Bite Size: Project Pie's Banana Nutella Pizza

Like with everything else, creativity is what keeps things interesting when it comes to food. As much as we love traditional and classic recipes, we also always crave for something new; something that we never thought would work but will blow our minds.

Take pizza for example. Everyone knows how to make a classic pizza – take some dough, lather it with tomato sauce, sprinkle some cheese, top with meat and vegetables of your choice, and pop it in the oven until it’s nice and toasty. But somehow, someone had this crazy idea of making pizza into a dessert, and let me tell you, it was a brilliant idea.

The pizza I’m talking about is Project Pie’s Banana Nutella Pizza. Project Pie makes really great pizza (you can read my blog post about it here) but their dessert pizza is something you won’t find in other pizza joints. As the name suggests, this dessert pizza is their regular crust topped with bananas, nutella, and is dusted with cinnamon powder. First of all, you can never go wrong with that combination alone. Banana and nutella is an awesome combination, and then you add cinnamon, and it just makes it even more amazing. But then, you take that trio, and you bake it so that the nutella melts and oozes on top of soft and warm bananas. The heat also activates the cinnamon making it even more flavourful and aromatic. All of that on top of a chewy, crusty, toasty crust. It’s just so amazing you’d think pizza was actually originally created as a dessert!

Bite Size: Bigoli's Italian Chicken with Pesto

I love chicken. Fried, steamed, roasted, barbecued – as long as it’s chicken, I’ll eat it. Not all chicken dishes are created alike, though. As much as I love any possible way one can cook chicken, there are some that are just at the top of my favorites list. One of my all time favorite chicken dishes has to be Bigoli’s Italian Chicken. I love it so much that whenever I’m in Trinoma, I literally always eat at Bigoli just because of their chicken.

Aside from the obvious fact that it’s just so darn delicious, one of the reasons why I love it is because I can’t quite put a finger on how it’s cooked. I’m not even sure of what ingredients are used (and I’m someone who can easily dissect a dish’s anatomy and flavors). It will always be a mystery to me how they manage to keep the chicken meat so juicy and tender, but the sauce-drenched skin so crispy. Yes, the skin is sauce-drenched but it’s crispy. The textures are just so perfectly balanced. The meat on its own is flavorful and well-seasoned, but then you have this sauce (I think it’s tomato based) that’s tangy, salty, and a bit spicy all at the same time. That description doesn’t even give the sauce justice but I just don’t know how to describe it. It’s just so damn good!

You have the option of having your chicken with Italian Rice or pasta (red, white or pesto). If you know me, you know pesto has to be my favorite kind of pasta sauce. Bigoli’s pesto is just as good as their chicken that I always have my chicken with their pesto. The pasta is al dente, and it's not too oily. And as if that’s not good enough, aside from their generous serving, all their pasta dishes come with unlimited bread sticks which should come as no surprise, are actually also delicious. I assure you, there’s a reason why this has become one of my all time favorite dishes. 

Morning with MCHS Alumnae

Yesterday, I was invited to be one of the speakers for the Morning with MCHS Alumnae activity at my high school. Several Miriam College High School alumnae were invited, and were assigned to different classes to talk about their high school experiences, and how those have helped them become an empowered woman. The fun thing about it was that we were asked to bring along an alumna partner so I was able to tag along my friend, Jo (we’ve been friends since fifth grade).

It’s been six years since I graduated from high school. To be honest, when I was trying to look back on my high school days, everything seemed to be a big blur. It was difficult to remember much (I couldn’t even remember some of my teacher’s names), but thankfully, I was able to come up with a pretty decent list of talk points.

Upon arriving, it was so nice to be see so many familiar faces – lady guards, staff, teachers, and of course, fellow batchmates. Before we went to our assigned classes, we were welcomed by the high school principal, Sir Ed Fermin (Fun fact: He used to be my English teacher back then). He gave us a brief update of what has improved in our school, and my, oh my, things have definitely changed. From curriculum changes to upgraded facilities, it made me want to study there all over again! They even have a foreign language program now where students have to choose from French, Spanish, Nihonggo, or Mandarin, and master that language for four years.

