Most wonderful time of the year!

It's 25 days before Christmas! This occasion is much celebrated in the Philippines and will be awfully missed by my family. Yearly we would go to my parents' house and celebrate Christmas with them. We attend the Christmas Eve mass followed by a hefty Noche Buena; after which, my kids, niece and nephews would gather around the family room and open their gifts. It has always been a family tradition and a happy one at that. I miss shopping for gifts, I miss the bright lights that line up every major streets and cities, I miss hunting for the toys that my children would wish from Santa. Ooh I will definitely miss the fruitcake and the Christmas ham. It's a good thing though that Queso de bola is available in this country. But more than anything else, I will surely  miss the delicious food that my parents normally prepares for this happy occasion and the joy of being with them.

Christmas is not recognised in these parts according to articles I have read, it is even illegal to celebrate it openly with respect to their religious laws. So, what to do??? what to do??? I guess we would have to prepare something really special, it's Christmas after all. Normally, my husband would request for pork barbecue which is not allowed here so, we might have chicken barbecue instead, pasta, cheese... I'll try my damnedest to look for fruitcake! We will probably buy cheese and I'll also try my "bestest" to convince my husband to buy us a good  bottle of wine....

I'll need to think about what to prepare for Christmas...perhaps, Rosemary roast beef would be nice and stuff chicken... will get back to you once I have organised what to cook for my family's 1st  Christmas meal in Saudi Arabia :)

turning to jelly...

I know... I realised of late that this blog has turned mostly into a recipe blog of sorts but I have gotten good  feedbacks about it; as friends and relatives have either tried, are trying or plan to try out the said recipes. And that's good maybe in the near future I would be able to come up with my own purely Recipe blog. For now I am hoping to share bits and pieces of our adventures here in this country; that is, once we have received our Iqamas and am able to work. It kinda scares me though as the thought of landing a job would mean -- me...going out alone in a shuttle full of people I don't know in a foreign country with definitely strict laws. Of me...starting out in an office where people know each other already. That in the not so distant future I would have to brave riding a cab all by myself. This time I am the stranger not the "strangee" if there is such a word. I have always thought of myself as a person who can easily adapt and make adjustments.  The kind of person who appreciates a good adventure. Not the kind who finds it hard to get out of one's own comfort zone, because if I did I would not have agreed to start anew in another country. Sigh... all I know is the fact that mi esposo necesita mi ayuda, that life is hard and that we need get by. 

Oh and by the way, as I conclude this short article, we have received our Iqamas. So that means, I can start hunting for a job. Hopefully, the job I get would give me good benefits and a good enough pay. Insha'Allah.

Que sera sera...

Stuffed Bell peppers

Our flatmate gave us a bag full of freshly picked bell peppers and cucumbers which sparked my culinary acumen :) (this "light bulb phenomenon" happens when our 1-week grocery supply is about to run out hehe).  Anyway, this is a good and simple dish even my kids loved it... surprisingly!

For this recipe, you will need:

Slices of cheddar or feta cheese (or both, if you are a cheese lover)
a handful of mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup of ground beef (can be substituted with chicken, pork or tuna)
pinch of salt
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 bulb of onion, minced
dash of ground pepper
Olive oil

  

Chop the top of the bell peppers and remove the seeds

Slice the cheese lengthwise

Saute the garlic, onion and ground beef in olive oil. Set aside.

Stuff the bell peppers with cheese, then

followed by the ground beef

Your stuffed bell pepper should look like this.

Fry the stuffed bell pepper in a dab of olive oil until done.

Top with mozzarella cheese and serve hot!


Dinner is ready!!! I served my stuffed bell pepper with fresh cucumbers, and tomato-sausage sauce

Finally!

three generations...

Right this moment and about 5000 miles away, my mom is undergoing angiography and angioplasty while I am trying to keep my mind busy by doing all sorts of things just to take away my apprehensions. Two years ago when she suffered her 4th heart attack she was already advised by her cardiologist to undergo the said procedure but my mom would not hear of it. Her refusal to undergo angioplasty in the past was because of her fear that it would fail and eventually lead her to a bypass operation which she would like to avoid. 

