My Favorite Month

I'd like to think that Christmas in my family extends to January, Lance's 10th, my 36th and our 11th wedding anniversary. Nothing fancy though just some much needed family time spent in Great Falls, Montana.

Lance's 10th birthday at Luigi's

My Loves!

with Mommy!

Happy 11th Anniversary B!

 

Christmas 2014

It's never too late to post about how our Christmas went. I'm just not sure if I remember all the details. Pretty sure it was a merry one :D

Lalaloopsy and Pokemon

Daddy opening his gift from the kids

Nintendo DS for this guy

happy with her tea cup set

Priceless reactions :D

Taking Turns in the Kitchen

Guess who's doing most of the cooking these days? Hubby! I hate to admit it but he exerts more effort looking for recipes, meticulously trying them out and washing the dishes after. I feel (kinda) spoiled :D

LOL :P

These crab and cream cheese wontons were a hit. They're scrumptious! Hubby pre made a big batch the night before which I deep fried the next day. No crumbs were left.

crab and cream cheese wontons

Few months back, we did nothing but eat out, mostly Chinese food. This was back when we didn't take turns in the kitchen. One look at the dirty dishes in the sink and I just cringe. By the time I clean up, I don't want to cook anymore. So we just load the kids in the car and go eat somewhere else. Eating out can be very expensive and unfortunately, we don't have a favourite place to eat in our city. Good thing hubby and I are now sharing responsibilities at home especially cooking. Instead of ordering a $12-$15 stir fry dish in a restaurant, we can enjoy the same dish at home for a fraction of that price.

chicken stir fry

When hubby cooks, he really is into it. He was sending me pictures of these while I was at work. The kids also brought these for lunch in school the next day.

spam musubi

OMG! Love sushi.

sushi galore

I still do my share of cooking, I do love trying out new recipes but unlike hubby I have no patience following the whole entire recipe. How do I decide on what to cook? I usually rely on what I crave for or what I think hubby wants or the rare days when I get this urge to be adventurous and wants to try something new like this Beef Stroganoff recipe. I didn't serve it over pasta of course, I figured it would still be good with rice :D

beef stroganoff

This eggplant omelette is a favourite of both hubby and I but I don't make it quite as often because it's too much work so when I get to cook these babies..we devour them :D

eggplant omelette

Before the kids and I left for the School Council meeting, I already boiled the beef for the Beef Pares and left it all to hubby to finish the dish. He was texting me how good it turned out and all throughout the meeting I'm pretty sure I was zoning out and imagining what's waiting for me at home--comfort food at its best indeed!

beef pares

My very first cheesecake! Lance asked me to buy chocolate cream cheese but I guess he didn't like it because it's been sitting in the fridge for awhile so I dared make it into a cheesecake. It turned out delicious especially for a first timer. I can't wait to make a blueberry one!

chocolate cheesecake

I stocked up on coconut milk for my pina coladas but I've been craving for sticky rice cake. My version includes screwpine (pandan) essence, hence the green color.

biko pandan

I babysat two little boys on my day off so I prepared two snacks. One that is healthy and one that's not haha! Vegetable tray and leftover candies from Halloween served on a cupcake tray :D

veggie tray + treats!

Believe it or not, I love eating raw veggies. If only I could eat them everyday eh?

lunch at work

I made a huge pot of crab and corn soup the other day, added some goldfish crackers so the kids will eat it. Surprisingly, they did.

crab and corn soup

I was going to make this Italian Sausage Bake recipe but I had some brussels sprouts to use so I added that to the potatoes and decided to wrap the sausage with bacon because who doesn't love bacon, right?

bacon wrapped sausage over potatoes and brussels sprouts

 I was searching for recipes that include sausage and chicken the other night before I went to bed. I decided to try this chicken and sausage gumbo recipe. I was too scared that I would burn my roux that's why mine turned out lighter but it tasted really good even though I didn't follow the instructions (yet again!)

chicken and sausage gumbo

For supper tonight, hubby's cooking Jambalaya. Hopefully it tastes as good as it smells.

Jambalaya

Before I end this post..here's me with my attitude apron haha! :D

ooh la la!

SY 2014/2015

Leila in her Gr. 2 class

It seems like it was only yesterday when we brought Lance to school for his first day of Kindergarten but now he is in Grade 4 already! And Leila? I still can't believe she's in Grade 2 now.

I didn't get to take a picture of their first day (oooppps!) and I didn't even get to bring them to school that day, it was hubby who had to endure the chaos haha!

Just when I thought everything's perfect, a couple of weeks back, it snowed. Yes!!! Snow in September!!! So wrong especially when the kids don't even have winter boots yet :p

The sun is back though, have been for the past week or so, just when I bought the kids their winter boots :D

Summer 2014 Highlights

Reminder to self: find time to write about this year's summer adventure.

Here are some highlights :)

Beautiful Mount Rushmore

Nickelodeon Universe in Mall of America

Kalahari Resort with cousins

Chicago

somewhere in North Dakota

Logan's Pass

Dear Summer, why did you pass by so quick? Thanks though for the happy memories this year :)

Back in the Saddle

Life's been pretty hectic but I am not complaining this time around. I guess not that hectic because here I am posting some of our recent food adventures :D

balsamic glazed steak rolls

Before our schedules have gotten crazy, I was able to prepare this Balsamic Glazed Steak Rolls for hubby's birthday lunch. I immediately pinned it to family favorites on Pinterest because it was soooo good! Again, I don't follow recipes diligently, I like to tweak the recipes depending on what ingredients I have. I normally forget to buy what I need, hence the tweaking (haha!) For this one I think I didn't have carrots and green onions so I just used bell pepper and zucchini. What I'm saying is, it's not the end of the world when you don't have all the ingredients of a particular recipe you want to try, just substitute.

