Coffee and School

Okay, so I know what you all must be thinking right now.  That I have officially lost my mind and in my delusional state I am worshipping coffee.  First, please note that I already knew I was crazy and whacky in the head and will continue to love my coffee to death.  Like the Bridezillas you see on television, I am the same way when I don't have my coffee in the morning.  I took a break from coffee for about two weeks since buying my Keurig brewer.  I was drinking more of the hot cocoa cups because it was extremely cold outside and I wanted to drink something with marshmallows too.

On The Other Hand...

I am halfway through another term with my online class.  I am currently taking an ethics class for my degree.  I know it is essential I know the legal jargon that my new career has but... It's something I'm still getting used to.  I've usually dealt with medical ethics in regards to providing actual medical care.  I guess I'm ready to get a mini break for awhile.  Everyone else has been able to enjoy spring break but I still have till the last week of April before I can rest.  I have two terms for each quarter.  Term A and Term B.  Each term is 8 weeks long and very condensed to accommodate each individuals learning.  So about every four months, I complete a semester.  I love and hate this process at the same time.  I love it because each day I get closer to finishing a part of the Health Information Technology program.  Then, I hate it because I will have another year or two to face in order to finally graduate with my Bachelor's degree.  

Once I have had at least four years of experience in my field, I may consider getting my Master's degree.  But right now, I'm just tired.  This is where my coffee comes back into my life.  It keeps me awake while writing papers, studying for exams, and preparing for the week's lecture and discussions.  For the last two terms since moving from Hawaii, I had to cut down my number of classes so that I won't jeopardize my GPA.  I'm a bit obsessive-compulsive when it comes to doing schoolwork the correct way and making sure that I try to achieve the most points I can get from completing each assignment.  

Next term, I look forward to doing two classes with labs. I think I may need to add another class only to make sure I am taking the right amount of credits for this semester.  I swear I think about everything a bit much all the time, lol.  As Drake speaks to me through my Beats, I'm going to start on my work for this week.  

Pork Adobo with Chinese Long Beans

Most people have certain comfort foods that remind them of home.  My comfort foods are actually Filipino foods.  I didn't start cooking any type of Filipino foods until I joined the Army in 2004.  When I finally got to my first duty station, I began to cook pancit (rice thread noodles with assorted veggies and your preferred meat/poultry/fish), make lumpia (Filipino egg rolls), and even made bibingka (coconut mocha baked dessert) for the first time.  Pork adobo especially with potatoes or green beans is simply wonderful.  In my culture, salty is in.  Of course that is probably why a lot of Asians tend to have high blood pressure.  To this I would have to advise you to use salt/shoyu/patis in small amounts or occasionally, exercise, drink lots of water, and eat in moderation.  

Pork Adobo with Chinese Long Beans

Recipe

Chinese long beans (if available in your area)

pork for adobo or pork loin that you can cut up into big chunks as seen above

1/2 a bulb of garlic

vinegar

shoyu sauce

water

1 to 2 bay leaves

2 to 4 peppercorns

vegetable cooking oil

peeled and quartered potatoes (if desired)

cooked jasmine white rice or your preferred white or brown rice

Cooking Instructions

Place a couple of tablespoons of vegetable cooking oil into a 8 qt stock pot while on medium-low heat.  While the oil gets hot, smash and peel 1/2 a bulb of garlic.  Once smashed, place the garlic into the pot. Make sure to watch the pot so that it is not smoking.  Take your big chunks of pork and place them into the pot as well.  Brown the pieces of pork until each side is nicely browned.  While browning the pork, you can also add the quartered potatoes if desired.  From there, place enough water to cover the pork.  Also add about a cup of shoyu sauce and a 1/2 cup of vinegar.  You can also throw in the bay leaves and peppercorns at this time too.  Allow the ingredients in the pot to come to a boil.  Let the adobo to boil for about 10 minutes and then turn the heat down low enough to continue simmering for about 25-30 minutes.  Your kitchen will fill up with the wonderful vinegar-garlic-pork aroma.  Take a piece of pork and cut to see if the inside is still pink.  If it is pink place back into the pot to cook for another 15-20 minutes.  At this time, you should add the Chinese long beans.  You do not want them to be undercooked or overcooked.  Once the pork is no longer pink, check to see if your long beans have a slight snap to them.  

