I love baking quick breads. Well, because I haven’t tried baking breads using yeasts, I am not so prepared with the hand-work of kneading doughs. But it is already in line if time allows me to. Baking CARROT WALNUT BREAD is the quickest bread you can prepare and bake in your oven. I got this recipe from a friend who is very diligent in tutoring me in baking and even so thoughtful of sending me these walnuts from US. I didn’t notice that I ran out of crushed pineapple but my carrot walnut bread minus the crushed pineapples tastes even great.

I grew up just knowing two kinds of nuts, peanuts and cashew nuts. I just got acquainted with nuts like walnuts, pistachios, almond and hazelnuts when I started baking, cooking and blogging. Walnuts are edible seeds from a tree of genus Juglans. I don’t know those are, hihi. But you can search in google for that. They are rich in anti-oxidants and is best to improve body fat in overweight adults. Walnuts are quite pricy in our country but they can be bought in small packages in some stores. Walnuts are best in carrot bread but if don’t have extra money to buy walnuts, you can use cashew nuts instead, or just top the Carrot Bread batter with chopped peanuts.
 
You may also try baking my other carrot bread recipes like CARROT BAR and PINEAPPLE CARROT MUFFINS.

CARROT WALNUT BREAD

1 cup chopped walnuts
2 1/2 cups grated carrots
1 cup raisins
1 cup orange juice
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup canola oil
4 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground cloves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, soak raisins in orange juice for about 10 minutes then drain with paper towels. Set aside

Cream oil and sugar together until light and fluffy in a mixing bowl. Beat in eggs and vanilla until well blended. Set aside.

Sift all dry ingredients together. Then mix into the wet mixture until well incorporated. Add grated carrots, raisins and walnuts. Pour batter in greased pan.

Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Remove from oven. Let cool and serve you CARROT WALNUT BREAD during snack time!

My father-in-law who is a native of Northern Mindanao introduced me to PANSIT BAM-I or PANSIT CANTON-SOTANGHON GUISADO. I know the recipe and the dish itself is not new to most Filipinos but the term Bam-i is somehow new to me and to some. Pansit Bam-i is a chinese noodle combination of pansit canton (egg nodles) and pansit sotanghon (bean thread or vermicelli) and is a very popular dish in parts of Visayas and Mindanao. There are wide varieties of home-cooked pansit recipe like Pansit Sotanghon, Pansit Canton, Pansit Bihon, Pansit Misua and many more.

PANSIT BAM-I (CANTON-SOTANGHON GUISADO)

200 grams pansit sotanghon (vermicelli)
200 grams pansit canton
cooking oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 medium onion, peeled and sliced
200 grams pork belly, boiled and sliced into bite sizes
1 small cabbage, cut into thin, ribbon like shreds
3 cups water
3 tbsp. soy sauce
salt
pepper

Soak sotanghon with water, about 10 minutes, set aside.

In a large skillet, heat oil. Saute garlic and onion until aromatic. Add sliced pork. Cook until pork cubes turned light brown. Add cabbage and soy sauce. Blend well with pork, constantly stirring. Add water. Bring to boil, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add canton and sotanghon noodles. Cook, tossing constantly until noodles absorbed the water. Transfer on a serving plate or large shallow bowl.

Serve while hot with sliced bread or pandesal!

CHICKEN SOTANGHON SOUP was my recipe last night, just like my mother used to make, despite of the hot weather. This is one of Colby’s favorite soup dishes where I added some bitter gourd, locally known as ampalaya, for a nutritious meal. Chicken Sotanghon Soup is considerably will give you and your kids enough nourishment without causing any trouble in your tummy.

You can also try the Chicken Sotanghon Guisado for merienda or as a party dish.

CHICKEN SOTANGHON SOUP

cooking oil
6 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
4 medium onions, peeled and sliced
250 grams vermicelli noodles (sotanghon)
250 grams chicken breast
1 1/2 liter water
1 medium ampalaya, seeded and sliced
2 tbsp. patis (fish sauce)
salt
pepper

Soak vermicelli/sotanghon  noodles in water. If strands are already soft, cut the strands into desired length and drain. Set aside.

Place chicken breast and 1/2 liter water in a small soup pot. Add salt and pepper. Add 3 cloves of garlic and half of sliced onions. Bring to a slow boil, covered, until chicken is cooked. Use a large spoon to skim any foam or scum off the top of the soup. Remove the chicken breast and put on a plate and cool completely. Reserve chicken stock. When chicken breast is cool enough to handle, remove the skin and take the meat off the bone; chop the meat into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.

In a medium soup pot or large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Saute the remaining garlic and onions. Add chopped chicken, saute for about 2 minutes. Add the remaining 1 liter water and the chicken stock. Bring to a full boil, covered.

Add the vermicelli/sotanghon noodles. Cook over medium heat for 5-8 minutes, covered.

Season with patis, salt and pepper.

Add the sliced ampalaya and serve while hot with white rice.

