My Kind of Oatmeal

Mornings aren't my strong suit.  Never liked 'em.  It's a combination of things I guess.  I wake up hungry (always!), grumpy (most of the time), and usually the barrage of issues, if any, from work and home, tend to overwhelm me as soon as open my eyes.

Breakfast has always been the most vital meal of my day.  A good breakfast erases all my aforementioned rants.  I have no doubt that I'm Filipino through and through since my idea of a perfect breakfast is anything with sinangag (fried garlic rice).   I could pile on that rice and eat like there was no tomorrow.  You see, growing up I was blessed with an insanely efficient metabolism, but I have to admit, with every year that passes, it has been slowing down ever so slightly.  It's depressing really.  So now, I try to offset my usual greasy, carbo loaded but oh so yummy morning fare, with something healthy(ish), at least every other day.

This is my go-to oatmeal breakfast which sometimes doubles as a midnight snack.  It's been pretty effective.  And it doesn't leave me grumpy (that much) and doesn't leave me as hungry as its' flavored Quaker Oats equivalent which seems to be the only other option left.  The Sunny Select instant oatmeal has whole rolled oatmeal grains and oat bran which gives it a substantial bite, unlike the other instant oatmeal products you find with other brands that just turns to mush when mixed with hot water or mik.  Plus the fruit bits in the Sunny Select oatmeal, once rehydrated, are a lot chunkier than the Quaker oats version.  Everyone knows that oatmeal can be really boring, and the feeling can be akin to eating wet cardboard.  If you're easing into healthier breakfasts, and your slightly lactose intolerant like me (which prevents me from eating cereal with milk often), Sunny Select might be a good option.  You get fiber, loads of vitamins and minerals (like vitamin A, B6, folate, calcium, niacin, riboflavin, iron, magnesium, and phosphorus) with each serving.  It contains artificial flavors, sodium, and sugar, but these, I think, are outweighed by all the other health benefits you get.  I don't mean to sound like a commercial (lol), but I really tend to go on and on about food products that I love.  All the people close to me know that, and yes they do make fun of me for it.  What can I do?  I LOVE food. :)

Hey, it tastes good, that's the bottom line.  If you're not as lazy as me in the morning, you could put together instant rolled oats and throw in some cut up fruit (like bananas, or peaches), a touch of honey, and some hot water or milk.  But if you want something fast that you can grab and go that won't leave you depressed and tempted to go back to your old carbo loading breakfast routine (again, assuming that you're like me) then this Sunny Select oatmeal might be worth a try.  It comes in four flavors.  I first bought a box of this on a random trip to Subic in on of those duty-free stores there.  I was desperate to try more oatmeal options at the time.  Luckily enough, Shopwise has recently started carrying this product so now I can stock up.

My favorite flavor is peaches and cream.  Notice that there's a trivia question on each packet.  Not that it matters but it adds to the fun.

Again, let me just state for the record that I am in no way a representative or affiliated with Sunny Select nor was I paid to write about this.  Just in case somebody gets the wrong idea.  This is just me, sharing something I really like.

Oh and just in case you were wondering, the answer to the trivia question is John Paul Jones.  I have no clue who that is though.


~Mich :)

Mercato Part 1: Mochiko

So last Saturday we stopped by Mercato Centrale for a quick midnight snack.  We were in the area anyway, coming back from a reception at Blue Leaf  which was the 3rd wedding we'd attended in a week.  We had been planning for months now to have a look at the Mercato scene but every time we planned to go, work stuff would always get in the way.  So, believe it or not, and I'm completely embarrassed to say this, but this trip to Mercato was actually our first.  They say better late than never right?

So anyways, I've been hearing good stuff about the ice cream mochi here and I've been dying to eat green tea mochi for a while now.  Mochi is simply a Japanese rice cake made out of glutinous rice.  Traditionally, it's filled with a sweet center like red bean paste and such.  The ice cream mochi is sort of a modern take on this Japanese delicacy and it's genius!

The last time I ate ice cream mochi was September of last year in Macau when Yuri and I were on our honeymoon.  There was this 24-hour convenience store near our hotel that sold vanilla ice cream mochis in packs of two.  They also had the regular mochis lining their shelves but I wasn't interested in that.  We went back there everyday to get my ice cream mochi fix... aaaand I might've hoarded quite a few on our last day there. Teehee.   

