So-niele

“soul food”

I’ve been having “pangs” for “soul food” and I’m not talking the southern stuff but the stuff that I grew up on, like Mama’s cooking. I had a small filling of it on Sunday at a party. And then I’ve been wanting some of my mom’s “cancanen” but I don’t really care for the coconut aspect of it, so I looked through some of my various cookbooks that I have lying around the house.

I used a recipe from the cookbook on the right left, which coincidentally is the same that I found here. Easy peasy… so easy that I even found a video made by people from none other than, Hawai’i ! Cool ‘eh?!

The recipe is really watery/ liquidy which I’m not used to when baking things. But I hoped for the best… and then even questioned the bake time of 1 hour and 20 minutes

And now here it is after the allotted 1 hour and 20 minutes…

The house smells absolutely divine! Buttery, sugary goodness. YES! I can’t wait to cut into it, unfortunately I need to let it cool down before I cut it, otherwise it will be a puddle of a mess.

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Kitchen sink fried rice

This meal is a common occurrence in our house maybe every other week and sometimes every week. The kids really like it and it’s so easy to make. I like repurposing leftovers too which is always nice. Good for any time of the day even, especially if you come from an Asian household and rice is always available.

Sorry no exact measurements:
leftover cold rice
chopped garlic
chopped onion
eggs
meat of your choice (Spam, bacon, chicken, steak, hot dogs- whatever you have on hand)
frozen mixed veggies
salt
oyster sauce (optional)
soy sauce

If the rice is a little hard and clumped together I sprinkle a little water on it and mash it up so it separates a little bit, and then set aside. This is a one pot/pan method so… I normally cook and scramble the egg first and then set it aside. Depending on which meat you choose I throw that in the pan next. Of course bacon is going to take the longest to cook, unless you already have some cooked up. I normally cut up the meat into small pieces so you get a little in every bite. If using bacon, there will be some fat/oil rendered from that. KEEP THAT IN THE PAN, it gives you good flavor. Once your meat has been cooked or heated through, remove it from the pan. Add a little oil (unless you’re using bacon then you don’t need any). And throw in your chopped garlic and onion. Let that brown up a bit and then throw in your rice. Mix and stir, mix and stir. Then add your veggies. FROZEN. Straight from your freezer. It’s up to you how much you put in. And then again mix and stir, mix and stir. Season with salt and cook through until veggies are no longer frozen. Add your meat and eggs and mix and stir, mix and stir. At this point you’ll want to season with your choosing. Sometimes I use soy sauce and sometimes oyster sauce. The oyster sauce goes a long way tho in flavoring so be wary. Depending on how “crispy” you like your fried rice is up to you, so leave it on the heat for however long you like.

In this household it’s normally a one dish meal. The kids love the stuff and I can count on clean bowls/ plates EVERYTIME. And the veggies are in there too. YAY! Lately the baby has been hard to please when it comes to food. She only ever really asks for rice and it’s really hard to get her to eat any meat. Veggies are hit or miss these days and even eggs can even be a chore. She refuses to eat pasta. So it’s nice that she’ll eat EVERYTHING when it comes to this fried rice.

“Throw everything in there but the kitchen sink” Have you ever heard that phrase. It’s kind of the concept with this dish and that’s why it’s called “Kitchen Sink Fried Rice”!

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Bake, bake, bake

I’ve been in a baking mode, and strangely in cooking mode as well.

Bananas seem to go bad faster than the kids can eat them sometimes so I’m forced to make my mom’s banana bread. I haven’t been making them into breads tho, and instead kid friendly versions= muffins and mini muffins. I tried a zucchini bread recipe last week and it came out okay. The first loaf was undercooked despite baking for over an hour. I thought it looked okay but after it sat for awhile the top wasn’t looking cooked so much. This weekend I made more banana muffins and made some oatmeal, pineapple, mac nut cookies. Once these are done… I’m hoping to try out a rolled sugar cookie recipe. I had some yummy sugar cookie favors recently, but the maker won’t share the recipe.

What else have we been eating? Roast chicken and root veggies, turkey tacos w homemade salsa, buttermilk fried chicken, bistek tagalog, and short ribs. I’ve also been doing a bit of freezer diving which means that the kids have also been eating a bit of chicken nuggets, frozen pizzas, and the like

Tomorrow I have to bake cuppies for school’s bakesale Wednesday and for dinner we eat oven fried buttermilk chicken. I would like to make some smashed potatoes to go along with that, but I don’t really want to venture out in the rain that’s supposed to hit tomorrow.

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Aloha Day 10- PAR-TAY

PAR-TAY day!

Woke up early-ish and did some last minute prep then the birthday girl and I headed out to pick up ice, soda, and the ice cream cake. Came home and all she wanted to do was eat her cake already. Hello, party not for another 2 hours.

Slowly but surely the guests started to trickle in. The appetizers were a big hit and my Auntie A brought over some poke, just for ME . Finally!!! and it was YUM-TASTIC! The kolohe neighbor kids were over early and wreckin havoc. Man I honestly don’t know how their family deals with so many kids. There are 6 of them ranging in age from 12years old to 18 months.

All that matters is N had fun, which she did. She got a lot of good/cute stuff that she was very happy with as well as a bunch of $ that will be spent on replenishing her wardrobe, just in time for school.

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Aloha Day 9

Saturday like I said is really rather nothing day. We prepped the house for tomorrow’s party and did any food prep that could be done.

