The week passed by like a blur...it was hustling and bustling here and there desperately trying to beat time and yet yearning deep inside that time stand still even for just one week...one day...one hour...one minute.
As the last pieces of furniture and boxes got fitted into our 10-footer container, the closing of the van door shook me to the reality that we were finally closing the door to this chapter in our lives. Four years of memories are now contained in that small 10-foot space.
I clutched the bunch of house keys tightly right before turning them over to our landlord. Tears were blurring my eyes as I took a final glance at the home we've known for the past four years...the only one that became a true home for us.
It was a wonderful time that will now be forever etched in our hearts.
Here's a trip down memory lane to that time in March 2007 when we first moved in...we've come a long way since those initial home design ideas and weekend projects...
My three kids are typical youngsters who love Pinoy-style spaghetti. It's no wonder that it's on top of their minds whenever we pass by the towering signages of either Jollibee or McDonald's. However, ever since discovering that a typical meal at any of these two outlets would cost our brood of five at least P350, we've tried to lessen, if not eliminate, going there for meals.
The last time the kids were treated to their fave spaghetti was over the Christmas holidays in Cebu. I knew they'd love a spaghetti weekend so I tried to fit the meal budget so that I can prepare their favorite. Looking for frugal means to still enjoy a childhood favorite, I discovered that using certain ingredients could still make a mean spaghetti without being too expensive. Instead of ground beef, I use CDO corned beef that's being sold per kg at the grocery. By substituting such, I can still afford to add mushrooms and hotdogs to the recipe. As for the hotdogs, I use the secondary hotdog line of a famous brand - in this instance, instead of the CDO premium Bibbo brand, I use their Idol brand. The kids would barely notice the difference since it's mixed in the sauce anyway. With a budget of P260.00, I was able to make enough spaghetti that stretched to three meals. The first two meals were with pasta and the third one was with rice already as the pasta ran out. Not bad eh?
As you can see, the kids had bulging bellies after eating and it was "clean plate" all the way!
Take a peek at what my three children usually do in the morning before we troop off to school to drop off Kuya Jarred...they're tasked to do the bed and fold up blankets and other sleeping stuff from the night before. Even the bunso helps out by commanding her Kuya on what to do...LOL!
Cailie and I had to rush to the wet market today as my stock in the fridge is dwindling. Since it's not the scheduled market day (it's supposed to be Wednesdays and Saturdays), I was a bit hesitant to go as the vegetables and fish there might not be as great as on market days. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I still had bountiful fresh veggies and seafood to choose from so I couldn't help but take photos of them right away. Because it's Holy Week already, I stocked up on fish and added more veggies than usual.
Early this morning, our piggery partners/caretakers prepared our 2nd hog for butchering and weighing. By noontime I was in my son's school with my daughter Cailie delivering the pork meat orders I was able to gather there.
The selling business isn't really new to me as I had experience in tuna and seafood trading during our short stint in General Santos City. However, I found that meat retailing is a bit different and more detailed since I'm serving the consumer end of the business cycle whereas in my tuna biz before I was into wholesaling. I had a minor boo boo when I switched orders and ended up not serving one order. I felt bad but it was a learning experience I had to go through, I guess.
Manang Rose, our partner, cooked some yummy Dinuguan (Pork Blood Stew) utilizing the unsold parts of the hog. This dish is a favorite of the family so we requested for some so that I didn't have to cook dinner anymore. We seldom get to eat this famous Filipino dish because we make sure that we know the source of the ingredients first and how well it was prepared. Since this was cooked using our own farm-raised hog and we know who's preparing it, it was one dish we could enjoy as a family. I haven't tried cooking this myself as I'm not familiar with how it is prepared so I'm just happy as a consumer in this case. Manang Rose truly outdid herself with this dinuguan. It was thick and the balance of sour and salty was just right with a hint of heat using "siling haba". I couldn't believe that my two older kids (with the exception of the baby) enjoyed every morsel of rice and viand. It is not everyday you see children enjoying this popular Pinoy dish. Suffice to say, it was a satisfying gastronomic experience for all of us.
