First Trimester

Things became pretty busy in our household even before the Christmas season started. And we are busier than ever...or shall I say, I have been doing more couch-sitting than ever because we are pregnant!

I am on my 8th week now and the cravings and hating (i hate every food and smell that I used to love!) is at its worst.

And with the hate relationship with food, I avoided the kitchen as much as possible. I even stopped my daily browsing of AT (is it possible that I also hate anything interior related too??!)

Anyway, I have been eyeing some beautiful bags but too thrifty to buy anything. But sometimes you get to stumble on good deals too. I just wish the hubs reads this: SATCHELS. Affordable satchels. depending on size, price ranges from 700 to 800. Can anyone buy this for me?

And for some valentines day food ideas, here's one from family fun:

My mood swings are not helping much but I have been planning on making a new blog for the pregnancy and baby documentation. I hope to get working on it later this week. Although the first trimester is really hard, we are the happiest couple on earth. We are so blessed.

How about you? How's your 2012 so far?

Decorating with Green and Red Theme for Christmas

It's already past midnight here, I know. I have been busy catching up with the workload. Whoever claims that working in the government is the easiest, they are either the lazy ones or they never worked for any government agency at all. I have worked for two government agencies and even here at my new office where there are just 200 employees, I am overloaded (and underpaid? well, compared to what the private counterpart of my position). That's why I am still up, preparing for my trip tomorrow.

I have lots of photos for you, especially the DIYs that we have done so far for the christmas season and recipes but don't have much time to transfer photos from my camera's memory. When I get back, blogging will be on the top of my list.

For now, here are my favorite desserts (two flavors, of course):

yogurt with strawberry syrup

yogurt with choco syrup

We live in a small town and having access to this kind of sweet treat is a big deal already ( because yogurt is not an organic in this country. ice cream and ice candy, yes but yogurt is still a bit new to the general population so its a store for this one is something that you don't see much in small, rural area)

For DIY inspirations, here are some ideas from the web:

1. tree planters for small christmas tree: you can buy a $1 worth tree planter from the garden store + spray paint.

via

2. garland for the christmas tree(not the venetian star topper) : if you will look closely, they used buttons (white ones) instead of the usual ribbon/garland type on the tree. The venetian star can be DIYed as well (but that is another story)

via

or you can go for a green and red books display for this season. That way, you can design using books that you already have. or anything green and red design that you have will do. You can display them around.

Cheap DIY Wreath for Christmas

We (I) have been busy with the decorations.
This is one of the many things I have done in the house.
It was easy and cheap because there are lots of stuff to choose from.
I bought the materials from the local dry/wet market.
The salesgirl offered the cheaper, not assembled wreath materials, but I told her I prefer the one already shaped into a wreath since it was relatively cheap and will save me time.
Then I bought the other three decor for around $1.

Here is the breakdown cost:

$1 = 43 pesos (you can do the math, but basically its around $2 in all)

After 5 minutes, here's my DIY wreath on our front door:

I did not use any glue since the ornaments have a wire that you can twist at the back and you're all set.
It's an easy-peasy ornamental wreath, making the holiday preparation stress-free.

Linking this to:  

ShabbyNest 

DIY Showoff 

Chic on A Shoe String Decorating

House of Hepworths

Happy Hour Projects
The ShabbyCreekCottage

Simple Everyday Foods

Christmas season has started on this side of the world. The shops are now full of decors that one can choose from, cheap to expensive stuff. Our tree is decorated and I will be posting a photo one of these days.

On the other hand, our experience on our domestic life continues. I have a househelp who do the cleaning/unclettering everyday, sometimes cook dishes (but we are hoping she learns to cook them well), do the laundry and ironing and stay at home housesitting all day long. Most of the time (even when we are at home) she stays on her cellphone chatting over with her friends and boyfriend. Lately, this is getitng on my nerves because she seems to be forever on it and would get into a shouting match with whoever is on the other line.

I am now in the process of creating a procedure manual for her (aka schedule of cleaning and other how tos) to follow because she seems to be forgetting most of the things that should be done. Simultaneously, I have been on the hunt for recipes that we can actually use with minimal supervision on my part. My househelp's idea of vegetable dish is mixing all the vegetables available in the refrigerator into one single dish (imagine potato + squash+ eggplant+beans, all in one dish). I am glad to finally found another local blogger who is into cooking. Here are the his dishes that I am hoping to make:

1. Stir-fried chicken and vegetables

 recipe via

2. Pork Giniling

photo and recipe via

3. Pork Menudo

photo and recipe via

4. homemade no-bake macaroni and cheese

photo and recipe via

So far I have tried cooking japanese curry, fish fillet, pork and chicken adobo with a twist, and chicken adobo. I will be posting them here soon.

Easy to Cook Fish Fillet

This is my first time to cook for the family. And I am carefully choosing my first dish (?!). Here's the easy to cook fish fillet:

fish fillet with store-bought sweet and sour sauce

It was an easy task and the family loved the crispy outside,very soft inside texture.

Here's how to do it, amateur-style:

You will need:

1 pack of fish fillet (approx. 500g, store bought fillet)
1/2 slice lemon
3 tbs soy sauce (i used kikkoman soy sauce, that's how i roll.)
3 cups japanese breadcrumbs
1 egg
oil for frying

1. cut the fish on your desired size.
2. mix the lemon juice and soy sauce in a bowl. marinate the fish for 10 minutes. set aside.
3. prepare your fyring pan. heat the oil.
4. Here's a trick that will require your attention. *just kidding. but i read somewhere that there is a tendency of getting a hard crust not the light and crisp that you like if you roll the fish on the crumbs and set it aside for frying. You must do the dip in egg followed by roll on crumb method then fry on the pan to get the right texture.

5. Fry until lightly golden brown. Serve with rice.

The serve with rice is optional.  G ate it after lunch without rice. But since we eat rice on every mealtime, I recommend you eat the fish with rice. That's hiow we do it here. 

linking to: Shabby Nest , Whipperberry