Going Bananas!!!

Oh hello! I didn't see you there?! Thanks for coming to visit me today; You're actually just in time for  my latest baking adventure!

 Do you ever have those times when you buy bananas and expect to eat them through the week, but they end up just going bad and turning brown? Well don't throw them out!! When they turn brown, that is actually the best time to use them in baking, because they have mostly turned into sugar and are very sweet. I actually have two bananas which should do nicely for making a delicious banana bread.





The ingredients that you will need are the following:

• 1-1/2  cups

  all-purpose flour
• 1-1/4  teaspoons

  baking powder
• 1/2  teaspoon

  baking soda
• 1/2  teaspoon

  ground cinnamon
• 1/8  teaspoon

  salt 
• 2 

  eggs, lightly beaten
• 1  cup

  mashed banana
• 3/4  cup

  sugar
• 1/4  cup

  cooking oil
• 
  

  directions:

  
  

  
  

  1. In a medium bowl, go down the list and combine all of the ingredients together.

  
  

  2. Next stir all of the ingredients together until moistened and you have a thick almost cake like batter.

  
  

  3. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and while your oven is heating,  spray your loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray ( if you don't have cooking spray, you can also use cooking oil or melted butter and with a napkin, just grease the pan). Spread batter in prepared pan. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

  
  

  
  

  4. Once baking is complete, cool your bread in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool thoroughly on a wire rack or enjoy while warm. If you want easier slicing though, a good trick would be to wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it over night, that way you can have fresh and perfect banana slices for breakfast...yum!

  
  

  My loaf came out a little dry, but to be honest this is my first banana loaf so not too bad for my first time! That's the fun part about baking, you get to learn and change things up, like what I did above, the recipe actually suggested I first put all the dry ingredients in one bowl and mix it together, then stir in two lightly beaten egg whites, Then pour in sugar, oil and mashed bananas as I slowly stir all ingredients together.  But as you can see, I said ah humbug and just added two whole eggs and everything all at once.  So don't be afraid to make this banana bread your own and try putting in your own ingredients and what not.  Well I hope you enjoyed my latest blog and below for your viewing pleasure, is a picture of my finished product. - At least it looks pretty right?!.. Until next time my beloved....

  
  

  
  
  

  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  

A little piece of Heaven

Hello my beloved readers!! Hope all is happy and well? I just wanted to stop in and see how you all are doing? I know I've been a little down lately, so I thought instead of depressing you further, I would cheer you up with a cupcake recipe that gained my heart as well as my weight!! I don't know if I told you all this, but I just love to bake. I always say the Winter is my baking season and what better time to learn and create new recipes than the baking season!!!

I actually came across this recipe on a cupcakes website, but made it my own by adding a little something more, plus I don't like to follow directions when cooking or baking, because I feel that's the time you create new recipes so I didn't measure accordingly, but even so, these cupcakes were practically gone by the time I took them out of the oven!! I made about 18 cupcakes and by the time they cooled, only four were left ( my husband and nephew couldn't get enough of them) and when I finally took a bite, it was like biting into a cloud, it was so moist and fluffy.

I don't want to keep you guys in suspense, so here is the recipe for the most delicious cupcakes I've had in awhile:

Ingredients

• 1  3/4 cup cake flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoons salt
* 1/2 teaspoon of ginger
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1 stick of butter, softened

Orange Ginger Cupcake Recipe Directions

Combine all the ingredients together starting with the dry ingredients first. Next put the softened butter, eggs, vanilla and orange juice and mix until ingredients are creamed together.

spoon the batter into cupcake liners until 1/2 full. I like using and ice cream scooper for this job.

Bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Next take the cupcakes out of the oven and let cool for a minute or enjoy right away, whatever floats your boat!! 

If you want you can make an orange icing to go on top, but these cupcakes were so delicious by themselves that I felt there was no need for anything else!! Mmmmmmm all this talk about cupcakes make me want some......hmmmmmm what will I bake next?????........until next time 

Misstaken, Missunderstood and Miss....Me

Hi Friends, sorry if I'm not my chipper self today, I've been pretty bummed all day.  I don't know if it's because my aunt Flo is visiting or what, but I'm not having a great day.

