Going Flexitarian

My blogger slash yogini friend often talks about how she has gone flexitarian.So, what exactly is a flexitarian? From what I understand (yes, based on the best information source, Google, haha), one who is a flexitarian is somewhat of a meat-eating vegan. Lemme rephrase that: they are those who follow a mostly vegetarian diet but on occasion eat meat.

In my quest to becoming healthier and to lose weight, I have found that giving up a lot of red meat and pork has helped a lot, but I don't think I'm ready or willing for that matter, to switch to a full vegan diet. However, I have seen myself become more health conscious in the way I pick my meals. When I go to the market, for example, I no longer by slabs of beef or steaks, instead, I buy fresh fish and fresh produce more.

I am lucky that fresh seafood and the like is readily available in my local groceries. For example, it might be harder to buy oysters if you were in a far off location that took a lot of time to travel to and was far from the source. Nonetheless, if you really wanted to go healthier, I'm sure you'd find ways to do that.

The common downfall, however, to switching to a more flexitarian or perhaps less meat based diet is the tendency to run out of new ways too cook these items. After all, how many ways can you dress up a fish, right? However, the internet is definitely a vast resource of great recipes to check out, so that should make for lots of experiments to try. I even came across a cocktail recipe with oysters at the ILoveBlueSea blog! 

At the end of the day, however, what I think is most important is not whether you go vegan or not, but it's making sure you make healthier choices and eat in moderation.

Minute Maid Pulpy: All Natural Liquid Sunshine

I just drank a bottle of Minute Maid Pulpy. They say it’s got ‘no preservatives added’. Aw, c’mon…It’s bottled juice. Is that even possible? So I thought maybe... it's yet another one of those things people just say...but you know, it really is a bottle full of freshly squeezed liquid sunshine.Yuummmy!!! Being the beach lover that I am, it sure hits the spot whenever I am off for a weekend beach getaway :)

I didn’t believe it the first time I heard it’s got no preservatives added.  So I read the ingredients (even the fine print) and everything checked out! It really has NO PRESERVATIVES ADDED!  That means it doesn’t have ingredients that may turn out to be allergens, or worse...carcinogens!  Whew! Now that’s healthy goodness that tastes so good, I... can enjoy it's yummy goodness without worrying about anything at all!

So okay, it’s got no preservatives added. That’s really good, right?  Not just because it doesn’t have those icky, harmful ingredients, but it also means... it's a better alternative to sodas and those sugary powdered juices that are heavily laden with sugar...which means excess calories that will definitely work against my quest at becoming a Fat Girl no More!

So far anyone who still has a hard time believing that Minute Maid has got no preservatives added - meaning it's THAT natural, it's almost like it's plucked straight from the tree, it's just as Mother Nature wanted your orange juice to be, it's got nothing but the good stuff yes, none of those potentially toxic stuff that can harm your brain, kidneys, heart; cause tumors aargh- the list of preservatives' bad effects just go on!!! Anyway, just to prove a point on just how good Minute Maid Pulpy is 'cause it's got NO PRESERVATIVES ADDED, I'm gonna make sure I've got me some Minute Maid Pulpy Orange stocked up in my refrigerator so I can grab a bottle of my favorite liquid sunshine any time of day :)

Feels good to know about the real pulpy deal, right? C’mon show me a smile on the comment box, and you might win yourself a Really Pulpy Deal! (That’s a chance to win a Minute Maid gift pack simply by commenting. Sweet! C'mon you just might be picked as the lucky 'commentor'!)

Love,

Ria

Do you like Minute Maid Pulpy too? When I heard about this contest from Ms. Janette Toral, I knew I just had to share my thoughts on it.

You too can share your love for Minute Maid Pulpy and get the chance to win up to Php 20,000 by simply blogging about it! Drop me a comment here too and stand the chance to win that gift pack!!!

