KITTY Inside My Froot Loops Box

A cute surprise for every box of Froot Loops.

Free Hello Kitty Figurines in 5 different colors. Collect all 5 and form the name KITTY.

Froot Loops, Froot Loops... it has always been a favorite. I love Froot Loops better than the usual breakfast cereal. I love the taste of  mixed fruity flavors with my fresh milk. Sometimes, I munch on it while watching television and while playing World of Warcraft.

Happy Cooks

So there I was, cooking with Ella and we're preparing food for our younger sister Les. Les turned 17 last week. I thought everything was already set, food was already being prepared. I had a hunch that something wasn't right, everything isn't falling into place, so Dolf and I decided to go to the venue earlier last February 19. And my hunch was right, my mom was a little tired coming from a trip a day before the celebration, and our helper didn't know what to do. And worse, they haven't done their groceries yet. It's a good thing my sister became available too. Ella, Dolf and I went to nearest supermarket and bought the ingredients needed.

It's not my first time to cook for parties and events. Through the years, party planning and menu planning has been firing up our systems. Sometimes, we don't wait for an occasion just to be able to cook luscious dishes. As long as we have the ingredients, the kitchen is going to be busy the whole day. We love to eat as we also  set the mood of our home for warm conversations and laughter. We spend the whole day seating at the dining area talking about life while we eat and fill up the serving platters over and over again.

Last Saturday's birthday celebration was pretty challenging, we were caught unaware and with little time for preparation. It's a good thing that my dad came home early and joined the kitchen brigade.

We divided the tasks.
Me: Carbonara, Curried Prawns, Mixed Veggies and Plating

Ella: Chopping of everything needed for each viand and our Basil Pear Salad

Dad: Turbo broiled a whole chicken and liempo, laing

 Anything to make our sister happy on her special day...

It was actually an honor to see these happy faces surrounding the food that made this occasion memorable.

For every birthday my sisters celebrate, it always brings me back to the time when I was their age, with my own friends celebrating with me. Next year is going to be big for my younger sister Les. She's going to be celebrating her 18th birthday. As early as late last year, we have been planning and giving her options on how she can make her debut memorable.

1. Travel

2. Traditional Debut (18 candles, roses, etc. the works!)

As of the moment, she's thinking of traveling as a good option and just in case, she wants the rest of the girls to accompany her. Our dad will work it out.

As for the cooks night of February 19, 2011...

We're satisfied with a yummy slice of Becky's Chocolate Mousse... We're built and trained for anything, even for bigger events, because we love our kitchen and cooking has always been our  ♥♥♥'s desire...
Smiley Face

Comfort While Praying

One of the things that attracts me the most when I'm in a new place are the furnishings, especially chairs. Restaurant furniture including booths, restaurant chairs, cluster seating, church seating , lounges, hotels and even outdoors. Wood, vinyl, fabric, whatever the chair is made of as long as it's comfortable, I'm fine with it. One of the most important chairs for me are church chairs .

Simple, coming from a traditional country, praying for us is a sacred task as individuals. We rely so much on our faith.  A factor that contributes is being comfortable while praying and through that, we're  able to create an atmosphere free of distractions. Starting from the moment a person grabs the first seat inside the church, solemnity follows. 

A church furniture doesn't really have to be fabulous. Simplicity at it's finest. Elegance plays a very big role when it comes to church furniture. .

FTF: Easy Beef Gyudon

It all started with Yoshinoya's bowl of Beef Gyudon... It's really our favorite, especially when served with red ginger. One evening, my husband asked me if I know how to cook Gyudon. It's sort of a request too. I don't really know how, but for me, as long as I have the ingredients everything will follow. So I went online to search for the common Beef Gyudon recipe. It was a fast find with the right ppc management. The traditional Gyudon recipe is compose of real Japanese ingredients such us: sake or Japanese rice wine and mirin.

Gyudon or simply beef bowl is a dish of beef and onion served over a bowl of rice, often topped with raw egg. Gyū means beef, and don  for donburi, which is the Japanese word for bowl.
I found a video (which was great), my husband was dictating the procedure to me, while I prepare the ingredients.
Please take note:

• we substituted a mix of 1/4 cup white wine, 1/4 cup soy sauce and a teaspoon of sugar in replacement for sake and mirin.
• 1 tsp. of fresh minced ginger instead of powdered ginger
  

Even with the substituting made with some of the ingredients, our bowl of Beef Gyudon tasted exactly like the traditional Gyudon bowl. Thanks to this Easy one-pot Gyudon (beef bowl) video. It would have been perfect though if we have some pickled red ginger in stock. Which reminded me to visit a Japanese store as soon as possible.

