Sibuyas Republic

Never again would this happen…

That is how addicted kids are to sweet treats. While the dad and mom were out, the eldest daughter, who, at 18, was veering away from the kitchen, and, thus, she concocted this Grahams choco cream (when she couldn’t for me). That’s how they call it when we arrived one evening and the little miss proudly boast that her “ate” made special grahams fridge cake…The “ate” even took a snapshot of her  “deplorable masterpiece” ^_^.

But, to our surprise, the Grahams no-bake cake was half consumed when we arrived that dinner time.

The daughter said she placed Milo, evaporated milk, All-purpose cream and drops of vanilla extract into the blender and pulse beat until creamy and poured the creamed mixture into Grahams layer…topped with crushed Oreo cookies…

My verdict: zero for the over-all design, I’d say 70% for the originality of the recipe, and the dad threw in 200% score for the effort. Yes, hooray for the EFFORT! Hope next time, the kids will try-out easy to cook dishes at the kitchen, so I can have more time reading quotes by Bob Marley^_^.

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Been reading Paolo Coelho’s book entitled Like the Flowing River, a thoughts and reflections book. The book was a gift to hubby last Father’s Day and I thought of reading it, too. As in other Coelho’s book, the author shares his writing skills and his thoughts on his many travels and experiences. And before long, I was hook on finishing the paperback.

Thought, in this sometimes troubled life we’re experiencing everyday, we need to be inspired to go on with every facets of life happening before our eyes. There were many things to do to ease out burdens and problems and one is reading Daily Life Quotes. A quote a day makes up a renewed spirits.

Woke up a little bit late today. The lad’s school schedule suddenly moved from 8 to 4 pm from the usual 7 to 3 pm class. One big advantage for me. Need not wake up 5:30 in the morning. My bad. I’m not really a morning person/mom. But, the lad said, he prefer going to school earlier and coming home earlier, too. He said, he could do all his school works earlier. I can share his sentiments. Coming home tired from school, he would have his snack and drinks then he would start reading in his room. He could not go to the Barangay gymnasium to play basketball longer.

School is much too tedious for the lad. Sigh! Today, he requested that fried egg be added onto his lunch box.

breaded pork, fried egg, fried rice

Just a small lunch box, the lad didn’t want a bigger box (TEENS!). Plus small servings of rice. He would get frantic if he sees the box half-filled with rice. Dieting, maybe^_^. He’s 13 now. A lot of physical changes have been manifested since his 12th birthday.

A lot have been changing for the kids lately. The little girl is having death anxiety…The lad had recently had a brawl with some teens in the community…I’m a little stressed up myself! Good thing I was reading Abraham Lincoln quotes, thought I needed few words of wisdom to keep body and mind functioning well…Isn’t it hard to be a mother?

The day that was:

• Schedules were done yesterday, albeit few mishaps in between errands.

• Bought the sacks of feeds needed by the pigs and the vaccines for the momma pig and the “would-be” piglets.

• We passed by a group of motorcycle riding men having a commotion on the side of the road. Initially, I thought, a grim accident occurred. Terror gripped me. There was an accident, but, by the looks of it, it was not something tragic. Thank God.

• On the way home, we picked up the little miss on her school and she was too overjoyed on the result of her first monthly test.

• Then off we went to a birthday event, bringing in some foodies and the best Birthday Quotes for the celebrant:)

• Lastly…ECSTASY OVERPOWER THE EBBED FEELINGS I HAD THE DAY BEFORE…thanks MR. GOOGLE^_^

…worthwhile!

As soon as school year begins, schedules in the house makes a 360 degree turn. No more late night television, no more computer games during school days and lights off after nine in the evening or even earlier as soon as the kids finished their studies/homeworks.

Last night, the lad was still up until ten in the evening because they have a school project which needed to be passed the following day. It was a project on their Biology class taking  photos of the development of a  mono-cot seedling. After pasting all the photos in a bond paper, he needed to put caption in each pages. When I did checked on him right after dinner, he was on his computer searching for plagiarism free paper. He said, he was running tired and would be happy to sleep early. His school start at seven in the morning the next day. Got pity for the son. He needed homework essay help.

After 30 minutes researching for other term papers similar on his project, we finalized the caption and after rechecking for errors, finally, the project was finished and the printed copy came out nicely and neatly done.

This morning over breakfast, told him to study well so that the next time they will be having another class project, he’ll be the one to do even constructing the correct grammar on the caption. It ain’t like he’ll be needing essays writers all the time.

Who could’ve have thought there would still be ripe mangoes in this all-rain season? My uncle who owns hectares of mango trees in neighboring Palayan City, paid a visit recently and he brought with him these fresh mangoes from his farm. The last harvest, he said…might as well savor every bite of these fleshy, sweet and vitamin rich yellow fruit.

