The Secret to Yuri's Smoothie

Sorry, it's Friday today but I failed to prepare a Finance Friday post! I also failed to prepare a post of any kind mainly because I was exhausted last night. After preparing for Yuri's simplest birthday celebration last Wednesday and attending my sister's graduation yesterday evening, all I wanted was a good night's sleep.

However, I want to write a post today, so let me talk about the mundane. Smoothies!

Both Yuri and I love smoothies. Every time I go grocery-shopping, I always make it a point to pick up fruits and vegetables for our smoothies. Yes, I incorporate gulay in our smoothies now. Since Yuri is not very fond of munching veggies (shame on me), I just make him drink them instead!

And it works out well since Yuri loves his smoothies. However, the problem is that the straw of his sippy cup is quite narrow, and sometimes, after a while (especially when it is refrigerated, the smoothie turns from "smooth" to "lumpy." Because of that, it is even harder to drink the smoothie.

I tried adding more liquids to the smoothie recipe: water and/or natural fruit juice. However, the result is not quite the one I want to achieve. Yes, it is easier to drink, but the taste is, I don't know, too watery, and if I use juice, too acidic.

I looked at the fridge and almost slapped my forehead when I realized I could have used this all along!

We always have soymilk in our fridge, and Yuri always drinks a cup of it every morning, but somehow (I don't know!), I never even thought of adding it to our daily smoothies. Where have you been all my la-a-a-ife? Grrr, I don't know. In the fridge?

Honestly, it's no secret. There are so many recipes that called for milk; it's just that the soymilk I had was chocolate-flavored and didn't really go well with fruits and vegetables. Now, strawberry soymilk is perfect!

So this morning, I added a cup of soymilk to our smoothie (which had half a papaya, two medium bananas, and a chunk of squash the size of my fist), and the result was a smoothie that was very creamy, easy to drink, and had the right amount of sweetness! Everybody really liked it, and my sister, who is not fond of anything remotely healthy and anything not-sweet-enough even asked for a cup. Yay! So much win!

Of course, you can use any kind of milk, but I kind of like having a hint of strawberry in my smoothies.

The best way to drink a smoothie? Outdoors. Nothing like soaking in vitamins and minerals from a cup while soaking in Vitamin D and happiness hormones from the sun!

Yes, I know I need to use a better cup for Yuri. Ang yabang ko, naka-Snapware glass bottle ako, pero si Yuri naka-plastic lang. Erased pa ang designs! I'm working on it! Hehe

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Homemade Peanut Butter - Chocolate Granola Bars

Even if I'm such a novice in the kitchen, and even if we don't have a properly functioning oven, I still prefer making Yuri's snacks rather than buying them from the grocery. That means a lot because I love grocery-shopping. While I do have grocery-bought snacks for emergency purposes, it's quite scary buying snacks for a young toddler especially when you can't even pronounce their ingredients!

To minimize Yuri's exposure to preservatives, chemicals, unnecessary sugars, and many other stuff I don't have any idea of, I roll up my sleeves and try to search Google for recipes I can easily create.

I especially like creating granola bars because not only are they healthy (well, depending on the ingredients you use) but also require virtually no special equipment. I've been wanting to make another batch of granola bars again (our go-to snacks), so I looked for an easy recipe, which I found here. Here's my re-creation of the yummy peanut butter-chocolate granola bars.

Ingredients:
Rolled Oats (I used Bob's Red Mill 5-Grain Rolled Cereal.)
Peanut Butter (I used a local brand, Dane's. It not only is cheap but also contains just three ingredients: peanuts, sugar, and butter.)
Chocolate Chips (I used generic baking chocolate chips from the grocery.)
Milk (Soyfresh chocolate soy milk was what I had, so I used it. You can use any milk!)

Optional add-ons:
Marshmallows (I have a lot of mini-marshmallows which I planned to use to make rice crispy treats, so I added some to the granola mixture.)
Chocolate chips (Since you already have them, why don't you add more?)
Rice crispies (I still have one more box of Breakfast Choice rice crispies from last month.)
Nuts (You can use nuts, but I prefer not to use them because Yuri doesn't like nuts yet.)
Raisins I would love to use raisins; unfortunately, I forgot to buy some during my last trip to the grocery!

