bug spray

i guess you can never have enough of these around when you have kids. we label our spray bottles according to where we keep them (ex, car, diaper bag, grandparent's house, our house). i hope these come in a bigger container so we could just keep refilling.

Spicy Veggie Stir Fry

My in-laws usually spend sundays with us and this is when I try to impress them with my cooking. Last sunday I just tossed whatever vegetable there was on the fridge and added a couple of my "kitchen arsenal" (eg, sesame oil, oyster sauce and hoisin). Hubby isn't much of a herbivore but, just my luck, he was in the mood for veggies (very rare occasion) and "something chinese-tasting". This is probably one of the most simple dishes I've ever came up with.

Ingredients:
1 tsp chili oil
young corn, chopped
carrots, sliced into matchstick pieces
turnip, sliced into matchstick pieces
mushrooms
baguio petchay, chopped
oyster sauce
hoisin sauce
sesame oil


Procedure:
In a very hot wok, pour chili oil; add veggies;
Pour oyster sauce and hoisin sauce (I just eyeball the portions); add water as needed;
add a dash of sesame oil


What do you consider part of your kitchen arsenal?

alonzo's 1st birthday

we celebrated our little guy's 1st birthday last february. i know that's 5 months ago and it's only now that i'm posting photos! talk about procrastination. anyway, before the actual planning hubby had conditions: a) to keep the party simple and stay within the budget, b) to invite only close friends and relatives and c) for me not the get "too crazy" with the DIY stuff.

fine.

we both decied to celebrate with the traditional cake and ice-cream birthday party. we had a cake and pie buffet and an ice-cream stand was also set up. different ice-cream flavors and toppings were available to allow guests to create their own concoction. the decor consisted of circle cut outs and twirling ribbon. i originally planned on making "little cardboard chandeliers" but later decided it would be more feasible to just tape one end of these "confetti streamers" onto the celiling. how easy it that?

there was this eye-sore of a bar at one end of the room which we weren't allowed to move. an idea struck and i figured to work my way around it by turning it into an ice-cream stand. too bad we don't have a decent photo of it to show.

for the backdrop, i framed a printed photo of the birthday guy with corrugated paper. i love how the pompom party hat added a whimsical effect.

i also cut corrugated paper to spell alonzo's name and hung them with gross grain ribbon across the table. we covered the table with bed sheets, by the way.

would you believe that these are made of paper??? no, we didn't feed our guests with paper cupcakes. these are actually party hats!

of course, the birthday guy had his own party hat, too!

the centerpieces also served as the party favors. we filled these paper cupcakes with little goodies (it opens at the bottom as you peel off the sticker). the cake stands are also made of corrugated paper.

all in all, i could say that the party was a hit. the guests were thrilled that they could satisfy their sweet tooth to their heart's content (we also had sugar-free cake and ice-cream for the sugar conscious) they loved the decors and apprecated the unique party favors. our little birthday boy, although he didn't seem to have clue, had a blast showing off his newest tricks to guests. hubby was also quite satisfied that we managed to have kept the party simple, intimate and within budget.

well, about not going overboard with the DIY stuff, i don't know what to say about that!

framed blackboards

during our last visit to hubby's family's home in nueva ecija we did a bit of scavenger hunting at the backyard and found this old piece. it used to be the framework of a glass top table.

with a bit of flair and a little elbow grease.....tadahhh! we now have a framed blackboard!

i love the charm of re-using old things and bringing new life into it. i also love the idea of framing blackboards so much that we even had one in our wedding

t-shirt stenciling

i absolutely love stenciling on my little guy's clothes. the thing is, it's practically impossible to find freezer paper on this side of the planet. i've been looking for freezer paper for the longest time but always end up getting frustrated (and infuriated!) with the grocery or bookstore clerks who have no idea of what freeer paper is. imagine one clerk actually telling (no, lecturing) me that there is no such thing as "freezer paper" because "you DO NOT put paper in the freezer". grrr... anyway, for these little rompers i used the back side of sticker paper. the right side works just as well, too, but it can well...get a little sticky (you can't re-use them either). anyway, i found this from rookiemoms and got totally inspired all over again! don't you just adore the handlebar mustache/ mr. suave pattern?

cream dory with sweet soy and ginger sauce

Here's a recipe I tried out recently. It is based on a Vietnamese dish which I tweaked a bit. What can I say...it was a hit! Not only did my in-laws love it, my 1.4 year old even asked for seconds!


Ingredients:
1 package cream dory
1 tbsp cooking oil
1 small ginger, sliced
3 cloves minced garlic
1/2 cup light kikoman
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 cup water
cornstrach dissolved in water
sesame oil
spring onions chopped




Procedure:
Heat oil in pan, add ginger and garlic.
Mix together kikoman, sugar and water, add to pan and let it simmer
In a separate pan, poach fish (I do this extra step to prevent the grimy foam from forming on the sauce)
Pour cronstarch mixture onto pan with kikoman until slightly thickened
Add poached fish
Add a few drops of sesame oil, sprinkle with spring onions

children's book collection

i've been collecting children's books for more than 10 years now ---- way before i got married and had a baby. the books are all about teeth or dentists. this isnt the entire collection as i have given some away to friends while others were borrowed by patients (and never returned!). my favorites are "ay, may bukbuk ang ipin ni ani" (ani has a bad tooth) by luis gatmaitan and "magnificent benito and his two front teeth" by augie rivera.

this is the most recent one that i bought from book sale. i don't consider these books mine anymore. they all now belong to my toddler. hopefully, these would be enough to encourage the little guy to brush his teeth!