Shifting To A More Healthy Lifestyle

As a stay at home mom, I have been very open to changing our lifestyle. With the fast-food we eat, the instant meals, and preservatives. It's up to us moms how to be able to serve a well-balanced meal all the time. But sometimes, I view the process a bit hard. Sometimes, I see that producing healthy dishes is quite a challenge, because everything is natural.

For the past 2 years, I have been reliable on easy recipes. My food blog is based on that too. But if you're going to look at it and take time, preparing an all-natural dish is easy. Just recently, I found a great website that has the answer to my small kitchen situation.

1001recipe.com shares both easy and healthy recipes. A complete set of menu that is compose of healthy recipes. There's a lot of easy recipes to choose from. Everyday is going to be healthy for the family. If you're a member, you can also share some of your recipes. Even dishes passed down from one generation to another.

This site is an answer sent from heaven. Imagine, I will never go browse for random websites hoping to get an easy, healthy recipe dish. They have food from all categories, delights that will satisfy the palette. Aside from the main recipe, nutritional facts/ food facts for the ingredients are also shared. For me, food facts is an outstanding criteria. I would often struggle thinking about the nutritional content of a dish. Which I think plays a vital role with the food we eat everyday.

Red Ribbon's Sugarfree Mango Passion Cake

This was my birthday cake. I'm glad that Red Ribbon came up with sugar free cakes. This is perfect for the health conscious. I for one is a cake lover, but I do watch my sugar in- take. And that's what I love about Red Ribbon cakes and desserts, they're not too sweet, yet the taste and quality I want is there. It gives the ultimate satisfaction I'm looking for.

This cake was actually requested by my husband. It was his first time to know that Red Ribbon has a sugar free cake. He has always been praying for Red Ribbon to create a line of sugar free cakes. So there, the moment he saw it, I knew Mango Passion is going to be my cake for this year.

Today, I indulged myself with another slice.

It's so good that we try to save some even before it reaches its expiration date. The fun part, it taste like the usual cake. Real mango filling, rich chiffon cake covered with crushed grahams. Yum!

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My Christmas Menu Is Ready

Freshly made pasta by moi will make our Christmas special this year.

We had to do our Christmas Menu early because we plan to purchase most of the dry ingredients as early as mid of this month. With the news that prices will go through the roof by December, definitely, it will triple the expenses. Considering the ongoing price freeze too. So wow! what a dilemma right? Crazy!

Smiley Face

Anyway, we were able to come up with simpler dishes for this holiday season. The menu will consist of dishes and goodies we missed eating and stuff we also enjoyed throughout the year.

Hors d'œuvres which I also call The Holiday Plate! fresh fruits, crackers and cheese and some cold cuts. If I could insert Caviar in the budget, why not!
Smiley Face

A pasta dish.

Mom's Carbonara! its my mom's specialty. Very meaty and saucy. It will have my touch because I will be making the pasta. The sauce, my mom's!

Liempo! We need some of that juicy meat. Yum!

Fresh Garden Salad! Romaine lettuce, tomatoes, onion rings, croutons with special salad dressing.

Fruit Salad! Make that sugar free. Christmas will never be complete without a bowl of cold fruit salad. It's advisable to double the recipe, so you can have something to enjoy during the days between Christmas and New Year.

Cake from Red Ribbon! Winning the contest was just timely for the season to come. Must try their Sugar Free Mango Cake.

Lastly, a bottle of Franzia Red Wine and Baileys Mint Chocolate to complete everything...

Loving Your Body

Loving your body means investing on the right products. Things that we may think that cost so much. When it comes to taking care of our body, nothing is safer than relying on the most trusted and the most qualified. Especially when it comes to cosmetic surgery. Girls nowadays would prefer going under surgery to fix what they feel is needed to be improved. In this case, I noticed that mostly, goes with rhinoplasty or nose surgery. Our nose is a big factor for beauty. May I also emphasize that it is important to have proper research before going for it. Do not base any of your surgeries on cost. It's best to always rely and trust an experienced cosmetic surgeon. Rhinoplasty is one of the most demanding cosmetic procedures and requires an extremely skilled surgeon.

If you can afford it, clinics and more surgeons are available abroad. It is going to be cheaper. Don’t forget to add in your travel, transport and accommodation costs.

Rhinoplasty cost depending on the surgeon, clinic and location. There are surgeons and clinics with the lowest and highest costs for the procedure Rhinoplasty (Nose Job - Nose Surgery). Rhinoplasty surgery is almost like an art form; the surgeon must be able to visualize the new nose and carefully make the changes.