(I didn't have measurements because I didn't measure any of them. I just poured what "looks" right and then adjusted if the resulting mixture was too runny. You will need to create a mixture that is relatively dry, so if the mixture was too runny, I added more cereal. If it was too dry, I added more milk or peanut butter.)

Procedure:

1. Mix the peanut butter, chocolate chips, and milk. You can either melt them in the saucepan or in the microwave.

2. Melt them until you form a smooth (luscious) mixture like the one below:

Easy and Delish Five-Minute Quiche

We all love bread. I think I like all sorts of bread. Plain, flavored, with filling, hard bread, soft rolls, freshly baked, one-day old: as long as it's bread, there's a big chance that I will eat it.

Because I live in a household where everyone likes bread, more often than not, we have leftover bread in the pantry or in the fridge. Because bread has a limited lifestyle, it's either we eat them right away (dunk in mainit na kape or Milo), make a pudding, or turn them into French Toast.

One time, thought, I got inspired to try something new. Rather than make the usual sweets I used to make, I was in the mood for something savory. So out of the old bread we had, I made a five-minute quiche. 

Of course, it's not like the regular, oven-baked quiche. This is more of a single-serve quiche, which can totally fulfill your cravings if you need something fast - and easy. I think what I made is a success because my little sister and my little toddler were fighting over the last piece... Without much ado, here's what I did:

(This recipe is loosely based on the recipe here.)

What you need: 
Bread, 1 egg, 1-2 tablespoons of milk (depending on how much bread you use), 1 tablespoon of butter, cheese, your meat of choice (optional), and your veggies of choice

1. Pull bread apart and tear them into bite-sized pieces. You can use freshly baked bread or old bread like what I did. Just don't use bread that is too hard or you'll end up with a hard quiche.

2. Melt butter in a small microwaveable bowl (or mug).

3. Crack an egg in a separate container (always crack egg in a separate container so that if it happens to be rotten, you don't have to throw the entire mixture away) and mix it with the melted butter.

4. Add in the milk.

5. You can add salt and pepper to taste, but I nixed this step. Whether you add seasoning or not, the next step is to whisk the mixture together.

6. Add the pieces of torn bread and make sure they're soaked in the mixture. Leave a few pieces of bread for later use.

7. Put in your add-ons of meat and veggies. I used sliced ham, carrots, red and green bell peppers, mushroom, and cheese.

8. Place remaining bread over these add-ons to make something pie-like.

9. Grate cheese over the bread.

10. Microwave on High setting for 1 and a half minute. That's it!

I wasn't able to take pretty photos (I didn't have my camera yet during this time), but the young ones like the quiche because it tastes like pizza (yes it does!) while I like it because Yuri can get all food groups in just one bite!

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Easy-Peasy Breakfast Ideas (A Round-Up)

Good morning and happy Thursday! It is Thursday na, right? Oh Mommy Brain is real; I can't keep track of the days anymore, and I'm only 23!

Anyway, to offer you a measly excuse, it is still before 9 in the morning. Mornings are the most hectic part of my days. And when I say "hectic," just believe me that it is. I barely sit from 7-9, and the only times I get to sit are (one) while feeding Yuri (which is a hectic experience by itself) and (two) while working. Okay. Friends with no children: you'll never know what busy is until you have children!

That's not to say that I don't enjoy motherhood. I am! However, when mornings become too hectic, it's not difficult to become super stressed. Lalo na ngayon that we're having a new struggle. You see, I always let Yuri sleep in. It doesn't matter what time he gets up because I believe sleep is crucial to growth. So it's not rare that he sleeps until 7:30 in the morning - and even if I do get a bit stressed (I calculate the time left for me to prepare breakfast, etc.), I let him be.

However, recently, even after getting up and nursing a bit, he refuses to get up. As in he was like me when I was a child. He would go back to lying down and would say, "tuyog," even if he's not the least bit sleepy. So imagine how even more stressed I become!

 Of course, it is hard to stay stressed when I see this face.

