Mhel Ignacio, Author at Certified Foodies

San Marino Premium Spanish Sardines : A Newfound Favorite

Ever since I started living on my own, I’ve made sure to stock my little kitchen with different groceries, ranging from meats and vegetables for when I’m in the mood to prepare special meals, and ready-to-eat food items for times when I’m exhausted from work and have no energy to cook. Just recently, I added a new favorite: San Marino Premium Spanish Sardines.

Sardines have been a favorite of mine since I was a kid. I can polish off 1 to 2 bowls of rice in one sitting with just one can of sardines. When I was in high school, I got exposed to Spanish Sardines for the very first time and I got hooked ever since. 😀

I love San Marino’s Corned Tuna, and I use it in my sandwich spreads, pasta dishes (I love it spicy!) and tuna omelet. So when I found out they also have their own Spanish Sardines, I just had to try it!

Upon opening the jar of San Marino Premium Spanish Sardines, I felt my mouth watering as the aroma of the sardines inside tickled my senses. I was surprised to see that there were more than 10 pieces of sardines inside. I can enjoy 1 bottle for lunch AND for dinner. Indulge yourself to a luxurious dining experience without breaking the bank – Php 95 for a 240g bottle. Sulit, right? 🙂

I emptied the jar of sardines onto a plate. Inside, you’ll see slices of pickled cucumber, carrots, hot pepper and peppercorns soaked in corn oil. They don’t use preservatives, so you should refrigerate the bottle as soon as you open it.

Their Spanish Sardines are made with select freshly-caught herring fish, with intact scales that you won’t even feel when you eat them. I love spicy anything, and this Spanish Sardines had the right amount of kick and flavor that made me eat more rice than usual. 😀

Our nanay actually haven’t had sardines for quite a long time. She said she didn’t like them ’cause of the scales and they taste too malansa for her. I asked her to try the San Marino Premium Spanish Sardines, and she loved it! She even asked me for extra serving of rice. We both agreed that it’s the best-tasting Spanish Sardines we’ve ever had. 🙂

I especially love the fact that it has Omega-3 that helps lower one’s blood cholesterol level, which aids in reducing risks of heart problems. It’s also a good source of protein and energy; perfect for someone like me who usually eats quick dinners when I come home after a tiring work day and needs the energy to head to the gym or work on my other hobbies afterwards. 🙂

Have you tried San Marino’s Premium Spanish Sardines? Visit their Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/SanMarinoCornedTuna – for more information. 🙂

Champorado and Bibingka with Toblerone & Cadbury – A Sweet Twist to Your Favorite Pinoy Merienda

Whenever the clock hits 3 o’clock in the afternoon, it’s like our bodies are programmed to want to have merienda. We grew up like this, and I still remember our nanay knocking on our doors at 3pm, announcing it’s merienda time. When we follow her to the kitchen, we’ll be delighted by the spread of different snacks she bought or prepared for us. You’d usually find pansit luglog or Pansit Malabon, lugaw with tokwa’t baboy, turon (we call it valencia), sopas, ginataan, ensaymada, bibingka and, my favorite, champorado.

Yes, champorado. Some may think that it’s better enjoyed for breakfast, but I beg to disagree. 😀 I love champorado for merienda because it gives me a much-needed boost in the middle of the afternoon that’ll last until the end of the day. 🙂 I also love turon, ginataan, peachy-peachy, and, of course, Pansit Malabon.

Ken’s merienda favorites are lugaw, Pansit Malabon and bibingka. The latter, you’d think you can only find people selling them during the holidays, but in Malabon, it’s a regular snack choice because it’s readily available all year round (that’s why we LOVE our home town 😀 ).

If you’ve seen our past recipes, you already know how we enjoy adding our own twists to usual dishes. This time, Ken came up with 2 Pinoy merienda recipes with a sweet twist that we’re sure you’ll both love. He used products from Mondelez Philippines.

Mondelez Philippines, formerly named Kraft Foods, has been around for over 5 decades. They’re the authority when it comes to snacks. Don’t believe us? Under their belt, they have Oreo, Toblerone, Cadbury, and Tiger Enery Biscuits. Their Eden Cheese is a regular when we prepare spaghetti. We also add cheesiness to our ‘flying saucer’ sandwiches with Cheez Whiz. Merienda won’t be complete, especially for our nanay, without a pitcher of her favorite Tang.

