Helping thru What you LOVE to do

For me, that is simply, cooking. I love to cook. Do I do everyday, every night? No, but when I do, I will find a way to make whatever ingredients are around, and make a delicious and nutritious meal.

No I'm not a health nut, not a vegetarian, not a food professional or stuck on organic goodness.

What I am is a mother of 3 highly intelligent children whose educational background on food and nutrition includes 3 different semesters of Chemistry, listened to Alton Brown, since 1999 explain how certain foods react to heat and disperse its nutritional content, a self-taught cook since I was 17, a semester on Food Nutrition who wrote A papers on Pro & Cons of Organic and Current Farming, Malnutrition and its Psychological Effects, and 3 Psychology classes (Family, Educational and Sociology) and an avid researcher on the latest reports on healthy eating.

I don't stick to one study or school of thinking when it comes to food for my family. I respect one basic fact- they are different from me, therefore, their responses to food will be different from me and from each other. I don't go by recipes either, instead I take a recipe and give it my spin to cater it to how my family eats.

With basic knowledge about food nutrition and combinations, you can find countless meals that can please everyone. That is exactly what I bring to one of my friend's attention when I help her figure out how to best use what she's got in her pantry and fridge. I respect how others eat, but I also show them that if they "tweak" it a bit, like swapping sides instead of the "usual", they can double their nutrition without sacrificing taste and satisfaction. Here's how I approached my friend Heather's needs and wants when she asked for my help.

I listen to my friend first on how they normally eat. Then I suggested a different way of thinking without changing too much their lifestyles to alleviate any onset of shock. When people are shocked into changing how they eat, resistance occurs and damage always follows.

I reversed the dish title, I reversed their eating habits. Instead of Chicken with Pasta, I called what I made Pasta with Chicken. Why? I only used a handful of pulled chicken meat into the packaged pasta dish that they had for me to prepare. I added vegetables and suggested sides and drink to go with the pasta and they ended up savoring the dish and sides, and didn't look for big hunks of chicken breast.

I used what she had; nothing more, nothing less. By looking into what you can use, and use it, you truly see a pattern of how you eat, rather than just how you shop. If you don't eat what you bring home, it's a waste of money. And most likely, would not buy it again.

I made broth and sauce. Both are very good flavor base. Making a thick sauce and reduced broth intensifies flavor that you can easily "thin" out with water or extra broth to make tons of other dishes.

I showed her how to store it. By eliminating the extra air from the container, meals last longer in the freezer or fridge. Labeling for WHAT AND WHEN help to focus your menu and not tire out your palette.

We had a great "on-the-fly" menu today and we created several delicious and nutritious meals in under 6 hours.

Helping a great friend thru cooking, is like asking me to bask in the sun. It relaxes me; it helps me love that friend more. It's the best kind of service, if you ask me!

Friends Serve One Another

I was so glad that my migraine ebbed in the afternoon, by the time my friend Heather called to ask if I can help her plan her meals for the week since school is coming up real soon.

We had a great time planning, writing out and creating recipes on the fly. And we got to harvest some fresh basil from the pot I started for her, even some sage leaves. Sweet! The kids loved being our taste testers for chicken pasta soup and fried rice. Sweeter!

Since I needed to go run errands anyway, Heather offered to take me to the store and took us home after.

I love our friendship; we have so much in common and yet our differences strengthen the bond even more. Her sassy-ness is so refreshing along with her generosity and kindness...

Have a great weekend y'all!

Sometimes you just know...

When a great day awaits you... Like TODAY!

First, we had a great (though not so healthy) cinnamon rolls and milk breakfast (Mom of the Year nominee here. LOL)

Then the kiddos again (whoa, totally impressed) finished and helped each other with, their chores. (Do I have a fever?)

After that they rested a bit with some books and tv and I started to make the lumpias on the table. While I was preparing the Lumpia Shanghai (Filipino eggrolls), I heard repeated happy chirping. At first, I thought our cockatiel Dexter was in a singing mood, but when I looked in his cage, he was quietly moving around. Then I heard it again! I asked I-Dude and J-Pony, who were on the couch if they heard the chirping. "It sounds close" was enough to have them turn off the tv and investigate up the trees through the window. Sure enough, there was a bird up in there singing its heart out. "I see a red bird up there!" squealed I-Dude and I quickly washed my hands, grabbed the camera and looked through the window myself. Of course, I didn't see anything. So I went out and saw it, but as if teasing me, jumped out of sight a few times until I had to circle the tree and caught this beautiful, but "camera shy" red cardinal bird trying to hide from view.

