Veggie Snacks

The veggie tray I served during Mr. Burrito's birthday party.

A Spice A  Day # 31

                                                - My quest to update this  blog daily -

January 31, 2012:

• I let Mr. Burrito practice writing his name again today, I don't want him to forget it.  He also  read a book with a very little help from me.
• I made  stir fry veggies with pork  and rice for dinner.
• Today's weather was great, we  spent  a good time outside after I  got Ms. Burrito from school.  After we played, we did her homework and reviewed for her test tomorrow.
• I did  laundry today.
• Tomorrow ill be students' day  and I will help scooping ice cream at the school as treat for the students.

Cupcakes with Funfetti

We bought this valentine cupcake mix with funfetti for weekend project.  Hubby helped the kids with the baking.

Then I helped them  with the  decorating part.

I did this one for hubby.

A Spice A  Day # 30

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January 30, 2012:

• Today was a busy day for  us.  We spent most of  our day  at the school today for the Catholic School Week.  They have an open house today where parents and grandparents can come to the school, sit in the classroom and observe how  our kids behave in the discussion inside the classroom.  It was pretty neat, even Mr. Burrito   enjoyed the special treatment that Ms. Burrito's teacher  has given him.  He got to experience to be  a real student for the day as he participated in the discussion too.  The teacher gave Mr. Burrito some materials then he drew  the teacher, it was fun!
• When we came home, I made some adobo and rice for hubby's  dinner.  Me and the kids ate the left over pasta last night.  We also made pecan bar  for dessert.
• After dinner, Ms. Burrito played Chess with her Dad and she won for the first time, good job kiddo!

Salt

What kind of salt do you buy for your cooking? We like Morton for ours.  I found an interesting thing about   certain salt.  Xeronate is a kind of salt that has a xeronic acid.   

A Spice A  Day # 29

                                                - My quest to update this  blog daily -

January 29, 2012:

• Ms. Burrito made us breakfast today.  She prepared bacon, eggs,  and toast.   Mr. Burrito on the other hand   volunteered to  set up the  table.    I am so proud of my kids.
• Ms. Burrito  and the other kids at St. Joe's sung at the   noon time mass  today.
• We visited my FIL after the mass.
• Then we drove to Dairy Queen and grabbed some lunch.
• I made some past salad for dinner.

Chips and Salsa

The chips and salsa I served during Mr. Burrito's birthday party.

A Spice A  Day # 28

                                                - My quest to update this  blog daily -

January 28, 2012:

• I made some omelet with spinach and cheese as filling.  Have you tried  greens in your  omelet?  It's  delish!
• We did not go anywhere today, hubby has a lot of homework to do.
• Our weekend project  was to make  cupcakes.  Hubby helped the kids  with the baking part and I helped them  decorating it.
• We ate left over foods for dinner.  

Happy Birthday Ma!

My mother is celebrating her 59th birthday today. I was so frustrated that I couldn't get through this morning, I wanted to talk to her but I was so unfortunate. Their signal wasn't good.  Happy birthday Ma, we miss and love you so much!  The photo was taken when my husband first met my mother at our  place.  I miss the breeze of the ocean and the white sand.  Oh if I could just visit even for a day, it would be so nice!

A Spice A  Day # 27

                                                - My quest to update this  blog daily -

January 27, 2012:

• I got so frustrated that I couldn't get through  when I tried calling my Mom to  greet her a happy birthday.  
• I made corn on the cob, broccoli, grilled chicken, and wild rice for dinner.
• My daughter told us when hehe came home   yesterday that we need to sign her report card and returned it.  I got worried because we did that  and returned it Monday.  So I asked the teacher if I forgot to  sign it and she said that she did not get the report card.  Where did it go then?  This is the second time  that happened losing things that we sent.  The first time was the  shopping money that my daughter need last Christmas.  The teacher called me  and informed  me that  Ms. Burrito was crying  because she did not have a shopping money.  I told her that I sent her  the following day that I received the notice.  She then looked for it and found it on her desk.  Oh boy, it frustrates me.  Anyhow, I turned the  my files upside down  hoping that I just forgot it  but I couldn't find it anywhere here which means that I did  returned it.  Oh well.
• We visited my FIL and hubby made him a caramel cake as he (FIL) was craving for it.  We also brought Maximus to meet  my FIL.  Max is our new addition.

Watermelon

A beautiful watermeon to look at, the price is high, but unfortunately it wasn't good to eat. We wasted the money to buy this one.  Lesson learned.. not to buy watermelon in this time of the year.

A Spice A  Day # 26

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January 26, 2012:

• Our breakfast  was pancit canton and I made some corned beef for dinner.
• Did some laundry today and reviewed Ms. Burrito for her test tomorrow.
• I did not go with hubby and Ms. Burrito at the dance  studio.
• Will go to bed early, gotta walk my daughter to school tomorrow and prepare  hubby some pack lunch for his school.  So goodnight everyone!

