I made Pancit Canton tonight with some of the goodies I bought from Phil-Am Foods. (Pancit in the Philippines, reminds me of American/Chinese lo mein in the USA.) 

No carrots in our version though, they aren't my husband's favorite, hehe. Instead we had, chicken, shrimp, quail eggs, cabbage, onions & baby corn pieces. We still have leftovers. :-)


Things I purchased from Phil-Am Foods to make the Pansit:

Pancit Canton Seasoning

Pancit Canton Noodles

Quail Eggs

We had this for dinner the other night and it turned out great. Thought I would share my recipe with everyone! It's pretty easy to throw together!

Cheeseburger Lasagna: Crock Pot Recipe

• 1-2 pounds of ground beef
• 1 large onion chopped into small pieces
• 2 jars of Ragu Double Cheddar Sauce.
• 1-1/2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese. (I only had enough cheddar to coat the very top, so I used mozzarella in the middle layers).
• 2 cans of diced tomatoes. 
• Oven ready lasagna noodles *(make sure the box says 'Oven Ready' noodles, these are noodles that are already slightly pre-cooked so you don't have to boil them).
• 1 Teaspoon of Goya Adobe all purpose seasoning (red lid)
• Bottle of ketchup.

(You could also add bacon to this recipe by cooking up 6 slices of bacon and crumbling them into the ground beef while it's browning). 

Ingredients- (ground beef & shredded cheese not pictured).

Step one: 

Brown your ground beef & onions in a frying pan. Toss in 1 teaspoon of Goya Adobe all purpose seasoning.

Step Two: 

Coat the bottom of your crock pot with a thin layer of the Ragu double cheddar sauce. Next a layer of your ready cook lasagna noodles. (You may need to snap some in half to fit; make sure you completely cover the bottom with noodles).

Layer of cheese sauce & lasagna noodles broken to fit.

Your layers should go like this:  

• Lasagna noodles
• Diced tomatoes
• Ground beef & onions
• Double Cheddar Sauce
• Shredded cheese
• Criss cross of ketchup.
• Lasagna Noodles

1 finished layer, waiting for more noodles

Repeat process until you get to the top of the crock pot. Top with more cheese sauce & shredded cheese & a criss cross of ketchup. Let cook on low for 5-6 hours. Enjoy!

Sorry for the lousy after photo, but it tasted really good! :-)

My Dad gave me a live in person tutorial on how to make homemade pizza crust a few weeks ago. I never had much luck with getting any dough to rise, lol. But I followed his instructions and we enjoyed fresh homemade pizza the other night. I thought I would share his tutorial with all of you. (Pictures included!). You can double this recipe. I've underlined the ingredients you will need below.

1st step: Combine 1 cup of hot water (the hottest you can get out of your sink tap), 1 teaspoon of sugar & 1 packet of dry active yeast in a bowl. Use a rubber spatula to give it a few quick stirs then let it sit for 15 minutes uncovered.

Hot water, sugar & dry active yeast

When you come back your bowl of yeast should look like it has beer foam on the top of it. (Which is how my Dad explained it to me, haha!) That's how you know your yeast is working.

See: "Beer Foam" lol!

Step two: Pour 2 1/2 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon of salt into your bowl with the dry yeast mixture. Use a rubber spatula again to fold the flour into the mixture using a circular motion, sometimes pressing the spatula into the dough like kneading. Once your dough begins to stick to your spatula add 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil and continue to work the dough in a circular & kneading motion with the rubber spatula. You will not need to touch the dough with your hands.

Dough ball!

Step three: Once your dough is in a neat little ball. Grab a dish rag or washcloth and run it under the hottest water you can. Wring it out a bit, then drape the rag over your bowl. You want a nice warm place for your dough to rise, so I always pop my rag covered bowl into the microwave and let it sit for one hour. (I keep my microwave unplugged when not using it). You won't be using the microwave- just storing your bowl of dough there for 1 hour.

Damp rag with hot water- let dough sit for 1 hour.

Step four: Take the damp rag off of your bowl of dough. It should have increased in size by now. You can give it a few more kneads with your rubber spatula, but then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit in your fridge for one whole day. Letting it sit for a day makes it easier to roll and work with the next day. And as my Dad said, he thinks it tastes better when you let it sit a day before using it. (Your dough can be stored for up to 5 days in the fridge).

After sitting for 1 hour- the dough has risen.