Almost a month ago, exactly 7 days from the time we left for Saudi Arabia, she suffered her 5th! Perhaps the thought of us no longer being with them and with her favorite grand daughter moving far away from her, exacerbated the already frail condition of her heart. But my mama is a strong woman indeed; she is, with a stronger desire to live! No son or daughter would ever be prepared to lose any one of their parents, that is why we are just so grateful that she has decided to take the first step for another chance in life. 

Go Mama! Fight this battle like a true Archer! May St. Luke guide the hands of your doctor... For now I would just have to be contented with news across the miles from my sisters.... Be well Mama! We love you! 

Enid's Crumbly no-bake Apple Pie

Aside from the occasional tomato sale, fruits like apples, oranges, grapes, and bananas are placed on bargain too. My kids and I are apple lovers and it was just fortunate that we were able to buy a kilo for only SAR 2.95  

It was a timely sale because my kids have been hankering me to bake an apple pie. We do not have an oven to make the usual "crusty" pie crust, so I made the "no-bake" one. This recipe is so simple that anyone can do it...

For my Crumbly no-bake Apple pie, you would need the following:

1. Prepare:

        For the apple pie filling:

              2 - 3 tbsp. sugar, brown is better but white would do (adjust according to preference)

                1 tsp. cinnamon powder

                 a pinch of salt

                3 tbsp. unsalted butter

        For the crust: 

                1 pack (150 g) Graham crackers, crushed***

                1/4 cup melted butter

                1 tsp. cinnamon powder

                1/2 to 1 tbsp. sugar (brown or white, adjust according to preference

                   although for a 150 g pack of graham I only put 1 tsp because the apple filling is already sweet)

                handful of walnuts (optional)

2. Core the apples with a paring knife; when done, skin with a peeler. Slice the apples thinly. 

3. In a bowl, mix the cinnamon, sugar, salt and apple together. Prepare the pan and put it on low heat. Place the butter in the pan and pour the rest of the mixture into the melted butter. Simmer until apples are cooked.

4. While waiting for the apple filling, prepare the crumbly crust. Crush the graham crackers by using a rolling pin if you don't have one you can use a long jar or put the crackers inside a plastic that would hold it and just crush it with your hands. 

5. Mix the cinnamon, sugar, and melted butter with the crushed graham crackers. Cook this in low fire until the crushed crackers are golden brown. ***I could not find Graham crackers at Panda Supermarket, so I used DeeMah Tea biscuits instead which, I discovered, is actually better. On a container press some of the crushed crackers firmly and pour the apple mixture on top (make sure you leave some crushed crackers). Cover the apple filling with the next layer of crushed crackers. 

Your Crumbly no-bake Apple pie should look like this, when done.

You can pour whipped cream or top it with vanilla ice cream

Enjoy!

Spaghetti ala Tomatina

Tomatoes are quite expensive here hence, when it went on sale a couple of days ago I bought more than a kilo. I used some of them for my Spaghetti ala Tomatina. It is a simple pasta dish that my husband and kids enjoy eating once in a while. I was also able to purchase 3 packs (450grams per pack) of spaghetti noodles for       SAR 10.00 at the nearby Panda supermarket. Normal price of a single 450gram pack range from SAR 3.50 to around SAR 5.50 hence, I saved 0.50 halala. As the saying goes "Every halala (penny) saved, is a halala (penny) earned." :)

For this recipe, you would need:

7-10 pieces of tomatoes, sliced

5 cloves of garlic, minced

1 medium red onion, sliced

fish sauce or salt to taste

ground pepper

Olive oil

Crumbled feta cheese or Labneh cheese

500 g spaghetti noodles

Saute garlic, onions and tomatoes in olive oil, put salt or pour 1/4 cup fish sauce to taste. Sprinkle ground pepper and simmer until tomato is cooked. Pour this into freshly cooked pasta noodles along with the cheese and mix thoroughly. Serve hot :)  

Enjoy! Bon Apetit!

Oh my Gulay!

I had a load full of things to do yesterday that I asked my daughter to cook dinner for us. It was her first time to do so including chopping the garlic, onion and tomatoes needed for the dish. I gave her the instructions and was elated to find out that she was able to follow everything that I told her. Her first dish ... Gulay na Toge (Sauted beansprout).

My husband's verdict? "Super sarap" (delicious!) and he wanted some left to bring with him for lunch the next day. Yey!