A Little Update... And Gratitude Time

Ok, so I'm so behind on blogging. Let's see if we can catch everyone up.

As for Fall Desserts; I've made... Brownies and Cakes for Halloween, Smoothies and Sorbet in October.

This is our transformed Foyer, as you come in...
What awaited the trick or treaters, another table... full of sweets!

Dinner was quite colorful with accompanying "gross" menu! Perfect for Halloween! "Sausaged" Thumbs, Alien Worms, Meteorite Brownies, Moldy Quiche, Bewitched Cake Squares with Slime and Witch's Brew! Mwah-ha-ha-ha!

These were from 2008 collection at our local Kroger that I got between 75-90% off! The Canopy Red solid plates, from Walmart.

As far as Cooking, I finally tried making quiche and quickly found out that I like the basic kind, eggs and cheese only. I've also made several types of omelettes. Can you say great deal on eggs? Woot!

I've been on Shopping Hiatus on my own; only buying food items we absolutely need and it's been almost 2.5 weeks. I've made so many dishes and I'm getting pretty fast on prepping and cooking.

Tonight, I made Braised Beef Ribs with Root Veggies over Garlic Couscous and the whole meal cost me, less than $3.oo! For recipe, click on link.

Ok, since it is November once again, it is time to highlight what I am grateful for:

1. After 14 years of marriage, we finally have our own home and we totally love it!

2. We have enough holiday decor from previous years to not shop for anything new this year. How exciting it is to see our old decorations in our new home and how well they fit in.

3. My family who is loving our home as much as I am.

We feel quite blessed...

I hope you're having a great week...

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!

SH Day 8 & 9- Sleepless...

The past week, I just haven't been able to sleep. I used to be an insomniac ever since my 2nd child was born and got worse by the time the third came. But when we moved here to Texas, I had some relief and was starting to sleep about 5-7 hours on average, now this again... *sigh*

Anyways, still not buying anything we just want and so far our stash has not been depleted.

Yesterday, were all leftovers so no surprise there...

Food Budget Trick: I don't do casseroles; most are high fat, too much sodium, high carbs, greasy; also dependent on cheese and butter, making it more susceptible to spoiling even in the fridge, after a few days. I save money by focusing on what we will eat, not what we might like to eat or what others deem delicious. I also save by creating different dishes using the same ingredients, especially if bought at a great sale price.

Tonight, I made Pasta with Sausage and Broccoli for about $2.25. Only 4 of us ate it because Mr. Man didn't have time to eat before work.

I used:
Leftover buttered thin spaghetti-FREE
1 bag frozen broccoli--------------$1.00
1 link polish sausage--------------$1.25

$2.25/4 = 56 cents a plate!

Hope you had a better weekend than I did...

SH Day 7- Cleaning The Day Away!

Saturday, is a special day. It is the day we get ready for Sunday...

So the song goes and how our day pretty much went. We made sure that the kids' finished their chores and Mr. Man got to sleep in so he's ready for work tonight. Except to pick up L-Infinity from a Choir competition today, we all stayed in.

Dinner was again composed of leftovers. No fuss, no muss!

Food Budget Trick: Needs come first. Wants can and will wait even with food. I learned this the hard way. Since 2003, I have set a very strict food budget. We still live off that same amount every month. What I do is, I set my amount and gauge my needs list against sales, use coupons, stock up during great deals, before I entertain any wants on my list. And for holidays, I only add 1/4 more to my monthly food allowance. I revise the menu to accomodate that amount. Eating out has to have an occasion or emergency reason, because it is budgeted separately and with very little. Weekends and twice more in the week, we polish off our leftovers. (I read online that the average grocery tab for a family of 4, including everything (pets, toiletries, etc.), is almost $1,000 a month. $1,000 a month! Yowza!) We don't even come anywhere close to that even without much coupon use here. Thank goodness!

Ok, back to the cleaning... I still am. In the master because I'm ready to see a newer and cleaner room plus there's a maintenance inspection going on for our townhome and my unit may be picked soon so clean, clean away I go!

Hope you are having a great weekend!

SH Day 5- Gloomy Day...

Yesterday, it rained for most of the day. Today, it just drizzled for most of the day. Yup, it was pretty gloomy...

The kids woke up late again and had to be driven to school.

Since sleeping hasn't been part of my late evening repertoire for over 4 days now (former insomniac), sleeping in today was rather nice. I woke up cause the phone rang.

The afternoon was spent doing errands, picking up and dropping off our teen.

