Where's my KEYS!!!???

OH WHAT A DAY! I got up early making a Sweet Cream Cheese with Strawberry Slices and Blueberries and fresh, raspberry jam, waffled or pressed in a waffle maker til warmed and toasted. A messy look but I love the cool checker look the waffle maker makes on the bread. The berries were tangy yum.

Then I got ready because we we're planning on going out to get a few more things..purse, make-up, etc. So I'm ready. I get Amerie a piece of waffled toast, some sweet cream cheese dip and mixed berries and I make my hubby his Brown Sugar and Cinnamon bagels. Well, my Tita invited us down at 12 for lunch so we figured we'd go out, stop by, and then go shopping. We get to the car...I can't find my keys. I figured they were in my room somewhere...I recalled taking them from Amerie once as she was walking out the room, keys in hand waving and saying "Bye, Bye Momma..Bye, Bye Dadda". So I knew they had to be in the room or in my bags. It was 11:30 Am. when we were ready to leave....an hour and half later I was frustrated, tired, hungry and at near tears. I looked high and low, every where!! I couldn't find them...it was 1 o'clock and I was starving and I wanted peanut butter and bananas but had no bananas so Tim went to get me some bananas to make me feel better and I made lunch for Amerie, kaya and I. I made a crunchy peanut butter, banana and strawa2Qberry jam wrap grilled in the skillet and a Bud Light beer (I needed it!). As for Amerie and Kaya I made them a peanut butter roll up with grape jam to dip, veggie crisps with ketchup and some cashews, raisins and chocolate chip mix. We all sat and ate and I savored and devoured every single delicious, peanut buttery banana bite. It was sooooo good! I want another! After Lunch I cleaned them up....

It was around 2:30 and I began looking again...where could they be??? Then I saw the box. In Amerie's room is a big cardboard box that i store most of her toys in. Every Monday we switch out toys so they stay fresh and "new" to her and it keeps the room organized and clean. Well, there wasn't much of an opening so I didn't think much of looking, plus I thought I had them last; not her. Well low and behold there they were dangling off one of her push toys! I yelled out her name in relief to finding them and realized she did have them and she hid them and we asked her over and over where they were at and all she said was "Don't know". That little booger!! I can't believe it! Thank goodness! Let's go! So we head out and go shopping!

Well, of course, it wasn't too long until dinner time hit so we went to Pollo Campero...a Latino Fried Chicken Joint...wasn't much for me but Tim got a 3 piece frie chicken meal and ordered yuca fries and fried bananas for me to try while Amerie got a kids grilled chicken strip with black beans and rice for me to try as well and I got a maranon juice which is a fruit from the cashew tree I believe..it was so mildy sweet and delicious that I drank it like water. It wasn't sugary or anything..you could tell it was fresh juice with no additives..I loved it but Amerie loved it more and ended up drinking most of it. The yuca fries were really oily. I don't know if they weren't cooked in hot enough grease or what but they were really soft on the inside with a light, golden crisp on the outside..they fell apart as you picked them up. I mean don't, get me wrong they were really good, but just too soft and greasy for me. If ima eat fries, I like them to stay intact and be slightly more firm and crispy. As for the fried plantains...they were greasy too...What am i to expect.. but they were delicious because they were just that..fried plantains. No sugary or battered coating...just a natural coating from natural sugars of the plantains caramalizing, creating a nice sweet coating and they were firm not mushy..I loved them. I could've eaten more but thank goodness they only gave us 4 small slices. And the black beans and rice were simple and perfectly seasoned with cumin and other spices. They were yummo....and everything was reassured vegan! No pork, no dairy, fried seperately...the upside..it was reasonably priced...all for only $15...but the downside and the worse part of all this was the fact that my fetish for trying new foods led me to down almost over 700 calories! Yep..I said 700! And it was mostly grease and sugar too!! What a meal..this is why I eating out is unhealthy! But if you're a serious foodie...a lover of food and flavor...a freak in trying new things..then you just have to suck it up and enjoy! What kind of life would you live if you didn't indulge NOW and THEN.

