Mixed Veggies with Chicken

Lunch was so good, mixed vegetables with chicken cutlets. Husband was the one who prepared this. It's just so tasty and juicy. He told me the difference was using chicken broth and not plain water. So...there's a big difference there huh.

Birthday

It was my aunt's birthday on Friday but the celebration was held today at their home. Occasions like these serve as mini-reunions for us. We live in different cities that's why it's a bit hard to have a get-together whenever we want to.

We take this opportunity to bond and just spend the day together eating, taking pictures and just having fun conversations. The kids too group together and just do what they want. Computer is never out of their agenda.

Spices and Seasonings

I was in a mad dash this morning thinking of what to do with the chicken wings. I want a quick fix but something new at least to my daughter's taste.

I thought of browsing on the internet how else can one modify fried chicken. It's a good thing I found a site which provided how to make chicken breading in five minutes. We ran out of the usual chicken breading that we use.

I am also thankful I have the necessary ingredients in my cupboard save for breadcrumbs but these will do. I love my spices and seasonings, they really come in handy.

Crackers

I have been managing my diet for the past days now. It feels good that I am following my 'no-rice' policy. 1/2 cup of rice in a day on some days but I generally do without it. It costs me 3 pounds less on the weighing scale. :)

Crackers are my usual companion in between tuna sandwich and bananas.

Beanie

This beanie was a gift last holidays by my niece to my daughter. They all have this - my daughter and her two cousins. We call them the Tres Marias. One's 17, the other 16 and my daughter is 11. They just jive together. My daughter looks up to them as their big sisters. I love these girls!

Adjustment

This has been a very productive day. I was able to do all the things I have set out to do successfully. I even dropped by my ortho's clinic. My orthodontist is also a dear friend.

Here's the reception area of the clinic she shares with two other doctors, another dentist and on OB.

School Project

One of the reasons I keep a lot of magazines (local and foreign) is the school projects which suddenly come up. My daughter's class was required to submit pictures of products made in the Philippines the following day.

We pulled out some magazines in our rack to find what the subject needs. This is their Arts subject mind you. Anyway, we came up with several pictures after an hour or so of looking. And the mess here made husband up a few minutes more than his usual bed time.

Red Flower

I don't know what this flower is called but I like it. I saw this last Thursday when I attended church but I did not bring my camera at that time. I made it a point to bring it this morning so I can take a snapshot of this.

This flower stood out in the pocket garden of our pastor's house inside the church compound. It stood out because it's the only flower among the plants and very colorful at that.

The flower seems to float here as the stem was hidden from the petals.

Baked Macaroni

I have been wanting to prepare/cook baked macaroni since I had a taste of co-blogger's "forget-your-name-baked-mac" during our get-together a week ago. I also had a taste of my niece's baked mac last New Year's Eve which we also love. I sent her a message last Sunday through Facebook about her recipe. She shared it after a few minutes of giving her the message. I'm a happy girl. :)

Here are some of the ingredients I needed to cook my first baked macaroni in bechamel sauce. :)

Word Puzzle

Jumbline Lite is one of the game applications I downloaded for free from iTunes. It's a family activity for us. We try to come up with words that we can form on the jumbled letters. It's both fun and educational.

My Cafe World

One of the game applications I like in Facebook is Cafe World. I like it because it's fun cooking your own menu and creating a layout with different themes. Another thing, I am particular with games which are not time consuming. Like Restaurant City, Farm Town and FarmVille, Cafe World is easy once you are settled with your layout. You won't spend more than ten minutes when you play this game (unless you go around your neighbors' cafes). I choose menus which take two days to cook so I won't have to go back on a daily basis.

Sometimes though this application hangs. I have to close my browser and reopen it again. I usually play at night as one form of my relaxation before I go to bed.

Meet my avatar in Cafe World.

Corn Kernels

My husband craved for corn on the way home. I have no idea why. He must have seen someone along the road eating or peddling corn. I wanted some too but I still can't eat corn straight from the husk because of my braces. Quite simultaneously, we thought of our corn in can at home.

A few minutes after we arrived, he opened two cans, heated them and put a little butter and salt. Cravings satisfied, we have our buttered corn!

Oatmeal Cookie

This was my lunch today. I only consumed a pack. I survived the day by having the second pack at home and some crackers and hard boiled egg.

