If I Have The Humility to Admit

Blessings are from Him
not me, I’ll feel grateful, not
fearful to lose them.

Shalom

Life's reality.
A beginning and an end.
Hello and goodbye.


Note: I used the nativity scene for this haiku. It was used as the backdrop for the meditation and homily given by Fr Tony during the beautiful Taize service last night at St. Bernadette Church. Fr Tony stated that the nativity is a symbol of inclusiveness, Jesus came for all, Catholics, Jews et al and even nonbelievers. So for this haiku, I just realized after I used it that using  the word shalom is putting two different faiths for the same message of life's reality. In retrospect an unintentional display of unity.

Shalom, a Jewish word, stands for both hello and goodbye. I used it to signify the beginning
of Jesus' life as shown in the nativity. I find the incarnation very important even more significant at the end of His life as a reminder He came to show us His love not only by dying on the cross but also by being like us starting as a little baby.

A Choice

Which kind would you choose?
Retributive justice or
restorative. WWJD.

Vegan Mushroom with Vegetable Curry

Sometimes I need something to put a spark in my food repertoire.  A curried dish like this one never fails.  I made the recipe simple and the blend of flavors straight forward without additional spices other than the curry powder.  I also used coconut milk for added richness. See note for added richness.  Enjoy this one pot wonder with plain rice or Naan bread. 

Mushroom with Vegetable Curry

• 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• 1 onion, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 inch ginger, minced
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 8 oz button mushrooms, sliced
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• Salt to taste
• 1 can full fat coconut milk (note 1 and note 2)
• 1 tbsp cornstarch in 2 tbsp water (optional.  see note 1 and note 2)
• 6 leaves napa cabbage, sliced
• 2 cups baby spinach

Add the broth in saute pan and allow to boil. Add the onion, garlic and ginger. Boil till the spices are cooked. Add the curry powder and mushrooms and continue to gently boil. Add more broth if necessary. Add the cornstarch in water. Add coconut milk and allow to boil gently.  Add soy sauce and salt. When the flavors blend upon tasting,  add the napa and spinach and just heat through. They should not be overheated or they turn limp.

Notes:
1)  If you prefer you can just use the cream and discard the liquid from the can of coconut milk for thicker sauce.  If you do you can skip the cornstarch used.

2) You can use non dairy milk just increase the amount of cornstarch for more thickness.

Baked Crab Cakes

I had always wanted to make crab cakes. I have made a vegan version in the past but lately I have had this urge to make the real thing. In the past two weeks I had crab cake on top of my salmon at the pricey Morgan Steak House, highly breaded frozen Maryland type ones in a package from Shop and Save and a frozen special crab cake for $3.99 each from McGinnis Sisters Specialty Grocery Store in Monroeville. The last one was the closest to what I was hankering for namely the ones I have eaten at Eighty Acres and Flowers in the Attic in Monroeville PA. The two places do not have much breading like the Shop and Save ones and neither are they just plain lump crab like the one at Morgans. They are soft not rigid and moist and full of flavor but not spicy.

I happened to have lump crab meat from Giant Eagle sitting in my fridge so yesterday I googled for the best recipes for crab cake.  I settled on Paula Dean's version plus the recipe right on the can of lump crab meat from Giant Eagle.

Both sources use mayonnaise as the base and very similar spices with Paula adding bell peppers in hers. She also added Ritz crackers. As a binder she used an egg but Giant Eagle did not and neither did I. Next time I might add it to give more body to the crab cake.

Paula Deen fried hers in oil while the Giant Eagle recipe uses the baking method which I embraced since it is easier and healthier.

The overall taste and texture were on par with the ones from Eighty Acres and Flowers in the Attic. I packed one for lunch yesterday when I baby sat my grandson who was not feeling well enough to be in the daycare. I topped it with the sauce I previously posted for the vegan version and ate it with rice which is how Filipinos would have eaten it if you may ask. I also made up for not going vegan for lunch and ate it with spinach and tomatoes.

Baked Crab Cakes

Adapted from Paula Dean's version  and the recipe from the can of lump crab from Giant Eagle

• 1 lb lump crab meat from a can, picked over
• 3 stalks green onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup finely chopped green pepper
• 1/3 cup crushed Ritz crackers
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tsp spicy brown mustard
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• Dash of cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
• 1 egg (I did not use but it might give more body)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Cover a pan with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray. Set aside. 

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Score into six sections. I found dividing into nine gives skimpy portions. Make a ball from each section and place in the prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes.

The baked crab cakes are soft and moist not rigid and dry. Just reshape into balls when transferring into serving plates if it loses its shape. 

Serve with sauce like the one I prepared from a past blog post.

Snow Queen Eats

Not dance with a prince,
other ladies in tutus.
Behold ballet moves.

Snow Queen

Dare she goes basking
in the snow. Thanks to her fur
no cold can stop her.

Slow Cooker Broccoli Cheese Soup

This is easy. No chopping involved. No sauteing. No special ingredients. Most are staples in your pantry or spice rack. Most of us usually have frozen cut broccoli in our freezer and cheeses slices in the deli drawer in our fridge.

