One of the things I’m looking forward to this year is learning how to cook and how to plan meals, especially for my little girls.

What, you don’t cook?! Yeah, I don’t cook, I leave that to our helpers. On weekends, sometimes Kernan would take over the kitchen. Not that I haven’t tried. I did but I tend to over complicate it by being too particular about measuring ingredients and following the recipe to a T.

I guess there are some people, just like my hubby, who are born with a ladle and cooking pan in their hands. They can throw things together, mix things up and still make a fabulous dish. I just don’t have that inborn flair for cooking, but since I’ll be staying home more, I’m willing to learn.

I’m actually excited about preparing baon for when Jamaine goes to school. I’ve been looking up some recipes for kids online and some of them are fairly easy to make.

So far, Jamaine and Iya’s “favorites menu” consists of their Daddy’s pasta, egg with cheese, chicken nuggets, fried chicken and soupy dishes. I think it’s time to introduce them to something Mommy cooked.

Who knows, I might love cooking so much, I’ll build myself a really nice kitchen equipped with an Electrolux electric range and Le Creuset Tri-ply Stainless Steel pots and pans. I’ll wear a toque and an apron with the words “Chef Mommy” and I’ll cook a buffet feast for our weekend meals.

But for my first experiment, er I mean dish, I’ll learn how to cook a mean  mac and cheese. Got any great recipes?

I have a confession to make: our family dinners are boring.

And I don’t mean the conversation. Kernan and I talk about a whole lot from politics, showbiz, work, running and whole lot of other stuff. Add the kids into the mix and we’ve got a happy ruckus going on.

When I said boring dinners, I meant the food. Over the years, our dinner menu has become pretty standard, predictable and well, boring. They’re tasty, mind you. We are fortunate to have a skilled helper who cooks well. When he has time, Kernan whips some pretty amazing dishes too.

But on most days, we rotate our routine dinners. We don’t eat pork and very little beef at home so our meal plan just alternates between chicken and fish. Like we’d have sinigang na isda on Mondays, chicken and peas on Tuesdays, pasta on Wednesdays, fried fish on Thursdays, monggo on Fridays. You get my drift.

My tastebuds are craving for something new so I’m thinking of revamping our meal plan. It’ll still be chicken and fish dishes, of course, but with a twist. Ease of cooking is also a must for me because with kids and a hungry hubby around, we definitely need meals that cook fast.

I found some easy dinner ideas at Ivillage.com. They’ve got a a user-friendly interface for their recipe site and the ones I found were pretty easy to follow and modify to your liking too.

Here are some of the recipes I liked:

1. Summer Pasta

This one looks easy to cook. I like the combination of nuts and cheese, two of my favorite finger foods. Even if we use cashew nuts instead of pine nuts I think it will taste just as good. Having cherry tomatoes instead of full on tomato sauce also makes it a light and fresh alternative to the heavy pastas we always make.

2. Chicken Parmesan

When our cook is not so inspired, she usually resorts to cooking fried chicken breast fillet. We eat it with ketchup and that’s it. (Told you it was boring.) Well,  this recipe just gave me an idea on how to level up that good ole fried chicken fillet with a bit of breading, a smattering of tomato sauce and of course, cheese! (Can you tell I love cheese?) This looks best paired with pasta but I think I can eat it with rice too.

3. Crispy potato wedges

A better alternative to fastfood fries, these potato wedges would taste good with our homemade chicken burgers. My kids love fries so I’m sure they’ll like these even if they’re home made. I’m not a big fan of chili or sour cream though but I think I know what to substitute for a dip. Can you guess? What else, cheese! Actually I like potatoes a lot and if they’re cooked well, I can eat them plain and crispy.

What are your dinners like? If you’ve got easy dinner ideas, do share them in the comments section below. My hubby, my kiddies and my belly will thank you for it.

“Someone’s giving away free cheeseburgers.”

If there’s anything that immediately catches our attention in the office, it’s the sight, smell or the sound of food. The other day, a couple of people from McDonald’s went to the office with a box of free cheeseburgers. I thought that was part of the deal we had with them as a major advertiser during the election coverage.

As it turned out, they were giving away the burgers to spread awareness for the “McDonald’s Cheeseburger campaign For Real.”

For every McDonald’s cheeseburger you buy, one peso will go to the Ronald McDonald’s House of Charities Bright Minds Read program. They are aiming to raise one million pesos so they can donate 100 reading toolkits to 100 public schools in Metro Manila.

