Cheesy Tuna Pasta made with UFC Spaghetti Sauce with Century Tuna

Though Ken and I will pick meat over seafood any time, the Lenten season is that time of the year when we enjoy a variety of delicious seafood dishes. And last week, we got to try UFC Spaghetti Sauce with Century Tuna and Cheese.

UFC Spaghetti Sauce with real Century Tuna and Cheese, a Lenten Special

I love tuna in sandwich spreads and pasta sauces, so I was looking forward to finding out if I’ll like this ready-made spaghetti sauce from UFC. It’s pretty convenient since you don’t have to get all messy in the kitchen. All you need is to cook up some pasta, then heat up the UFC Spaghetti Sauce in a pan. Perfect for those lazy nights, like the one I was having when I decided to cook this up. 😀

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Russell Hobbs and Chef JP Anglo Mood-Food Cookbook

It’s a fact: more and more Filipino young adults are moving out of their parents’ nest to start living independently. My sister, Mhel, has become one of those people, when she traded her home-based work for an office job in Makati. She rented a studio unit right across her office, sparing herself from the inevitable stress of daily commutes. The major drawback? She misses our Nanay’s delicious home-cooked meals, and after a hectic day at work, she doesn’t have much time for cooking, so she resorts to ordering fast-food and feasting on unhealthy fare. What she and most young, independent professionals need are efficient and reliable pieces of equipment that will help them prepare “lutong bahay” quality food in a short time, like Russell Hobbs‘ small kitchen appliances.

Russell Hobbs Small Kitchen Appliances

Russell Hobbs Small Kitchen Appliances

Russell Hobbs may not be a household name in the Philippines, but it’s considered the number 1 brand in the United Kingdom with its line of innovative and stylish small kitchen appliances. We owe it to its founders, Bill Russell and Peter Hobbs, for revolutionizing the way we enjoy coffee and tea with their invention of the electric kettle and the coffee pot with a keep-warm feature.

 

Mood Food by Russell Hobbs and Chef JP Anglo

Mood-Food Cookbook

Our daily food choices are greatly affected by our mood. When we’re stressed at work or when we’re nursing a broken heart, we always turn to our favorite foods for comfort. With this in mind, Russell Hobbs has decided to collaborate with Chef JP Anglo, who owns the successful Sarsa Kitchen + Bar, in creating a coffee table book with a collection of positively mood-altering recipes that can easily be prepared using Russell Hobbs kitchen appliances. It’s the perfect book for budding cooks, professionals with tight schedules and a tighter kitchen space, or any person who enjoys food!

Chef JP Anglo Introducing Russell Hobbs Kitchen Appliance

Note the visible signs of wear and tear on the kitchen appliances.

Russell Hobbs made an excellent choice in choosing Chef JP as their endorser and collaborator for the cookbook because he truly believes in the brand and he uses their kitchen appliances in his restaurant’s every day operation.

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Surrender Your Taste Buds at Cops and Robbers in San Juan

Last week, I received a warrant of arrest from Zomato for being found guilty of gluttony. They ordered me to surrender myself at Cops and Robbers in Greenhills, San Juan. I had to turn myself in to answer for my crime. 😀

Cops and Robbers Facade

 

The Concept

When I got off the cab, the first thing I noticed was the scarcity of food businesses in the area. Cops and Robbers shares the location with only two other restaurants – Maria Maria and La Contessa Delicatessen. Strategically situated in front of Xavier School’s Sports Complex, there’s no doubt Cops and Robbers triumphs over its contemporaries for having a fun ambiance, a straightforward menu of comfort food, and a price range that students, the restaurant’s main demographic, wouldn’t find so heavy in the pocket.

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Hearty Pan Chicken Set from Pancake House

We were invited by Pancake House to try their newest offering – the Hearty Pan Chicken Set, so, yesterday, one lazy Sunday afternoon, we decided to pay them a visit at their Dela Rosa, Makati branch.

It was our first time at this branch. Quaint is the perfect word to describe it for its limited seating capacity. We usually frequented the one in SM North EDSA when we were still staying at Malabon. Even then, we’ve always ordered their crispy pan chicken.