Went to church, and stated that we (the girls and me) would not be attending next week, it’s a longer mass b/c of baptisms and the girls are just out of hand naughty some times.

Came home had dinner and then babyM and I stole some time away together and went to Target for some necessities. The heat has been wreckin havoc on her and I forgot to get some diaper rash cream. Also got some anti itch cream for the kids b/c the mosquitoes are still feasting on us. Also got some crackers for J and popcorn for N. And some small bowls for the party tomorrow. Mom realized she didn’t have any cake plates.

Tomorrow… we PAR-TAY!

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Aloha Day 8

We have been here 1 week now and it all feels so natural. Like we’ve always been here. Lol.

Today we just ran errands for Sunday’s upcoming party.

First a trip to the Open Market in Ewa Beach. Fresh veggies, fresh fruits, and fresh from the mornings catch seafood. Oh yeah and even baked Pilipino goodies. I love going b/c I hear all the Manongs and Manangs speaking Ilokano (my family’s dialect). Something you don’t hear all too often back home in the mainland b/c everyone speaks Tagalog. Brings me back to the past at old family parties with my grandma or even when I would go to her house. I would hear her talking on the phone to someone. LOVE IT!

Then it was off to Foodland to pick up some water for the 3 day sale. Remember sticker shock here.

Back home we went to unload and teeter around the house for a bit and then we were off to Pearlridge. I wanted to hit up Price Busters for goodie bag things for the kids that are coming. I decided NOT to get a pinata this year, well b/c funds are low.

Also hit up the babyGap. Dang I always find good stuff here that the kids can wear. I guess things that they don’t necessarily wear here b/c of the weather. Found a cute sweater for the lilmiss, originally $29.50, marked down to $12.99 +25% off. When I got to the register, it was actually $7.99 +25% off, so it was a whopping $5.99 with only a 4.??% tax. Unlike back home it’s 9.5%.

There is a bug exhibit @ Pearlridge and it’s pretty neat. The bugs are huge.

We parked by Macy’s and so on our way out I hit up the kids section there too. Deals upon deals. AGAIN! Finished off babyM’s gift cert. Found her some Hurley stuff. So cute. A sweatshirt that was originally $36 for only $7.99 and a tshirt that was originally $14, for $4.99. And a really pretty Guess blouse that was originally $21.50, $4.99. I’m telling you. I always find such good stuff for the kids in Hawaii.

Then it was off to Costco for some finishing stuff for the party.

Came home, had dinner and then it was to work I went. Rolled lumpia and made spinach dip. Whew!

My toes and fingers feel like sausages. I hate the water retention and the heat. It does things like that to me here. I feel so swollen.

Tomorrow is Saturday, and as you know it’s clean up and church day… so we won’t be doing much of anything.

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Aloha Day 7- Hau’oli la hanau lilmiss

Big old 4 years old! She will embark to preschool in the fall *sigh* Where does the time go?

Today she woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed and yet still with much attitude. Her daddy called and wanted to talk to her and she wanted NOTHING to do with the phone. My sister called. Same thing. UGH!

Packed up the truck and headed to Ko’olina. YAY! The kids have been dying to get out there. And as soon as we plunked down and found a spot they were gone for the water. Last year babyM was much to small to even care about the beach, but this year she was on the shore playing in the sand and water. And then when I brought her out in the inflatable honu, she wanted nothing to do with it. She kept trying to get out and get MORE in the water. Lol.

Had a small picnic lunch at the beach, rested up a bit, and headed back into the water. For some reason the sunblock didn’t work on the 2 big kids, despite lathering them up again. They’re both sporting lobster backs. Pwahahahaha.

Came home and Mama fired up the stove and cooked up some pancit (long life). Then we headed out to buy her a pink cake. Guava cake from Napoleon’s Yummy.

All in all I think she had a good birthday. She just needs to work on her grumpiness factor. UGHs!

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Aloha day 3

Another day in paradise.

So I did wake early and apparently so did the girls. My mom said once again babyM was scratching at her shirt but managed to get her back to sleep. The nice thing is that babyM doesn’t “bother” me with the scratching. The magic word hasn’t been said since we departed the plane!

I made it to the market only to once again NOT buy any chxn bc damnit I needed to get a raincheck. Got some other things tho and found that mom had some chicken in the freezer. BBQ was on.

Didn’t do much of anything, went to Walmart and Sam’s Club. Sad to see that there aren’t any new books out. So yeah it was a nothing sort of Sunday.

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In search for yet… another recipe

A food that often reminds me of my childhood is ukoy. I spent a lot of time at my maternal grandparents’ home growing up. My parents worked and my grandparents often watched me, along with a number of my cousins. I think I’ve mentioned this before, but there would be big meals EVERY Friday with whoever could make it in the area. We’re talking no less than 15 people EVERY Friday! My grandma wasn’t such a great cook but when she did make certain things, I was sure to remember.

There were 3 things that she could make, that rocked my socks: ukoy, her banana fritters, and carioca. My mom swears my grandma didn’t make the carioca tho. I still says she did tho and keep it at that. Unforunately she never shared her recipes with anyone and back then I was far too young to even care to be in the kitchen to watch her with her “magic”. So now I’m on the search. The search for just the right ukoy recipe. I know I can buy it already made, and in fact we did just that today but it’s far too expensive not to learn. I mean shootz the bakery was selling 1 ukoy for $2.49 and it wasn’t even all that great. Pfft. So like my lumpia shanghai that I have mastered to a T, I’m going to do the same with ukoy!

