Amazing Domestic Seafood Recipe

I grew up in a place where the ocean provided the main resources for our existence. I would, often times, join my father on his fishing trips. One time we went fishing and I caught a very big fish and my father laughed at me because I panicked and immediately called for his help. I love most types of seafood. My favorites are shrimp and crab. My daughter, though only three years of age, requested shrimp for lunch today. Shrimp is very quick and easy to prepare. This is my own recipe for it. You will need the following: 100 grams of shrimp 1/2 cup of water 1 tbsp butter 1 medium tomato (sliced) 1 medium size of onion (chopped) 2 cloves of garlic (crushed) small piece of ginger (crushed) 1 cup of sprite 1 tbsp of fish sauce (optional) hot peppers(optional) salt and black pepper to taste Place the shrimp in the pan then add all the ingredients on top of it. Bring it to a boil for 8 minutes, give it a quick stir and boil it for another 7 minutes and its done. You can add some hot peppers if you want it a little bit spicy. (Although I love spicy food, I usually don't add the hot peppers because of my children). The secret to this dish; do not over cook the shrimp so they will remain tender. I think that my recipe would be a great contender in the upcoming Great American Seafood Cook off event. You could find the details of this great event at http://www.greatamericanseafoodcookoff.com/. I am excited to participate in this cook off showdown because domestic seafood is very obtainable in our area. We live just minutes from the Korean public market known as the "Five Day Market" where seafood is plentiful and inexpensive. Most of the seafood can be purchased straight from aquariums which ensures freshness. Here are the pictures of the shrimp I cooked for lunch. The first picture was taken when I was cooking it and the second one is the finished product. Doesn't it look delicious? Tell me what you think guys. I am always interested in trying different recipes, so please feel free to share your favorite recipes. I also have a post related to this one entitled crabby night.

Fun Day

Boring day for us is this: taking lots of pix

and this: mr. serious and ms. jolly

and more of this: Posing and make faces

and some more: brother and sister bonding

See boring days can be a fun day when the camera is around.. Hope these pictures can bring smile to your face.. have fun and enjoy life all the time!

Product of Boredom

When I got pregnant with my first one (I was still in the Phils then), my husband suggested that I should stop working in school, for me and the baby's safety. He was so protective of us, for the fact that we've waited for over a year and a half before I finally conceived. Since I live a little bit far from my family, there's nothing much to do but to shop and sleep. To ease away the boring days of my pregnancy, I got addicted to cross stitching.. Here are some of those I made.. 

A mom and the baby at the seashore... I like this design because it always reminds me of our beautiful place, which is known for whalesharks.. Donsol Sorsogon..

My favorite flower.. ROSE.. Are you familiar of this quote by Shakespeare? "What's in a name? That which we call a ROSE by any other name would smell as sweet" a queruben's smile set of baby's footprints.

our wedding dates...

happiness

Hubby was so happy yesterday and today because when he came home, the table was waiting with his favorite ulam (main course).. Yesterday was a caldereta day and today was a beef roast day.. Didn't take a picture of today's ulam though,...Here's yesterday's..

Angel's Visit

John and our two angels visited me at work last Sunday. It was a very sweet visit because they surprised me with an angel food cake they baked.. I wasn't able to take a photo because I got excited and ate it right away lol.. I remember to take a pic when I was done eating hahaha..

Friendship Plant

I called this one a friendship plant because this was given to me by my Korean friend Anne..

After the Sunday mass yesterday, she handed me this pot of pretty plants..

I was so happy because I love plants and Anne made my day yesterday. Thanks to your thoughtfulness my friend..

Crabby Night

Last night was a family fun night for us. When my husband John arrived from work he asked me what's the menu for dinner. I wasn't so enthusiastic to cook because I had a migraine the whole day. But then I do need to get up so I can make some food for dinner.. I remember the crab we bought the other week. It was the easiest one to cook. I just put coconut milk and bamboo shoots (both from can) and added some spices, and bam, it was good to go. It's funny because as I was cooking it, all of them were staring and patiently watching the pan full of crabs lol..

When it was done cooking, my kids were so excited to eat.. Hubby didn't eat, not so fond of it..

Rylie: I want my own plate pls..

Me: No, I'll just feed you guys because this needs extra work..

EJ: Mama.. Mama..uhhh (pointing at the crab)..

Me: Wait a minute guys, I need to remove the shell.

Rylie: I want some??

Me: Guys, be patient please..

I wasn't able to eat until they were done.. They ate a lot though so its worth the wait lol.

