Ratatouille

We had lots or eggplants and tomatoes, organic of course from Organic Momma's Grocery. I was browsing through recipes that had these ingredients and decided to make Ratatouille.

I've never made this before and wasn't sure how the consistency should be. I got my recipe from about.com. I've tried several recipes from this website which I didn't like so much but I did like this one! Although the photo of their dish seem soupy compared to mine, I did enjoy this a lot and so did my husband!

See recipe here. By the way I read that there's only 85-200 calories in a cup of ratatouille! Enjoy!

Oct-Dec 2011 Plays and Shows

It has been a mini tradition for our little family to watch shows and plays when the "ber" months hit. My daughter's eyes light up when she watches. She gets so engaged with the show, you can hardly talk to her. It really is heart warming to see her so amazed and interested at something. So what's a mommy gonna do? Fuel her interest! 8o)

Here's a list of the shows I've come across so far.
Click on the titles to follow show links.

The Sound of Music
COMPANY/PERFORMERS: Resorts World Manila Production
DATES: Oct 15-Dec 11, 2011
VENUE: New Performing Arts Theater, Resorts World Manila

• TICKET PRICES:
• PhP 2,140.00
• PhP 1,819.00
• PhP 1,391.00
• PhP 1,070.00
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  

Raw Veggie Maki with Peanut Ginger Sauce

I decided to make raw maki yesterday and packed some for my MIL (mom in law). My organic vegetable supplier also stopped by and had some. He actually wanted me to make more and sell him some! haha This surprised me since I haven't really been making raw food for a while. And he's never tried raw food before! My brother and sister inlaws tried some and liked it. Yay!

Raw food seems intimidating and crazy to most at first. If you're creative enough and willing to search for recipes then you'll realize that it can be really yummy. I just tell my husband that its like eating yummier versions of salads. 8o)

The whole idea to this is everything in that meal is raw or plant based. Oils must be cold pressed, sauces are not processed like soy sauce or processed vinegar. This way you get all the natural enzymes which is super good for your body. It even prevents and cures diseases. They also say that you get closer to your inner being the more you eat raw food. Read more on raw food here.

I want to do 30% raw food for the rest of my pregnancy. I'm closing in on my third trimester and I don't like the sluggish heavy feeling that usually come with it. Anyway here's the recipe:

Raw Veggie Maki with Peanut Ginger Sauce

Battling the Big C at 20 Something

I touched base with a former schoolmate of mine and was very surprised to learn that she has been battling stage 0 breast cancer. The reality that this disease does not choose age or gender became more real to me. It’s quite upsetting to know that more and more people around have cancer or is related to someone who has/had it. Curious and wanting to learn, I asked her how she fought it. I thought her reply to be inspiring that I asked her if I could share it.

This is what she wrote:

Pre-natal Massage in the south

I had a very tiring day yesterday and after being pregnant for 4 months I thought it might be time to get a pre-natal massage. I wanted a home service one so I can have it while my daughter naps. I was about to panic when it was almost her nap time and I still couldn't find any. Thank goodness my sister in law called and gave me the number of her trusted pre-natal masseuse. While waiting for her to arrive I decided to research some more and make a list of prenatal massage options for myself and other southern preggies out there.

• Mai-mai of Feel Dreams- this is my sister-in-law's trusted pre-natal masseuse. She used to work for Orange Spa and even claimed to training the prenatal masseuses there. Anyway she does home service and my sister inlaw has nothing but good things to say about her. They are open from 1pm-1am and charges 250php/hour, 375php/90mins and 450php/2hours. Her number is 0933-9371883.

Roughing it out in Coron

I’ve always wanted to go to Palawan and finally I decided to go. We were going to have our church wedding in three months. I used that as an excuse to relax with a couple of my girlfriends before the last months of planning. 8op

Let me just say the obvious, Palawan is huge! There are so many places to go to and things to see. The main go-to places are: Puerto Princesa, El nido and Coron. We decided to go to Coron since we got to hitch with my husband on the way there and only needed to buy tickets going home. The only catch was we had to sit on styro boxes aboard a small airplane. That was the beginning of our adventure.

Sausage and Basil Pasta

I decided to make some healthy pasta last night. It was so good that I ate too much of it! Anyway here's how I made it. 8o)

The TRUTH about Free-range Poultry and Meat

Since my interest in organic and natural food, I have had plenty of conversations about meat and poultry. I read a lot, spoke to farmers a lot and learned quite a few things. I've come to realize that, like myself 2 years ago, many consumers do not understand what free-range actually means. They tend to just purchase anything labeled free-range thinking it is healthier. I’d like to break it down just a bit, with what I have learned at least.

What does free-range really mean?

