Happy New Year 2019

Wishing everyone out there a happy new year 2019. Hoping 2018 was a great year for you and if it wasn't here comes 2019 to make it all better.

This year I decided to reflect not on what I accomplished or did not accomplish during 2018 but what I want to accomplish generally in my life. This year I do not want to limit my goal for a mere new year's resolution, however the blessing of being able to celebrate one more trip around the sun in this beautiful planet we call earth makes the perfect occasion to start on a clean slate.

So browsing around came to find that there is a system for goal setting called SMART (specific, measureable, attainable, realistic, timely) so to me these were one to many terms and actions for me to plan myself although very important terms I tried to utilize the most important ones.

Be specific one of the most important steps why? I will give you an example; I want to lose weight vs. I want to lose 20lbs. So one of the most sought after new year resolution lose weight but normally we start the year buying of meal portion bowls, all veggie grocery shopping, taking home salads for lunch break, downloading step count app, etc. By mid april we are back to the fast food burger lunch and 3pm soda as a pick me up. Being specific will help guide you onto a definite goal, losing weight is so general of an idea that is basically a dream. When you propose losing x quantity of pounds believe me it will make those meal portion bowls an investment instead of a waste a money.

Realistic, yup I jumped straight to realistic. Even though measurable and attainable are important to keep in mind in planning your goals I figured realistic summarized (in my case) the measurement and attainability. Am I really going to lose 20lbs this year? Here I like to focus on possible road blocks maybe an upcoming vacation that is going to throw off my meal planning, A rough season at work that will throw off my working out schedule. In visualizing the road blocks I will be able to know if my goal is realistic. So let's do another example, renovate my kitchen. Is it something that I can attain of course is it something that I am going to attain this year? No.  Kitchen renovation takes up budget, budget that I do not have however I can plan this year the budgeting of savings so that in 1 or 2 years this can become a more realistic goal.

Lastly timing. Timing is crucial in goal setting how else are you going to make yourself accountable? By june I will lose 20lbs. Now you pressed yourself that by june you will have a 20lbs less beach body. And trust me for me this is the most important part, as a professional procrastinator this part helps me keep accountability with myself and align myself to stick to my plan to get there.

There you have it folks my personal use of the SMART system. As I always say it is not necessary for you to stick to something black and white, you can make it your'e own as I did with SMART. Have fun in this year goal planning and Happy 2019!!

Favorite Season? Holiday Season!

Hey there! And welcome to another humble post of my thoughts and ideas. So officially today November hit and I cannot be more excited. I love Holiday season all of it and everything. From Halloween night to Thanksgiving to Christmas and not to forget for my fellow islanders Three Kings Days. And just so you know in PR we celebrate Christmas all the way up to almost the end of January! including celebration of the Octavitas and Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastian, we love our parties!

So November has become a  critical month for me; working in the retail business and being this the busiest time of the year for this sector I have to be very careful in planning holiday activities. Adding to all this celebration my child was born in December, so I have had to learn to plan my December in my November and this year I am taking a step further!

This year I decided to fill my agenda today with everything: School calendars, parties, holiday events, family time and work events; and yes ladies and gentlemen I am scheduling my cleaning, decoration, shopping and wrapping schedules! This planning will help me enjoy these festivities and keep up with my work schedule

First I started by downloading school schedule, it is really important to keep up when my child has school or not and also be a part of the school activities which are a lot. 

Second I wrote down any important dates for my work like day's where the store closes early and days we were closed 

Next up birthdays this includes family and friends. You may also write it at this point any parties ahead like for example we always have a holy night get together on the 24th of December so this automatically goes into my calendar

At this point you can just start adding gift shopping deadlines, cleaning schedules, decorating days, etc. Write down all of your ideas in a blank paper just to make this easier to pass them on to your calendar. 

You may also utilize a binder to keep any other planning tools like meal plans, tradition activity log, wrapping supply inventory and many more. I like to go on Pinterest and search for printable which help my imagination flow for my own creations or just utilize any that I find 

 Hope that me sharing my method helps you plan ahead for this holiday season and be creative, not everything we see out there works for us make it you're own and enjoy this holiday season!