It’s called “For Real” because the campaign is about “keeping promises and making them real.” In this case, they are keeping their commitment to help sow the love of reading in children and to uplevel their literacy. Why cheeseburgers? They’re keeping their promise to serve cheeseburgers that have “100 percent pure beef and real American cheese.”

After your burger purchase, they give you a sticker where you can affix your name and signature which you can then place on their Cheeseburger Commitment Poster.

So if you’re ever in the mood for a burger, get yourself one at McDonald’s. If you’re used to salty burgers, this one’s less tasty than the ones at the big bee but what it lacks in taste it makes up for in value. Plus, it’s pretty filling too.

I wondered though why the proceeds from one burger is  just one peso and not five or ten. But at least, they’re actually doing something and keeping their promises.

Hint, hint to those “elects” and “apparents.”

You’ve only got a few days to celebrate and enjoy your honeymoon phase. After that, it’s down to the business of keeping your promises and doing something about them. It’s time to put your hands where your mouth is. And no, I don’t mean cheeseburgers.

Eat chocolate.

Chocolate is my happy food and the situation calls for a serious mood booster. So my lunch buddies Analyn and TJ, chocolovers themselves, agreed to go to Napoli’s with me so we could indulge in some chocolate souffle. We had just come from lunch and our tummies were full so we walked all the way from the office to the resto. Under the scorching heat of the midday sun. We wanted that chocolate bad.

Good thing we found an empty couch opposite the aircon when we entered Napoli’s. I was still feeling down. Who said absence makes the heart grow fonder? Absence makes the heart grow sadder is more like it.

Analyn and TJ putting on their sad faces for me.

“Do you have chocolate ala mode?” I asked the waiter.

“Wala po kaming chocolate ala mode.”

What?! My heart felt like it was going to break into pieces slowly. We walked all the way there for nothing?!

“Meron po kaming chocolate souffle.”

“Oh yeah, I meant chocolate souffle.” Big sigh of relief, I was getting my happy food after all.

And when it finally arrived, it was pure chocolate heaven in a plastic bowl.

This photo doesn’t do much justice to my most favorite dessert. (My cameraphone’s not so good and there was some kind of golden lighting on top of the table.) But just imagine, cold vanilla ice cream drizzled with caramel syrup nestled on top of a hot chocolate cake with melted hot chocolate at the bottom. Pure bliss… It cheered me up a bit. Chocolate always does.

Our bowls were wiped out.

Five more chocolate days to go.

What do you do when you’re blue?

“Let’s go out on a date!”

The kids were out with their aunts and Kernie and I suddenly had some free time to ourselves. It was the perfect time to have a Kernie and Jayme day.

It was way past our lunch time so we decided to go to Sanctuario, one of our fave restos in Metrowalk.

I like the rustic furniture , the homey ambiance and the delicious Filipino food.

There were a lot of tempting dishes in the menu. Should we have rice or pasta for today?

In the name of healthy eating, Kernan and I both had soup and pasta.

The pumpkin soup was so creamy good.

Hubby had the Pasta Bulalo. Okay, not exactly healthy but he says its good enough to warrant an indulgence.

I had the Pasta Tuyo ala Bacalao. It looks like an ordinary spaghetti, but the tuyo is hiding underneath all that cheese and tomato sauce.

It tasted just right and, contrary to what I expected, the tuyo was just a little bit salty. I also loved the bread siding. It may look like your ordinary pandesal, but these two pieces of bread are actually quite heavy. I wasn’t able to finish the other one because I was so full.

I wanted to order tsokolate for dessert but they were out of stock. Felt a little disappointed, no good meal is complete without chocolate for dessert. Well, I guess it was my angel’s way of telling me, “that’s enough calories for you today honey.”

Anyway, I’m just happy we were able to go out on a date again. Our dates are usually play dates with the kids which we do enjoy too. But every now and then, it feels nice to be just us.

If you’re looking for a nice cozy date place, Sanctuario is a good choice. Just make sure to go during usual dining times so you can order dessert.

I’m not a big fan of sisig. I haven’t eaten pork for almost eight years (thanks to my Kernie). So when a colleague suggested we review the House of Sisig, I was a little bit hesitant. The idea of eating pig head parts didn’t sit well with my stomach.

But when I found out that there were other varieties of sisig, I decided to give it a try. I eat healthy most of the time so I guess a little cholesterol indulgence wouldn’t hurt.

