Healthy sweet mashed potatoes for breakfast.

Potatoes and sweet potatoes are versatile and very healthy. Fight cancer, control your diabetes and get stronger bones by eating these nutritious spuds

Boost antioxidants
Followers of low-carb diets give regular potatoes a bad rap. They are not exactly good for you when dropped into a deep fryer, butpotatoes are packed with powerful nutrients and antioxidants—compounds that fight free radicals.

Maintain blood pressure
Bananas are famous for their potassium—a mineral that helps control our blood pressure. But while a banana has nine percent of your daily needs, a baked regular potato has twice as much—20 percent—and a sweet one has 12 percent.

Inhibit cancer cell growth
A sweet potato’s orange colour comes frombeta-carotene: the darker the hue, the higher the content. Like other carotenoids, beta-carotene turns on a gene that encourages our cells to communicate. While normal cells “listen” to their neighbours, cancer cells don’t communicate, and act on their own. Studies at the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii found that encouraging cells to “talk” allows normal cells to send growth-inhibiting signals to abnormal ones.

Feed your bones

Maintaining bone health requires a complex mix of nutrients, yet a Spanish study found that manganese on its own helped prevent bone loss in rats. Sweet and regular potatoes are good sources of this mineral: A baked medium sweet with skin has 32 percent of your daily needs; a baked regular with skin has 22 percent.

Control blood sugar
Surprise! Despite their name, sweet potatoes raise your blood sugar level 30 percent less than regular potatoes. This is thanks to their high soluble fibre content. So if you’re worried about blood sugar fluctuation, go against intuition and reach for 
a sweet variety.

Rev up your enzymes
Both regular and sweet potatoes are good sources of Vitamin B6: One baked medium potato with skin contains 47 and 25 percent, respectively, of your daily needs. B6 is essential for more than 100 enzymatic reactions that, among other roles, are critical in creating red blood cells and certain chemicals in our nervous system.

I had my soothing massage yesterday as it restores proper blood circulation and revitalizes the cells all over my body. Early this morning, I ate sweet mashed potatoes for breakfast.

I mashed the 3 pieces of sweet potatoes and mix it with dairy cream butter and placed in the cooking pot. After 8 minutes, served my mashed potato. Prepared the ready-to-cook gravy as well. Here are photos of my mashed potato! ;)

Happy Sunday! Stay healthy and revitalized! ;)

To eat healthy is to live a healthy and splendidly happy life

Ampalaya/ Bitter Gourd or otherwise known as Ampalaya Bitter Melon is a climbing vine that grows up to 5m, with tendrils up to 20cm. long. Amplaya leaves are heart-shaped, 5-10 cm across, cut into 5-7 lobes. Each Ampalaya Bitter Melon plant bears separate yellow male and female flowers. Ampalaya bears fleshy green fruit, oblong shaped with pointed ends, ribbed and wrinkled, bursting when mature to release seeds. Ampalaya seeds are flat with ruminated margins. Momordica charantia, it's scientific name, has been a folkloric cure for generations but has now been proven to be an effective herbal medicine for many aliments.

The Philippine Department of Health has endorsed Ampalaya Bitter Melon (Momordica Charantia) as an alternative herbal medicine for liver problems. Research about Ampalaya has shown that Ampalaya increases the production of beta cells by the pancreas, thereby improving the body’s ability to produce insulin, that controls the blood sugar for diabetics.

Ampalaya leaves and fruits are excellent sources of Vitamin B, iron, calcium, and phosphorus. It is also rich in beta carotene.

Ampalaya is used as herbal treatment for diabetes, HIV, coughs, skin diseases, sterility in women, parasiticide, antipyretic and as purgative among others.

Ampalaya for Diabetes. Clinical Studies for Ampalaya Bitter Melon demonstrated hypoglycemic properties (blood sugar lowering) or other actions of potential benefit against diabetes mellitus.
The hypoglycemic chemicals found in Ampalaya Bitter Melon include a mixture of steroidal saponins known as charantins, insulin-like peptides, and alkaloids. The hypoglycemic effect is more pronounced in the fruit of bitter melon where these chemicals are in greater abundance. The fruit has also shown the ability to enhance cells’ uptake of glucose, to promote insulin release, and potentiate the effect of insulin. In other in vivo studies, bitter melon fruit and/or seed has been shown to reduce total cholesterol and triglycerides in both the presence and absence of dietary cholesterol. In one study, elevated cholesterol and triglyceride levels in diabetic rats were returned to normal after 10 weeks of treatment.