Ham

The picture below is the last remaining pieces of Excellente Ham we bought before the new year's eve. This is just so divine. We had it for breakfast this morning. It's totally gone now. I plan to have a monthly trip to Quiapo just to buy this.

Crab

This crab was the main ingredient for our miswa (vermicelli stew). Instead of putting in patola (loofah) or pork, we opted to have crabs in it. It tastes great but I have been managing my food intake so I only had a spoon of that orange crab fat that you see in the picture.

Yellow Bananas

My husband brought me some bananas for today. I'm on banana mode lately. It's part of my diet. These taste great! A bit expensive but they're worth it. Value for money if I may say. Not so sweet, just right and it's really soft to the bite. Love them!

Post-holiday Party

At last it came to pass, haha. Our get-together was postponed twice I think last December because our schedules just won't meet. Finally the date was set, January 8 at one of the mommies' house. It was a great night with my mommy-blogger friends as usual!

Food was overflowing as well as the laughter that we shared as we spend the night together.

Tuna Melt Sandwich

This was my lunch today, tuna melt sandwich plus coffee. I like my bread a little more toasted. I don't like it pale. I survived just having this and a few bananas throughout the day. The glasses in the picture is not mine but the person I shared the table with.

Gym

Today was my first day back to the gym for 2010. True enough I gained a few pounds which I need to shed quickly. I set my goals each month targeting May 2010 to reach my ideal weight.

My Morning Moon

I have not really taken a good shot of the moon. My camera can only zoom so much, haha. It's always just like a round moon against a dark sky. I have not really captured its texture or whatever you call those black patches (craters I suppose).

My husband chanced upon a big moon early morning today so he took a shot of it, scenery mode. I like it. :)

Suman

After all the food that we have consumed over the holidays, I craved for something local, something that will wash away all the after-taste of the pasta and meat that I've had for the past days. It's a good thing I passed by Trinoma before going home and decided to buy suman and okoy.

I originally wanted to post okoy but the result was not good. Here's my favorite Tita Lynn's suman instead. I prefer the original rather than the flavored sumans.

Haircut

After our worship service we headed to the salon to have my daughter's haircut. The first haircut for the year. Haha. Trivialities. Indulge me. Anyway, this is in preparation for going back to school on the fifth of this month.

Every mother wants her child to look fresh and neat. It's time to face school once again refreshed and with so much energy. I asked our hairdresser to just trim her bangs and fix the length of my daughter's layered hair. She looks younger with bangs. It makes her face bloom all the more.

Pasta with Shrimp

As in most Filipino homes, the new year's eve left-overs span three to four days, and to some even a week. I did not cook anything today because we still have the food that we prepared on December 31. Of course they are all still edible.

More often than not, beef and pork dishes taste even better after a day or two. The meat absorbs all the flavor and spices as the hours go by.

This is my lunch and dinner for today. Pasta with shrimp and broccoli. Yummy!

Tycoon

This is a laid back day for us after the merriment the past days in preparation and in celebration for the coming new year. The new year is here. We woke up a little late today without any guilt feeling. The days to come this 2010 are so busy that it's best to just savor the moment at this time.

My husband told me he read an interesting article in Rogue magazine about Toni Gonzalez - the debonair, the ladies' man during Cory Aquino's regime. I got curious so I read it too.


Interesting yes, the rise and fall of Jose Antonio Gonzales (JAG). I am particularly engross in autobiographies of famous people. I want to learn how they did it. JAG, the owner and president of the once thriving Mondragon Industries and Mimosa is now living with his nonagenarian mother in New Manila. Toni Gonzalez may not be as rich as he was but my guess is he is still richer than any one of us reading this. But it is not just about the money. It is the power, the command that you once hold during your peak.

The story of his life was laid out for readers to learn a thing or two according to his family. It's a heartwarming story if I may say it. It showed how forceful he is as a business man. His drive, his passion, his business acumen and the risks he took to propel his business transactions are admirable. His wife is God-fearing and devoted to him. So the saying goes, there is a woman behind the success of every man. But by some twist of fate, and of a man's own doing, if a man is not careful (and a womanizer), behind his failure could also be a woman.

One thing is clear with JAG's life (and in ours too), generally, in whatever class of society you belong to, you always go back to your family who is always willing to understand you and give you unconditional love.

Happy new year! May we give our families the love, support and attention that they so deserve.