Lazy Sunday...but not for long! :)

Sundays used to be family day, or at least that was the whole concept growing up. I remember when we were kids we would have lunch with my dad's family sometimes, and dinner with my mom's family at my great-grandparents house ALL THE TIME. It was sooo much fun because the whole clan would be there. Yup, I grew up seeing my cousins all the time. I guess that's the main reason why it's not so bad that I don't have sisters cause I kinda still do. 

my awesome family having a Benjamin Button New Year.

My great-grandparents have a huge house with a garden and really big Macopa tree in the back. There would be times when we would pick the low hanging fruit and munch on them. Ok, maybe just take a bite from them then give them to yaya. We were more into picking the fruit than eating it. I also remember how when we were young there were geese in the backyard. Yup, it was a fun house and there are a lot of memories there. Maybe when we have kids of our own we'll bring them to my grandparents house every Sunday so that they could spend time with their cousins too. :)

Recently though, since I started working Sundays has been more of a rest day. Time to stay home, relax, sleep and just be lazy. Props to my parents for always having the energy to take us around and spend time with us when I can imagine all they wanted to do was stay home, put their feet up and take a breather from their hectic lives at work.

So right now, here I am being lazy, lying in bed not really wanting to move I thought it would be an awesome time for me to think of other things I could be doing to make my Sundays more productive. Starting next week!

I've always wanted to learn how to cook and I've had a go at a few recipes but because I want to someday be able to cook without having to refer to a cookbook all the time I guess I need to practice. So maybe I'll cook Sunday dinners for the family. That way I get an excuse to cook and at least my Sunday isn't wasted. 

***photo from the internet

I've also been wanting to learn how to paint. But since that's probably still a long time coming, maybe I'll figure out how to sketch first. :) I remember one random time in my life when I decided I would make oil-pastel drawings because I had fun memories of a project we did in grade school. I attempted to do it. I initially wanted to do pointilism but the oil pastel would just NOT cooperate so I did what I could. And here's what happened.

Iris on Oil Pastel

It's not exactly Monet but I must say it didn't turn out so bad. now I just need to keep practicing I believe. Ahahaha...another one of my projects. When I'm older and I won't be working anymore this is what I will be doing. Aside from ballet that is. :D

That's a couple of this that I could spend my time doing instead of just lying down and watching videos being a complete sloth. But for now I'm going to will myself to start moving and get ready so I can get a foot massage while I kill time before dinner. Tonight I'm seeing my baby boy! :) I caaaan't wait!

So how do you spend your Sundays?

Cheesecaking it with the bu...

I've been dying to make cheesecake for a week now. It's one of the bu's favorite desserts and well, who better to cook for than him. I was on the road to Clark for work when I ended up talking about cheesecake with my friend Pam. She explained to me how easy it was so I was curious.

I love the fact that you don't really have to bake the cheesecake, there are a lot of no bake recipes on the internet. So I bought the ingredients and because it was already late had to postpone it until I had free time again.

After obsessing the entire week today seemed like the perfect time to make it. I was at home, awake early and well, bored. So I made the bu help me, although he was being difficult and a know it all again, and we made our first cheesecake together! :)

Just had some of it awhile ago and I must say. It is delish..haha...but I may be biased. We're still trying to figure out what we can top it with when we eat it. Probably going to end up being jam. haha...will keep you posted.

Until my next culinary adventure! :) Grubs up!

Making sweet apples together

I have been craving for really good french toast since the time I saw my officemate eating some. So sue me, I'm envious like that. hahaha...

Since I have been very sentimental lately I thought of making good old apple sauce for my french toast. :) We would have this as a treat when we were younger. So it was going to be extra special if I made it myself. I asked my mom to buy the stuff I needed since I'm in the office most of the time. She didn't get to buy them until after we went to my granduncle's wake though. So it was quite late when we got home.

When we got home I asked the bu if he was willing to help me. He's always too sweet and quickly agreed. I figured I would let him do the easy stuff. So I asked him to measure out the sugar and the cinnamon and to mix them together while I cut the apples. Of course cutting apples takes longer than measuring so once he was done he was looking for things to do. I asked if he wanted to try cutting some of the apples which he was. Apparently what he didn't tell me was he was horrible at cutting apples. hahaha...ok, I'm being overly dramatic. But seriously, he took out a fork and wanted to hang on to the apple using it. I mean that would have been fine if it was dinner. But we were trying to get thin even slices. He wouldn't even listen to me explain the proper way to do it. So I let him be while I went to measure out the remaining ingredients, butter and water. Once I was done, I started the process. Of course my bu decides he wants to help with that too. Haha...if you were there. It was hilarious. He looked like a little boy being allowed to help out in the kitchen for the first time.

The apple sauce came out great. It was just right. Not to sweet not to tangy. :) Perfect.

I feel so lucky having someone like the bu in my life. He constantly supports my crazy ideas and lets me do what I want. But, he also equalizes me and lets me know when I am wrong and when I need to change my views on certain things. He's my external moral compass. :) How could I be so lucky! :)

Chili oh chili

I made chili last night! :) My second time cooking on my own! :) It wasn't bad and the fact that I made something from scratch was fun! I actually had to cook for 2 hours! Obviously something I don't do. hahaha...

The chili wasn't that bad, I got mixed reviews ranging from "It's too spicy!" to "It's not spicy enough!" thanks to the fact that the people I feed have very varied taste preferences. My basis of course would be the bu. When we first started dating he would never even come close to something that was spicy, not even a little bit. But as our relationship grew his taste for spicy food grew as well but his tolerance is still low. So last night's chili was based on his taste. According to him, it had to have some kick. hahaha...

What I realized is difficult for someone who doesn't eat meat and cooks meat dishes is the fact that I can't try the food so I didn't know what it tasted like at all and had to rely on the reaction from the bu. It was quite hard but I guess it's something that I have to get used to cause I sure won't eat meat.

My chili turned out drier than normal (it wasn't really dry but it wasn't what I thought chili should be.) I think it was more so because of all the adjustments I had to make for the taste that I had to keep it on the fire longer than necessary. Learned from that! :)

Next up on my list, tuna pasta. Finally something I can eat! Will tell you all about it next time! Til then, happy eating!

Learning how to cook

I remember taking cooking classes in ICA and loving it except for that day when we cooked squid which I don't eat but had to handle anyway. That was horrible. But cooking and baking classes had to be my favorite. So to add to my list of things to do while I'm in between jobs, I'm going to learn how to cook. No, I'm not going to enroll myself in culinary school, I'm just going to go at it with a cookbook and my positive spirit. hahaha...I'm hoping the people I feed have iron-clad intestines...they might need it.

So any ideas what I should start with?