I was first introduced to ice cream mochi during my early teens.  Dryer's came out with Green Tea Mochi sold in packs of six and my family and I were instant fans.  Since then we'd go through at least a pack a week.  I don't have a sweet tooth but I do love rice and green tea!  I guess this was and still is the perfect dessert for me.  After a couple of years Dryer's stopped selling mochis.  I guess it never really caught on, but yeah it's been hard to find a regular supply of green tea mochi ice cream since then. 

Soooo I'm pretty sure it's obvious by now how weirdly obsessed I am with green tea mochi ice cream.  Lucky for me, I finally found a yummy ice cream mochi source.   Darnnit I can't believe I waited this long to go to Mercato.

Mochiko sells all things mochi!  Mochiko's shop is all the way up at the Cliffhouse in Tagaytay so it's great that they've become a whole lot more accessible to us at the Fort. 

The green tea ice cream is wrapped in a thin dough made out of pounded glutinous rice.  Our friend tells us that their cappuccino-flavored mochi's delicious too.  They've also got unique ice cream mochi flavors like Azuki and Black Sesame.

Green Tea Mochi Ice Cream Php 70.00

It's best to let the mochi thaw out a little before biting into it to get the maximum effect.  The gooey mochi together with the ice cream is just heavenly.

I really didn't go around that much since my feet were complaining from being in heels all day.  Plus we were getting funny looks from people.  You see, this trip was unplanned so we were all still in our wedding regalia. Harhar.  No matter.  Bottom line is that I got my green tea mochi.  It capped off my night perfectly!

Rinah with her empanada and me with my mochi!

Address: Mercato Centrale, 8th Avenue cor. 34th Avenue, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
Hours: 7am - 2pm Saturdays and Sundays

The Best of Both Worlds: Bread Pudding Creme Brulee

During one of our after-dinner forays, Yuri and I stumbled on an unexpected treat.  It was a little past 9 PM and we were hungry.  Dinner never seems to hold us over for long.  We racked our brains trying to think of places in Quezon City that were still open at that late hour, and on a mundane Tuesday night.

After a ten-minute spirited debate (hungry people make for grumpy people) on where to eat and the merits of this place vs. that place, we still had nothing. We had no choice but to wing it. We got in the car and drove.

We somehow ended up at Banchetto Libis.

Banchetto-Libis is an offshoot of the original Banchetto (Banchetto-Emerald) which is in the heart of Ortigas Center.  It's the first weekly overnight street food market in the Philippines.  A "street food fiesta' which initially catered to the dozens of call centers that have set up shop in Ortigas.  Now it has become a Friday night attraction of sorts.  People stay up late to flock to Banchetto with their friends and family just to see what's new.

It was a Tuesday night so Banchetto-Emerald was out of the picture.  We parked at the Shopwise parking lot and did an initial survey of the relatively short strech of food stalls.

I wasn't expecting anything out of the ordinary since I knew that Banchetto-Libis was relatively new and was rarely packed with people.  As we were looking around, this lady called out to us with bite-size samples of something that looked like flan.  I squinted and took a look at the product she was pointing to.

Bread Pudding Creme Brulee by MedChef Php 190.00

Hmmmm.  Bread Pudding Creme Brulee.  These guys were definitely on to something here.  I tasted the sample they gave us and was an instant believer!   

Torched to get that signature Creme Brulee look.

You can't sell a creme brulee without it being properly "bruleed".  Our dessert still had to be torched before the lady could hand it over to us.  Watching bubbling sugar forming a hard candy shell over the soft flan always has me drooling.  I have served and made hundreds of creme brulees but it always tastes better when someone else makes it for me.

You guys can pretty much guess what happened as soon as the Bread Pudding Creme Brulee was turned over to us.

We gobbled up everything except for the 6-inch aluminum pie plate! 

Digging in!

This dessert fills you up quite nicely because of the bread pudding incorporated into the flan.  Since it was torched on the spot, I got that nice "crack" that I always look for in my creme brulee.  The sound of that burnt sugar shell breaking as soon as my spoon taps into it always puts me in a good mood.  I recommend eating it as soon as you buy it for the full experience; the crisp burnt sugar layer together with the the slightly warm flan and bread pudding is intoxicating.

