As soon as the sun starts to shine its full brightness during the hot summer months, I don't immediately hit the nearest beach yet but I do load my summer playlist on my current favorite music player and listen to the beats of reggae and carribean music all the time. Aside from music, I also get in the mood for some island food.


When I first tried Jamaican grilled goodness, it was so flavorful that my tastebuds kept craving for it. But alas, that happened overseas and back here in our own little island of Leyte, I had to recreate everything from scratch. It's a good thing that spices abound and ingredients are readily available so I don't have to fly miles out there to get me some sumptuous island grub.


Read on to find out how to make tasty GRILLED JAMAICAN JERK CHICKEN and RIBS plus BBQ right at home!



Jamaican Jerk Chicken & Ribs

Ingredients: 

(For the marinade)
1 big red inion, chopped
10 spring onions, chopped
1 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp black pepper
4 garlic cloves, chopped
Ginger, chopped
1 chili pepper, chopped
4 tsp Jamaican pimento or allspice
2 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp thyme
4 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp salt
2 tsp brown sugar
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp white vinegar
3 tbsp dark rhum + 2 tbsp water
1/2 cup fresh lime juice

(For the basting sauce)
2 tbsp Jamaican Jerk marinade
1 cup ketchup
3 tbsp soy sauce

1/2 kilo Magnolia Chicken Wings
3/4 kilo Monterey Ribs
1/2 kilo Magnolia Chicken BBQ
sliced pineapples (optional)




Directions:

• Boil dark rhum and water for 3 minutes.

• Using a food processor, combine and mix all the wet and dry ingredients for the marinade including the dark rhum and water we just boiled. The scent can be a strong if you're not used to spices but I assure you everything will smell great afterwards when it's all blended.

• Take 2 tbsp of the Jamaican Jerk marinade and mix it with the ketchup and soy sauce. Set aside.

• Get your Magnolia Chicken Wings and Monterey Ribs and rub the Jamaican Jerk marinade in. Place it in an airtight bag and let it sit at least 4 hours or you can store it in the fridge overnight for more enhanced flavor.

• Now it's the time to pump up the volume of your reggae beats as you preheat an outdoor grill for medium high. Cook the marinated chicken and ribs together with the Magnolia Chicken BBQ slowly and turn it frequently. Make sure to baste it often with the sauce that we made. Cook to desired doneness.

• Grill some sliced pineapples to complete the island vibe! Best served with warm java rice! Enjoy!

Please watch my full YouTube video below on how to make this version of the GRILLED JAMAICAN JERK CHICKEN and RIBS plus BBQ or visit http://youtu.be/KkJzYBDRTa4.


For more easy to follow recipes, check out http://www.mygreatfood.com and "like" their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/MyGreatFood.




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This summer heat is no joke and it's important to stay hydrated all the time. Aside from feeling parched, this humid weather makes me rather sleepy and I don't exactly know why. So it's hard for me to say no to a cold coffee drink at the moment.


My work requires me to stay alert because I'm a grammar nazi an editor and I need to stay awake to make sure I spot mistakes and don't miss them. I need all the help I can get it and right now I feel this drink is really sent from up above!

And it's a no-brainer since it's very easy to do and the ingredients aren't hard to find at all. Read on how to make this COFFEE CRUSH SUMMER SHAKE!


 Ingredients:
1 sachet San Mig Coffee Honeycino
1/4 cup Magnolia Chocolait
1 cup shaved or crushed ice
1/2 or 1 tbsp sugar (optional)
chocolate syrup (optional)
Makes 1 serving.

Directions:

• First, you'll need a cup of crushed ice.

• Then take 1/4 cup of Magnolia Chocolait and put it together with the ice on a blender.

• Now open a sachet of San Mig Coffee Honeycino and pour it all in with the others.

• The next one is optional but if you're like me and you have a love affair with sugar, then by all means... add some in. Just don't go overboard. We all know that too much sugar is never good. You can also add chocolate syrup if that's also your deal. All you need is to blend it for a bit and that's basically all there is to it!

Still not sure how it's done? Check out my #mygreatfoodin15seconds video below.


