Recipe: Hot Calamansi - Honey Drink

I was feeling sick the other day and my voice got a bit scratchy. This month was like boiling our skin with intense heat that I missed some important activities in the church during the holy week. I decided to stay indoors and felt the need to do something about my cough and cracked voice. One night I decided to experiment with two cheap healing properties very much available on our kitchen cabinet - honey and calamansi.  Surprisingly, it worked wonders with my voice restored and cured my cough in just a day. Usually, when I do get a cold and cough, it last for more than a week, so I find honey and calamansi a match made in heaven! Mom got a flu after a few days and tried my recipe and she too felt the surprisingly fast healing comfort from this hot drink.

For the recipe for one small cup of water, simply add 4 calamansi (strained) and a tsp of honey into a cup of boiling water. Try this Hot Calamansi - Honey Drink when you feel sick and gloomy, it warms your body plus it tastes pretty good too! 

Snack of the Week: Toasted Bread with Honey and Cinnamon Spread

Toasted Bread with Honey-Cinnamon Spread

On tight budget but craving for cinnamon rolls from your fave coffeeshop? Fret no more as I give you this one awesome tip mom discovered when she visited lola in the province. She saw my lola having breakfast with these and totally loved the idea that she began doing the same thing and shared it with everyone when she got back home. Simply mix honey with cinnamon and there's your homemade spread! Aside from its great flavor, there are tons of health benefits one can get from this wonderful duo. Research shows  the said mixture showed positive results for many diseases like heart disease, arthritis, colds, bladder infections and even bad breath. So next time you're out shopping, you may want to think twice when buying for groceries. I believe it's high time to include honey and cinnamon on your weekend grocery list.

Recipe: Easy to Cook Ginataang Tilapia with Malunggay powder

Ginataang Tilapia is White fish cooked in creamy coconut

What makes this dish extra special is the additional malunggay powder, reason why its soup turned green. For those who are curious about the taste, don't fret because it still tastes like any other ginataang tilapia but with extra nutrients coming from the malunggay :)

High Fiber Diet: How to get those extra fibers you need

A high fiber diet is a modified balanced diet with high fiber content. This is effected by including more fruits, nuts, vegetables and whole grains in meal preparation.

High-fiber foods have been shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and to help to keep your digestive system healthy. Fish, milk, meat and eggs contain no fiber. Fiber can only be eaten from fruits, nuts, vegetables, cereals, whole grains and legumes. The more the food is in its natural form (unrefined), the higher is its fiber content. Processing reduces fiber content.

Fiber, the "forgotten nutrient," is also called bulk or roughage. Its helpful effects never change. It helps reduce the amount of fats and sugar in the bloodstream. It makes the elimination of waste products faster thus preventing constipation.

According to the Institute of Medicine, the recommended intake for total fiber for adults 50 years and younger is set at 38 grams for men and 25 grams for women, while for men and women over 50 it is 30 and 21 grams per day, respectively, due to decreased food consumption.

Here's how to sneak in those extra fiber into your daily diet with a minimum of effort.

Health Watch: Foods you'd be happy to let you live longer

What if food could pack on the years instead of the pounds? These life-lengthening foods will not only please the palate, but you'll age gracefully too!

Dark Chocolate
Savor two ounces with a minimum of 60 percent cocoa content each day, and your risk of cardiovascular disease dips 11 percent. See, chocolate is the world's perfect food after all!

Fish
Have three servings every week (good choices include baked trout or broiled wild salmon). Women of childbearing age and young children should stick to two servings a week and avoid large predatory fish, such as swordfish, albacore tuna, and shark. You'll cut your risk of heart disease and stroke by 14 percent.

Garlic
Add just one clove (cooked or raw) daily to pasta, salad, or a stir-fry to drop your LDL cholesterol. This can lower your risk of heart disease and stroke by 38 percent. So the next time you prepare your adobo meal, add on more garlic, it not only tastes better it also lowers your bad cholesterol and reduces hypertension.

Nuts
Sprinkle two ounces on your cereal or salad each day to reduce your LDL ("bad") cholesterol by 14 percent. Interested in pasta? Try making this Nut Pesto with Chicken recipe

Fruits and Vegetables
Eat five, 3/4 cup servings daily to lower your blood pressure, slash your risk of cancer, and lower your heart disease risk by 21 percent. Check out this carrot-pipino recipe or you may want to take a afternoon treat of fresh apple juice.

Wine
Sip a five-ounce glass each evening to cut your risk of heart disease by 32 percent. This Christmas, gift your family and friends and with some great wine, welcoming a healthy year ahead.

Apple is a perfect snack for dieters

A couple of days ago, mom blended yet another healthy juice drink, a simple yet healthier alternative against commercial powdered juice drinks in the market - Apple juice.

With further research with regards to this fruit's benefits, I have found one good thing about apples - that they are actually perfect snacks for those who wants to lose some weights naturally before trying on some top diet pills!

Lowfat Diet Food Selection Guide

In line with my previous post, "Want to Lose Weight? Follow these simple Lowfat Diet tips", here's a food selection guide sample to help jump start your diet plan. :)

Carbohydrate-rich Foods

All except restricted foods

Want to Lose Weight? Follow these simple Lowfat Diet Tips

For those seeking for some weight loss solutions without undergoing the knife, a change of lifestyle is the best way to go, and embracing a lowfat diet is part of a healthy living.

A cup of Hot Healthy Coffee

For more than 10 years now, our family consumes an average of 2-3 boxes of Pioir Ganoderma Coffee a month. Wanting to feel good and healthy, it's our no nonsense effort to combine health and habit. I mean most, if not all of us drinks coffee right? Now what makes this coffee different from the others in the market?  World's most expensive coffee would indeed be interesting to sip but this beverage is just as good as it contains ganoderma, a specific mushroom found in Malaysia and is considered as the "King of Herbs". I've heard so many wonderful benefits it offered to thousands of people. Want to know more? Check out this link

My dad on the other hand prefer the Tongkat Ali Coffee. Men loves this coffee because of the benefits they get from tongkat ali. Read more here

Know more about ganoderma lucidum and its other products at http://shopganoderma.blogspot.com/

Recipe: Carrot Pipino Juice

My parents are soooo into healthy stuff nowadays - from cooking healthy but sometimes bland food (oh, poor kids) to taking some food supplements, to listening radio health programs and I could go on and on. I guess it just proves the emerging health and wellness industry. My parents have been buying a lot of stuff they hope would make them feel better...and they do!

This particular recipe has in fact replaced juice packs and soft drinks we as family once loved to have every now and then. Mom and I had this particular juice when we visited our relatives in Lake Sebu. They have been serving this to some of their guests and I must say, I love this juice!

A blend of freshness: carrot - pipino

It's very easy to make. Just blend one carrot, one pipino (cucumber), 2 kalamansi and you're done. For added sweetness you can put on a tbsp of honey. :)