Creme Caramel Flan

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups sugar (for caramel)
10 large eggs  (lightly beaten)
3 cups heavy cream
3 cups fresh milk
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
zest of one lemon or lime

Procedure:

1.  Divide sugar on two 8" inches round pans. Using tongs and mitten, set the pan above the stove on medium heat. Once the sugar start to melt lift the pan using tongs and slowly swirl it so that sugar will melt and coat the bottom of the pan evenly. Continue swirling it until sugar turns golden brown. Set it aside. As the caramel cools down you will see and hear it cracking. Don't freak out everything is just fine :)

2. In a saucepan over low heat, mix heavy cream, fresh milk, sugar, vanilla, salt and zest of lemon or lime. Warm the milk mixture until all the sugar are melted. Do not let it simmer or boil. Once the sugar has melted let it cool a little. Pour it into the lightly beaten egg while stirring continuously until the eggs and milk mixture is well incorporated.

3. Strain and divide the mixture into two 8" round pans with caramelized sugar. Set the pan on the baking tray with water that reaches at least half the height of your round pan.

4. Bake it at 325 degree Fahrenheit for about 40-45 minutes. Or until the center is set or firm.

5. Let it cool and refrigerate before serving.

6. To serve, run a knife at the edge of the flan and place an upside-down plate on top of the round pan. Invert to release the flan. Enjoy!

I wish I cut it more evenly😋😋😉 Anyway, it's light and yummy in my tummy:) Happy cooking!

Bana-nutella Waffles

This is an easy recipe you and your kids will enjoy doing together. 😊😊😊

Ingredients:

2 cups pancake mix

1 1/2 cups milk

2 Tbsp oil

1 egg

Banana

Nutella

Procedure:

• Spray some non-stick cooking spray on your waffle maker and turn it on number 2 setting. 
• In a bowl, mix 2 cups of pancake mix, milk, oil and egg until smooth and well incorporated.
• Pour 1/3 cup of batter into your waffle maker, cover and cook until the light on your maker turns green. I'd like to cook mine a little bit longer until it turns golden brown in color. (Note: Amount of batter and cooking time depends on how big your waffle maker cavity.)
• Slice your banana and arrange it on top and drizzle with nutella. 

Enjoy!

Rise & Shine Raisin Bread

OK, so yesterday two of my "Mama friends" came over so we can have coffee together. Mama friends? We are a small group of stay-at-home moms whose priority revolved with our children. The typical mothers you can see dropping-off their kids to school, attending assemblies, attending parent/teacher conference, etc.. We have been together for more than 6 years now and it's been quite a while since we had coffee together. I'm glad to see two of them yesterday.

So, I woke up early in the morning to make some bread. I made them the Sweet Amish Bread with a Twist ( you can find the recipe in my previous post) and raisin bread in the picture above. 

Both of them loved the bread so much and gave me thumbs up on the taste and texture of  both Sweet Amish Bread with a Twist and raisin bread. They even compared it to "85Bread" which I am not aware of.  One of them got too excited and decided to gave the raisin bread a much more appealing name it deserved. The RISE & SHINE RAISIN BREAD :) 

Did any of your friends gave name or renamed  any of your baked goods or dishes?

Sun-dried Tomato & Shrimp Pasta

One of my kids favorite pasta. I remember when I first served this to my children, I was a bit worried specially with my son. He is a little bit picky when it comes to food and will not try any if there is something in the ingredients that is new to him.  That was the first time I used sun-dried tomato in my pasta. And we don't really use it to any Filipino dishes that I know. But to my surprised my son actually love it! Hooray! I don't really worry about my daughter, she is the opposite of my son. Very adventurous and loves trying new food. She can actually eat plain cooked pasta as a snack. 

Yes, my son loves it and I still remember his excitement when he told me how much he is enjoying it. And he goes like this "Hhmmm.. this is actually good and it seems like I'm not getting full. Mom! This is my second serving!" ..love my kids so much!

Ingredients:

24 oz. Penne Pasta 
1 1/2 cup. Sundried tomato in olive oil (Drained and reserve the oil, about 3 Tbsp.)
1 lb. Shrimp (shelled and cleaned)
4 cloves Garlic minced
1/4 tsp. Parprika
1/8 tsp. Dried oregano or Basil
2 cups  Heavy Cream or Half-&Half for much lighter version
1 1/2 cups Parmesan Cheese 
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
Red Pepper Flakes (optional)
Extra Parmesan Cheese to sprinkle on top (optional)


Procedure:

• Cook pasta according to the package direction.
• In a large pan over medium heat. Saute garlic (using the oil drained from the sun-dried tomato) until fragrant. Add in the sun-dried tomato and continue sauteing for at least 3-5 minutes.
• Add the shrimp, season with salt, ground black pepper and paprika and cook until shrimp turns opaque in color. 
• Pour in the heavy cream, pepper flakes, and  oregano stir and let it simmer for another 5 minutes.
• Stir in Parmesan cheese until melted and sauce thickens a little bit. Adjust seasoning and add the cooked pasta and toss until well combined. 

