Independent Me 101

Independent Living 101

I’ve been sailing through the waves of independent living since last year. Friends and colleagues have been very supportive; they listened, shared and taught me golden values that will last through my lifetime. In a nutshell, I’ve learned a lot from these 4 important aspects of life: physically, emotionally, financially and spiritually. This blog comes in a series which tells of my journey as an independent woman and I hope you guys can bear with me.

First Series: Growing Up

The Black Bowl
One of the things I learned is cooking. Yes, I do cook, but I am more of a passion eater. (My friend Flora asked me that last night). But before I learned how to cook, I went through a lot of “food experimentation” and “first-time tastes”. I love eating Caldereta-flavored tuna (that made the can opener my best friend), which serves as a rice bowl topping for me. I was completely “addicted” to flavored juice and iced tea (Tang Fruit Teaz, super thanks for the yummy flavors), which I religiously stack in our fridge. The staple Lucky Me Chili-Mansi Pancit Canton and Shomen Chicken Cup Noodles also served as my food friends. I also had to do-away with soda and junk food, which I think was also good for me. However, I came to realize that I was just taking in not-so-healthy food and that, it was about time for me to learn how to do simple and quick dishes.

Having been born to a family of good cooks wasn’t easy, and I can see how I’ve become a “bouncing baby girl”! The whole cooking thing wasn’t easy at first, especially when one doesn’t have a stove for cooking, and with the mere fact that I was born to be an eater. I started by eating whole wheat sandwiches- with tuna, luncheon meat, egg or liver spread as fillings. However, I started to have a hard time “moving”, maybe because of the dryness of the food I was taking in. It was then I decided to buy an electric stove. It was kinda costly (aside from the 1000W it consumes!), but it was just the first step of eating the good way. With a little help from my electric stove, which I used to share with Vanessa, my roommate- I learned to cook odd dishes to not-so-odd dishes (improving!)

I develop this love for experimenting veggies and meat. Ever tried eating stir-fried sayote and carrots with shrimp, chicken and pork? It was yummy! How can we ever thank Magic Sarap granules for making our dishes more scrumptious? This also reminds me of my late-night dinner over homemade pasta, (Triggy style), which I shared with housemates from House A, which I’m a part of right now. Our Ilonggo version of Chicken-Pork Adobo was also a staple food and Pinamalhan na Bangus, which I will be sharing later.

The whole cooking thing is actually exciting, and I developed another hobby: doing the grocery. I love listing down things I need in the kitchen, from the spices to pasta noodles sold by the kilo (thanks to to Moonwalk Wet Market, dry goods and veggies were not that pricey). Sunday was a “Lutong Bahay” day for us. With also some insights and recipe sharing from Mylene and Flora, it was like taking a crash course on Cooking 101.

Food budget? Well, I admit almost 25-30% of my salary goes to food alone. Not bad, but of course, if there’s a way of trimming it to like 15-20%, it would be better. I simply can’t do away with other stuff like Skyflakes crackers, Lipton Berries Tea, 3kilos of Sinandomeng Rice (Thanks to Cagayan Rice), a pack of Sugar-Free Chips Delight cookies, a box of Selecta Fortified Low-Fat Milk and Oishi Choco Flakes. This is heaven for me.
The Works:
Ilonggo Chicken – Pork Adobo

This delineates our way of cooking adobo from the Tagalog – style, which is toyo-based. This dish uses atsuete and laurel leaves, which leaves a distinct color and flavor to one of Pinoy’s delicacy.

Ingredients:
½ k. pork, adobo cut (Ilonggos prefer more taba cut)
½ k. chicken (breast or thigh)
½ cup atsuete seeds, diluted in chicken-pork stock
½ cup chopped garlic
A pack of laurel leaves (5-6 pieces)
3 tablespoons vinegar
Salt and sugar to taste

Procedure:
Boil pork in a kawali. Simmer for 10 minutes or until tender. Add in chicken, chopped garlic and atsuete extract. (Tip: add ice cubes to make pork tender fast.) Add laurel leaves and vinegar and season with salt and sugar to taste. Simmer until the broth dries up, and the chicken-pork is sautéed in its own oil.

