The Old Spaghetti House

It was a rainy Father's Day last June 19 but we still opted to have our dinner at The Old Spaghetti House, Ayala-Technohub. This was actually our daughter's choice because she loves their dessert, the colossal chocolate chip cookie. I love it too the first time I had a taste of it. I had to refrain from having a few spoons this time.

The hubs ordered for seafood alfredo but halfway through it, I asked if we can exchange food. I was not pretty happy with spaghetti pesto with grilled chicken. I want a creamier pasta.

Seafood Alfredo, P195

Spaghetti Pesto with Grilled Chicken, P160.
I wanted it whole wheat but they do not have stock. I was a bit disappointed with that to think it was in their menu.

I love the restaurant's coffee. For some reason I was served with brown sugar which I prefer actually. The other week when we visited TOSH at Paseo Center in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, I had to ask for brown sugar. So, did the food server read my mind that particular night? Haha.

Brewed Coffee, P60
Daughter had her carbonara, her all-time favorite.

Carbonara, P145

And finally, my daughter's current favorite dessert...

Colossal Choco Chip Cookie Ala Mode, P120


***More food sharing at Picture Clusters and Food Trip Friday.

Breakast at Antonio's

I almost skipped going to Breakfast at Antonio's with my friends. It was scheduled on a weekday which means I have work. But good thing I was able to manage my schedule and made that particular Thursday my off from work. I was really happy I joined the rest of the mommies.

It was a two-hour drive from Manila with about 30 - 40 minutes stop at Jollibbe Shell at South Luzon Express Way (SLEX) for a quick breakfast. We arrived at Antonio's maybe a little past twelve noon.

That was my second time to be at Breakfast at Antonio's but the first one was a long time ago with my husband and daughter. It has changed a lot for the better. The restaurant is just so elegant. I love the set-up, the ambiance, and the floor tiles are wonderful. The restroom still has an open window but a lot smaller than how it was before. Yes, the restroom has a wide open window. Use it at your own risk. Haha, but no, it's safe to use.

Anyway, we chose five different foods mostly from their house specials - pasta, roast chicken and omelettes.


Methinks this is one of the house specials, Chorizo and Eggs. We all love this.


Sausage omelette if my memory serves me right. I love the house potato as a side dish.


This one I was not able to have a taste of because I was so full, Spaghetti Pomodoro.


Mixed Seafood Tagliatelle in Tomato Basil and well, anything with shrimp I want.


My friends found this salty but we finished it off nonetheless, Rosemary Paprika Roast Chicken with Rock Salt Potato Fries. That was a mouthful, haha.


And that's the garlic bread. :)

And here's us...
Starting from left to right, your left, :D, Julie, Chats, Cookie, Me and Cess.

Breakfast at Antonio's does not seem to have an official website. But here's the address and the contact numbers. Best to do reservations before going there.
Address: Barangay Neogan, Tagaytay City, Cavite
Contact Numbers: 0918-899-2866; 046-4131054

***More food sharing at Picture Clusters and Food Trip Friday.

Pasta for Lunch at Figaro

Out for lunch with one of my best-friends-for-life. We took the chance to meet-up with the extra time we had on that day. After several exchange of texts where we will have lunch, I finally decided I want pasta, pasta from Figaro in particular, Figaro's arrabiata to be specific.


It slipped my mind what my friend ordered. Looking at Figaro's menu, I think this is Dory Provencal. Maybe she just changed her pasta.


One thing I don't quite get with Figaro is the "open bill" question whenever I order. Do I pay it already or later? I normally pay immediately if I won't order anymore. Order again and that's another service charge I guess.

I was having a bad hair day here but anyway it was a nice lunch, nice company. I just hope we can do this more often.


***More food sharing at Picture Clusters and Food Trip Friday.

Chili's

Okay, I'm really at a lost if I will just incorporate my posts about food in my Life Bliss blog. Food is bliss you know. And I'd like to account eat-outs also with family and friends. But then again, I need to compartmentalize.

I guess I'll be reviving this blog and will look for a template for Life Bliss which will showcase my food blog and fitness blog.

I plan to monitize all my blogs too but first I need to constantly update them. Haha. This is me...just when I am getting all really occupied with my work and with household matters and daughter's summer activities/idiosyncracies, I have this urge to be active in blogging. It's my nature I guess. I need to have them all. Is that bad?

Enough of thinking out loud.

For this weeks food meme, Food Friday and Food Trip Friday, I'd like to share what we have consumed, or half consumed as the servings are good for two persons (maybe 3). After my daughter's graduation yesterday, the three of us trooped to Chili's for our dinner.

We ordered Texas Cheese Fries for starters. It was good. I was wary because it might be too spicy for my taste since it has jalapeno and chili. Surprisingly it's not as spicy as I thought it would be. All of us like it. It's filled with cheese and has a generous amount of bacon.


Texas Cheese Fries, P385
Of course I ordered pasta. Yummy! It's creamy! I don't know how they do that, creamy but the cream or sauce are not really visible. It's like the cream/sauce is absorbed by the noodles and you feel and taste it once you take a bite.


Grilled Shrimp Alfredo Pasta, P525
My husband got himself pork chops and smothered it with Lea & Perrins. He loves it. I do too. In fact I reheated our take home left-over, brown bagged it, and munched on the grilled pork for my lunch...late, late lunch today.