The rest of the evening we finished most of our shopping...including a stop by Border's..our FAVORITE Place..all three of us LOOOOVVVEEE books and all three of us got to choose a book or two or three. Tim got his books on assassination and history, Amerie got a good deal on a set of three My First books and..me VEGAN LUNCHBOX by Jennifer McCann!!! A book to make my life a little easier in finding good healthy vegan meals to pack instead of me trying to rack my brain on what to pack for lunch...teh author puts it all on paper with tons and tons of recipes! Peefecto! Now all I have to think about is Dinner and Tim's lunch. I can't wait to read it!!!!

AHH a stressful day, that ended in a sweet note with a brand new book for each of us to relax and read after such a hard day! As for my keys, I'm getting and alarm or something for those things!

Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that everything is an emergency. Nothing is that important.
Natalie Goldberg

A continuation to our food outing and shopping streak...

Today...Shop, shop and more shop! It's Labor Day weekend and the stores are loaded with sales...the perfect time for us to load up on some desperately needed clothes and shoes for all three of us poor souls! And today we made out real well..I mean our bill was half of what we thought we spent and we got almost everything we needed....but of course it was extremely stressful and time consuming considering how hard it is to find clothes for me but in the end we came home happy and excited to try our new purchases!

But to start the morning....a big bowl of ice cold cereal..cheerios and soy milk with a teaspoon of flax seed and some frozen and fresh blueberries. As for Tim and amerie...You guessed it Cream of Wheat Saturday! Again!

We headed off on our venture, each of us with a set mind on what we are planning, or well more of, what we really want, to purchase and before we headed north...we decided to stop by Kohl's in our area. Of course, the dreaded Kohl's where sales are endless and addictive. We got there around 10:45-11:00 PM and of course, I'm getting a tiny bit hungry, but we figured we wouldn't be long..hahah we we're wrong. We ended up stocking on some great deals and not getting out til 12:00 something..yep I was starving. Amerie just had a snack and Tim was ok..so we decided to wait to eat until we got to the mall which would be another 30 minutes or so...uh. Well we brought our two bags of Chuck E Cheese cotton candy with us to munch on throughout our escapade, but due to my rumbling tummy and not wanting to eat my heavy Lara Bar, saving room for a good lunch, what do you think I did..yep downed my blue bag of cotton candy! Well I did share a little...but I was starving and it was only 100 cals for the entire bag so no harm done really..and it was sooo good! I love cotton candy! I was quite sad when it was gone!

We got to the mall and headed for lunch. And yet again, another lesson learned on purchasing for a valuable price. I decided to try out the Petra Mediterranean Cafe. I have been dying to try out anything Mediterranean, especially falafels so I went ready to ask some vegan approved question about the food in hopes to find it edible, and along the way I guess my "server" was not in a very patient mood because all my questions led him to a fit of aggravation. So I ended up purchasing a falafel flatbread sandwich with lettuce and tomatoes and a hummus dressing and an appetizer of cous cous salad with tomatoes, onions, herbs, a little EVOO and chickpeas. 8 bucks!! I could have gotten a huge platter with hummus, tabouli, 5 falafels and 2 pieces of flatbread for 7.99. Oh well….I was in a rush in embarrassment of aggravating the poor man so I didn't make a very smart purchase but then it did save me a lot of extra calories! As for the dining experience itself, the falafels reminded me of hush puppies a little. They were perfectly deep fried and hot and tasted great without the sandwich. An absolute new fave…and the Cous Cous salad was different in texture and taste: something we’ve never had before but Amerie and I really liked it actually. . The different texture of the cous cous with the fresh herbs and vegetables….it had a very subtle flavor and was very filling too! It kept me satisfied until dinner which we didn’t even eat til 7 o’clock so I have to say Mediterranean food is definitely worth it! It’s healthy and delicious and keeps you satisfied and full! At least today it did anyways! =-) As for Tim, McD’s, and Amerie, she shared both our meals, eating mostly Cous Cous.
For the rest of the day, we shopped, shopped and did more shopping leaving not too soon before closing, tired, aggravated, on the verge of hunger, and extremely exhausted… a very moody trio indeedy! We escaped the crazy moving mass to our vehicle, unloaded and loaded ourselves trying to decide where to get something quick to eat. Unfortunately, the only thing around was Fast Food Crap so we caved in this once and got McDonald’s and Amerie nibbled on nuggets, apple slices and caramel and an apple juice and I got a Fruit and Walnut Salad and gave Amerie my yogurt. I also had my oh so yummy and desirably loved Chocolate Lara Bar which satisfied me completely.

