I was tagged by toni. Thanks toni!

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?

Magazines: Cook and GoodHousekeeping

Books: Elsivier Publications and other Petroleum and Petrochemical-related Journals (Of course it’s my job!)

What movies and/or tv shows did I watch this month?

Movies: Transformers

TV: I watch MOMS regularly

What special days did I celebrate and how?

My mother-in-law’s birthday. There was no special celebration, we just had dinner.

What gifts did I give and/or receive?

Receive: Abeth purchased a CANON printer for me

Give: I baked a cake for my mother-in-law’s birthday

What illnesses or health concerns did I have?

Thank God I’ve been healthy this year and never been hospitalized yet (sana wag na, pahinga naman this year).

What fun things did I do with my friends and/or family?

Brought Andre with us when we went to the mall and the supermarket. Sobrang likot nya! But it was fun!

Me and my officemates went to Greenbelt and ate at Oodys (Did I spell it right?) . It was fun because we haven’t went out for a while

What new foods, recipes or restaurants did I try this month?

Recipes: I tried to bake the magic bars and nutty chocofudge bars.

New foods: OODYS’ Fresh Spring roll, Pasta in curried spicy chicken, and Pad Thai

What special or unusual purchases did I make?

We purchased the “I Wonder Why” series together with the complete Harry Potter Series

What were this month’s disappointments?

When my uncle (my mom’s brother) left our house in Cavite to finally live on their own with his family, without saying goodbye nicely because of sort of misunderstanding

What were my accomplishments this month?

I successfully decorated the cake for my mother-in-law’s birthday

On Andre: He can now walk all by himself

I’m now tagging Mitch, Cookie, and Thet

While my husband and I were at the mall last Sunday, we saw this booth displaying children’s books. One of the sellers approached us and offered us their books. These books were the “I Wonder Why” books from Grolier. They had this promo that for every purchase of a set of “I Wonder Why” books, that’s 24 volumes, we’ll have a free item. The book looked interesting, but the free item wasn’t. So, we intended to leave their booth. Before we actually left their booth, I saw this set of Harry Potter books (1-6) and asked them how much does it cost. The salesperson told us that we can have it for free instead of their original offer. We began to think about it. I asked her if she could include the Book 7 in their offer. Luckily, she did. So, we ended up accepting their offer.

Yes, we bought the books and had the Harry Potter books for free. I am so happy that my husband agreed to buy the books. Without the Harry Potter books, we won’t be accepting their offer. They have it delivered the same day. Good offer diba?

I am a Harry Potter fan, but I haven’t read any of the books. Though I already have the book 1 that my sister gave me, I still haven’t read it yet. I have no enough time to read it. I’m a mom with such a busy schedule, working from home, taking care of my 2 boys, playing with my 1-yr old son, and cooking for them. How I wish I have more time to read the books. I promise myself to read the book 7 as soon as I had spare time. Kelan kaya un? Hehe. .. But still, it’s not a waste of money because it was for free and it’s a collector’s item.

The “I Wonder Why” books are fun to read. They answer all the simple questions a child might ask. They are very informative and easy to understand. They are full of impressive illustrations and various questions that even adults don’t know how to answer. The books will answer the questions of a child who is curious about the world around us. Each volume has a different topic. Some of the topics are why spiders spin webs, why camels have humps, why my tummy rumbles, why the sea is salty, and why the sun rises. Kids will surely learn from these and I highly recommend these books. It’s a good read.

I just finished creating my own badge….a PROUD PINAY ID badge. You can now view it on my sidebar. This could be an added attraction to my blog…hihihi. I saw it on Mitch’s site (Thanks Mitch!) .

I also created a “family ID badge”, which tells that we are the REYES’. I created a badge for Abeth, me, and Andre. Take a closer look…

Cute?…

We will have it printed and laminated and bring it with us wherever we go. Para di kami mawala hehe.

You can also create your own. Check it here, it’s cool!

I wasn’t able to post some of the recipes I cooked last week because I’ve been busy with some stuffs…So here’s the recap…

Thursday: Baked lemon chicken

I woke up early at around 5am to prepare to go to the church to attend the 6am service. But, my husband told me that he can’t make it because he had a headache. So instead, I just turned on the PC to start my work and posted some entries for my blog. At lunch time, I started to prepare for the baked lemon chicken so that by 6PM it will be ready for baking. I rubbed 3 whole chicken legs with fresh lemon, sprinkled some salt and pepper, and added some dried rosemary leaves. I squeezed the lemon for the marinade and seasoned it with salt and pepper. While marinating, I continued doing my work. At 6pm, I started to bake the chicken at 170degC. (Don’t forget to preheat the oven for 10 minutes). Prior to baking, I brushed the chicken with soy sauce to add some color. I baked it for about 45 minutes. I served it with plain rice and gravy. To make the gravy, I thickened the sauce of the chicken by adding cornstarch dissolved in water.

Friday:

I wasn’t able to cook coz I’m at the office. My home-based work requires me to come at the office every Tuesdays and Fridays. That is why my mother-in-law cooks dinner for us. Abeth will pick it up at his mom’s place before he goes home.

Saturday: Chicken Adobo ala Abeth & Abeth’s Special Fried Rice

I went to SM to have my haircut. Surfed the net afterwards. I didn’t prepare anything for dinner because my husband and I intended to have dinner at SM, but it was raining heavily so we just stayed home. Abeth volunteered to cook our dinner. Since chicken is the only available, I suggested he cook adobo. I taught him how. He modified it by adding some boiled egg. He also cooked the fried rice. I told him to add some carrots to enhance its color. Here’s the picture of what he cooked. (He told me to post it on my blog! Yabang din noh! Hehehe)

Take note: He’s not a trying hard cook, he knows how to cook. He cooks for us sometimes when he feels like doing it. We had a delightful dinner that night, although it was just a simple adobo. To Abeth, keep up the good work! **wink**

Yesterday: Chicken Noodle Soup

After our Trinoma experience (i will post it some other time), I cooked Chicken Noodle Soup for dinner. For the ingredients, I diced 1 pc carrot, 1 pc medium-sized potato, 1/2 cup of celery, about 100 grams chicken breast, and 1 medium-sized onion. I also pre-cooked 3 cups of Penne pasta and set it aside (you can also use any pasta of your choice). For the procedure, I sauteed the onion and celery with butter, added 3 tbsp flour to thicken; added the potato and chicken; added 5 cups of chicken broth and simmered it; added the carrot and simmer for another minute; added the Penne pasta and 1 cup nestle all-purpose cream; and finally seasoned with salt and pepper.

This recipe is similar to the ordinary “chicken sopas”, wherein the only difference is I substituted the milk with cream. My husband didn’t enjoyed it that much because he is not fond of cream-based soups. I just tried this recipe to determine its difference. I didn’t like it that much either, but it tastes good. The milk-based sopas tastes better. Hmmmm….the next time I cook this recipe, I’ll use milk instead But for those who like cream-based soups, this recipe is okay, it’s just that we are not really into cream-based soups. Happy cooking!

Cheers!