MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan

31

February 25, 2014 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan 14 Comments

Today, I turn 31.

I actually started the day with grim news. Instead of letting that weigh me down though, I choose to take the situation as a reminder that each new day is most definitely something worth celebrating. Although, I do still feel some heaviness in my chest because this is the kind of thing that you don’t shake off that easily. But today is a day to be thankful for, and so is the gift of another year.

Life has taught me a whole bunch of lessons in my 31 years. Today, I want to share with you the ones that I feel are the most important. This is my way of giving back for all the well-wishes, prayers and greetings that I received from family and friends, both in person and online, on this special day in my life.

31 Important Life Lessons I’ve Learned So Far

You were not meant to be alone. Allow people to come into your life.
Spend as much time as you can with the people who matter to you.
Never be afraid to say I love you.
Never hesitate to say I’m sorry.
Forgive.
If it’s meant to be, it will happen.
Unless you take a chance, you will never know.
Do more of what you love.
A positive outlook always makes a difference.
There must always be room for a second chance.
When in doubt, make sure you have a Plan B.
Grab every good opportunity that comes your way.
Live without regret.
Save up for a rainy day.
Make memories and document moments.
Be genuinely grateful.
Honesty will take you further than lies ever will.
It’s the people you love the most who have the power to hurt you the most.
Unconditional love is the stuff that good relationships are made of.
Never walk out on an argument.
There is a solution to every problem. Some solutions are just harder to accept.
Coffee makes mornings better in an instant.
In trying moments, grab a bag of Maltesers or a chocolate bar. Your heart will thank you, even if your hips choose not to.
Build good habits while you are young.
Never go to bed angry.
Ice cream and cake can count as breakfast food, but only on special days.
No matter how hard you plan, there is still a chance that things will go wrong. Learn to think on your feet.
You control your own destiny.
Moisturize, exercise and wear sunscreen.
Say please, thank you and you’re welcome.
Whitney was right. Learning to love yourself IS the greatest gift of all.

What is one important lesson that life has taught you? Please share in the comments. Consider it your birthday gift to me. Thanks in advance! 🙂

Random Things About Me

February 23, 2014 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan 28 Comments

I’m starting this new blog series called Sunday Seven where I basically make a list of seven things each week. I thought it might be something fun to do, and that’s why I’m doing it! And since it is officially the start of my birthday week, I thought I’d kick the series off by sharing seven random things about me. This way, you’ll get to know me better.

1. I have an irrational fear of frogs

I say ‘irrational’ because I can’t even look at a photo of frogs, or watch them on TV. When I hear a croak, or a kokak, as we say in Filipino, I will scream, panic, and eventually cry. Every time. Even if it’s from far away. I get startled when I see frogs jump all of a sudden, when the beams of my car headlights catch them, and even when I see squished froggy roadkill while I’m walking on the street. There is a reason behind this fear, which involves a giant frog toy, my brother and a childhood argument. Sometimes I am told to face my fear of frogs head on, but I would honestly much rather headbutt the person who tells me this. There have been instances where I’ve asked a friend to carry me across a field, when I’ve dragged my brother (who is afraid of heights) down an uneven, very high stone staircase, refused to enter a room, hyperventilated, thrown a hissy-fit, and shrieked like there’s no tomorrow when the threat of having to encounter a froggy friend presented itself. They arethe stuff of my nightmares, seriously. One of the worst dreams I have ever had was that of a giant frog chasing me, trying to get into the house through the windows. Just thinking about it now makes me want to cry.

2. I used to do a lot of sports

I grew up playing tennis. I tried soccer one summer. I was also once a pompom girl. I joined two varsity racket sports teams in high school. I learned gymnastics. All this before I discovered Agno food in DLSU and started gaining all this weight.

3. I only learned to cook when Little MrC started eating solids

I was a kitchen disaster growing up. I once burned a pot of spaghetti sauce so bad (while reheating, mind you), that some sauce got stuck to the bottom of the pan and could not be removed. We had to throw the ruined pot away. I also once almost set the kitchen on fire when my cooking oil overflowed because I poured an entire bag of squid balls into the pan without realizing it would overflow. Fireball!

Couldn't let this meatball go hungry, now could I? — Couldn’t let this meatball go hungry, now could I?

4. I’ve been blogging since college

I checked out the URLs of my old emo blogs just now, and lo and behold, they are still there. Here is the first post from my first blog, which I satrted in 2004. And here is the first post from another Blogspot blog I had in 2005. I think I’m gonna spend an afternoon reading my old entries. It’s gonna be a fun trip down memory lane for sure.

5. I have atopic dermatitis

If you see me up close, you will notice that I have dry red patches of skin on my arms and chest, and sometimes even on my face. I’ve had bad atopic dermatitis since I was 14, and I can’t use products with a lot of alcohol in them, including most commercial perfumes. Sad. That’s why Sesu and Ilog Maria are my favorite places to shop for soap, shampoo and other personal care stuff.