Step Five: Enjoy making homemade pizza with your homemade pizza dough! I know I did! Roll out your dough to fit your tray (don't forget to sprinkle a little flour before rolling), add sauce cheese & toppings. To cook your pizza, heat your oven 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

This is supposed to be pepperoni & onion- next time... cheese first- then toppings, lol! Our 2nd homemade pizza! Hawaiian! Mmmm!

I'm still having fun with my new crock pot I got for Christmas. I made beef stew last week and it was sooo good! I took a combination of a crock pot recipe/ the recipe on the back of the beef stew seasoning packet.

Here's my recipe for beef stew for 2:

• 3 cups of water
• 1 can of tomato paste
• 1-2 lbs of beef stew meat
• 2 medium potatoes diced
• 5-6 small/medium carrots sliced
• 1 medium onion sliced
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• 1/4 teaspoon of pepper
• 3 tablespoons of Worchestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons of brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons of Flour
• Few shakes of Goya Adobe all purpose seasoning. (Red Lid)

Put all the ingredients into the crock pot, stir. (You may need to whisk the flour into the sauce). Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

This was sooo good! The beef was so tender and the tomato paste really made a thick hearty gravy. It was perfect because the evening we had this it was only 29 degrees out. Enjoy! I know I'll be making this again sometime soon!

I got a crock pot for Christmas from my parents. Something I've wanted for awhile. The first thing I made in it, was potato soup! :-)


Here is the original recipe. And below is the recipe altered by me to serve 2 people. Perfect soup for a cold winter evening.

Potato Soup for 2 in Crock Pot

• 3 large (or medium) potatoes, chopped
• 1 half of medium onion, chopped
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• 1/4 teaspoon of pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon of minced garlic (I use the kind in a jar).
• 1 tablespoon of honey (adds some sweetness).
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 cups of milk
• 1/2 cup water
• Few shakes of Goya Adobe all purpose seasoning. (Red Lid).

Put all the ingredients into the crock pot, stir. Cover and cook on low for 5 or 6 hours.

After it was done cooking, I took a potato masher and mashed some of the potatoes up. So the soup had a creamy texture, but still had chunks of potatoes in it. Then I whisked the soup real good before I served it.

Top with cheese or croutons & enjoy!

Getting ready to cook for 6 hours!

Ready to eat!

I also made homemade Chicken Noodle Soup. Mmmm!


Chicken Noodle Soup for 2: Crock Pot Recipe

• 2 chicken thighs (fully cooked), bones removed & cut into small pieces
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• Few shakes of Goya Adobe all purpose seasoning. 
• 1 tablespoon of honey (Trust me!) 
  
• 3 cups of water
• 1 can of chicken broth
• 1 half of a small onion diced
• 1-1/2 cup of frozen mixed veggies (peas, carrots, lima beans).
• Half a box of your choice of noodles, (All I had on hand were the mini shell kind).

Set aside noodles. Add all other ingredients, stir together & cook on low for 5-6 hours. One hour before it's done, add the noodles & 1 extra cup of water. Stir & let finish cooking. (I also added a potato because we had some around the house).

We still have leftovers of the chicken soup! It made a lot! And it was sooo good!

I've been fighting a nasty cold since last Thursday, which turned into a chest cold this past Monday, so hot soup was just what I needed!

Now... can't wait to make pulled barbeque pork & beef stew in my crock pot!

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays to everyone! F.B. & I will be celebrating Christmas Eve at our apartment. This will be F's 1st Christmas in the USA, our 2nd Christmas married & our 3rd Christmas spent together. :-)

I'll be making alfredo pasta with mushrooms, bacon and ham for Christmas Eve dinner. Also Texas toast with cheese, and Pillsbury cinnamon rolls for dessert. Mmmm.

Christmas Day we'll be meeting my family at a Chinese Buffet for brunch. (3rd year we've done this tradition). Then we'll be heading back to my parents house to exchange gifts. F.B. & I will be exchanging gifts tonight.

I made a batch of cookies Friday night and two batches this afternoon. Of course I had some cookie baking disasters though... 1st off, I really need to buy a GLASS measuring cup- my plastic one melted while trying to melt chocolate in the microwave, lol!


And I really love Dollar Tree. My apartment is stocked with stuff I've gotten from there. But their cookie sheets... epic fail. The metal warped in the oven and my cookies ended up looking like.... brownies? The perfect cookie on the right is from the cookie sheet my Mom gave me. The cookies on the left... are from the Dollar Tree cookie sheet...


