At 20-something, I know I should start taking care of my body. When medical professionals told me my metabolism would start slowing down at this age, I didn't know they weren't kidding. I started to feel ~old~ about 6 months ago, when I got out of the hospital. I was admitted for over a week due to a problem with my Liver and Gastritis. My health drastically went downhill from there. I wasn't allowed to eat solid food for a while, I was prohibited from eating spicy and sour food, I couldn't drink alcohol and I was advised not to smoke. I was also REQUIRED to drink a lot of water. This was the hardest for me. I don't like water, that may come as a surprise to some, but I really loathe water. I mean, it's boring, it's tasteless and I bloat easily. I also have a tendency to pee every now and then because I don't know, tiny bladder perhaps? But whatever, it's very inconvenient! But we all know it's good for us so kids and whoever is reading this, 8-10 glasses or more per day!

With that, I've been trying to re-invent how I cook my food. One time, I was craving for Lechon Kawali but then remembered how painful the whole cooking process is and all the fat and oil that comes along with deep frying. I was wondering if it's possible to ~bake~ the pork since I've been addicted to oven-baked everything since I got a mini oven! I know this defeats the purpose of naming it Lechon Kawali but who cares?! It's as yummy so fuck off!

Whenever I'm in a rut and can't be bothered to even cook my own meal, I always resort to canned stuff x something healthy in my pantry. Which is pretty much how last week looked like. I experienced terrible migraines after work. don't know what or who to blame, work or this horrible alternating weather. One minute it feels like you're on a sizzling plate ready to be served to hungry giants, the next minute it's raining horses and elephants. I would usually have all the energy in the world to make myself a good home-cooked supper, but not the past few days. The heat has been terrible and I just want to lay in bed and not move an inch because of the weather, and mind you, I have my air-conditioner on full blast, ugh? Despite the weather, I'm still thankful because I don't have to endure it while waiting for a ride home. I've been reading some really terrible tweets and posts about how insane it is to ride the MRT nowadays. Thank God I don't have to experience that. 

Sorry about the rants, going back. After binging on fastfood and beach food for the past months, I finally had the initiative to reunite with my kitchen again. I haven't been religiously doing the groceries but I have a few items in my pantry. For starters, I know that I have a ton of canned goods because those shit take a while to expire hence the hoarding. I have the basics, onions, garlic and tomatoes, and whole cupboard of McCormick spices that I don't really need but I bought them anyway because they look pretty. With that, let's see what I came up with!

I've missed cooking! Moving in the new place made me spend so much time on decorating and fixing the condo that I didn't have time to prepare our meals anymore. It also didn't help that our place is surrounded by several specialty restaurants that makes it convenient for us to just go down and eat somewhere. It was convenient, yes, but it was also pricey. My stomach felt odd after every meal, maybe I wasn't used to eating too much anymore, I don't know. But I decided to go back to cooking my own meals. That way, I know how it was prepared. You never know how sanitary these restaurants are anyway. Well, at least the ones near our place. 

I also had a severe case of stomach flu a few days back. I even had to call in sick yesterday because I couldn't stand properly. I think I lost too much water, so I had to hydrate before I felt better. All I did was sleep and it felt terrible. Once you've had too much sleep, you're going to want to have more. It's so addicting but at the same time it felt horribly wrong and uncomfortable after all those unproductive hours in bed. I just had to stand up and do something. Soooo, I cooked!

Can I just say I'm relieved because we're almost done unpacking and arranging our things at the new house?! It took us almost two weeks to finish everything because, work. Hahaha! I've been loosely using that phrase because my friends were ganging up on me when I didn't have work and I was still too lazy to do things. Now, I have a legit enough reason why I don't get things done! Ha! And as promised, I'll be telling you a bit about the new house--well, uhm, it's not really a house. It's more of a shoebox, really. 

So, the new work prompted the move. I don't like wasting my hours stuck in traffic so I asked the boyfriend if it's okay for us to move to a place closer to my work. And he agreed because the new place is also closer to his work! The new work is situated in one of the busiest part of the Metro, so, heavy traffic has become a part of my daily life, and it's annoying. I learned that life in QC is very "chill" compared to the one that we have here now. Heavy traffic is unforgiving enough not to spare weekends. Have I told you as well that hailing a cab is 10x more difficult especially when it's raining. I have to allot 5-10 mins so I'll have enough time to get a cab. But then again, is this what success really means? I don't know, and I definitely can't tell. I think moving to this company is a good choice, everything else around it though, I don't think so. But let's see, maybe this is bound to go somewhere. For now, let me share this quick and easy chicken recipe I discovered when the pantry was almost empty. Lol. 

The weather has been crazy these past few weeks! Whenever I go out, I don't know what to wear because it can get extremely hot, windy and cold all throughout the day. It's making outfit planning difficult. But outfit planning is really the least of my concerns. The crazy rains and the terrible roads we have here in the Philippines has made travelling to and from work really difficult! And yes, you heard that right. I started with the new job two weeks ago. Which also means I'm a responsible tax-paying citizen again. I'm excited and scared at the same time. New people, new environment, new boss, new work and new colleagues. I'm not very fond of change but I hope this one does my career some good. I rarely make good decisions but I hope this is a part of the good ones. 

