by Penny Angeles-Tan | Jan 29, 2021 | Health Tips
As Work-From-Home (WFH) becomes the new normal, the realities of performing work and home functions simultaneously may feel like a never-ending cycle. While everyone is trying their best to get a knack for winning in this situation, managing this new lifestyle stressor is not easy for all women, and coping might even be more difficult for working moms.
Pressures build up over time and if unaddressed, it can result in chronic stress that may also affect your blood health. If you notice yourself experiencing symptoms of prolonged fatigue, lack of energy, and lack of motivation, it is time to reassess your lifestyle as you may be experiencing a case of iron deficiency anemia.
Healthy blood leads to a healthier immune system
Ang Dugo Mo, Kamusta? — is the question that Multivitamins + Minerals (Sangobion IRON+) wants every Filipino to have for themselves and their loved ones. Iron Deficiency Anemia is a common case in Filipino women and those with chronic medical conditions. And most of those who have it have learned to function despite experiencing its symptoms.
When the body has iron deficiency anemia, it is unable to produce healthy red blood cells which store and carry oxygen to the other parts of the body. The risk of not addressing this condition may take a toll on the immune system and the body can be more susceptible to illnesses and infections
Small lifestyle changes to boost your blood health and immunity
Incorporating small healthy changes into your current WFH situation can help improve your blood health. Here are three easy ways to add to your daily schedule to fight iron deficiency anemia and keep your immunity healthy.
Perform quick 12-minute exercise routines daily
There are plenty of workout routines available online that you can complete in under 15 minutes. But if you still find those taxing, just keep in mind that the goal is to have your heart rate up a little, so think of it as working out efficiently by exerting the right amount of effort.
This can be as basic as going up and down the stairs, jumping rope, or even just walking around the house for 12 minutes. If you want more intensity, you can try high-intensity interval training (HIIT) with short but intense bursts of activity with short break periods.
Moderate exercise routines when done daily can boost your immunity. Plus, it also helps boost your energy for the day.
Help your body fight off iron deficiency anemia with Multivitamins + Minerals (Sangobion IRON+)
Proper diet and nutrition help keep the body healthy. Going for nutritious meals over processed ones and choosing food rich in iron like red meat, beans, dark green leafy vegetables to add to your diet can benefit your body positively. But for those who are running on hectic daily schedules, monitoring a balanced diet might be a hard commitment to make.
Taking multivitamins daily can help the body get the nutrients and minerals it needs when your food intake won’t be able to provide them.
Multivitamins + Minerals (Sangobion IRON+) is an iron supplement with vitamins and minerals that helps replenish iron stores and increases red blood cell levels in the body.
It has ferrous gluconate, a type of iron salt that allows better absorption of iron in the body, Folic acid, and vitamin B12 which are vital for the production of red blood cells and during pregnancy. It also contains Vitamin C which helps improve iron absorption, and copper sulfate and manganese sulfate that helps in the metabolic processes of blood cell production.
Get quality sleep
Sleep is vital to having a strong immune system and while everyone is aware of this, not all are keeping close tabs on their sleeping routines. The National Sleep Foundation released sleep-quality recommendations, which include:
- being able to fall asleep in 30 minutes or less,
- waking up for five minutes or longer not more than once a night, you fall back asleep within 20 minutes, and
- are asleep 85% of the time you spend in bed.
If you’re guilty of not meeting these recommendations, try to change up the way you get ready for bed.
- Create a healthy sleep routine by going to bed and waking up at the same time daily to train your body and mind on a schedule.
- Free yourself from your phone or tablet at least one hour before bedtime so your brain won’t be stimulated.
- Establish a relaxing bedtime routine like reading a book, meditation, or drinking tea to put you into a state of calm.
Consider these small lifestyle changes an investment in your health. When you maintain healthy blood, it keeps you less vulnerable to getting illnesses and infections. Taking Multivitamins + Minerals (Sangobion IRON+) helps regulate your blood iron, so you won’t have to worry about experiencing symptoms of iron deficiency anemia.
