Red

I usually munch on something when deep in school or office work. I veered away from junk foods and started on munching on fruits and vegetables. Red apple is a favorite. Take a bite. :)



Check other REDs here. :)

The Big Switch

I thought it will be a hard cross over. I was having apprehensions if the family will be able to follow what I want. It is for everyone's good anyway so I took the plunge.


From white to brown. My husband and I are taking note of our food intake. I must admit it is both for health and vanity's sake. We still love eating out but we are conscious of what we are having. We are limiting our rice to one cup per meal and we don't take rice at night. It's either oats or a little serving of pasta. Our fish and vegetable diet at most times of the week has been going on for quite a long time now. It's the rice intake that we have to manage. Since we cannot totally avoid it, I thought of the brown rice.

Brown rice is actually white rice but the the bran remains which is high in fiber which as we all know, is good for our body. From my readings, we need at least 25 grams of fiber daily. Brown rice gives around 3 grams as opposed to white rice's less than a gram. Generally, because of its mineral contents, brown rice helps control blood sugar and cholesterol. The process of making brown rice to white rice largely reduces its nutrients.

I was warned that brown rice is bland in taste. If one is used to white rice (jasmin rice especially) then it is really a big leap to brown rice. I can add salt or pair it with sauces to perk up the taste. Fortunately, I don't have to apply those. We like its chewiness and we don't find it bland at all.

I learned it takes longer to cook. This did not pose as a concern since I don't normally cook at the last minute. Also, brown rice is said to have shorter shelf life than white rice. It develops rancid flavor when not kept properly. Just ensure you have an airtight container and it is kept in a cooler place to keep its fresh state.

I did not find any disadvantage in going brown, only its benefits. There is no hassle at all. I believe the next big switch is on brown sugar and brown bread. :)

Pizzeria

Some restaurants get popular because of word of mouth. One such restaurant is a-Veneto Pizzeria Ristorante. It has its first branch at Visayas Avenue, Quezon City. Most of my officemates living in Katipunan and from UP Diliman frequent the place. They rave about its pizza. The place was very crude so to speak, in fact, the servers are the owners' household members. The restaurant was always jampacked though.

A few weekends ago at Trinoma, my family and I tried a-Veneto for the first time. The interior is simple but comfortable enough. As expected it was full. We have to wait for about ten minutes to have a seat. And maybe another twenty minutes for our food to be served. I must say the restaurant people were very accommodating.

I don't think it's very clear here but if you can, try to guess what actors are on the mural. There's Richard Gere, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, etcetera.


Our quick snack turned to dinner already since the servings are huge for the three of us. The platter alone can make one really full.


The carbonara is not the best but just fine. I guess I'll take another pasta when we go back.


This one is the best, Seafood Pesto. It's very creamy and there were loads of shrimps which I really appreciated since I am a shrimp lover.



Check out other weekenders with their wonderful snapshots. :)

Hot Cruise

I'd take this week's photo hunt literally. What's hotter than the sun, tell me? :) These were taken during our Sunset Cruise at Subic going to Grande Island. It was a great show of nature.









To see what else is hot, please click here. Happy photo hunting! :)

Pasta Overload

Often times my daughter ask for a delivery during their supposed break time, break time from playing. Last week she asked for a chicken joy and some ice cream since her friend was in the house. I called up Jollibee, surprisingly, they got my order quite fast this time. Anyway, I need to complete the required P165 (around 4USD) so I thought of adding macaroni salad. Look here, too much green. I still prefer Wendy's but there's no Wendy's near our house.


A few minutes before Jollibee delivery arrived, my husband got back with pansit Malabon in tow. She came from my sis-in-law's place and thought of buying a plateful good for five. This is a lot better than the macaroni salad. Had I known he'd buy this I wouldn't have a delivery.


Normally I try to prepare something during weekends - pasta or a new dish I read in Yummy magazine. So the following day we thought of trying out the sundried pesto we bought and prepared some pasta. How was it? Let me just say now I know the sundried tomato from Santi's is a lot tastier than those prepared in bottles.





