Hi friends! Belated memorial day to all! Thankful for all the men and women (and their families) in this country who sacrificed everything for our freedom! We had a simple celebration at home. We grilled some burgers (they were so good!) and had all the fixins. The hubs got a lot of yard cleaning done during this weekend and then we got to enjoy some time out on the patio. He also prepared the majority of our food, I don’t even remember what I was doing! HA! I helped a little:) Anyways, I’m so looking forward to summer night dinners at home now that our picnic table is out and yard is cleaned and pressure washed! Mia loves being in the yard too. She’s our little gardener like her Grandma! Have a great weekend friends:)
Nap time before memorial weekend chaos starts!Rhododendron going crazy in the front yard!pressure washing the yard with our little helper!Hubs made deviled eggs!Hubs made guacamolePreparing the burger!
Hubs made the fruit salad!Hubs about to enjoy his dinner! Thanks Ga for all your memorial weekend cleaning! You sure deserve that burger! HAPark Time!
Hi Friends! How are you all? It’s been a while since I posted, not much going on here! Aside from watching my In laws dog (they’re already back from their vacation!), going to parks during nice days (we’ve had a couple of sunny days), our local farmers market officially opened, and we started our garden (the slugs are already eating some of our veggies!UGH!)..Life is good! We “failed” our WHOLE30! HA! Day 21 during Mother’s day, I ate rice with my ahi poke! My mothers day gift to myself! So we basically lasted 3 weeks of the journey! Between me and the Hubs we lost 14lbs! Hubby is still going strong though! We still plan to eat whole foods, plus will probably “tweek” things around like adding creamer to my coffee, and treats every now and then!
Farmers Market goodies
so fresh!
so worth it!goodbye whole30!hahaMothers Day flowers from Hubs!
She’s so happy whenever she’s in the yard!Gifts from grandparents!cupcakes to celebrate Grandma’s bday!
Off to do some gardening right now, I still have some annuals to plan! Have a great weekend friends!
Hi Friends! Hope you’re having a great weekend! The hubs and I started Whole30.
Basically you eliminate certain food groups in your diet for 30 days. We are entering our 2nd week and hopefully we’ll be successful! I totally miss my coffee creamer in the morning and my rice, while the hubs misses his milk consumption. I’m so impressed with him though because he hardly complains about missing his favorite drink, unlike me! HA. He just decided to join this with me for “moral support” haha! I’ve been thinking about doing this since February (since I got the whole30 book) and decided last week, to try the challenge and just do it!
Since starting this challenge, we’ve been to 5 grocery stores (not in the same day though)! Trader Joe’s, Safeway,Winco, PCC,Whole foods! I just want to make sure we have fresh produce always:) We both feel good and are looking forward to finishing this challenge. I’ve already had my meal plans this week. You have to prepare as much as you can so you will not be tempted to just give up when you’re in that “hangry” time of day!
Grocery Hauls from Trader Joe’s
Safeway HaulsTrader Joe’s again! They do have a lot of whole30 complaint products!
I’m tired of prosciutto this week, so I’m happy we found a sugar free bacon at PCC! expensive but its really good!
Some of the meals we had during our week 1:
Chicken Adobo with mashed sweet potato (recipe from the whole30 fast and easy cookbook). We really liked this one,and will make this again.
brunch:eggs,prosciutto,salsa,plantain chipsroasted sweet potatoes, grilled shrimp and pineapple,grilled steakTaco saladHubs making homemade mayonnaisechicken wings (clarified butter,franks hot sauce)
Winco skirt steak
Carne Asada marinade
The fresh guacamole and grilled skirt steak was such an amazing combination!
Hello Friends! How’s your week going? I’m still battling a cough and I’m so over it! UGH! Anyways, last week we celebrated my Dad In law’s birthday at home with a fondue (on his actual bday), but we also had a dinner at Maggiano’s Little Italy restaurant.
The Hubs made the fondue, Wisconsin Trio Fondue and it was so good! Thanks for doing all of the work, Ga. We also had crab cakes and shrimps. We used this fondue set we’ve had for 8 years now and it’s been worth it! YUM!