I made a batch of these White Chocolate Cherry Cookies:


And Thumbprint cookies with strawberry jam!

I made Swedish Meatballs last night with this recipe I found on Yahoo Shine.

They were AMAZING! I did alter the recipe a bit, we only had beef in the house. I added noodles. I added chopped onions & mushrooms to the sauce. And I added a splash of Worcestershire sauce, a tablespoon of brown sugar & a dash of rosemary to the meatballs and sauce. I also made the meatballs a bit larger so I cooked them for 30 minutes. But otherwise, I followed the recipe! The meatballs tasted like they had slow cooked for hours. Sooo good!

Just something I decided to throw together for dinner this evening. It turned out wonderful. It's a very hearty comfort food meal. It reminded me a bit of beef stew. Loved it! I will definitely be making this again.


I wanted to share the recipe:

Potato/Veggie Chicken Bake

Ingredients:

4 Boneless Chicken Breasts
1 can of mushroom pieces
1 can of carrots
3 small or medium potatoes.
Half an onion cut into small pieces
Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil
Parsley Flakes
Flour

Sauce:

1 can cream of mushroom soup.
Milk
Brown Sugar
Corn Starch
Worcestershire Sauce
Montreal Chicken Seasoning

Directions: Heat Oven to 350 Degrees.

1. Cover bottom of casserole dish with light coating of olive oil. Cut potatoes in round slices, then cut the slices in halves. Place around edges of dish and sprinkle with salt, pepper and parsley flakes.

2. Cook up your onions and mushrooms together with a little bit of olive oil in frying pan until onions are clear. 

4. Coat chicken breasts in flour, then sprinkle with salt & pepper and brown in another frying pan.

5. Place browned chicken breasts in the middle of the casserole dish. Pour in carrots, onions & mushrooms over the potatoes surrounding the chicken. 

6. Pour sauce over the chicken and veggies. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour.


Directions for sauce:

In a bowl whisk together 1 can of cream of mushroom soup & 1 can of milk. Stir in about 4 tablespoons of Worcestershire Sauce, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, 2 tablespoons of corn starch and a few shakes of Montreal Chicken Seasoning.

I made a lemon layer cake today, but sadly I peeked in the oven before it was done and as I was looking the air went out of each cake like a balloon. So my poor cakes had a flat middle on each layer... My Mom made up a saying, "Let baking cakes be..." and it's true, lol!

I never saw such a sad pitiful looking cake!!! As soon as we cut it, it collapsed in on itself! :-(

I had a hard time finding a recipe for a lemon cake, all of them had 3 layers or more. So I decided to take the cake recipe from The Pioneer Woman's coffee cake- literally, and replace the coffee in the cake and icing with fresh lemon juice and lemon zest. It tasted amazing, it just didn't look too pretty!

Replace the coffee in the cake and icing recipe with:

• 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Hopefully your lemon cake will look better than mine!

F.B. also got me a really nice heavy duty metal meat tenderizer from Walmart. It's awesome! (It's great for taking out stress/life frustrations when cooking too, lol!) I'm making beef with onion and mushrooms fried up in a pan tonight and served with mashed potatoes and peas. (Last time we tried it with steak strips).

I tenderized the beef, cut it in small pieces and then I'm letting it soak in a marinade I make myself. I don't have exact measurements. I think less than 1/4 cup for everything, I just add as I go along. My steak marinade has:

• Little bit of water 
• Olive oil
• Soy Sauce
• Worcestershire sauce
• Brown sugar
• Teaspoon fresh garlic 
• Montreal Steak Seasoning

Then after tenderizing your steak, let it marinate several hours or overnight before cooking.

I tried baking the Pioneer Woman's Coffee Cake- (Literally). It turned out great, it's really moist and very sweet & rich. The coffee flavor isn't overpowering, my Mom hates drinking coffee, but even she liked this cake. Yummy!




I may be getting my 4 ratties from Star's Rat Rescue this weekend! Really hoping all the drivers are able to make this work! Our Philadelphia driver from last year will be going up to meet one of the other drivers in Ohio and then bring the Philadelphia ratties back! Very Excited!

And here's a cute picture of Hazelnut, Honey, Rosie & Clover from the other evening. I'm always finding this gang sleeping in funny positions! (Lily is in the background.)


