Going Gluten-Free: Weeks 3 and 4

I finally finished my gluten-free month.  And while I have mostly kept gluten out of my diet, I've allowed a little in here and there. Honestly, I didn't notice anything dramatic, but overall I did feel pretty good.  But I think that was because I kept out most refined sugars and limited dairy as well.  Basically I plan to keep my diet as clean as possible, but not be super strict about it. 

March 3
B: protein shake
L: Nourish Bowl
D: Turkey, cranberry sauce, roasted sweet potato

Nourish bowls are our go-to for daily lunches.

March 4
B: protein shake
L: Nourish Bowl
D: Leftovers

March 5
B: protein shake
L: Nourish Bowl
D: Zuchini Lasagna from here

March 6
B: protein shake
L: Nourish Bowl
D: Oatmeal

March 7
B: protein shake
L: Nourish Bowl
D: Falafel burger with sweet potato fries from here

March 8
B: gluten-free banana bread
L: lentil patties, beet falafel, brown rice
D: tofu walnut burger with red rice

March 9
B: oatmeal
L: lentil patties, beet falafel, brown rice from here
D: Crock pot beef, sweet potato and mushroom stew

March 10
B: protein shake
L: Nourish Bowl
D: Leftovers

March 11
B: protein shake
L: Nourish Bowl
D: Oatmeal

March 12
B: protein shake
L: Nourish Bowl
D: Crock pot chicken curry

March 13
B: protein shake
L: Nourish Bowl
D: Falafel

March 14
B: protein shake
L: oatmeal
D: chicken cashew curry and pomelo salad from here

March 15
B: hard boiled egg and gf banana bread
L: oatmeal
D: vegan biryani

March 16
B: hard boiled egg with oatmeal cranberry bar
L: beef burger on tomato salad
D: Spaghetti: gluten free quinoa/corn pasta with turkey sauce and quinoa oat flat bread

Going Gluten Free: Week 2

2/24
B: protein shake
L: nuts and dried fruit
D: Beef tenderloin, potatoes, red cabbage slaw, Paleo brownie

2/25
B: protein shake
L: nuts and dried fruit
D: Nourish Bowl

2/26
B: protein shake
L: nuts and dried fruit
D: Nourish Bowl

2/27
B: protein shake
L: Greek salad
D: cauliflower crust pizza and caesar salad

2/28
B: protein shake
L: green smoothie (spinach, walnuts, coconut milk, banana)
D: Bibimbap

3/1
B: protein shake
L: beet falafel with marinated tofu (from Salcedo market!)
D: gluten-free spaghetti with turkey sauce

3/2
B: protein shake
L: nuts and dried fruit
D: spaghetti leftovers

Maternity Leave in Numbers

Days: 86

Miles Ran: 31

Yoga Classes: 20

Massages: 6

New Recipes: 19

Closets Organized: 3

Pounds Lost: 20

Baby and Toddler Kisses: Lost Count

Going Gluten Free: Week 1

Breastfeeding gives me lots of iPhone research time. Recently I have been reading about the Paleo diet. I used to puke in my mouth a little when I read about it because of words like bone marrow, but I have been considering giving it a try. As a little prep, I have decided to go gluten-free for 30 days to see if I notice any improvement in my health or energy levels. Granted, I have been getting up every four hours to nurse and change Baby Genki, but I also have random pains, frequent tiredness, and occasional anxiety. Probably all normal, but wouldn't hurt to cut out processed foods, refined sugar, and gluten to see how I feel.

Here's what I had this week:

Feb 17
B: Vegetarian omelette, hash browns, coffee (duh, assume that for every day)
L: Protein shake*
D: Tofu red curry with brown rice, raw chocolate nib brownie

Feb 18
B: Protein Shake
L: Oatmeal with banana
D: Roasted portobello, roasted butternut squash, spinach salad with goat cheese and carrots

Feb 19
B: Protein Shake
L: Leftovers from dinner
S: Frozen yogurt with granola, strawberries, and coconut
D: Vegetarian chili with quinoa corn bread

Feb 20
B: Protein Shake
L: Leftovers from dinner
D: Julienne vegetable stir fry
S: apple paleo cookies  

Feb 21
B: Protein Shake
L: Leftovers from dinner
D: Spaghetti and herb flatbread
S: Vegan PB cookies

Feb 22
B: Paleo burger (what?!)--thank you Down to Earth Farms
L: Protein Shake (can't go a day without my witch's brew)
D: Vegetarian chili and quinoa corn bread (still had leftovers!)

