Picture Clusters: June 2011

New Fave....

We used to have loads of this fruit at the farm when I was little...but i never liked it. We always ate it (really ripe ones) with milk and sugar...or as a shake.

Bought some a couple of weeks ago and lo and behold! I liked it! lol. I mixed it with tomatoes, cucumber, and some salad greens then drizzled with my salad dressing mix (EVOO, dried dill, pepper, salt, balsamic vinegar, coconut vinegar, and calamansi)...and i was surprised because i liked it! yeah, i really really liked it! lol

Am hoping that they'll still be around for a couple or so of weeks...

Btw, it also tastes good with crunchy apples. :)

Noodles/Pasta

This was part of what we had last weekend...spaghetti in carbonara sauce (with spam).

I wanted to put bacon, but our stock had ran out, so opted for spam instead. Anyway, it mentioned that it had 'bacon' in it. :P

So easy to prepare since most of the ingredients are 'instant'. lol. Just a matter of cooking them separately, and then mixing them up! Easy-peasy. Tasted good, too. :)

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Twelve

My twelve-year old...shot taken by his Dad. :)

Edited by me. :P

UnFashionable Me

I think it's about time I get myself a new pair of jeans. Or shoes. Or a blouse. Or....ok, am not sure which to get. lol. That's why I checked out this site called urban clothing, where you can find different branded clothing and shoes, both for men and women. I saw that they had an ongoing sale, too. I just wish I can get some online, but my $$$ is quite low at the moment. I just checked them out just to keep abreast at the prices as well as designs available right now. I liked what they were offering...just might go and check them out again once I get enough money. ;)

Food Friday

My sister gave me two cans of beans and it suddenly gave me an idea: Pork and Beans!

I know, it's common enough, but I didn't want the result that you get when you open a can of pork and beans (though my family loves it! lol) ...I wanted one wherein you can really taste the pork (and the fat that almost melts in your mouth) and slurp the soup together with the slightly salty beans.

I bought the pork (lower part of the shoulder/arm, hock, and trotters) and had it chopped at the market. Boiled it in water together with ginger, garlic, salt, smoked paprika, pepper and mixed herbs (thyme, rosemary, marjoram, basil, oregano, sage) from Masterfoods. Had it merrily simmering for almost two hours (yeah...). By that time the pork (with the skin still on) was really tender, and the water half it's original content. So I opened the can of beans (drained the brine) and mixed it together with the pork. This was the time when I did some more adjustments to the taste: a bit of soy sauce, fish sauce, pepper (again) and around a teaspoon of muscovado sugar was added.

Honestly, at this stage anything goes when it comes to how you want your pork and beans to taste...so you may add in more spices, or not. Your call. I like mine savoury. And artery-clogging. LOL :D

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Luis...

Child

Luis, my two-year old.

InLinkz = Awesome!

Just in case you haven't noticed, I have started using a new linky system for Food Friday. Yup, it's InLinkz.

Initially I wanted a linky tool that doesn't require payment (yeah, a Scrooge, LOL...but hey, it always helps if you scrimp and save! i know, REASONS! lol), and I did try a few. At first I was satisfied with the first free linky that I used (for Food Friday); that is, until I changed templates. Next were two linkies which I used before I had my meme...but they were costly when I revisited their pages. They both exceeded my US$20 budget, if you want to get the best that they were offering. Blogging is big business! lol

To make a long story short: I ended up with InLinkz and so far I am very much satisfied with my subscription. What really tickles me are the thumbnail pics that you can use...so cute and functional!

Yes, it is Fluffier!

Have you seen those advertisements about how you can make your eggs fluffier and taste yummier by adding mayonnaise? Well, I have and it certainly had me interested...I mean, is it for real?

So last weekend I tried adding mayonnaise to my scrambled eggs. I couldn't resist adding some button mushrooms and green bellpeppers, though. lol. Yeah, that's me. Straying away. ;P

The verdict: yup, it was indeed fluffier and yummier (though am sure that the fat content of the omellete has skyrocketed by then. lol)!

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Food Friday

Something light this time... a salad of some sort. :P

Actually, it all started when I saw some avocados in the market... I bought three unripe ones and almost forgot about them until my youngest son saw them and started playing with one of the already-ripened-avocado. Yes, he banged it on the chair! :D That certainly got my attention!

So, I was left with thinking what to do with them...at home my mom normally would just mix them with sugar and milk and serve it as a dessert, but I wanted something different. My eldest son suggested I make a dip for the chips, but nah...I wanted something 'healthier'. LOL

Decided to add some tomatoes and cucumber to the sliced avocados...I wanted to add onions, too, but left that out since my youngest son isn't a fan of onions (the bulb). For the dressing, I used extra virgin olive oil, coconut vinegar, salt, freshly ground black pepper, dill and fresh spring onions. Sorry, I hardly ever measure anything..except when am baking (which rarely happens these days, lol).

Both my sons and I loved it (my youngest was hesitant about trying out the avocados; he happily ate the tomatoes and cucumbers, though)! :)

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Another one....

Yup, couldn't get over the mouseover thingy! LOL

Again, thanks, Jenn! :)

Family...

A former classmate of mine recently had her third baby and of course they were all happy about it. What she didn't like, though, was the pregnancy period itself since she felt sick all the time! Her hubby was understanding and thoughtful enough (he even had Minneapolis flowers delivered straight to their house...isn't that so sweet?), but he did breathe a sigh of relieve after the delivery. He knew she was suffering, but couldn't do much about it.

It was a premature delivery (she was on her eighth week of pregnancy), so the baby was left at the hospital for some time. Time enough for her to rest...but I could tell she missed her baby. Finally, when the baby arrived home they were ecstatic. I told her to send me some shots and she promised she will....am waiting. Patiently.