F.B. is still searching for a job everywhere and anywhere! Offices, Stores, Restaurants, etc. We mailed my sister in law some baby gifts, she & her husband are expecting in Sept. And also my cousin Chrissy & my cousin Heather. (Lot's of September babies.) Tomorrow evening we'll be going out with my cousin Jessica to take her out for a birthday dinner.

After a Sunday of cleaning rat cages, the bathroom, our bedroom and doing laundry. F.B. and I cooked dinner and dessert.

We made Ginger Tofu Stir Fry with mixed veggies and broccoli. (Same sauce I use when I make my Ginger Chicken Stir Fry.)


And for dessert. (We ate these before dinner, hehe!) The Pioneer Woman's French Breakfast Puff's. They were amazing! Though of course anything rolled around in butter and covered with cinnamon sugar is going to be good!

For New Years Eve dinner I made a Quiche Casserole. I took the idea from a Good Housekeeping January 2011 recipe but altered it a bit for our family.

I'm going to use the premade hash brown patties to line my casserole dish with next time. I tried making my own hash browns but failed because I didn't peel the potatoes beforehand and they turned greyish and not very pretty because of the skins, lol! So next year I'm using the premade hash brown patties!

Quiche Casserole

(Use a large rectangle casserole dish).

Ingredients:

8 Eggs
2 Egg Whites
2 cups Milk
Frozen Hash Brown Patties
1/4 teaspoon of Salt
Dash of Pepper
1 large Onion
1 Small package of chopped ham. (Around 4-6 Oz.)
1 Package of Bacon
4 Oz. Sharp Shredded Chedder Cheese
4 Oz. Shredded Sharp Swiss Cheese (I had to shred the swiss myself.)

Directions: Preheat Oven to 375 Degrees. It will take about 40 minutes to cook.

1. Line bottom of casserole dish with a little Olive Oil and lay hash brown patties so it covers the bottom of the dish completely.

2. Cook the package of bacon and set aside to cool. Chop onion finely and caramelize in a frying pan with a little olive oil. Also set aside.

3. In a large mixing bowl combine eggs, egg whites, milk, salt & pepper. Whisk well to combine. After whisking add in the chopped ham and shredded cheese. Crumple in the cooled bacon & onion. Mix well.

4. Pour the quiche mixture over the hash brown patties in the casserole dish. Cook for 40 minutes.

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

I hope everyone had a nice holiday! I had off from work on Friday so Thursday night I baked butter thumbprint cookies using this recipe. I made some with strawberry preserves and others with milk & dark chocolate Hershey kisses. The strawberry preserve ones turned out amazing! I want to make more sometime with strawberry and raspberry preserves.

My Anniversary & Christmas gifts arrived from my husband. He sent me a Hello Kitty wallet. I wanted one from a cheap stall in the Philippines but he got me a nice one from the Sanrio store over there. A little stuffed mouse and a jade bangle, but unfortunately my pretty bangle doesn't fit. :(


Decorated the rat cages this year for Christmas with some Dollar Store decorations. (All of the pictures are here.)

(The ratties got yogurt raisins and yogies for Christmas!)

Christmas eve I stopped up to visit my cousin Jessica & drop of Christmas gifts. Christmas Day went with the family to the Chinese Buffet. This was the first year we did that and I think we're going to every year now. We had a light dinner exchanged gifts and watched movies on Netflix. I signed up for the free 30 day trial but I think I'm going to keep it because it's only $7.99 a month and I don't really watch TV at all so it's nice to be able to watch movies on my laptop. Plus we can stream through the PS3 to our TV.

My parents got the cat and dog Santa outfits for Christmas. My Dad's dog was excited about it but our cat Tansy was pissed!

Tansy

Homer

Ivy (She's a big squish hehe!)

I got lot's of stuffed animals for Christmas, haha. I've always wanted sock monkey's! And I got a Panda Pillow Pet and a "Pillow Pet". Hehe! I also got a Kangaroo Keeper for my purse and some supersized Dr. Pepper lip balms. Ooooh and a huge bag of Starbucks ground Christmas Blend Coffee! (The best!)


Don't forget to enter my Holiday Giveaway! Deadline is December 31st, 2010!

May not have work tomorrow. A snow blizzard started this afternoon and it's supposed to snow into Monday. We may be getting 8-12 inches of snow. I really hope they close work because so far the trains are delayed by almost 40 minutes and some bus service has been suspended. The mayor of Philadelphia declared a snow emergency that will last until 1pm Monday. Let's hope this is the only major snow storm we get!