Feb 23
B: Oatmeal with dried fruit
L: Protein Shake
D: Corn chips, salsa, hummus, and veggies (that's because I hosted a baby shower and couldn't eat the cupcakes)

*Witch's Brew: almond milk, banana, spinach, berries, tumeric, peanut butter, honey, Amazing Green

Manila Restaurants: 2012 Edition

I like to eat. Who doesn't? Manila has a lot to offer when it comes to restaurants. Pretty much anything you want, you can find. However, traffic is a nightmare, so we tend to stay close to home in Makati. So keep in mind that most of my reviews are from around there, a few we ventured a little further. Also, I don't really eat meat. The Shark does (duh), so his picks are here, too. Happy eating!

Best Vegetarian
1. Corner Tree Cafe
Intimate setting (sometimes tables are too close), awesome walnut tofu burger, good service, always crowded
2. Pipino
Reasonably priced, good service, nice selection, weird decor, limited parking

3. Sugar Leaf, Roxas corner Buendia, Makati
Convenient parking, delicious juices, small organic grocery store

Best Mexican
1. Orale, The Fort
Great decor, outdoor seating, fresh ingredients, good beer selection

2. Chihuahua, Greenbelt
Nice selection of sauces, always out of guacamole, adequate indoor seating, great margaritas (or so I've heard), now open in Greenbelt but prefer the Makati Ave branch
3. FaBurrito, Makati Columns
Fast delivery, consistent taste, not open Sundays, budget friendly, good veggie chips
4. Achoite, Rockwell, Power Plant Mall
Outdoor seating, good selection of beer, fresh ingredients

Best Italian
1. Caruso, Bel-Air Village, Makati
Great ambience, awesome service, excellent food, nice selection of wine
2. La Grotta, Legaspi Village
Cute atmosphere, decent food


Best Filipino
1. Mesa Filipino
Great for big parties, quick service, tasty salads

2. XO 46 Bistro
Small wine pours, slow service, friendly chef, delicious tofu sisig

Best Mediterranean
1. Hossein's, Greenbelt 3
Outdoor seating, quick service, large selection, awesome hummus and falafel
2. Cafe Mediterranean, Greenbelt 1
Delivers, consistent,

Best Pizza
1. Papa John's
Tastes like America
2. Yellow Cab
Fast delivery, a little greasy, overall good


Best View
1. Skydeck, Bayleaf Hotel, Intramuros

Best Indian
1. Legend of India
dim lighting, average service, delicious naan
2. New Bombay
Delivers, decent ambiance, inconsistent quality

Best Thai
1. People's Palace
Hard to get a reservation, nice outdoor seating, best Thai in town

Best Moroccan
1. Food stall at Salcedo Market.

Best American/Comfort Food
1. Apartment 1B
Always packed (make a reservation), comfortable seating, attentive servers, overpriced, great salads
2. Draft, The Fort
Awesome fish and chips, excellent beer selection

Best European
2. Sala Bistro
Outdoor seating, good service, 

Best Spanish
1. Terry's
Great wine selection, hearty pours, yummy
2. Alba, Bel-Air Village
Great live music

Best Japanese
1. Sereyna, Little Tokyo, Makati
Always busy, cool seating, delicious food
2. Omakase, Ayala Triangle
Great location in the park, limited beer selection, tasty food
3. Kokoro, Roxas Blvd., Manila
Quick meal, yummy ramen and rolls

Best Dessert
1. Chocolate Fire
Beautiful display case (that they don't allow you to take pictures of!), creative combinations (dark chocolate covered honey comb)
2. Cafe Breton
Amazing crepes, cute outdoor seating, blogged about the deliciousness here

Best Brunch
1. Sofitel
Totally decadent, very pricy
2. Marriott
Dessert room, lots of options

Japan: Kyoto

We spent 10 days in Japan. Lovely, crazy, cold, and oh so foreign Japan. It was tough to decide where to go, but we narrowed it down to Kyoto, Yudanaka, and Osaka. First stop, Kyoto.