I remember the day I delivered my youngest...it was uneventful. lol. Thank heavens! :P

Mouse-over Post

Pass your mouse over the picture to see the diff between the edited and non-edited shots...

Thanks to Jenn of Shutter Happy Moments, I finally managed to post a shot using the mouseover thingy! :)

The telly

Everyday we turn on our television (and an 'old' one at that - had it for more than 12 years, lol) and listen/watch it for a minimum of four hours per day. Am not actually a tv fan, but it does help keep us 'together'. What I mean by 'together' is that the kids watch their favorite shows and stay put (yes! lol) and I can do my online/computer thingy. I wonder if they will stay put longer if we subscribe to one of those satellite tv, with a receiver like the ones you'll find at Bell Télé...though that would mean additional bills to pay, lol.

Still, wishful thinking. ;P

Yeah....

Processed using one of the TRA (totally rad actions) and a free action from PTM (Paint the Moon).
So addicting... :P

The Queen's Meme

The Crazy Medical Meme

1. The smallest bone in the human body is about the size of a grain of rice. What is it?
...a bone in your ear, the stapes.

2. How fast is a sneeze?
...faster than i can say supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! lol

3. What percentage of the human body is water?
...60% ?

4. True or False: A human's thumb is as long as his or her nose.
...false. i think. lol

5. What should you do if you are bitten by a snake?
...get medical help immediately, if it was poisonous

6. It is a fact that humans get an entirely new skeleton every 12 years. What do we get every six years?
...reruns? ;P

7. Happiness is directly related to the size of your _________________.
...some might say bank account, but i think being happy depends largely on your decision to be happy. :)

8. If there are 9,000 taste buds on your tongue, how many hairs are on your head right now?
...about 100,000 strands (got that from answers.com). ;D

9. I believe that the size of the needle is directly related to the mood of the nurse. However, sometimes it's necessary to get shots. If you could be vaccinated against anything in the world, what would it be?
...can i be vaccinated against people who are mean and selfish? would love that, lol. ;)

Mushrooms, Cheese, and Tomatoes

Opened a can of button mushrooms, and was wondering what I'd mix them with...rummaged through the refrigerator and decided on tomatoes and cheese (yeah, already the weekend so I was left with so few choices, lol). I wanted something fast (as usual) for breakfast since my sons and I were hungry already...

Sliced and sauteed the mushrooms together with the tomatoes for a bit (in half unsalted butter and half canola oil), added black pepper, salt, and dill. After a few minutes it was done, so transferred it to a plate. The cheese was added immediately after that, which melted conveniently since the mushrooms and tomatoes were still hot.

Paired that off with eggs, bread, milk (for the kids), and tea (for me). :)

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Welll......!

Shot taken by my 12-year old, Gelo...lol.

I just added in a texture (couldn't resist! lol), and rounded off the corners...

Food Friday

Been raining since yesterday...made me want to put something warm and soothing inside my tummy. Plus, my two-year old and I have this cough for almost two weeks now, so I know we needed this. :P

That's Arroz Caldo, my version. As usual, I seldom follow any recipe to the letter (except when it comes to baking)...I just 'dumped' everything (water, rice, chicken, garlic, ginger, kasubha {a dried stamen from a local plant which serves as a coloring agent to the dish}, salt and pepper) into the pot, then waited for it to boil. Stir every so often just to make sure that it won't burn. Once the chicken was cooked I removed the chicken pieces so that they wouldn't go into shreds...I wanted the rice to be really soft and puffy (not the chicken, lol). I used brown rice, and it took longer to cook, but once it puffed up it still retained some texture, which I liked. :)

When the rice was all puffed up and the liquid thick (which took almost an hour), I returned the chicken to the pot and had it simmering for about 10 more minutes. You can add fish sauce or whatever seasoning you want at this point. After that, it's ready to be served.

I drizzled a bit of calamansi/calamondin juice and added LOTS of freshly ground pepper to the dish...
filling and soothing!
burp!
excuse me! :D

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TRA over the weekend...

Finally bought some TRA (totally rad actions)!!!! They were on a 30% off sale, so I couldn't resist...lol. Love their grandma action, which i used above.

This is getting to be addicting! Must resist .... must resist ...

'toink'. :P

Food Friday

Gourmet Pao from SM North EDSA

Custaroons from Libis

...tasted them both this week for the first time and loved them!!!

I bought them online (half off from the usual price) from Groupon Philippines last April and decided to redeem them this week. After I redeemed my first voucher for a box of cupcakes last weekend (which turned out to be a disappointment for me), I was hesitant about getting these two...but since I already paid for them, we decided to go and get them anyway. Good thing we did!

The Gourmet Pao became our breakfast (except for the two-year old, who wanted his cereals and choco drink) after a 15-min. steam. I personally loved their wheat buns filled with the not-so-usual fillings like tuna, bacon, cheese, olives, tomato sauce, sisig, scrambled eggs...etcetera. The buns were color-coded, but I never really bothered to look at the list. lol. I just know that I will be buying from them again! Would love to try their vegetarian variants (it wasn't included in the deal)....

The Custaroons, on the other hand, became our dessert. We got the mini custaroons and it was a good thing since it was quite sweet...in a good way. I like eating sweets, but not too much {i must be getting old, LOL} but since these were mini custaroons I easily devoured two...and a half. lol. Love their packaging...so elegant! :)

After my cupcake experience, I told myself I'd steer clear of the deals being offered online again...but no. Silly me, I purchased another voucher for a pizza meal! LOL. Just can't resist good food and sweet deals. ;P

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One afternoon...

... i got a surprise! :)

*nope, not the shrimps...at my parent's house (where we were at that time), shrimps are relatively common. lol.

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