Mondelez has been constantly innovating, coming up with new flavors that us Filipinos love. Have you tried their Oreo Coconut Delight? You must! How about the Tang Dalandan, Honey Lemon and Calamansi? 🙂

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Our #ClaraOlePotluck Fiesta, Boodle Fight Style!

We’re from Malabon, and if you know anyone from there or you’ve attended at least one fiesta or party hosted by someone who lives in our hometown, you know how festive ourÂ celebrations could be. And if you’ve been to one of our parties at home, you’ve seen how lavish we are when it comes to preparing food for our guests. We did just that when we hosted our own Clara Ole Potluck Fiesta party a couple of weeks ago.

The party took almost a month to prepare. The Clara Ole team gave us one task – to prepare a menu showcasing the wide variety of dishes you can make using their products, and how convenient and easy it is for anyone to serve delicious dishes, whatever level your cooking skills are and however small your kitchen is. We personally use Clara Ole products in my little kitchen in my Makati condo, and I tell you, everything I cook with their products come out perfect. 🙂 My favorites would be their pasta sauces and marinades.

Going back to our party, Ken and I thought of hosting a boodle fight, and we all agreed on the Pinoy Fiesta theme for our friends. Since it’ll be a boodle fight, Ken knew serving a couple of dishes won’t be enough. So, he came up with a menu composed of 14 dishes + the punch, which serves as my only contribution. 😀 All of the dishes were made using Clara Ole products, as listed below.

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Baon Ideas with Oreo and Tiger Energy Biscuits

I remember when we were still kids, our nanay wakes up really early in the morning to prepare our baon for school. Ken and I usually didn’t know what she prepared for us, and we’ll just be pleasantly surprised come recess time. I guess that’s why we always look forward to opening our lunchboxes during our breaks. She always makes sure we have something to eat that’s not just delicious, but will also energize us for the rest of our school day.

I’m sure many moms would agree that a good baon is vital during school days. I’m seeing a lot of moms getting creative with their kids’ baon nowadays. If you’re one of them, and you need a little inspiration, we’ve got a few ideas for you. We used 2 well-known products fromÂ Mondelez PhilippinesÂ for these recipes.

If this is your first time hearing about Mondelez (pronounced ‘mohn-dah-leez’, meaning ‘delicious world’), their company was formerly named Kraft Foods. The company has been around for decades and theyâ€™re behind familiar brands likeÂ Oreo cookies, Tiger Energy biscuits,Â Tang, Eden Cheese, Cheez Whiz, Cadbury, and Toblerone. If you check their website, you’ll find delightful recipes forÂ fun baon ideas for your kids.

Ken and I love putting a twist on our favorite dishes, and we did exactly that with the recipes belowÂ usingÂ Tiger Energy Biscuits and Oreo cookies, which are already good baon as is, but we thought of other creative treats you can make with them. These snacks / baon bites will surely give you a boost of energy, so it’s not just great for kids, but also fun snacks to take with you to the office or as merienda at home. Let us know once you’ve tried these recipes, okay? Enjoy! 🙂

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How to Cook Up Some Creative Treats

We all need food in order to function and the busier we are, the more we need to fuel us! However, some food can be really boring and just the way it looks can be off-putting. It is important to have a well-balanced diet, so you need to find ways to have more fun with your food. Everyone from parents, food fanatics and chefs are being more creative with the way their serve food in order to make meal times more fun for everyone. Eating is supposed to be enjoyable, so instead of looking at food as something you need, turn it into something you really want and coming up with fun ways to serve boring food is perfect if you have fussy children, a picky partner or choosy customers.

Here are some fun ideas on how to be more creative with your meals:

Pancake Shapes

One of the simplest ways to make breakfast pancakes more fun is to put the batter into cookie cutters, so the pancakes come out in different shapes. This is also easy to do with fried eggs and they are great for entertaining children during meal times.

Potato Casino Chips

We all like snacking on chips. In fact, chips are a popular way to serve potatoes with all kinds of meals from meat like steaks and sausages through to vegetarian dishes like fried eggs or as a chip butty. With May being National Burger Month, the chips were created from red and white potatoes to represent casino chips – a simple way to make a common food more fun.