The project, got as far as bringing the much needed tool out of the box! (woop te doo... *yawn*)

Food Budget Trick: Eating is very much psychological, ergo can be manipulated. So I do, rather strictly. In my home, dessert is not a normal part of the meal. It is a treat approved by me. Soda is once a week. Snacks are on a schedule or for school. ONLY. And... IT HAS TO BE ON SALE- A GREAT SALE. ONLY. This way, our food money is further stretched to accomodate more necessities. No one misses out on anything and whining gets cut to a minimum.

Dinner was another Filipino dish called "Sinigang na Baboy" (Pork in Sour Broth) over rice.

I got the pork last week at Kroger for 99 cents/lb. The family pack I got cost $5.04

I used:
1/3 pkg, pork country style ribs-------------------------1.68
1 bag of frozen spinach----------------------------------1.00
1 lb. taro root---------------------------------------------.99
1 packet of tamarind season mix(Asian mart, 2/$1)--FREE (Dec)
Water and seasoning------------------------------------FREE
Rice-------------------------------------------------------FREE (Jan)

1.68 + 1 + .99 = $3.67 /5 = 73 cents a plate! (and again, leftovers for tomorrow!)

With that little expense for dinner by only using what we have, the day certainly didn't end gloomy! (though cold still stands. "brrr!!!")

5 days down, 9 more to go!

SH Day 1- It's Sunday!

Hello... Today marks the day that we embark on our 2nd attempt at NOT BUYING ANYTHING WE DO NOT NEED. We upped it from 10 days to 14 days from our first and very successful, attempt. We even gave it an official name, SHOPPING HIATUS. Cool,huh? Which means, no eating out, no grocery shopping for just good deals, no shopping for anything that can wait. If we can make it, we make it. We do without and we wait!

Since it's Sunday, it was an easy start not to get anything... Let's see how it goes. And since I'm not feeling so hot either (dizzy and "jelly" legs), I think the kids can manage rummaging through the fridge for food.

Can we survive 14 days without caving in for that "one shiny bauble" in an ad?

Well, I hope so! Wish us luck! This time, our incentive is to add what we'll save, to our Christmas Fund aka January Shopping Spree!

Did I tell you about that? Our "Christmas fund" is saving $1 a day, or 20 cents per person per day, for a total of $1 a day for our Shopping Spree. This way, we know that everyone saved for that one "want" they'll find in the store when we go. That's $1 a day starting Jan 1-Dec 31. Then we portion it this way: Lunch while out shopping, 1-3 Family gifts and equally divided amount for individual gifts. (When we do this, we bring our own snacks, beverage and coupons to save on food, too! It's a whole day affair and we end it with a rental to watch together at home.) Easy enough, right? Right!

So far, the last two years of this tactic, totally panned out since we were also armed with the grands' giftcards from Christmas. :-)

Asian and AC/DEC

... Just seems to go together. LOL

As you know, I'm Filipino and I'm married to a Caucasian. But the more we grow, our tastes and abilities seem to align with more of my Asian heritage, Chinese and Filipino.

My children take pride in being touted Filipinos since there are not many in this area. When I want to cook light but hearty, all I need to do is whip us some veggie filled chinese dish and a light sauce. (recipe at the bottom)

AC/DEC competitions seem to be seen the same way. The more Asians you have in your team, the more intimidating you seem to be. LOL Well, tonight, both of L-Infinity's heritage worked in her advantage. Being Co-Captain, it is her responsibility to "rally" her team and boost their morale. But simultaneouly, she had to prove that her title is well earned.

Fresh home from her Regional Competition, she brought home 5 different medals ranging from 5th Team Overall (bronze/red ribbon) that qualifies them to go to State (yeah!!!) to Best Team Scorer (gold) and 2nd in Overall Essay (first silver). Of course, the normal rounds of "because she's Asian" and "Asians always do well" were heard. To her, it was all good. This is her last year and she's going out with a bang... Asian or not... :-D

Beef with Snow Peas

1 can of chicken broth
2 stalks of green onion
2 tbsp. canola oil
1 tsp. sesame oil
15-20 snow pea pods, stringy side stripped
1/4 lb. beef, thin strips (either leftover roast or raw)
2 egg whites (whisked)
1 small onion, thin strips
6-8 baby carrots, quarter lengthwise
salt & pepper

With the oil, on high heat, saute onions, carrots and throw in beef. Season with s&p.
Saute until meat no longer pink. Set aside.
In the same pan, saute snow peas for 3-5 minutes. Add in chicken broth.
Let boil and scoop out snow peas. Add snow peas on top of the beef platter. Turn heat to low.
In a small dish, pour some cornstarch and add some broth. Blend then stir into broth.
Mix in sesame oil.
The whisked egg whites, stir into thickened broth. Kill heat and stir until sauce is a little thicker.
Pour over beef and veggies. Enjoy with steamed rice!

