Cook and Brew.

I could say that Asher, at this stage, is a vegetarian kid. He loves eating mashed squash, soyote, eggplant, carrots, broccoli, stringbeans, potato, malunggay, spinach and saluyot leaves and even those uncommon vegetables that we have on our Dinengdeng dish like the green spaghetti-like “alukon”. What he abhors eating are any meaty texture – pork, beef or chicken. At first, I got worried because he may not be taking in enough protein and other key nutrients but my research in parenting books says that “vegetarian kids can be very healthy, as long as you keep these few simple rules in mind”:

1. Dairy foods (such as milk, eggs, cheese) are great source of protein.
2. Whole grains have lots of proteins, too.
3. Variety of beans,nuts, legumes, and some soy foods together with whole grains cover the baby’s protein requirements.
4. Serve a vitamin C–rich food (which boosts iron absorption), at every meal to make sure the toddler makes the most of the plant-based iron he’s eating. Plant-based iron (called non-heme iron) is not as easily absorbed by the body as animal sources of iron (heme iron).
5. Milk intake should be carefully regulated for vegan kids. While milk is packed with calcium, vitamin D, and protein..it has no iron. So if a vegetarian kid bottoms up just milk, he’ll not go hungry for solid foods in meals that contain iron and many other nutrients. Instead, if he clamors for more milk, serve him some enriched soy milk – which contains iron.

Just register at http://www.chocolatekarnival.com, and get a free Krispy Kreme Chocolate Glazed Donut not only for yourself but your friends can get free donuts, too!

Anyone trying to cook for the first time may be a little hesitant on following a recipe because of confusing cooking terms. I remember the first time I tried to cook a lunch meal, I had to scour the definition on the web the term “blanch” because I totally forgot what my Home and Economics teacher taught way back my grade school years. You see, we grew up with a household help who cooked for us while we studied so basically, I was really clueless on cooking and it’s only when I got married that I was forced to mingle with kitchen stuffs and cooking utensils. I’m far from being a good and expert cook so in my journey to learn more about learning cooking further, I’d be sharing in this blog the cooking terms or should I say “cooking jargons” that appear to us, newbie cooks.

Do have an idea the right amount of food your child should be taking in? Check out this USDA’s Food Pyramid, which was updated late last year. It emphasizes more on protein and vegetables opposed to the grains.

To see the specific requirements for your kids, check the following tables:

1. What’s your favorite frozen heat-and-eat food?
: Hmm, pizza.

2. How sensitive are you to cool temperatures?
: Given a very hot and humid summer weather now, I can lock myself all day in an air-conditioned room.

3. How many ice-cube trays are there in your freezer?
: Just 2 since we have our water dispenser.

4. What aspect of your life seems to be frozen in place?
: my 2nd year college life.

5. What’s your favorite blanket like?
: fleece blanket

Pina Bistek

If I remember correctly, this is the 3rd main dish I tried. Got it from Del Monte’s Kitchenomics Cookbook Vol. 3. Yummy! the pineapple’s taste blends well with the beef and salty overall taste of the dish.

Inredients:
1/4 kilo beef sirloin, sliced, tapa style
1 large onion, sliced into rings
1-3 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. calamansi juice
1 can (234 g) Del Monte Fresh Cut Pineapple Tidbits, drained (reserve syrup)

Marinade:
8 cloves garlic, crushed
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. calamansi juice
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 pineapple syrup

Procedure:
1 Marinate beef for 1 hour. Drain and reserve marinade. Fry in 1/4 cup oil until light brown. Set aside. Retain 2 Tbsp. oil in pan.
2 In the same pan, sauté onion. Add soy sauce, 1/8 tsp. pepper, calamansi juice and marinade. Simmer for 2 minutes. Add beef and DEL MONTE Fresh Cut Pineapple Tidbits. Simmer once. If desired, serve with fried potatoes.

“Breast milk is still best for babies up to two years.”

A must-reminder shown towards the end of baby milk formula commercials.

I am breastfeeding my little Asher (and will continue for as long as he’s willing) because of the following reasons:
1. Breast milk is an infection-fighter. The antibodies passed to the nursed baby lowers the occurence of many conditions, infections or illnesses such as ear infections, meningitis, respiratory infections, etc.

2. Breast milk is a “perfect food”. All the minerals and vitamins needed by a newborn is contained in the breastmilk. It likewise prevents the baby against diarrhea and constipation as it tends to be more easily digested than a formula milk.

3. Breast milk is costless. Formula is so expensive nowadays that you have to allot much for a month’s supply. Breastfed babies are less sick so there’d be fewer trips to the doctor which consequently means less medical expenses.

4. Breast feeding is more convenient. No bottles to wash and sterilize. Mom (or dad) doesn’t need to stand up at night to prepare a bottle. No warming up of bottles as breast milk is always at the right temperature.

5. Breast milk prevents childhood and adult obesity. According to studies, breast fed babies tend to gain less unnecessary weight which help them be less overweight later.

6. Breast fed babies are smarter. According to recent research, children who were exclusively breastfed for 6 months have 5 to 10 IQ points higher than formula fed ones.

7. Breast milk enhances mother-child connection. The skin-to-skin contact enhances the emotional connection between the mother and infant. Nothing beats the experience of such bonding.

Infant formula will still help the baby grow and there’s actually no right or wrong choice between the two. Nothing beats the advantages of breast milk though, not only for the baby but to the mother as well.

Whenever the clock ticks twelve noon during my working days, my best buds and I were always engaged with a dilemma. That is, where and what to eat for lunch. Although we had a food concessionaire in our pantry, we still often find ourselves scouring nearby good restos to dine in. Albeit cheap, we just often don’t like the invariable and unappealing meals served in the pantry. Thus, we’d always resort to eating at nearby fast foods. The only problem here is that eating fast foods means greater calories intake because of all the fatty foods. This worries my friend, Joy, who’s a bit on the plumpish side. In fact, she’s committed to start a diet regimen but with the big appetite that our group has and with all the fast foods around us, she can’t seem to get started with her dieting. I guess, she has to break ties with us during lunch time so she can prevent these high caloried foods.