How to clean a tile counter top

How to clean a tile counter top

BEFORE

AFTER 

                    When I was still young I remember how clean and organize my room was. From my Barbie dolls, stuffed toys that are arranged by height, to my school stuff and my closet. I don't know, but I think I got it from my mom, well I think I'm more of a neat freak than her. It's just that I can't stand seeing a speck, a crumb or even a loose thread on my floor. I was taught to pick up any dirt that I passed or walked on. Some people think I'm too much but how can someone live and think properly in a surrounding with too much clutter, I know I can't! I just wish that I can pass this on to my child which I have a son that I think I will be having a hard time on doing.

                    One thing I can't tolerate is a dingy, grimy kitchen! Yuck! So we just recently moved into our new place and unfortunately kitchen counter tops are made out of tiles and the gaps in between them are black and mildews have already built in. Even though how much soap I use to scrub it and how much effort of using brush into it, it really would not work. I checked online on tips on how to deal with this situation and a lot of sites are recommending the "Clorox Bleach Pen".

So a Bleach! why did not I thought of it! So me being cheap again, I used what I already have at home. Just a regular bleach from the dollar store and I pour it into an empty spray bottle, no water or anything. Upon spraying I let mine set in for about an hour before I wipe it with a towel rinsed in hot water. It's just that it has a strong smell so I recommend doing this at night when everyone is in their rooms most specially the kids. And don't forget to open the windows!

Ham and egg breakfast

Easy Ham and Egg breakfast

We just had these for breakfast and it was definitely a hit! It was so easy too since I woke up a bit late and the kids need to got to school and get some breakfast.

Pre heat oven at 375

Grease muffin pan. Line slices of Ham, place egg on top of each ham add salt and a bit of paprika. Bake for 20 minutes.

Voila! you have a low carb breakfast!

Bacon: I popped some Bacon in the oven too. Same temp and time! Crunchy!

Spicy Chicken Crescent ring

Spicy Crescent Ring

Ingredients

1. 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2. 1 packet ranch dressing mix
3. 1/2 cup celery, finely diced
4. 1/2 cup onions, finely diced
5. 1/2 cup Buffalo sauce
6. 2 (6 ounce) packets cooked chicken, very finely diced
7. 2 tubes crescent rolls
8. 1/2 cup ranch dressing (for dipping), optional
9. 1/4 cup scallions, cilantro, or fresh herbs, finely chopped

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, ranch dressing mix, celery, onions, Buffalo sauce, and chicken. (Or, if you’d rather, mix it all together in a food processor.)
2. Open the tubes of crescent rolls and separate each roll into four rectangles. Lay the rectangles on a parchment lined or nonstick baking sheet to form a large circle.
3. Spoon chicken mixture into the center of the crescent dough ring. Fold the top of each crescent dough rectangle over the chicken filling, pressing into place to secure the dough all the way around the filling.
4. Bake in preheated oven at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow to cool slightly before serving. Garnish with chopped scallions, cilantro, or other herbs, if desired.

Recipe from "Recipe Sweet"

Spicy pork ribs, Spicy chicken wings,

Spicy Pork Ribs

Spicy Chicken wings

Korean Rib Eye steak

Cinnamon and brown sugar with chocolate chip muffins

Hi everyone! I'm sharing 4 recipes on this post. Well, I actually got really lazy and the weather here in IE is very hot plus it was really  humid the whole week and I got sick and all. Another thing is our AC is not working well so it's very useless to turn it on when it only gets cold in our living room area. Plus not to mention the drama and whining of my "teething" 17 month old son. Ayayay! It was really a rough week.

All of these recipes have been successful because I did not have any left over for dinner. That's how I actually measure my recipe success. Before, whatever we have for lunch that is definitely what we'll have for dinner. But now "the man of the house"  have been getting really picky lately. Can you imagine! Geez! So I have no choice but to cook another dish for dinner. It pays off though because we have a diversion and meal time is not supposed to be boring. I also love how he would compliment my every dish, when upon tasting it and he likes it he would raise my hand and declare "champion". Our kids find it funny! He actually got that from his dad! lol

So here we go, each meal serves 4-5 people. I also buy them in packs, like not the ones where you choose which meat you would like and they weigh it. Packaged meats ranges from 1- 1 1/2 lbs. Because I think for me it is easier to store and organize them in the freezer.

