Filipinos have different ways of celebrating Independence Day, some would reconnect with history and remind themselves of the value of freedom, there are those who go on protest march or rallies, while others are simply apathetic. The restaurant and food industry also offers an appetizing way to celebrate Independence Day in the form of special menus and promos. Of course, there are foodies who plan to enjoy this day with the freedom to choose dishes to cook or restaurant promos to avail of. This particular foodie chose to enjoy the Tinolang Manok which was a symbolic dish in Jose Rizal’s novel Noli Me Tangere.

The Tinolang Manok is featured in the third chapter of Noli Me Tangere when Capitan Tiago hosted a dinner for the protagonist Crisosotomo Ibarra. Tinola was a favorite dish of Ibarra who just came home from a lengthy trip in Europe. As such, the host decided to serve it for dinner with Ibarra getting the choice cuts or the meatier parts. Padre Damaso a Dominican Friar who is also a guest for the dinner, got the neck and the wings or the bonier parts and made a fuss out of it. Ibarra was humiliated and chose to be excused from dinner. During Rizal’s time, the chicken part that is served to the guests is also a reflection of stature or importance. The meatiest part goes to the guest of honor and the boniest ones to the least important ones. Thus, a bony chicken part served to a friar can easily ruin a good dinner feast.

Nowadays, chicken breasts are still considered as choice cuts but they aren’t necessarily the chosen chicken part of the most important person in the dining table. The chicken wings, thighs and drumsticks also have their own fans. Little kids often prefer the drumstick over the breast while the chicken wings are served as hors d’oeuvres in cocktails. The Chicken Wings Tinola that we served for dinner is a celebration of the freedom from petty bias and discrimination that was prevalent during Rizal’s time.

One of the best ways to encourage kids to eat healthy food is through tasty dishes that are presented in fun and appetizing manner. A plain bowl of oatmeal can be made more appetizing by adding banana for eyes, nuts for nose, and honey for a sweet smile. For our back to school breakfast, we gave the good old buttered toast a new and more enticing look with the use of a waffle maker.

Here are 3 easy steps to make Bread Waffle, our quick and fun breakfast that is perfect for the morning rush. 

1. Get a piece of sliced bread and spread butter on both sides.
2. Heat waffle maker and put buttered bread on it. Leave for 1-2 minutes until it turns golden brown.
3. Serve with cheese and/or fresh fruits and jam.

Regular bread loaf from your neighborhood bakeshop, or the likes of Pinoy Tasty bread from the grocery, works better than soft bread like Gardenia Bread

White meat and grilled food are popular options for those who are into low fat and low cholesterol diet. When you have senior citizens to consider when ordering on a fast food restaurant, Mang Inasal offers a balanced choice of grilled pork, chicken and fish fares for those who are watching what they eat and the ones who simply care about enjoying their meal. Recently we have been frequenting the delivery services of Mang Inasal Riverbanks Branch because of their good service and Value for Money meals.

Those who have only P100 for their budget can already enjoy a filling meal with their Grilled Chicken Paa, Pork BBQ, Inihaw na Bangus, Pork Sisig, and Bangus Sisig. Just add a few change or coins and you can get drinks with your meal or get the choice white meat chicken part – Pecho. Dine-in customers can enjoy unlimited rice with their meals while delivery customers get an extra serving of rice with every meal. Our favorite delivery fares include the PM2 or Pecho Meal, PM3 Pork BBQ meal, and PM6 Bangus Inhaw. We always include at least one merienda size Pancit Bihon in our delivery order as a veggie or side dish alternative. At P49 per order its friendly on the pocket.  They used to have Sinigang na Bangus in their menu which is my niece’s favorite but for some reason it was removed from their menu. We do hope that they bring it back soon.

Big sized Chicken Parts, extra or unlimited rice, free soup, and good service makes Mang Inasal one of the best dine-in and fast food delivery options in our book. We do hope that they maintain their good performance and work on continuous improvement so that consumers like us will always have great options for healthy fast food delivery services that offer Value for Money Meals.

Last summer we enjoyed the sweet uber-licious Ube-Nata drink from Goldilocks along with the all-time favorite Summer Treat, Halo-Halo. With the summer gone and the rainy days here to stay, Goldilocks is giving us another treat to enjoy and extend the sweet ube flavor of summer through the rainy season – The Goldilocks Ube Halaya. This sweet purple dessert is a standard fare in Philippine Fiesta events that are prevalent during the summer season. A halo-halo is also made more special with a dollop of ube halaya on top. Having these treats ready to go from any Goldilocks outlet makes it easy to reminisce on Summer Fiestas or simply enjoy traditional pinoy desserts that we enjoyed while growing up. Halaya lovers can enjoy never ending Ube Happiness with this latest dessert from Goldilocks. Here is what they have to say on their new purple treat.