It's healthy and quick to make.

FHE: Extremes

Last week, we've established that FHE will now be on Thursdays.

Tonight, our lesson was on extremes. Both good and bad extremes and why...

Good Extreme: Being able to buy what we needed in one store and for way under our budget.

L-Infinity's competing with her AC/DEC team tomorrow and she needed a suit. I-Dude's shoes and socks are so worn out that his feet were stinking so bad and toes are beginning to itch in Kohl's where we went tonight. Poor kid!

I was silently and mentally screaming my head off as to how I'm going to afford all these instant "needs". But with luck and knowing we've been paying tithing, I hoped for the best. Both kids NEEDED something.

So, after much browsing, L found not one but two great suits! One 60% off and the other 80% off. Total price, $38 with tax.

We all ended in the shoes department and "voila!", as if the heavens knew I won't be able to afford shoes by his birthday in March, I-Dude and I found not one but three great looking shoes were in clearance for 70% off! All in his size with room to grow! To top it off, Mr. Man noticed that the socks in I-Dude's size were on sale for B1G1F and we were able to grab the last four of the promotional 7 pair/pk, with the money left over from our budget! Woohoo!!! Total price, $66 with tax.

Bad Extreme: Getting our money's worth, but ended with a belly ache... (ooh!)

Right after, we headed to our storage to pick up one of L's suitcases for her trip tomorrow. And since it was already dinner time and we were far from home, we opted to use some coupons and chose a nearby Chinese buffet called, China King Buffet. Albeit, we were able to save two sets of 50% off, but... we ended up overeating from the seemingly endless selection of delicious dishes, from appetizers to dessert!
J-Pony was the only one who I was able to snap up for a photo-op, but you can clearly see how big this place is! We all piled on our plates in the name of sampling each dish, but in the end we were not happy. The kiddos all had stomachaches, I couldn't stop burping and I-Dude even ended up throwing up from too much food! Only Mr. Man was able to keep it all in.

All of us learned that moderation is the key to avoiding BAD extremes. And to respect GOOD extremes as divine help for our righteous efforts.

It's utterly amazing how one day can show you both your strengths and weaknesses. But with faith, you at least realize which ones you can change...

Catching Up...

So here's what I've been up to...

Back on the evening of the 10th, I baked two loaves of honey wheat sandwich bread. I'd show you the loaves but they've already been dessiminated into sandwiches, toast and french toast... (this is the first proofing)
Then I decided to practice my hand at tablescaping again for my other blog. But as you can see, I'm a little rusty. I forgot a goblet! Yeeesh! I call this one, "Love is where You are..."

Yesterday evening, I played with my old candles... I made them chic and usable again... An old trick for this old gal, actually.
Then I surprised Mr. Man with a great and healthy dinner of Grilled Salmon with Cilantro Pesto and steamed Jasmine Rice. He was so floored, I'm repeating it on Wednesday to feed the missionaries and family friends, Cori and Matt. I can't wait!

Today, after Michelle arrived with Mr. Man from Dallas, he fixed the missionaries' bike tire that was in a crash. We had a great lunch of bbq chicken wings and BLCs(bacon, lettuce, cheese). The kiddos love finger foods!

Tonight, after L's weekend of dates, she and our family friend, Michelle, visiting from AZ for a few days, play a round or two of the Wii Rock Band. Can't you see the budding rockers in them?

Ok, you're all caught up with my adventures. Now, what have you been doing?

A Perfect Christmas Eve...

Today was unbelievably amazing!!!

First, we were alerted to a snowy treat outside of our front door. So naturally...
We started a cozy fire.
Had some fun in the snow...

And thoroughly enjoyed our annual, though normally on Christmas Day, grazing! Mr. Man and his family always had a grazing table on Christmas Day . This is where we collect all food gifts we get and our chosen fingr foods to enjoy without cooking. See the blue box, that contains, "Pan de Sal"- the Filipino dinner rolls! Yep, I baked them yesterday!

Back in December 12, we had L's friend Tyler take our Christmas portraits. I think they turned out great! Here's Mr. Man and I...

Mr. Man and the kiddos...

A horizontal line-up...

Starring the kiddos...

And our chosen pic to share...

