Mediterranean Snack's Baked Lentil Chips give me hope

. . . that I can still snack idly while watching pointless YouTube videos without expecting my hips to blow up tomorrow.

Gluten free, fiber-rich, and 70 per cent less fat than regular potato chips. That's what the label says.

It's 110 calories, versus Lay's Baked Potato Chips' 180. With a low-fat yogurt dip and lots of water, I should be able to carry on snacking without feeling a tinge of guilt.

www.recmend.com

10 Things I Like About Being Employed

Every time I find it hard to get up at 8 AM and hit the shower ...
Or whenever I grumble about the smallest glitches at work ...
Or when finding parking becomes impossible ...
Or when I decide that I have the hardest life in the world ...

I always go back to one thought and truth and that comforts me: I have a job.
I get paid every month, and people are happy with my work.
And having a career and a regular income is something I am very, very thankful for.

And along with that realization, I list down things I like about  being employed:

1. I always have something to do. My brain's always working. I learn. I grow.
2. I meet different people. And some of them turn out to be great friends and colleagues.
3. I am able to save up. I've even made an investment. I have a house!
4. I am able to help my family. I have made it possible for my sister to pursue a good education.
5. I can travel! I've been to different parts of the world, and I'm saving up for more holidays.
6. I get spoiled rotten. Once in a blue moon, but still! Free dinners, gift baskets, trips, make up. Love it.
7. I  have a sense of pride. I've worked non stop for eight years, and I've built a career I am happy about.
8. I have some dough to spend. I don't have a lot, but occasionally, I treat myself to a nice meal or a dress.
9. I feel secure. Twenty years from now, I'll have a bit of savings and can think about retirement. Hopefully.
10. I'm able to do some charity work. Fifi and I have a yearly volunteer and charity activity. And a fraction of my salary enables my altruism. Now that's something to be grateful for.

City Pulse 19 | My Dubai My City

City Pulse 19 | My Dubai My City

Health is skin deep.

It is. I've been finishing big bags of potato chips all my life without realizing that the real savory taste I've always craved could be found in the skin.

We made a batch of potato skins. Well, LBT did. He sliced each potato in half, scooped out the yellow part, drizzled a bit of olive oil on the whole bunch, and let them sit in the oven for half an hour.

They were golden brown, crispy, super tasty and healthy. We made a ketchup-mustard dip and voila! Another great idea.

They look like kamote-Q, but that's neither a plus nor a minus, I've decided.

My first poached egg

While many women my age post complicated recipes involving ingredients from the other side of the world on their ad-laden food blogs, I revel in making my very first poached egg.

The trickiest part was scooping it out of the saucepan and putting it on top of my granary toast. But I got through it. Whew!!!

Nicki Minaj, my BFF

Nicki Minaj from head to toe

Nicki Minaj - Halloween 2012

Fantard

Nicki Minaj and her make up artist

Nicki Minaj with Maggie, the sushi girl (pic from Maggie's FB)

Fifi went to the Monster Halloween Party at Nassimi Beach as none other than the one... the only.... Boombooroomboom... Nicki Minaj!

I did her make up and lent her my puffy pink skirt and blue tights. Proud BFF!

Kristen Schaal and President Obama in "Diary of a Blueberry"

This is the greatest idea in the world! Kristen Schaal started a non-profit group called Story Pirates, and they produce animated versions of children's original stories. How cute! 

Atis in da House!

The whole world calls it custard apple, but this sweet and juicy exotic beauty will always be atis to me.

I have not had atis in ages! Every year when I fly home, I ask Mama to buy me some, but they're not in season in December. It's literally been years since I've had one.

I'm waiting for this Egyptian giant to ripen. It's probably going to take at least a week before I finally sink my teeth into it.

Oh well. I've waited years already. What's seven more days?

Serengeti

It's a place where you can see cats and dogs of the vicious, wildly exotic kind. It's a vast grassland dotted with creatures you can't see anywhere else - from the tiniest, most colorful birds to the biggest, most ferocious beasts on the planet. It's the perfect holiday for everyone: adventurous backpackers, retired couples, honeymooners, animal lovers, and the list goes on.

I left everything behind and cleared my mind in Serengeti. I fell in love with this piece of wildlife paradise.

Serengeti is mainly located in Tanzania, and extends to Kenya. It is VAST. It took us at least four hours to drive from Tarangire to the gate that demarcates Serengeti National Park from the rest of the grasslands in that part of northern Tanzania. And then we drove for hours more before seeing any signs of life. I think the first animals we saw were Thomson's gazelles. We drove around for a few hours more and ended up dropping our jaws every single time we had a rare sighting.

Here are some of the pictures we took. Too bad neither of us is a proper photographer. But let's leave all the nice pictures to the NatGeo crew. Here's some of what we have:

A lazy cheetah

It got up and stretched for a bit, delighting everyone. But it buried itself in the grass again after a few seconds.

That's right, we went glamping. Our tent had three beds, a nice shower and a toilet.

Water was rationed though. We had to call some guys whenever we wanted to use the toilet or the shower.

The sun rise from the endless plains of Serengeti. Breath taking.

