Quick trip to the Magnolia Silos

It was the labor day weekend and luckily, the hubs wanted to go out someplace. It was a little late but I decided that it was a good time as any to drive to Waco and check out what the city had to offer.

We barely had enough time to check out the silos. The hubs was a little too bored of the place while it was sensory overload for me. I didn't bump into Joanna or Chip but just seeing the silos from the Dr. Pepper Museum made me squeal with joy. It was a relatively short walk to the silos from the museum (I try to walk more with all these pounds I keep on gaining lately.)

There was a little bit of a line at the bakery but nothing too crazy as it was really near to 6pm which is when they close the bakery and store but the grounds remain open until 7pm. 

We did some walking around to check out a little bit the grounds and their home store. 

Since we were there anyway, and the food trucks all being closed (close at 5pm), and no house to decorate yet, I decided to line up for about 5 minutes for two cupcakes. Texas heat aside, it was already late afternoon and they have plenty of mist spraying through the patio.

Considering the other cupcakes I have tried (other than the grocery store and from other countries), the red velvet was pretty decent and good. We have yet to try the chocolate one though. They have plenty more sweets in their menu but again, we're both trying our best to behave and manage our weights! 

Oh, and we also celebrated 2 yrs and 6 months of officially being together since we started dating. Hurray for small milestones! 

Discovering the joys of cooking

For almost two weeks now, I have been consistently cooking without having to resort to a fast food/korean place to restore my appetite. There used to be a time that I'd be eating the same for 3-4 days at a time (and adobo/porkchop almost every week). I thought I was hopeless. For some reason however, it just started to somehow click with me.

1. Smaller and freezing portions
The portion sizes here are terribly huge especially if you are cooking only for one. The solution: smaller containers for storage and freezing. This allows what would have been leftovers to be saved for a rainy day, and allow some variety on other weeks when cooking is not possible (or more because of laziness kicking in). I hated to waste food (which was how I was brought up as well) so even if my dishes didn't taste great or have been served for the nth time, if it's not spoilt I would still try to eat it until I no longer can.

2. Meal planning and not wasting ingredients
Adobo and pork chop were really easy because of the availability of just the right portion sizes for them and not requiring extra ingredients. However, when this recent cooking stint started, I actually sat down and thought about what ingredients I had in my fridge, what I wanted to do with them and what else can I cook with the remainder of the ingredients. In short, I had to plan for and maximize the ingredients, again, because of the portion sizes.

3. Cooking as a past time and stress reliever.
I'm the type that NEEDS to eat. I get cranky and therefore HANGRY when I am hungry. Therefore, I would exchange hitting the treadmill than not having anything to eat, at least that ended up the case for now. I do terribly need to find time to go though. Nonetheless, to some extent, I am actually interested to cook these comfort foods (reminding me of home) not just so "I can eat to survive".

Realizations:
1. Cooking and meal planning can get cumbersome eventually.
2. My mom did it for xx years. I admire her more and more for all she did for us. It is not easy especially when the household would start to develop their own tastes.
3. I would like to try more while I can and there are not a lot of other chores that might bump cooking as lower priority. Maybe even baking?
4. I'm partially more driven to cook because I want to be able to serve something decent for the husband.
5. I don't do measurements. At least not yet. Writing/Sharing recipes in this blog might not be feasible.
6. Thank you to all other bloggers for your ideas and posts. While I don't really pay attention to the measurements just the ingredients and the general instructions, they have really been helpful.

I really do hope this is not just for show though.

#jediswifecooks Exhibit A: Beef with Cauliflower and Mushroom in Oyster Sauce

#jediswifecooks Exhibit B: Pork in squash and beans 

 

#jediswifecooks Exhibit C: Chicken Chopseuy (using veggie leftovers from above)

 

#jediswifecooks Exhibit C: Gambas

 

#jediswifecooks Exhibit D: Beef Nilaga (sans beans)

 

 

#jediswifecooks Exhibit D: Ginisang Pechay/Bokchoy (leftover Bokchoy w/ Brussel Sprouts, Sesame Seeds in Sesame and Olive Oil - Nasobrahan sa Oil)

 

P. S. Veggie dishes are important to me as I can't eat long enough without them. Brussel sprouts and spinach ban chan are the easy go to fixes for my veggie needs/cravings.