Another note:  if the sauce is too bland, simply add a little more shoyu sauce and vinegar until you have a nice balance of salty-acidic flavor.  From here, place a scoop or two of your preferred rice and the pork adobo with veggies into your bowl.  You can use the soup as a sauce on your ingredients and rice for extra infusion of flavor.  Lol, just writing this makes me hungry.  Hope you all enjoy and if you have any questions feel free to leave a comment.  

A Gypsy Kind of Life

Being "homeless" is no fun.  We have been living out of our suitcases since January 2012.  I had filled out our housing application and sent all proper documents required to the housing office on post via email.  I emailed our consultant to let me know if she received the documents but I never received a reply back.. Mind you I had sent these in November 2011 well before our move to New York.  Well, once we get here, the consultant tells my husband she hasn't received anything.  If my email did not go through, I would have had the dreaded Mailer-Daemon error message sent to my email.

It is a good thing we have a part of our Kapiolani Ohana with us here in New York.  We are staying with friends until we move to post lodging this week.  Not to mention that without a physical address, we cannot register our son for school.. So my baby has not been in school since mid-February.  I keep him busy by working on school work given to me by his teacher before we left Hawaii.  I have also bought him first grade workbooks so that he will be ready for first grade next school year.  I did not know that Kindergarten was NOT MANDATORY in the state of New York.  But, from what the school liaison has told my husband, our son is a bit more advanced in his curriculum than what the kids are currently learning in Kindergarten here.

I just hope that once Adam does return to school, he adjusts to it and gets the hang of things quickly.  Another issue I have to deal with is allowing Adam to ride the school bus to school and back.  In Hawaii, you either take The Bus (city bus) to school, your parents drop you off, or you or friends carpool/drive to school.  My dad was always there to pick us up and drop us off no matter what.  I believe it was more for our safety than anything else.  I guess I share the same paranoia as my parents along with having heard and seen the horror stories of children getting bullied on the school bus, that does not help with deciding to let my son ride the school bus.

So as we await for the military to issue us a house to call home for the next 2 to 3 years, I hope it is soon than later. I miss having my bed to lay on.  I miss my couch to lounge on.  I miss having my pots and pans to cook on.  I miss just being in my own space.  My kids miss having a place to call home too.  They ask us "when are we getting a house?"  We keep telling them soon.  But we know that it may still be awhile.  We are truly grateful to have a place to stay at for now. But, it's just not the same, you know?

I spoke with my aunt the other day.  I told her that we still didn't have a house yet.  She then refers to my family and I as gypsies since we have no place to call home.  It does feel like a gypsy kind of life when you live everyday without a home.  I've tried to stay calm and remember that there are many people in the world who don't have a roof or shelter to stay at.  With April right around the corner, hopefully we get some good news soon.  Keep us in your thoughts!

The Pinakbet Recipe (Filipino stew)

I've had some requests on the recipes I use when I cook.  On my Facebook page, I love to post pictures of the food I've made so that I can remember what I had done and to improve the quality of my love in food. So, I will post one recipe today and will continue to do so. Hope you all love it as much as I do!

Pinakbet 

This is a Filipino vegetable stew that you can eat with fish or chicaron (roasted pork belly).  Growing up, this would be one of the few Filipino dishes I would love to eat.  

Recipe

lima beans

tomatoes

Chinese long beans

Freshly cooked chicaron (roasted pork belly)

Japanese egg plant

fish sauce

garlic

onions

water

garlic powder

onion powder

pepper

I like my pinakbet to be somewhat salty.  I do not add salt because the fish sauce does that for you already.  First, I start with making the stew base.  Using an 8 quart stock pot, I fill the pot halfway with water.  Then, I add the fish sauce and then stir.  I would take a spoon to taste the soup to see if it is at the desired salty/fish taste (usually your preference).  I usually add about a one to two tablespoons of garlic powder and onion powder to add to the flavor.  I know, even though I will add the actual vegetables into the mix, it still adds to the stew.

