Spicy Chilli Con Carne Recipe (Ole!)

Now that I am slowly returning to the kitchen, I promise to blog at least one recipe per week.

Cooking is fun! Writing about it is equally fun. =)

My husband requested out of the blue one day that he wanted Nachos "with everything on it" salsa. And another requirement was that is has to be suuuuper spicy!

The full name of this recipe is actually:

Spicy-chilli-con-carne-el-nucleares-el-diablo-de-la-impyerno!
O diba parang horror movie lang. Tee hee. It was my husband who gave that name after he tasted how spicy it was. This chilli beef is so versatile too. You can use it as toppings for nachos, chilli dogs, or even as ulam over hot rice.

What you need:

1/4 kilo lean ground australian beef
1 big green or red bell pepper
1 medium sized white onion (chopped)
3 cloves garlic (minced)
1 can diced tomato
Salt, pepper, olive oil
1 lady fingers chilli
Herbs: Spanish paprika, cumin, sage, taragon
3 kinds of chilli powder: spanish, kashmiri (indian) and korean chilli

What you need to do:

1) Pour generous amount of good olive oil, when it's already hot put the chilli powers (measurement will depend on your preference or how adventurous your are), let it stay for about 10-15 seconds

2) Saute garlic and onions on the chilli oil (so as not to burn the garlic, I put the onion and garlic at the same time), until golden brown

3) Put the beef into the pan and incorporate well, put salt and pepper

4) Once the beef is no loger pinkish, put the chopped bell peppers, lady fingers and the herbs (put generous amount of cumin as this is really your background flavor). Note: Your entire house will now start smelling like a Mexican fiesta

5) Pour the 1 can of diced tomato plus about 1/4 cup of water. Let this boil and wait until all the water has evaporated

6) Add a few sprinkle of sugar (sugar is my "vetsin"), adjust the taste to your liking

For the nachos: arrange the nachos on the plate, pour the chilli beef, put chopped tomatoes, white onion, lettuce and gratted cheese.

For chilli dog: steam the sausage (works best with hungarian or spicy italian sausages), put this on the bread, pour in the chilli beef and grated cheese on top. Serve hot.

Spicy-chilli-con-carne-el-nucleares-el-diablo-de-la-impyerno

Nachos with everthing on it

Kulang nalang margarita. =)

Semi-charmed Life

Most blogs they say is edited. This blog admitedly is one of them. I say edited because I try to veer away from blogging when I am extremely sad or my heart has full of 'inis'. Whose life is perfect anyway? However, I just feel that there's so much of negativity in the world and you don't need another person documenting that.

You can also say that I like to keep and remember happy thoughts more than the sad ones. And my own little blog is mine completely.

Life. I am so into life at the moment. And the stars. The stars are lining up for me. Thank you, thank you, thank you. It is so easy to please me because in my heart my dreams are made of simple dreams. And I am not saying my dream or life is better than yours. Understand please that this is me. Utterly different than you. But we all have our place under the sky.

Anyway, let me tell you that I have a lovely team. Whom I spent a weekend of adventure with.

And that I have a loving, real, simple family. Whom I spent simple weekend with also.

Thank you Lord, for placing such happy dreams in heart.

So live a life that is your dream. No one is stoping you. Here's me wishing that you will always have the courage to listen to your heart.

My last thoughts tonight before sleeping was courtesy of my wise tita: "Some things in life are mere outcomes of the right decision at the right time but always with the guidance of the God."

That said everything.

Have a great week ahead.

Pork Steak Love

The biggest reason I became depressed during the first few weeks of my Cohen diet was because I missed cooking for my family. I have boasted said here and here how awesome great stupendous good of a cook I am.

Today though I braved the kitchen once again and cooked. True, I encountered some minor kitchen accidents (I cut myself, natalsikan ng mantika and muntik nang madulas sa floor) but all of them worth it when I saw how happy my family was when they ate my pork steak.

I also got inspired recently through the blog of my good friend Dits (short for "maldita": we call each other this - self explanatory). She writes really practical and yummy recipes.

Anyway here's my version of pork steak. Every household has their own recipe. Mine, I got from my mother-in-law.