Love celebrating our Grandpa Phil! He’s such a special guy. So good to me and my little family! Happy Birthday to my DIL!
Hello Family and friends! I hope your weekend was a great one! Mia and I are having colds, nothing serious though as we are still functioning normally! Our pediatrician checked her earlier and said it’s just one of those days. We are taking it easy here.
We had dinner and hung out with our friends last Friday night! It’s always fun whenever we see them. Mia had a great time also.
Lots of cuddle time and had lunch at a local restaurant!
Our new refrigerator is finally here and we love it! Especially the Hubs! I’ve caught him having a giddy face every time he’s in the kitchen! HA!
We saved up and were able to pay for it with cash.. #saving#winning! So I plan to be in a “saving” mood these coming weeks, months! Unfortunately, I failed miserably this weekend because — TAKEOUT! UGH!!
I’m still within our monthly budget though, so all is good!????????
I hope your week is better than ours! With the colds going on here I’m totally feeling like:
Hello friends! How are you all doing? I was watching Food Network/Pioneer Woman where she was cooking 16 minute meal/fast meals! She did her “speedy shrimp and grits“. It looked so simple and I had all of the ingredients in my pantry/freezer. I was inspired to cook it but to be honest it took more than 16 minutes when I did it! HA! It was worth it though because the family enjoyed it.
We’ll be adding this one to my recipe book for sure!
Hi Family and Friends! The Hubs and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary this weekend! We had a simple celebration (movie and sushi), but we plan to do something nice this summer. After our Philippine trip just 3 weeks ago, I personally have no desire to be on a plane somewhere this week. I need time to recover!HA!
We had a little lunch celebration with Mia at one of the local restaurants near our place:
calamariahi tuna saladGrilled salmonShrimps and GritsHappy Anniversary Ga! He’s giving his eyes a break from contact lens, thus the glasses!
YUM!
Saturday night My In laws offered to babysit Mia while we watched the movie “I can only Imagine”, such a good movie! If you have the chance to watch it, you should. Great story about forgiveness and redemption, even if you’re a non-believer, I think you can appreciate the story! We had sushi after the movie! Looks like we ordered too much!
The hubs and I decided not to give “BIG” gifts this anniversary because we are getting a new refrigerator that will arrive this coming Tuesday. I’m so excited to have a new fridge! Our current one is acting up,and we think it’s worth it to get a new one! But my Hubs was nice enough to still give me some of my “wish list” on the Lenox site!HA..Thanks Hubs!
Got these angel figurines! I have them in the kitchen.I plan to get something that will elevate them!I got this Lenox Anniversary Plate! With our names and wedding date!Roses too! I plan to put the plate in our bedroom but for now its staying in the kitchen!Thanks, GA!
Some throwback pics before the wedding:
This is Us 10 years after:
Mia makes me laugh on this pic!
Thank God for blessing me with my Hubs whose so good to me! So grateful for the gift of marriage and family! Thanks to our family and friends who share this beautiful journey with us. To God be the Glory!
Hello Friends! I’ve mentioned in the last post that Mia and I got to visit my hometown (in the Philippines) for 2 weeks. It was a short, yet fun visit. I wanted to introduce Mia to my family/relatives who were eager to meet her! US-Philippines is such a long flight, what a journey! I’m so grateful that my sister offered to help me with this trip because I don’t think I could have made it without her! International travel and an active toddler ALONE is something else! Mia did fine going to the Philippines but the trip going back to the US was a nightmare! She cried a lot of times in the 12 hours journey (MANILA- LOS ANGELES). The woman beside us offered to give us lavender essential oil to rub on her forehead! HA! She did calm down for 15 minutes! OH FUN!
Despite the long travels, it was so worth having the rest of my family finally meet Mia. Her cousins got to play with her. She was so clingy to me during the first week but eventually she did fine when others wanted to carry her. My friends got to see her also, so that was special!
