February 2016 – The Adventures of a Calamari Queen

Weekend Fun!

Hi Friends! I hope you’re all having a great Saturday! It’s been a rainy weekend here in the PNW and we’ve stayed inside most of the time. I wanted to share some pictures of our weekend fun a couple of weeks ago. We watched the ballet version of Romeo and Juliet! It’s funny because this was our second time watching this ballet and I honestly don’t remember watching it the first time and neither did my husband. The show was good, but it was kinda slow for us. We will most likely not watch it again.

We had Mexican for dinner after the show! We really like our local Mexican place, authentic Mexican food and reasonable prices. They have the best Carne asada for me.

Today, I got up early and convinced the Hubs to get breakfast at Chick fil-A. If he had a choice he’d rather sleep in than eat! We almost didn’t make it before their breakfast hours ended. They were changing their menu when it was our time to order! I ordered their sausage burrito but they gave me a chicken burrito instead. Unfortunately we were already on the freeway when we realized the mistake. Oh Well! I didn’t like it:( No chicken burritos for me in the future for sure!

After breakfast my Dad In law dropped by to give us this maple tree (Hubs said it’s going to be pretty during the fall season.)

I’m kinda sad my favorite Filipino romcom show is over! “On the wings of love” is the only filipino show that I’ve watched from start to finish. They had a live viewing of the Finale and I was able to watch it live! I had to set the alarm for 5 am! HA! It was worth it though, I was so KILIG! Honestly, I don’t like most filipino drama/comedy shows personally. I subscribe to the Filipino Channel mainly because of the news, I still want to be updated in whats going on the Philippines.

Hubs and the puppy napping on this rainy Saturday afternoon!

Mexican dinner at La Casita (a new Mexican place for us)

Have a great evening friends! Off to watching the NBA game right now!

Whats’s for Dinner?!

Hi Friends! How’s your day going? I hope it was a great one. Mine was awesome! I did my grocery shopping today, I usually do it after my Ladies Bible study on Tuesdays but it’s winter break this week at our local school (the church follows the school district schedule, so no study for us this week). I got some good deals at the grocery store but the cashier forgot to scan some of the coupons (I only noticed it when I got home) that were on the products. $6 worth of savings 🙁 I’m not really sure if it’s worth going back to the store tomorrow, we’ll see. Anyways, the first 2 pictures are of my grocery hauls last week, I’m thinking that I probably don’t need to go grocery shopping for the rest of the month because we’re pretty stocked up. Maybe I’ll just buy some fruit (we have frozen veggies that I really want to use) and we’re good. I’m excited because if I’m going to stick to my “plan” I will be under budget this month. It’s always a good thing when I’m under budget with my grocery money! Happy cooking, eating and savings friends!

Meal Plans this week:

Tuesday/tonight: Lobster,asparagus

Wednesday: Roast salmon, veggie fried rice

Thursday: Beef stroganoff (and egg noodle)

Friday:Not sure (maybe Pizza or Take out)

Saturday: Not sure/out with friends

Sunday: meatballs and spaghetti

Meals/Dinners last week:

Filipino breakfast (for dinner). Dried fish, eggs,rice

eggplant omelet (we had this for lunch last week)

roast chicken (plenty of leftovers for lunch this week)

Valentine’s 2016!

Hi Friends! Happy Hearts day to you and I hope it’s one lovely day with the special people in your life. On Valentines evening, we had dinner with my In laws at SEASTAR restaurant and raw bar (Bellevue location). Originally we wanted to do the Canlis restaurant but it was fully booked (I guess you have to book months in advance for this kind of place). Seastar was also a good recommendation from my In law’s friends so we didn’t mind (especially since it is also owned by Chef John Howie). I was looking forward to this dinner because based from what I’ve read it’s one of the BEST restaurants in Bellevue. It was our first time, so I kinda had high expectations when it comes to a Chef John Howie restaurant. Anyways, the place was spacious, ambiance was great, our server was very knowledgeable she answered every question my DIL had. We enjoyed our appetizers, they were all amazing especially the deviled eggs. Our entrees were good (nice presentation too) but to be honest VERY pricey for the portion we got. I guess you have to bring LOTS of money dining here. We’ll be back again for sure.

