Ever since I quit smoking, I've gained a tremendous amount of weight. I would momentarily try to shed some of it off but for some reason, my diets and detoxes aren't as effective compared to when I was smoking. Not sure if nicotine plays a huge role in weight loss or it's just my body slowing its metabolism down. Eitherway, from 45kgs, I'm not at 60kgs in a span of 10mos, and yes I'm alarmed. I've tried to eat healthy but somehow my oral fixation would get the best of me and I'd end up binge eating again.

But lately, I've been more determined to lose this added weight since it doesn't make me feel good at all. My clothes don't fit and I'm in no mood to socialize since my weight gain apparently has also taken its toll on my mental health. Anyway, enough of that heavy shit. Since my birthday, I've decided to be more dedicated to this plan and not do on crash diets orr detoxes anymore. I'm trying to be more active although that's proving to be the most difficult part about it. The easy part is the food. I love cooking and experimenting so in the past 2 weeks, I've been having this breakfast smoothie and it feels great. I haven't lost any weight but I feel lighter so, shall we begin?


INGREDIENTS
Bananas
Soy/Almond Milk
Chia Seeds
Ice Cubes

PROCEDURE
1. Place your bananas in a ziploc bag and freeze overnight.
2. In a blender combine the frozen bananas, 1tbsp of chia seeds, soy/almond milk and ice cubes.
3. Blend until you get the consistency you want.

INGREDIENTS
Fresh Eggs
Soy Sauce
Green Onions
Red/Green Chilies
Sugar
Sesame Seeds
Water

PROCEDURE
1. Boil the eggs for strictly 6 minutes then transfer to a container with cold water.
2. Peel the eggs and set aside.
3. For the mixture, combine 1/2 cup of soy sauce, 1/2 cup of water, 1/4 cup of sugar, 1tbsp of sesame seeds, chopped green and red chillies and chopped scallions.
4. Add the peeled eggs and keep in an airtight container.
5. Refrigerate for at least 5 hours. (I did mine overnight)
6. Serve on top of hot rice and drizzle with sesame oil.

INGREDIENTS

Chicken (any part of your preference, I used thigh and leg)

Carrots

Garlic

Onion

Potatoes

Green/Red Bell Pepper

Tomato Sauce

Liver Spread

Salt and Pepper

PROCEDURE:

1. Saute garlic and onion until fragrant. 

2. Once fragrant, add the chicken and saute for about 5 minutes or until the skin turns brown. 

3. Add the tomato sauce. Just eyeball how much you'll need and add more as you go along. 

4. Add water, salt and pepper and do you first taste test. Simmer for about 3 - 5 minutes. 

5. Once you're okay with the flavor, add the carrots, potatoes, bell pepper and liver spread. 

6. Simmer until the carrots and potatoes are cooked to your liking. 

7. Adjust seasoning according to taste. Serve with chili and fish sauce on the side. 

And that's it! Easy peasy, right? A few notes, don't put the entire liver spread. Just take it one tablespoon at a time. Take it easy on the tomato sauce as well. If you put in too much, it'll be harder to remedy in the long run. It also tends to get more sour which means you'd have to put in more seasoning. But overall, I think you can't go wrong with this dish so goodluck. Btw, other versions have green peas and hotdog, I prefer to have those only during fiesta's (lol) but not when I'm cooking. Let me know if you have any questions. Happy cooking!

INGREDIENTS:
Shrimp
Butter
Garlic
Oyster Sauce
Ketchup
Sugar
Salt and Pepper to taste

PROCEDURE:
1. Melt half a butter in a large skillet over medium high heat.
2. Add garlic to the skillet, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
3. Add oyster sauce, ketchup and sugar until consistency becomes a bit thick and all ingredients are well combined.
4. Add shrimp, salt and pepper, to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally, until pink, about 2-3 minutes.
5. Serve with hot rice. Yum!

Ingredients

Labong (Bamboo shoots)

Saluyot (Jute leaves)

Onions

Garlic

Ginger

Coconut cream/milk

Salt and pepper

Dried shrimp

Chili (optional)

Procedure

1. Before cooking, soak the labong in water for about 30mins to 1hr. 

2. Heat the saucepan and saute onions, garlic, ginger and chili until fragrant. 

3. Add the dried shrimp and labong and simmer for about 10-15 minutes. 

4. Add the coconut milk, saluyot, salt and pepper. 

5. Adjust the taste according to your preference. 

Notes:

Okay so a few notes on the recipe just in case some thing weren't clear. I usually soak my labong for an hour because the ones I get from the grocery have some funky smell. But the really fresn ones from the market, I don't soak anymore. The chili is optional because my god, have you seen the prices? Lolkl. A lot of people don't take heat as well so you can opt to add the chili towards the end. And if you guys are clueless about the dried srhimp, here's what they look like.  Instead of using shrimp cubes, I use the dried shrimps instead for the flavor. And that's it, you got yourself a decent meal to go with that super expensive rice that not NFA. Let me know if some of my other instructions were unclear, will be happy to answer everything. Happy cooking!

