swine flu scare

Nothing will catch my attention most than a threat to the health of my family or to the ones closest to me so the thought of the swine flu being a pandemic panics me. Not to mention imagining the scenes from "I am Legend" -- oooohh my paranoia!!

So what is swine flu and how can we catch it?

In simple terms, swine flu is a type of flu carried by pigs that can be transmitted to people so hog raisers are especially at risk of acquiring this. The person infected then can spread this infection through droplet infection to other people. It was overly reported in the news too that you cannot catch swine flu by eating pork meat.

What are the symptoms of swine flu?

Symptoms of swine flu are the same as a regular flu like:
- fever
- cough
- body aches
- headache

There are also some cases where there are associated diarrhea and vomiting.

What to do? What to do?

Although there are no vaccines for swine flu in humans, there are simple everyday habits and ways to prevent oneself from being infected.

- cover nose and mouth when sneezing or coughing
- if you feel sick, do not go to crowded humid places to prevent spreading what you have to others and vice versa
- wearing masks
- AND as simple as this may sound it is really important to HANDWASH!! HANDWASH!! HANDWASH!!

Read more on swine flu for information and updates.

chicken nuggets

Thinking of what food to cook next can be quite tiresome. That is why I love watching cooking shows because it gives me a lot of ideas so planning meals would not be as tiresome. So yesterday, while flipping channels, I bumped into three channels with cooking shows on the same timeslot and got different recipes from those, but chose to do this first because (yes!) its easy, its healthy (because its chicken) and its fun for kids to eat.


sorry 'bout the picture, im bad at taking pictures :)

To make 46 pieces of these, you'll need:

1/2 kg of ground chicken
1 large onion
1/2 cup of minced carrots
crispy fry breading mix

- just mix all these ingredients together
- shape them any way you want
- coat with Crispy Fry breading mix or any breading mix you fancy (notice that it really does need salt and pepper because of the breading mix)
-fry til golden brown

Actually, what's really different about this recipe is that it should include minced vegetables like string beans, and minced tofu so your kids can eat vegetables without them knowing. But I thought I have to trick my daughter first into making this her favorite before I mix in those veggies. Moms can be tricky too! ;p

wallet tag -- what's in my wallet?

I love this tagging game. Got this from utotmopink's site. Lemme start off with my wallet :)

The mechanics of this tag are the ff:
1) take pictures of your wallet and its content.
2) talk about how you got your wallet and how much you paid for it.
3) enumerate the contents and tell a few things about them.
4) pass this tag to the rest of your friends.


I bought my wallet from Egg (Southmall) for just P200 - its on sale ;p. It's quite a big wallet and its super durable - been with me for 2 years now - and I love it. It holds my EVERYTHING including:






-atm cards
-BDO emerald rewards card
-PRC license
-driver's license
-my daughter's TIMEZONE powercard
-MAKRO temporary passport (have to claim that ;p)
-previous office ID and review center ID (in case i have to leave an ID at the guard)
-a 3 o'clock prayer card
-my daughter and hubby's health cards
-calling cards (pedia, brother's, catering services, laboratory/diagnostics office, Galera/Baguio city apartel, Tita Pearl's inihaw bangus - yum!)

and then there are:



-SM ice skating coupons
-McDonald's coupons (this totally expired on me..hehehe)
-Toy Kingdom promo claim stubs (grand prize is a shopping spree at TK *cross fingers*)
-pictures
-old SM IMAX ticket stubs
-calendar
-and RECEIPTS!! RECEIPTS!! RECEIPTS!!!



That's about it. Now, I'm tagging you. What's in your wallet? ;p

chicken sisig

My husband and I are always craving for this chicken sisig at Puregold so I decided to give it a try and remake it. Super easy and yummy. You can either have it super hot with lots of green chillies or not. Either way, good good good. Try it! ;p



INGREDIENTS:
just enough cooking oil for sauteing
5 cloves garlic (or more??? – love it!), minced
2 onions minced too, and another onion minced too for topping
½ kg chicken, boiled, deboned, cut into small cubes
1 tsp ground black pepper
a cup of chicken broth (broth used in boiling the chicken)
half cup vinegar
1 tbsp brown sugar
half of a chicken cube
2 tbps of liquid seasoning, or according to your taste

-Start with boiling the chicken with salt til cooked
-Then scrape the meat from the bone then cube it. Save the broth. (You can actually use chicken breast so you won't have to debone and all, its just that the broth of a chicken bone, or any meat for that matter, has more flavor.)
-Saute garlic, onion, chicken and black pepper. Let it simmer til the chicken is cooked
-Add the rest of the ingredients

To plate, top with uncooked minced onion and green chillies and chicharon --- ooohhh yummmy!!!!


If you prefer to do this with the sizzling plate, I think it would be better to mix the uncooked onions and green chillies with the cooked sisig and then crack one egg on top of it and put kalamansi on the side. RAPSA!!!

sugar cookies with royal frosting

I made this yummy project one weekend with my daughter 'coz i think she needed a little something to put her appetite back on track. She was getting a little bored with the usual meals so I searched for an EASY cookie recipe that I can make with her, and came across this. She had fun rolling out the dough, cookie cutting, and designing her batch of cookies. Its also a pretty good way to boost the confidence in your child's abilities as well. Try his yummy recipe that became an instant favorite in our household - 'coz my mom loves it too :)

Sugar Cookie Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup unsalted butter - I used Dairy Creme Classic for this
1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

-Sifted together flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.

-Using a hand mixer, beat butter and sugar just til butter and sugar are well mixed.

-Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat until combined.

-Add the sifted flour mixture to butter mixture and beat until you have a smooth dough.
-Divide the dough in half and wrap each half in plastic wrap.