 

Easy Lentil Soup

Long time no post! this time I am going to share a lentil soup recipe that I made my own after looking around for some cheap ingredients to cook with. 

So the story behind this recipe is that I have always been a fan of lentil soup but since it is a legume I found it intimidating to even attempt to make my own. One day I was talking over the phone with my little sister and she told me she just made lentil soup (usually I am the risky one cooking but here was my little sister "one upping" me in the kitchen) I asked her if it was hard she told me not at all...Couple of weeks went by and I found myself staring at the legume section in the supermarket. 

Turns out lentils are really cheap! A 1LB bag was about $2.00; And trust me my friends this bag will last you for a couple of large pots of soup. Ok so here I had my lentils what do I do now? Do I soak them? Do I just throw them in the pot? What ingredients pair up? so many questions! so I need what many of us do I headed over to Pinterest. There were so many wonderful lentil recipes out there, however I did not have time to soak them or have certain ingredients the recipe called for; I ended up just closing the whole thing and heading to the kitchen 

I started of with the base of all my soup recipes half an onion half, of a Cuban pepper, two carrots and 1 and 1/2 celery stalk. This was interesting! the aromatics of the base always get me to a great inventive start. I had some mushrooms so I threw them in as well, no need to use in your recipe if not a fan of mushrooms; I am though. 

I cracked open my sofrito bottle (it's just a herb seasoning we use in PR) usually found in the Latin food section and added some minced garlic. Here comes the lentils! and yes ladies and gentlemen I did not pre-soak or pre-boiled these babies just threw them in! Of course I did cleaned them and thoroughly searched for pebbles or other parts of the pod they do tend to get in the bag. 

I left them simmer for about 30 to 45 minutes and some may say I over cooked them but honestly I like them more on the mushier side since it makes the soup more hearty. This was a hit for me! Super flavorful! It was easy; I used what I had in my refrigerator and it was quick. I usually do a pot full that will last me 2 or 3 days I do not like to keep it more than that. And you could variate the vegetables you could add potatoes, pumpkin, spinach whatever you have on hand as long as you like it. This is it folks have fun especially on this season which we all crave the warmth of a bowl of soup


Ingredients
1/2 onion
1/2 Cuban pepper
2 carrots 
1 1/2 celery stalks 
1 cup of sliced mushrooms 
1 1/2 cup of lentils (thoroughly clean and rinsed)
2 cups of water or vegetable broth for more flavor 
1/2 teaspoon of garlic
salt and pepper

Procedure
1. Add olive oil to stock pot and butter
2. Add onions and pepper
3. Add carrots and celery
4. Slightly cook ingredients 
5. Add lentils
6. Add broth or water
7. Stir and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes careful not to let it dry up if you find it to dry is ok to add more water 
8. Serve and enjoy with some homemade croutons!

Yoga: the beggining

For this post I wanted to share my experience with Yoga...


So yoga to me (as a typical western hemisphere being) is a vitalizing exercises in which you have the opportunity to challenge your body and your mind. It involves meditation, discipline and breathing. Of course these are my thoughts; Yoga is so much more extending from these basic beliefs to even part of religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. What is a fact is that Yoga is a group of practises that originated in India in ancient times.    

I remember a class I took in high school were we learn different types of religious beliefs we spent a whole month talking about Buddhism, I remember we even watched a movie about it. I strongly remember that point of meditation that was reached by Buddha in which he was enlightened, it seemed such a nice state to be in, full of peace, happiness and purity. 

Coming into recent months I have found myself in situations not particularly enlightened. My job had become a stress and battle zone, my body was reflecting the day by day stresses popping every illness in the map, especially digestive and muscular illnesses. My back was deteriorating and I had blown up 20 lbs between not having a proper diet and stress inflammation.

