Abby’s Birthday Dinner
We take special occasions, like birthdays, very seriously. I think it’s a cultural thing. Hee hee. :D There will always be an abundance of food on the table whenever a Filipino family is in a party mood. ;) Abby’s birthday dinner was no exception. The funny thing is, we celebrated her birthday dinner at the house of our dear friends Austin family, instead of at our own house. Long story. 
Here’s what we had:
Crisypy Noodles with Shrimp for long life (bought from First Chinese BBQ)
Roast (Whole) Duck…cardiac delight, anyone? Yumm! (Also from First Chinese BBQ)
Baked Chicken Drumsticks (by my dear friend, Bet)
No-bake Oreo Cheesecake (by Winona, Bet’s 12 yr. old niece)
And to complete the spread, a birthday cake from H-E-B. I know, it’s small. But don’t worry, we’ll have a bigger one for Abby’s real birthday party on Saturday. :)
We stuffed ourselves silly that night.
Thank you, dear God, for blessing us with such filling blessings.
Celebrations, Food Etcetera | Comment (0)
What’s For Breakfast?
Em tagged me for this “Longest Breakfast List” meme. Thanks, Em!
Since we got back from our California vacation, I have been missing breakfast. Not intentionally though! I’ve been waking up late because I’ve been sleeping late. Hee hee. I don’t want to eat breakfast when it’s so close to lunch time already. Anyway, my usual breakfast is very simple, Turkey Sandwich with Whole Wheat Bread and Light Mayo and a huge cup of coffee. On other days, I have cereal. My favorite is the Strawberry Flakes variety and I’m not very particular with the brand. Almost every supermarket has it’s own Strawberry Flakes brand. I use unsweetened organic soymilk with my cereal or skim milk.
Strawberry Flakes Cereal with Organic Soymilk
Hubby, if he had his way, will have TapSiLog (beef, fried rice and egg) for breakfast or either one of these…
Garlic Frice Rice and Hot Dogs
Adobo Rice with Fried Egg
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. What’s your usual breakfast?
*Start copy here*
The Longest Breakfast Menu List
Everyone likes to start their day with a comfort food for breakfast. What kind of food do you take? This would be a good way to find out your blogger friend’s favourite food for breakfast.
All you need to do is to put your name down, the country you are in and your favorite breakfast meal. Let’s see how we can have this breakfast ‘menu’ travelled all around cyberspace and learn what each blogger living in different country and what they eat for breakfast. This meme was created by a little lady with a penchant to spy around little baskets while marketing. Her favorite breakfast of the day is none other than Roti Prata, an indian flat bread. What about you? What is your favorite breakfast meal of the day?
1. Spymama, Singapore - Roti Prata 2. Janeth Vicy’s Life Journey, Philippines - Ham and Hotdog with Rice 3.As The World Turns, Philippines, Milk and Biscuits. 4.Just Me.. Eds, Philippines- Sausage and Egg with Garlic Rice/Fried Mash potato 5. Alpha, Philippines ~ McDonald’s Big Breakfast 6. Aggie, Philippines ~ Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich 7. KATHYCOT, Phils, Fried Spam, Chicken and Scrambled Egg paired with Fried Rice 8. Emillie, USA, Post Cereals, Fruits and Non-Fat Milk 9. Munchkin Mommy, USA, Turkey Sandwich with Light Mayo and a Huge Cup of Coffee 10. You’re next
*End copy here.”
Food Etcetera, Tags/Memes | Comment (0)
WW #20: Cocktail Hour Chow
We spent one night at the Residence Inn Marriott in Arlington, TX about two weeks ago. I was happy with the fact that the hotel has cocktail hour everyday except weekends. Naturally, we took advantage!
Abby had a hotdog sandwich and fries…
I opted for a chicken breast sandwich with cheese…
I know, I should have put a bit of veggies. My bad! :D There were also grilled hamburgers and tacos.
For dessert, Abby and I had caramel popcorn…
…a few Snickers (they’re Minis anyway!)…
…a chocolate chip cookie…
…and some peanuts…
Abby loves peanuts, to think that for a time, she was allergic to these. I didn’t eat too much of the stuff for fear they might trigger, uhm, acne. :) I don’t have any intention of using acne scars cream anytime soon. 
To wash down all the food, we had lemonade. There was freeflowing coffee, hot chocolate (instant) and tea (available in several flavors).
This is my kind of cocktail hour. I’m not so much of a cocktail person anyway. I tend to gravitate towards the bar chow, embarassing as that may sound.
Food Etcetera, Guilt Snacks, Wordless Wednesday | Comments (5)
Ostrich Meat, Anyone?
Since I stopped eating pork and beef in the middle of January this year, I have been eating a lot of chicken and ground turkey. During an idle moment a few days ago, I thought, “how about ostrich meat”? Is that too crazy? :) Have you ever tried eating ostrich meat?
My lack of knowledge about ostrich meat and recipes where it is used led me to google the subject matter away. :) I’m glad I did because I found out very interesting facts about ostrich meat. Seriously! Here are some that I got from About.com in an article by Derrick Riches with the no-nonsense title “Ostrich”:
- The ancient Egyptians hunted the ostrich for food.
- These large flightless birds can weigh in at up to 250 pounds and stand 7 feet tall.
