Annie's Chamorro Kitchen | Hafa Adai! Let's get cooking, Guam style!

The Green Smoothie Secret

Posted on February 5, 2014 by AnniesChamorroKitchen Leave a comment

It seems like drinking Green Smoothies or Shakes are all the rage these days.

I must admit, I’ve hopped on that bandwagon, and I don’t regret it one bit.

There are some green vegetables that I just don’t like adding to my smoothies, however. Among them are romaine lettuce (or any kind of lettuce) or bitter greens. I have to get used to the taste of raw kale, but I found that if I remove the stems from the kale leaves, it’s more palatable.

My absolute favorite green vegetable to add to smoothies are fresh baby spinach leaves. Add about two handfuls to your smoothie. You can’t really taste it, in my opinion.

To kick up the nutrition content of your smoothie, try adding protein powder, some fruit — not too much fruit, though, because of all the natural sugar it contains — and unsweetened almond milk.

Here are some general guidelines for making nutritious and delicious green smoothies.

Blend together:

2 handfuls of leafy greens
1 frozen fruit
1 cup liquid (see tips below)
1 scoop protein powder
Optional: 1/2 cup ice cubes

Here are a few great tips:

FREEZE your fruits to make thick, cold, slushy smoothies. You don’t have to add ice (which will eventually dilute your smoothie).
Make smoothie packets ahead of time. Place all of your ingredients (minus the liquid) into a freezer-safe zip-lock bag and freeze. Take out the bag and mix it up when you’re ready.
Use any number of liquids — almond milk, soy milk, low/non-fat milk, and one of my favorites — coconut water. Unsweetened black coffee is also good with a combo of cocoa nibs and frozen bananas.
To avoid bloating, try not to eat anything 30 minutes before and after you drink your green smoothie.
Make a green smoothie a meal by adding protein powder and a “good fat” such as avocado or coconut oil.

Give it a try. I think you’ll be surprised at how good a green smoothie tastes. 🙂

Click here for some tasty green smoothie recipes from SimpleGreenSmoothies.com.

Posted in Healthy Eating Tips

Mandarin Delight Pie

Posted on February 5, 2014 by AnniesChamorroKitchen Leave a comment

I first tried this pie years and years ago, when one of my sisters made it for our family. It’s since been one of our favorite desserts. It’s quick and easy to make; in fact, if you’re looking for something delicious to make for dessert, add this to your menu. It’s a delicious dessert to take to potlucks too!

For a low-calorie / lightened version of this recipe, use a low-fat crust, fat-free cream cheese, low-fat or fat-free sour cream, lite Cool Whip, sugar-free pudding mix, and mandarin oranges packed in juice instead of syrup.

Give my recipe a try. I think you’ll like it. 🙂

Mandarin Delight Pie

Ingredients:

1 graham cracker pie crust
1 package (8‑oz) cream cheese
1 cup sour cream
1 small tub (8‑oz) of Cool Whip
1 small (3.4 oz) packages of French Vanilla instant pudding mix
2 cans (15‑oz) mandarin oranges (reserve 1/2 cup of the liquid; drain the rest)

Directions:

1. Heat your oven to 250 degrees. Place the graham cracker crust into the COLD oven, at the same time you turn it on to pre-heat. (In the time it takes to pre-heat your oven, the crust is toasting.) Once the oven reaches 250 degrees, take the crust out of the oven. You should smell the toasting crust by this time– when you start to smell the crust as it bakes, it’s probably ready to take out of the oven. Remove the crust from the oven. Let the pie crust cool completely before adding the filling.

2. In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth and creamy.

3. Mix in the sour cream.

4. Mix in the cool whip.

5. Add the instant pudding and 1/2 cup reserved mandarin juice to the cream cheese mixture. Mix well, or just until the mixture is smooth and creamy.

5. Spread half of the cream cheese filling into the pie crust. It should just come halfway up the side of the crust. Layer one can of mandarin over the filling.

6. Gently spread the remaining filling over the mandarin. Layer the second can of mandarin over the top of the filling.

7. Refrigerate the pie for at least 30 minutes to allow the filling to set. Slice, serve, and ENJOY!

Try my recipe for Blueberry Cheesecake too! 🙂

Posted in DESSERTS, Healthy Alternatives ~ Recipes, Pies tagged with Fruit

Blueberry Cheesecake

Posted on February 5, 2014 by AnniesChamorroKitchen One comment

Blueberry Cheesecake is among the many go-to desserts I make because it’s quick and easy to prepare, not to mention DELICIOUS. 🙂

With only 4 ingredients, you can whip this up in minutes. The only hard part is waiting for the filling to set as it chills in the refrigerator.

This is a great dessert to bring to potlucks too. Make it the night before and you don’t have to worry about cooking anything the next day (bonus!).

Give my recipe a try. I think you’ll like it. 🙂

Blueberry Cheesecake

Ingredients:

1 ready-made graham cracker pie crust

8 oz. cream cheese, softened at room temperature

12 oz. Cool Whip Whipped Topping

1 can blueberry (extra fruit) pie filling

Directions:

Place the pie crust into a COLD oven. Pre-heat your oven to 250 degrees. As the oven heats up, the pie crust is toasting and getting nicely browned. As soon as the oven reaches 250 degrees, turn it off and take the pie crust out of the oven. Let the crust cool completely.

This photo shows two crusts — I baked one for Blueberry Cheesecake and the other for my Mandarin Pie (see Desserts for that delicious recipe).

While the crust is cooling, make the filling.