Curious what weekend snapshots the others posted? Take a peek here. :)

Overlooking

These pictures were taken at Mines View Park, Baguio City on a Saturday more than a month ago. I took fancy capturing the view of the mountains with the young couple having some sweet moments together.




This was also the day where I did some panic buying of vegetables since they are cheaper and fresher in Baguio. There were some excess broccoli and cauli flowers but they were put into good use before getting stale. I shared about it in a post on Pancit Bato.

You may visit other Weekend Snapshots participants here.

Flexible

I was thinking of what to share for this week's Photo Hunt. It has to be flexible. I thought of rubber bands, my daughter's ballet shoes...I thought of posting spaghetti noodles. My husband recommended his map light in his car, it has a flexible body. Hmm, it doesn't sound interesting to me, haha.

I settled to our hot air balloon pictures no matter how much my hubby talked me out of it. He said these balloons expand but they are not flexible. :D It used to be that it's only me and my daughter decide what pictures to share. Now it has become a family affair. :D





These pictures were taken at the 11th Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta early this year, held at Clark, Pampanga. Suddenly a song enters my mind as I post about this..."up, up and away, in my beautiful, beautiful balloon...". Was this from the Bridgette Jones's Diary soundtrack? Anyway, there's another balloon song when I was in college, 99 Luftballoons by Nena. I love this song back then.

One has to get out of his comfort zone and be flexible and try more adventurous undertakings like riding a hot air balloon. Now that strengthens these hot air balloons' connection with Flexible. :)

Check out other Photo Hunt Flexible participants here. I'll be going around PH participants later, Mommy duties beckon at this time. :)

The Brat Pack

This is all about movies. We had lunch today at Bubba Gump, the restaurant Forrest Gump inspired. As expected, the movie Forrest Gump is being played on a loop. Hubby was telling the gist of the story to my daughter. I said it's a long movie, about 3 hours. I don't watch a movie for the second time unless I like the actors and the story. Those are my criteria.

Segue to what is my most watched movie. It's one from the 80s. And then my mind started reminiscing the movies which made it big during the 80s and the 90s.


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Pretty in Pink. This is my most watched movie from the 80s. I love the soundtrack - OMD, Howard Jones, Suzanne Vega, Psychedellic Furs, INXS, Echo & the Bunnymen, The Smiths. I have memorized them all.

I love the story. I was in my teens then, can't help but fall for rich-boy-poor-girl-with-a-weird-bestfriend kind of movie. Andi, Duckie and Blaine. Only Duckie (Jon Cryer) is visible nowadays. He has a sitcom with Charlie Sheen called Two and A Half Men.

The Karate Kid. Who didn't fall for the lanky Danile Larusso played by Ralph Macchio and the lovable Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita). What kid in the 80s does not know "wax on, wax off". But whatever happened to Ralph Macchio?

Sixteen Candles. Another John Hughes and Molly Ringwald movie. I am not a fan of Molly but it happened that her movies were the movies of my generation. Sixteen Candles tells of what preoccupies a typical teenager, at least back in the 80s - unrequited crush and her 16th birthday which her family almost forgot. Great plot, huh.

St. Elmos' Fire. I am wondering now why I liked the theme song. If you don't know the theme song, better that way. :) Coming of age movie, a welcome-to-the-real-world-after-college-graduation kind of movie. Think F.R.I.E.N.D.S., only this batch take themselves so seriously.

This stars the 80s Brat Pack - Emilio Estevez, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Alley
Sheedy, Rob Lowe, the pretty face Andrew McCarthy. Demi Moore seems to be the last woman standing in this pack.

The Breakfast Club. Another brat pack movie and the story happened in one day in a detention center.

The Outsiders. The movie which started it all - the young guns of the 80s - Tom Cruise, C. Thomas Howell, Patrick Swayze, Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez. And yes, someone from the 70s, Leif Garrett. The Outsiders is reminescent of West Side Story, a gang war from different socio-economic class.