I was, and still am, completely enamored by this dessert.  I love it when people take the time to get the  details right especially in a setting like Banchetto.  I'm definitely going back for another round and this time I'm not sharing.  Nuuuuh-uh.

Banchetto Schedule:

Banchetto-Libis: Tuesday 6:00PM up to 4:00AM Wednesday (front parking of Shopwise-Libis, QC)
Banchetto-Emerald: Friday 12:00MN up to 11:00AM Saturday (Emerald Ave., Ortigas Center, Pasig)
Banchetto-Forum: Wednesdays & Thursdays from 8:30PM up to 6:00AM the next day (Robinsons Pioneer at the back of Cybergate Pioneer St., cor. EDSA)

Cheap Thrills: Snowflakes in a Cup

I've been thinking about THIS for two days now.

Taiwanese Snowflake Ice Dessert

Taiwan's Snowflake Ice or Xue Hua Bing is slowly making its presence felt in the Metro and I am a lovin' it!  I got to sample this refreshing dessert at the Ultimate Taste Test 4 last year. Caveman & Yeti (another popular but more expensive shaved ice dessert place) was there with samples of this popular Taiwan dessert.  Goodness, what a revelation!  Since then, I swore I'd never go back to eating snow cones.  Nu-uh not after tasting Taiwan's version of it.  I have been enlightened now (so to speak).  Yogurt seemed to lose its charm too after my cup of snowflake ice.

I was in SM Novaliches with Yuri and a couple of friends when we ate this.  We were there to watch and support our friend's first mall show (Yay!).  When her show was over, we realized we'd be waiting for quite a bit since her fans were still all in a tizzy, crowding her for pictures, autographs, and whatnot.  Good thing we caught sight of the Snowflakes Creamery stall on the far right side of the back stage area.

Scratch that.  Okkkkay okay I'm fessing up.  Truth is, I had been eyeing it since the show started.  Teehee.

I'm so proud!

 Hey, I took pictures so I wasn't THAT distracted.  I was as supportive as ever. Honest!  (***Shameless plugging: Catch Patricia Fernandez on TV5's BF/GF Luv Crazy every Sunday at 3PM)

Half of the menu.

Their prices are awesome!  Inexpensive and yummy.  Can't beat that.

You start off by choosing a base flavor.  Yuri as always went for his default flavor--strawberry.

Choco chips for us!

Next, you pick out your toppings.  They've got a decent selection of fruit toppings (banana, mango, strawberry) and dry toppings (sprinkles, marshmallows, cookies, nuts, chocolate chips, and candy-covered chocolates) to choose from. 

A touch of icing.

The last step is to pick out which syrup you'd like drizzled on your cup of fluffy ice.  It ties everything together.

Voila!

Three easy steps.  The strawberry ice was my favorite flavor with the chocolate one coming in as a close second.  The strawberry flavor was perfectly subtle and refreshing.  Not too sweet with mellow flavors of milk and strawberry

The shaved ice is an experience in itself.  The dessert is made up of frozen milk blocks painstakingly sliced into fine layers.  The result is this oh-so-fluffy, silky, melt-in-your-mouth slivers of ice that just dances on your tongue with each spoonful.  Yummmm!

Super fine ice crystals

It's light, healthier (than ice cream), and a lot of fun to eat.

Snowflakes Creamery now has a branch in SM North and at the V Mall in Greenhills which makes it more accessible for me.  The weather's starting to heat up so I'm sure this'll really come in handy.  Summer is gonna be a killer this year.  :-(

On a side note, this is the first post I've churned out with my new purty pink laptop!  We're still feeling each other out but I'm positive that this is gonna be the start of something wonderful. :-)   

A Filipino Christmas is Violet and Yellow

So we were driving home after our jogging stint in UP when we passed by the go-to puto bumbong/bibingka lady inside our village.  It's just a makeshift tent (with no name) on the sidewalk of the main street (Sampaguita St.) with three palayok (clay pot)  burners for the bibingkas.  The smoldering coal just beckons to passersby with a promise of freshly-cooked traditional Filipino snacks.  Since I only moved into the area when Yuri and I got married, which was 5 months ago, I've only heard stories of this fabled puto bumbong and bibingka stall.  Yuri and my brother-in-law rave about them all the time.  Unfortunately, we haven't had a chance to sample any of their tasty treats since they opened in December.  Yuri and I were completely slammed with catering gigs last December, so we always got home late.  Each time we drove by Sampaguita St., the stall would already be closed OR on the off-chance that we did make it home early-ish we'd see cars queued up along the sidewalk waiting for their bibingka and/or puto bumbong orders.  During those times we were just too out of it to wait and line-up.

