KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES – VIETNAMESE CHICKEN WITH PINEAPPLE

I am not a huge fan of putting fruits in cooked meals…I prefer my fruits as desserts and not as part of my regular meal – like pininyahang adobo. But recently, I decided to have a change of attitude since knowing how difficult it is to feed my daughter her daily dose of fruits and vegetables, I knew I needed to be creative just to make sure that she gets the right amount of nutrition through her meals. And so, I have started cooking (and, of course, also eating) viands cooked with fruits like orange chicken, fish in lemon sauce, and this recent discovery from CASA Veneracion’s old files – Vietnamese chicken in pineapple. It is really quite easy to do (you may get the complete recipe from her blogsite). I simply marinated the chicken in patis, then after about an hour, browned the chicken in a little oil, added the garlic, onions and bell pepper. After two minutes, I added the oyster sauce, pineapple chunks and a bit of sugar. Let the dish simmer covered for about ten minutes, season with salt and pepper and add the corn starch to thicken the sauce. Lastly, add the onion leaves before turning off the heat. Serve with hot rice or pack in lunch boxes after cooling a bit. Thanks Connie for another healthy meal!!!

FIRST TIME TO SLEEP IN OUR NEW HOUSE

I woke up early today and was surprised to see unfamiliar surroundings…I gathered my thoughts and started to remember that we are now in our new house…and it’s actually my first time to sleep here. And did I sleep well? Not really…because I was not used to hearing all the noise in the streets…you see the house we moved into was just behind the store and so we hear all sorts of things like the trikes and motorcycles revving up, the big trucks and buses plying the route each morning…I guess the fact too that the second floor still doesn’t have windows added much to the noise. Well, maybe when the windows and ceiling are installed and the walls finished and painted, the noise outside will be lessened…I hope! Since the old house (of Inang/and now Allan’s) will now start building, all three families (ours, Allan’s and Lona’s) are living here in our house despite the fact that it is still yet to be completed… It’s OK, we’re here naman only twice a month and with our funds already depleted, we intend to continue the finishing touches maybe by mid-year (June or July). Meanwhile, we’ll have to make do with what space and living conditions we have…I am just glad that now we’re all moving closer to achieving our very own dream homes…some place we could call our very own. Here’s a pic of the old homestead…so sad to see it all torn down… but we all have to move on and it’s gonna change for the better anyway so this kind of change is a good thing.

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES - FAILED CORN CUPCAKES AND PANCAKES!

You know the saying…if it is not meant to be then don’t push it…it will come in the proper time and in the proper moment…but why am I quoting this saying here? In what is obviously a food blog entry…well, actually I am just trying to justify or make amends with the failure I made today…you see I tried but failed to make corn cupcakes…I knew already that I did not have cornmeal…I could not FIND any! But I still persisted thinking it may not be needed, anyway… And so I proceeded with doing my cupcakes. I knew I did everything – I first mixed the sugar, honey, butter and eggs in a bowl. Then in another bowl, the flour, baking powder and salt (no cornmeal). After that I mixed little by little the wet and dry ingredients, then added the milk and lastly the corn. I poured the batter in the muffin pans until almost full and baked in a pre-heated oven for about 20 minutes. I began to suspect that something was wrong when I peeked at the muffin pan halfway through, and I saw the cupcakes looked different…the cupcakes weren’t rising in the center…in fact, even after the required time of baking is through the cupcakes were still as flat as ever and had the consistency of a ‘puto’ or a pudding…what went wrong? Is it because of the cornmeal? Maybe…or there may be something else I totally missed to do altogether! Well, anyway, the corn ‘puto’ still tasted good, it was just a bit dense and not airy like cupcakes truly are. I decided not to cook the remaining batter na lang and instead made them into pancakes…but the same thing happened…the pancakes also had the same chewy consistency. Oh well…I guess I had to learn my lesson the hard way…never ever cook a dish/recipe when you don’t have all the ingredients available…unless you know the correct substitutions.

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES – Baked potatoes

There was a time, way back in college, when I used to eat this dish once a week – often with bacon bits and cheese, sometimes with even double cheese or even if with just plain cheese – it’s my perfect go-to food when I am feeling down and wanted to feel happy even for just a few moments. But that was when Wendy’s was our fave tambayan and study group venue…but when I started working, the price of baked potatoes also started soaring and so the times I am able to eat this fave dish became few and far between…and so today when I suddenly felt the need for baked potatoes and with the nearest Wendy’s resto about 30-45 minutes away from our place…I already know how to make my own! First, you must choose the right potato, I am not sure what kind but they should be large enough to satisfy one person and not too starchy like the ones you use for mashed potatoes. Wash the potatoes thoroughly as you do not want some dirt left on the skin because you will be eating them with skins on, after all. Place the potatoes in a big pot, pour enough water until the potatoes are submerged and boil them until a toothpick can be inserted through the center – the potatoes should still be firm, not soggy or soft. Then, transfer the potatoes to a baking dish, place some cheese and whatever topping you want – bacon, ham or tuna and bake in a pre-heated oven for about 15 minutes or until the cheese melts…that’s it! Your very own home-made yummy baked potato!

