Category Archive: Side Dishes

Chunky Guacamole!

Good to be back home at my little corner in the kitchen.  Visited mom for a few days at our old neighborhood in Brentwood, California and ate like there was no tomorrow.  Although back in my cozy kitchen cove, I was not quite ready to dive into the chopping board yet, so I whipped up something quick and easy for dinner.  If you recall my baked tortilla chips and dip(s) post on Superbowl Sunday–where I mustered a variety of seasonings for the baked tortillas, last night’s Bacon & Four-Cheese Tortilla Chips with Chunky Guacamole topped with homemade Crispy Bacon Bits dinner made for a wondrous evening of light snacking, yet was filling enough to satisfy my family’s hungry palettes.

Thus, without further delay, below is my rendition of homemade guacamole, chunky style!

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Adobo Spice Roast Chicken with Potatoes and Rosemary

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels
Door bells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite things

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver white winters that melt into Springs
These are a few of my favorite things

When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I’m feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don’t feel so bad.

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels
Door bells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite things

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver white winters that melt into Springs
These are a few of my favorite things

When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I’m feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don’t feel so bad…

The Sound of Music Lyrics of My Favorite Things

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Spicy Mango and English Cucumber Salad

Born and raised in the Philippines, until the age of 8, I was familiar with seeing unripe mango eaten with bagoong, fish sauce or with dash of salt.  It was also a staple for making juices, mango nectar, and as a flavoring and major ingredient in ice cream and sorbetes.  These are my experiences with mangoes.  Although not quite my choice of fruit to pick up at the market when in season, I may have found my niche with mangoes by making them into a refreshing salad.  This recipe happens to represent a menagerie of my favorite herbs and vegetables alongside it.  The versatility of this salad are endless–have it as is, serve it with grilled steak, fish, BBQ, chicken; use it as a salsa for tortilla chips, etc.

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Roasted-Vegetable Salad

Sometimes, some recipes are best described silently and let the pictures do the talking.  this is one of those recipes…One day for dinner the main attraction were beets.

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Oven-fried Chicken and Salsa Fresca Salad

Okay folks, the ‘oven-fried’ concept may be an oxymoron recipe, but it sure beats oil splashing all over my white kitchen and stainless steel stove!  Besides, it’s fast, easy and pretty darn delicious.  Although it is a recipe inspired from Food Network’s Diners, Drive-ins and Dives I didn’t mimic anything but the directions.  Everything else was semi-homemade with the exception of one ingredient.

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