Clean Up

I’m planning to clean all my drives during this vacation. I have tons of documents and images in this pc that I guess makes the computer run slow. I will then transfer them to an EHD once I sorted them out. I guess I need that jpeg and pdf page counter so I can have a breezy file transfer. Whew, even if I am not working, documents are piling up in this computer so I better start cleaning up.

An Update

Look who's playing scrabble express and eating over-burned toast ;-)

this very active and playful little boy always have something new everyday, and they just never fail to make me laugh and smile. He is now 20 months old and he is showing how his speech is developing everyday, every babbles and mumbles are epic. If only I can record them all every moment, hehe. He now knows to divert my attention at times when I reprimand his sister, he doesn't want me to get angry so he will try to get my attention and look just so sweet, smiling and gives me a kiss. Whose mom will not fall for that, huh? hehe. I just hope that he will stay sweet as he grows.

After A Hiatus

I have been in a hiatus for a while since the start of the little girl’s semestral break. I actually do have some things that I wanted to post but have been busy with other things so I haven’t done the posts yet. I am also busy helping my sister prepare for my nephew’s 1st birthday. We have allotted 7 months for the preparations so now we are still on the conceptualization stage. I am browsing some designs of 1st birthday invitations online. So I will have ideas on how to create the final design. Preparing for a first birthday celebration is really one of the things that excites me

It's Semestral Break--Where to Go?

It’s the start of my daughter’s semestral break and I’m thinking on how to spend it. I actually wanted to have a week-long vacation, go somewhere where we can have fun and breathe fresh air, enjoy and explore places away from the city. A friend challenged me to do this but I reasoned that I don’t have someone to travel with me who can guide me where to go. I honestly don’t know where to go because unlike other people who go to their respective provinces during vacation, I do not have one. I haven’t tried traveling alone going to the northest or southest part of the country. That friend told me that I can use Exilim EX-H20G with Hybrid GPS to guide me so I can explore places with my car, but honestly, I am not that brave to do that. Not until my husband returns. So this vacation, sad to say, it will just be spent at home unless someone will invite us to go somewhere. ^_^

Bento #56 - Pasta Filipino Style

Finally, the last bento for this week and for the month as a whole. I packed the little girl her favorite spaghetti Filipino style which is sweet. She likes it a lot. I also include cheese roll and peaches and pineapples for her fruits. There's also some yogurt that she can eat with er fruits.

This week is going to be tough because it's examination week. I have to help her review and practice writing. I'm praying that she will do well in her exams.

Bento #55 - Pancakes & Friends

I cannot think of an exact description so I just called this pancake and friends, LOL! Well, I guess it may be suitable since the lone star pancake has so many friends with her inside the box. There's the puppy, the fish, rabbit, and snail food picks plus the little cheese bear. :))

Anyway, it's the start of the week again and this week is going to be the last week of classes before semestral break. That being said, it only means that I will have to take a rest in my bento making for 11 days! I said 11 days because tomorrow is going to be the last bento for the month because it's their quarterly exams on Wednesday till Friday. A light snack is what she's going to bring to school so I won't have to make her bento (well and good for me, hehe!).

Bento #54 - Hasty Bento

The last bento for the week and again, a bento done in haste. Because classes were suspended yesterday, they have to make it up today so instead of the regular schedule which is 9am, she had to go to school at 6:45am again. So I had to prepare a quick bento. This includes rice, sausages, peaches and jelly pudding.

It's a beautiful Friday!

Traveling with RV

Having a recreation vehicle (RV)is I guess one of the most fun and convenient way to travel from one province to another. Because it feels like you’re home. You don’t need to book yourself or your family in expensive hotels because your vehicle can be your suites. But of course you need to have it insured so you will be secure whenever you travel. So if you’re planning to have your own rv, ask for an rv insurance quote from your dealer.