While waiting for your base to come to a boil, peel and smash half a bulb of garlic.  Also, peel and cut onions into quarters and then slice up the quarters to where you have nice slivers of onions. Then, clean and dry your Chinese long beans.  Cut off both ends from each long bean and cut into 2 inch sections as seen above.  Clean the Japanese eggplant.  I slice mine into halves first lengthwise.  Then I would again slice the eggplant into smaller slices.  Next, I would take about two tomatoes, chop each one, and then I'm ready to put all the veggies into the stew.   I would add everything but the eggplant and Chinese long beans.  Save the eggplant and Chinese long beans for the later half of your cook time so that both are somewhat firm and not mushy.  Stir in the vegetables and continue to watch and stir occasionally. Also, don't forget to add your lima beans.  I usually buy them frozen from the local store and throw them in before the chicaron. Take your chicaron and slice and chop into cubes.  Place a majority of the chicaron into the stew.  By doing this, you give the stew more flavor.  Allow the chicaron to soften slightly and then add the eggplant and Chinese long beans.  Continue to stir occasionally.  Season with pepper and fish sauce if needed.  Serve with cooked white rice.

Making pinakbet usually takes me about 30-45 minutes with the preparation time included.  Remember to add or detract according to your preferences.  Till next time!!

Looking Back at 2011

At Home

Since 2010, I became a stay-at-home mom.  Many people think that staying home with your children is a breeze.  This is not the case.  As a parent, it is my job to educate my children.  Prior to being able to enter elementary school, I have had challenges in getting my kids to learn.  With my son, Adam, it has been a nice transition from home to school. Working with my four year old, Mikayla, has not yielded the same results.  Hopefully by this summer, I will have her basic school milestones covered and ready to go to Kindergarten in the fall.  

I sometimes want to pull my hair out because I feel so enclosed staying at home.  I love to go out and show my kids what is what and enjoy the sun and scenery.  But, that can't always happen can it?  While my son goes to school, my house is peaceful since it is just me and Mikayla.  But once Adam returns home, he and Mikayla go at it over paper, pens, toys, and me.

My family always says to me "Ohh, since you aren't doing anything can you go do this or pick me up?"  I am fine in helping my family out but I think sometimes they forget that I have a duty to my own family as well.  It is not always fun and games when staying home with children.  There must always be a balance and I still find myself struggling to find that at times.

Cooking & Baking

Abby Cadabby from Sesame Street

Cookie Monster from Sesame Street

Birthday Cake Pops for my cousin Chloe

More cake pops for Chloe

Nothing beats a homemade customized pizza 

The Grouchiest Guy on the Block.. Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street

Foofa from Yo Gabba Gabba!

Hello Kitty

Who isn't an Angry Bird?

Sesame Seed Bagel Bacon and Cheese Sandwich

Drunken Hens in the Process

One thing that my friends know me for is that I love to cook and bake.  I bought my very first Julia Child co-authored cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  After watching Julie & Julia, I fell in love with Julia Child.  I have considered trying to cook everything in the first volume but I don't think my picky eaters at home would like that.  Also, thanks to Bakerella (Angie Dudley), I have learned to make cake pops of different characters and cakes.  It is then I realized that my creativity began to grow and my craving to continuously challenge myself took a life of its own.

As much as I loved to cook and bake, I needed more.  I needed another challenge.

Eenie Meenie Cheesecakes with a Cherry topping

Back to School Again

After one year of graduating from the local community college on Oahu with my AA in Liberal Arts, I was itching to do something else.  I know deep down inside that I should be a nurse because I love taking care of people and I have been working as a medical assistant off and on for the last few years.  But, I also had to take my wonderful children into consideration.  Everything I have done and will continue to do is for my family.  Becoming a nurse is a long and tedious process. I have friends that are nurses and I see how tired they are and are barely home due to overtime along with their crazy schedules.

I just couldn't bring myself to continue on that path.  I wanted to do something where I know I can have time to spend with my family without being too tired from work.  Thus, in the summer of 2011, I decided to pursue my Associate's degree in Health Information Technology.  Once I finish the Associate's track in 2012, I will continue on to attain the elusive Bachelor's degree in Health Information Management.