Tonight's stories were Luke 2:1-15 and "Mary's Dream". I also reiterated why we don't do giftgiving in December anymore though stockings and pjs on Christmas Eve are still part of our tradition which Mr. Man grew up with.

Merry Christmas everyone! (Oh, yeah, tonight, I made Calamansi bars- the Filipino version of Lemon bars. Yummier!)

Thanksgiving Dinner! (On Friday)

As you know, we had to delay our Thanksgiving dinner to today, Friday because Mr. Man worked on T-day night. That was a great blessing as it bought me another day to prepare and make most of the meal. Well, I was still late because Mr. Man and I slept in after he got home and I woke up at 2 and dinner was at 6! And in the process, I miscounted the placesettings so I changed my original tablescape to this more subtle but just as effective look.

But when it came time to eat, all was amazing! We dined under candlelights and on homemade bread, soup, butter and game hens, as well as sparkling apple cider and white grape juice. L-Infinity made the soup, J-Pony helped with the cupcakes and I-Dude helped taste everything! What a helpful bunch! :-)

I made french bread, but I wanted to do something different, so I braided each loaf! They turned out great on the table and everyone loved just pinching off the loaf rather than waiting for slices to be handed them. The butter was fresh and creamy. What a combination!
I made my own Chocolate Pecan Pie. It was delicious! I will have to cover the crust next time as it almost burned... I gave it a "vine and leaf" decor but because it was so dark, you couldn't even tell. Oh, well...
And here's the dessert table! Aside from the cream puffs at the top, the cupcakes and the pie are all homemade. Yum!
And here's the dining crew! Elder Taggart, Elder Clark, Daniel and my darlings, L-Infinity, Mr. Man, J-Pony and I-Dude. (Kila had to work, but her beau, Alex, had her over on Thursday night with his family so she also had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner.)

I'm Grateful For... #7

Food! Why? I grew up hungry; and now that I can cook, bake and shop for foods I like, it's an unbelievable feeling to describe.

A Lot for A Little

J-Pony found this great breakfast recipe for Labor Day in Sandra Lee's heavily sponsored cookbook where the dishes are kid friendly. So, with my coupons and ad, we hit Albertson's!

These are what I got:

• 3 lbs of large shrimp (21-25)- $15.98 each
  
• 1 Tombstone pizza- $3.50
  
• 1 5-pk of Kraft Mac-n-Cheese- $3.99
  
• 2 cantaloupes- $1.50 each
  
• 1 pkg. seedless grapes- .88/lb
  
• 1 bag hash browns- $2.39
  
• 2 Velveeta Shells and Cheese Cup- $1.19 each
  
• 2 large red onions- .99/lb.
  

But between my ad and mfg coupons, raincheck voucher and the week's deals, I paid ONLY $27!

I-Dude just loved this "big guy" so he made sure we took his picture next to it. Can't deny where we are now, huh? LOL

L-Infinity wanted pizza for dinner so we popped the Tombstone Pep & Sau in the oven, but ate AFTER we gave it Emeril's "bam!" factor with some fresh basil and parsley. Wow in your mouth!

Hope you had a great Saturday! I'm off to finish my other homework...

FHE: Readers and Writers

So we're really doing great in having Family Home Evening every Monday night, though I noticed that I don't necessarily post about them EVERY Monday.

But before we talk about what we did for tonight's FHE, let me tell you how the rest of the day went.

I've been feeling off all day today despite all the errands (Library returns & BN Summer Reading Program Redemption) we had to do plus my rather pointless PTA Audit Report presentation that I went to. (It's a "grrrr" story for another day) We decided to also get Coraline and 17 Again to watch while Mr. Man is home. Mr. Man and I-Dude also got their haircuts today while the girls and I hung out at Ross, gleaning ideas for Fall. (Nothing jumped out at me; I want to use what I have-buried in the storage!) L-Infinity didn't find anything special either. Just our luck...

Anyway, I wanted to eat some authentic Filipino comfort food that gets me feeling great in no time. You know, a dish that I can honestly say I don't make often. That would be "Sinigang na Baboy, Gabi at Kang-kong" (Water Spinach, Taro Root and Pork in Sour Broth- reverse order translation)
It was quite a treat to see these water spinach at our local Asian market this evening. They grow like water lilies. Often, the Filipinos grow them in the same waters that mudfish live in during the rainy season.

Even the rice is freshly bought as we ran out just two days before. We also had a great watermelon we found for only $2.99!