In fact my old college roomie’s mommy has a damned yummy recipe. Actually her family’s recipes for quite a few things are quite yummy! But I only asked for the ukoy recipe via email just yesterday. Lol. Here’s hoping she shares the love.

Of course googling recipes for ukoy gets a lot of variation, but not quite what I’m looking for. And woo boy I never knew that you could put tofu in it. What an interesting twist! I know for sure I want sweet potato, bean sprouts, green onions, and onions in it… it’s just the batter. I got to get it just right.

Oh and in case you were wondering, ukoy is a fritter of sorts, normally made of veggies and often times with a shrimp in it. I actually don’t care much for the shrimp. And yeah it’s served with a yummy dipping sauce of soy sauce, vinegar, and a little garlic. Mmmmmmmasarap!!!!!!!!!

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A week later

The party has been done and over with for about a week and there are still remnants about the house. She got PLENTY of clothes and if I wanted, I wouldn’t have to do her laundry for a good while.

The party was a big hit. Everyone loved the location. Some of the kids I didn’t even see b/c they were outside in the playground the whole time. And YAY for good weather. *whew* It rained the night before and even as I left the house to pick up my mom but once we got to the party location it was clear skies the whole day. On the menu: steamed rice, Young Chow fried rice, Mama’s pancit, chow mein, my lumpia, broccoli beef, sweet & sour pork, pork guisantes, bbq chicken, chicken katsu, tri colored mochi, cassava cake, kankanen, broken glass jell-o, Pilipino fruit salad, fresh fruit salad, fresh pineapples, and even li hing mui powder to put on their fruit it they wanted. And the YUMMY cake was from She.ng Kee, a vanilla sponge cake with fresh strawberries and whipped cream frosting. YUM! There was plenty of food to be eaten and plenty to be taken home!

The only bad things are that some cash went missing . It was in my back pocket and by the time I remembered it was there, when we were home already, it was GONE. And also a gift card was missing also. *sigh* It took me awhile to get over it, but I’m officially over it. Like my mom kept saying, “Hopefully whoever found the money and gift card, needs them more than M does.”

I am so proud of both the favors *beams* You’ll either have to check FB or Fli.ckr to see them bc they were personalized with her name and I didn’t bother to blur that out.

So glad the party went well, but moreso I’m glad that the party is finally over. I hate the process that goes into throwing a party and all the stress associated it with it. Next time, if I ever throw another party for the kids, it will definitely be low key.

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We gonna party

Sunday is the day! PAR-TAY! Man this week has been hectic and thankfully everything is falling into place. YAY!

Food has been ordered. Cake is ordered. Whatever requisite things I told myself that I would make they’re made and marinating. Moms got a few things to make tomorrow herself and she’ll do that free of any kidlet interruptions. I just need to pick up a few more things tomorrow and we’re good to go. I’m just hoping this all goes smoothly.

I’m quite excited about the favors. YAY! I didn’t bother doing kiddie favors this time around. I’m just tired of all the lil toys and stuff and didn’t want to bother everyone else with the toys.

We are supposed to expect rain on Sunday *le sigh* But at least we’re in a hall. Only thing is that hall has a max capacity of about 50 ppl. And the guest list, according to the Evite, is in the 70s which isn’t including the peeps that weren’t on the Evite. I am still hoping that it will clear up at least of the rain and the kids will spill out to the playground *crossing fingers and toes*

So that’s where I’ve been. I’ve been neglecting this space as well as many other places as of late. Oh well at least the kids are taken care of tho, right?

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Cooking for 3.5

I’ve been cooking more which is good on the pocketbooks. Less eating out. Although we did eat out as a family on Saturday and made it a two meal outing anyhow. And then we went to a baptism on Sunday and got food there, those are always nice.

Whole chickens are 79 cents a pound at Safeway right now and we’ve got 2. One is in the freezer and the other has been purposed for 2 meals. The breasts were ripped from it for today’s meal. I’m really rather excited. I started it late though so it’s not quite ready yet. I’ve got hungry babies. Lilman is not into it much so I repurposed the torta from last week with some old rice and WALA, fried rice. Big hit with him. Good! It’s annoying how much of a picky eater he is!!! The rest of the chicken is in the reefer. I’m not sure what I might do with it just yet, thinking maybe this. I’m on kick with using the Crock Pot again. I like 1 dish meals sometimes. Less clean up is nice!!!

I have some ground turkey in the freezer. Bought 4 packs the other day. On sale, $2.49 a pack. Not bad eh? Think spaghetti is in order. Haven’t made that in awhile!

I’ve been itching for baked goodies lately too. I’ve gotta do bakesale Wednesday cuppies tomorrow. Haven’t done that in awhile and surprisingly we’re only 16 points away from our 50 pt goal. Woo hoo!!! So it actually wasn’t as bad as I had complained about. But I’ve been wanting some peach crumble. Or some bread pudding. Things are rather hard sell in this house though if they’re not cookies, brownies, or cuppies. UGH! No fun!

Only 15 more minutes to go… let’s hope it’s as good as it smells up in hurrrrrrrrr!!!

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Back to being mom

Mama left yesterday *sigh* Only 2 months she’ll be gone and I’m sure they’ll go by fast too.

Yesterday was the first day in a long while that I’ve had to cook dinner for the kidlets. I didn’t really “cook” per se though. Lilman had bball practice and we were running around the majority of the day. So J and I had grilled cheese sammies with a side of cantaloupe. Lilmiss and babyM had Ichiban noodles. Which I totally forgot to look for when I was at Costco last. UGH! Good thing mama gave us her extra stash she had around the house.

