Quick & Simple Sweet Potato Mash

I am a big fan of potatoes, mainly because fries. Duh. I love all things potatoes can be, not to mention they are one of my favorite carb sources. I have been trying to branch out into the world of sweet potatoes and discovering what these orange wonders can turn into.

So I bring you, the easiest sweet potato mash ever.

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First and foremost preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Line a deep cooking dish with aluminum foil, keeps clean up easy breezy.

I prepped the sweet potatoes by washing them first. Then Icreated a cut down the middle of each potato, however don’t go all the way through. You want a slit just deep enough to let some steam into the potato.

Next place potatoes in baking dish and add about 1/2 cup to 1 cup of water depending on the size of your potatoes. Cover your dish…

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On Life, Love, Faith, and Death

On Life, Love, Faith, and Death

By Apolinario Villalobos

 

Nobody chose to be born. The new life developed in the womb of the woman is the result of her copulation with a man, done either with love or just plain lust. That is why there are so-called “bundle of love or joy” of married couple some of whom sign divorce papers after five years or a little more of companionship, or “unwanted child” of a rape victim. When the fetus is delivered into the world as an infant, its innocence and fragility make it helpless in the hands of the people who take care of it. Lucky are those who are born with the proverbial silver spoon in their mouth, but, woe to those born of impoverished mother whose dry and wrinkled breast cannot provide even a single drop of milk.

 

There is a very popular counsel from the religious conscience groups which says, “…thank the Lord for the life He gave, and that He alone can also take back…” which implies that He is responsible for all the life on earth. They add that man should do the rest to survive as God also gave him intelligence. If this is so, can man be blamed if he decides to do the easiest-to-do crimes?  If a criminal committed rape and murder resulting to the distress of the victim’s loved ones, why can’t he be penalized justly, instead of being “rehabilitated”  which the God-fearing human rights groups are insisting, when there is no guarantee that he will not repeat such vicious acts and eventually claim more victims? As the choice to commit crimes is man’s decision, God has nothing to do with it, hence, His will is not being violated, so that whatever corporal penalty imposed on the criminal is just appropriate. On the other hand, if man is pre-destined, why work hard, if everybody is destined for his or her place in this world as willed by God?

 

I have heard stories of people struggling for a better life and even witnessed some of them doing all the best they can to provide decent meals to their families three times a day. The desperate are pushed by circumstances to commit crime. The weak who cannot bear the suffering commit suicide. Along this line, many valedictorians and summa cum laudes are beaten to better and best opportunities by those who have barely earned passing grades in college…proof that “being at the right place, at the right time” really works and not the “God-given intelligence”. In other words, shall we go back again to the presumption that God willed man to live according to His plan?

 

On the other hand, many disease-ridden patients who are suffering for long are not given the choice to “rest” for good. It is against the law of the land, governments would say. It is against God’s will, the religious groups would say. In the first place, if it is not the choice of man to be born, why not give him the option to end his life if he finds that the world is not for him or if he feels that he is already exhausted or burned out…having done everything even for the sake of others? Most especially, why burden for instance, the family of a dying man with mounting hospital and drug bills just because choosing to die translates to committing a sin? Why wait until the hopelessly sick man has become comatose before a doctor may give consent to the family to unplug the machine that makes his heart beat, as he is already brain-dead?

 

I would like to make it clear that I am thankful for my life, though I did not choose to be born, and this dissertation is not meant to influence others to leave their religious communities. I know that so many humans have the same confusing questions that I have stated earlier. I am just being loud about them, while they may have chosen to be quiet. What I ask is of them at this juncture, is to do what is universally accepted as good, based especially, on the simple Golden Rule…be they, are atheist or religiously zealot human beings who believe every word uttered by their preacher. Just do good and nothing shall definitely go awry…

 

Ang Mga Alahas na Gawa ni Jenny

Ang Mga Alahas na Gawa ni Jenny

Ni Apolinario Villalobos

 

Napansin ko agad ang puwesto ni Jenny (Jennifer Piana), sa idinaos na Trade Fair sa SM Bacoor dahil namumukod-tangi ang kanyang mga produkto. Ito ay mga alahas na yari sa tanso o copper, semi-precious stones at crystals – mga singsing, bracelet, kuwentas, at hikaw. Maganda at pulido o malinis ang pagkakagawa kaya naakit agad akong magpagawa ayon sa naisip kong disenyo para sa isang bracelet na ginamitan ng “Indian jade eye”. Ito ngayon ay ginagamit ko araw-araw, kahit nasa bahay ako.

 

Ang tanso ay kinikilala dahil sa health benefits nito, mula pa noong panahong hindi pa pinapanganak si Hesus. Ito ay itinuturing na gamot laban sa rayuma at arthritis. Ang elementong tanso ay bahagi ng ating katawan dahil kasama ito sa mga dumadaloy sa ating dugo, at iba pa tulad ng zinc, silver, manganese, etc. Katulad ng tanso, ang mga batong matitingkad ang disenyo at kulay ay hindi lang pampalamuti sa katawan bilang alahas ang gamit, dahil nagbabalanse din sila ng enerhiya sa ating katawan. Dahil diyan, ang mga nadiskubreng libingan ng mga tao noong unang panahon, lalo na nang mga namumuno sa kanila, tulad ng pharaoh ng Ehipto ay palaging may mga iba’t –ibang uri ng bato tulad ng jade, agate, quartz, opal, onyx, tektite at mga metal na bagay.

 

Hindi tumatagal ang buhay ng mga mikrobyo sa tanso, kaya noong unang panahon pa rin, ang mga ginagamit na lagayan ng tubig at lutuan, pati ng pagkain ay gawa sa tanso. Dahil dito, marami na ring mga ospital ngayon ang gumagamit ng tansong material na ginawang stainless para hindi mahirap linisin, tulad ng mesa at lababo.

 

Ayon kay Jenny, dati ay taga-benta lang daw siya ng nagawa nang mga alahas na tanso, subalit dahil curious, nanood din daw siya kung paanong gawin ang mga ito. Bandang huli ay nagdesisyon siyang gumawa ng sarili niyang mga alahas upang ibenta sa mga kaibigan at tuwing may mga trade fairs. Umabot sa 12,000 pesos ang una niyang ipinundar para makabili ng mga gamit sa paggawa, pati na ang mga tansong kawad, mga semi-precious stones at kristal.

 

Sa awa naman daw ng Diyos ay nakakaraos siya tuwing sumali sa mga trade fair, kahit medyo may kamahalan ang upa sa isang puwestong maliit na sa tantiya ko ay 3feet by 3feet. Nangangarap si Jenny na sana ay magkaroon ng sariling puwesto dahil tuwing walang trade fair ay home-based lang siya at umaasa sa mga order na papasok sa pamamagitan ng facebook. Ito lang ang pinagkikitaan niya bilang isang single mom ng kanyang lalaking anak na pitong taong gulang.

 

Sa mga oorder ng alahas, makokontak si Jenny sa cellphone number 09064857384. May facebook din siya para sa kanyang mga produkto, i-google search lang ang “faceboo.com/coperasso”.  Pwedeng magpagawa sa kanya ng alahas batay sa sariling design. Pero, sana naman, kung oorder ay damihan na para hindi talo si Jenny kung ide-deliver niya.