So shy in fact, that right after this shot, it flew away into the small wooded area from our unit. Isn't it beautiful?

I went back to making the egg rolls and though many of the wrappers were hopelessly stuck together and thrown away, I still managed to stash away, 2 1/2 gallon bags of lumpias in the freezer! Yes, I'll have about 165 lumpia pieces after I cut each one into three smaller ones for the party's appetizer! Will have to show the cooked version on Monday. Arms too tired to test out any. ;-(

(That's due to four hours of gently separating, restacking, filling, rolling, sealing each lumpia; and keeping moist the wrappers just right; and... breathing through the frustration of "almost done separating just to have it rip" moments, a bit too many times!)

In the afternoon, we had planned a dinner/swim playdate with a great family in our ward. They just bought a house with this great pool that my two little ones fully tested out. LOL

Inside, she made a great dinner of steak, rolls, corn, mac-n-cheese and Sprite. Everything was delicious and now, I think my children want to be adopted. LOL

They even invited us to come along and hang out at Costco and the mall. It was inspired since I needed to order J's cake for Monday. Then we headed to the mall and that's when the kiddos let me take their pictures. But of course, it's never that easy... Their friend "M&MS", had a great smile, but J hid and I-Dude had a sour face...

Then the silliness came out full force! Let's see, "Peace to tongues hanging out?" ;-D

Or maybe, "Look at the different ways we can make the letter V with our fingers!" (While our faces look distorted) LOL

L-Infinity was with us, but me, Amy and L didn't want to have our mugs grace the lens, so we enjoyed these three's willingness.


This impromptu "street" glamour photoshoot happened on this side of the parking lot.

At this mall...

While people are passing by! There's my great friend, Amy. I promised I wouldn't get her in the shot, but I didn't promise accidentally shooting a wide shot with the back of her head in it. (Let's hope she doesn't mind...) She's a working mama, so I don't get to hang out with her much but we have so much fun when we do! Glad I got to see her today. (Yay!)

You can't beat a great day of swimming, good food, good friends and simple activities.

Amy and "M&MS", love ya for inviting us today!

Reconnecting with Mesa Friends!

Saturday was spent getting together with friends that were close to us when we lived in Mesa, Arizona. We were so glad that most were available to see us!

First stop was at the campus housing to see my old friend, Heidi. She was my wonderful neighbor and friend even though she had her own burden to deal with. She made things bearable for me while I was there especially when she moved closer. Our children played on this Loop a lot after school. It was great seeing them all again and our children never had any awkward moments, what a memory to cherish- our girls took off to hide from the cameras like they used to do! Her MIL was visiting them as well and she remembered us. How awesome was that?

From L to R- D-Band (her oldest), T-Gamer, my own J-Pony, H-Sweetie, my I-Dude in front of his sister L-Infinity, A-Tenderheart and Heidi. E-Cutie is inside sleeping in her crib.

Here's Heidi and I. Yes, it was that bright! I couldn't blame her for shading her eyes... We saw her baby E-Cutie as well but since I didn't quite get her permission, I opted not to show it. I will send her the copies though via email...
Then we're off to the Mesa LDS Temple to get some last minute photo ops with Shelby and Michelle. Here's L-Infinity with her BFF, Shelby in front of the Christus inside the Visitor's Center. She met us for lunch at Ono's Hawaiian BBQ place in Gilbert, Ross and then drove with L to the temple with us.
Here's another and closer shot of the two of them. They make a point to see each other when they can. She visited us before for L's 16th birthday party. They had a blast!
J-Pony and I-Dude with Michelle, my "adopted" daughter. We've known Michelle since 2003 and she calls as often as she can. She met us Thursday night for dinner and stayed with the kids, Friday night for dinner at IHOP and Saturday at the temple.
Michelle and I. I love that purple top on her, but then again I love purple on most things, lol. I think it really looked great on her with those glasses, too!
Here she is in one of the exhibit rooms. The Book of Mormon exhibit. I just love her smile.
Then we all went to the park, but since she had to eat lunch and got invited to dinner, the kiddos are tired and Mr. Man too, I ended up taking pictures of birds mostly at the Riverview Fishing Park. Then we went to Fosters for dinner. As it turned out, it was also D-Swing's birthday! He is now 9! R & M Foster have known us since they moved in to our old ward in Cali back in 1999 and moved three months before we did to AZ. They lived in Mesa, we lived in Gilbert. So it was great to see D-Swing be just a growing baby in M's tummy to a nine year old boy! I think almost two years was the longest we haven't seen each other. We invited each other for the holidays, birthdays and just because dinners. There's K-Lovely, their baby daughter, she is adorable and very friendly. She got attached to J-Pony right away and was quite sad when we left. So was J...

