Better than breakfast at Tiffany’s

I can’t believe I just attended a cooking demo with a club of homemakers who obviously are good cooks and know their onions. 

I felt like a dumbo in a roomful of kitchen wizards. Truth is, my only forte is preparing a salad bar (because you just line up the ingredients) and cooking my favorite raclette (because all you have to do is heat it quickly in a raclette maker). 

The event was organized by Nestle Club, which counts 1,064,000 members nationwide, and it was held at the beautiful and modern Nestle Center on Plaza Drive in Rockwell. 

At the demo, Nestle launched its latest cookbook, I Can’t Believe It’s Breakfast, which contains 30 easy recipes. I went over it and saw several that I’d like to try soon (read: Our cook should try it soon). There’s sardines and cream cheese panini (but maybe I’ll use pan de sal), talong and bagoong fried rice (it looks mouthwatering!), crispy fish tacos (I can use fish leftovers for this), and smoked salmon and avocado toast (wow!).

The demo gave me hunger pangs and guilt pangs as well. I am guilty as charged, of skipping breakfast often.

Nestlé Philippines Consumer Engagement Services head Aurora Alipao cited the most common reasons why people skip breakfast. “Working parents like us are always pressed for time, so preparing a nutritious breakfast for our children early in the morning may prove to be a daunting task. Children themselves, especially adolescents, prefer to get more sleep than rise early to have breakfast. And then, of course, there are those who purposely miss breakfast in a misguided attempt to lose weight. Others simply are not aware of the benefits of eating breakfast.” ?     

Studies show that those who skip breakfast become easily irritated, feel weak and uncoordinated, and tend to overeat later in the day. Performance at work or in school also suffers, and weight management becomes difficult. 

Nestlé Philippines Corporate nutritionist Catherine Sarmiento also gave me a wakeup call on breakfast: “Breakfast not only gives you the right fuel to perform your day’s tasks, it also sets the pace for the types of food you choose to eat throughout the day, helping you better manage your weight, Aside from promoting bone, gut and heart health, breakfast also helps you focus and do well mentally and emotionally. When it becomes part of your daily routine, breakfast promotes a healthy lifestyle for you.” ?     

Alipao said parents play a big role in building the breakfast habit among their children. “Parents are regarded as role models by their children, so when they see their parents eat breakfast, they will be encouraged to eat breakfast, too. Another way to encourage kids to eat breakfast is to involve them in breakfast planning, and to ask them to help you prepare breakfast on weekends and holidays when there is more time. This gives you an opportunity to bond and connect.” ?   

A cooking demo was done by Nestlé resident chef Tess Sutilo, who developed all 30 recipes featured in the book. The recipes will wake up your breakfast taste buds long made sleepy by taste fatigue.

I think I will be attending more of these cooking demos. With our beloved cook, of course.?

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I Can’t Believe It’s Breakfast! is available exclusively to members of the Nestlé Club. For information on the Nestlé Club and how to get a copy of the recipe book, visit https://www.nestleclub.com.ph/.

Recipe File: Talong and Bagoong Fried Rice

Ingredients:

2 tbsp cooking oil

2 tbsp chopped garlic

1 onion, sliced

2 tbsp bagoong alamang

2 eggplants, fried and cubed

4 cups steamed rice

1 8 g sachet Maggi Magic Sarap

Procedure:

1. Heat cooking oil and sauté garlic. Cook until fragrant and golden brown.

2. Add in onions and cook until translucent. Add bagoong and cook for 30 seconds.

3. Stir in eggplant, cook for 1 minute. Add cooked rice. Stir well to fully incorporate bagoong with rice. Season with Maggi Magic Sarap. Serve hot.

Serves 4 to 6.