The Reward Given

It's here! I got it early today from a nearby Red Ribbon Branch, and just in time for my birthday. I was already feeling a little sad over the weekend, because my birthday is just days away... I was really hoping to enjoy a Red Ribbon cake from the prize I won, on my Special Day. You know what I mean. But it goes to show that the blessing of being patient is very rewarding.

I got an email last night from one of Red Ribbon's contest organizers. (Hi Jon! ) He sent me a message that I can already get my gift certificates worth P3000 at the Red Ribbon Branch I chose. That email really made my weekend. Thank you, thank you Red Ribbon. It was a wonderful experience. Immediately, after getting my GCs, I treated my family to lunch! Ciao!

ActivTrak Value Companies

With the recent recession, companies everywhere are cutting back and laying off workers, and that means that the employees who are left will need to pick up their pace and be more productive. It can be very difficult for some to distinguish which workers are truly pulling their weight and which ones are just fooling around.

Having to measure if an employee is doing good or bad, productivity monitoring software can help. Using productivity monitoring software to monitor workers, members of management can easily see which workers are doing their job and those failing. This information can then be used to guide underperforming employees while rewarding the top notchers. Through this, you get to keep qualified workers, identify the best workers and you can keep top performers motivated and help them do an even more effective job. Productivity monitoring software can also be used to identify those workers who may need a bit of help to reach their full potential.

ActivTrak has benefits too. It makes it easier for the management team to enforce existing policies with regard to email, internet usage and other electronic communications. By installing productivity monitoring software employers can get an early earning that such dangerous activities are taking place.

Monggo With Alugbati Leaves

Alugbati is one of my favorite green, leafy source. In terms of its nutritional content, I would consider that it is one of the most nutritious. Easy to cook, easy to grow.

Alugbati

A succulent, branched, smooth, twining herbaceous vine, several meters in length. Stems are purplish or green.

Common market product, a popular leafy and stew vegetable, a good substitute for spinach.
The green and purple cultivated varieties are preferable to the wild ones.
Both the young shoots and stems are eaten.
Excellent source of calcium and iron; good source of vitamins A, B, and C, with a high roughage value.
-source-

Enhancing Your Online Connection

Here's a new and reliable source to enjoy your online connectivity. Ventrilo is a scalable Voice over IP (VoIP) communications system that solves a lot of the problems associated with network latency, packet loss, uptime and administration. It can be useful for both for home and personal applications. That includes, online gaming or chatting. Voice Comm can make them more exciting and productive. It can also be used in an enterprise environment as a productivity tool for conducting long distance group discussions.

The ventrilo.com domain is used for hosting these web pages and all of the download files for the Ventrilo Client and Server programs. It is a centralized location for checking on updates to the programs and asking for technical help via the message forum.

Slice N' Dice

A newly opened Steak House just around the corner. Truly, heaven sent this restaurant to add variation to the line of restaurants in a nearby commercial area. I'm not talking about Cubao. This new branch of Slice N' Dice opened at the Metrolane Complex 20th Avenue.

Steaks served for P99! T-Bone, Steak ALA Pobre and my favorite, Garlic Steak

Steak Salpicao P75 Beef Strips combined with their special gravy sauce topped with mushrooms and roasted garlic. It's one of my favorites.

Garlic Pork Tenderloin P79. The meat is very tender and juicy.

Slice n' Dice also offers an All-Day Sunrise meal. Dishes typically served during breakfast. Sunny Sirloin Rice, Grilled Chorizo, Sirloin Scramble, Cheese Steak Omelette.

Ugg Boots

Holidays is just around the corner. I am one of the few who started early with some Christmas Shopping. One of the things that I'm dying to have, is a comfy pair of Ugg Boots. I've read celebrities wearing it both inside their homes and outside. All, because of the comfort it gives. Ugg sells different kinds of boots. Some might think that they only go for tall boots. The good news, they have boots in short, kids boots, classic short and mini. Plus, these cool boots come in different colors.

Boots are one of the easiest to wear, it's fashionable too. Now that you might wanna get a pair this season, I know that they will be having a Ugg Boots Sale. Whatever activity you have in store this Fall and this coming Winter, Ugg Boots best fits to give the warm of a perfect company for a memorable season and most of all, comfort.

Yoyos---Perfect As Gift This Holiday Season

I grew up playing with yoyos. To a point, I got into collecting different kinds I see in the yoyo shop. I would play with my brother and do some easy exhibitions, such as walk the dog. It was a fun childhood memory.

