A Cinderella Story

When I was little, I was obsessed with Cinderella's glass slipper. I remember my childhood Cinderella book and I'd stare at the pictures of her blue gown and glass slippers. I vividly remember the scene from the movie where the slipper sits atop a pillow and they animate a sparkle gleaming from the shoe. Really, all those tiny details Disney added in went straight to my soul. 

As a child, I really wanted my own glass slipper. Swarovski makes a glass slipper as part of their crystal collection, but at $100+, I said no thank you. I was also intelligent enough to know I didn't actually want something breakable, because chances were, I was going to break it. So instead, I wanted a "glass" slipper ornament made out of some other material that wasn't breakable. Over the years I saw many renditions of Christmas ornament heels. Most were glittery and sparkly, some were acrylic, but none were mine.

You can find Christmas ornaments which look similar to this for a few dollars.
Pretty depending on the perspective you're taking, but not what I wanted.

As I grew up, I fell in love with a miniatures collection called Just the Right Shoe. I'd see the collectibles pop up in magazines here and there. The closest I ever got was cutting out the pictures and saving them in notebooks.

An example set of Just the Right Shoe on a display shoe.

I eventually gave up on my dream of ever owning my own Cinderella slippers. The years went on and I got married. We started a tradition of buying a meaningful ornament every year to add to our Christmas tree. Since then we've purchased eight ourselves and been gifted many with the births of our children. I even turned some old souvenirs into ornaments by hanging them up with string. 

My kids love checking out the tree.

While casually discussing Christmas gifts, my husband asked me what I wanted, and I randomly told him I wanted a glass slipper ornament. I told him it had to be a certain kind with a certain appearance. I wasn't the young child who was fascinated by all things shiny with glitter anymore. So I did a quick search online and actually found one which didn't break the bank and actually looked the way I wanted it to. And he ordered it, no questions asked. 

The perfect balance of elegance and charm and within budget!

I didn't grow up hungry or poor or lacking in any physical sense. All my needs were met sufficiently, but like Cinderella, I did not grow up with a lot of joy or fun. Christmas wasn't a big deal at our house. Our gifts sometimes consisted of rewrapped existing toys so we could simply open an actual gift. My husband has helped bring back the joy and fun I missed out on growing up, and for the first time, I have my own Cinderella "slipper."

(Technically, this is my second slipper..if you want to read about my first "slipper" check out a post from three years ago here.)

Ugly Delicious

After my son was born, an auntie dropped off food for us. One of the dishes she brought was ketchup shrimp. It was delicious. I hadn't had this dish in years and tasting the sauce on the shrimp reminded me of my childhood. After that, I looked up a recipe.

The recipe I found was from The Woks of Life. I read the recipe and kept the page open on my iPad for over a year. It would be one of my 5+ tabs open at any one time, and it stayed there for a long, long time. Why didn't I try making it? After all, we have shrimp at home almost at all times. I think it was mostly fear and a couple of other excuses.

- Fresh shrimp tastes better than frozen so you get more flavor out of it.

- I love head-on shrimp. If I'm going to take the time to make a beloved dish, I was going to go all out. 

- I'm not a big risk taker so if it's a new recipe, I have to mentally prepare myself first.

One afternoon, I went grocery shopping and decided on a whim to buy head-on shrimp. We used part of it during hot pot after the kids went to sleep so we could eat in peace. We haven't done a hot pot meal at our house for nearly two years. It was a lovely at-home date. For the rest of it, I decided to go for it and make the ketchup shrimp recipe.

I really love their blog and the recipes they post. I've learned a lot of Chinese food from their blog, so if there's a dish you enjoy and are curious how to make it, chances are it's on their blog. 

My ketchup shrimp turned out beautifully. 

I love head-on shrimp. I just can't explain. I know it grosses out a lot of people, especially people who didn't grow up with food that's beyond chicken and potatoes. But the extra flavor you get from having the head on is worth it. 

Let me tell you, this dish brought me back. If a flavor inside your mouth could transport you back to a distinct memory, this one did it for me. I felt like I was a little kid again sitting in our kitchen table at our old house with yellow-flowered wallpaper, propping my chair up on its back legs and leaning against the window ledge. The sauce combination in this dish was so distinct to me as a flavor I loved and hadn't had in so long.

Anyone else have that one dish which brings them back?

A Themed Birthday

I had two birthday parties growing up, and neither of them had themes. My first themed birthday was actually this year! It was unintentional but just conveniently worked.

Unfortunately, my youngest got sick the weekend before my birthday so on my actual birthday, we didn't do very much. We did get takeout from bbq chicken, a new chain of Korean fried chicken which opened sometime last year. The first time we ordered from them, I wasn't impressed. So we reverted back to our old kfc favorite restaurant for a few orders. Then, recently, we decided to give bbq chicken another try, and I was much more impressed. I don't know if it's because it's the second time we had it, my tastes have changed, or if it was actually better. But I enjoyed it much more the second time.