If you're like me and don't want to leave the house or building when the sun is still out, then stock up on Magnolia Chocolait and San Mig Coffee Honeycino and save yourself hundred of bucks from ordering your fix at your favorite coffee shops. Even though the summer season is almost over, it's still scorchin' hot literally here in the Philippines (and will probably continue to be so in the next couple of weeks/months!) so this delicious and refreshing drink is guaranteed to always save the day! And yes, it does take more or less 15 seconds to make if you're in that big of a hurry. For my full video, watch below or visit http://youtu.be/LDL44Ai_eH0.



Try it now! And check out more easy to follow recipes at http://www.mygreatfood.com and "like" their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/MyGreatFood.





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Been a while since I've posted, huh!? I know I really need get back to blogging, but balancing between being a real good mom to a toddler boy and a dear loving wife to Noodle Boy, plus earning a living and running a business, I'm so sorry I just couldn't find time to write. Booooo! Though I really, really want to update my blog because after all, this is my memoir and my passion. So now since I got some free time, I'd like to share with you what I've been up to. Let me enumerate:

1. Bento business. I know it's too soon but I can't wait til he goes to school and I get to prepare his food. LOL! Honestly, I've always wanted to do this. Also making my own Japanese dishes at home now. No need to go out to get sushi!

tamagoyaki, sausages, onigiri (omusubi)

paella and tuna onigiri

Makizushi and sashimi

crab & mango maki

2. Serious with skincare. Yes, I have zits. Again. I dunno, I thought I was done with puberty. Seems like my hormones are not done with me! However, I'm now following a new skincare regimen (morning and night) to make sure my skin gets cleaned and treated well. I'm going to post different entries regarding my unbiased product reviews for the following as soon as I can.

Celeteque for my acne-prone skin!

Can't go wrong with Cetaphil!

3. Be beautiful. I'll be entering my 3rd decade in life pretty soon and I don't intend to look a day over 20! That is, if I can maintain a youthful glow. Married life is really taking a toll on my looks but with awesome skincare I think I can handle the inevitable aging process. And I don't mean improving my Photoshop skills. I'm talking about make-up and what not. Enter the magic of BB creams. (Reviews on products to follow as well when I'm done testing them out.)

Korean BB creams are just uh-mazing!!!

And speaking of Koreans, I just finished watching a KDrama and I can't help but notice the dewy faces of  simply gorgeous actors and actresses. Even without makeup (though I'm quite aware they put some on, however, minimal) they just seem to be glowing! Case in point:

For sure, this one's edited. But still...  And oh yes, I finished the ROOFTOP PRINCE before the local network finished airing it. :)

And looking at these pretty Korean stars makes me feel like I should do something with my eyebrows. Do you notice what these women have in common?


Damn right! It's those blasted straight eyebrows. Ugh. Moreover, my arched brows are so '90s! Definitely a remnant of Beverly Hills 90210 and Friends. Reminiscent of Drew Barrymore or during bad eyebrow days, Pamela Anderson.

Ancient arched eyebrows?

I have really thin eyebrows (which I'll reveal in my upcoming beauty posts) and I'm dying to grow them. Hence, I have undertaken an eyebrow experiment (which I'll also blog about in the very near future, hopefully the project works! *crossing fingers*). Well, what do you know!!? It seems I'll be blogging quite a lot in the coming weeks. Yay!!! Anyway, so here's a video I found online which is really helpful for those of you who also want to get that Ulzzang 얼짱 thing going on. I know I do because obviously, I AM NOT GETTING ANY YOUNGER! Argh.


Isn't @MissWen gorgeous? So innocent, so sweet... Uwaaaahhh! I'm definitely trying this look as soon as I get my brow hairs back! So let's wait & see!

I guess that wraps up my first quarter of 2013. There's more but I'm running out of time again. Grr. So yeah, thanks for droppin' by! Until my next blog update... Hopefully, it should be in just a couple of days. ;)



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There are just too many maxims about love and if I write them all down, it's going to be like a post-Valentine hangover. So let me spare everyone the agony and get straight to the point. What is the recipe for true love? I have a recipe I'd like to share. A real recipe... for TRUE LOVE.

Allow me to say state this all too familiar proverb: The way to a man's heart is through his stomach. / The shortest road to men's hearts is down their throats. Agree?

