Desperate Cooking: MULTIPLE HITS, ONE AFTER THE OTHER!

now happy at the kitchen hihihihihi (photo not mine)

*Chicken Tinola              *Pork Stew             *Pakbet 

*Adobong Manok at Baboy     *Eskabetseng Buwad 

*Humba            *Gambas                 *Spicy Pusit                     

*Sinigang na Bangus         *Crispy Chicken and Pork                

Oh Yes!!! Multiple hits, one after the other, which made me realize that fairly enough I’m not the worst cook in town! Woohoo!!! I’m not that bad at all. Perhaps I just needed a push which happened to be marriage and motherhood. I gave some more effort, motivated by love, and I did great! Well maybe, great only for me and my hubby. I still don’t pass my mother’s cooking standards and the world’s too for sure. But for now, my only critic is my man. Good thing he has an easy-to-please tummy! =D Actually, now I notice that he's eating more happily and more satisfactorily. Wow! It's such an achievement!

And to all the single ladies out there whose plans include marriage, good cooking is indeed important. This desperate-cooking-wife-and-mama should know.

Why Give Extra Effort To Family Together Time?

It’s given and understood that each household member has his own time-consuming must-do’s. And unquestionably, all are for the family’s welfare sake. But then, at the end of the day, beyond all material fulfillment, we want nothing more but our loved ones, solely.

Giving quality time to our loved ones must never be out of our must-do’s list. The after-effects? GREAT!

·         Happier Disposition

·         Hang-ups-and-Trust-Issues Free

·         Love Assurance

·         Tighter Bond

·         Content Spouse

·         Jovial child

·         Satisfied and Fulfilled Living

I've never been this fulfilled as a wife and mother. I know we still have a long way to go, ups and downs to tackle, but we are making through it through God’s grace and giving each other the time essential. Nobody wants a sad beloved. It pays to give time solely for your loved ones on a daily basis. Whether quick or lengthy, what matters is you enjoy each and every moment you have with each other. Actually, I usually am the assistant, the cheerleader, the photographer, the helper, and all that. So what? Being always on their aide is my greatest joy. I know they love me back and that assurance is my greatest reward. And we are all together making this family nurtured and flourishing. Cheers to Family Love!

Quality Moments

Now I know better what “Quality Time” means.  All along I thought it ONLY means designating a specific day or a few more to escape your busy schedule and spend the whole time only with your loved ones such as beach time, weekend get-away, out of town, and the like. Sure those are great family together time, but definitely need to be well-planned and budgeted. And in our case, amidst our demanding schedules, we only chance to do it occasionally, meaning only once or twice a year.

I often pull a face when the hubby just rushes things off to work. I consider lesser time as lesser love. Time has always been this time-demanding wife’s issue to her almost-always-on-the-go hubby until few days ago. We (me, the hubby, and our little guy) woke up earlier than usual. Personal devotions done, and yet still too early to drudge or even go for breakfast. The hubby then suggested us to go for a walk. We went outside at about 6 in the morning. Our dear little one excitedly went and was so happy. Honestly I was at first hesitant wanting to grab some more sleep but just consented anyway. I didn't expect the spur of the moment to really change my disposition, actually my total outlook about giving quality time to loved ones. It was just more or less 30 minutes together time and we had it great, really! We immensely enjoyed every moment plus we had the chance to view the dazzling sunrise which I have not seen for a very long time and the scenery with the sun peeping through the trees feasts our sight. Truly magnificent!

We went home with a glimmering atmosphere, impassioned and in higher spirits! Indeed it’s the best short-period family together time we ever had but definitely not the last. We are making it a daily-before-breakfast ritual and we’re on our second week. We just play hide and seek or basketball, ride a bike, watch the sunrise, sit and laugh together under a tree, or just schmoozing, just anything under the sun. During a rainy morning? Well, playing under the rain together is such a merriment; or we simply just enjoy snuggles and cuddles, or sing praises together. Each enthusing day inspires us and definitely draws us closer, chummier, dearer and tighter. And all this wife’s hang-ups vanished. Each quality moment counts and a little time is never a lesser love!

Desperate Cooking: "EGGPLANT OMELETTE"

“Prepare me an eggplant dish that I could not refuse.” – a veggie challenge from my all-meat-lover hubby. “Of course!” – I then excitingly accepted the challenge, though a bit nervous. Hihihihi =P

So happy that he’s starting to reconsider veggies. That would be an advantage in teaching my sweetie baby to eat veggies too.

Okay, the hubby doesn’t like sautéed eggplant so an omelette was the next immediate option because I don’t really know other eggplant recipes hihihihih poor me! Mr. Google, here I come!

