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THE PORTFOLIO – IN PROGRESS HOME COOKIN’ CHALLENGE OF 2020 __December 14, 2019March 25, 2020

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Given my current trajectory, I’m anticipating I’ll be home cookin’ all throughout 2020, so I thought of an interesting challenge for myself. Each month, I’m going to specifically try one recipe I find on WordPress, so I’ll have cooked up a total of 12 different recipes by the end of December 2020. I’m super excited! orange chicken and rice For any food bloggers (or food enthusiasts like me) who are reading, feel free to post a recipe you think I should try and leave a link down below. I’ll definitely check out some of the food bloggers I’m currently following to see if I get inspired. The recipes I’m specifically looking for are going to be ones I haven’t necessarily tried before, the ingredients aren’t too expensive and aren’t too complicated to make. I’ll post up photographs of my finished creation. I’m excited to bake some desserts, try some new appetizers and discover some great wholesome

dinner recipes.

Strawberry cheesecake crumble

bars

REASONS FOR DOING THIS: * It’s a challenge, so it’ll be interesting to see if I actually

complete this!

* I’m always up for learning new things, so I’m sure there are so many recipes out there that I’ll love and would want to use over

and over again.

* This will keep me motivated to do more home cookin’ in case I lose steam next year and get me to document more like I used to. * I want to also showcase some cool WordPress food blogs out here and give them some love! Feel free to join the HOME COOKIN’ CHALLENGE OF 2020 if you think this is something you’d like to do, too. I’d LOVE to follow and see which recipes you end up choosing each month, as well. I guess I’ll stick this on my homepage, so I don’t forget! HOME COOKIN’ CHALLENGE OF 2020 | RECIPE 1 home cookin’ challenge of 2020 | recipe 2 HOME COOKIN’ CHALLENGE OF 2020 | RECIPE 3

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LOVE IS STILL THE ANSWER __April 2, 2020March 31, 2020

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Jason Mraz asked people to submit video footage of love and then he compiled a lot of them into this video that was created for his song, _Love Is Still The Answer_. To see the video in its entirety, especially in this now coronavirus time, means so much to me. As much as I’ve seen, read and watched devastating and heartbreaking news, I’ve seen kindness, heroism and love during this time, as well. And just like this video, I want to celebrate love and put that as our focus to solving the multiple problems we are facing now.

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A LITTLE UPDATE ON THE INDOOR GARDEN __April 1, 2020March 29, 2020

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I planted a few seeds. The lavender seeds did not do so well. I think I only have one baby plant that is barely holding on. However, good news is that there are a few seeds that did well; especially the cornflowers. Basil also did a great job, but most of the seedlings popped up after I took these photos. I’d say so far, marigolds are the easiest plants to manage from first seed planting to now. I have been watering them very often and placed them by a window with very

good direct light.

MARIGOLDS are doing so well. I’m going to transplant them into individual containers soon as you can see, it’s a little forest at

this point.

I believe these are FORGET-ME-NOTS, which ironically, I can’t remember. But they shall show themselves in due time. The CORNFLOWERS are way taller than my last update. I can’t wait to plant these outside! The weather’s been bad, so I’m afraid to leave them outdoors only for them to be exposed to the strong weather

and winds.

Other gardening posts you might like to read:

FUN GARDENING DAY

HOUSEPLANT PORTRAITS & UPDATES

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THANK YOU DOCTORS, NURSES AND FIRST RESPONDERS __March 31, 2020March 29, 2020

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Thank you for helping our entire world, Since the panic, stress & fear unfurled. When the virus first came on the scene, No one really knew what that would mean. But you continue to save lives day and night, You persevere on with all of your might (and light). I don’t think you anticipated this situation, In your medical training and simulations. But you face this with courage and passion, Strength and will in superhero fashion. My heart and gratitude goes out to all of you; Angels who save us through and through.

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BLACK BEAN, BROCCOLI, SPICY SAUSAGE RICE BOWL __March 30, 2020March 29, 2020

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Black bean, broccoli, spicy

sausage rice

Wow, this was super good and hearty. I haven’t eaten black beans in a while, but because of this pandemic and minimizing my travel to the grocery store, I’ve ventured into my pantry for a couple of staple items. I hope this inspires some creativity in the kitchen!

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HOUSEPLANT PORTRAITS & UPDATES

__March 29, 2020

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When I was taking photographs for my next gardening update, I decided to take some time and show some love to my houseplants, as well.

Enjoy!

Bamboo plant in upcycled tomato sauce jar My bamboo plants were starting to get yellow leaves, so I decided to separate them and give them each a new home in these upcycled tomato sauce glass jars I’ve been holding onto. As you can tell by the green stem, this one is seemingly happy where he is now. I love seeing the new growth potential with the leaves. There were some I planted in soil and they are thriving in that environment, as well.

