Thanksgiving is here. I have a mixed feeling about the holiday today. But most of all, I am so thankful for everything I have in my life at this moment in time. First of all, I am thankful for my husband. Then I am thankful for my families. I am thankful for the two new wonderful friends I have at work. I am thankful for my pets. I am thankful for my health, my luck, fortune, my job, my church, my faith, my house, my community, my car, my everything I have.
I don’t know what next year’s Thanksgiving is going to bring but for today, I would like to savor every minute of it with joy and happiness. For one day, I want to feel that. For today, I want to remove my worries and sadness. There is not time to worry about anything today. It is time to enjoy life and to be thankful for what we have no matter how little it is.
I wish I could help all the less fortunate this year. Those who lost their homes due to foreclosure. Those who are homeless. Those who are old and sick. Those who have no money left in their pockets.
Yesterday, as I drove home from work, I passed the homeless center in downtown and there was an awfully long line for the dinner being served. I wish we could do that everyday; every year. Serve foods to those who are less fortunate.
Today, my husband and I are celebrating Thanksgiving at home without families. My families live outside the country and they don’t even celebrate Thanksgiving so no point of even mentioning it to them. My husband’s families live far away from us. So it’s just me and my husband.
I have became a vegetarian for over two years so I have not eaten Turkey for Thansgiving for that long. And today is no difference for me. This year though, my husband has requested me to cook him Turkey for his Thanksgiving dinner. So on the weekend, we went get Turkey. I am going to roast it after I come back from church today at 1.
I have so many other things I am going to make today: mashed potatoes, green beans, mixed green leaves, sweet potatoes casserole, corn, honey glazed carrots, rolls, stuffing, homemade cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and pumpkin cake.
I am off to start cooking. I want to wish everyone a Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving. Remember to thank those you hold dearly in your heart.
What a tiring day today.
I started my day waking up at 8.30AM. I had a 9.10AM class at the local Catholic church followed by mass at 10 – 11AM. Then I stopped by at the church’s bookstore to get some new books.
My husband and I did laundry as soon as we got home. It took us an hour to finish.
The fun part of the day was when we went to take a short cruise at the ocean. Just me and my husband. It was about an hour and fifteen minutes long. Never done this cruise before so we had fun. And then we had a nice lunch together at a restaurant in front of the marina. We overspent by $14!!!!!!!!! Budget was $40. But it was worth it. I had leftover I brought home for lunch tomorrow. My husband and I walked around the surrounding area close to the marina. It was a nice day today. I saw an Italian gelato shop and I couldn’t resist to try. I had a Banana and Vanilla gelato ($4.20). Yum. I shared it with my husband. He didn’t like it much–too sweet he said. I liked it.
The weekend is almost over. Tomorrow is Monday already. I can say this week went pretty fast but I enjoyed it. I am looking forward to another busy and fun week!!!
Lastly, this is kind of random, I want to say that I am in love with my husband all over again. I am soooo glad I married him. Can’t imagine my life without him. I am so thankful for him in my life. He is one of the best things happened in my life. I will cherish the rest of my life with him.
My husband is helping his grandma right now. He’s only been gone for over an hour and I miss him already. I cooked but my husband is not here so I ate dinner alone.
My husband just called. He said that his grandma gave him a twin bed set. We happen to need one for our family room–for a daybed. So this is good. We won’t have to buy one which translates to money saving. Yay.
Today was so boring at work. I just couldn’t wait to go home. Tomorrow is Friday so I am super excited. I have no plans so far though. I think I’d like to wind down somewhere. Maybe at a small restaurant somewhere where they have live music.
Ok. Got to go. Bath time. The Office is coming up soon.
Another day I started early.
I woke up before 8AM. But I didn’t really get up until about 8.15AM. I went to catholic class at 9AM. Class started at 9.10AM. Another nice class. Today was our 3rd meeting and I enjoyed it so much. My husband joined me at church for the 10 o’clock mass. We enjoyed free donuts and coffee after mass. I know it’s kinda bad but I thought it was nice of the church to provide us with free donuts and coffee after each mass on Sundays.
We did laundry after church. We spent $7.50 today. Oh yeah, we had seafoods for lunch today. We had a buy-one-get-one-free coupon so we used that. Lunch for two was $16.00 (tips included). I had some leftover lunch so I will take that for lunch tomorrow.
After laundry, we went to Target to check out some of their Hallowen stuff. I didn’t buy anything for Halloween yet though. Maybe in a week or two. I am waiting for candy sales. I am sure stores will be having some serious sales soon. I am excited. I think Halloween is the start of the holiday season. Ok sure some people think Halloween is satan’s holiday but I don’t think that way. I didn’t grow up in this country and back home, we did not have Halloween. So to me, Halloween is just a fun day to give out candies to little kids. I always give out good candies too–chocolates mostly. I don’t give kids nasty stuff. I plan to spend between $25 – $30 on candies this Halloween. But if can get them on sales, I probably don’t have to spend as much. I am going to decorate the house again this Halloween. My husband is going to register our house as one of the safe houses in our neighborhood so kids can come and do trick-or-treating. It’ll be fun.
