Lucas’ 3rd Birthday

Since November 2013, I’ve been thinking about Lucas’ 3rd birthday celebration.  I know that I don’t have enough budget for a huge party so we decided that he’ll celebrate his birthday with 9 of his classmates in school and 2 teachers.  Since it is going to be an intimate party, I thought I’d put effort into it.  Besides, I’ll only need to prepare for 12 people plus 3 more friends in school.  So first, I thought of a theme.  I was browsing through Pinterest and saw a Little Red Car theme (of course I had to include a Volkswagen Beetle).  I searched for several ideas and here’s my version of the theme.

Here’s the invitation:

As a teacher, I understand how hard it is to let the children bring home their left over party food.  So I decided that each child will have a lunch bag where I’ll put everything in:  food, dessert, drink and utensils.  At the same time it’ll serve as a party favor.  I asked a very good friend of mine to make the lunch bags.  I just told her the shape and design I wanted.  The bags were amazing and well-crafted.  Blue striped lining for the boys and red striped lining for the girls.  I just placed tags of their names to personalize each lunch bag.

For the food, I thought that the toddlers wouldn’t eat much.  So I asked my friend, who’s a caterer to pack 6 pieces of chicken fingers for each food container (blue for boys and red for girls) labeled as “Pit Stop.”  I also packed doughnuts from Dunkin Donuts for dessert as “Spare Tire”.  I labeled apple juice boxes as “Fuel.”

Lastly, I made mini tool boxes out of a small Zip Lock bag where I placed the fork, table napkin and straw.As for Lucas’ cake, I asked my caterer friend to make a simple 8″ inch round vanilla fondant cake with little red cars.  I got the idea from Pinterest.  I totally loved the cake and it tasted so good too!For some final touches, I made a simple Happy Birthday banner for picture taking purposes 🙂 .

I also designed two shirts for Lucas.  One shirt, he wore on our “Pre-Birthday” shoot and the other shirt he wore on his birthday.  The designs were heat pressed by our Ninang (thanks so much!).

Birthday Shirt

Pre-birthday shoot shirt

Lucas’ birthday was just simple and intimate but he really enjoyed it.  I don’t do a lot of DIY projects, but I had fun planning and preparing for this small party.  It was worth it, the moment I saw the smile on my son’s face.  Thanks so much to my hubby for supporting me on this.  Thank you Golde for making the lunch bags for me.  They’re adorable.  I would never imagine myself doing the same thing.  Haha!  Thanks you Bebot of Ivy-Chris Bakeshop and Catering for the yummy food and beautiful cake.  Thank you to Lucas’ teachers, Teachers Lee Anne and Miriam, for making Lucas’ first ever school birthday celebration memorable.

The Sweetest Treat

One of my former student’s mom recently started a new business venture.  She’s been baking cupcakes and other sweet treats.  She also offers candy buffet set ups and food catering.

About two weeks ago, she sent me some of her goodies.  I’m not a baker and a food blogger so I don’t know the technicalities of food…I just love to eat.  That’s it.

Here are the treats that Mommy Gemmie Punzalan of The Sweetest Treat sent me.

I really like the cream cheese frosting on this one.

If you’re a dark chocolate fan this one’s for you.

yummy topping!

If you’re a mango cake lover this one is for you.

 

My personal favorite was the Apple Streussel 🙂

If you got the “Sweet Tooth” these cupcakes are very much for you.  Feel free to give Mommy Gemmie a call if you are interested.  Check out her Facebook Page “The Sweetest Treat.”

Family of the Day

For this month of August, ISYC’s theme is all about Family.  Every year, the toddlers have this “Family of the Day” activity where each family should sign up for a date where the whole family could share any of the favorite things or talk about our interests, etc.  One option is to volunteer for a home visit and another one is to bring the kids to either parents’ place of business or work.  We can’t do either of that unless I’d give them a tour around ISYC :).  So Brio and I decided that we share our passion for VW classic cars plus give the kids something that is useful from Creative Hands.  I made each of Lucas’ classmates a personalized bag tag with a pink VW classic beetle for the girls and a blue VW classic beetle for the boys.

Then we brought the kids to the parking lot to show Lucas’ black VW car and took group photos of them.

We’re not so sure if we made it interesting for this cuties, so I ordered assorted VW beetle sugar cookies from a friend who will open her bakeshop soon here in Marikina City (Capriserrie).  I think the kids enjoyed eating thecookies as much as I did. 🙂

 

Oh one more thing! We needed to submit a collage on a 1/8 illustration board so it could be displayed in Lucas’ classroom.  I thought of making a digital collage then have it printed on tarp…but I stopped myself.  I told myself that I should make an effort for this.  This is Lucas’ first year in school, I have to work on this — meaning I should do pasting and cutting.  I do not have a scrap booking skill so I really don’t know how I’d put together the photos.  I didn’t know what stuff to stick to make it look nice.  But I’m proud that I was able to come up with a simple collage.  I’m proud because this is the best thing that I can do. hahaha!