A Military Wife

Another aspect of my life is being married to a man in the military.  He is the reason we are now in New York and for our family as well.  Mannie and I have been together for almost ten years now.  Before we left Hawaii, we renewed our vows in a beautiful ceremony with friends.  Although he may annoy me at times, we have stuck by each other no matter what.  I have been blessed to have him home and away from the dangers a regular Army life entails.  For about five years, we haven't had to worry about deployments or long periods of training.  As we prepared to come back to the mainland, I had to mentally prepare for the challenges ahead.  Who knows where the Army will take him, but I know as a family we shall stand behind him no matter what.  

Unlike my other stay-at-home moms, one thing a military wife has to deal with is how to explain to your children that daddy won't be home for awhile.  That we can only see him sometimes on the computer or talk to him on the phone.  I respect the moms who have dealt with these situations and beyond because I'm still new at this myself.  

The first deployment wasn't so bad because I only had to deal with an infant at the time.  With the current military climate of deployments for missions that we still cannot fathom as to their occurrences, I know I will face another deployment.  I would hate to not wake up next to him smiling at me in the morning.  I would hate to see my children sad because they miss daddy.  But, I know that I have to continue to stay strong and hope for the best no matter what.  

Looking Forward 

With all that said, I will continue to keep looking forward to the present and future.  Being a full-time mom, student, and wife may seem insane but it's the only way to keep myself busy.  That is how you survive long days, training, deployments, and crazy children.  Always maintain a balance that you can handle.  Last but not least, keep faith in what the Lord wants for you and your life.  Because without Him, nothing is possible.

2012: Hawaii to New York

Our four years in my home state of Hawai'i was awesome.  I have the most amazing friends and wonderful family that is by my side no matter what.  When we decided that out of all the places we could move to for our next assignment was to be in the northern part of New York, we knew we would be facing many challenges.  I began a mental countdown of what we needed to do before leaving our comfort zone on Oahu.  We ate as much ramen noodles from Ezogiku Noodle House in Waimalu, ate dim sum (chinese dumplings) in Downtown/Chinatown, went around the island and ate at the famous Romy's Shrimp and Prawn Restaurant in Kahuku.

Yet, deep down inside I battled with my emotions.  For a long time, I have tried to keep a smile on my face or look angry most of the time so that people couldn't see the sadness I was feeling.   Prior to moving back home to Hawaii, my family and I were living on the mainland and in a bubble.  Once we came back to Hawai'i, that move showed me the true importance of having your family around and the duties I have as a daughter, niece, and granddaughter.  I am a role model and a shoulder to cry and lean on when times are rough or not.  

Transitioning from barely having a relationship with my mom to speaking with her at least once a week now has been a challenge for the both of us.  The first twenty five years of my life has been a roller coaster ride with my mom.  We are two similar people who approach life in different ways which tends to cause friction.  Now I feel that we have come to terms to disagree to agree when it comes to certain things but nonetheless, I am honored and grateful to have my mom and dad in our lives.  

Our last week in Hawai'i was the toughest.  We had so much to do in so little time.  I have grown extremely attached to my family in Hawai'i.  The sense of family that I've always wanted growing up seemed to elude me until 2008.  From there, we have endured so much together as a family and will continue to be by each other no matter what.  My younger brother, Ryan, I have come to lean on him quite a bit.  He is the best brother anyone can ask for.  Even though we may not say it to each other all the time, we both know that we have each other's backs.

For one month, we traveled from a tiny island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean to the West Coast and finally to our final destination here on the East Coast.  We had stopped to visit with friends, enjoy the scenery while driving two cars with two young children, ate a lot of food, and traveled about 3500 miles.  It may be more since we had to detour due to an accident on the I-40 East in Arizona and because I wanted to go hunting for Big Foot from Texas to Oklahoma on an unlit backroads tour.  I have also come to realize that I need to restart my walk with my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  For each time I felt we needed help, I have always turned to Him and will continue to do so.  

But we survived as a family and are awaiting to see what life has to offer.  We are blessed by the Lord Jesus and are grateful to have His Guidance.  Hopefully we will have a house to call home (waiting on the military to issue us one, lol).  Also, this summer we are planning to go to Thousand Islands and possibly Canada.  Last but not least, to continue cooking, be an awesome mom and wife, graduate with my Bachelor's in Health Information Management next year, and to enjoy everything else in between.  See you again soon!