Angel Hair Pasta with Tuna and Tomato

Perfect for the coming Lent. 

I love food and cooking, sure. It's evident in this blog, my small biz, and my work. You see, I'm one of the community managers of a multinational food and beverage brand. I also do social media management projects for Kim that revolves around salivating food photos. I sell homemade sidekicks and treats over at Bebeng's Kitchen. There's no way I can avoid food. Did I hear you say, "oooooh, that is why she's fat"? It's okay. Round is still a shape, haha. Also, I need to cook because even if my little foodie loves Mc Donald's nuggets and Jollibee Chicken Joy, she still prefers my classic chicken adobo and steaming white rice any day.

However -

There are lazy days. A home-based working mompreneur like me is not an exemption to this unavoidable epidemic. When it attacks, I call McDo delivery to save our dinner. Or when there's tinge of energy left in my system, I open a can of whatever I have in stock and do what I can do with it. My husband's favorite is sardines with misua! Mine's sardines with fresh minced onion and calamansi juice. My girl loves tuna, especially the flavored ones.

Please Remind Me To / 02

I have a blind item. I don't like this certain local showbiz love team. For me, lately, they exude so much negativity and haggardness. Keep them in mind because they played a vital role in this story. Also, please guard your hearts if you are a fan girl of any celebrity like I am.

Be still, my heart.

My husband came home last night to spend a weekend with us. We are one of the few privileged military families who can get to have our soldier home even for just a weekend. Never fails, whenever R comes home, our girl becomes the theatrical Annie Bennett. She has this signature giddiness. There's a squeal, a giggle and a few gallops like her favorite ponies. Then she'll automatically throw herself to the man who looks like her. Her happiness is contagious, always. Dinner last night went smoothly and very motion picture-like: The father comes home, hot and sexy mother prepares meal, kid is happy. Then we finished our delicious Arroz ala Cubana like famished laborers. 

Old and New

A quick hi.

As you may have noticed, I did a merging of my old Bebengisms page and the new Royal Domesticity page. But since the old one has more followers, Facebook chose to keep it. The number of likes merged but sadly, the photos didn't. Huhu. With that said, I'll be reposting photos on the page from my IG in the coming days as to kind of update that part of my cyber home. Please bear with my throwbacks and flashbacks and senti moments, mmkay?

Anyway, the merging of pages symbolizes that I'll be back to my old blogger self but with a new vision for the blog. No, not going back to doing coverage of events one day after another or having a slew of giveaway in a week (please do not unlike, haha). Instead, there will be stories of our simple and small family life that revolve around our dreams, the drama that pops in from time to time, and the delicious food we ate in between dealing with all those. 

Lost Landbank ATM Card

source

I am currently at the height of my emotion as I am writing this. It's not advisable, according to the tenured bloggers. It usually wreaks havoc, that's what I know. But I feel like my chest will explode if I won't write this down here. Worry not 'cause you'll learn a thing or two from this kwento.

To get to the core immediately -- I lost my husband's ATM card -- on a holiday when there is no bank. Good job to me. Not. I was about to withdraw money so I can ask my kitchen assistant to buy supplies in the market for the shop's orders when I knew it was not in my wallet. Of the many cards that I have there, it was that card that I have lost! Tsk, tsk. Remembering the last time I used it, perhaps I unintentionally forgot it in the machine. Or have I dropped it elsewhere? I'm still in denial that I forgot to get it in the machine 'cause I remembered putting it inside my wallet! Oh well. Good thing I still have some cash with me.

I called Landbank's hotline (02-4057000) right after I turned our house upside down and asked the customer service to block the card for security purposes. I also asked how to have it replaced since it was opened in a branch in Mindanao where R was first deployed. The lady I talked to said since my husband is a soldier, he can personally have his lost card (no thanks to his great wife) replaced in the Landbank branch nearest him and submit a notarized Affidavit of Loss plus two valid IDs. 

There you have it, folks. 

So if you're like me who keeps the ATM card of your military husband, you already know what to do in case you got a stupid day and lost it. 

My salary from my social media management job goes there as well. This means I really, really need to open my own bank account asap. What bank can you recommend and what are the requirements (like initial amount and maintaining balance)? I will truly appreciate your help.

Update:
R just told me that a senior officer had the same scenario and since card replacement had taken too long already (one incredible month, guys), he just applied for a new bank account. As simple as that.

Hi-Ro Truffles

This post was originally entitled Pseudo Oreo Truffles. I realized, though that it can attract negative vibes so I changed it to what it really is. After all, Hi-Ro is not pretending to be something like Oreo. Well, I used pseudo because: 1) We didn't use Oreo, which is what most usually use in truffles; 2) no cream cheese and lastly; 3) no chocolate coating. My girl didn't complain, though. She was too happy to see the heart-shaped sprinkles that we used to even bother why it really didn't taste anything like her favorite cookie (second to what I bake, I assume). 

Oh, how I love its imperfection.

Speaking of the crushed cookies, I bought it at Chocolate Lovers in Cubao, Quezon City. For those who haven't been there, it's the chocolate-colored castle in the middle of P. Tuazon Avenue. Google Maps can help. It's heaven for baking aspirants and enthusiasts! They have there different kinds of chocolate chips, cupcake toppings, baking pans, moulds and boxes. Next time, I'll feature it here. 