It really was a great experience for me and Brio and of course Lucas.  We actually saw in his eyes that he liked it that we were there.

Though it was just for one day, I think it is good to make use of such opportunities because it could really boost your child’s confidence and it’ll make him feel important. 🙂

Photo Credits: Ronald Briones

Cupcake Love

I have always been a fan of cupcakes.  Not so much of chocolate cupcakes though.  Previously, I wrote about Felize’s Baked Specialties.  I love their oatmeal cookies and carrot cupcake.  Now I have a new favorite from Felize’s, the cupcake that we used for ISYC’s Mother and Child Activity Cupcake Decorating Station.  I asked Teacher Pia what’s the name of the cupcake because I loved it.  It wasn’t so sweet but still very yummy. That’s what I’m always looking for in a cupcake.  It’s not chocolate nor vanilla but really good.

Lucas and I didn’t put too much frosting but still it was very good.  According to Teacher Pia she just experimented on the recipe.  So I told her that we’ll call it Teacher Pia’s Secret Recipe Cupcake.  🙂  I really love it and definitely will order from her. 🙂  So if you want to try this secret recipe cupcake, you may contact Felize’s.

Operation Healthy Cooking

Guess what?  I cooked again.  Well they are still very similar to what I’ve been cooking so far.  I just changed some of the ingredients I used.

The other night I tried cooking Grilled Cream Dory Fillet with Veggies on the Side.

grilled cream dory fillet with veggies

I basically just marinated my fish with calamansi juice, salt and pepper and olive oil.  Then I grilled it on a grill pan.  Then I poured the remaining marinade on my carrots and Baguio beans before I added them to the grill pan.  I made sure that my veggies are still crunchy.  Then we ate it with Basmati rice.  Lucas liked the fish.  After he tasted it he said, “Sarap yan.”  Whew!  If he could eat my cooking, oh he’ll definitely live. Hahaha!

The next thing I cooked was my usual pasta in tuna, chicken sausage in olive oil with garlic.  But this time I used vegeroni (vegetable-based macaroni pasta).  Well, my son didn’t eat the pasta, he just liked the chicken sausage.  But my mom loved the pasta though and that’s a good thing. 🙂

Vegeroni Pasta with Tuna and Chicken Sausage in olive oil and garlic

Heavenly Semi-Sinful Goodies

I am not a food blogger but I love food.  I really don’t have an idea how to make a review on food or pastries I enjoy eating.  But I’d like to share this one.  I may consider myself a stress eater because I feel happy whenever I eat semi-“sinful” goodies every time Stress comes by to greet me.  Thanks to my friend and colleague, Pia Valente…I envision her as an “angel” whenever she goes around with a sign-up sheet for those who wants to order her “heavenly yet sinful” goodies – Felize’s Baked Specialties.  My personal favorites are the Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies and Carrot Cupcake.

The choco chip oatmeal cookie is chewy and with the right amount of sweetness.  It also has walnuts that makes it even more tasteful.  Another great thing about it is the size of each cookie, just enough to satisfy my craving.

Their carrot cupcake is one of the best carrot cupcakes/cakes I’ve ever tasted.  It was just perfect.  See, I don’t even know how to describe it.  It just tastes great! Ang sarap talaga!  The fact that it’s freshly-baked and knowing that they use premium ingredients.

Felize’s have lots of other baked products.  Original recipes are by Teacher Pia’s Mom.  But every so often, Teacher Pia also experiments on other recipes and let us (her co-teachers) do the taste tests.

If you want to learn more about their yummy baked goodies check out Felize’s Baked Specialties on Facebook.  You may also inquire through 941-9535 or 0917-4085657.

Quick Easy Pasta Snack: Pasta with Sausage

Yesterday I asked my 2-year old son what he wants for snack. Here’s how our conversation went:

Nanay: Lucas what do you want to eat?

He paused for a second, he seems to be really thinking about it…

Lucas: Sotage! (That means sausage)

Though I heard him right I had to ask again…

Nanay: What?

Lucas: Pasta!

Huh? My mom and I laughed so hard. She suggested I make a simple pasta dish with chicken sausage. So there. That’s why I came up with this recipe:

Ingredients:

Olive oil
Garlic
1 can of chicken sausage
Salt
Pasta noodles (I used the one with malunggay)

Directions:

1. Cook the pasta as instructed in the package.
2. Sautee the sausage and garlic in olive oil.
3. Add a little bit of salt.
4. Toss in the cooked pasta noodles.

You may add parmesan cheese if you have, I just don’t have it yesterday.

The question is, did my son eat the pasta? Of course not! He just ate the sausage. Haha! But I’m glad I cooked enough for my mom too and she liked it ☺.

Food Trip at 168

I just got home from 168 Divisoria with my hubby and two more friends to get some stuff. We got there as early as around 7:30 in the morning to make sure that we still have a parking slot at 999 mall’s basement parking. Brio and I didn’t have breakfast, so when we’re done getting what we need, we went straight to one of 168’s food courts.

