Routines and Much More

While the kids have settled into their own routines, I found myself doing the same things on a regular basis as well. Before, I had no schedule at all. I would do the chores whenever I feel like doing them. I used to do the laundry 2-3x a week and I would iron at least once a month. I am quite lazy when it comes to ironing compared to my love for washing the clothes. Now, I do the laundry once a week and it's scheduled on a Friday instead of Saturday so I can spend more time with the kids during the weekends. The ironing is now also on a weekly basis and I can get it done faster when the kids are in school. The other chores are also accomplished when the kids are not home.

Settling in my own routines gives me a whole lot of time for the kids and myself too. I blog, watch TV shows and movies online during my free time. I now sleep way earlier than I used to and I guess that has given me more energy during the day. It makes me more determined to finish my daily tasks no matter how simple they are.

Included in my weekly schedule these days is giving my daughter her regular manicure and pedicure every weekend. She loves having pretty nails and now that she goes to school, they have to be perfect. Last week's color was red, it's blue and purple for this week, mine is pink and what's yours?  Let's all have a colorful week ahead everyone :D

Weekend Dinner

Happy Saturday indeed, hubby is off from work and it's the weekend, a big deal for my kids especially to Lance. A week of long hours in school is making my boy moody. Every week is intense and a struggle, we all deserve a restful weekend, a little retail therapy and a good meal at the end of the day.

So for dinner, I prepared Baked Mussels seasoned with salt then topped with butter and cheese. Again, a simple and perfect partner for the Greek salad :D

A Family Favorite

My family loves pizza. I am not a huge fan of pizza even when I was younger. I can eat a slice or two and I'm done unlike my brother who can finish the whole if I remember it correctly. My favorite back then was the  Shakey's thin crust pizza, that I can eat up to three slices maybe but then again who can eat the pizza when your stuffed with their chicken and mojo potatoes? Drool!

Fast forward to the present time. My son is a pizza lover. Leila too I guess because she eats everything. We used to buy Lance the small ones. I heat them for two minutes in the microwave and they're done. He used to like them a lot until we discovered Donatello's Cheezy Melt pizza. This pizza is to die for not to mention it's the cheapest among the frozen pizzas. My kids love it, my hubby and I love it, we all love it! I've never liked pizza especially those that don't have much toppings, but this? It doesn't taste cheap and it tastes way better than the others. This is just an honest opinion from the newest pizza lover :D

All About Rice

Now that breakfast is a regular happening in our house these days, I have to come up with breakfast meals which I'm not really good at. A Filipino breakfast would be my ideal breakfast, it's all about the rice. There are days when I would prefer a toast or a pancake but rice would be much better. Breakfast should be heavy right? So that makes rice the perfect choice :D
 

Since my hubby doesn't like leftover rice, I save it on a container and stock them up inside the refrigerator for making fried rice in the morning. I find the cooled leftover rice perfect for fried rice since they get harder when cooled and kind of separate into little grains as you cook them rather than the sticky rice from the rice cooker.

Fried rice can be cooked and flavored in so many ways. Garlic fried rice remains my second favorite, first would be fried rice cooked  in Adobo oil/sauce. My hubby prefers the Yang Chow fried rice but honestly, I don't want to put too much effort on fried rice unless we have a lot of leftovers that I can incorporate. But I guess I've done that on several occasions wherein I put several elements on the rice and that itself was our whole meal.

I would normally cook scrambled egg and put them on fried rice. I thought that was the only way to use egg on fried rice not knowing that you can actually cook the egg as you cook the rice. My husband saw his uncle do fried rice this way so we tried it and got good results. The fried rice has that egg flavor and yellowish in color and this makes it easier rather than cooking the eggs first, slicing them up before putting them back again.

