Blue cheese has a very aggressive flavor. Its sharp taste and strongly aromatic characteristics make it polarizing. But what if blue cheese becomes an ingredient in ice cream? Does the ice cream tame down the tangy blue cheese properties? Could the saltiness of blue cheese marry well with the comfort of good old ice cream? The answers to that are: it is possible, yes, and YES. A quick trip to Sebastian’s, one of the most popular scooping stations in the metro, enthralled my senses with their blue cheese ice cream.

Sebastian’s is known to push the envelope on ice cream flavors. While it offers a range of familiar tastes – chocolate and vanilla for example, the ice cream brand showers the classics with a twist so good they become a new generation of classics. Good old chocolate ice cream in the world of Sebastian’s is “Chocoholics Anonymous,” rich chocolate ice cream with dark chocolate chunks and a thick fudge swirl. Why settle for vanilla when you can go for “Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough,” vanilla ice cream with clusters of unbaked chocolate chip cookie dough with walnuts.

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Oh man. Just when I’ve learned how to ignore french fries and greasy sidings, this just had to make a comeback. Who doesn’t have a weakness for Twister fries?

I’m proud of myself though. I’ve only had one serving of Twister Fries since it resurfaced on McDonald’s menu a few weeks ago. I didn’t even finish the whole thing. A big part of it I think is because I didn’t have it with softdrinks. Softdrinks + Twister fries = Happiest Tummy Ever, right? (Also Saddest Thighs Ever, but you know what I mean.) Well, a month ago, I deleted softdrinks from my life. For a Coca-Cola lover, that was plenty hard. I needed to eliminate something bad from my lifestyle though, and softdrinks seemed the easiest to take out. Going cold turkey wasn’t such a bad thing.

No more softdrinks meant less junk. Junkfood just tastes better with softdrinks. Juice and Cheetos? Nah. Water and Combos? Ugh. Once softdrinks was out of my diet, I discovered that a lot of junkfood was cut out of my cravings too.

But this entry is about Twister Fries. Which I had with iced tea. Which was a bad combination. And so my happiness with Twister Fries was short-lived. Thankfully. That snack is just sooo good but also soooo bad. Still, I relished that half a serving of twisted yumminess. It may be the last I’ll taste of it too.

Now if only I could say the same for my other weaknesses: cakes and pastries. Hey, one step at a time, right?

Whole wheat bread can come across as dry and tasteless, but these Molasses Dinner Rolls are so delicious.

The molasses heighten the taste of these whole wheat rolls, but it only has a light sweetness to it. I think it’s really yummy.

I enjoy these dinner rolls for breakfast best. Tearing into the bread little by little and dunking it in my morning cup of coffee is a simple yet rich pleasure. Mmmm.

The brand is Village Gourmet, and we got our bunch of dinner rolls at one of the SM Supermarkets. It costs P72 for about eight rolls. I think they’re eight rolls. Or was it ten? Sorry, I can’t remember. I’m not the only one who loves these dinner rolls. My family digs into the bread bag too.

Whole wheat doesn’t have to be dry and bland, right? Molasses Dinner Rolls make healthy eating more enjoyable.

I’m getting excited about breakfast already. Omnomnom.

Ice cream is love. I just found a new reason to love it even more.

The Nestle Chuckie Popsicle! Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. There’s nothing like a kiddie party to introduce you to all sorts of delicious treats.

My niece celebrated her 7th birthday today (10.10.10!) and one of her treats was a seemingly bottomless crate of frozen delights. I immediately gravitated to the Chuckie popsicle because: a) I’m a sucker for chocolate, b) I’m a fan of the Chuckie drink and ice cream cup, c) I haven’t tried this one before, d) the packaging said it had a “chocolate swirl.” I’m so glad I picked this dessert.

I love that the chocolate was milky and not too sweet. What I loved best though was the gooey chocolate swirl at the center of the popsicle! It was so good. I’ll definitely look for this on my next grocery trip.

It’s been almost half a day since I tasted it and I’m still thinking about it. <3 That’s ice cream love.

Having a warm bowl of soup on a rainy day is always comforting. One of my favorite comfort foods is miswa noodle soup. I like my miswa with patola (sponge gourd), but recently our family has been enjoying the noodles with kalabasa (squash). It’s a simple dish that’s big on comfort and vitamin A.

