Homemade Chocolate-glazed Cream Puffs

The ingredients and processes involved in making homemade chocolate-glazed cream puffs

Ingredients

Dough:

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 6 tbsp melted butter or margarine
• Oil for deep frying

Chocolate Glaze:

• 1/4 cup condensed milk
• 3 tbsp butter or margarine
• 20 pcs. Goya Easy Melt Dark/Milk Chocolate Buttons

Procedure:

1. In a big bowl, whisk dry ingredients flour, sugar, baking powder and salt first. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl, whisk liquid ingredients milk and melted butter together.
3. Next, pour in liquid mixture to the dry ingredients. Whisk and mix well. Then using your hands mix thoroughly and form into one big dough.
4. From this one big dough, get smaller portions and form into scoop-sized balls. Set aside.
5. In a deep fryer, pour enough oil and heat into ideal temperature for frying golden brown puffs. Deep fry the dough balls.
6. Place the deep-fried cream puffs in a serving platter or tray lined with paper towels to absorb excess cooking oil. Set aside.
7. In a bain-marie or double boiler, melt butter or margarine, chocolate melt balls, and condensed milk in low heat. Stir the chocolate ganache consistently in one direction until the desired texture, consistency, and glossiness of the chocolate is reached. Set aside and let it cool.
8. Using a piping bag, cake decorator, or even just a cake spatula, layer or spread onto the deep-fried dough balls the chocolate ganache glaze.
9. Makes around 30-35 pieces of chocolate-glazed cream puffs.

Cebu and Bohol Vacation

Baked Ziti Filipino Style

Finished product with nutrients information courtesy of MyFitnessPal app

the ingredients

Ingredients:

○ Ground beef 500 g

○ Contadina penne pasta 500 g

○ Basso olive oil 1 tablespoon

○ Hunts spaghetti sauce 2 pcs. 250 g packs

○ Garlic cloves 5 pcs. minced

○ White onion 2 pcs. medium size chopped

○ Iodized salt according to taste

○ Crushed black pepper according to taste

○ Crushed parsley leaves according to taste

○ Kraft Eden Melt Cheese 1 cup grated

○ Emborg Mozarella Cheese 1 cup grated

○ Anchor Parmesan Cheese 1/2 cup grated

Procedure:

1. In a pasta pot, bring to a boil 4 to 5 cups of water. Also, pour a drop of olive oil and sprinkle a dash of iodized salt to it; so that when the penne pasta noodles are dropped onto it, the noodles shall already be seasoned and will not stick to the pan.

2. Once this boils, add the penne pasta noodles. Cook for 11 to 15 minutes.

3. Soak in cold water and drain at once after removing from heat. This shall make for al dente rather than soggy noodles. Put in a pasta bowl.

4. In a sauce pan, saute in olive oil the garlic, onion and ground beef. When the sofrito no longer has reddish meat color, add one cup water and simmer for five to ten minutes or until the ground beef is cooked.

5. When the meat is cooked, time to add the Hunts Spaghetti Sauce with Parmesan Cheese.

6. Season with iodized salt, crushed black pepper and parsley leaves according to taste.

7. Simmer for another 5 minutes.

8. Next, pour this sauce mixture onto the pasta bowl with penne pasta noodles. Mix well using pasta noodle spoons.

9. Then in a baking pan, layer this pasta noodle and sauce mixture.

10. Afterwards, sprinkle all over with the cheeses: cheddar, mozarella and parmesan.

11. Sprinkle anew with crushed parsley leaves on top.

12. Bake in the microwave, oven, or oven toaster for 15 minutes or until the cheeses melt.

13. Serve hot.

Bicol Vacation

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Boracay Memories

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Day 4 Night 3: Paoay to Vigan

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Fireworks Photography: Welcome 2020 by Lennie M. Tejada

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Day 3 Night 2 Pagudpud to Laoag

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After checking out from the Apartelle at noon, our next stop was the awesome ocean views at the breathtaking Patapat Bridge. Like other visitors to the place, my family also partook of several jump shots, groupies and selfies. Lunch was at the nearby Blue Lagoon and Hannah’s Resort where there were several establishments that will cook and grill foods for a family picnic meal at the beach side cottages. We ordered fresh seafood and grilled meats coupled by Ilocano specialties pinakbet and dinakdakan.

From here, we journeyed the long road once more in the direction of Laoag City. The first landmark we stopped at was the Bangui Windmill and its stunning rough and windy coastline and sand dunes. We likewise stopped at the souvenir outlets to buy Bangui Windmill figurines, Bangui T-shirts sold at bargain prices, and snacks.

Our next destination, Cape Bojeador, was equally jaw dropping and truly worth the climb for its picturesque 360° panorama of the lighthouse, hills, promontory and the sea. Unfortunately, the Lighthouse Museum was closed as there were ongoing prenuptial shootings. I had to satisfy and console myself with the quality of some of my most amazing selfie shots taken at the most panoramic views everywhere around the world.

The sunset atop Cape Bojeador was golden and simply beautiful but we have to move on. By dinnertime at around 7 pm, we arrived at the very romantic and authentic Preciosa Restaurant and Bakeshop in the heart of downtown Laoag City. The restaurant serves authentic Ilocano cuisine with a matching ambiance of Ilocano bahay na bato hardwood furnitures and chandelier lighting fixtures.

La Preciosa’s meals were also superb. It was my family’s first time to taste beef sinanglao (the Ilocano nilaga, sinigang and papaitan) and we loved it. Other meals to try include bagnet, pinakbet, eggplant and pako salad. Their milkshakes and desserts were also to die for. Indeed their carrot cake is among the best in the Philippines. Other desserts include Oreo cheesecake and mocha crunch sans rival.

