Vegan Coffee Butter Almond Ice Cream

I have been reading on equally yummy versions of ice cream that does not require an overdose of eggs, milk and cream, as dictated by the gelato recipe we made the last time. One of the healthy alternatives that made it to my radar was vegan ice cream.  Making vegan ice cream basically means you make ice cream without using milk and eggs. We got some coconut milk and coconut cream and decided to give it a try (for the sake of our cholesterol levels and the risk of diabetes)

We tried it for the Coffee Butter Almond Ice Cream recipe we found. There will always be subtle differences between simple ice cream, gelato, frozen yoghurt etc, but I'm not choosy as long as it satisfies my sweet tooth. This one came out creamy and not too sweet.

Metabolic Pumps (4 of 4)

My mom is a health nut, which was ok with me growing up since if we wanted junk food we can just drive out of the house. But now I thank her for making my transition to a healthy life much easier because we've been eating healthy stuff all our lives.

Here's a some of the food lying around in our house all the time, and incorporated in our food preparation. This article is meant to get you started in increasing your metabolic rate. The list is a product of random readings and our lifestyle. 

The last of four posts.

15. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Slice then add to soy sauce and vinegar or sprinkle on top of your viand, or drink whole as a tablet

Torres Family X National Bookstore Foundation Annual Outreach

Every year my maternal family's side holds an annual outreach activity for less fortunate. There was a time when we held a Christmas party in an elderly home (where I just kept on crying because I missed my grandparents), and another Christmas party for orphaned children, when we gathered, packed and gave away clothes and school materials for children of a municipality in a far away province, another year in a small school.

Christmas 2012's project is my favorite thus far. We teamed up with National Bookstore Foundation to help paint the library of the school across my grandparents' house. Education is a very important advocacy for our  family because my grandparents were provincial public school teachers who rose up the ranks and raised their children by teaching children.

This post is about food for the soul. Eating healthy food keeps our body physically able, but engaging in healthy activities keep our spirits alive.

Aside from our family, we had volunteers from the National Bookstore Foundation Philippines help us out. Nobody in our family is patient enough to draw this kind of art I think.

The kids painted while the elders prepared unlimited food for kids+volunteers.

The girls made it their group project to have a ROY G BIV entrance.

Top:  ROY G BIV bookshelves!
Bottom: Thanks to the guys for finishing the girls' project....

Top: Pretty much the finished product! Sans some bookshelves behind me.
Bottom: Auti kid starts on a book...

Metabolic Pumps (3 of 4)

My mom is a health nut, which was ok with me growing up since if we wanted junk food we can just drive out of the house. But now I thank her for making my transition to a healthy life much easier because turns out we've been eating healthy stuff all our lives (we still argue about my sweet intake all the time, though).

Here's a some of the food lying around in our house all the time, and incorporated in our food preparation. This article is meant to get you started in increasing your metabolic rate. The list  is a product of random readings and our lifestyle.

Third of four posts.

10. Violet Wild Rice - thing with white rice is that it is already stripped of its nutrients, which makes it a refined carb. That's why it's the first thing that people take out when on a diet. Violet wild rice (or the more commercially available brown rice), however, is full of fiber. I'm a rice person, but I still manage to maintain my weight even after eating 3 (and a half) cups of violet rice.

11. Celery - Made of 95% water and undigestible cellulose. Yummy in, easy out.

12. Broccoli - My favorite! I read somewhere that this is the healthiest veggie. Something about protein, calcium, vitamin C, but for me it's just easy to eat with everything (and nothing).

13. Beans beans the magical fruit - full of both soluble and insoluble fiber, which help lower insulin levels after digestion, causing your body to store less fat. Have it with chicken con carne.

14. Garlic - Sure, slicing garlic (go for smaller garlics - more potent taste) leaves that stench on your fingers, but adding garlic to everything (or most things that we eat anyway) helps supports blood sugar metabolism. Add crushed fresh garlic with vinegar or always have it in the frying pan.