Before I check on this low cost health insurance quote which DH has been bugging me to research on, let me share this week's recipe. A favorite of my boys and an easy one :)

SWEET AND SOUR MEATBALLS
Ingredients:
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup fine,
dry breadcrumbs
2 tbsp. sliced green onion
1 1/2 tsp. jerk seasoning
1/4 tsp salt
1 lb lean ground beef
1 (11.5-oz) bottle sweet and sour sauce (you can make your own from scratch
Pineapple chunks, to taste

Cook Time: 15 minutes
Serves 8
1.) Preheat oven to 400F. In a large bowl stir together egg, breadcrums,
onion, seasoning and salt. Add ground beef; mix well.

2.) Pat ground beef into 6X8-inch rectangle on sheet of waxed paper. Cut meat
into 1-inch cues. Roll each cube into a ball. Place on ungreased 15X10X1-inch baking pan. Bake 15 minutes or until done (170F)

3.) Meanwhile, in large saucepan stir together sauce and pineapple. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, 3 to 5 minutes or until heated through. Gently stir warm meatballs into sauce mixture. Garnish with green onion, if desired.

As we grow older, exercise or indulging in some kind of sports should be in our priority in order to lead a healthier lifestyle. Personally speaking, I feel that as I grow older especially when I enter the 30s. I feel more sluggish if I fail to exercise during the week. While working out and routine exercises work for me, some people would rather indulge in sports. Hubby's friend is a paintball enthusiast. We saw an extreme change in his body and way of life ever since he has been playing paintball weekly. In fact, he has also convinced hubby to check out these paintball packages from Zephyr Paintball. Hubby would love to only if he has enough time, as of the moment it is impossible to fit in another hobby or sports in his very hectic schedule.

Since I have been delinquent in posting kitchen savy finds and gadgets for the past couple of months, I am posting 3 new kitchen products from WorldWideFred.com. Their artists and designers are truly amazing, each creation are just very unique and one of a kind. I wonder if they will have a bedroom edition, I would love to check out their mattresses. So anyways, here are my top 3 newest and ultra-cool Fred&Friends finds. Have a good weekend everyone!

TABLE SAW™
carve the cake, cross-cut the lettuce
Table Saw is the perfect accessory for your kitchen tool belt. It’s big and toothy so you can slice and dice your lettuce without discoloring it and show that cake that you really mean business! Aren’t you feeling handy already? Packaged on a peggable printed backer card.

Design: Winnif Pang
©2009 FRED

FISTICUP™
For a knockout cup of coffee!
Do you take your morning brew light and sweet, or are you a hard hitting black coffee type? Either way, you’ll get a fistful of your favorite beverage with this smashing new mug. Sleek ivory high-fire ceramic contrasts dramatically with the steely metallic handle. Packaged in a full-color illustrated giftbox.

Design: Jean Cristophe Karich
©2009 FRED

MIX STIX™
keepin’ rythym in the kitchen

Every kitchen has its own rhythm and hum, and now you can play along. Mix Stix are classic indispensable beechwood spoons, morphed into drumsticks. So you can rock out when you’re not stirring, paradiddle on the stockpot, give that mixing bowl a rimshot. Get with the beat! We’ve packed one solid spoon and one unique slotted spoon on a durable chipboard peggable backing card.

Design: Ignacio Pilotto, Jason Amendolara, Fred Studio
©2009 FRED

Streetfoods I love!
No matter how many times my mom would warn me about the possibility of getting Hepatitis because of Street Food, she could not stop me from eating sticks after sticks of isaw!

Yay! Definitely, U.P, isaw would be one of my places to visit when we have that Manila vacation. Although I have not been a fan of JolliJeeps because I never had an opportunity to try them out, this street food caravan I saw at Washington, D.C. reminds me of our JolliJeep :P.

