My Local Food Merchants and Restaurants Recommendation to Celebrate Independence Day with GrabFood!

Today is Philippines Independence Day. Aside from honoring the memory of those who fought for our country's freedom, another way to celebrate patriotism is to feast on our local food and share it with our loved ones. If you are like me who is crazy busy and do not have time to cook, there is always GrabFood food delivery service we can count on. 

There are many Filipino merchants on GrabFood App. It is a perfect food delivery service to use because they make sure that there is something for everyone's taste. 

Now in this blog post, I will be giving you my GrabFood's local restaurant recommendations. This is to help you decide what could be the best food you may enjoy today as we celebrate our Independence Day while supporting our beloved Filipino food merchants. 

Quarantine Eats: Good Food Finds While Supporting Local Food Businesses In Our Community #SupportLocal

So, what have you been eating during this quarantine period? If you have been a longtime reader, you would know for a fact that aside from reviewing good food finds and restaurants in Manila, I also love to cook - I have a YouTube channel for my recipes, to support that claim. Given the quarantine set in the country, one would expect that food bloggers like myself would resort into showcasing our home cooking skills. That will happen, of course, in this blog. But then again, despite the lockdown, there are still good food finds you can have delivered in your home well worth sharing. 

This blog is about that, yes. Most importantly, this blog is about showing support to our local businesses who are fighting their way to thrive in this situation we are in. 

As you may have known, main focus of this blog for the longest time to feature restaurants and hotels in Manila. Since I am currently in my hometown during this lockdown, it is high time to take advantage of the situation and support our local food businesses that we have here by purchasing food from them when kitchen's a bit to hot to deal with. 

Of Adobo and our Frontliners

I was not looking into posting this. Especially not here on my blog. 

"But when you give to someone in need, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing." - that's written on Matthew chapter 6 verse 3 of the bible. It's a cardinal rule to most catholic family like ours, when you give to the needy, do it secretly. 

The photos here were taken while we were preparing food and distributing it to some of our frontliners including those manning the check points we were aiming to feed and extend help to. All of it were taken with my beat-up mobile phone and were meant only for personal consumption - forced of habit because I'm a blogger, also, a remembrance of some sort. 

"Ma'am, baka pwede nyo po i-post sa Facebook, para makita ng iba. Para ma-inspire din po sila magpadala ng tulong. Nabubuhayan po kame ng loob pag nakikita namin na hindi po kame nakakalimutan."  

After hearing those words from one of the frontliners in between spoonfuls of the adobo and rice that my family and I prepared for them, I know I have a promise to keep. 

8 Reasons Why You Should Buy Instant Pot [Instant Pot Philippines]

Prior to the launch of Instant Pot here in the Philippines, I use my mother's old-school hand-me-down  pressure cooker she acquired from my grandmother. I love the novelty of family heirlooms that survived generations, don't get me wrong. But if you know how are the pressure cooker of yesteryears - safety and all, you would understand why this girl needs some moving on.

The first time that I was introduced to Instant Pot was years ago when an aunt from Ontario let me try a delicious fall-off-the-bone baby back ribs she made in less than an hour with her Instant Pot. That time, I knew I fell in love - with both the ribs and the Instant Pot.

Now that Instant Pot is already here in the Philippines, my love continues. And the more I use it, the more I see how effective and impressive this kitchen appliance is. So in this blog post, I am going to share with you 8 Reasons Why You Should Buy An Instant Pot. Because I'm pretty sure you would love it too.

Instant Pot is Now in the Philippines!

Instant Pot is now here in the Philippines and that is one news I am excited to share. Because let me tell you, whether you love to cook or not too fond of it, Instant Pot can be that one sleek and smart helper in the kitchen we all want to have. Who doesn't want one revolutionary kitchen appliance that can function and replace seven other types of appliances in the kitchen? 

Instant Pot, a smart Electric Pressure Cooker is known and designed to be safe, convenient, and dependable. It has proven to be an effective kitchen appliance and a pretty popular one at that judging by the various Instant Pot-related Facebook groups and pages you can see online. And yes, this best-selling product in Amazon has a cult following. 

Now that Instant Pot is already here in the Philippines, we all got good reason to acquire one or two for ourselves. 

How To Make Spinach Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Adulting. That bittersweet word of inexplorable truth that sometimes makes us excited and scared at the same time – but we do it anyway. I was browsing through my blog archive when I realized how my food preferences have matured significantly for the past years. Before, I will eat anything I fancy with reckless abandon. These days, I can’t even finish a scoop of ice cream in fear that I might get the nasty diabetes everybody hates. Yep, hello adulting. 

Before, I deemed it was blasphemy to serve bacon with anything green. These days, the ratio of bacon to veggies on my plate is 1 to 3. Before, I would enjoy a greasy grilled cheese sandwich straight up. These days, I would sneak in something healthy, like spinach. 

Welcome to my world of adulting. Try this recipe for Spinach and Grilled Cheese Sandwich, you will love it – both the sandwich and the adulting. 

Kale Almond Pesto Recipe [How To Make Pesto Sauce From Scratch]

There was a time way back when I was all about pasta carbonara – the Ruth Reichl kind of carbonara to be exact. I will make it for days and I don’t remember ever getting tired of it. The only thing that puts an end to it was when I met a very kindly Italian grandma who opened my eyes to the wonderful world of freshly made pesto sauce. 

Pesto wasn’t foreign to me prior to that. But that afternoon when I was taught how to make my own fresh pesto sauce out of the freshly picked basil leaves in the garden and enjoyed the outcome immensely, was pretty magical – life changing even.