HALAYA HAPPINESS AT GOLDILOCKS

Our senses are tied very strongly to our memories, with the sense of smell and taste being the strongest. There are numerous tastes that every Filipino can connect to their youth, though nothing does the trick quite like sweets: polvoron crumbling in your mouth, the soft and buttery texture of a freshly baked mamon, the cheesy goodness of an ensaymada, and of course, the richness of ube halaya – the perfect combination of soft, sweet and chewy.

Goldilocks, the country’s number one bakeshop, brings a whole new level of delight through its ube halaya dessert. The Goldilocks Ube Halaya comes at a sizeable 300 grams, which means more servings for everyone to enjoy. Given the varied array of sweets and confectionary available today, it’s good to go back to basics sometimes, and enjoy a uniquely Filipino treat.

Stop into your local Goldilocks today, take home some Ube Halaya, remember some fond memories, and perhaps create a few new ones!

Enrollment period is nearing its end, moms are in the middle of shopping for school supplies, and school is about to start in a few weeks. Its back-to-school crunch time again and home kitchens need to be prepped for dishing out nutritious and great tasting school meals or baon.

Last year, we featured some ready to eat items from the grocery as school snack options. This year we will be adding a few home-cooked snacks in our list of preferred baon.   Our game plan menu for the week includes homemade burgers, ham and cheese waffle, oven-toaster carrot cake , banana fritters, and crispy coated chicken fingers. These are easy to prepare and filling home-cooked items that are sure to keep the kids energized and well nourished while in school. And when it comes to preparing flavorful home-cooked meals, a dash of Ajinomoto can give your food lots of flavor.

Ajinomoto is a known brand of MSG or monosodium glutamate that is widely used as a food flavor enhancer. There were some controversies about its safety and possible ill effects on one’s health but the research done on its safety and efficacy has proven otherwise and it has been included in the list of GRAS, Generally Recognized as Safe, ingredients approved by the US FDA or United States Food and Drug Administration. However, just like in everything else the key to good health is in moderation.   Over the years, the Ajinomoto brand has given us with more products that make it easy for those with limited cooking skills to dish out flavorful meals for the family. There’s the classic Ajinomoto seasoning that can be added to just about any dish, Aji Ginisa Mix for stir-fry and sautéed dishes, and different breading mix for tasty and crispy fried dishes.

As a back-to-school treat for all you busy and hardworking moms, FoodieMomster will be sharing a bundle of Aji Flavors to our lucky reader. Preparing meals for the kids should be a cinch with Ajinomoto Umami Seasoning, Tasty Boy Breading Mix, Crispy Fry Breading Mix, Aji Shio Pepper, Aji Ginisa Mix, Lee Kum Kee Oyster Sauce, and Lee Kum Kee Chili Garlic Sauce. We also added some packets of Fres-C juice mix to keep the whole family refreshed during meals.

Just follow the Rafflecopter instructions below for a chance to win this Back-to-School treat:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Heavy or filling food items for mid-morning and afternoon snacks become necessities when one has active kids who seem to be hungry all the time. My usual options for filling these hungry tummies are Instant Champorado, Ham and Cheese Sandwiches, pancakes, or quick pasta dishes. From time to time I get to whip-up something special like the homemade burgers made from all beef ingredients. My mom used to make these burgers for us when we were in school, but I guess we got caught up in the fast-food craze and forgot how great these homemade burgers taste. As such, I have revived my mom’s old recipe for my own kids to enjoy.

The recipe for our Homemade Burger  is quite simple. A serving of 4-6 burgers will need:  ½ kilo of lean ground beef, 1 egg, salt, pepper and other seasoning.

Simply mix all the ingredients together in a bowl making sure that the egg and seasoning are evenly distributed. My mom simply used salt and pepper in her recipe but those who would like to add flavor enhancers like MSG or other seasoning mix may do so.

After mixing, scoop around 3 tablespoons of meat and form into a ball.  Flatten the ball into a Pattie and prepare pan or grill for cooking.

Put a bit of oil in a medium heat pan and start frying the burgers once the pan and oil starts to warm or simmer.

Drain oil from fried burgers before placing them in a bun. You may put mayo, butter or sandwich spread in the bun before putting the burger patties in.

Add fresh veggies in the burger depending on what you have in the kitchen or the preference of your kids. Standard burger add-ons are cheese, lettuce, tomato and pickles.

It’s important to take supplements to improve your overall health and mental state of well-being. But oftentimes we go the cheap route and buy poor quality supplements that are highly processed and made out of inferior ingredients. It doesn’t make sense to cut corners where health is involved, and this is why you have to do your research to make sure you’re buying a quality product.