After a quick 3 hour flight from Manila, we landed in Osaka. Getting our JR (train) passes was a major pain. It took over an hour. And this was after we pre-paid for them online. We missed our train, so grabbed some soba and beer. Which Toto loved--the soba, not the beer. And Yaya got to try chop sticks for the first time. I have to say that surprised me as she lives in the ASIA. And has travelled all over the world. But she got the hang of it pretty quick. Once we started riding trains, we fell in love. They were clean, on time, and spacious. And had vending machines. The best part was that Toto didn't have to sit if she didn't want to, which she never does.

Where we slept

Kyoto Royal Park Hotel, nice ambience in the lobby, expensive breakfast, friendly staff, cramped quarters, convenient location. But the best discovery? Heated toilet seat. 

What we did

The Shark booked us two private tours and a group tour through Tours by Locals, and we were impressed. My favorite activity was the private cooking class. We started out by shopping in the Nishiki Market, which was about a ten minute walk from our hotel. Thank god for our guide, or we seriously wouldn't have known what 90% of the food was. Most stalls had samples and I was in heaven when we hit a huge shop of dried fruit. We ended up with some cranberries, strawberries and kiwi. And an awkward encounter when I tried to buy the display items. 

Persimmons 

Then we walked over to our guide's apartment. We tried to act like we weren't staring at everything, but we were. And the toilet seat was heated there too! We had a blast learning how to make sushi rolls, spinach salad, and miso soup. And by the time we finished cooking, we were STARVING and wolfed it down.

Pretty and delicious.

Just like all the Asian tour groups we saw in Washington, DC, we had to reciprocate and joined a huge bus tour to see some palaces and temples.

Stay with your buddy and be back to your bus in 1 hour!

We spent a whole day on a private guided tour of Fushimo-Inari, a Shinto Shrine built up a mountain to honor a huge rock at the top. We walked several flights of stairs and saw smaller shrines along the way. When we came a map, our guide showed us that it is possible to go all the way to the top, and laughed as though we would even consider doing that. Then her eyes bugged out of her head when I said of course I wanted to go to the top and see that rock. So we did. And it was beautiful.

Just a few more steps...

Top o' the mountain

What we ate

As soon as we arrived we found the closest organic store and headed out to stock up on milk for Toto. It was called "Help" for reasons unknown to me and I couldn't read anything, but just felt better knowing it was a natural grocer. We got some fruit, milk, and tons of snacks. Toto ended up loving these rice crackers with seaweed. If I would have known, I would have bought 20 bags.

We had dinner twice on Pontocho, a narrow road near our hotel. Once for the best sushi ever (Kappa Zushi), and the other for an awesome Italian meal to celebrate The Shark's birthday. Yes, Italian. You can only eat so much soba and fish. On the other hand you can never get enough sake.

You'll love the food here. If you can find your restaurant.

What we saw

Kyoto did not disappoint in the blossom department. We were fortunate enough to be there for the end of the plum blossoms and the beginning of the cherry blossoms. 

The we hopped on a train to head for the mountains and meet up with Sister and her Hubby.

Easy Veggie Soup

It is never cold in Manila. Never. But when it rains I start getting that cozy soup feeling. I came across this recipe on my favorite food blog and it reminded me of all the times my best friend and I ate way too much unlimited soup and salad at Olive Garden. This can be made vegan with veggie stock, or chicken stock. It was simple to make and Toto loved it. Great way to get some veggies and protein (beans!) in her tummy. 

Beans, beans, they're good for your heart...

I Knew That Nutritional Yeast Would Come in Handy

Back in July, to make up for "The Worst Birthday Dinner That Never Happened" (long story for another time), The Shark booked us a weekend at The Farm. Vegan food, yoga classes, fresh air. It was love at first sight.

Sight of a slight altercation between a goose and the child. No one was harmed.

One of Toto's favorite spots.

