Michi Photostory

Last week, my father-in-law celebrated his birthday and his birthday wish is “pasta with clams”. I remembered our favorite pasta in Amici which is Spaghetti ai Tesori del Mare, it has clams, mussels, and scallops so I suggested to my husband na ito na lang potluck namin. We always order regular size but they also offer grande or gruppo. 

There is no Amici in our area and the nearest branch that I know is in Alabang Town Center, I checked online on how to order and I’m so happy when I found out that I can order online. The day before my father-in-law’s birthday, I went to their website and placed my order. Spaghetti ai Tesori del Mare Gruppo is PHP1,720 with complimentary bread (6 pieces only). Ordering online is so easy. 

1. I created an account first (Cara Mia). 

2. Browse the menu and add to cart 

3. Choose if you want local delivery or store pick-up. Since we live outside Metro Manila, we chose store pick-up. Choose the branch where you want to pick-up your order. 

4. Choose date and time. Lunch time ang kainan kaso the earliest sa choices is 11AM so yun pinili ko.

5. Click Check-out 

6. Enter your contact information. Then click continue. 

7. For payment, you can choose online banking, cash on delivery, and credit card payment on delivery. I chose COD. 

8. After few minutes, we received a call from the branch and they verified our order. You will also receive a confirmation email. 

Since Cara Mia is also located in Alabang Town Center, I also ordered cake. I availed of their March Madness promo which is 1 whole cake + 1 Gelato Pint + FREE Gusto Privilege Card for PHP1,500. I was checking their cakes and hindi ko na makita yung Sansrival sa choices, yun pa naman unang cake na natry ko sa kanila dati. 

You can choose Ube, Midnight Dream, Pistaccio Ciocolato, Mango Magnifico, Sea Salted Honey Crunch, Chocolate S’mores, Coffee Honeycomb, Creme Brulee, and Strawberry Shortcake. We have tried the Midnight Dream before so for a change, I ordered Pistaccio Ciocolato PHP1,020 and for the gelato, we ordered our favorite which is Ferrero PHP380. So it seems like that we paid PHP100 for the Gusto Card but you can also buy the card online with a freebie for PHP1,000. 

With freebie: choose from Sea Salted Honey Crunch, Coffee Honey Comb, 1 Tub Gelato, 2 Pints Gelato, Ube Cake Mini, Pistacco Cioccolato mini, or Midnight Dream mini. 

* On every whole cake purchase made through the website or hotline number, get a P200 off discount code to be used on your next purchase made through the Cara Mia website! 

*10% off on your total purchase when you buy products in-store. 

* 15% off on your total purchase on your birth month when you buy products in store. 

* 20% off on your total purchase on your birthday when buy products in store. 

The following day, my husband went to Alabang Town Center to pick-up the order. He was in the mall before eleven but the opening hour is 11AM pa. When he arrived at the restaurant, unfortunately, the orders were not ready yet so mga 11:30AM na siya nakaalis. Late lunch tuloy kainan namin. 

I have no idea na pwede palagyan ng Happy Birthday yung cake so nag-effort pa ko na gumawa ng cake topper. Pinalagyan pala ni hubby ng birthday greetings so sayang pagod ko sa DIY cake topper ko. Waah! 

Well, when it comes to the taste of the cake, same with Midnight Dream, okay lang. The taste is good naman but it is not something na uulitin namin. But we always love their gelato so inuulit-ulit namin ito. Though hindi pa namin natry lahat ng flavors. 

Trivia: Do you know that gelato is healthier than ice cream? Yes, gelato has fewer calories, sugar, and fat compared to ice cream. They are more expensive compared to ice cream but they are more creamy in texture. 

Personally, I prefer gelato, mas gusto ko talaga texture niya, yung kahit galing freezer, makakain mo siya at hindi mahirap i-scoop. Melt in your mouth without a brain freeze feeling. It is good but expensive. Hehehe!

We are living in our townhouse for the past decade and I can definitely say, we are completely satisfied with our present residence. We are just a family of three so we don’t need a huge one. Reminiscing our normal lives, my husband used to travel a lot because of work and my son spent more hours in school so, during the day, the house feels empty. I thought that our tiny house is enough for us so buying a new property is not a priority.

We have no idea that this virus will change the way we see our own home. After being confined in the four corners of our shelter for the last several months, it made us rethink the kind of house that we want to live in. All of a sudden we realized that we need a bigger space and we want to have our own quiet corner for school and work.