I like the cajun rice that go with the pork chops. I already checked how it's done and one of these weekends I'll do that. I wonder how that will taste if I use brown rice. Maybe not much difference.


Grilled Pork Chops, P440
There are times I feel like begging to my daughter to please change her menu. It's chicken tenders again...well, for Chili's it's crispers so this won't count as it's the same old chicken which my daughter always order. Nahh, what's in a name. It's the same thing. Anyway, I guess she's just like me, not adventurous when it comes to food unlike her Daddy.


Chicken Crispers, P300
For dessert, my daughter chose Oreo Chocolate Sundae. It's all hers. I'm not into ice cream especially something as loaded with sweets like this.


Oreo Chocolate Sundae, P195
Service is good, it's fast compared to other fast casual restaurants. There were only two occupied tables in the non-smoking area where we were in but the speed of service and attentiveness of food servers are still commendable. The place is clean and so is the rest room. It just needs a little more air freshener. No, it doesn't smell. It just have to have one methinks.

Value for money? It's expensive but it's a lot better than one Italian restaurant. The food at Chili's tastes really great!

Chili's
199 Tomas Morato Ave., cor. Scout Fernandez Quezon City
Average Check: P400-P500

***More food sharing at Picture Clusters and Food Trip Friday.

Take Home Goodies

It's my habit to bring home pasalubong to my daughter coming home from the office. I love the feeling that I take home something for her which I know she will appreciate. Nothing big. Mostly food she can munch on after dinner. Lately though I've been buying Donut Dips from Mister Donut. My husband was the first one to discover this. A lot of times for several consecutive nights he kept on bringing home Donut Dips to think he's the number one critic of Mister Donut. He doesn't like their donuts.

A bite of the donut dipped in chocolate is enough for me. This is patterned after churros which I love too.



If I may say this, menu boards of restaurants are more effective when they they are designed simply and clearly. The pictures of food in the well-lit menu board of Mister Donuts are very inviting. I bought their Baked Cheese and Tomato Pene because the picture looks so appetizing. And the picture did not lie. It's value for money. Delicious pasta at P60. Love it! My daughter and husband love it too.



Whatever happened to Dunkin' Donuts? I still love their croissant but it seems Mister Donut is way ahead of them now in terms of product development and building a more attractive store.


***More food sharing at Picture Clusters and Food Trip Friday.

Kimono Ken, After a Movie Date

My daughter and I watched How to Train Your Dragon a few nights ago. We both had fun watching it. It's the kind of film both adults and children will enjoy. We did not have dinner before seeing it because it was almost the preview time when we bought the tickets. We only had our share of popcorn and iced tea inside the theater.

She craved for her favorite chicken cheese roll (breaded chicken rolled with cheese and vegetables) from Kimono Ken as soon as the movie was done.


I am on a diet so I skipped rice and just had one piece of sakana-fry (crispy fried cream dory with tartar sauce).


Hubby had an appointment earlier so he just followed us at the restaurant. As usual, he ordered kani salad. This kani salad has a lot of greens compared to most kani salads from other dining places.


Good movie, nice light dinner and we're off to a looong weekend. Nice. :)

***More food sharing at Picture Clusters and Food Trip Friday.

Keeping Fit and Healthy

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of wellnessdaily.com. All opinions are 100% mine.

I have been going to the gym for more than a year now. I have seriously taken up working out as part of my health and wellness activity. Who would have thought that I will be enjoying going to the gym? I used to be lazy going up the third floor of my office. Now I even attend body combat, dance classes, body balance and yoga.

I lost a lot of unwanted fats already. It got me really motivated to achieve my desired weight. As I always share with my friends, I have no problem when it comes to working out. I look forward going to the gym even if my schedule is so hectic. But there is one thing that hampers my total weight loss program. It's dieting. That was my struggle.

Yes, was. Because now I am thankful I have disciplined myself when it comes to managing my food intake. I just told myself I have to do it. Just do it. If not now, when.

I would like to share what is working for me so far in terms of sticking to my diet and working out religiously:

1. I have set a monthly weight goal. I missed on the first month by three pounds but on the second month I achieved my goal. My morale was so high that it made me stick to my diet.

2. I refrained from weighing in several days in a week. I prefer to weigh in at twice a month to check my progress. Weigh yourself under the same circumstances on the first time you weighed in. Ideally, no food intake yet for a more accurate reading of your body.

I asked the trainers at the gym about properly monitoring one's weight. I learned about the importance of reducing fat mass and checking BMI. It's not only one's weight that should be managed by also those two I have mentioned.

3. Eat less more often. I veered away from junk food, sweets and too much rice. I only have 1/2 cup or 1 cup at the most in a day. On some days I don't have rice at all. I am on wheat bread, tuna with lite mayo, fruits, boiled bananas and boiled eggs.
I don't starve myself but I regulate my eating habits.

4. I do a lot of household chores to burn calories when I'm just home which is mostly during weekends. It helps a great deal.

5. I subscribed to some health and wellness online publications. I read about success stories about weight management. They inspire me a lot.

I signed up at www.wellnessdaily.com. It is like a one-stop shop for all the health and wellness readings you are interested to know more of if you are a health enthusiast. Going to this site will save you time rather than browsing and searching endlessly for health topics. It aggregates the latest news on wellness, recipes you can try for your diet, and a variety of other topics including working out and mental well being.

My favorite channel here is Eat Right as it gives me loads of ideas on healthy meals I
can prepare for my and my family.