Of course, once we got home we had to try on all our new clothes, put them all away, clean up our old clothes, cry over how much we spent and much more…
The day was quite rushed and stressful but it’s allll over! I finally got all the things I needed for my new life as a working wife, mother, housekeeper and Vegan! Wish me LUCK!

Change has a considerable psychological impact on the human mind. To the fearful it is threatening because it means that things may get worse. To the hopeful it is encouraging because things may get better. To the confident it is inspiring because the challenge exists to make things better.
King Whitney Jr.

PIZZA...and a vegetarian...NO PICS!

Yes, it's Friday and another day to run mooore errands. I feel like crap because I have not been able to work out at all this week, except for Monday, and I think I'm beginning to feel the effects on my body of all this eating out we have been doing for the last 2-3 weeks due to how busy we've been with this job and every thing that is attached with it! But of course, this evening we decided to continue our expensive, eating out streak by going to Chuck E Cheeses. But there was a purpose!

But before that..Breakfast...Applesauce Otameal...a hearty, health serving of creamy oatmeal with applesauce, apple chunks and raisins and a slight drizzle of pure maple syrup (405 calories). Amerie: oatmeal, apple and raisins and applesauce.

As for lunch, it was on the go so I had two mini Cinnamon Bagels with cream cheese mixed with a little pineapple/juice to give it a sweet flavor, apple slices, carrots and peanut butter (Can you tell I have a lot of carrots and apples and that I'm addicted to peanut butter!!) As for Amerie, a slice of rolled up ham, cottage cheese, pineapple chunks and a potato roll. And then she munched on Mimi's and Pappaw's Chick Fil E salad including the sunflower seeds, cheese and broccoli. For dessert, more Reese’s Pieces! Oh..I have come to a realization and a conclusion that my daughter is vegetarian (Yeah...I DO have an influence!). She refuses to eat meat. You can sneak it to her and she might take a bite here and there..but unless it's roasted chicken or possibly hidden in her food, she won't eat it. And to be very personally honest, I don't mind at all! Everyone else, of course, gets slightly frustrated, angry maybe even upset at the fact that she NEEEDS to eat meats and won't, and that it's all my fault, but hey the girl can't stand the taste of greasy, rotting animal flesh. What can I say..plus I do make sure I feed her enough protein and iron filled foods such as beans, veggies and cheeses, so I see no harm in her refusal to eat meat. All I may be concerned is her lack of B-12 which I'm sure we can easily fix with a multi-vitamin for kids. I mean would it not be hypocritical for me to be Vegan, but to force meat down my child's throat. I said I would give her a selection and let her choose and not force veganism on her and I haven't. She has chosen all on her own not eat meat. She still eats dairies and other things, so the way I see it, I might have had an influence, but I didn't make teh choice, she did and that's okay with me. I feel great about it because I know she'll be healthier in the end.

