beerblogger's Blog

You're starving after a long day at work, but there's nothing in the fridge. So you run to the nearest store and grab something to eat-a bag of chips, a candy bar, or a can of soda. This is what a typical afternoon is like for a lot of kids and young adults. Unfortunately, it can hardly be called healthy eating. Junk food is loaded with empty calories-calories that have no corresponding nutritional value. Basically, they make you fat but don't make you any healthier. Before you know it, it can take its toll on your health.

If you need to munch in between meals, Filipino food is a much better way to fill up. Native snacks are a lot cheaper than store-bought foods, and they can satisfy those cravings without piling on the pounds. Here are some Filipino food recipes you can try in place of your favorite junk foods.

Junk: Burgers

Better: Spring rolls

Many parents argue that burgers aren't all bad. After all, they're basically a one-dish meal: you've got your starch, protein and vitamins in one bite. But you also get an unhealthy dose of trans fat, the leading cause of heart disease, obesity, and a host of other conditions. A lot of Filipino cooking recipes are also one-dish meals, but few of them have as much trans fat. With fresh lumpia, you can throw in your choice of meat and vegetables and control your serving portions. Cut off even more fat by going vegetarian or choosing regular flour instead of egg wrappers.

Junk: Candy bars

Better: Banana cue

The average candy bar has 300 to 500 calories; a two-piece banana cue has 250 or less. That's because chocolate bars are loaded with high-fat ingredients such as nuts, caramel, sugar, and of course, chocolate. The sugar will give you an energy boost, but you're not likely to burn all those calories before you're tired again. Bananas are sweet, but its main ingredient is starch, a much better source of energy. Before eating, blot out some of the oil to further reduce the fat content.

Junk: Soft drinks

Better: Sagot' Gulaman

A glass of soda contains the equivalent of 12 tablespoons of sugar-that's more than you consume in one whole day! Soft drinks are a major cause of obesity in developed countries. Even diet sodas aren't completely safe; the aspartame used in place of sugar is linked to a number of health problems, including cancer. If you need to freshen up, get a glass of sagot' gulaman-a banana-flavored beverage with bits of gelatin and tapioca balls. It goes well with banana cue, turon, and other light Filipino recipes.

Junk: Doughnuts

Better: Puto/Kutsinta

It's nice to have something sweet to go with your morning coffee, but there are healthy wys to get that sugar fix. Instead of those fat jelly-filled doughnuts, have a double treat of puto and kutsinta instead. These little cakes are made from rice flour, which is infinitely healthier than the white flour used in commercial breads and pastries. Because they are steamed, they retain most of their moisture, making them more filling as well. To maximize your calorie savings, skip the cheese and salted egg toppings.

Junk: Milkshakes

Better: Taho

Next to soda and beer, milkshakes are one of the unhealthiest drinks invented in our time. The combination of milk, sugar, artificial flavoring, and whipped cream topping pack a dose of fat and calories that will take three hours of exercise to burn off. Instead, help yourself to a cup of taho-a warm drink made from soft tofu, sweetened with sugar syrup and garnished with sago (tapioca balls). It's a little heavy, but several times healthier. It's also a lot cheaper-10 pesos will get you a large cup, while a regular milk shake can cost over 100.

Junk: Ice cream

Better: Tropical fruits

Often, when you've topped off a great meal with a bowl of ice cream, you find yourself craving again in less than an hour. That's how this sweet treat works: it sends a handful of fat down your system, and makes you hungry so that you'll want even more. It's great at children's parties, but on regular days, it only works up your appetite. If you're craving an after-meal treat, grab a mango, pineapple or some other fruit instead. Mix them together to make your own Filipino desserts recipes. Fresh fruits fill you up fast, so you can curb your cravings for more than half the day.

By Carlo Villamayor

In spite of their world-wide reputation as being fattening, pancakes are the perfect breakfast food. It is the toppings and fillings that turns them into fat generators. Take away the butter, milk, sugar, eggs, cooking oil, sour cream, whipped cream, syrups, and jams, and there is nothing left but a perfect balance of protein, carbohydrate, and fat.

Two big pancakes made with cake-flour and smothered in fresh crushed strawberries, sweetened with a good sugar substitute like Splenda, contains less than 250 calories. A tablespoon of cooking oil adds an extra 120 calories, and butter contributes another 100 or so. By the time you add in the sugar, eggs, creams, and syrups, your poor pancakes resemble a skinny dad padded with pillows to play the role of Santa.

Of course, pancakes aren't pancakes without syrup. But now days, syrup doesn't have to be made with sugar. There are many brands of sugar-free syrups on the supermarket shelves. But none of them are as good as some of the things you can make in less than two minutes in your own kitchen!

All you need is water, flavoring, sugar substitute, and cellulose gum to provide the thickness and viscosity of sugar syrups. Maybe add a bit of coloring for a rich, full-bodied look. Mix it for 30 seconds or so in your blender and you've got delicious, thick, slow-pouring maple, almond, strawberry, orange, or lemon syrup.

For a very unusual treat, just add cellulose gum to any flavor no-calorie soda pop. Just imagine - root beer or cream soda syrup! The kids will go crazy! How about a variety of orange crush, lemon-lime, Dr. Pepper, strawberry, peach, and ginger ale. I haven't tried coke or Pepsi, but they should make good syrups too.

You can turn almost any liquid into syrup with cellulose gum. Chocolate milk becomes chocolate syrup, Add some vanilla, cinnamon, and Splenda to soymilk for a healthy and delicious eggnog syrup.

So forget the frozen waffles, toaster strudels, and French toast stix. Stir up some cake flour, baking powder, and water and cook the kids some pancakes. It takes just a couple of minutes. While they are cooking, make a fresh batch of syrup. Everybody will love them and they'll go to school filled with all the even, slow-burning energy they need to keep them active and alert all morning.