how well do you know your hubby? July 27, 2009

Got this tag from Kathy at Facebook…

Here’s a chance to see how well you really know your husband. Cut, paste (in own note) and fill in the answers, then forward . . . shoot, you know what to do. TAG ME BACK!

1. He’s sitting in front of the TV, what’s he watching? TruTV or ABDC or House or news or History Channel

2. You’re out to eat; what kind of dressing does he get on his salad? Ranch

3. What’s one food he doesn’t like? Toughie… Hash browns (so I get 2 every time we buy bfast meals!)

4. You go out to eat and have a drink. What does he order? the usual & something non-alcoholic (because he’s driving)

5. Where did he go to high school? SSC-R de Cavite

6. What size shoe does he wear? 9

7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be? DVDs!!!

8. What is his favorite type of sandwich? egg or chicken (whichever comes first)

9. What would he eat every day if he could? pancit canton

10. What is his favorite cereal? Fruit Loops

11. What would he never wear? thongs! haha!

12. What is his favorite sports team? in which sport, honey?

13. Who did he vote for? NOBODY

14. Who is his best friend? dave, sol, chelo

15. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn’t do? be OC

16. What is his heritage? Filipino-Chinese (then he became a naturalized American)

17. You bake him a cake for his birthday; what kind would it be? instant! LOL!

18. Did he play sports in high school? soccer

19. What could he spend hours doing? looking for lost stuff, napping, playing with his iPhone, surfing the net, watching TV, a lot of things actually…busy busy!!!

20. What is one unique talent he has? dancing… but he sings too!

Soap Suds July 15, 2009

I missed the soap suds that I see floating in the washer before I shut the cover and leave it to do its job. See I accidentally bought detergent for HE (high efficiency) washers which we do not have in our apartment; and since those kind of washers don’t use much water, the soap suds were also reduced, so laundry was a bit boring for me.

High efficiency washers are supposed to save on water, electricity and detergent, I just can’t be sure if it performs as well as the traditional washers with the agitator. Well, I don’t need to bother myself with that right now. Maybe someday when I need to buy a washer for our own home.

Ref Raid! July 14, 2009

Geez! Has it been a month since my last post?

Anyways, just remembered how hubby re-opened the fridge door when I mentioned that we had pancit. He said he thought we still had “my pancit canton” left over but swung the door shut when I told him we only had the pancit that his mom cooked last Sunday. The pancit that got him asking, “Ma, bakit yung hipon sa pancit nyo, may balat?” (Ma, why did you put shrimp with shells on your noodles?)

That look on his face was priceless!!!

Here’s a snapshot of our half-empty fridge:

vi-xvi-mmix June 17, 2009

June 16, 2009 had been a wonderful day for us…

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We woke up before dawn even broke because hubby is on an early shift. After kissing him goodbye, of course, I went back to bed… But played a little Sally’s Spa before completely dozing off.

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Luckily, for me, I woke up early enough to receive a call from the leasing office. Mike, our maintenance guy, said that the people from the home security service that we have here are fixing something in the office and they could come over to our apartment to see what’s wrong with our alarm. Luckily, for them, I haven’t cooked our exotic lunch yet, or the house was sure to stink of it.

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Hubby passed up on his scheduled lunch time so he could come home to me an hour earlier.  And because of the abrupt change of plans on Sunday, he fulfilled his promise to buy me a Japanese meal. He came home with tempura and teriyaki dinners but we had eggs and tuyo for lunch (told you, it would stink).

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While hubby took a nap after lunch, I went online to finish some tasks and had a really nice chat with my friend Apple; which was cut short because we did not notice how fast time flew and before I knew it, it was 5:30 pm already! We needed to mail some bills and cards for Father’s Day! So I woke up my sleeping booty with a strong tap on his arm instead of a kiss! A kiss just won’t work on him… Ha! He got up, I filled up the checks and wrote on the cards, then we headed out the door without changing clothes, just slipping on our shoes.

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I made him promise that I’d just stay in the car. I was wearing a Garfield sleeveless top given to me by a friend, and shorts with doggie paw print bought by my mom. He wore yellow shorts then grabbed a yellow t-shirt, so he was all yellow, I was glad he didn’t have yellow shoes. I called him “rubber ducky man” and took a picture; but I would not dare post it here, words are more palatable than images in this case, believe me.

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He went to Blockbuster to check out some DVDs (I stayed in the car of course), I made a phone call which lasted until we reached home. Hubby had to pull out some stuff from storage and put them together for something that I can not say here. He tossed a duffle bag in the washer. Then he washed it again, this time with black shirts and socks.