Dairy Queen

The snack I ordered during our recent visit to DQ.    Once in a while, we treat our kids to Dairy Queen especially when they crave for their favorite stuff there.

A Spice A  Day # 25

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January 25, 2012:

• Mr. Burrito  did so well in our  reading lesson today.
• We visited my FIL tonight after we ate dinner.
• The Burritos ate beefaroni, I ate fried rice, and hubby ate  spaghetti for dinner.

Strawberry Halves

My Burritos love  eating  strawberry so whenever we see  fresh  strawberries in the store, we always buy a box or two.  It's great for snack and dessert.

A Spice A  Day # 24

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January 24, 2012:

• I made spaghetti for dinner.
• Mr. Burrito and I did some   "Spot the difference" exercises in the books yesterday.  He also  did several pages of  tracing  the letters.   He was complaining the he already knows how to write the letters but I told him that practice makes it perfect.  After our lesson,  we watched TV and I rubbed his back, he fell asleep lol..
• We were suppose to go to my FIL but then the kids acted up so we just stayed home.  I  stayed up till 1 am just to finish some of my online tasks.  I did not really finish though, I just chose the easy ones and left the  hard ones.

The Day We got Lost in Paradise

While having dinner   yesterday at our   kitchen table,  our kids were taking about the experience that we had two years ago when we went down  in New Milton, West Virginia.  We visited  one of my husband's  Aunt.  My FIL wanted to see her youngest sister so we drove down there during the weekend.  We did not have  a GPS then so we got lost but  I think it was meant to be because we found this ranch with a lot of   critters.  The owners were very nice and let the kids pet  the  animals and even let them ride one of their horses.  The kids had so much fun the day we f got lost in Paradise!

The kids want to go back there again, they wanted to experience   riding the horse and  pet other animals that we don't normally see here like ducks, goats, and pigs.   I wonder if the owner of that ranch  uses horse Prestige but I bet they do.  I have read something about the horse retirement community at the Manhattan Saddlery website.  That is kind of cool that horses has retirement community too!  

Beef Steak and Scallop Potatoes

My father-in-law has been craving for scallop potatoes and every time we talk, he mentioned missing his wife's making it. I searched online for a recipe and found one that's very pleasing so I tried it.  Before I found this recipe, I just put the milk  on top of the layered potatoes and cheese but this time, I made the sauce thick by adding flour.  Well, I did not have flour  that time so I used a pan-cake mix lol.  

 I had an asian  type sweet potatoes and  put it in the middle, it gives a little sweetness to the dish and it was delicious! It turned out pretty well that even the kids who  aren't fond of  potatoes ate  a good bit.  I also sent my husband to my FIL's house to bring him some of it.

 I got this recipe online at AllRecipes.Com, thanks to Christine Eilers for sharing it.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup chopped onion
• 5 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour ( I used pancake mix)
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 5 cups milk
• 6 cups thinly sliced potatoes  ( I added one sweet potato)

*I also added some shredded cheese t the  flour and  milk mixture.

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, saute onion in butter until tender. Stir in flour, salt and pepper until blended. Gradually add milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until sauce is thickened.
2. Place half of potatoes in a greased 3-qt. baking dish. Pour half of sauce over potatoes. Repeat layers. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 60-70 minutes or until potatoes are tender and top is lightly browned. Serve immediately.

 I don't like  bloody beef steak so I cook mine well-done.

A Spice A  Day # 23

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January 23, 2012:

• I made some mung beans dish with pork and spinach for dinner.  This is one of my husband's favorite Filipino dish.  We ate it with rice.  I also fried some of the  twistee  dessert I made from glutinous rice, my daughter love this so much!
• We had a really good weather late in the afternoon.  I did not have to wear a thick coat to get my daughter from school.  
• Mr. Burrito is getting good with reading, I want to make him really know how to read before he starts kindergarten this year.

Flowers by Mail

When you  experience something unusual in your garden and you don't know the reason, it always  drives you to  search about it.  That's what I do most of the time.  Just like when I had a twin bloom of my daisy last year,  I ended up browsing  for plant care at eHow.com.  I also  planted some herbs last year and I wanted to harvest it the right way and eHow was a great help for me.

On the other note, valentine's day is coming up.  Do you have any plans  for your special date?  Are you planning to send flowers by post?  Buying flowers nowadays is very convenient through the flower shop online.  It's one way of surprising your  love ones especially  if you are working somewhere and you want to   send something especial for your wife or girlfriend.

Thomas Birthday Cake

My sister -in-law, Chris, made the cake below for Mr. Burrito's cake, thanks a lot Tita!

