my habitual fix

Phoebe is five-ulous

2013-09-02T18:49:00.001-07:00

Woohooo Phoebe turned 5 months last Saturday. Phoebe started to
- roll front to back - back to front
- stand while Nanay pulls her from her hand
- makes shouting noises
- jump! jump! and jump! while we hold her in her armpits
- laugh at loud while doggy barks at her
- eats her toys (lagot giraffe)
- a real delight!!

31st Birthday

2013-03-24T13:39:00.001-07:00

Woooohoooo!! I celebrated my, (31st yesterday, 24 March). Well- nothing really fancy and extravagant because it's the start of Holy week. Palm Sunday, it is. We srated our day by attending the Palm Sunday mass. I was really craving for pork siopao and McD's caramel sundae but we though of sacrificing eating out this week so I skipped eating the cravings. We went straight home after mass and ate lunch. Bug ate the left over grilled fish, again with rice. Ohhh and Bug also prepared pansit for my birthday, so that was my lunch. Super simple celebration but I'm happy!

This is the photo of the pansit Bug cooked for my birthday. Really yumm!!! Not bad for a first timer!!

This pansit serves 4 to 5 persons (estimated cost is $5)

Saturday activities - Birthday weekend

2013-03-24T13:26:00.000-07:00

I'm officially on my 39 weeks last Saturday (23 March) and bub's really getting heavy so we decided to just relax at home. We started the day by having breakfast. I just whipped up a bread, spread it with tuna (from can), add grated cheese and salt and pepper to taste and just toasted it in the sandwich maker. Bug had some rice with left overs and breakfast is solved!!

We then proceeded to do our weekly grocery. First stop we went to Fresh and save. Fresh and save is a new discovery we had. This is an Asian grocery where you can find veges, fruits, meat, Asian condiments, Asian snacks and everything Asian you can think of. I have bought hopia (mung beans and waxgourd), dingdong, some veges, fruits, canned good, condiments,chix minced, etc. Total bill summed up to $41.74. Not bad!

Next stop was Mad butcher. Mad butcher is where we always buy our meat. I was tempted to try the meat from Fresh and save, but maybe next time. We bought 2 week supply of our meat from Mad butcher since we were thinking that we might not have time to do meat shopping next week due to bub's coming. Total bill on this shop is $48.97. Good deal since this includes Chix, Pork and Beef for 2 weeks!

Last stop was Pak&Save. This shop is where we get our dry goods such as toiletries, cleaning products, rice, juices, cereals etc. Total bill from this shop is $85.06. Quite expensive, but this includes items that we do not buy weekly such as - garbage disposal bags amounting to $10.79, 8 pack of sprite-$8.99, body lotion-$7.39. But still, I find it expensive. Oh well....

Normally, we would eat out for lunch after doing our weekly grocery shopping, but this week we just went home and decided to have our home made lunch. I cooked Shrimp in oyster sauce. Bug cooked a pumpkin dish to complement our shrimp meal. We also had leche flan for dessert. I had cooked this flan during the week. I really enjoyed our lunch. Too bad, I have to cut down on my rice as bub's getting chubby already. So photos from our Saturday homemade lunch are below. I also added our dinner which was grilled snapper, of course grilled by the Bug. The fish was a gift from a fishing trip of Bug's relatives! - so yum!!!

Shrimp in oyster sauce (estimated cost is $8)

Pumpkin stir fry (estimated cost is $2)

Rice for 2 (estimated cost is $2)

Leche flan for dessert (Estimated cost $2)

Grilled fish (Fish was a gift, estimated cost for cooking and condiments added is $3)

So that's it!! The Saturday chillax!!

Bug with Bub

2013-03-21T21:33:00.001-07:00

I just want to share as this photo is sooo cute, bug hugging our bub at my tummy. Im at 38 week going 39 when this photo was taken.

39 weeks preggy shot

2013-03-21T21:27:00.001-07:00

My brother requested me to send him a photo of me so here is my photo at 39 weeks. One more week to go!!! woohooo!! I also had my scan today and midwife said that she estimates my bub will be an eight pounder!! ohhhmyy!!

