I have once read somewhere over the internet:

"Everybody thinks that every girl's dream is to find the perfect guy.. but in reality, every girl's dream is to eat without getting fat."

I agree!  I'm sure a lot of women out there can totally relate.

Wouldn't it be nice to enjoy a plate of delicious dish or dessert without having to worry about the calories?

I guess the only way to have the best of both worlds is to prepare your own food.  Nothing beats home made dishes and desserts!  That way, you can take control of the nutrient content of the food you're eating by choosing only the healthiest and finest ingredients available in the market.  It will be a little costly though but just think of it as investing in your own health.  After all, health is wealth!

In the past few weeks, I had been busy working on the kitchen trying out several recipes.  I was really trying my best to learn how to cook.  Fortunately, I was able to deliver good tasting dishes and desserts (as per my husband and my sister).  That's when I realized I should not just learn how to cook but I should learn how to prepare HEALTHY food as much as I can.

I was actually thinking of becoming a vegetarian, but I guess that I, as well as everybody in the house, am not yet ready for such radical change.  Maybe, I can start by preparing more veggie dishes and healthier desserts (aside from fruits).

To start this "Oplan Healthy Eating Program" that I have in mind, let me share with you the healthiest carrot cupcake recipe I found online.  With minimal amount of sugar and oil in it, you will find it surprising how such dessert can still taste sweet enough to satisfy your palate.  Thus, you won't feel guilty indulging over a piece or two of this deliciously healthy carrot cupcake!

Preheat oven to 180C and place 9 cupcake liners in a muffin tin. Combine all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl, then set aside. In a large measuring cup, combine all liquid ingredients (including carrot). Mix wet ingredients into dry, and immediately portion into the baking cups and place in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean, then allow the healthy carrot cake cupcakes to cool before frosting.

Although I had a little issue with the cupcake's texture, I must say that this recipe is still a lot better in terms of nutrient content.  Imagine those commercial carrot cupcakes loaded with too much sugar and oil having 300+ calories compared to this recipe that will give you only <200 calories per serving.  Indeed, snacking on a sweet dessert need not to be sinful!

Forty degrees Celsius.  It's official!  Summer is here and we're stuck at home.  Who in the world would like to get toasted under the scorching sun?  I don't know.  All I know is that this summer season in the middle east has just started and it's going to become even worse once the month of August kicks in.  In short, no outdoor activities for our family in the mean time.

That's  fine!  I prefer the hot and dry season of Abu Dhabi rather than the rainy season in the Philippines.  I don't like rain.  It stresses me.  Honestly, rain scares the hell out of me.  And it's all because of my traumatic "Ondoy" experience.  Good thing we are living in a place where rain only happens once in a blue moon.  That's enough to give me peace of mind.  Thanks God!

Since we're home bound (meaning either my sister or my husband can look after Rafa for a while), I took the opportunity to keep my self busy organizing our kitchen.  Don't get me wrong, I love taking care of Rafa.  It's just that I, being the wife and the only OC (obsessive-compulsive) person in our house, am expected to always keep the house clean and maintain it that way.

I  never really knew I had OCPD until I accidentally stumbled upon this link where I took the test out of curiosity.  The result showed I scored the highest (86%) for obsessive-compulsive personality disorder.

I hope informing you beforehand of my OCPD would help in making you understand the reason behind the photos of how our kitchen looks and why it looks just like that.

Wondering if you might have those OCD tendencies too?  Check out this 10 signs you might have obsessive compulsive disorder.

Ever since Rafael officially became a toddler and learned how to walk on his own, he started to turn into a more curious little creature who would always point on things to communicate what he wants.  This pointing attitude had been a big help for us to understand more the things that he likes and eventually made us notice that he would often point to a door as if he wants to say "mommy, lets go out!" Then I realized my son has really grown a lot in that one year span of time.

When he was still a few months younger, he would happily enjoy just crawling around and playing in his room.  He was already contented staying inside that small room full of colorful posters and cute baby toys.  However, a day came when he decided that he doesn't want to just stay inside his playroom anymore.  He started crawling around the house exploring every corner of each room.  Then he learned how to walk on his own and started invading even the kitchen and bathroom area!  Eventually, he realized that our house was no longer as interesting as it used to be, so he decided he wanted to go out of the house and discover a bigger and more exciting environment.

We knew we had to respond to Rafa's changing needs.  So every afternoon, after my husband gets home from work, we take the little man to the park where he can run and play until he gets tired.  (I don't actually know if he really gets tired.  Maybe what I was trying to say is that we allow him to play in the park until my husband and I are both tired of  chasing him.  I guess, that's more accurate.)