Yesterday was awesome!!  I was feeling so pumped and rejuvenated!! As I have been reiterating for the last year, I have been jobless.  I have been applying to a million jobs, posting my resume, doing phone interviews, group interviews, face to face interviews and yesterday, I thought, I FINALLY got a break, but as the Lord should have it, it didn't work out.  You see, aside from looking for professional office jobs, I have also been looking for childcare provider positions, as I love working with children and have extended years of experience in that field, as well as education, being that Child Development was and is my major in College.  So to cut to the boring chase, I recently got a bite and someone contacted me regarding watching thier daughter on the weekends while she worked and on the posting it said $15 an hour.  Well you know me, I was like "HECK YA!! YOU DON'T HAVE TO TELL ME TWICE!!" and BAM, I shot her an email, expressing my interest in working for her.  We exchanged a couple of emails and yesterday we met and I found out her daughter actually goes to school in my neighborhood and the family wanted to move to where I live.  The meeting appeared to go well and the mom and daughter seemed to like me so I got excited and thought this truly was an answer to my prayers because this family was everything I was looking for; close by so no commuting to work, the child was potty trained and all I needed to do was interact with her, because she was five and pretty much can communicate if she needed anything, the only thing was that the mom said she was willing to do $12 instead of $15 and I was like that's fine (in my head I was like it's still better than nothing, $12 for 10 hours is $120 for one day of work). So I was so excited and thankful and felt like things were starting to look up for me, until......

I got a text this morning from the mom stating she can't afford me after all; what does that even mean if she was the one that set the price??!!! I am so confused, but I still haven't replied back to her, one because whats the point if she doesn't want me watching her daughter anymore and two it just crushed me when I read it.

Like I said, I don't know if it's because of my aunt Flo that I'm extra sensitive or because of this whole job search journey, but I'm so depressed today!  I just keep thinking to myself, it's okay, God has a purpose and a plan and He only did this because he is planning something really great for your Russhelle, you just wait and see, but I also can't shake the feeling of me not ever being good enough?!

I mean what do you do when your good isn't good enough and all that you touch tumbles down? (Sorry I stole this from a glee song, but this is how I'm feeling right now) I feel like no matter what I do, I can't seem to get it right and that I'm just not good enough for ANY job out there!!  The only jobs that want me, I can't except because the pay is too low and the jobs that I feel I qualify for and would pay me what I want, seem to just want to "keep my resume on file," and what not.  Aaarrrrrrggggghhhhhh!!!! I don't know what else to do, all that I know is that I can't give up and I won't give up because I can do ALL things in Christ who gives me strength and though I feel like I'm wandering in bitter darkness, I know the truth, that God is carrying me through this. Okay my beloved, I'm done venting now, thanks for listening, or reading my pain for tonight, sorry it couldn't be a happier blog, but hey, there's always tomorrow so good night young princess and princesses and may your dreams be sweet and your days be joyous!! Until next time......

Rustico Orquita: One of the greatest little fighters

Before there was Manny Pacquiao, Alex John Banal, Bert Batawang and Dode Boy Penalosa, there was my grandfather Rustico Orquita. He died before his prime and so did his story, which is why I decided to honor him today and give you a piece of who I am. Bear in mind though that I am only going off the knowledge I've gained through my years of growing up because he died when my dad was still very young so we never got to meet him and I can't afford those genealogy sights to get his records, so if any family reading this knows any other info or need to correct me, let me know.

Rustico Orquita, born Rustico Yparraguirre was born in the Philippines in 1918. He came to America by stowing away on a freight boat when he was only 16 years old. Once in America, he made his way to Sacramento and married a Caucasian women and had two children with her. My family never met them or learned their names, but knew about them from my grandmother. Though he was married and had a family of his own now, he joined the United States Air Force and it was here that he began his professional boxing career. During his service, he got stationed back in the Philippines and met my grandmother, They fell madly in love and my grandpa promised her, he would go back to the states and divorce his wife, then come back to marry her; this is how our family came to be. As promised, he returned and married my grandmother and had many children with her.  Things could not of been going any better for my grandfather, he had a new wife, many children and he was well on his way to becoming one of the greatest fighters known around the world.  Unfortunately, while training in March of 1950, he suffered a massive cardiac arrest while jogging and ended both his career and life.