So earlier, we were pleasantly surprised to see that the stall was still open, especially being it past December and all.  Puto bumbong/ bibingka stalls are usually already closed by this time of the year so we thought for sure that our village lady had disappeared by now.

I was not passing this rare opportunity up.  I demanded asked Yuri to turn the car around so that we could FINALLY buy some.  The ones I sampled during the Christmas season were really icky versions of the two said snacks.  It made me feel like something was still missing from my Christmas experience... up until today that is. :) You see, puto bumbong and bibingka are the quitessential Filipino Christmas delicacies.  The scent of puto bumbong and bibingka from the street vendors marks the nearing of the holiday season just as snow does for the Western world.

We ended up buying one of each.  It's just an easy two-minute drive from the stall to our house so they were still hot when we got there.  

Puto Bumbong is simply a bamboo-steamed rice cake topped with muscovado sugar and shredded coconut.  I got mine for Php 40.00.  It's simply galapong (glutinous) rice soaked (and then dried) overnight with violet food coloring.  The rice mixture is then placed inside the bumbong (bamboo tubes) and then cooked in the lansungan (heat steamer) which is filled with water and pandan leaves.  A laborious process that is usually taken for granted by most Filipinos.

The rice cake itself is lightly seasoned bordering on bland.  The muscovado sugar and shredded coconut complete this snack.  I just love the velvety and gooey texture of puto bumbong.  Vendors usually add a good dose of margarine on top of the puto bumbong but mine had only a touch of it which I prefer.  It's shelf life is just 2 days.  This isn't a big deal at all since everyone I know eats it on the spot or at least as soon as they get home.

A bibingka is a soft and spongy cake made with rice flour, coconut milk, and eggs.  It's usually cooked with slices of salted egg in the middle and then topped with shredded coconut.  The cake is cooked in banana leaves with pre-heated coals under and above it giving it a wonderful smoky char on both sides.  The heady aroma of toasted banana leaves is also something to look forward to.  The smell immediately filled up the whole car as soon as my bibingka was handed to me.  It's really fluffy and moist when done right and best eaten while it's still piping hot.  This cost me Php 60.00 which I was happy to spend.

These two delicacies are intrinsic to Filipino family traditions.  I always get warm fuzzy feelings when I get to eat them.  Simple, hearty, and uniquely Filipino fare.

I'm hoping that they're still open til the end of February.  Crossing my fingers.  Or at least until I get back from my Kalibo trip.  Which reminds me... I need to start packing.  Ugh.  Well, good night then.

Baguio Strawberry Fix

I've a bit of catching up to do.  Let me backtrack to a week ago.  Seven days ago I was in Baguio with Yuri.  I was on a mission.  The plan was to do nothing but sleep, cook at home, and get our Strawberry Taho fix.  We didn't want to deal with the Baguio traffic, which can get pretty ridiculous during the holiday season, so we planned our trips outside to a minimum.  Besides, we came armed with assorted sausages, mozzarella, shallots, garlic, rice, bread, a tray of eggs, and assorted seasonings so we were quite happy at home. 

On our second day there, we decided it was time to brave the streets of Baguio to go looking for our Strawberry Taho.  It took us a full hour to get to Burnham Park and then another hour to abandon our plan because we couldn't find a place to park.  So a supposed  ten-minute minute drive turned into a two-hour nightmare.  We went back to our place and switched plans.  We walked.  Not to Burnham Park but to Mines View Park.  It was just a ten-minute scenic trek from our place to Mines View and Good Shepherd.  I was just happy to get to somewhere after all the fruitless driving. 
       