And Dinner...
You see, Amerie has been so well behaved for what we've been putting her through these last couple of weeks and she looves Chuck E Cheeses (She adores the mouse himself, the slide, the rides, the games, the food..all of it!)Not only that, we have talked about going with my sister in-law and my niece Kaya (Amerie's at home playamte and the one downing the banana pops! =-))so we could split the deal off of a coupon for pizza, drinks and coins (Because Chuck E Cheese is extremely overpriced!!!)and we heard they re-newed the place, bringing in ALLLL new games! So we went ahead and decided to go tonight, since we all had plans this Labor Day weekend.

So we went in and had a total blast. Everyone had a pepperoni pizza while I learned a lesson in my need to learn how to appropriately order my food without being overcharged. I ordered an individual cheese pizza with no cheese, extra sauce (I should've said extra sauce in substitution for the cheese in hopes of not getting charged an extra dollar for the sauce) with lots of veggies on top (another extra dollar for veggies!) Making my pizza a whopping 8 dollars! Now I just removed the most expensive part to my meal and still got charged an extra two dollars...lesson learned..word my order appropriately and be sure to mention what I am financially saving them! Besides the expenses I had to put out for such a hard and complicated order, I have to admit it was a craving well satisfied! I mean who can't love warm, soft and crispy crust smothered in sweet tomato sauce and topped with all the favorite veggies! I downed every single last bite. About 600-700 calories in all I'm sure but hey so what it was PIZZA darn it! When you get the chance to indulge..do it! Who knows when the opportunity will come again! Oh and I did; plus I was a starving. After that I tried to burn some of those calories by playing basketball and carrying Amerie around the whole time, letting and teaching her how to play the games!

We had so much fun! I felt like a kid again and Amerie and Kaya did so great! They had such a blast, spending all their coins, seeing Chuck E, and collecting lots and lots of tickets which we redeemed for lots and lots of sugary cotton candy (Who needs those cheap toys that'll just end up in trash anyways...go for the good stuff!) A very pleasing and joyous day! Time very well spent; with family =-)! And a treat very well deserved by the baby I love the most!! Mommy's Girl Indeed!

If we take care of the moments, the years will take care of themselves.
Maria Edgeworth,

Can't Stop Moving!!!

Today was another busy day for us as a family! Amerie and I went up North to check out daycares today. We met daddy for lunch and at the end of the day we took daddy to the daycare we liked most and made a final decision to place our baby girl in their loving, tender care! I am going to miss her soo much but I think she'll do great! When we went in the second time, they were outside playing at the playground and she just joined right in and Tim and I felt very comfortable about the place! But I am just so overwhelmed and so busy with all there is to do to prepare for this job! And what's worse it's already taking a toll on me physically and mentally. I haven't been to the gym but once! I like working out..it makes me feel more energized and my body seems to feel better and function better..so I feel so eww right now! I have tooooonnnns of paperwork to do! And I just realized that my cooking is going to be limited to the weekends because I will have to modify the time I put into cooking! Even more sad! But I will still be making great breakfasts, wonderful lunch box meals and an all around dinner! It will just take a lot of planning but it will get done! But it'll all be worth it in the end.


So as for breakfast, I needed to move those berries in my fridge so I made a warm berry compote wrap with my Cinnamon Vanilla Sweet Cream Cheese and some walnuts, grilled, topped with extra compote and powdered sugar. It was berrryyy delicious! It was like having dessert for breakfast with the creaminess melting in with the natural juices of the berries..mmmmmm!!! Amerie had her very own berry compote, some cottage cheese and a piece of buttered bread. She loved those berries!!

Lunch..that was another story. We had decided to meet daddy for lunch but went ahead around, 11:30 to visit the second to last daycare that was on our list since it was on our way up to visit Tim. Thinking it was only going to take 15 minutes top as it did at the daycares, it took double the time!!! The lady was sweet and funny but liked to talk and not stop talking and just went on and on and on with stories and everything!! Finally, we were out of there around 12:10 and headed out to pick up Tim who had mentioned going to a Vietnamese Pho restaurant. I figured, hey that's fine, I can usually always find something to eat, and usually when it comes to Asian and international restaurants (compared to any American one!), they seem to always cater and have an option available for vegetarians/vegans. Well there's a first for everything, right??

