Many times, moms are challenged to prepare new food that the family will love. Sure, we have our all-time favorites but it's also nice to be able to come up with more exciting recipes and dishes that add variety to our meals.

Snack times in our house, whether it's mid-morning, afternoon, or even midnight, are usually family affairs. I can't just prepare something good enough for one or two people; I have to whip up a batch that would satisfy the tummies of ALL my boys! 

Carrying a baby for nine months and giving birth can take a toll on a woman’s body. Thus, new moms absolutely need to be mindful in choosing the right foods once the baby arrives. You see, eating a healthy diet packed with nutritious, high-energy foods is a positive step towards healing your body from the stress of delivery while also helping replenish any nutrients you may have lost in the previous months.

If you are breastfeeding, ensure that your little one gets all the necessary nutrients required for optimum growth and development by including a colorful variety of veggies, grains, dairy, proteins, healthy fats and vitamin-rich foods in your diet. 

Here, we list down five superfoods that work wonders for both mom and baby. They also happen to be delicious and can be easily prepared as mouth-watering dishes, which makes eating them an absolute pleasure. Routinely incorporating these powerhouse ingredients into a balanced diet along with drinking plenty of water will help boost your energy levels following the birth of your newborn.

Brown Rice

photo credit: chowhound.com

We are a family of sandwich lovers and we often make sandwiches using several ingredients to maximize flavors and the enjoyment of eating our creations together. One of our favorites is assembling roast beef sandwiches.

The good news is, we have recently leveled up this recipe by replacing Lady's Choice Mayonnaise with the new Lady's Choice Roast Beef Spread that perfectly complements the thinly sliced roast beef I usually buy from the supermarket.

It's a given. Parties and get-togethers usually leave us with leftovers to pack away after. For some, the leftovers stay uneaten for days in the refrigerator because they don't taste good as when they were freshly cooked. 

Pineapple Glazed Pork Chops

Electrolux's campaign called Do More With Less encourages everyone to avoid wastage of any kind, especially food. Last week, Chef Bruce Lim taught us, a group of foodies, how to cook Pineapple Glazed Pork Chops as well as Day After Chicken Lasagna that uses leftover lechon manok to create a very delicious dish.

Electrolux Kitchen Bloggers Class

Encouraged by the many cooking techniques we learned, we were grouped into twos and attempted to whip up our own dishes based on the earlier cooking demonstration. 

Curly Carbs

I've been using Jolly canned products for years. One of my family's favorite dishes is Chicken a la King which, I believe, would be a good recipe to share this Christmas season. It's a great change from the usual Fried Chicken or Chicken Adobo that families usually prepare for meals. 

This recipe is very easy to do because strict measurements are not needed, seriously! Just follow my instructions :) 

A clinical study, published in the Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism, revealed that more and more Filipino children get sick more often due to their weak immune systems. Unfortunately, this growing concern in kids may affect different areas of your child's life, including time-sensitive activities such as attending classes in school.

kids who fail to attend classes also miss out on other opportunities for growth

Getting sick for several days, leading to multiple absences, are likely to set back a child's education, overall development, and growth. Missing school means getting left behind in learning valuable lessons that could be crucial later on in the school year. More often, these children find it hard to get back on track.

Thus, parents need to make sure that kids are kept safe from infections by boosting their immunity through proper nutrition. According to Dr. Marina V. Vargas of the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI), the Nutritional Guidelines for Filipinos recommends having two to three servings of vegetables a day (1 serving = 1 cup raw or 1/2 cup cooked veggies) and two servings of fruits a day (1 serving should be rich in Vitamin C).

Pineapple Milk Shake made using Del Monte Pineapple Chunks

The annual World Food Expo is a great venue to showcase new technologies in the food industry and I felt privileged to be there as Bosch unveils its latest built-in cooking series at WOFEX 2015 in SMX Convention Center this August 5-8.   

Bosch Series 8 Ovens, which were granted the 2015 German Design Award, feature 21 new technologies that will make preparing dishes a breeze for both novices and seasoned cooks. Host a party with a lavish menu or simply cook for your family with the help of the Series 8's intuitive and sophisticated sensors that guarantee perfect results. 

Bosch ambassador Chef Jean Charles Dubois, from the famed Balzac Brasserie and Bar in Singapore, demoed several of his specialties to prove to expo attendees how the Series 8 takes the guesswork out of creating delectable dishes with minimum effort. He showed us how to execute three heavenly recipes that looked really easy to prepare. You really just need an intelligent oven to get the doneness right.   