Since my kids love bread, we try to buy different kinds every once in awhile because they get tired of just the plain loaves. Most recently was a huge bag of ciabatta buns which we used for various sandwiches.

leftover pork chips turned into sandwiches

homemade cheese burger

chicken sandwich

I mentioned about having crazy schedules that's because I am now working (yay!) which meant I have to have meals prepared in advance (ideally) but I normally don't. We are making it work though, even the kids are on board with this huge change in our lives. Leila's probably the one having the hardest time but she does help quite a lot in feeding the boys and maintaining some order in the house (haha!)

beef broccoli

pork stir fry

canned tuna with cherry tomatoes and bell pepper

vegetable salad topped with shrimp popcorn

vegetable salad with spicy chicken breast

Stir fry dishes, salads and canned goods are my best friends lately. I was up 'til 3am last night googling slow cooker recipes and other easy recipes trying to come up with a menu for this week.

slow cooker ribs

grilled veggies for the pasta salad

garden pasta salad

So I guess life is really hectic these days especially when I think about chores (laundry, cooking and cleaning), preparing the kids' lunches and their clothes the night before and mentally preparing myself for work. Days off have become something to look forward to even if I have to spend the whole day doing laundry. I miss my kids so much that I sometimes surprise them by picking them up in school. I did get to prepare a special late night dinner for hubby the other night too.

Lance's yogurt parfait

fried chicken wings with honey soy dip and creamy cucumber salad

24 hours may not seem enough but it's all good. I'm lucky to have found something that I love doing and yet have enough energy left when I get home for my usual chores :D

We've Been Vegging

I have been laying low since my last post but I managed to take a few pictures here and there. I haven't been trying new recipes one after the other but mostly cooking depending on my mood. Here are some simple but turned out really great in the end kinda food :D

beef salpicao with spinach

beef salpicao with chinese broccoli

This dish called beef salpicao keeps popping on my Facebook news feed that it prompted me to google what it really is. It sounded simple enough to try though I found different variations mostly on what sauces to use. I ended up using oyster sauce and liquid seasoning instead of worcestershire. The buttery taste in the end makes the dish delicious and I've been using this simple concoction on my my beef stir fry lately. I just add whatever vegetables I have on hand.

Bicol Express

As much as I love trying out new recipes, I sometimes find myself craving for old favorites like my mother in law's bicol express. I love food cooked in coconut milk but I've only watched my mom cook veggies (mostly) in coconut milk. I never showed interest in learning the secrets and using canned coconut milk hasn't been a favorite. It's hit and miss for me the first few times I cooked with it but it's been successful lately. I've also learned not to dump too much shrimp paste right away. Anyway, so I cooked bicol express and prayed that it will end up close to my mother in law's or at least decent enough to eat and it ended up delicious (YES!)

honey garlic stir fry

Whenever we end up buying pork loin from Costco, I must come up with a menu so I wouldn't cook the whole thing in just a few days. Usually it's pork steak, breaded pork or tocino but if I want it to last, I'd have to cut it into small pieces, stir fry and add a boatload of veggies. I use this honey garlic sauce which isn't even a stir fry sauce but a marinade whenever I do this dish whether it's beef or pork.

rosemary and garlic steak

steak with crab and corn soup

Gone are the days my kids eat so little. These days it's like four adults in the house. They get their own piece of steak as opposed to only a few bites. I'm not complaining though, it's great to see them eat like that. Steak is one of their favorites. Soon I would need to raise my own cow :P

honey soy chicken wings

Aside from steak, the kids also like to eat fried chicken wings. Put a platter in front of these two and it get sniffed in a few minutes. I did manage to get a few pieces and turn them into honey soy chicken wings for hubby and I. Another simple yet yummy in my tummy dish.

instant noodles

Hubby has to have those instant noodles every time he eats. I find it annoying sometimes because for some reason I'm too lazy to cook them (haha!) Though lately, I've been cooking them even before he asks for his noodles. I've also been adding sesame oil, hoisin, chili flakes, lemon juice and poached egg because let's be honest, those instant noodles taste bland.

cheese curds for poutine

The kids have been off from school for four days. I needed to keep them fed and busy. Another family favorite is poutine. It is supposed to be topped with cheese curds but I usually use mozzarella so I decided to try and make my own cheese curds. Leila was too eager to help and fascinated with the process. We did end up with a small amount of cheese curd out of 4 cups of milk. Not so sure why I ended up with so little but they tasted like kesong puti (Filipino white cheese) according to hubby. I made cheese woohoo!

cake mix brownies

Leila has been bugging me to make brownies so we did. I used a boxed cake mix though using this recipe. It turned out really good. The kids have been eating it directly from the baking dish. We also added chopped Cadbury bars in the brownie batter maybe that's why it ended up sooooo delicious.

This long weekend had been one lazy day after another. All we did was sleep and EAT of course! Last day before they go back to school, I served them brunch. Kids had Nutella french toast, homemade mac n' cheese and a mango. Hubby got cheesy bacon omelette, peanut butter and jelly french toast, mangoes and lemonade.

Tomorrow is going to be a normal day, meaning---LAUNDRY! Tons and tons of them :D