What’s for Noche Buena 2012?

Planning for Noche Buena is sometimes a tiring task much more the prep itself.  So, my maxim is “keep it simple but enticing and delightful”.  What matter most is that the whole family is there to celebrate the holiday season.

Keep It Simple.  3-4 dishes are enough.  Choose a menu that will not take time in preparation and cooking.

Enticing.  It’s a matter of presentation.  Bring out your creative side in setting your dining table.  And remember that plating your dishes is one way to lure diners to savor the food.

Delightful.  Your menu might be simple; but if you prepare it with all your heart, the food would turn out to be delightfully tasteful and delicious.

My personal choice:

·         Appetizer – Pepper & Cheese Rolls
·         Soup – Hototay
·         Main Dish – Turbo Whole Chicken (I’m sure you have your own way to do this) and/or Liempo Inasal
·         Rice – Steamed Brown Rice w/ pandan leaves (just add 2-3 leaves while cooking)
·         Dessert – Contis’ Blueberry Cheesecake
·         Drinks – Soda or Iced Tea

Happy Holidays!!!

Do You Have Healthy Eating Plate?

Certainly I don’t! Ever since I was a child I hate eating veggies.  I remember that I was always the last to finish the dinner coz of the veggies.  My mom would not allow me to stand unless I ate all the veggies.  So just to finish them, I would put the veggies in my mouth and drank plenty of water to help me swallow.  Until now I still have a hard time eating veggies.  I only eat few of them. I love fruits!  But only the popular ones like mango, apple, orange, avocado, banana, grapes, etc.  Research says that there are other fruits that have more health benefits (e.g. Kiwi, dragon fruit, etc.), yet I don’t think I can be adventurous to try other fruits.  I must admit I’m a meat lover.  I eat a lot of meat everyday.  I eat different types of meat (beef, pork & chicken).  I love crispy chicken skin a lot!  I love seafood too.  It doesn’t matter if I’m allergic to crabs, shrimps and squids, I still love eating seafood!  My fave drink is the cheapest drink ever – water.  I drink plenty of water everyday.  It says that one should drink at least 8 glasses a day, but my daily intake is at least 12 glasses.  I guess this is the only right thing in my diet – drink plenty of water a day.  But then, I drink sodas more than I should.

Lets go back to the question again, Do You Have Healthy Eating Plate?  According to Harvard Medical School, healthy eating plate must have the right proportion of vegetables, fruits, meats and drinks.

Stay active. The small red figure running across the Healthy Eating Plate’s placemat is a reminder that staying active is half of the secret to weight control. The other half is eating a healthy diet with modest portions that meet your calorie needs. - Harvard School of Public Health

In this day and age, with all the instant food around us, to maintain healthy eating plate is difficult.  I hope I can have a healthy eating plate everyday.  But then again, bad habit is hard to break…cheers!

Chocolate Tiramisu

There are different ways to be indulged.  And one of these is to have a slice of Chocolate Tiramisu cake (I could have the whole cake) baked by Allan Peter Sinco!  One of the best cakes I’ve ever tasted.  The cake is perfectly soft and moist which has balanced sweetness that makes me crave for another bite. Its texture is comforting for my taste palette that every savor of the chocolate drives me nuts which compelled me to want it more and more!  I'm not a coffee lover so Allan made this one less coffee and more & more chocolate. :-)