Blackened Ahi

I thought I would share this recipe with you. I love Ahi, and our local grocery store ships in Hawaiian fish live then butchers them at the store. That is as fresh as they come. I usually buy their Ono, which is divine and my favorite fish,  but I thought I would try something new, so I bought Ahi.

One of my favorite ways to eat Ahi is seared and spicy. So I went down the spice isle and found this....

Like my ghetto photo?!?!

Right away, I knew I could make something amazing. Here is how you cook it.

Ingredients
*1lb of Ahi {it should be a steak, or fillet-like cut. It can be as thick or thin as you want. 1 lb should feed 2-3 people}
*Salt
*Pepper
*Cajun Blackened Seasoning
*1 Tbls Olive Oil
*1 Tbls Butter

~Warm pan on stove on medium heat.

~ Salt and pepper all over fish and then evenly sprinkle the cajun seasoning. Take one finger and rub seasoning so it thinly coats the fish completely. Flip fish and repeat step on other side.

~Add olive oil and then butter. Let butter melt completely {The butter keeps the olive oil from burning too fast}.

~Add fish and let cook for less then 5 min and flip. Fish should be pink in the center and cooked on the edges. Do not cover pan while cooking fish, it can overcook the fish causing it to be tough and too well-done.

~Serve with rice and some veggies {I did string beans}.

This is one of my favorite meals to cook. It is fast, easy, and reasonably priced. I hope you like it!!

I am linked up with: Finger Prints on the Fridge,

3 W's

Wow, what a Weekend!!!!!

I was all excited because my whole family was coming into town. It was Crosby's baby blessing on Sunday, and Hunter's 3rd birthday. So I have been anxiously waiting for all the excitement. Well, we got more then we bargained for when I say we were all waiting for the excitement. Here is what went down.

Eke had his shots on Friday, and he was not feeling very well.  Sad babies are the saddest thing. He snuggled with me all weekend.  He would clinch his hands and arms around me while resting his heavy head on my shoulder or chest. Awwww poor little man! By the way, he is also teething so he still isn't feeling all that well.

McCall got her hair done... stupid hooker died it orange and purple!!! I am not kidding or exaggerating. ORANGE and PURPLE!!!! It was bad enough that I let McCall barrow my hat. Has anyone messed up your hair so bad it leaves you with this hole in your stomach? Well that is exactly how she felt. If you would like to see photos you may do so by clicking here. I don't feel like the pictures really capture the true color.

Saturday morning we wake up with a sad baby and a phone call about an hour later that said McCall had a seizure and was in the hospital. Yep, pretty dang scary!!! Luckily she is ok, nothing serious happened, especially because these things are very serious! The doctors don't know why it happened, and they don't believe it will happen again. She will be going to the neurologist to confirm that. One of the things they believe might have triggered it was stress and being off of her sleep pattern. I am thankful that nothing worse happened. I seriously think her hair dresser got her chemicals from Tijuana, or maybe on the black market, causing McCall to have a seizure. We all met up at McCall's house that night to eat some dinner and because she was doing so well, she wanted to continue with the original schedule.

Sunday they blessed Crosby and it was lovely. What a cute little baby! He has already gotten so much bigger. His older brother, Callum, has been so cute. Cal loves Ella and Koko, anyone else is just not relevant to him hahahaha. Here are just some photos of the event.

Hunty is now a big kid and is 3 years old!!! This kid is so so so funny. Here are a few things that he said:

Brittany: Hunty are you a big boy now?
Hunter: Now, I'm a babeball man!!!

McKinley: Hunty can I have a hug, I have missed you!
Hunter: No, I stinky!
McKinley: What? You are stinky?
Hunter: Yeah, I stinky all the time!!!
McKinley: Ohh that is ok, I don't care.
Hunter slowly walks over and gives me a hug and kiss ahhaha. It was like he was thinking... ohh you don't care?!? Ok then, I don't mind!

Hunter: What's this?
McKinley: That is Eke's helmet, it helps round out his head.
Hunter: Ohh Eke has hockey helmet!

Hunter: Bye Bye Eke Hockey!

Can you tell Hunty is all about sports? What a boy!!! For his birthday we gave him a baseball action figure. When he saw me carrying the present he jumped up and yelled, "PRESENT!!!!" He opens it up and says, "Ohhh babeball man!!!" and he will make the action of the man swinging his bat. Brittany then told him, "Hunter, now you can play with him in Ella's doll house," as she laughs under her breath. Hunter replies, "Yeaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!" Oopies, sorry Ella!! You may now have one more reason to not want your little brother around.

