I have 5 kids and 4 are already attending school, 2 must be ready by 5 AM while the older 2 must start getting ready by 6 AM. The youngest, I pray everyday that he won’t wake up until 7 AM. It’s a daily challenge but mostly it’s a win. I have with me a support system that makes everything seems easy. For one, my husband is trying to be the one to pacify Marius when he wakes up earlier than 7 AM. Husband usually sleeps at 2, I can’t thank him enough for doing that extra job. My mother on the other hand, help me with what the kids need.

Breakfast is one thing that I always try to be the one to prepare. It’s my way of saying or showing to them that even with the new baby, I still have time to take care of them. I make sure that they always eat a complete breakfast. One that is loaded with carbohydrates, protein, and fiber from fruits.

We try to alternate it with bread and Potatoes and I know you are going to ask why! So here’s 5 reasons why we include US Potatoes in my kids’ breakfast:

It is easy to prepare and versatile. From fried to bake to even making it in a soup. Potatoes can be served as snacks, breakfast in our case, or even as a main dish. Here’s a sample of a US Potato used as main dish:

That’s Seafood Potato Stew and the recipe you can find here: Seafood Potato Stew Recipe. US Potatoes is also good for baon. Last year, I made a one week baon menu using US Potatoes.

US Potatoes is delicious and my kids really love the taste no matter the recipe is. Of course our favorite will always be fried (specially the criss cross one) but we’re also inclined to choose US Potatoes Croquette.

US potatoes provides the energy, carbohydrates and potassium kids need to power performance throughout the school day. And that is the reason why this mom is all about potatoes. Being in the school for more almost 10 hours can be really tiring. I make sure that they have the energy they need by serving me the right food in the morning. US Potatoes is an ideal part of their breakfast because of the energy and potassium it provides. It’s also good for me since I am breastfeeding. Potatoes’ a good source of Potassium.

US Potatoes is available in leading supermarkets. Hindi sya mahirap hanapin and I can always get a bag of potatoes when we do our grocery, whatever supermarket it is.

It is relatively cheap specially the frozen. US potatoes affordability and versatility makes it the perfect breakfast for my kids. Hindi compromised and budget at health ng kids.

Potatoes USA, an organization that has thankfully brought US frozen, recently visited the culinary club of The Raya School in Fairview, Quezon City to demonstrate the potato’s versatility. Two potato dishes that was prepared were Broccoli Cheddar Potato Puffs and Chocolate Mashed Potato Truffles.

Broccoli Cheddar Potato Puffs

Chocolate Mashed Potato Truffles

US potatoes are available in supermarkets and groceries nationwide. For more information on US potatoes, visit www.potatogoodness.com/ or like and follow Potatoes USA-Philippines on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/PotatoesUSAPhilippines/

Whoever started the thing that you have to say CHEESE when you are being photographed must be a real cheese lover! Because saying cheese does not just fake a smile, it can really put a smile to anyone’s face! Cheese is life mga momsh kaya naman I’m sharing with you my favorite Cheesy Microwave Meals Recipes.

Let’s talk about cheese first. What is your most favorite cheese? I’d go for Mozzarella any given day. It’s a must in our grocery list, we can’t have a month without mozarella. And all along, I though it was the only cheese that we need until I discovered Jalapeño Jack cheese.

It’s the perfect cheese for us because we love anything spicy! What’s the best Jalapeño Jack cheese brand? Always look for the Real California Cheese or Milk seal. That’s my guide ever since because with that seal, I know that that the cheese product is certified having been made with 100% Real California Milk from Real California Dairy families.

Why California? California leads the U.S. as a  producer of milk, ice cream, butter, nonfat dry milk and whey protein concentrate and is the second largest producer of cheese and yogurt.

Cheesy Microwave Meals Recipes

Cheesy Microwave Spicy Mac and Cheese Recipe

Marius is a real cheese lover and his favorite is mac and cheese! Sya lang naman may gusto nyan so sometimes I feel like it’s a burden to cook mac and cheese. So when I learned that I can actually do mac and cheese in a very short time using the microwave, aba, ina araw araw na ang mac and cheese.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup elbow macaroni
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup Raw California Jalapeño Jack

How to prepare:

1. Put macaroni in a microwaveable mug and water.
2. Microwave for 1 minutes and repeat 6-8 times (depends on your macaroni brand, some cooks faster, some takes 8 minutes)
3. Put milk and cheese, mix then microwave for 30 seconds.
4. ENJOY!

And with the use of Jalapeño Jack cheese, my older kids are now mac and cheese lovers too!

Cheesy Microwave Egg Omelette

Now this meal is for me. Actually for all the busy moms out there. This meal is super easy and super fast to prepare. Perfect na breakfast sa ating mga momsh!

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp diced tomato
• 1 tbsp diced bell pepper
• 1 tbsp diced white onion
• 1 tbsp mushroom
• 1 tbsp raw sharp California cheddar
• salt for seasoning

How to prepare:

1. Beat 2 eggs in amicrowaveable mug
2. Put bell pepper, tomato, and onion
3. Microwave for 1 minute then stir.
4. Microwave for another minute and enjoy!

Just add a toast and you’re ready to go with the cheesy Microwave Egg Omelette.

Hawaiian Pizza In A Mug

Pineapple on pizza is my thing and I know a lot of you love your pizza that way too! This is a fun and healthy snack for kids (and for adults hahaha). Pwede din pang breakfast because it is easy to prepare and at the same time, complete meal na sya. Carbohydrates from the  pizza crust, fiber from pineapple and vegetables tapos protein from cheese.