This coming holiday season, I like to surprise my son with his very own yoyo. His first actually. Yoyos can also be great Christmas stocking filler. Under tons and tons of goodies, the excitement it will bring to the child as he grabs something round and light, will make him the happiest person on Christmas day.

Looking for the right yoyo is easier now. You can actually find a good store online. Yoyo's for beginners, intermediate and advanced categories, they have it. All Yoyos are of excellent quality and are recognized as one of the best.

Crispy Bangus Belly

As requested by... I had to think of another way to serve Boneless Bangus. Filipinos are very fond of Milk Fish cooked in guava (Sinigang sa Bayabas). If not, marinated then fried. I originally planned to cooked the fish in vinegar, salt and garlic first.

I marinated it for about an hour with Calamansi juice, salt, pepper, minced ginger and garlic instead.

Dipped in egg, rolled on bread crumbs, then deep- fried. Waited for each to turn golden brown.

Good Diet---Take Protein Drinks

I learned about protein drinks through my brother-in-law. He is into sports that's why a well-balanced diet and a perfect drink to match his daily grub is important. Protein drinks have other benefits. Protein drinks are also good as a maintaining factor for the body. It is a body-builder, weight loss partner, it gives strength, and endurance. Many might think that protein drinks doesn't taste good. It is a flavorful drink. I first thought of it as a milk shake. You will definitely enjoy it. A protein drink is like a package. You get to drink and enjoy the flavor of your choice. At the same time, maintains a healthy body.

Achieve your weight loss goals with the help of DietDirect.com's selection of low calorie, high protein diet shakes and cold drinks. Get the same protein diet shakes and drinks used by weight loss physicians and diet clinics, at discount prices.

Choose from our hand-picked selection of diet protein shakes and protein drinks, designed for weight loss.

Organizing My Files

I'm in the process of documenting the stuff I already posted online. Specifically on my food blog. One dilemma I undergo is getting my folders mixed up. Too much to handle, that I sometimes even save a new file on a previously documented documented set of files and programs. Its very frustrating. Plus, I have photos to make everything more confusing. Using a file sync software may help me with this goal of mine.

A file sync software is a folder and file synchronization software that is free for noncommercial usage. File Sync is very simple in use and can help if you need:

1. To define distinctions between two folder.
2. For file synchronization and folder synchronization (sample: between laptop and pc, flash and desktop, computer and network).
3. To copy only the files you don’t have on the working PC from another computer on flash.

With File Sync program you will precisely know the difference between two copies of the same folders and if you want will be able to replace old files with new ones. To synchronize folders and files will be to press the computer mouse twice for you.

Perfect right?! It will save time, energy and it will lessen your stress thinking of ways just to put every file in order. It also helps every time you transfer a file from one computer to another. If you have a business, this is the right one for you.

Thai Chicken Recipe

I am very happy to share that finally, I was able to find the Thai flavor I have been looking for years. Thai food became my favorite when I tasted a salad dish from Dusit Thani (a hotel located in Makati). Since then, I have been craving for its flavor.

For the past few days I was working with my husband around the kitchen. Part of our little adventure was to look for special ingredients such as sauce base, fresh herbs, special oils and organic products. I accidentally saw a Thai stir fry paste. I am talking about authentic Thai flavorings. With the success of my first attempt in Thai cooking, I will definitely try the rest of the flavors.

Ingredients:

1/2 K Chicken Breast Fillet (cut into strips)
2 tbsp oyster sauce
5 cloves garlic minced
1 tsp ginger minced
celery leaves chopped (equivalent to 2 tbsp)
onion leeks chopped (equivalent to 1 tbsp)
1 small red bell pepper sliced thinly
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp olive oil
a dash of salt and ground black pepper
3 tbsp Thai Basil Garlic & Chili Paste

How To:

Saute garlic and ginger in extra virgin olive oil
Add chicken strips
Add oyster sauce. Stir for about a minute.
Simmer until cooked
Add celery leaves, leeks and bell pepper. Stir.
Add Thai paste
Then salt and pepper to improve taste.

This dish may be served as Main too. Perfect with hot rice, a bottle of cold beer, relaxing mood and soft music. Enjoy!

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Girls Talk! My Favorite Chocolate/s

Another Thursday full of yummy treats from the girls. Today, we share our favorite chocolates. I am a certified chocoholic. If there's a flavor on my list, you will find Chocolate on top. By the way, I posted this entry here on my food blog because it involves in keeping my tummy happy.