Been stocking up on healthy snacks for the kidlets too. We’ve got bananas, strawberries, cantaloupe, and blueberries. If they ask for a snack it’s normally one of those or a cheese stick.

I went grocery shopping today so I could actually cook. We have some leftover mashed taters that ma made and the ground turkey is on sale at Safeway for $2.49 with the coupon. So I decided to make Shepherd’s Pie! We had some other leftover things in the fridge like ham and gravy so I threw those in too along with the frozen veggies. I think it’ll be good. But knowing the kids and their love of rice, they won’t eat it, so I made them something else. I made them tortang again b/c it was such a big hit. I figure if they don’t eat it all I can make some lumpia with it too.

Yeah so dinner is made just needed to turn on the rice and pop the “pie” in the oven.

The whole chickens were on sale too, 79 cents a lb. I picked up one of those too and I’ll have to think of a recipe for that.

My whacked out sleep schedule finally hit me last night. As I was fast asleep before 10PM. I managed to fail at my kidlets 365 and didn’t even get a picture of the lilman. That and I didn’t even post until this morning. FAIL!

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good Bye 2008

In a matter of hours it will be 2009! Holy Moly!!!

As per usual we are without the Bm b/c he is working the clubs. No bother though b/c I’m so used to it already! He actually didn’t have something but I encouraged him to find something, b/c it’s really good money.

So right now we’re at my mom’s stuffing our faces. Gotta get it all in b/c she departs back to Hawaii on Wednesday *cries*. I made some binbingkang malagkit. Stopped off at the dim sum spot for buchi (sesame balls), sweet rice cakes, and char siu bao. Round round round= long life. Mom is making pancit as I’m typing, another long life wish. My brother made some carnitas for tacos and we’ve also got some tri tip. Grindz fo’shua. Tomorrow we have prime rib and mashed taters. Yeah you’ll certainly have to stick a fork in me later. But I swear, once Mama goes no more eating!

The year has been an eventful one, especially with the addition of babyM. Lilman started a new school and has participated in basketball and soccer. Lilmiss is growing like a weed and learning at leaps and bounds. The BM started a new job quit it while we were on our summerlong hiatus to the islands, and picked up another job; all in addition to his still holding strong at the station and clubs.

May 2009 be even more eventful for us as a family as well as you. May health and wealth be yours as well. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

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4 days and counting

4 more sleeps and Santa will be merrily on his way. All the gifts that needed to be wrapped have been wrapped, but I still have the next round.

So glad we didn’t get a tree, b/c guess who’s climbing now? Yeah! Climbing! WTF? The corralling her shall only last much longer b/c she’ll climb up a “road block” and know how to maneuver herself down… hello back that ass up. Srsly WTF? 10 months old. I swear the others weren’t this advanced. Then again J was walking at 10 months without even crawling.

Speaking of blasts from the past, went through some photos in the harddrive archives and I forgot how chubba wubba lilmiss was. DAMN she had some cheeks on her!

Managed to do some cookie baking too and I have no clue what the hell I’m going to do with them either. We sooooooo do not need to be eating that many cookies. Lol. Tomorrow I roll lumpia.

Gifts are taken care of save for the Mister, and I’m feeling guilty and bad that I don’t have anything for him. What’s worse is that he’s like a little kid when it comes to Christmas and expects something to open. But funds are low, and my brain has been inactive thinking of something to get him. He gets everything and anything he wants for himself on a daily basis.

Okay my free time has winded down. BabyM crawled into a laundry basket full of toy goodness and was occupied for a good 45 minutes. Yeah! I know! 45 minutes. But the whining and crying is now calling me. Happy Holidays…

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Spay-shal

That was my breakfast this morning. Egg in a basket, or as my ma calls it Popeye. It’s just a piece of bread with a puka, (hole) in it and the egg cooked in that puka. And on the side is the bread made from the puka. Sure it’s easy peasy but Ma didn’t make it for me all the time. Only on Sundays! Ma didn’t have all the time in the world during the week, she was a working mama Monday thru Friday. My dad did the dinner cooking as he had the graveyard shift, so my dad was the one home with me afterschool. Saturdays were spent cleaning the house and then off to the grocery store to replenish the reefer and cabinets.

So when Sunday rolled around she would sometimes indulge me and make me a Popeye !!! And as I’ve said, sure it’s an easy peasy recipe, one that I’ve even found in The Joy of Cooking, but she only made it on occasion. Which made it rather spayshal (special) to me!!! And I do the same for my kids! I don’t cook it up all the time, I’m trying to make it a special thing for them too. And when I do make it… you better believe their plates are licked clean. heh.

I made this one just for myself tho. *shh Don’t tell the kids. J is off to school and N spent the night t my mom’s. M is here but she don’t know any better. But I swear she was eyeing my food as I tried to feed her her fruit and oatmeal mush, that she refused to eat. She never liked to eat the oatmeal/ rice cereal but I have to force her to eat the stuff b/c she’s borderline anemic, so her ped encouraged me to just keep trudging on and feeding it to her. She also said to try the drops and she won’t even take those. So whatever I can do to help her.

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*yawn*

I’m tired, seems I’m always tired as of late. I blame the baby b/c despite having a full tummy, taking consistent naps, sleeping at the right time… she still wakes and OFTEN through the night as well as having her internal clock wake anywhere between 630 and 7AM. UGH. I’m not even going to ask what’s wrong with her not sleeping through the night yet. Her siblings didn’t do it, so why should she, right? It would be a nice thing, but I’ve accepted it!