Thinking back on the preCOVID19 days, we just wanted to renovate some part of our house but during the pandemic, we let go of the idea of home improvement. Instead of renovating the house, we started dreaming of a new dwelling place. It is easy to say “we want to buy a new house” but with our present situation right now, we had second thoughts. 

We even read one article in Bloomberg “A Pandemic is a Terrible Time to Buy Real Estate” so there are so many questions in our head. Is this the best time for house-hunting? Is it a wise decision to invest in property during a global pandemic? Can we afford to buy a new home? Should we wait after the pandemic? 

Investing in a new property is never an easy decision especially now that we are dealing with uncertainties. We know that foods, drinks, health, and job security are more important than buying a property but our desire to move to a more comfortable home is also important. We weigh the pros and cons, we think the worst-case scenarios and we used a mortgage calculator to make sure that we can afford to pay for our property. 

After contemplating for one month, we finally bit the bullet and we invested in a new property last year. Buying a new house in the midst of a global pandemic is either a smart or dumb decision that we’ve made but there is no harm in taking a risk again. Thirteen years ago, during the financial crisis, we also invested in our present home. During that time, it was a big risk because I just recently resigned from my work, and living on a single income while paying rent and mortgage is a challenge. But looking back, it was the best decision that we made because we are no longer renting. 

Now, we took a big leap and bought a new property. You may be wondering why we did it? Well, after being trapped in our home for several months, we accepted the fact that COVID19 is not an easy battle. And because of this, I’m pretty sure that we need to stay in our house for the next few months. No travel trips for us but we can use the money to invest in property while the amortization rate is low. Even after the pandemic, we already prepared ourselves that we may not have any travel trips because we have our new priority. Nevertheless, we can’t wait to move to a bigger house so we have more space to move around even there is a lockdown. 

I searched the internet and it led me to Euro Rich Foodtrade Corporation, a company that started by two sisters who love to travel and eat fine foods. They love to visit Spain and Italy and because of their food adventures, they started a passion project so other people can recreate European foods at home. They believe that every person deserves to travel the world through their taste buds. Thanks to them we can now buy authentic European foods in the Philippines. 

I love the idea and I’m glad that I discovered this online shop because even I’m stuck at home, I can experience other cuisines too, kasi puro Korean, Japanese and Spanish foods na kinakain namin so for a change, Italian cuisine naman ang iexplore, Euro Rich is indeed a home of the finest European gourmet because you can buy a lot of Italian products from Mazza and Dolce Vita company. You can buy rice, pasta, specialty creams, dairy, olive oils, seasonings, sauces, canned fruits, bottled foods, and other cooking essentials that you need. 

Actually, at first, I was hesitant to order because of the shipping fee so mga ilang days din naka-add to cart sa akin. I’m thankful for the PHP100 shipping discount, shop voucher, and 15% cashback, nacheck-out ko na rin. Of course, I ordered extra virgin olive oil and I added grated parmesan cheese, full cream milk, mushroom, cherry tomatoes, and risotto.

Items are all well-packed and arrived in good condition, pati yung canned goods nakabubble wrap pa. With regard to expiration, matagal pa so you can still store it for a long time. If you are looking for Italian products, you can try this store. I will order again kapag may promo ulit. Hehehe! My son liked this milk too, so sulit siya kasi mas mura sa present milk namin. 

Actually, I was having second thoughts pa nga kasi baka masira lang ito sa delivery but fortunately, nadeliver naman after 3 days (J&T). The food products are inside the insulated bag + bubble wrap + box so everything arrived in good condition. But I hope gayahin din nila ang San Miguel Frozen store na may ibang courier kaya frozen pa rin yung food kapag dumarating. 

Anyway, I already tried the cheese and okay naman. I hope sipagin ako magpizza this weekend, parang madali lang kasi yung recipe ni Chef RV. I’ll update this blog post kapag natikman ko na. 

Moving on, this year is the second time that we will be celebrating Easter at home. I’m not complaining because I know that it is better to stay and be safe. Maybe COVID19 is teaching us the real meaning of Easter and how we should celebrate it. It’s not about the eggs, chicks, or bunnies, it’s about the lamb. We should be reminded that Jesus is the reason for this holiday, He died, buried, and raised after three days to give us new life, direction, and opportunity to start over again. 