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Finally, the McRib! We’re Loving It!

Seeing all the hype online about McDo’s McRib sandwich only made Ken and I salivate with anticipation to finally taste it. Only select stores had them available when we first heard that it’s finally here in the Philippines, so we had to control our craving for it. 😀

Fast forward to over a week ago, McDo sent us McRib sandwiches, and I invited my office friends after work to taste it with me. We had a McRib party! 😀

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Jollibee Big Burger Steak : For Your BIG Appetite

I’m sure many of you would agree: there’s something about Jollibee that keeps us coming back for more even with the wide variety of restaurant choices that are available to us. 99% of the time that we visit a Jollibee store, I just have to order their Burger Steak. I’ll have to admit, it’s my favorite alongside their Chickenjoy. So when I heard about Jollibee’s Big Burger Steak, I simply had to have it. 😀

The distinct taste of Jollibee’s Burger Steak is something I seem to always crave for. My friends, and Ken, can attest to this. And the Big Burger Steak definitely satisfies my big appetite. 😀

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Cheesy Tuna Pasta made with UFC Spaghetti Sauce with Century Tuna

Though Ken and I will pick meat over seafood any time, the Lenten season is that time of the year when we enjoy a variety of delicious seafood dishes. And last week, we got to try UFC Spaghetti Sauce with Century Tuna and Cheese.

I love tuna in sandwich spreads and pasta sauces, so I was looking forward to finding out if I’ll like this ready-made spaghetti sauce from UFC. It’s pretty convenient since you don’t have to get all messy in the kitchen. All you need is to cook up some pasta, then heat up the UFC Spaghetti Sauce in a pan. Perfect for those lazy nights, like the one I was having when I decided to cook this up. 😀

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Our First TV Guesting: Battle of the Best Pansit Malabon on Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho

In our over 4 years of food blogging, Ken and I have been invited to guest in various TV shows as food critics / bloggers / reviewers. We were even invited to share our own recipes in a televised cooking demo, but our busy work schedules and the fear of the 10-pound gain when you’re on TV held us back. 😀

Okay, that last part was a joke. And you know what they say about jokes. 😛

When we got this invite to guest as judges for the Battle of the Best Pansit Malabon on Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho, we were ecstatic! We’re big fans of Jessica Soho and her show. After a few hours of deliberation (si Kenneth kasi ehhhh 😀 ), we accepted the invite and braced ourselves for what’s to come.

On day 1 of our shoot (we didn’t know there’ll be a day 2), we were both nervous but excited. We both love Pansit Malabon and it’s a staple in almost all of the parties we hosted and attended since we were kids. So yes, we know what we’re looking for when it comes to Pansit Malabon.

Pansit Malabon is almost similar to our Pinoy favorite pansit luglog. Thick noodles, orange sauce made with annatto seed oil, strong flavors, lots of toppings. The main difference is the amount of seafood you’ll get. Malabon is known for the abundance of fresh seafood, and our own version of pansit is generously topped with them. Nowadays, they mainly use shrimps/prawns, squid, and tinapang bangus, but the old versions used tahong or fresh oysters (sushal!). The market prices in recent years have affected the amount of seafood you get per serving.

We’ve seen many food places here in Malabon that sell Pansit Malabon, but we’ve always ordered from Nanay’s, and Norma’s (they’re in Navotas). We’ve had other versions of this dish from other stores at our relatives’ and friends’ parties. So, yes, we’ve eaten a lot of Pansit Malabon in our lifetime. 😀

Now, going back to our TV guesting, I t was crazy seeing how a 15-minute segment on TV needed to be shot for 2 days. Though it was a tiring shoot, we had fun during the whole experience, seeing what happens behind the scenes of our favorite TV show.

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Mixploring at Jamba Juice

When Ken and I decided to add more fruits and vegetables to our diet, we swore off milk teas and looked for alternatives. Thankfully, Jamba Juice made the switch easier… and yummier too. 🙂

I love fruit smoothies and make them a lot at home too. So when we go out, like now that we’re living in Makati, Ken and I enjoy frequenting their Bonifacio High Street branch late at night after our almost weekly now Fully Booked visit. Their store in BGC is open till 1am, in case you didn’t know. 😉

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