Treasure Jar

Home cooking is not only inexpensive but it sure guarantees safe handling of food. Home cooking is also a way to be creative in preparing healthier choices as compared to food prepared elsewhere.

If only most of our meals are prepared at home then I know we are eating better than the alternative.

Being creative in the kitchen enables one to experiment with different tastes, textures, flavors and adaptation to what is readily available in the kitchen.

Here is one alternative food preparation we did recently, introducing our homemade chicken shawarma:

Thinly sliced chicken strips (from chicken breast fillet) with oyster sauce, a bit of light soy sauce, and a little muscovado sugar, were cooked in olive oil.

I seasoned with salt and pepper.

For the vegetables, I sliced green bell peppers and cucumber (I removed the seeds). Lettuce is still very expensive so I skipped that.

For the dressing I used light mayonnaise.

I then topped these with grated cheese and voila, a homemade chicken shawarma for us.

The wrap consisted of store bought wheat soft tortilla wrap.

Yes, it was ‘sawrap”!

Tags: cheese, chicken, cooking, dining, food, food and dining, food photo, healthy eating, home, Photography, Purse Strings, shawarma

Kraft Eden Cheese aims to target having 5,000 Filipino dishes cooked to set a Guinness World Record on December 14, 2009 at the Araneta Coliseum.

5,000 dishes? Filipino food, a fusion of the many scrumptious concoctions from the different cultural influences we had for several centuries, have evolved and these definitely can mean uniquely extra-ordinary and uber delicious.

Foodies, chefs, people who love to cook, culinary arts students and kusineros and kusineras will be whipping up these 5,000 dishes using Kraft Eden Cheese on December 14, 2009 at Araneta Coliseum.

Be a YUMM (Your Ulam, Mas Masarap) member and contribute your cheese recipes at the Sarap ng Buhay website.

I am contributing this Cheesy Turon recipe, yipee!

Cheese is a must-have item in our home. There are times when we just munch on cheese slices. The children and hubby too love to put heaps of cheese on their pasta.

French toast for breakfast or afternoon snacks have cheese slices in it:

Sandwiches are like meals in itself, with cheese and tomato slices and greens. Easy to prepare and easy to bring when going to the workplace or doing chores outside the home.

If you want to be a part of history, be more creative in whipping up those yummy flavorful recipes and help promote Filipino dishes through this event.

Visit for more details!

Tags: cheese, cooking, dining, egg, food, food and dining, food photos, Parma, Philippines, Photography

Whenever we go to our favorite supermarket’s aisle where the cereals are being sold, we always get two boxes: one big box of cereals for the kids and a box of Nestle Fitnesse cereals for me. I love it that I can have cereals that feel light, and yummy enough to munch on by itself.

Anyway, last Saturday, my friends (who are also blogging moms) and I met for a special occasion. We talked about Nestle Fitnesse 14 Days to Show Off Your Shape Contest. Based on the contest mechanics, we see that we have a chance to join this contest ourselves, haha!

Hmmm… should we join this contest and get the chance to wear fashionable and expensive clothes with labels that read Hermes, Rhett Eala, Michi Calica, Religioso, Kate Torralba, Jun Escario, Chanel or 7 for All Mankind?

Fat chance you say?

I say think slim and fit for this dress below:

So how can we and you and up to seven of your friends join the Nestle Fitnesse 14 Days to Show Off Your Shape contest?

• Gather your friends and form a team of 2 – 8 members. Everyone in the team has to shed off at least 2 pounds in 2 weeks.
• How do you and your friends lose 2 pounds in 2 weeks? By tweaking your diet and replacing breakfast and one of the main meals (your choice of either lunch or dinner) for two weeks.
• Exercise, going into a fitness program and eating more fruits, vegetable and low-fat, carbohydrate rich food will greatly help the 14-day Nestle Fitnesse diet regimen.
• To further challenge you and your friends to finish till the end of the 14 day challenge, chronicle your experiences through an online fitness diary.
• The Top 10 most popular Fitnesse 14-day diaries will make it to the finals.

The Nestle Fitnesse 14 Days to Show Off Your Shape will start on November 14, 2009, Saturday 9am. Voting period will last from November 15 till December 3, 2009.

Winners will be judged by style icons on December 10, 2009 in a fashion show.

Losing pounds and eating your way to a healthier you has never been this easy.

Call up your friends and take the Nestle Fitnesse 14 Days to Show Off Your Shape challenge.

Blogging moms of FilipinoMomBlog.com, are we up to the challenge? 😀

For more information about Nestle Fitnesse’s 14 Days to Show off Your Shape, please log on to www.fitnesse-14days.com.

Tags: food, health, healthy eating, Nestle Fitnesse, Philippines

I love fresh tomatoes.

No, that is not my vegetable garden but I wish it was, lol.

I use these fresh tomatoes with omelet, as a side dish, for pasta and as part of sandwich fillings.

Below is a photo I have already used in this post:

We had this again the other night but this time using vegeroni spirals.

No photo though, we just dug in as soon as the dish was ready.

Yeah, we were that hungry.

We were also in a bit of  hurry because I needed to go online for a live chat.

Happy Sunday and yes, happy eating 🙂

Tags: cooking, dining, eggplant, food, food photo, healthy eating, Lasang Pinoy Sundays, pasta, Photography, Purse Strings, tomatoes

Healthy living is not something we should decide upon to adapt or not, as a lifestyle.

Healthy living is the only choice if we put our perspectives in order.

Why not? Being healthy is one ticket to a life that is not riddled with chemical-induced relief from pain and hospital bills.

There are even some illnesses where people need to travel to seek help.Going for cancer treatments in the USA, spine surgery Mexico, and probably even seeking ayurvedic medicine treatments in India are just some of the costly steps people have in order to be healthy again.

Some would even travel to places where it is said that prayers and prayer offerings can give miraculous effect.

Becoming healthy or espousing a healthy living starts with the self.

How?

Some first steps to be considered would be healthy eating, having a fitness program, getting enough sleep and not getting stressed too much.

Yes, it seems like an impossibility to some but taking one small step at a time will surely help one live a lifestyle considered healthy.

Tags: fitness, food, health, healthy eating, healthy living, Purse Strings, thoughts

Dona Elena Cuisinera Club is a virtual hub where mothers, health practitioners and foodies get together virtually to share recipes that will promote healthy eating.

Not only do these members meet in the virtual world, they get to meet each other too, through monthly cooking lessons.

Can healthy and nutritious food go hand in hand? Yes!

How can this be?

Through the use of olive oil in preparing healthy, nutritious and of course, yummy food.

What are the benefits of olive oil?

• It is rich in monounsaturated fat with anti-inflammatory and anti-hypertensive properties.
• It can lower cholesterol level and reduce the risk of coronary heart disease AS LONG AS healthy and active lifestyle is also being practiced.
• Olive oil is rich in polyphenols which is a potent antioxidant that scavenges harmful free radicals in the body.

Go ahead, throw away those fat-laden and/or salty junk food and start learning to cook healthy and nutritious food.

You won’t need to read a lot about chemical-based weight loss supplements, herbal whatnot, alli and why starving yourself  is bad (LOL) to be able to live a healthy lifestyle 🙂

The choice is yours to make, here is to healthy living!

Tags: dining, family, food, pasta, Purse Strings