As We Plod Through Uncertainties

One can be certain,
He's always there with us with
what's best in His mind.


Note: The artwork was done by my late maternal aunt, the multi-talented Tita Con, or Conching Cortes.

Eternal Now

To be in the now,
the present moment, is to
live life to the full.

Getting There

We're on a climb. With
Him it'll be like taking the
elevator up.


Note: Reflection inspired by an excerpt from the book, Story of a Soul: Autobiography of St. Therese of Liseaux (The Little Flower).

Seek the Bottomless Reservoir

Allow God to love
you. Draw from this love all day
and all will be well.


Note: This comforting assurance came from the down to earth and inspiring
talks given by Brother Joseph
Schmidt, FSC on St. Therese of Liseaux at my parish mission week these past three days.

Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken Wings

I wanted an Asian chicken dish with no aromatics like garlic and ginger which I am supposed to avoid before my surgery since they claim they could also promote bleeding like aspirin and fish oil during surgery. I found this recipe in an Asian cookbook I bought for two dollars from thr Oakmont Library. I adapted it for the slow cooker. Here is this simple but delicious dish. 

Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken Wings

• 3 lb chicken wings
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 3 tbsp honey
• Juice of 1 lime
• 2 tbsp Soy sauce
• 3 tsp Sesame oil
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tbsp cornstarch in 2 tbsp water

Place all the ingredients in the crockpot and cook on high for 3 hours or 6 hours at low setting. I cooked mine in an Aroma brand rice cooker/slow cooker for 2 hours at slow cooker setting 

You can serve it with cut green onions and steamed napa cabbage and also steamed rice. 

As My Friend Lay Dying

Never have I felt
the presence of her soul than
when it was leaving.

Paula’s Prayer Meeting March 8, 2018

As the beautiful handout says, come and rest awhile and listen to what God is saying. Venture into meeting Him more intimately during this time of lent.

Sr. Paula played Monica Brown's "Quiet Your Soul" during the meditation period. I could not find it in YouTube and so instead I am giving you a video of the song or chant my husband, Bob, sang during the Taize ritual held at St. Bernadette recently.

Happy Easter to all.

Slow Cooker Pinakbet (Filipino Vegetable Dish)

When I went home to the Philippines recently, the vegetable dish called pinakbet was in almost every meal I had when I ventured out to eat at the different restaurants. Of course I had it also at my brother's house where I stayed while there prepared by their wonderful cook, Baby.

When I and my husband Bob took a road trip to Vigan in the Ilocos region of the Philippines together with my sisters and their hubbies, pinakbet was the number 1 dish we made a point to order when we ate out. After all the iconic dish originated from Ilocos.

We relished it during our first dinner in Vigan at Café Uno. It was also served at the buffet in a restaurant across from the Marcos Malacanang Palace in Ilocos Norte. We also had it in every restaurant we ate at when we went out, Judy Anne's Crispy Pata Place in Malabon, Jerry's in Edsa, Club Filipino and also at the hotel in Rock Inn in Sagada.

One can use any combination of vegetables with the most popular ones being squash or kalabasa, eggplant or talong, green beans or sitaw, bitter melon or ampalaya, okra, tomatoes together with the aromatics, onions, garlic and ginger. I used in this recipe what I had and you can improvise too. For example I love adding spinach in everything which I did here.

For flavor fermented fish or shrimp called bagoong is used. For myself I used miso paste as an alternative to make it vegan. You can also just use salt or fish sauce. For protein, pork or shrimp is added which I skipped in this vegan version.

You may or may not use coconut milk. I noticed while in the Philippines, they do not use thick coconut milk like I am used to here in the US since I use canned ones. They make their own fresh which comes very thin with barely a whisper of the taste of coconut. So, you can skip it. You can add hot chili pepper and leave them whole like I did and remove it before serving or warned your guests or just skip it.

You can sauté the mixture in oil if using the stove top method and then simmer till the vegetables and meat are cooked. In this recipe I decided to experiment and see if I can use the slow cooker approach. Namely, to just dump all the ingredients and forget it. The result was a dish I relished for several meals. Though the different vegetables really needed different lengths of cooking times, they came out together fine and created a very delicious combination of texture and flavor. Yes, Kuya and Ate, you can cook pinakbet in the slow cooker.

Slow Cooker Pinakbet (Filipino Vegetable Dish)

• 1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed and cubed
• 1 medium eggplant, cubed
• 2 cups green beans 
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 1 bag prepared spinach leaves
• 1 tbsp miso paste for vegans or for the nonvegans use shrimp or fish bagoong or fish sauce
• 2/3 cup vegetable broth
• 6 tbsp coconut milk full fat from can (optional)
• 1 whole red chili pepper uncut (optional)
• Pork or shrimp for nonvegans (optional)

Place all the ingredients in a crockpot and slow cook on high for 4 hours. I used a Crock Pot Brand casserole slow cooker. Note: After 2 hours, the squash and spinach are cooked but not the rest of the vegetables so I cooked further the whole mixture for a total of four hours.

Serve over rice. Yum.

A Gift in the Night

Finally it came.
That deep, long restful slumber.
Jet lag gone. Thank God.

Power of Hope

Hope engenders love.
A sense of gratefulness. What
was and is to come.

Seriously and Unseriously

Men shall see you as
the things you love most. Oh no!
Just ate three bagels.

Your Soul

From nature will you
find your soul. It is what it
is. Reality.

Faith

The acceptance of
knowing and unknowing. To
move from there gladly.