Pancake House's Hearty Pan Chicken Set

You can get the Hearty Pan Chicken Set for only PHP 568, which is already good for 2-3 persons. The store manager informed us that it can even be shared by up to 5 persons. Yes, we believe that it’s possible, but not with the voracious appetite we were sporting when we arrived.

The Hearty Pan Chicken Set comes with 5 pieces of Pancake House’s classic pan chicken, 3 scoops of mashed potatoes, and a big plate of their house salad.

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Highlands Gold Corned Beef: Premium Taste of Steak and Angus Beef in a Can!

Corned beef has always been our go-to alternative when we’re too lazy to cook dinner or when we’re just looking for a quick bite. It may not be the most delicious food out there, but it does the job in satiating our sudden pangs of hunger. But all that has changed when we discovered Highlands Gold Corned Beef.

Highlands Gold Corned Beef - Premium Taste of Steak and Angus Beef in a Can

Highlands Gold Corned Beef puts the luxurious taste of steak and Angus beef in a can. It’s quite affordable, too. A 320-gram can is priced at Php 150.00 (SRP), and you can prepare multiple dishes with all its meaty contents.

Highlands Gold Corned Beef made with Angus beef

When you’re not in the mood to cook, you can just eat it right out of the can. Simply serve it with some steamed rice and that makes for a very satisfying dinner already. Trust me; I’ve done it a couple of times. 🙂

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Our First TV Guesting: Battle of the Best Pansit Malabon on Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho

In our over 4 years of food blogging, Ken and I have been invited to guest in various TV shows as food critics / bloggers / reviewers. We were even invited to share our own recipes in a televised cooking demo, but our busy work schedules and the fear of the 10-pound gain when you’re on TV held us back. 😀

Okay, that last part was a joke. And you know what they say about jokes. 😛

Our first TV guesting - Battle of the Best Pansit Malabon on Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho

When we got this invite to guest as judges for the Battle of the Best Pansit Malabon on Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho, we were ecstatic! We’re big fans of Jessica Soho and her show. After a few hours of deliberation (si Kenneth kasi ehhhh 😀 ), we accepted the invite and braced ourselves for what’s to come.

On day 1 of our shoot (we didn’t know there’ll be a day 2), we were both nervous but excited. We both love Pansit Malabon and it’s a staple in almost all of the parties we hosted and attended since we were kids. So yes, we know what we’re looking for when it comes to Pansit Malabon.

Pansit Malabon is almost similar to our Pinoy favorite pansit luglog. Thick noodles, orange sauce made with annatto seed oil, strong flavors, lots of toppings. The main difference is the amount of seafood you’ll get. Malabon is known for the abundance of fresh seafood, and our own version of pansit is generously topped with them. Nowadays, they mainly use shrimps/prawns, squid, and tinapang bangus, but the old versions used tahong or fresh oysters (sushal!). The market prices in recent years have affected the amount of seafood you get per serving.

Nanay's Pansit Malabon

We’ve seen many food places here in Malabon that sell Pansit Malabon, but we’ve always ordered from Nanay’s, and Norma’s (they’re in Navotas). We’ve had other versions of this dish from other stores at our relatives’ and friends’ parties. So, yes, we’ve eaten a lot of Pansit Malabon in our lifetime. 😀

Now, going back to our TV guesting, I t was crazy seeing how a 15-minute segment on TV needed to be shot for 2 days. Though it was a tiring shoot, we had fun during the whole experience, seeing what happens behind the scenes of our favorite TV show.

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Shed Off Your Holiday Weight with Healthy Foodie Manila

Healthy Foodie Manila review

The Christmas and New Year season is the time of year when everyone can eat all the food that they want and gain a few pounds (or even 10) without receiving judgment from family and friends. But after all these festivities, when we’re back to living our regular lives, that is when the pangs of guilt and regret come to haunt us with the horrific sights of our puffy cheeks and jiggly muffin tops. We immediately subject ourselves to crazy fad diets like water therapy and fasting. But where’s the fun in that, right? What if we tell you that you can shed all that holiday weight off but still get to eat delicious food and enjoy 4 meals a day? Yes, you can, and it’s with the help of Healthy Foodie Manila. 🙂

Variety of delicious dishes from Healthy Foodie Manila's weekly menus

What is Healthy Foodie Manila?