In fact, we loved the food so much we bought the cookbook. Lots of recipes call for cashew cheese, and while I was ready to pay an exorbitant price for it at Healthy Options, they didn't carry it. So, we made it ourselves. Surprisingly easy and delicious. Even The Shark, who grew up on a dairy farm, couldn't stop dipping. Granted, he said it tasted more like hummus than cheese, but the nutritional yeast and apple cider vinergar definitely gave it a cheezy tang. I used this recipe because it didn't call for probiotics (need to google that) or long hours fermenting, but maybe in the future we'll try making a more complicated recipe. For now, I was happy to soak cashews, then plop them in the food processor with apple cider vinegar, nutritional yeast, garlic, onion powder, salt, pepper, and some water. (I normally use nutritional yeast as a yogurt mix-in and in smoothies - lots of folic acid and B vitamins!). And voila, a yummy vegan snack that we can use for tomorrow's vegan stuffed peppers.

Raw cashews from the Salcedo Market - P250 ($6)

Happy vegan snacking.

Keeping Up With the Playgroup Moms

For Toto's most recent nanny/toddler playgroup that we hosted at our place, we served the kids mangoes, bananas and goldfish crackers. Pretty standard toddler fare, right? Well, one day after work, when Yaya was giving me the rundown on Toto's day: what she did (played at the park, went to playgroup); how long she slept (2 hours, which she rarely does on the weekends); and what she ate (everything), she told me that Toto LOVED the quinoa blueberry muffins she had at her fiend J's playgroup. Uh, what?! Homemade organic muffins, packed full of protein and antioxidants? While I was filling up those innocent kids with salty leftovers from Toto's first birthday party (they weren't stale, I tried them). Clearly that needed to be remedied. I found this great recipe and Healthy Options carried Bob's Red Mill quinoa flour. They were awesome. Toto ate 3 (mini-muffins) and I had to put them away before The Shark devoured the whole plate. I tweaked this recipe from Lemons and Anchovies by halving the brown sugar, using canola oil, and only baking 10 minutes for mini-muffins. Happy baking.

Toto's seal of approval.

More Organic Produce

I bypassed my go-to stall, DGM Organics, at the Saturday Market this morning, and instead bought my weekend produce from Herbana Farms. The stall is less crowded, cleaner, and more organized. Probably because it is not on the main market path. The food also appears to be better quality. Their website indicates they hold demonstrations for those interested in organic farming, and even have an annual festival. This morning I picked up kamote (sweet potato) for a casserole, lettuce for a salad, and carrots, celery, and thyme for accompaniments to the whole chicken I am roasting up this afternoon for a casual dinner with friends. All the produce was less than $10. Take that Whole Foods. (But I still miss you. And Trader Joe's. And Target, but not for produce, for everything else.) 

That will be 40 cents.

Sunday Cooking

Good yogurt is hard to come by in Manila, but please correct me if I am wrong because I would love to send Toto to college, but can't because she loves yogurt and eats it everyday. We end up buying the 1kg Total Fage greek yogurt from S&R that costs $25. Yes, you read that right. I looked online and found it for about $7. As we try and budget in order to save for a down payment on a house in DC (more on that later), we are looking for ways to save money. And no, weekend Starbucks lattes are not on the table. 

On Friday, a colleague received a yogurt maker she had ordered and when she saw me staring longingly at it, let me borrow it during her 2-week vacation. All you need is a liter of boxed UHT milk (in Manila, but in America I would use fresh) and some yogurt or yogurt starter. After boiling and then cooling the milk, I mixed in some yogurt, then poured it in the 7 jars. The machine is currently plugged in and after 8 hours we should have delicious yogurt - for about $10.

Cheap-er yogurt.

New Year, new recipes. I am getting sick of all the old recipes we used last year, so The Shark suggested this one - warm quinoa salad with tarragon and edamame. Had to make some substitutions because you can never find everything you need for a recipe in Manila, even if you go to 10 different stores. So, in stead of roasted red peppers, I used sweet pickled bell peppers. And there was no edamame to be found (I thought we were in Asia?!), so I used green garbanzos. That I didn't even know existed. In the end it was delicious.