Fried Chicken in fish sauce and lemon

2013-03-21T21:22:00.003-07:00

This dish has only 3 main ingredients and so simple to prepare:

Ingredients:
7-8 pieces of chicken wings
1/4 cup fish sauce
1 lemon
salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:
1. In a bowl, mix the chicken and fish sauce (adjust the measurement of the fish sauce depending on your taste);
2. Squeeze the lemon into the mixture;
3. Add salt and pepper to taste;
4. Marinade for at least 2 hours;
5. Deep fry when ready;
6. Serve with rice.

Yummy!!

Filipino style coconut macaroons

2013-01-26T18:41:00.003-08:00

It's long weekend here again for the annual celebration of the Auckland anniversary. Bug came back Friday night from a field work just in time for the long weekend celebration. Woohoo!!!

We started our weekend on Saturday morning by attending our ante natal classes. We had breakfast at Starbucks then off we went for our 9.30 am ante-natal class. This session is the first of four so three more sessions to go. It was really informative and will help first time moms to have an idea of what we will be going through. I'm on my 31st week and have 9 more weeks to go so it's good to have information that makes me realise that all I feel is normal! no dramas!

After the 3 hour ante-natal session Bug and I headed to the International Food Court in Sunnynook. As usual we had our deep fried snapper with 2 rice. Bug told me to order something else because he though it would not be enough for us. I ordered two chicken satay from the Korean place and it was yummy as well.

We initially planned of attending open homes but we were late on the ones we wanted to see. Instead of attending open homes, we ended up looking for baby capsules, prams and other baby products. We visited Baby factory and Baby on the move but they do not have a lot of choices for the capsules and prams so we ended up empty handed. I was able to purchase some baby bathing products from Baby Factory under the Mustella brand. I heard these products are good so hopefully the bub does not get any allergy. I hope bub's skin is clear. I always have this frustrations on how my skin is not clear but hopping that bub's will be better than mine. We were also able to purchase baby wipes. These were on special at 3 for $5 so I purchased them.

At 3.30 we were home. I did some cleaning and then baked a Filipino style macaroons. My friend from the office, C, gave me this uber easy recipe below:

Ingredients:
1 200 grams pack of dessicated coconut
1 250 ml pack of sweetened condensed milk
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup of light brown sugar (for me this is optional as the sweetness from the milk is enough)
1/2 tsp of lemon rind or a few drops of lemon extract
48 pieces of small paper cups (this recipe will make 48 mini cupcakes)

Procedure:
In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs. Add the rest of the ingredients and beat until well blended.
Arrange the paper cup on a shallow baking tray.
Fill each paper cup with the coconut batter until 3/4 full.
Bake at 180 degrees C for 20 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.
Cool for ten minutes before serving. It can also be eaten straight but be careful -they are hot!

Photos:

Mixing the coconut butter

Coconut batter on the molds

Finished product - Filipino style macaroons

New Year 2013

2013-01-05T17:41:00.003-08:00

This is the first time we celebrated New Year with relatives with us here in Auckland. We did not really waited for midnight to eat, instead, we just had a lunch feast on new year's day. We had nilagang baka, grilled fish, grilled squid, roast pork and leche flan. We invited Ate Glenda and Kuya Ruben to have lunch with us.

Celebrating New Year with family just makes it extra special!

Quickie

2012-11-27T23:56:00.000-08:00

Still alone today as my bug is still assigned in Hamilton. I had pinoy bistek for brekkie, adobo for lunch and tortang talong for dinner. In between, my snacks are watermelon, strawberries , malaysian almond cookies, a very small piece of carrot cake and 2 pieces of chocolates. This little bunny inside my tummy is really driving me crazy eating. I always feel hungry but I have to be disciplined on eating only good type of snacks. I also did my second preggy yoga today. I feel I'm still flexible as I was still able to do all poses the instructor asked us to do. woohoo!!

I also got my cover for my new phone, Im happy with this purchase, only $12 including postage!!

Back from the hibernation

2012-11-26T23:21:00.003-08:00

It's been awhile since I last posted on this online diary. A lot has happened from June till now, probably the most important is me getting preggy!! woohoo. I'm on my 22nd weeks now. I've been feeling morning sickness on my first trimester but all is good now. We have also found out that we are having a baby girl. =) I promise to post atleast every week now. More updates on the coming posts!!