Note: The photo shows the renovated St. Bartholomew Church in Malabon City, Metro Manila where I grew up. As a student at the adjoining St. James Academy attending weekly Masses there, I used to gaze up above and wonder how I could get up there where a sort of veranda is located. I am glad to see that part of the church has been retained in the renovation.

Creation

We're called to evolve.
We are co- creators. A
task not God's alone.


Note: Based on Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation for Sunday, February 25, 2018.

Insecurities

Not known to those who
realize there's only one
person to please, God.

My Philippines

Palm trees, water waves.
The sun, blue skies, white sand. Etched
in my memory.

The First Step

Everything starts with
the first step. The big YES. The
rest is in God's hands.

Slow Cooker Green Beans and Tofu

This is an easy side dish or even main dish with rice. Just dump all the ingredients in a crock pot and let it do the cooking for you

Slow Cooker Green Beans and Tofu

• 3 cups green beans
• 1 onion, sliced
• 8 oz tofu, cut in large cubes
• 1/ 4 cup soy sauce
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp garlic powder or more to taste
• 1 tsp sugar
• Black pepper to taste

Place all the ingredients in the slow cooker. Cook for 3 hours at high setting. I used the Crock Pot brand casserole slow cooker. 

Invitation from Nature

Come feast your eyes with
the color I wear, the grace
leaves, flowers drape me.

Union with All

Do we have to build
fences? When we're all one from
start and till the end.

The Sacredness of Helplessness

In the lowest depths

we climb out stronger. We find

in, with Him our strength.

Note: Photo taken by my friend, Lulu Yambao of the sunrise in a beach in Bohol, Philippines.

Life is What You Make It

Water was shallow.

Didn’t matter. Swam like a fish.
What joy. Had a ball.

Just Be, You Are Loved Unconditionally

Stand tall and proud like
the mahogany tree. You
are always God's child.


 Note: The photo features the manmade Mahogany Forest located between the borders of the Loboc and Bilar towns in Bohol, Philippines.   It is about 2 kilometers long. 

Peace and Happiness

To give and receive
without strings attached is the
key to be happy.

Note: Photo features part of the nature driven garden of Aloha Hotel in Bohol, Philippines.

Easy Buko Pandan Salad

This is my favorite salad so far during my current visit to the Philippines. My talented and beautiful sister in law Pinky, my brother’s Benjie’s  wife, prepared it from fresh buko or young coconut. She was drinking the coconut water of the buko for health purposes and usually was left with the white delicious soft flesh of the buko. She decided to prepare this salad to make use of it.

It is easy to prepare this salad due to the availability of the pandan flavored gelatin mix. Pandan leaves are commonly used as flavoring in both savory and dessert dishes in the Philippines. Pinky also used a condensed milk product already mixed with cream. The latter is usually added  separately from a can of Nestle cream. The combination of the two milk products are used in fruit salads in the Philippines. Now they have both in one can. A bottle of kaong, or palm sugar, a nutty textured unriped fruit from a palm tree that was cooked in sugar, was also added. It contributes to the overall mixed texture of the salad, soft and crunchy and creamy and sweet.

Buko Pandan Salad

• Meat from 4 buko, shredded Note 1
• 1 bottle kaong, drained
• 1 box pandan gelatin mix
• 1 can Angel Brand Kremdensada (condensed milk with creme) Note 2

Prepare the pandan gelatin according to the package directions. Cut the prepared gelatin into cubes. 

Combine the cubed pandan gelatin with the rest of the ingredients. 

Enjoy. 

Notes

1. One can use two buko. The result will be a sweeter salad. 

2. One can use plain condensed milk and mix it with a can of Nestle Creme or softened cream cheese. 

Divine Providence

God wishes the best
for us. Let us be grateful
when it is fulfilled.

Note: Photo of the beautiful sunrise in Bohol was taken by my prolific high school classmate, Lulu Yambao.

The Beauty of the Flow

What joy to learn to
go with the flow. To let go.
Not react. Proact.


Note: Photo of the Luboc River, Bohol Philippines 

Perfect Ending

The sun glistens on
the water, the sky starts to
mellow out and droops.


Note: Photo taken by Lulu Yambao of the sunset on our way home to our hotel in Bohol. 

Slow Cooker Mustard and Maple Chicken

This is the slow cooker approach to making the dish that appeared in the Rachael Ray Show . She roasted the chicken and used butter in her recipe. This the easier and healthier version. She used potatoes which I ran out of so I substituted sweet potatoes, my favorite superfood.

The dish tasted delicious with both the mustard and maple syrup playing a lovely duet in your taste buds. The tinge of lemon and the tartness of the apple enhance the flavor of the sauce. It is also a good looking dish to serve.

Slow Cooker Mustard and Maple Chicken

Adapted from the Rachael Ray Show website

• 6 -8 pieces chicken legs or thighs
• 3 tbsp maple syrup
• 6 tbsp spicy grainy brown mustard
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• Juice and zest of 1/2 lemon
• 2 apples cored and cut in thick wedges
• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut in one inch pieces
• 1/4 tsp each sage and thyme
• 1 tbsp dry onion flakes
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• Salt and pepper to taste

Place all the ingredients in the crock pot and cook for 4 hours at high or 8 hours at low. I cooked it in my Aroma brand rice cooker/slow cooker for 2 hours at slow cooker setting.

The Inevitable

Embrace the cycle
of life with courage and peace.
With faith, hope in Him.