There it goes, Day 3 Night 2 of my fabulous Ilocos travel experience. Now do you see why it is unavoidable to fall in love with Ilocos.

First Night Day Two Pagudpud

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Based from our family’s 4 days/3 nights van tour of Ilocos last year, I fell in love with the region for its scenic water views everywhere, healthy delicious food, cultural attractions and ultimate family privacy and bonding.

After 10 to 12 hours of travelling by van from Marikina, my family arrived in the northernmost beach town of Ilocos Norte, Pagudpud, at 7 pm. After unpacking our things at Roq’s Apartelle, where we were billeted for the night, time to eat dinner by the beach in the nearby Casa Victoria in Saud Beach. I particularly liked their poqui poqui, pinakbet with bagnet, sinigang and the Ilocano winner dinakdakan, a combination of the tastes of adobo, sisig and kilawin. Their prices were reasonable and the ambience was quiet and beachfront.

Yes, rooms in Pagudpud have no WiFi and cable TV but who cares if you can commune with family and nature with no distractions. In my case, it was swimming to my heart’s delight by the full moon at the private pool of Roq’s Apartelle that would prepare me for a more active swim tomorrow.

Breakfast, once more, was a walk to Casa Victoria, where I chose a beef tapsilog meal with coffee. Their other breakfast meals are longsilog, tocilog, bangusilog, danggisilog, etc.

From there, time to enjoy the white sand beauty of Pagudpud’s Saud Beach by taking photos, walking along the shore or swimming in the deeper and wavy West Philippine Sea. Or if like in my case, your accommodation has a swimming pool, enjoy the day splashing in the water.

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My 2020 Yearend in Review

WFH Workouts: Treadmill at Home

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Being quarantined at home and living the sedentary WFH life is no reason not to stay fit and healthy. Like many others, I have gained 5 lbs. during the lockdown, as I was so busy with work deadlines and doing three thesis capstone proposal topics for my master’s degree thesis all within a span of eight weeks.

But now that it’s trimestral break, time to resume my regular fitness schedule which has been disrupted by work projects and graduate studies. It is nice that my family is into fitness too and so we have yoga mats, dumbbells, kettlebells, and treadmill at home. Smartphones also have lots of free apps to help you track your workouts including offering exercise videos that you can follow while you workout.

With that, fitness truly is a matter of choice and determination. As they say, where there’s a will, there’s a way. Nonetheless, so as not to become easily bored, I vary my exercise sessions. I do strength training, yoga, treadmill, aerobics and dancing. And when it is okay to go outdoors again, I will resume walking, biking and swimming. Indeed there are many ways to make exercise fun and enjoyable.

Homemade Thin Crust Bacon Hawaiian Pizza by Lennie M. Tejada

The previous months have been very hectic for me career wise and in terms of my postgrad academic life. The Open University system can even be more formidable as I only had twelve weeks to make and submit three capstone thesis topic proposals for my master’s degree program. Add to that, that even amidst the pandemic, I still continue to work from Mondays to Saturdays as a work-from-home full-time writer/editor.

Thank God the month of August in the Philippines has a couple of holidays that could allow you to unwind and just chill. Here I am spending the holiday and sem break finding time to do my other passions like cooking.

For this blog article, I will share my recipe for my Homemade Thin Crust Bacon Hawaiian Pizza. All ingredients are grocery bought. I even had mine through online delivery. The process too is oh so simple. Crisp fry the bacon in its own fat. Then, slice them into bits. Next, assemble onto the ready-made dough the pizza sauce and toppings. Then finally, bake in the oven toaster for 10 minutes.

Being a health buff, I am also sharing with you the My Fitness Pal Nutrients data of this recipe.

85 calories per slice

8.6 g Carbs (40%)

4 g Fat (40%)

3.7 g Protein (18%)

Sodium 259.5 mg

Potassium 60.1 mg

Fiber 1 g

Sugars 4.4 g

Vit. A 24.5%

Vit. C 23.3%

Calcium 5.5%

Iron 1.5%

Ingredients:

Marby pizza dough, medium size, pack of two

King Sue 125 g bacon slices

Del Monte Sweet Style Pizza Sauce 4 tablespoons

Dole 115 g pouch pineapple tidbits

Chevital Quickmelt Cheese one cup grated

white onion, medium, round slices

red bell pepper, julienne strips

Procedure:

1. Crisp fry bacon in own fat. Drain in paper towel and chop into tiny bits.
2. Spread two tablespoons of pizza sauce onto one of the doughs.
3. Sprinkle and scatter onto the dough and sauce the bell pepper strips, onion slices, pineapple tidbits, bacon bits, and grated quickmelt cheese.
4. Repeat with the other dough.
5. Bake each pizza dough in the oven toaster for 10 minutes.
6. Serve hot. Makes 12 slices.

Nutrition Journaling and Fitness Apps in the Time of COVID-19

I too can relate to the frustrations of weighing scale progress plateaus. With it seems all our hard work has come to nothing. But that is not a positive approach to living both in terms of mindset and perspective as it will affect our behaviors, feelings and attitude.

At the start of this year, I discovered journalling and decided to really integrate it to every aspect of my life — health, fitness, beauty, fashion, finance, travel, postgraduate studies, career, among others. The health aspect I further categorized into medical checkups, weight loss, fitness activities and nutrition goals. Being a perfectionist, like most people, I used to be obsessed with just the weighing scale or tape measure aspect of progress. But now with health journaling, MyFitnessPal and Samsung Health apps, I have discovered a more holistic approach to assessing weight loss and health and fitness progress.

To conclude, do not get discouraged with weighing scale progress plateaus as they are but fluctuating numbers due to varying reasons. Change your lifestyle, eat healthy and nutritious. That is the secret to consistency and long-term fitness!