I reached a point which was the lowest of them all, I was not happy with myself instead I became worried that all this stress would eventually kill me...I turned to Yoga because of a work partner. I saw how one day she came as happy as can be and not only radiated this to everyone but met and exceeded her daily goals. "I woke up at 4 a.m. to practice Yoga" she said to me, of course I inquired and she convinced me that it was the best, naturally I tried it...

Horrible after three practises with online videos I entered in a puking state and gave up it was not for me... or so I thought...

Receiving 2017 I decided it was time for a change and decided to give it one more try just to challenge my discipline at things. I started by changing my diet deciding to eat a little more healthy and a lot less processed. (By the way out of 7 days eating out at lunch time I have packed for 6 and never felt better) and here came the dreaded part starting Yoga again.

I have to say that I found an online video, a 30 day program that was just perfect for me, the coach was the best at easing into poses maintaining in mind that people watching are mainly beginners with no stretching experience possible. I am currently on Day 8 of practicing and never felt better, my back pain has subsided as well as inflammation around my waist and face. I am starting to meditate my own way and have found that my happiness and health are more important than dying over a job in which you are replaceable. 

Not that I am planning to quit and move to India and practice to become a professional Yogi, I love my job and what I do; I have found that Yoga (at my pace) has helped me health wise and happy wise I do not argue as much as I did but look at the positive things and confide that with a little breathing and focus everything is possible... 

So here's hoping that if you are like me and failed miserably at Yoga the first time consider it one more time searching out there what is comfortable with you, Yoga is not just for reaching of state of hand stands and "floating" is about finding your happiness and focus. Good luck!!!

     

Orlando Vacation: Cost effective dream

So a few years back my husband and I made a promise to take our son by the age of 3 to Disney World and again by 5, I know many of you will think isn't it a little early to take him on such vacation? (frankly I thought so myself) the fact is that I wanted to see his reaction to this type of vacation in different stages...toddler was one of them.

Now remember I am from Puerto Rico I have to invest in airfare which made this trip a little more challenging and even more challenging I was traveling on high season ...so the scavenger hunt for this trip started. We went to various travel agents which were charging me little over $2,000 at the cheapest, one even dared me to invest $4,000!. No way was this trip happening if this is what it was going to cost me. So I started networking with friends and family whom I knew traveled a lot for tips on how they got deals.

The best advice I got was from my boss, who said to me "No way would I travel to Orlando for that price!" she directed me to create my own trip using online search engines not only was I able to choose exactly where I wanted to stay but also I was able to find some amazing deals!

So here are my own tips and advise to traveling for cheap to Orlando:

Airfare

• Identify your needs and your family's. Is it necessary to have more leg space?, Is it necessary for the flight to have snacks and beverages "for free"on board?
• Evaluate how much luggage you need to take with you. We made it possible to fit us three in one 28" suitcase.
• Evaluate the time you want to travel, usually midnight flights are cheaper.

So after you have contemplated all of these points search flight that meet your needs and compare prices, some tips I read online was to search late at night for special offers and to use safe mode on your browser since it is said to climb up a price as you keep on searching.


Hotel

Where to stay!

• Again identify the needs of your family, Will we rent a car or will I have to be close to the parks?, Will it need to include breakfast?, Will I need standard or double?, Will it need to include parking?
• How many stars do you want for it to have.

Once you have all your'e basic needs specified utilize different search engines to look for hotel inside park areas as well as outside for our needs since we were renting a car it was more flexible for us to search different hotels. We scored a mobile deal for the 5 days we were staying for $200!!! double room, included parking and breakfast (although the breakfast was not a fancy gourmet selection it pretty much filled our stomachs to start the day)

Car Rental 

Tricky part 

• Read the fine print before submitting payment 
• Read the reviews for companies before making even a cancellation free reservation. 
• Use specific credit cards and ID for this, and be sure to have them on hand always. 

So remember I do not have a US resident however I am a US citizen, so I have to pay for insurance coverage all around and this does become very pricey, however if you do have insurance many of these companies will cover you even though is a rental, also some credit cards have insurance program that will also cover your responsibility in case of an accident. 

