Sprouts

I watch eagerly everyday for new growth. 

Beets!

Beets just starting to come up! So excited! It's crazy that I watch the seedling "rack" everyday and see what has come up. We placed the rack in our covered verandah, to protect them from the rain. We get morning and afternoon sun in the area and I thought that we would get best results there. We planted seeds in reusable grow bags using organic potting soil, compost and horse manure. All sourced from FTI weekend market in Bicutan. A bit of a drive but worth it. They like me there because I always buy a lot of planting medium and recently bought additional three trees, a lemon and two kaffir limes for my nephew Jayjay who loves Tom Yum.

We've had a disaster with some seedlings because they were left out in the rain and drowned. Some herbs like sage and rosemary that I bought from FTI also perished in the rain. Anyway, lessons learned. 

Growing Food at Home

Operation "grow our own food" has officially started. Already bought nine various dwarf trees to be planted throughout our small garden. Non-flowering bushes will be replaced with citrus trees, and other fruits to make our garden more productive. 

We already removed much of the non-productive greenery. Some will be used for compost and some will be used for mulch. It's such a shock to see my garden so "naked". But I know soon, it will be lush again with the added bonus of fresh vegetables growing. I kept all the flowering plants because they're pretty when they bloom and the  bees, birds and butterflies love them, too.

Plant boxes will be hung on the garden fence to grow various vegetables. I bought all kinds of seeds and I am so excited to start growing!

We already have some cucumbers growing and some other things that have sprung up from compost thrown at a large flower pot in the verandah.

I also purchased some organic soil and horse manure to build up the soil that we currently have. 

Organic vegetables are so expensive and hopefully by making our garden more productive, we can have freshly picked veggies and fruits right here at home.

I know that the journey will be challenging at times, but I hope with some research, hard work and my housekeeper's green thumb, we can make our garden a productive one.

Wish us luck! 

Aratiles

Mmmmmmmm... My dinner.  Aratiles from the garden center's tree. Yummy! Last I had these was when I was still in school! We used to pick them from trees from various vacant lots in the village. 

Aratiles is a huge part of my childhood. I'm feeling very happy at the moment.

Fiber! Fiber!

It's all about fiber this morning. I juiced one orange and the cores of the pear, pineapple and apple and added that to my smoothie. Don't wanna waste the cores. There's a lot of juice in the cores. Then ate a slice of papaya. Trying to be healthy this morning. 

Took me a long time to finish that smoothie. It's a bit too thick, but delicious nonetheless. 

The Farm - Alabang Hills

Hubby and I have been trying to incorporate more organic food into our diet, mostly, with our daily fruit and green juices. I bring some green juice at work daily, to increase up my nutrition intake.

Hubby and I wanted to try The Farm, a small restaurant located just at the entrance of Alabang Hills along West Service Road. The Farm serves various beef dishes, made from organic beef raised in their farm in Masbate. Philippine organic beef. I know, right? 

The Farm’s menu varies from organic steaks, organic bone marrow (so tempted to try this!), organic salads and a variety of burgers made from organic ground beef. They also serve vegan mushroom burger, for the non-meat eaters. Various smoothies are also offered.

Hubby ordered the rib-eye, which he really loved. It was cooked medium rare and the beef is very tender. No sauces are served when you order the steaks, I suppose it is to let you enjoy the full clean flavor of the beef.

We shared this Caesar’s salad, which was also nice and crisp. The dressing wasn’t too heavy nor overpowering, just the way we like it.

I had the avocado burger, organic burger patty with avocado (used as mayonnaise), with lettuce and alfalfa sprouts. I must say, I really liked this burger. Not too salty, very clean tasting, not greasy (since it’s grilled) and I could really savor the beef flavor. I’m not sure if I make any sense, but I don’t feel bloated after eating it.

Hubby and I also tried their smoothies. Hubby had the avocado smoothie, which he finished quite quickly. It has real avocados (obviously) with hardly, if any, milk in it, which was surprisingly good. I had the very berry smoothie, which had strawberries and blueberries in it. I liked it. Not too sweet, but a bit too much serving for me. I gave half of it to Hubby which he graciously accepted and finished in record time.  The smoothies were served in glass mason jars, which I thought was a nice homey touch.

The Farm also offers raw beef for you to take home. Which I think I will try next time, since our freezer was currently full when we visited.

The restaurant is small, and a little bit out of the way, but definitely worth a visit. The Farm is little bit pricey, yes, but well worth the money, in my opinion. I can’t wait to go back and try the other dishes on the menu. One day maybe, I’ll try the bone marrow, too J

Ginza Bairin - Glorietta 2

GinzaBairin is a newly opened tonkatsu restaurant in Glorietta 2. Me and two of my friends came over one time during our lunch break to check it out. We've seen some nice reviews of Ginza Bairin on the web. Often mentioning it is one of the best tonkatsu chain in Japan which expanded its operations in various cities in the US and Asia. 

True enough the tonkatsu was very tender. My friends and I ordered Kurobuta Rosu Katsu set which includes the tender pork Katsu with a little bit of marbling (fat), unlimited rice, shredded cabbage, miso soup and small slices of pineapple. 

In terms of taste, I really can't differentiate from Yabu. I think I have to try the Unagi Katsu Set so that I can try something different. The Unagi Katsu is decadent and a bit pricey but, I've only seen it in Ginza Bairin and no other restaurant that I know of. Ginza Bairin is known for its Unagi Katsu (aside from the Rosu of course).

Ginza Bairin get full really fast, since it is a new resto and people would like to try it. I suggest you come early to get a table. Service is slow, specially for refilling drinks and the cabbage salad. I attribute this to the restaurant barely days old and the crew is still probably getting familiarized with the system.

Anyway, it's worth a try. Budget with drinks average between P450 to P1,000 per head depending on your order.

La Petite Camille - Greenbelt 5

At work, two of my colleagues, who have become my friends, make it a point to dine out at least once a week, if our schedules permit. So far, we have dined in various restaurants in Glorietta, Greenbelt and a little Chinese restaurant near the office. In one of our lunch forays, we dined at La Petite Camille in Greenbelt 5. Here's a snapshot of what we ordered. Fresh Spring Rolls, Pad Thai, catfish in a claypot and a chicken dish (forgot the name, sorry). Everything  that we ordered at La Petite Camille at that time was very good. The chicken was tender, the catfish was clean tasting (no "muddy" taste), the spring rolls were, well, fresh and crisp. The PadThai was ok, I would have asked for another lime but  service took too long.

Hubby and I dined their previously. I like the food At La Petite Camille.  I particularly enjoyed the shrimps wrapped around a sugar cane and the Pad Thai. I forgot the exact names of what we ordered but I was able to dig through my iPad camera roll and found some pictures that I tiled together. There's the shrimp and sugarcane appetizer, shrimp and pomelo salad, beef pho (?) and Pad Thai. I love Pad Thai, specially the ones from the floating market in Bangkok. Hmm, memories.

Anyway, La Petite Camille's food is nice, homey and not overwhelmingly rich or oily. However though, the service at La Petite Camille is very slow (on both occasions that I dined there). The food takes a while before it reaches your table. Not sure why, since the place wasn't full on both times I was there. Price is reasonable with each dish averaging from P250 to P400.

La Petite Camille is a nice place to have a comfortable and leisurely lunch or dinner. Slow and unhurried being the keywords here.