vickypham.com

Want a simple and quick meal that also delicious? My go-to meal is Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo. What makes it quick is that I use store-bought sauce instead of making my own, and the rest is easy to throw together.

Store-bought sauce:

Classico creamy alfredo

I usually stock up on this sauce at Costco when it appears in Costco’s coupon book. It comes in a three-pack. Each bottle is a perfect single-serving family size, and not the ridiculously large size that I either have to throw away or freeze the unused sauce.

Extras for the sauce:

Parsley
Pepper

To use the sauce straight from the jar is boring so I add a dash of pepper and handful of chopped fresh green parsley for color.

Chicken

I like to use whole pieces of skinless, boneless chicken breasts. For the best deals on chicken breasts, I again shop at Costco. I recently learned that Costco carries frozen chicken breast, which is a lot cheaper than fresh chicken breast. Since I freeze them anyways, I get the work done for me and I pay a lot less. I also like the frozen chicken breasts because they are frozen with a bit of kosher salt to prevent freezer burns, and I find that this little bit of salt makes the chicken a bit more flavorful.

The frozen chicken breast from Costco is a bit thick so I slice it horizontally into two and season it lightly with salt and pepper.

Lightly flour the chicken breast and pan fry until golden brown.

Fettuccine

Bring a pot to a boil and add the fettuccine
Cook until al dente and then drain
Add the fettuccine back into the same pot (who wants more dishes to wash?)
Add the Alfredo sauce (with the parsley and pepper) and mix until the fettuccine is covered in sauce. Save a bit of sauce to top off the chicken.

Put it all together

Make a nice pile of fettuccine Alfredo on a plate and top it off with the chicken. Drizzle a bit of Alfredo sauce on top of the chicken and you got yourself a simple and delicious meal.

In the picture above, I made a bed of steamed spinach for my chicken to add a bit more vegetable to my meal.

Fees. Oh, how I hate that word. I don’t like the thought of our hard-earned money going towards something that could have been avoided. With the recent economy, you may have noticed that credit card interest rates and late fees have skyrocketed. So not only are you paying for something that could have been avoided, but you are paying double or triple the amount in this economy, and that can quickly burn a hole in anyone’s wallet.

Money that goes toward fees could be put to other uses such as growing in an interest account or entertaining me with dinner and a movie after a long work week. So when I have to pay fees, I’m not a very happy camper. For the most part, my husband and I are good on payments so we pay very little in fees or none at all throughout the year. However, for that the small percentage of our income going into fees, there are simple ways to avoid them.

1. Ask the creditors to waive it.

Sounds simple enough, right? Well, it is. Never be embarrassed to ask for your fees to be waived. Creditors are quick to take your money so you must be proactive to keep your money. Being proactive can be simply asking. I have never paid a credit card fee that I didn’t ask to be waived. 99% of the time, the customer rep always waive our fee as a courtesy for being a good customer. Keep in mind, they will rarely volunteer to waive your fees so you will need to ask. You might be lucky enough to speak to a nice customer representative who’s more than happy to waive your fee. Other times, you may not be so lucky. If it’s the latter, move onto step 2. 

2. Hang up and call back another time.

In calling back at a later time or later day, you might end up with a rep who doesn’t have their undies in a wad. Then, ask again for your fee to be waived. I have done this a few times with my creditors and it worked wonders.

Day 1

Hi. I am calling to ask about the fee that was recently charged on my account. Can you please consider waiving it? I overlooked the due date, and unfortunately didn’t pay on time.

I’m sorry, but I do not have the authority to waive your late fee…blah blah blah…

Oh, ok. No problem. Thank you for trying. You have a nice day.

Day 2:

Hi. I am calling to ask about the fee that was recently charged on my account. Can you please consider waiving it? I overlooked the due date, and unfortunately didn’t pay on time.

Since you are usually good on your payments, sure, we will waive it.

Thank you (skipping joyfully to seize the rest of my day)

Keep in mind that there’s no black and white rule to waiving fees. There are always ways around it and the success of a fee waived is based on the person you are speaking to (unless of course you are always late on your payment but that’s your own fault and another story). Remember that customer reps do not have to do anything for you, so be nice, courteous, and ask the fee to be waived again. If that fails, move onto the step 3.

