I've been feeling a little bit heavy lately and it doesn't help to see my back with that back shot I did on my previous entry. I look like I have a salbabida around my waist. Hahaha! So today, I thought of making a goal for myself. Lose 15lbs by March. And how? By eating the healthier option and keeping my portions in check. Sounds like a plan, an easy plan, but will it work for me? I am an emotional eater. I eat when I get sad, and sometimes I don't eat at all. I go on binge eating; I could eat half of a birthday cake when I want to. I could finish the icing on the whole cake when I want to. And after feeling severely full, what goes in backfires out. Unhealthy? Very. This whole thing isn't really focused on losing weight, though, losing the weight would really be nice and keeping it off would be great. It's more about being healthy overall and making healthy choices when it comes to food... and life in general. Too deep? Hahaha. Time to go now. Eat healthy! Cheers!
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
4th and 1st day
The picture you see above is not a pretty picture of a sunburn, those are 2nd degree burns. Excuse the display of the fat handles but, yes, that's superficial blistering of the skin on the top of my star and at the back of my shoulders. I know that on Sunday I wrote that this "sunburn" is well worth it, well, I don't take it back, but, I just wished I knew better than to forgo(forget) putting sunblock on my back. I look like I may have been swatted with a huge paddle. My star looks sad, it's left arm is lopsided. And not only does my back look like a victim but my body feels like one too. Been bleeding like hell last night. The visitor is here since it eluded me last May 2008. Felt like a new woman yesterday. Hahaha. Now, if only I could celebrate it after this whole thing... Hahahahahahahaha! Wishful thinking. ;-) (I don't know if you know what I'm thinking, but no, it doesn't happen anymore, not since last year)
So, what has happened since Monday? Not much. Been thinking about shakes lately. Read a diet book and saw this fiber shake. Will try test drive it on me first then I will post it here. So wait for it. Bye for now and I hope you and I will enjoy the rest of the week. Cheers!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Love Story
Monday is the actual start of any given week and waking up to this day kind of energizes your zest for life. So many things to do for the week, only 7 days to do them. Today was different than usual, or so I thought. I asked Janix again for a date but again it never materialized. How silly of me to believe that this time it was gonna come true. The last time we went out for a date it was September, I think. We went out to dine at a restaurant, hurriedly eating our meal because someone back at the house told us Tyler wouldn't stop crying. It was supposed to be a dinner and movie date. Frustration, confusion, I need a blood transfusion! He just wont give me what I need the most, which is to feel loved and cared for. The day passed by and he never said a word about what he told me earlier, until I asked him during dinner. He told me he hasn't forgotten about it, but I wonder why he didn't say anything about it? I know airing your dirty laundry on the internet isn't good, but so is not keeping your word. This has been going on for the past 2 years and I just never learn. Everytime I put my heart out, he grabs it and crushes it in his hands. It hurts a lot. What's a girl to do about this? I need help... Please...
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Beachy Fun
We planned this beach outing for 2 weeks and finally this morning woke up to a promising day! It has been raining for days now and today seemed like Mom's prayers were answered, no rain while we are at the beach. So, I got up late (slept at 2am you know) past 8am and I was still a bit groggy and I noticed Janix tinkering with the router. Who wants to change routers and configure it at 8 o'clock in the morning? Only he, would be my guess. And because I was still fresh from dreamland, I was even kind of helping him, pitching in some questions and suggestions about the whole router thing then when everybody else but us left for church, I started fuming about the delay of our prep time for our planned beach day. I hurriedly cooked the shrimps, simply following the outline given to me by Lola Lolita earlier which was to cook the shrimps in the pan with water first then when water has dried, cook it in little oil and sprinkle some salt. I added a few steps to suit my adventurous palate by mixing in my fave garlic and onions, black pepper and chili flakes and just a bit of thyme.
This here is more than 1kg of shrimps boiling in 2 cups water. You can use less water. I mixed in salt, pepper, thyme and chili flakes while water is boiling.
When the shrimps looked opaque, I drained the water and set aside the shrimps and sauteed garlic and onions in butter in the same pan.
I then fried the shrimps for 8-10 minutes until completely done. This ended up dry, it was very tasty though, but dry. Maybe next time I'll try to cook it in lesser time. Or what do you think?
After cooking and packing things up, we ran to pick up Mom, NC and Syer and dropped by a store to get drinks and ice. We arrived at the beach few minutes past 11am and it was really a sight to behold! You see, it's been ages since I've stepped foot at the beach and the beach sure looked happy to see me too coz the sun shined until we went home at 5pm. Express what you desire and the universe conspires with you! Hahahaha! I'm not gonna do a The Secret thing here, but the line really holds true.