If symptoms persist, consult your doctor.
by Penny Angeles-Tan | Jan 26, 2021 | Lifestyle
Leveraging the available digital tools and platforms to bridge their services to more Filipinos, mostly those that are in the far-flung areas, PCSO, in partnership with Minedomain, Inc., is set to launch ‘Birthday Panalo,’ a free and easy-to-use application with an entertaining game which will allow Filipinos to celebrate important dates in their lives, like anniversaries and birthdays, with exciting cash prizes.
Made for Filipinos, by Filipinos
Designed with Filipinos in mind, the Birthday Panalo app banks on the deep-rooted culture of Pinoys in putting value in commemorating special dates like birthdays and anniversaries.
Seavor Choy
While millennials are the main audience targeted with the launch of the app, Seaver Choy, Minedomain Inc. IT officer shared that ease of use is one of the main factors their team considered in developing Birthday Panalo to make it enjoyable for users across various age groups.
“We want the millennials to love this game so we went for what millennials want most — ease of use. We only put in the necessary elements for users to be able to do what they need to do fast and immediately,” he said.
“We focused on the user experience when we were developing by having iterating designs that had constant user feedback. Birthday Panalo has gone through multiple design changes based on different user feedback across different groups,” Choy added.
The core group which made and designed the Birthday Panalo app was an all-Filipino team composed of professionals from the country’s top universities including De La Salle University, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, and the University of the East.
“Birthday Panalo app was built with resilience and celebrations in mind. We made it fun and easy to bet but still overly secure,” Choy furthered, assuring users that the personal data and information they input within the Birthday Panalo app are protected according to industry standards.
Choy noted that the Birthday Panalo app has been tested by local and international cybersecurity companies like GLI, Bolton Labs, and Mantua, among others, to ensure that the app has the needed safety measures in place to avoid leakage of user data.
“Internally, we are also certified when it comes to how we operate and how we maintain the application,” Choy said.
Celebrations made even more rewarding
Within the app which carries design elements signifying Filipinos, ‘Kapanalo’ or users of the app can place a bet on a three-part number combination consisting of a month, a day, and a year. If the same combination gets to be picked during daily draws, a user can win as much as P100,000 as a cash prize.
After downloading the app, users can easily sign up using either their mobile phone or email address verified through a one-time password (OTP) sent by the app. Once done with the registration process, users can proceed to participate in draws for as low as 10 pesos which they can pay via mobile wallets like GCash and PayMaya. Winners of lucky date combinations which will be notified via the Birthday Panalo app may claim their prizes at the PCSO main branch in Mandaluyong City, or have them credited on their respective mobile wallets.
The Birthday Panalo app will soon be available for free download via the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. Kapanalo from all over the Philippines can also look forward to playing the Birthday Panalo game in select PCSO outlets nationwide in the coming months.
by Penny Angeles-Tan | Jan 25, 2021 | Bon Appetit
Purefoods Ready to Eat variants
Purefoods Ready to Eat Viands has 9 different variants and I decided to start with something easy … Pork Humba. For those who are unfamiliar with Pork Humba, it is a sweet and savory dish. This (in my opinion) makes it a perfect filling for siopao, as it will be reminiscent of Pork Asado.
Siopao (sometimes called steamed dumplings) is best known as a Chinese snack, often served with noodle soup.
It’s as easy as 1-2-3
Purefoods Ready to Eat Viands: Pork Humba
Purefoods Ready to Eat Viands are truly easy to serve. it only takes less than 10 minutes to feed our family.
- Take your selected Purefoods Ready to Eat viand from the freezer.
- Thaw it out in the chiller or drainboard.
- Open the package and pour its contents into a pan and heat for 8 to 10 minutes.
It’s that easy! Usually served with hot rice. 🙂
This was the recipe provided by HomefoodiePH and Purefoods for Humba Pao:
Ingredients:
- 1 pack Purefoods Ready to Eat
- 6 pieces store-bought cua pao, reheated to package instructions
- 6 tbsp. chopped peanuts
- 3 tbsp. coriander (wansoy) leaves
Instructions:
- Slice humba into 1/4 inch thick slices. Reheat in a pan with the sauce.
- Assemble by placing a few slices of humba in the pao and drizzling with humba sauce. Serve with peanuts and coriander.
That recipe makes 6 servings.
What I ended up doing
I didn’t have any cua pao and I didn’t want to have to go to the grocery just to buy some. But I did have the ingredients to make siopao buns, so that is what I did. This is the recipe that I used.
