My Sugar Free Sweet Life

Toni recently shared her Fat Burning Soup on her blog. I found it delicious just by looking at the picture. It's a vegetable soup of tomato juice, carrots, celery, green bell peppers, onions, and tomatoes. As a fat burning diet, one should take only that as main meals for 7 days. Other vegetables, fruits, and meat can be eaten as the week progress. Being diabetic, I couldn't do that (and I guess my doctor wouldn't advise that, too). I just couldn't have flash diets not unless I want my hormones to go haywire again.

Moving on...

I was a little stranded on the way home last Thursday. Just when I was going home, on my "carless" day(or night), heavy rains started to pour. It took me a while to get a ride home. The traffic in Ortigas Ave. Ext. was at its worst that night. My normal 20-minute ride home took an hour and a half. I thought that was the last of the unfortunate events that I would endure that night. A few kilometers before my stop, I noticed that the entire avenue was flooded. Eeep! I can't get off on the flooded corner leading to the tricycle terminal where I can get my ride to our village. I chose to get off at Robinson's Cainta instead. I thought of buying the ingredients needed to make the soup while I was passing through the supermarket en route to the parking lot behind the mall. I got home around 8 pm but I still made the soup for me and Dadijun who was also stranded somewhere in C5. Rap's not really fond of tomato-based dishes and just had his "PriKaKnorr" meal that night.

I modified the soup a little to suit my taste. Here's how I did my version:

Ingredients

4 medium-sized green bell peppers
4 big carrots
3 large onions
6 large tomatoes
1 quart of tomato juice
4 Knorr beef broth cubes for soup stock
2 bunches of celery
some basil, oregano, white pepper, Knorr seasoning, and salt to taste


Procedure:

Wash vegetables and chop coarsely. While chopping, boil water for your soup stock. Don't fill to the brim, leave enough space for the tomato juice. Dissolve the beef broth cubes in a little water and mix with the water in the pot.

When the water's already boiling. Put all ingredients in except the celery leaves. Season according to taste and wait for it to boil. Add the celery leaves just before serving. Do not overcook your veggies.


Serve and enjoy!

This was just what I had for dinner that night. It was surprisingly filling. I have to warn you though that you will feel gassy after eating this. Probably because it's high fiber.

I cooked a large batch so I will just need to reheat them. I was able to have 6 more servings for freezing aside from the 2 servings that Dadijun and I had. The following day, I had one big bowl for breakfast and another one for lunch. I had to eat it with some bread for lunch, though. It was another big bowl again for dinner. Yesterday, I had one big bowl for breakfast. Lunch was rice, fish, and pureed soup. Yesp, you can puree the soup in the blender for some variety. I think I'll be having the soup regularly but not as a fat burning diet but just for more fiber.

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**This is a sticky post. You may scroll down to read the more recent posts.
**This blog is nominated again for week 127.

My chatbox greeted me with a pleasant surprise this afternoon. In it was a message from talksmart informing me that my blog is nominated for his blog's weekly contest, Filipino Blog of the Week. Honestly, I didn't know that such a contest exists. I also didn't know how my blog came to be nominated. Whether an anonymous reader or whether it was talksmart's random choice is of no importance at all. What matters is that my blog, after its three years of existence in the blogging world, is now receiving attention. I am so thankful and I feel proud to be chosen.


Now I'm asking you, my dear readers, to vote for my blog. As I understood its mechanics, an IP address can only vote once a day but the voting period goes on for an entire week. Just go to talksmart's page and look for the poll located somewhere in his blog's sidebar. Vote for mauieflores and that's it! What will I get from all of this if ever my blog wins? Well, I get to post the badge to show off to the rest of the world! Of course, I will be forever grateful to you and in return I promise to write more interesting posts for your reading pleasure!

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Tried eating yacon lately?

Teacher Julie suggested that I try eating yacon because it's good for a diabetic like me. Ate Net also told me to buy some weeks ago. I was fortunate to find some at the supermarket this weekend. It looked like a camote but I heard it tasted like singkamas (turnips). I read that it is being referred to as the "Apple of the Earth" because it's a root crop that tastes like apples.


I think it looked more like a large ginger when I peeled it. Rap was very curious about how it tasted and played around with it. I sliced one into thin pieces and ate it like it was a turnip. It was sweet and crunchy. I was able to read some posts in making yacon salad. I plan to do so soon. Dadijun suggested that we put bagoong in it. I think it tasted great. The saltiness of bagoong complements the yacon's sweetness well.

