Profess Your Love for Food for a Chance to Win Php 5,000 from Unionbank My Easy Loans Twitter Contest – Ends January 8th!

We are Certified Foodies!First off, HAPPY NEW YEAR, fellow foodies! 2011 has been a very fruitful year for us and we can’t thank you enough! We’ll be doing a separate year-ender post of our favorite food / dishes / restos for 2011 PLUS our blog’s new theme. For now, though, we’re excited to bring you another giveaway where you can win Php 5,000 CASH from Unionbank My Easy Loans.

Some of you may ask how we came up with the name of our blog. Why Certified Foodies? It’s truly because we love everything and anything related to food and its enjoyment.  The discovery of different flavors, how it affects our mood and even relationships, how every one of us has our own capacity to tolerate certain levels of a certain flavor, the welcome modern twists that we now see being applied on traditional cuisines, the wonderful memories a dish or even a certain aroma can bring back, and the adventure of challenging your tastebuds or just trying out something new are among the reasons why this blog came to existence. 🙂

With that, we’ve got good news for you fellow certified foodies! Tell us about your love for food for a chance to win Php 5,000 in CASH in Unionbank’s My Easy Loans Twitter contest. It’s not yet too late to treat your friends or family to an ultimate food trip!

Twitter giveaway from Unionbank MyEasyLoans and Certified Foodies

CONTEST PERIOD: January 2 to 8, 2012 (yayyy for the new year!)

PRIZE: Php 5,000 CASH

MECHANICS:

1. Eligibility: This contest is open to Filipinos residing in the Philippines for at least a year, at least 18 years of age at the time of joining, and must have a Twitter account with at least 15 Twitter followers.

Continue reading Profess Your Love for Food for a Chance to Win Php 5,000 from Unionbank My Easy Loans Twitter Contest – Ends January 8th!

Win FREE Tickets to The Big Holiday Outlet Sale 2011

We haven’t completed our holiday shopping yet so it’s just timely that The Big Holiday Outlet Sale 2011 is happening this December 16th up to the 18th at the SMX Convention Hall in SM Mall of Asia. There are a TON of popular lifestyle brands and a couple of new ones joining this sale so it’s something you shouldn’t miss!

The Big Holiday Outlet Sale 2011

Yes, you can get up to a whopping 90% DISCOUNT on your favorite brands like Adidas, Nike, Puma, Maldita (likeee!), Plains & Prints, R.A.F, JB Sports, Daniel Hechter, CMG, Melissa Shoes, Giordano Ladies, BOSE, Switch, Hush Puppies, Sebago, Cushe, Ipanema, Grendha, Digital Walker, Light Room, Skechers, Desigual, Repetto, HTC (weehhh!), Lenovo, Nokia, Philips, Canon (woot!), Timex, Monster Cable, And1, Gola, Ryka, Reva, Triumph and a ton more!

If you’re a BPI cardholder, you already get FREE entrance as long as you present a valid ID. And all BPI Express Credit Edge cardholders also get additional perks plus a chance to win in the hourly raffle draws!

Again, here are the details of this mega-sale event of the year:

  • What: The BIg Holiday Outlet Sale 2011
  • When: December 16 to 18, 2011 – 10am to 9pm
  • Where: SMX Convention Centre Hall 4, Mall of Asia Complex, Pasay City

 

But, WAIT! We here at Certified Foodies are giving away FREE entrance tickets to all our readers and friends. All you have to do are the following and you can get up to THREE (3) free tickets each:

Continue reading Win FREE Tickets to The Big Holiday Outlet Sale 2011

Bon Appetea : A Unique Take on Milk Teas

For almost a year now, our family have been tea drinkers. It all started with our dad who wanted to improve his wellness by regularly drinking tea. We saw the effects on him so we decided to try it ourselves.

At first, I admit, I was a little uncomfortable with the taste of tea in my mouth. I’ve been a coffee drinker most of my life so having to switch to tea for my dose of caffeine everyday wasn’t an easy transition. But, after a week or so of habitually drinking tea, I got so used to the taste that it became something I actually looked forward to everyday. And it helped me lose 30 pounds early this year, along with my less-rice diet. Drinking tea made me feel lighter and healthier in a way. 🙂

Bon AppeteaWe know the taste needs a lot of getting used to, but thank goodness for the milk tea places around the Metro, we can now enjoy the same health benefits of tea and milk while enjoying a cold (or warm) tasty thirst-quencher. One of the fairly new milk tea places we discovered is Bon Appetea (oohh, I just love the wordplay… but, wait, there’s more!).

We were invited to have a taste of what they had to offer when we dropped by the Bon Appetea Express Bar in Ortigas, at the Strata 2000 food court (this branch opened in mid-August of this year). Owner Tom Pestano, along with fellow foodie Jonel Uy, was there to introduce us to the milk tea flavors they have on their menu.