Risky Business. This is the first movie of Tom Cruise which I have watched. I liked him instantly. Major reason for watching this I guess was Tom Cruise singing in his underwear. Old Time Rock and Roll by Bob Seger? That's what I remember.

That particular scene was spoofed several times, even ALF (remember the Alien Life Form sitcom?) spoofed him.

Top Gun. What can I say? This movie catapulted Tom Cruise's career to superstardom. Killer grin, that's the main reason.

Singles. Early 90s, just when grunge is starting. I love the soundtrack too - Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. One of my favorite books, The Fountainhead, was part of the movie's poster. Stars Matt Dillon, Kyra Sedgwick and Eric Stoltz.

Reality Bites. Best movie about Generation X I have ever watched. A Ben Stiller movie which stars Ben Stiller, Ethan Hawke, Winona Ryder, Janeane Garofalo. From the plot summary of IMDB, this best summarizes the movie, "materialism or philosophical musings"? Gen X angst, you know.

I love the soundtrack of this movie - Stay by Lisa Loeb, U2's All I want is You, School's Out by Alice Cooper, a few songs from Crowded House, Salt-N-Peppa. My Sharona by The Knack was used in this movie.

There are a lot of movies then and now that I love. These ten are not the best and they aren't exactly my favorites. But they were top of mind when I was thinking of retro movies. They were some of the movies which dominated the era, some will just make you cringe. :)

Plated

There are two picture memes today. One's for Weekend Snapshots and one's for the monthly Pinoy Moms Network sharing of family pictures based on a theme. I wouldn't pass up any of these two so here goes.

See the picture below? Can you tell what it is? It's one of the street foods famous in the Philippines. Street foods are those peddled by ambulant vendors or from an improvised stall along the street but of course. The reputation is not so good in terms of cleanliness in preparation and merchandising but there are some who just cannot resist having a bite. Better to prepare it on your own.



This is "tukneneng" (hard boiled egg with orange batter coating). The coating includes flour and chicken cubes. I didn't know chicken cubes are also used for this tukneneng food. According to the neighbor at least that's what she does to make it more palatable.

Over the weekend, my husband ordered this from a neighbor who distributes different kinds of "street foods" to different office canteens in different business districts. Definitely the preparation and handling are HACCAP (Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points) compliant. :)

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What's plated in the house? Lots. But this one's from a lunch-out with hubby and daughter at Teriyaki Boy a few weeks ago. Teriyaki Boy is one of the fast-casual restaurants that offer really good service and good food.

My favorite dish here is Gyu-Saikoro steak (diced-cut beef in teriyaki sauce and bean sprouts). Now you see it....


Now you don't...


Here are the mommies with their Plated entries:
Pinayhekmi: Scrambled eggs
Ruth: Filipino breakfast
Lynn: Tukneneng
Mommy Chi: Fried rice and beef stew
Ajay: Because pancit is my favorite dish
Julie: PinoyMomsNetwork Fam Pics 3: Plated (On a Plate)
Connie: Chopsticks on a plate
Cookie: PMN Fampics Series 3 : Plated
KK: Eclectic taste
Feng: Plated on a operating table
Raqgold: Schlachtplatte
Vicky: What's for tea?-Lean Pork N Cabbage on Stripey Plate
Rach: My plated collage

Classic

I'm sharing a classic Filipino decoration. Even in another country, it has been said that you will know Filipinos are living in the house if you can see giant wooden spoon and fork somewhere in the kitchen or dining area. This shows the Filipinos' strong food culture. In some homes where residents are Catholics, it is normally side by side with a picture of The Last Supper.



Interior decoration has evolved now, especially condo living is very popular among young couples, hence lesser space and more modern decorations donning the place. I don't see much of these wooden spoons and forks anymore.



A tourist destination in the Philippines is Honda Bay. Northeast of Puerto Princesa, Palawan is one the favorite vacation spots here, Dos Palmas Island Resort and Spa. The picture above shows a classic sunset view from the bay cottages of the resort. A magnificent view.

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Mood: Calm.
Music: Umbrella, Rihanna

Links

All my links are already in my Bloglines. :)