Grandma Salazar's Famous Tamales Recipe

I had been looking for a homemade Tamales for years. There are frozen ones at the stores which is not as good as the homemade, they are  commercially made and not worth the money. Anyway, I finally got me some homemade tamales that is a bit spicy but really tastes good. My son loves it. I still have some in the fridge and will fry some later. The pork can be substituted with either chicken or beef (with or without cheese). You can choose between green and red chili sauce. Here is Grandma Salazar's Tamales recipe.

Satisfy Your Sweet Cravings with P.F. Chang's Latest Decadent Holiday Desserts

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of P.F. Changs for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

For many people, the holiday season is all about traditions. This year, why not make it a tradition to try out new things and indulge you and your love ones to the unique taste of P.F. Chang’s handcrafted dishes, blissful desserts and festive cocktails? P.F. Chang boasts a prepared to order menu made from choice fresh ingredients and offers a rich fusion of Asian and American heritage from their décor to the food on your table. Think traditional Chinese cuisine with an American twang.

For the less adventurous, you can try their signature chicken lettuce wraps appetizer. They say, you haven't been to P.F. Chang's if you haven't tasted this starter. For the foodies, their tender shrimp with candied walnuts is sure to give your taste buds a playful experience and for the meat lovers, their Mongolian style steak brings in sweet savory goodness with every bite. Now for everyone’s favorite part (desserts!), P.F. Chang introduces two new mouth-watering dessert wontons that will surely give anyone a holiday cheer - Chocolate Raspberry and Sweet Vanilla Cream.

Chocolate Raspberry filled dessert wontons.

Top 10 Cookbook Gift Ideas For Any Occasion

I love cookbooks and consider them my prized possession. For my Christmas wish, I listed top 10 cookbooks that will be a great new addition to my cookbook collection. I may buy some of them but am still hoping someone will gift me these fabulous books. If you are trying to come up with a gift idea, no matter what the occasion is, cookbook is a lovely present that will be cherished.

Apple Dumplings

The recipe is absolutely delicious and easy to make. The thicken sugar butter sauce makes the dumplings moist and creamy. If you don't have biscuit,  crescent rolls is a good substitute. A  can or soda (mountain dew/sprite) can also use instead of water. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Nutritional Facts: Wild Blackberry

Wild blackberries are smaller than the ones  sold  in stores, but tastes better. I have the plants all over my place back in Oklahoma.  My son loves to pick and eat them almost everyday during the peak season. Blackberry can be used as desserts, jelly, jam, candy and sometimes wine.

Mc Donald's Limit One Coupon Per Person Per Visit Promo

December last year, I received a booklet of coupon from Mc Donald. I cut all the coupons and put them in my purse in case we want to go to Mc Donald. One fine day, I decided to bring my kids there and used the coupons. The promo says "one coupon per person," which means, we will be able to save some money for this awesome deal. But when we ordered and showed all the 3 coupons for the three of us, the cashier did not honor it, and we are allowed only one coupon per transaction. I showed her what was written on the coupon and she got confused too, so she asked the supervisor about it. The supervisor said it's one coupon per costumer. So I ended up with one coupon.

Cucumber Salsa

Cucumber is one of the most widely cultivated vegetables in the word. I have a lot of fresh produce cucumber from my garden that my family enjoys eating. Fresh crisp cucumber is a perfect side dish to any meal, an appetizer or as a garnish seared fish. Here is a very simple, healthy and delicious cucumber salsa that your family will love.

Peach Fritters

Peach is a delicious juicy fruit but not one of the  kids favorite. A mother always want to serve healthy food to the family, will not stop discovering new recipes. I tried many ways to serve peaches with my kids from cobblers to smoothies, and this fritter was a hit. When I served it on the table, my eldest son was hesitant to get a plate. He asked me what I cooked. I answered, "secret, you better taste it and find out by yourself". He  to took a bite while I was waiting for his reaction. I just love the look in his face when he said, "mommy, this is so delicious!". Then I asked, "Do you know what is it?". He replied, "Apple".  I told him that it was peach fritter. 

Quick and Easy Cheese Enchiladas

Enchilada is a Mexican cuisine made primarily of a corn tortilla rolled around a filling and covered with a chili pepper sauce. You can fill the Enchiladas with whatever ingredients you like like meat, cheese, vegetables, beans, or even seafood. The corn tortillas must be softened before they are rolled and baked by dipping them in the chili sauce or frying them gently in a little oil.

