Chocobanana Fudge Milkshake

Serves 1-2

Ingredients:
4 scoops chocolate fudge ice cream
1 ripe banana, sliced
1.5 vanilla soy milk (regular milk is fine too)
Whipped Cream
Chocolate syrup
Cookie

Directions:
Blend in shake maker or blender until smooth
Pour in a clear glass
Decorate top with whipped cream, chocolate syrup, and either a chocolate chip or oreo cookie.

Enjoy! :)

Pork Sinigang

Perfect for a rainy or cold day! This is a Filipino dish called Pork Sinigang which is a sour pork soup. :)

Ingredients:
Pork ribs
Chopped onions, garlic
Eggplant sliced
Green beans (sitaw)
Tomatoes quartered
Kangkong or spinach
Sliced radish
Sinigang na Sampaloc mix (available in Filipino or Asian food markets or groceries)
Green chili (optional)

Directions

1. Saute chopped onions and garlic in medium heat
2. When they have begun to caramelize, put in the pork ribs and leave until sides have browned and blood has begun to ooze out
3. Add a cup of water; not enough to cover all the ribs and simmer for 2o minutes
4. Mix in half of Sinigang na Samaploc mix, simmer again for 20 more minutes
5. Fill in water, enough to cover ribs and boil in medium heat for about 1.5 hour until pork is soft and cooked thoroughly.
6. Mix in what is left of the Sinigang na Sampaloc mix. Keep adding if you feel it is not sour enough for you. (I sometimes use 2 packets for 2.5+ lbs of meat)
7. Lower heat, add in all the vegetables and leave to simmer for 10-20 minutes, until vegetables are softer. The longer you leave it in, the soggier it will be, so if you like your veggies a still a little crisp, simmer only 5-10 minutes.
8. Slice open the green chili to give your Sinigang a little kick, if you like.
9. Mix in low heat for about 5 more minutes.
10. Serve with a cup of rice. Enjoy! :)

Kaldereta

Ingredients:
Beef cut into about 1 inch cubes
Water
Carrots (peeled and cut into about 1 inch thick pieces)
Potatoes (peeled and cut into about 2-3 inch thick pieces)
Red Bell Pepper cut into strips
Tomatoes, quartered
Peas (optional)
Salt and pepper
Lots of garlic chopped
One onion chopped
Italian seasoning (optional)
Mama Sita's Kaldereta mix

Directions

1. In a pot, saute garlic and onion on medium heat
2. Lay the beef cubes on the garlic and onion, turning them over until all sides have browned
3. Sprinkle with salt and pepper
4. Put the lid on the pot, lower heat, and leave for around 10 minutes
5. Put heat on medium again, add water* and boil
6. When it is boiling, add potatoes, carrots, and tomatoes.
7. When meat is tender, add Mama Sita's Kaldereta mix
8. Stir until mix has dissolved properly.
9. Lower heat, add a dash of Italian seasoning and put in the bell pepper and peas.
10. Simmer until sauce has become a little thick (for about 15-20 minutes)
11. You can also put some tobasco sauce or chili if you like it spicy.

Enjoy! :)

**For ratio of mix to water to meat, read the back of the Kaldereta mix packet

Spam and Cheese Omelette with caramelized onions, garlic, herbs, and tomatoes

Serves 1-2

Ingredients:

1. 3 eggs (beaten) with a pinch of salt and pepper
2. chopped tomato
3. an onion (although if you're using an american size onion as opposed to Asian sizes, then just 1/3 will be good)
4. 3-4 cloves garlic finely chopped/grated
5. 4 slices spam cut into strips
6. grated or diced quickmelt or your favorite cheese, as long as it does not smell too strongly
7. dried herb mix like McCormick salt-free all purpose

Directions:

1. Saute onions and garlic over oil with spam until onions caramelize (they soften and become more translucent), and then set aside.
2. Mix chopped tomato, dried herb mix, 3/4 of sauted onions and garlic with the beaten eggs
3. Put pan to medium high heat and then spread out mixture on pan evenly
4. When eggs begin to cook/harden, put the cheese, remaining onions and garlic and spam on one half of the pan (see photo:)
5. Lower heat
6. When eggs have become opaque, fold it in half using a spatula (and maybe a fork/spoon too for extra support) to cover part with spam, cheese etc.
7. Wait for about 3 minutes and then lift omelette onto a plate.
8. Picture below shows what it looks like inside.
   