Taking a bite of the Dark Chocolate Balls. Should have hired a model...This looks like an entry for the Datu Puti Asim Mukha Challenge. Hahaha!
With my younger brother. A lot have said he and I look exactly alike. I don't agree...Hahaha! (evil laugh)
Glad to be out of the water.
With Papa Janix.
Testing the waters again with the help of a whale.
It was a no-go so we get him back to his dry clothes and pose for a picture with NC.
Can you spell fun? V-E-R-Y F-U-N!!! Swimming in the beach today made me feel like a kid again. We had fun going against the waves and we laughed like we were kids and it kind of transported me back to 8th or 9th grade. It was really what I needed, the sun, sand, beach and fun.
The sunburned skin that I have now is well worth it. I only remembered to apply sunblock on my face. I told my Mom it burns really bad and she told me just like when I was a kid, I get overly excited swimming everytime. And she smiled. Aww... I love you Mom! Thank you for making this fun day possible.
Just had 2 egg sandwiches and it's 11:15pm and I had dinner earlier. Goodluck with my plan to lose weight before Shareefah comes this May. Anyway, I'm beat, so I'll leave you with a thought: Happiness is fleeting but what warms you are the memories that comes with it. Cheers!
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Dark Chocolate Balls
I've heard of somebody who has said she doesn't like chocolate. But I found out she was the culprit when my 1/4 of the big Cadbury bar I kept in the fridge for days. Which simply puts that nobody can resist chocolate.
For as long as I can remember, my romance with chocolate has started since I've eaten it. Not that I remember when I actually first tasted it, but it doesn't matter. What matters is that now and for the many years to come, I love chocolate and will love it until my last breath.
To celebrate my love for chocolate, I've researched and chose this recipe from a magazine that I really love. Wont tell you which one though. Hahaha!
450g dark chocolate, chopped
3/4 cream
2 tbsps butter
bowl of unsweetened cocoa powder
Put the chocolate in a bowl and set aside. Heat cream and butter until bubbly and pour into the bowl of chocolates. Let it set for 3 minutes then stir until smooth. Refrigerate for 10 minutes to cool and when it's ready, scoop into balls and dredge in the cocoa powder. Eat immediately or wrap with water cellophane and store for the rainy days if you can.
Couldn't resist a bite there. Gotta sleep now. Beach tomorrow! (later, I mean) Happy Sunday ya'll! Cheers!
Havaianas
Thursday night, 6pm, my mom's pad. My pair of black slim Havaianas got stolen. Yes. There were 3 pairs of slippers outside of my mom's door and mine was the one that got stolen. Who steals slippers anyways?? Today, I met with Mom and asked her if she saw anybody in her building wearing my slippers, she said no and laughed and told me she'll get me a new one. Oooo. I love it!
I know it's so unlikely of me to get something of this color combination. I am usually inclined to get things in black or gray, but my Mom encouraged me to try a new color. Well, I think my feet loves it. (I feel so shallow now) So much about slippers, I'll be writing another post. Cheers!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Nostalgia
I went with Tyler to the Health Center this morning to have his immunization and saw a line of pregnant women outside the clinic. Could this be a new vaccine that you can immunize your baby with even if it's still inside? No. It's Thursday, Caye, the usual day for pre-natal check up, and Wednesday is the Immunization day. I must have forgotten. Oh well, better luck next week then.
So, we went to SM to buy diapers instead (I wonder who the hell would want to read this thing?) and I texted my mom about our morning confusion and she told us to wait for her in SM. Walking around while waiting, Tyler and I bump into a few friends which helped lighten the lull of waiting. I actually hate waiting, minutes drip on really slowly and you notice it form into a solid hour and....arghh. But it's okay, it was worth it because Tyler was so happy to see his Lola and so was I! We ate at McDonald's (my favorite food joint) and Tyler and I ate spaghetti and chicken, yummy! I couldn't believe what I saw, Tyler is now really a big baby because he now eats real food. Not real, as in real, but you know, adult food. He sure looked like he love the spaghetti and chicken combo. I love you Tyler!
After lunch, we toured the mall, round after round, talking and walking til Tyler fell asleep. He was really getting heavy that I told Mama Joy I could use a rest, maybe in her pad. So we went and when we got there, the baby suddenly woke up and cried. He looked around the place and cried, as if to say where am I? Hahahaha! Then after several minutes, he started laughing and we played. He crawled around and ate hopia and we watched Tina Turner's concert and sang along to videokes. For dinner is a lechon manok dipped in spicy soy sauce which tasted delicious! Maybe tomorrow wings will be growing from my back.
