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Ampalaya Salad

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I’ve been slowly introducing V to eating raw vegetables this month, I guess it has been my fault that he’s not gotten to like eating more fruits in vegetables since we have been so forgiving of him when he refuse to eat them. We have reinforce the rule of having 1 bite of each food prepared during meal time, explaining to him that he will never know if the dish taste good if he never try and eating vegetables will make him stronger.

As a kid my cousins use to put all their veggie share on my plate and bully me to finishing all of them or else I’m not allowed to leave the dining table, thanks to our Manang’s who would only require me to finish a spoonful of my veggie share. Sadly I was not a big vegetable eater as a kid but I did eat a lot of fruits, it was not till my teens that I enjoyed eating them.

One of the vegetables that I refuse to eat is Ampalaya (Bitter Melon), and when I was force to have them my secret would be to drink a cup of water and swallow this bitter veggie without taking any bite. Our Manang Juliet prepares ampalaya with almost no sign/taste of it’s bitterness, she would always tell us “Ay naku tikman nyo yung ampalaya ko di mapait yan!” (Taste my ampalaya dish it’s not bitter) and she was right, that’s the time that I learned to enjoy eating ampalaya.

Whenever we visit our Lola Kaye in Pagsanjan, our Manang J always serve us this fresh salad and which she usually paired with fried Tilapia or Crispy Pata.

Ampalaya Salad

Ampalaya Salad

1 medium Ampalaya, sliced thinly
1 small Carrots, julliened
1 small Onion, sliced thinly
2 tbsp Vinegar
1 tbsp Sugar
Salt & Pepper

Procedure:

Soak Ampalaya in ice cold water for 30 minutes, this is our Manang J’s secret to remove most of its’ bitter taste.

Dissolve sugar in vinegar add salt and pepper. Add more sugar if you want it sweeter.

Toss Ampalaya, Carrots, and Onion with Vinegar mixture. Serve immediately.

Starting a Christmas tradition – Advent Calendar

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Growing up my family’s Christmas countdown starts on the first Simbang Gabi. Santa Claus was not a biggie for us we had our very own gift giver which was our parents, godParents, Aunts and Uncles. The highlight for us would be the Noche Buena , opening of gifts when the clock strikes 12 midnight and finally getting our Christmas money from our GrandParents.

 

Having a family of my own, I want to have a tradition for Christmas specially for the kids. Something that they will remember when they have kids of their own.

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Christmas 2010. We should really have one this year with Chloe.

 

My eldest V believes in Santa Claus, we didn’t really introduce him I guess he got it from his friends in school. When we put the Christmas tree up he has been bugging us when will Santa Claus visit.

He’s a big boy now, asking us to take a picture of him doing something silly or funny.

 

This year I showed Daddy C several ideas for Christmas and we both love the idea of having an Advent Calendar. Of course C let me decide what kind of calendar we’ll use as well as crafting them. I managed to create a stocking from colored papers and made us of old gift wrappers to design them.

After all the crafting Dad took charge in hanging them in a string and up on the wall, high up where V would require our help to reach one.
 We are on the 3rd day and he has been looking forward to getting the message which just brightens his morning.
What Christmas traditions did you have as a child?
Have you created a new one for your own family?

Chloe Isabelle – 5 months

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Look see! Lil’ miss turned 5 months and we didn’t have any cake to celebrate. I promise to make one for her 6th month when she starts solid food.

 

 

V is having more fun with her sister now that he is getting a reaction when he does something. Chloe likes her brother so much that she laughs at all the silly things V does. We are collecting points as who make her laugh the most and V is a sure winner.

 

Dad put up her playpen where she stays in the morning while I do some chores, sometimes I find her asleep with one toy in each hand. Yes she tends to grab everything she can reach and puts it in her mouth, which also means I can no longer wear earrings I almost lost one at the mall.

She is demanding more attention from us entering 5 months. Protests when her dad holds the ipad or phone while carrying her. When she wakes up in her cot oh dear she hysterically cries and would refuse to go back in to sleep that’s why most nights all 4 of us sleep in the bed.

And while everyone says she looks more like me, I see a lot of similarities between her and Dad. Excited to start her with solid food next month 🙂

Bangus Sisig

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SisigFish

This month’s Kulinarya theme “Sisig”

is hosted by Jenn of Storm In My Kitchen and Iska of ISKAndals.com.

Sisig is one famous Filipino appetizer which is enjoyed with either an ice cold beer or coke. After a days work my friends and I would share a plate of sizzling sisig and laugh out our daily stress in life.

BangusSisigCorona

I can’t remember the last time I made sisig, but whenever I do I always use pork ears & liempo. For this month’s challenge I’m making a healthier version using fish – bangus (milkfish). I  prepared 2 kinds of sisig (pork ears & fish) for dinner but the boys preferred the fish version.

 PorkSisig

You need to cut your bangus butterfly style, season with salt and pepper and fry it to crisp. Remove bones from fish and shred/mince/chop meat. Once that’s complete let’s get on to making Sisig.