Thanksgiving has come and gone and it was a good one. Being with the ones that matter the most and most importantly Mama wasn’t all the way across the ocean. Tummies were satisfied. Food was good! Now to figure out what to make for Christmas . I made piggies in blankies, lumpia, and pumpkin cheesecake. More than likely I will make lumpia and piggies again, but will do something different for dessert.

As in past years I braved the crowds with Mama Toots and did midnight madness. This year I didn’t. I just couldn’t fathom bringing the baby out at that hour of the night. I can’t leave her with anyone, especially not at night b/c I am her human pacifier, lest I be gone, sure as hell no one will sleep. Instead I woke at 530 and got ready and headed to Tarjey. Picked up a bunch of good loot for gifts and then headed back home to pick up lilman. For some reason the lilmiss had already been awake and was aware that I was heading out, she wanted to come too. Funny thing is she thought it was still night, b/c it was dark. And of course, had to bring baby along. They did very well. Then it was off to my mom’s to p/up mom and SIL. We headed down the peninsula and they went to town at both Old Navy and Guess. Crowds surprisingly weren’t bad at all the whole day. Thank goodness.

26 more days til Christmas!

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Ramblings

For the life of me, I can’t remember where I put the Sleeping Beauty DVD!?!? Bought it at Target last month and I have not seen it since. OY!

I need to go through the girls’ clothes and put some away and give back or donate the smalleys from babyM. Been stocking up on some stuffs for her b/c there was a gap in the 6-18 handmedowns. And for some reason I need to go thru some things b/c onesies seem to be lacking. Where the hell did they go? Lilmiss was wearing stuff from when lilman was a baby, so where did those go?

Today I finally got J an appt for his flu shot. Thankfully it went fast. When we arrived at the office it was packed. Not a seat in the house. As soon as a seat opened up they called him in and I also made an appt for babyM’s 2nd dose for next month. Then we were off to the lab to get her blood drawn. OY! I can’t believe she even put a tourniquet on her. She’s so itty bitty. I had to hold her and she didn’t like that one bit. She let out a teensy cry from the poke and was more irritated that she couldn’t move.

Thanksgiving is next week. Weeee!!! I’m so excited. I’m appetizers and half of desserts. I’ve gotta roll lumpia next week and I need to think of another appetizer I forgot about the pigs in blankets those always go well at family gatherings. My mom ordered kutsinta and maja blanca and I’m making a pumpkin praline cheesecake. Mom’s is making the turkeys, yes 2 and the mashed ‘taters. My sister has side items. I’m wondering if anyone else is coming to Thanksgiving?

I want to watch Twilight, of course! But I think I’ll have to wait til AFTER the holiday weekend. So I can watch it in the middle of the day when all the screaming FANatic tweens are in school. I had to go back thru my archives to see when I read the stinkin thing. Over a year ago. And to think I was encouraging my niece to read it back then, did she heed my calls? Of course not, and guess who’s reading all 4 of my books now? HA! I told my sister she should read them now. She’s gonna try. Or so she says.

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And so the season ends

The soccer one that is. They didn’t lose. But they didn’t win either. We thought for sure we were going to be walking out of there with our heads down low. But they scored, and so did the other team. And although they’ve tied before, somehow walking out of there with a goal is somehow better. They were all so happy, as well they should be.

We made a trip to the pumpkin patch for the baby’s 1st pumpkin patch visit. She was in snooze land when we arrived and I was very hesitant to wake her, but she was all smiles . Yay! I think I got some good pictures in. And funny babyM was the most cooperative of the bunch, even compared to the Daddy. Ha!

We were s’posed to be in many places today and made it to the select few that we did.

Oh yeah, think we might be on the hunt for a new school… AGAIN! Oy! This is annoying. Lately we’ve been missing out on some vital info from the school. Stuff that’s s’posed to be in the twice a month envelope that gets sent home, only it hasn’t been in OURS. And more than a month ago, I sent in a sheet of paper indicating that we’d be donating some food for the International Dinner. S gets to the school to drop off the goods and they’ve only got us down for 1 donation. The one that gets LESS points. WTF???? And then she nearly refused to accept the other one, and only gave us HALF the points. Biiiiiiiiiitch! He forced it on her! Bullshit! The damn school is so damned cliquish it’s annoying. J is doing absolutely fine, excelling even and I hate to pull him out when he’s made some good friends, again, but sometimes it’s better for our own sanity. It’s strange to me that tuition is so varying around the city. Oy! Decisions, Decisions!

Posted in babbles, keiki, cooking, lil man, ohana, weekend, complaints, big mister, out&about, baby M | 2 Comments »

Cupcakes

I missed bakesale Wednesday this week. I was busy Tuesday. But why oh why have I been itching for a cupcake? Not that we have leftovers or extras from the ones that go to school. So today, I made that itch scratchable . I baked up a box of Golden Vanilla. Yeah, yeah hate me and *tsk* me all you want. I use box cake. Plain and simple! I changed it up a bit from using a recipe in this book. A simple substitution of 1 cup of buttermilk for the water and an extra egg. Can I just say, that this cupcake is moist! Yum ! Of course I had to have a sample. After dinner I’m going to pipe some vanilla pudding in the middle and frost with lemon frosting. Lol. That’s was lilman’s choice. I was going to do buttercream but he said lemon. I would have preferred lemon puddin in the middle but couldnt find any. Pffft!

