a week in my life-ish: a bowl of cookie dough broke

PRE-COVID TRAVEL VLOG: TAIPEI

The Ultimate cHOCOLATE cHIP COOKIE RECIPE

Are you looking for a super amazing recipe for chocolate chip cookies? Something that’s pretty simple to make but Well, lucky for you, you’re at the right place. I GOT YOU. YOU will make this recipe and YOU WILL absolute love it. Okay, let’s get straight to it shall we:

INGREDIENTS YOU MUST GATHER:

• Flour
  • 2 + 1/2 cups
• Baking Soda
  • 1 teaspoon
• Cornstarch
  • 2 teaspoons
• Salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon + a pinch
• Butter
  • 3/4 cups
• Olive Oil
  • 1/4 cup
• Brown Sugar
  • 3/4 cups
• Honey
  • 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons
• Vanilla Extract
  • 2 teaspoons
• Eggs
  • 2 eggs
• Chocolate Chips
  • 2 cups

STEP 1:

Get a big bowl and put the flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt. Mix it well!! Then, set aside.

STEP 2:

In another big bowl, put the butter (melted), olive oil, brown sugar, honey, vanilla extract, and eggs. Mix these ingredients together well!!

STEP 3:

After letting your wet ingredients sit for 5 minutes, add the dry ingredients in bit by bit and mix together. Once the ingredients are fully combined and the dough formed, add the chocolate chip cookies in and do your final mix.

STEP 4:

Bake the cookiesssss for about 10 – 12 minutes or until it reaches a golden brown shade. Let is rest for like 3 – 5 minutes before serving 🙂 THEN ENJOY.

Portobello Mushroom Recipe (It’s actually pretty good dud)

 

I‘ll be honest I’m not a big mushroom person myself but shitake mushrooms THIS WAS PRETTY GOOD. Also…. another food blog so soon??? WHAT’S GOING ON. Idk but I like it. MAYBE NEXT TIME we’ll be making like rainbow cake or cheese sticks OR- you know what we’ll think of something good. Back to the point, let’s get cooking:

THE INGREDIENTS:

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• Portobello Mushrooms
  • we used 3 big portobello mushrooms 
  • diced
• Pasta
  • I made a circle with the tip of my pointer finger and my thumb to measure how much  pasta I wanted to cook 
  • you can definitely add more if you wanted more
• Garlic
  • 2 bulbs
  • cut into lil bits
• Butter
  • like a tablespoon
• Olive Oil
  • you tend to drizzle this a lot throughout the recipe 
• Salt
  • a few pinches of salt
• Crushed Red Pepper 
  • put in recipe to your preference!
• Garlic Salt
  • sprinkles
• Lemon
  • half a lemon-two squirts (2 tablespoons ish?)
• Cheese

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THE STEPS:

Step 1: the pasta

Cook your pasta! I add two pinches into the water boiled along with a drizzle of olive oil.  Depending on what noodles you are using, the cooking time will be different. It should say on the box of the pasta how long it should take. However, the way that I normally see if my pasta is cooked is once I put it all in the boiling water, I check every few minutes when I mix it, a small bit to see if there’s a white dot still in the center of the noodle. I hope that makes sense. When the pasta is done cooking, drain it, put it on the side (in a bowl or smthg), drizzle some olive oil, mix it around, and let it chill for a bit.

Step 2: the sauce

Cook your garlic with the butter. When the garlic is slightly brown, add your mushrooms in!! You’ll know when your mushrooms are done when you push it down with like your spatula and it’s like soft and juicy. Add some olive oil into the mixture and stir it around. Then, add your spices! This will be to your preference depending on how spicy you want it to be. I added like 5 sprinkles of the onion and garlic salt and then like 3 sprinkles of the crushed red pepper.

Step 3: combine and cheese it up

Put the mushroom sauce into the pasta and heat it together for like 3 minutes as you add cheeeesseee!! cheese. Cheese. CHEESE. CHHHHHEEEEESE!!! Mix it in more with your lemon and there you have it!!

 

Step 4: serve it

Put your pasta on your bowl. Sprinkle it with your spices. Add a small layer of cheese. And, serve! Enjoy!!!! ❤

 

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H

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© Elizabeth Anne Villoria

 

Amazing Avocado Toast Recipe? uh.. i think YES

                  HEYO, IT’S A FOOOD BLOG! One of my favorite kinds of blogs. Food is good. Okay, on to the real biz, let’s gooo:

Ingredients:

• Bread Slices 
• Tuna 
• Olive Oil
• Avocado
• Lemon
• Garlic
• Onion
• Cream Cheese
• Spices (I used, chili pepper powder, garlic salt, and bagel seasoning) 

 

Guys, this recipe is absolutely amazing.  