We rode the jeep to Philcoa to get to City Mall, the strip of fastfood chains just before UP. At first glance, there’s nothing fancy about the House of Sisig. The logo conveys a pop art vibe and the windows are covered with thick black strips.

But I was pleasantly surprised with the interiors. It was a bit small but the space had a lot of character. There were rows of little piglets on one wall. They’re not smiling or frowning… just looking.

Then there’s a map of Luzon plastered on an entire wall which is pretty cool.

But the one thing that really caught my attention were these chic pillows. I love how all those colors blend and pop out against the brown fabric. Nice!

And there are magazines lined up along the walls too, just in case you need to wait for your order.

But we didn’t need to, because our orders arrived pretty fast. And how thoughtful is this?

Sizzling dishes always cause such a splatter but the servers were thoughtful to place a round paper cover on the crackling hot dishes.

The sizzling plates come in solo (P95 to P110) or sharing sizes (P189 to P199). Aside from the original sisig, there’s chicken, beef, seafood, tuna, spicy squid, bangus, and crab sisig. There’s even a tofu sisig for vegetarians.

I had a solo chicken sisig (P105) and it was actually meaty good. The taste was just right and I didn’t need to put any add – on flavorings or seasonings.

You can also crack an egg on your plate in the traditional sisig style to make it more sinful creamier.  This one’s seafood sisig.

But I chose something more to my taste: red egg with tomatoes. Yum!

And in case you want iced tea, you’ll get it in a beer mug as big as this:

Oh well, you’ll probably need to chug all that up to wash away all the oily aftertaste.

As for me, no meal would be complete without dessert. I was feeling really umay so I had a cup of Death by Chocolate (P58).

You won’t really die from pleasure with this one though. There’s nothing sensational about the taste but it’s sweet enough for a quick chocolate fix.

I think I’ll give this another go sometime in any case that I crave for sisig. But if you love this sizzling dish, I think this place could be perfect for you.

Do you like sisig?

After years of searching for the chocolate of my youth, I finally found it:

The Lala chocolate, also called “milo.”

Actually, it’s my cousin who bought it for me. The old sari-sari store at our former neighborhood was selling this all along. Previously, some tinderas told me that Lala is no longer sold around the neighborhood and that the Lala they are selling now is the fishcracker snack.

The last time I was able to have this was when we shot an episode somewhere in Rizal about three years ago. I bought a whole pack from the lone sari-sari store there.

I remember when I was a kid, I used to spend all my coins and extra allowance on buying Lala from Damport, the sari-sari store just outside the apartment alley. Back then, the packaging was just simple plastic, the chocolate block was thick and it tasted just right. I could eat ten blocks in one sitting. It was my absolute favorite chocolate, not even the imported ones could come close.

Fast forward to present, I’m not sure it’s my favorite anymore. Despite its shiny plastic packaging, the Lala chocolate is now almost as thin as a biscuit. I was a bit disappointed that the taste had changed too. It’s become too sweet and less chocolatey. I’m thinking they must have lessened the cocoa a lot and added  a lot of sugar instead.

Oh well, at least I now know where to find it. When I need a nostalgic chocolate trip, I think even the extra sweet taste will do.

What’s your favorite chocolate when you were a kid?

For days when I need quick pick me – ups, I resort to my happy foods to boost my mood.

Chocolate will always be number one on my happy food list but I like some variants of chocolate that tickles my tongue and puts a smile on my lips.

I’ve mentioned before how I fell in love with Cerealicious. They’re not exactly super healthy since it’s loaded with sugar but at least there’s cereal in it and that makes me feel it’s a little bit healthy. And it tastes so good too.

My current favorite is Mint Joe Black blockbuster — Koko Krunch with mint choco bits and chocnut. Sometimes I add a dollop of chocolate ice cream for an extra creamy punch. Mmmm…

Cerealicious is run by a cool team of yuppies and it’s the first cereal cafe in the country. We did a shoot about them two years ago when they only had a handful of branches in Manila. Now they’re everywhere I like to go: Greenhills, Megamall, and SM North. When I’m ready for a food business, I’d look into their franchise opportunities so I can have my own kiosk and eat a blockbuster everyday.

My other happy food is Napoli’s chocolate a la mode. Love, love, love the warm moist chocolate cake with the cold ice cream on top. The real bonus is the warm chocolate cream at the bottom of the bowl.