Hope you guys enjoy it as much as my family does.

Homemade Sweet Amish Bread with a twist

 

It is always my dream to be able to make and bake my own bread, pastry and cakes. At the very young age, I secretly admire those pastry chef who were making and decorating beautiful cakes, pastries and bread. I told myself that one day I will be able to bake and decorate my own. But as I grew up, my path did not direct me to the baking industry. Instead, it brought me to "banking industry" but at least its sounds alike :). Years had past and seems like all my baking dreams are just memories of my childhood.

Then I got married and moved to Bahrain and after three years we migrated here in the U.S. It was year 2006 when my baking desires ignited again. Being a mother of my then 4 years old son and 2 years old daughter you'll always think of something that your family will enjoy. The baking started when I baked a cake for my husbands' 40th birthday and that moment of happiness seeing your children enjoying the left over chocolate in a bowl and whip attachment. Plus the excitement on their face when we cut the cake made me want to keep on baking. And the desire to learn more are still on fire as of this writing.

Anyway, going back to baking my own bread is a trial and error for me. I have tested so many bread recipes before some of  them are good and some are not so good. I had failed many times, some recipe works but still missing the texture and distinct taste that I'm looking for a bread.

But failures did not stop me from searching until one day I saw this recipe called Sweet Amish Bread.I checked the ingredients and everything was already in my kitchen and seems so easy to make. So I gave it a try and I thank you all who posted this recipe because of you guys I've learned and am now enjoying good bread at our very own kitchen. Originally, the recipe is meant to bake using loaf pan. But since I don't have a loaf pan, I shape it like a dinner roll or a log. 

Since I started making this bread recipe, my family stopped buying bread. And you don't need to have a stand mixer or bread machine to make it. You're clean hands are good enough to make this bread. Just like the Amish do.

 (I used all purpose flour for the picture above, taste and texture still the same.)

 Ingredients:

6 cups of bread flour or all purpose flour

2/3 cups of granulated sugar

1 1/2 Tbsp. active dry yeast

2 cups of warm water

1 1/2 tsp of salt

1/4 cup oil

1 Tbsp. melted butter (optional)

Procedure:

• In a bowl, combine warm water and sugar. Sprinkle active dry yeast to your water mixture. Stir and let it sit in a warm place for 5 to 10 minutes or until it becomes frothy.  (Here is the thing, your water should be warm enough to active your yeast but not too hot to kill the active bacteria. Others used a thermometer, but it doesn't work for me. So, I just let hot water running in our faucet until its warm enough to the touch but not hot for me to move my hands away.) 

• Add the oil and salt into your yeast mixture and mix the flour 1 cup at a time until it forms a soft dough. The dough would be sticky, so make sure that you sprinkle a little flour (1-2 Tbsp.) on your counter or board. Knead your dough until smooth and elastic. Do not over mix your dough.
  
  
  
  

• Transfer your dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic or damp towel. Let it rise until double in size. ( To speed up the process, I run the microwave empty for at least 1 minute to warm up the inside and place my bowl until dough rises for about 20-30 minutes.)

• Once the dough double or at least double in size   remove the bowl from the microwave and punch down to release the air. Then knead for about 5 minutes and roll into a log. Cut the dough base on your preference or put it on a loaf pan.
• Grease your pan or line it with parchment paper. Arrange your dough into the pan cover with plastic wrap of damp towel. Let it rise again until double in size. (I don't usually wait for an hour to proof this bread, it will still rise as you bake it. I just let it sit in the oven with the light on for at least 30 minutes.)

• Bake it at 350°F for 25 minutes or until golden brown it depends to the size of your bread. Remove it from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack or enjoy while still warm. (NOTE: If you use your loaf pan you need to bake it for 35-40 minutes depending on the size of your loaf pan.)
• Optional : You can brush the top of  your bread with butter while still warm.

                                

                                

 Enjoy! 

I'll be posting different variation using this bread recipe soon. Thanks for visiting my web page.

Thank You to all brave men and women who served our country and protect our freedom! Happy Veterans Day!  