Based on my experience, it is in fact a big bonus to be able to cook a decent, if not a totally orgasmic, food for your boyfriend or husband. Even with watching Japanese anime over the years, I have observed that schoolgirls often give their bento boxes to the boys they like. (And you gotta hand it to them because making sushi for me is quite a feat!)

I can, however, manage to cook up a storm when I feel like it and/or when there's a special occasion. This year's Valentine's Day was no exception. Instead of going out to dinner and falling into a cunning capitalist scheme or a Hallmark ploy, I decided to try something... in the kitchen.

Enter the ingredients.
American beef ribs for true love! Is that my idea of a sweet, romantic Valentines Day surprise? Well, for one, ribs are especially tasty. I love eating barbecued baby back ribs. (Who doesn't?) And second of all, if you've read the Bible or paid attention at least to one of your early religion classes in primary school, you do realize that in Genesis 2:21, we read that God takes one of Adam's ribs then  uses it to create Eve. (Okay, for the sake of Valentine's Day, let's not argue about that and just let it be.) RIBS = ADAM + EVE = LOVE. 'Nuff said.

Moving on... since I have no time to smoke some ribs nor an oven to cook a standard ribs recipe, I improvised with the use of a microwave. Perhaps when I'm older, more mature, and have become a full-pledged housewife I might consider investing in a real nice and expensive La Germania Americana stainless-steel cooker.


For now, my small and trusty microwave oven will have to do. The main ingredient I should say with this easy little recipe of mine is TO COOK WITH LOVE. The first trick I learned about cooking food is to use your hands... and second and most important of all is to cook with passion, thereby putting all the love you have to give on the food you are cooking. Sounds simple, right? It is! Trust me. And people will be able to taste that love in the food you just made. Just ask my husband. Tee hee.




For the success of this particular recipe, I have HEINZ Tomato Ketchup to thank for. Heinz claims to have the best taste for a tomato ketchup because it is sweet and spicy, intense, and concentrated. If you have not tried Heinz tomato ketchup, you have missed 1/2 of your life! There is no other tomato ketchup that gives that fullest tomato flavor with a perfect blend of spices.


Some people argue whether tomato is a fruit or a vegetable. It is, however, stated that a tomato is technically the fruit of the tomato plant but often we use it as a vegetable in cooking. Kind of a win-win situation for me. I got my GLOW food right thurr! Fruit and vegetable, all rolled into one! But that's just me.

Anyway, Heinz definitely has that taste of 100% real tomatoes. Just like love, sometimes it can be sweet and sometimes sour... but with the right blend, then it's TRUE LOVE! It is important that in loving someone you have to be like a HEINZ tomato ketchup -- completely free from artificial preservatives, colors, flavors and thickener! Just real, authentic, unconditional love. The PERFECT INGREDIENT if you ask me.

With our lives together just beginning, we do have such great inspirations looking at the love and lives of our parents, what they've been through, and how important it is to stay together as vowed -- to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, 'till death do us part.

*SIGH*  True love doesn't have a happy ending... simply because it doesn't end. :)

And the product of the love we made and the love we have for each other... presenting our baby love.


Be in love with love. Always. 

How was your Valentine's Day this year?

xoxo,

There was a time in my life when all I wanted was to travel and eat delectable food. Sometimes I still get that feeling overwhelming me and my thoughts would always wander off to good ol' Italy. It's been my life's dream to visit that place and eat all the pizza I want! But alas, I cannot afford the luxury and time so I will just continue to dream about it... for now.

But allow me to share with you a story of something that just happened very recently.













Pizza Hut's Tuscani SUPREMO Pizza is perfect for men, women, and children of all ages! The perfect blend of cheese, vegetables, meat, and spices makes it the ultimate pizza concoction.


1) Because it would be easier for me to keep up-to-date with the latest about Pizza Hut by browsing their website regularly. Their specials and promos are something I keep looking forward to.


2) Easier to access social media networks like Facebook by clicking an app to interact with fellow fans of Pizza Hut and easier for me to share to my friends my latest discoveries and update them with what's happening. A big bonus also is the camera so I can take and post pictures and HD quality videos. 






Love, 

Maria Franco