Homemade Crushed Pepper Flakes

Everytime I am in the herbs and spices section at the grocery store, I always wanted to buy pepper flakes. However, it seems a little bit pricey, as most of the dried herbs and spices here in our country. I am trying to cut my grocery shopping and I thought of making my own pepper flakes since I just throw away the seeds from the peppers I use. So, I searched the net for ideas on how to make them and for my first try, I decided to use two whole peppers. I sun dried them and after two days, they were ready to be crushed and grinded. Good thing, hubby bought me a mini coffee bean grinder. It was the first time I used it too!

I am just so happy that my first homemade pepper flakes is successful and I was able to save money! I'm pretty sure I would be making it again in the future.

Too bad I always forget to take the before and after pictures of the things I make. But here is the final product.

A New Drinking Glass!

My happiness is shallow, I must admit! I just can't help to be ecstatic when something new interests me. Well, maybe some people can relate.

I had lunch at McDonalds today and I noticed that the woman before me bought a drinking glass. She seems happy to have it, so when it was my turn and after I made my order, I asked the crew about the glass. She handed me two glasses and told me that's the colors they have left. It was a 2012 London olympics glass partnered by McDonalds and Coca-Cola. Since, the price is reasonable, I decided to buy a Purple color one. I like Purple too anyway!

When I got home, I washed it and used it. Gosh, I don't know but it just felt so refreshing to drink from! The contour of the glass is also nice and the color is great. When there is water, the color really comes out. I think it will be my drinking glass from now on!

Soft Choco Chip Oatmeal Cookie

Yehey!!! My first ever "successfully baked" cookie! This is the third time that I tried baking cookies and finally, I got it right! I over baked the first one and I don't know what happened with the second one (it did not dropped or spread out). I did follow the recipes, but maybe something went wrong with how I mixed the ingredients? Well, this time, I watched the video here over and over and followed it well!

The joy of baking, really!

Last week, I also baked my first pie. A pumpkin pie! It was okay, though my pie crust was not really flaky and I think the filling was a little bit watery. But I'm happy that I now know how to make a crust and bake a pie!

Linking to:

Longganisa Fried Rice

It's frugal Friday today! This time I am featuring my dinner (I'm eating alone) from some left-overs. I have about a cup and a half of steamed rice and two pieces left-over of Longganisa, a Philippine sausage. It's garlic flavor and it is really yummy! I usually save the garlicky oil that it produced to flavor fried rice. So, for this dish, I am copying the Chao Fan fried rice of a local Chinese fastfood. Well, eating alone can also be fun!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup steamed rice (left-over)
2 pcs. Longganisa (Philippine sausage)or Chorizo in Spanish
1 egg, scrambled
2 cloves garlic, minced and browned
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp Longganisa oil
salt and pepper to taste
chopped parsley

How I made it:

1. Crumble one piece of Longganisa. Set aside.
2. Scramble one egg. Then slice it into small cubes. Set aside.
3. Saute steamed rice in minced garlic and Longganisa oil.
4. Add crumbled Longganisa and mix well. Add scrambled egg.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix in sesame oil.
6. Slice the other Longganisa into thin slices.
7. Garnish with chopped parsley.

Pork Kaldereta

Kaldereta is one of Philippines most loved dishes. It is my husband's favorite and when he comes home from his work overseas, he requests his brother to cook the dish. I wanted to learn cooking it myself, so I asked and tried it. The feedback is very good and I am so happy!



Ingredients
1 kilo pork
2 pcs. potatoes, large
2 pcs. carrots, large
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
2 pcs. whole pickles
1 can liver spread, small
1 can evaporated milk, small
1 cup tomato sauce
2 cups water
1 onion
5 cloves garlic, minced
cooking oil
salt
pepper

Cooking Method
1. Slice pork, potatoes, carrots, bell peppers and whole picles into medium size cubes.
2. Heat cooking oil in a casserole and sauté the garlic, onion and the beef. Add water, evaporated milk, tomato sauce and liver spread. Simmer until pork starts to become tender. Add in the potatoes, carrots and pickles.
3. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Continue to simmer until pork and vegetables are tender and the sauce thickens.
5. Serve hot with plain steamed rice.

Linking to the following blog parties:

Measuring Spoon & Cups Holder

I am very new to baking and I feel the need to surround myself with little notes about important details related to it. When I need some measurement conversions, I had to use the conversion application in my phone (I even use it for the timer since my timer broke down). It is really fine though, but sometimes, when I need to check something and my hands have flour or batter, I feel its inconvenience.

I had this measurement conversion printed when I joined a swap in swap-bot and the lady I had to send to love owls. It was cute so I printed one for for myself too.

Now that I need it, I want to hang it by the wall for easy reference. My first plan was to frame it in a wooden frame. I wanted a wood frame so that I can attach some hooks to hang my measuring cups and spoons. Since I don't have that frame on hand and I am practicing frugal living, I searched my recycling stash for something that will make do. And this is what I found. A cheap plywood wall hook and some wooden sticks (from the Desiderata scroll... the one I framed).

I just covered the board with a patterned paper and decoupaged the printed conversion on it for a laminated effect. The piece of cork was once a stand for a picture frame (I had the frame up in the wall so I took off the stand). I also covered the stick with a different paper for emphasis. Then screwed some hooks on it to hold my measuring cups and spoons. I used a wire to hang it. And this is how it turned out!

I also have this small temperature conversion (I really need it!) that I clipped from a food magazine and some stickers with baking theme.

Since the clipping is really small, I just decided to attach it to a scrapbook paper, stick the stickers around it, then brushed the whole thing with a transparent glue. The clip stand has not been used since a long time ago and now it has found its new partner!

Linking this project to:

DIY Decoupaged Coasters

Still in decoupaging mode! This project was also inspired from another blog hopping day (I am so sorry I cannot recall from which blog). I bought this set of wooden coasters for DIY projects. My original plan was to wrap them with different scrapbook papers since I don't have similar designs enough for the four of them. But when I saw this project, I thought it looked better to leave a small portion on each sides blank (like a margin) and I can just use one scrapbook paper for a matching coasters.