Siopao bun
This is the recipe for making just the buns without the filling. You can fill the buns with any kind of food really. It could be savory, or sweet, or both!
Prep Time1 hour hr 32 minutes mins
Cook Time25 minutes mins
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Chinese
Keyword: bread, bun, siopao
Servings: 12
Author: Penny Angeles-Tan
mixing bowl
measuring spoons and cup
Rolling Pin
rolling mat or board
steamer
- 1 cup warm water
- 2 tsp dry instant yeast
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cups sugar
- 2 tbsp oil use a neutral oil
- 1 kalamansi (juice only)
- a little more flour for dusting when kneading
Prepping
Combine the water, yeast, 2 tbsp. sugar, and salt and mix. Make sure that the milk is not too hot or the yeast will die. Let it sit for about 10 minutes. You will know the yeast is alive and ready if it bubbles up.
In a mixing bowl combine the flour, baking powder, remaining sugar, oil, and kalamansi.
Pour the yeast mixture into the flour mixture and mix until fully blended. Knead until it turns into a dough that is smooth and not sticky.
Cover the bowl with a clean cloth and set it aside for 1 hour or until it doubles in size.
Assembling the pao
After an hour, take the dough out of the bowl and put it on your rolling mat or board and knead it a little more then roll it into a log and divide it into 12 equal (or as equal as you can make them) parts, and set them aside on a tray or mat without touching each other. You can roll them into balls for easier handling later. Cover with a cloth until you need them and let them rest for 30 minutes. The dough will rise even more.
Take one part and knead it and make a ball. Dust it with flour and flatten it with your palm then roll it into a flat disk (circle) making sure the center is thicker than the sides as the middle will hold the filling.
Place 1 to 2 spoons of the filling in the middle of the disk and then gently lift the edges to the middle in folds and then pinch and twist.
Take a small piece of baking paper (or waxed paper) and put the bun on it. This will prevent the filling from leaking out. Place the assembled bun on a plate or tray until you will cook it.
Repeat from step 2 of "assembling the pao" for the remaining dough balls.
It's time to steam
Place your steamer on the stove. Make sure there is water underneath or it won't steam. 🙂 Turn it on and wait a few minutes before putting the buns in
In the steaming tray place enough buns without touching. Keep in mind that the buns will still expand. It is likely that not all the buns will fit in one layer so you will need to either put another layer or just cook a second or third batch. Steam your buns for 20 minutes then turn off the stove and let the buns sit in the steamer for another 5 minutes before removing them.
Notes
- You can fill these buns with anything you want. Keep in mind, it is really just bread. 🙂
- If you are cooking more than one layer of the buns, keep in mind that they will not cook the same because one layer will be hotter than the other. In my experience, the buns at the bottom "blossom" better than the ones on the upper layers.
This recipe is based on research from 2 or 3 recipe sites and I adjusted based on my available ingredients and the amount of effort I was willing to put into it. 😀 This is loosely based on the pita recipe I followed last time but instead of grilling the bread, I steamed it. This is the first time that I made this so while I got it to cook and taste the way it should, I couldn’t get the right technique to pinch it closed consistently, hehe. The next time I make this I will most likely fold the buns into cua pao instead of siopao. 😀
How does the Pork Humba taste?
The Pork Humba ready to eat viand tasted just like pork humba should … savory and sweet at the same time. The meat was just the right level of softness and was anything but tough or dry.
I will confess that instead of thawing it in the chiller or drainboard, I decided to put it in the pot frozen and thaw it gently on the stove in low heat.
I also decided to cut it up with scissors in the pot, instead of cutting it on the board with a knife. This was because I didn’t want to waste any of the sauce.
I didn’t get to use all the humba when I made the paos so what was left I set aside I intend to eat tomorrow for lunch. 🙂
Feedback from the fam
Purefoods Ready to Eat Viands: Pork Humba
They loved it! They loved the flavor of the humba and the combination with the siopao bun (phew!) Now I have one more new recipe to add to my repertoire. Thanks for the assist, Purefoods! And thank you, HomefoodiePH for the recipe suggestion. <3
by Penny Angeles-Tan | Jan 24, 2021 | Food & Beverage
The concept of ready to eat meals is not new to us, another name for it is “frozen dinners”. The difference, I suppose is that while most frozen dinners as we see them in foreign movies are full meals made for one person alone, Purefoods Ready to Eat meals are made for families.