I love eating fresh oranges as well as drinking 100% freshly squeezed orange juice. They are delicious fruits that have long been considered a valuable part of a healthy and nutritious diet. It is also well-established that nutrients in citrus promote health and provide protection against chronic diseases.

Given a choice, I'd love to live in a place where oranges are accessible all year round at affordable prices. Filipino-Australian celebrities such as TV host Iya Villania-Arellano, Chris Everingham of the Philippine Volcanoes, and Fely Irvine, a former member of Hi-5 Australia, are very fortunate to have grown up in a country where oranges are part of people's daily lives.

This whole month of August, Filipinos can also enjoy Australian oranges that are not only healthy, fresh, and safe, but also affordable. The Australian Embassy, in partnership with Citrus Australia and the Victorian Government, recently launched "Australian Oranges - Now in Season" to mark the availability of Aussie oranges in the Philippines.

I love Welch's 100% Grape Juice because it is a refreshing drink especially when served very cold. I've read that this product is made from 100% Concord Grapes found only in the US and that they are pressed into juice within 8 hours of harvest. That's good to know because it means consumers get the best quality and freshness we deserve! 

Welch's 100% Grape Juice (which has been around since 1869!) is packed with anti-oxidants called polyphenols  and Vitamin C that may help promote a healthy immune system. This all-natural juice does not contain any preservatives, no added sugar, no coloring , no flavoring and no cholesterol.  Each 8 oz serving contains about 40 pieces of  Concord grapes. 

I grew up with food and beverage brands that remain popular to this day. If you are also familiar with Tang, Eden Cheese, Oreo, Cheez Whiz, Toblerone, Cadbury Dairy Milk, Halls, and Tiger Energy Biscuits, you should realize by now that you've been snacking with Mondelez Philippines for a long time!

As a backgrounder, Mondelez was the name chosen for the snacks company that once formed part of the former Kraft Foods. When there was a split with the North American arm that handles the grocery portfolio in 2012, Mondelez International was created, but with the same heritage in snack-making.

Flavor is one of the best reasons customers return to a particular dining establishment again and again. That is actually what keeps Wingstop patrons coming back for more. Flavor creates the crave that people have been raving about -- including me!

we thoroughly enjoyed our first Wingstop experience!

I finally had the chance to taste for myself how good Wingstop's offerings are the other day during its official store opening at Glorietta 2 in Makati. The event was graced by President and CEO of Wingstop International Charlie Morrison who introduced us to 9 flavors of chicken wings to choose from and which excite the palate in their own unique ways. 

Before I share more about the individual flavors though, let me give you a backgrounder. Wingstop is a fast-casual restaurant that specializes in flavorful wings. It has been around for 21 years and has sold over 2 billion wings to date! The brand has perfected 9 crave-inducing recipes that earned Wingstop rave reviews from national taste tests, 'best of' reader polls, and industry rankings. 

MYX VJ Chino Lui Pio interviewing Wingstop's Charlie Morrison

A lot of people nowadays usually admit to having no time anymore to prepare home-cooked meals, especially during weekdays.  With our fast-paced lives and fully-packed work schedules, city dwellers on the go feel that preparing ingredients and cooking meals take too much time and effort. So we resort to the "instant" meals we've stocked in the pantry, dine out, or call a fast food delivery hotline.

And yet, we all recognize that too much of something isn't a good thing, especially if we know that instant solutions can't be all that healthy for our family, right? While a busy lifestyle seems to be the norm these  days, I personally believe how important it is to put value, more than ever, on home-cooked and healthy meals. 

And yes, this includes those who live in small condo units! No matter how busy you think you are or how restricted your living quarters are, you just need to discover the wide array of convenient food solutions from Clara Ole as these are very helpful when whipping up healthy and delicious that don't take up too much time and kitchen space.

Filipinos, especially moms, who love to cook have our own tried-and-tested, go-to recipes. In my husband's family, my mother-in-law's Macaroni Salad has always been a blockbuster since her kids were small. Now, it's my own kids who often request that we make this particular dish. Amusingly, one big batch doesn't even last a week!

One of the secrets to this macaroni salad is Lady's Choice Real Mayonnaise. My mom-in-law says she doesn't trust any other and have used only this brand for decades. So when hubby and I whip up a batch, we make sure to get all the ingredients right, especially the mayo.