Place the softened cream cheese into a mixing bowl.

Using a hand mixer, mix the cream cheese until creamy.

Add the Cool Whip to the mixing bowl.

Mix the Cool Whip and cream cheese until creamy.

Scoop the cream cheese mixture into the cooled pie crust, coming to about 1/2 inch from the top of the crust (you want to leave some room for the blueberry filling).

Top the cream cheese mixture with the blueberry filling.

Yum! Don’t you want to dig right in?

You can eat this right away, but it’s better if you let the filling set up a bit. Cover the cheesecake with the plastic lid that comes with the crust. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (an hour or two is even better) then slice, serve, and ENJOY!

Want a fork? 😀

Be sure to check out my recipe for Mandarin Pie!

Posted in Pies tagged with Fruit

Beef Tinaktak

Posted on February 5, 2014 by AnniesChamorroKitchen 40 comments

Beef Tinaktak is a delicious Chamorro dish. It’s one of my favorite comfort foods–I love drowning my rice with the coconut milk kådu (broth).

Tinaktak–I love saying that. I think the name came from the sound made when pounding pieces of steak with a knife to tenderize it (tak tak tak tak tak). Well, maybe that’s not really where the name of this dish originated from, but it sounds good, doesn’t it? 🙂

Rather than pounding a piece of steak, you can use minute steak or ground beef in this recipe.

Give my recipe a try. I think you’ll like it.

Beef Tinaktak

Ingredients:

3 pounds minute steak, cut into bite sized pieces (or substitute with 3 pounds lean ground beef)
2 cans coconut milk
1 medium onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans stewed tomatoes, undrained (chop tomatoes into small pieces)
2 cups fresh green beans, cut into 2-inch pieces
4 tablespoons Dashida seasoning (or salt, to taste)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
donne’ (hot pepper), optional

Directions:

1. If you’re using fresh green beans, you’re going to want to blanch them first. Blanching means to put vegetables into a pot of boiling water, let it cook for a few minutes, then remove the vegetables and immediately place them into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking.

Here’s how it’s done.

In a large pot, bring about 5 cups of water to a rapid boil over high heat. Add enough salt so the water tastes faintly salty. While the water heats, fill a medium sized bowl about three quarters full with ice, then add enough cold water to cover the top of the ice.

When the water is boiling and the ice bath is ready, trim the green beans to the size you need. It’s best to trim them just prior to cooking so they won’t oxidize or dehydrate. Add the beans to the boiling water in batches small enough to ensure that the water doesn’t lose its boil. Boil the beans only until they’re barely cooked through but still tender. To test, remove one piece with a slotted spoon, dip it into the ice bath to cool, and eat it.

As soon as the beans are done, remove them as fast as you can and submerge them in the ice bath. Remove them from the ice bath as soon as they are no longer warm. Set aside.

2. In a medium-sized pan, sauté the meat, onions and garlic over medium high heat; cook until meat is browned and onions are translucent.

3. Add tomatoes to the meat mixture, juice and all.

4. Add the blanched vegetables to the meat and tomatoes mixture.

5. Add the Dashida and black pepper. Stir, taste, and adjust the seasonings if needed.

6. Slowly stir in the coconut milk; lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes or until the coconut milk is heated (do not boil).

7. Add donne’ if desired. Serve over hot rice (steamed white or brown) and ENJOY!

Posted in Beef, CHAMORRO DISHES, MEAT, Totche (Meat)

Cucumber Cabbage Salad

Posted on February 4, 2014 by AnniesChamorroKitchen Leave a comment

Are you tired of the same old salad and salad dressing? Try my Cucumber Cabbage Salad with my delicious, tangy salad dressing. It’s quick and easy to make, and since it’s homemade, you know you’ll be getting the “real” stuff, not something made with preservatives.

Give my recipe a try. I think you’ll like it. 🙂

Cucumber Cabbage Salad

Ingredients:

4 cucumbers (medium, peeled, seeded, cut into sticks)

1 teaspoon salt

1 carrot, very thinly sliced

1 small cabbage, thinly sliced

1 bunch green onions, sliced

Dressing Ingredients:

1 cup rice vinegar

2 tablespoons tahini (ground sesame seeds)

1 teaspoon chopped garlic

4 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon golden brown sugar

1-inch piece of fresh ginger (peeled, grated)

Directions:

Wash and peel the cucumbers.

Cut the cucumbers into quarters.

Remove the seeds.

Cut into sticks.

Place the cucumber sticks into a colander.

Sprinkle the salt over the cucumbers. Stir, ensuring the cucumbers are coated with salt. Let the salted cucumbers sit for about 20 minutes to allow excess water to drain.

This is how much water drained out of the cucumbers after about 10 minutes.

After 30 minutes, pour out the drained water then rinse the salt off the cucumbers. Drain well. Place into a large mixing bowl then set aside.

Thinly slice the cabbage. To save time, you can use packaged cole slaw mix. Place the sliced cabbage into the mixing bowl with the cucumbers.

Peel and slice the carrot into thin matchstick pieces. Add to the mixing bowl.

Add the sliced green onions to the bowl.

Mix all the vegetables together. Set aside while you make the dressing.

Make the Dressing:

Place the vinegar into a small mixing bowl. I poured the vinegar into a handy kitchen gadget that’s used to mix salad dressings (it comes with whisk built into the lid).

Add the tahini.

You can find tahini at most grocery stores. This is what one brand looks like. Some stores sell them in the International aisles; sometimes you’ll find it with the salad dressings. Just ask a store clerk if you can’t find it.