Category Archives: Household Tips

Home Organiser Essentials and Home_blogberry by 25 Mushrooms Kitchen and Stradmore Notes

By | Household Tips | No Comments

During the launch of 25 Mushrooms Kitchen, I met Scott Yuyitung of Stradmore.  Straddler has been around for about 40 years now and Scott’s family has been making notebooks which you will see in National Bookstore and other bookstores.  He has recently started a new brand called Stradmore notes which started as a student’s journal.  It was so popular he then came out with the Foodie Blogberry, then a Mom Blogberry and then Yuppie.  Home Organiser Essentials and Home_ blogberry by 25 Mushrooms Kitchen and Stradmore Notes (4)

 Now his latest collaboration is with Sari Jorge of 25 Mushrooms Kitchen with the Home Blogberry and the Organiser Essentials which you can buy in 25 Mushrooms Kitchen or at National BookstoreHome Organiser Essentials and Home_ blogberry by 25 Mushrooms Kitchen and Stradmore Notes (6)

Home Organiser Essentials and Home_ blogberry by 25 Mushrooms Kitchen and Stradmore Notes (7)

And here is the Home blogberryHome Organiser Essentials and Home_ blogberry by 25 Mushrooms Kitchen and Stradmore Notes (1)

I put here the different sections so you can see what is inside the blogberryHome Organiser Essentials and Home_ blogberry by 25 Mushrooms Kitchen and Stradmore Notes (2)

Home Organiser Essentials and Home_ blogberry by 25 Mushrooms Kitchen and Stradmore Notes (3)

Home Organiser Essentials and Home_ blogberry by 25 Mushrooms Kitchen and Stradmore Notes (5)

Home Organiser Essentials and Home_ blogberry by 25 Mushrooms Kitchen and Stradmore Notes (1)

Home Organiser Essentials and Home_ blogberry by 25 Mushrooms Kitchen and Stradmore Notes (5)

Home Organiser Essentials and Home_ blogberry by 25 Mushrooms Kitchen and Stradmore Notes (4)

Home Organiser Essentials and Home_ blogberry by 25 Mushrooms Kitchen and Stradmore Notes (5)

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Clever Ideas Worth Knowing

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CLEVER IDEAS WORTH KNOWING

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Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store.
If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.. I didn’t know that!

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Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil.
It will stay fresh much longer and not mold.

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Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating.
Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.

Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef.
It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.

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To really make a scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat them up.

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Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic and at the end of the recipe if you want a stronger taste of garlic.

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Reheat Pizza
Heat up leftover pizzas in a non-stick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crusty crispy, no soggy micro pizza. I saw this on the cooking channel and it really works.

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Reheating refrigerated bread
To warm biscuits, pancakes or muffins that were refrigerated, place the in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.

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Newspaper weeds away
Start putting in your plant, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet newspaper, put layers around the plants overlapping as you go cover with mulch and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic they will not get through wet newspapers.

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Broken Glass
Use a wet cotton ball or Q-t IP to pick up the small shards of glass you can’t see easily.

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No More Mosquitoes
Place a dryer sheet in you pocket. It will keep mosquitoes away. Squirrel away!

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Flexible Vacuum
To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap to your vacuum. It can bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.

Reducing Static Cling
Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and Ta DA! …static is gone.

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Measuring Cups
Before you pour sticky substance into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don’t dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.

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Foggy Windshield?
hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car when the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth.

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Re-opening Envelopes
If you seal and envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Viola! It unseals easily.

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Conditioner
Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It’s cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It’s also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn’t like when you tried it in your hair.

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Goodbye Fruit Flies
To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass, fill it 1/2′ with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid; mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever.

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Get Rid of Ants
Put a small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it home, can’t digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works and you don’t have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!
(This will definitely try!!!)

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INFO ABOUT CLOTHES DRYERS

The heating unit went out in my dryer! The gentleman that fixes things around the house for us told us that he wanted to show us something and he went over to the dryer and pulled out the lint filter. It was clean. (I always clean the lint from the filter after every load clothes.) He told us he wanted to show us something; he took the filter over to the sink and ran how water over it. The lint filter is made of a mesh material .. I’m sure you know what your dryers lint filter looks like. Well … the hot water just sat on top of the mesh! It didn’t go through it at all! He told us that the dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh that’s what burns out the heating unit. You can’t see the film but it’s there. It’s what is in the dryer sheets to make your clothes soft and static free … that nice fragrance too. You know how they feel waxy when you take them out of the box .. well this stuff builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen. This is also what causes dryer units to potentially burn your house down with it! He said the best way to keep your dryer working  for a very long time (and to keep your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out and wash it with hot soapy water and an old toothbrush (or other brush) at least every six months. He said that makes the life of the dryer at least twice as long! How about that!? Learn something new everyday! I certainly didn’t know dryer sheets would do that. So, I thought I’d share!
Note: I went to my dryer and tested my screen by running water on it. The water ran through a little bit but mostly collected all the water in the mesh screen. I washed it with warm soapy water and a nylon brush and I had it done in 30 seconds. Then when I rinsed it .. the water ran right thru the screen! There wasn’t any puddling at all! That repairman knew what he was talking about!

