A Good Gift For This Season

Christmas is fast approaching and it's the time of year that we give gifts to our family, friends and loved ones. It's been 6 Christmases that we were thousands of miles away from home so hubby and I wanted to make up for the lost times. Hubby said we need to make the kids happy by showering them with gifts that will surely bring smile to their faces. This coming holiday season is a sort of reunion for us. We are 4 siblings in the family, both of our parents had passed away many moon years back. We would be happier to celebrate Christmas if both of them are still alive. If we had known about C'elle during that time we could have saved them through the help of potentially life-saving stem cells found naturally in menstrual blood. The C’elle service provides women with a C’elle Kit to collect and preserve the vital stem cells that can be taken from body’s menstrual fluid during monthly period. This is beneficiary to all members of the family when things go wrong in health related issue.

It's not easy to get sick nowadays especially the cost of medical bills keep soaring up high not to mention the pain and discomfort you feel when you are sick. To have peace of mind you need to avail what C'elle has to offer for you and your family. If you need more information you can check out their site and read their FAQs to answer your questions. There you will find out all About C’elle and you will see how it can save everyone’s life.

Thanksgiving Celebration

Belated happy thanksgiving to everyone! How was your thanksgiving celebration? I bet you had a good one and was full to the max. We had a family devotion early evening after we were done cooking the foods. Hubby read some verses in the Bible and gave a message about thanking God for all He has given us. Then after our devotion, we sang the song "Give Thanks". We then all sat at the table and ate our Thanksgiving Dinner. We had meatloaf, mashed potatoes, chicken afritada, pancit, rice and refrigerated cake. My siblings were all present and their families. We had a blast though we didn't have some fancy foods like we used to have in the states. We were so thankful to the good Lord for all His blessings and provisions.

Shop Using Dirt Devil Buying Guide

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Dirt Devil. All opinions are 100% mine.

Hubby bought a Dirt Devil vacuum cleaner a few years ago. It was a very light one and it is rechargeable. The reason I like it is that it's not heavy for me to push around compared to our old vacuum cleaner. I've been using it to vacuum our area rug carpet in the living room. Now after almost five years, we want to buy a bigger vacuum cleaner, Dirt Devil brand of course to clean our entire house. I was browsing the internet when I came across the Dirt Devil Holiday Buying Guide. It is just what I need and just in time for the coming Holiday season. I learned that DirtDevil.com offer great Holiday Deals (including: Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, and Family Favorites). Do you know that there are about 300 ways to save with online shopping. You can purchase from their website and they offer FREE shipping of their products. You don't have to go out and drive so you can save money for gas and also you save time. You can shop in the comfort of your home. Shopping online is really convenient for me because I don't drive. So if you are looking for ways to save money, why not visit their site and you can find red hot deals on Black Friday, November 27 and on Cyber Monday, November 30. You can browse the websites there and shop till you drop, LOL! Their site is user friendly and prices are all marked down. You will save money for the holiday.

Russian Salad (Ensalada Rusa)

I've learned to cook a lot of recipes that I've never cooked before when I went to the US. One recipe that I've learned to cook is the Ensalada Rusa (Russian Salad). My hubby loves to eat potatoes so I searched for potato recipe and I found this one. I have cooked this several times already and hubby and I like it.

Ensalada Rusa is Dominican's favorite salad. It is usually served on special occasions and is a traditional component of the Christmas dinner.

Ingredients:
1/2 lb of potatoes
1/2 lb of carrots
1/2 cup of sweet corn
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup of peas
1 apple diced into small cubes (optional)
i medium red onion
3 eggs
salt

Preparation:
Boil the potatoes, carrots and eggs. Peel and dice into small cubes. Mix in the rest of the ingredients. Adjust salt to taste. Put in the refrigerator for 30 minutes prior to serving.

Northwest Culinary Institute

I enjoy cooking and experimenting new recipes for me and my hubby. We both love to eat and you can tell it when you see hubby's belly. He said he has invested a lot already in his tummy. Blame it to the foods that I cook or maybe I'm just a good cook. But I believe I still need a lot to learn especially baking cakes and decorating it. Sometimes I'm thinking of enrolling in a culinary class. If you're like me and you want to improve your culinary skills and you're looking for one of the finest culinary institute, then why not try to enroll at Northwest Culinary Institute. You might be interested to know that they offer culinary scholarships, financial aid, and housing to their students. Northwest Culinary Institute is a Division of International Air and Hospitality Academy. International Air and Hospitality Academy's main campus and corporate headquarters are located in Vancouver, Washington, just 12 minutes from Portland International Airport. This 15,000 square-foot facility accommodates up to 20 new students per quarter.

Hubby's Birthday Celebration

This is a late post but it's better late than never as they say. My hubby celebrated his birthday last Nov. 10th. I prepared fruit salad for him and we had chicken adobo, pancit and I bought a birthday cake for him. We didn't invite anybody. The celebration was exclusive for our family members only. My 3 siblings were present with their families and also my aunt who live with us. We had a good supper and everybody were full. Hubby was so satisfied with his birthday celebration. He enjoyed the foods of course especially his birthday cake.

