Frannywanny

There are many things that brighten up my day... ... impromptu lunch or dinner dates with Paul  ... video chatting with my parents and Pan ... seeing photos of my cutie doggie Scottie ... discovering a new delicious food place ... and receiving a surprise specially delivered to my doorstep I always believe that how our day turns out is fully dependent on us. Happiness, as I have mentioned previously here, is a frame of mind. It's only YOU who can control whether or not you want to be happy or not. In my case, I choose to stay on the positive side and find things that make me really happy. Of course, it doesn't hurt to get warm hugs, sweet kisses or a fat slice of Strawberry Shortcake (or okay, a Gongcha treat) every now and then too. ;) Speaking of receiving a surprise package delivered to my doorstep, that actually happened last week! I was so thrilled when Paul called me to say that a nice yummy-looking hamper was delivered to our house and not only does it look go...

Being a foodie is a tough job. With the wide-variety of food available and the opportunity to eat to our heart's content, I'd say, we're lucky to live in a world where achieving gastronomic satisfaction is indeed possible and for some, it happens quite often too. I'd say though that as one bids goodbye to his/her wonderful twenties and slowly enters his/her 30s, 40s and even 50s, there's that great need to be more mature and responsible about the things we put in our mouth. Beyond being fit and good-looking, there's also our blood chemistry, the rise and fall of one's cholesterol and sugar levels and a lot more. I'll be honest, two years back I was at my heaviest and definitely not at my healthiest. It was hard to say no to all the food tastings coming my way. A lot of them really made me swoon and jump with glee as they were just so delicious. All day and night, I think of food . Then, I woke up and realized, it was time to push that RESET button....

A few months ago, my sister,  Pannywanny , received her first ever food item for review from Yellow Cab Pizza ! To say that she was tickled pink would be an understatement. Over Skype..or was it iMessage, she showed me the box of pizza and narrated what she thought about it. I was dying with envy! If only she could teleport a box to me, that would have made my day. You see, I am in dire need of good quality pizza over here and nothing can beat my two loves namely: Yellow Cab and S . Sorry but I'm not a one-pizza-woman. Pannywanny was so happy that she had to express her feelings through a letter. How sweet! Here it is: Dear Mrs. Hudson, Hope this finds you well. Recently, I have been introduced to one of your creations and I must say; prosciutto on pizza is a brilliant idea ! From the moment I heard of this, I didn’t have my doubts since I have always loved prosciutto and to have this with my ultimate comfort food -- pizza, is like having Christmas all year around. I ...

*SPONSORED POST* Let me tell you why I love talking about food. Putting aside the fact that it nourishes people and it gives us the energy to keep us on the go, I always see eating as a very positive and happy activity. Like what I mentioned before, people eat to celebrate or whenever there’s an occasion. When we’re feeling down, more often than not, we rely on food to uplift our spirits. There’s no right or wrong answers when it comes to food. Food and taste is very subjective. You can’t say that someone is wrong before he or she doesn’t have the same judgement as you do on a certain dish. What may be ultimately delicious for you may not sit well with the person beside you. Nonetheless, there’s no reason to debate over it as our taste buds are all different from one another. Thus, when the conversation for the best pizza comes around, I stand by my long time favourite – Shakey’s Thin Crust Pizza . What are my favourite flavours? Definitely Hawaiian and Friday’s Special . My ...

It's Monday and I hope this simple entry will chase all our Manic Monday blues away. :) Last week, a white bag was delivered to our home. I've been working from home for the past days and I've come to accept the fact that it is not as fun and easy as it sounds. Sure, I don't have to wake up extra early to get dressed, prepare my breakfast and to walk 500++ meters to our bus stop + 3 blocks to get to my office building but I still get very preoccupied with the never-ending work load that comes my way. Don't get me wrong, every day I thank my lucky stars for allowing me to land into this new career that I really love. Finally, the line between work and play is starting to get narrower and narrower each day. Going back to the mysterious white bag, while it simply has a red sticker in front, the name alone was enough to elicit a couple of whoops and cheers from the members of our household. Who wouldn't cheer after all when the label says : Kirby's Chicharo...

Who doesn't love pizza? Growing up, this has been our staple during group meetings in someone's home, during a class party or even one's birthday party. Nothing beats the bonding experience as you share a box of pizza with your closest friends. At home, Pan and I would always have pizza for our afternoon merienda back when we were studying for our quarterly final exams. Mommy would leave additional allowance for us to be able to have a box of pizza delivered and this is something we both always look forward to quarter after quarter. To me, pizza is a comfort food. Someday, I'll be a cool mom and have pizza nights with my family. Haha! However, when it comes to pizza flavors, I like the basic ones. The simpler, the better. This has been my motto ever since. Call it fate that Paul actually believes in the same thing. He has been loyal towards Hawaiian flavored pizza which is also one of my favorite pizza flavors equally same with the all cheese or seafood flavored pizz...

