Eat healthy and get a chance to win the newest Apple Watch Series 7 through Pru Life UK’s AI-powered app, Pulse.

Leading life insurer Pru Life UK is encouraging Filipinos to eat healthier while getting a chance to win the latest Apple Watch Series 7 as it launches the Vegethon Challenge promo on Pulse, its AI-powered health and wealth app.

In celebration of Nutrition Month this July, the Vegethon Challenge aims to help Pulse users develop healthier eating habits by incorporating more fruits and vegetables in their daily diet.

“At Pru Life UK, our mission is to help Filipinos lead healthier and wealthier lives so that they can get the most out of life. We are inviting Filipinos to start a healthier diet and track their nutrition. Through this new activity along with the other health and fitness features on Pulse, we offer a holistic approach to health and wellness to Filipinos,” said Pru Life UK Senior Vice President and Chief Customer and Marketing Officer Allan Tumbaga.

The Vegethon Challenge raffle promo is open to all registered Pulse users. They will earn one raffle entry by logging their vegetable meals for a total of seven days. It will run until August 10, 2022 and the winner will be drawn on August 26, 2022. The winner will be notified via e-mail, call, and SMS.

Aside from the Vegethon Challenge, Pulse users continue to enjoy FREE access to the app’s AI-powered features such as Healthcheck, Symptom Checker, Fitness Tracker, Food Journal, etc. The app also offers protection products such as personal protection, yearly renewable term insurance, and life insurance.

To join this challenge, users can simply download and register through Pulse. Once logged on, users will need to look for the Vegethon Challenge activity under the Nutrition tab, then start logging their 7-day nutritious meal plans.

To know more about Pru Life UK and this promo, please visit https://www.prulifeuk.com.ph/en/explore-pulse/pulse-nutrition/

Celebrate Nutrition Month with these four well-balanced recipes for kids!

There has been a change in people’s lifestyle and diet during this pandemic. Homemakers continue to face the challenge of preparing nutritious and delicious meals. At the onset, quarantine restrictions affected income, mobility and access to healthy ingredients. Then, comes the challenge of time limitation balancing work from home and online schooling hence increase in reliance on food deliveries. With these, the health and nutrition of children are compromised.

July is National Nutrition Month. For this year’s theme New Normal na Nutrisyon, Sama-Samang Gawan ng Solusyon! Ajinomoto Philippines Corporation (APC) Group shares four well-balanced recipes that Filipino homecooks can try to improve their kids’ health, growth, and development in these evolving times.

“This celebration is timely to remind Filipino parents to look out for their children’s health and nutritional needs. Especially these days, diet is an important factor in maintaining our overall well-being and preventing diseases,” said APC Group Science Communication Executive Deborah S. Fajarda RND.

In support of the day-to-day meal preparation challenge for homecooks, below are easy to prepare, affordable, delicious and nutritious recipes that will help Filipino kids become more resilient in the new normal. These recipes are part of APC’s Mag-Pinggang Pinoy® Tayo! (MPPT) program that promotes the practice of preparing and serving delicious balanced meals with the right amount of Go, Grow, and Glow food. Listed below are 4 out of 60 recipes you can serve for the enjoyment and proper nourishment of your growing kids.

Egg Fried Rice with Veggies

This is perfect for the kid’s lunch box or baon as some schools start to conduct face-to-face classes. Carrot, corn, and green peas make this rich in potassium which is important in maintaining the water balance in the body. A plate of melon and a glass of milk are best to complete this meal. See full recipe here.

Stir-fried Chicken with Mixed Vegetables

A balanced, varied, and moderate amount of Go, Grow, and Glow food in every meal is key to achieving optimal nutrition. Kids will enjoy this stir-fried chicken with veggies that are made tastier with SARSAYA® Liquid Seasoning. Best served with 1 banana to make it healthier. Bonus tip: in stir-frying, add the firm vegetables first before the green leafy vegetables. Learn the recipe here.

Fried Fish in Fried Rice

Kids need to have Grow foods in their meals for them to have a healthier body. Tilapia is rich in Selenium, a mineral that helps prevent sickness and infection. Fish is not the most popular food among kids, but this recipe may just change that and make their bodies resilient against illnesses. To make this recipe more appealing to your kids, use CRISPY FRY® Fish Breading Mix and AJI-SHIO® Garlic Seasoning Mix. Check out full recipe here.

Chicken Almondigas

The main ingredient of this recipe is chicken, a rich source of protein that functions to help form and repair muscles in the body. Season your Chicken Almondigas with Ajinomoto Chicken Powder Mix for that added flavor. You may use milk instead of egg to help bind the chicken meatballs. Learn the recipe here.

Check out all 60 Mag-Pinggang Pinoy® Tayo! recipes from APC Group’s Recipe Site cookmunitybyajinomoto.com. These recipes were created for Mag-Pinggang Pinoy® Tayo! Intervention Study. The APC Group and other MPPT advocates are determined to combat malnutrition especially amid the ongoing pandemic where food systems have been disrupted and have continued to affect vulnerable groups like children. The MPPT program consists of online capacity building of community health workers, online nutrition education of homemakers, and one-meal dietary supplementation among identified undernourished children.

“New normal nutrition is a call for homemakers to be more consistent and creative in making healthy food more enjoyable for your family. Support your child’s health, growth, and development by making delicious and nutritious meals that they will love.” said Fajarda. 

For more information about the MPPT program and other recipes, visit ajinomoto.com.ph.

Ajinomoto shares special recipes for lactating moms in time for Nutrition Month.