3. Ask if your account is entitled to certain number of waivers.

As much as I would like to list the last step is to throw a tantrum and threaten that you will close your account, I’ll try to keep it positive. If step 2 doesn’t work, hang up and call back another day. This time, take a different approach. Do not ask directly if your fees can be waived. Instead, ask if your account is entitled to a certain number of waivers. Depending on the terms and conditions of your account, you may be entitled to get your fees waived a certain number of times per year or a certain number of times per account. Ask your rep if this is the case and if so, tactically mentioned that you just had a late fee charged on your account and if this new found knowledge of your account can be applied.

To end this post, here’s a recent picture of my son and his cousin, Logi, enjoying the snow.

It’s that time again. Thanksgiving is just around the corner and every year, people list what they are thankful for. That’s all good and dandy, but frankly, it’s the same ole boring stuff. This year, I’ll do it differently. I’m going to list all the stuff that pisses me off and hopefully, my bitching and whining will trigger some great, practical gifts that I will certainly be thankful to receive.

1. Clothes that slip off the hangers

Don’t you hate it when browsing through your closet, clothes slip from their hangers and fall to the ground and you take a minute or two of silence to mourn the loss of perfectly hung clothing, then clench your fist and wave it in the air shouting, “Why do bad stuff happen to good people?”?

2. Toilet paper that doesn’t roll out smoothly

Have you ever tried unrolling the toilet paper and instead of rolling the whole sheet out smoothly, you get hold of a small strip and you keep on rolling that small strip in hopes it all unwinds smoothly, but you end up having a roll of toilet paper that looks like it’s been attacked by a very unhappy cat?

3. Being cold

I hate being cold and my house is cold, cold, cold. Putting on the heater doesn’t do much good as all the heat gets trapped near the ceiling, and unless I walk around in stilts, there is no relief in sight on these cold winter days. But I do see a solution to this problem. Snuggie! I keep seeing those stupid Snuggie commercials and as much as I like to make fun of the people in the commercials who are constantly raising the roof for no apparent reason, that cult-like-clothing doesn’t seem like such a bad idea.

To be continued…

Chicken feet. Can you imagine every eating such a thing? I used to be appalled at people eating and sucking on chicken feet served in Chinese restaurants. However, after some pressure from my husband during our dating days, I managed to finally give dim sum chicken feet a try…with my eyes closed of course. And guess what? They are freakin’ delicious. So the lesson here? Don’t knock it before you try it.

What You Will Need:
1 lb chicken feet, toe nails removed
2 quarts oil
2 quarts water
1 large piece of fresh ginger, unpeeled and sliced
3 pieces star anise

Marinade:
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon black bean sauce
1/2 teaspoon sesame seed oil

The secret to a great-tasting dim-sum-style chicken feet is to deep fry it first. This technique not only gives the chicken feet its golden brown color, but causes the skin to puff away from the bone to allow the marinade to seep through all its nooks and crannies. Also, it allows for easy eating.

After cleaning the chicken feet and removing the toe nails, make sure to paper towel them dry! Otherwise, you will end like me, suffering from third-degree burns from oil splatter.

Heat up the two quarts of oil, and drop in the chicken feet. Remove and drain on paper towels.

The next step is to tenderize the chicken feet by simmering. Bring the water to a boil, and toss in the ginger slices, star anise, and the golden brown chicken feet. Let it simmer for approximately one and a half hours.  At this point, your simmered pot should smell very close to the dim sum chicken feet found in Chinese restaurants and to think, you have yet to add the marinade!

After simmering, drain the chicken feet and combine it with the marinade. Allow it to sit for at least one hour. The longer, the better. Overnight is best.

When you are ready to serve, simply steam the marinaded chicken feet. If you are too lazy to steam, popping it in the microwave would do as well.

And there you have it. Dim-sum-style chicken feet! Simple and de-lish!

To end this post, here is my son…flipping out for chicken feet!