Disclaimer: Sorry if my measurements are not too precise as I tend to always just eye-ball all the time when I am cooking (this is a testament that you are truly a great cook! Ha! Kidding. :P)

What you need:

1 kilo pork belly
2 cups soy sauce
5 - 6 pcs. calamansi (or lemon if you are sushal or dayap if you like tequila #walangsense)
5 pcs medium sized potatoes
1 pc white onion
3 cloves garlic (or more if you're into garlic)
salt
pepper
paprika
sugar (highly recommend to use mucovado because it's healthier)
2 tsp flour
2 tsp korean chilli powder (optional: for that extra oomph)
Oil for frying

What you need to do:

1) First marinate the pork using the soy sauce, salt, pepper, paprika, calamansi. Recommended time is about 2 hours or you can leave it over night.

Since I didn't have much time when I cooked this, I marinated it only for 15 minutes and they still turned out okay.

Porkies in their marinade

2) Thinly slice the potatoes using good old knife or mandolin if you have (taray!). Fry until light golden brown. Put on top of paper towels to drain excess oil and set aside.


Sliced potatoes and onions

 After frying the potatoes they would look like this:

Be sure to prepare some extra potatoes because some loved ones (case in point the hubby) would use it as a snack. Just sprinkle some salt and they make a pretty yummy snack. :)

3) Sear the pork using the same oil and pan. Just brown both sides (about 1-2 minutes per side). No need to cook through the pork as they will be cooked again later. Set aside the pork.

4) Remove excess oil in the pan. Sautee the garlic on the same pan.

5) Return the pork into the pan and stir fry. (I think this is what our mommy's call "sinangkutcha".)

6) Pour the marinade back into the pan. Add about 2 cups of water (or until the pork is covered). Bring to a boil for about 20 minutes or until the pork is fork tender.

7) When the water has reduced to about 1/2, put the onions (sliced into rings). Incorporate the onions to the sauce and this is when you also adjust the taste of your sauce. Add salt, pepper, sugar and korean chilli powder. 

8) Dissolve the flour into a small amount of hot water. Once fully dissolved add this to the sauce. (Tip: Do not add the flour directly into the mixture as you might end up with lumps on the sauce.)

9) Once the overall taste is to your liking already, add the fried potatoes. Mix so that the potatoes absorb the sauce. (Do not overmix as the potatoes might start to break.)

End product.

Aminin. Magaling akong mag describe. I should write a cookbook na! Haha. Feeling. I am ever so excited to finish my diet already so as not to eat but so I can start cooking and experimenting with dishes again.

One day to go and it's weekend na. Yupeee! :)

Basketball through Eli's eyes

Hi! My name is Elijah! *Wave* I am momma's guest blogger. She wants me to tell the story myself.

You can call me Eli for short. Almost everyone calls me that. Although some people call me bunbin, bubouy, Elibuboy. I don't know why I have so many names but they are all adorable names so I accept. Anyway, I recently discovered that I love basketball. I love it so much that I spent all Friday afternoon playing with my old ball toy. My yaya Conching, told this to my mama, who told my dad. My dad was overjoyed by this development so yesterday he took me to Megamall and bought me not one but two basketballs! I too was overjoyed I tell you!

This morning, daddy took me to the basketball court and it was fun. Let me show you what happened.


First dad and I went for a little jog around the court. I love my dad very much. My mama is the one taking the pictures and love her too!

The moment I stepped into that green court, my my my! I was soooo happy!

This is the small basketball daddy bought me. I played with it a little.

Then I lost interest. I want to join those adult looking guys about to play basketball and play ball adult style! So goodbye little ball.

Dad said, before you join them you must first learn how to dribble.

Then learn "defense".

Dad is an awesome teacher but he dragged me out of the court just when the game was about to start. He said the players might step on me! How can they do that when I am part of the team!?

But, being the good boy that I am I followed my dad and stayed sa gilid. I watched them play a bit.

Then I played with my own "adult" blue ball.

I also did an inspection of the court equipments.

And climbed through things which my mom calls "dirty".

Then, mama said it's time to go home.

So that's my story for now. I will visit mom's blog again once something new happens. Hopefully I can join my first basketball game this summer. Thanks for reading my entry and God bless you. See you! Thanks bye!