Back to today’s activities. After Target, we went grocery at Publix. I spent about $50 on grocery today. Got a lot of buy-one-get-one-free deals. We bought meats (pork chop, T-bone steak, and ground beef)for my husband to eat for the week, olive oils, spinach, sweet teas, dog bones, gallon water, fruits, dry pasta, and 2 pieces of tilapia fish. I made my husband pasta with meat sauce for dinner tonight. There were enough to make 2 dinners and 2 lunches. I baked 4 garlic breads as well–frozen. Tomorrow, I am thinking I can grill the steak for my husband. I have some fresh green beans I need to cook tomorrow. And some spinach too. Yum.
Ok. I am so tired now. I cannot wait until our house is completely done so we can relax on weekends at home. Doing nothing. Nothing. Just relaxing with the dogs…..
Well, I didn’t make my husband pasta with meat sauce tonight. I made him snow peas and ground beef stir-fry. I served it with hot rice. I made several lunches/dinners tonight. I made meat patties, Shrimp salad, eggplant in garlic sauce, and I also boiled shrimp and eggs (to make Vietnamesse spring rolls). Tomorrow, I am going to make Chicken wings, Chicken tacos, Chicken fajitas, and Chicken parmesan for my husband. As for me, I am going to make tofu and veggie stir-fry and soy crumble and veggie in oyster sauce. I might want to make Tuna melt too.
I am on diet right now, so I am trying to eat very, very light. The meals I make should last me for more than a week. My husband can be picky sometimes but I should be able to make him all the meals for the week tomorrow that way I don’t have to cook on weeknights.
Tomorrow morning after church I am going grocery to get some fruits. I should have enough veggies to last for a week. I’ll pack everything for the week tomorrow so we can just do grab-and-go for work lunches.
We have a week supply of yogurt and cottage cheese. I also have some soymilk in the fridge as well as regular milk. I am lactose intollerant so can’t really drink milk but I am fine with cheese, icre cream, or cream cheese, etc, just not milk.
Need to pick up a couple bags of cat foods and dog foods tomorrow. We’d need cat litter as well.
There is a toilet paper sale at one of the local grocery stores. $4.99 for Scott tissues. I am going to grab 2 packs (I think it has 12 per pack). Should last us till the end of the year. We still have enough paper towels I think (we go through a lot of this with so many animals in the house).
Fresh salmon is on sale!!! $5.99/lb. Might get a pound or two of that.
I am trying to serve my husband one or two meatless dinners in a week. I wonder if he’ll like the idea. I know that I have been reducing his meat portions. It’s fine if he still wants to eat meats but I think it should be reduced. People in America eat too much meats. Seems like they eat that for every single meal. I feel a lot healthier since I stopped eating beef, pork, lamb, and chicken. I still eat seafoods–occasionally. I eat lots of veggies, tofu, and fruits.
Ok. Time to go to bed.
Busy day today.
I went to the mall with my little sister (the one I volunteer through Big Brothers Big Sisters) to get her a bear at the Build A Bear store. It’s a gift for her. That darn store has a High School Musical bear (my little sister is crazy about HSM), and of course that one costs more than most bears they sell, $22–while the average is $17 each. Then there is this sound thingy that they sell to go inside the bear $5. Of course my little sister said yes to that when the salesgirl asked her. The outfit didn’t cost that much ($12). Added up all together including tax, total was $42. For a bear!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What??!!!??? Glad it’s a once-a-year celebration.
Also today, my little sister and I went to all various shops to post flyers for next week’s big event for my animal rescue group. She helped me a lot today so ok she deserved her $42 bear.
I came home so tired. And hungry. My husband is watching the football game today at a local sport bar. I decided to stay. Didn’t feel like going anywhere. I will soon cook dinner and then I plan to go to shopping for bedside lamps. I also need to return some clothes I bought earlier in the week–changed my mind.
Dinner…. not sure what to make. We went to a Vietnamesse restaurant last night. I want to make Vietnamesse Spring Rolls for tonight. I bought some of the wrappers last night and also the noodles. I have some shrimps in the fridge. I couldn’t find basils at the grocery store today. As for my husband, I will make him some spaghetti with meat sauce. Tomorrow is wing Sunday for my husband–bought some wings already at the grocery store today so he is all set for the weekend. I might make him some Spinach and Arthicoke dip to accompany the chicken wings.
Ok. I am going to make dinner now.
(Monday)
Labor day!!!!!
Well. We didn’t do anything special for Labor day this year. My husband had to work today. I had a day off. So that kinda stinks.I went to see a movie with my little sister. We watched Walle. It was good I suppose. We had lunch at Burger King before going to the movie. And after the movie we got some milk shakes from Steak and Shake. All and all, it was fun.
I did laundry this morning. So tiring.
