Oatmeal for Breakfast

I ate a lot last night as I have to do some cleaning and laundry.  I need energy, you know. My dinner was steamed white rice and pan fried bitter gourd with egg. 

Yes folks, I follow the same sleep pattern when off duty as a call center agent. I work at night and sleep at daytime even on my day off. 

I thought of just having small bowl of oatmeal for breakfast this morning. Besides health benefits of oatmeal it saves money, time and effort. 

Breakfast at Home

While taking my breakfast I would sit on my favorite spot, in front of the television and watch news. Yesterday, I paired dark hot chocolate with two pieces of pancakes.

Day off , Monday and Tuesday. I have been busy working at home, laundry, cleaning, cooking breakfast, etc. Right, day off are days when I cook breakfast. During working days, my shift ends almost at lunch time.

My Kitchen Allies

Here are some of the Christmas gifts I received from my family members. My activities in the kitchen now, made easy. 

I love this two sided pan. For good health, no more oil needed. I can easily cook meat, fish and veggies with this pan. I just put pork chop or chicken inside, cover it up and in less time, it is cooked. I can also put some veggies together with the meat, like carrots, cauliflower, lady fingers and others. No hassle in washing, too. Yes, I can use this on my butane and electric stove. 

Who does not want to have a waffle and coffee for breakfast? I love pancake but instead of flipping pancakes. I have this waffle maker. 

Well, busy people should not spend too much time in the kitchen, folks. I am really happy I received these precious gifts. I just have to edit the first photo. I am not selling the product. I am sharing some ideas here. And.. to tell the givers, how much I appreciate these kitchen allies.  :)

Some Simple Things in Life I Enjoy

Just got home. It is my day off.. enjoying one of my favorite breakfast..  Quick cooking Oatmeal with dark chocolate...

My thanks to my youngest brother and sis in law for this hard working stove-top bowl. I can cook breakfast easily. Keep it inside my ref if there is left over. Put it inside the microwave to warm it up without hassle. 

Although I get busy with household chores.. yet..there is no place like home.. 

Chicken Pie

My niece, my home buddy is on work training for two days. The training will run for two days morning shift, Monday and Tuesday this week. We both work at night. Monday and Tuesday are my day off, too. Soon as I got home yesterday morning, I started tossing clothes in my washing machine while cooking lunch for myself and dinner for my niece.  At three in the afternoon, I cannot resist the invite of my bed. I was sound asleep when my niece came home.

I woke up at seven in the evening I checked on her inside her bedroom.  She was sound asleep. On our dining table is a small box with label, chicken pie and the dinner I prepared. I thought, she probably had dinner after the training. I went back to my bedroom. I woke up at nine in the evening for my dinner. My niece was awake, working as usual on her laptop. The dinner I prepared for her was gone, the chicken pie was spared? It was for me! I thanked her with a wide grin on my face.  They had free lunch at the training. She brought home the chicken pie for me. 

I ate rice and the lady finger veggie I prepared for my dinner. At around four in the morning, I prepared a cup of black coffee. I peeled off the wrapper of the chicken pie put it inside the oven toaster. The yummy chicken pie was gone in few bites. Black coffee and chicken pie, equals great breakfast! With the fork still in my hand I came to her room and teasingly, I said - “ I want some more! “ 

Breakfast

I woke up early today. It was my day off Monday and Tuesday. When my niece comes home at four in the morning from work and she knew it is my day off, she would knock at the door to get in. It is simply to tease me, instead of getting her keys from her back pack bag. One time I was fast asleep in my room with door closed. I did not hear her knocked.  She knocked three times, no footsteps coming to the door. Mindful of waking up some neighbours, she had no choice but used her keys.  This morning after I opened the door, I went ahead and prepared my breakfast.

You read it right, my breakfast. My niece and I both work in a Call Center, different companies though.  Her working hours is from seven in the evening to four in the morning. She would eat breakfast at one of the fast food chain close to her office. I had three pieces of pancakes, a hotdog and my favorite drink, black coffee. The pancake of course is ready mixed. I added one egg, presto, I had a nice breakfast. No syrup, I simply whipped some butter on top of each piece. Easy preparation while my washing machine was churning for the last batch of clothes for the week laundry. 