I have done an extensive search for anymore information that I can acquire about him or images I can find and below is what I found:

Rustico Orquita
Global ID	168987
sex	male
division	featherweight
country	Philippines
residence	Sacramento, California, USA
won 6 (KO 3) + lost 5 (KO 4) + drawn 4 = 15 rounds boxed 82 KO% 20

		date	Lb	opponent	Lb	W-L-D	last 6	location
		1947-02-26	120	Tirso Del Rosario	120	1-1-0		Rizal Memorial Sports Complex, Manila, Metro Manila, Philippines	L	KO	6	12
	Philippines Games & Amusement Board (GAB) featherweight title
		1947-01-19		Tirso Del Rosario		0-1-0		Rizal Memorial Sports Complex, Manila, Metro Manila, Philippines	L	KO	9
	Philippines Games & Amusement Board (GAB) featherweight title
		1942-07-04		Nat Corum		8-15-8		Stockton, California, USA	D	PTS	10	10
		1942-03-09	123	Elwood Romero	119	10-13-6		Sacramento, California, USA	L	TKO	6
		1942-02-16	120	Jackie Jurich	118	53-11-8		Sacramento, California, USA	W	TKO	8	10
	referee: Frankie Carter
		1942-02-02	124	Jackie Jurich	120	53-11-7		Sacramento, California, USA	D	PTS	10	10
		1941-11-21	128	Angelo Rogers		7-3-3		L-st Arena, Sacramento, California, USA	W	PTS	4	4
		1941-09-08	126	Frankie Jonas		1-1-1		Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, California, USA	D	PTS	4	4
		1941-09-02	125	Freddie Encinas	123	19-13-10		Ryan's Auditorium, Fresno, California, USA	W	KO	1	4
	referee: Frankie Carter
		1941-08-19	124	Danny Torres	127	3-12-3		Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, USA	W	PTS	4
		1941-07-21		Angelo Rogers		7-2-3		Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, California, USA	W	PTS	4	4
		1940-06-17		Frankie Cervente		15-2-6		Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, California, USA	L	PTS	6	6
		1940-02-26	124	Frankie Cervente	120	11-1-4		Coliseum Bowl, San Francisco, California, USA	W	TKO	2	4
		1940-02-21	124	Ray Martinez	122	1-1-0		National Hall, San Francisco, California, USA	L	KO	4	4
		1939-12-12	125	Jessie Quintana	126	1-0-0		Civic Auditorium, San Jose, California, USA	D	PTS	4	4

verified

unverified

unsanctioned

information obtained from http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=168987&cat=boxer

Below is a picture a family member found for my dad and might be the only picture ever known in existence, unless someone out there has a photo of my lolo...if so, I would love to get a copy for my family.

Signs you are in an abusive relationship

I know this is probably a month too late (Domestic Violence Month was in October), I don't know why, but I just felt the need to really write about this.  Maybe it was because I heard something about someone I really care about that raised a red flag for me and I wanted to just get this out there, I don't know? but at any rate,  I wanted to do my public awareness and get this out to you all just in case this might be you?

Abuse does not come from just physical violence. On the contrary, there are many different types and most likely happen so subtly that the person being abused, doesn't even know they are in an abusive relationship?  I for one am a survivor of such a relationship and this is my story:

The relationship started romantically enough. I was 15 years old, starting life almost as an adult and getting my very first summer job.  It was at Six Flags Magic Mountain and it truly was magical for me.  I met many great friends and learned a lot about preparing for life and success through their work program.  The one thing they didn't prepare me for was summer love, which is where it should of stayed to be honest.

He worked with me at the ice cream shop in front of the park and he followed me around like a lost little puppy.  He would write me four paged love letters and wait for me until midnight until my shift ended so that he can walk me from the locker room, about 100 feet to the bus that was waiting to drive us back to school for pick up.  It all started innocently enough, with him telling me how beautiful and different I was. How special I was and how he just couldn't stop thinking about me and by the end of the summer, when it was time to head back to school, he was already telling me how much he loved me and didn't want to live without me.  Me being only 16 years old and new to this whole relationship and love thing, I told him I started having feeling for him too, but wasn't allowed to have a boyfriend and the only way he could possibly ever be with me was if he met my parents first.

I always used my parents to push guys away. It wasn't the first time guys had crushes on me or stalked me, etc. and I would always tell them, if they really wanted to be with me then they have to prove it by meeting my dad and asking his permission first and usually this would scare them all away so I was surprised when he drove from the valley, all the way to the top of the hill where I lived, which was like  30 miles difference.  I invited him to bible study that we had every week and he agreed to come, because he said he was Christian like I was and he even was part of his churches worship team.  I couldn't believe how perfect he was?! He was everything that I was looking for and I couldn't believe that he really wanted to be with me?

