What Parents of Toddlers Should Know About Walking

When Sammy has started sitting on her own, everyone was excited to see her walk already... And now that she has perfectly mastered her strides, who's following her, pacing with her all the time? It's not everyone, it's just me! Where are they now? Oh, they're chilling on the side, laughing and saying how cute she is. Haha! Well, if not for the summer heat, I wouldn't complain as I felt like I lost a lot of weight by doing so. But then again, the weather just makes me want to scoop her up and carry her as long as my back can handle. 

Don't get me wrong, mamas. I would love my terrific toddler to have as much freedom as she deserves but let's be real, running after a toddler isn't easy. It requires many underrated traits and character that parents and caregivers should embody. Would you like to know some? I got a few basics here.

How We Make Our Marriage Happy

At 23, I was every inch of what I wanted myself to be — a fun and free college graduate who was working in the biggest broadcasting network in the country. Also, I had a cute military boyfriend who loved me back as much I loved him. I wasn't rich but I had everything I needed to be happy. For me then, my life was perfect. Things have changed dramatically, though when I got pregnant out of wedlock. Sadly, the boyfriend (who became no longer cute for me lol) and I had opposing views about the situation; it was expected that we didn't get married. Worse, I didn't have a job for the whole 9 months of carrying my little human. Just imagine how miserable I felt every time I craved a burger and I don't even have money to buy the cheapest kind.

While my mother took me under her care, I knew I had to do something for me and my baby. So during my first trimester, armed with resourcefulness and guidance from the Lord, I sold my huge magazine collection to a magazine store near our house. My collection of mostly Summit Media magazines was really that huge that I was able to buy myself fruits, maternity house dress and vitamin supplements. And just before my first trimester ended, my boyfriend (who became cute again lol) and I reconciled and decided to become partners in building our dream team. We knew we would never have our fun and free youth back but having a baby gave our lives so much meaning.

Fish Escabeche

I may look like I know a lot about food but guys, I am just actually learning so much from the people I follow on Instagram! Take for example, Joey of @chichajo. I was watching her Stories when I saw the tagged online shop that sells seafood. Wow. I mean, who would think that you can now buy fresh seafood online, right? Search it, it's called @marvsboqueria.ph. You're welcome. Marvs sells different kinds of seafood! He also has an awesome package that includes prime beef steak, tiger prawns and salmon. It's quite costly; I'm still saving up for that so I can cook them on my birthday. Or maybe on our wedding anniversary. 

Anyway, I bought crab meat, tanigue fillet and steak and bakoko. I never encountered bakoko in the wet market so after I did a quick consultation with Mr. G, I decided to buy that. If you are following me on IG, you'd know that I made a lot of dishes using the 500-gram crab meat. With tanigue, I made kilawin from some of it for my husband. As for my new fishy friends, I made escabeche.

Chicken and Pork Adobo

Is there any meat-loving mammal here who don't eat adobo? If that's you, why are you even here? 

I mean, remember the time celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay chose pork adobo burger over a bison and chorizo double stacked burger in the American TV program Good Morning America? What about when Anthony Bourdain learned how to cook adobo? I won't go further and stress the importance of these two gentlemen in the food industry but if they loved adobo, why anyone else wouldn't?

When I became a full-time homemaker, adobo has always been my saving grace. Adobo gave comfort to my husband after a tiring and long travel from the camp. Its thick and flavorful sauce has been my eldest daughter's first experience in appreciating Filipino cuisine. A huge chunk in our family and food stories will always be taken by adobo. 

Bistek Tagalog

If there's one thing that I can't just easily minimize the consumption of, it has to be beef! I'm a beef-lover since I learned how glorious bulalo is. Then as I grew older, I have always loved my mama's beef caldereta. Its savory sauce made of rich tomato paste, pork liver and some chili was a perfect match to the beef's taste and texture. And one day, after a long and tiring trip along EDSA, my husband and I found ourselves parking in front of a beef pares joint near our house. Yes, instead of going home directly, we stopped by to eat pares—our ultimate post-carmageddon meal. But that's not the recipe I'm sharing here today. Sorry for the confusion, haha.

I got carried away with my beef stories that I went that far. It happened that my husband came home with a big bag of white onions from their farmer friends. The ones we got were actually market rejects. It was still perfectly edible but they came in odd sizes so it's not good to sell anymore. And since white onions rot fast, I needed to consume it before it does. Bistek Tagalog enters the picture. 

Vegetable and Macaroni Soup with Crispy Bacon Bits

My toddler Samantha is such a joy to feed! She now eats table food and almost everything that I serve to her big sister, Sophia so that means kitchen time is back to easy for me. I no longer make separate food for the tiny one. No more boiling and mashing and storing. My baby foodie now eats freshly-cooked food. Thank God for daughters who love eating as much as I love cooking! It's not always a walk in the park, though. There are days when one of them, or sometimes both, feel like being judgy as if I'd feed them something gross. Well, I've made myself a general rule when it comes to my relationship with food and motherhood—while I enjoy seeing my kids finish their plant-based meals, I still acknowledge the fact that they are humans who deserve to enjoy 'delish dishes'. 

What I mean by delish dishes are food our generation has always loved when we were kids (uhm till now actually). Like spaghetti, burger, fried chicken, pizza, and what-have-yous. Back then, it's every child's dream to eat those on a regular basis. Jollibee was like the god of happiness in the 90s! But not me. As a kid, I was happier to have nilagang baka, pancit and chicken macaroni soup. In fact, I knew my mama, who's a widow, has extra money when she makes us creamy and hearty macaroni soup. She paired it with fried fish or breaded pork chops. It was one of the best memories of my childhood... watching my mother cook for us. Her version of macaroni soup has julienned carrots, shredded cabbage, chicken pieces and sliced hotdogs. I loved my mama's soup but now that I'm a grown-up and have learned the risks of eating hotdogs regularly, I have almost taken that out of our grocery list. Also, pink soups mean there's food color. But guys, this recipe still has processed meat. Why? Duh, bacon!

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Just like how special bulalo is to me because it brings many memories of my father, this dish is also close to my heart. You see, my mama had a canteen near a college school in Quezon City when I was around Sophia's age. During those times, I learned about a lot of different dishes that we don't usually eat at home. And one of them is Sweet and Sour Meatballs! Yes, would you believe that she didn't serve it to us then that I needed to hang out in her canteen to know what it is? Haha, I'm sure she'd roll her eyes dramatically and might say I just can't remember it. Well, please remind me to ask my older sisters to clarify.

Anyway, so in the canteen, she served this dish with big, juicy meatballs and with thick red sauce unlike most cheap eateries where sauce was too orange and balls were small and full of flour. Too sad that she had to close the canteen. I saw how successful it was! I loved hanging out there and helping her with whatever. Many students liked it there, too because of the delicious and generous serving of food (and also, maybe because my eldest sister was an attractive teenager, lol).