[edit] And here they are in all their glory! So pretty. I only sampled a cuppie straight out the oven. No filling. No frosting. It was delish. Lilman had a full on cuppie and wanted another. But he’d just about eat anything with frosting on it .

Posted in babbles, cooking, eating, lil man | 1 Comment »

Goooooooo me!

Tonight I tried the 10 minute stroganoff recipe and it was a hit with the 2 big kids. Next time though I think I’ll omit the ground beef and just go full on mushrooms! Oh yeah and also add another can of cream of mushroom soup! .

I also had my first go around with making homemade baby food for babyM. My mom bought me this book from Ross today for a whopping $7. When she first came out with the book I was skeptical b/c she claimed to be the originator of mixing veggies in kids’ food. NOT! Some of the recipes seem rather fake too (as if her kids would eat stuff like that), but it gave me some ideas for the kids. The kids eat veggies more or less but sometimes it gets challenging.

I knew how to make the baby food but after reading the book it inspired me even more. I couldn’t very well feed her what the other kids were eating and I had some things in the kitchen. So I busted out my bamboo steamer and steamed her 5 baby carrots, a small sweet potato, and one of my mom’s homegrown apples. It said to puree in a food processor, and we have one but it’s a frickin pain to clean that thing just for that small amount. I just smushed with a fork and portioned out about 2 teaspoons for her to try tonight. I put the rest in the freezer. Well she inhaled that stuff like a champ and may as well have licked the bowl b/c she was looking for lots more!

I can’t wait to try spinach and butternut squash!!!

Posted in babbles, keiki, cooking, eating, lil man, lil miss, work, baby M | 2 Comments »

Island Hospitality?

Okay this is kind of a funny post.

We have befriended the neighbors on the right of the house. I’m talking we have parties we invite them. They have parties they invite us. The kids get along, etc. We have extra things to share, we share. And we are reciprocated. It’s one family extended. The grandparents, their 5 children, their children’s spouses/ bfs gfs/, and the grandchildren. At any time there could be up to 15 people there, me thinks. Give or take.

Yesterday the kids were playing out in the yard. My kids were told specifically to stay outside with them! Somehow my kids and 4 of their kids ended up IN our house. OY! No one came looking for them. No one was yelling out the window b/c we can literally hear them next door. As I am typing I can hear them watching tv. Anywho they were here. Eating. Playing. Being all rowdy. I don’t remember how we got them out. But they left.

Today lilmiss heard them playing and to tire her out she was told to stay out there with them. But she’s not allowed to go on her own, her brother has to go to. He was reluctant to go but ended up going. He gets along with the oldest girl. She’s a bit of a tom boy. So, he was told that they were NOT allowed to come over to play. And the stinkin kid repeated it to them. How embarrassing! They were playing and we hear the door open. Hello. It’s not one of our kids. But the neighbor boy. He comes in with his slippahs on too!!! *shakes head* So he comes over to see what we’re going in the family room and goes looking for N’s scooter. My mom says to take it outside with him, mind you N was told she could only play with the scooter IN the house. My mom just didn’t want him inside. He leaves. He comes back and asks for a snack. I grab 5 and send him on his way. N comes back with another one of the kids and says she wants her backpack. They’re going to play school. Fine. She packs up her things and they’re on their way. Lil boy returns for the 3rd time. And then leaves. N comes back with friend to go potty. Then J comes back with 2 more of the friends while my mom is eating at the table. OY! J grabs a water stands around my mom, who is eating and they leave.

5:30PM rolls around and the kids are told to come in, it’s time for dinner. And we send the other kids on their way. J doesn’t want to eat b/c he’s got a headache but N gets her grind on. 6:30PM rolls around and it’s time for J to eat. There’s a faint knocking on the door and it’s the boy… again. He asks my mom if we have food and so she makes a plate for him. Oh man! No one is looking for him. Nothing. He’s 3. He’s here for a good half hour before we hear them calling for him. Oldest cousin comes inside the house and is just kinda standing around. She leaves. Boy still stays. By this time I’m cracking the hell up. He leaves, he only ate half of what was given to him. He came back… again around 8PM. He wanted to come in and watch tv, but my mom sent him home.

WTF??? A little too comfortable don’t ya think? I was telling my mom we need to lock the doors when our kids go out so the neighbor kids just don’t walk in. Shooots, what if I had been feeding babyM???

Posted in babbles, keiki, cooking, eating, lil man, lil miss, complaints, funnies | 5 Comments »

Coooooooooookies

Funny how I had a “craving” of sorts for White Choco Chip and MacNut Cookies all b/c of that teaser I had from Subway. And so I was on a mission to make my own. My mom brought back HELLA macnuts from the Big Island. And of the baking variety too. Woot! B/c them suckahs is expensive. I just needed to buy butter and white choco chips! And then while out with my brother and his gf today they bought some at Mrs. Field’s! I told him I was going to make some and he said he wanted them right then and there. LoL. The recipe I used yielded like 6 dozen, and they’re NOT nibblers either. I’ll definitely be sharing these.

White Chocolate Chip MacNut Cookies

1 cup butter softened, 2 sticks
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs, room temp
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 cups white chocolate chips
2 cups chopped macadamia nuts

Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter and sugars til fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and vanilla. Beat well. Blend in flour and baking soda. Stir in chips and nuts. Drop by teaspoon on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes! Remove immediately and put on wire rack for slightly crispy slighty chewy cookies.

Nomnomnom.

