Dinner Lessons with Lose!

For years I've been wanting to do a cooking lesson with the one and only Pahulu Mama and a few weeks back we FINALLY got a chance! Ever since making lumpias as teens I knew Lose was a wiz in the kitchen and thank goodness we finally have her on this side of the bay so that she can come over and share some of her secrets with us.

We decided to do "lessons" every once in a while so that we can swap ideas on meals that we might all make already but we can share our own spin. For our first lesson, Lose taught us (my sisters, Hannah and I) how to make her famous Thai Curry and I taught her how to make one her faves - oreo cheesecake cupcakes. It was a blast! We might've crossed boundaries with our "baby oil" and garage stories but it was all in good fun! Now if only we could get the dang cat and dog to stay far enough away for Miss Nane to get comfy! ;-)

Here are a few pictures of us making Lose's yummy dish along with the recipe for her yummy curry. Keep in mind that this was a meal fit for about 20 so you can scale down a bit if you don't need as much. Enjoy cause we sure did!!

Thai Curry Ingredients -
4 packs (or what seemed like 10 pounds) Chicken thighs skinned, boned and cut into bite sized pieces
1 huge can of coconut milk
2 jars of "Thai" brand red curry paste
2 packs of sliced mushrooms
20 bell peppers in all different colors
1 bunch of fresh basil
Good ole steamed rice.

We started by cooking the chicken in a little bit of oil with garlic, salt and pepper just until it was lightly browned.
Then after slicing all of the bell peepers and mushrooms they got thrown in with the chicken.
While the chicken and veggies were getting all tender, Lose heated the coconut milk in a separate pot and then added 1 and 1/2 jars of the red curry paste.
Once the coconut milk and curry was warm and bubbly we drained the fat from the chicken mixture and added the coconut milk mixture to the pot of chicken and veggies.
The final step was the break the fresh basil and add it into the mix. That was my FAVORITE part! Fresh herbs are so yummy!
And there you have it! Easy right?!?! Lose's super yummy Thai curry.
We ate it with steamed rice and it was deelish! Thanks Lose! Now whens the next lesson forreal man!?! LOL

Celebrating and Recuperating

Gosh it seems like forever since I've blogged. I hate not having a working laptop! I hope things get back to normal soon. I had my procedure done to determine what condition is causing all of the swelling and joint pain. Thankfully they ruled out lymphoma and I'm waiting to get the full diagnosis any day now. This has all be such a learning experience! We are so much more fragile than we realize.

Although I haven't been in the best of health, I had to pull it together and do something sweet for my Luvie's 2nd birthday on March 26th. I've given up on the idea of having huge elaborate parties for my children. I would be doing them an injustice because the truth is we can't afford it. Not every year for 3 kids. It's just not realistic. So for Luvie's first birthday we had a simple bash here at home with close friends and family. All of the children were given a chance to decorate their very own cupcake and we forfeited the regular birthday cake for Luvie's cupcake creation. This year we did the same thing.

We were lucky and tons of Luvie's family and friends came by to show a little birthday love. A owe a huge THANK YOU to each and every person who came to make sure that she felt extra special. What are birthdays without tons of good people around? She had a blast!!! I opted out of ordering a ton of food and just made a simple home cooked meal. For the kids we had a few pizzas and a pinata. That was it! Except of course for the cupcakes. We all had a good time and Luvie was so excited after opening all of her cute gifts. Girls toys are soooooo much more fun than boys! Our space is now filled with tea party sets, dolls, dress up clothes and play tents. THANK YOU familia for always coming through for us!

Now I'm glued to my bed in hopes of recovering from the operation ASAP so I can get back to my regular routine. This is starting to get the best of me!!!!

Lisiate Takavaha Tupou'ata

On Friday April 1st I woke up to a text from my older cousin Ginger. While still not completely awake, I read her text and felt an overwhelming need to cry. She announced that my grandfather had passed away the night before.

My gpa Vaha moved to Tonga about 7 years ago after living here in the bay for over 20 years. While he wasn't physically here, we all knew that he was "back home" and during times when cousins would visit Tonga they would come back with hilarious stories about gpa.

I wished so bad that I could go back and attend his funeral but because of the annoying condition I'm dealing with (and the lack of money that comes with being put on disability!) it just wasn't possible for me to go. In a strange way I'm glad that my last memory of him is when he was still alive and well. Luckily, Rich got to fly to Tonga and attend the services for my gpa. I can't wait until everyone comes home from Tonga so that we can hear all about it. If I know my aunties like I think I do, I'm sure his funeral was beautiful.

