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Showing posts from 2013

Flowers for Christ: A Woman's Ministry

Credits to Dang Dupale for this photo Posted by a Facebook friend, Dang, this photo reminds me of one of my posts ( The Birth of a Hobby ) as a new blogger two years ago, where I featured about how I came to like plants. This hobby inspired me to get involved in the Exaltation Ministry in our church. Together with former church gardener, Raffy, I used to grow potted plants, water them every Saturday in preparation for the Sunday Worship Service.  Through the years, however, changes in the volume of my domestic responsibilities no longer allow me to be involved in ministries that require my physical presence in church. At one time, I became church treasurer, a ministry which called for keeping track and recording of all church finances on top of counting tithes and offerings every after church services on Sundays.  A heavy responsibility eh!?  At another time I became church secretary. This ministry entailed preparing minutes of all church meetings and publishing the w

Colors of the Yuletide Season: Sauteed String Beans with Spanish Sardines in Coconut Milk

The countdown is on... it's three days before Christmas! Everybody just seems so busy with last minute shopping. I see picture greetings of loved ones and friends on blogs I follow and on FB! Family pics in front of the Christmas tree, stockings hanging on the wall, more and more colors of the yuletide season.  My last post entitled, " Colors of the Yuletide Season: Sauteed String Beans with Tuna " was inspired exactly by everything I see these past days and weeks. Towards the end of that post, I said next time I'll use coconut milk. And that's just exactly what I did! So here's another variant of the dish --- with coconut milk and Spanish Sardines!                                Ingredients: 2 tbsps olive oil from the Spanish sardines 1 clove garlic, minced 1 small onion, sliced thinly 1 piece Spanish sardines, flaked 2 bunches of string beans, cut 1/3-inch long 1 cup coconut milk salt, ground pepper and sugar to taste 1 large tomat

Colors of the Yuletide Season: Sauteed String Beans with Tuna

Wow, I see red and green --- colors of Christmas anywhere! Looking at the photo I'm about to post here, gave me the title for this feature in an instant. Thanks to all the posts I read about the season... decors, gifts, food and all!  Inspired by a dish I tasted in a conference I attended in Bali, Indonesia last month, I made a very simple dish for lunch today. I couldn't move on thinking of all the green string beans I saw on that large platter. Too bad, I couldn't get a shot of it while finding my way through the queue.  So here's a very simple version of the dish.  Ingredients: 1 tbsp olive oil 2 cloves garlic 1 medium onion, sliced thinly 1 tbsp ginger, sliced thinly 2 bunches of string beans, cut 1 tbsp shrimp paste salt and pepper to taste 1 large tomato, sliced 3 tbsps left-over scrambled egg with tuna  Steps: Saute garlic, onion and ginger in olive oil. Add string beans and shrimp paste.  Season with salt and pepper.  Ad

Gone for a while

"And I'm back like I never left." I found the quote from google.com . Feels like I've been away for ages! I realize two months of silence could make so much of a difference... as if going some places without saying goodbye to friends and loved ones :(  I'm so sorry for that... I really am... I miss you all and doing this terribly!!!! The truth is, the spirit has always been willing, but the flesh just felt so weak. Physically and mentally tired with office work for the past weeks, I still am, but somehow the one week respite from office work has given me a renewed ray of "hello-welcome-back-to-reality" perspective to finish targets before the year ends. Work goes on in never-ending cyclical routines... so vacationing from bloggerdome because of work just doesn't seem to be a valid reason at all! Oh, how I miss everybody, link parties and everything!  So now, here I am, taking double strides and multitasking once again... with quite a nu

A Hearty Duo on a Rainy Day: Fried Danggit and Tuna-Veggie Scrambled Egg

"Listen to the rhythm of the falling rain...," goes the lyrics of the song played on air on our way to church today (sssshhhh.... this is a late post). Sounds familiar? The DJ must have played the song popularized by the Cascades as the rain literally been pouring on and off for several days now. The weather has been so unpredictable after tropical depressions one by one visited our country. On such a weather like this, I'm sure all my fellow Filipinos all around the globe who are fond of dried danggit (rabbit fish) dipped in vinegar wouldn't be able to resist having this on their breakfast table. Served with Tuna-Veggie Scrambled Egg, the two made a perfect duo! There was really nothing special about the scrambled egg except that I mixed some veggies (before they get spoiled in the veggie bin) with the canned tuna.    Tuna-Veggie Scrambled Egg Ingredients: 1 clove garlic, minced and diced 1 medium onion, diced 1 small tomato, sliced 1 can Centur