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To my surprise when I took the bag out, still thinking if we should put it on the drier, I saw broken pieces of something that look like chwads to me. Ew! Apparently, the rubber lining in the bag was damaged and the pieces were all over the washer, all over the bag, all over the black shirts too! Argh! Had to take them off, my only weapon being a pair of tweezers! I did that to the tune of everything Avril Lavigne on my iPhone. I was hungry before I finished, I asked hubby to reheat the Japanese dinner… We enjoyed it a little afterwards, yummy!!!

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We watched Tayong Dalawa while digestive juices in our tummy went to work. Then it was time to hit the sack… Before we said good night, we reminisced… Somewhere in our past, on this day, we vowed to love each other forever, sort of married ourselves. Then we talked about kids names and jokingly decided to name our kids Nova, Samba & Einiva…

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signing off,

Mrs. Dy ;p

addition: While driving home, hubby noticed that my lashes were longer than usual, I told him I was playing with new mascara… Hubby memorized my face, up to the volume or lack of facial hair.

Tuesday (Vargas) & Wednesday (Addams) June 10, 2009

Tuesday morning. Well, as usual, we woke up late; not really making it early enough to give the morning a proper greeting but rather just to bid it goodbye as afternoon came closer.

 

I took out a small bag of chicken from the freezer the night before, so it would thaw (still in the fridge) overnight. I thought I’d cook my hubby some soup. It was like tinola but I wanted some flour vermicelli or misua with it. I’m the boss in the kitchen, so that’s what we had for lunch. I think he even enjoyed it. ;p

 

Then after loading the sheets in the washer, I moved on to a task which had been postponed for days, cleaning the car. A clarification, just the inside, I’m not really the type to get wet giving it a full wash in the small space that we have for a garage. So what I did was basically just a little a lot of dusting, wiping, brushing, vacuuming & organizing. Took me a fat two hours to do that.

 

I had a little snack while hubby went to the room for the peace and quiet that he needed to prepare for his examination, washed the dishes and then took a bath. Hubby agreed we should just buy dinner and so we went to our favorite Thai restaurant to pick up our dinner: mild Phat Thai & citrus chicken. We made a short detour to Longs Drugs because he wanted some Mtn Dew (is it spelled like that elsewhere in the world?) and peanuts; I went straight to the cosmetic section to check some prices.

 

After dinner, hubby went to solitude again and left the laptop with me. I was able to do a little online shopping. Good thing my purchases are coming in one package and in just a couple of days! Yay! Feeling guilty for spending the majority of my PayPal money, I checked for some writing opportunities on you-know-where and got 2. Unfortunately, I submitted them past midnight so they counted for today (Wednesday). Too bad it’s raining opps there now and I can’t grab any more because I have reached the daily maximum limit. We went to bed after that anyways.

 

Hubby woke up early while he allowed me to linger in bed (spoiled me!) and take a bath, until it was time to prepare lunch. Thai leftover on today’s menu. Somewhere during my bed-lingering hours, he visited me and I gave him a nice break through a YouTube video featuring a Korean Guy in uniform dancing to the tune of Nobody by the Wondergirls, shared by Apple (which I also shared in my other blog, CLICK HERE!)

 

I’m waiting for him to finish his exam now…I hope he gets a good grade! Wish us luck! (badly needed)

Pinoy Taco Scoops June 4, 2009

Wanting to use the cabbage that has been left sitting on the fridge for weeks, I really meant to serve tacos one dinner. Yesterday, I asked my husband if he preferred them served on shells or on Tostitos Scoops; he chose the latter.

I make tacos Pinoy-style… And here’s how:

 

INGREDIENTS:

ground pork (or chicken or beef) – about 1 lb.

cooking oil – 1 1/2 tbsp.

garlic – 2 large cloves

onion – 1 medium

bell pepper – 1 medium

celery – 1 small stalk (optional)

carrots – 1 small

cheese – grated

cabbage – 1/2 head or less, shredded

Tostitos Scoops

salt & pepper to taste

banana sauce / banana  catsup

mayonnaise

 

PREPARATION AND COOKING:

Slice all the vegetables into very small pieces. Carrots may be grated if crisp enough.

Heat cooking oil on a pan.

Saute garlic, onion and bell pepper.

Add in ground pork. TIP: If it’s placed on top of the sauteed veggies, they’ll absorb more flavor.

Season with salt & pepper. Lotsa pepper!