6. I’ve never had a massage in my life

As in never. The closest I’ve had to a massage are those sorta massages you get after a manicure, pedicure and hot oil. I’m very ticklish, and so I’m scared that the session will stress me out more than relax me.

7. Before I became a mom, I organized rock concerts

My first job was as an assistant for the production company that mounted Fete de la Musique in 2004. That same year, I became the assistant to the production manager of Red Horse Muziklaban. In 2005, I worked on a Chippy Gimikada nationwide concert series and another season of Muziklaban. My friends back then were members of Mayonnaise, Razorback, Kapatid, Imago, Sugarfree, Sandwich, and an assortment of other bands. Those were really fun times.

Working the registration at a Muziklaban pocket event in 2005

So there you go, I hope you enjoyed that little peek into my personality. Could you do me a favor and share a random fact about yourself in the comments? I’d love to learn more about you!

Lunch Box Menu for February 20-27

February 19, 2014 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan 27 Comments

My car is coded on Thursdays, which means I’m stuck in the Republic of Alabang. I’ve decided, therefore, that Thursdays will be my grocery day. However, this week, I did my shopping on a Wednesday. As in today. Yes, that’s how bad I am with schedules. But anyway, the important thing is that I’m all set for another week of lunchbox preps for the boys.

What’s new after the hiatus?

I stopped posting my weekly lunchbox menus because they were starting to get boring to write, and I thought they might have become boring to read, too. After thinking about how I could change it up, I’ve decided to post what’s on my food list for the coming week instead of what I prepared for the week that passed. That way, I can share my marinate and freeze recipes, too, or whatever recipe I would like to feature for the week. I like this because it will encourage me to actually get to work in the kitchen and not allow my lazy self to buy pre-marinated or frozen packaged meals. So yes, beginning today, the weekly lunch box menu plans are back!

BONUS: I’ve also decided to include a grocery list. My, my, I’m being ambitious, aren’t I? Well, let’s just hope that I keep on keeping on with this, at least until the end of the school year. Then I can tweak things again over the summer, in time for class resumption in June.

And there’s one final new thing about this weekly series. All menu plans and grocery lists are now gonna be downloadable in PDF format. Yay!

This week’s featured recipes

Yup, recipes. Plural. I really wanted this comeback to be major. And oh my goodness, I really hope I can keep doing this each week. Anyway, all recipes for this week are marinate and freeze ones. I like to prepare ahead in case I wake up late or just won’t function so early in the morning. These should all be marinated before they are frozen, as in right after you get home from the supermarket, if possible. Then you just transfer them from the freezer to the refrigerator before you go to bed so that they are nicely (and safely) thawed in the morning.

Recipe #1 is a Beef Salpicao dish based on one that I found in one of my many Yummy magazines. You will need:

1/4 kilo Beef tenderloin, cut into cubes
1.5 tbsp Minced garlic
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Black pepper
1.5 tbsp Olive oil
2.5 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp Light soy sauce
1 small can Button mushrooms
Salted butter
Toasted garlic to serve

Combine the garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil, Worcestershire sauce and light soy sauce, then pour over the beef tenderloin. Marinate for at least 30 minutes. Then saute the beef in butter, throw in some whole button mushrooms, and top the cooked salpicao with toasted garlic. Best served with steaming hot rice!

Recipe #2 is also based on a Yummy magazine find, and one that I’ve already written about before. Here’s what you need for this Rosemary Garlic Chicken:

1/2 kilo Chicken thigh or breast fillet
1 tbsp Soy sauce
1 tbsp Olive oil
1 tsp Garlic powder
1 tsp Thyme
1 tsp Rosemary
1/4 tsp Black pepper

Mix everything together, pour over the chicken and marinate for at least 30 minutes. Then you simply fry the chicken in a little bit of oil, and you’re done! This is good paired with mashed potatoes. I usually add a side of corn and carrots when I pack this for my boys’ lunches.

Recipe #3 is a quick and easy Fried Liempo dish. You need:

1/2 kilo Thinly sliced liempo
1/4 cup Soy sauce
1/8 cup Calamansi juice
Salt and pepper to taste

Just like the chicken, you just mix everything together and let it marinate for at least 30 minutes. Fry the pork in oil and serve with rice, ideally garlic rice, and atchara. Yum! For lunchbox purposes, I’ve paired this dish with sauteed pechay, so that it’s a little bit healthier.

Time to download!

You can download the lunchbox plan here and the grocery list here.

I usually split each of these recipes into two separate containers before freezing, since each batch is enough for two separate lunchbox days for the boys, with a little bit left over for my lunch at home. That way, I can opt to thaw only what I need for the day. So in case you aren’t feeding that many people, you might want to do the same, too.