-Refrigerate for about one hour or until firm enough to roll.
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven.

-Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

-Remove one half of the chilled dough from the refrigerator and, on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/4 inch. (I floured mine when it gets too sticky so it wont stick to the rolling pin.)

-Cut out desired shapes using a cookie cutter dipped in flour so the dough wont stick to the cookie cutter.

-Transfer cookies to the prepared baking sheet.

-Place the baking sheets with the unbaked cookies in the refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes to chill the dough which prevents the cookies from spreading and losing their shape while baking.

-Bake cookies for about 10 to 15 minutes or until edges are brown.

-Remove from the oven and let it cool then decorate! decorate! decorate!

Royal Icing Ingredients:

2 large egg whites
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
3 cups confectioners sugar, sifted

-Beat egg whites with the lemon juice (beat mine for a minute or so)

-Add the sifted powdered sugar and beat until combined and smooth.

*This should be stored in an airtight container as it hardens when exposed to air. Placed mine in a plastic container, covered it with plastic wrap then covered with its lid.

*I placed four tablespoons of icing in two containers and mixed each with FERNA red and violet food coloring. Try adding drop by drop to get desired color.

That's it. Happy baking :)

INTROs...INTROs...

what better way to start this blog page by introducing myself... here's my take on the very famous 100 things about me...here goes 80 of mine...I...

1. am mai.

2. am a wife to aldrin for 6 years..girlfriend for 11 years..

3. am a mother/playmate to daughter leila..

4. love to cook and bake..

5. can watch cooking shows all day..

6. spend about 12 hours of my every day in front of the computer...

7. super love chicken/pork adobo..

8. sometimes can taste something and can work out the recipe from there..

9. belong to a group of ladies called chuvas (fat)..so called..

10. attended opposing schools - benedictine abbey school and la salle..

11. was told that i joined so many field demonstrations and contests when i was in grade school that my mom got tired of going..

12. once joined a declamation contest in grade 1..the piece required a bit of drama and crying..but nerves got to me so crying was effortless..so was the snot (excuse the word) ;p

13. can probably sing all of cartoon movie soundtracks because my daughter watches it ALL THE TIME..

14. always have very vivid dreams..

15. once had a dream that i was whispering something to a friend's ear and woke up posed like it..

16. am FAT ...argghh!!!

17. love ADAM SANDLER movies!!!!

18. enjoy reality shows a lot..project runway, top chef and the rachel zoe project..to name a few..

19. recently realized its hard to write 100 things about yourself... 61 more to go...

20. am a registered nurse..not practicing though..

21. enjoy watching celebrity bag raids...

22. believe that julia roberts is perfect in every way..EVERY!!!

23. dream of becoming a chef..

24. most definitely believe that you should never ever trust a fart...especially aldrin's hahahahha..but you can trust mine (*smirk*)...hehehe

25. learned how to apply eye makeup just last year..

26. was once picked out to represent my class in a physics contest..

27. youngest of 4 siblings..

28. am slow in math..quick on the calcu...hehehe

29. have a very reliable set of brothers and sisters..love them..

30. have used one book (oliver twist by charles dickens) throughout high school for book reports but i havent read it once...

31. love colors red, purple, blue, white and black..

32. am an insomniac..

33. am a capricorn..

34. think that curtis stone and anthony bourdain are the hottest and the coolest chefs ever, respectively..

35. was a CAT officer in high school..DAHAP! ;p

36. pray as if i am just talking to a friend..which i am..so to speak ;p

37. am a PSP freak..

38. love wearing flip flops..

39. ....and shorts...

40. .....and pique shirts..

41. have braces..

42. HAAAAAAAATE COCKROACHES...

43. am scared..oh wait...TERRIFIEDD!!! of dogs..

44. super super love the koreanovela Coffee Prince..

45. can do cartwheels..in my young tender years..hehehe

46. cannot grow plants..howsoever..

47. love bowling coz i think im good at it..surprisingly so..

48. love thai massages..

49. take very, very poor pictures..

50. am an instant coffee kind a gal..

51. was accelerated from prep to grade 1..big deal?! hahaha

52. learned that my mama got my name from a contestant in miss universe..

53. love desserts..

54. go by different names...MEU, mama, mamamonchang, subaru, joks, mai, ma..

55. have only had one boyfriend...and i am married to him..

56. easily cry over Lolo scenes..

57. worry A LOT!!!

58. once, in high school, fell down a flight of stairs and dragged my Filipino teacher with me..he's hated me ever since..Peace, Mr. Acoba!

59. am a bargain hunter!!

60. love sushi..

61. ...and i make them too..

62. get cranky when bills starts piling up (who doesn't??)..grrrr!!!

63. believe that everything happens for a reason..

64. never liked beer..

65. ...but i love vodka..

66. love to sing..

67. am a very fussy buyer...before i buy anything i rummage through all the nearby shops to make sure i really picked the one i like..

68. procrastinate...a lot...i invented it actually...

69. can get very dependent and attached to friends..

70. have read all series of The Adventures of Tin Tin in our high school library..(so?!?)

71. talk and tell stories animatedly..

72. this is really not easy...

73. shared the same stage with lea salonga when i was in grade 1 in a school program at the Met..yes!! spoken like a true thespian...AT THE MET! hahaha

74. consider my daughter as my best companion..

75. just realized that its hard to be a single parent...with hubby away..(miss you much!)

76. was always elected class treasurer from grade school to college and i was never good with money..talk about irony!! :p

77. am currently working at home..

78. believe that in every undertaking be it major or minor...there is always a lesson to be learned..

79. want to travel anywhere with my husband in our retiring years..

80. am DONE with this list!!


Gosh!!! it is harder than i thought it would be..but fun. Enjoy listing yours :)