Sautéed Green Beans and Yellow Squash with Italian Sausages

Saturday is Farmer's Market Day in our area so to give my hubby some peace and quiet while he works at home, the tots and myself often make a trip to the market. We love to look at all the lovely produce that the vendors have on offer though I think my kids are really after the freshly made donuts that I usually get for them when we get there. As for me, I am always on the look-out for fresh and preferably organic veggies that I can use for cooking.

Peach and Raspberry Financiers

A Financier is a small French Almond Cake traditionally baked in the shape of a gold bar, hence the name. Some say that it is called such because the cake became popular in the financial district of Paris surrounding the Paris stock exchange and was named after its wealthy bankers. Its main ingredient is the almond flour (ground or finely crushed) though it's distinct feature comes from the use of  beurre noisette (brown butter).

Shepherd's Pie (Filipino-style)

I love Arroz a la Cubana! It's a Filipino classic comfort food that arrived in our country by way of Spain. The Philippine version typically consists of rice, ground beef sauteed with vegetables such as onions, garlic, tomatoes, diced potatoes (or bell peppers) and carrots and served with a fried egg and fried plantains on the side. The meat-vegetable mixture for Arroz a la Cubana is not only flavorful, it's quite versatile too as I can use it to make other dishes to give them a distinct Pinoy (Filipino) flair.

Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes

Last Thursday, I had the opportunity to attend the Taste of Home Cooking School which was held at the Hudsonville Pinnacle Center near our area. While I have heard of Taste of Home Cooking School before, I have never gotten the chance to attend it. This time, I didn't want to miss this event and so I came.

Fruity Kale Salad with Asian Vinaigrette

So many of us, I assume, already know the health benefits of Kale so I will not repeat all that information here. And if I am wrong in my assumption, it's quite easy to google it anyway, right? :-)

Chicken Chili

 

Just a few weeks ago, we were invited to dinner by some friends from church. We always love gatherings like this for it not only presents a great chance to visit friends but it's a wonderful opportunity to get to know each other better and with great food at that. Needless to say part of our menu was this amazing Chicken Chili dish! Naturally, I asked my friend to give me her recipe and she willingly obliged. I was so happy to try it. It was wonderful as I expected! What's even greater you can also do this in the slow cooker!

 

French Toast with Berry Compote

Sometimes, I have the inclination to make my family a fancy breakfast (instead of the regular scrambled or fried eggs) during the weekends when there is no need to rush. It is during these days when I make them some delicious pancakes from scratch with some fruit filling or some yummy French Toast.

Brie Berry Bites

I had this frozen mini-phyllo cups which I did not get to use during the holiday season. I thought, I ought to use it before it goes off, and I never want to throw food away. If it can still be used and these phyllo cups were all still in good shape, then I will find a way to use them. Now, at the back of this box of phyllo cups was a recipe for Brie and Berry Cups. I can't remember exactly the name of the recipe 'cause I have thrown the box away but thankfully I had read the recipe at least twice so I remembered how to do it. Besides, I had some brie and some berries so why not? The recipe called for raspberries but I didn't have any but I just recently bought fresh blueberries which were quite luscious and sweet! I thought that it was pretty easy to make and decided to give it a try.

My whole family loved these cute nibbles. So more-ish we had to control ourselves from eating all of them in one go. Thankfully, there were only 15 of them! This is truly a wonderful appetizer and will now often be made in our house. Great as nibbles for when you have guests, too! So pretty in presentation and the taste is divine - sweet blueberries contrast well with the savory Brie - a combination of flavor made in heaven! Of course, the crunchy-buttery phyllo cups add some great flavor and crunch too! Enjoy these super easy but very yummy bites - Brie Berry Bites.

Ingredients


6 oz Brie Log
15 mini-phyllo cups (1 box)
45 pieces of blueberries or 3 berries per phyllo cup (just get a pint of blueberries if you don't want to count and then eat the rest!)

Procedure

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Thaw the frozen mini-phyllo cups. Set aside.

Unwrap the Brie and cut it up into several pieces. No need to peel of its outer skin (unless you absolutely want to!). Place the pieces in a food processor and pulse just until its smooth and has lumped together as one.

Distribute the brie evenly among the phyllo cups using a rounded teaspoon. Place about 3 blueberries on top of the cheese. Per hubby's suggestion, I only baked the cheese and placed the fresh fruits on top - they were awesome, too. So - you can bake the fruits with the brie or just use it fresh.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 5-6 minutes or just until the cheese is melted. Serve warm!

These yummy blueberries may be replaced by your favorite berry such as raspberries or blackberries or even some cranberry sauce.

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Sinigang na Baboy (Lemony Pork Soup with Asparagus and Spinach)

It's been so long since I made Sinigang na Baboy (Pork in Sour Soup). This is a true Tagalog dish that is quite special because families would make this usually just on Sundays much like a Sunday Roast here in the US and UK. It may be hot and humid in the Philippines but despite that nothing beats a hot bowl of this delicious Pork in Sour Soup to help you cope with the muggy weather. It is true comfort food for any Filipino!

Cherry Vanilla Pudding Cake

If you are Filipino and by any chance a Martial Law Baby (born in the early 70s in the Philippines) then you'd be so familiar with Nutribun. "Nutri" stands for "nutrition" while  "bun" is, obviously, a bread roll. Nutribun is the name given to a bread roll developed in the early 70's by USAID to feed students in public schools in the Philippines. Flour from the USA (and others say from Canada and Australia, too) were shipped to the Philippines to make these bread rolls. Each bun was supposed to contain at least 500 calories and enough nutrients for a day for a child who possibly wouldn't have had anything to eat except for the bread he or she got from school.

Tinolang Manok (Opo Squash and Ginger Chicken Soup)

Nowadays, we are trying to eat a little healthier than usual (with occasional sweet treats of course!) and so I have decided to look back on my heritage to try and make more Filipino style dishes that are both nutritionally more beneficial and flavorful, too. In the Tagalog Region, where my little island belong, a lot of our food are soup-based - with veggies and meat added in and lots of garlic, onion, tomatoes and ginger added for flavor!

Raspberry Chocolate Chip Muffins

My two tots love muffins so I often make a fruity one for them. I especially love making muffins using fresh and seasonal berries for they surely impart all the fruity goodness in these delicious snacks. The fresh raspberries provide a tangy contrast to sweet chocolate chips making this especially yummy. Of course, when the season turns colder and fresh berries are not readily available frozen raspberries can be substituted. Because they can be made anytime, these muffins are perfect as snacks to take to school. That way, I also know that when my little boy takes a bite of it, he'll be thinking of Mommy.  :-)