Pregnancy 2: Cutting Down On Sweets

August 4th, 2010 Food & Health, Motherhood & PregnancyTags: diet, gestational diabetes, OGCT, OGTT

So, what news from the clinic? I tested negative for gestational diabetes. Yeah, whoopee. This means that I’ll be spared from the responsibility of injecting insulin to myself twice a day. HOWEVER, the fact remains – I have high sugar levels and I must watch my diet.

I need to cut down on sweets, carbs and other starchy foods. No more rice merienda for me. Huhuhu. Been craving a lot of rice dishes since my OGTT last Saturday. I was in agony seeing people devour their food while I swallowed my saliva and waited for the next blood extraction.

Oh, well. But I am thankful for getting that negative result. Now, let’s see how I’m gonna fare with this diet thing. Any suggestions/tips?

Possibly Related Posts:

• Making It Through The Day
• LATCH Breastfeeding Workshop in September
• Celebrate Breastfeeding Month at SM Megamall
• Meet Stella, Our Little Star
• Candice: 2 Summers Ago

Pregnancy 2: Something Fishy

May 14th, 2010 Food & Health, Motherhood & PregnancyTags: Filipino, Filipino cuisine

During the first trimester of this pregnancy, I was totally grossed out with anything that smelled of fish. It could be the real fish dish, the kitchen counter that smelled of raw fish, or the late-afternoon fishy scent of my sweaty toddler. For the first three months my diet primarily consisted of meat, vegetables, and poultry.

When I entered 2nd trimester, I suddenly had this unexplainable longing for sinabawang isda. I’d cook pangat na isda, kinamatisang isda, tinolang isda, or sinigang na isda at least 2 or 3x/week. And I would even gleefully add green leafy vegetables to my dear fish soup for some iron load up. It seems that my overactive hormones have decided to take a break and lift the moratorium on fish fiesta.

I’m on my 6th month now and, so far, the nose still can tolerate the fishy stuff. It’s best to take advantage of this appetite at this stage when I need to watch my weight, my cholesterol, and my sugar.

Dinner tonight: Kinamatisang Sapsap with Malunggay leaves. Can’t wait!

Possibly Related Posts:

• Making It Through The Day
• LATCH Breastfeeding Workshop in September
• Celebrate Breastfeeding Month at SM Megamall
• Meet Stella, Our Little Star
• Candice: 2 Summers Ago

Batangas Suman & Tsokolate

April 23rd, 2010 Food & HealthTags: Batangas, Batangas suman, chocolate, G, Southern Tagalog, suman, Taal, tableas, tsokolate

Gino was in Taal, Batangas last week for a work-related seminar. He brought home some local goodies, including these yummy rolls of Batangas suman which I lovingly dipped in Batangas chocolate (tableas).

Oh, yeah, I’d still choose to stay in the Southern Tagalog region if only for the FOOD.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Pregnancy 2: Cutting Down On Sweets
• Pregnancy 2: Something Fishy
• Chocolate Appreciation 101 – A Second Round!
• Making Baby 2: Constant Cravings
• Free Chocolate Workshop – March 27, 2010

Chocolate Appreciation 101 – A Second Round!

April 15th, 2010 Events & Holidays, Food & HealthTags: chocolate, chocolate workshop, Heavenly Chocolates, Midge Manlapig, truffles

For all of you who missed the first chocolate workshop, Heavenly Chocolates is holding Chocolate Appreciation 101 again on Saturday, 24th April 2010. Sessions will be at 4:00 PM and 7:00 PM.

My friend Midge will still be handling the workshops. (Yes, there will be truffles – again! – and there will be even more samples for you to enjoy.)

To RSVP, please email heavenly_chocolates AT yahoo.com.

Possibly Related Posts:

• LATCH Breastfeeding Workshop in September
• Celebrate Breastfeeding Month at SM Megamall
• Pregnancy 2: Cutting Down On Sweets
• Share your dream wedding vow, win a trip to Kalibo
• New Johnson’s Baby Bedtime Discoveries

Making Baby 2: Constant Cravings

April 6th, 2010 Food & Health, Motherhood & PregnancyTags: cravings, pregnancy

Pregnancy usually turns me into a voracious eater. And I’m the type who won’t let go of a certain desire for a certain kind of dish until I’m well satisfied. (And I try my best not to bother my husband with too many foodie errands. Really.)

Sometime in December, I began to crave foods I don’t really eat on a regular basis. I longed for fishballs, inihaw na tenga ng baboy (grilled pig ears), grilled hotdogs, ice cream, burgers, Chippy, etc. I’d usually slow down after a few days of binge, then I’d go looking for new dishes to gobble up again.