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Spanish Dinner

By | Celebrations, Foodie, Household Tips | No Comments

We had a beautiful Spanish dinner at a friends also beautiful home!  

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Though curtains are known to collect dust and hard to maintain, I still love the effect of curtains in a home.  It gives that cozy feeling.  

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They had beautiful Soumak curtains which are proudly Philippine made!  

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Our special guests from Thailand. They requested for Spanish food because it’s rare in Thailand and they enjoyed Spanish food during their visit to Spain 

Prasong

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Chananya

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and their pretty daughters Phantila and Sariya 

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The cocktails were all so well presented and of course tasted so good

Jamon 

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Boquerones with olives.  Notice the white gloves 🙂  

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Love the staff uniform which is not off the rack but specially made

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Tortilla de patata

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Bread with olives

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Croquettas de pollo

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Beautiful dining room!

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Elegant flowers and table setting.  I love the personalised ceramic dinnerware which is from Italy and has the initials of the owner

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Under the embroidered Filipiniana table linen is a liner which is non slip.  It serves as a non slip pad at the same time as a protection so the table is not scratched when the plate is placed on the table.  This was sourced from Spain

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Everything is proper in this household.  All silverware are engraved with their initials

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Our buffet

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Mediterranean Fish Fillet

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Chicken with mushroom

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We contributed as well homemade bacalao which is cooked by my Mom’s cook, Manang Flor.  It is a family favourite.  We like it because it has potatoes and queso de bola cheese on top

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Desserts!

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Homemade turtle pie by our host!  YUM!!!

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Sweets

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Checklist for Our Negros Oriental and Southern Cebu Adventure

By | Household Tips, Travel | One Comment

Going to Negros Oriental and Southern Cebu is an adventure.  Though I expected it and thought I was so ready with all the things we needed, there were still a few things I missed.  So here is my checklist of things to prepare.  I am a city girl with kids so whatever it is I want to have a few simple things and pampering stuff which we might need.    I will try to be as complete as possible.  Then again, if you just want to be adventurous, you do not really need to bring anything and you will still survive 🙂  

1.)  Since we were a big group with 5 families, I pulled out our matching bags which we got from one of our family events.  I was so happy I found a reason to use them.  It’s easier for the porters to spot de Jesus family – all red bags! 🙂   

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2.)  Aqua shoes – it’s safer to use these when walking around the islands and waterfalls.  Many still used flip flops but this is the safer one since many of the island are still rustic and rough with plenty stones – slippery too

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3.)  If you are a city girl like me 🙂 you need to bring this!!  I need to charge all my gadgets – camera, phone, laptop, external battery.  Thats just mine, my hubby’s gadgets still 🙂  So you rely need a strip – whether in the Philippines or just anywhere you are travelling.  Not many hotels provide these and not many provide plenty outlets to plug your gadgets

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and an external battery charger that can charge my iPhone 4 times

 Previous entry: External Battery Charger Feb 24, 2014  

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4.)  Since we were roughing it out, I really made sure I had every medicine possible in case anything happened in the middle of the ocean 🙂  I took this from Florentina Homes, in case you forget, they have and you can buy easily too 🙂 But any special medicines or ointments, it’s best to bring.  Anti itch ointments, allergy medicines, etc etc

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5.)  Towels – this is in Bluewater which is a resort so they provided lots of towels.  But in the other areas where we went to, no one will provide you with any towel!  🙂  So make sure to bring lots.  Especially during our trip, it was drizzling or raining at times, aside from getting wet from swimming

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6.) Snacks – just in case you get hungry in between meals – it is always handy.  Thanks to my friend Mish we had homemade brownies which we were able to eat for dessert in one of our meals 🙂  You can choose healthy snacks of course 🙂  It’s just always handy  

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7.)  Bottled Water – in some of the vans we rent abroad, they provide bottled water but here they do not.  So it is best to have your own – you can just buy this probably in a supermarket when you arrive to avoid being charge for overweight.   They will also have this for sale in the places you go to.   But it is a must to have water in the car or in the boat, you might get thirsty so you have to have this and also to rehydrate.   