This authentic dish is so good as well as economical. I cooked all that I bought for it, but because we had leftovers, we only ate half of what I cooked! And including 3/4 of the watermelon we ate, each plate only cost us, $1.26! (Can't complain about that for"somethin' special from home...")

Then, J-Pony spearheaded our FHE. We were "readers and writers" like those in the time of King Benjamin and learned the simple meanings of certain scriptures in the Book of Mormon. It was fun reading, writing and guessing if we "matched" the original scroll. Between Primary and AD, she comes home full of great FHE ideas! (Oh, you see my boys, aren't they handsome in their new do's?)
Our treat, more of that mouth-watering watermelon!

Hope you all had a great Family Home Evening!

My family's whole again plus Michelle!

Mr.Man met L-Infinity at the airport and both of them were able to get on the earliest flight after his shift. Yay!!! We picked them up curbside at 1:45 then went straight home and feasted on mac-n-cheese and other leftovers.

Look, my heart's all full again! I can breathe... Can't you tell my smallish kiddos are happy, too? ;-)
See? See? Mr. Man and all three of my babies (I-Dude, L-Infinity and J-Pony)! And Michelle is still here, so our little unit is alive with laughter, food, fun and non-stop talking! (Excuse the hairdos, they are sportin' the "we just woke up" look.)
Of course, I promised Mr. Man his "Honey Butter French Bread" so I made it right after lunch time, after I made the "Choc' Full O' Nana" Bread. Yes, all, I baked three loaves of bread! Can't you tell Michelle couldn't wait to taste some? *hee hee*
See how happy she is when she got her piece? Had to take a shot of her priceless reaction.
And L-Infinity, too! My poor baby hadn't eaten for hours, since lunch. LOL
See what warm bread does, all of a sudden they're best buds! I know how to bribe my girls into behaving... LOL
Yes, more bribing with great food!
I did a seaside tablescape and here's Michelle, showing off her bread "dolphin" swimming behind SS Chandy out on the water. *breeze wafting*
Then I-Dude and J-Pony raced to see who can eat the quickest.
And J-Pony wins! Though she's normally the slowest most times, when it comes to certain foods, she can outeat any of us. Yay!

I am so exhausted, but this is definitely one of the best Sundays ever!

A Long Saturday...

That night swimming we did Thursday totally set back our "school" schedule. Our bodies were sore enough that we've woken up at 9am since yesterday and have again gone to bed after 10pm. That's ok, Monday, we start over...

Well, the rain greeted us again this morning and by the time I thought to grab the Power Shot and snap away, this is all the proof I was able to gather. *hee hee*

Michelle joined us for two rounds of Rummikub after some oatmeal. Of course, each round, I was stuck with that one tile. *sigh*

I couldn't seem to get things together today. I'm so exhausted! I kept yawning, spacing out and just overall frazzled. I did manage to keep up with some pressing matters like schedules, reading program forms, birthdays and such, but I couldn't focus long enough to read a sentence in the new chapter of the book I was reading. So relieved I didn't burn any of our food, for sure!*yawn*

I-Dude was into his Lego masterpieces when he suggested I take this silly pose. Isn't he handsome? LOL
Look at that amount of concentration on his face... What are you gonna make for us today, I-Dude?
Here's some of the vehicles he's created. The one in the middle, a satellite vehicle. How cool is that?
Here's another view...
(You'll need to click on these two) Outside, J-Pony noticed several colorful dragonflies "dancing" on our little grassy area when I asked her to throw out the garbage. So I quickly set the camera to "Sports", steadied the lens, and snapped everytime I saw a blur pass by.
These two spots are right next to each other.
While I was getting ready to come in, I saw another blur at the corner of my right eye. I followed it and it, a moth, fluttered on to one of the lower set of leaves facing the LR window. I didn't want to take the risk of it flying away, so this is a zoomed out shot.
While I zoomed some more, I lost the spot where it was, but when I found it again, this is what I snapped- the moth flapping its wings!
For dinner, I made oven-baked chicken drumsticks, steamed rice and sauteed sliced green beans. Then we played 25 years worth of the LIFE-Twists and Turns game. While we played, I remembered to make our favorite, "Blackberry Shake".
It's so good, Michelle didn't mind posing with a near empty glass! LOL The kiddos had two small portions each. A blender full was just perfect for the four of us!

Some laundry's done, dishwasher was run, dishes were washed, the kids showered and put to bed.

Great news!!! My baby, L-Infinity and my darling, Mr. Man are coming home tomorrow! Yay!!!

I guess we're ready for Sunday... (I hope so...)