1.5 lbs Pork ribs $6.50

1.5 lbs Chicken wings $5.41

1.5 lbs Rib eye steak (sliced) $10.41

SPICY PORK RIBS

Ingredients:

• 1.5 lb Pork Ribs
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 cup onions (diced)
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 medium sized Serrano peppers
• 3 teaspoons vegetable oil

Procedure:

1. Boil pork ribs until tender. To make it very tender. I usually let mine take for an hour and a half.
2.  In a fry pan, saute onions and garlic and add the pork ribs (make sure it is already tender before frying. Add soy sauce, vinegar pepper and 1 cup of water. Let it simmer until the sauce has been reduced and absorbed by the ribs.
3. Add a teaspoon of oil then add the Serrano peppers. Mix until the chili is well blended.

SPICY CHICKEN WINGS

Ingredients:

• 1.5 lbs chicken wings
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 cup Frank’s Red Hot
• 2 teaspoons Sriracha
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 cup honey, divided

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large pan with foil and place a metal rack on top of the foil. Spray rack with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Rinse the wings and pat dry with paper towels.

3. Arrange wings on rack and season with pepper.

4. Place wings in oven and set timer for 15 minutes. When the timer goes off, remove the wings from the oven and brush the wings with ½ cup honey. Glaze both side of the wings.

5. Place wings back into the oven, set the timer for 30 minutes, and prepare the sauce.

6. In a bowl, combine melted butter, 1/2 cup of honey, Frank’s Red Hot, Sriracha, cayenne, and garlic powder; whisk to combine.

7. While the wings are baking, periodically baste both sides of the wings with the sauce (about every ten minutes). After 30 mins adjust temperature to 400 F for 15 minutes.

Ingredients:

 

KOREAN RIB EYE STEAK

• 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1.5 lb thinly sliced Rib eye steak
• 3 scallions (green parts only), sliced into 1-inch pieces

Procedure:

1.Heat 2 teaspoons vegetable oil in a small sauce pot over medium-low heat. Add the ginger and garlic and sauté until golden, about 2 minutes. Add the soy sauce and water, stirring to combine.

2.Stir in the brown sugar and increase the heat to medium. Bring the sauce to a boil for 3 minutes. Remove the sauce from the heat and set aside.

3.Transfer steak and scallions with a slotted spoon to a plate and serve.

Cinnamon and brown sugar with chocolate chip muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2/3 cup warm milk (100-110F; low fat is fine)
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 2 tbsp butter, room temperature
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Procedure:

1.Pre-heat oven at 350 F.

2.In a large bowl, mix flour, brown sugar and salt.

3.Then add milk , vegetable oil, vanilla extract and egg into the flour mixture. Mix well, until very smooth. Divide the batter between 12 greased muffin cups.

4.Top with semi-sweet chocolate chips.

20 minutes baking time.

Chicken Avocado with Cheese

Chicken Avocado with Cheese

Ingredients:

• 2 Chicken breast
• 1/2 Cup All purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp milk
• 2 Eggs
• 1 1/2 Cups Panko bread crumbs
• Cooking Spray
• 1/2 Cup Tomato Sauce
• 2 Avocado
• 1/2 Cup Grated Mozzarella Cheese 

Procedure:

1. Place chicken breast in a ziploc bag, using a mallet pound until thin enough for your preference.

2. Coat 1 piece of chicken in flour, dip in egg and coat in breadcrumbs. Flour, egg and crumbs in different separate container.

3. Place in a baking dish.

4. Spray or brush chicken with oil. 


5. Place in a preheated  395 F oven for 10 minutes. Turning every 5 minutes

6.Remove from oven and put about a tablespoon of tomato sauce on top of chicken. Then the cheese.

7.Placed it back to the oven for 5-10 minutes until chicken is cooked thoroughly.