I still love carbonara to this day but pasta with freshly made pesto sauce is a different world in itself which I am more than happy to explore.

Homemade Pico de Gallo "Salsa Fresca" Recipe (How To Make Fresh Tomato Salsa)

Growing up, I wasn’t really a big fan of corn chips. Unlike potato that needs hell lot of seasonings to have a personality, corn is already perfection in itself. So, it baffles me why make chips out of those cute morsels of golden sunshine when clearly potato is already doing a good job in that league. Obviously, I knew very little, I was a kid. Then one day, I experienced my first ever Mexican food feast. Never looked back since.

These days, give me a bowl of corn tortilla chips and I’ll make you homemade pico de gallo then you’ll see what’s up. 

In a world generously peppered with store-bought anything, there still nothing compare to homemade stuff. That includes homemade pico de gallo. Pico de gallo, salsa fresca, or fresh tomato salsa - call it whatever you deem appropriate, all I know is that it is something that brings a little bit of sunshine to any dish it is partnered with. 

Organic Summer Salad with Honey Lime Vinaigrette Dressing

This salad is like a fresh breath of Summer but it is not an attempt to mock the season on its tail end. It’s raining outside while I am writing this piece and the cool brush of wind is indicative that Summer season is about to retire soon. But still, I ask you to grant me this indulgence to talk about this recipe I love referring to as my summer salad. 

I’ll jump on any excuse to whip up this recipe. Unlike any other, this salad can withstand the hungry expectation of any season. It has pulled me through the gloomy funk of rainy days and brought me back to the season of chasing sunrise and flirting with sunset.

Come rain or shine, it is a healthy food I often have on my table I could have called it The Salad for All Season. But I may risk offending a local celebrity slash politician that my mother so admires hence, let’s just settle for summer salad. 

Organic Veggie Mommies: An Online Marketplace for Fresh Organic Produce

I remember as if it was yesterday. I was on the verge of spiraling down to an emotional depressive mess. I was so scared but I cannot falter. Especially not while my mother was in the operating room and my father was equally agitated. I was so scared but I had to be the opposite of it. Dark as it may seem, we got through that moment. In dealing with the aftermath, we committed to a lifestyle change. Yes, we. We are all in this together.  

There are some commitment that calls for a different kind of devotion.  We often ask what more could we do, how else could we make things better. It is not always easy, but we always do our best. 

Alongside ditching bad habits and upping physical activities to healthier degree, we revamped our food choices. We've gone organic. Not to a hundred percent yet, but as I have mentioned, we are doing our best. 

A Hearty Start to a Great Day with San Marino Corned Tuna

I’m one of those rare morning persons. I just love waking up early in the morning and getting ready before the city becomes busy with its roaring sounds and bustling cars. One of the best things about waking up early in the morning is getting to have a proper breakfast. 

I just love breakfast! You know what they say – it’s the most important meal of the day! It’s my favorite meal because it sets the mood for the rest of the day, that’s why I make an extra effort to prepare it.

And what screams breakfast more than a silog meal, right? It’s almost always a go-to when having breakfast meals (at least it is for me). And I’m constantly trying to improve on my hash and rice recipe, coming up with ways to make it better. 

10 Reasons Why I Love Staying at Hotel Jen Manila

I recently stayed at Hotel Jen Manila and just like my previous stays, I ended up enjoying the entire staycation more than I thought I would. This got me thinking that in my experience, it is always the case when it comes to Hotel Jen Manila. I only expect to have a decent stay, and it always gives me memorable ones.

Take for example the first time I blogged about Hotel Jen Manila. I stayed there because I needed to get some work done and there was really no intention of blogging about it. Yet, I ended up doing so because the stay ended up like a leisurely staycation while getting my work done. 

This particular visit when I was hosted by the kindly people of Hotel Jen Manila, I really intend on blogging about. Taking into consideration all of my previous stays of which were all personal trips with family and friends and completely not related to blogging, I figured those good experiences merits to be taken into account. 

An Easy Creamy & Cheesy Pasta Recipe with Real California Cheese

We have been told since time immemorial to drink our glass of milk everyday and that a well-balanced diet with dairy products on it can help us achieve optimum health. These nuggets of health wisdom we were told as a child still hold true. Hence, we carry the responsibility to pass it on to the next generation. 

I grew up a healthy kid with a big appetite for anything dairy. To this day, it is a running joke in our family how I, as a kid, can finish at a breakneck speed a tall glass of milk coupled with bread generously slathered with butter and a little plate filled with chunks of cheese on the side which I love to eat with my bare hands. Good times. 

I have always been passionate about my dairy. These days, whenever my nephews are spending time with me, it is always a dairy fest in my humble abode. Their love for cheese, butter, milk, yogurt, and literally anything dairy, they got it from me, as I have been told. And it gives me comfort that since they love dairy, they are getting the nutrients they need to be healthy. 

The Grand Kitchen Buffet at The Grand Hyatt Hotel Manila

I was under the impression that we were in for a buffet feast of epic proportion – of massive number in terms of selections.  It was my first time at The Grand Kitchen of the newly opened The Grand Hyatt Hotel Manila and I had my game buffet face on. I expected innumerable food dishes readily prepared on an equally impressive numbers of buffet stations ready to be devoured by hungry diners - the usual basis for a buffet service to be considered as one of the best in Manila dining landscape.

That expectation wasn’t met. But let me tell you, I was light years away from being disappointed.

The Grand Kitchen may not overwhelm you with numbers, but when it comes to food quality, they are nothing short of excellent. Which makes them the current best buffet in Manila in my book.