Nothing beats the homey goodness of comfort food any time of the day or night. For those who've watched the animated film "Ratatouille", savoring one's comfort food is so much like that image of Anton Ego going back to his childhood upon tasting the ratatouille served in Gustav's. It takes you back to the good old days of Mom's or Lola's cooking of your favorite dishes.
Monggo Guisado would probably show up at the top of my list of all-time wonder comfort foods. There's something about this steamy and starchy vegetable dish that reaches inside the soul. It is but a simple fare of legumes, sauteed in garlic, onions and tomatoes, enriched with squash pieces and malunggay leaves and yet, it leaves the belly full and the soul so satisfied.
Monggo Guisado
1 cup green monggo beans, washed and boiled until tender
1 liter of water
2 pcs pork cubes
2 tbsp canola oil
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 medium onion, sliced
3 medium tomatoes, sliced,
1 red bell pepper, julienned
1.5 cups squash, cut into cubes
1/2 cup malunggay leaves
1 pc dried galunggong
water (optional)
In a stock pot, boil the washed monggo beans in 1 liter water and 2 pork cubes until tender or "mashed" in consistency. Set aside. In the same pot, heat up some oil and saute the garlic, onions and tomatoes until wilted. Add in the pepper and squash. When squash is half cooked, put the monggo mash back in and add some water if desired. Bring to a boil then add the dried fish. Season with pepper and a little patis. Add in the malunggay leaves then turn off fire. Best served with hot rice and fried fish. Enjoy!!!
Even though I wasn't back to being my 100% self, I had to muster much needed strength to prepare for my son's field trip. After all, this is going to be the first time that the entire family will accompany him and the entire preschool of BFCS.
Since it was BYOB (bring your own baon), I decided to cook "Visayan Humba" for our lunch at Jurassic Park. Humba, being similar to the Adobo, does not spoil easily and gets yummier as leftover.
I whipped up quite a huge batch so it pretty much solved our dinner and still had so much left over for our lunch tomorrow at the field trip.
Here is my recipe for Visayan Humba:
1.5 kg combined pork hocks (pata front) and belly, sliced and washed
1 1/2 heads of garlic, crushed
2 tbsp canola oil
3 pcs bay leaves
1 tsp black peppercorns
2 pcs star anise
1 tbsp salted black beans
2 tbsp dried banana blossom
1 cup vinegar
3/4 cup soy sauce
salt
2 tbsp brown sugar
water (optional)
In a casserole, heat up oil then saute garlic until fragrant. At medium flame setting, add in the pork and some salt. When the meat is half cooked, add in the bay leaves, peppercorns, vinegar, soy sauce. Mix well and simmer under low fire. When the meat is fork tender, add the salted black beans, banana blossom, star anise and sugar. Simmer until sauce gets thick. Adjust seasonings (vinegar, soy sauce and sugar) to taste. If it gets too dry, add some water. Serve hot with rice.
The previous day's events pretty much mapped out our lives this day. Anxiety still loomed around as we kept watch over our child's behavior and activity today, taking mental note of every detail.
Every second, a whispered prayer is said...
And when, at the end of the day, there is doubt...trust that an expert will be your source of assurance.
When you have young children in the family, you tend to become OC when it comes to safety. However, there are instances wherein accidents do happen and we just have to make sure that we know how to respond timely to that kind of situation. Today, it was a flight of stairs and missing a step that gave us quite a scare. As a parent, your heart will keep racing and you won't be able to sleep a wink until you can know for sure that nothing serious has happened to any of your children. It took a watchful eye for symptoms, the expert advise of the pedia and a whole lot of prayers before we could give out a sigh of relief.
