Cowboy Steak, Rosemary Potatoes, Squash Soup

Oh my goodness. I just had a really luscious dinner, I'm still recovering from that wonderful gastronomic experience.

Ok, ok. Maybe it may seem exaggerated to some, but really. It was an amazing time, from preparation to cooking to eating. Now I truly believe that when you lovingly prepare and cook your meals, you will love the result.

Too full and lazy right now, but I will post the recipes. Sorry, wasn't able to take pictures though.

Goodnight!
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Here are the recipes!!!!

Cowboy Steak (c/o FoodNetwork - Ellie Krieger)

Ingredients
1 1/2 teaspoons ancho chili powder, or other chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons fine ground espresso coffee
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/4 pound shoulder center steak (Ranch Steak), or top sirloin, about 1 1/4-inch thick

Combine all ingredients then rub them in the beef. Instead of the beef mentioned above, I use the hanging tenders, and it was absolutely divine. Also, I added a dash of chili flakes for that teeny-weeny spice. The original recipe called for grilling the beef for 14 minutes and turning over once. Since I was going to broil some potatoes, I just put them together and broiled them under 250C for 10-15 minutes (depending on done-ness). I did mine for 15 minutes and it's just medium well. I wished I broiled the beef for just 10 minutes or so.

I totally loved how brown the steak got (thanks to the coffee). I'm not really that much into coffee but I surely liked this. Just to add a little more zing, I squeezed a little lemon juice, but don't use too much, it will drown the real flavor!


Rosemary and Mustard Potatoes

I got this from Foodie Magazine (maiden issue)

Ingredients
1/2 kg par-broiled potatoes (I used baby potatoes)
1/3 cup + 1 tbsp dijon mustard
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp dried rosemary (recipe also said it's ok for fresh, but based on experience fresh ones will burn)
2 tbsp dry white wine
Salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste


Chop the potatoes into 1/2 inch cubes. Whisk the ingredients (except the potatoes), then coat the potatoes with the mixture. Broil in 250C for roughly 20-30 minutes, until brown on the outside and soft in the inside.


Creamy Squash Soup

I got this from ShipShape CookBook. However, I just guestimated how much to use because the original recipe is for 12 servings

Ingredients
1 kg cubed squash
1 small brown onion - chopped
2 tbsp butter
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup milk
1 Tbsp curry powder (I didn't have any)
1 Tbsp chopped parsley (I added this!)

Saute the onions in melted butter, for about a minute. Add the squash cubes and cook for around 2 minutes. Then add the curry powder (again, I didn't) and the chicken broth. Bring to a boil then simmer until squash are soft. Add the chopped parsley. Set aside to cool a bit then puree in a food processor.

Put the puree back into the deep pan then add the milk, stirring constantly. Season with salt and pepper.


If you have sour cream, try adding a dollop into the soup. Add croutons too if you wish.

I hope I didn't miss any steps or ingredients.

ENJOY!

The Domino Tag.

Making the Domino Tag come alive again

{BEGIN COPY}

Rule: Copy the entire list and add your name at the bottom. And tag at least 5 friends. (But you can tag as many as you like).
Note: Please link the blog where you posted the tag We appreciate you linking all your blogs but make sure you post the tag in the blogs too.

Mommy Talks | Aggie Shoots. Aggie Scraps | All Kinds of Me Stuff | The Salad Caper | Winding Creek Circle | Anorexic Queen | Apple of Yan Ple | YanPle | Howell and Abie | My Planet Purple | WomenXplore | Princess Bela | My Happy Place | I am Dzoi | Cliktrik | Life’s Simple Pleasures | Coffee Table Conversations | 100% Kelly | My Colorful World | Ramdom Thoughts | Scribbles of My Life | In This Game of Life | The Shopaholic in Me | Mommyhood and Me | My Charmed Life | My Joys | Sassy Finds | Celebrating Life | Life is Peachy | Belly, Baby and Beyond | {BloggerHappy} | {BerryScrappy} | Cellulitic Bliss | Underneath It All | Cellulitic Bliss 2 |Life.Love.Us. | My Lavender Fields |

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Tagging: Vannie, Jammy, Melissa, Karla, Sheryll.

Invisible

Yes. This is what I want to be at work. Toxic work, difficult people, mentally and emotionally draining situations. If I can just take a break from this.

Virtue of silence. Speaking out is encouraged at work but I feel this has becoming an excuse and is being abused. Sometimes I feel the need for people to shut up, or at least think first before speaking. I know sometimes I need to shut up and think first.

See no evil. Hear no evil. Speak no evil.

