At Home With MrsC

My Favorite Crispy Corned Beef Recipe, As Told On Instagram

June 25, 2013 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan 8 Comments

There are perks to following me on Instagram, like those mornings when I decide to share step-by-step instructions for preparing my favorite meals as I cook. I actually did that for the first time a few weeks ago, and I had a lot of fun with it. I prepared crispy corned beef for brunch that day, and I thought I’d share the recipe here too, in case you and I aren’t friends on Instagram yet. But yeah, we should be friends!

IMG_20130525_095408 — Step1: Straight from the can, no oil, simmer over low heat until all the liquid evaporates.

IMG_20130525_100328 — Step2: stir-fry until super dry and flakey. Move the corned beef around a lot or else it will burn. Remember, low heat.

IMG_20130525_102131 — You know you’re almost done when it starts to get stringy and flakey. It starts to smell toasty too.

IMG_20130525_103208 — Be careful towards the end coz there is but a fine line between toasted and burnt. Aaaand the crispy corned beef is done!

IMG_20130525_101226 — Crispy corned beef is best paired with garlic rice and pork and beans!

Yes, I know, this looks really unhealthy. And it is. But hey, it’s really great comfort food. Try it, and I swear you’ll understand what I’m talking about!

Sunday Fun Day Family Movie Date

June 23, 2013 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan 2 Comments

Just saying a quick hello to everyone just to let you know I’m still alive and kicking. I’ve just come out of an amazingly hectic week, and so it’s been quiet here on the blog. I’ve honestly been looking forward to today since last Monday morning since I promised myself that Sundays are for family, and should only be filled with fun things.

We’ve got lunch, a movie date, and lazy time at Fully Booked planned for today. I want to have churros in the afternoon, hear mass, then have dinner at home. I’m excited about the plan since it’s filled mostly with what I want to do lol. The boys are especially excited about the movie date. Guess what we’re watching? Here’s a clue.

Hope you guys have a great Sunday Fun Day!

Belated Happy WAHM-aversary To Me!

June 19, 2013 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan 2 Comments

Summer was so much fun that I actually forgot to celebrate my WAHM-aversary last May. Yes, I am proud to say that I’ve survived and actually thrived during my first year as a work at home mom. I’ve managed to achieve my first year goal to match or exceed my monthly earnings as a regular employee. I’m really quite proud of myself right now. Achievement unlocked! *Happy dance*

Of course, I know that it doesn’t end there. True enough, just as I’ve become attuned to my daily life as a mommy who can make money from home, I find myself faced with a brand new challenge. I now have the daily 5am baon (lunchbox) and breakfast preps to face. Over the next nine months and beyond, I’m gonna have to play the role of the pre-dawn iron chef of our household.

Our new schedule requires me to magically turn myself into a morning person, and I think that’s the most challenging part of all this. I also need to develop my skills in menu and grocery planning. It’s a good thing I enjoy cooking, and so I don’t really mind being in the kitchen so early in the day.

On the upside, being up and about at such an early hour seems to do wonders in boosting my productivity, judging from the last three days. That’s always a good thing. I am now also able to stop working earlier than I used to since I start three hours earlier than before. The best part is that I have a long window of time in the middle of the day to work and run errands while people are at the office and in school. The house is extra quiet during that time, so it’s perfect for my work at home setup. The only downside is that I usually feel like the walking dead after 7pm (which is right about now). At least I’m finally able to sleep early.

Since this is all new to me and I want to prove to myself that I can do it, I’ve decided to document all of my early morning efforts. I thought of a few prospective blog posts, and later on decided to go all out and create not one, but two blog series around them. One will be all about my tried and tested weekly baon plans. I’ll be sharing what worked, what didn’t, and a few nifty tricks I learn along the way. To this I will add recipes from those days when my kiddo is particularly happy with his packed meal. The other will be a collection of recipes of my favorite 5am breakfasts.

This actually gives me more stuff to blog about, which is great. What do you guys think about this idea?

So, this post really has no purpose other than to sort of celebrate my anniversary as a WAHM and to document some of my plans for the blog and myself before I forget about them in my zombiness. On that note, I think it might time to get some sleep.

I Survived the First Day of School!

June 17, 2013 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan 8 Comments

I kind of freaked out here on the blog last week about the first day of school, which happened to be today. I am proud to say that I made it through with flying colors! Let me break it down for you.

I successfully:

Got up at 5am
Prepared Little MrC’s lunch and our breakfast by 6am
Got everyone out of bed, fed, bathed, and out of the house by 7:30am
Brought the kiddo to his classroom before 8am
Made it to my 10am meeting in BGC despite the nasty traffic all over Manila this morning
Enjoyed a nice quiet lunch date with MrC
Took an afternoon shower (so relaxing!)
Picked up the kid from school on time
Went grocery shopping for lunchbox supplies for the week
Prepared the ingredients I need for tomorrow’s packed lunch
Accomplished all but one thing on my task list for the day by 6pm.

