Sinampalukang Manok (chicken in tamarind soup)

Guess what? The beef I said I will cook on my last post didn't happen at all that night. Why? because my father had a changed of mind. He realized it would be too late to cook such and we were all hungry for dinner. So I was spared :)

So what we have for dinner that night was a quick chicken meal recipe, one that I have tried many times. Hubby liked it and he requested for it so I gladly did it for them. At least this one is not as complicated as finding the best acne treatments out there and certainly not as hard as the beef recipe.

Sinampalukang manok:(chicken in tamarind soup)

1 kilo chicken (adobo cuts and soup pack)
Garlic
Onions
ginger
tamarind cubes
mustard leaves
green chili leaves
fresh tamarind fruits

I sauteed the ginger,garlic and onion in butter then I added the chicken,I covered the pan and let it cooked for at least 15 to 20 minutes. I added the tamarind cubes and the tamarind juice. I added the mustard and chili leaves.Serve hot!

I forgot to take pictures though but everyone said it's yummy!

Will cook tonight :)

My parents are staying with me tonight and I wanted to please them so I asked them what they want for dinner and my father said Nilagang Baka (Boiled beef) I assumed he thought it would be good to have hot soup because it's rainy. Now I wish I didn't ask because honestly I do not know how to cook nilagang baka. And certainly my husband is not the best person to ask help in cooking, I can ask him about PC Tools and gadgets but not with recipes :(

Thank you though that I can turn to Mr. Google for anything including the recipe I needed. I found one and it seems easy and I really hope it is.

Anyways, I am going to try it tonight and will post it and will let you know if it's a hit or miss. And I hope I won't forget to take pictures because it's very seldom that I cook and I have to document it of course!

Wish me the best!

Hair problem

I can say I am blessed with my straight and silky hair, I need not worry about spending too much in hair salon to have them straight (like some of my acquaintances) Hair rebonding treatment is way too expensive here and only those who have extra money can do that. Glad I don't need it.

The only treatment I have ever done with my hair is a color highlights way back 9 years ago? And never did it again.

But If you think I'm spared with hair problems..sad to say I am not. I have a very thin hair since I was young and now everyone is noticing how thin my hair is. Although I don't need to look for affordable hair transplant available here in our country, still I worry sometimes. I've used a lot of hair fall treatment shampoos but I think my hair keeps on falling as I notice it is more thinner now.

They say an aloe vera plant may help but where can I find one here in Manila?

Health Conscious

I think I need to read on colonix reviews or any colon cleanse website and see if we can do something like that. Why? because we have been eating for the last two weeks due to several occasions here and there, from family gatherings to fund raising events and to visiting friends.

Goodbye to some weight I loss during my low carb diet month. (sigh) We need to get back on our healthy diet again primarily because of health reason. We're not getting any younger so we need to be more health conscious.

Events Venue : Eurotel Makati

We recently did a venue decor here for 7th birthday party, The function room can accommodate at least 150 persons but it is an L type which most people don't like. I heard from my friend though who booked the venue that it is quite affordable considering the food that is quite good. For 100 people they were quoted 30,000 pesos but they paid more because their guests exceeded. If I am not mistaken they served 4 main dish, soup, rice and a dessert.

It's located along Pasong Tamo corner Pasay Road, in front of Waltermart, I think guest will not have a very hard time locating it. Both are major roads and busy streets with lots of establishment and some metal buildings along the area.

But I did have a small problem with the head waiter whom I found so rude (he refused to change the table cover and chair ribbon from blue to pink which is the color motiff of the event).

Anyways, here are some of the pictures of the venue.

You can see more pictures at my rocks daily blog.

Family time

My parents arrived from the province yesterday so we had a late Mother's day celebration. Took them out to dinner and spend some time in the mall with her two grandchildren and even if it's a bit over the budget I decided to just treat her after all no amount of money can buy the joy we had and that is what's more important. So sad that we left our camera at home so no pictures to show :(

And we will have more family bonding moments this weekend.