As moms, we are always on the look out for new ways to surprise our families with something special. So, for those of you who have yet to experience the delicious goodness of Lady's Choice Mayo and those who are excited to try something new, you are in for a tastier, creamier surprise.

The food and beverage industry has become more and more competitive in recent years. JOLLY, a leading brand in canned fruits and vegetables, has created a learning program to help culinary students stand out and make it big. At Jolly University, students LEARN essential industry skills, CREATE career milestones, and SHARE inspiring values with others.

Now on its second year, Jolly University continues to harness students' skills through cooking competitions while equipping them with new knowledge in the areas of Culinary, Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Digital Marketing, and Personality Development. 

My family and I enjoy eating at steakhouses every now and then. Although we'd like to do it more often, the prices of really good steak in those restaurants can be pretty steep. 

A week or two ago, I saw a friend post a link on Facebook from The Kitchn about cooking stovetop steak. The article said "you don't need a grill to cook a great steak!" I filed the information under my to do list for the weekend and planned to search for a good cut of beef in the supermarket the next time I go shopping.

I guess it was great timing that my husband got to attend the Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) event last week. He brought home a cut each of Rib-Eye and Striploin Meltique Beef which I immediately planned on cooking. 

According to the press release, Australian Beef has come a long way as regular servings are now being recommended not only for standard diets but also for specialized diets dealing with health issues like heart care, cancer, hypertension, weight control, diabetes, and iron deficiency. 

Because grass-fed Australian livestock roam freely in pastures unlike grain-fed livestock, Australian Beef tends to have less fatty marbling and relatively low cholesterol. In addition, fat from grass-fed beef also contains a richer amount of the essential fatty acid Omega-3. 

Lean Australian Beef is also packed with a wide variety of nutrients that goes a long way in completing a balanced diet. In fact, a 100g serving of this gives: 42% of daily protein needs, 15% of daily zinc needs, 13% of daily iron needs, 21% of recommended daily cholesterol intake, 6% of recommended daily kilojoules intake, and 3% of recommended daily fat intake, based on a Codex/Malaysia reference figure of 2000 Kcals per day intake that is sufficient for most adult women.

Now, back to my newly-discovered recipe, I read and re-read this New York Times article that was linked to The Kitchn write up. I thawed the Aussie beef inside the refrigerator overnight to make sure that the middle is not frozen when I cooked it. I also made sure not to marinate the beef with anything. 

Last night, I waited for our heavy pan with a flat bottom to heat up until it is smoking. As per the instructions in the NY Times article, I sprinkled salt on the surface of the pan (not the beef, okay?), waited a bit more, then placed the Rib-Eye cut on the pan. I made sure to turn on my kitchen timer to one minute. When the alarm went off, I turned the steak over and timed it for another minute, all the while keeping the heat a bit high. I did this three times each (a total of six minutes) for both surfaces because after four minutes, I felt that the inside of the meat was still too raw for our taste. 

I did the same with the second slab of beef, plated it with the baby potatoes I cooked earlier with margarine, garlic, and mushrooms, and served it at the dinner table. I also prepared a homemade steak sauce that's actually just kinda like my chicken gravy recipe. The result? Delicious and tender medium-rare steak! No kidding! I couldn't even believe I did it but the grin on my husband's face told me I did a good job :)

I am not sure if different brands and cuts of beef would turn out as good as the Meltique Beef though. If you want to try this out for yourself, MLA is launching twin promotions this June in time for Father's Day month.

To honor dads, MLA has partnered with S&R and Austrade wherein every purchase of 2 kilos of Australian beef at any S&R branch until June 15 entitles customers to draw from a lot and bring home any of the following prizes: indoor grill, charbroiled grill, food thong, Australian Red Wine, or recipe booklet. From June 14 to 30, diners at Cyma, Allium, and Madison's Bistro Moderne who will order any entree made with Australian beef can get a special Father's Day mug.

According to Paul Perez, MLA Country Head for the Philippines, Australia is widely known for having an enviable food safety record when it comes to producing safe, quality beef. "The eating quality of Australian red meat is superior. To begin with, Australia's unspoiled, natural environment is most ideal for raising cattle. What the Australian beef industry has done is to build on this strength so it now has a 200-year old history devoted to advancing livestock production and meat safety."