Join Lea and Be a Souperstar :-)

Being a teacher, one thing my kids' parents always ask me is how to get their kids to have better eating habits.Often times, they complain about how they can't get their kids to finish their food or to eat healthier food options. They also talk about how difficult it is to get kids to eat something other than fried chicken, chicken nuggets or hotdogs.

My answer has always been the same: there are three steps to good eating habits.  These are setting a routine, firmly and consistently observing this routine and being creative with what you give them. For example, getting kids to eat vegetables can be a challenge. Rather than giving them the veggies as they are, incorporate it into other dishes, such as adding shredded carrots to burger patties. Also, kids love soup on their rice, so they can definitely use this to their advantage. This is made even simpler with one of the most widely known and long-trusted soups, Knorr.

However, coming up with new and interesting recipes on a daily basis can be difficult for busy moms and homemakers. In comes Lea, who describes herself as a "domesticated Carrie". As the Souperstar of the blogosphere, she shares here experiences of trying to juggle everything a busy mom has to deal with on an everyday basis in her blog. She also shares different soup recipes in her blog. Her recipes are not only about soups, but also about how you can use the different Knorr soups in various recipes that kids will surely love.

Join Lea Souperstar in her continued quest to be the best mom she can be :-)



 

Homemade Tofu Burgers

Because I've been trying to diet (yes, totoo na!) I tried out tofu burgers because I've been craving for the real thing in a major way! But because I am determined to lose weight, I compromised.

I must say, these burgers taste better than they look, and seem for that matter.

Before making this, I Googled various recipes for it but I ended up just making one up along the way :-) This is my recipe. However, since it was an experiment, I didn't really measure stuff.

1/2 a block of tofu (the firm type. if you're using the small squares, two of those would suffice, I suppose :-)
a handful of oyster mushrooms, diced
1 slice of bread, chopped into small pieces
1 egg
5 cloves garlic, crushed
salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:
1. Crumble the tofu in a large bowl.
2. Add in your garlic, mushrooms, and bread.
3. Mix well. Add in the egg until incorporated well. Season as you desire.
4. The mixture appears a little wet, but it holds when shaped into a patty (not as nicely as a meat patty though)
5. Fry in olive oil (regular oil will suffice).

That's it :-) Even Bubba enjoyed sharing my burger. When I share regular fried tofu with him he spits it out, but this he liked.

Some other recipes called for breadcrumbs instead of the bread that I used, and some added onions to it, but since I've been too lazy to go to the grocery, I ran out of onions!

An alternative I plan to try in the future is making it a Turkey Tofu Burger. Yum!

Happiness is a great bowl of tom yum!

After swearing off food events for the past three months in my quest to be a Fat Girl No More, I broke my fast for a Taste of Thailand at the Marriott Manila last night. And boy, was it a wonderful break!

My tummy is still reeling from all the sumptuous food I sampled!

As I told Chef Thanathorn Krobsuay, Thai cuisine is by far my most favorite in the whole world. In fact, it was even what I wrote about in the Yummy contest last year. When I saw the dishes in front of me, I immediately went into "takaw" mode, but I quelled that by taking photos first.

Initially, I was a bit disappointed because I did not see my favorite dish on the table, Tom Yum Goong. Well, apparently I was wrong because it was there! The reason why I thought it wasn't there was because I was looking for the signature red broth of tom yum, but what they had was the white one (which I understand is made of coconut milk). As soon as I tasted it though, I was in heaven. Yes, happiness indeed.

There were also a host of other Thai dishes on the menu:

And for dessert:

For a Thai food lover like me, I would have to say that The Flavors of Thailand buffet at tha Marriott Hotel Manila is by far the closest I've been to Thailand while in Manila. The buffet  is available for lunch and dinner daily at Php 1,350 (Php 675 for children). Sunday Brunch runs at Php 1,650.

Besides the authentic Thai spread, diners can also enjoy a wide array of other very delicious dishes. From fabulous appetizers to indulgent desserts, an evening at the Marriott Manila will definitely be a belly-filling experience!

For more larger, more detailed and higher resolution photos, check out my Flickr page :-)