Non existent kikay kit of a low maintenance mama

Oh ha, title palang parang alam na alam nyo na. Yes folks, I'm 30 and I don't even know how to put on make-up. Thank you. On very few occassions na I need make up: i.e. Santacruzan, J-S Prom, Oscars (!?), Nobel Peace prize ceremonies (choz), etc. all I do is go to the salon and let the experts do it. Matagal ko nang tinanggap na hindi parte ng aking "core competencies" ang make-up application. Hehe.


Anyway I also have ADHD when it comes to the products I use. I like to always change them up. Try new brands. Nothing high-end as you know I'm such a kuripot (stingy) mommy. I use mostly "drugstore" brands and Watson's is like my favorite place ever. I also bought some products because I am nahiya tumanggi to the saleslady. Madali akong ma-pressure ng salespeople. Alam na!

  Anyways, here goes my super basic 15-minute daily routine.


1) Step one: cleanse body and face

Summer's Ever fem wash, Pure Beauty facial wash,
Safeguard, Asian Secrets LurLur Scrub,
Ponds facial wash (I like any variety of Ponds facial wash)

2) Step two: clean and condition hair

Bakit kamo ganyan kadami e ang nipis naman ng hair ko?
A wise person once told me that you should never stick
to one shampoo for too long. Your hair gets bored and become limp.
May sense naman diba? Haha.
Ayan so combination yan ng Loreal (I love), Sunsilk,
Rejoice, and Dove
I change shampoo depending on my mood. :)

3) Step three: deodorize :)

Ayan pati sa aking kili-kili I also like variety.
Milcu - if I am just stayin in the house.
Safeguard - for my super active days.
Dove Go Fresh - during normal days.

 4) Step four: moisturize body

For everyday use it's Vaseline (bec it has spf).
During days na super ma-mi-miss ko si Eli I use his Avon lotion.
For super dry skin days Cocoa butter.
For night use, classic J&J pink lotion. Very light.
The SeriAsia lotion is slimming lotion. Only used it twice so far. Haha.

4) Step four: moisturize fez

Tomatox: I use it twice a week at night.
There's Pond's Gold radiance for eyes (day use).
Olay for day and night.
And I have a Neutrogena gift from cousin-in-law Lia.
Estee Lauder Advance Night repair eye cream. Favorite ko to so far.

5) Step five: literal na "no make-up" make-up

Eyelash curler. I think this is Fanny Serrano.
Di ko pa nabibili yung Sheu Eumura which I said I wanted here.
Two kinds of mascara: cat-eyes Maybelline and Estee Lauder.
Two kinds of eyeliner: Nichido kohl and Estee Lauder.
Two kinds of BB cream: Tony Molly and Maybelline.
The best sunblock for the face I've tried so far: Belo. (Cheap too.)
Two kinds of undereye concealer: Garnier and Estee Lauder.
Bakit two kinds palagi? I like to alternate use, I don't know why. :P

6) Step six: "scent"-sitize 

JLo Glow, Hayden Orchid & Violet, Lanvin Eclat
Hand cologne: Baby Company Green cologne with VCO
(I want my hands to smell good all the time. I have this OCD
of smelling my hands every 15 minutes. Weird!)



 7) Step six: bring some "bag weights" (read: pampabigat lang ng bag)

Shisheido face powder
(Tip: just buy the re-fill which is about 50% cheaper than those na
nakalagay sa compact case nila. Then just buy a lalagyan. Like what I did.)
Vaseline hand cream.
Two kinds of lipstick: one light pink and another in lighter pink.
Maybelline watershine lipsticks.
Two kinds of lip balm: trusty chapstick and Vaseline lip therapy.

There as you can obviously see, I am a bit of a loser but I wouldn't want it any other way. I like to keep it realy simple because everyday I only have really 15 minutes to get ready. There are days when I only have two minutes and these are the days when you don't want to cross paths with me kasi nakakatakot talaga my fez! Haha. Mukhang galing sa away ang peg! LOL.

Although, this year I promised my hubby that I will try to be more vain. Kaso when I see na expensive some of the products that stoke my interest I tend to run away and just end up buying a book. Classic. Tee hee.