Tyler went back to sleep after dinner and I saw an album filled with Mark's pictures...mom's and a couple with me in it. I just had to borrow them so I can have them scanned. See below.
This one's taken at Gloria Maris and we had a Shabu-shabu. That's my cousin I-i, my Lolo Jack my cousin Daryl. I didn't really like what we ate. Felt like we were ripped off. Hahaha! I just couldn't understand why we went to a restaurant where we cooked our own food. And I'm not really fond of soups. Maybe when I learn to make my own, there's a slim chance that I might like it, but I am for biting and chewing my food. Yes, I like to feel it and give it a tour in my mouth and grinding it into digestable form and finally swallowing it with pride knowing that it will keep me full for over 3 hours.
This was after we went to visit my Lola at Oro Gardens. Late 2007, I believe. This was also the period of occassional paranoias and trips to a nearby clinic to get oxygen or use a nebulizer. Hahaha! Those times were fun. It was a period of work hard, party harder kind of thing. I missed my family back home so much that I would fly home any chance I get and stay over a week or so, longer than my vacation leave allowed me to. And oh, I loved my body in this picture! I look really slim. I wonder how I could get that body back with the kind of appetite that I have now. So many food, so little stomach space. Hahaha!
My back's aching now, arghh. A glass of milk and off to bed and to dreamland I go. Cheers!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Why the Basement?
Some of you may ask, why Thinking In The Basement? Because we're living in one. It's not much space, our furnitures are cramped and you can walk 9 steps from the foot of the stairs and you touch the other wall. Yes, it's that small. But small as it may be, we have to make a home out of nothing.
We transferred here last month and since then gazillions of ideas have popped into my head about...just about anything. Hahaha! I know right? It's so hard to be me but I think it's harder to be you. Kidding. ;-) I wanted to renovate our living space, make a bead curtain, buy a hobby kit and make earrings or bracelets, paint our desk, finish a housekeeping course, go to Bohol and swim in its blue waters, bake cakes and give them to whoever I want to give them to...and so on and so forth. The list doesn't end, I check off one thing in my mental list and another idea pops up. Which is the reason why this blog is started, because it started with an idea that was thought by me in this basement. See you tomorrow. Cheers!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Pork Caldereta
Today is another day and another entry to be posted. In bed in this morning, I was thinking about what to post and the first thing that got into my mind is the Pork Caldereta. Hahaha! Now I'm beginning to worry this may turn into a food blog.
I have never eaten a real caldereta because back when I was a kid, I was at this party me and my parents attended and they served a goat dish. It looked like an adobo so I took a huge bite which I spit right after. The goat meat had that really irony taste that made my guts churn. It's that when you make a balloon of your mouth, and the taste just climbs up to your airways and make you puke. That's why I don't eat goat meat, or bat meat, because they both have the same effect to me.
So that's also why I love this dish. Not only because it has pork instead of goat meat, but you can also get creative with it.
I thank my condomate Khrystle for sharing me her recipe. (and for feeding a hungry me and Jen.) This here below has gone a few tweaks to suit my adventurous palate. Char!
2 pcs green bell pepper, cut into thin strips
2 pcs red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
2 pcs chilis (only if you like it hot like I do)
2 big carrots, thinly chopped
2 big potatoes, thinly chopped (or you can dice it)
1 tbsp garlic, minced
1 tbsp onions, minced
2 tbsps butter
1/2 kg lean pork, cut into bite sized portions
2 cups water
1 small can of green peas
1 small can liver spread
1 small can mushrooms (optional)
1 small cheese, diced
Del Monte Quick and Easy Kaldereta Mix
salt and pepper
1/2 tsp of oregano
I like to boil my meat before I actually cook it. So what I did above was to boil it with enough water just so it covers the meat and season it with salt, pepper and oregano. The flavors just mix together so well it makes a whole lot of difference if you skip this step. While the meat is boiling, saute potatoes and carrots in butter until lightly browned. Cover the pan. The meat should be done by now that you will see the fat marbling with the water on the surface. Discard the water and in a different pan, saute garlic and onions in minimal oil until translucent. Mix in the meat and cook for about 5 minutes and mix in the liver spread until every cut is coated. Continue cooking for 3 minutes then put in the kaldereta mix. Add 2 cups of water and cover the pan. Let it simmer for 5 minutes then put in the carrots, potatoes, green peas and mushrooms. Cook for 10 minutes. Add in the chopped chilis and mix and finally, fold in the cheese. Serves 3.
Great for a foodtrip! Cap off with an ice cream for an even greater experience! Cheers!
