Ibyang
Ibyang

The Magic of Talbos ng Kamote (Sweet Potato Leaves)

26 February 2010 17 Comments Category: Food, Recipes, Tips

Took a different route going home this morning after my errands today and I passed by this Filipino store and noticed they were selling some vegetables. At first glance, I thought it was Kangkong but I noticed color in the leaves and I realized it must be Talbos ng Kamote..and it was! I bought a bunch for only $1.50 and since it’s Friday today, I decided that this will go well with our Flounder Fish which I planned to cook for dinner.



Talbos ng Kamote, also known as Sweet Potato Leaves or Camote Tops (scientific name Ipomoea Batatas) is another one of my favorite vegetables but I never get to eat them all the time as they are not always available in Asian Markets or Filipino Stores here. Other than buying them from markets, sometimes friends give them to us straight from their garden.

I love Talbos ng Kamote for its health benefits:

(a) Excellent sources of antioxidative compounds, mainly polyphenolics, which may protect the human body from oxidative stress that is associated with many diseases including cancer and cardiovascular diseases. source

(b) High in iron. I grew up being anemic for a long time and part of my doctor’s suggested diet then was to eat lots of ampalaya, liver steak and talbos ng kamote so my mother made sure we had a steady supply of all these.

(c) Good source of vitamins A, B and C, calcium and phosphorus. source

I love Talbos ng Kamote because it’s so easy to cook. Just boil in hot water for a few minutes, transfer to a bowl, squeeze lemon or calamansi on top and serve. Then magic happens as the acidity of the lemon/calamansi will make the soup turn red. That’s why I call them my magic vegetables because they turn red with just a few drops of lemon and magic too because it does make my blood healthier.

You can also make Camote Tops Salad. Blanch leaves in boiling water and drain. Add cherry tomatoes and feta cheese. Then pour a few teaspoons of Vinaigratte dressing.

Tonight, I cooked them the old-fashion way (by just boiling) and dipped in Bagoong (shrimp paste).


I hope one day, when we have a house, I’d get to grow some Camote Tops in our own garden so I would always have a fresh supply of this wonderful magic vegetables.


READ MORE

New Season, New Haircut

Finally got myself a decent haircut after three months. It took me awhile to decide on whether I will just have it trimmed and continue growing it long or cut most of it off. I decided to cut it short since the cold months are creeping in, it’s getting harder to blowdry long hair. Takes me longer time to prepare to go out when I have longer hair. The last thing a woman needs during cold days is a high maintenance hairstyle. I swear, mauubos na oras mo sa pagpatong-patong ng mga damit, dadagdag pa ang pagpapatuyo ng buhok. 

So my first stop for today was at the salon…and voila! New hair to welcome the new season—Autumn starts on Monday, 1 March. 🙂

That’s my stylist Ching as she walked behind me. She even cooked Tikoy (New Year Cake) and made me eat them before I left her salon. She just arrived from the Philippines for a vaycay and she was able to bring home Tikoy (the Tikoy that I want) from Manila. May haircut na, may libreng meryenda pa haha. She’s sweet like that, she almost always feeds me when I have my haircut.


I feel so much better now. Having a haircut is such a pick-upper isn’t it?

READ MORE

Thursday Funny

I’m having one of those busy weeks in the office and I’m so glad it’s Thursday today–my last day at work for this week. In a few hours, I will be saying “Hello!” to my weekend. I can’t wait.

I can’t wait because this week, I’ve been feeling really really lazy. If you’re a woman, I guess you know that we have certain days when we just feel so ‘blah’. Like you know you are happy and you are grateful for what everyday brings you but you just have that feeling of so-so. The feeling that you love your job but on some days you just feel tired and you just want to stay home and sleep. Those are my feelings this week and I’ve been managing it by trying to focus on work and laughing my negative feelings away.

Thank goodness, this work week will be over soon and if you are having lazy feelings or blah feelings like me, I hope this photograph cheers you up:

Hehehehe. This photo of a seal trying to get in the photo of penguins cracked me up this morning and it gave me a little boost of energy and happiness at work today. I hope it makes you laugh too. 

It’s always the little things that make one happy.

READ MORE

Our 3rd Anniversary

20 January 2010. 🙂

For this year, we chose a more relaxed and spontaneous anniversary getaway.  