Tuna-Mango Dip for Nachos on a Lazy Day

Happy Saturday, everyone! Feeling weak after going home very late from work last night. Just had so much work to do anticipating that I wouldn't be able to continue working at home as my laptop is out for repair!!! Woke up late and groggy, went to the market just to buy some veggies and fruits. Good there were still left-overs from the simple birthday dinner my kids and I had two days ago. That saved me from cooking for lunch. Feeling relieved!  My husband and I had late afternoon snacks with the kids. He said he will just end the day with fruits. So I prepared some mangoes and kiwi on the serving dish. While doing so, I remembered the pack of nachos I bought the previous week. Ayana Grace, my elder daughter, had been prodding me several times to open it but I told her I'm reserving it for some dips I planned to try. With my laptop out today, I don't have the luxury of time to retrieve the dip recipe I wanted to try from my FB page and Pinterest. Not much choice? What

Singing God's Faithfulness

"He placed me in a little cage, Away from gardens fair; But I must sing the sweetest songs Because He placed me there. Not beat my wings against the cage If it's my Maker's will, But raise my voice to heaven's gate And sing the louder still!" -Streams in the Desert March 23 Photo from google I am no singer. I mean, I don't have a golden voice. I don't sing solo (except when I was in gradeschool when my teachers in Grade 1 and Grade 4 made me sing in front of the class, and once for a graded activity in high school). I can read notes, though, and can very well recognize off tunes. And yes, I do like classical music! Today, as I celebrate God's goodness in my life, I post this poem I read from my favorite devotional. As I write this, in my heart and in my mind, like the bird in the poem, I sing of God's faithfulness all through the 53 years He has blessed me with. My husband posted a photo in Facebook with the birth

Zucchini Bread Cups

Zucchini, zucchini, zucchini... I was introduced to zucchini by the famous movie, Ratatouille. I have already tried several zucchini dishes in the past which I have featured in my previous posts, Sunday's Cram , The Zucchini Magic and Go Green with Zucchini Carpaccio . Today's feature is inspired by the Zucchini Tots originally posted in Easy Recipes, Healthy Eating Ideas , which I also shared in my Garden Chef's Needle and Pen Facebook page.  See how I made these Zucchini Bread Cups for breakfast last Sunday. Instead of adding bread crumbs in the zucchini mixture, I used wheat bread slices as base. Ingredients: Olive oil 12 slices of wheat bread 1 cup grated zucchini 2 large eggs 1/4 medium onion, diced Salt & pepper to taste 1/4 cup grated quickmelt cheese Steps: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray muffin cup cake pan with olive oil.   Grate zucchini. Squeeze off the excess water out of the zucchini.  In a medium bowl, combine zucc

L'amour @ 24

Bound to start life anew together My name is Eve. Hear my story about how I met Adam... I mean, the Adam of my life.

Banana Oatmeal Cookies with Dates and Almonds

The heavy monsoon rains intensified by the tropical storm these past few days resulted in suspension of government offices such that the working members of the family had no choice but to stay home. Time to rest, bond together around the table, while doing some social networking, or in front of the TV to get some news updates on the extent of the damages caused by the flood, if not watching a movie.  With the whole family at home, I had to think of what to prepare and serve on the dining table. Good thing I had a number of dishes lined up, waiting to be experimented on. I started the showcase with Mushroom Tortilla which I featured early this week. Click here for the recipe. In the evening, I tried for the first time Jill's Banana Oat Cookies .  Original recipe from Jill's Simple Daily Recipes I was so attracted at her cookies which I found in one link party that I had it pinned!I don't like raisins and shredded coconut very much so I used dates and almond

Moshi is crying, rain is coming!

Ever since I started blogging, this is the first time that I am featuring Moshi, our family's dog. It's time you meet Moshi, our 10-year old Labrador-Golden Retriever-look-alike pet.    He sings to the tune of Selecta Ice Cream each time the ice cream vendor passes by. He can sing, yes, but he can also cry, cry and cry out loud!   Asking permission that he be allowed in    Get to know Moshi a little bit more... His first call is to alert us in the morning when it's time for him to pee and a little after eating to poop, that is, if nobody is around to anticipate his personal needs. He would also cry when he senses that rain is coming, or when he would like to sit or sleep on his chair but it is out of his reach, or when there's lightning and thunder and certainly without a doubt, when fireworks start to explode during Christmas and New Year's Eve. Most often Moshi wouldn't pooh on any wet space in the garage. In my post yesterday, I

Mushroom Delight: Oyster Mushroom in Tortilla Wraps

 Welcome this new dish--- Mushroom Tortillas--- on a rainy day. "Incessant heavy to torrential rains spawned by the southwest monsoon enhanced by tropical storm  Maring" ( Inquirer News says) struck the northern part of the Philippines yesterday. This brought heavy rains since last night and has left many flooded areas that aside from being a holiday in my place today (being Quezon City Day), suspension of classes and government offices has also been declared in the affected provinces. The photo below shows part of the South Luzon Express Way (SLEX) that Billy, my husband, was supposed to traverse today. It's a blessing that he was spared when he decided not to drive to the university (as he does very early Monday mornings every week) even before the no-class declaration was aired. This re-posted photo was shared by my husband via Facebook This simply means that, with hubby at home, I had to cook something healthy. So here's this new mushroom di