Well when we got there, I checked the menu...nothing! They even mentioned that their “No meat noodles and soup” wasn't even vegetarian! All I could eat was rice! They didn't have any veggies or anything! I was so upset. I was getting really hungry, jittery and fidgety and almost began crying. But Tim craved their Lemon Chicken and we both felt it would be rude to get up and leave so Tim promised to take me to my Lotus Vegetarian if I stuck it out for just a little while. So I calmed down, he ordered his meal and I fed Amerie as he ate his lunch. His meal was huge, totally worth the money and they both absolutely loved it which made me feel better. When I know your food was absolutely decadent and worth every penny..then I'm satisfied.

So we immediately dived into the car and headed straight to Lotus Vegetarian..an organic restaurant catered to vegetarian and vegans ONLY!!! It's right across from where we work which makes me soooo happy, but it is also sooo BAD. Ima get fat and go broke! But Tim and I have tried it before and he even liked it and my plan is to eat there until I've tried everything vegan! So this time I had the lunch special of vege-beef with snow peas (marinated soy beef sauteed with snow peas, organic carrots, jicama and lotus root in a brown sauce), some brown rice and a freshly deep-fried spring roll (cabbage, organic carrots, jicama, celery, potato and shiitake mushrooms wrapped) with some sauce. OH MY GOSH! I was in Vegan Heaven! The soy-beef was textured and similar to chunks of beef, the vegetables were crispy and fresh, the sauce was very light in taste and my meal overall was lightly coated not drenched in sauce. The rice was perfectly cooked; soft with a slight chew to it and the spring roll...hot and crispy on the outside with crunchy veggies on the inside! It was the most filling and the most tastiest meal ever! I love being vegan!!! YEAH! I am so addicted to this place!!

The rest of our afternoon consisted of chilling and more daycare shopping.

We got home late and I went to prepare dinner. For dinner, I prepared Pork chops and slabs of tofu marinated in McCormick's Garlic, Herb and Wine marinade mix and baked. On the side Lima Beans for Amerie and I, a baked potato for Tim, and for me a small Strawberry and Spinach Salad topped with raspberry vinaigrette and almonds. I love a plate full of options. It provides a full range of different flavors to compliment one dish after the other. I love marinade mixes too! They work so well with tofu since the tofu soaks in all the juices and flavors and baking it makes it even better. It was a great family dinner! And Amerie is now sitting in her highchair at the big people's table! No more trays for her! She's growing up so fast!


Oh by the way...I have broken out all over my face and neck in a rash..I think I might be allergic to Portabella Mushrooms! NOOO Ain't that horrible! I loooovvvvee mushrooms and portabella's are the best! How could it be!

ARRRR..another food experience gone bad!

We had one busy day! Since I finally have a job, I now needed to go shopping for dress clothes since I have nothing…zip..nada to wear! So Tim and I had planned on going up north to Potomac Mills which is a totally wayyy larger mall than our local mall, containing more store options for little ‘ol me to choose from. So I woke up early to get a head start in my day and made me some American Biscuits (vegcooking.com). It took be about 30-45 minutes to make, bake and prepare to eat but they were delicious hot! They were a little dense and very crispy on the outside but I’ll have to work on the fluffiness! I would say a lot more margarine would do the trick! But I had two small biscuits with butter and strawberry preserves and on the side, a bowl of my very much loved mixed berry salad with Limoncello except this time I had raspberries instead of blackberries! Yum yum…as for Amerie, when she awoke, I made her a plate of cottage cheese, a biscuit and a berry salad as well. And another request for Cream of Wheat..I’m starting to hate that stuff!