Okie dokie, so the serving size that I made here was like good enough for like 5-10 slices of servings. 

 

STEP 1: Cut the garlic and onions

The garlic will be added to the avocado spread, while the onions will be added to the tuna! I used 2 and 1/2 bulbs of garlic and minced it. Then, I cut one small onion. 

 

STEP 2: Mash the avocados

I used 3 avocados! By the way, I’d say not to over mash it, like just enough. Whatever your preference is!

 

STEP 3: Make the avocado mix

Get a bowl and mix in your avocados, garlic, two squeezes of lemon, spices, 1/2 cup of cream cheese.

 

 STEP 4: Tuna mix

Get your can of tuna and mix it in with your onions in a bowl.

 

STEP 5: Toast, spread, and serve

We’re at the finish line now peeps! Okay, so, toast your bread (just to the point where it’s a lil brown and toast but still soft), then add a layer of your tuna mix, then the avocado mix, and top it off with the spices! Then, enjoyyyy!!! 

 

Making the PERFECT French Toast

Quote of truth: “I can make the best French toast” – Peter Otoole

Bread is amazing.

To be completely honest with you I LOVE bread.

Bread. Is. Great.

Have I ever mentioned how much I love it? Well, if I haven’t yet, I LOVE BREAD!

Now it’s not just bread we’re talking about here, we’re about to transform it into the most (MOST) yummy breakfast food ever, FRENCH TOAST.

IM EXCITED, YOU BETTER BE TOO.

Okay, okay let’s begin.

*DRUMROOOOOLLLLLLLLL*

Time to gather the ingredients:

• Bread || around 8 slices
• Eggs || 2 eggs
• Milk || 1 cup
• Sugar || 1 tablespoon
• Vanilla Extract || 1 teaspoon
• Ground Cinnamon || 1 teaspoon
• Salt || a pinch
• Butter 

You done scavenging around your kitchen for the materials? Great, let’s continue on with this journey.

STEP 1:

Mix your eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla extract, ground cinnamon, and salt together.

Tip #1: It’s best if you make this mixture on a flat surface bowl like a baking dish or some pie plate. It will make your life easier. But, if you don’t have any, a bowl will do just fine!

STEP 2:

Dip your bread in your mixture!

Tip #1: Do both sides of the bread so that it soaks the magic sauce properly and evenly

Tip #2: REMEMBER you are only dipping the bread into your sauce, keeping it too long might affect the cooking time 

STEP 3:

Heat up your pan, place your butter, and then start cooking! Cook on medium heat until you see that it’s golden brown on each side (this usually happens in 2-3 minutes).

Mmmm you smell that? Amazing, huh.

Tip #1: When you’re done cooking serve it ASAP, it tastes best warm 🙂

And, there you go! We are done with the French Toast!!

Hope you enjoy this! Also, here’s the best part, you don’t have to just eat this for breakfast, cook it any time of the day. 

stay grateful ❤ 

 

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H

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© Elizabeth Anne Villoria

 

Regulating the Source of Life (FOOD)

Quote of truth: “Laughter is brightest where food is best.” – Irish Proverb

Food has great importance. It’s a source of life, and it plays a huge role in our society. It’s seen way more than just some plain thing on a plate. It’s valued and as each individual has their own culture, food has helped as a bridge to connect everyone. As the years pass by, mass productions of food have grown with it. The growth of corn, for example, has risen so much as shown in the article, When a Crop Becomes King, by Michael Pollan. And, it is also discussed in the article The Pleasures of Eating written by Wendell Berry about food politics and its relation to the people. More so than now, governments must take responsibility to regulate the food industry and ensure that the food that is given to the people is safe and healthy.

FOOOOOOOOOOOOD. 

One reason why the government needs to regulate the food industry would be to help maintain the health of the people. Taking the average person, the food that they intake is what helps them to function on a daily basis. If the food were to be filled with unhealthy ingredients, this would be very unfortunate. However, the thing is that most people have their busy schedule to control what they eat. Without the time to make homemade food, what gets most consumed would be junk food, pre-made food, and fast food. Most people are not aware of what is in the products that they purchase. And, just as Berry mentions in his article when buying food, consumers tend to “ignore certain critical questions about the quality and cost of what they are sold”. And, in the end with all the unawareness and lack of control that a consumer is given over what’s in their food makes them a victim of the food industry.