Kiong Hee Huat Tsai , dear readers!!! Finally, the Year of the Snake is here and I pray that this year will bring more luck and happiness to ALL of us! Today, my family all wore our red dresses and shirts as we celebrate the Chinese New Year . After all, red for us, Chinese means lucky and for everyone else in the world, it's also the color of loveeeeee ♥. It's just perfect timing that Valentine's Day is just a few days away and Paul and I will be celebrating this for the first time in the Lion City. (Yep! We're leaving very very very...SOON! *happy tears happy tears* ) I'm sure restaurants will be bustling with reservations similar to how it has been for the past years. Some couples would opt to celebrate it a day before or even the weekend after just to avoid the traffic. Others would have a really formal 6...7...8 course degustacion meal while some would prefer to celebrate it at the comforts of their own home. Wherever you may be, which ever way you...

Today I started my 14-day Nestle Fitnesse Challenge and so far I think I'm doing quite well considering the fact that I had to battle with temptation brought about by our homemade fried rice, Frito-Lay chips and soda being offered to me earlier today. I was surprised that the Nestle Fitnesse cereal actually tastes good! I'll be having this for 13 more days! Meanwhile, allow me to share with you what my family and I had for dinner a few weeks ago. On nights when our cook runs out of dishes to prepare and Mommy just wants to relax and enjoy the meal, we rely on take outs and food deliveries. One Friday evening, Angel's Pizza, Pasta and Combo sent us one of their newest Holiday Bundle Packages . We got Bundle 3 (Php. 750) which is good for 8 pax. Bundle 3 comes with (1) Big Family Meaty BBQ Pizza which had generous cuts making it quite filling  after enjoying just one slice. The crust was chewy and quite good. Sadly though, I'm not a a big fan of pepperoni so I ha...

*SPONSORED POST* As much as I enjoy eating out, there are just some days that I really appreciate a good home-cooked meal prepared by Mommy. I grew up having mostly Chinese food at home but my favorites include Mom’s Chicken and Pork Adobo , her signature Corned Beef Macaroni and of course, her delicious Curry Fried Rice . Not wanting to give out excuses but really, how can one stay slim with all these delicious food coming out from our kitchen? How I wish I got Mom’s talent in cooking (and her slim frame too! Haha) . I guess, for a while back she saw a glimmer of hope when I began taking cooking classes every summer and I would spend every weekend trying out various recipes from Yummy Magazine. Sure, I’d make a mess but I’m pretty proud of my edible creations to say the least. Weekends got pretty busy that I haven’t cooked anything in months! My Pasta Specialties: Italian Eggplant Lasagna Three Cheese Penne Fusilli alla Genovese ala Frannywanny Oh how I miss cooking! The s...

In my family, there are certain dates that we give just as much regard and importance to like a regular holiday. In fact, we celebrate and look forward to it more than most legal holidays. This includes our birthdays and two special days wherein we treat our parents like royalty -- Mother's Day and Father's Day . Mother's Day is a week away and despite our very hectic work schedule, my sister and I are busy planning on what we will do for our dear Mommy on her special day. It's one day where Mommy is required to sit back, relax and leave everything up to us. Our sweet Papa would always prepare a greeting card for Mommy where both my sister and I would include our short messages in. Either for lunch or dinner, we would go out not only with Mommy but with my Amah (grandmother) as well. After all their hard work and intense labor, one day is truly not enough for us to show our utmost gratitude and undying love for them. Still planning on where and what to do on Mot...

It was a rainy Friday evening and my parents are on their way out to attend a party. The initial plan was for the three of us (Paul, my sister and yours truly) to either order pizza and camp out in our room while watching TV or to head out to Greenhills for dinner. We haven't finalized the plan yet since all of us have been busy that day. Just what could probably be a sign from above, the doorbell rang and our helper who answered the door, later entered the house with boxes and containers of food. It was a delivery from the guys of Angels Pizza Pasta Combo (thank you very much!) and they sent us a huge box of pizza, three boxes of the pasta on a dough (Carbonara, Bolognese and my favorite Tuna Pesto) and three bowls that became the highlight of our late Friday night dinner. Needless to say, we had a relaxing dinner at comforts of our home despite the rainy weather. Let me tell you more about the three bowls that were delivered to us. Peering into the clear cover, we saw a ...