It goes without saying I love Starbuck drinks, particularly the mocha frap on a sunny afternoon. Offer me a Starbuck drink and I’ll be your friend for life. Back in simpler times when my paychecks were used solely to indulge myself in material things and dining, I would very often hit up my local Starbuck shop a few times a week and just splurge on myself to pure caffeine intoxication. Now with a family and financial responsibilities, I have cut back on these self indulgences, especially when one small cup of mocha frap runs about $4 dollars and you get mostly crushed ice and whip cream after a few sips.

I began exploring other options and after many attempts to replicate a Starbuck drink, I recently found a great substitute for a mocha frap that I can make at home and best of all, for a fraction of the cost!

In previous posts, Vicky’s Money Saving Tips Part I and Vicky’s Money Saving Tips Part II, I raved on and on about Costco and  how if it was a human being, I would certainly marry it. Well, at a recent trip to Costco, I stumbled upon a 4 lbs can of Caffe D’Vita Mocha Cappuccino instant mix for $9.99. This particular brand is, for the lack of a better word, freaking awesome. It tastes exactly like my favorite Starbuck mocha frap drink. And for $9.99, I can make at least 15 servings!

The label suggests you to mix the drink with water or milk. For me, I like mixing it with Kirkland Signature Organic Vanilla soymilk, which you can also purchase at Costco. The extra sweetness from the vanilla makes a killer combination with the mocha mix. Lastly, I top it off with some whip cream and you got yourself a great looking drink! In the picture, I topped it off with some crumbled graham crackers and a maraschino cherry just because I had those laying around the house, and honestly, the graham crackers and cherry just ruined the drink. Avoid what I did and then you got yourself  a great drink.

What’s also so great about the Caffe D’Vita Mocha Cappuccino instant mix  is that, like most items sold at Costco, it is a pretty healthy alternative to the Starbuck drinks. No trans fat, no hydrogenated oils, zero cholesterol, low sodium, and 99.9% caffeine free! Quite frankly, I don’t know half of what that means, but it sounds healthy. Now you can feel great saving money and downing a healthier version of a Starbuck mocha frap.

To end this post, here is my son, now 15 months, throwing a tantrum.

Sometimes I like to pick up a rake and put on garden gloves and just work in the yard. It’s a great way to get some exercise while getting work done around the house. Now that Edison is able to walk on his own, it’s also a great activity to do together. Mommy puts dead leaves into the trash and he empties it out again. Sometimes he also helps me pull up my healthy plants by the roots. I guess he doesn’t want to procrastinate on next year’s pruning. The other day as I was raking up the dead weeds and leaves in the backyard, I came across a weed that I wasn’t able to pull. It also didn’t help that I only had one garden glove. Whatever didn’t get pulled by the strength of one arm was left to grow freely. Within a few weeks, I the weed has grown to practically to my height and still growing. I still have not gotten around to purchasing a new pair of garden gloves so the weed will be left alone until then. I wonder how long it will take for it to fruit into a tree? Only time will tell. I’m watching anxiously. Yes, this post is about a weed.

For as long as I can remember, I only had one wish. I wished my parents would simply get along. I did not want toys or any other materials thing. As a little girl, I only wished that my parents would behave more like the parents of the kids around me.

Now at 27 years old, nothing has changed much. Even though I no longer live with my parents, I hear their battle everyday and it pangs me every time. I have tried my best to be a mediator and an ear, but when things just don’t improve, I cannot participate in the madness anymore. I want out.

Maybe I should forfeit my house in Vallejo and seek refuge somewhere far, far away. Cut all ties with my parents, and let them see how their ways are affecting the people around them. The idea of moving far away is getting more and more appealing everyday.

Have you ever gone to the check-out stand and wonder what the cashier would say or think about your purchase?

My local Raley’s store is filled with wonderful and kind workers. I’m always greeted when I enter and be reminded to have a great day when I leave. I’m always  offered help with my one bag of a few ounces, and I’m constantly asked if I need help while shopping throughout the store. It’s a great feeling and I appreciate their hospitality. 