Anything that would make my life simpler, I'm willing to try and if I'm too lazy to whip up a super simple fried rice? There's always my BFF rice cooker to save any meal with warm, white rice :D

Old Place, New Look

new look

fell in love with the whole flower arrangement and the wooden vase

Weeks after our summer vacation, we gave our living room a new look. It took a lot of cleaning and quite a bit of hard work to achieve a new look. It was addicting, we want new this and that and yeah, it takes a whole lot of self control and reality check to make us stop. It was just about time to get rid of the old stuff that were mostly given to us when we first got here and our house really needed a major cleanup so might as well redecorate a bit.

same vase, flowers arranged by hubby

We just wanted to create more space, minimize clutter and start the kids to sleep in their room. All were achieved thank goodness! We're still getting used to the new look, new sleeping arrangements and maintaining the cleanliness. The last part proves to be the hardest when you have two kids and lots of toys.

centerpiece

looove our carpet!

used to be all white

Between my hubby and I, he is more involved and  has the eye for decorating and coordinating. All I wanted was something red. A red couch won't be relaxing according to my hubby. A red accent chair for the bedroom could be negotiable though :D

Our New Hangout

My kids are bored all the time, as if they don't have a thing or two to do here in the house. We used to go to Dollarama to buy them stuff to paint, activity books or stickers. In our quest to redecorate our living room, we visited several stores in search for home decors. Last but not the least we visited was Michaels. It was our first time to visit the store and I can't help but question myself why we haven't gone there sooner.

I am not a very crafty person but I don't mind looking at all the stuff in that store. In fact, I can stay there forever! I noticed the $2 grab bags by the entrance and I wished I grabbed all three bags. It was full of stickers, glitter paint, tattoo, beads and so much more. All the items in that bag would have cost more than $20. Next time I see a grab bag? I'll grab them all!

Sweet Moments

Cheesecake sampler from Safeway

I crave for sweets and when I do, it's usually pastry or cakes particularly cheesecakes! I haven't made one from scratch and that makes me sad. I love desserts but I don't get to make them probably because I'm the only one in the family who likes desserts. I am so preoccupied with cooking main dishes and now that we are trying to eat a bit healthier, my husband and I are gonna try out different salads but as of now we are stuck with our favorite Greek salad.

Now back to my sweet tooth. One day I felt the need to eat cheesecake so I texted my hubby to please get me one at Safeway. He brought home the cheesecake sampler. Sweet isn't it? I am talking about the cheesecake and my hubby of course :D

Puto vs. Cheese Muffin: And the Winner is?

Cheese Muffins

Last week I made Lance's favorite puto and he's been snacking on that in school. According to him, his classmate called it a cheese muffin and from then on he'll refer to it as that. Puto is actually steamed rice muffin but I don't steam mine, I bake them. I use this recipe as my guide, believe me when I say it's the best puto recipe out there.

Puto as the winner!

Anyway, I made two dozens. Lance brought two per day and he would eat some after school. I decided to make him a real cheese muffin just in case he'll like it better than the puto. And his verdict? Still the puto or should I say, the cheese muffin formerly known as the puto :D

Easy Comfort Food

Bacon wrapped shrimp

I do run out of ideas on what to cook. Cooked shrimp saves me as I can easily make buttered shrimp. Another life saver is bacon. Since we buy bacon ends, they are thicker and cooking a few slices makes you full compared to cooking a whole package of the real ones which could sometimes be paper thin depending on the brand.

I use bacon like there's no tomorrow. I serve it alongside pancakes for breakfast, sometimes I put it on our fried rice or I include it on tomato based sauces. Instead of ham, I put chopped bacon when I make Embutido (Filipino Style Meatloaf) and when I make Meatloaf, I wrap the whole thing with slices of bacon as well.