Grilling fish outside of our house

2012-06-23T23:49:00.001-07:00

Despite a cold Auckland winter (for someone born in the Tropics), my somewhat paleolethic habits have prompted me to grill snapper outside our house. So on an early Saturday morning on the last June weekend, I dropped by the Auckland Fish Market to buy a couple of medium-sized snappers after driving my wife into her office in the local insurance company (she was a bit busy as doing work during weekends, even for just a couple of hours is not a norm in corporate New Zealand).

Immediately right after arriving at our home (that's about 15 kms from the CBD where the fish market is), I wasted no time in grabbing the small BBQ grill that I kept just at the side of our small house and started piling up the used charcoal. I realised that they were slightly wet for quick use, probably because the grill was rained on a couple of days ago or more likely, as the grill is water-tight covered, because I've used too much water putting off the live coals the last time that I did grilling (couple or so months). I have to get my stock of charcoals I stored in my garage (garage which I recently converted into a "boxing gym" but it has been more than 3 months since I actually put on the boxing gloves and sweat it out with the standing punching bag. As a consequence my fairly aged car, a Nissan Primera Camino 1996, has to endure being parked outside and being covered with frost every morning. I need to get serious with this boxing stuff!).

Anyway, going back to the charcoal, I have accummulated 3 bags of different types/grade of charcoal. The story behind is that I initially bought a bag of charcoal that was really easy to use, but out of ignorance, I wasn't aware of the relative priciness. On my second purchase, I decided to buy the cheapest available; it felt and weighted like they were stones! This is probably what they call "coal" and not "charcoal". When I attempted to use them, it took my entire Sunday afternoon and partly the evening to successfully grill fish! It was horrible and took all of my patience and persistence, but I kept telling myself I should not give up and set my mind as if I was stranded on an island and I'd either sleep with empty stomach or persevere and have a yummy fish dinner. So basically, I started like 1 pm in the afternoon trying to start an ember on the rock-like coals. It was already 5-ish when I was able to generate enough live coals to guaranty a well-cooked grilled fish. My arms took a good deal of exercise by having to fan the live coals to life from a small ember for more than 3 hours. And I have to inhale a good deal of smoke and my eyes were already cursing me after an hour of constant irritation. But I managed to convince myself that failure is not an option if I were to survive in this imaginary uninhabited island. The third bag was a bit in the middle between the last two I've tried in terms of difficulty in creating embers. I actually discovered it when we were attending a get-together a friend couple's place (it was a dinner with a mix of watching and cheering our national fist "Manny Pacquiao" fight against his kryptonite nemesis, Juan Manual Marquez). It wasn't the kind of outcome we hoped for in the fight but it was a very enjoyable get-together.

And that's how I ended up with these 3 odd bags of charcoals of different types. I decided to use them in combination and thought this would be the best grilling session I will have so far (in a cost and convenience perspective, cost because I don't have to use all of my previous 1st choice charcoal and convenience because I don't have to endure an inordinate length of time in fanning live charcoals). But I learned another important lesson from the last session: it's not all about charcoal! I basically didn't have a good fan available and as a result, fanning the coals required triple effort to achieve the same level I had on my previous sessions! And once again, it took almost my entire afternoon to just grill a couple of snappers! I was literally starving and out of patience when I started putting the first fish on the grill. I didn't even mind or notice the cold winter wind but was silently praying that the threat of rain which the ominous clouds wanted me to know won't materialise before I finish my stuff.

After all those hard lessons, I decided that an activity as simple as grilling fish requires some serious planning and preparation. Next time, I should have all the following essentials:

1. A reliable and efficient fan
2. Sufficient fire starters and matches
3. Dry fuel. Any wet charcoals should be removed (and can be added back once there are enough embers). I also learned that I can actually extinguish embers on my BBQ grill without pouring water. I just have to cover the live coals with the airtight cover and that should do the trick as the absence of oxygen will put off the embers.
4. A mask to minise inhalation of smoke
5. A rainless weather (you can opt to use a canopy or tent though)
6. Some imagination (mostly, to help you with patience)

And with that, I will prepare a "grilling checklist" for my next session!

Buggy's day

2012-04-08T03:05:00.000-07:00

Today is Buggy's birthday so mejo hectic ang schedule. Started with the day with brekkie pinoy style beef tapa. Buti namn at nagustuhan nya so photo op muna.

