FLIP + CHING

El Cheapo Con Huevo

Posted on May 6, 2012 by Ching under Food and Drink.

Brian and I made El Cheapo for the first time this year. It’s a dish that we serve with steamed rice because of it’s salty flavor. Steamed rice balances it.

I think it had been about a year since we made it last. We call it El Cheapo because it’s really cheap and easy to make. We just get some ground beef, season it with salt, pepper, and soy sauce, and add some peas and carrots, and we’ve got a meal. It’s super simple.

This time around, Brian wanted to improvise. He decided that he wanted us to use ground pork, instead of the usual ground beef, and he wanted to serve a fried egg on top. Thus, the “Con Huevo” in the name of the dish. It actually turned out pretty well. Although, I still prefer it the traditional way with ground beef and no egg. Brian really likes the new variation, though. But then, he tries to add a fried egg to every meal.

Oh, and since I know how much Brian loves suka, I went ahead and added some Datu Puti to it while I was cooking it. What about you? What do you think we should change to make this dish better?

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Catching Up On Much-Needed Grooming

Posted on May 6, 2012 by Ching under Things to Do.

Don’t let the look on his face fool you. Brian loves getting pedicures. His most favorite thing is to have the ladies buff his toenails shiny, in lieu of painting his nails with clear nail polish, which isn’t manly enough I suppose. LOL.

I take that back. Brian’s favorite part is the hot stone foot massage.

I went with OPI’s “Royal Flush Blush” shade this time around. I’ve decided that it will be my new Spring/Summer nail color. I’ll go back to “Kreme de la Kremlin” in the Fall.

I’m kind of boring. Some people pick different nail polish colors every time they get their nails done. I use the same color every time. Sometimes I end up picking the exact same color even when I don’t try. LOL. Although, I’m intentionally sticking with “Royal Flush Blush” this time around because I really, really like it.

What do you guys think?

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Time for Some Food Porn

Posted on May 5, 2012 by Ching under Food and Drink.

These were taken at the La Bodega in Leawood, Kansas last weekend. I would have gotten more food photos, except everyone was starving and started mauling their food before I could snap some photos. LOL.

It must have been happy hour when we went because we got half-priced tapas. The sangria was half-priced also, which was good because at $30 a pitcher normally it would have been overpriced. I would pay that much for the blackberry sangria at Carrabba’s, but not this one. It was good, but not that good. I think my sangria actually tastes better. $15 a pitcher was a good price for it and I think that’s how much it should cost regularly. 😉

The meatballs were just okay. The sauce is described as spicy, but the flavor was pretty mild. To be honest, it was kind of bland. It could be me, though. I’m sodium deficient and have low blood pressure issues, so I’m constantly craving salt and prefer my food to be on the salty side.

The chicken and chorizo skewers, on the other hand, were very flavorful. I would order it again, even at full price. The patatas bravas were really good. Hideki ordered it and I got to try some. It’s supposed to be cooked in a spicy tomato sauce but it wasn’t spicy either, which was just right for me because I can’t handle very spicy foods anyway. However, unlike the meatballs, it had good flavor.

Overall I really liked La Bodega and would go there again. I love the idea of tapas and being able to sample various dishes. The portions are small so you don’t have to worry about getting too full. I wish we had one here. I guess I’ll just have to wait until I’m back in the area. Perhaps next time we visit our friend Anthony who lives nearby.

I would recommend going during happy hour when they have half-priced tapas though, because order several things could get expensive. It will add up pretty quickly. Half-priced tapas will allow you to try twice as many dishes without going broke.

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A “Zumba Rangers” Style Road Trip

Posted on May 5, 2012 by Ching under Events, Zumba.

Driving three hours to attend a Zumba master class and then driving back three hours on the same day has got to be one of my craziest ideas yet. I initially wanted to spend the night and drive home the next day, but no one else was staying so Brian and I decided to do the same. I figured it would be better so I could still come to work the next day. As the day of the Gina & Tanya Rock the Stage event drew closer, I decided to go ahead and put in for a vacation day on the following Monday, April 30, anyway… Just in case I was too tired to make it to work the next day. I would rather have it pre-scheduled than have to call in for a vacation day that morning. However, I warned my coworkers ahead of time that if we arrived back in town at a decent time, got enough sleep, and felt good enough the next day that I would come in to work and cancel my vacation day. But, just in case I was worn out from the trip, my vacation day was already on the calendar a week ahead of time.

I’m so glad I had that vacation day scheduled for Monday because I really needed it. Even though we got back home around midnight or so, I didn’t end up going to bed until about two in the morning. Part of it was that I was still wired from the trip, but the other part was that Gina wouldn’t quit posting pictures. Every time I would get ready to close my laptop and go to bed, I would get a message from Facebook that said Gina posted some photos of me and I felt compelled to look at them. Every single time! Brian finally had to put his foot down and say, “You can look at those tomorrow!”

Without further ado, here are some of the photos… This next one is what got us dubbed “Zumba Rangers” by my friend Jay. Gina is supposedly the Fuchsia Ranger; I’m Teal Ranger; Hideki is Blue Ranger; Mandy is Lime Green Ranger; and Andrea is Magenta Ranger. Why? Because regular colors just won’t do.

Our first stop was Town Center Plaza in Leawood, Kansas. I wanted to hit the Lululemon store and sign up for the ambassador program so that I could get 15% off all my Lululemon gear. This has got to be one of the best perks of being a member of the Zumba Instructor Network (ZIN). The only down side is that only my clothes can be discounted. Items that are not for me (e.g. if I buy anything for Brian or anyone else) cannot be discounted. Blech.

You would think that they would have given us better deals for agreeing to do a Zumba demo inside the store. LOL.

This is a photo of the “Zumba Rangers” at La Bodega.

This photo, which was taken before the event, is courtesy of Patricia Thompson (Wheels). We color-coordinated so everyone is wearing teal.

Here are a few more photos that we took before the event.

It truly seemed like everyone in Wichita came to the Gina & Tanya “Rock the Stage” Zumba master class.

This is the photo that I’m using as my cover photo in Facebook right now.

While waiting to check in, our group got a photo taken with Zumba Jammer Amy Hayden. After check in, Andrea and I got a photo together.

Gina’s not in this one because she took the photo.

Me and Mandy. My caffeine high had worn off at this point.

My photo with Tanya Beardsley (left) and Gina Grant (right).

They’re our Zumba idols! This is our group photo with Gina and Tanya.

The Gina & Tanya “Rock the Stage” tour was super awesome. I’m so glad that Gina and Mandy talked me into going. I had a blast!

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My First Gen 3 QT Experience

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Ching under Life.

Brian made a wrong turn on the way back to the Dills place from Ziggy’s so we ended up taking a detour to the QT located at Hillside and Kellogg instead. It’s the first and only third generation QuikTrip in Wichita, or so I’m told. It’s quite impressive, actually. Here are some pictures…