Posted in babbles, cooking, eating, shopping, out&about | 4 Comments »

Been reacquainting myself…

With the kitchen. Yeah, when Mama was here Mommy didn’t do much in the way of cooking. I occasionally helped her and baked things in her kitchen, but that’s about it. I was good about getting take out too .

BabyM doesn’t allow much in the way of using both my arms though. She does nap when I put her down, but they’re more cat naps instead of allowing me to cook elaborate meals. LMAO j/k! I made pasta this past week and it lasted quite awhile! I like meals like that. We also had sandwiches and we were invited to a friend’s house for loco moco. This week I’ve got a roasted chicken planned with rice. Meatloaf. And our own loco moco. Oh and I’m sure if those don’t make it the whole week, then probably breakfast for dinner. Shoot I’ve also gotta go through the freezer and cook up some of the stuff in there before we leave. I think we’ve got some pork in there somewhere. I’ve gotta get Mama Toots crock pot pork chop recipe.

I do want to get some ice cream too as we’re running low. Need to stop talking about food… it’s making me hungry and it’s nearly sleepy time.

Posted in babbles, cooking, eating, baby M | No Comments »

Downloading

…. my brain. Or at least the thoughts that are currently inundating them at the moment.

Mother’s Day was low key. Saturday we went to dinner with my fams @ Broadway Prime. It’s become an annual tradition. But this year the prime rib wasn’t as “melt in my mouth fantastic” as it has been in years past, my plate wouldn’t have told you otherwise though, b/c I was grinding on that like it was nobody’s business! No point in wasting the food . Then we went back to my mom’s to have dessert and exchange gifts. Mmm cheesecake! Costco’s cheesecake certainly does not disappoint. I especially like the nonthick crust. Nomnomnom .

Sunday the baby reminded me that I was a mother and that I would have to wake up with her at 6AM. *rolls eyes* In my feeble attempts at putting her back to sleep: sticking the boob in her mouth, patting her, rocking her, pretending I was asleep… she decided otherwise. She was all giggles and smiles. So as not to disturb anyone else, I brought her to the living room and played with her and we both fell back to sleep. Only to be awoken by the lilmiss looking for us. Tried to crawl back in bed but that didn’t happen. As again baby was awake and bright eyed and bushy tailed. Oh well.

Opened up my card from the BM and kids and just milled around the house. Read the paper and then we all got ready and headed out to visit BM’s grandma. Hung out there for a bit and then sent the BM to pick up lunch from Ono and headed over to my mom’s. She wasn’t even home and being as hungry as I was, the lilmiss and I started in on the grindz. She came home and we chit chatted a bit. Then somehow I ended up in her living room taking a nap with the baby. And somehow my mom managed one too.

A low key Mother’s Day surrounded by the ones that mean the most to me, that’s all that really matters in the end anyhow right? Oh yeah and good food too .

In other news, the keiki are getting baptized this weekend. Yes. All 3. I still need to order the cake. The Toots Fam is helping me with favors. And I still need to finalize/remind the reception site. It’s going to be a small affair despite all 3 kids being baptized at once. Which is better for me anyhow b/c I didn’t want to have to deal with all the planning and stressing.

Mom is leaving next week , she’s headed back to Oahu on Tuesday. What am I going to do without her? Who’s going to feed us? No seriously! I haven’t really cooked since she’s been back and I’m not even really sure if the baby will allow it. And then there’s the whole thing about us heading out to the islands for the summer. The plans are to leave a few days after Father’s Day and return sometime before my birthday. That’s a nice big chunk of time at our second home, but tickets have yet to be purchased. Waiting on the BM’s tax return for that. And we’re wondering where it might be?!?! Tickets are frickin expensive too. AUWE!

Oh well I’ve emptied my brain for the night. Time to go to sleep.

Posted in babbles, keiki, cooking, eating, ohana, celebration, weekend, complaints, big mister, out&about, baby M | No Comments »

Hello Monday

Easter’s festivities were plentiful, which is always a nice thing. From the Easter egg hunt last week, photos with the Easter Bunny on Saturday, and happenings with family…. it’s no wonder I was tired this morning and slept in . Thankfully the wee one was cooperating. The middle one, not so much . She’s not pleasant when she wakes up cranky. Ewww.

Today I’ve tidied up a bit. Started a load of laundry to soak, dishes, and what not. We’re having kitchen sink fried rice again tonight, I haven’t made that in a bit. Here’s hoping the wee one allows for some hands free time in order to feed everyone else. We’ve got to make a stop at the library to return the borrowed books and pick up some new reads for J. I haven’t read much in a minute.

Dumping photos from the weeks happenings and catching up on my online photo albums. 3 down, 3 more to go. Sheesh.

Thankfully the lilmiss has been cooperating. Normally she would go back to my mom’s tonight, but I think I might just keep her with us. Let’s just hope she’s nice at karate. The last time she went she got me all sweaty and stuff and her panties were all in a bunch. Sheesh.

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Sleep

Why am I not sleeping? My eyes are telling me I’m tired. But I’m not asleep. The girls are on either side of me ASLEEP. Sometimes when I realize I should be asleep already I figure I’ll just wait for the baby to wake and then go to sleep. Lame. I shouldn’t do that. I don’t even know how many times I wake in the night to feed either .

I wake fairly early most days too, averaging about 5 hours of sleep total. No naps for me. Not good. But I feel fine. Feeling fine and being fine are different though huh?

