Odes: An attempt at healthy eating

23 FEBRUARY 2011. I admit, I am not much of a healthy eater. I really want to start eating healthy, but "healthy" food often comes with higher price tags. =| Of course, as Danes would put it, I could look at it as an investment for my health. But I would need to work it into the budget. Plus we've got other people in the house to consider (my younger brother for example, is much less of a healthy eater than I am). And usual conditions aren't that conducive to healthy eating (canteen fare, guilty treats constantly circulating in the office, fast food choices along the way home, etc). Unless I prepare our baon food everyday, which I can't do yet. I can only whip up a quick breakfast for hubby and me and prepare his morning and afternoon snacks, and I do so with ready-made stuff like store-bought peanut butter, hotdogs and the like.
Hubby and I went out on a quick dinner date on Wednesday (payday!) evening. We dropped ourselves off at Festival Mall. After walking past several restaurants, we settled for Kenny Rogers Roasters, where we don't usually eat, on the third floor. Originally, we wanted to have the baby back ribs and the usual things we order.

Then, we caught sight of Kenny's Healthy Meals menu. For some reason, we took a fancy to it and chose our dinner from there. All meals already come with drinks so I must say the price is reasonable.

Wow, this is new. Haha!

I tried the Classic Healthy Plate (P185). It consisted of a quarter of KR's signature roasted chicken, a vegetable salad, a corn muffin and fruit salad.

My plate. A classic beauty indeed. Just looking atit made me feel good already.

Hubby went for the Low Calorie Meal (P185) composed of grilled fish (not sure what kind of fish it was) with a salty sauce, rice and steamed vegetables.

A pretty simple-looking meal (but costs as much as mine).

I find the staff at that branch pretty attentive, ready with a glass of water, asking if we'd like the dessert to be served. We were seated at one of those round cushion benches (meant for a group of 6 or 8) and I really felt comfy and cozy.
Near the end of dinner, we had dessert brought in. We shared a cup of frozen yogurt. At P55 for a "large" cup (plus P10 for your choice of topping), it must be one of the cheapest yogurts out there (as some would go over P100).

The perfect dessert to cap off a healthy meal: yogurt!

I commonly find yogurt too sour so I'm not much of a fan. I once tried that P25 cup of Nestle Fruit Selection Yogurt and ended up just forcing it all down kasi sayang naman. Those were one of my healthy-eating attempts. But I never bought that again. So I was certainly glad to discover Kenny's tasted good. Even hubby, who I know isn't into yougurt, enjoyed it. There are around five different kinds of toppings like chocolate, but since the implied theme for the night is "healthy food", I chose fruits. My classic plate included a small fruit salad similar to the toppings we had on our dessert. So I dunked the remaining pieces into our yogurt cup and we need not fight over the fruit. =)
After the meal, I was full but I didn't have that sort of heavy (and guilty...and lousy...and regretful) feeling which I would have after a usual big meal.
Will be back to try the other healthy plates. And the yogurt. I'm sure hubby will like that. =)
*BB*

Odes: Kuya's grilled pork...level up!

LAST WEEK OF DECEMBER 2010. After the wedding was over and all the gifts were opened and hubby has officially moved into our house, we set a time to visit my in-laws. Hubby's family lived in Calamba, Laguna. The area is not in a galaxy far, far away really. But for someone like me who doesn't go out much, any place beyond Alabang and Las Piñas is far. There was a time when I was younger that even Festival Mall in Filinvest felt like it was in China. Hahaha!

We set it on the 27th. I suggested to hubby we have exactly the same thing we had when he took me there for a visit December of the previous year. His mom made pancit sotanghon and his dad grilled liempo and made ensaladang talong and we bought lechon manok from Chook's to Go along the way. It was a very enjoyable lunch. We ate outdoors under the blue sky surrounded by plantations of all sorts of vegetables (they live in a farm area) dotted with large fruit trees and very tall coconuts. We even had hubby's then best man-to-be with us. He is based in Dubai, but always spent the Christmas holidays in the Philippines.


We picked up a few groceries beforehand, but most of the stuff we plan to cook (like the fish and lechon manok) we can buy along the way. Some, like the vegetables, were available in Calamba (they do live in a farm after all), but we still bought some, which turned out to be absolutely unnecessary. We brought a pack of tomatoes, only to find they prepared more than a kilo of it (among other vegetables) for us to take home. Hahaha!


I decided to marinade pork for the grilled liempo. Kuya has this simple marinade recipe especially for grilling, which we all love. I followed it, adding a few more ingredients.


I felt sick when I woke up the next day. I wasn't feeling well since the evening before, which was so unfortunate. My stomach couldn't tolerate much of anything. Ignorant as I was, I had a pregnancy scare. But it was just because of my acidity pala. Hahaha! I skipped a meal the night before, because I ate the meal before it rather late and still felt full. Ayan.

It was hubby's uncle, who had experience running a carinderia, who did the cooking when we were there. Even the delicious pancit sotanghon, with generous amounts of sahog. I was able to eat a bit (but only until I expelled everything, eeew). Personally, I found the pork I marinated a bit bland. But hubby's family said it was good. I thought they will be able to keep some of the marinated meat, but it lasted just as long as lunch lasted. =)


I'm just sorry I wasn't able to enjoy the day much. I spent much of the time lying down after lunch. There was also grilled tilapia, ensaladang talong...sayang. =( Good thing I left some liempo at home, which hubby grilled when friends came over on the holiday after our visit to Calamba. And thank goodness Danes loves taking pictures. Thanks to my indisposition in Calamba, I absolutely forgot to take pictures of my recipe when it was cooked.

Photo credits: Danes 12/31/2010

Marinade
Olive oil, about 2 tbsps
Soy sauce, about a cup (or enough to soak the meat)
Calamansi, more than 10 pieces
Dried rosemary, about 1 tbsp (pounded/crushed a bit)
Honey, about 3 tbsps
Ground black pepper to taste

Procedure: Mix marinade ingredients in a bowl and add the liempo (good for about a kilo or so). Marinade for at least an hour. I did overnight. ^_^

*BB*