Another reason that regulations need to be set would be because of the havoc it creates with the environment and the people. Taking corn, for example, it is put into almost every product on every shelf of every store out there. It has squirmed its way into our snacks and drinks, all the way up to the vitamin C that we take. The government needs to take a closer look at the growing problems that come with corn. Not only does corn hurt our environment, “kill off marine life in a 12,000 square mile area” and more, and takes millions of acres of land for themselves but they also affect our health as argued by Michael Pollan. Billions of dollars are given to grow corn. This corn is then put into the food we eat, the animals that we consume, and even the beverages that we intake. Corn is just turning into a big fat monster, but this is for another story, another time. Anyways, this needs to be regulated more often along with every other ingredient out there, stopping it from taking too much of a role in our lives.

Although some people may say that the government shouldn’t do anything with the regulation of the food companies, this is wrong because it poses such a huge threat to our health and environment. Without the government to check on the food processes and what gets put into our food makes what we consume to be risky. And, this risk goes to our health, our families health, and the environment. Also, as not everyone is aware with what is being put into their products, they can never truly “be free if our minds and voices are controlled by someone else”, as Wendell Berry puts it. With the government to double check the food industries and for them to make sure what is given to us in our supermarkets is safe, would make us have more sense of security and create a better and healthier lifestyle for everyone.

In conclusion, the government should keep tabs and regulate what goes on in the food industry to make sure it is safe, healthy, and good for our environment. Just like how the article on The Pleasures of Eating talks about the importance of eating responsibly, this is what the goal of the regulations should be. Choosing and allowing this to happen, would help our lifestyles, the world around us, and the choices we choose to be better, healthier, and safer.

You can make a difference. Start being aware of what you put into your mouth. Spread the word. Cook homemade delicious food. Find the time. Make time. 

 

stay aware. stay awesome.

Yours truly,

L.O.A.S.H

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© Elizabeth Anne Villoria

 

Ibajay Journey: Third day, A Wedding

The third day in this beautiful place

Our third day begins with some Longganisa and eggs. Excited, we left to the mangrove eco – park. One of the men, Denise, who works at the park called us. We went to him and he pointed to a bucket and told us he caught two mud – lobsters. Ate Aga picked it up, but we only saw one mud – lobster. We told him there was only one, then he said that the other men ate it. I was shocked, but after, he said it might have just been a crab. So, which really ate it? I guess we had to accept it. It affect us that much.

A wedding

Denise showed us another passage to enter the starting of the park because there will be a wedding. The wedding was starting in the afternoon but we have to be prepared. We can’t just walk through a wedding all muddy and stinky.

Shovel Time

Unfortunately, when we checked our traps nothing popped up. We left the traps behind and went to our first station. The first two mounds we dug with our hands and when we used the shovel, it kinda went terribly wrong because the mounds got clogged. The third one was going alright and deep but high tide was coming. A few minutes after, we started to pack up. Luckily, we hung our bags on a branch. The water was already on our knees. You could see some worms and other weird bugs floating around already.

Another Passage

We trudged under the bridge and through the mud where we could hear the music from the wedding. And, today we learned many different things from the local people who work in the park. They told us how they cut down the nipa and sell them for about 300 PHP per sack. It’s exciting learning about their culture here and because they stay here every day they know a lot of things about mangroves and mud lobster and other wildlife.

It’s beautiful how they take care of the land so much. They know how to find the right food. But, we need to make more people aware. And, not just aware but also care about these mangroves. Are you in?

~ Juvenile L.O.A.S.H

Ibajay Journey: Second Day, Mangrove Exploration

Circa: JUNE 7, 2016

Second day

We went back to the park to check out our traps and the mangroves. This time, we came at 8:00 am. The sun was shining through the trees and the birds were chirping beautifully. We arrived at our trap site.

Did we catch any?

From afar we could see the trap was touched by something. The trap was deactivated, but by what? We walked down the muddy stairs and to the traps. One was under a bridge and the other was near the oldest tree. We got both the traps and checked them. We were able to peek through a small hole which was created for inserting the paddle. We saw a claw and an antenna. It was possible that it was just a crab, but I guess we’ll find out soon.

Frightened Creature

We slowly lifted the opening for the creature to get out. On the other end of the trap, we put a container to catch it. We didn’t know exactly how the attitude of this animal was. We prepared to catch it as a mix of excitement and curiosity took over. We surrounded our trap and waited patiently. Silence filled the air. You could probably hear a leaf fall from a mile away.

