What's the Story?

Last week, the Assistant School Administrator from the Princess’ school told me that it's going to be "Reading Week" in school this week.  As part of the activity, they've asked parents in each class to be the guest reader during the class' Storytelling Time.  So they invited me (unfortunately, heehee).  

And if someone tells you that you should do it for your daughter, chances are you can't say "NO"!  (That was a smart move I must say, haha!)  So I said "Yes" and thought, I'll probably manage.  Reading to toddlers is something I do with J anyway.  Only this time, there will be 6 of them.  All I have to do is read the book, be a little more theatrical and happy sounding and it will be over in 5 minutes!  

So last Monday, when Teacher T handed me the book I will "read", I got a big surprise!  

It was my first time to hear (and see) about Wordless Books!   

And that means. . . it's up to me to make up the whole story based on the pictures!

Spell STRESS!

I have successfully defended two theses in the University, I have prepared and explained budget and financial forecasts to the Management when I was still working.  But nothing could have prepared me for THIS!!!  Haha!

I went through the pictures several times, had a general idea what I want to say and was able to put a moral in the story too (the importance of saying Sorry).

I'm happy to say that everything went well =)  I was actually glad I had the chance to do it because I enjoyed reading to the kids!  Who knows, there might be a "teacher" in me, waiting to be nurtured, haha!

Everything happened in 10 minutes. . . but it sure was the longest 10 minutes I've ever had!

An Easy Bean Sprouts Recipe

Do you like bean sprouts? (I do!)

If you do, here is a fast, simple and healthy vegetable dish which you can try at home.

If you don't, here is a fast, simple and healthy vegetable dish you can try at home! (Haha!)  

Kidding aside, you might want to try this recipe and give bean sprouts a chance. =)

Somebody else cooked this for lunch yesterday.  But I liked it so much (I can eat it as it is, even without rice) that I thought of sharing this simple recipe with you.

* Sorry, I don't have measurement for the ingredients =)

Ingredients:
Squid (or any seafood/meat you like)
Butter (I know, I said it's a healthy dish, but a little bit of butter won't hurt, haha)
Garlic
Onion
Oyster Sauce
Bell Pepper, chopped
Cabbage, shredded
Carrots, julienned
Bean Sprouts
A little bit of water
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Boil the squid until it becomes tender. (We minimize our salt intake at home so no salt was added to it.)  Cut the squid to bite size pieces and set it aside.
2. Blanch the bean sprouts and set them aside.
3. Saute garlic and onion in butter.  Add the oyster sauce and  a little bit of water.  Simmer for a few minutes.
5. Add the squid and all the vegetables.
6. Stir fry everything and add salt and pepper, if needed.

And that's it!

So simple, fast and yummy =)

Happy Cooking!

My Fridate! =)

Last Friday was one of the best Fridays I had!  All because I had a one-one date with the Princess which started at her school.  

The Princess had a Skills Demo Program that afternoon.  When I saw her name in the Programme (she was assigned to do Reading, Numeracy and Puzzle Solving/Sorting), I'm the one who had butterflies in the stomach, haha!

She was asked to match the head and the body part of the animals.

The kids were asked to pick the picture that represents the word.

First, she had to sort the pegs according to colors.
Then she was asked to count for a particular color
and pick the number for that color!

Have I told you that she is just in PRE-NURSERY?!  All I remember doing in my Nursery class was eating and sleeping after Recess!   Haha!

By the way, that's her "game face" on!  She is serious (and quite timid) when she is with other people.  I know her face doesn't show it (haha!) but  she really enjoys going to school.

She did a really good job that my heart swells with pride! =)   

After school, we celebrated and capped our Friday with some comfort food from Shakey's!

Because the Princess wanted to eat Chicken gravy!

And I missed eating this classic pizza (Shakey's Special)!

No trace of her "game face" haha!

Hope you had a wonderful weekend and may this week be amazing for you! =)

For Pet's Sake!

The Princess and I were watching Cartoons where it showed that a little girl had Pets at home.

So out of curiosity, I thought of asking her what animal she wants for a pet.

Me: You know, Pets are animals you want to take care of.  How about you?  What pet do you want to bring home?

J: Snake!!!

(Gasp!!! )

So after a few days, I asked her the same question (as I would like to see if she will give me the same answer)

Me: What pet do you want to have?

J: Spider!!!

(Whaaat?!)

I don't know why she couldn't just say a "Dog" or "Cat"!  Haha!

So for now, I'll just leave it at that. . . it's still too early for her to have pets anyway.