Ingredients

Pork (I prefer pork belly)

Eggs

Onions

Garlic

Pepper

Soy Sauce

Vinegar

Sugar

Bay Leaf

Procedure

1. Combine the onion, garlic, pork, soy sauce and vinegar in one pot. The soy sauce is about 2 cups and vinegar is about 2 tablespoon. Bring to a boil. 

2. While waiting for the pork, boil your eggs. I love eggs so I boil about 5-7 at a time. 

3. Once the pork is boiling, do a little taste test and adjust accordingly. You can choose to add more soy or vinegar or add water depending on how you like your Adobo. Let it boil some more. 

4. It usually takes me about an hour before I'm completely satisfied with the tenderness of the pork. Again that depends on you, but once you're satisfied, add a little sugar, pepper, salt and the bayleaf. 

5. Lastly, add the boiled eggs om top of the dish. Don't cook them too long so the color of the eggs won't change drastically. 

And there you have it! Now I realized why I took a break from doing recipes. I'm always always all over the place, lol. But hopefully even if I was allover the place, you understood my steps. That's the goal, ain't it. On a personal note which I forgot to add, I usually add a lot of water while waiting for my pork to come to a boil. It's the perfect Adobo saltiness for me. Before I used to purely rely the flavor on soy sauce and I'd end up getting something too salty, but you get the drift. Please hook me up with your own recipes so I get to try them as well! Have fun experimenting in the kitchen! 

 I usually just go with Samgyeopsal if we're having a Korean night at home but this time I wanted to be a little extra hence all the other add-ons. I'm pretty sure we all have our own unique ways of preparing a korean dinner at home and I definitely want to hear yours! The only downside to going Korean at home would be all the dishes you'd have to wash after because of all the side dishes, lol. But anyway, please share with me how you guys personalize your homemade korean dinners. Looking forward to all your delicious recommendations. Have an awesome week! 

Ingredients

Spaghetti 

1 tbsp of soysauce

1 1/2 tbsp sesame oil

1 1/2 tbsp seasoned red pepper paste

1 cup diced kimchi

1 tbsp finely chopped green onion

1 tbsp sesame seeds

1 egg (optional)

*For seasoned red pepper paste (Gochujang):

1 cup red pepper paste

4 tbsp soysauce

1 1/2 tbsp sesame oil 

1 tbsp honey 

1 clove minced garlic

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp sesame seeds

Procedure

1. For the seasoned red pepper paste, combine all the ingredients in a bowl. 

2. Next, cook noodles according to package directions. 

3. Drain noodles and rinse with cold water. 

4. Add the soy sauce, sesame oil, seasoned red pepper paste and diced kimchi. Mix well with the noodles. 

5. Top with green onion, sesame seeds and hard-boiled or sunny side up egg!

Notes : 

The original recipe calls for Somyeon Noodles but I don't really like the texture since it tends to get too soft so I changed it to spaghetti. In my opinion, you can use any noodle that you want. Please also take note that the Gochujang can be very spicy. I recommend starting with half the amount on the recipe and building it up from there. If you want this to be all-out vegan, just skip the egg and you're good to go. You can serve it with lettuce instead of the egg! Another tip, make a lot of sauce and keep it in a container so the next time you crave for this dish, all you have to do is cook the noodles!

I've gained a LOT of weight last year. I've mentioned in several posts that I've totally let go of taking care of my body at one point and I just ate whatever I want regardless of the amount of weight I've put on. I'm not usually like that, but since I was under a lot of stress last year, I just didn't care anymore. I was having horrendous acne breakouts and I felt that I deserved every treat I got.Every time a new pimple would appear on my face, I felt going to an all-you-can eat buffet place was the answer since I was being tormented inside and out. And now, I'm suffering the consequences. 

I've never been the type of person to take care of my body. I smoke and drink a lot. I don't like water, I don't exercise and I have the worst sleeping pattern. In the past, I only controlled the type of food I ate so as to create some sort of balance since I was being unhealthy in so many ways unimaginable. Turns out the acne breakouts I had last year wasn't because of my skin nor the several skin products I've been using. I was having an internal problem. Before taking my Christmas vacation last year, i vowed to change my eating habits to see if something would change. True enough, I started having less acne pop up on my face. I also started taking vitamins and chelated minerals to help me detoxify. I've been drinking a lot of water and I've been trying to make sure I get to have breakfast every single day. 

With that, I started resurrecting my super old 2015 resolution. A few years back, I started this project called Baon Series. I would chronicles the food that I bring to work every day. I loved the fact that people would comment how I can make my meals healthier; I also got tips how to pack properly so I don't spill anything on my lunch bag. Early last year though, I stopped because I got too lazy preparing my own meals and as mentioned, I didn't really care if I got fat or whatever. This year though, I've been consistently bringing my own meals to work. I get to choose what I eat and I also have a say on the amount I bring. I can't necessarily say I've saved a lot of money since healthy eating is pricey in the city. But I can attest to the fact that this has decreased the breakouts I've been having and I've also been feeling great even if I have been doing this for just 3 weeks. Today, I'll share one of the most requested recipes from that series. Let's begin!