DARK chocolate is my #1 favorite. I'd still go for the usual milk-chocolate if I can't find any Dark, or anything that is not too sweet works for me.

Most are Dark Chocolates

I love Lindt'sLindor Truffles---so rich!

As always, 3 Musketeers will always be my favorite too. Aside from being a chewy- "not too sweet" chocolate... it's 40% less fat.

Wanna share your favorites too? Come and join @ Girls Talk!

Special Crab Rice

I first tasted Crab Rice in an authentic Chinese restaurant owned by a family friend.

Restaurant location: Seaside Macapagal Blvd.

It was so good and heavy. Composed of crab pieces, Glutinous Rice, Ginger, Soy Sauce. Over the weekend, my Dad made some for dinner. Part of our weekly get together is preparing special dishes.

This Crab Rice is super special from the usual because it has prawns to go with it.

Here's a Crab Rice Recipe I found online.

Be On Top of the Search Engine

My food blog will turn one year in 2 months. When I started making this site, one of my concerns was to be able to make it searchable in the internet. To build reliable traffic, we all know that it's perfect if it's going to be Googled or looked at Yahoo right?

Search engine optimization alone has it's limits. Search Engine Optimization Company has internet marketing packages that will surely make you rise on top. Your website needs top search engine placement to succeed and SEO Positions, everything is here to make sure you achieve your goals with their #1 in class Internet marketing techniques. You can have your website optimized for Google, Yahoo, and Msn for an extremely reasonable price!

Achieving this is as easy as counting 1,2,3. Their opinion search marketing are affordable . Optimize your personal and business website for less & get more! It's actually a sure shot for every site wanting to be discovered. You will never go wrong. It is now an essential for every site made. Or else, everything is useless. It will bring security to the thought that your site will be visited by people from around the world. Most of all, it will bring new and old visitors back.

Peppered Pork Strips In Teriyaki Sauce

This one, I made up. I invented it for the sake of trying something new. Enjoy real pepper flavor with juicy bell pepper slices in Teriyaki sauce.Ingredients:

Servings 5-6

1/4 k pork cutlet (sliced into small pieces)
1 medium green bell pepper (sliced into pieces)
1 medium red bell pepper (sliced into pieces)
10 pieces quail eggs (boiled and peeled)
3 medium potatoes (cut into quarters)
1 medium onions (chopped)
5 cloves garlic (minced)
1/2 cup water
3 tbsp Teriyaki sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper granules
a dash of ground black pepper
How To:

In a pan, saute garlic, onion in olive oil.
Add pork, stir-fry until half-cook.
Add potato and stir for about a minute.
Add water simmer until pork and potatoes are cooked.
Add Teriyaki Sauce and bell pepper.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Set in a platter and mix it with the quail eggs.

Happy eating!
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BLOGADVERTISINGSTORE Unprofessional

I hoped and I prayed that this will never happen. But it did. Sad to say, this ruined everything I planned for the coming Holiday season.

Dear bloggers, we shouldn't allow such culprit to bring imbalance in the blogosphere. We all know that blog advertising has been there to add support and reason to why we are blogging. These advertisers know how powerful blogging is in the world wide web. I do appreciate the fairness other advertisers show in order to keep a professional relationship online. But not all. Just recently, I fell victim to one of the most talked about scam in 2009. I gave them a chance since I haven't reached the $100 quota yet. I was warned, but I continued trusting that it will not happen to me.

The BLOGADVERTISINGSTORE

To the Advertisers involve. You are pouring money to this cheater. We bloggers aren't treated right. Why can't this middle-company join the game (to which I think, that's how they view it) with a fair play.

NO Payment received from the Blogadvertisingstore from Oct. 7- Nov. 6, 2009

Payment due Nov.1, 2009

They say: " You will be paid directly into your PayPal account on the first day of each month and there are even opportunities to get bonuses. Please be advised that we have a $100 threshold. We are forced to apply this threshold because in the last 6 (six) months we had to refund advertisers because bloggers nofollow-ed links, deleted sponsored posts or just because they deleted the entire blog. Once you accept to write an opportunity, you agree with these terms of payment."

All this crap about the payment may all be because they don't pay on time or they don't really pay at all. It is the right of the blogger to delete whatever task that has been written, simply because he or she didn't get paid for it. As to what both parties agreed on in the first place.

I trusted this policy, I followed and abided with all rules of the game.

It's easy to remove all tasks.
Really. It's just a click away.

