BMI Online Editor

Meat-Free Favorites : Stuffed Mushroom Caps

Dec 072013

By Elena Johnson As the demand for dairy-free foods continues to grow, more and more companies are introducing vegan products such as plant-based milk, ice cream, and cheese. One of my favorite new companies is Treeline Cheese, made from cashews. Their tangy soft cheese works well in recipes such as my stuffed mushroom caps. Treeline is available in many natural food stores, but if you can’t find it in your area yet, try substituting with vegan cream cheese flavored with crushed garlic, onion powder, and dried thyme. Since cream cheese has a higher moisture-content than Treeline, you may also want to increase the quantity of bread crumbs so that the resulting mixture is fairly solid. With relatively few ingredients, these mushrooms are simple to prepare but impressive when served as hors d’oeuvres at a cocktail party. Stuffed Mushroom Caps Stuffed Mushroom Caps 36 pieces 36 button mushrooms ¼ c fresh parsley, minced 6 oz. pkg. Treeline Herb-Garlic French Style Soft Cheese ½ cup dry bread crumbs 1 ¼ tsp. salt, divided 1 tsp. pepper Carefully remove stems of mushrooms, to hollow out the mushroom caps. Mince the stems and place them in a mixing bowl. Add parsley, cheese, bread crumbs, 1 tsp. salt, and pepper. Stir well to combine. Arrange mushroom caps on baking sheets and sprinkle with the remaining ¼ tsp. salt. Fill each mushroom with cheese mixture, pressing down into the cap and mounding some of the mixture up on top of the mushroom. Bake at 375°F for Read More …

Dawn Zulueta discusses comeback, success

Entertainment

Dec 062013

Dawn Zulueta discusses comeback, success

Dawn Zulueta (MNS Photo) SEASONED actress Dawn Zulueta said she is fortunate to have been given the opportunity to continue her passion for acting despite being in her mid 40s. The mother-of-two returned on television in 2011 when she did the remake of the original 1997 hit series “Mula Sa Puso” opposite Enrique Gil, JM De Guzman, Lauren Young, Eula Valdez and Ariel Rivera. After the show ended, she immediately signed up for “Walang Hanggan” topbilled by Julia Montes and Coco Martin. The said series was also her reunion project with perennial love team, actor Richard Gomez. “I really consider myself so lucky because at my age, you don’t really expect na hinahanap ka pa rin ng mga tao and they want you in their projects,” said Dawn. Dawn was more surprised when people were raving on her come back team-up with Richard. She said it feels like the 90s again, but this time they have younger audience cheering for them. “Mas lalo ‘yun ang nakakagulat kasi hindi naman talaga namin ini-expect yun. Nakakatuwa kasi (‘yung fans) buma-bagets sila,” said the actress. Dawn also did “Bukas Na Lang Kita Mamahalin” with Rayver Cruz, Cristine Reyes, Gerald Anderson, Tonton Gutierrez and Dina Bonnevie, which ended mid November. According to Dawn, it’s difficult to maintain a successful showbiz career and a happy family life, and that’s why she’s thankful for the undying support and love of husband, Davao Del Norte Representative Anton Lagdameo. She said her husband and children will remain her Read More …

SLS AMG GT Final Edition: The ultimate super sports car

Entertainment

Dec 062013

SLS AMG GT Final Edition: The ultimate super sports car

SLS AMG GT Final Edition The grand finale: The SLS AMG GT FINAL EDITION brings an impressive era to an end in exclusive style. The FINAL EDITION model, built in a limited run of just 350 units globally, represents the last oppor-tunity for customers to order a SLS AMG GT – while at the same time re-flecting the unrivalled success story and unique scope offered by the first vehicle to be completely built by Mercedes-AMG. The super sports car, with its 583 hp AMG 6.3 -liter V8 front -mid engine, offers a fascinating combination of truly exceptional design and equipment features while exclusively developed optional Cup tires enhance its dynamic performance. The SLS AMG GT Final Edition is celebrating its twin world premiere at the Los Angeles Auto Show and the Tokyo Motor Show (both: November 20 to December 1, 2013). The market launch will begin in March 2014 and the super sports car will be available as either a Coupé or a Roadster and once 350 units have been built, production of the SLS AMG model series will come to an end. Tobias Moers, Chairman of the Board of Management of Mercedes-AMG GmbH: “As the first car to be completely developed by AMG, the SLS AMG marked the beginning of a new era for our company. And now, in the form of the SLS AMG GT Final Edition, we are offering our customers one final and extremely attractive variant of our super sports car. With its numerous carbon fiber-look Read More …