Food Trip Friday

Kalinga- Apayao Coffee

I do like coffee. But I stayed away from instant coffee and became a real coffee lover. So what makes up real coffee? Let's face it, freshly brewed coffee is always the best. It's one of the blessings my family enjoys,  it's rare for anybody to get fresh roasted coffee beans from Kalinga and grind it ourselves. Then a cup of freshly brewed coffee to make our morning brighter.

With imported coffee and coffee shops conquering the market, some of us might have forgotten that the Philippines is also known for producing some of the finest coffee also found around the globe. About 200 years ago, the Philippines was the fourth largest coffee producing nation. Today, however, the Philippines produces only .012% of the world's coffee supply. -source- An email marketing campaign will contribute on advertising our own products.

Kalinga- Apayao is an agricultural land found in the Cordillera Administrative Region of Luzon, their products are food and industrial crops such as palay, corn, coffee, root crops and vegetables. Aside from Kalinga - Apayao, there are other provinces in the Philippines that grows coffee: Bukidnon, Batangas, Benguet, Cavite. When you get to visit these provinces, please try to invest on the products they're famous for. Share it with your friends and love ones too.

*It's one of the things I cherish. Even I haven't been anywhere outside the country, I'm proud that I have tasted most products of our very own. 

For those who are interested on trying our very own Philippine coffee, the Philippine National Trade Fair for 2011 might just have the products you've been looking for. It is going to be held at the SMX Convention Center from March 17-20 2011.

My Kitchen Needs...

So I was going through some things around my kitchen last night and found out that I do need new equipments and utensils, some bowls and cups that needs replacement.
I have 2 new kitchen discoveries and some web design companies to share but I couldn't post it because I don't have the right containers for the presentation.

Here are the things needed:

A set of bowls for my rice bowl dishes.

A set of tea cups for my caffè mocha entry.

New baking pans for cakes, brownies and cupcakes.

And a pizza pan.

With my discoveries at the beginning of this year, with requested dishes and attempts on trying new recipes, I need to get all these as soon as possible. A week from now, I am going to spend the whole weekend baking with my mom. She found her old pastry recipes and hopefully, we will be able to light up her passion on baking cakes and pastries again.

-photo source-

Our Simple Valentine's Day Celebration

I'm supposed to blog about our simple Valentine's Day celebration on my other website. Since food was the highlight of this year's V-Day, let me open my story to you guys through this food blog. In celebration of Valentine's Day, I prepared Creamy Carbonara for dinner. But prior to that, I had lunch with my 2 boys over at Yoohoo BBQ Metrowalk. Love Day was spent like any ordinary day. We had a lovely day together. The weather was perfect for a breezy afternoon stroll with my family. We went window shopping at some outlet stores, breezed through for some logo design ideas. 

My creamy Carbonara base sauce is cream. Basic sauce was sauteed garlic, onion and mushrooms in cream. I didn't put too much bacon or meat because the cream itself was thick but richness was just right. My toppings were roasted garlic and bits of sweet ham. And when he got home, he gave me some goodies from Red Ribbon. He was a bit sad though, because he was planning to get me a cake instead of flowers. But by the time he got out from work, the cakes from the only Red Ribbon shop in their building were sold out.  

Hope was not all lost because a pan of freshly cooked Chicken Empanada also from Red Ribbon, was taken out and my other half bought everything. He also prepared a box of my favorite pastries. The rest of the evening was spent cuddling in our living room.

For us, ever since we were still dating, Valentine's Day is spending extra time with the one we love. It doesn't matter how we do it, it doesn't matter if we have gifts for each other, as long as we're together, everyday is going to be Valentine's Day. Oh, did I mention that he surprised me with a new scent from Marks & Spencer? I just love him, full of surprises!

Slimming Workout

Over our Sunday family get together at my parent's place, I was complemented by my mom that I have a slimmer body now compared to the last time she saw me. As usual, she asked if I've been working out lately. Well, the answer is no. But, I did cut a little on what I take-in regularly. Aside from that, household chores and frequent walking has been backing me up. One of the things that I inherited from my mother's side as we age, is getting wider hips. Our waist may still be the same, but when we talk about our hips, our butts and our thighs, these are the parts of our body that we need to work out on. It's very common  for the for girls in the family. So as early as now, I keep on warning my younger sisters to watch out for it.  I like the fact that this dilemma is not pulling too much pressure on my part in terms of getting a "sexy" body. I love my body right now, all I need is the right maintenance to remain healthy with what I have presently reached. I have been planning to create a daily workout routine. We have these workout equipments here at home, but really, I don't have any idea on how to begin. I researched that some workout routines are being used for bodybuilding. And it greatly helps on increasing one's strength and endurance. Aside from that, I might just have a healthier future if I begin working out at the early age of 32. Seriously,  exercising is not only  for the purpose of  having a slimmer body, but also to work on every muscle, every system I have in order for my body to function well.

