ease the longing. There's Facebook and Skype and the mobile phone to be updated with each other.

But I hope someday, someday...we can have the option of him living with us while still providing well-enough for the family.

I miss him. But I must be strong. And I will be. For him. For K. For me.

'Til we touch you again...dad...

Beware of the Virus Spreading now in Skype!

I missed blogging!

If not for the virus or worm whatever that is quickly spreading now in Skype, maybe I already did post something early this afternoon. It took my 5 hours away.

First, I received a message from one of my contacts stating like this:

"hey ito sa iyong larawan sa profile? http://goo.gl/5q1sx?img=teacher_pie"

I was alarmed! I thought somebody might be fooling around with me. Then I did what most of you won't. I clicked it! And! Unzipped the file!

In less than a second, my account had already sent a message containing the virus to all of my Skype contacts. It says like this:

 "lol is this your new profile pic? http://goo.gl/5q1sx?img=(the skype username here)

Wow! The author of this virus is really brilliant! It is programmed to automatically place the username in the link so the greater chance for you to believe it's true!

Then, of course, my online contacts reacted to it, some were innocent while some had already known about it because they received so many messages like this in the past.

I wasn't even able to reply to most of the messages because my computer just hanged up. A friend suggested to uninstall the Skype program. It took me a long time, you know. The system was really slow.

I then downloaded Malwarebyte Anti-malware and did a quick scan which resulted to 8 viruses! After removing, Skype was installed again and I feel so relieved when the system got back to normal again.

The first 20 minutes of being online in Skype got me soo busy answering messages about the virus that my account sent. :)

P.S.

I forgot to tell that I also changed my Skype password and clicked the Tools from the menu, then Options,  Advanced, Manage other Programs' Access to Skype, and removed all the .exe files.

6 More Months To Go and You're 2!

 

It really seems unbelievable, my darling baby boy has turned one and a half yesterday.

***Sigh**

Of course, of course, I'm happy! It's just that...I couldn't believe he's this grown up and it seems like it was only yesterday that I gave birth to him. My, he looked so cute and helpless in my arms I could just imagine I could hold him like that forever.

And just  look at him now...he has turned into a little version of his dad! A very cute....little.....monster! Hehe...My type of monster! ***Wink**

That's it. No more mommy senti moments, I have to reserve that when he turns two!

Anyway, I really love our moment yesterday. Why?

Because aside from celebrating Kristoff's birthday, my innocence in baking was finally over. My pastry chef sister made these cupcakes and I helped her, a little, haha! Actually, we only bought Lemon Square cupcakes and then place whipped cream at the top and fancied it with some choco sticks, mallows and Nips! It was my first time to touch a mixer. Haha. I owe my sister a lot! I hope we can stay over at their place again soon.

Now, here's the birthday boy!

Kristoff at 1 year and 6 months!

Favorite Foods: Chocolate, sundae, potato fries, banana, apple

Favorite Activities: Dancing, hide and seek, "catch me please"

Favorite Movie: Lion King parts 1,2,3

Favorite Animals: Cow, Fish, Bird, Dog, but cow really is number 1, but the house lizard is the first animal he identified. :)

Sweetest word I heard from him: De (when he calls his dad,especially when he wakes his big man, it just melts my heart)

Sweetest thing he did for me: when he simply kisses me on my lips unexpectedly, it paints a smile on my lips every time I remember it. :)

I LOVE YOU BABY! MOMMY AND DADDY ARE ALWAYS HERE FOR YOU, LITTLE ONE...