I recently wrote about PANSALT® , a healthier salt alternative. PANSALT® looks like common salt, has the texture of common salt and tastes like common salt. It is however lower in sodium and rich in magnesium, potassium and iodine. We tried it on this comfort dish to see if it would yield the same flavor. The verdict? Our miswa soup with kalabasa was just as delicious.

In my head it was even more delicious because we had seasoned it in a healthier way.

Miswa Soup with Kalabasa (Squash)

2 bunches of miswa noodles
3 slices of squash, roughly chopped (around 2 cups)
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
5 cups water(or less, depends on how thick you want your soup to be)
¼ kilo ground pork (you can omit this for a vegetarian option)
1 tbsp oil
PANSALT® to taste
pepper to taste

Heat oil. Saute onions and garlic until translucent. Stir in ground pork and cook till almost brown. Add water and bring to a boil. Add squash and cook until tender. Add miswa noodles, stirring constantly so the strands separate. Season with pepper and PANSALT® to taste. Serve hot.

We also tried PANSALT® on fried fish, a good companion to this light yet filling soup. Instead of rock salt, the tilapia was seasoned with PANSALT® prior to frying. Upon tasting the fried fish, I was happy to learn that it was just as appetizing.

Why are we so conscious about our seasoning? I recently shared that my husband and I are trying to be more proactive in having healthy lifestyles. High common salt intake usually results to hypertension and other health problems. My friends and relatives who have hypertension take maintenance drugs that are expensive, and they have to drink the medicine for life. Their experiences are part of the motivation my husband and I want to live more healthily. We have become more aware of how we eat, and this definitely includes how we season our food. Investing in good ingredients that promote a healthy lifestyle is worth it.

Learning about a healthier salt alternative appealed to us, and we were excited to give it a whirl. After trying PANSALT® on some of our favorite everyday dishes, it looks like we have got a new mainstay in the kitchen pantry.

PANSALT® is a product of Finland, so I am glad that it’s available locally. It is available in selected outlets of Mercury Drug, Landmark supermarkets, Rustan’s supermarket and many other major supermarkets.

Here’s to healthier meals with healthier seasonings!

Learn more about PANSALT® from their website: http://www.pansalt.ph.

My husband and I have been on a healthy eating kick lately. We are trying to be healthier parents for our toddler. Today it’s about catching up with the baby as he learns to walk, and tomorrow it’s about staying strong for him even in our old age.

Our last physical check-up yielded normal results, but we knew we could still live healthier. A big chunk of living healthy is eating healthy. Given that, my husband and I have cut soft drinks out of our diet. While I’m cutting down on my rice intake, my husband is now a salad convert. We’ve said our goodbyes to table liquid seasoning. I thought we would find the transition difficult, but I’m pleasantly surprised we’ve been quite successful at it. Neither one of us is cranky too.

I think it helps a lot that there are a lot of healthier options in the market now. Before, diets meant cardboard-tasting crackers and bland-tasting slimming drinks. Now, you can savor good food without the guilt. I believe a lot of it comes with good planning and carefully assessing your ingredients. Eating healthy does take more effort but it goes without saying that it sure pays off better.

PANSALT^®, a healthier salt alternative, was something we were both interested in upon learning about it from a friend. We still love big flavors in our food, but we were pretty concerned about the dishes’ salt content. We read up on PANSALT^® and learned that it’s a low-sodium mineral salt with iodine, magnesium and potassium. It’s a product of Finland, but distributed locally too. Excited about this healthier salt, we bought a box from Mercury Drug. Initially we thought it was pricey, but we decided to treat it as an investment in good health.

One favorite treat of ours is a bowl of diced pineapples sprinkled with salt. We did the same drill with PANSALT^®,  dusting the fruit with the same amount of PANSALT^® as we would have with regular salt. To my relief, it tasted just like regular salt with no metallic or bitter aftertaste. Surprisingly, it had the same bold flavor of regular salt. Needless to say, my husband and I were excited that we could still enjoy our flavorful dishes with a healthier salt alternative which contains only 56-57% Sodium Chloride.

I love it when I find a product that’s a great fit with my family’s lifestyle. My husband and I are looking forward to trying PANSALT^® on our favorite dishes. Right now I’m thankful that we have a healthier salt option and that we can enjoy our favorite savory dishes with less guilt!

Learn more about PANSALT^® from their website: http://www.pansalt.ph.