FINALLY…TEMPLE RUN 2 FOR ANDROID!

At long last…the wait is over…Temple Run 2 comes to Android! For about a week now, I have been hearing (from Apple users, of course!) their excitement about this new update and I was curious to know what the hullaballoo is all about…basically, the concept of the game is still the same…it still involves endless running! But what’s exciting about it is the addition of new obstacles like ziplines, riding a mine cart that seems more like a roller-coaster as it twists, turns and almost falls off, and flames of fire that shoot off in unexpected places, among others. Then, there are also new prizes that one must seek to attain – like green gems that can give you much-needed life! Further, the three monkeys that are running after the main character have disappeared but instead a humongous creature had taken its place…creepy! The track too is more difficult…whereas before, you can just let the character run by itself and just wait until it needs to turn left or right but this time around, the road suddenly narrows so that one must always be on guard to watch the track. Still it is a totally exciting game! Just wish I could get the hang of it soon…I just envy my kids and cousins playing and proudly displaying the ‘millions’ they were able to score…while I am still endlessly struggling and forever running, hoping to outsmart my pursuer…but to no avail!

A NEW MASSAGE PLACE

We made a new discovery…actually it was the hubby who first noticed it a few weeks ago when we passed by it and he saw the new sign… but it was only today (because his back was aching terribly) that we finally decided to stop and check it out. We were walk-in customers and expectedly, we had to wait a bit since our visit was not scheduled. They said they had a room ready in about thirty minutes and asked if it was OK if ours was not a ‘couple’s room’ and we said it was fine, we can be booked separately naman. He decided to go ahead since the ‘masahista’ that became free first was a guy and so I took the next girl that was available. How would I rate the experience? First, let’s talk about the venue – the massage place was located at the second floor of an old building, kinda creepy going there really so don’t expect me to come here by myself. But the massage parlor itself was OK… dark, as they usually were but it smells good (wafts of scented oil permeate the place the moment you enter it) but since it was dark I had no way of knowing if the place was clean…the sheets smelled clean though. Then, the service – it was OK by me…nothing spectacular about it but I had a totally relaxing and enjoyable massage. The hubby did not have a good time though…he requested for a man, thinking that he would be experiencing a ‘hard’ massage to assuage his tired and aching muscles but it seems he wasn’t satisfied at all because the guy they gave was a bit soft…well, do we return to this place again? Maybe…since it’s relatively cheap and quite near our place pa…but only if time and our budget permits…it’s good to indulge in such pleasures every now and then…

KITCHEN MISADVENTURES – Pork sinarabsab

This is another dish that I got from Dennis Lutong Bahay blog…it is believed to be an Ilocano version of the well-loved Inihaw na Liempo. The main difference is that instead of marinating the pork in the usual mixture of vinegar and soy sauce, one uses the tamarind mix, yup the kind commonly used for sinigang. I mixed it with the pork together with brown sugar and salt. I marinated the mixture overnight but if you don’t have the luxury of time, you can do it even for just a few hours. Then, the next day instead of grilling the pork, I just fried it like your regular lechon kawali and voila! Another delicious baon for the kids…

FAILED JUICER!

About a week ago, an officemate of ours offered us a Philips juicer and it was quite huge, but relatively cheap at PhP1500.00 considering it was only slightly used. So the hubby decided to take it coz he knows we all have a penchant for having blended juices anyway…but when I got home and decided to try it out using cucumbers, it was an epic failure! The juicer did not reduce all of the cucumber into juice; in fact, I had to return the still-whole pieces of cucumber into the chamber to make sure that it gets juiced all over again (see the left side of the juicer in the pic). And what’s even worse is that there is a whole lot of mess to clean up afterwards…oh no…I don’t think I will ever get the hang of this thing, I guess I would just have to return it and stick to my old reliable blender. Good thing, it wasn’t brand new otherwise, I would not be able to return it…and get stuck with a gadget I would not even be able to use…

NEW FAVE ICE CREAM

I made a surprising discovery today…during our January birthday kitakits, someone, I think it was Mike bought ice cream from S and R and when we got around to having our dessert…I was immediately transported to ice cream heaven! Why? Because the ice cream flavor he bought is just my ultimate…ultimate favorite flavor in chocolate – Andes choco mint. And to think that it had been quite some time, in fact, even years when I last was able to taste Andes choco mint, well, I have not been able to visit duty-free shops all that often but I have made some local substitutions in the form of Goya’s choco mint which I discovered, I think, about a year ago…but it still wasn’t the same…but this new choco mint flavored ice cream flavor from S and R is just THE BEST …I swear I just went to ice cream heaven! Now I wish there was an S and R branch near our place so I could go ahead and buy this ice cream whenever I want!