I did learn a lot about bumps and falls in children during this entire experience.
keep calm and never panic
watch out for symptoms of drowsiness or difficulty in rousing the child from sleep 12-24 hours after a bump or fall
take note of any vomiting and if any fluid or blood is trickling from eyes, ears or nose
look for any problems with coordination
check if pupils are unequally responsive
monitor the child for incoherence in speech
always consult a physician if you observe any of these symptoms
It is during these times that I come face-to-face with the fact that the joys of parenthood also come with great responsibility and you can never be too careful when it comes to your own children.
The recent erratic weather condition has left me with loads of laundry (almost 3 weeks full), either for washing or drying. Thank goodness the sun made a brief appearance this morning until mid afternoon. I was able to have 3/4 of the load folded and pressed. A quarter remain hanging on the makeshift clothesline in the terrace. It's the only covered space we make use of whenever rains threaten to fall and deem sun drying useless.
For the first time in over a week, the sun finally shone over the city. I quickly took this photo right outside our 2nd floor terrace to capture the brightness in our front lawn.
It was a wonderful feeling to feel the warmth of the sun's rays once again after a week-long snuggling under bedcovers due to the cool and rainy weather.
Hmmm...if only the sun would stay on long enough this week for my almost 2-week laundry that needs to be washed and dried...we'll see...
With my trusty purple and yellow modern "bayong", hooked on my shoulder, I trooped to the neighborhood market, my 3-year old daughter in tow.
Understandably, when it's market day, there's more produce and more produce means more people. Wednesdays and Saturdays are the two days of the week that people would normally go to the market here. There are more choices in terms of fish/seafood, meat, vegetables and fruits.
Growing up in a middle-class family, I didn't really bother myself with "wet" market details and always thought that weekly marketing was such a boring task. It is only when I became a wife and a mother that I learned the ropes of going to the market. Hubby was the one who taught me how to go about buying our weekly supply from the market. Having gone through the weekly exercise of going to the market for the past several years, I've come to realize that it isn't a boring activity at all. In fact, my weekly marketing has become a therapy of sorts. I love to be surrounded by the buzz of people and merchants. I get a high when there are a lot of fresh produce to choose from.
In recent times, there has been a more important reason why I love going to the market. It reconnects me with my mother who is currently based abroad with my younger sister. Every time I go to the market, I feel as if Mommy is just around. You see, I grew up watching Mom do the weekly regime of going to the market to buy our supply of food. Despite being a busy pedia, Mom always took the time to do the marketing herself. I don't remember her ever relegating the task to our helper. Early on a Saturday morning, she'd wake up and ask us what we wanted for the week and after taking a mental note, she'd go off to either the neighborhood wet market or to upscale Farmers Market in Cubao. After a few hours, she'd arrive with a grin on her face which I never understood why she had until I myself went through the same exercise. Being in a market is like being a little girl inside a candy store. Go figure.
Mommy's task doesn't end there. She would be the one to painstakingly unpack her goodies, wash and prepare them to be stored in the pantry or the refrigerator/freezer. With utmost care, she would divide the fish/seafood, meat and poultry into portions that would be easy for her or the maid to cook within the week. It is only after preparing and cooking our Saturday lunch and leaving weekly cooking instructions to the maid that she'd finally relax and take a shower.
My siblings and I often resented Mommy's 24/7 profession while we were growing up. We envied our classmates' Moms whom we would usually see in school, attending to their needs...whether it be for PTA or what-have-you. It is only now that I've come to fully understand how difficult it was for Mommy to be juggling a full time job and taking care of the family. Looking back now, she has shown her love and care for us in her little ways...instead of resting her heels during the weekend, she took it upon herself to do the task of marketing to ensure that we'd have the best and freshest produce. It is these little things that I failed to see and acknowledge. I guess this is the reason why I really insist on doing the marketing myself, rain or shine. For one day in the week, I get reconnected with Mommy and I am reminded to be grateful for all she's done for me.
