FOODie MOMster

Shellfish are often great appetizers that are served in dinner parties. Crustaceans like shrimps, prawns, crabs, and lobsters may also be served as a main course. Clams, oysters, scallops and mussels on the other hand are mainly used as appetizers or added ingredients in soups, sauces and dishes. A popular shellfish appetizer that we love to prepare at home is the baked mussels.

Baked Mussels are practical and nutrition packed appetizers that the kids have grown to love. The chewy and flavorful mussel meat becomes tastier with a mix of garlic butter and some cheese toppings. This dish is not just tasty but it is packed with nutrition too. Mussels are rich in protein, Omega 3 fatty acids, selenium, and Vitamin B12. Other beneficial nutrients that may be found in this shellfish include zinc, folate, iron, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, Vitamin A and Vitamin C.

Aside from enjoying the taste and nutritional benefits of this dish, the kids also enjoyed eating the meat and cheese off from the shells of the mussels. It is always fun to watch them show off their expertise on eating off the shells and count the discarded casings afterwards.

Preparing Baked Mussels for the kids is quite simple. All you need is a sliver of ginger, mussels, garlic butter, and cheese then follow these steps:

1. Clean the mussels thoroughly in running water. Scrape away any debris that may be stuck in the outer shell including the beard, or the hair like features that are usually found in the mouth of the shell or stuck on the meat.
2. Sort the live and dead mussels as you clean them. Discard open mussels immediately. An open shell is a clear indication that the mussel is dead already.
3. Boil water with a sliver of ginger. 
4. Immerse mussels in boiling water and quickly remove it from fire as soon as the shells open. Do not leave the mussels in boiling water longer than necessary as it may result to overcooking.
5. Completely open the shells and remove the other half that doesn’t contain any meat.
6. Spread some garlic butter on top of the mussel meat. If garlic butter is not available, you can use regular butter and add some minced garlic sparingly.
7. Top mussels with grated cheese. Use quick melt cheese for best results.
8. Put mussels in the oven or oven toaster and set in the lowest setting. Mussels should be taken out as soon as the cheese melts and forms a snug cover over the meat.

To get the best out of your mussels, make sure that they are bought and cooked alive. Dead mussels have an unpleasant taste and smell that can ruin your appetite. Fresh mussels are characterized by their bright and shiny color, undamaged exterior, and tightly shut shells. Also, avoid buying mussels from red tide infested waters as these may contain toxins that may lead to food poisoning.   

Eating out with the whole family on Sundays is something that the kids look forward to every week. So, when our scheduled lunch was postponed to an afternoon snack last weekend the kids were a bit saddened at first. My husband had to attend to an emergency that took him longer than expected to finish. In lieu of our lunch out, we compromised to go out for snacks in the afternoon instead.

My two tots were both agreeable to the plan and became a bit and excited since we promised to give them their favorite ice cream treats. They waited by the door for their dad who rode the motorcycle to cut down on travel time. As soon as my husband arrived and took off his Fly F2 Carbon helmet, the kids zoomed straight to thier papa and ushered him towards our car. I couldn’t blame them for their impatience and excitement as the day was quite hot and an ice cream treat was definitely in order.

We decided to go to Icebergs restaurant since my husband and I were also craving for some halo-halo. I ordered one sundae each for the little ones, strawberry for Jade and chocolate for Jakei, along with some french fries. Jade’s eyes became so round with excitement as her order was served. Both tots immediately went for the cherry even before they took hold of their spoons. It may be just a regular sundae but the kids were savoring every spoonful as if it was a gourmet treat. The strawberry sundae is made up of layers of strawberry syrup, vanilla ice cream, strawberry ice cream and topped with whipped cream. Jakei’s chocolate sundae is layered in the same manner except for the additional chocolate syrup drizzle on top of the whipped cream.

The kids simply enjoyed their treats and their constant exchanges of “Do you like your ice cream? Or Is it yummy?” questions. They would even share their sundaes with each other, which is something that I really find adorable. My husband and I enjoyed our halo-halo as we watched our kids have a great time while chatting and sharing their food with each other. Our Sunday plans may have not pushed through as expected, but these simple sundae treats made our family afternoon perfect.

Halo-halo is a signature Pinoy dessert and refreshment that is making its presence known in the international cuisine. Chefs like Dale Talde, Bobby Chinn, and Anthony Bourdain had this dessert featured in thier popular cooking shows. However, one would notice that the variations of halo-halo in the Philippines are as varied as its ingredients.