Oh, and if you don’t pack lunch for anyone, you can actually still use this meal plan at home.

What’s cooking in your kitchen?

My Ratatouille Moment at Kessaku Japanese Restaurant

February 18, 2014 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan 10 Comments

If you’ve lived in Alabang as long as we have, you will probably remember a restaurant that used to be in Casa Susana, called Okasan. I’ve been trying to look for a photo or anything else online that might be able to prove that it once existed, but sadly, there’s nothing. It vanished before Friendster, Multiply or Facebook became popular, and before everyone had digital cameras and camera phones.

My family and I used to go there all the time. It’s was once our go-to place for birthdays, random celebrations and weekend meals out with the family. I remember that the first time MrC and I went out to dinner, that’s where we went. I think that was during our first anniversary in 2000. We were there so often that the waiters already knew what our favorite dishes were. And when they started offering a delivery service, our favorite waiter from the restaurant would come to the house to bring the food himself. It’s too bad that after they closed, we had no idea if they were ever going to open again, or if they had a sister restaurant or another branch, at least. Okasan just went away, and with it went our favorites – the Tonkatsu with cabbage and thousand island dressing, Ebi Tempura, the crunchy dilis that they serve as appetizers, and the unforgettable Tori Kuwayaki.

28 Grateful Days: Escaping for a Movie on a Monday

February 17, 2014 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan 3 Comments

Just like most of you, I had a busy Monday. I was able to tick off four major items on my to-do list before noon, though, so I allowed myself to sneak out for lunch and a movie with my mom. If you’ve liked my page on Facebook, my latest status message will tell you what we watched. It was relaxing and fun, and the afternoon was made more comical by the fact that it seemed like the entire senior citizen population of Alabang was watching the same movie that day. We were literally surrounded by lolos and lolas.

A day like today is definitely something to be thankful for. I love that, as a WAHM, I can disconnect in the middle of the day and go do something enjoyable, after I’ve made sure that all the urgent things have been taken care of, of course. Like I said at the beginning of the month, I have been really making an effort to see the sunny side of life these past few days, and it really does make each day more fun. The highlights of my month so far have been:

Paying off and cutting up my HSBC Credit Card (super blessed with this one)
Watching two movies within a period of four days – Lego Movie with the little boy last Friday, and another one today with mom
Listening to my son tell me all about his school field trip
Receiving my free blog critique from Martine (which was so amazing that I decided to take it a step further and sign up for blog coaching as a birthday gift to myself)
Hanging out with my best girlfriends and seeing one of them again for the first time in four years
Having Mozart chocolates from Austria again for the first time in a long time
Catching the Malaysian lion dance champions’ performance at Resorts World with the boys (they really were SO good!)
Shipping off my World Moms Blog Fairy Moms gift (I hope it arrived at its destination already)
Being invited to join a #BetterMe session with Coach Pia and the SoMoms (which I will be blogging about soon)
My early Valentine’s day date with MrC
Shopping for my little boy’s first Valentine
Finally finishing Season 3 of Homeland with MrC
And actually being able to complete the first two weeks of the 48-week Photo Challenge that I joined

Isn’t life lovelier when you choose to see the good stuff instead of the negative things that happen? And it doesn’t have to be something major all the time. There’s lots of joy in the little things too.

What are your February highlights so far? 🙂

The Best Thing About Dating Your Husband

February 16, 2014 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan 13 Comments

As the Valentine weekend is finally coming to a close, I’d like to share a realization that I had with you. Dating your husband really is a wonderful thing. There are countless reasons why, but this season of love, I’ve found one, very definitive one. Ready?

The best thing about dating your husband is being able to eat Paella Negra without worrying that you look like this practically the entire evening.

At the same time, it also spares you of that awkward scenario where you have to figure out how to tell your date that he looks like this, without completely embarrassing him.

Because my husband knows that I am afraid of traffic and crowds, he took me out to dinner on the 13th instead of the 14th. This right here is another perk that comes with dating your husband – you don’t need to tell him what you want and don’t want to do. In our case, he knows well enough that an evening with good food and a bottle of wine does the trick, and that’s exactly what I got, so, yay!

The food at Barcino is really good. I love Spanish food, and the chardonnay recommended by our server perfectly matched our meal. I’m curious to know if they still have their weekend brunch buffet. I’d love to go back and try that sometime.

We had Pan con Tomate, Gambas, Paella Negra and Croquetas with Jamon Serrano

This was one of the few times that MrC and I actually did something to celebrate Valentine’s Day in our 15 years of togetherness.

February 14 was spent with my little boy. He and I went on an afternoon movie date. Of course, we went home immediately after, just so we could avoid the traffic that was already building up. Then we had a super yummy steak dinner at home, prepared by my mom.

I’m glad that I got to celebrate Valentine’s day with both of my boys this year. How did you guys celebrate hearts day with your loved ones?