Thankful Thought No. 002

A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; 

when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; 

when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.  

-Washington Irving

There is no woman on earth I admire more than I do my Mom. :) I guess us kids are biased that way towards our Mothers. They are like real-life guardian angels, who force themselves to learn how to work technology just to get to us and will quit  their jobs to help us take care of our kids... [i am talking about my hypothetical kids right now. lol] and who will give up being in the comfort of her own home just to be close by.  That is my MOM. She is all that and tons more. 

Sometimes, I don't think I say "thank you" enough to her. She always says her children are a God-send. But really, it is the other way around. I don't know what would've become of me and the rest of my brood had we been given another mother... If I didn't have a Mom who fought with me when we went clothes shopping, or boyfriend picking, God only knows where I'd be right now. Yes, my Mom got involved in EVERY SINGLE THING in our lives, especially mine. She was nosy, bossy, sometimes played villain and prayed every day that the boy I like so much would disappear from the face of the earth.  Thank Heavens she did!!!

Even if we fought almost every day while I was growing up, she never stopped loving me. Worse, she loved me even more that she went to the extent of going through my stuff-- i.e. my journal, my books, everything. But still I am glad she did. I used to hate her for doing that but had she not, I don't know if I would be alive right now to write about how evil my Mother used to be. She addressed the problems right as they came and you know what, every issue was resolved before bad things happened. And here I am a testimony of my Mom's resilience and wisdom and successful nosy-ness. She fought through all my evil teenage, growing up years and never did give up for one minute. I brought the woman to tears a million and one times and I have never been so regretful of anything than making my Mom cry because I was young and stupid. 

I am pretty sure she was so relieved to see us all march out of high school and even more when we marched out of college... and when we all started marching out of her house too. LOL 

It was a struggle convincing her that I will be okay when I left home to fly across a giant ocean to be on the other side of the world to be with John. She was funny at the civil registrar's office when we were getting marriage permits, etc. She kept saying to me, "this is no joke... You better know what you are doing is un-breakable and unchangeable, when you do this, it is over." She was more of a nervous wreck than I was. She never felt "okay" about things until five years later. She's still a nervous wreck now, but this time, she has David [my sister's hubby] and John in her mind too and the rest of the fam back home.

the sugar lump riding the kitchenaid like a horse is my nephew Xavier.
My mom is playing granny and Xavier's personal chef at their home in Texas. 

There's one thing I will tell you, everything that this woman touches turns into tasty baked goods! You can trust me on this, I grew up watching her do this trick!!! :) 

Thank you for everything Mom. :) I love you!

Asian Beef Noodle Bowls

Hi all! :) This post is special. I am currently working on my food blog so I am going to be sharing this recipe here. 

Today, I had a really bad craving for anything Asian. What caused it, you ask? Well, a) I AM ASIAN, and I'm partial, I love the Asian Cuisine b) I saw an unopened bag of sesame seeds in the fridge this morning as I was fishing for stuff to make for brunch, the thought of toasted sesame seed made the craving even more torturous  c) I looked through my books to see if there is anything in there that has to do with toasted sesame seeds and found a very simple almost nothing but 5-ingredient recipe from Betty Crocker.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! :)

ASIAN BEEF NOODLE BOWLS

Adapted from Betty Crocker

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Start to finish : 20 minutes

Servings: 4

4 oz uncooked thin spaghetti

8 oz fresh gourmet snap peas or sugar snap peas

5 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 lb boneless beef sirloin steak, cut into 1/4 inch strips

1 medium carrot, thinly cut on a bias (about 1/2 cup)

1 red bell pepper 

3 cloves of garlic, chopped 

2 cups napa cabbage/bok choy cut in a bias fairly thin

1/2 cup teriyaki baste and glaze (from 12-oz bottle)

a splash of soy sauce

a splash of oyster sauce

freshly cracked black pepper

4 medium green onions with tops

1. Cook pasta as directed on package. Meanwhile, snip stem ends of snap peas and remove strings, if desired. Drain pasta; Cover to keep warm.

2. In 12-inch nonstick wok or skillet, heat 3 teaspoons of the oil over medium-high heat. Stir-fry beef in  oil 2-3 minutes or until no longer pink. Remove from wok; keep warm.

3. In same wok/skillet, heat remaining 2 teaspoons oil over medium-high heat. Stir-fry peas, carrot, bell  pepper, garlic, napa cabbage in oil for 3-4 minutes

4. Stir in cooked pasta, beef and teriyaki glaze, soy sauce, oyster sauce and black pepper; toss until well  blended.

5. Serve in bowls; sprinkle with green onions and toasted sesame seeds. :)

Happy cooking!