 

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Bangus Sisig

1 large Bangus, fried and minced
1 medium Onion, minced
2 tbsp Soy Sauce
4 cloves Garlic, minced
1/3 cup each of Red & Green Bell Pepper (Capiscum), diced
1 tbsp Lemon juice
1/3 cup Mayonnaise
1 tbsp Oil
1 birds eye chili (optional)
Salt & Pepper

Procedure:

Saute garlic and onion till translucent.
Add bell pepper, fish, chilli, and lemon juice.
Turn off heat and add mayonnaise and mix.

Taste and season with salt & pepper according to you taste.

 

Check out what my fellow Kulinarya members prepared for this month’s challenge

 Kulinarya was started by a group of Filipino foodies living in Sydney (Kath, Trisha, and Trissa), who are passionate about the Filipino culture and its colorful cuisine.
Each month we will showcase a new dish along with their family recipes. By sharing these recipes, we hope you find the same passion and love for Filipino Food as we do.
If you’re intrested in joining our Kulinarya Club, please feel free to drop by our blogs and leave a note. We would love to hear from you.

Breastfeeding Week 2012

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Chloe and I just came home for our first Mama meeting at City Hospital and we also celebrated UAE’s breastfeeding week with all the Mums & Bubs.

 

Breastfeeding Week 2012 Celebration at The City Hospital

 

It was nice to see Sameera & some Nurses who was a great help to us during our stay at City Hospital. I will be forever grateful for the care and support (especially for breastfeeding) they gave us during and after our stay.

 

 

All Mum’s who managed to exclusively breastfeed their babies till 6 months was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation & The Golden Bow.

 

I didn’t know that there is an official symbol for breastfeeding which is the Golden Bow, read more about it here.

 

If you’re wondering whether mothers can breastfeed in public places here in UAE, the answer is YES!

“Islam promotes and protects the right of a baby to breastmilk”

I breastfeed Chloe everywhere (cafe, restaurant, grocery, & mall) with a feeding cover and sometimes just using a burp cloth or shawl. If you do want to feed your baby privately you can do so in baby rooms (but not all malls have one).

 

Breastfeeding can be hard to some women and a good support from your family or a group like Breastfeeding Q&A UAE on facebook really helps.

 

Here’s some breastfeeding article in UAE:

Breast feeding: Natures food for thought

Support for breast feeding families

 

 

Emergency Pediatric Response Course

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As parents we try to do our best for our children. Provide them the best care and safe environment. One of our ultimate goal is to keep them healthy and safe at all times.

 

When I had V my sister Bernadette who is a nurse stayed with us and supervised over V’s nanny whenever I’m in the office. One of the things that she did was teach V’s nanny basic things on what to do in an emergency, I myself really didn’t bother learning any well since my sister was with me at all times. We moved to Dubai no more Tita B to help me out with V, it was just me, Vierte and Daddy C.

 

Being a mum (a parent) you have a lot of what if’s…What if my newborn fall from the bed? What if my baby chokes? What if my kid drowns? What if my child stops breathing?

 

In case of emergency, are you ready?

My answer: No, I’m not ready.

 

One sad incident happened in one of the emirates where 2 nannies died while trying to save a toddler from drowning and his mom was trying her best to revive the boy by doing a CPR (she copied what she saw on TV). Read more about it here.

 

Reading news of children falling from the balcony, injured because of car accidents, or in the news above drowning. If I am in any of the situation I wouldn’t know how to respond.

 

After reading this post from Ginger&Scotch I was once again reminded how important it is to know how to respond on emergencies. I’ve been trying to organize a private class with some friends but sadly we still lack participants. Hopefully I get to organize one before the year ends.

 

Last week I received an email from Layla of the Back to Basics team informing me that I was one of the winners of their facebook competition which entitles me a place on Parents Emergency Pediatric Response Course (EPR).

 

I won after answering this question “following a UAE University study in Al Ain, what percentage of children in the UAE were identified as travelling unrestrained (not in car seat/not wearing seatbelt) when they travel?” answer is 98%

 

Our lovely instructor Rim started off by asking if we knew Dubai’s emergency number, which by the way is 999. The challenge on the receiving end of your 999 call is when the caller panics and fails to properly describe the situation and give proper directions.

 

She did a fantastic job explaining topics on preparing home for an emergency, respond to unconscious infant/child, recovery of infant/child, and responding to choking & drowning;  patiently assisted us during our hands-on training on rescue breathing, CPR for infant and child, and recovery position, all done using a demo baby & adult (half body) doll.

Rim ended the course by reminding us to prepare an Important Documents folder/bag (I already have this place near our main door with extra cash)  and an In case of emergency card with contains information on what numbers to call, your address with landmarks  (especially important if you have visitors or babysitter).

 

After our 3-hours course I am empowered with the knowledge on how to respond during emergency. Looking forward to take the next course which is First aid for infants & children. 

 

Back to Basics offer courses catered to home help as well and available in 5 different languages. The team is also available for private classes at the comforts of your chosen place.

 

Once again my question to you is – In case of emergency, are you prepared?

 

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 Please visit Back to Basics website for information on courses available as well as schedule and pricing, you can also like their facebook page here.