I will be trying more yacon recipes in the future. I think it does helped me in managing my blood sugar. Just a few days after I ate some, my monthly period came without me even needing to induce it. That meant that my hormonal levels are in a more normal state than usual. I just wish that yacon would be less expensive so that it can fit in our weekly budget. The two pieces I bought already cost me 67 pesos. Still, I think it's way cheaper than me buying daily diabetes meds for maintenance.

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My Grade 5 student's Christian Living lesson for the week focused on the seven sacraments and their roles in our Christian faith. One of the activities in the lesson that we studied was making a Dayenu.

According to the textbook, a Dayenu is an ancient Hebrew prayer of praise to God. It's a way of recognizing and appreciating everything that God has given. Day in Hebrew means enough. In praying the Dayenu, the Hebrews acknowledge that God has given them so many gifts and it would have still been enough even if He only gave them one. The traditional Dayenu is composed of 15 stanzas, 5 stanzas each are focused on leaving slavery, on God's miracles, and on being with God.

The purpose of the activity is for us to think about and name the many ways that God acts in our lives. My student was tasked to make only 3 stanzas of his own Dayenu. I made 5. Here's what I have written:

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My siblings often say that I am our father's favorite child. I think I am more if his worst enemy.

My father never believed in the saying "Spare the rod, spoil the child." He may have yelled at us when were still naughty little kids but spanking never was his style of discipline. Well, at least, for my siblings. I had my taste of a once-in-a-lifetime spanking when I was twelve years old. I have been so bratty and disrespectful. I can't remember what exactly happened that day but I shouted "Wag niyo akong pakialaman!" at him. That was how bad I was that my father was not able to control his anger.

Today is his special day. (He is now 58.) I hope I can somehow make up for the wrongdoings I have done by writing about how I appreciate him. He may not be the typical father that our society dictates. He may not have provided well for us. He may be the most misunderstood person in the world. Still, he is my father and I feel the love towards me that he shows through his own little ways.

Just last week, I came to a point of hating myself when he told me "Bakit kapag tumitingin ka sa akin para kang galit?" I was speechless and I wasn't able to say I'm sorry. He walked away, I know, with a heavy heart. I know I hurt his feelings again. There was no more spanking this time but what he said was enough to make me realize what I have done. I wasn't really mad at him. It was just unfortnate that he was there on the worst of all the worst days I have ever had. I know I should have never made him suffer from my mood swings. The following day, I bought him some of the Hopiang Baboy he was craving for as a peace offering. A day after, he bought some Kariman for me for merienda. We were fine after that, thankfully.

Happy Birthday, Papa! I am sorry for all the hurt I have caused you all these years. Believe it or not, I am still praying and wishing for more birthdays to spend with you. I love you!

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One afternoon, Maki, my Grade 2 student said in his usual bulol Tagalog "Ano nangyari na kaibigan ko?" He is still in the process of learning more of the Filipino language with me everyday. I knew he meant "What has happened to my friend?" and that he was anxious for Bernard to arrive.

Bernard in in Grade 5. He is my last student for the day and comes after Maki. He usually arrives 30 minutes earlier than his scheduled session. Oftentimes, he does playful jokes on Maki when he feels like it. I think he considers Maki as the younger brother that he never had. Like real brothers, they quarrel too!

I asked Maki, "Akala ko ba bully mo si Bernard?" ("I thought Bernard is your bully?") He denied it and gave me the impression that they have settled it already by saying "Bati na kami!" His answer was so innocent and sincere.

If only adults act more like these kids do, then the world will be a better place, don't you think? Confrontations may be complicated but a simple "I'm sorry" goes a long way. If kids find it easy to forgive, why do adults tend to have a hard time doing it?

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A few nights ago, I was able to watch "Oprah" on Studio 23. The guest that night was Mitch Albom, one of my favorite inspirational authors. Harpo Productions produced a TV movie based on Albom's book, "For One More Day". I bought a copy of that book when it first came out in 2006. The book influenced me to live each passing day to the fullest. I wouldn't want to end up like Chick whose near-death experience made him realize the things that he just let pass him by.