I LOVE MY FAMILY!!!

The Door

The door that leads into Eke's nursery is sticky. It makes a very distinct noise when you open it. Every now and then we need to get into Little E's room for one chore or another. He used to sleep right through it, but now he associates that noise with us. Whether he is fast asleep, groggy, or wide awake with no time, he pops right up looking for that confirmation of us in the door way, and this is what we see...

Cooing and Gaing, having a good ol' time.

Then he sees my face, and I am rewarded with this!

I can't do anything but laugh because I love how he peeks over the railing just to get the right glimpse. I love that he is anxiously waiting to spend time with us and that he knows that noise means he will see our faces.

These are the simple joys of being a parent and it makes my whole day.

DUMB

The word dumb never bothered me. I never felt it was true when someone would say the word stupid or dumb. I believe it was because I knew in my heart I wasn't dumb, I just learned differently. I knew that I had different kinds of intelligence.

  

As a kid, I was always comfortable in my own skin. I had ginormous glasses, huge teeth, bulky knees and stringy blonde hair. There literally wasn't a thing you could say to me that would bring me down. I would look at someone and think, "Who cares?!?!" I overheard my teacher once tell my mom that I had great self-esteem. I still believe that is true.

This is me in 3rd or 4th grade with my cat ahahahah I told you!!!

I always surrounded myself with people who knew exactly who I was. Not one of my friends ever thought I was dumb... well I think they knew something was off because I didn't read or do other scholastic things at their same level. I have several friends who actually don't think (and express to me) that my learning disability isn't as bad as I say it really is. I think it is because they could still see other kinds of intelligence that I have. I was and am always thankful for this.

The only time I struggle with feeling dumb is when I can tell someone truly believes I am. That they think they are better then me. That they are so quick to judge and not see other talents I posses. When this becomes the case, I begin to follow into their thought process like a fly gets trapped in honey. After a while, I can easily snap out of it and realize... "Wait... They don't get who I am!"

I don't want to prove who I am. I don't believe that is the proper way to change someone's incorrect view. Yet I feel frustrated, overwhelmed, and hurt knowing that someone doesn't see my full character, that they are stuck in their way of thinking.

I have found there are two ways to address this...
(1) Call them out on it and let them know exactly how you feel, or (2) push them out because they aren't worth your while. Anyone who believes you are below them doesn't deserve your breath, PERIOD!

But what do you do when you can't do either of these options? Do you prove why you are their equal? Do you just continue to know who you are, knowing that your true character and personality isn't shining through? Do you worry about what they say when you are gone?

I don't care what other people think of me... I know this statement rings true throughout my whole soul, but I do care that I haven't allowed my true self to come across. In case you didn't read it before, I love my learning disability. It has made me the person that I want to be. It keeps my feet on the ground, and I would never wish it away. I would just wish that people would remember that everyone has feelings and would remember that by putting me or anyone else below your thumb is wrong!

What would you do?

Counting Down

I would like to inform you that Gian is graduating from BYU in 10 days!!! I am so excited to take Little Z to his graduation, watch Gian in his cap and gown, and take pictures next to the BYU sign. Ahhhh what an amazing accomplishment!!! I am very proud of him. Now he has law school to look forward to.

Here is to Gian and the next chapter in his life!!! Congratulations, you are pretty dang awesome!

CHEERS!!

If you would like to join us in the joyous occasion you may email me for info.

His People's Food

Whenever there is anything Asian, Gian will yell out, "MY PEOPLE!!!" He has no shame.... you do not want to be around us when we are in China Town. Seriously, he will yell it at anything Asian, even if it has nothing to do with Filipinos i.e. The Chinese Dragon will still get a, "MY PEOPLE!!" My dad looked at him and said, "You are not Chinese!!" Gian's response "Yeah, but I'm Asian!" My dad was bent over holding his stomach trying not to laugh harder.

Monday we started Eke on rice cereal. Gian has been anxiously waiting for this day because rice is one of his favorite things to eat with every single meal, plus he associates rice with his culture. So when I came home from the gorcery store with a box of rice cereal Gian looks at Ekemona and says, "OUR PEOPLE'S FOOD!!!" So here is Eke eating "his people's food." PS Check out his bib!!! I think it is amazing.