I am blessed to have such a closely knitted family. I am thankful my parents brought us up loving each other, yes we were born poor but we are rich in love. And we are not perfect, we have had our shares of sibling rivalries and tampuhan but we grew up loving everyone in the family.

I am just grateful I can spend time with them while they're here.

Summer dreaming. Spanish Islands

We had typhoon last week and it rained for three days, for a while I thought summer is over and it dawned on me that I haven’t had even one summer outing to relax and for a while I felt sad. Good thing is I heard from the weather men that it’s not the end of summer yet, we just have to let another weather disturbance pass and the sun will be back! I immediately made a note mentally to get back to the postponed swimming for our group of friends and I hope this time it will push through as planned. So I am back to finding a good swimming pool nearby, one that children will not only enjoy but us adults too.If only Playa de las Americas in Canary island is near, Parque Santiago 3 would be perfect, they have this wide children’s playground and their rooms are all nice.

I am giving up and accepting the fact that I will not see any beach this summer. But I will make sure I will spend time in any beach before the year ends, it might not be this summer but it is okay because I love the beach rain or shine.

And I am certainly not giving up on a dream vacation to anyone of beautiful Spanish islands. I want to see and explore Mexico because of the many similarities it does have in the Philippines. And of course at some point I dream of spending time with my dear husband in one of the luxury hotels in Mallorca. I’ll probably stay a week or two, a grand vacation without any worries, no phone calls from the boss, no ministries to worry and most of all not bothered financially..that would be extremely wonderful!!

But back to reality I have to settle for maybe a little less about beach resorts and luxury hotels but nevertheless wonderful time with friends and their kids. I just really hope I could find one nice resort within the Metro and that it would be okay for all of us. Or maybe I can suggest for us to travel at least an hour away from the city sow e could at least get a “good” resort for ourselves.

How about you guys? Have you been to the beach? Or to any resort? How are you spending your summer so far? I am seeing a lot of summer fun pictures from bloggers so am sure most of you are enjoying or already had their summer escapade no? I’ll have mine soon :)

April Wedding-Mostly DIY

I realized I haven’t been posting about weddings here for quite sometime now and to think that this used to be our wedding blog and most of my posts from before are about weddings..

I coordinated a dear friend’s wedding last April, she started preparing last year and I gave her ideas on what she can DIY for her wedding day. And this is what she came up to.

The wedding Cord:

And the luminaries which I think is beautiful! I love the glow of the orange light in the dark. She painstaking made all of these luminaries.

Hats off to the bride! :)
And should I say hats off to me and to my husband also for doing this canopy?

Although it was not as beautiful as I wanted it to be, still hats off to him, he needed a trailer hitch to transport all of the materials and he assembled it under the heat of the sun..

and last but not the least..hats off to me and to Jemay for doing the table set up (table napkins with a rose) also under the scorching heat of the sun!

:)

Ilocano Dish

If you are an Ilocano girl and is craving for Ilocano foods from time to time like me but do not want to spend much on super high end restaurants, guess what? I found two small Ilocano food store along Vito Cruz Extension (or P. Ocampo) near St. Benilde.

I'm sorry that pictures doesn't look nice, my husband is such a lousy photographer and is bit hungry when he took this or maybe he's thinking of the xbox wireless adapter for his gaming pleasure but I tell you their bagnet is nice and the longganisa is yummy-the two main reason why I go there plus it is very affordable like 75.00 per plate/order. They also have pakbet and other Ilocandish.

Only problem is, there is not much space in there.

A few stores away is "Stoops" which offers Ilocano food also, I've already tried them once and it was a good experinece too. I will take pictures next time so I can post it here also :)  kain na!!

Homemade beauty tips anyone?

I need not only a blackhead remover but a whole facial treatment as well, with all the activities I had for the past month including the 3 days youth camp that exposed me under the heat of the sun and the recent stress due to family problem  my face looks so pangit (ugly) dark circles not only under my eyes but everywhere in my face (sigh)

Do you have any beauty tips I can do at home? you know those stuff that I can do with whatever I have in my fridge or kitchen. facial treatment in a beauty parlor is just a dream for me now because of the major financial set back we had.

Share your beauty tipid tips please.