But despite the seemingly complicated gourmandise, I do have my own set of constant cravings. I often wonder how these foods would affect my baby’s health and appetite. I practice a degree of temperance when consuming these foods. Too much of anything is sure to send me barfing at the nearest toilet bowl.

Anyway, here’s my list of constant cravings. Enjoy!

1. Eggs

I’ve always loved eggs. BUT it appears that I’ve developed a Madame Bovaresque obsession with the thing since I got pregnant with Baby 2. I eat eggs almost every day (quail eggs included!) and will readily eat anything that has egg in it – like leche flan and egg pie. When there’s nothing else to eat for merienda or midnight snack, eggs will usually do for me.

2. Smoked/Dried Fish

Lately I’ve been hankering for salty dried/smoked fish. I’m glad to be living in Cavite, which is tinapa country. Smoked milkfish from Salinas and Rosario are the best! Of course, I will welcome the ones peddled in Quiapo as well. Mmm, I’m getting hungry.

3. Burgers

I’ve always been a huge burger fan. Take me to any burger joint and you’re sure to see me smiling in glee. When I was pregnant with Candice, I ate burgers on an average of 1-2x a week. With Baby 2, the craving isn’t as bad, but there’s always the willingness to eat one every time I pass by Jollibee, McDo, Brother’s, Wendy’s, etc. Can’t help it. Even burger steaks give me joy.

4. Native Sausages

Yup. As a matter of fact, I’m craving for some vigan longganisa right now! My mother brought home a dozen sausages from Vigan two weeks ago. Unfortunately, they weren’t enough to satisfy my appetite. I’ll probably get some lucban sausages the next time we shop for groceries. I rarely buy vigan longganisa at SM because they don’t taste good.

5. Sour Fruits & Candies

I never thought I’d be craving for the most sour stuff on Earth. So far, I’ve sucked on green mangoes, kamias, skittles, sour worms, and sampaloc candies. I often look for sour fruits and candies after every meal. When there’s nothing sour to be found on the fridge or snack bin, I go out and look for anything sweet-sour sold at the nearest sari-sari store. One time, I even had to beg a group of teenage boys to pick some green mangoes for me. Hee hee.

So, there you go. Pregnant or not, what have you been hankering for these days?

Possibly Related Posts:

• Making It Through The Day
• LATCH Breastfeeding Workshop in September
• Celebrate Breastfeeding Month at SM Megamall
• Meet Stella, Our Little Star
• Candice: 2 Summers Ago

Free Chocolate Workshop – March 27, 2010

March 18th, 2010 Events & Holidays, Food & Health, Sticky NotesTags: chocolate, free workshops

Love chocolate? You might want to attend Chocolate Appreciation 101 on March 27, 2010 at Heavenly Chocolates. It’s FREE. My friend Midge is handling the workshop.

Below is an excerpt from Midge’s FB message:

I’m handling this month’s Chocolate Appreciation 101 workshop at Heavenly Chocolates (127 Roces Ave., QC) on March 27th. This workshop is going to be a bit different because apart from the usual tastings, I will also be demonstrating how to make dark chocolate ganache and truffles based on the classic French technique.

You have a choice of two sessions: 4 PM or 7 PM; feel free to bring along your chocoholic friends. The workshop is free, but the space is rather small so please RSVP c/o Mike Ngo Dee at ngodee@yahoo.com or call the shop at 666-22-08.

Possibly Related Posts:

• LATCH Breastfeeding Workshop in September
• Celebrate Breastfeeding Month at SM Megamall
• Pregnancy 2: Cutting Down On Sweets
• Share your dream wedding vow, win a trip to Kalibo
• New Johnson’s Baby Bedtime Discoveries

All juiced up

September 16th, 2009 Food & HealthTags: Ascof Lagundi, fruit juice, kiwi-grape juice, Tipco, veggie juice

Our family greeted September with aching heads, dripping noses, and howling cough. Yes, we’ve been sick, all 3 of us. I caught the bug after we visited the pedia clinic last Aug 31, and it’s likely that I got it from a patient. A few days later, Candice had the cold. Then I had the cough. Then G had colds and cough. Lovely. So we all stayed home and treated ourselves with water, tea, fruit juices, and some medication. Hubby and I were on Sinutab and Ascof Lagundi (which was truly helpful), while Candice had the usual Neozep.

I don’t exactly know which of the remedies fought the symptoms well enough, but the juices certainly helped. Our juicer was working fulltime, squeezing everything out of ponkan oranges and backyard-harvest calamansi. I also got this carton of kiwi-grape juice from the hypermart. It tasted really, really good. Guess I can never go wrong with kiwi and grape. I order the same fruit combo from The Big Chill.

We still have sipon, but we’re no longer as loopy as we’d been. And while the weather continues to go psycho and begins to welcome the flu season, we’ll probably stuff ourselves with natural and artificial vitamins to boost our immune system. This means more juice, yay! Speaking of which, have you guys tried Tipco’s fruit + veggie juice? Ano’ng lasa?