Anyhow today we swung by karate for a free picture with the Easter bunny. Sheesh mall bunnies are so stinkin expensive it’s ridiculous. I was hoping the baby could get a photo of her own, but it was madness at the school and there was a 1 photo per family b/c of the craziness, so it was all 3 monsters. The bunny there looked way better at karate and less ragged too. Heh. I was hiding babyM in the blanket and when I placed her on the bunny there were lots of Oohs and Aaahs. Heh. Probably b/c she’s still so small. She slept the whole time, of course. And surprisingly lilmiss was in top cheese form. heh. Last year she was sooooooo afraid.

After that we went to a birthday party in the city, at a CLUB! Was feeling kinda skeptical. But lilmiss had good fun and there were things for the lilman to do there too. BM even had fun, I thinks. He danced with the lilmiss while I hid the baby in her sling. Lilmiss even passed up lunch, who passes up lumpia? Heh?! To do what? Get her groove on. Crack. me. up. Oh yeah and I saw my childhood crush at the party. BM and MM of course had to tease me about it. All in good fun!

Tomorrow we go to my mom’s for fam bam lunch. I just need to get my things together for the deviled eggs as everything else has been cooked and prepped. Go me.

Have a blessed and wonderful Easter!!!

Posted in babbles, keiki, cooking, eating, lil man, lil miss, ohana, celebration, weekend, big mister, out&about, baby M | No Comments »

Life as we know it…

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!! Yeah we represent b/c the keiki are part Irish. For as long a I can remember, my parents have been big on the whole corned beef and cabbage dish. And no I’m not talking about the stuff that comes out of the can! Although I’d much prefer the latter. I’ve never been big on the stuff and it cracks me up that the BM, who is actually Irish, doesn’t even eat the stuff, not even his grandparents. My parents always cook the stuff this time of year.

Having a bit of a late start this morning. I’ve gotta put gas in the car, *shakes head* It’s ridiculous how much we have to pay for gas! We pay the MOST than anywhere in the country apparently. Not fair! Considering we’ve got a refinery just on the other side the Bay! Then I was going to check out the new $1 store up the street. BabyM is napping and lilmiss is watching Ni Hao Kai lan.

Been watching a bit of movies as of late too. Finally got a chance to watch 27 Dresses and absolutely loved it. And then last night the lilmiss and I watched Enchanted, but I didn’t love it as much. It seemed promising and the lilmiss was totally into it at first but then we got bored towards the middle and then it picked up at the end. Next up on the movie list is No Reservations.

This week we’ve got an Easter get together on Wednesday, hopefully the weather cooperates. Then my mom is off to Arizona at the latter end of the week for a funeral. And then on Saturday we’ve got the Easter thing at karate and a bday party to attend. Then Sunday we’ve got the fam bam thing at my mom’s. So far I’m making bibingka malagkit and premade lumpia to fry over at mama’s. And then I’m debating between cupcakes and mini cheesecakes. Or maybe deviled eggs? I’m soooooo not big on coloring eggs and then eating them later… I’m big on stuffing the plastic eggs with chocolate goodness .

Okay I’ve got a few things to do before the baby wakes, b/c I hear some stirring… Happy Monday everyone!

Posted in babbles, cooking, eating, shopping, ohana, celebration, weekend, tellyvision, out&about, baby M | 1 Comment »

Ooh a new K Drama

So I got an email from AZN about a new K drama that’s starting tonight. I’m kinda excited! I’m still watching another one on DVD. And the BM is downloading me some others. I’m still waiting to hear on my “hook up” too. . There hasn’t been much to watch on regular tv as of late anyhow. The only shows that I’ve really been watching are LOST, of course , and Jon and Kate plus 8.

We have to leave soon to pick up the lilman and I just put babyM to sleep. Sheesh. Lilmiss has been good for me today *knocks on wood*. And I also managed to make the meat sauce for pasta for dinner tonight! I had to squeeze in breakfast and lunch together too. I even managed to take a shower. I was worried that lilmiss would bother her sister. BabyM was sleeping in the swing and N always manages to either stop the swing from swinging or touching her too much. I took an extra few minutes in the shower and as soon as I turned off the water I could hear babyM’s wails. Man I felt guilty.

ARGH!!! POS!!! N was watching On Demand and her show finished so I decided to check the guide for Azn to see when the show would actually be on, thinking maybe 7:30PM tonight! ARGH! No such luck! It’s on right now!!! 1:30PM-2PM. Frick frack!!!

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Say it isn’t so….

Are the planets in alignment? Did a cow jump over the moon? Are pigs flying? Someone explain to me how N managed to take a nap today. No really. It happened and albeit it short, it happened!!! On her own accord. Sure we had errands to run and we were in the car, but I’ve been complaining for awhile that somehow she decided naps weren’t for her. I was ready to start a new sleep regimen for her, anticipating lots of crying and screaming on her end… I still might b/c the things that will be occuring round these parts soon, will rock her world, and well I’ll be needing some peace and quiet myself .

In other news there has been quite a bit of Oatmeal consumption as of late. On my end. I’ve been having “problems” and I’ve had to remedy this somehow. I’m getting the hang of it. I forgot I actually like the stuff with a lil brown sugar. YUM! I can’t do that microwave or instant stuff though. ICK. On the stovetop it goes and I stand and stir. It really sticks to the innards huh?

There will be no homecooking tonight. There’s a bit of leftovers in the fridge as well as some frozen stuffs I can feed the kids.

The sun is shining once again. YAY! But it’s still freezing as ever.

Posted in babbles, cooking, eating, lil miss, out&about | No Comments »