Sadly it’s not always available at other Napoli’s branches. I only get to eat this at the Timog branch. I’m pretty sure this must be easy to make if I only knew how to bake. In the meantime though, I troop to Napoli’s whenever I’m craving for this.

What’s your happy food?

Sometimes I get so engrossed in working in front of the computer, I don’t feel like sitting down for a proper lunch at the canteen or outside the office. So my quick lunch fix always comes from 7 – 11. This is what my lazy lunch looks like:
A Nesvita Pro-weight yogurt drink, a Nestle Melon – Nata yogurt, a Cheesy Chicken sandwich and a Snitch choco bar.

I super love the melon – nata yogurt, it is the only yogurt flavor I buy now. I used to be so addicted to the Snitch choco bar, I’d buy three or four pieces at a time and eat them all in one sitting. But eventually I got tired of it and switched to Curly Tops. The Cheesy Chicken is a staple for my quick lunches, I love the multi-grain bread and the crunchy chicken.

A few months back, I spotted this box of chocolate mochi balls in 7-11. I bought it eagerly thinking it would be like the heavenly mochi balls I had from Kozui. It looked yummy on the cover and even on the tray. One ball was pressed but it looked okay.

After I took a bite, I was sorely disappointed. It was just like buchi with a thin coating of chocolate instead of sesame seeds. I was so disappointed, I gave away the remaining three pieces to my office mates. Made a mental note to buy mochi balls from Kozui so I could erase this mochi’s untasty memory.

What do you have for quick lunches?

If you want to eat good food in a cozy cafe, head over to one of my favorite restaurants: Kozui Green Tea Cafe at Tomas Morato in Quezon City.

Kernie was the one who introduced me to the place because he loved to hang out there for the food and free wifi.  I ignored that tiny cafe at first because I wasn’t really a fan of bland green tea. But when I finally did, I fell in love with the place.

I love the healthy menu and the cool variants of green tea which are surprisingly good and yummy. If I could, I would eat there everyday.

Cool name

When I asked owner Anthony So why he named his cafe Kozui, he said he just thought it was a cool name! Z was for zen, “zui” sounded good to represent healthy stuff while “ko” was a common prefix for Japanese names.

Although Anthony did not know exactly what the term meant, he establisheded Kozui in an old building along Tomas Morato in 2007. If you think about it, putting up a tea café in a coffee – crazed city seems real risky. But being a tea lover himself, Anthony said his business instincts told him it was worth a try.

He chose a location filled with coffee shops on purpose so that he would really stand out. He believed that people would welcome the option of hanging out in a café that offers healthy drinks and healthy food.

And he was right because Kozui did stand out with its soothing vibe that beckons people with tired feet and hungry stomachs to come in, rest and have their fill.

Green haven

Putting his graphic design skills to work, Anthony created Kozui’s interiors to become a green relaxing haven.

Going inside the green tea café feels like you’re entering home — a loft-type condominium to be exact.
Everything about its interiors invites you in: fluffy green couches that beg to be sat on, hanging raffia lamps that reflect soothing light, and vibrant walls filled with photos of green fields, bamboo and a friendly – looking server offering cherry blossoms as if a welcome gift.

Opposite the counter stands a rack of cute curios with a row of self – sealing cup covers (P125), pacman – shaped holders (P180) and hand – shaped stirrers (P98). On the second row are bags of premium green tea leaves (P110 – 200) ready for the taking.

Next to the rack hangs a bulletin board with a collage of customer photos: colleagues, friends and families who troop to this restful place for healthy comfort food.

Healthy flavors

With Japanese and Filipino chefs working in his kitchen, Anthony said Kozui serves a fusion of Japanese and Chinese cuisine with a hint of Western influences.

One thing for sure though: everything in the menu had to be healthy.

Just like the Minced Spinach Soup (P120), a green mixture with bits of carrots, rice noodles and bean curd. It only has the slightest hint of flavor prepping your taste buds for more intense tastes to come.

A must try in the Kozui menu, the Takoyaki Balls (P98) are made of ika (squid), ebi (shrimp) and negi (leeks) bundled into a ball of batter topped with Japanese mayonnaise, house sauce, shreds of nori (seaweed) and wispy bonito (shipjack tuna) flakes.

These spherical dumplings have a melt in your mouth softness with bursts of flavor: the rough and salty sauce on top is tamed by the smooth and bland batter capped by the crunchy ika-ebi-negi trio.