After some persuading, my parents agreed to let me date him and we go strong for a couple of years.  He romances me, buys me extravagant gifts and jewelry, takes me to concerts and places I've never been to before and pretty soon, we are talking marriage.  He tells me, we would be married in a chateau at dusk, in a garden lit with candles and for awhile, I truly believe that this would be my happily ever after, but then things started changing.

First it started with him always pulling my hair ties off my head, because he said he liked my hair better down.  So I said ok, no big deal, I will just wear my hair down?  Then when I would put my hair up because it was bothering me, he would get angry and yank it off and yell at me and say, "I told you I like your hair better down!"  caught off guard, I just submitted not knowing, I just went through a door I might not of been able to come back from?  He started cutting me off from my friends and family, saying they were all stupid idiots and he didn't like me hanging around them. Also, that once we got married, I was forbidden to ever see my family again.  Then he started dictating what outfits I should be wearing and if I didn't meet his expectations or I would defy him, he would punish me by not picking me up for a date, not calling me or being extremely rude to me.

I remember one time, we were sitting at the restaurant Fat Burgers and I read on the wall that they were there since 1947 and I told him, "Wow, can you imagine that back in time there were people just like us sitting here eating burgers?" and he looked at me with serious and angry eyes and started berating me, telling me," that was the most idiotic, stupidest thing that I ever heard, what are you an idiot?  Don't ever say dumb idiotic things like that to me ever again!!" and I remember there was a mother and her young daughter sitting at a table next to us and she just looked at me in astonishment and shock! As for me, I was absolutely humiliated and mortified so I just sunk down in my seat and stood quite as not to create a bigger scene.  But it wasn't until one time when we were at his house that I started realizing that maybe this guy really isn't the one for me?  We were horsing around and he suddenly grabbed me and put me in a head lock and started choke holding me.  Now I was VERY petite back then, I was a size 00 and only 97 lbs. where he was a professional boxer weighing in at 190 lbs of pure muscle which it was truly by the grace of God that I even made it out of this relationship.  My face was turning tomato red and I begged him to let me go, but he just started laughing and choking me harder, until I almost passed out, but luckily his brother heard the commotion and came in, so he released me.  He was chuckling to himself, where as for myself I managed to quickly crawl behind a nearby chair and was gasping for air and rubbing my neck, I yelled at him that he could have killed me, but he told me he was only playing around and wasn't really going to hurt me.  It was after that, I started believing I was in a bad relationship, but being my first relationship, I didn't know how to get out or how to handle it, and then he would start being nice to me again saying that it's not him, it's because he had to take steroids while he trained and it made him do things he wouldn't normally ever do and he would apologize to me and tell me how much he loved me, so again, I would just give him a second chance.  After four to five years of putting up with him, I think he started feeling remorseful or maybe he just got tired of me, so he decided to cheat on me with some stripper he met at his job and after cheating on me for a couple of months and his friends convincing him to have some curtiousy and break up with me, he decided on December 26, 2002 to break it off with me.

I was truly devastated and my heart literally broke into a billion pieces.  I felt like my world came crashing down around me and like there was no way my heart would ever find love again.  But then came my husband, who truly knew a gem when he saw one and took one look at me and....well you know the story, if not, check out my earlier blog :P.

I was lucky, and through the prayers and support of my loved ones, I was able to get out and away from this relationship.  But for so many, they are not as fortunate so please, if you or anyone you know is in an abusive relationship, let them know they are not alone and they don't have to be put through that.  If you want to know if you are in an abusive relationship, one site that is very informative is http://www.livestrong.com/article/18801-ten-signs-abusive-relationship/  this site also gives you a check list and support links that can help you out.

In the end, I am actually thankful for this relationship, I know it might sound harsh to hear, especially to those who are going through one or have been in one, but I try not to look at the bad, I am actually grateful and thank the Lord, because if I didn't go through such a bad relationship with such a wrong person, I really wouldn't of realized what a good relationship I have now, with MY Mr. RIGHT! Everytime, I get so mad at my husband, I think about this relationship and realize that I am mad at him for no real good reason, because regardless of anything he does to get me mad, he is a million times the man, Mr. Wrong ever was and he has proven it to me day after day for the last decade.  Until next time my beloved.....