Month: February 2012

An Exciting New Beginning with Breakfast Magazine

Aside from our love for food, Ken and I also share a passion for writing. As far as I can remember, I’ve always kept a journal or a notebook where I write my deepest thoughts and a few random things. Ken also has a knack for writing and, in fact, he was the one who wanted to put up his own blog first, but I beat him to it. With all that said, it’s been a dream of ours to be published in a broadsheet or a magazine. And this year, we fulfilled it. We’re glad to be part of Breakfast Magazine.

Breakfast Magazine is now available at news stands and bookstores - CertifiedFoodies.com

Breakfast Magazine is the newest foodie publication in the Philippines today. You might be thinking that all we talk about in the mag is breakfast, what people generally consider the most important meal of the day. The magazine is all about food – may it be breakfast, lunch, dinner or the enjoyment of food  in between.

The maiden issue of Breakfast Magazine was launched this month. It’s a bi-monthly publication and every issue, we follow a theme. For February and March, it was just expected that it’s all about love and food. 🙂

Food Bloggers have their own section in Breakfast Magazine - CertifiedFoodies.com

When we were approached to be part of Breakfast Magazine, we were excited about it, but wondered if we are ready. This food blog will only turn 2 this year (we have a giveaway coming up!), but we are indeed touched by the overwhelming support we’re getting from fellow certified foodies. We love blogging and writing, but we thought coming up with articles for a magazine is a completely different ballgame. But, we brushed those doubts aside and we agreed.

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Max’s Chicken Take Out Promo : Limited Time Only!

It’s been a long time since we last ate at Max’s Restaurant since Ken and I are usually on an adventure to dine in a new restaurant everytime. We weren’t able to join their Valentine’s Day party (I did last year and I had a lot of fun with the cupcake designs!), but we’re glad to find out they now have a special offer to those who are always on the go and have been wanting to quickly order Max’s signature “sarap to the bones” chicken.

Max's Restaurant Chicken Take out treat for only Php 299 - CertifiedFoodies.com

For just Php 299, you can now order Max’s chicken for take-out. You save Php 76 from the original price too. Another good reason for you to love Max’s Restaurant. Max's Restaurant caramel barsUsually, when Ken and I are at the mall, we end up buying pasalubong for our parents. Now, we have another option. We can now take home a whole Max’s chicken. I’ve got a planned get-together with my ex-officemates who I haven’t seen for a long time so I can maybe bring this for pulutan, while we enjoy it along with bottles of ice-cold beer and nothing else (I’ve quit smoking so nothing like macanudo or the usual for me.. yay!).

Aside from their chicken, I personally love Max’s pancit, Kare-kare and lumpia. And, of course, their caramel bars! 🙂

Take note, all you Max’s Restaurant chicken lovers, that this take-out promo is only until March 31, 2012, so hurry and take advantage of it now. 🙂

For more information, visit Max’s Facebook page or www.maxschicken.com.

Jollibee Tuna Pie is Back (Limited Time only!)

For most of us, come Lenten season, we take it to heart to fast or go on a meatless diet. We are certified meat lovers and I believe that those of you who share the same love for anything with generous amounts of beef, pork or chicken understand how hard it is to give up meat during this time. Well, guess what. Avoiding meat don’t have to be boring or bland ’cause Jollibee Tuna Pie is back and it’s just so timely.

Jollibee Tuna Pie, no need to go on a boring meatless diet

I am a big fan of Jollibee’s Tuna Pie. Back when I was still working somewhere in Ortigas, I remember taking a cab on my way to work, asking the driver to go to the nearest Jollibee drive-thru and ordering this to start my day as I work nights and didn’t want to eat rice. It’s good enough to get me through hours of work before I needed to get a complete meal in the morning, before my shift ends (breakfast time).

Jollibee Tuna Pie filling

I love Jollibee Tuna Pie’s generous filling of chunky tuna flakes, the creamy peppery sauce and vegetables that accompany it, and the crispy crust wrapper. I can gobble up one of these in a few minutes! And I know a lot of of you already have an idea how delicious they are.

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J.Pops : J.CO Donuts Adorable Bite-Sized Yummy Treats

We have posted a few weeks ago about J.CO Donuts and Coffee finally opening a store here in the Philippines. Their opening day was moved to March 15th and their first store will be at The Strip at SM Megamall. I know you’re all excited about this and you’re dying to finally taste these goodies, but wait ’til you see what’s inside these boxes:

J.CO baby donuts named J.Pops - Love it - CertifiedFoodies.com

Okay, you can actually see what’s inside from the photo above :D, but here’s a better look:

Closer look at these J.Pops by J.CO Donuts and Coffee - CertifiedFoodies.com

They’re J.Pops, bite-sized versions of the J.CO donuts we featured weeks back. They’re so cute!! 😀

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Seoul Garden in SM North Edsa : Review

We were supposed to write a year-ender post for 2011 featuring our top favorite restaurants, food products and/or recipes/dishes we prepared, but since we still had a ton more reviews we haven’t posted yet, we decided to skip it this year and will do one next year instead. One of these uber delayed reviews is of Seoul Garden in SM North Edsa Annex.