Thanks Auntie for helping us!She was excited!Jollibee spag was in order!HA! First meal in the car once we arrived in the PH!Oh Goodness! A welcome tarp from mom!With Uncle (my brother!)lunch time with Auntie and Uncle!
Beach time with cousins!with auntie and unclewith cousinswith my nephews!she liked her first coconut juice!with cousins Abigail and Bengbeng!with kuya Krammy! (her cousin)with my Friends! We’ve been friends since gradeschool!with my friend Sweetlove and her cute kids!with my nursing friends! Macky and Ping!visited my Dads burial place!Nice white beach!
Lots of family time during this trip! We did water parks, swimming at a local resort near our place, beach time too! I wish my family lived closer. It would be so nice to see them often! But for the mean time, we’ll be fine with facetime/facebook! Till next time guys! We miss you so much!
Gotta have a family picture taken when everybody is home!
Hello Family and Friends! Happy Easter! He is Risen! Hallelujah!! Thank You Jesus for what you’ve done on the Cross! I hope that you had a meaningful Easter celebration with your loved ones! We had a fun Easter weekend here. Mia had her first Egg hunt at a local church near our place. We didn’t stay for a long time because she wasn’t really participating and overwhelmed with all the festivities surrounding her. She was still so cute though!
After the egg hunt, we had lunch at Chic fil-A! We also had to stop at our Asian market to get some crabs for our Easter brunch (Hubby made Crabs eggs Benedict).
Saturday evening I prepared Mia’s easter basket! She got a spring dress and a stuffed cow toy from us. Grandma/Grandpa got her an Easter dress and candies/crayons!
With Auntie Juju!
Daddy took some Easter pics of Mia and Riley!
Easter Brunch! Crabs benedict, bacon/sausages,fruits! It was busy in the kitchen, but the food was delicious! Thanks Ga for all the cooking!
With Grandma!
After all the festivities I need sometime to recover! HA!
I’ve been MIA for the month of March because Mia and I just got back from the Philippines (we stayed for 12 days), I’ll share more of our mini vacation in the coming days! Have a good start of the week Friends! Blessings!
Hello Friends! Happy Belated Valentines Day! I hope you had a lovely V-day! My hubs and I decided a couple of years ago that we will not give each other gifts/cards or expensive things to show that we value each other. He was still nice enough to get me red roses and a cookbook I’ve been wanting! We did “celebrate” though in our favorite restaurant, John Howie! My In laws (Parents, Sis IL) gave us a very generous gift card last Christmas and we wanted to use it. They offered to watch Mia also. We had dinner the Friday of V-day week, because I personally don’t like going out on the 14th ( I cannot deal with the crowds!).
Little Miss Mia was in the V-day spirit too! She wore her valentines outfit, gifted from her Aunties! She also got a cute card from her grandparents! Hubs and I got a card and Franz chocolates also! YUM!
We usually have my In laws over every Wednesday night for dinner! My DIL prepared meatloaf and potatoes!
My new cookbook!
Our John Howie Dinner!
salmon bisque (courtesy of the chef)A5 Japanese Wagyu Beef Striploin Sashimi, sweet onion, pickled cucumber, cherry tomato, sesame soy vinaigrette, black sea salt, chives, micro greens (we didn’t like this,sauce was overpowering)La Belle Farm Foie Gras, caramelized Honeycrisp apple , cabbage and purple onion, crisp guanciale, 10 year aged sherry vinegar, Chinese five spice, pinenuts, Madeira honeyMy Valentine enjoying dinner!Lobster Bisque: fresh Maine lobster, caviar cream, chivesHoneycrisp Apple: Organic Honeycrisp apples, purple onion, dried cranberries, organic greens, preserved apricot vinaigrette, Coombe Castle Blue Stilton, candied black pepper pecansFried Brussels Sprouts,:Fried Brussels Sprouts lemon caper vinaigrette, toasted garlic, ReggianoWe did tableside for two!
Mishima Reserve American Wagyu Beef “Long Bone” Rib Eye: mesquite grilled, duck fat roasted Yukon gold potatoes and Cipollini onions, Roasted bone marrow, bordelaise
