Love Sunday family lunches! Whenever my siblings come to us for a visit, my mom cooks these really delicious meals and my kids just take turns playing with their aunts and uncle and bond over puzzles and iPhone games.

Look what we had for our Sunday lunch!

Aussie steak, potato marbles and salad!
We also had pasta with olives and capers. And a special gravy made from scratch by a friend who is a chef!

I know paella is a traditional Spanish recipe but since we were under the Spaniards for centuries we are heavily influenced by Spanish cooking. Paella is a many-a-family’s favorite dish to serve in special occasions that it holds true for my family as well. I do not know how to cook and prepare the dish like I do not know to clean hot tub cover but I discovered this recipe that I want to try the soonest:

Ingredients:

½ lbs cuttlefish
½ lbs calamari (squid)
8 big jumbo shrimp
4 spiny lobsters, crayfish or smaller lobsters
12 fresh mussels
2-3 fresh oysters
1 tablespoon of sweet paprika
Olive oil
8 tablespoons of tomatoes, cut into pieces
Saffron
2 ½ cups of rice
2-3 garlic cloves
1 – 1 ½ liters of fish soup

Directions

The fish soup is ideally to be prepared at home, using the head and tail of a fish, some onion, laurel, salt and one tomato. Calamari and cuttlefish are cut into pieces.

Give the oil into a pan and warm it. Add the shrimp and crayfish and fry them for 2 – 3 minutes. Set them aside afterwards. In the very same oil fry the cuttlefish and the calamari (squid). When they turn golden add the tomatoes and the minced garlic. Let them fry until they become darker. After that add the paprika, stir everything and add the rice.

Stir very well for one minute, pour the warm fish soup over it and add another clove of minced garlic.
Let the rice at medium to high heat. After some 10 minutes add the shrimp and crayfish, the mussels and the oysters. Let them cook for another 5 minutes.

Tips

When the rice is ready remove it from the heat and let the rice breath for at least 2-3 minutes until you serve it!

Most of my friends are trying the detox-juicing method I tried a month ago. A friend stocked up on veggies for a week and I’m pretty sure the pcamerica cash register at the organic produce store was a-ringin’! I saw the reference image above and knew instantly I needed to print it out for my reference. I love veggies and love them even more when they are just in the right crunchy state!

Due to the nature of my work, I burn the midnight oil all the time. Before we had help around the house, it was always a race against every morning making sure the kids are ready before the bus arrives and most importantly, have eaten. They sure get tired of eating the same thing again and again like oatmeal and cereals so I am thankful I chanced upon these suggestions:

1. Pancakes. If you’re making pancakes on a Saturday or Sunday, make extra. Lay several on a cookie sheet, slide it into the freezer until they’re firm, then pile into a freezer bag. You can pull two or three out on a crazy morning and microwave them in 10 seconds. Better yet, put them in the toaster.

2. Avocado Toast. So healthy! So easy! I rarely even mash the avocado in a bowl first, which means one less dish to clean. Just smush it down on a piece of toasted bread and sprinkle a bit of salt. Call it guacamole if necessary. Here’s our basic “recipe.”

3. Hard-Boiled Eggs. Not that they take a ton of time, but if you make a few on a Sunday night, you only have to peel them in the morning, and that takes what, 20 seconds? You can slice one onto toast, although I recommend letting a toddler bite into a whole one. The slipperiness of it is fun, and somehow finding the yolk is a surprise every time.

4. Banana Slices with Peanut Butter. Lay out banana slices and top each with a little dab of peanut butter. Protein-packed, sweet, and quick. For an older kid, you can use the slices to make the first letter of his name.

5. Toast with Cream Cheese and Jelly. Most kids like toast with jelly, but jelly alone doesn’t offer a ton of nutritional benefits. Cream cheese and jelly is an underrated combo, and the cream cheese adds a little protein and calcium. You can swirl it if you have time.

Now if only I can work as fast and not be groggy! Can this work? http://www.testosteroneboosters.org/novatest/ It says it helps cell and muscle recovery and give energy boosts!

What do I love most about Christmas?
It is the fact that I get to eat my most favorite meal out of my Mom’s cooking!

My mom’s macaroni is the best ever. Seriously! Everybody who has tasted it loves it and swears that there is no macaroni like other. Nurse friends leave with their dickies scrubs a bit tighter at the waist after eating at our Mom’s.

A new favorite is my Mom’s refrigerator cake. She has mastered that art of it not being too sweet and mashes the Graham crackers like the crust in blueberry pies.

So I guess not being able to stick to a diet this holiday season is a given.