A Spice A  Day # 22

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January 22, 2012:

• I went to bed early last night (10 pm) and woke up  very early with a migraine this morning.
• My husband  brought the kids to Dad's and they  rode their sled.  I did not go because I was doing laundry (still am).
• While doing laundry, I also cleaned/vacuumed the floor.
• I made some scallop potatoes, I found  a good recipe online and it turned out really good.  We ate it with beef steak and salad.  I sent my husband to bring  Dad some.

Chicken

We ordered some chicken and jo jo potatoes at Quick King during Mr. Burrito's birthday.  Their chicken tastes good and it's affordable.

A Spice A  Day # 21

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January 21, 2012:

• Me and the kids played in the snow at our backyard this morning.  I did not last very long but they did. When they came in, I made each of them some hot coco and  hubby made them grilled cheese.
• I made a pan of pizza for dinner but  me and Ms. Burrito ate rice and sardines.
• Hubby spent time  doing his homework and took a quiz online.  We did not go anywhere which gave some time to do some  blogging.

Crowd's Favorite

Lumpia (egg rolls) is a time consuming food to prepare but it is always a crowd's favorite at parties.  That's why whenever possible, I make sure to prepare some when we have gathering.  

A Spice A  Day # 20

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January 20, 2012:

• My better half  needs some help in researching about Unsecured Business Loans Bad Credit, he has to write a 10-page paper about this topic this weekend so I am  doing some readings online.
• It was so cold today  when I walk Ms. Burrito to school, good thing there was a two-hour delay.
• We visited my FIL after dinner tonight  because we suppose to have  snow accumulation, which is happening now, and we might not be able to visit him tomorrow.  
• My SIL was there with their dog Ruby, we took Ruby  for a while because she was in-heat and  the male dogs at their house is torturing her.  I am glad that  her and Champ get along very well here.

Heart Cookies

 We bought this  heart cookies kit during Mr. Burrito's birthday because Ms. Burrito wanted to do something special  with her friend who s moving to another place.  The moment she arrived,  they instantly started decorating them.

 She made that one on top especially for me.  She said that the three heart candies represents the three sweet words.  "I love you too Anak."

A Spice A  Day # 19

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January 19, 2012:

• It's snowing real fine   late this afternoon.  We might have  a two hour delay tomorrow if this snow continues to   shower down tonight.
• I made some spaghetti for dinner.
• I am doing some laundry before we go to  Ms. Burrito's dancing  class tonight. 

Porkies

Here are the porkies or pigs in a blanket that my daughter made during her brother's birthday.  She volunteered to made this  because I was busy preparing the other foods.  Thanks Anak, you're the best!

Here's the recipe of the Pigs in a Blanket  that I found at asllrecipes.com:

Ingredients

• 8 frankfurters (I use small smoke sausages)
• 8 slices American processed cheese
• 1 (10 ounce) package refrigerated biscuit dough

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Wrap cheese around each frankfurter then the biscuit around that. Put on cookie sheet with the overlap of biscuit faced down, so you don't have to use tooth picks.
3. Bake in preheated oven until biscuits are brown, about 10 to 15 minutes.

A Spice A  Day # 18

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January 18, 2012:

• I had a bad dysmenorrhea today, it's my first day wahhh.  
• I taught Mr. Burrito some words  to read and spell.  Good job kiddo!
• We made taco for dinner.
• We visited  FIL after dinner and after the  royal-tea party that Ms. Burrito hosted in her bedroom hehehe.

An Apple A Day

Let's have a little artsy fun before we throw the apple peeled skin.

We don't actually throw the skin because our bunny, Wubzy, love to munch on it.

During weekends when all of us can sit  in front of the  table to eat breakfast, I always  peel some apples  for us to eat as dessert.

The saying "An Apple A Day" is a popular one to our kids.  One morning, my daughter blurted "Does it mean that my classmate don't stay with his Dad because he is a doctor?" LOL, we laughed!

All these are for wubzy.

A Spice A  Day # 17

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ABC Wednesday
Shadow Shot Sunday 2

Pinakbet

I miss eating pinakbet once in a while. I seldom makes this dish because I am the only one that eats it here wahhhh.

A Spice A  Day # 16

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January 16, 2012:

• I slept in today since Ms. Burrito did not have a class.  I made  an omelet and we ate it  with rice for breakfast.
• We went to Robinson Mall and met  a family friend at the play area called  Giggles and Smiles.   The kids had such a fun time.
• We  ate  lunch at Eat n' Park with the McCabe family, thanks guys for spending  the day with us!  We will sure miss you when you are in PA already.

Boiled Eggs

Boiled eggs that I used as toppings for the noodles I made.

A Spice A  Day # 15

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January 15, 2012:

• We  attended the mass at noon and visited my FIL afterwards after the mass.
• When we came back, I started doing our laundry.  I am on my last two loads, one in the dryer and one in the  washer.  I folded and put away the  first three loads.
• I did not cook today, we ate the left over lasagna, noodles, chicken, and  cake.