So here began our slight nightmare! We found a good enough deal with a company through a search engine. When we got to the pick up area we found out we had to leave a $200 safety deposit! We assumed this would happen and that is why we were cash ready, it is then and there we were informed that the business only handled credit or debit no cash. After a horrible customer service we decided to take a taxi and come back the next day with a deposit our family made to our debit card, thank goodness we used my husband's debit card to make the reservation because that was going to be the other issue at hand the card that was utilized to make the online reservation had to match the driver and had to be physically presented at the car rental place. 

This was by far the hardest point to handle since we almost lost our rental investment. My opinion if you can spend a little more in a hotel inside the park areas where you can take a shuttle it will save you a lot of hassle and bad experiences with car rental. 

All in all we spent about $1,200 and memories that were priceless. So it doesn't have to be an impossible vacation because if the price  with a little anticipation, a little planning, a little saving and a little networking, Dreams do come true...

 

Grocery Shopping 101

So one of the big challenges that we faced in our household was grocery shopping. We cook everyday almost three meals a day, so imagine how much we would spend on produce at the supermarket. Recently I have been reading tons of articles on how to save money during grocery shopping, most of them included coupons, but who has time nowadays to spend hours clipping coupons and comparing prices?. I certainly do not have that type of time, so I started experimenting on my own grocery shopping and finally cut down my final receipt from $100 to $60 almost 40% saved!. I know many of you out there would say that you have seen better and your right, I have heard stories of 60% saved, but as I said in my case this is amazing because it was done without coupons or much price comparing. Here a few tips that worked for me: 

1. Plan out your meals for the week. We have a notepad on the fridge with the dinners of each day. Based on this notepad we start off our shopping list. 

2. We tried a couple of supermarkets until hit the jackpot with one where meat prices were $0.50 to $1.00 lower than other supermarkets. (In our case meats are the most expensive item in our shopping list). 

3. Try to stick to the specials as much as you can, certain cuts of meats, in season vegetables, etc. 

4. Stick to items you can use in various dishes during the week. For example maybe one day you did mashed potatoes a few days later you can try roasted butter and rosemary potatoes. 

5. Reinvent your dishes this way you don't have to buy many items just a few and re-invent them during the week, check out my Beef Rice recipe on my previous post. 

6. Have basics always in stock like broths, spaghetti sauce, spices, condiments like BBQ sauce, salad dressings, etc. 

7. Stay away from the processed junk food this is way more expensive than making it yourself (in some cases) 

8. Non - Produce items like toothpaste, tooth brushes, shampoo, soap and other stuff sometimes is more expensive than getting it from your local department store or even drug store, so make that extra stop. 

9. Stick to the necessity of that week. Do not add items just because; Make sure your budget covers your daily meals, including breakfast and lunches. 

10. Finally review your list make sure you have everything. If you have items that were not on the list decide if you really need it and can expense it. 

Bonus - If you have space and time to start a garden in your backyard it'll save you money on produce. I myself have plans to start of with an herb garden. 

Hope these tips work for you as they worked for me. =)    

Turn up plain white rice

Living in Puerto Rico is a dream, especially when it comes to the food. The gastronomy of the island has to be one of the best untapped secrets the island has to offer. A selection of foods makes it into the typical puertorrican menu such as pernil asado, chuletas, arroz con pollo and many other. While I believe we make the best white rice; so good in many families around the island this side is served almost everyday. That being said it can get kind of bland, so experimenting in the kitchen I came up with beef rice and heres the recipe to share. 

Beef Rice 

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons of unsalted butter 

1/2  chopped medium onion

1/3 cup of sliced mushrooms

2 cups of good low sodium beef broth 

1 1/2 cups of medium grain white rice


Procedure

- In a saucepan melt the butter

- Sautee the onions and the mushrooms

- Turn the heat to medium and add the beef stock salt and pepper, bring to a boil

- When a rolling boil is achieved turn down the heat to low, add the rice. Mix and cover 

- Fluff the rice every 15 to 20 minutes. 

- When the rice reaches it's soft point you'll know it's done 

Your family will love you for turning up the volume on this classic side. Hope you enjoy as much as we did.