MISUA is a very thin flour noodles originated from China. Misua is a lot different with Bihon and Sotanghon which made from rice and mung beans. I always use misua everytime I ran out of time and idea on what to pair with a fried dish. It would only take me about 3 minutes cooking Misua in a boiling water. Misua can be cooked with beef, pork, egg, and chicken. You can also add some vegetables like sayote and patola for a healthy dish in just one bowl .

MISUA WITH SARDINES

2 tbsp cooking oil
200 grams misua
1 large can mackarel sardines
1 medium onion, peeled and sliced
2 cloves garlic, peele and crushed
1 liter water
salt
pepper

So that the garlic begins to infuse the oil even before it starts to cook, put the garlic and the oil in a large non-stick skillet, then set the skillet over very low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the garlic softens. Add onions, cook until aromatic, about 5 minutes.

Pour the mackarel sardines. Saute over medium-high heat, stirring constantly and cutting the fish into pieces with large spoon, about 5 minutes.

Add water, bring to full boil.

Add misua, cook about 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

Season with salt and pepper. Serve with rice while steaming hot.

GOTO or RICE SOUP WITH BEEF TRIPE, as I have mentioned in my last recipe post, is the best pair of TOKWA’T BABOY. LUGAW is a local term for glutinous rice soup while GOTO is a Tagalog term for Beef Tripe or the edible internal organ from the stomach of a cow. To some, eating beef entrails may be a sickening dish, but to us Filipinos, GOTO is a ultimate feast in a LUGAW which is sometimes tagged a poor man’s dish.

LUGAW WITH GOTO (Rice Soup with Beef Tripe)

1/2 cup cooking oil
1 large ginger, peeled and minced
5 heads garlic, peeled and minced
3 large onions, pelled and finely chopped
1/2 kilo beef tripe (goto)
1 cup malagkit or glutinous rice
water
fish sauce (patis)
salt
ground black pepper

Wash thoroughly the goto or beef tripe with running water. Remove excess fat sticked on the beef tripe using knife. Drain.

Using your pressure cooker, place the clean beef tripe, 1 liter water and salt. Cook for about 40 minutes until until tender. But if you don’t have a pressure cooker, just place the beef tripe, water and salt in a large pot and cook until tender. This may take about 1-2 hours so make sure you are adding about a glass of water from time to time so beef tripe would stick at the the bottom of the pan. Then, remove the cooked beef tripe from the pot, setting aside the broth. Then, slice the beef tripe about 1/4-1/2 inch strip. Set aside.

Wash the malagkit or glutinous rice with running water and drain. Set aside.

Heat a large heavy pot/pan. Swirl in cooking oil, then saute the ginger, garlic and onion. Cook until aromatic.

Add the sliced beef tripe or goto. Cook about 3 minutes.

Add the malagkit or the glutinous rice. Stirring constantly.

Then add about 1 liter of beef tripe broth. Bring to boil until malagkit is
cooked, stirring frequently, scraping the ingredients at the bottom of the pan. Season with fish sauce, ground pepper and salt.

Serve while hot with TOKWA’T BABOY.

As any mother would say, simpler is better. And nothing beats the stress-free cooking of a SCRAMBLED EGG. I added a handful of French fries to add an appeal to my 4 year old son, Colby, who loves fries.

SCRAMBLED EGG WITH FRENCH FRIES

1 teaspoon unsalted butter or cooking oil
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon milk
salt and ground black pepper to taste

cooked french fries

Either heat the butter or oil in a small nonstick skillet over medium heat.

Crack the eggs into a small bowl while the skillet heats. Use a fork to whisk in the milk until almost uniformly yellow.

Pour the mixture into the skillet, tilting it so that the mixture coats the bottom. Then use a rubber spatula to lift the fluffy bits off the pan’s bottom.

Tilt the skillet to bring more of the unset egg into contact with the hot surface. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the cooked French Fries on the half side of the egg.

Lift the other side, covering the side with fries. Cook for another 10-15 seconds.

Gently scoop the scrambled eggs with fried fries on a serving plate and serve with rice or bread.

It rained for the past 2 nights and I am thankful the rain somehow helped lessen the warm temperature which was 38 degress Celcius yesterday, the hottest day of the year. Some provinces here in the Philippines like Isabela already reached 40 degrees, whew, that is hot hot hot. I do not know if I am to be happy the summer is about to end because I really do not like rain. I had terribly stressed with the rain last year during the typhoon Pepeng. But I know we can push along whatever climate conditions it may be. Anyway, the morning is a bit colder and is telling me that it is about time to cook a warm and creamy SOPAS or CREAMY CHICKEN MACARONI SOUP.

CREAMY CHICKEN MACARONI SOUP is commonly known as SOPAS and is Filipino favorite soup dish for breakfast or merienda. It is an all-in one meal in a bowl. Macaroni pasta for your carbs, chicken chunks for protein, carrots and red bell as your veggies and milk as creamer for your vitamins and minerals.