Healthy Foodie Manila is one of the best diet food delivery services in the Metro that provides calorie-counted and portion-controlled meals according to their customers’ specific health needs, whether it be to lose or to gain weight. It’s important to note that they can cater special kinds of diets like vegetarian, pescatarian, and paleo. You may also avail the services of their registered nutritionist / dietician for a free nutrition consultation to help you determine the type of program you can most benefit from.

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Mixploring at Jamba Juice

When Ken and I decided to add more fruits and vegetables to our diet, we swore off milk teas and looked for alternatives. Thankfully, Jamba Juice made the switch easier… and yummier too. 🙂

Jamba Juice Mixplorers

I love fruit smoothies and make them a lot at home too. So when we go out, like now that we’re living in Makati, Ken and I enjoy frequenting their Bonifacio High Street branch late at night after our almost weekly now Fully Booked visit. Their store in BGC is open till 1am, in case you didn’t know. 😉

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Our Top Favorites from Merry Cremas Festival 2014

We’re sure many of you would agree that it’s the most wonderful time of the year. We kicked off our Christmas celebrations last weekend at the Merry Cremas Festival 2014 at Eastwood Mall Open Park. We were at last year’s event, so we already have a yummy idea of what’s in store for us.

Merry Cremas Festival 2014 at Eastwood Mall

Merry Cremas Festival is a yearly event where various food purveyors showcase their products that they made using Alaska Crema All Purpose Cream. Ken and I didn’t have breakfast before going to the event since we know we’ll be full by the end of our food tasting. 😀 Here are our top favorites:

 

Pumpkin Soup from Kuya Pao’s Grill

Creamy, with bold, spicy flavors. We couldn’t get enough of their soup, and the chunks of pumpkins that came with it. It’s the perfect hearty dish for the cooler days ahead. 🙂

Pumpkin Soup from Kuya Pao's Grill with Alaska Crema

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Getting Creative with Menu Bingo

Anyone who likes to experiment in the kitchen will tell you that having so many recipes under their belt can be both a good and a bad thing. On the one hand, you have so many recipes to choose from when it’s time to prep your meals; on the other, making the choice can be quite difficult when you have too many options. An article on the New York Times goes as far as calling the problem of having too many choices “a paralyzing problem”.

You’re bound to experience these paralyzing choices more often with the Yuletide Season rolling in, but luckily, you can use a fun bingo game to create meal plans and menus, eliminating the hassles of having to rifle through the hundreds of recipes you’ve mastered to be able to prepare something new for your family every day. Bingo has helped many households in surprising ways, with the UK Food Standards Agency even using it to promote healthy eating with Eatwell Bingo, and even Iceland Foods has been unable to resist the charms of the industry, launching Iceland Bingo in 2012. Now bingo can help you and your family too, all while making meal planning much more fun and interactive.

Menu Bingo

To play Menu Bingo, go through your recipe books for five recipes for each of the following categories: Main, Side 1, Side 2, and Dessert. Once you have these twenty recipes, you can then plot them out on a bingo card template, with one column standing for each category. Label each item in the columns a number from 1-5. You could also fill out there boxes by asking the members of the family what they feel like having and taking those down. Once you’ve made your bingo card, it’s time to roll a die, with the number that you roll corresponding to the dish that you’ll be cooking. Take turns rolling the die for each category, and when someone rolls a six, they get to choose which of the items to have. Once an item has been picked already, make sure to mark it off, and then proceed to roll for the rest of the days of the week.

You can have many variations of this game, such as a bingo card with seven items in each category – one for each day of the week – or even a bingo card each for breakfast, lunch and dinner. By taking some time out of the start of the week, you can cut back on your cooking prep time!