The Adobo Craving That I Succumbed To

Posted on April 16, 2013 by The Giddy Tigress

Have you ever succumbed to a food craving so strongly that you ended up cooking it just so you could satisfy your craving?

That happened to me last Thursday.

Chicken Adobo was a dish I was introduced to by a dear friend about 4-5 years ago, but one that I have not cooked nor tasted for a long while, but when I read about it again in her blog, I was tempted all over again.

There was a small problem though.  I did not have balsamic vinegar and bay leaves at my disposal, but since I was determined to savor the yumminess that was the adobo, I decided to get a bottle of balsamic vinegar (less than $3) and some bay leaves pronto, and there I was, happily creating deliciousness all over again.

Chicken Adobo is a dish which is very popular in the Philippines.  It has a sourish taste to it,   yet not overpoweringly strong.  The flavors are all married together in a balanced fashion, making it a perfect complement to steamed rice.  Hannah and I loved it, but the boys were not overly excited.  Anyhow, if you have not tried this dish, you should!  It’s simple to cook, it’s not time consuming and (to me, at least) it’s certainly delicious!

My recipe is tweaked from my friend’s recipe, but it tastes good nonetheless!

Chicken Adobo

Ingredients:

½ – 1 pound of chicken meat, cubed
1 medium-sized brown/yellow onion, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon black peppercorn (I used a dash of white pepper in place of this)
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ tablespoon balsamic vinegar
5 bay leaves
4 tablespoons of water
1 tsp. soy sauce
Sugar to taste

Directions:

  1. Wash chicken meat thoroughly.
  2. In a large bowl or pot, combine all ingredients. Mix well. Cover.  Let sit in the fridge for an hour or more.
  3. Cook on medium high heat  for 20  minutes. Simmer for another 25 minutes or until meat is no longer pink. There is no need to add additional water despite the fact that it may look a tad dry.  The juices from the chicken and the marinade will create a flavorful gravy.
  4. Discard bay leaves. Serve hot over warm steamed rice.

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My Personal Guide to Postpartum Exercise

Posted on April 11, 2013 by The Giddy Tigress

One of the most common questions from mothers with newborns is, “When can I start exercising again?”

While it is the general rule to wait at least 6 weeks, I do believe that we can start as soon as we feel ready, and it can be as soon as a week after delivery even.  Here are some of the “exercises” I personally did recently, after delivering my 3rd little one.

[stextbox id=”info”]Disclaimer: The following postpartum exercise guide is merely a personal opinion of mine, tried and tested, no doubt.  However, I will not be responsible for any adverse results, good or bad, which may arise as a result of you following my guide.  Please seek the medical advice of your physician before trying out any of the steps below.[/stextbox]

Cardio

  • One of the most natural methods of cardio workouts which can be performed immediately after delivering a baby is BREASTFEEDING.  I need to stress, however, that the baby will need to be breastfed on demand.  You do not need to time the feedings and you do not need to know how much milk the baby has drunk.  The wonder of breastfeeding on demand is that it takes the stress out of the timing and volume factor, and the mother merely needs to feed as and when the baby asks for it.  As long as baby is peeing and pooping often, producing wet and dirty diapers regularly, you should be fine.  Breastfeeding is a wonderful and natural way to incorporate a cardio workout into the busy mother’s routine, and I certainly attest to that.  It is a win:win situation where both mother and child gains.  What more can we ask for?
  • As soon as you can, some light walking will help you heal faster and it will also allow you to take in some fresh air.  Taking the trash out daily or on alternate days is a great way to do this whilst getting some important tasks done too.
  • Clean the bathroom and sink, especially after washing baby up after a huge poop.  Extra calories burnt if cleaning is done in the middle of the night in a semi-asleep state, because you tend to work faster trying to get the place cleaned up, so that you can soothe the crying baby before everyone else wakes up.
  • Do laundry every day, and use cloth diapers so that the need to launder them every day (or every other day, at most) intensifies.
Posted in Breastfeeding, Close to Heart & Home, Parenting & Motherhood, Thoughts & Scribblings | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Have You Ever Used Body Lotion on Your Face?

Posted on April 9, 2013 by The Giddy Tigress

This could be one of the craziest beauty-related and skin-related things I have ever done, but certainly one that I do not regret.

It happened somewhere in the middle of my recent pregnancy, when I was about to run out of my regular face moisturizer.  My face was severely dehydrated and even though I was religiously applying moisturizer and serums, it still looked neglected.  Blame it on pregnancy hormones or what you may.  At that time I was using the Dr Bronner’s Organic Hand & Body Shikakai Soap as a shower gel and I was loving it (as was my skin), so I decided to check if Dr Bronner carried a face moisturizer too.

Alas, the customer representative told me that they do not have face moisturizers but she informed me that I could use the Dr Bronner’s Magic Lotion for Hands & Body on my face.  In fact, she told me that she uses it too.  No…really, seriously??!  But …but…it says “HANDS and BODY”!!!  Every cell in my body was screaming no, but I was still curious.

The Dr Bronner’s Magic Lotion for Hands & Body has a small amount of alcohol in it, which acts as an astringent, so no separate toner is needed.  The caveat was that it did not come in an unscented version.

Continue reading →

Posted in The Fairer Sex, Thoughts & Scribblings | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

I Can See Clearly Now…

Posted on April 1, 2013 by The Giddy Tigress

It took us some time to get on the Visions bandwagon, and I wonder why.

I had always used my Ikea pots and pans which I believe is made from Teflon.  These had served us well, until we came to the States.  Then I started washing these pots in the dishwasher sometimes and after several washes, I noticed the grey inner layer was wearing off.  In addition the outer shell of the pots were beginning to look duller.  The last straw was when I saw a greyish liquid dissolving out from the pot!  Eewwww!!!

Well, so we ended up getting this 4-piece Visions set yesterday, and it was so cool to “watch” the soup cook today on the stovetop…at least to me, it was.  It definitely will not secrete harmful chemicals into our food and it looks mega cool on the stove too!

I’m still thinking about getting a cast iron skillet though, still weighing the pros and cons… 🙂

For now, I am pretty happy with our Visions purchase (We got an additional $10 off the already-reduced sale price too!  SCORE!!).  And just in case you were wondering, the soup DOES indeed tastes better cooked in the Visions pot. 🙂

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And Baby Emma Makes Five

Posted on March 17, 2013 by The Giddy Tigress

Scrap Credits
Wood and Roses QP from Paprika
Basic chipboard Alphas from Dani Mogstad

A week filled with tons of emotions ranging from anxiety, excitement, anticipation, PAIN, joy, happiness and relief…

It has been almost a week and I am still marveling at how wondrous she is.

We welcomed little baby Emma into our lives on March 11, 2013 at 4:30a.m.  She was born right smack on her due date, and that makes her one of the 5% of babies born on their actual due date.  At birth she weighed 6 lbs 10 oz (around 3.005 kilos), and she is doing really great. 🙂

We’re all enjoying our newest addition to our family and also adjusting to new routines and schedules as it is.  More updates to come once I get more time or catch up on my sleep, whichever comes sooner. 🙂

Posted in Close to Heart & Home, Emma, Parenting & Motherhood | Tagged , , , , , | 18 Comments