Notes: the sauce for the stir-fry only asked for the teriyaki baste and glaze but since I wanted to make it more complicated and more Asian, I added a splash of everything that spelled Asian that was present in my fridge. I even added a couple splashes of Maggi Savor Classic. This is optional, and didn't include it in the recipe because this ingredient isn't available at the regular grocery store. I have mine shipped to me from San Francisco, California. My Aunt sends them to me in huge amounts. However, if you have an Oriental Market close by, go and check it out and look for Maggi Savor. You can use it on anything. My husband loves it on his steamed or fried rice. He adds it on anything.

Thankful Thoughts

For each new morning with its light,

For rest and shelter of the night,

For health and food, for love and friends,

For everything Thy goodness sends.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

I have this poem in one of my older scrapbook pages, I came across it the other day as I was re-organizing my books. It warmed my heart. The page didn't look very nice [because it's one of those pages that makes you ask yourself, "what the heck was I thinking?"] but the poem caught my eye... almost made me teary. The page had pictures of John and I when I first moved  here and I was having a hard time adjusting and was just really homesick. John looked tired in the picture, probably from lack of sleep thinking of ways how to make me feel good about being here... and at the same time figuring out how he could make himself feel good about seeing me suffer. I wish I had the heart to take a pic of that atrocious page... Maybe one day I will. LOL

Anyway, as I was looking at the page, I remembered I am also following Ali Edwards' Thankful Thoughts. It always amazes me how some people's thankfulness is sooo contagious. I don't know Ali personally, but from reading her posts, you can feel that even if she's going through so much, the message in her posts radiates with such gratefulness, it makes you think of the million different things you have that you need to be thankful for. Ali also has free Thankful thoughts photo overlays and a photo mask with her posts so if you like digital stuff like I do, head on over to her site.  

The last five years has been a steep climb. Well mostly for me. I went from a fab language arts teacher to housewife; city girl in high heels and open toe shoes to small town girl and tennis shoes and sneakers; from flip flops to snow boots and thick coats half of the year; from the islands and sunsets at the beach to well, ALL LAND; and from the East to the West side of the world. Yes, I moved across the world to be with my Thankful Thought No. 001!

Now, I look back and I laugh. :) I am still homesick but I manage to stay composed. No more "I want to go home!" fits. I am still a housewife, although maybe not for long because I am currently working on getting certified to teach again, but I am enjoying every second of it especially being here when John gets home from work. The city girl in me is still trapped... but when time allows it, John and I would run off, book a hotel at the Sheraton or the Millenium Hotel in St Louis to set our city people spirits free. He isn't much of a city boy as I am a city girl but we have a great time. I think he enjoys the hotel more than he does the city, to be honest. Don't get me wrong, I have come to love the small town, very laid back life but being that I was born in the chaos, the traffic, the fast-paced city life, I can't help but miss jaywalking (lol), the 24-hour sit down restaurants, being able to walk to places, cab rides, the bakeries that open at the crack of dawn, and outdoor cafes that are open all day and all night no matter what day of the week it is... rain or shine.

John is my thankful thought no. 001 and now, you know why. He is a gift from heaven. He has made a lot of impossible things, tangible. He brings the city to me when the small town becomes *yawn* ho-hum. I love him dearly for being all these things and more. I feel very very blessed every time I wake up in the morning and realize that I have a husband who tolerates all my silly tantrums, who makes me do whatever I want, whenever I want [within reason of course], and someone who thinks I look so cute when I am furious. You have got to love the husband who giggles while you are throwing a fit because he thinks you look so cute. He always says, "how could something so tiny and pretty be so hateful and mean?" and he gives me a kiss and a hug. 

I am Back!

I don't know when my last post was but I have been MIA because I have been sick with this bad cold made even worse by pollen allergies. But I am here, feeling better and ready to craft, bake and blog about the stuff that comes out of my craft room and my kitchen. :) Got lots planned, and you will see them all here and A Spoonful of Happy. :)

A photo of me and my cat Voodoo in my craft room while I was trying
real hard to do something to divert my attention from my aching head and stuffy nose.
As if he knew I was not feeling too good, he jumps on my lap and sits there purring and keeps me company.
It relaxed me. And I started feeling better after that.

I Should be Doing Something Else... But I am writing this Instead

I have two blog posts in the drafts folder waiting to be finished and published... but here I am writing about something totally different. It has been a beautiful day, and I have been so distracted by how pretty it's been and the overflow of food around here.

Today has been awesome, it actually felt like spring! I was able to open my windows, the hubs grilled, and it was just fun being able to drive with the windows down and the sun roof up... even Iddy [my dog] got to ride with me to the grocery store and it was great to be able to hang out outside with flip flops on.

This is a photo of a magnolia bush/tree in my backyard. Love how the blooms have come
up after the big snow the past weekend and very low temperatures all week.

my clematis has sprouted 

The Hubs

Grilling Burgers

Hope everyone has a wonderful rest of the weekend!