I then inquired Mr. Google after the hubby’s gone for work. Yes, yes! Eggplant omelette is simple but I just wanna make sure. Hihihihihi =P

EGGPLANT OMELETTE  ( from wikihow.com)

      INGREDIENTS:

• 2 Asian eggplants
• 2 eggs (preferably jumbo or large, grade A)
• Salt
• Pepper

STEPS:

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Bake the Asian eggplants, whole, on a baking sheet for 30-35 minutes or until the eggplants are soft. If the eggplants are still too firm and resistant, bake for another 5-10 minutes. The eggplants will need to be soft enough to mash later.
3. Remove the eggplants from the oven and allow them to cool until they are no longer too hot to touch.
4. Peel off the eggplants' skins, but make sure the stem stays attached. One simple method is to use a knife to shallowly cut the skin around the top and peel it off in long strips with a fork and your fingers. The skin should come off easily. Be careful not to burn yourself if the eggplants are still hot.
5. Mash the eggplants flat with a fork. If the flesh is still resistant and rubbery, then the eggplants were not baked long enough.
6. Dash the eggplants with salt and pepper on both sides.
7. Beat two eggs.
8. Dip the eggplants in the beaten egg mixture. Use the stem as a handle to dip the eggplants. Make sure that the vegetables are liberally coated with egg.
9. Fry the vegetables in a pan with vegetable oil, pouring the remaining portion of the egg mixture over the eggplants.
10. Serve hot and enjoy!

thanks to 'WikiHow'

It should come out like this, but mine was a bit horrible. Hahahahaha! 

A little disaster for a starter. It looks awful but tastes fine, really. Hmmmm definitely gonna give more try's! A good taste and a better presentation should be something he couldn't refuse, right?

mine really needs a lot of improvement hihihi

Hmmm... do you know some techniques and/or unique veggie recipes? Please extend a bit of kindness to this desperately-cooking-wife-and-mama. Ahehee! =P

Desperately Cooking!!!

I never thought I would strive this much for cooking. Though I love eating but cooking is never a thing for me. Thank God for giving me a man who’s palate is not that hard to please. My bad cooking was never a big issue in our two-years –and-4-months-and-definitely-counting marriage. Aye, he sometimes complains for unpleasant taste but we usually just laugh about it and just quickly go for another. He never treated me less of a wife for being the worse cook in town. Oh how grateful I am to the Almighty!

But today, as an act of gratitude to my ever-so-understanding man, I am officially starting to make extra special efforts to make my bad cooking into a good, hmmmm no, a yummy one! Plus, a one-year-old in the house adds to my inspiration. I definitely want my man and my son to come home to mama’s yummy cooking!

what's cooking? (photo not mine)

I bet my search buddy Mr. Google would do a lot of help. Do you have any suggestions for this desperately-cooking-wife-and-mama?  It would definitely be highly appreciated! =D 

NATURE Never Fails To Amaze + Proves The CREATOR's Existence

We took a family walk at about 6 in the morning. Instead of taking some ‘selfies’, we hurriedly took the chance of capturing the magnificence that feasts on our eyes. We definitely seize the spur of the moment. Nature never fails to amaze and stand out even with an old-fashion phone camera.

What a palpable evidence that a magnificent Creator undeniably exists. With all nature’s wonders, who can attest that there is no God?

Lesson Learned From My One-Year-Old

As a first-time mom, I need to learn countless things to hit-the-hook of motherhood. I get often edgy on what’s the right, the best, the most, the finest, and all that. Plus, I am over-stressed with some people on all sides coaching me to do this and that; I do appreciate them all, really. And one of the advises in particular is teaching him things appropriate for his age. Who doesn't want his own child to excel? So I give extra effort and sometimes overly which apparently stresses my poor one-year-old and me actually.

As I strive teaching him things like counting, identifying and naming things and individuals, so on and so forth, I usually end up with frustrations. Is my child a slow learner? However, he surprises me with his actions and reactions, doing things I did not teach him. Such as:

-          bowing down with hands clasped;

-          babbling while strumming his little guitar;

-          laughs oddly when hearing others laugh;

-          holding his hands together every time he sees me preparing meals on the table;

-          trying to plug-in an appliance;

-          hugging from the back;

-          putting the toothbrush in his mouth when he chances to grab one;

-          wiping his face with a tissue;

-          rubbing the floor or the table with a garment;

-          wrinkles his face and/or yells when wants are not granted;

-          and more that burst my heart with gladness, amazement, tears and sometimes even fear…

I notice how he quickly imitates things that I and the people around him are doing which prompted me and I ought to be teaching him by example, a good one must I be!