On the morning of our anniversary, we started a 3-day road trip to experience the Grand Pacific Drive, a drive from Sydney’s Royal National Park to the south coast area of New South Wales. I will tell you more about it soon (with more photos!! hehe). For now, let me share with you snippets of the things we saw and enjoyed on the day we celebrated our 3rd year together.

Not-so-early in the morning, we drove down to Royal National Park to see Garie Beach. 

Then we headed down to Bald Hill and had lunch inside the car. Had an ice cream for dessert as we are mesmerized by all the beautiful scenery below us. It was beautiful. 

Next stop was Sea Cliff Bridge, spend a few minutes there to take photographs. 

Then off we went to Wollongong, our home base for two nights.

After we checked-in at the hotel, we just rested a bit then went out to have afternoon tea. We walked along the streets of the CBD and found this pretty boutique cafe called Lee and Me. We had a cake and coffee. There was a kebab place beside it and since I was pretty hungry from the traveling and heat (one of those hottest days in NSW that time) I bought a chicken kebab (a.k.a Shawarma)

After our yummy afternoon tea, we walked around some more looking for a resto to have dinner at later. We didn’t have any reservations anywhere–no idea whatsoever on where to eat. We wanted to play it by ear and just follow our senses (the way we mostly did when we went to Melbourne for last year’s celebration). After an hour and a half of walking, we found nothing–nothing that we liked. We went to the hotel and decided it was time to look online.

We decided to have dinner at Harbourfront Restaurant. We came in with no reservations but thank God, we were accommodated and even got a table with a great view of the small lighthouse and sailboats. We loved it! 🙂 And the food was delicious. I would go back here just for their rib eye steak (will share in a separate post).

After dinner, we sat by the harbour and enjoyed the serenity around us and the cool breeze that night.  We went back to the hotel and since it was still pretty early, we sat by the bar and had wine and talked some more.

It was a great day for an anniversary celebration: the roadtrip, the sunny weather, the amazing sceneries we saw, the fun drive, the restaurants we discovered, the delicious food we ate and the time spent together. We are grateful not just on “our day” but everyday that we are experiencing this wonderful journey called Marriage. 🙂

For more photos of our 3rd anniversary celebration, please check them all here: Our 3rd Anniversary

READ MORE

How Do You Like Your Ampalaya (Bitter Gourd)?

Amplaya (or Bitter Gourd) is one of my favorite vegetables. When I lived in Manila, my mom and I used to cook this every week. This dish was usually a Saturday treat for me.

Now that I’m married and cooking for our meals at home, I cook this in bulk once every fortnight which usually equals to 3 servings. I keep the other two servings in containers, put them in the fridge and we eat them in the next coming days as a siding to any meat or fish dish during dinner.

I’m grateful that my Husband generally eats vegetables. Although he eats Ampalaya, it is not his favorite vegetable which I understand. As we all know, Ampalaya is not a loveable vegetable because of its bitter taste. However, I was able to find a way to make it more likeable to my Husband’s taste buds—by adding in a few teaspoons of honey. Yes, honey makes it a little more sweeter. And according to my Husband, it is healthier than adding sugar (which I used to do).

Other ways to make Ginisang Ampalaya a little less bitter and boring:
(1) Before cooking, soak in water with salt for 10-20 minutes and squeeze some of its juice out. Some people don’t squeeze it anymore but I squeeze it at least once coz it does lessen the bitterness a bit.

(2) Add egg. When I was a kid, my mom used to add egg and it made it bearable for me.

(3) Add tofu or shrimp instead of pork. My Husband loves it too when I add tofu, so once in a while I saute the ampalaya with tofu.

(4) Use other seasonings like soy sauce, fish sauce or a teaspoon of shrimp paste (bagoong). One of these days, I will try using herbs to give it some other flavor and aroma.

(5) If you don’t have honey, you can use sugar as a substitute.

As for me, my favorite kind of Ginisang Ampalaya is one that has Okra. I know Okra is another vegetable that not so many people like, but I really really like Okra and I usually add it whenever I saute any vegetables. I don’t mind the taste of these two vegetables whenever I eat them. I love them because of their healthy benefits and I focus more on the good nutrients they give to our body.

What about you? How do you like your Ampalaya?

READ MORE