A Fresh Approach to your Favorite Foods

Disclosure: I received a sample kit from Fresh Express to try their product in order to facilitate this review and create my own recipe. All opinions are mine and based on my personal experience. Yours may vary.

I should tell you that being married to a Vegetarian has its perk. It made me eat my veggies more! I also developed a healthier habit and when you're my age, it simply is THE best path to take! Age by no means go in reverse, so as we age, the more we need to think more of keeping ourselves healthy. But eating healthy shouldn't be too complicated or confusing or super-tedious in approach to achieving it.

Neither should it be like deer with headlights effect, where we stand frozen and spaced out when we think of "healthy food" - this especially if you're favorite food, like me, is FRENCH FRIES!

This Yo-Gurt Is Yummy Yo!

Yes Yo!  Yo Yummy yo! And I don't say yummy that lightly especially when it comes to the business of eating yogurt. I'm a very picky brat when it comes to this type of ooey gooey snack - just ask my husband. I have not eaten any for years.  The last yogurt product I've ever liked was pulled off the shelves, permanently! And that was the end of my yogurt-eating days... until I tasted Yo Yummy's yumminess! I think I may have found a new favorite!

Mocha Cappuccino Muffins Recipe

This is the first muffin I've ever baked and it have become a family favorite! Not surprising. We love Coffee and chocolates in this house and with both as main ingredients of this recipe, our response is automatic. We fell in love with it at first taste! Due to popular demand, I'm sharing the recipe and the goodness of this muffin which you can use to fill your Thanksgiving table or the craving of your sweet palate. A great "what can I bring?" food idea to parties you are invited to!

Photo of the Day: Turkey Legs

Here ye, Here ye! See the Turkey Legs! These Turkey legs are a big hit at the Carolinas Renaissance Festival and rightly so! They are huge, meaty and delish! It's so big, it's enough for a full meal. Even my daughter and I had to share this one leg because that's how big it can get. It sure is a treat and when you're at the Renaissance Festival, you gotta have one! Or your experience is not complete. And don't worry, it's Ok devouring the leg like a Renaissance man or Wench. It's the best way to do it when you're at RenFest! Have you had one yet?

My Filipino Heritage: Vegetarian Pancit aka "Maricris Noodles" Recipe

In my culture, rice is not the only staple food in our diet. As with most Asians, noodles and different varieties at that, dominates our dining tables. One of our traditional noodle dishes is Pancit, which is made of  rice noodles. It is usually cooked during special occasions like birthdays and holidays, but not in my home. I cook it at any given time since it has become a family favorite. On my daughter's birthday, I cooked it.  A mom friend's young daughter tried it and fell in love with it. She loved it so much she would frequently ask her mom to make it [the noodle dish] and say, "I want Maricris' Noodles". And that is how an ancient dish I love got renamed! And in honor of her renaming it, I'm sharing the recipe.

3-Bean Macaroni Salad Recipe ( For Vegetarians and Picky Eaters )

Today was one of those days when I don't have the time to cook anything fancy. Good thing I came up with this recipe which is quick and easy to make. Great for Moms on the go and those who needs quick-meal ideas! It's also great for vegetarians, great source of protein and a brilliant option for incorporating vegetables for children who love pasta but absolutely hates veggies! Read on and get the secret.

Royal Tea Party with Cadbury

Let me tell you now that we did not hold a tea party in honor of the birth of the Royal Baby though that certainly wouldn't have been a bad idea either. It was rather a celebration of friendship, the chance to connect and sip a warm (or sweet - we're from the South) cup of tea, to relax and have a much needed break from all the back-breaking move we recently have and socialize with friends we missed. We so needed to just have this single day to slooooow down and be "human" again. Thanks to Cadbury who provided the "sweet treats" to get this tea party started,  royalty style! Plus, we love drinking tea as much as we love coffee, so overall, it was a good excuse to throw a party and no one needed to twist my arm to make me do it! 

Molto Delizioso Cibo at OGGI Charlotte

Appetizer -- Boconccino 

Finding the winning restaurant that hits the right taste in your palate is like finding a needle in a haystack. Complicate that with someone who grew up in a household that cooks meals the traditional way, then it gets a lot more challenging. But when you do find it, you know it's very rewarding and you've found a keeper!

7 Colorful Easter Egg Candy Recipes - Eggs to Impress!

Easter is a days away! And are you tired of the boring, same-old-same-old, store bought candies and want to make it a little extra different this year? Well, good for you! Here's your chance to get your creative mojo on and create Eggs to Impress candies for your little ones and the not-so-little peeps in your life this Easter! Maybe, for some of your friends too! Check this eggciting collection that would WOW even Peter Rabbit!