Most if not all of us have seen trucks of pigs or chickens on the highway. I’ve always felt bad for these animals all cramped up in a tiny truck. This is more or less how they live until they are slaughtered in major poultry and meat factories. They have very little space, poor hygiene and so they are often sick. When they get sick they are fed antibiotics.

Amanpulo, a honeymoon destination

It has been almost a year since our Honeymoon and how I wish I had a blog then. I hope I can remember all the details as I type. anyway here goes:

Every newly married couple needs a break after the crazy months of wedding planning, thus the honeymoon. There are so many to destinations to choose from. Newlyweds must choose wisely, this may be their best excuse to splurge and luxuriate!

As for us, instead of doing an out of country adventure, we decided to indulge in a quiet white sandy beach, where we won’t have to lift a finger. Our lazy and tired asses wanted pampering at its best. The first place that came to mind was Amanpulo, and so it was decided.

Unicorn Birthday Party

My daughter has been fascinated with unicorns for about six months now. Every night she would pray for 1.) a car that she can drive and 2.) a real unicorn pet. We had planned to throw a party for her a month before her birthday so she can celebrate it with her classmates (her birthday falls on a summer month). It was also her farewell Gymboree Party. So a unicorn birthday party for a unicorn-stricken daughter it was!


I went everywhere but I couldn't find anything unicorn themed anywhere! I decided that there must be something terribly wrong with this country! I was going to order stuff from the US but it was too late when I decided. So it was craft time for me again, good thing there were only 10 children in Tala's class.

So here's how her party turned out:

Invitations- I needed roughly 12 invitations and thought it would be a waste of time to go to a graphic designer and have it made so I did it myself. All I needed was Photoshop. I downloaded some coloring pages off the net, colored them, layed them out and viola! an 80's unicorn invite!

Anvaya Cove

Anvaya is such a kiddie friendly place, i love it!

BEACH
The shore was long, sandy and clean so it was safe for children. The sand was beige and soft and the water was nice and clear. I didn't get any bites which I usually do when swimming in beach clubs. My theory is the net they put attracts all the small creatures that bite but i din't experience that there. One thing I should mention though, the beach slopes down and is quite deep so children must wear vests/floaters.

long beige sandy beach

A Valentine's Gift

Whenever chad flies home, he passes over our house. He texts me a couple of minutes before he passes so tala and i can run to the garden and wave at him. For his valentine's gift, I had our roof painted with the number 18, so he can spot our home right away. He was born on the 18th day of the month and so was I.  Just sharing the love <3

Its inverted because we were heading out when we took this photo.
When he flies home he sees the number 18.

Mt. Pinatubo

RIDE
To get to Tarlac it took us about 2-3hours from Alabang (we made a lot of stops). From there, we took a 4x4 to our drop off point. It was a 2 hour bumpy yet scenic ride. That alone was an adventure!

Fine Motor Activities

Tala is going to a new school this coming school year. She has been with Gymboree since she was 2 months old and now its time to go (sniff sniff). Although we will be missing Gymboree so much, we are also excited to see how she'll react to her new school.

She had her assessment recently and according to their school head, she is very independent and smart. Although, she needs to work on her writing skills since her classmates can write their first names already and will be taught to write their last names this coming school year. I was shocked to hear this. I think writing should start at four years old. Tala only knows how to write her nickname. But I guess if she is taught in a fun and relaxed way, without any pressure then its ok.

The school head suggested we do a lot of fine motor skills at home to strengthen her little fingers. This includes cutting, tearing of paper, coloring, playing with dough etc. Since then, we have been doing one or two fine motor activities everyday. I've also printed a bunch of worksheets with her name for practice.

I'm so glad she likes doing these things and forgets about watching TV! Yesterday her bita bought her some new dough and she decided to copy the samples in the packaging today. I remember doing this too I was smaller! She made one tree, formed the volcano, the lava and the baby bird!

117 our local 911!

I did the unthinkable, something all women probably fear...i bumped my mother-in-law's car! yes ladies and gentlemen stupid stupid stupid me bumped MY MOTHER INLAW'S CAR! of all the cars to bump! tsk tsk! thank god she was real cool about it. She just said (and this is verbatim) "It's ok, shit happens". Thank you God, I am truly blessed!

ANYWAY

It took a while for us to get a hold of a traffic enforcer so i checked my cell for numbers I could call and i saw “POLICE” hmmm guess i'm not that stupid. I now remember saving it a long time ago, incase of emergency. This used to be 166 but its now 117. The operator even called me back just to inform me that someone is on the way. Around 5-10mins later, a traffic enforcer appeared on the scene. Very efficient!

117-police assistance!  save it on your cell people!  

(written in another web-journal, September 2007)