have a happy day!

"Be grateful, be happy and always stay positive! Then you will realize how blessed you are."

My late father used to tell us these lines, or something along that line over and over (especially) at the dining table. He abhorred long faces, arguments, and tantrums right before or during a meal. To him a meal is God's grace that we are supposed to be grateful for.

I was surprised yesterday when my husband said something in line with what my father used to tell us. It wasn't over dinner; in fact of all things, we were watching HGTV House Hunters (oops don't tell my husband I told you that he watches this show).

And so with that mind frame this morning, I left home early to go to church and I was feeling euphoric for some reason. After church, I went to a drive thru ATM, completed my transaction, and whistled my way to the grocery store.  Still feeling light-hearted, I navigated through my normal route. When I arrived at the cash register, I pulled out my wallet to pay for my groceries and pfft my debit card I is missing.  I didn't panic, I just retraced my steps, still feeling positive. To make the long story short, I found it back at the bank.

"The machine eats up your card after a few seconds, so that the next client cannot take it," the  Bank of America clerk happily announced.

"I thought I was having a great day," I said.

"Oh isn't it still a good day? It could have been worse. At least your card wasn't stolen!" she replied.

I headed back to the grocery to finally pay for my groceries. Thankfully,  the grocery cart was  carefully parked in a corner. But my card wouldn't work. Apparently, it got temporarily suspended since the ATM recorded it as lost! So I had to go back to the bank and back to the grocery.  But this time, my grocery cart was gone!!! On any given day, I would have exploded after each unfortunate event, but today, I started with and kept a positive attitude. It made my day seem lighter, even though a lot (as in A LOT!) went wrong.

I'm sure you have experienced this kind of day.  It's one of those days wherein nothing goes right. Being a mom is so stressful sometimes... and your mind is all over the place.  But take stock, be calm, stay positive and always focus on happy thoughts. It won't hurt and it will even make your day better.

If mental note won't work, make yourself this Sticky rice with mango.  It will definitely swing your mood from bad to good, and you will feel your lips relax into a smile... Have a happy day!

Thai Inspired Sticky Rice with Mangoes

 Ingredients:
3 cups rice
5 cups water
3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 cans coconut milk

Procedure:
Soak the rice with water for 20 minutes.  In a pan, pour the rice with water.  Add 2 more cups of water and 1 can of coconut milk, sugar and salt.  Bring it to a boil while stirring continuously to make sure that the rice won't get stuck at the bottom of the pan.

Continue to cook it until water is absorbed.  Add the other can of coconut milk. Let it simmer and cook until  rice is tender but not mushy.  Set aside.

Slice mangoes into cubes, set aside.

For the topping:

3 large eggs
1 small can of heavy cream
3/4 can of condensed milk.
2 tbsps butter

In a saucepan, break the eggs and pour the condensed milk in.
Cook over medium heat, while stirring continuously until it thickens.

Add coconut milk and heavy cream. Give it a quick stir until it simmers.   Set aside

How to assemble:
Put the sticky rice on a bowl layer with mangoes.  Then repeat.  Add topping and sprinkly with toasted sesame seeds.

It certainly looks like a parfait.. but it's not.

It also looks like a trifle, only it's made of sticky rice...

 Enjoy!!!