Drum Roll Please....

The winner of the Les Madeleines Giveaway is...

Congratulations!!! Please email me at Haolepinos{@}gmail{.}com by April 7 to claim your prize.

By the way that sounds delicious, I want to try it the next time we are in Vegas.

Magnolia Flower

The other night I was lying in bed and thinking about the fabric I just bought, when suddenly a design came to mind. I spent some time trying to cut the fabric to see how I could manipulate it to become the way I had envisioned it. After trial and error, I finally come up with this creation:

I call her Magnolia Flower

So there are some small flaws... do you see them?!? NOT THE POINT!!! The point is, through my wonderful education at FIDM, I was able to make a pattern that works. So I thought I would share the joy with you in case you choose to make these on a rainy/snowy Sunday.

First you will need:

1.) Scissors

2.) Ruler

3.) 8.5x11 sheet of felt fabric

4.) An empty cereal box

5.) Hot glue and glue gun

6.) Clips i.e. hair clips, brooch clips, etc...

7.) A decorative button

Step 1:

• On a flat piece of cardboard {cereal box}, I cut out three squares and a circle. I first made two circle that was 2" in diameter. Because I wanted to save time, I searched my pantry for something of that size and found my vitamins that worked like a charm.
• 2- 2" diameter circles

• Now for the three different size petals... three squares. I made about 15 petals for each size just in case I made a mistake.
• 1 1/2" square
• 1 1/4" square
• 1" square

Step 2:

• Now that the fabric is all cut out, you can begin the tedious part. For each square, I cut them into a pentagon shape. Once that shape was complete, I rounded the top three corners. I left the bottom two corners harsh so I knew what side to fold.
• The squares now look like artichoke leaves, can you see the shape yet?

Step 3:

• Your petals are ready for gluing. For the 1" and 1 1/4" petals I glued a small bead and pinched the fabric like so...

• The 1 1/2" petals I folded twice. Because this is bigger I found it was easier to get the correct shape by gluing it this way. See images below...

 Instead of a bead of glue, do a strip

Fold one corner to the center

Fold the second corner so it over laps the first corner. 

Creating the petal to have more of a cylinder shape.

Step 4:

• After all the petals are created, feel free to trim any you feel need more rounding or more of a point.
• With the 1 1/2" {largest} petals, you will first glue them around the edge of one of the 2" circles.
• Make sure your petals are closely touching so there are no gaps. You can decide how far out you would like your petals to be on the circle. 
• Wrap the largest petals all the way around the circle until you are no longer able to place anymore petals. You have completed the first row of petals.
• Now take the 1 1/4" {medium} petals and do the same as you did with the petals previously except move in closer into the center, making the felt circle disappear. This will create the second row of petals.
• Lastly take the 1" {smallest} petals and fill in the same way as you did with the two previous size petals.
• Once you are done with all three rows of petals you are ready to add your button. Add a large bead of  hot glue to the center of the magnolia flower and place button.

I am so sorry I have no photos to share. All of a sudden I was done, and relized I didn't document this step. 

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. 

Step 5:

• Now you have your complete flower and you are ready to add a clasp. On the second 2" circle, place the clip where you would like it to go.
• Fold the fabric and cut a very small slit for the brooch to stick through.
• Add hot glue to the back of the clip. Do not apply pressure because it can seep through the felt.
• Gently add it to the back of the flower. As the clasp is drying you can glue the "seams" shut by making a thin layer as close to the edge as possible. Again, do not add pressure, the glue will do it's job well enough.

 This is what the back of your completed flower should look like.

Cut slits in second circle. Add clasp.

Glue the clasp to the backside of the circle. {The side that will not be seen}

Step 6:

• Add it to a headband, belt, shirt or clip it in to your hair. It can make a great gift or you can add it to a present for some pretty packaging detail.
• Voila!!! You are beautiful and proud of your hand-made craft!!!

I am linked up with: Tatertots and Jello, Sew Many Ways, Finger Prints on the Fridge, Miss Crafty Pants, Mad in Crafts, The Girl Creative, Just a Girl, Todays Creative Blog, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, 

Baby Mine

The other day Ekemona was very tired because of his teething and a walk to the park. He doesn't like to cuddle when he is all happy and alert. He prefers to roll around. But the way he was curling up to me just melted my heart. I  love this little man!!!