Cooking with Gold Seas Tuna

I just received a care package a couple of weeks ago and I was so glad about it. What's inside you ask? It's my new favorite brand of tuna, it's called GOLD SEAS. I was there when they launched the product and even made Bento boxes on stage. I knew it was going to be easy to prepare meals with it because trust me, I've spent several days just eating canned stuff because Mom went on a vacation... I really had to device a way to make meals with just what's inside the pantry. Not because I don't have a choice, but I don't really have time to go to the market or grocery sometimes and we have to be resourceful you know.

I love that Gold Seas has different flavors. This is probably one of the things that could differentiate them from the other brands. I personally like the one with lemon, plus the spicy one. Plus the fact that they are responsibly fished, out in the South Pacific. They are canned fresh and fast just like this blog LOL. I also like the fact that their kind of tuna is a little more dense, like really meaty, even if you are obviously eating fish.

Tuna has been known to be a very good source of protein and Omega 3. You can also do a lot of recipes with it. It's like a blank canvas, add ingredients of your favorite dishes to this one and use Tuna instead of meat or poultry. It's already a healthy dish after that. Well for me, I believe in convenience... and I actually adore just having it plainly. I don't even have to cook and find ingredients anymore because it's already cooked that way on some of the cans. Curry? They have it. Want it spicy? They have some with Pepper and Chili. I thought it was sold about the same price but I found it a little pricier at SM when I bought it, but really, even if it is, I'd still have it because it's more compact than the other brand.

For breakfast I didn't even have to heat it up. I just open the can, put it on top of toasted bread and I'm good. It made me full in just a few minutes, no rice, I could even have it in the microwave and heat it up for 2 minutes and voila!

I had the Herb and Garlic, Indian Curry and Lemon and Pepper variants for lunch, you should too! You can purchase this now in leading supermarkets and groceries nationwide!

How To Prepare Effectively For Exams

Some treat summer as a time for holidays and the sun. As we all know, this is also the time for graduation. Exams also come and it's when everything else becomes a little more stressful. In every student's life, it's such a crucial moment when any writing essay service could not help. It becomes a time where you must learn to handle tons of tickets on your own.

An exam is always accompanied by considerable excitement. You just have to learn how not to be disturbed. Every student wants a good final score and bad ones need to cope with the teachers criticism and at least achieve a satisfactory assessment. Knowledge is not always enough for you to get the right kind of essay writing.


Here are some tips we would like to share with you, we hope this helps!
 

• Be optimistic. Exams are neither an enemy nor an instrument of torture, but a means of self-improvement and an opportunity to demonstrate their mental abilities. For such a complex and important work, proper conditions need to be created. Get rid of everything that you don't need. Get in touch with people home and ask nicely, so that you wouldn't be disturbed.

• View your materials and categorize them in terms of complexity. Choose topics that are most difficult for you and focus on them first. Preparation is effective only when you have enough energy. If you notice that you have read the sentences twice and have not understood anything, it's time to take a break. Relax for about 15-20 minutes.

Here's how you can do it step by step:

1. Set up a work place.
2. Hold near something bright and pleasant (images, souvenirs, etc.) that will raise your mood.
3. Thoroughly plan the preparation. Organize your work so that it coincides with your activity periods - in the morning or in the evening.
4. First, take the hardest material and work on it until it's mastered.
5. Do not forget to rest - take a ten-minute break every forty minutes of work.
6. Practice as often as possible using a variety of sample tasks and if you need find any writing tips, for  example at essaysreviewer.com  for your work.
7. In order not to lose your inspiration, encourage yourself to think that you are capable of getting an excellent score on the exams if you prepare accordingly.
8. Do not allow laziness, anxiety or secondary interests to divert you from training.
9. Explore different memorization methods and use the ones that suit you best.
10. Be sure to repeat reading the material you have made. We wouldn't want to forget it  when the exams happen. Prepare in advanced, without delay before the test or any writing exam. 

11. Do not work on the last night before the exam. You might get tired and come to the exams not in the best form. Devote your evening to your favorite affairs and do not stay up late.

It's clear that preparing for the exam is not that fun. This is a serious test, which may make or break your future. Sometimes, it is inevitably frightening. You don't want to be distracted by anything. Do not get tempted going out with friends and know your priorities. The task ahead needs to be completed and the longer you drag on, the less time will remain for your quality work. You should arrange training reasonably, in order to accomplish it all while less exhausted.

Follow the schedule and do not stop until you learned about the amount of material you have for a specific day. Prepare yourself well and test if you are apt for group studies. There are times that studying with friends help but most often than not, more time is usually spent on conversations than on studying. Choose your battles and make sure you are equipped well before you head on to war. Hope this helps!