President Aquino welcomes Myanmar President Thein Sein in Malacanang Palace

Entertainment

Dec 062013

President Aquino welcomes Myanmar President Thein Sein in Malacanang Palace

His Excellency U Thein Sein, President of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar,is being escorted by Department of Agriculture Sec.Proceso Alcala during the wreath-laying ceremony at the Rizal Monument in Manila on Thursday, the 2nd day of his state visit to the Philippines. (MNS photo) MANILA, Dec 5 (Mabuhay) –President Benigno S. Aquino III welcomed President Thein Sein of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar during arrival honors in Malacañang Palace on Thursday. A 21-gun salute was rendered in honor of the visiting head of state during the playing of the national anthems of both countries at 10 a.m. at the Malacañang grounds. After the arrival ceremonies, the President ushered President Thein Sein to the traditional signing of the Palace Guest Book before proceeding to the Music Room. President Thein Sein arrived in Manila on Wednesday for a three-day state visit. The Myanmar President first went to Rizal Park in Manila for the wreath-laying rites at the foot of the monument of the national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, before proceeding to Malacanang Palace. Joining the President in welcoming the visiting head of state in Malacanang Palace were Cabinet Secretary Jose Rene Almendras, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert F. del Rosario, Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio “Sonny” Coloma Jr., and Presidential Management Staff head Secretary Julia Abad, among others. Upon the invitation of President Aquino, President Thein Sein arrived here to hold bilateral talks in Malacanang Read More …

Farmers in Haiti raise $150 for Filipino farmers displaced by typhoon Haiyan

Entertainment

Dec 062013

Farmers in Haiti raise $150 for Filipino farmers displaced by typhoon Haiyan

Haiti Farmers Donation. Eliette Pierre (in white shirt) and members of the Smallholder Farmers Alliance in Gonaives, Haiti, present a check for $150 representing their assistance for farmers in the Philippines displaced by Typhoon Haiyan. WASHINGTON, D.C. – Knowing how difficult it is to recover from a cataclysm, small farmers in Haiti pooled together what little they had to raise $150 for fellow farmers in the Philippines who were among the more than 10 million Filipinos displaced recently by Typhoon Haiyan. In his report to Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia, Jr., the Philippine Honorary Consul in Haiti, Fitzgerald Brandt, said the kindhearted farmers belong to the Smallholder Farmers Alliance based in Gonaives in the northern part of Haiti who were themselves victims of Hurricane Sandy last year. “These farmers are very poor, but the gesture from country to country, from farmer to farmer, from human to human, is 1,000,000 times stronger than the actual amount of the transaction,” Honorary Consul Brandt said. “In this planet full of not so good news, such gestures are priceless.” Ambassador Cuisia said Filipino farmers were badly affected by Typhoon Haiyan, which dealt more than P17 billion in losses to the agriculture sector during its violent rampage across the Central Philippines last month. “The Filipino people truly appreciate the kind gesture of farmers in Haiti who went out of their way to extend a helping hand to their fellow farmers in the Philippines,” said Ambassador Cuisia. “Our people will always remember this.” The President and Co-Founder Read More …

Former boat people remember kindness of Filipinos after Vietnam war, donate $400,000 for typhoon relief efforts

Entertainment

Dec 062013

Former boat people remember kindness of Filipinos after Vietnam war, donate $400,000 for typhoon relief efforts

Donation from Vietnamese-Americans. Ambassador John Maisto, President of the US-Philippines Society, receives a check for $200,000 from Dieu Quyen Nguyen, Executive Director of the Ben Em Dang Co Ta Foundation. The amount was raised by members of the Vietnamese-American Community in the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. area for typhoon victims in the Philippines. Witnessing the turnover, which took place at the Philippine Embassy on 2 December, is Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia, Jr. Other photo shows a poster expressing solidarity with typhoon victims from the Thang Long Vietnamese Language School in the Metropolitan Washington D.C. area was presented to Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia, Jr. during the call by Vietnamese-American Community leaders on 2 December. (Philippine Embassy Photo by Majalya Fernando) WASHINGTON, D.C. – More than three decades after the Philippines opened its doors to them, it was the turn of former refugees from Vietnam to return the favor – this time by donating more than P19 million to support relief efforts for victims of Typhoon Haiyan. On Monday, representatives of the Vietnamese Community visited the Philippine Embassy to extend their sympathies to the Filipino people and turn over the initial $440,554 that they were able to raise for the benefit of the more than 10 million affected by the typhoon. “This is a very touching gesture from a people who said they never forgot how they were treated kindly by Filipinos who instead of pushing them back to sea, even pulled their boats ashore to help them,” Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia, Jr. Read More …

13-year-old Taiwanese-American school girl helps raise $17,430 for typhoon victims

Entertainment

Dec 062013

13-year-old Taiwanese-American school girl helps raise $17,430 for typhoon victims