However, the hospitality extends all the way to the check-out process and they feel like they need to make conversation on my purchase. For the most part, I don’t care and I like the small talk. Yes, my purchase of canned tomatoes, spaghetti, ground beef, and mushrooms would indicate that I’m making spaghetti and meatballs for dinner and I don’t mind confirming that. And yes, my poppy seed  salad dressing will not go well with the s’mores that I’m purchasing. Haha. You are one funny cashier.

But what if their comments cross the line? What if they start asking you questions that are none of their business or making comments that are a bit rude? Do you shrug it off and back away or do you take them by the collar, violently shake them around and belligerently shout in their face to mind their own business?

I wonder what they would say if you bought ropes, rat poison, baby food, and duct tape.

I often make stir-fry at home because it’s not only simple, but it’s also a healthy way to get a colorful mix of vegetables into my diet. Stir-fry is easy. You pretty much just cut up a bunch of vegetables and toss it altogether in a wok. The only challenging thing is making the stir-fry sauce. I have tried many store-bought stir-fry sauces and all have disappoint. First of all, the already made stir-fry sauce never taste authentic enough for me. It’s probably because they are all made by American companies. Second, I can make my own stir-fry sauce for a fraction of  the cost of those bottled ones. And third, it’s not at all that hard. I want to give credit to my mother-in-law who has taught me many things in the kitchen. Here’s my her recipe for a stir-fry sauce:

A very simple yet delicious stir-fry sauce recipe:

• 3 tablespoons flour (I use Tapioca flour but any flour would do)

• 1/2 cup cold water or stock (stock preferred)

• 1/2 cup oyster sauce

• 2 tablespoons sugar

• 1 teaspoon MSG (optional)

Dissolve the flour in the cold water or stock. I prefer to use chicken stock as it adds a good hearty flavor to the stir-fry. Mix in the oyster sauce, sugar and MSG. And ta-daaa, you got yourself a delicious and simple stir-fry sauce! Now, wasn’t that simple?

Now, for the vegetables. You can use any starchy or thick vegetables. Here are a few ideas and some of my favorites:

• Mushrooms (shitakes..yum)

• Bamboo shoots

• Baby corn

• Bell peppers

• Asparagus

• Broccoli

• Cauliflower

• Cabbage

• Carrots

Best way to evenly cook your vegetables is to blanch them for a few minutes with a little bit of salt and oil.

Then heat up a wok with a little bit of oil. Minced up some garlic and fry until fragrant. Pour in your stir-fry mixture. Mix until it gets thick, which will only take a few seconds. Do not worry if it clumps up. It can be thinned out later.

Toss in your blanched vegetables into the mixture until evenly coated. If you find that your mixture clumps together, add a bit more water or stock. Your sauce should be thick enough that it sticks onto the vegetable without any clumps.

For a beautiful finish, top it off with scallions (cut at a diagonal in 1/2 inches).

Of course, to make any stir-fry into a full meal, feel free to add in any  meat: pork, beef, chicken…the options are endless. Marinate first with a little bit of salt, pepper and oil. Cook the meat first in the wok before adding in the blanched vegetables.

Happy and healthy eating!

Now that Edison is active and walking without much assistance, I wish I was a chameleon. One eye will be on him and the other eye will allow me to continue with my everyday life. As of right now, it is a full time job just making sure he doesn’t hurt himself.

Just the other day, as he was doing his peeping-Tom routine, peering through the window curtains while standing on top of the couch, he spotted a neighbor and jumped with joy at the presence of another human being. In his excitement, he jumped so high that he bounced forward and hit his jaw in the window sill. Poor guy.

He also gets hurt while asleep. I left him napping on our bed and went into a different room to get some work down. The next thing I heard was a loud thud. If it wasn’t for the cry that immediately followed it, I would have thought someone threw a sack of potato on the floor. What interested me was how he moved so quickly from the middle of the bed to the edge of the bed, and it’s a big bed, too. Anywho,  poor guy.

I think I need to fasten a helmet on him at all times. Remember what happened to Natasha Richardson? We wouldn’t want that, would we?