The standard version that we grew up with is made up of sago, gulaman, sweet banana and camote, nata de coco, kaong, white beans and red mongo beans, macapuno or buko strips, langka, and pinipig. On some occasions, this is topped with leche flan or ice cream. My mom would place the ingredients in old mayonnaise jars and we would prepare our own mix depending on the ingredients that we like. The sweet banana, sago and leche flan are always the first ones to run out. Since coming up with these ingredients are a bit tedious, we only get to enjoy the homemade flavors occasionally. Luckily, there are various snack and refreshment bars that we can go to whenever my tots crave for these cool treats.

Our top destination for ultimate halo-halo treats is Icebergs Restaurant where they have halo-halo with loads of ingredients. They also come in varying sizes that can satisfy small to big appetites. Little Quiapo is also known for their affordable and great tasting halo-halo and the kids love the Barquillos that come with their halo-halo. Their serving size also fits the appetite of the kids.

When it comes to quick halo-halo take outs, we often turn to ChowKing restaurant. They usually have around 10 ingredients in their mix that may be topped with scoops of ice cream.  Another popular halo-halo restaurant is Razon’s, their halo-halo mix may be meager with just sweet banana, macapuno, ube and leche flan in it but the ice shavings are so fine that it softly melts in your mouth.

These halo-halo ingredients may vary depending on the restaurant or the friendly neighborhood store that you patronize but they are all the same when it comes to providing kids and adults with cool, colorful and great tasting desserts.

Most of us experienced the awful feeling of a fishbone getting stuck on our throat. It is painful, uncomfortable and extremely frustrating to get the bone out once it gets stuck. We always have some bananas on hand whenever we eat fish because it’s the only way we know how to get the fishbone out of our throats. Nevertheless, we never got tired of eating fish even with the risk of getting a fishbone caught in our throats. These risks can be managed with the use of deboning techniques that will get rid of these pesky eating inconveniences even before the fish is cooked.

All you need is a chopping board, a sharp knife, (preferably the deboning kind) and medical forceps. Once you have your gear in place, then its time to start picking on your fish.  Here are the steps involved in deboning a milkfish:

1. Position the knife flat on the dorsal side of the fish.
2. Gently insert the tip of the knife in the area just above the fishtail and run the edge of the knife along the backbone.  Do your cutting from the tail to the head.
3. Once the fish is open, remove the gills and the viscera, in other words take out everything that is bloody red inside the fish! But don’t be averted by the bright red blood, it is actually an indication that the fish is fresh.
4. Clean the fish with the use of running water after it has been gutted.
5. Place the fish back in the chopping board with the open side up.
6. Put the knife in a flat position with the tip aimed at the top end of the backbone.
7. Run the knife’s edge through the backbone and start removing it from head to tail.
8. Make a shallow cut along the dorsal muscles on both sides of the fish. With the use of the forceps, pull out intermuscular spines or smaller and finer fish bones that are implanted in the flesh.
9. Wash the fish and drain.
10. The fish may simply be seasoned with salt and pepper and have ready for cooking. You may also marinate it in garlic and vinegar or simply store it in the freezer.   

Deboning the fish may be tedious, but when you have toddlers to feed, it is better to get it over and done with during the preparation process. It’s a bit hard to pick the bones from the fish when the kids are good and ready to eat. Now if you don’t have the patience to debone, then simply go for the deboned version in the grocery or stick with the fillet cuts.

Summer seems to be getting hotter each year in the Philippines. I’m not talking about events and bodies here, weather temperatures are really on a constant high. Some days even have the highest temperature level record in our history. Moms like me should come prepared and fully equipped with fun coolers to keep kiddie temperatures down and combat heat. 

There are plenty of fun DIY coolers and refreshments that you may try at home. About a month ago, we talked about how to make ice candy in this blog. It is one economical ice cooler that you can prepare for the whole family this summer. You could also turn your ice candy into Fun Popsicles by putting the ice candy mix into Popsicle molds and adding a stick to it instead of using ice candy plastic before freezing.  

Smoothies and milkshakes are also popular refreshments in the house. These great tasting coolers are made more nutritious with the use of fresh fruits and vegetables ingredients. That’s right you can also make use of vegetables in your smoothies and the kids would hardly notice it. 

