Archive for January, 2010

The new commercial of McDonald’s this 2010 was aired last Saturday and in two days time it gathered different views and various reactions from viewers.

I, for one, was a bit bothered. I don’t like the story line of the advertisement. It was about a tween boy having a date with a girl, and they were just like 10! Is McDonald’s promoting early dating? I’m sorry but that is how I see it. If they want to get this market then why not make a better a storyline? One that is appropriate with the Filipino culture.

My daughter is just 4 and I don’t want commercials such as this to pollute her mind.

McDonald’s Corporation launched a new commercial that targets the tweens market, kids 8 to 13 yea rs old. This is a move meant to attract more kids and retain them as loyal customers. While this may seem to work in other countries, it projected a different effect on some Filipinos.

Pinoys are still very conservative despite the fact that we already learned to embrace other cultures. We are always looking for Filipino values in every commercial, movie, TV show that we see.

Hubby’s reaction was: “Ang aga naman ng pagbo-boyfriend na yan!”

I guess he has every right to react this way because in 3 years time our daughter will already be a tween.

Others who can relate even finds it “cute!” Others just see it as “another McDo commercial” but for us parents, we think that McDonald’s would consider our concern. It may be getting enough attention but how about the welfare of our children?

How about you, what do you think?

ABS-CBN is proud to present Tanging Yaman, a series that would show how the President’s family fought hard to achieve real happiness.

After the phenomenal “Katorse” featuring young stars Erich Gonzales, Enchong Dee and Ejay Falcon, the Kapamilya network has once again came up with a series that would surely capture the hearts and attention of the Filipinos here and abroad.

The whole story of Tanging Yaman started with an incident that surely wrecked the life and fortune of two families. This incident caused one family to prosper and another family to suffer.

Fina (Erich Gonzales) together with her sister Marina (Jodi Sta. Maria) grew up in poverty, whereas Isabel (Melissa Ricks) was raised as the First Daughter of the country. It was known later on that Fina really was the daughter of the president but Isabel will not make things easy for her.

Tanging Yaman stars:

Erich Gonzales
Melissa Ricks
Ejay Falcon
Enchong Dee
Matt Evans
Ron Morales
Rowell Santiago
Agot Isidro
Jodi Sta. Maria
Nonie Buencamino
Mylene Dizon
Leo Martinez

Directed by Lino Cayetano and Manny Palo, every scene will surely move your hearts and minds into unpredictable events.

Tanging Yaman will start to hit primetime on January 11, 2009.

To know more of this series, log on to : www.abs-cbn.com and tangingyamantv.multiply.com

Jinkee Pacquiao glamour becomes her

Jinkee Pacquiao, the wind beneath the World’s Greatest Pound for Pound Boxer, Manny Pacquiao.

I have admired Jinkee eversince and I came to love her more when she fought the issues against her husband linking to sexy actress,  Krista Ranillo – the daughter of respected actor Matt Ranillo III.

During the height of the Manny-Krista ‘love affair’ she was just there, dutifully serving her husband and courageously answering all the questions thrown to them by the media. Unlike Krista who seems so guilty of the issue, Jinkee faced everything with glamour. Why not? She is the legal wife and she has every right to protect her family especially her 4 children.

Infidelity is such a sensitive issue not just to me but to the entire community. It breaks relationships and it ruins families. So when this controversy came out and I saw how Jinkee cried during the mass after Manny’s winning against Miguel Cotto, I knew how hurtful the situation was to a mother like her. This issue will affect her children, no matter how hard she tries to shield them from all this mess. I admire Jinkee for standing up for her rights and for rising above all with sheer sophistication.

Dapat lang.

Mabuhay ka Jinkee Pacquiao!

Photo Disclaimer: Photo is not owned by Entrepremom and is linked back to the source.

Empanada - A Spanish or Latin-American turnover with a flaky crust and a spicy or sweet filling.

I intentionally saved the leftover breasts of our roasted chicken for this recipe: My Crazy Chicken Empanadas

This recipe may sound so complex but it’s just really simple, just have enough patience as you’ll work with the most difficult thing on earth – the dough (In my own opinion, at least!). I call it crazy because for a first timer like me, coming up with the perfect dough can be really tricky. Mine didn’t come out perfect but hubby said it was good so I must believe him Another ‘ first timer’ mistake I made was that I rolled the dough quite thick. It didn’t puff!