My sister whipped up a quick and easy veggie lasagna in San Diego, so we threw together our own version. Layer one was brocoli, garlic and Japanese spinach (there are so many green leafy vegetables at the market that I had no idea which one to pick. A friendly Japanese woman told me the Japanese spinach was the best. She's probably biased, but I went with it anyway), and layer 2 was yellow zucchini and roasted tomatoes. Instead of pricey ricotta and parmesan, I went with less pricey mozzarella and cottage cheese. Perfect for a Sunday night.

Guess I gave away that the sauce wasn't homemade.

A day's worth of veggies in one meal.

Kid Recipe: Cheesy Broccoli

Adapted this one from here. I cut the pieces much smaller, and didn't add salt or garlic. Toto loves it, like she loves most food. I have trouble finding good green veggies for here, so end up supplementing with this combo of spinach/peas/brown rice/barley or mixing turkey into this spinach/pea/pear combo. Luckily, she will still eat these "baby" foods, because I have friends who toddlers have rejected anything pureed. These are so convenient for the park, airplane, hotel, etc. But she definitely prefers whole foods like pasta, bagels, rice, cheese, pancake...hmm, that's a long list of carbohydrates, but at least we stick to whole-wheat, organic options.

Any ideas for green veggies for toddlers that you can find in Manila?

Vegetarian Challenges

Being vegetarian, or mostly vegetarian, can be difficult. In Ghana, I was offered a chicken head with the feet coming out the beak, in Rwanda I saw every part of the cow hanging in market stalls, and in the Philippines, a half formed egg is a bar snack. Fortunately, Manila is home to many great restaurants, including an outstanding vegetarian/vegan place called Corner Tree Cafe. And I just heard of another called Pipino. Most restaurants have a vegetable section, but I've noticed they often contain fish, and sometimes even pork or beef! I had to laugh when we passed this sign on the way to Tagaytay - "vegetarian meat" - I really don't even want to know. But I do. Actually, the traffic was so bad, I probably could have gotten out and bought some. Next time.

Giving Boca Burgers a run for their money.

Kid Recipe: Roasted Carrots

For locals, if you don't already know, Healthy Options has expanded their frozen section (turkey burgers, frozen blueberries) and also added locally-sourced, organic produce and meats.  We roasted an entire chicken and it was delicious.  I am not a big meat-eater and I certainly do not like touching raw meat, but I felt good about getting this organic source of protein into Toto's diet - and she loved it.  In the produce section they carry lettuce, peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, herbs, and carrots, and other things I may be forgetting.  I checked out a bunch of recipes online, but settled for this one from one of my favorite recipe blogs.  Pretty simple, just tossed the carrots in olive oil, salt, pepper and rosemary and baked at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.  Toto scarfed them down with some turkey sausage (also from the frozen section), veggie noodles and cheese.

I ate about half of these while Toto was napping.

Kid Recipe: Apple Sauce

Apple sauce is so easy to make and tastes so much better than the jarred stuff.  Not to mention it is a lot cheaper to make it yourself.  I just peeled and chopped 4 big Fuji apples, added 1 cup of water, some lemon peel, the juice of 1 lemon, 1 cinnamon stick and a little brown sugar (next time I will probably go sugar free), brought it to a boil, then simmered for 30 minutes.  Afterwards, I used a potato masher to, well, mash it.  Delicious with vanilla ice cream (for me) or on pancakes (for Toto).

The best baby food storage method I have found is to cook big batches on the weekend - chop mangoes, bake squash, roast carrots, pan fry turkey, boil noodles - then cool and freeze in these 6.5 ounce Libbey bowls I get from Amazon.  According to the Libbey website the lids are BPA-free (god knows what other chemicals are there, but the food rarely even touches the lid).

My other great food storage method is a second fridge.  I had to beg my employer a bit for this one, but it was SO worth it.  Now I can store (hoard) tortillas, bread, baby food, berries, spinach, and all the other stuff that we would have to run to the store weekly to replenish.

Kid Recipes: Tofu Fingers

I may have already mentioned that I really like Ruth Yaron's book, Super Baby Food, because of the clear tips on food preparation and storage and cool toddler recipes.  Tofu fingers were so easy, just dip tofu slices in milk, then toss in a combination of bread crumbs, wheat germ and parmesan cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.  Yum.