Virtue of discretion. That's all I can say. How I wish I have that French attitude.

Oh well. I really just want to be invisible first. Well, not in blogging though. Ha ha.

Rants for the Day

Ok, I just have to rant about these things that bugged me for the past few days:

Can I dart their hands?
While driving, the people inside the car in front of me must have thought that the street is one big garbage can, this “hand” tossed trash outside the window. What the???? I thought this was sooo “out” already, especially since there is a growing movement to be more environment-friendly and to observe cleanliness. Gash, I secretly wished I have darts or tiradors so that I can target those nasty hands. Nyahahaha.

Thick-faced
I really try hard not to post anything political or religious, but heck, I feel it really is the height of being thick-faced that GMA has appointed Mr. Neri as head of SSS. Hello, just because the ZTE scandal hasn’t been the talk of the town for a while now, doesn’t mean we Filipinos have forgotten the issue. Gash. What is this government doing?

Contraceptives…?
I am Catholic alright, but oftentimes, I just wish the Church will rethink about the stand when it comes to use of contraceptives. Poverty is one of the major problems (or is it the biggest? Oops, corruption I guess is the No. 1) faced by the country, and we have to seriously address this. The Church said that education about natural family planning is more important than outright saying use of contraceptives is ok (yeah, because it might be abused especially by those curious youth). There is a point… but still. I don’t know, I can’t fully express it but I hope that there will be some resolution. I really am torn about this issue though.

Gasoline prices
Gash, I have no more words to speak (or type) when it comes to gas prices. GRRRRR.

More rants, but I prefer to minimize them. Hahaha.

Una Rosa's Temptation

Just when I just said I will hold my horses when it comes to buying clothes (for me), I get this newsletter...



ACK!!!!!!!!

Me just lookie-lookie, ok?

*Cross fingers*

Os So Sweet Award

Thank you so much Jammy for the award!

Sweet Bloggers:

1.) Janeth Vicy’s Life Journey 2.) My Precious 3.) Just ME.. Eds 4.) Eds Mommy Life 5.)Fun|Fierce|Fabulous 6.)Me,Myself+2 7.)Supermodel Wannabe 8.) My Life in this Wonderful World! 9.) My Online World! 10.) malditang bunso's journal 11.)Life.Love.Us. 12.) My Lavender Fields 13.) Your Blog

Now it's time to tag my other sweet friends! Liv, Jen, Che, Karla, Sheryll, Con, Melissa. Vannie also, although I think you did this tag already.

Friendship Flame

A symbol of spirit of unity. The burning icon of love. Undying picture of hope. The hot symbol of oneness. And now, it's your turn to flame yourself! Meet new friends. Discover friendship. Make bonds.Copy this post starting from the PICTURE ABOVE to the end and add your blog on the list below.

Let's start FLAMING!

Tiklaton: We are the witness
Janeth's Vicy's Life Journey
My Precious
Pitstop
Thea is Blogger Happy
Thea is Berry Scrappy Too
Scribbles of My Life
In This Game of Life
Shimumsy's Republic of A
Princess Vien
Our Journey To Life
Life. Love. Family. Work. Travel.
Practical Tips and More
The Working Mom
Joey M.D.
Tsinay
Gossip Gehl
Underneath It All
Life.Love.Us.
My Lavender Fields

Tagging: Jammy, Karla, Che, Issh, Con, Nikki, Sheryll, Melissa, and everyone else in my list!

Success! Lasagna!

Last weekend, I have succeeded in doing something I was really scared to do... Bake Lasagna. I was sooo happy that I didn't burn it, nor it tasted like S%!t. Just look at this lovely thang...



It's called Lasagna with Chicken Cream and Tomato Mushroom Sauce.

I just followed the recipe found in the box, but tweaked it a little. Instead of making my own pasta (or buying the regular spaghetti sauce as per the ingredients), I used the 4-cheese spag sauce (I forgot, Del Monte or Hunt's) to add more cheese flavor. I didn't want to buy any additional cheese because they're sooo expensive now (I only topped the lasagna with grated cheddar cheese and my Parmesan leftover).

For the chicken cream sauce:
1 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
3 cups milk
1/2 cup flour
700 grams minced chicken
Olive oil

Heat oil, saute onions then garlic. Do not brown them. Add chicken. Add flour then slowly add milk. Stir constantly. Season with S&P to taste. Cook until chicken is cooked through.

For the Tomato Sauce:
Olive oil
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 big can of 4-cheese Spaghetti sauce

Heat oil. Sautee mushrooms. Add spaghetti sauce. Set aside.