Ingredients:

• 4tbsp flour
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp baking powder
• pinch of baking soda
• 3-5 tablespoon of Real California Milk
• 1 tbsp of olive oil
• Ham, Pineapply, bell pepper, white onion for toppings
• 1/4 cup California Mozzarella cheese
• 2 tbsp pizza sauce or sweet spaghetti sauce
• italian seasoning

How to cook microwave pizza in a mug:

1. Mix flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a microwaveable mug.
2. Add 3 tablespoon of milk first, if the mixture is still dry and not dough like, add more milk.
3. Add your sauce. Add your toppings then cheese on top. I love adding a few bell pepper on top.
4. Microwave for 1 minute then stop then microwave for another minute.
5. EAT it while it’s hot!

Cheesy Chicken Quesadillas

Here’s another use for Jalapeño Jack cheese. Sobrang perfect nung kick ng anghang nya for chicken Quesadillas. Another cheese recipe that is super easy to make and at the same time perfect meryenda ng kids. What I like most about this meal is na co conceal ng sarap ng cheese yung bell pepper, they do not like eating bell pepper. Try nyo ito mga momsh para mapakain nyo ng gulay mga bagets ninyo.

Cheesy Chicken Quesadillas Ingredients: 

• Tortillas
• 1 cup Cooked chicken fillet (shred ng kaunti)
• 2 tbsp Taco mixture
• 1 green bell pepper, cut into small dice
• 1 tomato (without seeds) cut into small dice
• California Mozzarella cheese
• California Jalapeño Jack Cheese

How to cook:

1. Mix the chicken, tacos mixture, green bell pepper, and tomatoes in a microwaveable bowl and microwave for 1 minute.
2. Place 2 tortillas in a microwaveable plate and microwave for 30 seconds
3. Put the chicken mixture on one of the tortillas, add Jalapeño Jack Cheese and mozarella cheese.
4. Place the other tortilla on top and microwave for 1 minute.

ENJOY!! After preparing this, get ready to prepare more! WINNER NA WINNER SA MGA KIDS!

Chili Con Chicken Carne

What I love most about the chicken mixture I did for the Chicken Quesadilla is I can use it to create a rice meal. Though my video suggested other wise haha I use the same mixture for my Chili Con Chicken Carne. Add corn lang and rice and of course cheese! Microwave for 1 minute and ready to eat!

So you can actually prepare a big batch of the chicken mixture and put the mixture on your fridge and use it whenever the kids asked for meryenda.

Just make sure that when you buy cheese to use for Cheesy Microwave Meals Recipes, look for the Real California Cheese Seal  or Real California Milk Seal to ensure that the cheese you’re enjoying is real food made by real families.

California dairy products are available at the following membership shopping outlets and grocery stores in the Philippines:

• S&R Membership Shopping
• Landers Superstore
• Robinsons Supermarket
• SM Hypermarket
• Merkado Supermarket
• Unimart Supermarket

Want to learn more about the Real California Milk seal and California dairy? Visit the Real California Milk website at www.RealCaliforniaMilk.com.

*This post was sponsored by Real California Milk. The photos, recipes and opinions are my own.

Blanching is a cooking process where in you submerge a food substance, mostly veggies and fruits, in boiling water for a few minutes then placed under cold running water to stop the cooking process. Why you should practice blanching? Because it is a tried and tested time saver! Maniwala kayo sa akin mga inay!

Akalain mong 3 minutes lang may guinisang gulay na kame. Chopsuey can be done in less than 10 minutes! Promise talaga, this technique is a life saver. This is a must if you are yayaless like me and have mouthssss to feed!

How to properly blanch vegetables? Is there a guide in blanching? Ilang minutes ba dapat?

How long should I blanch? Minutes always depends on the thickness or size of the veggies. Broccoli florets (around 1 1/5 inch diameter) is usually blanched for 3 minutes. Smaller veggies are blanched for lesses time. Thinly sliced vegetables such as carrots are blanched really fast. Yung tipong ilublob mo lang yung veggies sa boiling water then running water na. Always use a strainer, a must have in the kitchen yung medyo malaki na strainer.

Can I reuse the boiling? I do but for veggies that are peeled only. Say, I will use it for carrots, then cauliflower, then broccoli.

Can I blanch all kinds of vegetables? Here are the list of veggies that we tried:

• sigarilyas (because that’s my fave!!) We usually blanch 1 kilos of sigariylas
• sitaw and it goes well with almost anything! Adobong sitaw, sinigang na baboy, guinisang ampalaya, pakbet, guinisang kalabasa, the sitaw possibility is endless!
• Kalabasa
• Sayote, it should be super quick too! Madali sya matunaw
• Patola, I tried pero natunaw na sya agad haha
• Puso ng saging, OK din but nangingitim sya so I would not reco
• Siling panigang. Favorite ng nanay ko mag blanch ng siling panigang, mahal daw kase eh. So pag nagmura na, buy sya mga 1 kg then blanch nya.
• Kangkong and talbos ng kamote, super quick lang dapat
• Baguio beans, also super quick lalo na if sliced na
• Potato medyo matagal, 8-10 min
• Labanos we also tried, dapat sobrang bilis lang

Yan ang naalala ko so far but basically, we blanch veggies based on recipe. So if we have plans to cook chopsuey, will blanched all ingredients then sama sama na sila sa ziplock.

Another advantage if blanching is mas maganda yung kulay ng gulay, mas matingkad sya and I do not know why. As to nutrient loss, yes merong loss, but hello, at least hindi sanity mo na loss because with blanching, hindi ka na maloloka sa pag aasikaso ng lutuin.

You will need at least half the day to blanch a 2 week vegetables menu. Isang paguran lang but hayahay na buong linggo di ba. Try mo din and tell me how it went for you.