Being employed again after 2 months is a breath of fresh air because there are days where I'm so bored and I just want to start working again. But then again I have more days where I feel like, "Aaahhh this is the life!". When I was unemployed, I had the luxury of cooking what I want anytime I want it because I didn't have to rush out of the house to go some place. I also feel a bit sad adjusting to the new work and the new place (yes, we moved!). I'm overly attached to certain things, my old place and work included. I'll talk about that in my next post, for now, I have a series of recipes I experimented on when I was still enjoying the bum life. Meh. I already miss it, haha!  

If there's another kind of food I love more than Filipino food, it's Japanese! I love sushi, teriyaki, katsudon, name it and most probably, I love it. And any Japanese meal would be incomplete (at least for me) without Miso soup! It can be the cheapest thing on the menu and it can also be a bit pricey, depends on the restaurant really. Since I love it, I wanted to know how to make it. 

Before I proceed with the recipe, can I just rant about the weather? Earlier, there was a thunderstorm and I had to cancel a very important meeting. After an hour, the heat started to intensify making the weather ultimately humid. UGHHH! Buuuut, this recipe is perfect if you get one of those perfect and cold rainy morning, without the weather getting bipolar. Let's start! 

I'm not sure if it's professional to let it out and say, I'm not happy with my job. I'm okay with it, yes. But only because it pays the rent, takes care of the bills, takes me to places I haven't been to and gives me just enough to still help out my parents and my siblings who are still in school. I've been a little depressed at how I'm unable to figure things out. When I was younger, I always thought that when I approach 25, I'd already have a car and maybe a small condo unit, and you know, just live by as if life were that easy. Apparently, it's not. 

I am approaching 25, and what have I accomplished so far? I have managed to give money to my siblings whenever they need it. Treat my parents every now and then, help out with the expenses at home and that's it. I don't have any investment, and aside from my gadgets, I don't own anything at all. I'd like to say I have lived a frugal life for the past 5 years. I haven't shopped as much as I used to in college, if I have any guilty indulgence, that would be food--which is a necessity. But where did I go wrong? How come my ideal life isn't even close to my reality? It's really disheartening to look at what 5 years of work has done to me. I've been feeling this way for several months now and I can't seem to shrug this feeling away. Cooking is the only thing that keeps my mind off things.

Aaaaand, since this post is becoming lengthy and melodramatic, I'll stop. 

Woke up early today because the boyfriend kept on trying to ruin my sleep. We both have fucked up body clocks and unfortunately, they weren't in sync yesterday. Hence all the bullying while I was sleeping and he was wide awake. Couldn't go back to sleep so I made breakfast! We had Enoki mushrooms wrapped in bacon, scrambled eggs with basil, onions and tomatoes, broccoli salad and coconut juice!

Work this week was extra toxic and extremely difficult. Two months before my birthday and this lingering feeling of unhappiness haunts me every time. I know, I know. You'll tell me this happens every year, months before my birthday. I know that, too! But I can't seem to get rid of this annoying and unpleasant feeling. I just had a haircut, hoping I'm one step closer to finally letting go--of that dreaded feeling, amongst other things. 

Is it just me or the cold not-so-summer nights are finally over? If so, I'm hating this weather. Can't we have the easy breezy weather until March? No? Okay. Anyway, we've been feeling the heat since the weekend (jackets and boots no more!), the boyfriend and I were binging on salad for like a whole week. It's easy to prepare and it's very light, perfect for the tropical weather. 

I already have several salad recipes on queue but let me share this first because it's the easiest! You just put all of the ingredients together and voila, you have a decent meal. 

Can I just breathe and finally say, yay because it's the freakin' weekend! And after a day, it'll be Monday again--woohoo work! NOT! Work was really toxic this week. Thinking about the food that I'll whip up the next day kept me motivated from Monday until Friday. Oh, I also have my monthly visitor! Isn't that just great? UGHHHH. Bad vibes aside, I was feeling hungry the other day and couldn't be bothered to look at recipes online, so I tossed some left over vegetables and came up with a pretty satisfying salad! It may have been a bad week, but I had my moments too!

I haven't shared a recipe for quite some time now, I've been too lazy to cook because my body has been too fucked up too function. I have been changing my shift at work on a weekly basis, and I can't really say I have fully adjusted. I'm quite surprised I actually had the time to edit photos and post them on the blog and on Facebook. Anyhoo, If I do get a chance to wake up at least 2 hrs before my shift and not, say, 15mins before I'm required to be in the office, I still play around the kitchen. 

A couple of weeks ago, I woke up a bit earlier than the usual and had a bit of time to cook my food. I was ecstatic because I don't have that luxury these days. I'm usually glued to my bed, trying to get as much sleep as I can. Going back, I didn't have a lot of ingredients to work with because my pantry was almost empty. I had tuna, tomatoes, onions, garlic and uncooked leftover pasta. If I weren't starving, I would've had tuna and bread, but it felt like my small intestines and large intestines were partaking in the Hunger Games, so I thought, why not mix everything and just have pasta? 

For a good 2 months now, I've been taking more pasta than rice as I believe it has less carbs. I don't really know if I'm saving any calories here but it seems like it because I lost a lot of weight. I don't know how to make my own pasta sauce though; I'm very reliant on ready-to-use sauces which is why I love Clara Ole, Del Monte and other brands that offer instant pasta sauces. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to make my own pasta sauce one day, it's just that I don't have the resources and time right now. 

Among all the brands, I love Clara Ole the most because of the various choices they offer. One time while grocery shopping, we saw this 3-cheese pasta sauce and decided to try it. We'd usually go for Pesto but it wouldn't hurt to give this a try.