A TRUE BLUE LOLA NA TALAGA!

The inevitable has happened...my first-born son’s wife had given birth early morning today and so now I can not anymore deny the fact that I am a true-blue lola talaga! Since last year, I have consistently said that despite Jera's pregnancy I am still not a lola yet coz the baby has yet to be born...but now there is no more reason to say otherwise. Well, at least even at my age at forty-something, I am still wrinkle-free and quite healthy. Admittedly, I still need to diet and exercise to gain my ideal weight but I could still move around as much as I want to, can still run/jog whenever I find the time for it...and I only feel the occasional aching of the knees during cold mornings when I wake up but by the time I am downstairs the pain is gone. So I guess I could still not be considered a grandma talaga...hehehe but nonetheless though not in body, in spirit I am quite proud to be a lola to my very cute apo! He looks very much like Myk...and I hope to see him someday soon!

GET-TOGETHER FOR JANUARY BIRTHDAY CELEBRANTS

After eating our breakfast, we got ready to leave for Papa’s condo in Makati for our monthly get-together for January birthday celebrants…we were a bit late but not very late! Coz when we arrived at around 12:30, another aunt and my stepmom’s daughter had also just arrived. But all the rest of the clan, including my Uncle-general who rarely makes an appearance here in Manila, is present. Hail! Hail! The gang’s all here! And so just like most of our family’s get-togethers – we gorged ourselves sick with food and more food! While chatting away the afternoon and watching TV/movies and making small talk about anyone and just about everyone! Once again my dad’s condo suddenly seemed too small to fit in all of us – just check out the pic of the birthday celebrants ---can you imagine that’s just five of them and see how big they all are… then, how about the rest of the clan??? Well, we’re still OK naman since we could squat and sit just about anywhere to eat and talk and even sleep… Suffice it to say we went home all quite satiated with the food and company we shared – all our favorite’s were there - pancit palabok, crispy alimasag, sugpo, grilled pork and chicken, and my personal all time fave – PINK SALMON SASHIMI! Sorry…no pics! No time na e…but most of all, I’m glad for the time well-spent with my relatives…it was fun and definitely an afternoon well-spent! Till next kita-kits of the clan…I promise to post more food and people pics next time!

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES – Carrot cupcakes

Finally, after more than a week of waiting and searching for the right ingredients, I am finally able to cook using my new silicone bakeware and made some carrot cupcakes! Of course, I sourced the recipe from my fave blogger, Connie Veneracion, so if you need the exact recipe just visit her blog at CASA Veneracion. I made the cupcakes after lunch, when my daughter arrived from school...yup it's one of those make-up Saturdays when kids have to pay for the holidays spent during unscheduled time off brought on by storms. While I waited for her I grated the carrots already and laid out the dry ingredients in bowls so they'd be easy to mix upon her arrival. In a bowl, mix the carrots and the brown sugar. In another bowl, combine the dry ingredients - flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Then, in another bowl, the wet ingredients - beat the eggs, add the white sugar, vanilla, vegetable oil and the crushed pineapples. Mix well. Slowly blend in the flour mixture, then the grated carrots and finally the raisins and nuts, I used cashew. Fill the muffin pans and bake in the oven for twenty minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. It's so easy and quite quick to do...so delicious when served warm with a hot cup of coffee. Yummy!

NEW SHOES AND NEW BAGS

For quite some time now, my daughter had been asking me to buy her new black shoes since the ones she had been using were a bit tight on her humongous feet already. And so finally, this weekend I relented. Anyway, it had been a year ago (I think) when I last bought her black shoes and at the rate she’s growing so rapidly…I think I may be forced to buy her new black shoes every year! And so after we had our lunch, (usually around 2 p.m. during weekends) we took our baths and proceeded to the nearest mall to buy her shoes. As expected, there were quite a number of shoppers still milling about, probably trying to use up all the excess money from the holiday season…like what we are doing, too. I knew for a fact that my daughter is such a choosy picker when it comes to shoes…she takes so long, sometimes even an hour just to find the right one that she wants…and so I let her choose what she wants, anyway she would be the one to wear them and it is important that she chooses what she likes otherwise, she may not wear them at all. Finally, after about a hour of heehawing she finally settled on a pair that she wants…then as we were about to pay at the cashier, we passed by the bag section (which is quite near the shoes…!) and I felt myself being pulled to the big SALE! SALE! SALE! signs that abound all over the place…oh no! There goes my budget again…but what the heck! They are on sale after all and so I just closed my eyes and swiped away…hehehe anyway, I liked the color of this bag…creamy white and it would go well with just about any outfit I may have… also it does not cost an arm and a leg – in fact, not even 1K, but it already has a free matching small bag and purse to go with it… but that doesn’t stop me from still feeling guilty, though… OK enough justification! Here’s a pic of the bag.