This is one business model that I truly admire. With the growing number of people working at night be it at a call center, BPO or any retail establishments, the clamor to have more food choices is getting louder and louder. Of course, you can always count on the usual fast food chains or grab a quick bite at any convenience store but don't you wish there's someone who can provide delicious hot meals in just a snap of a finger? Meet the Kitchen Knight . Serving a wide-array of Asian favorites to the hardworking midnight crowd of Makati and its neighboring areas, Kitchen Knight is literally just a phone call away. One evening, I was lucky enough to be able to try some of Kitchen Knight's specialty for dinner. The rider came on time and efficiently presented our meals which was carefully packed in sturdy styrofoam boxes and delivered to us in huge plastic bags. Of course, my first pick was the Katsudon (Php. 85) as this is my favorite Japanese donburi (rice topping)....

Whenever I drive myself home from work, once in a while, I'd find myself craving for pasta. As always, my dilemma is where to get good pesto pasta. There used to be a stall at the food court of our office building that sells this..it was pretty oily, not the best quality but I stayed loyal to it for almost a year. At home, this has been my constant request, it used to just be every Monday where Mommy would ask our helper to prepare pesto spaghetti for dinner. However, now we would ask for this almost twice a week or more. Back when I still had Bo (the Basil) , I was planning on making my own pesto sauce. Bo, after all, was very cooperative. He grew to be a very healthy and fragrant basil plant with lots of leaves. However, I became very busy and didn't had the time to source for the other ingredients needed to make my own pesto sauce. Thus, I've resorted to stocking up on bottles of pesto sauces as home. Still, I know nothing beats enjoying a plate of piping hot al dente ...

It was one lazy Sunday and with our trusty househelp out on a day off, I told Mom to just relax, not cook lunch and I'll take care of it. She smiled and thought that I would probably take charge in the kitchen... well, that was not really what I had in mind . The trust is, I've been wanting to try the latest delivery service in the metro by City Delivery . Since their launch last year, I've been hearing raves from colleagues who have tried their service as they had to stay till late at the office. Imagine veering away from fast food and enjoying your favorite restaurant dishes delivered straight to your doorstep (or in our case, our office lobby). Finally, I got hold of a City Delivery menu which made it easier for us to plan our menu. I found out that I can only order from restaurants within my cluster (Greenhills/Ortigas/San Juan/Mandaluyong/Pasig). Luckily, the list is quite long for this cluster and it took me some time to decide from which restaurant I'd like ...

I love pasta and my colleagues can attest to this. I frequently crave for pasta that at times they would raise their eyebrows and divert their attention to my tummy with suspicion. Well, it's not what they think... not yet . It's just that I love pasta, my undying love for al dente noodles cooked with the yummiest sauce and topped with my mushrooms, shrimps and at times drizzled with truffle oil. Ohh, I'm in pasta heaven. My friend Shar is a great cook and her specialty is...PASTA! She loves to experiment with different pasta combination thus Goodles was born almost a year ago. Every time I find myself shopping in Robinsons Galleria, I make it a point to drop by her store for a cup of delicious pasta. My favorites include the Goodles Classic, Grape Carbonara, Chicken Vodka and the Salsa Rossa Shrimp. Oh how I wish Shar would open more branches that's more accessible to me soon ( Greenhills, perhaps? :) ) click to enlarge the menu In the meantime, I found o...

What luck! I received an email saying that I am one of the chosen bloggers who can try out the newest service of Mang Inasal ! You see, they have just recently made Mang Inasal more accessible and convenient for its loyal patrons by having a one-number delivery system where you can enjoy your favorite Mang Inasal meals right at the comfort of your home! I've always been a fan of this brand after I've read it's success story in the November 2009 issue of Entrepreneur Philippines . It talks about a young man named Edgar "Injap" Sia who began his chicken business in the Visayas region, and who now has more than 300 branches nationwide and still growing. Just to show how successful Mang Inasal is, local diners see this growing chicken chain as the closest competitor to the happy bee and the friendly clown in yellow and red suit . With Mang Inasal's very affordable chicken meals and unlimited rice, they are now enjoying a growing customer based from th...

I am a fan of tea. Any tea flavor for the matter but after having my first taste of Genmaicha Green Tea a couple of years ago, I always catch myself favoring green tea before any other flavor. I love the taste of toasted rice that never fails to give that calming effect after a cup of green tea. The tea craze is really on as more and more entrepreneurs are getting into the business of creating unique tea blends and tea-flavored desserts too. Having had the privilege of tasting a wide-array of desserts from the well-loved chocolate cakes to the fruity flavored ones, I was very excited when a pack of Green Tea desserts were sent to me by Chris Chan , the man behind Wild Bites . My family loves tea-flavored food items too and we were all so excited to try Chris' Wild Bites . After lunch last Sunday, we tried each Green Tea dessert and named our favorite. Mine was the Green Tea clusters (Php. 75 for 10 clusters), very similar to Baguio's choco flakes only this is covered with wh...