Life is short. A few weeks ago, two young people I know passed away. First to say goodbye was a former classmate in high school. He was just 29, single, and had almost made it to the top of his career until acute pneumonia made his body give up. After a few days, my brother's best friend passed away. He had a stroke a few weeks before he bid farewell to the world. He was just 26 years old. Unlike my classmate, he left behind a wife and child.

Early readers of my blog have witnessed how I changed the banner from the snobbish line "What you read is what you get." to "Living the sweet life to the fullest!". My life has never been so busy as how it is today. I complain on some days but I get to realize that it's what I want anyway. I do not want to lose time in doing things I should be doing now. I need to say and write what I feel before time runs out. We'll never know what's gonna happen next.

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This sight bothered me on my way to work last Tuesday. This was taken along Ortigas Ave. Ext., somewhere in the territory of Taytay, Rizal. And to think that this is supposed to be a national road ha!

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Today is the special day of one of the most important people in my life, my mom. We will both be working today so I guess I cannot see here when I go to Greenwoods later. Anyway, it's better to write my message here since I did not grow up being very vocal about my feelings towards my mother.

I will not divulge how old my mother is today. My sister always teases her for lying about her age. I just thank God for giving her more time to spend with us and her grandsons. All her life, she has been working hard to make ends meet.

There were never moments in my growing up years when she did not remind us how poor they were in Bicol. She supported herself through high school doing odd jobs from being a housemaid to a bingo attendant. My lola was so proud of her because she was a balibiktoryaan (valedictorian). Even when she earned a full scholarship in college, she still had to work so she can send her younger siblings, nieces, and nephews to school. She was the first in the family to earn a degree. She supported my other cousins (even those from my father's side of the family) who wanted to go to college. Even up to now, I still have a cousin living with them whom she's sending to college. She's very generous considering now that she's not earning as much as her previous job. I believe that it was her who was responsible to making our relatives' lives better. I have cousins now who are doing well in their respective careers here and abroad.

I would like to say that I wish for her to just enjoy life and not work at all. She started working again in the first week of September. After she retired from ADB in 2006, she tried to start a canteen business. Her love for being in the academe still prevailed. With God's blessing, she finally found a job that merges her love for teaching and cooking. She's now heads a culinary school in Quezon City.

Happy Birthday, Mama! May you live longer and happier! I will truly love and respect you all the days of my life.

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I'm trying out this meme as suggested by Toni.

Here's how:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste the html into your blog or Flickr stream. Or use the Mosaic Maker at fd’s Flickr Toys.

These are the questions to answer:

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Looked up your flickr name and see what pops up.

Making it was fun for me. Hope it will be for you, too!

Photo Credits:
1. Maureen & Magnolia, 2. Carbonara, 3. Adamson University Logo, 4. Let's Get Green! Please take a moment to read..., 5. orlando bloom, 6. coke zero bubbles, 7. Bali Ha'i, 8. 7th Course: Tasting of Ice Creams, 9. Ege University, Computer Engineering Department, 10. The Calvo Family - Holidays, 11. Moody Blues, 12. Mauie Beauty

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It took me a couple of days before I could finally blog about my choice for this year's Philippine Blog Awards Blogger's Choice Award. Ms. Noemi announced it earlier this week on Plurk but I had to check out the blogs of the nominees before I was able to choose one. Out of the blogs that I have checked, Heart of Rachel made quite an impression on me. Honestly, if it wasn't for PBA, I wouldn't even discover her soulful thoughts in writing. Still, I'm glad that I still had the chance to vote for her.

So why Rachel's? I am a mom and I could immediately identify with her writings. It has been fun for me to read her updates on what goes on about her life as a mom and wife. There's a sincere feel in her writings that makes a first-time visitor like me feel immediately at home. I felt like I was reading an email from a friend about how her day went like. My natural reaction was to place a comment on her posts just like how I reply to my friends' emails. That's how warm and homey Rachel's blog make me feel. Technically, I like the site layout's childlike appeal. I love the picture where she's kissing the big teddy and the badge too!

As I finish writing this post, I noticed an alert on my Plurk profile. Rachel has added me to her list of Plurk friends! Woohoo! See what I've been writing about how friendly this lady is? You might want to cast your vote, too. Hope it's Rachel!