Bento #53 - The Garden

I have meticulously prepared the little girl's snack for today, packed it up and drive her to school only to find out that classes for pre-school were suspended, yay! That's what happens when you are not proactive, hehe. I failed to turn on the TV for the early news. Well, you can't blame me. I thought the weather is good since its not raining although the sky is cloudy. But since there's signal #1 in Metro Manila, thus the suspension.

Anyway, it's still is a good thing. I can still go back to bed and get some sleep ^_^ but before I forgot, here's the content of her supposed to be snack: slices of banana cake, peaches and chicken nuggets.

Smile!

Here's what my little boy is up to now. I guess this can somehow compensate to my lack of updates of him for quite a while. :))

I really love how he became so good at mimicking me :) Whenever he sees me with my camera, he will also pickup his toy cam and say..."maaay" (smile..!)

Christmas Wish List

72 days before Christmas and I am not so excited. Haha. Well, it maybe because the holiday seasons will be more different now for me because I don’t have a job. Unlike the previous year where I become very busy because of so many Christmas activities that I handle, Christmas presents from people other than friends and relatives, bonuses and other incentives that I received, and the fun times in the corporate world. Well, I honestly miss them all. And what I can only do now is create my Christmas wish list that I know will forever be in my “wish” list unless something extraordinary happens, haha. And my list includes flat tv mounts with flat LCD TV on it, and these babies:

How I wish I can have them all :))

Bento #52 - Happy Rabbits

I didn't have enough time to prepare for today's snack so I just took some soft sponge cake (mamon in Filipino) and decorated them with cheese rabbits. I also packed her some hotdog with cheese :). It's still a rainy day :(

Bento #51 - Macaroni Soup Snack

Today's snack is not really a bento as I have ran out of supplies to make a decent bento. And since this is one of the little girl's favorite food that's easy to prepare and since ingredients are all available, it's what she will have for her snack. Good thing, it's quite a rainy day so this will definitely suit the weather :)

Bento #50 - Heart-y Bento

Heart-y but not healthy..yay! It's the start of the week again and I am guilty of preparing a not-so-healthy meal for my little girl. It's because I had a very busy weekend that I didn't have the time to hit the supermarket to replenish my pantry. Today's bento contains heart shaped hotdogs on a bed of fried rice, and mini french toasts. Here's hoping (again) that I'll be able to prepare healthy and cute (better) bentos in the days to come.

So much to do today because we're leaving for a photo walk in a bit. Hoping for a nice weather so we can have fun.

Snow Gears

In most parts of the world where snow is forming in winter, this is the most proper time to get ski racks for roofs or cars. I guess it’s one of the necessities during winter. Good thing we only have two seasons here, the wet and dry season so we don’t have to worry ourselves about snow, skis or snow board.

Bento #49 - Oh, My Malunggay!

Tomorrow is the little girls school educational trip so this is going to be the last bento for this week. I prepared healthy snack for her with one of her favorite veggies, malunggay or Moringa oleifera which is one of the most healthiest vegetables the nature has to offer. You can do alot from this simple greens. You can mix this with almost anything! Like today, I mixed it with the fried rice and the fish lumpia. The little girl loved it that she went home with an empty lunch box.... and I am a happy mom!

Fish Lumpia and Malunggay Soup for Dinner

I'm so glad that finally, I was able to plan our meal for the whole week . It's a mind-boggling task, I'll tell you, especially if you are planning healthy meals with lots of vegetables. And since we are cutting down on meat, our weekly meal will consists of fish, tofu, squash, and green vegetables like saluyot and malunggay. And guess what? I'm planning to include malunggay in every meal. To start off, we had fish lumpia with chopped malunggay paired with malunggay and saluyot soup. I never expected that we will have a sumptuous dinner and that my daughter will love the fish lumpia and the meatless soup. She even thanked me for her dinner :).

I was not able to take a picture of my dish tonight because they're almost gone before I'm able to get my camera. The picture posted here was lifted here where you can also get another version of the fish lumpia recipe.