I am so grateful for these friends that made us feel better and welcome while we were there... We missed several other people, but I know that we will come back again so we'll just make sure that we have more time to spare to see more of them...

Still in Arizona

I've graduated in Phoenix but have some friends yet to visit, so pictures will have to be posted when we get back. See ya Monday!

FREE Gourmet Dinner Tonight!

Today was just a normal day; the kids went to school and progress reports came home. Homeworks were done and checked. Forms signed and put back in the folders.

The kids wanted a specific meal but I don't have one of the ingredients for it, so they'll have to wait until we go to the grocery store next time. Of course, sometimes that's a blessing. Also, do you remember when I posted about stocking up to share? And I told you how blessings pour out when you do?

Here's proof: Check out this dinner menu:

Italian Wedding Soup
Ribeye steak
Garlic Fried Rice
Potatoes & Green Beans Steamers
Ice Water
Cheesecake slivers

Delish and gourmet, right? But it's all FREE! Yes, FREE!

First, my awesome neighbor, Annette, got a humongous cheesecake last night. This afternoon, she surprised us with half and claims that they have more in their house. Yikes! The cheesecake slices are big enough for 3 people! Then, I found two medium sized ribeye steaks in the freezer and baked them in foils. After we made the fried rice from leftovers. I also found a bag of Potatoes and Green Beans Steamers from last month's grocery trip and the can of soup was from my pantry. After everything was ready, I sliced up the two lean medium cut ribeye steaks to feed 5 people.

I guess the kids will just have to enjoy another luscious and FREE cheesecake for dessert, but just a sliver because it is a New York variety meaning all cheesecake! No crust for Ian...

Oh, did I tell you that the ribeyes I made were from Annette, too? She gave them to me last month. So, I guess tonight, we literally ate for FREE!

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Day 35
Love is Accountable
"Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established."
Proverbs 15:22 KJV

DARE:
Find a marriage mentor—someone who is a strong Christian and who will be honest and loving with you. If you feel that counseling is needed, then take the first step to set up an appointment. During this process, ask God to direct your decisions and discernment.

What I Did:
Charlie and I have this thing everynight where we just go up to each other and hug and whisper I love you several times. It melts away any irritations and renews our relationship- FREE counseling!

I'm glad we do this, because currently we are surrounded by other couples who fight and cuss at each other, cheat on each other and blame their children, separate for petty reasons and the list goes on and that's just the last two weeks! When they talk about it, they don't see how petty or insignificant the reason was, they just wanted to be validated for the hurt. Or how hurtful it is that they let their children hear how disrespectful they were to them by cussing and calling each other names.

Life... What does it really mean?

I love having a blog and reading my friends' blogs because it helps me put my views into perspective. And through our written stories, we bond and we tackle the most daunting item on the list, we call it, simply, life...

Take me for example, my brief stint in Gilbert and Mesa, Arizona was wrought with misery. Not because it was a bad place where we were, but I found me miserable because as I've previously mentioned, I'm Asian and from a tropical island called the Philippines. I couldn't handle the heat, the dry and the dust. I remember feeling very claustrophobic in our very first apartment in Gilbert, it was dark, we were the bottom apartment and we faced a main road that blasted dust into our patio day in and day out. I went insane! We transferred to an upstairs one and I was happy for a while but our bottom neighbors couldn't handle the noise of small children and constantly told on us at the office and blew smoke upwards through our balconies! We were veritable prisoners!

Then of course, we transferred to the ASU Williams Gateway Housing and each morning was so quiet and deserted that I thought I would crawl out of my skin! I didn't want to be happy anymore... I just wanted to get out!

But life has a way of turning things around... I have met a handful of women that have truly left a lasting impression in my heart and each of them I still care for. The fact that we have found each other through our blogs, show me that we have yet to care for each other. Each one was an example of love, patience and motherhood to me that I can never learn on my own. (I hope they don't mind that I comment on their blog the moment they post, lol) We celebrate each other through different means and find ways to strenghten our bond despite the different directions our lives have lead us. Blogging, I think is purely inspired...