Tapa king and queen with apple juice

Winner namn daw ang tapa so magiging regular na sha sa menu namin.

Then we headed off at St Pat's for the 11 am mass. Buti nlng maaga kami kasi ang daming tao.

After ng mass nag lunch ang bida (ang may birthday) for sa Zap kami ang kanyang paborito.

Tapos nag stroll muna kami sa Clouds dahil 2.50 pa ang movie na papanuodin namin. so Photo opp muna sa Clouds

We watched Wrath of the Titans, winner naman!

Happy birthday to the Bug!!

Empanada

2012-04-08T02:55:00.000-07:00

This is my first attempt of an empanada! saka na ang recipe pag perfect na. photo nlng muna ngayon.

Birthday celebration 30 March 2012

2012-04-08T02:47:00.000-07:00

It was my birthday on March 24 it is Bug bday today (April 8). We decided to invite our friends here to have a simple dinner. Napilitan na din kami maglinis ng bahay sawakas!

For the dinner, I prepared shrimps in garlic and butter, lamb skewers. Tapos nag takeway sa #1 bbq si Bug ng crispy pork (2 kilos) and some stir fried veggie.

Our guests brought fried chicken wings, pasta carbonarra, ice cream, chicken satay and cake. Ang cute ng cake na gawa ng friend namin. Ito ung photo!

Happy birthday to us!!!!

Lumpiang tuna

2012-04-08T02:37:00.000-07:00

I recently tried cooking lumpiang tuna and it was a hit. I'm posting it here so I would not forget the recipe.

Ingredients:
1 canned tuna
spring rolls wrappers
mixed veggies (peas, carrot and corn)
1 small diced onion
1 egg
salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:
Combine all the recipe in a bowl.
wrap the combined ingredients in the spring roll
Fry in oil.

Lamb skewers

2012-04-08T02:28:00.000-07:00

Its been a while since I posted something here. The initial plan was to do at least 1 post per week but got busy with other stuff. I will try to catch up though.

For this Lamb skewers you need the following:
lamb chopped in small pieces
herbs (rosemary, paprika, thyme, salt and pepper)
soy sauce
chili flakes
olive oil
bamboo skewers

Procedure:
1.Cut the lamb chops to small pieces. Smaller pieces makes it easier to grill.
2. Rub the herbs and chili flakes to the meat. I dont measure the herbs I put in, but maybe you can use 2 tablespoon of mixed herbs to 1/2 kilo.
3. Put salt and pepper to taste.
4. Sprinkle 2 tablespoon of soysauce.
5. Marinate for few hours.
6. Put the meat to the skewers then grill.
7. Dab the meat with olive oil to avoid drying the meat.

Time to let go

2012-02-25T18:25:00.000-08:00

After 9 years, my handy cutie calculator gave up, the numbers does not appear clear and I have to tap it to work.

Canon calculator for almost 9 years

I bought this calculator when I was reviewing for my board exams. This has been with me through think and thin, board exams, my work in SGV, EY Dubai, EY Auckland and Lumley. It has seen my dramas on every client I had. Everyone who sees this calculator finds it cute and girly. But now its time to go. Thank you my everdearest cutie purple calculator!

Post Valentine treats

2012-02-25T18:16:00.000-08:00

Bug and I did not celebrate Valentine's day due our busy schedules. He did not even gave me something which causes my disappointment for the week. So during the weekend he gave me this

French macaroons

Ten pieces of french macaroons! Yum!!!

He told me that he even went to our favorite Filipino restaurant to get me a halo-halo but bugger they are closed! I guess its the thought that counts.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

No meat Mondays

2012-02-11T23:04:00.000-08:00

My friend N and I decided to have Mondays as our no meat day. Not exactly no meat because we can eat seafood, but ofcourse we intend to have a full vegetarian Monday hopefully in June. I alternately eat the following:

1. Mushroom soup and garlic bread - These are those easy microwavable mushroon soups you can find in the grocery. Then I just toast a garlic bread.
2. Tuna in crackers or sometime Tuna melt (bread, tuna and melted cheese)
3. Panfried salmon and rice
4. Tofu and sauteed mushroom

Pan fried salmon and fried egg, the hotdogs are for the Bug

Tofu and sauteed mushroom

Baked mussel (cheese and garlic toppings)

I am looking for more vegetarian/ no meat alternatives taht are easy to prepare. I will keep on updating my blog everytime I have new vege recipes!