I believe we have already been to all parks within the city.  That is because we used to go to different parks before until we discovered Delma Park.  For me, this park is "love at first sight."  I love it for several reasons:  free parking, free entrance, clean restrooms, fitness area has several gym equipments which can be used for free; and they have a playground especially designed for toddlers (1-3 y/o).

Just by looking at Rafa's photos below, I guess it's not going to be too assuming for me to say that I think my son loves their playground too!

Our decision to take Rafa to the park every afternoon has really helped a lot in the development of his gross motor and socialization skills.  This is where he actually learned how to go up and down the stairs.  (We don't have stairs in the house that is why he was so amazed when he first experienced how it's like to climb up and down each step.)  In addition, he also gets the chance to meet new people and gain new friends whom he can talk and play with.  Yeah, our little man is a very friendly toddler!  He's the kind of kid who would never hesitate to give anyone a smile, even strangers.

While Rafa was busy enjoying the playground and exploring the park, me and my husband would take turns in watching over the little creature so that we can also have the opportunity to burn our excess calories in the park's fitness area.  I so love their facilities!  There's no need to spend on expensive gym membership fees anymore.  (We have never spent on such anyway.)

Aside from the children's playground and fitness area, they also have a football court, tennis court (which gave me the motivation to learn how to play tennis), and free circuit training facilitated by professional fitness trainers every Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays.

I am really glad and grateful that we have found a perfect family park where both kids and adults get equal opportunity to be fit while having fun.  Going to the park every afternoon is indeed a family affair that promotes a healthy active lifestyle.

It's my first time to bake.  Actually, I really wanted to learn how to make irresistible desserts ever since but whenever I watch youtube on how these sensational cakes and cupcakes are being made, I just cannot imagine how so much sugar and butter are being put into the recipe.  No wonder desserts are sometimes described as "devilishly" or "sinfully" delicious treats because you really have to forgive yourself for consuming too much sugar and calories.

When I was younger, I never really prioritized nutrition.  I would always choose what's more delicious and what's going to make me enjoy and satisfy my cravings.  But after getting married and having thought of me and my husband's five years age gap plus having kids, I just suddenly changed into a more mature or should I say, a "kill joy" wife who would almost always choose the healthier option when it comes to food.  So don't get surprised once you see our kitchen and find most grocery items labeled as non-fat, no cholesterol, or light/er.  That's me!  So imagine how much hesitation it took me before I finally decided to bake.  I just told myself, "Alright, learning how to bake doesn't mean I'm going to do it everyday.  I'm gonna give this thing a try."  Of course, the healthy geek in me still made a compromise to make my baked creation a little less sinful by using olive oil instead of canola and by excluding the frosting/icing of my cupcake topping.  Yeah, I know.  A cupcake without frosting is boring.  I am boring.  I admit!  Maybe next time, I can consider adding a frosting to my cupcake but for now, allow me to just learn first how to make a moist cupcake.

If you want to ask how my first baking experience went, well, I must say that it was a success (although I got a little burn injury during the process)!  Everyone in the house loved my cupcakes, especially my little Rafa.  My husband didn't like how it tasted at first but after chilling it in the ref overnight, he said that the cupcakes improved and tasted way better than when it just came out fresh from the oven. 

Since my first attempt in baking had been successful, I will be sharing with you the recipe that I used to make my yummy cupcakes!  If you want to get the recipe for the frosting of this moist chocolate cupcake, you may visit this website.  Happy baking!  

1/2 cup Chelsea White Sugar

1/2 cup Chelsea Soft Brown Sugar

3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp plain flour

1/4 cup + 2 tbsp cocoa powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 egg

1/2 cup of milk

1/4 cup of Simply Pure Canola Oil

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup boiling water

Preheat the oven to 180°C conventional 

Line a 12 hole muffin tray with paper cases. Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Add the egg, milk, oil and vanilla then beat with a mixer until combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl then add the boiling water and mix until just combined (the batter will be runny). Pour the batter into a measuring cup and pour evenly into each paper case until ¾ filled (don’t over fill or the mixture will overflow).