Let's proceed. Where were we? Oh, the recipe.

One Word, One Year: 2016

For the younger millennials, my word for this year is nothing but a song and an album title. I looked it up in the Internet to see if the song is good and was glad to find out that I felt like it is a song for God. You must go to Youtube and watch a lyric video. Tell me if you also felt that it is for the Big Guy. Type in: Purpose by Justin Bieber.

Yes, my word for 2016 is PURPOSE.

I thought of a few before finally deciding. I thought of give. To be selfless is saintly. Maybe I can challenge myself to give more of my time, effort, resources, gifts and love to the people who need it. I also thought of move. To refuse to be idle is divine. Not doing nothing can perhaps lead me to success. But as days went by, I felt like it has not penetrated my core. There were days that I want to spend it lounging on the sofa, tinkering on my phone, seeing the sink full of dirty dishes while waiting for my daughter to come home.from school. There were days when I said no to people who asked something from me. My daughter asked me to play with her but I was swamped with work, online and kitchen, I said no. I was invited to an event of a brand that I don't like, I said no.

It resonated with me that these words do not make sense at all. At least to how I want to live my life. You see, it looked like I was only tinkering on my phone but I was actually working for my business. I was promoting my products on my social media accounts. I was answering inquiries of customers. I was replying to emails of potential distributors. I only looked like a bad mom for saying no to my daughter's request of playing with her in her room but I was just really finishing my work in one go so I can spend quality time with her over dinner, evening telenovelas and bedtime stories.

Purpose popped in my head as I plopped my half-dead body on bed after a day of online work, cooking for the business and mothering. I reminded myself, like how a coach does it to his team, on why I was doing all those things in the first place. Despite my sleepiness, I thought of my short and long term goals that I need to work on. I thought of my mom's retirement, my husband's career growth, my daughter's future, my health, our dream home and what I will cook for dinner the next day. I thought that I should just do, buy, create things if its purpose is love. So saying no to an event of a brand I don't like is actually a great thing! Had I went there for freebies, small talks (which I actually do not like lately) with fellow bloggers I do not read blogs of or for a material for the blog, I am sure I won't even be writing about it. Plainly because it didn't bring me joy. Hellen Keller said, "Joy is the holy fire that keeps our purpose warm and our intelligence aglow." And I couldn't agree more. 

This word can play around in all the aspects of my life as human, woman, wife, mom, freelancer, entrepreneur, blogger, etcetera.

So far, this word is a good word for me. I just wrote a post here because of it. Nice, right? If you have, what's that one word would you choose for 2016?

Hello, it's me.

I won't go Adele-ing here, don't worry. I just really want to start this year in my cyberhome by being myself -- writing as if we are talking to each other in person. So there.

My small family and I celebrated NYE at R's workplace. We had the simplest media noche ever, compared to our past celebrations as a military family. It looked sad judging on the faces of the troops that were left there but no, as always, we didn't allow the ordinary food and the sleepy mood to dampen our spirits. The main office had fireworks display so we went out and enjoyed being showered with the debris (not!). Then we turned on our car's engine and allowed our girl to honk the horn the loudest that she can. We screamed 'till our throats ached. R ran with Berry, the non-barking pitbull, like he was the more rabid dog. We laughed and laughed and laughed some more. And when we got tired, we lay down beside each other, chatted about random stuff while we all tinkered with our phones, took our first family selfie, didn't clean up, didn't do our bedtime prayer, didn't say goodnight to each other and just blissfully slept. We woke up the morning later reminiscing how funny R's run with Berry was. Pia loved the screaming part most. 

Our "feast" didn't have lechon belly, seafood galore, mouthwatering desserts, swanky pica-pica and expensive wine but hey, we will always remember it with a smile, okay maybe a grin, on our faces. I know it sounded like a I did a soul-searching or retreat something with the monks in the mountains but you know, I find inner peace, more happiness with less of the extravagance of this world. Of course, we have a car. Our house, though rented, is big enough. We have smartphones, all of us, including our daughter. She goes to a private school. I buy pricey butter and cheeses when I have extra budget for it because those are the best stuff in the world. Aren't they? We love to live a comfortable life because we worked hard for it. But to spend beyond what we didn't earn isn't our thing. I'm glad that God made me marry a guy who somehow, sometimes thinks like I do. Like what we always agree upon on how we should rear our child and live our lives, "swabe lang". 

I'm excited on how 2016 will turn out to be. It started steady. It sails a bit rough due to light financial waves but it's nothing that we can't handle. We can always stir the wheel for a calmer journey. R and I are partners. It's fun to think about how we came up with a new business that we hope will work out. It's a baby step to one of my grandest dreams! We will make it happen, I tell ya. I'll share it with you all, soon when it does. But for now, allow me to enjoy my days off from work. By enjoy, I mean, pay bills, go to the wet market for fresh produce, clean bathrooms and finally finish folding the laundered clothes. 

Hello, it's me, a servantless, foodpreneur and work-at-home mom and wife. Contented and loved. Who are you? ♥ 

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P.S. Follow me on Instagram @royaldomesticity, I'm a more reserved storyteller there.