Ampalaya for Hemorrhoids. Powdered leaves and root decoction of Ampalaya are applied to hemorrhoids as astringent.

Ampalaya for Stomach Problems. Ampalaya leaf juice is used to expel intestinal parasites, treat dysentery, diarrhea, and chronic colitis. Grounded seeds may also be used. Taken in a spoonfull 3x a day until ailment subsides.

Ampalaya for Cough. Ampalaya leaf juice is used for mild coughs for children. Administered in a teaspoon 3x a day.

Ampalaya for Burns, Scalds and Wounds. Pounded Ampalaya seeds or leaf are used to treat burns, scalds and wounds.

Ampalaya as Anti-Cancer, Two compounds extracted from ampalaya bitter melon, α-eleostearic acid (from ampalaya seeds) and dihydroxy-α-eleostearic acid (from the ampalayafruit) have been found to induce apoptosis of leukemia cells in vitro. Diets containing 0.01% ampalaya bitter melon oil (0.006% as α-eleostearic acid) were found to prevent azoxymethane-induced colon carcinogenesis in rats.

Other acclaimed uses are for the treatment of HIV, treatment of fever and headaches, treatment of rheumatism and gout, disease of the spleen and liver.

Amplaya Side Effects

In large dozes, pure Ampalaya juice can be a purgative and may cause pregnancy abortion. (source: http://www.medicalhealthguide.com)

Earlier, I bought already sliced ampalaya for only 15 pesos; tried cooking it for dinner. Here are two photos I got from http://www.medicalhealthguide.com:

my ingredients:
1. sliced ampalaya

2. magic sarap

3. salt

4. beaten eggHow I prepared my ampalaya with egg specialty:

I've learned from a friend not to soak and boil it with water and salt, instead soak it with pure water and squeeze the ampalaya juice that's making the taste bitter. I squeezed it moderately, just enough to lessen the bitter taste and the fetid smell.

I prepared the egg. Season it with magic sarap and half a teaspoon of salt. Poured in cooking oil in the cooking pot. When the oil is hot enough, I put the sliced ampalaya in the cooking pot, waited for it to smell in 4-5 minutes. After that, I put the beaten egg and mix it for about 5 minutes as well.

Then I removed my ampalaya with egg specialty from the cooking pot to a medium-sized bowl. Then I ate it right after I took a photo of it. Below are some photos of my ampalaya with egg:










Stay healthy and live a happy life! ;)

Philippine Independence Day is on June 12, '13

The Philippine Declaration of Independence was proclaimed on June 12, 1898 in Kawit, Cavite Philippines. With the public reading of the Act of the Declaration of independence (Spanish: Acta de la proclamación de independencia del pueblo Filipino), Filipino revolutionary forces under General Emilio Aguinaldo proclaimed the sovereignty and independence of the Philippine Islands from the colonial rule of Spain.Independence was proclaimed on June 12, 1898 between four and five in the afternoon in Cavite at the ancestral home of General Emilio Aguinaldo some 30 kilometers South of Manila. The event saw the unfurling of the National Flag of the Philippines, made in Hong Kong.
The Declaration is currently housed in the National Library of the Philippines. It is not on public display but can be viewed with permission like any other document held by the National Library.

During the Philippine-American War, the American government captured and sent to the United States about 400,000 historical documents. In 1958, the documents were given to the Philippine government along with two sets of microfilm of the entire collection, with the U.S. Federal Government keeping one set.