Taiwainese-American Donation. Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia, Jr. is presented with the symbolic check donation for typhoon victims from the Taiwanese-American Community in the Metropolitan Washington D.C. area by 13-year-old MeiJade Hsu and Mark Kao of the Formosan Association for Public Affairs. Photo: Majalya Fernando, Philippine Embassy WASHINGTON, D.C. – A few days after Typhoon Haiyan wrought unimaginable havoc in the Philippines, 13-year-old MeiJade Hsu made an impassioned appeal to her compatriots in the Taiwanese-American Community for them to lend a helping hand. MeiJade’s call did not go unheeded and on Monday, the eighth grader from Maryland visited the Philippine Embassy to personally turn over to Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia, Jr., a check for $17,430 representing the amount she helped raise for typhoon victims in the Central Philippines. “A few weeks ago when Super Typhoon Haiyan smashed into the Philippines, I saw so many images of total destruction on the news,” MeiJade told Ambassador Cuisia. “I was so shocked most when I saw that many of those images were of children without homes or food.” MeiJade said she decided to help by campaigning in her own local Taiwanese American Community so that they could all help and donate together. On 16 November, MeiJade made an emotional appeal for donations for typhoon victims during the annual Thanksgiving banquet of the Taiwanese Association of America-Greater Washington Chapter in Rockville, Maryland. She came prepared with empty letter envelopes. “Here in the capital of the US, where many people of all ethnicities have all they want and never experience Read More …

De Lima says Region 2 solon linked to fake SAROs, 3 other regions probed

Entertainment

Dec 042013

De Lima says Region 2 solon linked to fake SAROs, 3 other regions probed

Senator Teofisto Guingona III, chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, poses questions to Janet Lim-Napoles, alleged pork barrel scam mastermind during the hearing on Thursday (Nov. 7, 2013) at the Senate building in Pasay City. (MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Tuesday said the National Bureau of Invetigation is already investigating the possible involvement of a lawmaker from the Cagayan Valley Region in the Department of Budget and Management’s supposed release of “fake” Special Allotment Release Orders (SAROs) worth P879 million for farm-to-market-road projects in four regions. In an interview with reporters, De Lima said the anomaly involved “12 to 13 fake SAROs” that were presented to the Department of Agriculture Regional Field Offices not only in Cagayan Valley (Region 2) but also in Calabarzon (Region 4A), Western Visayas (Region 6), and Soccsksargen (Region 12). “Staff ng isang congressman from Region 2 ang unang nagpakita ng fake SARO na iyan, doon sa regional field unit of Region 2… So we do not know what is the extent of the participation of that particular congressman. Is he an innocent recipient of the SARO or not?” said De Lima, adding that the lawmaker’s staff had already been issued a subpoena. De Lima refused to identify the lawmaker while investigation is ongoing. According to the Commission on Audit, a SARO is a “specific authority issued to one or more identified agencies to incur obligations not exceeding a given amount during a specified period for the purpose indicated.” Read More …

BSP relaxes ‘know-your-customer’ requirement for Yolanda victims

Entertainment

Dec 042013

BSP relaxes ‘know-your-customer’ requirement for Yolanda victims

(Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas logo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has relaxed the “know your customer” requirement until the end of the year, as the onslaught of super typhoon Yolanda destroyed essential documents. The monetary board, the policy making body of the BSP, approved to waive temporarily, the presentation of official identification documents in processing transactions of typhoon victims. Under the Anti-Money Laundering Act, the know your customer is a requisite among financial institutions to prevent banks from money laundering activities. It establishes a means of verifying their clients’ identities. It covers residents of affected areas namely Leyte, Samar, Cebu, Iloilo, Capiz, Aklan and Palawan provinces, with daily transactions of up to P50,000 or its foreign currency equivalent. The clients however, should present written certification that they are typhoon victims, although notarization is not required. Once the relaxed period lapses, identification documents will be required and records will be updated. (MNS)

2 Pinoys plead innocent in UAE drug case

Entertainment

Dec 042013

2 Pinoys plead innocent in UAE drug case

Dubai Court of First Instance (photo courtesy of www.7daysindubai.co)m MANILA (Mabuhay) – Two Filipinos on Monday pleaded innocent before a United Arab Emirates court on charges that they were trying to sell 0.26 gram of amphetamine. Both Filipinos, aged 33 and 29, were accused by prosecutors of trying to sell the drug for Dh800, UAE news site Gulf News reported late Tuesday. However, the two Filipinos, who were not identified in the report, admitted before the Dubai Court of First Instance that they were taking amphetamine and methamphetamine. Presiding Judge Wajdi Al Menyawi adjourned the case to hear prosecution witnesses on December 19. Prosecutors charged the two with possessing a banned substance for trading purposes and taking amphetamine and methamphetamine. They asked the court to implement a life sentence of 25 years and a maximum fine of Dh200,000. During the court proceeding, an Emirati anti-narcotics police major testified an informant had tipped them off to the two Filipinos. He claimed the two were looking for someone to buy amphetamine for Dh800, prompting police to arrange a sting operation. Following the sting operation, police found the police money in the pocket of one of the Filipinos, who were not identified in the report. Police also seized in their possession a small weighing scale “used by drug peddlers to weigh drugs,” the major added. But a search of the Filipinos’ house did not yield more drugs. The Gulf News report said an Emirati lieutenant has claimed that the two defendants tested positive Read More …

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