Assembling of lasagna:
Pre-heat oven to 180 C.
Put tomato sauce in the container (18 x 18 cm?). Layer in the lasagna. Add the chicken cream. Layer with lasagna. Add tomato sauce. Do this until container is filled. Top with cheese. Put in the oven and cook for 45 minutes.

Mall-less Weekend

This weekend I have decided to just stay at home and be the lazy person that I am (haha). I felt that after I had another purchase when I went to Powerplant to have dinner with my parents and sibs, I was still weak whenever temptations faced me. Save for going to the grocery (which in itself was still a temptation - gash I bought so much again), the idea of going to the mall meant I would most likely drool over clothes, shoes, and bags that I knew I wouldn't be able to resist.

It was a good decision though, because not only I was able to enjoy a much-needed rest and nap hours, I was also able to fully enjoy my little baby. We danced, we walked, we cooked, we stayed in our balcony (except when it rained hard that we even had to bring in our outdoor furniture), we played like crazy. It would have been the most ideal weekend, except that dear husband, lover, and father wasn't with us. Oh, I should stop pining over that because it would get me depressed over and over. Anyway, this morning we walked going to the Church to hear Mass, a first for Eanna to walk the streets of a city. I however gave up upon reaching the parish, so when Mass ended and we had to go home, we just took the tricycle. Another first ofr our little angel. Hahaha.

We stayed at home for a bit before going to my in-laws' place for lunch. They were very very happy to see the little Enriquita, and boy did my baby didn't disappoint. She's such a sweetheart! Later we're off to my Grandma's house for dinner. This week really started out well, and I thank the Lord for it. I pray that the rest of the week would be a wonderful and blessed week for us.

La Greta Moment

Well... almost. Hahaha.

Anyway, the other day, I went to the gasoline station to well, fill up some gas. I asked the gasoline boy if the price of gas would go up again, and he said it would this Friday. So, I told him I'd get full tank. When it was done, I got my card and gave it to him. Then I nonchalantly asked how much it was. "2,527" WAHATTT???? I was half expecting it to be 2k only, a little more, a little less. That was how bad our gas prices are. The last time I had the tank full, it only cost me around P1,500? Geesh, was that a long time ago?

So anyway, I asked the gasoline boy to help me filling the tires with air, so I just waited for my card while doing so. And waited. And waited.

I had that little panic... Oh no, what if my card was denied, a la Greta? Will I call my boss to ask him to help me and give me 2,500? I didn't have cash too! Can I say "That cannot be, we own the bank?"

Good thing the card came. Whew. Hahaha.

Anyway, just as I had my tank full, that evening news broke that there will be a 1-Peso rollback. GRRR. KILL...

Early Christmas Gift Plans

As early as now I’m thinking what Christmas presents to give to all our department’s personnel. Last, year, I have given them these cute little paper/picture holders that they truly liked.



It really makes me feel good that I see them using my little gift to them, so I plan to give them more personalized items that I know they can use daily. I thought of giving them personalized pens this Christmas! I know this might be a little more expensive than usual but hey, I have received a lot of blessings this year so I wouldn’t mind it too much if I shell out more than usual. It’s for them anyway. And I know I would really feel happier whenever I see them use those pens.

Life Insurance

Because of the recent sinking of a passenger vessel because of the typhoon, I am becoming all the more convinced that as early as possible, I should get dear hubby an insurance policy. I know, you might think I sound so morbid today, and honestly I do not like thinking of such things. But for the sake of our future (more importantly, Eanna’s), it is best that I talk to my agent and ask for life insurance quotes. It is a reality that our little family largely depends on the second head of the house (first head of course is God). Sheeps, I really don’t want think about this. I should just stop. This makes my heart palpitate. Erase, erase, erase.

Spare Glasses

I recently blogged about me not being able to contact lenses in the near future, so I bought a nice little red eye glasses. I talked to friend J about it and while I was reading her blog, I got curious on an online optical store called Zenni Optical that she was raving about. I was amazed at the products featured, at very affordable prizes. They manufacture their own frames, and since they do not have any middlemen nor any grand advertising campaigns, they have kept their price tags at a minimum. The Zenni Optical $ 8 Rx Eyeglasses don't look bad at all. Had I known about this website earlier, I would've just bought my glasses there. Or rather, I should have regularly watched Fox News (or read the website daily), because Zenni Optical was on FOX news!

Anyway, no use crying over spilled milk. I totally loved checking out the Incredible Stylish New Frames From Zenni and here's what I would like to buy as my alternate glasses, you know, for home use and all...




Really funky, buy I don't care. I LIKE! Yoohoo... J, are you there? hahahaha. Kidding.