One recipe I read uses Velveeta cheese which I did not have so I used American cheese slices which my husband uses for the sandwiches he brings to work. They melt just as easily and as creamy. The resulting soup is pretty close to what Panera bread serves.

This soup got two thumbs up from my husband who is becoming a soup Nazi in this cold weather. I notice when he comes home these days he just gobbles the soup I serve him for dinner and most of the time not eat the other dishes I cooked that night. So I am into preparing all kinds of soups for my man.

This is an easy one. Just dump it in the slow cooker and forget it. It can be cooked in the stove too.

Slow Cooker Broccoli Cheese Soup

• 3 cups water
• 3 chicken bouillon cubes
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tbsp dry onion flakes
• 1/2 - 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp cornstarch in 2 tbsp water
• Black pepper to taste
• 1-16 oz package frozen cut broccoli 
• 8 American cheese slices

Place all the ingredients in the crock pot except the cheese. Cook for 3 hours at high or 6 hours at low setting. At the last few minutes add the cheese slices and allow them to melt.

Salad Greens with Roasted Pears and Asian Orange Dressing

One of our go to places to eat at after Sunday Mass is Apple Bees Restaurant where I usually order their Asian chicken salad. This is my vegan take on this delicious hearty dish adding roasted pears and store bought vegan CHICKENLESS tenders. The brand I used for the latter is Earth Grown sold at Aldi Grocery Store. This company carries many other vegan products that are so delicious even a carnivore would eat them. No rubbery taste or texture. Sometimes vegans need some help and they do a wonderful job.

As for adding the roasted pears I got this idea when my line dancing class got together at my friend Clare's house for dinner to see their fabulous Xmas trees. She served this delicious salad with roasted pears and feta cheese. I was enamored by the sweet roasted pears which easily became part of my bucket list to prepare and use for a salad. Clare used champagne dressing but in this recipe I decided to go Asian that has an orange flavor and heat from chili paste. It is pretty close to what Apple Bees uses but with more personality but not in your face way. Combined with chickenless tenders this dressing makes eating this salad feel like you are devouring General Tsos chicken but with healthy greens instead of rice. No guilt but just pure bliss and fiber. You will feel life is good.

Me, Judy one of our line dancing teacher, Janet and Clare.

Dennis and Clare.

We had a good time looking at the tree ornaments, namely, pandas in the white tree, santa clauses in another and the variety kind in their grand main tree. Too bad our line dancing teacher Roz could not come but here is a picture with her below taken when we went out to eat at Sawa Restaurant December 2016. Below are a picture and video of our class in action.

Salad Greens with Roasted Pears and Asian Orange Dressing

• Pears cut into slices or strips
• Salad green mix, (I used spinach and Romaine lettuce)
• Asian Orange Dressing (recipe below)
• peanuts
• Earth Grown Vegan brand Chickenless Tenders or other vegan meat, cut into strips (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a pan with parchment paper or foil.

Place pear slices in the pan and bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes.

Distribute the salad greens into bowls and place roasted pears, peanuts and Chickenless Tenders strips if using. Serve with Asian Orange Dressing.

Asian Orange Dressing

• 1/4 cup vegetable broth or water
• 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp ginger powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tbsp chili garlic paste
• 1 1/2 tbsp orange marmalade
• 2 tbsp orange juice
• 1/2 tbsp maple syrup (optional)
• 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp chia seeds

Place all the ingredients in a glass jar and warm the mixture in the microwave for a minute and mix with a fork or shake thoroughly. You can also use a blender.

You Phantom Snow

You crept in the night.
Behold your beauty but with fright.
Shoveling in sight.

Antidote to Worrying

Let your heart be excited and not downtrodden by things you are not in control of.  As a popular song I heard as a child says,

Que sera sera. 

What will be will be.
The future is not for us to see.

Since we cannot see what is to come, why not choose what we can be excited about and be happy. The bad could come but why suffer twice, namely worrying sick before it happens and when it actually does.

You can be proactive about your worrying and just list what you can do to prepare for what you can control. Are you procastinating, then stop worrying and do something. Just think how good you will feel. Sometimes worrying signals you have to do something you do not want to do. Just do it.

Nothing Gives Me More Peace

Than to rest in the
thought that God is with me and
I need nothing else.

Slow Cooker Sambal Pork Chops

 

My oh my.  This  is so comforting I could not stop tasting and then devouring  it.  The mixture of just enough of everything, heat, saltiness and sweetness, makes you want more and more over your rice.  It is a rice guzzler so have enough of it.  The addition of diced tomatoes helps in enriching the sauce or else it would have been another Asian tasting dish.  So heavenly good.