Soon after we were on our way to the mall in hopes of finding some clothes…we shopped, shopped, and shopped some more and found some great shirts and awesome skirt that was a little big but fit pretty perfectly! I even found a store that had a billion size 00 jeans for 9-15$ because they were getting rid of their summer stocks..but unfortunately like us girls are…our jeans have to look and fit perfectly and unfortunately, I found some that fit, but not perfectly..some were to high waisted, others, the wash was just ugly, some I didn’t like the style of the jean itself, some had the loose crotch thing going on..it was a mess. I finally said forget it!

Well, we were starving and hadn’t even started on the shopping, so we went to the food court and found, low and behold, there it was the Japanese Sakura Garden (Told you we were addicted!) And they had food for Tim and I that was reasonably priced considering how much you got. Each of us had a regular round plastic plate piled about 2 inches high with steamed white rice, vegetables and our choice of “meat” and, to save a little, we both got water..all for 12 bucks! That’s cheap considering before I was vegan and before we began to really value and enjoy food (in other words we don’t go to fast food joints anymore unless it’s dying, absolutely necessary!), we used to spend almost 20 bucks and still be hungry in the end! But anyways, Tim got spicy chicken in black bean sauce with steamed rice, chicken on a stick for Amerie, and I got Bean Curd and vegetables in a Soy Sauce based sauce with steamed white rice and steamed vegetables (actually steamed..they were crisp with almost no oil on it!) It was sooo good..the bean curd I believe was fried, unfortunately, but it was vegan (I asked and the sweet girl knew exactly what I meant by vegan and assured me that the food had no animal or fish products in it!) and it was delicious. Amerie ate most of my rice and I crushed the vegetables and tofu. It was just so good and actually light..I felt just full..not even slightly stuffed..it was perfect considering how much there was. You know, that is one thing about the asian culture..when it’s time to feed you, they feed you, making it absolutely worth your time and money and tummy ache! (Trust me…I know I’m Filipino..we’re worse! We over stuff! And have dessert!) .

Once our tummy’s were satisfied we went back to shopping, trying on clothes, getting disappointed and frustrated, finding some clothes, trying to chase and handle a toddler at the same time…in between Tim and Amerie got Auntie Anne Pretzels (which I didn’t know til today that I could have..yes!) while I got Rita’s Italian Ice which leads to the reason my blog is titled “ARRRRR” because I was ticked, more like P.O. when I found out that I had sucked down a large glass of disgusting, cow excretions and found the reason I had gas and stomach ache!

Okay, when you go out, especially to a place that has a food court and plenty of other little restaurants, you don’t think or even try to plan on where you are going to eat. You just choose from what’s available, ask to be sure it’s vegan edible and go with the flow and enjoy your choice of food for the day. However, I am finding, due to the lack of knowledge in today’s employees, that I am going to have to actually plan my meals..even my desserts! I went to Rita’s Ice shop where the serve, Italian ices, custards, gealti, and all that good stuff. Well, I knew I was going to have an Italian Ice because I had always thought Italian Ice consisted of a blend of ice and pretty much juice and flavorings. Well, as I got up to the glass window, I asked what kind of Italian Ices they had available. The girl sweeped her hand across the entire selection of large buckets filled with tons of flavors of frozen ices behind the ice cream case glass and said “All these are Italian Ices!” Okay sounds good..well I ask, “And do any of them contain milk or any animal products?”. “NO they do not.” Ok sounds good to me so I sampled Birthday Cake, Pistachio and Coconut and while debating on which one I wanted, she said I could mix them up…”Shouldn’t have told ME that!!!” So I got a large (50 cents more than a regular!) and filled it with Birthday Cake, Pistachio, Coconut and Mango, a huge cup for only $3.10 and Amerie and I enjoyed every last bit of the well flavored, cold sugary goodness! I have fallen in love with Rita’s! So we continued shopping!