Easy Orange Chicken

Orange Chicken

Today for lunch I decided to cook Chinese since Daddy-O is a big fan of Orange Chicken I

Ingredients:

• 1 lb Chicken breast ( cut into cubes)
• 1 cup All purpose flour
• 1 egg (beaten)
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• Vegetable oil for frying

**For the sauce

• 1 tbsp Garlic (minced)
• 1/2 tsp ginger (minced)
• 1 1/4 cups Orange marmalade
• Chili pepper flakes
• 1/4 cup Hoisin sauce
• Salt to taste
• green onions (chopped for garnish)

Procedure:

1. Drench the chicken in flour (add salt and pepper) , dip in egg and pat in bread crumbs.
2. Fry in oil until a little brown. Set aside in a different plate.
3. For the sauce, use the same pan and oil used in frying the chicken.
4. Saute garlic and ginger in medium heat. Add chili flakes. Mix for 2 minutes.
5. Add orange marmalade. Mix well until it gets a little bit thick.
6. Put salt according to your liking. Then Garnish.

Baked pork chops with gravy

Baked Pork Chops

Ingredients:

• 6 Pork chops
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 2 eggs( beaten)
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 pack Italian dressing mix
• 1 can cream of mushroom
• 1/2 cup milk

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Season pork chops with garlic powder and seasoning salt to taste.
3. Place beaten eggs in bowl. Pat pork chops in flour. Then dip in egg.
4. Heat oil in pan and fry pork chops 3-5 mins per side.
5. Transfer into a baking dish and bake for 1 hour.
6. Meanwhile, cream of mushroom and milk. After the pork chops have been bake cover it with the mixture.
7. Bake for another 30 minutes.

Korean beef BBQ using Ground beef

Korean Beef

(Ground  Beef)

Yesterday I did some experimenting on Beef. I bought a Beef Flank which I bought in rolls. Unfortunately when I was prepping for my Mongolian beef I noticed that the inner part of the flank is rubbery. I don't know what it's called but it seems like its a very very hard tendon. I hate it because I only have a few slices of meat left. So to make it short my dish failed. It was so hard to eat! So lesson learned check your meat before buying it, make sure that you can eat most 98% of it.

So here is my new version, I used ground beef instead and it was awesome. We made it as a rice topping.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup soy sauce ( I prefer Kikkoman)
• T tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 spoon sesame seeds 
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1 tsp red pepper
• salt and pepper to taste
• chopped green onions

Procedure:

1. Heat a large pan using the oil.
2. Roast sesame seeds till brown
3. Saute garlic and ginger, then
4. add ground beef with brown sugar, soy sauce
5. season with salt, pepper and crushed peppers
6. add green onions on top

Cheesy ground beef rice

Cheesy ground beef rice

In my culture, our meal will not be complete without rice. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. And yes I said breakfast! It's our tortillas for Mexicans, our noodles for Vietnamese and our pasta for Italians. So basically we have a dish a steam rice or during breakfast we prefer to have garlic rice with bacon and sausage with a side of vinegar to dip it in.

So here's an easy dish that you can enjoy rice, meat and veggies all in one.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef (I buy the ones at Walmart in rolls)
• 1 diced Onion (I prefer yellow onions)
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 small can tomato sauce
• 1 cooked rice ( amount you usually consume in a meal)
• 1 can chicken broth
• 1 Oikos plain Greek yogurt (or any other brand as long as it's plain)
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• salt and pepper to taste
• oregano
• 1 can mixed carrots and peas (optional)

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Grease pan with cooking spray
3. Saute onions and garlic
4. Add ground beef, season with salt pepper and oregano
5. Add rice, can of carrots and peas, tomato sauce, chicken broth and 1 cup of cheese and simmer for 2-3 minutes.
6. Transfer everything into a Pyrex dish and bake for 10-15 minutes
7. Combine yogurt and remaining cheese.
8. Top the yogurt mixture in the dish and bake for another 12-15 minutes.

Doritos cheesy chicken casserole

Doritos cheesy chicken casserole

 My so far favorite dish. The Doritos CHEESY chicken casserole. Who doesn't love Doritos?! Most especially in a dish, definitely an excuse for the kids to eat some during dinner. Thanks to mom!