 

8.)  Clothes change – This may be common sense but we were not ready.  We thought we would just remove our clothes, swim, then put them back, but since we rode boats and it rained at times, everything was wet.  So it’s just always good to have spare clothes to use to avoid getting soaked and risking getting sick.  Some of you might like to bring rash guards so I am advertising Swordfish Philippines 🙂  the company of my friend’s sister – Jennie Bautista.  Swordfish makes for many of the big brands

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9.)  snorkelling gear- They have many for rent in most of the places you will go to but you might want to bring your own.  Though you have to consideration weight on the plane

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10.)  Lots of Sunblock- I like the ones that you can just spray

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11.) Wet wipes  and hand sanitiser – You will need lots of this – it’s an unnecessary luxury but if you can bring some, you will use a lot 🙂

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SOS Spray from the Urban Alchemist

By | Great Inventions, Household Tips, Shopping | No Comments

My nose is so sensitive I can smell anything and everything even from far away 🙂  I have colognes, home sprays, and all kinds of sprays to remove smell 🙂  I am definitely keeping a bottle of this in my bag and it will be good in different parts of the house!  A great invention by the Urban Alchemist and you can order through them or online through SeektheUniq

Click below to go to SeektheUniq and order your SOS Spray

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Click below to go to their website

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13 Surprising Home Remedies for Acid Reflux

By | Health and Fitness, Household Tips | One Comment

Thanks to my sister in law, Pam, for sending me this article.  I am trying these more natural remedies for my acid reflux rather than taking medicines that will only temporarily give relief. Of course # 1 is the hardest 🙂  

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For my #4, I am taking Aloe Cure everyday.  Just like anything everyone reacts differently to depending on your body system.  For me, it helps a lot at night and is somehow making me sleep better.  This was introduced to me a few years ago by Tita Bettina

Previous entry: Alternative to Treating Acid Reflux Feb 2, 2012    

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Bingbing Quiros, the distributor of Aloe Cure together

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with Tita Bettina Osmena.  Read more here on the attest article published in the Philippine Star

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Langka Tree

By | Household Tips, Yummy! | No Comments

We have a makopa ( tambis ) tree in our house!!!  These are the fruits -not triangular in shape but they taste just as good 🙂  I LOVE makopa!

Previous entry:  My Lola’s Makopa Tree March 7, 2009

After two years we discovered we have also a langka tree!!! This is the trunk of the tree with one fruit hanging 🙂  

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the tree extends over the bamboo walls of our house, so it is behind that coconut tree 

I went under to see and there were quite a few fruits growing

Here is the yummy langka, according to my husband who loves langka

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I shared them with some friends 🙂

Eds gave me a tip since she knows I have a lot of langka.  She said you can freeze them and eat them like ice candy!!  Good idea!!

Langka abundance on Tagaytay

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Langka at Hillcreek Gardens, Alfonso Cavite

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Let It Go Let it Go

By | Household Tips | No Comments

This is definitely the song of the year!!  

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I found other uses for this song when my friend, Plet posted this in instagram.  True and funny 🙂  Make sure to play this song while cleaning in the house! 🙂  

We should just LET IT GO and learn to say good bye to things we do not need in our homes.  

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and maybe even in our lives 🙂    

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Inspired again by this which my other friend, Arlene, posted
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CLEAN AND KEEP THINGS ORGANIZED AND NEAT – Inspiration from my Tita Nena

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I also keep a lot of stock of all kinds of these plastic containers in all sizes – for baon, for leftovers, for sharing some food with friends 🙂 , for organising 

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Another way to Let it go!  WRITE! Express yourself and let all your emotions out!  This is from my Tito Rico.  I told him that I am glad I have my website to just LET IT ALL GO! Maybe not sad things but definitely positive things to share!!! 

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Monogram at Rustan’s

By | Household Tips, What's New at Rustan's | 2 Comments

Love these beautiful monogrammed plates!! I want to monogram everything in the house! 🙂

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We have so many options for monogrammed things!!  And for those of you who already have things and you just want to have them monogrammed, Rustan’s offers monogramming.  It’s on the 4th floor of Rustan’s Makati by the cash wrap counter.  It’s behind that Natori display 🙂  
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There’s engraving
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By Lincoln Sanchez who has been doing this for 35 years already!
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Printing for Leather material
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And embroidery.  There’s a whole album to choose from 
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Go further inside and there’s a watch repair centre by Danny! Another old timer in Rustan’s!  But that’s not Danny in the photo because he was not there when I stopped by
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So I took a photo of his photo 🙂  
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