w e d n e s d a y.... and word searches

What makes my bag big and heavy is that I tend to carry around a lot of what I call my "just in case" items.  Apart from the essentials (wallet, tissue packets, lipstick, pens, a scarf, etc.), I always have a water bottle .  I would also have my Moleskine for the jotting down notes and lists.  More often than not, there's also a book with me for those times when I have to wait for the kids or for when I take the bus.  Sometimes though, the book is a hardcover and is quite bulky and heavy, which can be a pain --literally! 

Then I discovered these pocket-size word search books and they're just perfect!  They're small, they're oh so pretty and they each have 100 word search puzzles.  I love word search puzzles; they're so addictive!

I get a few for myself and I got a couple for Zoe, too.  Some days, we just sit together quietly and do word searches, trading books when we get stuck, and get the other person to help look. 

What do you do to kill time while you wait around?
{Also linking up with The Good.  The Random.  The Fun;

Pictorial Tuesday, Wordless Wednesday, Little Things Thursday}

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One-Pot Creamy Chicken Pesto Pancetta Pasta

I'm a big fan of one-pot meals. What's not to love?  They're easy to pull together - carbs, protein, fiber in one dish; no-fuss, less to clean up.  

Now that the kids are older, we've decided to let the them take charge of one meal per week. What better way to start them off than having them do one-pot meals? We sorted through the recipes that I'd gathered and chose to make this one-pot creamy chicken bacon pesto pasta. (Josh was immediately sold when he saw the words bacon and pesto and parmesan in the recipe!) 

They both viewed the video and agreed that it was quite manageable and set to work. We'd modified the recipe a bit and used pancetta and fusilli instead of the bacon strips and fettuccine that the original recipe called for. We also did away with the salt and threw in a lot more coriander than was required.

This is what they came up with.

We all agreed that it was really good. Though creamy, it was not overly rich and all the ingredients came together very well.  Josh insisted on having the leftovers for his school lunch on Monday!

Though they worked together on this one, the deal moving forward is to have each child be in charge of one meal per week. Easier and more efficient to have one person in charge each time. They have to pick the recipe and let us know what ingredients are needed, so that we can make sure to get what we don't readily have at home.  (Of course, the recipes have to be pre-approved, because if it were left totally up to Josh, he'd be mainly looking for recipes with Angus beef, truffles, bacon, pesto, and a copious amount of cheese - all kinds! - each and every time!)

What are some of your go-to easy recipes?

{Also linking up with The Good.  The Random.  The Fun;

Pictorial Tuesday, Wordless Wednesday, Little Things Thursday}

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w e d n e s d a y

The pollution levels had been pretty bad last week. After-school (outdoor) activities had to be cancelled. Sore throats, coughing, headaches all around. Not fun.  Had to keep the windows closed and air purifier / air-con on all the time.

I still went out on my weekly hike, though. Maybe that was why I wasn't feeling so well afterward. Maybe that's also why this pretty butterfly wasn't feeling so well either.  It was probably injured; that's why it was on the ground and allowed me to get close enough to get a good shot. 

Anyway, it's supposed to be raining all this week. Hopefully we will have clearer skies and cleaner air after the rain.

How is your week coming along?

{Also linking up with The Good.  The Random.  The Fun;

Pictorial Tuesday, Wordless Wednesday, Little Things Thursday}

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w e d n e s d a y... and orchids

I love having indoor plants.  If I have outdoor space, I would be filling that up with plants, too.  Before we had kids, we had a whole bunch of orchids (among other plants). Different varieties --some we got locally at flower shows, others we'd brought back from our travels to Bangkok and Bali. We had a couple of the less common kind.  We gave them all away shortly after the kids came (long story!), but we're definitely enjoying their presence in our home once again now that the children are older.

We have mostly phalaenopsis (moth/butterfly orchids) these days and an oncidium (a dancing lady orchid, which I got for only HK$10 --which is just a little over US$1!).   I hadn't really paid much attention before, but this year, they somehow all bloomed at the same time --all seven plants!  What made it doubly exciting is that at least two of the plants grew twin stalks of flowers (when usually you get only one single stalk). Maybe it's been the super humid weather, maybe I'd fertilized at just the right time, but whatever it was, I'm super thankful for the beauty these orchids bring.

They are such hardy plants and require minimal care.  Yes, for the most part of the year, they're just leaves and roots, but when they bloom... whoa!  What's more, the blooms last for weeks and weeks.

What are your favorite flowers?

{Also linking up with The Good.  The Random.  The Fun;

Pictorial Tuesday, Wordless Wednesday, Little Things Thursday}

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w e d n e s d a y (again!)

It's a public holiday here today... Buddha's birthday.  Hong Kong used to celebrate the Queen's birthday, but after the handover of the territory back to China in 1997, Buddha's birthday has replaced the Queen's birthday as a public holiday.  I'm happy that they didn't simply do away with the holiday, but instead opted to replace it with a different one.  Haha, we love our public holidays!  (Hong Kong has a total of 17 public holidays in a year.) 

Do you have a lot of public holidays where you live?

We went out for a hike.  It was hot, though not as hot as it could be in the summer, but hot nonetheless.  I love that we get to spend time (outdoors) as a family. I love that I get to do one of my favorite trails with them.  Most of all, I love that the kids are outside and away from screens.

{Also linking up with The Good.  The Random.  The Fun;

Pictorial Tuesday, Wordless Wednesday, Little Things Thursday}

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