Lesson Learned

     I've been thinking a lot about the things my brother Al talked to be about with regards to his job as a police officer. I feel as a public servant, he (and his brothers in blue) has done it all, seen it all. He has told me funny things, weird things, serious things that's happened during his days on the job. And I thought I'd share one of them.

     He told me about a time when a car was blocking his driveway on his way to work. Al waited patiently for the owner of the vehicle to return and spoke to the 'guy'. My brother (dressed in regular clothes) was nice about it, just telling the 'guy' to move as his driveway was being blocked and he had to go to work. 'Guy' decided to be mean about it, talking stuff about how he can park where he wants, etc. While 'guy' was running his mouth, he didn't realize Al was checking the license plates of his car and memorizing it.

     A few weeks (or days, I can't remember which) my brother while on the job sees the said car parked illegally, again....though not blocking my brothers driveway. Al checked the license plates to make sure it was the same car from before --- and it was! So aside from the ticket the 'guy' got for illegally parking, he got ticketed for every infraction possible with his car, like a broken tail light, ...etc. Amounting up to $500.00 almost. I'm sure the man just about had a heart attack when he saw the ticket! Ha

     Now Al said, there's a lesson to be learned here. Treat every one you come across with respect as you don't know who you're dealing with.

   

I Love Bobby's Burger Palace

     As you know my family and I were away for the holidays. My Mom and siblings live in the east coast, New York, New Jersey and Delaware to be exact. And I live in California.

     I don't often see my side of the family, so Christmas and New Years were the best times to get together for us. Included in our vaca is eating at different places we don't normally get to eat in California. One is Bobby's Burger Palace (or BBP). Oh my goodness! The name alone makes my mouth water.

     Bobby's Burger Palace is the mindset of chef Bobby Flay, who aside from having a cooking show on the Food Network ( Throwdown with Bobby Flay, Grill It! With Bobby Flay to name two), also owns restaurants like Bolo Restaurant and Mesa Grill, to name another two. BBP serves 10 different kinds of burgers, inspired by his travels, along with sides like sweet potato fries, milkshakes and sodas.

     The pic below is my fave. It's the Dallas burger. It's a spice crusted burger, topped with coleslaw, Monterey Jack cheese, bbq sauce and pickles. I like my burgers crunchified, meaning top with potato chips at no extra cost.

   

 My fave side is the sweet potato fries. It comes with honey mustard horse radish sauce.

     So if you're ever anywhere there's a BBP, do stop by and try their burgers. The service is as good as the food!!!

What We Gave Our Families For Christmas

 For Christmas 2011 I've decided for the grown ups we are giving presents 'per couple' instead of individually. The first picture below is part of my stash, stuff I've accumulated earlier in the year. 3 wick candles, foaming hand soaps, body lotions, hand sanitizers and mini candles all in different scents. I make sure I only buy the things I like, that way even if I don't give them away, they will definitely be used -- by me!

This picture is the 'after', after the items have been wrapped in clear bags and tied with red ribbons. The bags and ribbons I got for free at Bath and Body Works (or BBW). Every time they had a sale, I made a purchase (with coupon of course) and I asked for a few bags and ribbons. BBW products make great presents all year 'round!

 Here is a close up of one of the gifts. Inside is a 3 wick candle, foaming hand soap, body lotion, lip gloss. I tied a pocket back hand sanitizer with a silver tie (can't tell from the picture) that I already had, along with the gift tag. And over that I tied the red ribbon, makes for a pretty presentation, don't you think?

More Christmas Gift Ideas

     In a previous post I've mentioned how I started putting together Christmas gift ideas in August. I felt if I started looking out for sales many months before the holiday, buy a few things here and there every pay...its not a tough as trying to buy everything for everyone the entire month of November and December. I prefer to give presents I don't mind receiving myself  :)

     The pictures below is not all I got since August, just an example of what I have and what I did with them. I found out that when you buy stuff from Bath and Body Works (BBW), you can ask for their clear plastic bags, tags and ribbon...its free!! So every time I shopped at BBW, I asked for a few bags, tags and ribbon. Perfect for last minute gifts. 

     Oh, the ribbons used below are my own...I wanted them used up. These are going to be Teacher presents!!!

 from left to right: be Enchanted body lotion (2oz), Cranberry Woods (1wick) candle,

and a Mrs. Clause Apple Pie scented hand sanitizer (1 oz) 

 The things in this picture is same as the first one except the candle is Cranberry Pear Bellini (smells YUMMY)

and lastly the candle on the left is Apple Crumble (1wick, smells YUMMY), with a Vanilla Cookie scented hand sanitizer (1oz, smells like real cookies!) and the body lotion is Charmed Life (2oz, discontinued)

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated in any way with Bath and Body Works, nor am I compensated for this. I love their products and all opinions made are my own.

Cooking in Bulk

     As a busy mom, cooking in bulk is one of the ways I save time. It could be anything. I could buy 10 pounds of ground meat, brown all of it with chopped garlic and onions. Let it cool and split it into one or two pound packs and freeze it. That way when I feel like making a dish that requires ground meat, all I have to do is toss a pack in the pot/pan and cook with sauce (like spaghetti). Since the meat is already cooked, it saves me so much time.

     Another way I do is making big batches of pancakes (see below). I figured since I have my griddle out to make pancakes,  I'll make a big batch of them and freeze. I do not mix the chocolate chips into the pancakes as I think it would make them too sweet. I prefer to put 5 pieces of chocolate chips in each pancake. I usually end up making about 50 pancakes, which depending on my kids moods, can last almost two weeks. I'll let them cool, bag them up in a ziplock and the kids can get their own pancakes from the freezer and microwave them for about 30 seconds each. They have pancakes for breakfast during the week and sometimes as snacks. What a way to teach them some independence!

My griddle has space for 5 regular sized pancakes 

with enough room for me to flip them over

cooling them down while waiting for the rest before bagging and freezing

Angel Tree

     'Tis the season for giving and this year my family has decided to participate in the Angel Tree program at our church. Every year around Christmas time a tree is set up in our church lobby decorated with paper-shaped snow men, trees and angels. On the decorations are wishes from families and children as well as instructions on how to 'deliver them'. We picked three tags. One is for a 10 year old boy, another is for a 7 year old girl and the last wish was toiletries for women. The requests are to be placed under the tree unwrapped with the tags (seen below) attached to them about a week prior to Christmas.

   

     I was able to get some shampoo, soap, toothpaste, toothbrush and deodorant to go with the women's toiletries tag. A Disney princess art set that Ali picked went with the girl tag and another regular art set that Matt picked went with the boy tag. I sure hope our recipients like them!    

     I felt it was a good way to celebrate the spirit of Christmas, to show our children how to be charitable. It makes them realize that not everyone is as fortunate as we are and it is a way of making someone else happy. Christmas is not just about receiving something, it's also about being thankful that we have enough and sharing our blessings with those in need.

I Love Weekends!

     I love weekends, especially the ones where we plan to do nothing. I can sleep in if I want (as much as Sofi will let me of course), I really enjoy times when we 'play by ear' the things our family will do.

     As Ted works long hours at times during the week, weekends are a great time for us to bond as a family. We cook and eat meals together. It's when the kids get to play with daddy, or for us to watch movies on cable together. Ted is pretty good about caring for the kids while I get a much needed break and watch my shows in our bedroom or even nap. I am always so thankful.

     I don't know what this weekend holds, but I sure am looking forward to it!!