During our visit in D.C. late last year, my son (together with DH) was approached by some random talent agent requesting for him to do a VTR for a big sports channel, I'd rather not name it here. Also, we were informed that we could either have the VTR done by a prestigious video production company or they could shoot it right there and then. Well, their target was not DH (LOL!) it was our son who was only 3 years old at that time. They find him very apt for a new segment they will be launching. During those times, DS would talk to any stranger and mingle with almost everyone he bumped into. This changed a year after because I have always make sure that he does not speak with any stranger at all, things can be creepy this time and with my son being the chatter little box that he is, he might utter information he should not.

Anyways, going back to that day. DH said to the video production company that we were only there for a vacation and in fact, leaving on the same day. You know what they just did? They shot the VTR right there in the street of Washington, D.C. It was pretty simple, they handed my boy a ball, asked him to cross the street and say a few lines :). It was his first and I was not with them haha! Do you want to know where I was? I was busy checking out a museum, darn! I miss it! Speaking of Video Production Companyand making VTRs, you might want to check out 522 Productions. This company provides professional video production in Washington DC, Virginia, Baltimore, and Maryland.

Hello everyone! Sorry for not updating as often as I could :). Things have been great and I have been caught up with offline life. The folks are here, more on that later.

In the meantime, let's talk about my weight.
I did a 2 cycle-fasting (3 days and 5 days straight) which I will elaborate on a separate article. It was more of spiritual but I ended up detoxing and losing some 5 lbs permanently.

So yes, I am happy to announce that in less than 3 weeks, I am 7 pounds lighter. It is a permanent weight loss because each morning that I weigh myself, I see the same figures yey! :). I am hoping to lose at least 10 more pounds before my birthday next month, that's roughly less than 4 weeks from now. If I get that desired weight, that would probably one of the best gifts for myself.

The key is consistency and DISCIPLINE :). Be back later.

One of the things I am looking forward to when my folks arrive is the fact that I am going to taste yet another chance of my mom's fine cooking and sumptous pastries. She even asked me if I already have the red KitchenAid mixer I have been eyeing to get. You see, my mom was once a professional baker, we used to own a bakeshop and she supplies wedding cakes to prestigious hotels in Naga City. I know what difference a regular electric mixer to that of a KitchenAid. So when I saw this discount coupon codes at CouponTrunk.com, I know instantly that maybe this is the sign I have been waiting for to get that red KitchenAid mixer :). But, yes if there is purple, absolutely I will get that over the red.

Finally, hubby agreed to get the sidetable plus side lamp that I have been eyeing for since June! At first, he was hesitant because it does not go well with our bed frame. But then, I had to explain to him that it would be convenient for me when I do my nightly writing (in the journal), quick random surfing and some doodling when I feel like to. So, this afternoon, off we went to the furniture store and I went home with it :). Just in time, as I would do a lot of reading tonight until next week for our midterms. While I was setting up my stuff in the new sidetable, I saw hubby surfing on these Copper & Brass Lanterns from Capecod Weathervane Company. He was surprised with the price considering that these are authentic Brass and Copper lanterns. Hmmm, I guess a new lamp or lantern will be added to our lighting fixtures soon.

Taco Bell is probably my favorite Mexican Fastfood and Mexican dishes are on my top favorite cuisines :). What is Mexican food without beans? Although, I can live without beans, I could not imagine my burrito and taco salad without beans!

So before I check on this orange nj cosmetic dentist, here are photos of my favorite Taco Bell meals. Happy LP!

Tara Kain tayo!

Bilisan niyo baka maubusan ko kayo!
Ito ang paborito kong merienda ngayon. Ewan ko ba at gustong gusto ko ang Ube, siguro kasi paborito ko ding kulay ang lila :).

Maligayang LP! May isa pa akong lahok DITO.

If only this Goldilocks Brioche Ensaymada with Cheese and Purple Yam are not fattening, I could eat it every hour, everyday. Yay! In fact, when I was researching on these Mesothelioma lawyers, I did not notice that I was able to finish 2 packs already in less than an hour. Oh, hubby should stop buying these pastries or I should focus on my weight loss routine and avoid this kind of snacks aka merienda! What is your current favorite merienda?