Some pictorials while waiting for the In Laws!

OOTD action going on: Loft dress, F21 coat, kate spade bag, target booties

Deviled eggs:salmon gravlax,wasabi tobiko,tangerine,dill. We also got the ahi tartare,bacon, roasted onion,truffle oil.

Maytag blue cheese pear salad (this was good)

I ordered: Sesame-Peppercorn Crusted Ahi (jasmine rice cake,snow peas,ginger soy reduction,wasabi creme)

My DILs order: Cedar Plank roasted wild King Salmon (Chef Howie’s famous salmon rub,smoked broccoli,citrus rice with wheat berries

my MIL and SIL ordered the same thing: seared scallops with beet risotto

For Valentines day we had a casual and lazy time, watched Kdrama (thank you Netflix!), did some errands and had dinner at our fave local Italian place.

Normally we don’t give Vday gifts to each other but this year Hubs and I gave each other gifts. He got me a Henri Bendel bag (my fave bag brand!) and I gave him massage “coupons” worth 4 hours, which he already availed 1 hour of it (way before VDAY!!)..HA!!

Riley thought it was one busy VDAY weekend, and he needs his beauty sleep!

What’s for Dinner?!

Hi Friends! How’s your Friday night going? The Hubs and I are watching a Filipino show (On the Wings of Love), I’m so sad it’s going to end soon:(. We’re also watching some NBA games, and maybe Netflix later! We are staying home because the weather is crappy tonight. Windy and raining and Riley is not loving it.

Anyways, I wanted to share my groceries this week. I’m really trying to save in this area because food is getting expensive and if I don’t monitor this it’s so easy to blow the budget in this area. So far our January food expenses have been under budget. I want to continue this trend in February.

Our groceries this week! I also got some milk that I put in the fridge right away.

Tomato soup,grilled cheese and Pork belly with shrimp paste (Filipino dish)

Home made version of Chicken bowl burrito

Was out and about this week and I stopped at Ross and found these Skechers shoes. I have a similar slip on pair like this gifted by my sister and it’s really comfortable. Once I tried them on the shoes had to go home with me! I’ve been wearing them nonstop!

so comfy (it’s like you’re wearing flip flops made with a yoga mat!)

I got a new rug for our dining table from Overstock.com!

I’ve been watching the Gilmore Girls on Netflix this week. I’ve seen the first 2 seasons years ago (I was still in the Philippines). So far I’ve been enjoying it.

Have a great weekend friends! Happy Superbowl weekend too! The Seahawks are out so I will be rooting for the Denver Broncos.

What’s for Dinner?!

Hello Friends! Happy Sunday:) This is what we ate lately for dinners this last week. I hope you get to eat and cook dishes that you’ve been wanting to eat! Have a wonderful Sunday evening, I’m about to watch a Korean drama with the hubs (we are watching Beating Again). It’s been a while since we’ve watched a KDrama here! HA!

Spaghetti and meatballs (we also had a salad that I forgot to take a picture of)

meatballs in the crockpot! easy peasy dinner!

Chicken curry (I sort of followed Pioneer Woman’s recipe)

Left over kare-kare (cook once, eat twice, kind of dish!)

Taco Night! we also had sweet potato fries with garlic aioli (homemade! it was delish)

We also ate out a few times over the weekends!

Red Robin last night for a casual saturdate with Hubs! used a giftcard for this dinner!

Dinner at RAM (this place is just 4 minutes drive from our house!)

Friday Lunch date at chick fil-a! I LOVE their spicy chicken sandwich and iced coffee. The hubs likes their chicken nuggets and milkshakes! We’ve been there twice this last week!