Optional: After cooking this dish, you may cook Java rice from what was left in the kawali. Just add your cooked rice and make sudsud until it becomes yellowish in color. Don’t forget your garlic bits on top! This dish is perfect with uga or tuyo and a glass of Coke (straight from the sari-sari store, bottled version) filled with ice. Yummy!

Pinamalhan na Bangus

I was quite confused with pinaksiw and pinamalhan. Pinaksiw is the one which is vinegar and water based, while pinamalhan is more vinegar based than water, and is drier in consistency than pinaksiw.

Ingredients:
Bangus, paksiw cut (an average-sized bangus is usually 4-5 slices)
½ cup vinegar
¼ cup water
¼ cup chopped garlic
2 pcs. Siling haba
Cooking oil
Salt, ground pepper and vetsin to taste

Procedure:
Mix vinegar and water in a casserole. Add bangus and chopped garlic. Put on low fire for 5 minutes. Add Siling haba and season with salt, ground pepper and vetsin to taste. Simmer for 5 minutes and add oil when the water-vinegar mixture is dried up.

Optional: Okra or ampalaya can be added to give it a more tangy and bittery taste.

a Christmas letter

Dear Mom,

It's a cloudy day and I'm in a soulful mood as I write this letter. Days pass by so fast and before we know it, Christmas is here. It's the time when people from far places look forward to see their loved ones once again, and share little blessings to everyone back home. How I wish I also had that kind of feeling, but no matter how happy and contented I am with my present life, I can feel that something is still missing.

Yes, I have heard of what has been happening with you back there. I have seen you and dad in my dreams, too. The only best thing I can do is to pray for you, hoping to bring back the old days I've seen you smile and love each other. My heart bleeds everytime I imagine you guys fight, and your own children giving up on you. I wanted to picture out an old couple relaxing and enjoy seeing their grandchildren grow and living in contentment and a stress-free life. But I guess fate has been too tricky to give you this kind of life. Remember what you shared to me last Christmas? Somehow, I think you have a point. All your sufferings will come to an end, only if you surrender everything to Him. You can look at Him and say, "Yes, I have fulfilled my duty as a wife and mother. I did not fail the vow I made on the day I was married." And I agree. You've been a good wife and mother to your children - and even much against your will, to me. Your patience and great love has been felt by everyone in so many ways we can't imagine. Your 'pangakigs and pagsaways' - name it all, has helped me become a better person. I've been used to that Mom, and I love you for that.

I may have done things which weren't morally right, but I believe that there's still something in store for me. I have been patient enough to wait for the perfect time to open the present, knowing God has a perfect plan for me. I also continue to pray for you, that He may be able to give you the strength and patience you need. As for dad, I hope it's never too late for him to realize the importance of being loveed unconditionally.

I want you to enjoy Christmas without me. Take time to relax and be with your children and grandchildren. As for me, I have to find myself and start picking up the broken pieces of my life. I've sent something of minimal value for you to spend. May peace reign in our hearts and have a blessed Christmas.

With much love from your husband's daughter.

Happiness or Peace?

Happiness is indeed a very subjective thing. We get to do crazy things when we're happy. It gives us a moment of bliss that sometimes we forget who we really are. Or it can also show the whole world who we really are. Happiness and peace are thought of as parallel to each other, when actually they're not. I am certainly in the right mood to jot down my thoughts due to PMS mood swings. When a person is at peace, it gives him/her a positive outlook in life and enjoys life as it is. The word complicated does not exist to a peaceful person, for he/she is truly in his/her right state of mind while doing or making decisions for his/her betterment. He/she also sleeps well at night, not thinking about what other people might say about him/her. And lastly, a peaceful person is wary of the things that he/she says, and would rather do the 'walking than talking'. Now, what does this have to do with happiness? A happy person can wear the most beautiful, eye-catching mask to conceal himself/herself from the realities of life. True, that person may be the life of the party, has the most records to beat, may have the most number of friends from the social community networks, but does that really make a connection to his/her true being? A happy person can make other people happy, contradictory to the state in where he/she is in. Being happy sometimes gives us a feeling of guilt especially when we know that somebody is in much deeper pain for being at the lower part of the wheel. Happiness is a choice, but more often than not, has its consequences. So, which way are you? To happiness? Or peace? Think twice!