Other products I also use but currently just ran out of is Human Heart Nature organic products. I have to make a separate post for that.

Ciao! Happy weekend.

 .

Of Day Dreams and Changes

Let me start by saying that I love my life now more than ever.

I am on my way to getting healthier. (What? Loosing almost 50 lbs. in the last 4 months is a HUGE accomplishment.)

My son is our absolute pure joy. Everyday really becomes like a fun trip to the amusement park with him around.

My relationship with my husband is stronger than ever. We laugh every 5 minutes we're together. I mean that's a good sign right? We dedicate time not just for our own little family but also for the two of us. Two of us alone together. Feels like high school each time. I love him to bits.

Okay, so the ranting will start now. I am feeling a certain kind of discontent. Like my life is too safe and that I should start shaking things a bit. 

Maybe because I've been on house arrest for the past two days (I've been sick) that's why these thoughts creep up. But shake it up we shall. See, I am planning to enroll in a new class again (more on that later). Considering some heavy decisions that will drastically change our daily routine. And, might be pursuing a lifelong career-altering decision soon.

This is a good kind of discontent because it is borne out of gratitude. That my life is just about far too nice right now. And I think our life is not meant to be that way for too long. The world is far too big. Possibilities are far too endless and our circle of influence could be a lot bigger if only we allow it to. Hence, I am praying now quite more strongly everyday that I do not become too comfortable so we can pursue our planned changes as a family.

Wow. That was a mouthful. Now to share something light. I went to Beijing. The land of quiet contentedness. People going about their daily lives and it feels like everyone knows their purpose and they are exactly where they are supposed to be. Made me realize I am too different from them. This doesn't mean that I didn't love the city. I loved that I got to experience that foreign land alone for a work assignment. I loved that the moment my husband stepped into the city it suddenly felt like home. (If only he brought Eli with him and we might have never returned. Haha. Not really.)

Some side stories:

- Got harassed by some locals at Tiananmen Square (will not go into the details, but for all you know that event might have prevented us from encountering an even bigger problem, so what gives I'm still happy).

- Must learn to speak Mandarin and I will be unstoppable!

- It can get pretty lonely when you are an only child. Well almost everyone is an only child there.

- Chinese taxi drivers could be mean sometimes. (Pinoy taxi drivers are even meaner sometimes too.) However 70% of them are actually quite nice.

- Our version of "Chinese food" is different from the ones I tasted in Beijing.

- Peking duck is oily.

- Hey, I'm not too bad with directions after all?

- I know, where are the pictures right? Sorry just got lazy. Do expect that on another post.

- I'm glad Philippines is a tropical country. And that I live here. Yun lang poe.


Happy Friday na tomorrow. Winner. Ever. :D


XOXO.

A break from blogging

You can say that I almost took a break from blogging. The gaps in between posts used to be two days, then it turned into a week and then almost a month without any posts.

No tears shed there from my two loyal readers (*waves to husband and sister*) but dare I say it was me who missed sharing my nonsensical thoughts. You see, I always believed that a blog is more for the writer than the reader.

The need to get your thoughts out there has been made like quite of a need already. So imagine me two weeks in China alone without Facebook, YouTube, blogger, twitter and the likes. They are all blocked. Then I had to turn to old school free form writing. As in with ink. As in on paper. Sorry trees!

I have always been a thinker. And these thoughts I never would want to compile just inside my brain. I just had to verbalize or at least see them through another form. Hence all these pseudo diaries I kept all throughout my elementary, high school until college days. Mother nature wanted to spare me of the embarrassment so she sent Ondoy that turned all of them into paper mache at my parents home.

It's not that I'm writing as a form of release but by seeing my thoughts on written form I get the sense of my true state of id. Not everyone would be comfortable to be this open but I have always been this way. What you see, hear and read is me.

All these introduction is just to let you know that a part of me longed I could write and share more. But the events leading up to this day has been really, really hectic. And I'm glad I took some time off today. There's so many things I would like to share but the thoughts are still out there swirling to one big mush. I will try to extract them one by one so I can share more.

Again, sharing just because I like it.