Place into the oven and bake for 20-22 minutes or until a tester inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Today, I will be sharing with you my Chicken Parmigiana recipe.  Wow!  This is the very first time I will be writing a blogpost about a dish I prepared.  Honestly, I've always wanted to do this ever since but my kitchen skills are just horrible.  I can even remember the time when I was still in high school and I tried to cook "palabok" which became a total epic fail because even our dog didn't care to eat it.  I don't want to elaborate further but the bottom line is, it was a disaster!  I was disappointed.  I felt embarrassed.  And I never tried cooking again since then.

I'm also scared of using knives (because of my unpleasant experience of having cuts) that's why chopping, mincing, dicing, or anything that has something to do with knives will take me forever to have it done.  I cannot tell when a meat is cooked, half cooked or if it still needs more time on the stove.  So whenever I cook, I just make it sure to get it well done (maybe a little bit over cooked but not to the point of tasting burnt).  And I have terrible tastebuds that cannot discern which spices or seasoning should be used to adjust the taste of my dish.  I am one clueless woman when it comes to cooking and the kitchen is my least favorite part of the house to stay in. 

I know exactly what's running on your mind right now:  "ang malas naman ng napangasawa nito."  I cannot agree more.  While I may have been the luckiest woman on earth for marrying my husband, I think it must have been unfortunate for him to have me as his wife.  And it hurts.  Truth hurts.  Cooking is one of my biggest frustrations in life.  I cannot even think how my husband can be so patient and understanding of my terrible cooking skills.  He must really love me that much!  And I wanted to be the woman who deserves that love that's why I am doing my best to learn how to cook.  So last friday, I asked for the Heavenly Father's divine intervention that I may not screw up with my dish and include this in my long list of failed kitchen attempts.  And my prayer was answered!  My dearest husband loved my first-ever Chicken Parmigiana and I was sooo happy I couldn't help smiling from ear to ear.  So I am going to gladly share with you below the recipe I used for this dish.

If there's one thing I realized about my terrible kitchen experiences in the past, perhaps it would be that cooking is a lot like love.  No matter how bad the food you cooked tasted, how embarrassed you felt, and how awful the experience was which made you swear you're never going to do it again, a day will come when someone special is going to inspire you to become a better version of yourself and will give you the courage to try it once more.  And seeing that person happy because he knew you have done a great job in something you're too scared to do, will make you tell yourself that he is definitely worth the try.

3 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

3 cups full cream milk

3 tbsp vinegar

4 medium cloves garlic, minced

salt and ground black pepper

Bread crumbs

Mozerella cheese

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3 medium sized eggs

1/2 cup olive oil

500gm Tomato Sauce Guisado

10 ounces mozzarella cheese

2 tbsp basil

1 -  Split chicken breasts in half horizontally, place inside a plastic zipper-lock bag and pound with a meat pounder or the bottom of a skillet to an even 1/4-inch thickness. 

2 -  Prepare buttermilk mixture:  Add 3 cups full cream milk into a bowl with 3 tbsp vinegar and set aside for 5 minutes inside the refrigerator; do not mix.  After 5 mins, remove bowl from the ref and mix.  Add minced garlic and season with 1/2 tbsp salt and 1 tsp ground black pepper.  Put chicken into the bowl of buttermilk mixture making sure all chicken are well coated and refrigerate overnight.

3 -  The next day, combine breadcrumbs, mozzarella cheese, and ground black pepper into a large shallow bowl.

4 -  Place flour in a second shallow bowl.  Whisk eggs in a third bowl.

5 - Working one piece at a time, remove chicken from buttermilk mixture and add to flour. Turn to coat, shake off excess, and add to egg mixture. Turn to coat, letting excess drip off, and add to breadcrumb mixture. Turn to coat, piling crumbs on top and pressing down firmly so a thick layer adheres. Transfer coated chicken to the wire rack and repeat with remaining chicken breasts.

6 -  Preheat oven to 200°C.  Place sauce in a medium saucepan and heat over low heat, stirring occasionally, until barely simmering. Remove from heat and set aside.

7 -  Heat oil in a large non-stick or cast iron skillet over medium heat.  Working in batches, carefully add chicken by lowering the cutlets away from you into the oil. 

8 -  Cook until chicken is golden-brown and crisp on both sides. Transfer chicken to a paper-towel lined plate to drain and repeat with remaining chicken.

9 -  Spoon 1/3 of sauce onto the bottom of an oven-safe serving dish. Shingle chicken pieces on top of sauce. Top with more sauce, forming a line down the center and add mozzarella cheese.

10 -  Transfer to the oven and cook until cheese is melted and bubbly.  Remove from oven and allow to rest for 3 minutes, top with chopped herbs, and serve immediately.