After the welcoming remarks, we were then escorted by the president of the class we were assigned to. I was actually quite nervous about talking in front of Grade 10 students just because I didn’t know how they would respond to me. I mean, what if they don’t listen or what if they don’t laugh at my jokes? Luckily, Jo and I were assigned to a wonderful class that was so warm and friendly that the whole talk went better that I could have ever expected! It felt so good being able to inspire and share some life lessons to such sweet, young girls. We had so much fun talking and laughing, time flew by so fast.

After the talk, we were served snacks, and I got a chance to catch up with my batchmates. It’s amazing how far we’ve come since high school. It wasn’t long ago when were just students walking around the campus, and now we’re all grown up, trying to make it in our respective fields.

Overall, it was an amazing experience and I’m so happy I was given the opportunity to go back to my high school, and talk about women empowerment. 

Cup of Tea: Twinings Four Red Fruits Tea

I’ve been watching a lot of make-up gurus on Youtube lately and I was surprised to find out that a lot of them seem to be so obsessed with tea. It made me think, “What was it about this drink that made them love it so much?”

I drink tea occasionally but most of the time it would just be the classic green tea whenever I feel like I’ve had a little too much to eat. What I didn’t realize though, was how many flavors and varieties of tea there were! From fruity to dessert teas, every tea bag seemed to be a whole new drinking experience. Let’s just say after trying a few flavors, I’m just as obsessed with the drink as them. I am so into tea right now that I’m starting a new series (I know, another series. I just really like keeping my blog organized) called Cup of Tea where I’ll be sharing with you teas that I love. 

Buying your own tea and making them at home also saves you a ton of money. Imagine. One box of tea can have as much as 25 tea bags for around P230. If you go to a cafe and order tea, a cup can easily go for P100. Now, you do the math.

Anyway, to start things off, I want to talk about the one that started my whole love affair with tea – Twinings Four Red Fruits Tea. It’s black tea flavored with strawberry, cherry, red currant, and raspberry. How good does that sound? It’s fruity with a little bit of tartness from the berries. It's also a bit sweet because of the cherry being the dominant flavor. It’s so aromatic that whenever I bring a cup to my room, my whole room smells like the tea in minutes. It’s like drinking tea and burning a delicious smelling candle all in one go! It’s just so delicious, and a good flavor to try as an introduction to the world of tea or a new flavor discovery for someone who's already a tea lover.

Bite Size: Mexicali's Taco Salad

Whenever I’m on a low/no carb diet, salad is my go to meal. However, sometimes I need something a little more filling than the usual Garden or Caesar Salad. After trying so many salads, I discovered one of the tastiest I’ve ever had – Mexicali’s Taco Salad.

It’s a big bowl of lettuce, fresh salsa, beans, meat, cheese and crunchy taco shells. The meat (beef or chicken) in this salad is the same one that they use for their other dishes such as burritos and tacos, so you get that same taste satisfaction from eating a burrito as with this salad. It’s a salad that has everything you like about Mexican food, minus the guilt!

Food Find: Organic Cherry Tomatoes and Red Radishes

Hello everyone!

I’m starting another series again here on my blog called Food Find. It’s a series where I’ll be featuring food items that are not ready-to-eat dishes from restaurants or food stalls. These are food items which can be from the grocery, markets, and the like that I want to share with all of you.

Anyway, speaking of markets, one of the things to love about the weekend is the Sunday market. You’ll never know what unique, hard-to-find produce or knick knacks you’ll find there. Last Sunday, my Dad went to the Quezon City Circle Market and came home with these gorgeous cherry tomatoes and red radishes. What’s even better about them is that they’re locally grown in Benguet and sold by people from Benguet themselves. It kind of reminds me of a farm-to-table concept since it's the farmers themselves selling their produce. Their association is called BeOPA or Benguet Organic Producers Association. From the name itself, you’re assured that their vegetables are not only fresh but also organic.

We used the cherry tomatoes in a salad, and they were so sweet and juicy! They were so juicy that it felt like you were popping grapes inside your mouth.

It was my first time to try red radish, so I tried it raw first just to know how it really tastes like. It’s very earthy and a bit spicy (kind of like the spiciness of onions). I personally didn’t like the taste of it raw. So instead, we sautéed it with some string beans and shrimp. It was so good! Cooking it got rid of the earthy taste that I didn’t like. You can also tell that it’s fresh because the texture was firm and it still had a bit of a crunch to it even after cooking it.

I love the fact that by buying locally grown (not to mention organic) vegetables, not only are you getting fresher produce but you’re also helping our local farmers have a sustainable livelihood!