Language Barrier

Did you ever work with people whom language is the main concern? Did you ever had a bad day at work where in you already explain what happened but then they couldn't understand? These questions popped in my mind this week. In my work history, I never had a problem communicating with the people I worked with and to our clients. When you work in a foreign country where language barrier is the problem, you will find a hard time expressing your thoughts and feelings. No matter how extensive your explanation is, they just couldn't get it. Did you ever get frustrated when you talk to them, they nod their head to you as an agreement on what you said but find out later that they really don't understand a thing of what you told them.. It is so frustrating. What I experienced this week at work taught me a big lesson. DON'T TRUST ANYBODY BUT YOURSELF!

Blazin Hot

Whew, we survived the power outage today! The power got back at 4 pm but oh boy, I tell you that was sooooo terribly hot... I went to work at 11 am, I wasn't too happy about it because aside from not having electric in the work area, there's nothing to do either. I can't complain about it though because I get paid for doing nothing until the power resumed, besides I got to read my book lol.. It's just so dang hot in there, I'm glad it's over. Hubby said that they were sweating inside the house after they got back from the mall. So he just let the kids stay in the bathtub for an hour or so. I just wish that project like this (working on the power line) should be performed when the weather is a little bit cool not so blazin hot like today.

migraine attack

Have to go to bed early tonight, my migraine is killing me.. Happy blogging everyone and good night! I'll be absent tomorrow due to power outage and I have to go to work.. If you have time to read my posts, please don't forget to leave me comment.. Thanks a lot!

Blessed Week

My husband's boss gave him two days off and that is something I considered HUGE MIRACLE because it's a once in a blue moon occurrence lol.. For that I had lots of time cooking food. I remember when me and my husband first met online, I told him right away that I don't know how to cook (I don't like cooking before). It's just now that I realize I love cooking pala.. Thanks to the recipes online ^_^. We have a schedule of power outage tomorrow so I prepared some food today that won't require cooking, they can just heat it up while I'm at work.. Good thing we bought charcoal today, or else they will eat frozen food tomorrow lol..

I made 30 rolls of lumpia, I sauteed the ingredients first before rolling them. I like it that way because it's very good when you bake them. Baking the lumpia instead of frying makes it stay crispy even if it sets for hours.

We ate nilagang baboy for lunch, uhhhhmm sarap! Luvvyduvvy baked a pineapple upside down cake for dessert.. He don't want me to post this picture because it isn't aesthetically beautiful (the pineapple shifted and we forgot to buy cherries). But i disagree because it tasted sooooooo damn good.. I'm the one who sampled it first lol..

dinner

My daughter want to eat pusit (squid) so I made her adobong pusit.. I was craving for fish, so I fried my favorite sword fish (liwit, langkoy, espada or whatever u call it in tagalog hahaha).. We ate that kind of fish growing up, so I missed it..

We ended up just eating the fried fish, my kids love it too.. I just kept the squid adobo in the fridge for tomorrow, that way I don't have to cook lol..

seafood goodies

We went to the newly opened Home Plus near our place just to get out of the base. As we walked by the food isle/section we found this gorgeous sea foods. I suddenly crave for sea foods so we bought different kind of stuff: fish, squid, shrimp, crabs. We a also bought corn on a cob..

to-ka-log

Luvvy duvvy loves filipino foods so we always have stock of longanisa, tocino and those kind of stuff in the refrigerator. My son woke me up so early today. It inspired me to make breakfast since today is like a miracle for me. My husband's boss, gave him a day off.. Praise GOD for that! I cooked some tocino, kanin (rice), and itlog (eggs), so our breakfast was tokalog with fruits (korean pear, apple and mandarin oranges).. It's so good to start the day with a hearty meal uhhhmmm yumyummmmmy!. Burrpp, oppppss sorry, got so full!

creepy prank call

I was on my innermost concentration this morning, trying to finish the 3Ps opps when our phone startled me. I picked it up and answered "Hello, good morning!" The voice on the other line murmured/whispered something but I couldn't understand what he was saying. It gave me chill on my nerve. I said hello again and he said something and laughed in his creepy voice and said "yo bo se yo" a Korean way of answering the phone, and then he laughed again and hang up on me. I'm so pissed and terrified.. So when I got done posting the job, I called my husband and asked him if he's the one who tried to scare me, thinking that he was just kidding me but he said that he didn't. PRANK calls really is a bad habit....

conversation

I usually sleep late and last night was one of them. When I came into our room, my husband woke up and;
  hubby: where's the boy?
  me: what??? boy who?
  hubby: the boy that's in here, what's his name?
  me: I don't know, there's no boy here..
  hubby: I don't want him staying late.
  me: are you dreaming?