I know that this is a normal day for a lot of moms out there, but it’s my first time, so allow me to do a happy dance for a minute.

I am now sitting in bed with my kiddo, watching cartoons. I’m so tired and I feel like a sleep-deprived zombie, but I’m looking forward to doing it all again tomorrow, minus the meeting but with a full load of writing to do. Yes, even the waking up at 5am part. It’s not hard to find motivation to keep on keeping on. Just look at this smiling face. There’s no way you can tell me that this isn’t more than enough.

In his classroom on the first day of school

Wish me luck?

Happy Birthday, Mother Dear!

June 15, 2013 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan Leave a Comment

It’s my mom’s birthday today!

Baby Mom, some time in the 60's — Baby Mom, some time in the 60’s

To celebrate, I’d like to share this post I wrote last year for World Moms Blog, which talked about our household with two mothers. Here’s a quote from that post:

I can’t say enough how extremely blessed I am to have a mother who is young enough, strong enough and more than willing to take care of my kid in my absence. I never have to worry about him not being okay because he is in the hands of the same woman who raised me.

Halloween 1983. I'm the bunny, mom's preggers with my brother, and I think that's my step cousin with us. — Halloween 1983. I’m the bunny, mom’s preggers with my brother, and I think that’s my step cousin with us.

To mommy, happy birthday and thank you for everything. I literally would not be here without you. I love you, and you know it!

I just really wanted to use this photo. Lol. Super Angels circa 1980.

Old School Blogging: The ABC’s of MrsC!

June 12, 2013 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan 10 Comments

I was always a slam book kinda girl. For those of you who aren’t from my generation, a slam book is a notebook with a series of questions on it like “What is love?”, “What is your ideal guy/girl like?”, and where you are asked to describe your crush and, at the very end of your entry, write a message to the slam book owner. You pass the notebook around among your friends for them to answer. It was a great way to get to know each other, and also to find out who your friends’ crushes were. Lol!

The cuter your notebook was, the cooler you were. Back then, notebooks you could get from Tickles or Gift Gate made the best slam books, and they usually were either Lisa Frank or Sanrio. Oh, and Papemelroti was pretty big too! Fast forward to today, where only a handful of people I know get excited over notebooks the way I do. I don’t think I’ve seen a slam book in over 15 years. And then, I came upon this Old School Blogging meme on my friend Martine‘s blog, and it really brought me back to my grade school slam booking days! So of course, I am joining in on the fun.

Old School Blogging: Alphabet Edition is hosted by Elaine and Jennifer. Visit their blogs if you wanna link up, and don’t forget to check out their posts too.

Okay, so here goes…

A. Attached or Single? Attached to MrC forever and ever and ever!

B. Best Friend? Of course there’s MrC and Little MrC, but there’s also Mari, my BFF since I was a silly little girl. There she is, directly above my right shoulder in that photo up there, wearing the beige dress.

C. Cake or pie? Cake, hands down.

D. Day of choice? Sunday Fun Day!

E. Essential Item? My BlackBerry.

F. Favorite color? Pink!!!

G. Gummy bears or worms? Either. It doesn’t matter coz I’m not a big fan of candy anyway.

H. Hometown? Manila, Philippines. I am an Alabang girl.

I. Favorite Indulgence? Hotel staycations and out of town trips.

J. January or July? January. July has never been nice to me.

K. Kids? 1 Little MrC.

L. Life isn’t complete without? My husband and son. Coffee. Chocolate. The internet. Music.

M. Marriage date? 09-10-11

N. Number of brothers/sisters? 1 brother and 1 sister

O. Oranges or Apples. Apples

P. Phobias? Frogs. Well, reptiles and amphibians basically.

Q. Quotes? “You’re never fully dressed without a smile.” -Annie

R. Reasons to smile? There are so many. I’m such an optimist. My family, good health, happy memories, plans for the future, lots more.

S. Season of choice? Summer, since the only other option in Manila is the rainy season, which I really dislike.

T. Tag 5 People. Tina, Ditas, Marryl, Marge, Louise

U. Unknown fact about me? I used to dance, and even performed in a jazz recital at one of the big theaters in Manila. It’s embarrassing, and I have it all on video.

V. Vegetable? Lettuce. With dressing, of course. I love salads.

W. Worst habit? Procrastinating

X. Xray or Ultrasound? Ultrasound coz it usually means there’s a baby. X-rays usually mean trouble.

Y. Your favorite food? Bread, Pizza, Pasta. Carbs carbs carbs. I know, that’s why I’m fat.

Z. Zodiac sign? Pisces!

That was fun. Now it’s your turn! Share the link to your post in my comments section if you do this too, okay? I’d love to read your answers.