Sharing the Done For You Graphics that I’ve created for this Easter Holiday, 5 Bible Verses that you can use for your social media accounts. It is ready to post or schedule, you can add your own logo using Canva. Get the files here. You can also print these JPEG files on cardstock, resize the file depending on your preference. (see the samples below).

He is not here; He has risen! Luke 24:6 

For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. Romans 6:9 

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. Revelation 1:17 

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6 

If you have kids and you are looking for an activity, you can download, print, and cut this Easter Coloring Card. You can add few pieces of crayons if you are planning to give them to someone. Get the printables here. 

For kids, eggs, chicks, and bunnies remind them about Easter. Eggs and chicks represent new life while bunnies are born in the spring, the time when plants and flowers start to grow. If you are looking for Easter cards, here are printable cards that you can use as cards, gift tags, or basket stuffers. Three designs on one page. You can use this not only for Easter but whenever you need it because the messages on the cards are not just for the Easter holiday. It is also available in my shop. 

You’re a good egg 

We carrot about you a lot 

Some bunny loves you. 

You can print this using cardstock, photo paper, or sticker paper. 

If you want to teach your kids about Easter, here is The Jelly Bean Prayer by Charlene Dickerson. You can buy jelly beans, M&M’s chocolates, or Skittles as a treat. You can download this free printable here.  Free for personal and non-commercial use only. The PDF file is A4 size. 

Red is for the blood He gave 

Green is for the grass He made. 

Yellow is for the sun so bright. 

Orange is for the edge of night. 

Black is for the sins we made. 

White is for the grace He gave. 

Purple is for His hour of sorrow. 

Pink is for our new tomorrow. 

An egg full of jellybeans

colorful and sweet,

is a prayer, a promise, a loved one’s treat.

How are you going to celebrate Holy Week?

We live in a small house so obviously, our kitchen is small hence we have very limited storage space for groceries and kitchen stuff. I can’t wait to move to our new home so we will have more space pero matagal pa yun. Hehehe! For now, I have to organize the clutter inside our home so I bought storage boxes and a trolley. 

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know that my happy place is IKEA and I try my best to visit their stores if ever we will go to another country. I failed to do this when we went to Sweden, kung saan pa talaga nagsimula ang IKEA hindi ko pa napuntahan. Then our Taiwan trip was canceled last year because of the pandemic so wala na naman IKEA trip. 

I love buying organizing stuff in IKEA because they are budget-friendly and there are so many uses just like the IKEA Raskog cart that I bought in Singapore. I know that there are stores selling this kaso ang mahal plus shipping fee. I’m happy that I discovered Shopee and Lazada last year so I found this trolley that is quite similar to the IKEA trolley cart. It is so easy to assemble, my son is the one who assembled this. 

Since the start of pandemic kasi, my husband only goes to the grocery once a month so maramihan na bili and yung mga boxes nakatambak na sa stairs namin since hindi naman kasya sa kitchen cabinet namin. So I bought a trolley cart to store our juice, softdrinks, milk, and chocolate drinks. I put labels so my son will know where to put them, minsan inuutusan ko siya na mag-organize ng groceries kasi. It is just a simple project but I’m glad nawala na yung tambak na boxes sa stairs and they have their own space na.

I love trolley because there are so many smart ways to use this, you can use it to store your groceries, fruits and vegetables, crafting materials, school supplies, baby stuff, and many more. There are wheels so you can move this around without effort, I’m planning to buy another one for my craft supplies. You can buy the trolley here or here. 

Since the start of the year, I’ve been doing a lot of projects, I already shared some of my home pandemic projects like making photobooks, photo tiles, and canvas air, organizing my printed photos, and getting rid of my paper clutter. 

Now let me share my DIY vinyl decals for our fridge bottles. For the past few years, I’ve been replacing our water plastic bottles with a glass; we are using IKEA Vardagen Carafe Glass Water Bottle and I planned to buy IKEA Korken Glass Bottle to replace our small plastic bottles. Unfortunately, IKEA Philippines is not yet open and there is a travel ban so we can’t visit IKEA. 

I can’t remember where I bought these small plastic bottles, kung sa baking supply store ba or sa party supply store. All I can remember is, I bought these bottles per pack, 6 pieces in one box, more or less PHP200 per pack. We’ve been using these bottles as water bottles and to store our leftover drinks. 