Happy philodendron

She’s a happy mama. When I tried out the PHILODENDRON GARDENING

EXPERIMENT

,

I used two cuttings from this plant. One was planted in soil and has done well. It’s rooted for sure and I see new leaves growing, as well. The other was placed in a baby upcycled glass jar with water, but it did not do as well. There was mold growing nearby the stem, so I cut off that stem part, and replanted the other side that had potential growth in soil. The new leaf just opened a couple of days ago. There’s also another leaf growing. Here’s the baby

philodendron:

Baby philodendron

plant with ceramic baby deer peperomia obtusifolia (baby rubber plant) I wrote a POST ON THIS PEPEROMIA the other day. He’s hanging in there and looks healthier than before. I’m trying to see if the stem on the side can succeed in growing. It, unfortunately, was part of a stem that had turned bad and needed to be composted out. Overall, these are the most low-maintenance of the bunch, I’d say.

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THE MANDARIN DUCK | A NICE SURPRISE __March 28, 2020March 26, 2020

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Could this be an actual mandarin duck? As I’ve been sharing photographs of Hawaii, I came upon this one. I believe it’s a mandarin duck and if you Google that term, you’ll see a very exotic bird! I see similar characteristics, so I do think it might be. How very odd! I must have forgotten I saw this in person. And so for me, this is quite a nice surprise.

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RICE NOODLE STIR FRY WITH GROUND TURKEY & SPINACH __March 27, 2020March 25, 2020

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Rice noodles, ground turkey, spinach, garlic & green onions in sesame oil and soy sauce Last night I cooked with noodles I don’t usually cook with. I wanted to make an udon stir-fry, and basically re-organized my freezer to see if I had any left. And, of course not. But it was okay because the last time I went to the Asian grocery store, I bought some packets of rice noodles. They were extremely cheap and I love making FRESH ROLLS with them. The stir-fry turned out good for the most part. I didn’t season the ground turkey enough, but a dash of salt cured the minor blandness. I really like the texture of these noodles. This dish inspired me to cook with these noodles more often! We’ve been going crazy with pasta in my house as of late, as I’m sure many of you are, as well. Lucky me, carbs are my favorite.

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MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT | AWAKENED RESPONSE TO COVID-19 __March 26, 2020March 26, 2020

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I haven’t done this in a while. Wake up to complete darkness. Outside is so still. The ol’ heater makes its creaks and the refrigerator hums along. I woke up because the rain drops hitting the windows were forceful. It wanted to be heard like a crying baby. But of course, gentler. And my mind is obedient and starts its gears before I even have a chance to yawn again. My legs move slowly across the soft bed and I try to ease back into slumber, but it doesn’t work. Comfort isn’t enough anymore. So I mentally start planning my day; thinking about chores that need to get done. Thinking about the regular stressors that occupy my mind. Wondering when and if we’ll see the calmness of this pandemic. I hear it’ll get worse. It breaks my heart seeing and reading about how many people are suffering right now. Their struggles and pain are

so deep.

I saw Dr. Andrea Dinardo’s post about THRIVING UNDER PRESSURE OF

COVID-19

and she says in a video she shared, “_Take this as an opportunity to come together as a resilient community_.” I really like that line. She asks, “_What has COVID-19 crisis awakened in you_?” And I gave that question some reflection. I appreciate life and specifically, the countless hours of effort the first responders, medical professionals, scientists, community leaders, activists and journalists who are literally saving lives. They are working hard on finding solutions to the negative impacts from this virus and giving us information we need to stay informed and safe. Now, more than ever, do I want to contribute to the positivity of life through this blog. I guess I could sum up this paragraph with this: I want to not only shine light on life’s light, I want to help keep that light on.

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HOME COOKIN’ CHALLENGE OF 2020 | RECIPE 3

__March 25, 2020

__cnw __1 Comment

This recipe is called the _Berry Cheesecake Crumble Bars_ from the WordPress blog THE COOKING SPOON Strawberry cheesecake crumble

bars

This is such a fun dessert to make and to eat! We don’t eat cheesecake very often, so this was a nice treat for my family and I. Everyone enjoyed the taste profiles from the sweet creamy cheese filling, salty granola crust/crumble topping and the strawberry

mixture.

MODIFICATION:

* Instead of cashews, I used peanuts for the crumble topping and

crust

I look forward to making this again with different frozen fruits; maybe blueberries, perhaps? This recipe is 3 out of 12 new recipes I’ll be trying this year. To learn more about the _HOME COOKIN’ CHALLENGE OF 2020__,_ check out my post about it HERE

.