The Breakfast

-->

Folks, remember I posted a story about a coffee tumbler from Starbucks with gift certificate I received as a sort of an incentive? It has 31^st December 2010 as its expiration date. The Christmas activities, work and my plan of moving to a new place preoccupied my already clogged brain. It was around middle of November I last visited a Starbucks closest to my place of work. I thought of using the gift certificate for a coffee mug or a tumbler. Those that I saw being sold at that time were the expensive ones. Being a practical buyer, I hesitated buying those expensive mug or tumbler just because of the Starbucks logo. I thought maybe comes December they will have new stocks reasonable enough for me to let go of my treasured gift certificate.

I had forgotten all about the gift certificate until last night. I happened to open my cabinet to get my gift for my godchild. The Starbucks paper bag with the gift cert inside it was in there as if greeting me. This morning after work, I teased the young man at the counter inside the Starbucks near our office. I would like to renew the gift certificate because the tumbler I would like to buy is not available. He declined politely with a grin. I had a fresh brewed coffee and a sumptuous sandwich for breakfast. I was the first customer. I told the young good looking fellow at the counter they will have lots of customers after me. True enough. While I was seated in a couch waiting for my order, more customers started to line up.

What caught my attention are the Caucasian families of six. Judging from their English accents they are British. The two cute little boys with curly yellow hair started pounding on the wooden table. I guess they had mistaken the table as a drum. I looked at the cute little ones with the smile while their grandma busied herself looking at them with her finger between her lips gesturing silence. When I got up after the last gulp of coffee the young lad at the counter called out – “Thank you ma’m… Happy New Year!” – I replied with a smile and thumbs up then headed to the bus stop for a ride home. Not bad to start a new day!  ☺

I Am Okay, Do Not Worry

After I took a shower yesterday coming home, I thought of giving myself a treat, sleeping as long as I want. I posted earlier I was granted two days vacation leave from work. Anyhow, I had to wake up in between several hours. If I sleep continuously I will have migraine. I slept on installments, as I call it. After five hours I would wake up sat on my bed, flicked on the remote control of my television. The television is conveniently located at the foot of my bed. You could say I am lazy when I am home. I do not have cable but thankful to some stations. I could enjoy the late shows. My DVD player is likewise a welcome treat. I would play the first part of the VCD on the player. After watching the first CD, I would put in the part two. Turn off the player then go to sleep. You know what happened when I woke up.

I woke up at around three in the morning today, feeling so refreshed. Thanks to the cold medicines. I did not have difficulty in breathing. Upon waking up, I recalled I have not eaten my dinner yet. I thought of sharing my dinner and breakfast with you before I finished them all up. I never lost my appetite even if I am sick. I like the seedless mandarin oranges. Looking for good fruits in Manila? I would recommend fruits from Dizon Farms. Please do not get me wrong. I do not know the owner or I have relatives working in there. It is just that there fruits are really sweet. You could find plenty of their fruits inside supermarkets and groceries in Manila. Mandarin oranges are packed with vitamin C and cheaper compared to the other oranges. I mentioned I am wise spender in my previous post. Yes, I am!

Speaking of colds, a month ago our office had informed us they are giving free vaccines to employees and our immediate family members. At this time of the year Filipinos are vulnerable to colds because of the changes in weather temperature. I did not avail of the free vaccine. You may call me a stubborn Princess. I want my body to tell me to rest when I needed to. ☺

Greener Pasture

My friend resigned from our office for shall we say a greener pasture with another Call Center. She is fondly called Mommy J by most of our officemates. Her name is Juliet, the ever loyal partner of Romeo. She had been with our Call Center for almost five years. I know it is not easy for her to go. I had invited her for lunch and we had a wonderful time together. Our officemates and I felt sad of her resigning but anyway we are still neighbors. She is just a text message away.

I had many fond memories of my friend but my unforgettable is us having breakfast at one of the restaurants one morning after work shift. I guess you would agree with me when you have someone you are comfortable being with. The two of you would never run out of stories to tell. After the sumptuous breakfast we gathered our things and went out of the restaurant. We were slowly itching away from the restaurant. Continuously laughing and sharing the stories I could not remember the topic, when suddenly Juliet said. "Hey! We forgot to pay!"

We rushed back in to the restaurant. We were met by a smiling waiter at the door. We immediately went to the lady cashier apologized for inadvertently going out forgetting to pay. We laughed and laughed until we were almost crying narrating to the lady cashier what happened. The lady cashier was thankful we remembered saying had we not came back. They will pay for what we ordered. Gosh! I just could not think of the humiliation, had the cashier sent someone after us. I guess she did not because we are regular customers of the restaurant.

To my friend Juliet, I will always remember all those happy days we had. Wishing you ALL the BEST at your new place of work!☺