There are also some cool desserts and snacks that the kids would love. Instead of preparing a cool drink and something to munch on, you can just whip-up some mais con hielo or halo halo treats and the kids can have both. The ice shavings and milk in this dessert is somewhat similar to a watery milkshake while the ingredients are filling enough to qualify as a snack.

Mais con hielo can easily be prepared with a can of cream style corn, evaporated milk, shave iced and some sugar or honey. Halo-halo on the other hand is a bit more complex because of its varied ingredients.

Halo-halo ingredients can vary depending on your taste. The standard version that we grew up with is made up of sago, gulaman, sweet banana and camote, nata de coco, kaong, white beans and red mongo beans, macapuno or buko strips, langka, and pinipig. On some occasions, this is topped with leche flan or ice cream.

Summer coolers like these can be homemade or purchased from your favorite refreshment bar. I try to stick to our homemade version as often as I can, but we also got our favorite mall stands and snack bars for our treats. The important thing is to keep our kids cool with nutritious and great tasting refreshment in this super hot summer.

Top your Mother’s Day gift this year with a one of a kind bouquet with Krispy Kreme’s Mother’s Day doughnuts. Krispy Kreme honors every mom by releasing its first-ever flower-shaped doughnuts. These melt-in-your-mouth treats are made especially for all mothers out there. They come in three fun and festive colors that are sure to bring a smile on everyone’s face. Pink, yellow and white pastry blooms carefully encased in Krispy Kreme boxes can definitely brighten up your day. Krispy Kreme’s flower-shaped Mother’s Day doughnuts are only available from April 13 to May 31, 2012. So hurry and grab a bouquet before they wither away!

Your Krispy Kreme bouquets may be picked from any of the Krispy Kreme outlets on 27 different locations nationwide. Check out the hotlight stores in SM Mall of Asia, Greenhills Shopping Center, Festival Supermall Alabang, Bonifacio High Street and Cebu IT Park. Dubbed as the doughnut theater, Krispy Kreme’s hotlight stores serve everyone hot, freshly-made doughnuts straight from the fryer.

To get more information and updates about the brand and its products, you may become a friend of Krispy Kreme by visiting www.krispykreme.com.ph or by liking Chloe at www.facebook.com/ChloeKrispyKremePH.

The summer months are full of town fiesta events in the Philippines. These events offer great showcases of our hospitality culture. Aside from the cultural activities, there is also a rich array of native cuisine served in almost every house in the barrio. This month we decided to go native on our desserts and snacks at least once a week to imbibe the sweet spirit of native cuisine in our meals.

The most popular native desserts in town fiestas include rice cakes, bibingka, leche flan, ube halaya, buko pandan salad, sweetened banana with sago, cassava and bucayo. These sweet endings would vary depending upon the culture of the town. Among these desserts the rice cakes wins the crown for having the most number of varieties. Just look at the rice cake stalls in the market and you’ll see why, some rice cake shops even offer different varieties packaged in one native plate or “bilao”. The most popular one is Dolor’s Kakanin that features six rice cake varieties in one “bilao”. These cakes are even popular gifts during the Holidays especially every New Year.

I still prefer to serve the homemade ones that are sold in the market. The rice cakes found in the market have the most variety of homemade ones. You just need to find the right one that suits your taste. It’s hard to choose a favorite among these native desserts but there are some that fall on our must have lists. There’s the suman, puto, kutchinta, palitaw, bico, sapin sapin, cassava, and ube halaya.

Preparing a menu for a low salt, low fat and low calorie diet that kids would enjoy is a bit of a challenge for those of us who only have passable culinary skills. But it is a challenge that we should face head on when we have guests who have health conditions that require such a diet.

Some of our elderly relatives have to observe a heart friendly diet because of their health conditions. My mom for one has to maintain a low salt diet to prevent her blood pressure from shooting up. So I always prepare appropriate meals that they can enjoy whenever they come over for lunch or dinner. The simplest way to go in these kinds of situation is with grilled fish and salad on the side.  

Steamed and smoked fish are also good alternatives. One of the low salt and low fat meals that our kids also enjoy is the grilled salmon with fresh greens and vinaigrette. Salmon is one of the flavorful seafood varieties that may be enjoyed even without any seasoning. Seafood dishes also go well with salads in vinaigrette. 

We are somewhat privileged that our health condition still permits us to enjoy well seasoned food and indulge in a bit of cholesterol. This gives us the license to eat whatever we want when we feel like it. A word of caution though, these kinds of food may be pleasing to our palate but they may have some detrimental effects to our health in the long run, particularly when they are consumed excessively.