This year's Philippine Blog Awards will be on September 21, 2008 at One Esplanade and is supported by the following generous sponsors:

Co-Presentors

Level Up! Games

Nokia

Blog Bank

Smart Communications

Josiah’s Catering

Toshiba

Geiser Maclang

Gold Sponsors

Rsun My Technology Store

Yahoo

2go


Belo Medical Group

XFM 92.3

Buddy Gancencia Reality TV

Ultravision Photo and Video

Click Booth

Aloha Board Sports

Sheero Media Solutions

YourPinoyBroker.com

PLDT

Red Box

Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf

Havaianas


California Pizza Kitchen


David and Goliath

Media Partners

Inquirer.Net

ROAM Magazine

flippish tv

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I had one last night.

My bedroom's facing the afternoon sun. Naturally, when afternoons are sunny and hot, the room is transformed into a big oven with its hot walls. We had that kind of afternoon yesterday so we had the airconditioner running the whole afternoon in our room while my boys took a nap. I thought that it helped cool down the bedroom walls and we would not need the airconditioner at night. My husband thought otherwise.

Lights are out and we were already lying down when he thought of turning the airconditioner on. He groped for the lamp's switch but apparently it wasn't plugged in. I volunteered to use my phone's light so he could see the switch of the airconditioner. I reached underneath my pillow, where I usually place my phone, but I failed to find it. I go: "Teka, ilawan mo muna ako para makita ko yung cellphone ko." I can imagine my husband's puzzled look even in the dark. I suddenly remembered that it was me who was supposed to provide the light! Silly me! I was laughing my heart out that I can't even remember how I fell asleep.

Hay! Simple things make me laugh all the way. How about you?

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The last time I blogged about wireless money transfer was about my experience in using Globe's G-cash service. Recently, I applied for a Smart Money card after I saw the TVC showing Bea Alonzo paying the salon with her card. Coolness! I found it convenient, too!

I have been using a Smart Buddy 32k sim for more than 5 years before I was advised to get a Super Sim recently. I remember that my old sim came with a Smart Money card that I activated instantly. During that time, using the card was not convenient yet. For one, it was only through the Smart Wireless Center's cashier can a subscriber make a cash-in transaction. The card was also made of cardboard and it's sole purpose, then, was just to represent the subscriber's electronic account. I neglected my old Smart Money account and totally forgot my M-Pin. The Customer Service officer at Smart Wireless Center in Sta. Lucia East advised me to get a new Super Sim because the old sim didn't even have a Smart Money menu installed.

Out of my desire to get a Smart Money card, I bought a Super sim and applied for the card online. after a few days, a representative called me up and verified some of the information I have given in the online application. I was also asked to indicate the branch where they would deliver my card. I was advised to wait for their confirmation message of the date when my card will be available for pick-up. I got the message a little after a week and picked-up the card at the Sta. Lucia East branch. I activated the card by calling Smart Money's phone hotline and the card was ready to use in 3 days time.

Yesterday was my first time to deposit cash in my account. I did not line up for the cashier and wet straight to the Smart Load Connect machine by the doorway. It was just like making a regular ATM deposit. I checked my balance through SMS and the amount was reflected right away.

I think that I will be using Smart Money more often than G-Cash in making wireless money transfers. It's more convenient for me since I go to Sta. Lucia East every weekend for Rap's taekwondo class. Depositing is also a breeze. In making a G-cash cash-in transaction, I fill up a form, show an ID that the guard photocopies, and wait for my number to be accommodated by the cashier. If I want to do a G-cash cash-in transaction elsewhere, I would need to pay and addition 10-20% of the amount I would be depositing. I also pay that even in transferring funds from my BPI account to my G-cash wallet. Smart Money gives me two options: to deposit in a Smart Wireless Center or to a BDO branch nearest my location. Depositing in BDO is also service charge free.

I guess Smart was able to put two steps forward and left Globe behind in terms of e-money technology. If they could also provide G-cash subscribers with an ATM card and more convenient banking options, then I would be able to think twice on which service to use. Why don't they tie-up with BPI like what Smart did with BDO? BPI's part of the Ayala Group of Companies so I don't think that there would be major problems at all.

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In the lower right side bar panel of blog is a Feedjit widget that provides a world map of my site's live traffic feed. I placed the widget sometime in July as part of my assessment of my blog's readership. I am seriously contemplating on getting my own domain in the world wide web but I'm still weighing the advantages and disadvantages. Maintaining a Blogger site is free of charge. I need to see if I have a wide readership enough to convince me to get myself my own domain.