Fancy some greens? The Karaage Chicken Salad (P168) combines crunchy chicken balls and crisp salad greens mixed with slices of juicy tomatoes and hardboiled eggs. The slightly bitter black sesame sauce adds a nutty kick to this very filling salad while the grainy yolk of the hardboiled eggs puts in textured twist.

If you like your salad on the go, try the Karaage Chicken Wrap (P148) that sandwiches the deep – friend boneless chicken fillets, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and cucumbers in a grilled pita wrap.

A salad done Japanese style, the Spicy Cold Dandan Noodles (P148) is a study in contrasting flavors. The creamy spicy sesame dressing is balanced by the chilled fresh egg noodles, diced cucumbers, fresh cilantro, ground pork and onions. Even those with low tolerance for spicy food can give this one a try.

A sweet and meaty noodle salad alternative is the Hiyashi Chuka (P148) that combines the egg noodles, cucumbers, tomatoes and carrots with strips of ham and chunks of egg omelet swirled with a sweet sesame soy dressing.

If you need an ever more filling meal, you can opt for the donburi rice bowls like the Toridon (P178) steamed rice topped with boneless chicken in teriyaki sauce and sprinkled with toasted black sesame seeds, bonito flakes, nori strips and negi bits.

Delightful desserts

A popular dessert in Kozui that looks almost too good to eat, the Anmitsu (P148) is the Japanese take on the Pinoy halo – halo. It’s a heavenly assembly of azuki beans, green tea jelly, pink and white dango balls and taro jam sitting on a bed of crushed ice, topped with a swirl of green tea ice cream and your choice of fruit.

Eating this dessert is like an adventure in taste and texture. Pick on the ingredients one by one or mix them all together. The Mango Anmitsu teases the palate with the mixture of rich green tea ice cream, sweet taro jam and bittersweet mango cubes. The dango balls (similar to the Pinoy galapong), taro jam and azuki beans add a sweet chewy velvety touch.

Of course, Kozui’s mochi balls, which I wrote about in an earlier post, are still my all – time favorite desserts here.

Time for tea

If you think green tea is just another one of those flavor – less hot drinks, think again. What lacks in taste, it more than makes up for with health benefits.

Green tea has anti- oxidants called catechin polyphenols that kill cancer cells, reduce bad cholesterol and lower the risk of heart disease. Some studies also reported that green tea also helps boost metabolism and hasten weight loss.

On the beverage menu, you’ll find a short guide on the eight premium green tea. Among those you can choose from are the sweet and nutty Genmaicha, the smooth and delicate Dragon Well and the fragrant and floral Oolong tea.

Kozui matches the coffeshop fare with its own ice-blended and latte drinks with the green tea twist.
If you love lattes, you can have yours hot or iced with Matcha Tea, Roasted Green Tea or Black Tea (P90 – P100).

Craving for an ice-blended mix? Go Korichio.

The Fruit Blend Korichio (P105 – P120) is a cool and fresh concoction of ice blended green tea mixed either with lemon, pomegranate, passion fruit or pineapple syrup and topped with fruit jelly.

The Matcha Korichio is a creamier yet more sinful treat with flavors like butterscotch, chocolate and oreo capped with a dollop of whipped cream. If it’s any consolation though, Matcha is ground green tea leaves — the variety with the highest level of catechins.

For a refreshing and healthier drink, grab a glass of Lemon Green Teaz (P70 – P85), iced green tea sweetened with just a little bit of lemon.

Healthy hip hangout

Only months after establishing the green tea café did Anthony search for the meaning of kozui. By serendipity, the resulting webpages turned out the definition “fragrant water” which according to folklore was drawn from the well in Wakasa on the Japan sea coast and drank by people to expel sickness.

Kozui’s relaxing interiors, morning to midnight store hours and free wifi make it a hip hangout to the young crowd craving for a coffeeshop alternative.

But for some, it has become a sanctuary in the city where healthy eating equals good food and relaxed dining promotes a love for all things green and peaceful.

Kozui is located at 258 – B Tomas Morato Ave, Quezon City. Open daily: Monday to Thursday (9am – 12 mn), Friday to Sunday (9am – 1am).

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Thanks are definitely in order for my Kozui eating buddies: Analyn, Boojie and Jonathan. They were the reason I was able to review a lot of dishes.

Have you been to Kozui?