Category: Recipes for busy moms/Decorative Ideas

Recipes for busy moms/Decorative Ideas

How to Arrange Fresh Fruits in a Small Glass

By on March 23, 2018

It’s an easy way to serve dessert or a pick-up healthy snack that’s refreshingly good and in addition, the simplest individual touch to catch your own mood. Here’s how to arrange all-time favorite fresh fruits in a small glass, Fruit medley on the table gives you the freedom to choose your best favorites as well, a few slices of Kiwi, fresh pineapples, red strawberries, green/red apples and pomelo as the best example of my favorites.

You can try-out mixing different kinds of fruits to enjoy the balance of sweetness and refreshing taste.The basic arrangement and good combination applies here, fruits on the served should be fresh, bright and not cluttered.Using the appropriate size and right glassware for individual serving, it looks elegantly clean and at the same time, it’s safe for your health better than the plastic containers. I’m avoiding using plastic containers at all cost. Check other fruit servings and arrangement next posts..

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Recipes for busy moms/Decorative Ideas

Biggest and the Longest Avocado I’ve Ever Seen

By on March 15, 2018

I haven’t seen a fruit like these before, it was exceptionally long and big avocado ! I was lucky to discover such a huge one. Awesome! It was shiny greenish skin, firm and hard fresh. When I bought it, it was still hard and green, it aren’t ripe yet. Day after, the color starts turning into a reddish one and the next day, it was already dark reddish and purple in color. That means, it was already perfectly ripe. However, some varieties when ripen stays the same in color but this one undergoes color changes.

Avocado is good when ripened on and off the tree. Ripening affect the flavor and texture so, it is good to eat when it is still firm and perfectly ripe. When underripe, it tastes bitter, however, when overripe, starts to become soft and the taste you might not like it. For a sweeter version, it is best eaten raw with honey and all purpose cream. Others, they like to eat it with a full cream chocolate milk. Other uses; avocado is good for snacks, salads, soup, sandwich, dressing and sauces.

Avocados nutrition facts is good. It is rich in potassium and vitamins. It is also very rich in fat and high in calories. My dietitian always reminds me of some benefits you can get with it and at the same time, it is bad to people with high cholesterol level and high blood pressure. You must also think of what you can get for the calories that counts also, just eat moderately to be safe.

Here’s the funny thing, I’ve measured it with a piece of foot rule, one foot in length or 12 in inches I’m curious, I want to find out how long?

Got 2 big avocados to measure. Amazing! You can see the foot rule here in between 2 avocados. The foot rule is by inches and centimeters. The measurement of one avocado is 12 inches in length while the other one is merely closer.

Viewing per piece, both avocados has tapered neck and this one is longer than the other one.

It was completely ripe inside, the color is just right, the flavor is perfectly great. The big size is just enough for the whole family to enjoy. Now, I want to prepare something using these fruits, there were many uses and what I have in mind is to make Avocado shake.

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Recipes for busy moms/Decorative Ideas

Sinabalu / Piat Cagayan

By on March 9, 2018

Sinabalu is a local specialty famous in Cagayan Valley especially in Piat and neighboring towns of Tuao and Rizal. Sinabalu is a part of native cuisine, a glutinous rice wrapped with layers of treated banana leaves flavored with salt and coconut milk roasted in a bamboo tube over a low heat .The light taste is delicious that goes well with brewed coffee, hot chocolate and tea as well. With no artificial flavors, coloring and preservatives I’m sure you’ll like it. It smells really good and tastes its best when cooked over natural wood charcoal too.

Over the years, people of Cagayan developed their own unique cuisines and local specialties. Christmas, wakes, fiestas, weddings and special holidays would not be complete without the presence of Sinabalu and other local specialties like Pawa, Puto and Patupat ( all dekats fairly starts with letter P) to name a few.. It is a breakfast favorite, a mid-day snacks, and my favorite since childhood. When my brother and his wife pays a monthly visit here in Manila, they bring some local specialties from Piat, I live in the city and I don’t get to eat the same favorites all the time, this could be your favorite too. Be with friends with a cup of hot brewed coffee and slices of Sinabalu is a mellow accompaniment to any conversation.

The good quality you can buy it fresh in  Piat Public Market first hour in the morning and food stall vendors near “Basilica Minore de Nuestra Senora de Piat Church” You can find the best Sinabalu in a reputable source from Barangay Accusilian, according to my relatives from Tuao, a 2nd class Municipality in the Province of Cagayan.

The two versions; White Sinabalu which is the original one cooked with white glutinous rice and the newest version, Brown Sinabalu cooked with brown glutinous rice which is a good health benefits especially for the diabetics. It must be eaten fresh, it has a very short life and can only be freeze for 2 days and after that it deteriorates easily.

Visit my birthplace Piat Cagayan to taste all local specialties. I’m sure you’ll love it!