Finally, there it was.  Strawberry Taho! :)  A snack of fresh silken tofu, strawberry syrup, and pearl sago.  It has real strawberry bits which makes it more believable.  Only in Baguio.  They sell the Regular Taho too but why'd you want to eat that when you can have this???  Bad news is that the price has been jacked up to Php 20 per cup.  It used to be only Php 15 per cup the last time I had it, but Mines View has always been a tourist hotspot so they could've been milking it and charging a bit more.

 
While I was there I bought some fresh strawberries as well.  I've never been a fan of ultra-crowded places but we were literally in and out of Mines View in five minutes.

Bottomline was, I got my strawberry fix and I was one happy girl.

A Slice of Butterscotch Goodness

This is now my go-to midnight snack.  Gardenia's Amazing Butterscotch.  Aptly named because surprisingly, it is just that.

Gardenia has always been my bread of choice.  LOL.  Ok that came out weird.  Like a really icky endorsement.  Ulk.  I have absolutely nothing to gain from this I swear.  Sadly not even a free loaf of bread.  It's just that I've personally toured their plant in Laguna so I can vouch for the quality of their products.  They're even HACCP certified.

Lemme just say that in that plant lies a most unforgettable sight.  I visited a couple of years ago and I and was completely blown away by what I saw.  I was greeted by towers and of rotating baked bread and maybe over a dozen oven tunnels (yes tunnels that seemed to go on for miles).  Heady stuff.  Literally thousands of loaves were parading past me on a spiral conveyor belt tower that was probably 3-floors high.  I wanted to jump on it and start munching away.  A person can only take so much.  It's exactly how I imagined bread heaven would look like.  Oh and let's not forget the intense mouth-watering aroma of freshly-baked bread permeating every nook and cranny.  It gets to you.  It really does.  Sensory overload.  I think I bought almost every flavor they had after that tour.  I got sucked in.  I'm only human after all.

So yeah,  I'm loving this new flavor they came up with.  Well, not so new.  Apparently it's been around since 2009, but hey better late than never right?  It's the perfect snack.  It's fluffy, filling, and moist.  The balance between sweetness and saltiness is spot on.  It's both a savory snack and a dessert.  Ooooh and the best part is the gooey little pockets of caramel-ly butterscotch embedded in the bread slices.  Yummmmmm.  They just sort of burst in your mouth.

Out of all their flavored bread, this is the only one I buy again and again. The Black Forest and Mocha Marble are also tasty but a little too sweet for me.  I generally stay clear of the Choco Ripple and Cheese & Ube Swirl because the artificial taste is overpowering.


Om nom nom nom butterscotch.  My little pleasures in life. *sigh*  I didn't know bread could make me this happy.

My Bakmi Addiction

Yesterday I got the best surprise ever!  I called home and my Dad was back from Indonesia. Yay!  That was the best part.  The next best thing was that he brought me home some Bakmi GM! *me jumping up and down*  This is not just any Bakmi, oh no no no.  It comes from the one and only Bakmi Gaja Mada!  He bought it right before leaving for the airport and hand-carried it home.  Harhar.  We have this routine down pat by now. :)  I get my Bakmi supply every 3-4 months... because I'm a bit spoiled like that . Teehee.  My dad's setting a good example for my hubby.  lol.  He brought home six takeaway boxes of Bakmi GM this time.  It's funny how lenient the airport staff in Jakarta is when it comes to this.  They ask you about what's in your bag, I usually just smile and sheepishly point to it while saying "Bakmi GM".  They take a look at your bag, smirk and wave you off without a second thought.  It seems to be the magic word.  It's really odd that they let you get away with it since the broth is separately packed into the box too.  I've no plans on taking that up with airport security since I happily wolfed down 2 1/2 boxes of Bakmi yesterday because of their leniency. :)  

Now what is Bakmi?  The literal translation of Bakmi is "meat noodles".  It's a wheat-based noodle that's thin, flat and yellowish.  It's then boiled, drained, cooked with a little bit of beef fat, and then topped with stir-fried chicken pieces, oyster mushrooms, and shallots in a sweet soy-sauce base.  The last component on the bowl would be the blanched pechay which is simply placed on top of the noodles.  This is served with a separate bowl of broth on the side so that you may add the broth to the noodles according to your preference.  I always put in two spoonfuls of broth in my noodles before I mix everything up.  Oh and it comes with a packet of chili sauce too.  Indonesians like their food spicy.  Chili works the same way as black pepper over there.