I cooked dinner in the evening. I made myself some soy-crumble stir fry with snow peas. I fried one egg. I ate them with steamed rice. It was good. Simple and filling. I am having the same thing for my lunch tomorrow. Lunch. Work. Uggh. I hate going to work at my office sometimes. Oh well. I guess I have to earn money somehow.
I made my husband ground beef stir fry with snow peas. He ate it with steam rice. He said it was good. I didn’t really taste it so I went with my gut when seasoning it. I also made my husband little burgers to eat with salads. I seasoned them so I hope they taste pretty tasty. If not, my husband can always drizzle some hot sauce on them.
I am tired. It is almost 9.30 and I want to sleep soon. My husband is watching Prison Break. It’s the season premiere I think. He is a big fan of the TV show.
Tomorrow will be Tuesday already. We’ll only have 4 working days this week. Woohoo. And the weather men said Hurricane Hanna is coming our way so I am hoping we get some days off. I am so lazy this year I don’t know why. I have so much in my mind I guess. I don’t know. I am going to bed now.
I just ate dinner. My husband is riding his bike again tonight. I told him to be careful because it looks like it might rain soon. Tropical storm Fay is coming our way now—it’s going to be come category 1 hurricane they said.
I am at home enjoying my quiet evening. I cooked dinner for my husband. I made him Mushroom Beef with 3 different sides: corn, steamed green beans, and garlic roasted potatoes. I had left over from last night (which is still enough for one more lunch and dinner for me). I don’t know what we will be eating tomorrow evening. I have a pound of ground beef and about 2 lbs of boneless skinless chicken breasts for my husband. I have been wanting to make a white bean and tuna salad for myself so I might make that tomorrow evening for my dinner. As for my husband, I need to make him something light. Maybe he wants to eat Grilled Chicken salad.
Found a dog. He was hanging out in my front porch.
I called my animal rescue club and we’ll be taking the dog to the vet tomorrow morning. Someone is going to pick him up from my house. We have to keep the dog in a crate in the back porch since we have 6 dogs in our house right now. The dog is in a bad condition. His long furs are all matted. It looks like he has a skin problem. Poor puppy. He is a medium-sized dog. Anyways. I am sure he will find a new home soon.
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I am tired.
I did make a cake tonight. Pineapple cake. It’s supposed to have coconut flakes in it but I don’t have any. The cake is done. I cannot wait to taste it. I am going to bring a big slice to work tomorrow to eat as dessert. Yum.
Ok time to rest.
I watched Julia Child cooking the first time almost 8 years ago on Food Network TV. She was a guest chef for one of the TV shows. Growing up outside the country, I didn’t get to watch her original TV shows (well, it was released long time ago anyways).
Today, I have the chance to watch one of her DVD’s. It’s black and white. So clearly, it’s got quite old shows. I own and have read Julia Child’s cooking books before so I was quite excited prior to watching the DVD. The first recipe she made was French Crepes, which I happen to love. To my surprise, she used so much butter, sugar, and liquors for the recipe. Butter for the crepes batter, butter for the almond butter spread, butter for when you’re baking the crepes in the oven, and more butter to bath the crepes in right before you eat them. Oh and she also drenched the crepes in liquors. Oh my. I think I had a heart attack just watching her making the crepes. Don’t get me wrong I think Julia Child is a very good cook and chef but that one particular crepes recipe sounds too outdated. I make my own crepes and I use way less butter and sugar than her recipe. And since I don’t drink (alcoholic beverages), I tend to avoid use of any liquors in my recipes. Anyway. I am sure her crepes would taste good but I doubt I would make her recipe though.
I have to admit that I learned valuable new cooking tips and tricks from Julia Child.
Though I love Martha Stewart dearly, I cannot stop to wonder what our future generations would think of Martha Stewart’s cookings….
My husband and I have been trying to eat super healthy lately–lots of fresh veggies and fruits in our diet. In general, we eat pretty healthy. I cook at home a lot so we eat home cooking most of the times. We bring lunch from home.
I feel responsible for what we eat. My husband pretty much will eat anything I cook for him but I don’t want to just cook him something unhealthy. So I started serving salads more often. We also eat more fresh fruits.
Tonight my husband had Cobb salad and I had my super duper yummy salad–yellow corn (canned), spring mix salad (premixed; in a bag), tomatoes, cucumber, boiled egg, tuna (canned), cubed white cheddar cheese, and i topped it with caesar salad dressing. It was gooooood!!!! I especially love the yellow corn. I can eat a big bowl of those corn alone!!!!
For dessert, we had fresh papaya. I bought a medium size papaya 2 night ago from the grocery. It was good. My husband didn’t grow up eating tropical fruits so he was excited eating the papaya. He thought it was good.
For lunch, I packed us salad for lunch (same as what we had tonight) and some cut watermelon for dessert. I also packed myself some trail mix for snacking.
Tomorrow evening for dinner, I am going to make some Shrimp, corn, cucumber, and avocado salad. Mmm mmm good.