The solution, for me, to lessen the hecticness of the hustle-and-bustle of my mornings is to create breakfast the night before. If I get busy in the evening, which is inevitable, I have "backup 5-minute" recipes to make. Here's a round-up of some of the breakfasts I have made for Yuri in the past:

1. Mango Frozen Yogurt

Preparation Time: 2 Minutes
Blending Time: 2 Minutes
Ingredients: 1 whole manggo, 1 cup yogurt, 2 tablespoons fresh milk, and 2 tablespoons honey

2. Banana-Peanut Butter "Ice Cream"

Prep time: 3 minutes
Blending time: 5 minutes or more (depending on your blender's power)
Ingredients: SEE HERE

3. 5-Minute Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Cake

Prep time: 3 minutes
"Baking" time: Around 5 minutes
Ingredients: SEE HERE

4. 5-Minute Banana Oatmeal Cookies

Prep time: 2 minutes
"Baking" time: N/A
Ingredients: SEE HERE

5. "Imbento" Brownies

Yogurt-Gelatin Pops!

Happy manic Monday!

I'm running on a kinda hectic busy schedule today (don't we all?), and I thank my lucky stars that I made a batch of easy-peasy yogurt-gelatin pops during my (one-day) vacay last week.

What are yogurt-gelatin pops? Basically, these are popsicles made from two ingredients: yogurt and gelatin! This dessert can be made breakfast because of its high nutritional value. Also, it's sugar-free! (You can add sugar if you want to, though). Plus, like the rest of my lazy recipes, it only takes minutes to make!

I actually copied the recipe from here, and since I wanted to make use of the unused popsicle mold in the kitchen, I made them into messy popsicles instead. First, the ingredients:

If you're wondering why the yogurt looks too big, that's actually a pack of 4 cups. I used two cups of yogurt and one pack of gelatin (the only "menudo" brand I can find in SM)

Just mix the two ingredients together!

Important: Mix the two ingredients in a microwaveable bowl because you have to microwave the mixture. After mixing, microwave on High for 2 minutes. Mix it again and microwave it for another 2-3 minutes. 

Freshly-sterilized popsicle molds!

The job is messy but fun!

Here it is! Not picture-perfect but delish nonetheless!

And that's it, folks! It looks like Jelly Tongue pala, no? Kid-friendly, nutritious, and easy-peasy! Messy but fun to eat! I even ate one haha!

PS: On hindsight, I should have used smooth yogurt rather than yogurt with fruit bits. On the other hand, Yuri likes eating the bits!

*Sorry, I had to use my cellphone's camera to take the photos (save for the last one).

PPS: I was finally able to take a decent photo!

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Thursday Breakfast: Imbento Brownies

Cheers to poorly-edited photos done in PicMonkey! - said the girl who has no Photoshop in her laptop.

This morning, Yuri slept in again. Because of the lack of time to prepare breakfast, I only prepared cereal with bananas. (No milk, just the way he likes it).

Follow me on Instagram: @maanlaxa

This time, though, he asked for something else. While dutifully spooning cereal into his mouth, he said, "Cake." "Ano?" I asked. He repeated, "cake." Uh-oh. Who am I not to oblige?

So after he finished breakfast and made some cuddle-time with me (I know, I know), and while he and his yaya were playing outside, I quickly surveyed the kitchen to see what I could come up with.

Since we already ran out of baking powder, a real cake was out of the question. Fortunately, we did have cocoa powder and the remains of a giant Beryl's Gourmet chocolate bar (yes, we regularly have those things), so I figured I could make some brownies. And hope for the best.

Like with all trying-hard recipes I post, this only took around 15 minutes and a microwave. Perfect for the lazy baker.

What you need:

Around 3 teaspoons melted butter

A chunk of dark chocolate, melted to look like this:

Melted chocolate. Mainit pa.

Around 2 tablespoons cream

4 tablespoons flour. Note to self: Buy mom decent flour canister. One we would actually use.

4 tablespoons Dutch Cocoa (or whichever you have)

We ran out of sugar na pala, so I used honey. 4 tablespoons

And poured the remaining of the milk. Around 3 tablespoons

I wanted to use vanilla, too, but I can't figure out where it is. That's always the problem whenever we do general cleaning. Di ko na makita yung mga gamit! Haha!

Anyway, like with all microwave-cake recipes, just mix them all into a batter. Then, I popped it into the microwave. High setting, 2 minutes. Here's a poorly-photographed slice from the brownie:

To my defense, I could not take a decent photograph because Yuri was already grabbing at my shirt to have a bite. I know it doesn't look much, and it doesn't even look appetizing, but trust me, they taste delish!