More Stars Arise on Alyas Robinhood's Second Season

Having seen the successful run of Alyas Robinhood on GMA had us wanting to be in the press launch of the swashbuckling second season of this Dingdong Dantes hero flick. They might have had a few controversial scenes last season but that definitely means a lot of people are actually watching the show. As for action scenes, they're not letting it off without a fight. Aside from that, some characters are now getting attention and it feels they are not here for just bit roles.

Meet Lindsay De Vera, Dave Bornea and Rob Moya. It's time to get to know more about them on this interview:

If that's not enough we also got to talk to hunky Ruru Madrid:

Make sure you watch the show on Monday nights, of course on GMA!

For more information about their artists:

Official GMA Artist Center

Like them on Facebook

Visit their official website

http://gmanetwork.com/artistcenter

Don't Tell My Lola by Chef Sharwin Tee

I think I have met Chef Sharwin Tee a couple of times but have never really gotten to know him on a more personal level. A few days ago, I had the chance to actually do that via a pop up dinner held at the Gourmet Gypsy Art Cafe in Roces Avenue, Quezon City. It was hosted by the Culinary Historians of the Philippines (CHOP) of which most members are famed Filipino chefs, historians, experts in their fields and food connoisseurs from around the country. I was a bit intimidated by their titles but I was there to get to know Chef Sharwin, and how he grew up in good, home made Tsinoy food.

I believe in social enterprise and inclusion, but this is only the second time I've been in Gourmet Gypsy Art Cafe. It's my first time to actually see differently abled guys were part of their workforce, to serve us what good food that was about to hit our tables. This place is governed by Chef Waya Araos-Wijanco who made it her passion to help people with special needs a place to work, and make them productive parts of society. She says "Thank you for supporting our advocacy of people with special needs, as we train them to be included in the workforce and society." We didn't talk that much about the cause during our small chat so I think I'll be back very soon. She was also excited about what Chef Sharwin was preparing on her kitchen. They met earlier and planned this out quite extensively, preparing some of the best dishes he had during his childhood. 

Igue Bonifacio, President of CHOP (Culinary Historians of the Philippines) adds "This is Chef Sharwin's pop up dinner called Don't Tell My Lola, I wanted to eat something that Chef Sharwin ate as a kid growing up. We make restaurants like this into a playground, to know the people who cook our food, and trace where they came from. Being a member of Slow Food Philippines, where the philosophy is good, clean and fair. Chinoy food has played a major role in developing local tastes, I hope we get to experience that his evening."

I was ready for this opening salvo!

For Amuse Bouche or literal play in the tounge, he presents this Asian Pear, Plum Powder, Pork Floss and Nori Wrapper strips. It was an apt way of starting the meal with different textures and temperatures. This wasn't in the original menu but he wanted to serve it because he remembers this so fondly from his childhood. He hasn't found anyone who disliked pork floss of course!

The second one was like a deconstructed fresh lumpia (Philippine spring rolls), which he call Lumpia Tsai . He went out of the kitchen and uttered "Thank you for coming, what you had just now was just Pears, Plum Powder and Pork Floss. The Chinese lumpia is different from the pinoy one, so in making this we added seaweed and hot sauce to our lumpia, I hope you enjoy the first course."

It was a play on different temperatures and textures. I like the crispy lumpia wrapper made of flat bread. It makes an interesting take on Ongpin made lumpia which I usually see at stores there.

The second course is called Tao Meng Tsai. He says "For the second course it's Hair Vegetable, a dried one combined with other veggies that my grandma used to cook. I added clams so it'll have protein so I hope you enjoy." Albeit a little weirded out by the common chinese hair vegetable, it felt like corn hair to me. It was edible, but I mostly like the broth that came with it because it's very subtle. I would like to have this on a rainy day but he says it's more of a summer dish because it's refreshing, and he's right. The clams were like bits of treasures, you were lucky to spot one if you had it on your bowl. It's like it'll break that spell you get from the broth, and appreciate how sweet those clam meat becomes when you bite into it. Pretty good!

For the main course, we had Kiam Peng. It's a rice topping dish made with seared pork belly, dark soy flavored rice, and mustard leaf pickles. He explains "Your next course is based on my grandma's recipe, I added abalone which is not a usual thing in kiam peng (salty rice). Each Chinoy family has a version and this is mine. Hope you enjoy this!"

Then he came out with the Tsap Sek Ke Tsi for dessert. He says "I am sure you are fond of fruit cocktail, but we made our own using what I saw in the market/fruits in season plus a dollop of avocado ice cream, orange juice for syrup and almond jelly."

Chef Sharwin is going to be on a tour of Canada, the US in different cities for more popups like these. It would be a good thing to experience Tsinoy cooking from a legitimate Tsinoy Chef. He's also going to be on a new season of his show Curiosity Got The Chef on the Lifestyle Network so make sure you follow him on IG and Facebook. Thank you to Lee Kum Kee and CHOP for having us!