Sometime in the 1980s or 1990s the Declaration was stolen from the National Library. As part of a larger investigation into the widespread theft of historical documents and a subsequent public appeal for the return of stolen documents, the Declaration was returned to the National LIbrary in 1994 by University of the Philippines professor Milagros Guerrero.

source: Wikipedia

We Filipinos are about to celebrate the day that we have been set freed. I can actually feel the spirit now as I read the daily newspaper, recent events in a lot of sites in the internet and a lot more. Is this occasion really that salient to all Filipinos? I guess for most it is and I am one of those people who joins in celebrating the Philippine freedom from any other nation's colonial rule. Indeed, we must be a part of this celebration and we must indulge ourselves to related activities that would manifest and ascertain to all Filipinos that we consider this a great deal in behalf of all our fellow Filipinos who sacrificed their personal interests in fighting for our country's FREEDOM. Without them, we Filipinos wouldn't have been able to express ourselves freely though newspapers and magazines, internet sites and media. Thus, alas to those Filipinos who have fought for Philippine Independence.

Take a break; grab a beer and enjoy it with my calamares

Last night, i thought of taking a break from stress. I stopped contemplating for a while on difficulties, hindrances of goals (that I haven't been able to achieve) and failures that serve as lessons in life (and are meant to be treasured, of course!). I grabbed a beer and enjoyed it with my calamares masterpiece.

Below are the ingredients:

1. medium to large sized squid, cleaned and sliced into rings

2. all-purpose flour

3. 1 piece raw egg, beaten

4. 3/4 cup breadcrumbs

5. 1 teaspoon salt

6. 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

7. 2 cups cooking oil

How I prepared my Calamares Masterpiece:

1. I combined the squid, salt, and ground black pepper then mixed well. 
2. Poured-in cooking oil in the cooking pot.
3. Dredged the squid in flour then dipped in the beaten egg and rolled over on breadcrumbs.
4. When the oil is hot enough, i deep-fried the squid until the color of the coating turned brown. Note: This should only take about 2 to 3 minutes in medium heat. Do not overcook the squid.
5. Removed the fried squid from the cooking pot and transferred in a plate.
6. Served with hot n spicy ketchup.
7. Enjoyed eating my calamares with a bottle of beer.

We must take a break sometimes, wind down, feel at ease and forget about our worries. Every single thing, I suppose, really happens for a certain REASON!

Enjoy guys! 'til then... c;

chili buttered shrimp masterpiece... c;

I have been wanting to try this but never really had the time to. Until early this afternoon, since i had nothing to get myself busy of, i went to the grocery store here in my place to buy shrimps and all the other ingredients needed. When i got back home, i got so excited, i immediately tried to prepare it.

Here I have the list of the ingredients i used:

1. shrimps

2. chili powder

3. black pepper

4. lemon soda

5. black pepper

6. salt

7. butter

8. cooking oil

Preparation:

1. i marinated the shrimps on lemon soda.

2. Started to heat a bit of cooking oil.

3. After about a minute or two, put the butter into the cooking oil.

4. After the butter has melted, put the shrimp into the cooking oil and butter mix.

5. in the next 8-10 minutes, the shrimps would then change to orange color.

6. Sprinkle a bit of black pepper and chili powder to taste.

7. Done with my chili buttered shrimp masterpiece then.
8. Transfer to a serving plate and serve.

I can't explain why i only find this so fun to do now; how i wish i should have done this before! ;)

Here are some of the photos of my "chili buttered shrimp" masterpiece... 

lunch @ casa verde

Casa Verde is ranked 18 of 568 restaurants here in Cebu according to the site www.tripadvisor.com where i normally search best restaurants and places to go to. Casa Verde is a Spanish term which literally means casa "abode or a place where one resides" and verde "green".

Casa Verde has endless queuing customers who have themselves listed and are patiently waiting to be seated, countless orders coming in and out of the kitchen and diners enjoying their plates of the best food that this restaurant has to offer.

Whenever i get to eat here, I'd really love the Brian's Ribs and their Calamares which i can't get enough of. I had a taste of their over sized burger but i had to take my leftover home since i really can't consume the whole size in one meal.

photo of the menu i ate for lunch @ casa verde

I have also copied some photos from www.tripadvisor.com

the Big Bang Burger

The Count of Monte Cristo

Happy dining! Wish you had/ you'll have your dining experience here! 'Til then Casa Verde... c;

craving for pork humba

We Filipinos some times spend our Sundays with our family. I seldom experience it myself because of my family's hectic schedule, we barely find time to eat together you see. So, I kind of figured out to prepare humba for lunch. 

Never really wanna be the one in charge for it however things change. I am now so eager to learn it.