But, fortunately for us, slowly it came out. It meaning the mud – lobster. We closed the lid of the cylindrical container. The mud – lobster pushed the cover and was trying to claw its way up. Very intelligent animals, indeed. It stopped moving when I ventured toward the container it was in. I put a small stick in front of its face to see what it would do. It didn’t move but after a few seconds, it loudly tried to clamp it with both its claws.

Plot 2

After capturing the mud – lobsters we went back to our second plot. We measured the starting of the plot and went further inland. We noticed there were a lot of Nypas on one of the mounds. We studied how the other mounds were surrounded by other kinds of plants. We were trying to measure the other mounds on the other side but it was covered with Acanthuses and Nypa Fruticans. After measuring all the mounds visible, we went back to the old tree.

New Plot

Since we found some interesting things happening on this small piece of an island with the tree, we decided to make a plot there. The circumference of the whole island was 18 M 77. We wanted to look at the mud – lobster better so we decided to let it go for awhile. Scared it would run, we tied a small piece of string to its body creating a leash. It looked pretty funny, leashing a lobster. After realizing they are actually very, very slow we just unleashed them. We barricaded their surroundings with small logs and pieces of stick we found lying around, even an old boot. The biggest mud – lobster kept escaping and trying to get into one of the holes. They both stopped moving so we put them back into their containers.

Traps

We decided the best idea was to set up the traps in the same mound to check if more than one lobster lived in it. After setting up the traps, and nearly catching some mudskippers, we rested on top of one of the open bridges. This bridge wasn’t completely finished so the sides had no railings yet. We spotted a medium-sized jellyfish that got itself tangled up in the vines. It was beautiful and after few minutes untangled. The cool breeze was passing as I stared through the binoculars. I could barely make out the sweet songs of the birds anymore. The sun started to fall and the night was filled with partying crickets.

Night Sky

It’s been two hours since we left the trap and made a decision to check them out. We steadily made out our way with some flashlights. The ants started to appear everywhere, we could barely touch the railings for support. There was this one time when we found five ants all tearing up one ant. It was crazy. We did our nocturnal prospection for maybe 45 minutes. We went back and forth quietly trying to spot some mud – lobsters burrowing away. On our way out we closed all our lights and stared into the sky. All the stars were out, and the moon was like a shimmering diamond. We told each other stories and left back to go home.

THUNDER!!

We’ve finished freshening up and we were just laying around studying. We could see the flashes of lightning through our window. There was no after sound with the lightning in a long time. The silence in the air was occupied by the sound of the aircon. All of a sudden a loud boom came screaming through my ears. I jumped, accidentally pulling off my earphones with it. We all looked at each other, surprised. The ground shook for me, it felt so close by. It was past 9:00 pm so we decided to sleep already.

~ Juvenile L.O.A.S.H

Chicken Curry with Lemon Grass

To make this dish you will need:

• Chicken
• Lemon Grass
• Turmeric
• Spanish Paprika
• Bay leaf

How to create this mouthwatering dish:

Step 1:

Oxygenate your chicken in your bowl or pot. To oxygenate your chicken all you have to do is place your raw chicken in your pot under a strong flow of tap water. What this will do is bring out the dirt of the chicken and wash it out. You will want to keep this oxygenation process for about 3-5 minutes or as needed.

Step 2:

Drain the chicken from water and turn on your fire. Place your chicken in your pan or pot with no oil or water and add the following dry ingredients on top: Spanish Paprika, Turmeric, Bay leaf, and Lemon Grass. Do not put any wet ingredients to allow the oil and water of the chicken to come out. Once you notice the oil and water coming out, you will know it is done.

Step 3:

As you can see below, the chicken has released all its fluids into the pan which makes it look like soup. You must know that when I placed this chicken into the pan, this had no water or oil whatsoever.

Step 4: Separate the chicken from the oil and water and place in another pan with oil. Cook till the chicken is brown.

Step 5:

Cut your garlic into smithereens, onions into quarters, and green peppers into small circulars bits. If you don’t completely understand my description please check the photo down below to get the full picture.

You should saute the green pepper and onions first before adding the garlic. After sauteing the pepper and onions until slightly brown, add the garlic

Step 6:

Combine your chicken into the green peppers, garlic, and onion. Mix.

Step 7:

Peel and dice potatoes. Add the potatoes to the chicken. You will know the potatoes are cooked when they are soft.

Step 8:

When the potatoes are cooked, make your curry mix and add this into your chicken as well. To create a curry mix, add together milk and curry powder.

Step 9:

One boil, switch off the fire, add your coconut oil.

Step 10:

Put chopped parsley on top. Enjoy.

Yours Truly,

L.O.A.S.H