- Instead of being similar to poultry, ostrich is much more like beef in taste and texture.
- It has a great versatility and can be bought ground, cut into steaks, as sausage and even hot dogs.
- Ostrich can be substituted for most any meat and grills very much like lean beef.
- It is leaner and lower in cholesterol than most any other meat, which is why ostrich is frequently found in health food stores.
- Because it is so lean, you will see a lot less shrinkage during cooking.
- Ostrich is higher in iron than beef so it has a very red color to it, even when it is properly cooked.
- It is a great way to reduce your fat and cholesterol intake, while still giving you a meaty meal.
- Ostrich has a great flavor of its own and is generally well liked by the pickiest of eaters.
What do you think? You know what else? You can use ostrich feathers for other things, too, like turning them into center pieces! Now that’s making full use of the bird! Hahaha!
Enjoy the rest of your Saturday!
Food Adventures, Food Etcetera, Milk & Honey | Comment (1)
Summer = Barbecue & Shorts Season
It’s barbecue season once again. Last year, it was in May when we were invited to our first barbecue and it was in June when we had our first and only barbecue here at home. We invited my friend, Bet and her kids to join us. After that, it was just too much work to get the grill out, set the coals on fire and grill for 3 people, more like 2 and a half because my daughter is only 3 years old.
Here’s a pic from our 1st ever barbecue here in Texas…
In the pic is hubby’s former boss, Aki (Goto-san). He makes the best homemade gyoza! And he makes the best grilled scallops! He does take grilling seriously. :) The grill in the pic is ours now. Aki gave it to us when his family moved back to Japan last January.
Lately, hubby has been hinting about grilling. For all we know, our grill might already be rusting under it’s cover. Hee hee. And then, there’s the grill we inherited from Aki.
Here’s a pic of hubby taken in June last year, beer in one hand, loving his role as grill master…
And here is hubby at my friend Bet’s house two weeks ago…
Hubby loves the fact that “shorts season” is here. He’s fond of capris, too. Whether shorts or capris, the more pockets, the better. And it looks like Aki (in the first picture) probably feels the same way. Hee hee. I think they will both love the 511 Tactical Shorts. So what if they are actually considered police gear?! The 5.11 Tactical shorts are special purpose-built shorts. They were designed to carry bulky items and remain durable. You should see the amount of stuff that end up in hubby’s pockets: his huge wallet, a ton of keys, another ton of coins here and there and sometimes, a Swiss knife, too!
I especially love the 5.11 Academy Shorts because it is both stylish and durable. It has 7 pockets a double seat and 42 bar tacks! ;) I can probably have hubby carry a few of my stuff in his pockets, too! :D I dig the colors it comes in: khaki, OD green and black. Do you think shorts are a little too unromantic as Father’s Day present? Well, just a thought.
Food Etcetera, Kitchen Wearables, Milk & Honey | Comment (0)
Define Gourmet
I don’t recall ever consulting the dictionary or Wikipedia for the definition of the word “gourmet”. All I know is that gourmet refers to a food or restaurant of “high quality”. It may also refer to a person who loves food of the highest quality. That’s my personal definition. Seeing the Panda Express logo, however, prompted me to finally consult the dictionary…
Panda Express is a Chinese fastfood restaurant. It’s where we often go for cheap Chinese food fix, cheap, being the operative word. Before my daughter, Abby, ever learned to recognize the logo of Target, Ikea and Macy’s, she could already recognize the Panda Express logo a mile away.
It was only last Sunday when we had lunch at Panda Express that I was able to focus on their logo as if I were seeing it for the first time. And I was taken aback when I realized that all along, the words “Gourmet Chinese Food” were in the logo. Huh?
For the record, these are the Wikipedia definitions of gourmet:
1) The term gourmet may refer to a person with refined or discriminating taste or to one that is knowledgeable in the art of food and food preparation.
2) Gourmet may describe a class of restaurant, cuisine, meal or ingredient of high quality, of special presentation, or high sophistication.
So, was Panda Express right in referring to itself as gourmet? Are you shaking your head? My point exactly.
Food Etcetera | Comment (0)
Plastic Grocery Bag Origami
Here is where we keep our plastic grocery bags. We’ve got loads of it! This little cabinet used to be filled with plastic bags that we can no longer see the back. We even forgot that we kept phone directories here! It was just packed!
It was transformed to this when relatives came to visit us last month.
Tito (Uncle) Kit, hubby’s uncle priest, taught us a method of neatly folding the grocery bags, something he learned from the seminary. And this cabinet looking like this now is his handy work. He folded most of the plastic bags all by himself with very little help from hubby and me. Hee hee. :) Do we follow this method now? As much as we can. :) Or, we simply keep the bags somewhere else. Hahaha!
Here’s the step by step guide to plastic bag folding:
1. Lay the plastic bag likeso on a flat surface with the print on top.
2. Fold it in half.
3. Fold it in half again.
4. Pull up the lower left corner of the bag and fold it in an angle likeso…making a triangle.
5. Work your way up keeping the traingle pattern that you’ve already got going until you reach the bag handles.
6. Tuck the bag handles in the pocket on one side of the triangle.
7. Tadaaa!
There. You can do this while watching tv. Or ask your kids to do it when you ground them or for time-out! ;) Happy folding!
Food Etcetera | Comments (10)
