Making family meals more jolly

MILLIE: Our maid left for the province and never came back. It’s a good thing Karla was a kitchen witch, could whip up meals for the two of us in a jiffy. Although dining out was an option, it was becoming expensive to do so every day. Besides, we devoted our evenings to Zumba twice a week and swimming on non-Zumba nights. So quick, simple meals were in order and we had to resort to using canned fruits and vegetables.

I am glad we were invited by Jun and Larry Cochanco of Fly Ace, distributors of Jolly products, for a weekend to familiarize ourselves with Jolly products. We met Jolly brand ambassadors Janice Crisostomo-Villanueva of Mommy Mundo and France Amper Sales, editor of Baby magazine.

Jolly carries a whole range of canned vegetables and fruits like whole button mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, corn kernels, young corn, green peas, pimiento, water chestnuts, lychees, peaches, mandarin oranges and pineapple.

We learned from Professor Luchie Callanta, Fly Ace Corporation’s resident expert on nutrition, that there is no truth to the myth that canned fruits and vegetables are filled with preservatives. Jolly products are packed in water, salt and citric acid in order to maintain the freshness and quality of the canned fruits and veggies. They are choice ingredients, harvested during their peak of freshness.

But here’s a tip: in case you didn’t know, canned items do have expiration dates and it would be wise to check the “best before” date when buying. If you find dented or bulging cans in your pantry at home, these should be immediately discarded.

KARLA: When shopping at the grocery, I always make it a point to have canned mushrooms, pimientos, pineapple chunks, chickpeas, peaches and lychees. Only because with mushrooms there are so many things I can do. When I’m in a hurry, I just sauté them with garlic and onions, leftover rice and spicy tuna for a simple lunch. Or, when I’m in the mood for pasta, I usually throw it in cream sauce for creamy mushroom pasta, sometimes adding lemon in an attempt to copy Gino’s Brick Oven Pizza’s Lemon Mushroom Pasta. The pimientos come in handy all the time whenever we have guests over — I just dice the pimientos and add them to grated cheese and butter for some cheese-pimiento sandwiches.

We normally use pineapple chunks by incorporating it into our chicken macaroni salad, most of the time using leftover chicken. In our house almost nothing goes to waste, and that’s why I suppose I enjoy making new creations with leftover food. I usually always have chickpeas on hand just in case we have potluck parties to attend and are too busy to cook full meals. The first thing I offer to bring would be hummus and tortillas for appetizers. I sometimes offer this also to friends who come over for dinner since it’s very easy to whip up.

Peaches and lychees are a must for us because when we have no dessert after a meal and we’re looking for something sweet, the easiest, aside from opening a bar or box of chocolates, would be to open a can of peaches or lychees. My Lolo Joe and Lola Meldy loved peaches and so we always had them in stock at home.

MILLIE: One of the activities we had during the Jolly weekend at the Movenpick Hotel in Cebu was a session with April Lim of BentoMommas fame, who attempted to teach us how to make bento boxes attractive and appealing enough for kids to enjoy their meals. We learned how to make rice patties with button mushroom ears and nose, nori eyes and mouths, carrot and corn kernel flowers.

The first five minutes were so stressful for me that I almost gave up, even if we were guided by April’s demo and tips! I must admit I had never made Karla’s baon for school as this chore was relegated to her yaya when she was a young child. I also never had difficulty in making Karla eat as it came so naturally that, as soon as she could sit in her high chair, she would literally spoon-feed herself! Unlike other kids, Karla loved to eat vegetables and drink milk. When she was about seven or eight years old, I would send her Caesar salad for lunch and whatever meal of the day we were serving at the Asian Development Bank when The Plaza was handling its food services.

But I was so proud when I succeeded in completing my bento box as I drew inspiration from my seatmate Luis Quibranza from Sun Star of Cebu who was so eager, excited and creative!

KARLA: Chef Sau del Rosario, a fan of Jolly products, demonstrated some dishes for us like peaches and cream French toast for breakfast, maja mais, shepherd’s pie etc. There was one dish in particular that mom was salivating over. It was his pork humba made jollier with Jolly canned whole mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, garbanzos and black beans. As soon as chef Sau had finished cooking the dish and having photos taken with it, mom shoved me with her elbow, whispering, “Kuha mo na ako. Gusto ko nang tikman,” which literally means, “Get me some. I want to try it already.” So, worried that people would think I was impatient, I passed through the back and side of the kitchen counter where the pan had been set aside. As I reached towards the pan, I felt that all eyes were on me. So I stood at attention and asked if I could get a piece because it looked so good and my mom wanted to try it already. Everyone started laughing, including chef Sau, as he personally put a piece of pork belly on the tiny saucer I was carrying. It was a little different from the humba that we were used to but we both liked it. Luckily, I bumped into him at Rustan’s Market Place a couple of weeks later. I asked if I could share his recipe with our readers and he gladly obliged.

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