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES – BAKED MACARONI (Fave comfort food)

For our weekend snack time, I decided to cook another favorite comfort food - baked macaroni! This dish is actually just easy to make, but just requires pre-cooking three items separately- the macaroni noodles that must be boiled, the red meat sauce which seems pretty much like your basic spaghetti sauce, and finally the cheese sauce. When all these have been prepared and cooked already, all that is needed is to assemble them all together. First you mix the macaroni and red sauce together, top with a layer of cheese sauce, then add another macaroni with red sauce and lastly top with more cheese sauce. Pop the baking pan in the oven and when the cheese top turns slightly browned...it's finished!

P.S. I admit this time around the cheese sauce that I made was a tad too salty, I guess I shouldn't have added more salt since the Kremqueso I used was salty na pala...my mistake! Next time I will not add too much salt na lang.

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES: CHICKEN IN SOUR CREAM

This is another recipe from CASA Veneracion…you may have noticed that I enjoy reading and following her recipes because she has a very enjoyable style of writing that makes cooking her dishes quite simple and very easy to do. I already knew that my kids like dishes with white sauces so when I saw this one that used sour cream, I figured, they may just enjoy this one too...and I was right! The kids loved it! First, you season the chicken with some salt and pepper, then fry the potatoes and carrots in butter until slightly browned. After that, add the chicken, the onions then the sour cream. I didn't have actual sour cream but just made my own (like what Ms. Connie suggested) by adding calamansi juice to all purpose cream and since the kids would want their chicken with a bit of sauce to spoon over the rice, I added more cream to the mixture. Then, I let the dish simmer for awhile added a bit more salt and pepper and lastly a sprinkle of onion leaves (I didn't have parsley) …and that's it! Another delicious baon for my kids...thanks again, Connie!

COFFEE TIME...BONDING MOMENTS WITH AN OLD FRIEND!

Today I spent a very fun afternoon with an old college friend. We had our regular ‘coffee break’ which was actually long overdue – she had her birthday last week and we usually meet up around that time between the New Year and her birthday to catch up with each other’s goings-on and to exchange gifts. But we were both busy during the early weeks of 2013 and so we only got to see each other now… We were supposed to do lunch but her morning meeting got extended and so we just settled on coffee. By 3 pm, I left the office, rode a trike to get to our regular meet-up place, and where else would coffee addicts converge but at Starbucks! We talked and reminisced for about two hours. She had a new man in her life now and I am happy to know that she had moved on. Even if I haven't been able to meet the guy yet, I have every reason to believe he has a positive effect on her...she looks good, less stressed and happier now. As always, when two friends meet, it seems there is always too little time to spend and there's still so much chika left unsaid...but we have to part ways since I have to go home to our place in the boondocks and she has to return to her minions of cats and dogs...and of course, her new beau. Someday, I hope I get to meet him, too...and I also hope to spend more bonding moments like this with her.

NEW PURPLE BEAN BAGS

Last year, around December, my sister offered to me some purple bean bags on sale. It was currently being sold thru internet shopping at PhP1200 – 1500 depending on the material of the bag. But my sister (who works for an inet shopping company) was able to get a discount and so she offered me the deal for just 1K. Well, I have always dreamt of having my own beanbag – my first encounter with it was a red make-believe leather number in my uncle’s house at Fort Bonifacio. It was inside his air-conditioned bedroom and whenever we are allowed to enter his room, I always make a beeline towards the beanbag and savor the softness and coldness I encounter while ensconced within the beanbag’s folds. Then, once again in my father’s old condominium in Makati he had his own black beanbag but this time it was made of a soft material that felt more like getting buried in sand – I knew then my love affair with the beanbag wasn’t over and I just had to have my own someday. And that day finally came when my sister offered them to me on sale pa---yipee! In fact, I went out and bought two--- one for myself and another for my daughter. I can just imagine myself enjoying lazy afternoons reading a book and dozing off and doing pretty much nothing else. Oh thank God for small favors like these…!

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES – Pork spareribs in honey mustard sauce

This is another good recipe from CASA Veneracion…good for two reasons because (one) it allowed me to cook while exercising and (two) because the end result was so totally unexpected! But I am getting way ahead of myself…this dish is so easy to do. For starters, I let the spare ribs thaw while inside the fridge by taking it out of the freezer last night and putting it below near the vegetable crisper. Then, this morning when I awoke I took it out of the ref completely and let it thaw on the kitchen counter. In a non-stick pan, I laid out the pieces of spare ribs in a single layer and let it stew until the meat starts to render fat. When the meat has browned considerably on both sides, I poured in about a cup of water and the honey-mustard mixture. Well, to tell you the truth, I got this recipe from Connie’s blog but my problem was that I did not have any mustard on hand. Instead, what I had was the prepared salad mix sachet from Clara Ole and so this is what I used to boil the pork spare ribs with a dash of salt and pepper. I let the pork simmer for thirty minutes while I biked/exercised then when the liquid had been reduced, I let it simmer a bit more until it had all but dried up. Then, I packed a few in the kids’ lunchboxes and the others went to the breakfast table for the others’. What is surprising though is that not just the kids like it (they say it tastes sweet like ham) but the hubby (who’s quite a finicky eater) seemed to like it also since I reserved some for him for our lunch…yippee!