Water bottles para kung ayaw mo maghugas ng baso at magrefill ng pitcher, you will get the small bottle. If I prepare juice in advance, I will put them in these bottles, one bottle per person. What nice about this, you can bring it in your work station or study table na hindi ka natatakot na baka masangga at matapon kasi may cover siya. Iwas sa alikabok din because you can cover the bottle after you drink. Sometimes we bring them when we have road trip din, we just put them in a cooler. 

As I’ve said before, I also used this to store our leftover drinks para hindi masikip sa fridge. For example, if we open juice, milk, chocolate drinks, or softdrinks, instead of putting the tetra pack or big bottle. we transfer it to small bottles to save space. If ever we have leftover coffee or tea na ayaw na namin inumin, we transfer it to a small bottle before putting it inside the fridge.

I still have 3 plastic bottles left that I haven’t used but I decided not to use them anymore and buy glass bottles instead. Luckily, I discovered these square juice glass bottles when I bought my herbs and spices jars. I was nervous because I will order it online, yung IKEA bottles nga sa hand-carry luggage namin nilagay para iwas basag. But I was glad that all the jars and bottles that I’ve ordered arrived in good condition. 

I already have a Cricut Maker so I made my own vinyl decals, I used frosted white glitter, matte, and glossy black vinyl stickers. I have a lot of fonts but I always end up with Butter and Garlic Font, favorite ko na siya. Hehehe! This was my project last January, hindi ko lang mashare kasi hindi ko naman nakukumpleto yung 12 bottles na may laman, most of the time 5-6 bottles lang nasa fridge namin but for this blog post sake, nilagyan ko lahat sila ng laman. hehehe!

Note: You can also use these bottles to store your herbs, spices, and condiments.

P.S. I have Blue Mason Jars din but it is too bulky so I'm happy that I found these glass bottles. 

When my son was in his toddler years, I always buy books to keep him busy. Suki ako ng Booksale and  nagpamember pa ko sa isang company so I can buy books at a discounted price. But when my son hit grade school years, I gave away his books and even his preschool books. 

But I'm not sure if they are using the books so two years ago, I went to SM department store to donate my son's book in exchange for shopping coupons. I planned to donate my son's book last year but COVID19 happened. 

How about you? Do you have a pile of papers? 

Five years ago, I was able to taste Chorizo Macao of Dayrit’s Burger and Roast Beef House. The taste is okay compared sa mga nakain ko na Chorizo before but my husband and son like this chorizo so I always buy a pack of this whenever we had a chance. This is perfect for breakfast and baon of my son. It is easy to prepare and cook, I just sliced this and fry it for few minutes.  

Then last year, when we visited Alba, we bought different packs of cold cuts for our charcuterie. I’m not really a fan of cold cuts since I don’t like eating raw foods and as I mentioned before, I don’t like chorizo. In my mind, the taste would be the same like the Chorizo Macao that I have tried. But I judge too soon, now, I finally understood that there are different kinds of Chorizo in the world. I may not like the taste of our chorizo but I like this Spanish Chorizo, it changed the way I see chorizo.

This Chorizo de Bilbao of Alba is made of pork, salt, pepper, garlic, paprika, and oregano. Just like other chorizos, it is so easy to cook. All you need to do is slice and fry in olive oil for 5-6 minutes. You can eat this as is like the "Chorizo Fritos" appetizer or with rice. You can also add this to your soups, pasta, paella, callos, pochero and cocido. 

This homemade Spanish sausage is a little bit pricey, it is PHP1250 per kilo or PHP125 per 100 grams. So the price depends on the weight of the pack, for 4 pieces, usually PHP600+ ang price. Whenever I cooked this, hindi siya tumatagal kasi nga favorite namin mag-ina. If may leftover, I add this to chicken afritada or fried rice. Mas malasa yung rice because of the chorizo oil. But my husband prefers the Chorizo Macao, to each his own. 

1. Slice the Chorizo de Bilbao

2. In medium heat, add 1 to 2 tbsp of olive oil in a pan.

3. Stir fry the Chorizo de Bilbao in 5-6 minutes

4. Serve. 

1. In medium heat, add the leftover Chorizo de Bilbao. 

2. Put the chorizo at the side of the pan.

3. Place the egg (season with salt) and stir until cook.

4. Add the leftover rice, stir the egg, rice, and chorizo.

5. Season with garlic salt and parsley.

6. Serve.