Fish Lumpia Recipe

Ingredients:
4 pieces medium size mackarel scad (galunggong)
4 cups water
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 white onion, finely chopped
1 cup fresh malunggay leaves, chopped
1/2 cup spring onions, finely chopped
1 egg, beaten
1/2 tsp fish sauce (patis)
lumpia wrapper (eggroll wrapper), 20 pieces
canola or vegetable oil
salt and pepper
water

Procedure:

1. Boil mackarel scad (galunggong) in a deep pot with 1 tsp. salt and enough water to cover, until fully cooked.
2. When fish is cooked, separate fish meat from bones and shred. Discard fish bones.
3. Put flaked fish in a bowl and add the garlic, onion, spring onions, chopped malunggay, egg, and fish sauce, season with salt and pepper according to taste.
4. Separate lumpia wrappers into individual sheets. Spoon fish mixture on one side of lumpia wrapper. Roll into a tight, thin log. Seal edge with a dab of water.
5. Heat oil in a frying pan. Fry lumpia rolls until golden brown on both sides. Cut into serving size. Good to serve with sweet and sour dip.

Malunggay and Saluyot Soup

Ingredients:
1 cup fresh malunggay leaves
1 cup saluyot leaves
1 tomato, sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 onion, chopped
spring onions, chopped
1 tsp. fish sauce
pepper
water

Procedure:
In a boiling water, put sliced tomatoes, garlic, onions, and spring onions. Let it boil for about 10 minutes then add saluyot leaves. Seasoned with fish sauce and pepper according to your taste (I put lots of pepper to make my soup a little spicy). Once saluyot leaves are cooked, add the malunggay leaves and turn off the stove. It's now ready to be served. :)

Bento #48 - Sad Chick

Today's bento is nothing fancy. I just prepared brown rice for the little girl with stir-fried mixed vegetables and three quail eggs as per her request. I added slices of bananas but this time no more cinnamon since she said, she don't like her bananas with cinnamon. I also added a strawberry marsh mallow.

I'm kinda losing my enthusiasm in making bentos lately but I hope to get more ideas to be able to prepare more enticing and palatable lunch box for my little girl.

Surprise surprise!

My husband is neither a materialistic person nor a vain one unlike other men who love wearing signature clothes, expensive sports gears, or jewelries. He is more of a gadget person. He doesn’t want wearing mens diamond watches for practical reasons. That’s why it’s hard for him to understand why someone would shed a lot of money just to acquire those luxuries. And it’s also the reason why he only buys things that we need. So I never expected something expensive from him whenever there are special occasions or even during Christmas. I understand him although sometimes I feel bad about it, LOL! Why? Well, it’s a fact that we want something surprising and expensive from our husbands when it’s our birthday or anniversary, right? Anyway, since I am not that super expectant person I really don’t expect a lot but there are times that surprises comes in grand entrance, that makes me leap in joy...so I never complain, I wait and don't expect too much.

Bento #47 - Three Piglets

Three little piggies lying in the sty...yes, they are still too lazy to get up in this sunny Monday morning! (just like my little girl, hehe!).

Today I was not able to wake up on time. So this bento was made in a rush. I was supposed to join a badminton play but since I woke up late, I didn't go and instead I made the piglets. These cute piglets were made from hotdog balls, cheese, and black sesame seeds. The little girl loved them. She told me after school that she was not able to finish all the rice because she was able to ate only one piglet. Her friends in school asked her for the other piglets so she had nothing left to eat with her rice. She's a bit sad but I told her that it's still plus points for her for sharing her food.

I also packed her some strawberries. As you can see they are not fresh, since I only bought the canned. I was a bit disappointed to see them when I opened the can, I never thought they could be that pale :). Well, what would you expect right? The little girl didn't like it as well, hehe. That's to note that I should only buy fresh fruits and I hope to be able to buy fresh strawberries soon!

Well, so much for the talking...Typhoon Quiel already bade "good bye" that's why Mr. Sun is now saying "Hi", it's a sun shiny morning indeed. It's a beautiful day so enjoy the rest of the day!