Craving for steak now? I suggest you buy Meltique Beef and see for yourself how easy it is to cook stovetop steak at home. I think I will, again, just in time for Father's Day on Sunday! :)

For recipe ideas ad nutritional information, please visit http://www.australian-meat.com and for more detailed information about red meat, provided by health professionals, please visit http://www.meat4health.com.au

Kids should learn to cook as early as possible. At least, that's what I believe. I've taught my sons to cook simple dishes even before they turned 10 years old. Now that they're in their teens and 20's and I don't worry about leaving them at home to fend for themselves. They know how to whip up something any time they get hungry.

Apparently, a lot of parents have also found that it is good to encourage youngsters to find their passions in the kitchen. My young niece, Belle, started helping her mom, my sister, bake a lot of scrumptious goodies from their kitchen since she was little. When I got an invite to the launch of Discovery Kids  Channel's latest TV show called Junior Bake Off, I asked the organizers if Belle and my sister could come along as they are the real bakers in our family. 

Junior Bake Off is an exciting series hosted by Aaron Craze (also host of Pet School) featuring 32 of Britain's best bakers aged 9 to 12 who will put their cake making, biscuit baking, pastry, and bread making skills to the ultimate test. 

Contestants must impress the show's judges: legendary cookery writer and baker Mary Berry, and acclaimed master baker Paul Hollywood. Watch as the young bakers get pushed to their baking limits starting Tuesday, June 3, at 5PM. The show encores every Saturday at 1:30PM and 6:30PM.

There will be 13 half hour episodes that will showcase the kids' journeys on the greatest baking battle of their lives. Each episode challenges the kids to a technical test and an invention bake where they can let their imaginations run wild. For themes such as outer space or wild animals, sports or chocolate, each of the bakers are expected to deliver a show-stopping, mouthwatering creation that tastes as good as it looks. Only four bakers will reach the grand finals where they will bake for some special celebrity guests.

Aaron Craze, who is also a chef and father to two daughters, knows how to keep kids calm and in check at all times in the kitchen. In the show, he plays cheerleader and advisor especially during baking catastrophes. He comes to the rescue by showing struggling bakers a trick or two that might save the day. 

Aside from giving the contenders a chance to become a champion, I'm sure Junior Bake Off will inspire young viewers who love baking to also pursue what they enjoy doing. Watching the show will help and teach them to discover how chocolate is made, how to make an exploding volcano cupcake or a werewolf in cake form, and even meet the baker who spent more than one month to make the huge royal wedding cake for Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding.

Stay tuned to Discovery Kids every Tuesdays and Saturdays to find out who will emerge as Britain's best young baker this 2014!

I think one of the top concerns of working moms is making sure meals served at home remain healthy despite everyone's busy schedules. I personally find it hard to make time to cook really good dishes during those days I need to be away from home most of the day. 

So I wholeheartedly welcomed the news that Hunt's is launching a series of webisodes that will teach moms how to prepare simple yet exciting recipes that busy homemakers can whip up in a jiffy. Hunt's, the tomato and spaghetti sauces brand, has indeed taken home-cooking to new heights for many Filipino moms.

Now, being a kitchen superstar is made really possible as moms can easily spell the difference between standard and supreme when it comes to cooking heartwarming meals for the family. The Hunt's Kitchen Superstar webisodes, hosted by Inez Bernardo, each last for just a minute and a half and aims to help homemakers how to prepare creative and delicious Hunt's-based dishes.

Marcia Y. Gokongwei, BU General Manager for Joint Ventures, says, "We can guarantee that with Hunt's Tomato and Spaghetti Saucess, being a kitchen superstar is a reality for today's modern moms because these products help them prepare superstar meals every day."

Hunt's products, which are made from vine-ripened tomatoes and packed with a nutritional bonus thanks to its Lycofiber ingredient, enhances the flavor of popular dishes and fortifies them with the benefits of lycopene and real tomato fiber.

"With its rich heritage and long-standing tradition of bringing together great taste and tomato goodness in no time, Hunt's is proud to have delivered more than 30 years of home-cooked goodness to every Filipino household," adds Marcia. 

Those of us who attended Hunt's recent event in Holiday Inn's F&B Restaurant found out for ourselves how easy it really is to make superstar meals. Our group gamely tried our hand at preparing Pork Estofado using Hunt's Pinoy Style Tomato Sauce and successfully served a delicious dish as validated by DJ Delamar Arias who co-hosted the activity :) 

Whip up your own superstar culinary creations! Make sure to watch Hunt's Kitchen Superstar webisodes. Like www.facebook.com/YummyHuntsPH or visit www.yummyhunts.com for more updates.