Humba is a sweet pork dish that resembles the famous pork adobo in terms of appearance. This is popular in the southern parts of the Philippines and is considered as one of the delicacies of the region. This dish uses all the ingredients of pork adobo; however, certain ingredients such as brown sugar, salted black beans, and banana blossoms make this dish stand out. There are also other variations wherein pineapple juice is used – this gives more life to the dish (as what i have done on my humba mastepiece for lunch earlier). 
source: http://panlasangpinoy.com/2010/01/27/filipino-food-pork-humba-recipe/

Here's the link of the recipe i followed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aktoj6jGfo

Photo of my humba masterpiece

Humba Recipe - Ingredients of my masterpiece

• 2 lbs pork belly
• 1 cup Pineapple juice
• 1 large onion, diced
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons salted black beans
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons vinegar
• 2 ½ tablespoons brown sugar
• ½ cup dried banana blossoms
• 2 pieces dried bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon whole peppercorn

For my humba, i forgot to buy the dried bay leaves. Anyhow, my "humba" masterpiece still tastes so good, as if you can't get enough when you start eating it.

Cooking Procedure

1. Heat the cooking pot then brown the pork belly
2. Add the onions and garlic and cook until the onions are soft
3. Put-in the soy sauce, peppercorn, bay leaves
4. Pour-in the pineapple juice and let boil. Simmer until the pork is tender (add water as needed)
5. Add the vinegar and wait for the mixture to re-boil. Simmer for 3 minutes
6. Spoon-in the salted black beans and brown sugar then simmer for 5 minutes
7. Add the dried banana blossoms and simmer for 5 to 8 minutes
8. Transfer to a serving plate and serve.  

Happy eating! Share and enjoy! You all have a nice day! ;)

Mother's Day: celebrated every second Sunday of May

The modern holiday of Mother's Day was first celebrated in 1908, when Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother in Grafton, West Virginia. She then began a campaign to make "Mother's Day" a recognized holiday in the United States. Although she was successful in 1914, she was already disappointed with its commercialization by the 1920s. Jarvis' holiday was adopted by other countries and it is now celebrated all over the world. In this tradition, each person offers a gift, card, or remembrance toward their mothers, grandmothers, and/ or maternal figure on mother's day. (Wikipedia)

I haven't really figured of giving something for my biological mother on this day because she doesn't seem to act like a mother to me. 
She, rather, acts like my toughest best friend. 
She's seldom on the right track however i adore her for being tough. 
She may have flaws, that i have always been wanting to sort out, but hell hopeless as it seem, she's human anyway who's bound to make mistakes.
She doesn't show that she does have some affection to me, nevertheless, she's trying some times.
She's rather irrational in most ways yet she tries to make up.
She's damn insensitive most of the time, in any case, i totally understand because she has problems too that she needs to patch up first before anything else.

That's my mother and I know there's no way that i can change her. 
She is unique in her own ways and she knows best!

A pat on the back, for the toughest mother!

midterm election; vote wisely on may 13, '13

MAKE SURE YOU VOTE and VOTE WISELY!!! 

The 2013 Philippine general election on May 13, 2013 will be a midterm election, as the officials elected will be sworn in on June 30, 2013, or midway from President Benigno Aquino III's term of office. 

I had my follow up check up last Friday because i'm beginning to feel pain again in my abdomen. I got paranoid so i went straight to my OB-GYNE. All lab tests were done on Thursday and got the results the next day. Went to my OB-GYNE's clinic, she simply interpreted the lab results were normal and the pain i felt was just associated to "Mittelschmerz" which occurs on the side of the ovary that's ovulating. The thing is, both of my ovaries are ovulating so it's really possible for me to get pregnant if i want to. My physician asked me then, during our conversation, "kompleto na ang line up nimu sa election?", which in English means, Is your line up this coming election already complete?  I laughed. I didn't know what to tell her. It's really no big deal for me to VOTE. i honestly vote just because i have to. And i have to because of no particular reason behind it. 

Until yeterday when i browse on recent articles related to this upcoming election, I came across the VOTE WISELY quote, 

"Realistically you have but two choices and how you vote is one of the most important decisions you'll ever make. One of the candidates will lead you to total despair and utter hopelessness. To other, to total extinction. I'm sure you'll have the courage to vote and vote wisely!" 