Mommies with newborns do everything they can to make sure that their babies are the healthiest. Exclusive breastfeeding of infants from birth up to six months is the most effective way to ensure your child’s nutritional needs. Breast milk provides all the energy and essential nutrients, making it the most complete and sustainable food for an infant. While breastfeeding plays a crucial role in the growth and development of babies, it isn’t always easy to do, mothers too may need some support to get started.

To help mothers achieve optimum nutrition for their babies, Ajinomoto Philippines Corporation (APC) joins in the call to safeguard infant’s health in this year’s nutrition month campaign, “Malnutrisyon patuloy na labanan, First 1,000 Days tutukan.” The theme calls for all sectors to help in spreading awareness about the importance of the First 1,000 Days of life as the strategic intervention to prevent stunting and obesity. The First 1,000 Days of life is the period from conception up to the first two years of a child.

“Exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 month of life is also essential in forming the special bond between a mother and child. This is why we, at Ajinomoto, aim to empower more women to continue breastfeeding and support them with healthier methods at this special time in their lives,” Ajinomoto’s Science Communication Executive Deborah S. Fajarda, RND.

With this, APC developed four easy-to-cook recipes to help lactating mothers in their breastfeeding journey. Check them out!

Umami Mommy Burger 

Umami Mommy Burger.

Moms with newborns have a lot on their plate so staying on top of things is difficult to do. To help address this, Ajinomoto prepared this easy-to-prepare Umami Mommy Burger which is filled with energy and carbohydrates perfect for restoring energy loss of a breastfeeding mother.

Laing with Malunggay Leaves

Laing with Malunggay Leaves.

Ensuring moms get enough iron helps prevent the iron deficiency anemia and reduce the feeling of fatigue. Moreover, dark green leafy vegetables like malunggay and gabi leaves are helpful in increasing your milk supply. These veggies are rich in iron that would help fill for the high demands for Iron during lactation. Try this Laing with Malunggay Leaves dish developed by Ajinomoto that provides 33% of the daily Iron needs of a breastfeeding mom.

Squash Spaghetti in Cheesy Malunggay Sauce

Squash Spaghetti in Cheesy Malunggay Sauce.

A unique and healthy take on spaghetti! Both squash and malunggay are rich in Vitamin A. Do you know that infants have low Vitamin A stores and are reliant on external sources especially on breast milk? Thus, it’s vitally important for lactating mothers to consume foods rich in Vitamin A to produce breast milk that is rich in Vitamin A needed for visual health, immunity, growth, and development of their infants. Eat well and have your baby share in the benefits!

Milk-Boosting Salad

Milk-Boosting Salad.

This recipe features Adlai rice, which is rich in fiber and has a low glycemic index. Not only does it help control the blood sugar levels of lactating mothers to help them produce milk, it also transforms the salad to a full meal!

These recipes reflect the Ajinomoto Creating Shared Value (ASV) framework and Eat Well, Live Well commitment, as the company continues to develop ideas and create products to improve the nutrition of Filipino families, especially of the children.

“Through these recipes, we hope to be a companion to moms in their babies’ crucial First 1000 Days and even beyond, as we strive in helping shape a healthier generation,” shares Fajarda.

For more information and nutritious recipes, visit cookmunitybyajinomoto.com.

Wordless Wednesday #94 | Cookfest!

Teacher prepping the ingredients.

Group photo before the Cookfest proper.

Mango juice!

Little man's team won Second Place in the Sandwich Making Contest. Yay!

Wordless Wednesday #45 | Nutrition Month!

Oh My Gulay!

July is Nutrition Month in the Philippines and every year, schools celebrate this occasion with activities related to food, good health, and proper diet.

The theme for this year's Nutrition Month celebration is "Pagkain ng gulay ugaliin, araw-araw ihain!" and its main focus is to encourage Filipinos to increase their vegetable consumption. By doing so, micronutrient deficiencies can be addressed and non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes can also be prevented.

The Learners' Academy (aka my son's school) celebrated Nutrition Month last Friday with various classroom activities. Take a look at what my son's Kindergarten class did at school.

Huge smile from my eager beaver.

Teacher Love shows the kids what they need to do.

Yue's turn to do it.

The kids prepared vegetable salad and calamansi juice for their snack, with the assistance of Teacher Love and Teacher Erlyn, of course.

Getting ready for the good stuff. :)

A blob of mayonnaise here... 

some carrots there...

Yue has so many questions in between, lol.

Mixing the ketchup...

Mix, mix, mix!

Now my son was never a picky eater, and making him eat vegetables has never been a problem. But his reaction to the carrot was epic.

The face that can ignite a war, lol.

He dipped the carrot in the ketchup-mayo mix, and the taste he found revolting. Haha! He's not too fond of either ketchup or mayonnaise, which is kinda ironic since I love mayo while the husband loves ketchup.

A-aaaa!

He has no complains about the apple, though. 'Round here, he's the Cookie Monster of apples, lol.

And when Teacher Love announced that it was time to make their own juice, the little man was more ready to pounce on the calamansi.

Check out my son's hair, inspired by Siwon of Super Junior. But of course. ;)

More of squeeze, actually.

Left hand...

Right hand...

Both hands in action! Haha!

This was one activity my son really enjoyed. He loves Elmo's Magical Cookbook a lot and he seems to have developed a liking for Gordon Ramsay and his bad-ass, don't-mess-with-the-chef attitude, so it's great that he had the chance to take a stab at 'cooking' like Elmo and Chef Ramsay.

And don't be surprised to see the moms hovering in the photos. We usually stay outside the school premises during class hours, but Teacher Love allowed us to enter the classroom so we could take photos of the kids. 

Thank you, Teacher Love and TLA for letting us capture these precious moments. Can't wait for the next school activity! Anticipating August! :)

Sharing with Green Monday, Oh, Snap!