Rest in Peach Gpa. Til we meet again.

It's been too long!!!!

I haven't blogged in almost two weeks! Not cool. My laptop is gone and being fixed. I can't wait to get it back. So for now I'm back and forth between every room in the house stealing precious time on different computers that don't belong to me. How annoying for everyone! LOL

I also haven't been at work very much lately. I've been dealing with an annoying health issue which I originally thought was arthritis. Now that it's been over two weeks and what feels like a million tests I finally feel like we're starting to get to the bottom of what's going on with me. Urgh!

I woke up with swollen wrists and ankels a few weeks ago. I thought it was just a random reaction to something new but it wouldn't go away. After taking several blood tests that ruled out the most obvious and scary conditions (high blood pressure, diabetes, gout, heart disease, etc) my doc referred me to a rheumotologist who suggested I take a chest x-ray. Cha-CHING! They're finally starting to get to the root of the problem. I stil have a few more tests and a minor procedure to do before I know EXACTLY what's going on but at least now I feel like I have an idea of why I'm swollen and in pain sometimes. Whew! I'm confident that things will be back to normal soon and I pray that this won't be a lifelong issue.

While it's a huge pain, I do enjoy the time I'm able to spend at home with my kids, hubby and siblings. It's nice to "slow down" for a little while. I'm also so grateful that I'm getting this taken care of before I start school and while I still have decent health insurance.

If nothing else, this is a good life lesson. I need to learn to appreciate the small things (like walking without pain!) that are so easy to take for granted. Now that I've learned the lesson already, can I please be back to normal now? LOL

Super Cheezy Oooey Gooey Garlic Bread

Remember how I promised that food would be yummy, but never said anything about it being all that great for you? This is one of the things that should be placed on the top of the yummy list but waayyyyy at the bottom of the "Good for You" list. We don't have it that often because of that reason, but when we do it never lasts very long! It's usually served with one of our favorite pasta dishes, but this is something I wouldn't mind having all by itself.

I don't know very many recipes that are easier than this. The ingredients are usually things we already have in our fridge.

Mix 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese with 1 cup of mayo. Add a healthy teaspoon of minced garlic and stir it all up.

Spread the cheesy mix onto one loaf of french bread sliced the long way. Finish off with by sprinkling some parmesan cheese.

Bake at 350 for about 5 minutes and then switch to Broil for another 3-5 minutes. Watch closely because it can burn quickly when you're broiling. You'll notice mine got a little extra toasty on accident. ;-)

"Sidetracked"

I've run into a small issue with my laptop so I can't get to pictures. :-( For now, my 30 day challenge has been put on hold. No biggie though. The blog must go on! HA!

It's official, I'm counting down the days until my last day of work at Meyers Nave. I put in my two months notice today. Yes two MONTHS! I love the people here and I decided that I would be nice and make sure not to burn any bridges by giving them sufficient notice. My last day is May 20th. While I enjoy my job most of the time, the truth is that I'm not really passionate about it. There are so many things that I love and for years I've talked about going back to school in hopes of finding a way to incorporate the things that I am passionate about into something that will pay off in the long run. So I'm ready to take a leap of faith.

I'm enrolling in school for the summer semester and I'm going to move in a whole new direction. I'm sure that it's going to be tough. I'm confident that my family will persevere and get passed the struggles that are to come. I'm ready to face the challenges in hopes of making a living doing something that I LOVE one day. That is the ultimate dream for most right? Here goes nothin'!

"Grown Folks"

Day 04 - A picture of a night you'll never forget.

I smile EVERY time I see this picture. I can't believe all of the ugly things that we thought were cute! Who wears swoosh sweat pants when you're not working out? HAHA

This picture/night in particular stands out because it's one of the very first times us girls were able to go out alone and completely unsupervised. It was official, we were "grown". Or so we thought.

We got to bring our "baby sisters" Laura and Pesi along which meant someone thought we were old and mature enough to handle the kids. Yeah right! I'd bet good money that they were sent along as little spies. I can't even remember how we managed to scheme our way all the way out to Vallejo. All I know is that Ginger had a brand new car and we were ready to put miles on it. ;-) It's memories like these with the ones I love that I wouldn't trade for the world.

I LOVE this picture challenge!

I've said it many times and I'll say it again, if my daughter tries to attempt half of the things I tried when I was a teen I'm going to have my hands full. It's a good thing that I know almost ALL the tricks in the book! Don't ask me how I know though. ;-)