SOPAS or CREAMY CHICKEN MACARONI SOUP

3 tbsp. cooking oil
2 heads garlic, peeled and minced
2 medium onions, peeled and finely chopped
½ kilo chicken breast, finely chopped
½ kilo elbow macaroni (or any pasta will do)
2 liters of water
1 large carrot, peeled and finely chopped
3 medium red bell pepper, unseeded and finely chopped
1 small can evaporated milk
3 tbsp. Knorr Cream of Chicken Soup
2 Knorr Chicken Cubes
salt and pepper

Heat a large soup pot over low heat. Swirl in the cooking oil then add garlic and onion. Cook slowly, stirring often about 4 minutes.

Add the chopped chicken. Raise the heat to medium-high. Stir constantly until chicken turned white.

Add water. Bring to a full boil.

Add elbow macaroni. Raise the heat to high, stirring often until macaroni is cooked.

Add cream of chicken soup, chicken cubes, carrots, red bell peppers and evaporated milk.

Season with salt and pepper. Cook for a couple of minutes and serve your Creamy Chicken Macaroni Soup while hot.

I cooked MEATY SPAGHETTI this day to break the usual biscuit and cookies we eat for meriendas. Colby has a small complain though with the spaghetti for I forgot to buy cheese to top with it. But he loved it anyway. I prefer spaghetti sauce to have more beef than having the meat just floating on a pool of tomato sauce and I seasoned the sauce a bit sweet to make it friendlier for Colby.

MEATY SPAGHETTI

Spaghetti noodles

3 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. garlic, minced
2 medium onion, minced
1/2 kilo ground beef
500 grams spaghetti sauce
200 grams tomato sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
water
salt

pepper

Cook spaghetti noodles according to its cooking instruction. Set aside.

Melt butter on a skillet.

Sauté garlic and onion.

Add beef. Saute for 5 minutes.

Add spaghetti sauce and tomato sauce. Bring to boil over medium heat.

Add water to your desired consistency.

Cook until meat is tender. Stirring constantly.

Season with salt, sugar and pepper.

Place cooked spaghetti noodles on a plate and top with meaty spaghetti sauce and cheese.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and this start-of-the-day habit should never be missed. We all know the truthfulness of this statement but we also all how difficult it is to prepare a good breakfast, especially for a working mom like me who usually wakes up a bit late and always runs out of time. Breakfast should really be easy and simple to prepare and also to eat. Good thing there are breakfast cereals that are filled with vitamins and minerals while ready to cook pancakes provide fiber, calories and protein enough to keep you up in the morning.

Breakfast is a must. Then, it should be, like what I mentioned, quick and fast. I do not wonder why eggs define the morning routine. I have this devotion for eggs – my fridge is always packed with at least half a dozen of eggs. Eggs supply almost all essential amino acids and provide several vitamins and minerals like vitamin A, D, E, B6, b12, iron, calcium and potassium. They are also the cheapest single-food to provide humans with protein.

It is easy to make good SCRAMBLED EGGS. They are the most favored breakfast recipes. It is fast, simple and quick and can be eaten with a bread or a cup of rice.

SCRAMBLED EGGS WITH WHITE ONIONS

cooking oil
3 large eggs
1 medium white onions, peeled and chopped
pinch of salt
pinch of sugar
pinch of black pepper

Beat eggs in a bowl. Do not overbeat for this will make your scrambled eggs a bit rubbery.

Season with salt, sugar and black pepper. Set aside.

Heat cooking oil in pan or skillet over medium heat.

Saute chopped onions for only minute so onions would still be maintain its crunchiness.

Pour the mixture into the pan. Count from one to ten, then work gently if you want your scrambled egg done as a whole or slowly stir the mixture to make portions.

Cook according to desired consistency. Some want soft scrambled eggs and others want them dry and hard scrambled eggs.

Gently scoop the eggs onto a serving plate and serve while hot.

I am enjoying the long vacation we have for this lenten season – get-together with the family, overnight stay at Baguio, swimming at Leisure Coast Resort, a time of worship, and most especially great meal moments with my family. I had the box of Maya Pancake since December and thankfully, I finally had a time to do the work with HOTCAKES or PANCAKES. Though I made a bit variation to break the traditional hotcake recipe which I find a bit boring, so I added a tablespoon of fresh orange juice. Then I thought of labeling them as ZESTY HOTCAKE.
Hotcakes from scratch can be such a fun to make because kids can participate in preparation and cooking. But if there is a rush or if a bit sleepy in the morning and brain is not working well, measuring flour and the rest of ingredients will not work since a complete presence of mind is needed in this task.

On the other hand, a complete Hotcake Mix is a ready mix for a time, money and energy saving to a perfect flipping hotcake for a satisfying breakfast or for a wholesome snack.

ZESTY HOTCAKE

1 pack of Maya Hotcake mix
1 egg
3/4 cup water (less 1 tbsp. water)
2 tbsp. oil

1 tbsp. fresh orange juice

Beat egg in a bowl. Add oil, water and hotcake mix. Add in fresh orange juice. Stir until slightly lumpy. Do not overmix.

Heat pan or flat skillet over low fire. Grease pan with a bit of oil or butter.

Pour batter according to desired size. Cook until bubbly and turn to cook the other side.

Serve hot with butter, pancake/hotcake syrup or honey or jam.