Learning to Cook and Other Things

Interested to find out more about Filipino food without the recipes? Look here . The site provides an alphabetized listing of anything and everything about Filipino food. Try to see if the listing includes the following Philippine delicacies more often found in the streets of the Metro: 1. Balut - duck egg with the little duckling still cuddled inside the shell. 2. Adidas - chicken feet, steamed in dark soy sauce and vinegar with lots of garlic and ground pepper 3. Kwek kwek - quail eggs on a stick 4. Tok ne ne - chicken egg on a stick 5. Inihaw na Pusit - coal grilled baby squids dipped in spicy vinegar 6. Squid balls - Corned squid dipped in flour and deep fried also use spicy vinegar dip These are all I could think of tonight. And do you think that guy from the Discovery cooking channel can pay the Philippines a visit to feature any or all of these in his cable show? I was supposed to upload a balut image but changed my mind.

This has been said before. Hesitate I do not because I know these tips are the easiest way towards healthy eating. To eat healthy, we must cook healthy. I cannot overemphasize that health is wealth. Try these suggestions if you can:-) Happy Healthy Cooking :-) 1. Remove all salt from your recipes. Try pepper instead. Or cook with herbs. 2. Avoid frying. Try grilled, or baked meat and poultry dishes. Or perhaps coconut creamed? 3. Steam fish or crustacean (if you don't have allergies)and season with black pepper, balsamic vinegar, olive oil and lemon. 3. Prepare more salad or veggie meals. More colorful, the better for the body. Also pick vegetables in season to ensure freshness. 4. Avoid the use of sugar or syrups in your recipes. Use cinnamon instead. 5. Try incorporating fresh fruits in your cooking. Use those in season. Avoid canned. Cheers!

I have been cooking since 2003. Yes, mostly, by my lonesome. Extra help may come but they are few and far between. But I must not complain because I looove cooking. If only there was less heat. Anyway, my cooking is really herb-ful. I don't need any reason to lace my dishes with herbs. The 'cheapest' recipes bloom with elegance once paired with herbs. And I have 10 favorite herbs that I can't do without: 1. Basil is an annual and used for the clove scent from leaves; works well with tomato dishes, specially pizza and spaghetti sauces. 2. Dill is an annual with its seeds serve as flavor for dill pickles. 3. Fennel is a perennial which adds zest to fish and vegetable dishes; seed also said to work as appetite suppressant. 4. Horseradish is a perennial and acts as a strong flavoring for meats and oysters. Root is harvested for use as a vegetable. 5. Mints are perennials. Both spearmint and peppermint are used to enhance teas, garnish lamb dishes and general flavor enhance

I recently decided to include in this blog details of food and product ingredients I encounter everyday. You see, ever since I became ill, I developed this habit of looking into the labels of the food and other products I use. I am so into food processing information these days. Having said that, please allow me to emphasize the importance of knowing what we put into our bodies -- whether it is our daily dose of coffee, milk, chocolates, bacon, salad dressings, hot dogs, cereals, etc. What ingredients were used? Any chemicals? What are those chemicals? I shall also include ordinary toiletries like shampoo, bath soaps, detergents including products we topically apply to our skin, like make-up, deodorant, body butter, whitening formulas which are very popular here in my country. And why not ordinary household pesticides, mosquito repellants, bathroom cleaners, etc. The thing is I want to know more about food and product labeling. Do some research. Post it in my blog... Essentially, to s

This is something I no longer enjoy because I am trying to heal or at least trying to eat healthy. But one of my sons, back when he was trying to build his body mass would request me to buy him some beef ribs to barbecue. That would be for a hearty lunch that also included lettuce and cucumber salad in French dressing. His drink would be chocolate flavored whey. Whew! This is the marinade I used to do for him. Barbecue Marinade 1 tablespoon of olive oil 1 tablespoon of fresh minced garlic 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar or ordinary cane vinegar 1 cup of Worcestershire sauce 1 1/2 kilos of beef ribs salt to season according to your taste Combine the olive oil, garlic, vinegar and Worcestershire sauce in a glass or a ceramic bowl. Completely coat the ribs with this mixture. Sprinkle all sides of the ribs with salt t

Top Ten Anti-Aging Food When taken as a healthy serving 1. Avocados in salads or dessert made with cream and muscovado sugar (cold or frozen) 2. Berries specially fresh strawberries and blueberries as pastry topping 3. Broccoli, steamed 4. Cabbage as coleslaw 5. Carrots in veggie and chicken breast dishes 6. Grapefruit as in fresh grapefruit juice 7. Grapes preferably local (for us Filipinos) to minimize pesticides 8. Onions for anything as in sweet potato top and chicken potato salads, and naturally anything that requires sauteeing. 9. Garlic also as in sauteeing or as prime ingredient of marinades 10.Tomatoes in salads, sauteed dishes. Nutritional Facts 1. avocado - Carotenoid lutein and beta-carotene, unsaturated fats to build healthy HDL, beta carotene and nearly 20 minerals and vitamins 2.strawberries - Vitamin C, folate, fiber, potassium and antioxidants; blueberries contain the highest antioxidant activity 3.broccoli - Major anti-cancer food contain indoles, which can help

I read this front page news article from Inquirer, a local broadsheet which features a pick and pay herb vegetable store. "The article says that it's the first of its kind in the Philippines, where the store customers can do their own harvesting of herbs and vegetables they want" from a greenhouse structure with "movable tables displaying different kinds of herbs". The selling pitch is 'freshness'. "Top sellers so far are gotukola (memory enhancer), stevia (natural sweetener for diabetes) and chocolate mint (for tea) and rosemary (for fish, chicken and meat). The store is owned by an enterprising lady Adela T. Ang. It is located at the Manila Seedling Bank Environmental Center in Quezon City. The store looks like this except for the absence of the movable tables where the herbs can be picked. I have been to Manila Seedling Bank. It's a good source of plants to nurture. In fact that's where I got my baby plant herbs like basil, rosemary,