But this is also a reflection of how Filipinos enjoy sharing meals with family or friends. I know of very few Filipinos who cook full meals for just one person. We always tend to cook so much that we are eating the same thing for an additional meal or two. 😀
Purefoods Ready to Eat variants
Purefoods Ready to Eat variants
At present, there are a total of nine (9) variants … each one a standard Filipino dish and (as the packaging says) it has already been slow-cooked to give us, the consumers, the softest, juiciest, most delicious viands in minutes what would usually take us so much time to prepare … because “love takes time”.
I was able to get every variant (except the beef caldereta which I just photoshopped in the picture above to complete the set) and I will try to cook and review each one every day. In our house, there are quite a few people so I have to really think about what I will cook every day and how to stretch it, given how expensive meat and vegetables are.
Also, I am quite handy in the kitchen so I will quite likely do more than just put these babies in the pan, heat, and serve. 🙂 Watch out for what I cook up in the coming days.
Purefoods Ready to Eat viands are available at http://themall.sanmiguelfoods.com and at some supermarkets and groceries. Prices vary depending on the viand you purchase.
by Penny Angeles-Tan | Jan 24, 2021 | Health and Wellness
2020 has revealed a lot of things that most people haven’t given much attention to before. It’s crazy how from one year you never knew you’ve been embarrassing yourself in front of people by just scratching your scalp repeatedly because of scalp itch and dandruff. Now, we have a name for this – itch-uations. How does it feel to finally be in terms with the fact that you’ve been having itch-uations even before it was a thing? Embarrassing, right?
That one time you were on a video conference call to present and all eyes were on you. Remember that last meeting with your crush? Oh, and that meetup that you recently did with your friends.
Do you know what those moments all had in common? You were scratching your scalp, subtly yet it’s still noticeable. Itch Nakakahiya!
But it’s time to forget all those awkward itch-uations. Leave them all behind and look forward to big moments without the itch. Because you can free yourself from itch with every use of Head & Shoulders!
As the world’s #1 shampoo, Head & Shoulders products are clinically proven to help fight and protect the scalp against scalp germs that cause dandruff. Formulated with active ingredients to fight the causes of dandruff and itch, and with continuous use, you can be sure that dandruff is not going to turn up anytime soon. You’re sure to start 2021 dandruff-free, itch-free, and free from the subtle yet long-lasting embarrassment of itch-uations.
And now it’s time to embrace your past itch-uations because you’re not alone in this fight against dandruff and itch. Here’s a much-needed push for motivation! Let’s hear it from the many people who’ve dealt with itch-uations just like you, and their promises for a cleaner, dandruff, and itch-free scalp.
Cole shared that his scalp went through a lot last 2020 — awkward brushing, dandruff problems, and on top of that finding the right shampoo was also a struggle. But, lo and behold, Head and Shoulders came to her scalp’s rescue which made her commit to dandruff-free and clean hair.
Check more of these scalp defining moments and testimonials in the comments section of the Head & Shoulders Philippines Facebook and Instagram posts.
Here’s a shocker — itch-uations are actually very common, and you’re not the only one dealing with them. So, stop letting your past haunt you because Head & Shoulders got your scalp covered and to save you from the embarrassment of possible itch-uations. Here’s to dandruff and itch-free new year with every use of Head & Shoulders!
Don’t let your scalp waiting, checkout Head & Shoulders now via Lazada or Shopee.
Proper diet and nutrition help keep the body healthy. Going for nutritious meals over processed ones and choosing food rich in iron like red meat, beans, dark green leafy vegetables to add to your diet can benefit your body positively. But for those who are running on hectic daily schedules, monitoring a balanced diet might be a hard commitment to make.
Within the app which carries design elements signifying Filipinos, ‘Kapanalo’ or users of the app can place a bet on a three-part number combination consisting of a month, a day, and a year. If the same combination gets to be picked during daily draws, a user can win as much as P100,000 as a cash prize.
The Pork Humba ready to eat viand tasted just like pork humba should … savory and sweet at the same time. The meat was just the right level of softness and was anything but tough or dry.
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