The "hotel lobby" and dining area in our camp. It was literally in the middle of nowhere.

A puzzled hyena. It looks very different when it's not chowing on carcasses and laughing evilly.

At one of the educational centers in Serengeti

It's also where the skulls of elephants and buffaloes are kept on display.

A bunch of hippos cooling down. They are the cutest! And deadliest.

A male lion. It actually roared when we tried to get closer. I think we were three meters away from it.

A small pride hanging out.

A few other lions were resting on a kopje, an elevated part of the grassland. Similar to a small hill.

It looks fierce. But it also looks extremely indolent.

Back to back, giving all safari holidaymakers several angles from which to snap away.

LBT's attempt at an art shot. Love it.

We said goodbye to our favorite lion family.

The male one rulez. He just exudes pride and power and potency. A real papi.

My Very First Oktoberfest in Dubai

I thought we were going to keep to ourselves as we chugged down liters of beer.

The beer part turned out to be true, but we certainly weren't alone. We celebrated Oktoberfest with hundreds of other people - mostly from Deutschland.

This month-long German festival surprised me and crushed the stereotype that Germans are a serious bunch who can't have fun.

Where do I begin? 

First off, big fat warm pretzels served with sweet mustard. 

Then, a big plate of sausages, with pure pork fat on the side as a spread for the bread.  I didn't have any of it, but I did devour the rest. The sausages were sooo savory good. Every bite was sinful, and I don't regret it.

Of course, beer. I hadn't had beer in a loooong time, and that evening I had half a litre of German beer. It was sweet and heavy and gave me a big hangover. But it did aid my dancing skills. Which brings me to my next favorite thing about Oktoberfest...

Everyone danced and laughed and there was an air of merriment in the tent that can only come from intoxication and good music. We danced on our table (we fell at one point) and clinked pints with strangers, some of them wearing the traditional Bavarian costumes (read: long sleeved checkered shirts and trousers that awkwardly end several inches below the knee). We even met a Dutch guy who lives in Germany, and he had only been in Dubai for an hour when he joined our table and decided that we were going to be his party buddies for the evening. We obliged. Duh. 

I had so. Much. Fun. And I think it's because the organizers did a great job at making sure people had fun, the toilets were conveniently located and accessible, guests didn't need to wait to get a table, and they got their orders on time. Especially the booze. Very very efficient - a German stereotype that I believe to be true. Way to go, Grand Hyatt.

I can't wait to go next year. 'Til then, I'm going back to my vodka lime soda and karaoke habit.

New Beauty Loot

Bagged a great gig, and it comes with make up!
I got a bag full of foundations, powders, primers, eye shadows, lip pencils and eye liners courtesy of MAC Cosmetics and of course, The Traveling Shoe.

I've sampled three of the products so far, and I'm so happy with the way I look wearing them.

www.luuux.com

First off, MAC Velvet shadow in Sketch. It's a lovely plum color with a bit of shimmer and packed with pigment. It glides on smoothly on my lids and creates a polished evening look. It's all I need to turn a 9-to-5 face into a ladies' night weapon.

www.maccosmetics.com

Next! MAC lip pencil in Spice. It's a nice pop of color for a "mature" woman. It's a deep orange and red that gives a fresh face a little attitude. Love it!

www.allure.com

And finally, MAC Mineralize Skin Finish powder in medium dark. It was too dark to use as a face powder, so I used it to contour my cheeks and forehead. It's a revelation. It's lighter than MAC's Studio Fix powder, but packs on color like a pro. Plus it's easy to blend with my blush. I'm not sure if it's good for the skin, but that's how it feels on my cheeks.

I'm so excited to try out other products from my loot. I'm a MAC girl through and through, and a bunch of MAC products landing on my lap makes me feel like God really loves me and wants me to be pretty and always update my look.

I'm sure He does.

Beef Tenderloin with Healthy Mushroom "Risotto"

Yup, I made this. Got the recipe from www.thefatkidinside.com, and altered it a little.

I don't know if mine tastes similar to his, but just seeing my version neatly arranged on a plate makes me happy.

I dry rubbed a nice piece of beef tenderloin with thyme, oregano, salt, pepper, cumin and cayenne pepper, seared all sides, and wrapped it in foil as Erwan says in the video. Then I made risotto from cooked lentils and quinoa with a bit of chicken broth, and grated light cheddar.

I served it to none other than Fifi!

I can say that I'm a better cook than a year ago, when I started making things in the kitchen that no one wanted to eat.

But I'm not there yet. There = dinner parties, "Come Dine With Me"-style dinners, catering services.

Sleater Kinney - Modern Girl

BAKED TURON

I made baked turon for breakfast! The delicious Filipino snack is actually halved bananas wrapped in spring roll wrapper, bathed in sugar and deep fried. I made my own healthy version. Less messy, quicker to make, and less sugar.

I made a super thick syrup with cane sugar and water, then soaked small banana pieces in the mixture.
Left it for a few minutes, then wrapped each piece in spring roll wrapper.
I brushed a piece of aluminum foil with light butter. placed the banana fritters on the foil, and baked them on 180 degrees.

20 minutes later, I devoured five pieces, and saved the rest for work. This is a good day. :)