make pancakes with a twist! =)

Bob Evans Stuffed Caramel Banana Pecan Cream Pancakes

Pancakes with pecans and sliced fresh bananas, covered in a warm, caramel sauce.

Ingredients:
prepared pancake batter for 2 pancakes

2 cups prepared vanilla pudding
2 cups cream cheese, room temperature
2 tablespoons honey roasted pecans
1 banana sliced into 1/2-inch thick slices
1 tablespoon powdered sugar whipped topping

Caramel sauce

Make Vanilla Cream Cheese mixture:

Mix vanilla pudding with cream cheese until well blended and creamy (no lumps). Cover and refrigerate immediately. This mixture will store (covered) in the refrigerator up to 5 days.

Procedure: (serves 1)

Prepare pancake batter and preheat griddle. Ladle batter onto hot griddle and sprinkle evenly with pecans and banana slices. When they bubble and edges are dry, flip to cook second side.

When done, place pancake on plate, top with 4 tablespoons Vanilla Cream Cheese mixture and top with second pancake. Ladle with caramel sauce and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar. Garnish with whipped topping.

Tips:

- Be sure to let the pecans and bananas show for a nice presentation.

- For a more intense flavor, use a banana-flavored pudding in lace of vanilla.

- For a completely different variation, add chocolate chips and serve with chocolate or fudge topping.

Source: "America's Secret Recipes" by Ron Douglas

the perfect Superbowl XLIII snack! =)

If you ask my husband what's my favorite food, he'd say anything potato. And he's right! I love potato foods -- from the usual fries and potato salad to gourmet baked potatos and Shakey's Mojos =)  For this this week, here's a TGI Friday's potato snack recipe (serves 2-4) -- the perfect companion as you watch Superbowl XLIII this Sunday. Happy cooking!

TGI Friday's Baked Potato Skins

5 baked potato skins, cut in half (empty of most of the potato)
1 tablespoon melted butter
seasoning salt
1 green onion, diced
1/2 cup crispy fried bacon, diced (about 5 strips)
3/4 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1/3 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon snipped fresh chives

Procedure:
1. Heat oven to 375F.
2. Brush potato shells with melted butter and sprinkle seasoning salt to taste.
3. Bake for 15-20 minutes until crisp but not dry and hard.
4. Remove and sprinkle with cheese, bacon and onion, place back in oven until cheese is melted.
5.  Serve with sour cream and chives. You can also Ranch dressing or honey mustard.

i'm going on a diet! lol

My lifestyle recently underwent a very drastic change. For the past two years, I have been going on 24-hour hospital duties that are sometimes so hectic and busy. Often, I’m unable to eat on time and I lack sleep. Coupled with a very active lifestyle, my weight just hovers the below normal range. I may look thin to some but my body mass index or bmi is still within normal limits. If you wanna check your own bmi, here’s a free bmi calculator for you.

Anyway, last June I decided to go on hiatus from the medical field. So now, for the past two months, I’ve been a bum at home. No more 24-hour duties, no more running around the hospital hallways, no more missed meals and sleep deprivation. My life has become sedentary, save for gardening activities and doing household chores. I just bet my basal metabolic rate or bmr has decreased, which is the starting point in gaining weight. Wahh, that’d be nightmare!!! If you’re as health conscious as me, you can check your bmr with this free bmr calculator. Hope your bmr is way better than mine, hehe! :p

Aside from my life going sedentary, yummy food is available to me 24/7! Goodness! My low bmr and increased food intake will definitely equal to weight gain, huhu! =( I don’t wanna gain weight coz it won’t match my petite figure. Thus, starting today, I promise to watch what I eat and count the calories. And of course, I promise to be active again. No more sitting in front the pc for hours. Gotta move baby! =) The pics above show my lunch for today -- spiced ham sandwich with lettuce. HEALTHY!!!

Snackaroos 4: Jolleepies!!

Nope, the title is NOT a wrong spelling of a popular fastfood chain’s yummy Jolly Pies (I adore their pizza and tuna flavors which is often not in stock, why oh why??). Jolleepies by Goby is a Davao homegrown pastry product which we discovered just last week. Labsie and I were going out NCCC Mall’s main entrance when we caught a whiff of pizza. Our noses led us to an ongoing food expo in the mall’s atrium. And there it was, a free sampling of delicious looking savory mini-pies! I tasted one piece and whoa!! I fell in love immediately with the flavor – pizza underneath, creamy cheese and a hint of beef on top.

Labsie felt the same and decided on the spot to buy 1 box. He loves the pies, no doubt about it! I eagerly asked the salesgirl how much is 1 box and she said it was P42 for beef and chicken pies. It contains 6 pieces and I calculated, P6 for 1 mini-pie?? A pie that was just 1.5-2inches in diameter with about 1cm of delicious filling? Hmm.. Undecided, I popped another free piece and that sealed my decision. We bought 1 box of beef savory pies, still warm and smelling oh-so yummy! There it is, 6 pieces of mini-heaven in a bite!

The pies don’t look much but trust me when I say they are worth the price. With 2 pieces, you’d feel full but still wanting more. The crust is good but lacking the buttery taste that I have come to associate with excellent soft piecrusts. Yesterday, Labsie and I introduced Mama to the Jolleepies. She bought 2 boxes. What can I say? She loved it! My brother also loved the pies and demolished 1 box that Mama bought but, like me, he also balked at the P6 apiece tag. Let’s just say being a cheapskate runs in our blood. We’re Chinese after all, hehe!

As you can see, the pie boxes can also serve as gift boxes if you wish to give it to someone. The box has a To & From tag and is colored red, perfect for any occasions! In our country, red is a lucky color and we often wear red clothes during our birthdays and other important occasions. Anyway, Jolleepies also come in other flavors. For those who have sweet tooth, they have durian, buko, buko pandan, crema de fruta, choco cream, ube, ube macapuno and mango pies. Labsie and I didn’t try any of it, we don’t crave sweets unlike most Pinoys. Other savory flavors (aside from beef and chicken) include tuna, sisig, garden fresh beef (with vegetables), and garden fresh chicken pies. Yum!! Can’t wait to try all the savory flavors! =)

One last peek of the super-delicious Jolleepies! Mmm good! Buy now and spread the word guys! It’s still available in the NCCC Mall atrium but I don’t know for how long. You can also get it in the following places:
>Main: #11 Circumferential Road, Marfori Heights, Davao City (082-3031332, 0910-3858441)
>Matina Highway Branch (082-2971289)
>San Pedro College Branch
>San Pedro St. Branch (besides Lachmi)