Stir occasionally as the pork cooks. Leave on low heat until almost dry.

As you wait for the pork to cook, you can make the dressing. Mix an ample amount of mayonnaise with banana sauce until it is a peach, pinkish color. Or you may sample the dressing for taste. It should be a nice sweet & sour blend.

Blanch shredded cabbage and drain.

 

PLATING:

Fill the Tostitos scoops with the pork & veggies.

Add some shredded cabbage. TIP: You may need to slightly press this in place.

Add the dressing over the cabbage so the cheese & carrots don’t fall off. More dressing may be added over these toppings.

This recipe makes about 36 scoops.

I love this because it has all sort of flavors. The Tostitos and cheese are salty; the cooked meat, spicy; the dressing and carrrots, semi-sweet. I gulped down a glass of grapefruit juice, which is bitter. ;p

Hubby said they were beautiful, and I put a lot of effort into plating them, so I’m posting pictures.

TGIF (?) May 30, 2009

Hubby and I went out to get dinner and watch a movie last Friday. There were several mishaps though…

 

I should remind myself that I don’t enjoy KFC here are much as I did in the Philippines because:
1. They don’t serve rice
2. Gravy only comes free with mashed potatoes; otherwise you have to buy it
3. They don’t have spoons or knives

 

Then my husband wanted to watch Up because it was getting such great reviews but we bought our tickets a little too late. When we got in the theater, it was almost full. So we got a refund and bought tickets for Terminator Salvation instead. Hubby never watched any installment of the Terminator series and I can barely remember the flow of the story.

 

But it was a good night, a fun date nonetheless.

Home-made Burgers May 24, 2009

To make burger patties:

Using round plastic containers (or square if you like your patties Wendy’s or White Castle style) place a layer of the ground beef & veggies then separate with wax paper or plastic wrap.

Store in freezer. Then thaw a bit before frying.

Toast or reheat bread with cheese on top so the cheese melts or softens, at least. Best served with bacon, lettuce & tomatoes too(or your favorite toppings & dressings)!

Enjoy!!!

On one of the pictures: burgers were improvised. Had to cut the patties in half because we only had hotdog buns for bread. ;p

       

Meatballs, Shanghai Rolls & Burger Patties May 19, 2009

I served the Sweet & Sour Sauce with Meatballs tonight and the recipe is pretty simple too:

 

Ingredients are:

ground beef – 1 pound

onion – 1 small or half big

celery – 1 stalk

carrot – 1 small to medium-sized

salt & pepper to taste

Knorr Original seasoning – about 1/2 to 1 tsp

cooking oil

 

Making this is simple. Just cut the all the vegetables into very small pieces. Mix them with the beef in a bowl. Add salt, pepper and seasoning. Mix well. Roll into balls and cover with flour before frying.

TIP:

If carrot is crisp enough, it will be hard to cut it with a knife, use the cheese grater instead.

Make sure you shake off excess flour as they tend to burn when they settle at the bottom of the pan.

 

These are the same ingredients I use to make Shanghai Rolls and Burger Patties. This makes about 8 Meatballs or 25 Shanghai Rolls or 8 Burger Patties.

Sweet & Sour Sauce May 19, 2009

Here is my simple recipe for Sweet & Sour Sauce:

You will need:

cooking oil – (I use Canola-Olive blend) 1 to 2 tsp.

garlic – 2 medium-sized cloves, minced

onion – 1/4, large (or 1/2 small), cut into strips

tomato – 1/4 large (or 1/2 small), cut into small squares

red and/or green bell pepper – 1/4 large, cut into strips

carrots – 1/2 large (or 1 small), cut into strips

celery – 1/2 large stalk, cut into small pieces

banana sauce or banana catsup – about 3 tbsp.

water – 1 1/2 cups

flour – 2 tsp.

sugar – 3 tsp.

vinegar – 2 tbsp

ginger – (if sauce is going to be served with seafood) small, cut into small strips and preferably crushed

salt & pepper – to taste

Let’s start cooking!

First, heat the oil in saucepan. Use only low to medium-low heat.

Saute garlic, onion, tomato (and ginger).

Dissolve flour in some of the water.

When onions start to become semi-transparent or if its color fades, add in bell pepper, carrots & celery.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Add water, water-flour mixture, vinegar, catsup and sugar. Then stir wel.

Turn up heat and let boil for about 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

TIPS:

Keep stove in low heat when sautéing, as garlic has a tendency to burn (and we don’t want that).

Cook vinegar well, just until it loses that “acidic” taste.