So much has happened in these last few weeks, my head is still spinning. Balancing family/home life and work is definitely NOT easy. There is just so much to do every single day—chores and work-related tasks take up most of my time, and when I get home, there’s more to do! I am getting overwhelmed, but I feel like this is something I have to overcome.

I should put the blame on my list of resolutions this year. I had this bright idea of making this the year of self-improvement, and boy, these things are really easier said than done! There isn’t enough hours in a day to accomplish everything. But I guess its better to have tried than not to have done anything at all.

One resolution I’ve been proudly working on is learning how to cook. This has been such a happy surprise for me because it turns out, I actually enjoy cooking. And to think before this I didn’t even know how to cook rice!

And so I’ve been cooking every single day since my husband and I moved to our humble abode. Usually its dinner, but when I have some time to spare I whip up a simple lunch. I’ve had no complaints (yet), and I don’t know if its weird or not but I like my cooking. I know, its so biased, but some years ago when I lived alone in Hong Kong, I hated my cooking. I’m not quite sure what I’m doing right, or maybe I’ve convinced myself to like my own cooking hahaha.

What I really wanted to share was my little mishap with a knife that happened a few weeks ago. I can actually laugh (and type) about it now because my pinkie has completely healed, but when it was still fresh I would shudder at the sight of it.

For those of you who follow me in Twitter and Instagram, you already know that I cut my pinkie really badly while chopping a zucchini. You see I wanted to make buttered vegetables to go with the breaded fried chicken I was making and whoops, I cut a chunk of my finger clean off. It was a small chunk, but it created a lot of mess (I was surprised at the amount of blood that came out of that little thing). Sooooo, lesson learned: always be careful when handling a knife!

A newbie cook like me had to learn it the hard way, but like I said, at least I tried (to cook, not to cut myself). I am also pretty happy that this hasn’t discouraged me from being a (feeling) chef. I continue to cook my simple but yummy meals and I think I’m improving, too! Maybe later on Ill be sharing my own recipes in here, but that may take years, so don’t hold your breath. Oh, and I wanted to ask: if you guys have recipes to share to me, I would love to try them. Lets exchange notes here! Hehehe. Should be fun!!! COOKING ROCKS! 🙂

Tetanus shot, check. Pinkie wrap, check. I am a certified master chef now. Well, not really. But at least I have the battle scars to prove I cook.

And here is that dish I made (of course, I had to take a photo of it). Breaded fried chicken and buttered zucchini and tomatoes.

Another one I made was a big salad with the works: its got lettuce, tomatoes, grapes, oranges, croutons and chicken tenders topped with a sesame dressing.

This one was made from leftover ingredients. I had to be creative: its Turkey Spam with soba noodles and sauce topped with seaweed.