The Taste: Tuesday at 8|7c on ABC

Hi all!
How excited am I that there is a fellow Laotian on The Taste!  If you haven't seen it, The Taste is a competition show on ABC where teams of professional and amateur cooks try to create the best dish.  The judges are Anthony Bourdain, Ludo Lefebvre, Nigella Lawson & Brian Malarkey. They blind taste each person's dish and decide if they stayed or not.  Anthony Bourdain and his team are my favorite, I love him and I love

Uno Immanivong

She is an all around food lover and I am a little biased because she's a mom and Laotian!  For her first dish she made laap gai, a Lao dish made of minced chicken, shallots, fish sauce, herbs, etc.  Every family has their own recipe.  
Last week's episode was Dairing Pairings, all about wine.  I'm not a wine person but it was interesting to watch. I wouldn't know what to pair with what but I'd love to know how to cook with it. 
It's interesting to watch the home cooks and the 'pros' go at it.  I'm very impressed with the home cooks and how they've held their own.  It's inspiring to watch, it makes you confident to go in the kitchen and experiment.  I mean, I am definitely going to try to make some fried chicken skin. Yum! 

Catch the latest episode HERE. 

What's New

Hello, there! First post of the year, better late than never, right? No resolutions this time.  I hate not fulfilling them so I'm just going to stick to a mental checklist.  A very simple checklist, nothing too complicated.  Like, make sure the dishes are washed every night so we wake up to a clean kitchen. I know that sounds a little simple but with 11 people in this house, there is always someone eating! 
Another to do is a to don't.  I need to keep my hands away from my face! I'm a picker, always have been.  I have dark spots on my face from constant picking.  I really want to be able to be able to just walk out of the house without a face full of makeup or just to wear a bb cream or tinted moisturizer.  I've been keeping my hands busy and using a fading cream on my spots.  I'm currently using Porcelana that I purchased from Walgreens.  I've heard reviews and they've all been positive.  Crossing my fingers that it does work for me.  Of course, I'll put up a proper review after a few months.

Still here

Epic Fail

Did someone say resolutions? Sorry, for being MIA. No excuses, I'm just lazy.
I'm still on my weight loss journey, very slow progress for the first month but I have lost 6 lbs! I really need to get a scale, the only time I weigh myself is when I'm at my cousin's. Which I think is a good idea, kind of. I find myself on that thing when I get there and when I leave. I'm afraid if I get one, I'll be living on it.
Oh and today I had the worst food poisoning experience. Well, my only experience with it but it was still horrible. Horrible. I'm dying to get on the scale now. You know, just to see.
In other news, we're planning our Michigan trip. It's been so long and we haven't been on any type of vacation since 2010. This year we're going to Kalamazoo (of course), Detroit and Windsor. That means I've got to push someone to get his passport. We're also spending the night in Chicago on our way home. Yes, we are driving! I can't imagine bringing our 2 1/2 year old on the plane. That's one of my biggest fears. Him crying and we can't do anything about it.
Also on the subject of traveling, my mom is planning a trip to Laos. Strictly to handle business and I guess I am going too. I don't know how I feel about it. I'll be leaving my boys for two weeks which I've never been away from my son for more than 5 hours. Also, I'll be with my mother. I'll bring plenty of aspirin.

Month 2

Second month of the new year, how are your resolutions going? Mine, uhhh, I think I'm still on track. I've been working out 3-4 times a week and eating healthier. I'm still stuck on the blogging, I just can't think of anything! My mind is totally blank when it comes to writing up a post.

So I leave you with this:

December Update

Yes, I know it's almost the end of January. I just found a bunch of pictures I took before Christmas and I just have to share them!

First up, I finally came around and made a yarn wreath for the front door. I was overwhelmed with the size so I kept it pretty simple.

My army of snowmen.

Letter sugar cookies I made for my birthday boy and his cousin.

After making so many sugar cookies, I realized that I don't really care for iced cookies.

Work in Progress

Working a lil something something for my newest nephew.