Or until she changes her mind about what pet she likes!

Today's Lunch: Tuna Sisig (NOT from the can!)

I bought a beautiful and fresh Tuna loin that would be good for Sashimi.  But since I don't eat Sashimi (I know, I'm missing a lot, haha!), I thought of cooking Tuna Sisig with it. 

I've found a lot of recipes online and got ideas here and here.  I came up with my own take on it because I wanted something faster and simpler to do. . . oh and I don't like mayonnaise in sisig (as seen in one of the recipes)!  Haha!

I'm glad it turned out pretty good (more than what I was expecting). . . that one cup of rice wasn't enough, haha!

*The recipe doesn't indicate any measurement as I just really eyeball the ingredients when cooking =).

Ingredients:
Fresh Tuna (used about less than 500 grams)

For the Marinade:
Calamansi (or lemon)
Knorr Liquid Seasoning (or soy sauce)

Butter
Garlic
Red or White Onion
Liver Spread - (3 tbsp)
Oyster Sauce
Green Chili
Salt and Pepper (to taste)

Cooking Directions:
1. Marinade the Tuna (with calamansi and liquid seasoning) meat at least a couple of hours before cooking.
2. Pan fry the meat (for a few mins) and chop or flake it roughly
3. In the same pan, saute garlic and onion in butter.  Add and mash the liver spread, oyster sauce and tuna meat.
4. Stir fry and add the chopped green chili.
5. Serve it (in a sizzling plate, if you have one) with a smile and more than a cup of rice!

Happy Cooking and Have a nice weekend!!

My Man's Love Language

If your man doesn't give you flowers, well, you are NOT alone!

My husband and I have been together for twelve years (5 of those as a married couple) and I don't remember him giving me flowers.  I don't remember because he never did!   Haha!

But before you judge him, please hear me out. 

One thing that makes our relationship work is he listens when I have something to say (he really does!). Like when I tell him if something he did (or didn't do!) bothers me, he actually does something about it.  And I really appreciate it when he does.  So you can say that this "giving of flowers" thing didn't go unnoticed or it's not something we haven't talked about.  I've tried different kinds of approach to present "my case", haha!  But he just won't do it.  Period.  So through the years, I've learned to let go and accepted the fact that it I'll never receive flowers from him.  Sometimes I wonder if he is allergic to them, haha!  But I know he is NOT! 

My man and my wedding bouquet =)

He is simply a practical man, one who remains steadfast in his belief that he doesn't need to give me flowers to show his romantic side.  As they say, all of us have our own language of love.  With him, he shows his love best when he does something for me (or for the family).  

Like the time he surprised me with a video he made for my birthday or the fact that he remembers the things I like.  He also makes me feel I'm beautiful (Yes Honey, you do) when I wake up and I catch him staring at me (or was it because of my loud snoring, haha!).  He doesn't complain when he had to run to the grocery the second time because I forgot to buy an ingredient (and I'm not a happy cook if I have a missing ingredient) or that he packs (and unpack) everything for us when we travel (I know, I'm a lucky, girl.  I'm spoiled that way, haha!).  

Flowers will never be his thing but he has given me more than I've asked for.  One of the most precious gifts he has ever given me is the gift of being a stay at home Mom.  And for this, I am forever grateful to him.

Honey, thank you for showering me with your love and care.  My life is sweeter and brighter because you are in it.  I love you. . . .

Happy Valentine's Day!

Little Miss Multitasker

I've blogged about our Princess being a little Miss Independent in a previous post.

Apparently, she is a "multi-tasker" too!

When I saw her getting sleepy, I tried getting her snack but she REFUSED to give it up.  I guess she loves Yan-Yan that much! (Like mother, like daughter---NOT that I can't give up Yan-Yan!  We both have a sweet tooth) 

Who says you can't eat and sleep at the same time?!

So to the non-believers. . . I say. . . BELIEVE! Haha!

Happy 5th!

My husband is a man of few words (something we don't have in common, haha!) so I will make this short and sweet. . . 

Huney. . . we've been together for so many years and there were times that I almost gave up on us. . .but I'm glad I didn't.

It didn't matter (before and it still doesn't matter now) that there was no elaborate proposal, that you didn't bend down on one knee and I didn't get the chance to say "Yes" (but I did say "I Do"!). . . but we had that one moment, just you and me, when we knew that it was the right time to take that big leap of faith.

It has been five years and we just have more reasons to live and love more . . .

To my Dearest One. . .

Happy Anniversary!

I love you . . . 

To see more of our wedding photos, please hop to this earlier post. 