I love my children so much that I am a "Motherhood" student still hoping that someone would be smart enough to compile all successes and give it to me personally! But until then, I continue to be in awe of these few women that have shown me that home is where I make it to be. A handful of them is all that made me feel grateful I am a mother during stressful times, but it is enough.

Their triumphs, joy and pain, I feel... I want to run to them and rescue them from their hurt. And someday, somehow, I can do that for them, even just to say- "Thank you for teaching me to be a better mother."

Right now, we are all mourning with our dear friend, Crystal Eldredge and her husband Spencer , for losing their son, Sage, at 8 months old last Thursday. Each of us have known Crystal in our own special way and along with the entire Eldredge and Reidhead families, express our love and concern. She is one of those examples that shines without anyone's help. She is simply amazing in all that she does and still find time to compliment others. Some of us will come to her side, some will send their love and some, like me, will say goodbye to Sage the same way as Crystal on Wednesday, even though I am two states away. Life, no matter how you define it, is a gift to cherish and when given the chance to flourish, has a way of binding people; and children is the best glue there is...

Sage; meaning healing herb or wisdom

I can tell you that this precious little boy's name was also inspired; he certainly HEALED his parents of any void they were feeling in their lives and WISDOM to know the truthfulness of the gospel when he joined them, though briefly... That is how I feel about all of my children, and on Wednesday morning, they will join me in releasing colorful balloons in honor of

Sage Lawrence Eldredge

Thank you Heavenly Father for granting my desire to be a mother to prepare me to meet these ladies that will always be a part of me...

Sabbath Gratitude

So like lately, I was plagued with insomnia. Which meant, I didn't doze off until 5:30 this morning! Aaaaaahhhh!!!

Anyway, it was a struggle to stay awake for the two little ones that are super energetic from abundance of rest and having a quiet day. It was a struggle to get up and do anything that required standing up in fear of falling over from feeling sleepy!

Now that you get the picture of how tired I am... Let's move on to the positives- instances that made me want to cry from overwhelming gratitude. (Sundays do have that tendency if you take the time to see, hear and listen)

First, the kids let me sleep in though I couldn't. (It maybe because they put up a tent in the living room which took up all the space...)

Next, they cleaned it all up and made me a bed on the couch plus some awesome snacks (we're talking chocolate here people!)

Then, Ian told me a great joke:
Ian: Mommy pretend you're my teacher and ask me to spell VACUUM

Me: Ian, please spell VACUUM

Ian: VACUUM, V-A-C-W-M. VACUUM.

Me: That is wrong. There are two U's.

Ian: I know, I said W because there are two U's. Get it? Double U.

Of course, there's Pandora (dot com) that you can pick your own songs according to what you like only. For Sundays, choose Kenneth Cope. The best part, it's FREE!!!

I really love my tablescaping blog and the love from the comments are just so overwhelmingly wonderful that I truly wish that I can meet all these wonderful women. Most are grandmothers, but I think, I'll fit in just fine...

Plus there are the awards that above mentioned women bestow each other in the name of blogging friendships. So cool!

Then, you all know that Lisa's Academic Decathlon Team made State and off they went to Houston. Throughout, she texted and called. Most were just today's and she's missing my cooking. How awesome is that?

Our Sundays are not always perfect, reverent or quiet, but it certainly is the day that we always find reasons to be grateful for what we have.

How is your Sunday so far?

First Day of School

The Rosemeade Friends

Oh so cute bunch of school-goers even though the bus was over 15 minutes late. They loved having their pictures taken and hanging out with each other.

I-Dude - 1st Grade
He loves his new Polo Assn shirts, especially this yellow one. He was so excited to be in school that he woke up twice; as he remembers it, at 2:22am and at 5:00am. Lucky Mommy...


J-Pony - 4th Grade
She didn't wake up and had to be woken up several times. Her cute shirt was so cool on her that her new backpack of purple and dark grey just made it that much cuter. Her and her friends were so excited about all their new stuff that they were doing an impromptu fashion show for the parents while they waited for the late bus...


L-Infinity - High School Junior
This outfit was so cute on her that I had to insist she wear it today to set the tone. It turned out that it made the impact we both knew it would. She fit in well with both boys and girls in all her classes which made the first day of school that much more awesome as a Junior.


These little moments we enjoy with the kids (and their friends) are what our family's all about. We love our neighbors and we love seeing the children enjoy wholesome activities, even as simple as posing for a community shot.

Our children are very rich... they make friends everywhere we live and that's one treasure no one can steal from them.