New Year Celebration at Home #Macaroni SaladRecipe

Happy New Year everyone!  Howe did you celebrate your new year.  Did  you go to  New York City and watch the countdown till the ball drop?  This year was bitter cold so we decided to stay at home and be cozy.  

I usually  clean the house on the  31st of December so that  it would be clean and organized  at the start of the new year.  Last year was no different, I started early in the day and did not get done until around 2 pm.  I even forgot to set the alarm clock for the  morning mass so we attended  in the afternoon.  Anyway, after I cleaned, I cooked some food that we could eat  while waiting for  the new year.   Again, these are some Filipino dishes favorites.  Macaroni salad, fruit salad, and arroz caldo.  

Macaroni Salad Recipe:

• 2 cups macaroni
• 2 chicken breasts, shredded
• 2 stalks of celery, cut up into small pieces 
• 1 medium carrot, cut up into small cubes
• 1/2 cup of raisin
• 1 cup of miracle whip
• 1 cup of avocado mayo
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• Boil the macaroni according to direction on the package.  Drain and let it cool.
• On a separate pot, boil some water and  drop in a chicken cube.  When the chicken cube is dissolved, add the  chicken breasts until it's cooked.  Shred it and set aside.
• Blanch the carrots in hot water for about 30 second.
• Combine all the ingredients in a big bow and chill  in the refrigerator for an hour.  

This fruit salad is so yummy.  It is a bit different from what I used  to make in the Philippines because I use fresh ingredients there and the major  ingredient there is young coconut.  Over here, I prefer to use the canned fruits because it is cheaper that way, it has everything you need.  You can also use fresh fruits for this  though.  Fruit salad is  one of  my daughter and husband's favorite dessert.  Check out the recipe here.

  One of the traditions we do have in Filipino Culture is to have a bowl of  fresh fruits in the  table at the start of the new year.  Each  fruit represents something but I can only remember some of them.  My mom used to tell us that the  cluster represents family togetherness, the pineapple's eyes represents our awareness to watch out our health, and the rest  is for  abundance of blessings.

 You can check out the recipe of arroz caldo here.  You can always  modify the ingredients, sometimes I make it differently like this one.

 How about you guys?  Share some  thoughts or recipe through the comment.  Happy New Year!