Pre-Nup and Wedding Photos
by Mimi and Karl

Food Post: à La crème

It's another food post!

What's so nice about having a balikbayan (a term we use  for Filipinos who live overseas and who come back to Philippines for a visit/vacation) is you get to go on a food trip without feeling guilty, hahaha!  Because as a good host, you want your guests to try the local food/local dining spots!

We brought our cousin who is visiting from Canada in à La crème, a local bistro/coffee and cake shop.  Its extensive menu offers a variety of comfort food, some of which are shown below.

My most favorite items in their menu:

The Chicken Quesadilla

Such a beautiful and colorful plate! =)

I hope they would always make their quesadillas this way,
where they don't scrimp on the ingredients.

And my most favorite of all. . . the good, the bad. . .and the deadly. . . 

Prawn and Aligue (Crab Fat) Pasta!  

Warning:  For health reasons, to minimize the chance of getting an elevated blood pressure due to the cholesterol brought about by the cream and crab fat in this pasta, an order of this heavenly plate . .  MUST BE SHARED!  Haha!  

If you are a big group, an order of their Appetizer Basket is good for sharing too =)

The basket has Onion Rings, Mozzarella Sticks, Buffalo Wings and Potato chips
with 3 dips on the side (Marinara, Thousand Island and Aioli I think)

Other items we had were the Beef Salpicao . . . 

I was looking for a more intense garlic flavor

My cousin ordered a Philly Cheesesteak sandwich . . .  It was okay, it wasn't bad but it wasn't the traditional Cheesesteak that I know.  I wish they served it in a French bread.

Goes without saying that we were so full that we didn't have room for dessert. . .  but we had some during our first visit, heehee. . . where we only ordered dessert).

For dessert, à La crème is known for their Ube Cake, a must-try!

I know, I should have taken a better photo of the cake, haha!

We also got a crepe . . . Mango Loco! . . . which I loved but my cousin found the crepe to be "eggy".

Actually there are no bad crepes for me, haha!    

Just in case you are in Pampanga (where Food Tripping is one of the things you've got to do) and would like to try à La crème, they have branches at: 

Stall 1 & 2 Alcon Bldg.
(Near AUF),
MacArthur Hi-Way,
Angeles City
(045)888.2303

CTH Bldg.,
MacArthur Hi-Way, Dolores,
City of San Fernando
(045) 861.0829
(045) 961.7264 

Nepo Center

Cluster III-B The Quad @ NEPO

Plaridel St., Angeles City

FB Page

Now, I'm hungry! Haha!

Writer's Block

Pardon for the lack of regular posts. . . the creative juice isn't flowing, haha!  So I thought of posting some photos from my phone which I took recently.

I've mentioned in an earlier post that the little girl is in her Princess phase.  I wanted to be a Fairy Godmother, so I built her a castle!!!  Okay, it's more like. . . I bought her a tent castle, haha!

She was so happy when she saw the castle. . you would think she would spend her time living in it!  Well, not really . . .I think she is waiting for her Prince Charming!  Haha!     

*****  

I love how our little Princess is starting to form simple sentences during a conversation.  One sunny day, while I was bringing her to school, the sun's rays hurt her eyes.  

J: Mama, hot, hot!  Where's the shades?

And she knows a particular verb pretty well. . . .the verb "BUY"!  Haha!  (Huney, don't worry, she's pretty good in taking "NO" for an answer when it comes to shopping)  

The other day she said, "Mama, I like white flowers, I buy white flowers".  And she told me she's going to buy blue flowers for her little brother.  It's so heartwarming to know that when she wants something for herself, she doesn't forget his little brother. =)

*****

I've been craving for green mangoes lately that I bought another kilo today . . .which I'm sharing with everyone at home!  

Something truly Filipino---Green Mango and  Bagoong (shrimp paste)

*****

Waking up every morning beside my little sleeping prince gives me a joyful and a thankful heart =)

*****

It was the first time that the little Princess and little Prince went to do the grocery together.  I wanted to take a photo of them sitting beside each other in the shopping cart.  But after several attempts. . . I gave up, haha!  

*****

I needed a pedicure (badly I must say! Haha!) so to keep the Princess entertained, I asked her to pick a color for her nails.  She couldn't decide on which one so the girl at the salon just applied different colors in her nails, haha!  And I think the Princess approved!

Showing off her nails!

I guess the photos above gives you an idea how things are at my end.  I will be sharing more photos in future posts =)

Wishing everyone a colorful (yes, like my Princess' nails) week ahead!