Easy Potato Salad Recipe

Potato salad is an all time family favorite, perfect for family weekend lunch, to any party or potluck supper. Serve it with steak or grilled chicken and any side dishes. The delicious potato salad is filled with flavor mayonnaise,mustard, relish and chopped hard-cooked eggs.

Taco Salad

Taco Salad is a family favorite comfort food. It is so easy to prepare that anybody will enjoy to munch. I like how easy it is to make on a busy day. All you have to do is cook the ground beef together with the taco seasoning while all the other ingredients comes from the pack and anybody can fix it anyway they want it to.

Basic Pancakes Recipe

Pancakes, serve with syrup and butter, along with bacon or sausage are perfect for breakfast every weekend with the whole family. It is so easy to make from scratch and will save money if you make your own mix than buying the ready packs.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2-3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups milk. room temperature or warm
• 2 tablespoons melted butter or vegetable oil

Cooking Direction:

1. In a big bowl, sift together all the dry ingredients.
2. In another bowl, lightly whisk the eggs and milk together until thoroughly combined.
3. Add egg mixture and butter to the dry ingredients.
4. Add the milk, melted butter and egg mixture to the dry ingredients  and stir gently just enough to combine. Avoid over mixing. Don't worry about lumps in the batter, these will cook out when the heat is applied.
5. Allow the pancake batter to sit uncovered for about 5 to 10 minutes. Add more milk or water if the batter is too thick.
6. Cook on a hot, greased griddle or pan, pour about 1/4 cup of batter. Turning when the underside is brown, and bubbles are starting to form over the top. Brown the other side.

Serves 4-5 person.

Cooking tips:

*Avoid over mixing. Over-mixing leads to tough pancakes.
*You can add chocolate chips, cinnamon or any fruit to the batter for added flavor.
*Do not press the pancake while cooking.
*You can substitute buttermilk with milk.
*The pancake batter can also be used to make waffles, just make the batter a little thinner and pour into a preheated waffle maker.

Namaste Foods Giveaway

Hosted by: Savory Savings

Sponsored by: Namaste Foods

Many people and families not only in America suffer from all kinds of allergies, you know how hard it can be to find delicious, safe foods to eat that won't trigger any allergy. Namaste Foods is a maker of allergen free delicious, accessible foods that contain no wheat, gluten, corn, soy, potato, dairy, casein, tree nuts or peanuts.

Tillen Farms VIP Pack Giveaway

Hosted by: Savory Savings

Sponsored by: Tillen Farms

Who wants to  win a Tillen Farms VIP that  includes four jars of vegetables and two jars of cherries fop a value of $50?

Buko Pandan Gulaman Salad

Buko Pandan gulaman salad is my sisters famous recipe from the Philippines. It is really a hit so I asked for a recipe but she never responded yet, so I came up with other's recipe combined with my sisters way of doing it which is shredding the gulaman instead of  dicing. She usually serves this every time she is in the mood to cook on weekends for family get together. Too bad, I cannot make it here as often as I can, the buko is seasonal and gulaman pandan flavor or pandan leaves are nowhere near me. Anyway, here is the recipe that is too perfect for summer.

Lemonade

Lemonade is a perfect thirst quencher on a cold weather. My family loves this and I make sure to make a freshly squeezed lemonade than buying the powder mix. Try this homemade healthy, cool and refreshing juice drink for your family.

Lemonade Recipe

Ingredients:

• 6-8 lemons (depending on the size)
• 2 cups sugar
• cold water
• 1 lemon, sliced (optional)
• crushed ice
• Mint sprigs, for garnish (optional)

Directions:
1. Scrape off the yellow part a lemon peel. Set aside the lemon rind.

2. Make simple syrup by heating the sugar and 2 cups water in a small saucepan until the sugar is dissolved completely. Set aside, add the lemon rind. Let cool.
3. Extract the lemon juice.
4. Strain the simple syrup when cool.
5. Add the juice, the simple syrup and cold water to a pitcher. Add water and sugar according to your desired strength and sweetness.
6. Serve with lots of ice and some lemon slices. Enjoy your Lemonade!

Note: 

*Do not scrape off as much the white inner layer of the lemon peel, this part is bitter. 

*Do not to leave the lemon slices for too long in the juice, it leaves a bitter taste.