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES – Pan-grilled chicken BBQ

This is another easy recipe that's perfect for the kids' baon. I got this recipe from Dennis' Lutong Bahay blog. First, you need to season the chicken in salt and pepper for a few minutes before adding the rest of the ingredients. But I opted to marinate the chicken overnight in the mixture of bbq sauce, soy sauce, sugar, and some minced garlic. Then, the next day when I awoke I let the chicken boil in its marinade mixture and added a little water. After about thirty minutes, the mixture would be reduced. Continue pan-grilling the chicken, (it is best if your pan is non-stick), while brushing with some honey and turning the chicken every so often so that it will not burn. I packed this chicken with hot rice in the kids lunch boxes and thankfully, the meal was a sure hit! Thanks Dennis! You may get the exact recipe at his website (mgalutonidennis.blogspot.com).

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES: Peach float

Okay…okay…I will not let these setbacks derail me from getting what I want to do – to make some delish dessert for the weekend! Well, I originally wanted to make some corn muffins but I could not find any cornmeal! So I opted to make choco muffins but this time, it's the baking chocolate bars that I couldn't find. Then, I wanted sana carrot cupcakes but when I got home, I found out that I am all out of cinnamon naman! Oh no...it seems that this may not be the moment yet for me to use my new muffin pans. But nonetheless I am adamant to make some dessert and so I settled for something easy to do - peach float. First, you crush some grahams and press it with melted butter onto a square baking pan. Then, you set this aside and let chill inside the refrigerator. Meantime, beat the chilled cream with condensed milk until it doubles. Spread onto the chilled layer of graham crust then top with more crushed graham crackers and then another layer of cream-condensed milk mixture. Lastly, place the float on top of the cream and let chill for a few hours. There should have been another layer of clear gelatin cooked in the peach halves syrup but my daughter doesn't like gelatin and so I omitted this last step. Next time, though, I would heed a friend's advice and cut the peaches into smaller slices instead of putting the heavy halves in the cream. But nonetheless the dessert was delicious and so easy to do! Will definitely do this again!

THE SEARCH FOR ELUSIVE BAKING INGREDIENTS

     I was hoping to start baking this weekend and finally use my new muffin pans...and so today on the last day before the weekend, I decided to go and search for my baking ingredients. After eating lunch and logout, I went off to Farmers to hunt for the old baking supply store that I used to see near the plastics supply store just off the wet market. But surprisingly...it wasn't there anymore! They say it moved a few years ago to P. Tuazon cor. 8th street (near Western) but I never noticed because I had no need for it then...but now that I do, I suddenly missed it! Well, it seems I didn't have much choice and so I walked in the direction of SM Cubao to look for it. It was a long walk but the weather was cool - not too hot and a bit windy even.    When I finally found the place I knew it was there even before I could see it...well, baking supply stores have that unique kind of smell that distinguishes it from everything else...the place wasn't really a store, just a nondescript hole in the wall that was carved out of this very huge warehouse filled with sacks and sacks of flour, starches, sugars and everything sweet and wonderful...it smelled heavenly, like freshly baking bread though there was no bakery in sight...but alas, the ingredient I was searching for was not available - cornmeal for my corn muffins sana...And so I returned to Shopwise, hoping against hope that they have it there (a blogger said she found her cornmeal at Landmark so I tried my luck at Shopwise since I'm so far from any Landmark store) But still I went home dejected and empty-handed... I decided to change plans and do carrot muffins instead...I went back to the bakery supplies store and bought more flour and also nuts and raisins for the carrot cupcake na din.    I guess I may need to make a trip to Landmark soon to buy that cornmeal flour if I really want to do that corn muffin...meanwhile, I can do carrot cupcakes or even chocolate ones too. I just hope the baking supply store would soon carry everything I need...I'm just glad that they're near enough for me to make that rare trip every once in a while to stock up on most ingredients that I would need for baking goodies! Just hoping that I would always find the time and, of course...the money to bake for my family!!! Goodluck to me!

MY FIRST SILICONE MUFFIN PAN!