We better enjoy this fresh while reading Quotes about life.

Gloomy, rainy, er, flooded..hope not…we’re not sure when this rain’s gonna end. Yesterday, our internet connection went very slow, got jaded waiting for it to normalize…we just watched news on the flooded metro and nearby places…

For dinner, I hurriedly prepared this easy beef dish. This is way too easier than the Beef Broccoli I used to cooked, too. I should have cooked soupy dish that would complement the weather, but, then, I wouldn’t want to spend much time in the kitchen, as the colder breeze is making me lazy…

Say, this beef dish reminds the kids of that 39er order at that bee food chain^_^.

beef loin (sliced thinly)

sliced canned mushrooms

Worcestershire sauce

soy sauce (optional), salt and pepper

minced garlic

COOKING PROCEDURE:

• Marinate the beef in Worcetershire sauce, salt and ground pepper.

• Fry the minced garlic until golden brown. Set aside some for toppings.

• Add the beef and saute until half done.You don’t wanna boil the beef too much as will make the beef too hard to bite.

• Add the mushrooms, salt and pepper.

• Top with fried garlic.

ADDITIONAL TIPS:

• I try not to marinate beef or even pork in Lemon or Kalamansi, as those citrus fruits are acidic and can harden the meat when cooked.

• Worcestershire sauce is a condiment perfect in any way to tenderize and bring needed spices to any meat or fish dishes.

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Wished I could prepare much healthier lunch boxes for my kids. Mommy Clang of Kizuna, always makes healthy lunches for her two adorable kids. Her bentou were most pleasant as well as nutritious.

Last week, I made stir fry corn kernels, carrots and potatoes with chicken strips for the lad…the lunch box went home only “HALF EMPTY”…Not that my kids were picky eaters, in fact, they love veggies, especially the lad…but, that recipe was a reject on his tummy…Was it the way I cook? I’m such a bad mommy chef ^_^!

What I did over the next days were to conceal the veggies. But, most of the times, I am running out of ideas to cook as “baon”…

On, Sunday while the family is devouring chicken and fries, I made potato cream dip as catsup substitute…

POTATO CREAM SALSA

mashed potatoes

sour cream

cheddar cheese

salt, sugar, ground pepper to taste

Mix all the ingredients together and it’s done.

Can be used as salsa dip, or as loaf spread  top with sliced ham or veggies of your choice.

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Ruining the day for the fathers were the non-stop rain during the weekends. Thus, we rescheduled our “date” (woot!) late in the afternoon today…er, with the kids in tow, of course.

While we’re all confined at the house and that even the planned barbecuing in the nipa hut were erased, I managed to cook up hubs’ favorite soup, “patola with misua”…warms up the cold weekend:) Served in a thrifted colorless dish bought here…

PATOLA WITH MISUA RECIPE:

Saute garlic and onions.

Add in meat (chicken or pork, however you like it) but i prefer longganisa (have you heard of Cabanatuan City longganisa? THUMBS UP!)

Add chicken stock. Let boil.

Add the patola (Cucurbitaceae family). And, salt and pepper to taste.

Simmer for two minutes. It’s done.

In addition to the soup was this plate for the kiddo…

breaded pork and fried potatoes for the kids

and, fruit in season...AVOCADO for dessert...yummy!!!

Yeah, a simple homey Father’s Day celebration…nothing grand…

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This is what I cooked yesterday for lunch. A soupy “Tagalog” version of “batchoy”. This is similar to the famed La Paz  batchoy by way of using pork innards and noodles but different in the sense were using pork blood added to the broth.

As I searched the web for the recipe, I was amazed there were many version now of this popular dish from Iloilo City. But, I guess, our “Tagalog” version here is different because of the incorporation of pork blood (somewhat similar to “dinuguan”). You can ask for pork blood at your pork vendor (suki) in the market.

The use of pork innards such as intestines, liver, spleen were common variation but I did use pork loin and added in some pork fat (liempo). And, I also use misua (very thin Chinese noodles) for this soup dish.

HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED:

• pork loin/liempo
• pork blood
• misua
• ginger (thinly slice)
• garlic and onion
• fish sauce (or salt)
• green chili (chili leaves can be added, too)
• ground peppers

COOKING PROCEDURE:

• Saute ginger, garlic and onion.
• Add in the pork. Let cook for few minutes until it turns a little brown.
• Discard some of the oils as liempo is fatty.
• Add water/broth. Let simmer until it comes to a boiling point.
• Add in the pork blood.
• When the blood turns color, add in the misua noodles. Soup will thicken, you can opt to add more broth if desired.
• Top with green chili (sili pangsigang) and chili leaves.

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