Childhood's Sweet Nothings

Cloud 9

Sampalok

Nissin Butter Coconut

Chocolate Mallows

Air Heads

These are just some goodies that reminded me so much of my  childhood. I must admit, I still carry a lot of my younger years with me, even up to now. Well, when it's really your favorite, nothing can stop a person from having these simple joys.

A logo of a certain product may also be in the simplest form, it's how the product is being sold to the public. Of course the taste of these childhood sweet nothings already made a mark on my palette. I do crave for them. Logo Design Tips played a major role on creating these products too. Because one of the things that excites me the most is the part  when among the packs of goodies and local products on a shelf I'm looking at, suddenly, a familiar logo surprises me, it's my all-time childhood favorite, a refreshment of what made up my past and will surely continue to endear the present.... 

Another sweet moment waiting... it's sharing those same sweet memories with my husband and introducing a part of my life to my child.

FTF: Dried Squid for Breakfast

Aside from Danggit, Dried Squid from Cebu is one of my favorites. And I really look forward to it as pasalubong, if a friend or relative comes home from Cebu. But last week was different, because nobody came from Cebu. I bought my dried squid from the supermarket.

Served it with some hot sopas and rice...

Perfect with cane vinegar, especially with garlic.  

Goes well with a cup of hot coffee, some red eggs and tomatoes or a chocolatey bowl of champorado(chocolate rice porridge).

Food Trip Friday

The Natural Way

We all know that healthy living is compose of eating healthy food, proper exercise, and having a happy disposition in life. On a personal point of view, taking in supplements everyday will help  also strengthen one's health. These are supplements extracted from vegetables and fruits like red grapes. Naturally, red grapes contain anti-oxidants which are important for protecting the body against cancer, minerals such as calcium,iron, and potassium that takes care of the liver and fortifies the digestive system. It is good that we can now take these essentials anytime of the day.

Vintage Resveratrol is a naturally occurring compound found in nature, and the best source is French Red Wine Grape Extract. Vintage Resveratrol mimics calorie restriction's ability to trigger youthful gene expression. This is the process by which genes transmit signals that slow down certain aspects of aging. 

Each serving of  Vintage Resveratrol is100% equals the resveratrol found in 200 bottles of French Red Wine. Research demonstrates that resveratrol taken from French Red Wine Grapes most likely works better because of the phytonutrient properties of the grape's polyphenols and other antioxdiants properties.

Da Angelo Baci e Abbracci

Authentic Italian dishes, fresh ingredients, a cozy restaurant, happy faces and a friendly service makes up a good Restaurant Muenchen. I have loved Italian Cuisine since childhood, especially pasta dishes. It's one of my inspirations why I took Hotel and Restaurant Management in college.

Actually, even now, I still think of pursuing a career on becoming a chef. I just need time, and hopefully I can experience Italy at it's finest. Restaurant Muenchen is one of the best  restaurants you'll find in the world.

A tour of the  city and food in a whole new environment is quite an experience and it's sure worth the visit.

And when good food is present, italienisches Restaurant Muenchen offers the finest wines and cheeses also ready to be served. 

A perfect restaurant does not only stir up delicious meals, but it also give guests the coziest ambiance that would make each a frequent visitor.

Chris Chronicles 1st Blogversary Giveaway

A blogger friend is celebrating her blog's anniversary, Chris Chronicles 1st Blogversary Giveaway. Great prizes are up fro grabs! It's been a long since I joined a contest online. I do pray that I win something... Just in case I win any of the Top 3 prizes, I'll save it and if I get 4th prize, I'll use it for my food blog.

This is open to all bloggers internationally. Bloggers with multiple blogs can join as long as the rules are followed.

Here are the generous sponsors:

Pinay Mommy Online , Proud Mommy of Three , The Domain Angel , Life’s Digital Moments , Eat, Drink, Blog , Caffeinated Muse , Reviewer’s Haven , Janet Speaks , The Travel Diva , Sketches, Yam’s Files , Mum Writes Again , Travels and Musings , Viva Pinay , Small Kids Big Dreams , Azumi ★ Kawaii Princess’ Story , Fab ♥ Momma , Kawaii Princess , Samut-Sari , Joys in Life , Paula’s Place , WAHM sa Pinas , Pop Ups of My Mind , Nursing Uniforms , Kero’s Celebration , blankpixels – The Geek Side , Certified Foodies , jared’s little corner of the world… , Travels and Explorations , Designer’s Depot , Work at Home Dad, Noobfoodie , The Smart Shopper , Living Life to the Fullest! , Happy Home Working , Life of a Filipina Blogger , Wahmaholic Designs, The Miscellaneous Me, Family and Home Living.

1st winner will get $100

2nd winner will get $50

3rd winner will get $30

4th winner will get a two-column Blogger or WordPress template, color of winner’s choice.

This giveaway will start on February 1 and end on February 15, 2011. The winners will be chosen using random.org.