Wise Woman herbal supplements from OVitaminPro.com are often highly recommended by alternative health experts nationwide. These supplements contain ingredients that are selected from healthy plants grown through sustainable methods. You want a product like this when you are choosing your supplements because a poor quality supplement could actually do more harm than good.

You may find that the lesser quality supplements don’t seem to do much for you as far as your health is concerned. In fact, you might even feel worse than you did before due to the toxic chemicals that might have been used while the herbs were growing. With a high quality supplement, you may begin to feel better right away. Chances are good that you will continue to feel better and better with each day that you continue to take your supplements.

Maki and Sushi are two of the most popular Japanese food. For some, a Japanese meal will not be complete without at least one Maki or Sushi dish. Some people may have even tried every Maki dish in the Japanese restaurants already. For those who would like to explore other Maki possibilities can try out the Kashi Maki desserts from My Pink Wasabi

My Pink Wasabi is a pastry shop that offer Japanese novelty cakes called Kashi Maki. These are sweet hand-rolled cakes that look like a maki sushi. We spied upon their kiosk at a food bazaar in Trinoma Mall few months ago, and we couldn’t help but stop and try out some of their cakes. There were 9 flavors available: the white matcha, oolong berry, midnight mint, choco locco, coconut dream, café mocha, cookie kiss, marula and nutella sesame. We bought a box of 9 for P280, and got one of each flavor to find out if it is worth the splurge. The hand rolled cakes tasted good and offered an interesting mix of flavors. It may taste a bit bland for those who have a sweet tooth but they can be great for tea parties. Our Kashi Maki picks include the midnight mint, marula and oolong berry.

The Kashi Maki cakes are packaged in nice looking pastry box that resembles Japanese Bento boxes. Each box comes with a pair of steel chopsticks which adds another touch of Japan in it. If one would only consider the taste and the size of the cakes, the Kashi Maki can be perceived as expensive. Each cake would cost around P31 and just as big as the bite-sized Maki in Japanese Restaurants. But it you factor in the unique qualities of these cakes and their elegant packaging, you’ll realize that you got a value for money purchase here. Those who are looking for a great novelty gift for people they want to impress can check out these great looking cakes.

Part of the Filipino culture is the habit of buying “pasalubong” or home coming treats whenever we go out of town, even if the out-of-town destination is merely a two to three hour drive from the city. Most of our provinces have made their own brand of special and unique pasalubong treats that their visitors can bring home. Some of the top of mind treats are the Biscocho, Butterscotch Squares and Barquillos from Iloilo, Cashew Treats from Palawan, and Strawberry, Ube Halaya and Peanut Brittle from Baguio. In Tagaytay, Rowena’s Cafe is our favorite stop-over for yummy pasalubong treats.

This lovely pasalubong shop made a name for themselves because of the yummy and affordable buko tarts that they offer. The tarts are made of crumby crust and a sweet filling with some fruit bits at the center. Aside from the buko flavor, patrons can also enjoy mango, blueberry, apple, pineapple, and ube tart flavors. Unlike other tarts that are either too sweet or bland, these tarts have just the right amount of sweetness to complement the natural flavors of the fruit.  These tarts can merit an A-grade rating for a pasalubong treat but I wouldn’t pit it against pastries from specialty shops like Conti’s and Mom & Tina’s just yet.

Rowena’s Café also features other native delicacies and snacks that can be enjoyed during the ride home or brought back family and friends. Their product selection isn’t as varied as the guitar pickups from musicians friend, but the store visitors will definitely find some treats that they’ll enjoy. Our personal picks include the Lengua de Gatos cookies, Tamarind Candies, and Caramelized Otap. These products can captivate buyers to come back for more not just because of their flavors and freshness, but also they offer good value for money products that everyone can enjoy.  

Two of the most popular street food fares in the country are Bananaque and Camoteque or Fries. I am not quite familiar with the history of these fares but I do know that they’ve been around since our grandparents’ generation. The bananaque is made from semi-ripe ‘Saba” bananas and caramelized brown sugar. The bananas are deep fried in hot oil first before the sugar is added. Once the bananas are coated in sugar, it is removed from the pan to caramelize and drain. It seems easy to make but I always have trouble getting the right amount of sugar to stick in the bananas. I usually end up with a measly coated banana whenever I attempt to cook my own bananaque. As such, whenever I have cravings for bananque we simply visit our friendly neighborhood bananaque stand. Another favorite snack that I dare not attempt to cook anymore is the Camote Fries. This spin off from the Camoteque tastes better because it gets more caramel coating than the standard que version. I may not be able to cook these fares according to my standards but I do know where to get them whenever we have cravings. Those who can’t cook will just have to buy.