Seoul Garden at SM Annex in North Edsa - CertifiedFoodies.com

When Ken and I have time to spare or we need to relax after hours of shopping, we usually end up at buffet style or eat-all-you-can restaurants. Though we spend a lot of time together at home, sometimes, talking about tasks seem to be more effective when we do it somewhere else. That afternoon in July 2011, we had hours to spare because we were scheduled for a Harry Potter movie screening late in the evening. Ken insisted he wanted to watch on the first day so we ended up with the last screening time. 😐

We decided to check out the restaurants at the newly-renovated SM Annex building. First restaurant we considered was Seoul Garden because, at that time, it was the least busy of all the places there.

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Uratex Ready-Wrap Containers : More than just Microwave-safe

Uratex is a known manufacturer of high quality foam and plastic products in the country. Our family has been loyal to their brand for years. In fact, I use their Orthocare mattress for my bed. Ken’s sleeping on their Siesta portable Mattress every night. And I have a dozen of their Casablanca Arm chairs in my computer shop. That’s how much we trust Uratex. So, when we found out they have these microwave-safe containers they call Ready-Wrap, I knew we can only expect the same durability and quality. 🙂

Uratex Orthocare mattress and Siesta portable mattress

We were sent over these containers to be featured here, and just with their look and feel when I opened the package, I knew they weren’t made with cheap plastic. Since we own a microwave at home and we use it everyday for reheating leftovers, we’ve tried different affordable microwave-safe containers and have been consistently disappointed. With these Ready-Wrap containers, we have high hopes. I mean, c’mon. They’re from Uratex, the same manufacturer who made those chairs the kids and adult customers at my shop now stand on, and other times, even jump on when they’re all pumped up while playing games like DoTA or Crossfire. 😀

Uratex Ready-Wrap containers 5-piece set (rectangular)

“Get ready for keeps” – this is the tagline of the Ready-wrap line of containers. Why? Because they aren’t just for use in the microwave, but they have many more functions:

  • You can use them to freeze, refrigerate and reheat food or ingredients.
  • They’re perfect for organizing dry ingredients like flour, baking powder, powdered milk, etc. You can even use them to store fillings for your sandwich so it’ll be easier to prepare them next time, e.g., lettuce, ham, tomatoes, etc. (exactly what I’m planning to do 😉 )
  • You can use them to pack your food and bring them anywhere you go like in the office, for picnics, or even to a party somewhere else.
  • You can use them to display food or garnishes at your own parties. They offer these containers in different colors. Cups come in clear, red, blue, green and purple. The round and rectangular containers come in clear body, but with various colored lids.
  • For home businesses, you can use these containers for your food products.

 

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A Sweet, Sweet Ending at Parvati (Take 2)

After a VERY disappointing dinner at a diner somewhere, we quickly decided that we needed something to make up for the lousy meal we just had. Since my BFF Tina and our nanay haven’t been to Parvati yet, there we went.

My BFF Tina and our nanay at Parvati

We posted about Parvati before. It’s indeed a one stop dessert shop and they help home-based bakers market their products without worrying about opening their own stores. When we went there the first time, the place only had a few tables. When we returned, more seats are available to diners.

They also had a few additional items on their menu, particularly their beverages. We were excited to try different goodies so we ended up with four (4) dessert variations.

Let’s start off with what we had for drinks. Ken ordered the Hot White Chocolate (Php 100). It’s made of Belgian white chocolate buttons and is very rich. Not really suitable with desserts, but we still enjoyed this.

Hot White Chocolate from Parvati

My nanay and I both ordered their Honey Apple Iced Tea (Php 90). Nothing really surprising. It was refreshing and subtly sweet nonetheless (I ended up with 2 photos to use up the full width of our content space – nag-explain?! 😉 ).

Our Honey Apple Iced Teas

Tina ordered the mouth-watering Cafe Mocha with Caramel Candied Cashews (Php 100). It had vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce, whipped cream and candied cashews – a killer combination! Ken regretted not ordering this instead of his hot cup of white choco. 😀

Cafe Mocha with Caramel Candied Cashews from Parvati

Continue reading A Sweet, Sweet Ending at Parvati (Take 2)