Everday, the Feedjit map surprises me. My IP address registers as Manila, Manila and Dadijun's office IP address registers as Atlanta, Georgia. Now, I am seeing visitors from as near as Hongkong to the distant ones as Slovakia and Chile! I think I have to put the Babel translation widget back in the sidebar.

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Disclaimer: This is not a paid write-up.

When we were relocated back to Manila in 2006, my first concern was the phone and internet connection that I should have. Never mind cable TV, I'm not a couch potato type of person. It was a relief to know that my husband's company would be providing a phone line with DSL connection for us at totally no cost on our part. (Well, technically... but actually, it was meant for my husband to make no excuses in working from home whenever the need arise.) But we stayed in Makati for only a year and we were blessed to finally buy our own place here in Cainta.

The problem with a new subdivision is the lack of communication services. I already experienced this when my family moved to Cainta 12 years ago. Our neighbors had to go to a lot of trouble just to get a PLDT landline. We were lucky because there's PLDT site in my mom's office and the employees' applications were given utmost priority. We got two lines as we made the other line as a pay phone. And boy, how we earned from that pay phone business!

Going back...

We attempted to have our PLDT line to be transferred in our new place but PLDT said that they simply can't. For one, there were less than 20 families living in our village when we moved in last year. They needed more than a hundred so they can provide new phone lines. Also, they said that Cainta is Digitel's territory. I guess that these telecoms have to abide by territorial restrictions. I resolved my internet connection problem by subscribing to Smart BRO. Most people say that it would not be as reliable as our former high-speed DSL connection but it delivered, surprisingly. Still, I had no phone line yet. In my business, a phone line is a necessity. Most clients prefer to call and they bugged me for a landline number to minimize call costs.

So out of sheer desperation, I called a Bayantel Wireless agent whose number I saw from a flyer that was just lying around in the "kalat" of my brother's stuff in my parents' house. I called him around noon and the unit was delivered to me in my place of work before 5 o'clock. The agent was even apologetic because of the time it took for him to bring me my unit. It turned out that he was from the SM Manila branch and my brother could have brought the flyer home. I signed some papers, paid him 2000 bucks, made a test call, and went home. It was as fast as buying a mobile phone in Greenhills!

It's been a year since we first had our unit and I am happy of the service I have been receiving. There were some service interruptions during the first months but I considered it part of the birth pains that every new service suffers from. I have constantly received text messages on my units of system upgrades and I think that made the signal reception better in our place. One of the advantages on our part on being a Bayantel user is that we get to call our relatives in Naga as often as we want. Tita Ops' phone line is Bayantel too so it's just like calling a local phone without additional charges. Recently, I started to enjoy the 100 pesos consumable amount that we use to make NDD calls that are not Bayantel lines. I use it to make cellphone calls to clients and friends. Every month, we pay 699 pesos for the plan we are subscribed in. My life has never been sweeter here in Cainta because I have my internet and phone line. Both are wireless, yet dependable. Still, the boys, Dadijun and Rap, are still praying for Sky Cable to finally install a line in our village.

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As you can see, I have just placed a Nuffnang badge at the right sidebar portion of my blog. This is my first attempt in monetizing my blog. Nuffnang was recommended by most of my friends in the blogosphere and Plurklandia. I think there's nothing to lose and, hopefully, more to gain by joining Nuffnang.

So what is Nuffnang? Nuffnang is Asia's first blog advertising community. It has served multinational companies like Nike, Citibank, Honda, Nokia, and many more. More than 45,000 bloggers have signed up in Malaysia and Singapore and has been the coolest "phenomenon" to hit their local blogosphere. Now is the Filipino blogger's chance to hook up with other bloggers and to get paid for placing Nuffnang ads on their sites. You'll be getting paid in pesos so it would be a lot easier than receiving cheques in dollars. For a blogger like me who's just blogging for the sake of blogging, (You get what I mean?) this would be an extra reward at the end of the day.

I'm still learning the ropes of this advertising thing since this is the first day of the badge in my blog. If it were not for a plurker, I would not have realized that the badge should be part of the blog's layout! Hahaha! Silly me!

I'm still waiting for Nuffnang to place advertisers in my blog and start earning. That is what my blogging friends say. I think this would take time. So, if you're a blogger and would like to earn some extra moolah, register your blog in Nuffnang Philippines now.

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