PS: All of the chocolates used in this recipe are dark. If you want something sweeter, feel free to choose your own kind of chocolates. Dance to your own tune. :-)

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Stories from the Holiday

If you were one of the people who took a holiday yesterday, consider yourself lucky. If you were safe at home when the land shook Visayas, consider yourself blessed. Yesterday's earthquake seems like an eye-opener in so many ways, doesn't it?

However, I don't want to focus on the earthquake here. Instead, I want to talk about the happier things. In truth, I only found out about the earthquake yesterday afternoon. Why? Well, first, I got engrossed looking at photos of Yuri's different facial expressions from Sunday:

1- Touch your cheeks!
2 - Where's your nose?
3 - Show me your tongue!

After that, we got busy cutting Yuri's hair. There are no photos of the actual cutting because it was too messy and, well, Yuri didn't exactly give in without a fight. We cut his hair in the garden, while he was screaming bloody murder. But here are the results:

Hay salamat, he looks like a boy na. I've been so irritated about his hair for weeks; now, I can finally relax. Hahaha chos.

After that, I sat at my desk and got a little bit of work done. Yes, there's no holiday for the weary flexi-timer. Then, I was out for lunch:

Just one of the dishes I got to try out at Don Beppe at Gaisano Mall. I was there for an intimate lunch with the owners of Manang's Chicken, which will soon open in the city. Yippee! I will talk more about it in another post this week.

Then, I bought the sewing supplies my sister needed for her project, and, of course, I went for a little grocery-shopping:

Yay, I finally found affordable whole-wheat cereals! The brands in SM Lanang are limited, and all of them are not exactly cheap. I've been looking for a cheaper brand because I'm not sure Yuri will eat them. Sayang naman kung hindi rin makakain. This box of US-made whole-wheat cereals only costs around P86.

I also got a loaf of whole-wheat Gardenia bread with raisins. I checked out the bakery in Gaisano Mall called Cafe France, but they only have the big loaves, which cost P120. Eh si Yuri lang naman ang kakain (we eat rice for breakfast). So I got a small Gardenia loaf that costs P65.

If Yuri won't eat the cereals, I might eat them as part of a regular "diet." Tumataba na tayo ulit, kailangan nang bawasan ang pagkain. 

After I got home, I resumed working. Again, there's no holiday for the weary flexi-timer. So those are my stories from yesterday. How did you spend your holiday?

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Yuri's First OOTD + Breakfast Loot

Last time, I promised (myself) that I would be doing Yuri's first OOTD soon. Our weekly church+mall provided the most obvious opportunity, so I was able to put together an OOTD yesterday. Here it is:

What do you think? Complete with labels pa, like how the Instagrammers do it. Also, I wanted a doable outfit for tropical Philippines, so I avoided layering. Of course. Feel na feel ko ang accomplishment. Hahaha!

By the way, that was the first time Yuri was able to wear his Oshkosh shoes given by Ate Lori of Charles Goodies. They fit na! Yehesss!

The photo lacks a title pala, which I only realized now. Ano kaya? Shades of Red Sunday? Nah. Anyway, I'm officially done with rompers. What should I do with them all? (Konsensya: Ibenta mo na!)

Yuri likes his outfit! IMO hehe

Of course, it's not just Yuri that gets to have his OOTD. Syempre ako rin haha. But it's getting really difficult to "pose" with a hyperactive toddler. Take a look at some outtakes here:

In the first photo, he stepped on my shoe. In the second photo naman, he's trying to get into my skirt. Boys! Hahaha joke lang. Anyway, here's the "successful" OOTD:

Black Sheep cardigan, Forever21 dress, Geneva belt, Crocs shoes, and Carter's diaper bag

So hard to take a decent photo

We went to SM Lanang Premier (as usuaaaal) after church, and because I heard the Science Discovery Center was already open, we went to see it. Tickets are priced at P100 per person, but we decided not to buy because the "receptionist" said the planetarium wasn't ready yet. Eh that's what we wanted to see because Yuri is an astronaut. Ano daw?!

Here's a photo of the lobby of the Science Center. I'm looking forward to visit it next time. :-)