I suggested that we try one of the Chinese fast food around and so far so good we made the right choice.

Each meal costs P70 with 2 viands, rice and soup. We upgraded the rice to fried rice, we just added P10. We both had the mixed veggies. Brio had the honey glazed chicken and I had the steamed chicken something (I really can’t remember). The taste was satisfactory but they need to improve on the portions they serve. I got like 2 chicken necks for my chicken out of 4 pieces. Unfortunately, I forgot the name of the fast food 😞.

What I liked the most was the dimsum store Wai Ying. It’s just a store or 2 away from where we ordered our complete meals.

Brio ordered Ha Kao, P70 for 4 pieces. We waited for it for about 10 minutes. It was worth the wait! One of the best Ha Kaos I’ve tasted. It looks smaller than the usual, but when you open it up it was all shrimp!

Yummy!

When we’re about to go home, we grabbed a couple of Zagus. While my hubby was looking for a Coke in can in one of the foodcarts nearby, he discovered another must-eat fried dumpling for only P35 for 3 pieces!

. It was very similar to the fried dumplings being sold at the old Virramall in Greenhills, below the escalators (if you can remember that). It was really good too. Now you’ll ask me the cart’s name….I’m sorry he didn’t get it 😒 he was too excited to eat. All I can remember is it’s located near the Zagu cart at 168 mall.

Sorry if you find this blog not useful because I don’t have all the details. I’ll surely go back there and this time get the names of the stores. I just wanted to share that 168 is not only for unique, quirky and cheap merchandise but also a good place to satisfy your food cravings ☺.

I Cooked!

Something that I don’t mention when I’m asked to describe myself – I don’t cook 😜. Haha! I try not to admit it because deep inside I know I can, I just don’t practice much (that’s the problem if you have a mom and a father-in-law who cooks really well, why would I bother cooking..haha!). I usually get busy in the kitchen when my mom’s not around. I usually make pasta dishes. They turn out edible maybe because I’m kinda good in following instructions. I read and follow procedures from recipe books.

I don’t normally blog what I cook, but today I realized I prepared three simple (really simple) kinds of food for the family.

First, I made pancakes for breakfast. I made a Choco Chip Banana Pancake for Brio and a Banana Raisin Smiley Face Pancake for Lucas. Of course I used the ready to cook pancake mix. I just added the bananas, choco chips and raisins I found here at home. Next I cooked the Basmati rice and I’ve been doing this for quite awhile, I think I’m getting really good at it. Lastly, I tried and experimented on my friend’s recipe of the Ultra Healthy Baked Pineapple Chicken. Well it turned out ok. It’s neither a failure nor a success because now I know what I need to improve on. It was edible…I ate it for lunch. Haha! (For more healthy recipes please check out my friend’s blog thehappyhealthyhippie.com)

Is this a start of my kitchen journey? Maybe. It’s never too late and I’m optimistic about it 😊.

Eat Fresh Hong Kong Street Food

Last night Brio and I were craving for something to eat that we don’t exactly know what. When Lucas asked his Wowa to bring him upstairs, we thought it’s the best opportunity for us to sneak out and grab something to eat. So we did.

I told my hubby that I think I just want a dose of milk tea so we decided to go around the Wilson area. Then I realized we haven’t tried the Hong Kong street food along Abad Santos. When we passed by the establishment, the parking space was just impossible. There were many people coming in and out. We turned around and checked again and luckily we got a spot.

The place was crowded with people ordering left and right. Good thing there’s still an available space for two. I kinda got overwhelmed when I saw the menu because they got lots of choices. I just focused my eyes on the street food list because that’s what we came for.

Brio ordered for pork siomai (P65 for 4 pcs.), taosi spareribs (P48) and Coke in can (P30). I ordered squid fingers (P35 for 4 pcs.), takoyaki balls (P60 for 4 pcs.) and Pearl nai cha (P60).

I’d rate the taste of what I ate pretty good. The white sauce (not sure if it’s a mayo) for the takoyaki was just a little bit overpowering. Maybe It could be requested to put just a little of it. The squid fingers are good. I used sweet chilli sauce for it. The nai cha was also good for milk tea fans like me (I like it with less or zero sweetness at all). As for Brio’s pork siomai and taosi spareribs, he said they’re good. Would be better if he was given chilli sauce.

We also scanned the rest of the menu and I would say their price is reasonable and pocket friendly. It’s also obvious as we’ve seen the quick turnover of customers. In terms of service, well you wouldn’t expect a first class kind. In a scale of 1 to 5 (5 being the highest) I’ll give a 2. Because when we asked for condiments, they didn’t give us what we asked for and orders were given one at a time and drinks were served last.

They don’t have a delivery service but you may call them for order pick up.

Eat Fresh Hong Kong Famous Street Food
691 J. Abad Santos St. Near cor. V. Ibanez St., Little Baguio, San Juan
2966573; 2349059