I have been hearing a lot of complaints from my friends in Manila last week, they were all complaining about their slow internet. It seems weird because no one was spared from it. Aparrently, there was some Asia-Pacific outage that caused the slow internet. Speaking of this, I am just glad that our internet service provider is very efficient and reliable. Not once have I remembered having a slow internet service. My friend on the other hand is happy about their hughs satellite internet. If you do not know what satellite dish internet is, this is one of the newest trend in internet service providers. It is believed that internet satellite provides faster service and best quality internet service. Hughes Net is just one of the many who provides this kind of internet service. With speeds up to 50 times faster than dial-up and an uninterrupted connection, HughesNet has been proven to be one of the best satellite dish internet providers available. Check out their site for more information.

I am one delinquent Lapis member hee hee, apologies Ceski! Anyways, for this week's theme, I chose this photo of my son taken during our most recent beach trip last Wednesday. No beach trip is complete for him without a Ben&Jerry's ice cream. And no ice cream is complete without those sprinkle-coated cone :). I love LOVE Ben&Jerry's ice cream, but I had to stop myself or else I might end up popping best weight loss supplements soon!

I've been vocal how much domesticated DH is. He loves to cook and fortunately, good at it, even much much better than me. One dinner, I was really tired and while I was about to dial Papa John's delivery number for some quick gourmet pizza, he immediately took out the pan and made this. It's baked chicken, stuffed with rice (yes, sticky rice!) with mushrooms and tomatoes.

I love baked tomatoes and mushrooms, never mind the chicken hee hee.
Does your DH cook better than you?

My friend and I were talking the other day about our weddings. We both agreed that the biggest chunk of the wedding budget goes to food. After all, the bride and groom want to make their guests happy with the right food. I remembered a celebrity wedding which had destination weddings and the food was just awesome even just by looking at the photo and their menu list. The celebrity bride and groom made sure that their buffet spread is still within the their wedding destination-themed and you'd know that the guests enjoyed their meals. Destination weddings may be a lot of work but if executed succesfully would turn out as the dream wedding of every couple.

Like I have previously shared, 2 of my friends and I have started the Pull 20/20 a dollar a pound, loser takes all-weight challenge. We officially wanted to start it last August 1 but we got too busy that we all ended up weighing-in yesterday, August 3. I was expecting to be 3 lbs heavier but surprise surprise, maybe the shapewear is working. I still have a long way to go but my determination to cut back 20 lbs off me is strengthen because of these 2 friends' determination as well. And yes, I will say no to Fastin and yes, to boiled broccoli for lunch today :).

I admit that there are days I find myself reading weight loss pills review and would check out my options and see if I have the guts to actually take the easy way. But in the end, I am so scared of these artificial way of losing weight because I still plan to have babies and I do not want any of these pills to have side effects on my future pregnancies, I can be very paranoid when health and pregnancy are concerned.

So, today is August 1 and as mentioned HERE, 2 of my friends and I are starting a different kind of challenge to lose weight. Today also marks less than 2 months before my birthday and I owe it to myself to be extra careful with my health and what I take in. I'll update you what happens with our challenge, in the meantime, I am heading off the weighing scale to take note of my start-off weight :).

Halloween Party Invitation

We owe something to DS this year. We promise him that we will definitely go to his Halloween party in school, he would go trick or treating around the neighborhood and would buy him a new Halloween costume. You see, last year's Halloween has been very busy because my brother and his wife was here for a vacation, we were actually in D.C. during the Halloween. We declined a lot of Party Halloween Invitations which came with scary invitations Halloween cards and beg off to participate in DS costumer party in his gym school. So this year, we promise to even hold a small party for kids. Which reminds me I need to start drafting the invitations Halloween cards or I might just order the ready made party invitations Halloween cards at http://www.holiday-invitations.com/.