Secure Your Fridge

Do you have kids that always ransack the foods that you keep in your fridge? Perhaps you have foods stored there like chocolates, liquor or softdrinks that are not good for your young ones health. You need to keep your food safe from "Refrig-A Raiders" whether at home, dorm or the office with the original personal food security system and that's where www.FridgeLocker.com comes in. The site offers Fridge Locker to secure all the contents of your refrigerator like sweets, snacks, sodas, coffee creamer, work lunch, medications, expensive ingredients, off limits diet foods, ice cream, energy drinks, alcoholic drinks and anything else!

Birthday Preparations

It's already past 2:00 AM here but I'm still awake. I'm just done making a fruit salad for my hubby's birthday today. This afternoon, we went to order a birthday cake for hubby. It's a lot cheaper for me to buy a ready-made cake than to make one. I don't have the skill to make a nice cake with all the icing and designs. Besides, the bakery where I ordered sells cake at a very reasonable price. I ordered twice there already and their cake is moist and not very sweet. Hubby said he love it. I'm pretty sure my hubby will have a good time tomorrow celebrating his birthday. Watch out for the photos because I'm gonna post it here.

Don’t Miss Your Chance To Win $5,000

Joining contests is a lot of fun. You get to win some cool prizes and it makes me excited. I joined a contest hosted by a fellow blogger last year and I was so happy when I won the first prize which was a cool $100 cash! I also won another contest after that and since then I got so interested in joining contests.

If you are fond of joining contests and win cool prizes, why not join the "You Gotta See This" iLASIK Video Contest hosted by Abbott Medical Optics Inc. (AMO). This is a global leader in laser vision correction and they are inviting people to make a video that shows the importance or impact of better vision through ilasik. You have a chance to win cash and prizes. People have already submitted:
• original music videos
• videos on boxing and swimming
• videos that just show how their daily lives would improve.

The contest is still open for more entries. Just submit a video in one of the following categories:
• “My contacts are getting in the way of my good time”
• “My favorite sport or activity would be so much cooler with better vision”
• “You should see life after the iLASIK® Procedure”

If you are lucky to win the grand prize of $5,000 then you will have money for your Christmas shopping, right? All you have to do is to submit your video and tell your friends to vote for it. Votes are one of the major factors in determining the winners. The rest of the prizes are:

First Prize (one in each video category):
HDTV package — a $2,500 value

Second Prize (one in each video category):
The Flip UltraHD™ camcorder — a $199.99 value

Apple Pancakes

I've found this great recipe of making apple pancake while I was browsing the internet. I had to copy manually the recipe because our printer is not working no more. I need to buy a new one so it would be easier to print the recipes that I get from the internet. After I printed this recipe, I went to the kitchen right away and tried to make it. It's a good thing that I still have some apples left. I grated the apple using my food processor. Then I just followed the directions, cooked it and voila, I had some delicious apple pancakes. They're so yummy, moist and nutritious. I recommend these pancakes to be eaten with hot cinnamon syrup. I would definitely make this recipe again. Hubby and I love it.

Ingredients

* 1/4 cup butter, melted
* 1 egg
* 1 cup milk
* 1 cup shredded tart apple
* 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1 tablespoon white sugar

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine butter, egg, milk and apple. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and sugar. Stir flour mixture into apple mixture, just until combined.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

New Arrivals From Zenni Optical

My prescription eyeglasses is out of style already. I'm planning to buy a new one with the latest style and design. I was looking at those Holiday Fun Eyeglasses from Zenni Optical and I think they have nice frames and styles to choose from. They have New Arrivals just in time for the holiday season. I'm an old customer of Zenni because I already bought 2 prescription eyeglasses from them the previous year. Their price is so cheap compared to other optical. Just browse their $8 Prescription Zenni Glasses and you will see what I'm talking about.

Vegetable Lumpia

I've been making shanghai lumpia and vegetable lumpia as well. My hubby prefers eating shanghai lumpia that's why I've been making it most of the time. But since I love veggies too, I do make vegetable lumpia whenever I'm in the mood. Hubby likes it too but not as much as he likes the shanghai. My vegetable lumpia is not made of purely veggies. I do add a little ground meat to add flavor in it. Here's the recipe.

Ingredients

* 2 Tbs. olive oil
* 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
* 1 medium-sized onion, finely chopped
* 1/2 C. green beans, finely sliced
* 1/2 C. carrots, finely chopped
* 1/2 C. celery, finely chopped
* 1 C. ground beef or chicken or pork
* 1 C. bean sprouts
* Pepper to taste
* Soy sauce to taste
* spring roll wrappers
* 3 Tbs. water
* Oil for frying
*
* Dip:
* 3 cloves garlic, finely crushed
* 1/2 C. vinegar of choice
* 1/8 tsp. ground pepper
* Pinch of salt
* 1 tsp. shallots, finely chopped
* 1 chili pepper, chopped (optional)

Directions

In a pan, heat oil medium-hot, and then add garlic. When garlic is slightly brown, add onions and ground meat. When meat is browned, add all the vegetables and stir-fry until almost done. Season with pepper and soy sauce. Set aside, draining excess liquid. Separate spring roll wrappers and cover with damp cloth. Take one wrapper at a time, laying each wrapper on a plate. Place a Tbs. of vegetables on the wrapper, and wrap vegetable mixture firmly, sealing the edge with a little water. Heat oil in a deep frying pan on 'hot' stove setting and fry spring rolls until lightly browned. You may use a deep fryer if you want. Serve hot with garlic-vinegar dip.

Dip:

Mix ingredients in a glass bowl and add more vinegar, pepper, and salt as required.