Possibly Related Posts:

• Pregnancy 2: Cutting Down On Sweets
• Pregnancy 2: Something Fishy
• Batangas Suman & Tsokolate
• Chocolate Appreciation 101 – A Second Round!
• Making Baby 2: Constant Cravings

Raisin Cinnamon Toast

July 7th, 2009 Food & HealthTags: bread, breakfast, recipes, snacks, toast

It’s that time of the month once again. I’m lazy, cranky, crabby, and hormonal. My olfactory judgment is harsh during this period, and I often end up snubbing meat and fish or anything that smells like blood.

At lunch today, I had only pandesal and Granny Goose. I served menudillo and fried fish for dinner and ate very little.

Now I’m hungry. I want to make some cinnamon toast and chamomile tea. But it’s late and I’m feeling tired. (I spent much of the day squish-squashing maggots.)  Maybe I’ll just nibble on a few pieces of bland crackers. I’m not supposed to eat sweets at bedtime. The cinnamon toast can wait. Hmph.

Wanna try? Just slather the raisin bread with butter, sprinkle some cinnamon sugar on it, and toast.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Pregnancy 2: Cutting Down On Sweets
• Pregnancy 2: Something Fishy
• Batangas Suman & Tsokolate
• Chocolate Appreciation 101 – A Second Round!
• Making Baby 2: Constant Cravings

Fresh Muesli

June 27th, 2009 Food & HealthTags: breakfast, muesli, recipes

I  love making homemade muesli. You can prepare it in a jiffy and with the freshest ingredients available on your side of the Earth. Definitely a lot better  than the boxed muesli.

This bowl of muesli contains rolled oats soaked in water, grated New Zealand gala apples, milk, sugar, and cinnamon. I’ll try the more complicated mix of nuts, grains and seeds when the Li’l Pumpkin is ready for it.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Pregnancy 2: Cutting Down On Sweets
• Pregnancy 2: Something Fishy
• Batangas Suman & Tsokolate
• Chocolate Appreciation 101 – A Second Round!
• Making Baby 2: Constant Cravings

Lunch at Sofitel

June 24th, 2009 Food & Health, Going PlacesTags: buffet, Candice, hotels, lea salonga, restaurants, sofitel, spiral

Yesterday, Ninong Allan (Candice’s godfather) treated us to an overwhelming lunch at Spiral in Sofitel. It’s Candice’s first ever eat-all-you-can experience, so I thought to bring a camera and document everything.

As it turned out, bringing the camera was a perfect idea. An events officer tipped us that Lea Salonga was in the Davao function room for the launch of an age-defying Avon product. Ever the Lea fan, I waited with bated breath until she came out of the function room. I don’t know where I got the courage to approach her. I just calmly walked towards her, introduced Candice, and asked if my husband could take our picture. She was in a hurry to leave, but she said okay.

Wait a minute… I’m supposed to write about the lunch, right??

It was my second time to eat at Spiral. I do love everything that they have, and I wish I could try all sorts of entrees and main courses available. Unfortunately, I’m never an asset in a pig-out place and would only try whatever I feel like eating. It doesn’t matter if this or that food is something that I can’t have on an ordinary day. I will ingest what my tongue speaks of.

For the first few rounds, the food choice depended on Candice’s preferences. I got her tempura, fried veggies and lumpiang shanghai. After her finger-food delight, I introduced her to miso soup. She loved the bits of tofu in it! Then I let her try the soft cakes, the chewy chocolate chip cookies, the fruit-flavored ice cream, and the churros dipped in chocolate. Because Candice has the wonderful appetite of a Toddler One, she chewed on whatever stuff that got into her mouth.

For my last few plates I got slices of roast duck, a bowl of spicy beef and leek soup, this baked potato dish that tasted really good and with a name I couldn’t pronounce, pasta with pesto sauce, two slices of Italian pizza, and mediterranean salad in balsamic vinegrette. I nibbled on chocolate chip cookies in between meals. For dessert I had a cup of green tea ice cream with white chocolate chips (hindi sila bagay, eeww), cakes, and more chocolate chip cookies.

I didn’t feel too full when we got home. Bakit kaya? Maybe the excitement over meeting Lea Salonga made my body burn a lot of calories. Or perhaps everything went down to my bum’s subcutaneous fat. Or maybe because I didn’t eat rice. Whatever. I want to go back to Spiral and eat some more choco chip cookies. I just might spot another celebrity I like.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Candice: 2 Summers Ago
• Pregnancy 2: Cutting Down On Sweets
• Pregnancy 2: Something Fishy
• Batangas Suman & Tsokolate
• Chocolate Appreciation 101 – A Second Round!