After reading the writer's quote, I stopped and thought about it. We certainly need to think a couple of times to vote for the best candidate, however, on another point of view, how can we pinpoint on the best ones when we don't know the candidates by soul? 

Anyhow, the quote above follow through. Though we ain't that convinced enough as to who we should vote for and who really deserves your VOTE (that counts!), we should contemplate on who really is best among all the candidates who are vying for their respective positions and we're left with no choice but to choose the best and to VOTE and to VOTE WISELY! 

I'll leave this to Him then. God i pray that you help me pick the best leader, who would lead the nation rightfully, fairly, and befittingly. God please hear the Filipino people's prayers! 

summer party 2013 @ Cordova Home Village

We had our summer party yesterday May 5, 2013 (Sunday)  at Cordova Home Village. I wasn't planning to be there but i remember last year's summer party, my workmates admit, was the best party ever. I might again regret of not joining the party this time, especially that i haven't gone to the said place yet and that i now have this passion to travel.haha! At 2:46 PM, I texted my team lead that i was on my way to the office to ride with the service bus at 3 PM. But the thing is, i lied! I was not on my way to the office yet. She texted back that the bus will be leaving the office at 3:30 PM. I didn't know that there were 3 buses. Anyhow, I still went to the office hoping that i can still catch up with the bus ride. Left our house at 3:40 PM and arrived there at 4:20 PM. LE tours tourist bus was waiting in front of the office. I honestly thought it was not the service bus since there were only a few people who were in it and that i didn't know the people who were in there. Glad that there were 2 team leads for online and they advised me this is our third bus. Indeed, i was sooo lucky enough that it was the third bus to give us a lift to Cordova Home Village. It really pays to wait... hmmmm... i mean, to be late! lol.....

Here's the photo of our lift to Cordova Home Village which i only had the chance to take when we get there at the said place. I was upset coz i left my cam, no choice but i have to use my phone cam :c

a pic taken inside the bus while we were waiting for the big bosses before we left the office! ;p

Here i have as well, taken some pics of the place.

please bear with me for the "not so splendid" photos.

For the very first time, during the raffle draw portion of the affair, my name was picked. I was asked to go up stage to claim it, that i almost slip near the pool when i ran to claim my prize. I thought it was an electronic device but was so happy i got a laundry basket. I never dared to buy this although i badly need it. My reason is, I don't find it worth the price. lol...

I ride with the first bus that arrived at Cordova Home Village on my way back home. The bus left the place at 9:45 PM and i arrived home at 10:30 PM. It was a fun experience though there were not enough food to eat (wala ko ka kaon sa salad). Nevertheless, i had enough food to satisfy my starving tummy. 

Thank God for the blessings you always shower upon me. My good friends who were there to enjoy the night with me, good food and easy to get along office mates. Many, many, many thanks! ;)

cruise to santiago bay resort, camotes island

I have checked out in Philstar.com, here in Cebu, summer's gonna be hotter than usual as temperature is expected to rise, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA). A weather specialist II in PAGASA said that it is hotter in urban centers due to some factors like concrete roads and buildings. She added, however, that even with the hot season,Cebu can still experience rains in the afternoon and nighttime. PAGASA advises the public to bring water with them to avoid heatstroke and for beach lovers, we should only expose ourselves to the sun for not more than 15 minutes. And that we should avoid exposure from 9AM to 3PM   but anyhow temperature is at its highest between 1-2PM.

We had our summer getaway to Santiago Bay Resort, Camotes Island sometime mid of March, 2013. Indeed, it's really hotter than the usual heat. We stayed there for just a day and a night. We rented the room worth Php1000 just so we can keep our stuffs inside the room and so as we can enjoy the whole night away.

Here, i have taken some random photos of the place.

the second room from the left side is our room

glimpse of the beach before lodging in

peaceful huh?

at the poolside

another glimpse of the white sand and the blue and green waters of Santiago Bay

 

stairs to their cafeteria

Here are some of them who tagged me along with them to enjoy SUMMER...

i am hoping to experience the best of this season before it ends by the last week of May, 2013, as what has been anticipated by PAGASA.