ENJOY! :D

Muffin- cake Parfait

This is a great way to use left over muffins and/or cake (that are, of course, still good enough to eat). You just need the following:
1. A muffin and/or slice of cake
2. All purpose cream
3. Ice cream
4. A clear glass

Now I didn't put any particular flavors in because there are just so many different combinations you can put together. You just have to figure out the right combination for you. For this particular parfait, I used a chocolate chip muffin, a slice of banana moccha cake, and vanilla chocolate ice cream.

Directions:

1. Fill out the bottom of the glass with some cut up muffin and/or cake. Just push it down to make a layer in the glass.
2. On top put about half an inch of cream. This will be the second layer in the glass.
3. Put another layer of muffin/cake, and just keep alternating until you fill three-fourths of the glass.
4. Put the glass in the freezer or chiller for 30 minutes up to an hour at most (don't leave it in too long or else the cream will get too hard)
5. When the glass has chilled, put a few scoops of ice cream on top.
6. Serve with a pirouette (champola/chocolate stick) or your favorite fruit/s and/or syrup on top.
   

Jobelle's Awesome Chicken

This is a recipe shared to me by my Jobelle, called "Jobelle's Awesome Chicken". Vain as it may sound though, it is pretty awesome! It's a simple chicken recipe but is very tasty and healthy.

Ingredients:
Boneless chicken breast
Olive oil
Dried/fresh basil
Garlic
Very little lemon/calamansi
Salt and pepper

Directions:
Just marinade the chicken in the olive oil, basil, garlic, and salt & pepper. Make sure to rub that marinade in the chicken and leave the chicken in there for about 30 minutes to an hour. Then add a few dashes of lemon. There aren't any measurements written here, but don't be afraid to put a lot of olive oil, basil, and garlic. More garlic, more yum (just don't burn it).

Now use a griddle and put on medium heat, using the garlic and olive oil from the marinade. When the garlic begins to soften, add the chicken and the rest of the marinade. Pan-grill until cooked! That is when chicken becomes completely opaque and begins to brown.

Serve with a side of salad! YUM! :)

Steak!

I'm in the east coast right now, and for a little more American type dinner, I cooked steak and potatoes. Still served with rice though, of course, I am still Filipino afterall.

This is a very simple yet tasty recipe for a steak. You need the following
Ingredients:
1. Quality beef steak about half or so inch.
2. Worcestire sauce
3. Coarse ground black pepper
4. Salt
5. Garlic powder
6. Butter
7. Baby potatoes
8. McCormick all-purpose seasoning or your favorite blend of herbs (rosemary goes well with steak)
9. A few cloves of garlic
10. Zip lock bag big enough to fit your steak
11. Griddle (a frying pan that's used for grilling over the stove)

Directions:
1. Soften the meat by beating it lightly with a meat hammer or any hard object. You can put the meat in the ziplock before doing this, so the meat juice won't fly around.
2. Rub both sides of the meat with pepper, salt, and garlic powder. Don't coat the meat with it, just apply enough for the meat to absorb it all. About a teaspoon or so of the pepper > salt and > garlic powder put together for about 3 inches long steak.
3. Put the meat back in the zip lock and splash some Worcestire in there. Just put enough to coat the meat, don't drown the meat in the sauce.
4. Close the ziplock, while taking out the air from the bag. Wrap the plastic around the meat so the marinade will set in. Leave for about 20 minutes or more.
5. Heat the griddle, put on medium heat. Melt butter on it, then saute garlic, a few dashes of the McCormick seasoning/your favorite herbs, and potatoes (potatoes take a long time to cook, so if you're in a hurry, it's easier to microwave it first for 3-5 minutes and then saute in the butter). When potatoes are about to cook, put it on the less hot part of the griddle.
6. Put the heat on high and put meat on the griddle. Leave until sides brown and have grill marks.
7. Lower heat to medium and leave meat on, depending on how you like it. The longer you leave it on the more "done" it's gonna be, and leave it just for about 10-15 minutes and you get it rare.
8. Serve the meat and potatoes on a plate, and pour the butter and drippings from the pan on it.

Enjoy!!! :D