Pregnancy and Complications

First my high blood pressure, now my glucose. Need to monitor for 2 weeks so I need to see my gynecologist earlier than scheduled (supposed to be after 4 weeks). My husband said I have a lot of gadgets already, but not techie gadgets geez! 

  

No to GD please. 

Pinoy style SHAWARMA

Every time we go back to Manila, shawarma will be the number one food I crave and will never fail to grab a wrap. I remember during my Makati days, I always eat shawarma at Gil Puyat Lrt (sa gilid-gilid) before going home. I admit it's the sauce. The dirtier, the yummier? Got the sauce recipe online, no particular site coz I love to combine recipes and use what is available in my kitchen. Tantsa-tantsa it is.

Ingredients:

beef (I used left over beef from lunch)

bacon

paprika

cayenne pepper

salt/pepper

mustard

**marinate the beef with all the spices above. fry bacon, then stir fry beef using bacon oil**

sauce:

greek yogurt

calamansi

salt/pepper

garlic powder

milk

**combine all ingredients according to taste

Wrap (I used gardenia wholemeal wrap)

sliced tomatoes

sliced onions

sliced cucumber

cheese

tabasco chili sauce

Caramel Bar (ala Max's)

I am starting to think if I really have a talent in baking, or I'm just good in following instructions. This recipe is "PERFECTION"!

Caramel Bar
6 pieces egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups condensed milk
1 1/2 cups butter, softened (not melted) or margarine
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup powdered milk
1 cup cashew nuts (unsalted)

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Line your pan with grease proof paper and set aside.

3. Sift all the dry ingredients (powdered milk and all purpose flour)

4. Cream sugar and butter at medium speed. For about 5 minutes. Key here is not to over beat the mixture for a gooey bar ;)

5. Add the egg yolks one at a time and beat well after each addition.

6. Add condensed milk.

7. At low speed add the sifted flour and milk.

8. Pour mixture into prepared pan.

9. Bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown.

10. Cool and cut into bars.

recipe from:  http://teampassionblog.wordpress.com/

Batsoy Tagalog

Probably my favorite soup base comfort food. With lots of ginger and coriander, ahh perfect for cold weather (though I also cook this even it's humid). I use local ingredients here in Singapore so anyone can tweak this recipe depends on your taste and of course, availability.

Ingredients:

200 grams Pork fillet 

200 grams Pork liver

250 grams Pork kidneys

(can also add Pig heart, Pig stomach, intestines etc.)

garlic

onion

ginger

coriander or chinese parsley

water
mishua

pork cubes

salt and pepper

optional spring onion

rice wine or vinegar

fish sauce

Procedure:

Boil pork kidneys and pig heart in pot of water adding rice wine/vinegar and salt to remove smell (20-30 min). In a big pot, mince garlic, onion and ginger. Add sliced pork fillet and kidneys. Pour in water and boil for 40 mins to 1 hour (add water occasionally). Add pork cubes, fish sauce, salt and pepper. Five minutes before turning off the heat, add in pork liver, mishua, coriander and spring onions.

Pregnancy and Cravings - Home baked PAN DE SAL

Pandesal is just one of the many, and one of the hardships of being away from home? --yep, you need to bake it on your own. I followed casaveneracion's recipe and it was a success!

Tip: Fine bread crumbs is not available in local supermarkets so I just used ordinary Japanese bread crumbs and grind it using my blender.

Recipe: Homemade pan de sal recipe

Ingredients

• 1 c. of lukewarm water
• 1 tsp. of instant dry yeast
• 1 tsp. of salt
• 1/4 c. of sugar
• 1/4 c. of vegetable oil
• 1-1/2 c. of all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 c. of bread flour
• additional flour for dusting
• additional vegetable oil for greasing the bowl
• 1/4 c. of fine bread crumbs

Instructions

1. Pour the water into a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle the yeast over it. Leave for 10 minutes.
2. Add the salt, sugar and vegetable oil to the yeast mixture. Stir. Add 3/4 c. of all purpose flour and 3/4 c. of bread flour. Mix. The dough will be wet and sticky at this point. Add the rest of the flour. Mix. The texture of the dough will be uneven at this point but it will start to come together. Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Gather into a ball and start kneading. If the dough is too sticky, sprinkle with some flour but do so sparingly as adding too much flour will result in a hard and very dense bread. 
   

After five minutes of kneading, the dough will be smoother. Keep kneading until the dough feels elastic.

Feeling the elasticity may take some practice but here’s a tip. Pinch a small part of the dough — it feels like pinching your earlobe, it’s time to stop kneading. Usually, 10 minutes of kneading is enough to achieve this texture. Brush the inside of a bowl lightly with oil. Put the dough in the bowl, turning it around to coat the entire surface with oil. Cover the bowl. If your bowl does not come with its own cover, use cling wrap. Place the bowl in a dark place — away from draft and direct light — to make the dough rise. I like to do this inside the oven with the heat off, naturally. After an hour and a half to two hours, the dough should have risen. From my experience, the dough doubles after an hour. I like to leave it for another half hour to one hour to allow it to triple in size. The bread turns out softer that way. 

1. Punch down the dough and transfer to a lightly floured surface.
2. Cut and shape into whatever kind of bread you wish to make. The given recipe will yield 24 pieces of pan de sal or two medium-sized loaves.

Preparation time: 4 hour(s)

Cooking time: 30 to 45minute(s), depending on the size and shape of the bread

http://casaveneracion.com/pandesal-home-baked-of-course/

When 3 become 4

For my first ever blogpost: Excited second time Maymay! 10 more weeks.