That makes bacon a regular on my grocery list. One of my experiments was shrimp wrapped in bacon. This was few days before we left for our summer vacation. Hubby says it was good so I'll probably try it again tonight. It'll be good with the Greek salad :D

Good Food in a Can

precious canned goods

After a long break I am now ready for some food talk again. During our summer vacation in Brampton, I was introduced by my hubby's sister in law, Ate Agatha to Palm Caldereta Corned Beef. I am not a big fan of corned beef unless it's from the Philippines, I don't have any idea on how flavored corned beef tastes like so I bought one. A huge mistake which I only realized once we were back here. I should have filled the whole car with this corned beef. It's the best tasting food in a can!

Caldereta (Filipino Beef Stew) isn't a usual favorite of mine since I'm not a fan of dishes with tomato sauce but I find it challenging to cook this dish because of its many variations. Liver spread and tomato sauce are used regularly but adding worcestershire sauce (Ate Agatha's version) can also bring the Caldereta into a whole new level even without the liver spread. The meat can be boiled until tender or can be pan fried then boiled. I did both the last time I cooked. I didn't have any liver spread so I relied on the worcestershire sauce and tabasco to spice up the tomato sauce. I also added olives, green peas and sun dried tomatoes and omitted the carrots and potatoes.

I was actually trying to copy the taste of the Palm Caldereta Corned Beef but I guess that can is unbeatable. It really is the best corned beef and caldereta all in one can, what more can you ask for? Boxes and boxes of those please! I need a trip to T&T Supermarket ASAP :D

My New Love

Love at first bite. This is how I would describe our first encounter with Greek salad. Much as we would like to buy the prepared ones which are quite cheaper, we chose to prepare it ourselves including the vinaigrette. I love salads, but this? It's more than love, I can eat this everyday and I could stare at it, what a pretty, pretty sight!

Like most salads, it's easy to prepare and can be devoured in seconds :D

Good Morning Routines

Pinakbet

I haven't fully gone back to my usual energy when it comes to cooking and experimenting since we got back from our vacation except to cook my mother in law's Pinakbet. Having been sick and cleaning up the whole house and taking care of a sick child plus the early mornings have really drained my energy. It might be any of those reasons or the sad fact that our vacation's over.

Purefoods corned beef from Brampton

I have been waking up early lately and my body is getting used to it and I love preparing breakfast for hubby before he goes to work. He doesn't normally eat breakfast but he feels the need to especially lately and I don't mind preparing a warm breakfast really. We haven't had breakfast in a long time and now that the kids both go to school in the morning, breakfast is now essential in our daily routine.

garlic bread for Lance

I feel that I am slowly becoming a morning person, well at least I'm trying to be and I'm rubbing it off to my kids. These days, they go to bed at 9pm which is good, really good! I looove routines :D

Post Vacation Viral Illness and Separation Anxiety

ready for school!

While our summer vacation was a blast, days after we came back I got sick. I don't usually get sick or even if I do get a cold, it's over in a day or two. What I had though lingered for more than a week, what's worse is that I have kids to attend to plus my hubby of course.

empty living room, so much space and clutter free

Before I was fully recovered, my son also got sick he had to miss school for a couple of days due to on and off fever which the doctor diagnosed as something viral. In between recuperating myself, taking care of my son and my youngest child's first day in Pre-K, we also managed to rearrange the whole house. It was a grueling process but the end result is priceless.

afternoon nap in their own room yeyyy!

The kids, for the first time are now sleeping in their bedroom/playroom. This I guess was the best outcome of our home makeover/end of summer cleaning. We finally got rid of all the stuff we needed to get rid a long time ago. Toys were sorted out even the furnitures and everything or should I say mostly are in place. Finally the house was de littered!

finally!

And yes, the icing on the cake is that the kids no longer sleep on mom and dad's bed. We now can sleep comfortably in our queen size bed. We actually thought of buying a king size one to accommodate the four of us fortunately and surprisingly, the kids agreed to sleep in their room. There's still a bit of resistance but hopefully in due time, they'll get used to it. I do miss them though. I just couldn't wait to see them the next day. Mornings are just sweeter except that I now have to wake up early to prepare them for school. Curling up with mom will just have to be reserved during weekend mornings :D