Gaining weight

I've been targeting to gain weight lately after losing weight which I really didn't intend to do. In the past weeks, my weight fluctuates from 81 which I was really worried about to 83 and hardly reach the 84 lbs. I didn't mind weighing myself anymore and today I remember to weigh again. I was surprise that my weight is now 85 lbs. Hmm Now I'm worried if I keep on gaining weight. 85 is my ideal weight but not more than that because of my height. I am still careful of what I eat like low fat ham and liverwurst with whole grain bread for my lunch at work and low fat milk every morning and evening. I try to avoid drinking soda after I had my UTI and now I'm used to drinking water specially the tap water. It seems that my taste buds becomes sensitive now that I'm not drinking soda everyday and only drink it twice this month because for me the taste is too sweet. I can now drink unsweet tea and add the no calorie sugar substitute but still I prefer not to drink caffeine. I guess what the Doctor tells me when I had my UTI now sinks in my brain that water is the best than anything else. Shen even told me to avoid the juices and just drink lots and lots of water. I'm wondering if water will make me gain weight. I hope not.

Birdie

As I was taking a picture of the clouds yesterday while trying to get some fresh air outside, hubby told me that the bird was on top of the tree. I then took a picture of it and here's the result.

See the bird?

I already saw this nest last week and yesterday I had the chance to take a picture of it but to my surprise, the baby bird was there opening the mouth. It's so cute! :)

When I looked for the baby bird, I saw the mother standing next to her baby. I think she's feeding her baby before I took this picture. :)

Fresh Air for Me

I tried my best to think of what's wrong with me after what happened this noon at the Church. You can read the story HERE. I don't know the real cause yet but maybe because I don't get enough sleep or I just need some fresh air. I noticed that I didn't get enough fresh air starting this summer. Though I go out to go to work, grocery shopping, to Church and Restaurants but because it's hot outside I prefer to be in an air-conditioned room. I didn't remember that we open the windows in the house since summer start and I rarely open the windows of my car when I go out. The mall, stores, house, car and the building where I work are all air-conditioned. So today I decided to get some fresh air outside. Hubby and I were sitting at the porch and look around. There's no wind outside and it's warm so I started to whistle coz the oldies in the Philippines said that that's how you call the wind. There was a little wind but not enough for me to breath. We didn't stay long outside because I feel tired and I started to sweat. I still don't know if I'm really sick. I hope we'll find out soon. :)

Too much food

I had an invitation last Friday for another gathering but I refuse to go. It seems that I've been going out lately so I told my friend that I better stay at home than going out for last night's event. She told me that we'll just go to another friend's house and eat there but I really don't feel like going out so I said "I better not". I think I'll go if my buddies for Ladies Night Out were there but they're not. Besides, if I go with my friend then I can bring leftovers again and I don’t have room for that anymore. When I was new here I was ashamed to bring leftovers coz I'm not used to it. But then I realized that it's an insult to the host if you refuse to bring what she cooked or prepare coz she might think you didn't like the taste. So now, even if I don't like the taste, I still bring some as a sign of respect. Good thing hubby is not a picky eater (as long as it's not poisonous) so he ate the foods that I don't like to eat. Lately, I’ve been throwing foods that were buried in the fridge coz I forgot to eat them. That’s why the freezer is now full coz I try to put the foods that will spoil easily into the freezer. I can use them later when I crave for it and when I’m too lazy to cook. Whew! I think I don't need to buy Filipino foods for month’s coz I still have some in the fridge. Waaaaa! How I wish I can give the foods to the people in the Philippines, it will surely solve the problem.

Cleaning My Blog Roll

I've been cleaning my first blog's blog roll and this will be the next. As you can see, I have a lot of bloggers listed in my blog roll here but this blog is not on their list. That's because I just copy and paste my first blog's blog roll into here but didn't have time to visit everybody on my list to let them know that I listed them here already. Anyway, after cleaning my blog roll (which I know for sure will take time before I can finish it) I will start to do more blog hopping for this one. How I wish I can finish this blog roll cleaning very soon. :)

Ladies Night Out postponed

Tomorrows Ladies Night Out will be postponed. We are five in the group and 1 or 2 can't attend for some reason. In the past, our Ladies Night Out is only for special occasion, a birthday treat. It started when a friend of mine called me and asked if I want to go to the Chinese Buffet for dinner which I said yes right away. Then she informed me that she told her husband that it was me who called her coz I want to go out. She explained to me though that she just doesn’t want her husband to think that it's her who always wants to go out if there's no occasion to celebrate. So for a change, she tells her husband a different story of why she's going out. She said that there are times that she wants to eat Chinese food but she doesn't have a partner who also enjoy eating Chinese food. I was thankful that she told me the truth coz when I told hubby about it, he told me that I can go out with the girls once a week as long as it's not a whole day. Hubby was happy to know that I now have partners in going to the Chinese Restaurant coz he doesn't need to bring me there anymore. In short, he can use his free time doing what he wanted to do at home. When I told my friends about what hubby told me, one friend asked if we'll make it every Friday and I think I'm the only one who said yes. hehe Well, with hubby's permission... why not? Besides, I love the seafoods at Chinese Buffet.

But tomorrows Ladies Night will be postponed next week coz we're not complete. It seems that when one can't go with us, there's something missing. hehe But I also don't know yet if I will attend a go away party for my co-worker coz she's moving to Arkansas or attend a death anniversary with my Pinay friends. So tomorrow I might have a schedule conflict. :)

Tinolang Manok (Chicken Stew)

Being far away from the country that I grew up made me miss the foods so much. I think those who are far away from their homeland also feel the same way. Anyway, a fellow blogger who's originally from Philippines but now living in US asked me this recipe. So Jenn, here's your request. :)

Ingredients:

Chicken (I am losing weight here so I prefer the chicken wings with skin on it)
Potato (cut in big chunks)
Ginger (crushed or sliced thinly)
Scallions (sibuyas dahon in bisaya) sliced 3 inches long
Lemongrass (tanglad in bisaya) you can use frozen one but fresh from the garden is better
Horseradish (malunggay or kamunggay in bisaya) frozen is ok
Knorr chicken cubes or Maggi chicken cubes for flavor

Procedure:
1. Boil water first then add the chicken and potato.
2. Add the ginger and lemongrass after 15 minutes.
3. Add the chicken cubes little by little and check the taste if it needs more chicken cubes or not.
4. If it's almost done, add the horseradish and scallions.
5. Serve hot with rice. Enjoy!