 The first time I visited Gourdo’s was during my mom's birthday last year...but I already knew then that the place is a gold mine for the latest kitchen gadget or other unique kitchen finds. So when I learned that there was a Gourdo's branch at Gateway, Cubao and it was right across pa where we bought a sansrival cake for Mama (Mary Grace bakeshop, I think) I immediately made plans to visit the place. Then, as luck would have it, after Mama's birthday dinner at Superbowl she said she needed to buy some cutlery and so I suggested Gourdo's and offered to accompany her there. Yipee! I got my chance to visit and browse thru the store as planned...    And indeed Gourdo's was truly a kitchen foodie's mecca! My eyes literally popped out of its sockets upon seeing the oh-so-many kitchen thingys that I wanted to buy but can't just yet. I saw many things that I have long wanted to have --- like a clear glass coffee press, stainless pepper grinder, bamboo style spoons and forks and my fave thing of all - silicone bakeware! Ever since I saw some of it in Sassy Veneracion's blog I just knew I wanted to have some. And indeed there were all kinds of them there. I even saw some that were already a bit dirty but were on sale at only PhP500.00. Just too bad that I didn't have money then...but I vowed to myself that I would surely go back and buy that!    I finally got my chance when I went off to buy gifts for a good friend and I decided to buy her some silicone bakeware since she is, after all, fond of baking…and since I was there na naman, I decided to buy a silicone muffin pan for myself…yippee!   Dream come true! I guess this would be my first step to fulfilling one of my new year’s resolutions to get back to baking once again…next, I would be buying round and square casserole pans (either silicone or ceramic) for my plans to make cakes or brownies…oh gosh I am so excited already…I wonder what my first cupcake to make would be??? Cheese, carrot or chocolate…hmnnn??? But first I need to scrounge around my old recipe files and buy some ingredients…ooooh I can’t wait for the weekend!

MORE KITCHEN THINGY'S - a gift from my mother...

During the last Christmas season, I was unable to buy many gifts for my loved ones…partly because of the economic crunch (well the Big Boss did not give us as much as he used to then the office too had a bit of belt-tightening and did not give out as much cash gifts last year) and then too the fact that we incurred so much expenses and debts from our house construction in BP which commenced since September 2012 pa. Up to now it is still but partly finished and we are foreseeing more expenses pa in the year to come before it can be truly called completely livable. So for the first time in such a while, we did not give out the usual atsara or espasol that we usually give to our friends in the office during Christmas. Well, I sure hope they understand in much the same way that we understand too that some of our officemates did not give out much gifts to one other…. after all,we are all in the same boat…this is why with the dearth of gifts we received this year, it is just as natural that we would tend to appreciate the few gifts that we did receive from family and friends this Christmas… like this gift I got from my mother. I am not really sure if she saw me ogling that cute pepper grinder at Gourdo’s last year…maybe she did which is why this is the gift she gave me…I am not even sure that it came from Gourdo’s but nonetheless it is truly, truly appreciated! I just love this clear crystal salt and pepper shakers and they are now a permanent fixture in our dinner table. Thanks a lot Ma!

MY FITNESS PAL

I just wish it were a real person…but it is not. In fact, it’s a popular app from android that helps you track what you eat. I was actually just searching for an app that would help me log what I have eaten like some sort of food diary since they say if you write down every single thing that you eat, you become mindful and more careful of what you put inside your mouth. But when I was able to download this app, I was able to gain so much more…     Registration to the program is free and easy. It first asks the person’s age, weight, height, and fitness lifestyle. Then, it sets a calorie goal for the day which a person is allowed to consume in order to achieve intended weight loss. On a daily basis, it computes the calories of the entire food intake I had made and tells me if I am over or under my fitness goal…kinda cool huh? I am also allowed to input my exercise logs and water intake then it would remind me if my water intake is below normal…like my very own mom!     But what is really good about this app is that it has a wide database of food that you can use…even Filipino food! In fact, even without internet connection, I can add the food that I had eaten as long as it is already stored in their database and in my previous food entries. Otherwise, I would have to use the internet if I am including some food that is not in their immediate storage files. What’s more, I can use the app both in my office PC and in my tab since it just syncs the entries I have made on both devices.      Reviews of the app has shown that many people have found the app useful and have helped them a lot achieve their fitness goals…It made them see food in a totally different way and allowed them to undergo some real lifestyle changes. Well, here’s hoping that this app would do the same thing for me also!   P.S. Here’s a screen grab of my first day of using this app…the next shows a pic after one week and it charts my average calorie consumption for the entire week!...pretty cool huh?

FINALLY...MY GSIS LOAN!