 And my husband just rolled over and went back to sleep.. I find it funny so I laughed silently^_^ ... I asked him this morning about it and he said that he don't remember saying those words... hmmmmmnnn.. ^_^..

more bday presents

My daughter got a package from her dear Aunt in the States. She was screaming with joy while opening the box. She said that her late birthday present is awesome (lots of Dora items). She also got a present from a korean friend last Sunday at church. My son was so excited too , he got a car and a ball.. his passion!

Thank you Titas' Chris and Gail for making my kids so happy today. Kumapsumnida Ms. Mia!

three generations of Cottrill clan

Dad Pooch ~~~~~~~~Luvvy John ~~~~~~~~~ Our Chubs EJ Here are the faces of three generations, my father-in-law, my husband and my son. Don't they look alike? Three angles taken but they shared the same profile.. What do you think? The two of them served honorably in the military, one in World War II and one is still on active duty. We would be honored if our son will join the service too when he grows up, but of course its up to him... and whatever it is, we will support him all the way!

I am Blessed

I am BleSSed because ... 

I am breathing right now, 

I can hear the birds chirping, 

I can see the butterflies dancing, 

and I am capable to express my feelings in blogging... 

  I am BleSSed because... 

I have food to eat everyday, 

I have water to drink, 

I have clothes to wear, 

and I have a bed to sleep with when I want to rest... 

  I am BleSSed because... 

I have friends to talk to, 

I have a family who loves me, 

I have a kind-hearted-loving in-laws, 

and I have the best honey and cuties in the world! 

  And for these BleSSings...

I thank the Lord for loving me 

I thank HIM for forgiving my sins, 

I thank HIM for giving me strength everyday, 

And above all, I thank HIM for giving me LIFE!

my JoB

My part time job here is awesome! I only work like 16-20 hours a week and it's a stress free job. The only thing I don't like is that there's nothing much to do. I guess I got used to my job in the Philippines where the only break is when you go to the restroom. Student's, teachers, employees, and outside guests were frequently in our office everyday.

But I have to say that my pay in here is more than doubled of what I had with my former job as an office secretary in school. Pretty cool ha! I think I just got lucky hehehe.

Imaginary friend

Kids grow up so fast. Sometimes, I am missing when my daughter is just a little baby. Now, she's already three years old.

This is the stage where toddlers create their imaginary friends. Whenever my daughter is alone in her room, she's talking to herself or to her dolls like she is talking to somebody. It's pretty cute to listen to.

If you have a toddler like mine, don't be alarmed if you hear them talk to himself/herself. Be proud instead, because that means that your child's imagination and creativity is exploring the real world.. It's pretty normal in their age.

food that smiles

Hubby usually cooks breakfast for us during weekends. But today, I woke up early so I can cook some food before I start cleaning the house and later on go to work. I cooked some longanisa (Philippine sausage), eggs, rice and fruits for dessert. Yumyumyum!

It's very important to start the day with a good breakfast, it will give us more energy to do our tasks for the day.. Hope, you guys have a good one!

HELP!!!!

We been recording videos of events for a decade now but we never had a chance to download it. I just now realize that the memory is getting full so I have to download it and transfer it on a disc. But electronic is one of my weaknesses, and right now I am about to kick myself. I'm having trouble downloading my videos into my PC.. We forgot to bring the manual when we came overseas so I couldn't figure out how am I gonna do this.. Can anyone help me please??? I really appreciate it if someone can tell me what to do. I desperately need help....This is a JVC hard disc camcorder with 30GB. THANKS in advance!

Party means fOOd!

Whoa, it's been 4 days now that I wasn't able to post a blog lol... Got so busy with work and my daughter's birthday party preparation.. Whew, that was tough but thank God, we managed to get it done. I wasn't able to cook ahead as I planned, so yesterday was a heck of a time. Me and hubby woke up so early and started preparing all the stuff. He prepared the desserts and I did the main courses. By the time the guest had arrive, we're almost done. 

The embarrassing part was, we didn't took shower yet hahaha! So we hurried up and took a fast one..

Lots of people came. My son EJ was a very good host, he was handing everyone a drink which everyone thought was cool. Rylie had a lot of fun playing with the kids, cutting the cake and opening the presents.

Funny Part...

When Rylie was tasting the icing of the cake, we encouraged our son to do the same but he wouldn't do it. When nobody was watching he stuck his whole hands in the cake. Everybody burst into laughing. Also this morning when we were busy preparing the food, he pulled down the pan of brownies and dug his fingers on it. I didn't have a time to take a pic coz I was so busy.

I appreciate everyone who visited my blog. I apologize that I wasn't able to visit you guys back for a couple of days..Got so busy, busy, busy..