Makes about 15 pieces of empanada | Preparation Time: 1.5 hours | Baking Time: 20 minutes

Crust:
2 1/2 cups flour
3 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup margarine
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), cubed
6-7 tablespoons iced water
1 egg, beaten

Filling:
1 tbsp oil
1 tbsp butter
onion, minced
garlic, minced
chicken breast, diced
1 small potato, diced
1 small carrot, diced
1 cup green peas
1 cup chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste

Crust
1. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Combine the margarine and cubed butter and fold until the mixture becomes dry and flaky. Slowly stir in iced water, a little at a time until you come up with a soft dough.
2. Form it into a ball, wrap in cling wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Filling
1. Heat oil, add butter then throw in onions and garlic.
2. Add the cubed chicken breasts and saute until it turns golden brown.
3. Add the cubed potatoes, carrots and green peas, and chicken broth. Simmer for 3 minutes or until the everything is cooked.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Drain excess liquid and set aside until the dough is ready for rolling.

when the dough is ready…
1. Preheat oven to 200° C or 400° F.
2. Roll your dough using a rolling pin until it is 1/8″ thick.
3. Using a small bowl, cut about 4″ (in diameter) circles. Make about 15 circles.
4. Place about a teaspoon of the filling on each circle and fold the circle so the edges meet. Fold the edges to form a fan like resemblance.
5. Brush each puff with the lightly beaten egg and place in a greased baking pan. Using a fork, make slits on the top of the puff for the air to come out during baking.
6. Bake for about 20 minutes or until it turns golden brown.

My crazy chicken empanadas can be served hot or cold.

Enjoy!

Note: You have an option to use ground chicken for this recipe for a more ‘fuller’ filling. The leftover roasted chicken gets a little flaky after baking.

January 12, 2009 SM City Bacoor

Piolo Pascual was there to launch his album Decades. I vowed not to go there because for sure there would be a lot of people and I was right. The entertainment area was flooded with people. Lolo, lola, nanay, tatay, tiyuhin, tiyahin, bata, teenager were all eager to see Piolo Pascual. Good thing Yona was not with us, otherwise she might shock Piolo with “Daddy Woyoy!”.

Kachakahan man but I really shouted with glee! I couldn’t help it! Ang gwapo niya talaga. period.

These were the best shots that we got from hubby’s phone. sigh.

I wish I could meet him again in a blogger’s event. Yung hindi maraming tao. Hay… I love you Piolo

Now that the Holidays is over, for sure your fridge is full of leftover dishes. Don’t just throw away all these. I have always told my little girl that she should not waste food so I should set a good example by reinventing leftover dishes.

We still have a bowl of Caldereta left from New Year’s eve. I love how hubby’s aunt cooked this dish. It’s one of a kind. I am still finding out what makes her caldereta so special.

What I like about Caldereta is that it is very versatile. You can eat it with rice, with bread,  put it on top of tacos, make it as a nacho dip…the list is endless.

The downside though, it gets spoiled easily because it uses tomato sauce so before it gets to waste, ensure that you do the recipe below.

Pre-heat oven 350 degrees Fahrenheit or 175 degrees Celsius.

Transfer the dish to an oven or microwave safe bowl and generously shave Kraft Eden MeltSarap cheese on top.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until the cheese melts.

Enjoy!

This is my first post for 2010 and I am working my ass off so this gets posted before January 1st ends.

So what’s in store for me this year? There are a lot for sure, but it’s up to me to find out.This reminds me that I am turning 30 this year but I must admit that I am still a work in progress.  At 29, I am still at loss. maligaw ba?. Career wise, I am okay with where I am now because I am happy with what I am doing.  I am earning $$$ just being with my daughter, so what’s there to complain??? Seriously, I love being office-less but I just can’t stop here, right? I need to do more.

This is me. Tired from too much FACEBOOK-ing. I can’t stay like this forever, right?

So my ultimate goal this year is to IMPROVE.

- Improve my writing. At 29, I still suck in writing. I should have listed to my grade school, high school and college English classes. I should have focused on grammar more than anything else. I should have aced English 101 than Programming. I never though that those Subject and Verb Agreement would matter!

- Improve my blogs. I am obliging myself to write at least one blog each day. It can be a short post, a photo post, anything. The form does not really matter as long as the post is worth sharing.

- Improve  my baking skills. Oh, I love baking! Too bad the two people who can try out my goodies are first, a little girl with tonsillitis, and second, a man with taste I couldn’t understand. This leaves the tasting to me and me alone. But nevertheless, I will not stop making delectable desserts. The downside of this is it’s very magastos. Sigh.

- Improve myself. Started this last year and I am getting there! I am getting more of an optimist than a pessimist now. I just realized that there is more to life than endless complaints. I can not stay disappointed all my life! I have to start saying I can instead of I can’t, I should instead of I shouldn’t. I want to remove the NOT in my vocabulary!

- Pay ALL my debts. This is the hardest that I wish the universe would just leave a basket full of cash on our doorstep. Sigh. I won’t promise that I will save because I know that I am a failure in that department but I can always spend less. I can. I can. I can.

- Have more friends and ditch those friends. It’s not yet the end of the world so I am still entitled to have more friends. I am cutting relationships with those who aren’t treating me fair (oh, you know who you are!). I am in the process of improving myself so I have to remove you from my friends list. I guess it is just a fair thing to do instead of having you there. I am not a friendly person ever since and I can only maintain a few friendships at a time. You’ve had your time so vavush!

- Choose the right President. Sigh. Do I really have to go through this?

How about you? Do you have self-improvement plans this year?