At long last…after months…no make it years and years of waiting I am finally able to file a GSIS loan and pay-off the old loan that had been racking up unwanted interest just because I haven’t been able to pay up! For the past three years kasi that I had become a regular employee again of the government I have been trying in vain to get a GSIS ID and then after two years of paying my regular contributions (around 2011), I tried applying for a loan so that I could pay-off the previous one that already racked up to 25K when I only loaned around 10 or 12K, I think??? My main problem was that I have been unsuccessful in trying to get my service records updated.   Things began to look brighter when I finally got the courage to contact an old classmate from UP who happened to be my best friend’s ex-bf. Well, I was a bit hesitant to approach him considering the fact that he hurt my BFF terribly but I had to let things slide and not let my personal feelings for the guy interfere with the fact that I needed something from him. Last year, he facilitated my meet-up with a certain Dindo of GSIS Mindanao Avenue and at long last this January, I finally saw that my contribution records from my current company were finally updated…hurrah!     Last week, since we needed the money to continue some more work on the house we’re building in the province, the hubby took me to GSIS and wonder of wonders…I was able to file my loan with ease and with so little waiting time (probably because the people are still lethargic after the new year and didn’t want to rack up new loans!). Then, today when I decided to pass by the nearest ATM to peek if the money’s already there…to my surprise…it’s there na nga! It is for real and not just a fluke of nature! Well, thank God for that! I just hope I would be able to find the time to thank that certain DIndo from GSIS Mindanao…maybe bring him something sweet too…and of course, I would need to thank Ricky too! Though I still haven’t forgiven him for suddenly ditching my college friend…at least he came through for me this time!    

BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN

Well, I did not really fall off… I just uhmmm got waylaid so to speak. I am talking about my biking here… I can’t anymore recall when it was exactly that I stopped but I think it was sometime last year (around October or November) when my hand started to hurt and I can’t tolerate the pain any longer while lifting the dumbbells that I use while biking. Then, the hand just naturally healed itself at around December but by that time, I figured holiday festivities are already just around the corner and so I shunned the bike and all other forms of exercise altogether (so I’ll have no reason to keep me from pigging out during the holidays hehehe!) And so as part of my new year’s resolution to get back on track with my diet and exercise, I decided to ‘get back on the saddle’ again…the saddle of my stationary bike, that is… at first, I found it a bit difficult and was already breathing heavily after just ten minutes and so I decided to just take things slow and biked for only twenty minutes. After all, today is just my first time to bike for the year after more than two months of no exercise whatsoever…well, I am just glad that I am getting back to exercising once again. Maybe next month, I can find the time and the companions to go jogging again… or maybe even zumba…I need to just take it one day at a time…I can do this!!!

CHEATING...

Oops before I raise too many eyebrows with the title of this piece, let me clarify that nope...I am not cheating on my husband. But rather, I am sorry to admit that I cheated on my GM diet! It's only my second day to be on this diet and today, on the day where I am supposed to be on a completely vegetable diet, I snitched and ate two bites of burger (the hubby's snax)...guess the carnivore in me just won't quit, eh? The day started out well enough and I just had mashed potatoes with a bit of butter for breakfast. The diet actually called for a baked potato but I didn't want to bake three small potatoes and so I boiled and mashed them, instead. Then, come lunch time I bought sauteed vegetables in the office canteen and finished off the remaining mashed potatoes I brought as baon. But by 2:30 I was beginning to feel hungry so I snacked on a cucumber with the tuna salad dressing that was part of our office afternoon snacks. Temptation came as we were going home and I saw the hubby eating his burger...and since his tummy hurts when digesting burgers, he only finished a little more than half of it and gave the rest to me. At the back of my mind, warning signals began to sound but I refused to heed it and caught up in the aroma of the 'langhap-sarap' burger dangled enticingly in my face, I eagerly finished off what's left of his snack in two quick bites...oh no! Too late! I already swallowed the damn thing when I realized I wasn't supposed to eat any carb or meat on the second day! Oh dear...what am I supposed to do? Well, I guess nothing much I can do about it now...but to stick to my diet plan again tomorrow...wish me luck!

Starting the year right with the General Motors diet

This year, I have all the intention to truly truly go on a real diet and for a start I have chosen the General Motors Diet that my sister sent me thru email about six months ago but have not found the opportunity to follow. Why the GM diet? Well, it’s the one I have on hand and would not really require much effort and research so GO! GO! GO! Besides, it seemed quite simple to do and does not require much cooking (just the soup) But why not the South beach diet which I had used to lose the unwanted pounds after my last CS pregnancy in 2002? Well, I have tried my best to replicate what I had done the last time I followed the SB diet in 2002-2003 but it seems no matter how hard I try, I just can’t lose weight using that anymore (even if I have shunned carbs altogether!) It seems the SB diet has reached a plateau for me and so it is not as effective as it once was. Maybe…just maybe the GM diet would work…I am keeping my fingers crossed! Here’s a list of things that may be eaten on the GM diet…

NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS...AGAIN!

