Wednesday, November 30, 2011

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.

Saturday, November 26, 2011

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:  

Sunday, November 20, 2011

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.

Friday, November 4, 2011

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


Tuesday, November 1, 2011

DIY: Old Furniture + Spray Paint = New Bookshelf

My first major DIY is this: an old shelf that is a staple on old houses from the 70's.
This is courtesy of my MIL. So it cost me nothing.

BEFORE

 AFTER



 Our new place's wall  was painted white and my goal is to introduce pops of colors through furniture. For this project, I have chosen a spray paint color of sky blue. It cost me less than $2 (99pesos) for the can of  paint, nothing more

Here's how I did it: 

  1. I wiped it with a damp rug and let it dry for at least 30 minutes. It was a sunny day on this part of the globe so drying is not a problem. 
  2. Then I started on spraying the entire thing.I am lazy and the materials for DIY are not available ( MIL do not DIY) so I did not sand or primed it. I just sprayed. The husband even joined the fun! 
  3. I left it to dry for few minutes.

Warning though, you have to do it outside where ventilation is good because spray paint really smells. 
I did not distress it because there are sides where the brown paint seems to shows off, giving it the distress look  that I want (another bonus for me).

I had fun doing this project because its my dream to recycle/reuse something. and it cost me $2 for a brNS new looking furniture!

I will be linking this to the following Linky Party :

1. Today's Creative Blog

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