Then there was my card. My husband and I have been DIYing birthday cards for many years now. Occasionally we've purchased cards if we were short on time, or like the time I was pregnant and puking during my husband's birthday so he received his birthday card about a month later. True story. Well this year, my husband made me a card and put a specific penguin on the front of the card. It's a penguin from a scene of a k-drama we watched together.

Well, we found the specific penguin online. The only retailers who sold it were Asian companies and potential scam websites. After doing some research and scouting, we decided to take a chance from this one website which looked the least sketchy. It wasn't a cheap stuffed animal, but it wasn't unreasonably expensive for being a "famous" plush. We still weren't completely sure if it was going to be a scam or not, but to mitigate the consequences of a potential scam, we used our fanciest credit card so if we were going to have to report a scam, the credit card customer service would have been a little nicer. That was the hope, anyway. 

Thankfully, we didn't have to find out because it wasn't a scam! 11 business day later, it arrived! 

Shipped all the way from Asia in Asian style wrapping
and sewn shut with string like a rice bag! iykyk.

I might be the only one who feels this way, but even after marriage and two children, I feel like I'm aging backwards. At the very least, on the inside. 😜

Happy 18th birthday to me! 😂 just kidding.

Punished for Promptness

I’ve been someone who likes to get things done on time. My English teacher during my junior year of high school had a wonderful system where if we turned in our essays before the due date, we would earn five extra points because it allowed her to spread out her grading instead of receiving and grading 30 papers all at once.  You bet I capitalized on those bonus five points every time. I didn’t always write phenomenal papers, but those five points occasionally meant the difference between a B and an A. 

However, there've been three distinct times in my life when being prompt did not work in my favor. 

1. When I was in high school, we wrote essays for orchestra. Each year we got assigned our orchestra essay in the beginning of the year, and each year, most people would wait until about April to actually write them and turn them in before they were due. In April. The first year, that's kind of what I did. I was a freshman and I didn't really know what I was doing my entire freshman year. Sophomore year, I knew better. I planned the concert I'd attend and would write about and had everything done early. On the first day the teacher was accepting essays, I turned mine in. There was no special recognition or anything for being the first, and that's okay because I didn't expect anything. I was simply glad it was completed.

About a week later, my teacher had some candy and she randomly made the announcement that if anyone turned in their orchestra essay, they'd receive a piece. Nobody had their essay ready right at that moment, but I'd already handed mine in, and I did not receive a complimentary piece of candy for having already turned it in. I didn’t care about the candy. It was never about the candy. But why make a random statement a week later AND forget about the essay which had already been turned in? Maybe she didn't want to single me out. But if you're going to offer candy aren't you trying to single someone out?

2. Years later when I was at a conference, the director emailed about sending him rooming requests for the hotel. I sent him a reply with my roommate request that very same day. I never received a confirmation email from him saying he'd received my email, but confirmation emails get lost these days. So, fine. I didn't think about sending a follow up one to see if he'd received it because he was a busy person with lots to do. 

At the conference, I saw my room assignment and it was not rooming with the person I had requested. I didn't complain about it or tell anyone, but my friend and I knew something went wrong and it wasn't on our end. 

3. I purchased an item from a newly launched website to support a business. I received my item and was generally pleased with it. After a few months, I noticed the prices had lowered. Now these weren't temporarily lower prices. These were permanently lowered prices as far as I could see on the store's website. Including the special promo discounts which were still valid, I could have saved over $20 had I been lazier about supporting this business. That's a huge disappointment from a customer perspective because my fervent support upon the initial launch meant I paid more money. Shouldn't it be the other way around? 

It's a shame because I was going to buy more products, but after this happened, I haven't because I don't feel valued as a customer. My early loyalty was actually penalized. 

**

My memory is probably better than most to remember these seemingly minute details about life, but even the "insignificant" events shape me to be who I am today. Have these affected my perception of being prompt and timely? In some ways, yes, they have.

My Favorite Name

My kids are at great ages right now. 18 months is fun because it's still "baby" enough to have the cute and adorable aspects of having a baby but grown enough to play independently, walk, and chew unmashed food. 3 is nice because she's old enough to follow instructions, be potty trained, and even assist me around the house in simple tasks. 

My kids have also been on and off sick for the last 4 months straight. That's what it seems like anyway. When we have one sick child, the house kind of divides because I try my hardest to separate them as to not spread the germs. We end up doing 1:1 with the child which favors each of us best. That means 120% of the time, I get my daughter, because when she's inconsolable, she doesn't want to see anyone else except me.

I like spending time with my daughter. It makes me feel slightly guilty not to see my son as much, especially him being the second child. But my daughter is fun. She talks a lot and we have conversations. One evening, I took her out on a walk, just the two of us. We held hands and walked two whole streets up and down in our neighborhood. 