I adapted this from the recipe I saw at the Valerie's Cooking show at Food Network.  She used almost the same ingredients except for the meat.  She used chicken while I used pork chops. She and I used bottled chili garlic paste or sauce to give the kick that sambal dishes are known for.  She also utilized fresh garlic, onions, galangal and lemon grass.  I did not bother to buy those two last exotic items and just substituted ginger powder for the galangal and plain lemon juice for the lemon grass.  I also used dry onion flakes and garlic powder instead of fresh ones.  It was one of those days.   Too busy to cut anything or sauté them.  Valerie sautéed some of her ingredients but I did not.  I just dumped them in the slow cooker which incidentally is my new Crock Pot brand Casserole Slow Cooker.

As I mentioned previously every flavor was subtle but together they form a rocking move on your tongue. This is a very good dish on  a busy day when you are too lazy to cut any ingredients or saute anything.

Slow Cooker Sambal Pork Chops

Inspired by the recipe from Valerie's Cooking

• 3 lb assorted pork chops
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1/4 cup garlic chili paste
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 2 tbsp dry onion flakes
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp ginger powder
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1-28 oz can diced tomatoes
• cilantro leaves

Combine all the sauce ingredients except the pork and cilantro in the slow cooker and mix. Place the pork chops on top and cover with sauce.  Cook for 4 hours on high or 8 hours at low. I cooked mine in the Crock Pot Casserole Slow cooker at high for four hours.

Serve with rice topped with cilantro leaves.

Rest and Be At Peace

He made you. Chose you,
Called you by name. You are His.
You'll always be loved.

Cookie Dough Chocolate Bark

This dessert is irresistible.  I ate the smaller scale version in one day when I first made this. The recipe was inspired by the one in Chocolate Covered Katie.  Katie used white beans instead of sweet potato which you can use.  But I am into having sweet potato at least once a day as I consider it one of the superfoods that can make you live forever. 

The photos are not that pretty.  For one thing I used cocoa which is  hard to mix with the melted coconut oil.  Chocolate chips would have been easier to use. Just melt and that's it.

Cookie Dough Chocolate Bark

Adapted from Chocolate Covered Katie

Chocolate Sauce

1 cup cocoa
1/2 cup coconut oil, softened not melted
1 cup maple syrup

 Cookie Dough

1 1/2 cup cooked sweet potatoes, mashed

2 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/3 cup quick oats

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp baking soda

Mix the chocolate sauce ingredients with stirring till homogeneous.

Line a 9 x 9 square pan with wax paper.  Spread half of the chocolate sauce at the bottom and refrigerate or freeze.

Mix the cookie dough ingredients in a food processor or by hand until smooth. Spread the cooking dough on top of the chilled chocolate layer in the pan.  Add the rest of the chocolate sauce on top.

Refrigerate for 15 minutes. Cut into bars just before the chocolate bark hardens to avoid it from cracking to pieces.

Vegan Banh Mi Sandwich with Sweet Potato Bacon

My favorite Banh Mi sandwich is the one I ate at the Pachanga Casino in California. It was spread with liver pate and had cold cuts as the meat. I had always wanted to recreate this using plant based ingredients and I think I have.

I used the Vegan Garlic Walnut Spread I prepared recently which is a dead ringer in looks and most importantly in taste to the liver pate. It gave the sandwich that garlicky taste which I love and moistness.

For the meat, I wanted something smoky and opted to use an updated version of the Sweet Potato Bacon I have prepared a while back. I added molasses and smoke paprika to the original recipe to add that smoky flavor I was looking for.

The addition of cilantro and pickled carrots and daikon radishes to this vegan version complete the Banh Mi experience I was craving for. It is as delicious and satisfying as the one I had at Pachanga Casino which I could not get off my mind.

Vegan Banh Mi Sandwich with Sweet Potato Bacon

• Baguette cut into 4-6 inches pieces
• Vegan Garlic Walnut Spread
• Pickled Carrots and Daikon Radish
• Cilantro
• Smoky Sweet Potato Bacon (recipe below)

Spread the baguette with the garlic walnut spread and add the other ingredients in layers.

Smoky Sweet Potato Bacon

Good for 2-3 sandwiches

Inspired by this recipe

• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/4 tsp molasses 
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and sliced

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a pan with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.

Combine all sauce ingredients and toss sweet potato slices in it. Place the them in the prepared pan and bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. 

Why do we cry?

I have had bouts of uncontrollable tears dripping down my face or just making my eyes glisten. The moments come when I least expect and can be embarrassing.

These moments never cease to surprise me and are usually accompanied by a warmth in my heart and emotions that overwhelm.

To explain why to some who have witnessed me do this is sometimes difficult. It is equally so for me until I found the words in the poster above and below that might just explain the unexplainable.

When the eyes see what
the heart feels.  The mind knows what
the soul is saying.

For me they are revelations, realizations that are gifts from God for which I am grateful.

As We Age

New wisdom. Greater
peace that comes from knowing that
God never leaves us.



Note: Photo of painting by my friend Win Konop. 

Redemption

Picking ourselves up.
Believing in a higher
power that sustains.


Note: Happy New Year to all. The ornament is made of bread. It is one of my favorites among those found in my friend Clare's awesome Xmas tree.