Labor Day weekend!

Last Monday (Labor Day) we invited our In-Laws for burgers and guacamole and chips. My husband did most of the work, he made 2 kinds of guacamole and grilled the burgers. It was a nice, relaxing time with family:-)

🙂
pineapple guacamole
strawberry guacamole
🙂
caprese salad
yummm
🙂
Auntie and Riley
we made another batch of cheesecake tarts for our dessert!(this is an old pic though)..so for our dessert I served coffee and cheesecake..

Byways cafe and Podnah’s

This is just part 2 of our Portland trip, we got to visit Byways Cafe and Podnah’s BBQ restaurants.  We decided to check out these two just because Guy Fieri happened to feature them in his triple D show on the food network.  Someday the Hubs and I plan to visit and eat at ALL the restaurants that he visited, that’s the plan SOMEDAY!!

Downtown Portland here I come! I’m wearing a missoni sweater(target),hollister jeans,talbots boots,zara bag
New booties for the fall: Talbots boots,I got these boots for $34, original price of $169..SCORE!!!
🙂
🙂
handsome Hubs!
tuna melt:Albacore tuna salad and Tillamook cheddar cheese on grilled
sourdough.
Thinly sliced corned beef and Swiss cheese on grilled
marbled rye. Served with horseradish sauce on the side
this is to die for horseradish sauce
yummy milkshake
Portland Park
🙂
I got the Portland Starbucks mug,an addition to my collection..
pretty flower…
so excited to try their BBQ..
what to order…
PitBoss it is!
one of the best chicken wings!
the Ribs are so tender
Bye Oregon!
Hello Washington!
Riley was so tired and napped most of the night…

Portland, Oregon

We drove to Portland last Wednesday to attend Hubby’s cousin’s wedding.  They had the ceremony and the reception at Bridal Veil Lake and it was such a great day. The bride and groom, Katie (husband’s cousin) and James were the typical happy newlyweds!  Everything was amazing from the ceremony, reception and the romantic wedding venue.  The next day, we checked out downtown Portland and “googled” restaurants that were featured on Guy Fieri’s  show on the food network( Diners Drive-ins and Dives). We decided to check out Byways Cafe and Podnah’s BBQ. Let me tell you, both restaurants didn’t disappoint us. Sorry for the poor quality of the pics, I used the iPod touch during the wedding. I still don’t own a DSLR:(..Hopefully this will change soon…

taken in our hotel room;what I wore: Dress: Ross,Clutch and wedge shoes:Tory Burch
with my Mom In Law Kathy
My husband; He’s wearing:Calvin Klein shirt,Nordstrom Pants,Kenneth Cole shoes
us
Parent In Law’s, Grandma,Sis In Law Julia,me
The Bride and her Dad in a Canoe
Bridesmaids
The Couple and Groomsmen
us @ the reception table
the Pretty Bride
table setting
Dinner:beef brisket and other yummy sides
🙂

Lake Sammamish Triathlon

I’m so proud of my Hubby!  He made it through and did a great job with his first Triathlon event last Saturday (Lake Sammamish Triathlon).  It was a long day for us as we had to get up around 5:30am and be there at 6:30am for the registration.  He was so tired but it was worth it.  He will most likely do it again next year or try another Triathlon event here in Seattle.  After the event we went home and took a nap, then had a late lunch at Red Robin:-)

Transition Area
🙂
🙂
My Dad In Law, supporting his son:)
getting ready for the biking part
one of the beneficiary of the event
🙂
this guy is amazing…
good job Bi!
🙂
I had the Buzzalo burger(buffalo chicken kind of burger)
Hubby’s fave burger:Bonzai burger
WIW: target top,hollister jeans, tory burch flipflops,coach bag

Savings!

I shopped at Walgreens and Target today.  I had register rewards that I wanted to use and Target coupons that are going to expire this Sunday.  It’s so nice to shop at Target around evening because there’s no line for the cashier:-)  I will give all the fruit snacks and most of the things I got today at Target to my family back home.  I just got most items because with coupons they’re all cheap and I know how much they will love them back home.

Paid $11,after store sale and target coupons..
🙂
Paid $12..

I ordered some things at Amazon weeks ago using my swag bucks rewards/amazon card and I got them this week.  I was excited knowing that I paid nothing and I have all the things I wanted for free. SCORE!!!!

FREE after I used my swag bucks/amazon card..

Caramelized Banana

I’ve prepared this dessert 3 times this week.  I like it so much because it reminds me of the Philippines.  I grew up eating a lot of banana que in the Philippines, it’s a popular snacks in the country.  Banana-que is just deep fried bananas.  I got the bananas in the asian market because I typically don’t find nice plantains in the local grocery stores here. Saging na Saba (Cardava Banana) is the kind of banana I used in this simple dessert. Recipe from Great Easy Meals (food network cookbook).

🙂
SO GOOD!
🙂
🙂

Directions:

Melt 2 Tablespoons butter in a skillet, Add 2 sliced bananas and 2 tablespoon brown sugar(I added more).  Cooked until golden and syrupy (about 5 minutes). Spoon over vanilla ice cream.

Savings!

My quick trip to Walgreens Saturday afternoon to use my register rewards and avail the sale/promo for my favorite conditioner and candies.

4/$15 and (get $5 RR) promo! after sale and store rewards, I paid $3.
I got my fave skittles for free,after store coupon and I used RR..

Chicken with Sage

I made this chicken dish last week and it’s really easy, yet delicious.  I got the sage from our garden.  This little kind of things make me happy:-) I got the recipe from Everyday with Racheal Ray magazine (September, 2012).

🙂
paired with a simple ceasar salad
added anchovies because we like our salad salty:-)

Chicken with Sage:

3 tbsp butter,12 sage leaves, 4 skinless and boneless chicken breasts;pounded, 1 cup chicken broth, 2 tbsp. lemon juice, 2 tbsp. capers, 1/4 tsp. cornstarch

In skillet,melt butter. Press sage on chicken and cook, turning , 6 minutes; transfer to plate. Whisk broth,lemon juice,capers and cornstarch into skillet and reduce,6 minutes. Pour over chicken. Serves 4.