knicnax

I'm the type of person where pre-made planners do not work. I need my space to be fluid enough to cater to my needs, and that varies by so much. I think the reason is because I use my planners for everything, and the content varies per day; so naturally, my to do list, notes and journal entries won't fit the regular pages of a planner. I started my online business this March and I find myself needing a dedicated planner for my business. It doesn't take too much space in my bullet journal, mostly just to do items and ideas to note of, but I think I'd rather that these things be in a separate planner where I can detail and schedule them properly. Since I'm new to this business thing, I need more structure in my planning. I don't want to devote the extra time of making my weekly layouts by hand so I figured I'd need a regular planner.  I know it's easier (and probably cheaper) to just buy a planner from the bookstore since most of them are on sale n...

There's this technique that I really like using. It's called "Ink Smooshing" and it makes this watercolor, spatter effect. It's very easy to do and it needs ZERO creativity! Probably why this technique appealed to me so much. The name came from the action that you do in order to achieve the watercolor effect, which is "smooshing" ink on paper. Personally I really like the word "smoosh" and "smooshing". It makes it sound like it's a really fun thing to do; and it is. Something to note though is that the pattern will be pretty random and cannot be replicated since how the ink is smooshed on the paper unpredictable. You can exercise some sort of control on which colors to use, how much ink gets on the paper, and where the colors go. I also noticed that most of the time when I'm doing this, my initial reaction is it looks ugly, but as I put in more colors and splatters, I see it get prettier. There are instances when I ...

This biscuit is my go to recipe for when I want to eat bread or cupcakes but I'm too lazy to bake or I don't have all the ingredients I need. All it takes to make these are: Flour, baking powder, butter, and milk. Everything is a kitchen staple! I use evaporated milk to make it more rich and creamy! Of course the crumb is not the same as bread made with yeast or a moist cake but it would definitely do if you need a quick fix. You know how when a craving hits you hard (read: PMS) and you just want one now and you don't have time to proof bread, don't have the energy to whip up a cake, and definitely don't want to go out and buy anything? Oh boy did these biscuits save me! The biscuits are best eaten on the same day, but then again, these taste so good they wont last the entire day! I've been making this since I was in 2nd year college and whenever I made a batch, I had to set aside a few pieces to make sure I had baon for the next day! haha! ...

Wow, it's been 6 years since I last updated this blog. A lot has happened IRL (in real life). I was scrolling through the my posts, and the most recent one was a bento post. I remember the days when the bento supplies available here in the Philippines were so few. I thought of opening up a shop of my own but couldn't get it off the ground. I guess was I was too afraid to invest that I didn't put in my best effort to find a supplier. Fast forward to today, bento-ing is a booming craft. Lots of Filipina moms are doing it, which means more stores are selling bento-tools. How do I know? I've frequented a lot of the local hives of Filipina moms - Facebook Mommy Groups! In the 6 years that passed, I got married and started a family with my then nicknamed SDEHBF (super duper extra hot boyfriend). I still think he's super duper extra hot, even if he doesn't believe me. LOL. I mean, I dont know about you but these photos do tell me he is still that SDEHBF I've ...

This bento is just a repeat of a previous bento, with just the addition of the Sho-Yu Tamago. This is actually the last bento I made for lunch as a technical consultant for my 2nd job. I didn't want to burn myself out on my last day of work so I made an easy bento. Plus, I really wanted to try that vegan cream cheese recipe that I've been reading about. Bento Menu: Nissin Instant Yakisoba Sho-Yu Tamago Vegetarian Creamcheese filled Bell Pepper (failed). The Yakisoba is easy enough, my recipe to kick the flavor up a notch can be found here . Sho-Yu Tamago or Soy Sauce is really easy to make. Took me about 3 minutes to give the egg that brown color. More or less 10 if you include boiling the egg and shelling it. It's best done the night before. I got the Sho-Yu Tamago idea from Just Bento, so head on over there to check out how it's made

Today's bento is especially scrumptous! I guess Ive broken my blah bento streak! It's also great news for me, cause I created a bento for bubu (my sister) as well. Today's Menu: Plain, unsalted onigiri Pandan Chicken Caramelized eggplant Today's carb is just plain rice. I just molded the rice using the onigiri mold I bought last week. The brown sauce you see on the rice are the drippings of the caramelized onions The pandan chicken is again, bought from SM Supermarket. I have no idea how to cook it, but what I did was I fried it while still wrapped in pandan. The caramelized eggplant is a stroke of genius for me. Last night, I had no idea what to do with the eggplants. Before sleeping, I had a eureka moment. I told my self I'll make a rub for my eggplants. I dozed off as I was listing the ingredients for the rub in my head. Ingredients 2 medium sized eggplants sliced Sugar Garlic powder/ground fresh garlic Salt Paprika Turmeric Pro...

Today's bento took me about 7 minutes to make, 10 minutes tops. Quite a record actually. I wasn't able to get up early to make a bento. I also had no idea what to make for today's bento, so everything was out of whim and very simple, the concept just even popped out of my head. Not planned at all. Today's Bento Menu: Cheese Stuffed Onigiri Century Tuna Octodogs (fail) Various shabu shabu meats Chopped Green Olive Tamagoyaki My cheese stuffed onigiri is just actually plain rice with bits of cheese inside. Didn't have the time to sear the rice, let alone flavor it. I was so lacking in time. My proteins for today aren't really healthy, unless you consider the fact that the octodogs are made out of tuna hot dogs. The shabu shabu meats are left overs fro last night's shabu shabu dinner. They were already cut in half last night to minimize cooking time. I can't remember which is which for the shabu shabu meats, since we buy them by pac...