It's the effort and time poured over it that matters to me.
A mere $100 can go along way. Especially for a stay at home mom like me. I can add that up to our savings, I can treat my family, I can donate it to church.

It's obvious that these simple things are not appreciated by the BLOGADVERTISINGSTORE.

Please do shed light on this if you got payed. I will really appreciate it if you will also include the process of your payment.

THANK YOU.

Girls Talk!--- My Favorite Drinks

The girls are buzzing about their favorite drinks. It's time that I share a few on this food blog of mine.

Since I stopped drinking coffee, my Starbucks fix would always be on their frapps. I have 2 favorites on my list, the Starbucks Strawberries & Crème Frappuccino and their Coffee Jelly. It goes with any slice of chocolate cake or blueberry cheesecake.

Starbucks Strawberries & Crème Frappuccino

Tea has been part of my diet since I was a kid. My dad would always serve tea after every meal. Not just any tea bag by the way... tea from dried leaves and flowers (such as jasmine) from a tea plant. I tell you, I assume that tea helped a lot with our growth. None of us got hospitalized and my parents looks younger and more active for their age.

To give my tea experience a twist, one of the tea drinks I enjoy is this Cold Green Tea from Bubble Tea.

It's the typical healthy green tea, usually served hot in tea pots. Only I choose to have mine cold.

Cold Green Tea from Bubble Tea

Lastly, a bottle of cold beer over the weekend, celebrates a 2 day rest from the usual activities I always do everyday.

Stella Artois Alcohol Volume 5% (5.2% in some markets)

What are your favorite drinks? Share it with us Girls @ Girls Talk!

As Requested By--- Pancit Bihon and Lumpiang Prito

The Pancit Bihon was requested by my husband. Early Monday, my parents brought us Pancit. It was so good. In a way, my husband got "bitin" (left hanging and craved for some more). We went out to buy the ingredients for the pancit he requested.

Pancit is noodles in Filipino cuisine. It was introduced by the Chinese and have been adopted into a local cuisine. The term pancit is derived from the Hokkien pian i sit which means "something conveniently cooked fast." Different kinds of noodles can be found in Filipino supermarkets which can then be cooked at home. Noodle dishes are also standard fare in local restaurants. Food establishments specializing in noodles are often referred to as panciterias.

The type of Pancit shown above is called--- Pancit Bihon Guisado

Thin rice noodles fried with soy sauce some citrus, possibly with patis, and some variation of sliced meat and chopped vegetables.-source-


My recipe includes:

17 oz Pancit Bihon
1 medium onion (chopped)
5 cloves garlic (minced)
2 tbsp oyster sauce
10 pcs of string beans (chopped into small pieces)
1/4 kilo of meat or ground meat (sliced into small pieces)
10 pcs. squid balls (cut into half)
1/ cup soy sauce
1/2 water
1/2 medium cabbage (chopped into small sizes)
2 bunches of Kinchay leaves (flat leaf parsley or 5 stalks of celery chopped)
5 pcs. Tainga ng Daga---a tropical mushroom known as Auricularia (soaked and chopped) Shitake will do
Salt and pepper to taste

To match our afternoon pancit snack, I requested my husband to buy some Lumpiang Prito for me.

Lumpiang Prito/Lumpiang Gulay

It's a good thing that our favorite vendor was around to sell us some straight from the frying pan.
It consists of spring roll wrapper filled with mung beans sprouts and various other vegetables such as string beans and carrots. Deep-fried then dipped in a special vinegar mixture when eaten.

MushroomBurger

MushroomBurger should always be included for every Tagaytay visit.

Originally a mushroom farm in Tagaytay City back in 1978, where mushrooms of four (4) different types of mushrooms, mainly the Abalone Mushroom, the Oyster Mushroom, the Wooden Ear and the Shiitake Mushroom, were sold directly to the public.

What a cozy counter!

If I were to have my own fast food chain, I will do it just like MushroomBurger's. Not too big, not too small... just right. This counter has everything! Fast service, good food for a very reasonable price. Burger patties made out of mushrooms. What a healthy option.

They have two branches, one in Tagaytay and in 2004 a second branch opened, located at West Avenue, Quezon City, in front of the Philam Homes subdivision.

MushroomBurger King

"In the early eighties, one of our customers commented that mushrooms were more expensive than beef where he came from, and he asked, why not make burgers out of the mushrooms? That same day the first Mushroomburger was created." -source-

Burger Steak HK
Served with hot rice, mixed mushrooms in special sauce and egg.

MUSHROOMBURGER
KM60, Aguinaldo Highway, Tagaytay City