Unfortunately, I don’t have my notes from the said taste test anymore because of Typhoon Pedring, BUT, I can still remember which ones I loved and those that I can remember.

First, let me tell you that they have 7 menu groups that should make it easy for you to pick what you want.

For the purists or true-blue tea enthusiasts, you should go for the Simplicitea that you can order either hot or iced. Among the 5 variants under this menu group, I remember having a taste of the Jasmine Green Tea and Assam Black Tea. Between the two, I enjoyed the latter ‘cause I’m not really fond of anything flowery (long, funny story that goes back to my childhood days :D). I prefer stronger teas, even with coffee, so it was no surprise that it was what I remember the most among all the teas we had that warm afternoon. 🙂

You can see them prepare your milk teas at the Bon Appetea Express Brew in Ortigas

For beginners or those who don’t like the herby (a friend described it “grassy”) taste of tea, you should go for the Milk Teas offered by Bon Appetea. I loved Ambrosia – a combination of Assam Black Tea and brown sugar syrup. Obviously, it’s because of the black tea again. Well, I also liked the Morocco Nights, which is Jasmine Green Tea and peppermint. The slight minty flavor helped mask the flowery taste of Jasmine.

Our group's Bon Appetea milk teas

They also have other tea groups such as the Yogurt Teas, Fruit Teas, VitaliTea, and Herbal Teas. But, the other tea variant I loved was their NaughTeas. I told you there’ll be more wordplay, right? I just love how they came up with the names. Now, you might be wondering what the NaughTeas are all about. Well, they actually have a unique kick with a bit of alcohol content in the toppers added to them. I actually ordered a Long Island Iced Tea with vodka pearls for takeout. The alcohol content is subtle so I don’t think you’d have to worry about getting drunk over these NaughTeas. 😀

Continue reading Bon Appetea : A Unique Take on Milk Teas

Quick Update : Moving to a New and Better Server

Update: The blog has been moved to the new server already. We hope everyone can already view our posts now. 🙂

Just a quick announcement. Our blog (this one) will be under intermittent maintenance from now until probably Saturday night. I’ll be moving this blog to a new server to address DNS issues resulting to some people not being able to access this site completely.

In the meantime, please check for updates at our Facebook page. We’re already working on finishing the validation of all entries in our first anniversary giveaway. And over the weekend, we’ll announce our California Crunch giveaway winners.

We have more giveaways coming soon so make sure you’ve already subscribed to our updates or followed us on Facebook and Twitter.

Hope you all have an awesome weekend! 🙂

Healthier Snack Time with California Crunch Cassava Chips and GIVEAWAY

Because of the nature of my offline and online work, whenever I need a pick-me-up or something to keep me alert in the middle of the night, I have chips ready for me to snack on with a cup of hot tea. I know how unhealthy some snacks can be, especially when I’m munching on them when my body should already be resting. But, a few weeks ago, I discovered a healthier snack for me to enjoy – California Crunch Cassava Chips.

California Crunch Cassava Chips we received as a prize

My first time trying these cassava chips was when I got them as prizes in their Facebook contest. I was anticipating getting a taste of California Crunch Cassava Chips to know how they compare to potato chips. So, how was it?

Well, to sum up how much we enjoyed it, there are no photos of the actual chips here. Why? Ken and I loved it so much that we forgot to take photos. Hahaha. I promise to update this post with photos of the chips. 😀 (UPDATE: Scroll down for a closer look on the chips)

And, yes, there were 2 packs of each variant – Sour Cream & Onions and Barbecue. We gobbled them up like there’s no tomorrow. 😀 California Crunch Cassava Chips in Barbecue and Sour Cream and Onions

What we particularly liked about these cassava chips is the crunch. The chips are thicker than your regular potato chips so you’d get all that crunchy goodness matched with more flavors packed in each piece. Ken hogged the barbecue variant and I kept the sour cream all to myself and my nanay.

Closer look at California Crunch Cassava Chips

Cassava is known to have more fiber and potassium than potatoes. Plus, they’re 30% less fat than potato chips and it’s 0% cholesterol. So, you can enjoy a pack or two of California Crunch Cassava Chips without the guilt of eating something unhealthy for you or your kids. And it’s not as messy to eat, too, as the chips aren’t as greasy. 🙂

Cassava is healthier than potatoes(credit)

We here at Certified Foodies highly recommend you try California Crunch Cassava Chips so much that we’re giving away THREE (3) packs of these healthy snack to our readers and fellow foodies.

Continue reading Healthier Snack Time with California Crunch Cassava Chips and GIVEAWAY