Bakmi GM (Gajah Mada) is waaaaay famous over there.  It's like our Jollibee.  It's huge.  Now if Bakmi GM (yes that is the name of the resto too) is Jollibee, then the Bakmi GM Special is THE Chickenjoy of Indonesia.  Now, Bakmi GM (the dish) is just Bakmi Ayam (chicken) done extremely well.  I've tried loads of other Bakmis so I'm pretty sure about this.  It's one of my favorite comfort foods.  It's something that reminds me of my childhood and of my time in Indonesia.  I used to spend my summer vacations in Jakarta while my Dad was based there.  And we did live in Malaysia for 3 years so it was easy to just cross the border and go to Indonesia.  But yeah,  I think Bakmi GM is a close second to my all-time favorite dish (which I'll be saving for another entry).

I could eat this everyday.  In fact I did eat it for two weeks straight when I visited last year.  Seriously.


~Mich :)

The Rolls Royce of Chocolates

I was working with chocolate last night and I've come to realize that chocolates are really moody. You never get EXACTLY the same result. It greatly depends on the temperature and humidity in the kitchen. You never know what you're in store for. Some days it's effortless, other days it can get a bit frustrating, especially if you're working with melted chocolate. I still love it though.  I mean, who doesn't love chocolate? For some it's the best sort of all-around medicine, i.e. for a broken heart, a day gone wrong, depression, etc., etc.  It makes you feel good (that and ice cream) no matter what.  No matter how tight a person's budget is, somehow chocolate ends up in our grocery carts every now and then.

One chocolate brand that I wouldn't mind spending would spend my money on is Royce'.  It's the only chocolate that I literally dream about on a regular basis.  Silky smooth blocks of melt-in-your-mouth morsels of happiness lightly dusted in cocoa powder.  It's pure genius!  

I got mine twice straight from Japan as gift from my beloved cousin.  I am amazed that she has had the generosity and self-control to spare me not one but TWO whole boxes of Royce' Chocolates because I'm not sure if I would've been able to give them away if the roles were reversed (shameful I know).  But I'm paying her back by giving her awesome food and styling at her wedding next year.  Harhar.  :))

I remember when I got my first box of Royce' Nama Chocolates (this was before I got married and was still living with my parents) and I gave up 4 squares of chocolate, quite grudgingly, to my brother and mom, both of whom are the certified chocolate junkies in the family, so that they could try it out.  They both had the same reaction as I did.  I'm telling you, once they bit into it, their eyes went wide with shock for a second or two,then their eyes closed, closely followed by a look of pure bliss.  True story.  

Whenever I pop a piece into my mouth, my entire mind goes blank and all my senses involuntary zoom in on this amazing piece of bittersweet chocolate.  And then it sort of feels like an an orchestra's playing in my head (in surround sound, mind you) as it starts to melt oh so delicately in my mouth.   Heady stuff.   I could rave about Royce' all day! 

Since the chocolates were so precious I tried to eat one square a day only.  It was like The Ring.  I'd see my brother and my mom circling the chiller where I'd kept the box, alternately and at the different times of the day, attempting to steal some when I wasn't looking. They did succeed a few times and they'd come to me to sort of apologize saying that they couldn't stop thinking about the chocolates and that it was out of their control.  Totally understandable, but there really must be something dark and evil in that box. lol.

Royce is made in Hokkaido, Japan.  A box of Royce Chocolates is usually wrapped in three layers of packaging that comes with a cooling gel to ensure it makes it to wherever its headed without melting.  It has to be stored below 10 C since the ingredients are highly perishable.  Good thing they're now available in the Philippines.  Woot!  You can now buy them at the Powerplant Mall in Rockwell, Makati (costs about P580) and when I last checked they had a stall in Trinoma too, but I'm not sure if it's still there. 

If Yuri had given me two or three (or four) different boxes of Nama Chocolates on our first date I would've maybe agreed to be his girlfriend within a week.

Kidding!

Not.

Erm maybe?

Who knows. :)