Pancit Bihon Guisado

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Pancit Bihon is a very thin rice noodles common in Asian countries. Pancit Bihon or Pancit Guisado is one of the popular Filipino dishes. It goes well with lumpiang shanghai and rice. This dish is always served in any ocassions like Fiesta, birthday parties, or just an ordinary day. The recipe varies around the Philippines. As long as you know the basic sauteing you are good to go. We cook pancit according to our style and taste. Some cook it with sliced meat, shredded chicken, shrimp and whatever vegetables available or simply vegetarian way. Below is the basic and easy to follow Pancit recipe.

Louisiana Crawfish For Lunch

I finally get the taste of Louisina crawfish. I bought a frozen pack for less than $10 for my lunch and served it with rice and vinegar sauce. A Cajun Crawfish Boil is quite salty so the technique is to dip in vinegar to get rid of the salty taste.

Super Easy Bake Shrimp

Bake Shrimp is one of the easy recipes that taste good. For only 20-30 minutes you have you have a meal on the table that the kids will enjoy.

Homemade Brownie Mix

I got this recipe posted in one of my Facebook group that says "Never buy boxed brownie mix again!". My little boy helped me prepare and mix all the ingredients. He did a great job and enjoyed eating this chewy moist brownie mix. The recipe is so simple, easy and most of all saves you money. This recipe is a winner!

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup Sugar
• 1/2 Cup Flour
• 1/3 Cup Cocoa
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 2 Eggs
• 1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• peanuts or any nuts (optional)
• pancake syrup (optional)

Directions:

1. In a bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together with a whisk.
2. Add 2 Eggs, 1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil, 1 teaspoon Vanilla, mix well.
3. Pour into a greased 9 x 9 baking pan. 
4. Topped with your choice of nuts.
5. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes
6. Let it cool and brush with pancake syrup  for a shiny look.

As suggested on the original post, fakeitfrugal.blogspot.com: Fake Betty Crocker Brownie Mix, you can dump all the dry ingredients in a zipper bag and store in your pantry for at least six months or in the freezer for up to a year.

Sweetriot Chocolate Bar Giveaway

This giveaway is Hosted by: Savory Savings
and Sponsored by: sweetriot

sweetriot chocolate is made of premium, high quality, and all-natural ingredients for a new generation. To all chocolate lovers like me, we surely gonna love this chocolate. Savory Savings,  was given the chance to review some amazing chocolate by the oh-so-awesome people at sweetriot! Here’s the very best part,  they are giving away win three sweetriot chocolate bars to my readers.

Peanut Butter with Unique Flavors

If you are a peanut butter lover, you might gonna like the PB Crave Peanut butter which  is made with high-quality ingredients. They have 4 unique flavors, each mixing your favorite flavors for a new twist on an old classic.

Manna Organics Bread

I entered in a giveaway, Manna Organics- Review and Giveaway, sponsored by Manna Organics bread hoping to win this healthy, gluten free bread. Luckily, I was the winner and here is my prize delivered in front of my doorstep in just a few days, a box full of 4 different loaf of breads: Cinnamon raisin, Ancient grain, Ciao Chia, Original.

Pancit Palabok ( Pancit Malabon )

At last, I was able to cook Palabok for lunch today. My little boy named it Palabok Spaghetti. I thought he's not gonna like it but it turned out a winner in his taste buds. The palabok noodles and palabok mix are one of the Filipino food stuff that I ordered last month. For a quick palabok sauce, there are ready mix packs available in the market. It is cheaper and saves you a lot of time preparing. Just follow the package direction to get the best sauce consistency. Here is my improvised version.

Phil-Am Food Online Store

I was checking Filipino food stuff online and after a week of deciding which of these stores has the cheapest price and shipping. Some of the competitor's items are cheaper than the other, so it is really difficult to decide which one of them really offers  the best deal to the costumers. After days of checking out online stores, I decided to order at Phil Am Food (http://www.philamfood.com/) because of the flat rate shipping and not because they offer the lowest  price. I figured out, I saves a lot with a flat rate ground shipping of  $9.95 for the order of $25.00-49.99 that will be deliver right  in my door step.

Beanitos: The Original Bean Chips

Last week, I joined the Beanitos giveaway at Spice Up Your Life. I received an email message the other day that I won the contest. This morning, a big box was delivered right in front of my doorstep. After checking out  who sent it, I excitedly open the box full of Beanitos chips. I took pictures and grabbed a pouch "Black Bean Chips" to see how a chips made of beans taste like.

Slow Cooker Roast Beef

Saturday is always a family day for us. This is the time for me to cook a hearty meal for the whole family, there is nothing better than homemade cooking. It  is cheaper, healthier and taste much better than does serves in the restaurant.