organic farming

A couple of days ago I wrote about our backyard harvest. And in honor of Earth Day I am writing about organic farming.
Organic farming is technique used in farming without the use of any chemicals or synthetics. The aim of organic farming is to produce crops which have the highest nutritional values with least impact on nature.
There is no definitive study whether organic food is more nutritious than conventional food. Testing was done with animals only. And before you get all worked up no harm was done to the animals. They were just fed with organic food. And the animals that were fed with organic food appeared to be healthier and had better reproductive performance as compared to animals that were given conventional food.
Whether or not organic food is more nutritious one thing is certain, organic food definitely tastes better.
Here are pictures of our mini-organic farm:

from our backyard

All of these came from our backyard.



Earlier in the year my mother, my husband and our helper started planting vegetables in our backyard. And in time all the watering and gardening paid off. If we need egpplant we just pick it off from the plant. Like here in this picture we harvested malunggay leaves, talong and tanglad. We also needed tomatoes but our tomatoes aren't ripe yet so we bought from the village talipapa.
We also have chinese kangkong, sili, kamatis, pechay, and mustasa. They also planted squash but no flower from it yet so we still have to wait before we can eat off of it.
I can honestly say we are eating fresh and organic vegetables. May mas fresh pa ba sa pagkapitas eh lulutin na?

love shopping...for groceries!

One chore I love doing is shopping for groceries. Really. And so I am looking forward to tomorrow because it's time to go to the grocery once more.
One brand I buy a lot of is Del Monte...tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce, tomato ketcup, fruit cocktail, fruit juices, and yes even fit n right (sometimes!)I am not getting paid to blog about them ha! I'm just sharing.


I usually do my grocery shopping at SM. Although I sense that their meats aren't so fresh. I like buying meat from Fresh Options Meatshop. For the fish, we usually buy at the market or from our neighborhood talipapa.

closet space: organize!

There's never enough closet space. At the start of our marriage hubs and I share one closet. Now we have two and there's still not enough space for our clothes and shoes.
A major organizing revamp is needed!
The closet should have varous partitions so you can group the clothes according to kind. And when folding shirts, it is best to fold it trifold. It looks more organized that way.
Just like in the kitchen, a pull-out pantry can also be used in a closet. Just make sure that it is installed in an angle. There is a terrific way to store shoes. And we have a lot of these! Hubs collects rubber shoes while I heart sandals/slip-ons/flip-flops!
Before storing handbags take out all its contents. I have a habit of putting back the bag I used without taking out the contents and this consumes time when I'm trying to find something and don't know which bag to check. So before you put it back in the closet, dump it's contents on a table. Then put acid-free tissue paper inside the bag so as to preserve its shape.
(pictures grabbed from marthastewart.com)

removing garlic smell

My hands smell! From the garlic I used for the marinade I made for the chicken barbecue we had for lunch. Ugh! I have watched my hands numerous times, and used alcohol but the smell is still there. So I went online to find the best ways to get rid of the garlic smell. And here are the tips I found:
Use lemon juice to wash your hands. It not only removes the odor but it also softens the hands as well.
Mix in salt with the water when you wash your hands.
Rub your hands with stainless steel. Whether it be your spoon, your fork, or your sink just make sure that it is stainless stell and it will remove the garlic odor.
Baking soda also removes the odor. Just rub your hands with it and rinse.
Squeeze toothpaste on your hands, rub, and rinse.

thinking of a bed

I find this bed nice.

And it is a space saver. Which is a big plus for me because we always have a problem when we have guests staying over. I admit we do not have a guest room. Our house has 3 bedrooms. One for my mother, one for my sisters and the other one for me and hubs. So when we have guests/relatives they sleep in my sisters' room. There is an extra bed available but it is so old I can't even remember when my parents bought it. Having a bed like this would be a big boost not only to our sleeping problems but also help in decluttering the room. Notice how there are built in shelves that can be used? Nice di ba? Very much needed since ang daming gamit/kalat sa room. :->

paint it!

Hubs is bent on redecorating our room. And awhile ago we went out to Wilcon Builder's Depot and bought the paint and all other paraphernalias. Whew! The place is big. And although there were a lot of sales personnel on the floor they are not like most sales personnel who hounds you until you buy something. These people just looks on and does not make a nuisance of themselves. They let us roam around the place and when we needed a hand they were there for us. There were a lot of shades to choose from. But since we both wanted to use greeen as our primary color we perused the green folder longer. And in the end we decided on having the distant haze paint mixture for our room. The mixing took about 5 minutes and then we were good to go. They said that it is odorless and well, tomorrow we will find out. For tomorrow, our bonding session would be painting our room!

made in China

With all the hoopla going on about China-made goods everyone is scared of buying any edible China-made products. And the Chinese has gotten wiser. They do not mark their products made in China now. So how will you know if you the products are made in China? Check the barcode. China goods have barcode starting with 690, 691, and 692. Before you put anything in your grocery basket please read its label. It pays to be careful.

(thanks to sis emmaruth for this info)

the word is fresh

Wondering how to tell if a fish is fresh? Well, then you first have to define what fresh is, right?

For a professional chef, fresh fish is a fish that will be served within 3 days of its being caught.

The Japanese meaning of fresh fish is it is served within 24 hours after it was caught.

While to others, a fish is fresh if it has not been frozen.

Now here are some guidelines on determining a fish' freshness:

1. The fish should smell fresh and mild and not fishy.

2. The flesh should be resilient. It should bounce back when pressed.

3. The eyes should be clear and a little bulgy.

4. The scales should not be dried up.

5. The gills should be bright.

Now you know how to tell if a fish is fresh. But no matter how fresh the fish is if it's not stored properly it will spoil easily.

mamaluktot habang maliit ang kumot

Mula nung kinasal kami ng asawa ko di kami magkasundo sa kumot. Maliit kase yung kumot namin. Eh itong lalaking ito nakupo madamot yan sa kumot..Gusto nya balot na balot sya. Matutulog yan minsan ng di nakakumot. Naiinitan daw sya. (ahmmm..alam nyo na siguro kung bakit) Syempre ako naman ang mapagalagang maybahay pag nakatulog na sya kukumutan ko syempre pero mayamaya sinisipa na hanggang mawala na naman. Pero wag ka! Pag ako'y nakatulog na nakupo panigurado lang ang kumot ko unti unting hinihila nyan. Hanggang sa ako naman ang mamaluktot sa ginaw ng ercon. At pag naalimpungatan ako syempre makikisukob ako sa kumot. Aysus! Manigas na ako sa lamig pero makikipagagawan yan. Ang lakas pa naman nya. Gusto nya kanya lang ang kumot. Opo. Ganyan yan. Pero lahat yan nangyayari habang tulog sya ha. Kaya nga napagdesisyunan ko maghiwalay na kami ng kumot. Pero di nasolb ang problema dyan ha. Kase naman kahit na may sarili na syang kumot eh nakikiagaw pa rin ang loko. Dun yata sya masaya.
Konting kwento lang yan. Pasakalye baga para lang masabi ko na bumili ako kanina ng kumporter. Malaki na. At kasabay ng pagbili ko ay ang usal na sana naman pag magkatabi kami wala ng hilaan at agawang kumot na mangyari.

chafing dish

I've always wanted to have a chafing dish for when we host parties. And because SM, the nearest mall to us, has an ongoing sale I went yesterday to have a look see.

There were various chafing dish to choose from. Round or rectangle. Steel or crystal.

But since this is not a priority right now I have to hold my urges and just heave a sigh while touching it.

Oh well, there will always be another mallwide sale anyways.