Okay…here we go again…it’s that time of the year when we HAVE to make promises that we must do for the year and hope against hope that we get to fulfill it one way or the other. I know, it truly is an exercise in futility but I guess I am the type of person who just has to do it because even if I didn’t get to accomplish it all…at least the intention was there right? In fact, my new year’s resolutions do not really change from year to year and yet I still persist in writing them down… I guess, what I need to do first is check out the list I did last year and do the ones I failed to do. Let’s see …the first item on last year’s list was travelling – but I wasn’t able to accomplish this because of budgetary constraints (the usual!). Still no air travel for us but one new thing we did was visit some places/nearby provinces like Tagaytay and Bataan with the entire Bahaypare clan…pretty neat huh! These are places we had been frequenting already as a family and as part of office outings but the hubby’s relatives had not been there yet and so we endeavored to take them there even if just on a picnic or a swimming trip and boy…oh boy did they enjoy the bonding/get-together. This year, we hope to visit more nearby places with them (but this time we want to have a smaller more intimate group so that we could use more decent forms of transportation) maybe Subic or Quezon…I am still not planning on any air travel for my family but maybe this year we could push through with my long-overdue trip to Sagada/Banaue/Bontoc. I just need to work out the schedule and the budget, of course! Next item on last year’s list had something to do with cooking, baking to be more specific and despite my best intentions I am afraid I truly failed on this one since I did not get to bake anything at all last year! Well, I am writing this resolution once again this year and this time I hope to accomplish this na talaga! Of course, I would continue with my ‘baon’ experiments since the kids so gamely and willingly partake of my attempts to imitate the superb cooking prowess of my fave online chefs/cooks. The third item is watching more films and reading more books and I guess given the hectic schedule that I have (especially on weekends) I have been able to accomplish more or less what I had intended to do. This year, I intend to continue watching more movies, especially the ones I have downloaded but still haven’t found the time to watch. Furthermore, on our scheduled weekends at home (and without impending exams for the kids!), I want to make it a regular movie/bonding time for the family – complete with popcorn, chips and fizzy drinks! Also, with regards to reading, I want to finish those books that I have already downloaded on my tab and also buy some ‘real’ books this time…I know, I know my bookcase is already full but I intend to do some redecorating too so that I could get the hubby to do a bookcase for the room naman! (hehehe) I guess I also want to do more ‘girlfriend activities’ and regain connections with my old friends. I know I missed out on a great opportunity when I failed to attend the Stella Maris Batch 87 Silver Jubillee reunion…but that’s ok I may still find the time and the opportunity this year. Same thing goes with family…I hope to spend more time and be with them more often – like my parents, especially Mama whom I only get to see thrice a year – on Mother’s day, on her birthday, and for our Christmas get-together. I guess we should visit her more often and maybe push through with that planned trip out of town so I could spend more time with her. Last on my 2012 list is to strengthen my (also our family’s) relationship with God…I know I have been remiss in this aspect and in fact, it may be the great contributing factor why my son wanted to become a born-again Christian…in fact, he already asked my permission but I said no…I allowed him to attend masses but I refuse to allow him to be baptized as a born-again. I was thinking kasi na he may just be influenced by his high school friends (and now I learned even the girl he courts is a born-again Christian) and so I want him to take his time to decide if being a born-again is the right decision for him. Maybe, if he finishes college and he still wants to become one then I will acquiesce. Truly, it doesn’t really matter to me whether you’re INC (Ditse and her kids belong to this religious sect), born-again, or a Catholic…what’s important is that you worship one true God and do everything for His greater glory. Okay, so now that’s five items that are carry-overs from last year’s list. But here are some more things I hope to do in 2013: 1. Redecorate the bedroom – well, I am already quite satisfied with the way the hubby put in some tiles and more cabinets for our bedroom but I still want to do more – maybe buy new sheets and pillows or even paint the bedroom a cool blue color just to get that fresh but cozy look. 2. Buy that hanging kitchen cabinet I have long been hankering the hubby to make – it seems he does not want to make me one so I guess I’ll just have to buy one that’s already ready-made and just have him affix/attach it to the wall. 3. The reason why I wanted to buy new kitchen cabinets is because I want to buy new glass diningware (like Luminarc or Correll) and silver cutlery for guests who come to visit or even for our own use on special occasions. 4. Next item I want to do is to have the living room finally tiled – well, after thirteen years living in San Jose it is high time that we finally have our floors done right. We had initially planned to change the tiles when we moved in (because we both didn’t want the original cream vinyl tiles the house had) but then thirteen years later…we still haven’t done it. Maybe this year, if money and time permits we’d be able to get this done. 5. Lastly, since we also have a new house being constructed at BP… I also intend to spend some money and decorate our ‘rest house’ in the way we wanted. I know we only spend two weekends there but at least, during those times that we are home, we spend it in the comfort and relaxation of a place we could call our own. 6. More date nights with the hubby…I know I planned to do this every year but there isn’t always the time or the money to do so… maybe it doesn’t have to be expensive even a Burger King or Tokyo-tokyo dinner for the two of us will have to do. What matters is that we spend some quality time alone together! I know… I know…all these things that I want require a lot of money and a lot of patience and considering the fact that we are already up to our necks in loans just to have the house constructed, it would be a very serious problem for me to find the money to finance all that I want to do for this year…well, I guess I’ll just try to find a way… Here’s to a happier and more fulfilling 2013 for all of us!!!