Till then!!

Sweet corn and pork binagoongan

2012-02-11T22:45:00.000-08:00

Last week, Japanese sweet corn was on sale selling at 8pcs for $5 so I bought 1 pack. I love it just boiled, then rubbed with butter and spinkled with salt and pepper! super yumm!!

Boiled sweet corn with butter and salt and pepper

I also cooked pork binagoongan. My version I think is the easiest. I don't want to spend so much time. I just want to fulfill my bagoong cravings so here it goes. I prepared the following ingredients:

1/2 kilo pork, cubed (I use the part where there is a good size of fats)
1/2 cup bagoong (I use the bario fiesta original flavor)
1 tomato
5-7 cloves garlic minced
1 onion minced

1. Boil the pork with 1 1/2 cup of water and add the tomato. You can cut the tomato if you wish. The tomato will release fluids that will combined to the water.
2. Let the water evaporate and tomato fluid evaporate. If you choose a pork with good size of fat, the oil from the fat will be released once the water evaporates. If your pork is dry, you can add few table spoons of cooking oil.
3. Add the garlic and onion to the mixture, sautee for few minutes or until you smell the aroma of garlic and onions.
4. Add the bagoong. You can add more than 1/2 cup depending on your taste. Sautee if for 3-5 minutes. I like my binagoongan a little crispy so I sautee it longer.
5. Once you are done, serve it with rice.

Crispy pork binagoongan

I hope I have some mangoes here!

Till then!!

Auckland Anniversary 2012 long weekend

2012-01-29T01:41:00.000-08:00

This si the first long weekend of 2012, aside from the New Year weekend ofcourse. Bug and I were initially planning to go to Waiwera and try kayaking but due to recent death in the family, we decided to stay at home. I need to go to the office on Saturday to approve some payments to be made for Monday, Bug decided to work as well. Instead of going hoe early I decided to just stay and do some catch up work. I think it was a productive Saturday. I was able to complete some work that needs to be done for month end as well as clean my pile of papers in my desk and under my desk.

Sunday was all about food! We started our Sunday by cleaning the house. Bug did the laundry while I clean the house and cook our lunch. We head to the grocery to shop for our weekly stock then went back home for lunch. This is what we had for lunch.

Slow cooked ribs

I got a pre-marinated pork ribs from countdown. It took 3 hours to slow cook the ribs but this is so yum! I also baked my favorite banana muffin.

Banana muffin without egg

We attended the 4.30 mass in the City then headed off to Glenfield night market after. It was a feast of Asian food. I love going to night markets!

Steamed sweet corn ($3 each)

Takoyako/ Octopus balls ($5 for 8 pieces)

Some kind of chinese bread

BBQ mussels with garlic ($5 for 6 pieces)

Chicken satay ($5 for 2 pieces)

BBQ Squid ($3 each)

Churros ($4 for 3 pieces)

German sausage, this is a crowd favorite ($4.50 in buns)

Sisig ($7 with rice)

Cream puff ($1 each)

Im planning to do some work again tomorrow or prolly head out to the gym. Good night!!!

Ba-bye Mamay

2012-01-29T00:20:00.000-08:00

Mamay Bien died last week (Jan 22, 2012). He's been suffering for quite sometime, age has come to toll and he has been weak. I always pray that you are happy in heaven now. I love you Mamay!

No Egg Banana Muffin Recipe

2012-01-13T22:45:00.000-08:00

Today I tried baking banana muffin. We run out of egg so I tried the no egg version.

You will need the following:
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 mashed bananas
kisses chocolates (cubed) or any chocolate available

Mix all the ingredients and bake in 180 celcius for 30 minutes.

I really like the results. Its moist inside but an almost chewy top and bottom. Yum!

Northcote food court

2012-01-07T17:47:00.000-08:00

For our Friday date night we decided to try the Northcote Food court. E had stir fried beef from a Thai place and I had my chicken katsudon from the Japanese place. Nothing extra-ordinary on the taste.

Korean snacks

2011-07-09T02:00:00.000-07:00

We went to a Korean store today and hoarded these stuff!!

I will be blogging about the taste soon!=)