Finally, we decided we were done! I had found a good amount of shirts and one skirt but still needed more and some shoes..so we decided we would come back again next weekend when Labor Day Sales hit and do some more…as for today we we’re exhausted, it was dinner time and Amerie needed a serious NAP! We got home, threw everything upstairs and I fixed Amerie some leftover noodles, ham and cheese and Tim some wings and a beer (In our new pilsner mugs!!)…as for me a plum because I was so full from my Italian Ice. Well, as I always do, when I get home, I like to look up what I ate, when we eat out, and try to find nutritional information including ingredients and calories more to see how many calories consisted in my meal to get a rough estimate of how many calories I consumed that day since I do write down what I eat and count my calories daily! So I looked up Rita’s and I first find an allergen chart listing any nuts, soy, wheats, milks, eggs etc in each flavor and drink that they serve…well I check and find that each one except mango had dairy in it! I WAS HOTTT! I should’ve known..Birthday Cake sounded too good to be true..but pistachio and coconut?? Then I find calories for the “cream” and not water Italian Ices….about 565..which was actually a relief because I totally expected more considering it’s mostly sugar! But I was sooo angry and of course, my husband found it amusing and funny…but I didn’t! I am so sick and tired of any server or employee at any food stand or restaurant lacking the knowledge of ingredients and nutritional information in the foods and drinks that they are serving. What if I was allergic and broke out…they would have been sued! So for the rest of the night I was furious and upset, had a slightly bloated tummy, and to top it off, I was tired! Not a good ending to my day! But I did get a couple of cute clothes!

Therefore, I have learned that from now on I will have to plan my meals and look up the foods before I purchase them because obviously, I can’t put my vegan trust in a single soul to tell me whether or not my food contains any animal products…A NOTE TO ALL EMPLOYERS: Darn it, fill your employees with knowledge and understanding. Some people… whether vegan, vegetarian, or any person with allergies….would highly appreciate it! It's all about accomodating your customer's needs to the fullest so that we are happy and satisfied and yearning to come back! It's not all about the food you know! Service matters!

Knowledge is power.
Sir Francis Bacon (1561 - 1626), Religious Meditations, Of Heresies, 1597

Celebration Day!!

Uh…this morning I feel oogie! Don’t ask why I just do…I feel like my body needs a serious detox…hmm might do that this week! Anyways..so I got up, made me a Chinese Oolong Tea and chilled in the kitchen on my computer just doing random work. Oh another addiction..I love tea! I just “stole” a bunch of different teas from my mom’s house to try, and so far I am finding I am not too fond of the fruity teas such as Lipton’s Lemon Herbal Tea..eww. But weirdly I am growing a liking for Chinese herbal teas such as Oolong…I never thought the day would come when I would say I liked Chinese Green Herbal Teas. However, my current favorites are Twining’s Black Teas that go good with milk and sugar such as Earl Grey and English and Irish Breakfast. I drink a tea everyday..sometimes with limoncello or rum to give it flavor or spice..but I do, I do, I do love tea! My parents have always been tea drinkers, but I never ever found even a slight desire to smell it, let alone taste it. They always drank their tea with sugar, or lemon and honey, and my mom has always been into the herbal green teas which smelled so horribly to me; it was like the smell of horse or barn hay and grass seeping into a hot, steamy cup of pukey green river water. I hated it; until one day when my favorite Teen Sunday School teacher brought in a large pot of Earl Grey mixed perfectly with milk and sugar. We all tried it, loved it and continuously drank it not quite knowing what it was until one day she mentioned that it was tea! We we’re like..NO WAY! Tea can taste this good! Ever since, I have been hooked to Earl Grey tea and only recently have I began to open up, discover and try new teas just like all drinks..beer, juices, foods..I just love trying new things!