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Recipes for busy moms/Decorative Ideas

My Chopsticks-Special and Memorable Collection

By on November 27, 2017

I’ve been keeping  different kinds of chopsticks  for quite sometime now. I know for sure that’s it’s not that valuable but it holds a memorable value, a very sentimental one that I will cherished forever. I inherited this chopsticks from late ancestors, we’ve been keeping it for centuries passing from hand-to hand and it has been in the family for generations. Some of it was more than a hundred years old, it is already a  traced of history. Let me show you. Here are my beautiful chopsticks collection.

Everyone in Asia  loves chopstick. Nowadays, It is already common to all. According to my grandmother, it was first introduced in China throughout the Ming Dynasty. What is chopstick anyway?  How do you use it? I can just simply describe it as,” 2 small sticks use to pick up foods”. If you want to  know more about chopsticks history here.

How to use

Hold the top stick like a pencil, a little above the middle, small end down. Grip loosely between the tips of index and middle finger; anchor gently with the thumb.  Hands must be relaxed and flexible. Do not hold and pressed it too tight. Practice to move sticks few times till you get it.

Next slip lower stick into position. Rest it lightly in V-formed by your thumb and index finger and on the first joint of the ring finger. Resist temptation to watch the lower stick with the middle finger. Do not move the lower stick. Keep it still.

The most challenging to pick up is a whole peanut, it’s slippery and quite hard to hold but constant practice makes it perfect.

Beautifully prepared. We used chopsticks for most foods just like this. It’s the proper way and easy to pick-up foods using  chopsticks and spoon for the soup. In using  chopsticks, rice is usually served on a bowl. It would be easier per serving on a medium bowl, just like this.

A modern classic colored with a very unique design. A beautiful black/red bamboo inspired chopsticks.  Engraved as an art of Southeast Asia.

 

See how beautiful it is!

A unique ceramic chopsticks. It’s a bit heavier compared with the traditional ones. This is durable and an attractive reward selection.  It was a delicate art design , It’s my favorite.

This type of chopsticks reflects the style of old tradition. This piece was inspired by a late eighteenth century. It is made of fine wood, lighter in weight, and has its own box holder with a Chinese art design.  I prefer to use the lighter ones for everyday use.

 

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Recipes for busy moms/Decorative Ideas

Fruit Farm

By on October 11, 2017

With so many kinds of fruit and vegetables to choose from; Kiwi, banana, strawberry, red watermelon, papaya and grapes. With a combination of different kinds, I’ve made the right selection suitable for my design to complement everything. Combining fruits and vegetables looks attractive with the striking effects even though, it was irregularly shaped forming all kinds in many shapes and sizes to a beautiful farm effect. All fruits was arranged and shaped according to today’s theme, full view of landscape farm on a plate .

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Recipes for busy moms/Decorative Ideas

Fruit and Vegetable Art

By on October 10, 2017

A lot of things that you can do while waiting for the food to be cooked. Tough foods like the beef ribs will cook longer and even takes more time than expected even though they may be sliced into the same sizes. Sometimes, the more foods you have to cook, the longer will it take for you to wait especially if you are not using pressure cooker.

Yesterday, while waiting for other foods, I’ve made myself busy by making something funny. It’s just a jolly ideas using fruits and vegetables, it is an art of creativity, it’s fun and enjoyable that will even make my hands and mind busy for a while. All pieces here is not difficult to make, it’s very easy and will only require a little time, attention and a bit of creative imagination. If you make use of your imagination to design any selections it will surely work it right for you and you’ll get it right in many forms and sizes.
Some pieces of creations was made of carrots, radishes, pumpkins, eggplant skins, red/green bell pepper, bananas, oranges, kiwis, green papayas, bitter melon and many more which also includes the stem, leaves and roots attached. Days ago, I’ve created some funny images such as; Penguins , Flower Garden, Beautiful Hula Dancers, Bicycle, Fashion Outfit, and the Zoo-Caged Salad. All my fruit and vegetable art looks stunning with the contrasting texture and colors.

My jolly creations using fruits and vegetables, it’s just a festive and funny ideas for the kids, the smaller is easy and enjoyable to make. While getting busy, you can even chat with friends around you and relax to have a good time creating it. I’ve used 3 different backgrounds; white and black, these plain colors will emphasized the neatness and brings out the full color as a whole. Let’s check the result!

Bicycle is made of only 3 different kinds; Kiwi, carrots and bitter melon.

Penguins is the funniest among my crafts.It i made of carrots, radish, eggplant and peppercorns for the eyes.

Fashion outfit for ladies is the most elegant and fashionable of all. Using pumpkin and seeds, red bell pepper skin and seeds, eggplant skin, carrots, papaya and chayote or christophene .

Hello Kitty fashion for the kids. (with white chopping board background)

Beautiful hula dancers is the cutest. Using papaya, radish, green/red bell peppers, peppercorns, eggplant skin and spring onion leaves for the grass background.

Flower garden is cool. It really looks like a real one.Using parsley leaves and stems for the whole plant,carrots,red bell pepper and eggplant skin for the flowers.

Reminders:
1. All fruits and vegetables must be fresh and must be in a cool room temperature.
2. Don’t forget to clean up later, always leave the table clean and spotless.Put all the things away as you finished and get ready for the next craft.

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