The inclusion of these low fat, low salt and low calorie meals in our menu occasionally is another way of training our kids to eat healthy. These kinds of meals are especially good for the heart. Those who have an existing heart condition can keep the holter or pacemaker at bay by religiously following this type of diet. Children on the other hand can learn to appreciate meals like these early on and keep their hearts healthy.

Ice cold desserts and refreshments are perfect to combat the rising temperatures of the summer months. One of the easiest afternoon snacks that you can throw together for the kids. All you need is a can of cream style corn, sugar or honey, ice shavings and a can of evaporated milk. You may also top it with vanilla ice cream and nut sprinkles or pinipig to add a bit of crunch in it.

The steps are quite simple. All you need to do is scoop around three tablespoonfuls of cream style corn in a glass, add the sweeteners and cover with shaved ice. Pour some evaporated milk all over the ice and serve.

This quick and easy snack is something that you can rustle up within 5 minutes. You don’t have to worry about refreshments for unexpected guests who may pop in your house during the really hot afternoons this summer. Just say hello to your cool refreshment and snack ally – Mais con Hielo.

There’s no doubt about it, Max’s Restaurant remains to be the most loved Filipino restaurant where we all have celebrated baptisms, weddings, birthdays, and other special occasions.  Max’s Restaurant is also our favorite go-to place when we crave for our comfort food shared over casual conversation in a relaxed homey setting.

Knowing that sumptuous Max’s favorite dishes are best enjoyed when shared with family and friends,  Max’s brings to the table their latest group meal offering, 4Sharing Meals. “Max’s 4Sharing Campaign is about understanding and responding to the needs of our customers, whether they are groups of teenagers hanging out together, young professionals meeting up for lunch, or seasoned Max’s customers craving for their favorite comfort dishes. With Max’s new offering, they get the best of everything – delectable dishes that are signature to Max’s at the most budget-friendly price, so they can enjoy and share these meals to their heart’s content,” enthused Edgar Allan Caper, Marketing Director for Max’s Restaurant.

“We have observed that Filipinos love to dine in small groups of three or four, and that they love to pair Max’s Fried Chicken with heirloom dishes like Sinigang. Max’s 4Sharing was specifically created for these customers. The generous serving, the scrumptious dishes and the value-for-money aspect create the perfect ingredients for our customers to fully engage in bonding moments with their friends and families,” Caper added.

One whole, regular, sarap-to the-bones Fried Chicken, a bowl of piping hot Sinigang, four servings of rice, and four glasses of iced tea shared with family and friends make for a truly heartwarming meal.  What’s more is that you get to choose from 4 varieties of Max’s Sinigang favorites – Sinigang na Baboy, Sinigang Na Tyan ng Bangus, Sinigang na Hipon, and Sinagang na Tyan at Ulo ng Salmon.  You get all these for only PhP 799 or a total savings of PhP187!

Max’s Restaurant takes 4Sharing Meals to the Max by not only providing you with the most affordable meal bundle but by also giving you a chance to win an iPhone 4S unit.  And, we’re not talking about one iPhone 4S here.  Max’s will be giving away 4 iPhone 4S units each week to 4 lucky online raffle winners for a period of 8 weeks.  That’s a total of 32 iPhone 4S units up for grabs!  Now is the perfect time to make a beeline to Max’s Restaurant.  I’ll surely be taking hubby and our two tots (4Sharing is just perfect four our fam of 4!)  there this Sunday!

Max’s 4Sharing Group Meal offering will be available for delivery and take-out, from April 15 to June 10, 2012 in all of Max’s branches nationwide.  More meals shared means more chances of winning so Eat More 4Sharing Meals! Log on to www.maxschicken.com or visit www.facebook.com/maxsrestaurant to learn more about Max’s 4Sharing Meals and the latest offerings of our favorite family restaurant.

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About Max’s Restaurant

Max’s, one of the country’s leading fast-casual dining restaurant traces its roots to a family’s generosity and passion for good food. Max’s, “the house that chicken built,” continues to innovate and expand worldwide with plans to open branches outside the United States. Today, Max’s Restaurant has established itself as a household name, an institution, and a proud Filipino tradition, zealously upholding the values passed on from its early beginnings in 1945 to the present –day generation of food aficionados