Healthy Cooking

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Pompeian for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
To all the health buffs and cooks out there who are thinking of cooking up a healthier lifestyle, then it's Time To Change Your Oil. As a health buff myself, I've been using Pompian olive oil in my cooking. I never knew that grapeseed oil has similar health benefits to olive oil, and that it is even more versatile for cooking due to its light taste and high smoke point. Dear readers, you need to try this oil in your cooking and I'm pretty sure you would really love this in your foods. Here's one recipe using grapeseed oil.

Smoky Fried Chickpeas
	Makes 4 servings INGREDIENTS 1 cup Pompeian Grapeseed Oil 1/2 tsp. dried thyme 3/4 tsp. salt 2 large cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed 1 Tbsp. grated lemon zest 2 tsp. smoked paprika Preparation 1. Dry chickpeas thoroughly with paper towels. 2. Using a candy thermometer, heat oil in a large, deep skillet over medium-high until it reaches 355 degrees. Add chickpeas, zest and thyme to pan in batches to avoid overcrowding. 3. Fry chickpeas for about 5 minutes or until deep golden brown. Remove to a paper-towel-lined baking sheet and sprinkle with paprika and salt. Serve immediately.

If you're a blogger, you might want to enter the contest. All you need to do is create a recipe that contains Pompeian’s Grapeseed oil or OlivExtra Premium Mediterranean Blend and post it to your blog along with an image of the recipe and then submit it to the Pompeian’s Time to Change Your Oill App on Facebook. You must enter your recipe link into the Pompeian and Hungry Girl sweepstakes for your chance to win an all-expense paid trip to BlogHer Food ’13 in Austin, TX June 7-8. Plus, your winning recipe will be featured with Pompeian throughout the event!

Update: The submission portion of the campaign is over and that you can now check out the semi-finalists and cast your vote through Sunday, May 12th for the most creative and appetizing recipe that best incorporates Pompeian.

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It's Been A while

...since I updated this blog. I've been busy doing some other things and most of the time, I focused on my other blog. It's not easy to maintain a lot of blogs and sometimes I get lazy to write. I've been cooking in my kitchen of course but I forgot to take photos of the foods that I cook. It's so hot these days that's why I'm not in the mood to take pics. Also I'm not motivated to write if I don;t have blogging tasks. I hope to write more often in this blog again with or without tasks.

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Pineapple Cupcakes

It was my first time to bake these cupcakes last New Year's eve and it turned out okay. It was good but I'm not completely satisfied. Next time I will make these, I will have to cut down the sugar so it will not be that sweet. Also, I think my baking powder is already old because the cupcakes did not rise that much. Oh well, I will make it better next time. My hubby love these though because he likes sweet stuffs. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
2 1/4 c flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c butter
1 1/3 c sugar
1 c milk (or 1/2 c milk and 1/2 c pineapple juice)
3 eggs, separated
2/3 c crushed pineapple, drained

Procedure:
Mix together butter, sugar and egg yolks then remaining ingredients. Folding egg whites last. Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until done. Cupcakes will be moist.

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Happy 2013

A late happy New Year to everybody! It's been a week past since the first day of this month but I still have a hang over, lol! Our Christmas tree is still up but hubby said he will put it down and keep it in the box tomorrow. So what did we have for New Year? Well, not that much. I even thought that it was still 30th of December last Monday. So when my brother asked me that afternoon what will I cook for tonight, I said nothing because it's not yet New Year's eve. He said it is 31st of December already and tonight is New Year's eve. Oh my word! Forgetful me! It's good I have the ingredients for goulash and agar-agar fruit salad and pineapple muffins. So I had to prepare right away that afternoon. I did the muffins first then the salad followed by the goulash. My brother cooked pork barbecue, grilled hotdogs and then he did the fried chicken wings. We both finished cooking at around 11 PM. My youngest brother brought halayang ube that he himself made and my SIL bought some suman. We had some fruits that we put on the table.

When the clock hit 12 MN, I woke up my hubby and asked him to join me and my 2 brothers, SIL and Vernice in welcoming the New Year. We all went outside and watch our neighbors lighting firecrackers and some fireworks which we call losis in our dialect. We didn't have any of those this year. I forgot? No. We're just being frugal this time. New Year will still pass even without those. I did have my camera though and captured the moment with my loved ones. Then we all went inside, took pics, hubby said the blessing and ate the foods that we prepared on the table. We all thank God for all the blessings He bestowed on us the previous year and the years to come.

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Celebrating Thanksgiving in the Philippines

This is a late post but I've been lazy updating this blog. Thanksgiving is already more than one week past but I just want to share the pics that we took during the said celebration. We don't celebrate Thanksgiving in the Philippines but being married to an American, we have to prepare something for the said day. We didn't have a turkey to roast but Thanksgiving is not all about the turkey. You are blessed to have one but to tell you the truth, I'm not very fond of turkey. We had that in the states on Thanksgiving but it doesn't taste that good to me. Hubby volunteered to cook burger patties for burger sandwiches and cooked some French fries. It was so humid while he was cooking in the kitchen with only the electric fan running. Hubby was sweating while he was cooking. Poor thing!

Meanwhile, I prepared my agar-agar fruit salad the night before and put it in the refrigerator. I also baked my confetti cake before hubby hit the kitchen. So when it was his turn, the kitchen was humid. We prepared the foods for supper so every body were already home. My 2 brothers and their families were present and my brother-in-law and his family were there too. The celebration is just for the family. Hubby said the blessing and we thanked the Lord for all the blessings He has given us. Everybody enjoyed the foods and the hamburger sandwich and French fries of my hubby was a hit. 

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Hubby's Birthday

Yesterday was my hubby's birthday. For a change, we just prepared native delicacies for snacks. We used to have dinner on his birthday but not this time. It's hard to cook a lot of foods especially there was no electricity from 6 to 6 the whole day yesterday. It was only the pancit that my 2 brothers cooked and lumpia that my SIL prepared. It was so hot in the kitchen so I did not bother to cook at all. I cannot stand the heat.

Early in the morning hubby and I went to buy the famous Calasiao puto and puto kutsinta in the market. I also bought nilatikan (more than half the bilao) because I've been craving for it. Hubby had to stay in the car so I can get a good deal, lol! People here in my homeland will raise the price if they see an American. I had a hard time though carrying the stuffs that I bought back to the car.

I thank God for giving hubby to me. I pray to the good Lord to give him more birthdays to celebrate and good health so we can serve Him longer and better. Here are some photos of my hubby's simple birthday celebration.

 

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Sauteed Bamboo Shoots (Ginisang Labong)

I love to eat bamboo shoots and I taught my hubby to eat it too. I usually cook it dinengdeng with saluyot, Ilocano style or ginisang labong (sauteed bamboo shoots). There's a lady who always come to the house and sell veggies including bamboo shoots. I told her I am lazy to shred it so the next time she came, she brought with her shredded bamboo shoots. I bought it and cooked sauteed bamboo shoots.

Ingredients:
2 cups of shredded bamboo shoot
1/2 cup vinegar (spiced if available)
4 strips of ginger (sliced in tiny pieces) 
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/3 tsp coarse ground black pepper
1 tsp sugar
1 medium onion, chopped
3 pieces garlic, minced cooking oil

 How to cook:
1. In a casserole, boil the bamboo shoot for 15 minutes then discard the water (pigain).
2. Heat oil in another casserole.
3. Saute garlic and onion until fragrant.
4. Add the boiled bamboo shoot.
5. Then add the vinegar, soy sauce, sugar and black pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes.
6. Serve as a side dish.

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