I woke up this morning wondering to what to give my family for breakfast. So, I went downstairs and I decided to make pancakes for breakfast. As I grabbed the box of Bisquick pancake mix I saw the recipe at the back of it that says "Mini Cheeseburger Pie". The moment I saw it, the first thing that came into my mind is my Beef Empanada filling that I made yesterday. Without having a second thought,  I grabbed the empanada filling and used it as a substitute for the cheeseburger components of the recipe and proceeded with the rest of the instruction. OMG! It works! My kids and I named it Breakfast Beef Muffin, it's soft and fluffy and definitely delicious!

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. ground beef

1 small potato, diced

1 small onion, minced

1/4 cup water or 1/3 beef cubes dissolved in 1/4 cup water

1 bay leaves

1 Tbsp. sugar

1/4 cup frozen green peas

1/4 cup raisins

1 Tbsp. oil

2 cloves of garlic

salt and pepper to taste

pinch of paprika

1 cup Original Bisquick  mix

1 cup milk

4 eggs

Heat oil in a pan and saute onions until soft and translucent. Add garlic, continue sauteing until fragrant. Mix in ground beef and black pepper and cook until beef changes in color. Then add diced potatoes and cook for 3 minutes. Stir in bay leaves, sugar, paprika, raisins and water or beef cubes dissolved in water. Cover and simmer until almost all water the had evaporated, stirring occasionally. Then add in green peas and continue cooking until almost dry. Adjust seasoning and turn off the heat. Drain excess oil and set aside.

In a bowl pour in Bisquick mix, milk and eggs. Mix until all the ingredients are combine and smooth. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Greased standard muffin pan and fill each cavity with 1 tablespoon of Bisquick mixture then add 1 1/2 Tablespoon of beef mixture. Top with another tablespoon of Bisquick mixture and bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Serve warm. Enjoy!

Beef & Oxtail Sarciado

Hello everyone, I'm a newbie recipe blogger and please bear with me as I'm still learning the ins and out in blogging. Anyway,  today I wanted share with you the recipe my moms and aunts always served on special events or parties. We call it Beef Sarciado.

 Some of you might wonder what Beef Sarciado is. The name Sarciado in Tagalog words means cooked with a thick sauce and it came from a Filipino word "sarsa" which we refer to as thick sauce.The ingredients to make this thick sauce are lots of onions, tomato sauce and ketchup.

I remember when I was a little kid, I love mixing Sarciado sauce with rice and yes the sauce and rice are good enough for me to eat a meal! And I guess my daughter inherited that because she can eat her meal with just the sauce and rice tandem too.  There is another version of Sarciado that I know and it is called Fish Sarciado, unlike the Beef Sarciado this dish sauce is mainly diced tomatoes, onions and eggs. 

Ingredients:

3 lbs. Oxtail or Beef chuck cubes (or combination of both)

2 to 3 Tbsp. oil

3 cloves of minced garlic

2 large yellow onions

2 large potatoes

2 medium size carrots 

3 Tbsp. oyster Sauce

2 Tbsp. soy sauce

1 cup tomato sauce

3/4 cup banana ketchup (you can find it at any Asian store)

1 1/2 cup beef broth (from boiling your oxtail or beef)

salt to taste

pepper flakes (optional)

To make this dish, you need to boil the beef and oxtail until meat is tender. Don't forget to scoop all the scum. Once the meat is tender enough to your liking set it aside. Fry the potato and carrots until light golden brown in color. Set aside. The reason I fry the potato and carrots is to prevent it from being mushy. 

In another pan heat  oil and  saute onion and garlic until onion are soft and translucent.  Add the meat and saute for at least 2 minutes. Then add oyster sauce and soy sauce stir and cooked until well combined. Pour 1 1/2 cup of broth from boiling the meat and simmer until the sauce thickens. Add in the tomato sauce and ketchup (If you can't find banana ketchup you can use tomato ketchup. There will be a slight difference to the taste since the Filipino banana ketchup is a little bit sweeter than tomato ketchup.) stir and let it simmer uncovered. Continue cooking and stir occasionally until sauce thickens or until it start rendering oil. Add fried potatoes and carrots and continue cooking until potatoes and carrots are cooked through. Adjust seasoning and turn off the heat. It best serve with rice. Enjoy!

I'll be posting step-by-step procedures with pictures in my website soon.: www.mywifescreation.com 

hello

Hi everyone, my name is Sheila, a mother of two amazing and loving children, and a wife of a wonderful and hardworking husband.

My passion is baking, cooking, crafts, and DIY projects. I started blogging because families and friends are sending me messages to share the recipes and tips on the food I posted on my Facebook account. So, I thought why not blog and share the knowledge I learned from my personal experiences and recipes handed over by generations of cooks in the family. This is my own way of giving back to help others learn and fulfill their dreams through online tutoring.

My sites are still a work in progress, hope you will have the patience if things appear incomplete and are not working the way it should.

Check out my recipes at www.myWifesCreation.com