While walking, she would tell me thinks she was observing or ask me questions regarding our surroundings. 

Mommy, look, it's a bird. 

Mommy, look, it's a flag. 

Mommy, why is there a flag there? 

Mommy, look, it's a squirrel. 

And she'd continue telling me things or asking me things. And she'd hold my hand and we'd walk slowly around the neighborhood and soak in the outdoors. Sometimes she'll say sentences in English, sometimes they're in Chinese. But Mommy is always in English.

Thankful for days I don't teach so I can take evening walks

This phase won't last forever. Children are constantly changing, faster than I can realize. I don't know when or if she'll stop being so inquisitive and observant. I don't know when she'll stop wanting to tell me everything she has to say. But for now, it's nice. 

Shelf Cooking Part 2

If you missed my first week of shelf cooking, check out the post here.

My second week of shelf cooking did not go nearly as well as the first week. We started off the week with chicken tikka masala which my husband and I enjoyed. The kids had some random fried rice here and there and I cooked a pork dish. We did a meal of frozen dumplings and Costco pizza. We also had leftovers to finish from when my husband's parents came to visit. So week two was more of survival mode and eating whatever we could. 

This is an older photo from a previous time I made chicken tikka masala.
When you're shelf cooking you have to forego the scallions and cilantro.

By Thursday and Friday, I had done some grocery shopping again so I could cook some more dishes. On Friday, I was also bringing friends a meal for their meal train so I made a double batch of everything so we would eat the other half at home. Great way to motivate you into grocery shopping and cooking: cook for someone else! 

We ended the week with sushi since I was going to be in the area of our favorite sushi restaurant during dinner time. I placed an order over the phone and picked it up on my way home. 

Let me be honest. Shelf cooking the first week was fun. It was exciting and "cool" to be cooking from things we had at home. It felt like the most efficient way to be lazy. The second week? Not so much. If you ever shelf cook, don't do it two weeks in a row, and don't do it for longer than a week. 

We're slowly returning back to a normal routine of grocery shopping and meal prepping again, but shelf cooking for two weeks was an eye-opening experience.

Shelf Cooking

Last week, we had a friend over for lunch on Sunday and we ended up talking for the entire afternoon. We really enjoyed our time with our friend, but unfortunately, it meant I lost my day to do my weekly cooking preparation. 

I was too lazy to go grocery shopping after that so we ate an entire week of meals planned through shelf cooking. Shelf cooking is defined by cooking with ingredients you already have. For me, that means using frozen meats, frozen vegetables, canned vegetables, or refrigerator staples. I did go to the grocery store during the week to pick up some staples such as milk, eggs, and bread, but I actually didn't buy any other fresh vegetables to cook the dishes we ate throughout the week because I didn't need any.

The first week of shelf cooking, I made:

1. Pesto: dry pasta, pre-made pesto I make myself and save in jars in the fridge, olive oil, canned chicken (optional)

2. Chili: dry beans, canned tomatoes, onion, frozen ground beef, spices

3. Seafood omlettes: eggs, frozen mussels, frozen shrimp, spices

4. Asian vermicelli (very similar to 蚂蚁上树): mung bean noodles, frozen peas, frozen ground pork, eggs, frozen shrimp, sauces and seasoning

5. DIY lunchables: pepperoni, cheese cubes, crackers

6. Homemade pizza: pizza dough yeast, pepperoni, shredded cheese, spaghetti sauce, Italian seasoning

This was my first time doing a full week of shelf cooking and it turned out great! This is a far cry from what you typically think of as last-minute meals: PBJ, instant noodles, canned soup. We did have an occasional meal here and there with supplemented frozen food such as frozen dumplings or frozen Cane's chicken (we buy a tailgate, freeze it, and reheat in 6-8 pieces at a time for a meal. They're delicious reheated when you reheat them properly!) But our shelf cooking week was quite successful. 

This is mainly possible due to keeping certain things on hand at all times. 

In the pantry, this includes things like pasta, pasta sauce, canned tomatoes, dry beans, and dry Asian noodles. In the refrigerator, I stock items like cheese, pepperoni, or eggs. For the freezer, this includes almost anything: frozen meats, frozen seafood, frozen vegetables, I even keep frozen butter and sometimes frozen bread. Covid taught me a lot about how to freeze foods to save for later. 

There were a few fresher staples I used which included onions and potatoes. These are fresh vegetables which have a longer shelf life when stored properly. So this allowed me to use them in the dishes I mentioned above without having bought them specifically for this week's menu. I even made homemade French fries in the oven to go with our frozen Cane's!

If you've never tried shelf cooking before, or never shelf cooked for this long, I hope reading about my menu for the week has inspired you to be more creative even on weeks when you don't grocery shop :) 

Stay tuned, we're having another partial shelf cooking week! I'll be sharing how we did it a second week in a row while still cooking a variety of food!