Treasure Jar

I’d like to think that I am a practical person, at least most of the time (at least most of the time? errr…).

How and why?

I’d rather bring packed food than buy whenever we are going somewhere.

I’d rather school children do “textbook rental” than buy 6-8 books that will just gather dust after the school year is over. If it was me, I’d rather they use digital books than real books because I am an early adapter for reading ebooks way back when I still use a Palm Pilot. Yeah,  like circa very 2000’s.

I’d rather learn to cook recipes that catch the fancy of the family than dine out to order.

For example: A pack of these green chili fingers costs around Php10-15 and it has around 15 pieces. It doesn’t take a lot of cheese to put inside the chili. It doesn’t take a lot of “lumpia” wrapper to wrap each chili. At the nearby restaurant, these Cheese Sticks Dynamite are Php85/5 pieces. Now, why would I buy when I can make it at home? The practical thing here is to make these in big batches and freeze so you can just get some to fry if you want to have them.

I’d rather spend a great deal of time taking care of the laundry and folding carefully the clothes rather than have these ironed at the laundry shop. If the clothes are well cared for, these can be given to others who might need them. Is it practical for me to have the clothes brought to the laundry shop for ironing? I think so because I am not fond of the task and second, we don’t pay too much which saves me time and effort to do other things. We don’t add electricity to the cost too.

Anyway…

For school supplies, we have two big plastic boxes for school supplies where the children can “shop” for unexpected things like folder, art paper, illustration boards, paint brush, envelopes, bond paper, pens, pencils, erasers, among other things.

I don’t want to ask the hubby or make myself go to the nearest bookstore for a 1/8 illustration board.

Are you a practical person?

Tags: be practical, cheese sticks dynamite, green chili fingers, practicality rules, some practical tips to save money

Tipco 100% Juice  is one juice that we love! My eldest daughter just loves Purple Carrot while the other kids are not hesitant to try the other flavors including the vegetable juices.

If you love Tipco 100%, an all-natural beverage without the unnecessary preservatives, flavoring, coloring, and added sugar, then you are in for a big treat because you can win free trips for the Tipco 100% Juice Tripaway 2!

Mechanics to join the contest:

• Buy 3 1-liter packs in a single receipt then enter the details in the Tipco 100% Juice Facebook Page. Every three (3) 1-liter packs of Tipco in a single receipt = 1 raffle entry
• Keep the receipts because those will be your raffles stub if  you win.
• To submit your entry, visit www.facebook.com/tipcojuicephils and enter necessary information for the raffle.

• The first monthly draw for Cagayan de Oro was August 10, 2012.
• The 2nd monthly draw for Puerto Princesa was September 10, 2012 
• The 3rd monthly draw for Boracay will on October 10 , 2012 
• The Grand draw for Bangkok will be on October 10, 2012.

Deadlines for submission of entries with three monthly draws:

• August 5  for Cagayan de Oro trip, August 10 draw
• September 5  for Puerto Princesa trip, September 10 draw
• October 5  for Boracay trip, October 10 draw
• Ocotber 5  for Grand Prize trip to Bangkok, October 10 draw

Promo runs from July 1 to September 30, 2012.

‘Like’ the official Tipco Juice Philippines Facebook Page to join, and receive updates and announcements.

Tags: Tipco 100% Juice, Tipco 100% Juice Healthy, Tipco 100% Juice promo, Tipco 100% Juice promo mechanics, Tipco 100% Juice Tripaway 2 Promo, Tipco 100% Veggie Juice, Tipco fruit juice, Tipco Juice 100%, Tipco Juice Philippines, Tipco Juice promo, Tipco Juice trip promo, Tipco vegetable juice

Summer is one of the best times to enjoy fruits. We heart summer fruits.

I took this photo below at the supermarket we went to after looking at small netbooks for the kids. These netbooks are a bit cheaper now in the advent of tablet pc.

Anyway, re fruits: The supermarkets present them in a very nice way, as compared to the one being sold at the markets. And yes, the former charges double than the latter. I prefer to buy in the market of course because I can get more fruits and even a discount if I buy a lot.

Our summer favorite fruits are watermelons, cantaloupes, mangoes and pineapples. Yum!

Tags: fruits, summer, summer fruits

Mabolo or Velvet apple seems to be a rare fruit these days.

Mabolo tastes like apple, only softer and fleshier.I remember eating this as a child because our neighbor had a tree and under it was a bench where we (my neighbor friends and I) could sit and eat mabolo.

For more info on mabolo or velvet apple, click here and here.

Tags: food, fruits, mabolo, Mabolo Velvet Apple, Philippine fruit, velvet apple

Chef Golda Liamzon of the Dona Elena Cuisinera Club whipped up another yummy and nutritious food just perfect to serve for Halloween parties because the end result has yellow-y sauce: Squash Pumpkin and Sausage Pasta. FYI, Squash was used instead of pumpkin.

Squash is rich in carotene and the richer the color, the more concentration there is in the nutrients. Squash is also a good source of folic acid, fiber, vitamins B1 and C.

Ingredients: Continue Reading »

Tags: Chef Golda Liamzon, Dona Elena cooking demo\, Dona Elena Cuisinera Club, Dona Elena Pure Olive Oil, pumpkin and sausage pasta, squash and sausage pasta

I had the chance to visit Island Rose rose farm a few days ago with other bloggers and print media people. Island Rose is a premier rose grower in the Philippines.

Island Rose has state of the art greenhouse facilities that house their fresh and beautiful roses that can be ordered through an efficient and easy e-commerce means though islandrose.net.

The greenhouses are computer controlled where there are mist fans providing mist, roofs that automatically close if there are changes in the weather and weather station that provides data necessary to grow these roses.The ideal temperature would be around 26 degrees and not more than 30 degrees inside the greenhouses.

Every year, Island Rose produces over two million roses.  It ships around five thousand roses in the country daily from their rose farm to your home.

There are twelve varieties of roses available. The three types of red roses are the Grand Rose (thornless, thick-stemmed and has dark red buds),  Red Giant (long straight-stemmed) and Red France (vibrant red petals). Osiana roses are peach-colored. Noseblesse roses have salmon pink petals. Vivaldi roses have very light pink petals. Texas roses have golden yellow buds. Christine roses have light yellow petals. Salsa roses are deep orange in color. Lambada roses have bright orange tones. Tineke roses are white and have thick-stems. Gloria roses have the purest white color.

You can check the website for the bouquet arrangement you want and include other items with the bouquet you wish to send your loved ones.

The roses are licensed plants and each plant can produce maximum flowers within seven years. The roses are harvested three times a day at morning, noon and afternoon. No, these can’t be planted in your outdoor garden as these would not survive.

Thanks to the Andaya brothers Dustin and Arnold for the tour of Island Rose flower farm 🙂

Tags: Christine roses, European Roses, flower farm, Gloria roses, Grand Rose, Island Rose, Island Rose flower farm, Island Rose roses, Island Rose Tagaytay, Lambada roses, Noseblesse roses, online flower delivery, online rose delivery, order roses online, Osiana Roses, Red France, Red Giant, rose delivery, rose farm, roses, roses from Island Rose, Salsa roses, send roses to the Philippines, Texas roses, The Language of Roses, Tineke roses, Vivaldi roses