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PEPEROMIA OBTUSIFOLIA (BABY RUBBER PLANT) __March 24, 2020March 24, 2020

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peperomia obtusifolia with marble

leaves

I’m learning a lot about the houseplants I have. I bought this about half a year ago or so. Beautiful and growing, at the time, however, with my carelessness and ignorance, I’ve lost some leaves since this photograph was taken. This morning, I re-potted this into a smaller planter after having re-potted it a couple of weeks ago into one that was way too big. After doing a lot of research today (including an article I read from

The Spruce

), I

learned that I’ve been doing a lot of things that definitely did not

help.

* They don’t need to be watered very often. * They don’t like direct sunlight. * They don’t need to be re-potted into big planters. These were the main things that I overlooked. Now that I know these things, I’m hoping it’ll survive and thrive!

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RED-CRESTED CARDINAL, PERHAPS __March 23, 2020March 23, 2020

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bird at Honolulu Zoo I saw this little fella wandering around outside of a cage. And I was happy to see him free.

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WHITE HIBISCUS FLOWERS | WAIKIKI HAWAII __March 22, 2020March 22, 2020

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These are so freaking beautiful. I tried to research what their exact name is, but it seems there are two it could be: hibiscus arnottianus and hibiscus waimeae. They look exactly the same to me, so I’m not sure which one these flowers are. I miss Hawaii and the beauty it had everywhere.

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VIRTUAL HUG

__March 21, 2020March 21, 2020

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__Leave a comment

What a turn of events,

Money & time spent,

Where does one go,

For answers, who knows? But to come as a community, Virtually, to build our immunity. We are paving pathways of strength, Doctors, nurses, scientists going great lengths, So please follow their words, Stay home, stay clear of the herds. Take care of your health & body, A good time to pick up a new hobby. Trying to live the best I can live, By being updated, careful and positive. I wish you all well wishes during this time, Hoping this time next year, we shall all be fine. _Poem written during COVID-19 outbreak. _

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COLORFUL FLOWER WREATH | UPCYCLED EGG CARTONS | SUSTAINABILITY __March 20, 2020March 21, 2020

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Flowers made from empty egg cartons Happy to have made this cute and simple flower wreath by upcycling a couple of empty egg cartons. There are a lot of tutorials for this diy and they’re easy to make. It was honestly really therapeutic for me to carefully cut and paint these cuties. I haven’t painted in a while, and after this activity, I think I’ll be taking my paintbrushes out more often. It truly fascinates me how simple and basic most decorative things are. Why spend so much on something you can likely make on your own?

It’s fun, too!

I thought that the egg carton paper material would be too thin and the paint would damage them, but that wasn’t the case. The material is sturdy enough, but light enough that even my compostable plate ring could hold them all. If you have the time, motivation and materials, I would certainly recommend trying this craft out!

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ECO-FRIENDLY THINGS I’M EXCITED TO DO THIS YEAR

__March 19, 2020

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* BEACH CLEAN-UP DAY(S). When the weather is warmer, I’d like to venture out and pick up some trash/recycling, so we can all enjoy the

beautiful views.

Cornflower seedlings grow so fast and so tall! * GARDENING OF COURSE! I’ll have a gardening update soon. I’m excited to transplant my cornflower plants from their containers and into my garden. I’ve also planted seeds for some forget-me-nots, lavender and marigolds. * CREATING A COMPOST area in my yard. I’ve been doing a mini compost test these past few weeks and already, my trash has reduced so much, which means less in the landfill and more back into nature. a DIY craft I made a few years ago from scrap papers * UPCYCLING DIY CRAFTS. I’ve already started doing this by using some of the single-use plastic as planters for my seedlings. I have a few crafts in mind that I’d like to feature here this year that I’ve been inspired by (homemade wreath, handmade journals, making

reusable bags).

* DRYING MY CLOTHES OUTSIDE. Since it’s been too cold to be outside, I haven’t been able to, but, whenever summer comes, I love hanging my clothes outside. The clothes just smell better by being in the sun and nature all day. Also, this saves a lot of energy that the dryer would have taken to dry my clothes.

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POSTS NAVIGATION

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TOP POSTS & PAGES

* a little update on the indoor garden * love is still the answer * Thank you doctors, nurses and first responders * black bean, broccoli, spicy sausage rice bowl * houseplant portraits & updates

* fun gardening day

* Product review: Baggu Chestnut Duck Bag | sustainability * rice noodle stir fry with ground turkey & spinach * the mandarin duck | a nice surprise

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MY 5 GOALS FOR 2020

* Take on the HOME COOKIN’ CHALLENGE OF 2020 * Read & write reviews for at least 5 books this year (last year, I had a goal of 20, but only completed 6

).

You can follow me on GOODREADS

, if you

like.

* Write 2 DIY posts for this blog (oh my, remember the EGG KEYCHAIN

I made haha)

* Post at least 1 step-by-step recipe (I think this FRESH SUMMER

ROLLS RECIPE

is the only one I’ve ever posted. I am so surprised by this..!) * Create and post about one art piece Blog at WordPress.com. _Back

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