I figured since I had a tea this morning, I would make cream of wheat the same time I would make for Amerie and Tim’s since it was Saturday morning and I also promised Kaya some as well. Well, by 8:30 Am my tummy was calling for nutrition and Tim and Amerie weren’t awake so I made me a simple bowl of Cream and Wheat (after three attempts: 1st wouldn’t thicken fast enough, 2nd the milk and water boiled over, 3rd a charm!!) with pure maple syrup and flax and a side of sliced banana, peanut butter and raisins…my favorite snack, meal whatever ever! Very delicious…well Kaya came in soon after starving so I decided I would go ahead and make her a bowl as well while eating my breakfast….10 minutes later, my two babies wake up..which means another pot of cream of wheat and a piece of Cinnamon Sugar Toast with cream cheese..then my mother-in-law wanted some eggs without the yolk (an opportunity to show off my skills) wow..so I ate my breakfast while making breakfast for like an hour straight..everyone had me busy!

As for the rest of the day..we made plans for Mom to watch Amerie as Tim and I went out for dinner to celebrate my new JOB! So we had lunch and then left to go out! For lunch..Tim and Amerie had Breaded Chicken Patties and Mozzarella Bites..as for me a Mediterranean inspired hummus pizza on a whole wheat tortilla with some celery and hummus/cream cheese and carrot slices. My pizza..I loved the thin, crispy crust with my creamy, warm hummus and the fresh veggies on top along with the aromatic herbs made it overall very savory and satisfying and all the ingredients surprisingly went well together. On top my pizza was a spread of Pine Nut hummus, red onion, black olives, green bell peppers, sauteed spinach, and tomatoes with basil and oregano.

That evening, we dropped little miss Amerie off at my Moms where she was fed Pork Adobo (Tim’s favorite Filipino dish that I haven’t even tried to master because no one can make it like mom!), cucumbers and melon..and when we got back..more Reese Pieces! Tim and I headed to Ozeki..a new Japanese Steakhouse in our area. Our all time favorite Japanese Steakhouse is Otani’s, but we decided to step out and try the new place to compare and contrast..well, let’s just say it was a great experience, but Otani still holds number one as the best Japanese Steakhouse in our food books!

Throughout our life together as a couple, Tim and I quickly found our love for the Japanese Steakhouse. We went there a few times for our school proms, anniversaries,..the food is amazing and who doesn’t enjoy being entertained by a well trained Asian Chef while your food is freshly cooked in front of you, then served literally, hot off the grill??! It’s pretty pricey, at least for us, and so we only went on special occasions. Well today was a special occasion!! And what I love even more is the fact that even after becoming vegan, I can still enjoy a very nice meal. So I ordered the vegetable sushi roll combo (OMG another addiction/obsession..sushi!!!!) which include a roll of cucumber, a roll of avocado and a roll of pickled radish sushi making 18 pieces in all. Along with that came a bowl of miso soup with tofu and seaweed in it and I also ordered sauteed mushrooms hot off the grill. For my (expensive!) drink, coming in a cute tiki mug, that I got to keep, a Geisha consisting of Curacao, vodka or rum, lemon juice and pineapple! It was sooo delicious..not too sweet and the alcohol was not overpowering. It was a perfect blend of subtle fruit juices and spirits..I loved it! And I wanted more..=-)!!! As for Tim, he ordered the Filet Mignon, Chicken and Shrimp with a 2 pieces of flambé shrimp as an appetizer, a side of steamed rice, two soups (instead of the soup and house salad..he’s addicted to the onion soup!) and sauteed vegetables with a Yuengling as his quencher! The food was absolutely delicious..perfectly enough to fully satisfy but not overstuff..one more thing would have overstuffed me! I can’t say that it was all worth the price due to how much you really got. It sounds like a lot, but the portion size is what matters! But what can you expect in the economy we’re in! But it was definitely worth the experience at a new restaurant, the celebration, the night out together as a couple and overall, the food was still awesome! However, Otani..we love you still!

It was another wonderful, happy day! We had an awesome drive home playing and dancing with our crazy daughter, laughing at her crazy, carseat dance moves and just loving to see her laugh and smile at how crazy her parents are! I am so blessed!

Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.

Jane Howard, "Families"