Ingredients:

• 3cups cooked chicken, chopped ( I used chicken breast)
• 8oz sour cream or Plain Greek yogurt 
• 1can cream of mushroom soup
• 1can cream of chicken soup
• 1 can Rotel
• 1 can of corn (drain water)
• 2 cups Mexican cheese cheese blend
• 1 bag of nacho cheese Doritos

Procedure:

      Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. Grease pan with cooking spray.
2. Use a rolling pin to crush the entire bag of Doritos. Then have it cover the entire bottom of the pan.
3. Put aside a cup of cheese.
4. In a separate bowl mix all of the ingredients.
5. Pour chicken mixture on top of the pan. Bake for 20 minutes.
6. Then top the remaining cheese and bake for another 5-7 minutes.

Blueberry Muffins

Blueberry Muffins

I never would have though I would actually love Blueberries. As a matter of fact I've never tried them before only when I went to the the store to buy some for my 17 month old son for him to try a variety of healthy snacks, plus it was on sale. They were so sweet and delicious because from where I came from Blueberries are so damn expensive and I would never have thought on trying them since I'm not a fan of berries.
These blueberry muffins are so good and "crusty". One thing to remember though is to make sure that your Berries are sweet because it might ruin the taste of the muffin itself just like on some of the batches I made. I got really excited to try it I guess.

Ingredients: 

• 1 stick Butter (1/2 cup)
• 1 cup Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg (ground)
• 2 cups fresh Blueberries ( or how much you prefer)

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven 375 F. Place liners in muffin pan.
2. In a medium bowl, cream butter, sugar, egg and milk ( In order for easy mixing)
3. Combine everything else, berries being the last to avoid squishing.
4. Fill liner cups using 1/4 measuring cup.
5. Sprinkle sugar on top. Bake for about 20 minutes.

No bake Ice Cream cake

No bake ice cream cake

It's scourging hot in IE right now, whenever summer starts I'm already counting the days when is it going to end. A lot of family and friends envy me of the summer that we get here in Cali. I don't know I just can't take it because it comes with headache and the feeling when you wake up in the morning with a dry nose and a grumpy face. Not mentioning the high electricity bill that we get! Geez! Well anyway, this sweet and I may say the easiest of all cake making recipes is a " No bake cake Ice cream" Yes, I said no bake. 
This one is so easy that you can make it in 10 minutes eat it for another 10 minuets then it's gone!

Ingredients:

1 box of Ice cream sandwiches (9 pieces) I prefer generic store brand because they are all the same.
1 tub of Cool whip
Magic caramel
Snickers, oreo cookies or toppings (optional)

Procedure:

1. Stack the ice cream sandwiches by 3's. Alternately place each layer in vertically and horizontally to give it more stability.
2. Use a spatula to cover the sides, top and bottom of the Ice cream.
2. Glaze the magic caramel on top for decoration.
4. Sprinkle your favorite toppings

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

        Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

(Copy cat version)

All right, so here it goes I have been very busy with Pinterest lately. The feeling of making or let me say cooking gives me a different high! So on this blog, which I really made a separate one specifically dedicated to "My Pinterest inspired recipes" I'm going to share to you the EASY PEASY stuff.

First in line is this Creamy Chicken Enchiladas. We are Asians and not very fan of this Mexican food but when we moved here in California, well you guess Mexican is in our number one list. They are very easy and cheap to make. I bought all of my ingredients from the Dollar store. The kids love them and was gone in a blink.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese, divide in half
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 1-1/4 cups chicken broth
• 1 can cream of chicken soup (10 oz)
• 1 cup sour cream
• Ro-tel
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt

• 6-8 corn tortillas (depends on your family size)
• 1 pre-cooked plain rotisserie chicken, shredded
• 1 corn in can

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Fill the center of each tortilla with a cup of shredded chicken,corn, and shredded cheese.
3. Roll and place in the bottom of a baking dish with the seam side down.
4. In a pot over medium heat melt the better. Add flour and whisk into a thick paste.
5. Add chicken broth, cream of chicken, sour cream, Ro-tel, salt and pepper.
6. Mix gently for about 5 minutes until warm and smooth.
7. Pour the sauce over the prepared enchiladas and sprinkle with remaining shredded cheese.
8. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

-->