Edible Arrangements® Fruit Bouquet - A Fresh Approach at the Easter Basket

Easter is just around the corner and I'm sure most of us are excited for Peter Rabbit's visit toting his basket of sweet treats and chocolate goodies come Easter Sunday! I don't blame you. Who can't resist chocolates?! Not I. Though this year, there's a bit of a change on our Easter basket. I'm sure Peter Rabbit won't mind. He better not! After trying Edible Arrangements® Easter Bunny Celebration™ with Dipped Pineapple, I now would like fruits with my chocolates!

Great Gift Idea: Edible Arrangements® Best Dipped Fruit

If you are one of those gift-giver who is tired of the usual standard, ole' gift baskets and wanted something unique, different and on the side of healthy and yummy to give friends and family, Edible Arrangements® Best Dipped Fruit is a great option. Even non-foodie, I'm pretty sure, will love receiving this as a gift! And why not? Everyone loves a certain fruit -- and chocolate? I still have to meet someone who would say "no!" to chocolate!

Creative Cooking: No Fuss Chocolate Croissant

Oyyyy I "baked" today and fortunately, no disaster ensued. Successsssss! Ok, you should know baking, to me,  only usually occurs once in a blue moon {maybe the moon is blue today}. I'm an awesome cook {ahem!} it's a given,  but pleeeeazzzeee don't ask me to bake. Ironically, when you're a mom there are moments where you can't deny your child baked goodies. Why was oven ever invented? Anyway, THAT moment was today. And when it is, I make sure I get creative. I have to be yo know. My victim? Classic plain Croissant.

Filipino Dish: Veggie and Tofu Lumpia Vegetarian Recipe

VEGGIE AND TOFU LUMPIA
A traditional Filipino dish I modified for vegetarians. Easy to prepare and great meal option anytime. Prep and cooking time approx. 45 mins.

Turkey Paksiw - Excellent Leftover Recipe Solution Filipino Style!

Now that Thanksgiving is over, you are probably left with enough Turkey meat to last a week! And those Turkey Sandwiches? I know, they can grow old quick!  

Here's a simple recipe solution that might just do the trick.

A simple recipe that also works great with leftover Turkey and tastes as yummy!

And if you love rice, you're in luck! This is served with hot rice.

My Young Chef in Action. Teaching Her How To Cook So I Don't Have To (All the time)

My young Chef cooking Hash brown for our Sunday Brunch!

Start them Young is a rule I live by because it works! I was 6 years old when I started learning how to cook rice. It was like a rite of passage. If you're a Filipino like me, learning how to cook rice is a basic skill you are required to learn! No, it's A MUST. And it wasn't easy back then. Imagine cooking with wood fires, clay oven and heavy stainless steel pots! It was an intense challenge to say the least. But thank goodness, my youngling don't have to deal with that now, which made cooking somehow easier to learn and easier for us to teach!

Beating Lactose Intolerance with Blue Diamond Almond Milk - Review

I have a not-so-pleasant relationship with milk and for those unfortunate individuals who share the same physical lactose-intolerance dysfunctionality, you clearly know what that means. Stay away from milk! Or anything remotely related to dairy, otherwise, suffer painful trips to the loo, which is NEVER cool at all. But, who can stay away from milk or dairy? 

Food Porn: Tasty Macaroni Salad for Road Trip-pers

It's that time of the season for family travel and Road Trips to vacation lands. Putting the fun aside, road trips can be a daunting task when staying healthy while on the road and saving some $$$ at the same time is your top priority! This job calls for sheer creativity. For someone who travels a lot like me, only the versatile dishes makes it to my must-bring list. Unfortunately, those dishes I have in mind don't fare well on long road trips. So what to do? I create one. Or sometimes, two. But here's one of them for you.

Creative Party Ideas for Fourth of July

Simple yet attractively themed party table by Pottery Barn

New Pillsbury Baguette Chips Giveaway

Chips Ninja. That's what my daughter and I are in this household. To me, it's one of my very guilty pleasure besides chocolates. I can probably live off of chips if I try. What can I say, it's one of my favorite snack options and chips rules!

Live Chat with Bizarre Foods Andrew Zimmern

Andrew Zimmern in Athens, GA as part of his Road Trip for Good series
 Photo courtesy of Appetite for Life

Anyone who is a big fan of Bizarre Foods will immediately recognize the iconic name that made bizarre foods so popular as the person behind it: Andrew Zimmern. I will shamelessly admit that I'm a big fan of him and his show and that my favorite episode is when he went to the Philippines and featured my country's ever-popular "Balut" (duck egg) and ate it! He got my full respect after that considering yours truly won't and will never ever have the guts to eat "balut"! For those curious, I would post pictures of "balut" but this is not a bizarre blog and I certainly don't want you to lose your appetite if you're eating right now. But you're more than welcome to google it and don't say I didn't warn you!