Like any other blog, I want Our Taste of Life to elicit a positive appeal to its readers. Whenever possible, I try to have minimal not so good rants around here. Unfortunately, our recent experience with my daughter's milk formula did not prevent me in doing so. My daughter is a loyal patron of Progress Gold, one of Wyeth's premium brands of milk. Incidentally, it is having a massive stock out for almost a month now. This is actually not the first time that we experienced such difficulty in buying this milk product in the market. Being a picky eater, my daughter highly depends on this milk for nourishment and it's unavailability is causing us a lot of distress. She refused to take any milk alternatives because she's so accustomed with the taste of Progress Gold. Having used to taking more than 5 servings a day of this milk and then suddenly not getting any for a day, I simply can't bear the trouble she's going through. Her cries pushed me to send a letter of concern / complaint to Wyeth Philippines.

I have this pasta recipe sitting in my kitchen recipe bin for quite a while now. I've been wanting to share it with you but time was so hard to pin down again these days. Finally, my fingers found its way to my laptop's keyboard. This is a very simple pasta recipe to prepare. Kids and kids at heart will enjoyably make a mouthful of this creamy pasta dish. To break the satiation factor of its creamy note and to provide a juicy twist, I've added some baked tomatoes. Creamy and juicy that's how this pasta will conquer your palate.
What you need:
250 g farfalle (bow tie pasta), 2 cans of tuna flakes (drained), 275 ml all purpose cream, 1 cup pasta water, 1 med sized red bell pepper (cut into cubes), 1 med sized green bell pepper (cut into cubes), 1 small onion (chopped), 4 cloves garlic (chopped), 3 tbsps olive oil, salt and pepper to taste, 3 med sized tomatoes (cut in thin rounds, baked in the oven just until tender)

How to make:
Cook the pasta according to package directions then drain. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water. Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until fragrant. Add tuna flakes and saute for a minute. Add bell peppers, salt and pepper. Add all purpose cream and pasta water. Boil and simmer until the sauce is thickened. Stir in cooked pasta and serve topped with baked tomatoes.

It's that time of the year again for the food industry's much awaited Asia Food Expo (AFEX). It's an annual food exhibit held at the World Trade Center, Manila featuring all things related to food. Ingredients, machineries and equipment, food and beverage for end consumers, including product concepts are the usual must see in this food event. However, each year, exhibitors are getting fewer and fewer. It used to be a wealth of industrial food items but more interesting exhibitors tend to decrease in number through time. This is really a big sigh!

More equipments and packaging are featured this year with minimal franchise food items and food ingredients for industrial use. Processed meats, dimsums, doughnuts and coffee products dominated the exhibit hall. Interesting Wines that typically flood the event are nowhere to be found. Generally, it's still a venue for potential food businesses and concepts but content wise, it just filled the food enthusiasts' glass in half.

When I attended the AFEX 2008, Mulberry Mixed Juice Drink is the most interesting product I found. It's a ready to drink juice with No Artificial Coloring, No Preservatives Added health claims. It's made with natural mulberry juice and fruit concentrate available in two flavors - Apple and Strawberry, with the former being the more acceptable. It basically tastes sweet and refreshing especially when chilled or ice cold. A tannin taste typically perceived from tea is also noted but subtle and mild.

Mulberry tea is making big news around the world. It's recognized as the next big thing in the tea market after the much hyped black, green and white teas. Many food manufacturers and tea growers are claiming that mulberry has higher antioxidant levels than green tea. Furthermore, it contains almost all 18 amino acids essential for our body. True enough, when I looked at the nutrition facts pannel of the juice drink it states 17.3 mg of amino acid content per 100 ml. If you consume the whole drink in 500 ml bottle size, that's an 86.50 mg servings of amino acid!

A ready to drink (RTD) juice with antioxidants to eradicate the free radicals and toxins in our body, a good dose of amino acids for the growth, repair and maintainance of body tissues, a possible aid for lowering blood sugar and body weight, this is a must grab drink for a healthier lifestyle! But just like any new product in the market boasting of great health claims and benefits, it's essential for every consumer to check and validate prior to making a purchase and later becoming a loyal patron of it. I just couldn't over emphasized that it's also a consumer's responsibility to check and probe the validity of the claims and benefits of any food item prior to consumption . It's always better and safer to ask.

Frozen Yogurt is making a big buzz around town. It is probably the most talked about food trend these days. Because I have heard a lot and perhaps have read enough too, I was intrigued and wanted to try it myself. Frozen yogurt is a typical dessert item similar to ice cream in terms of physical properties only, the fat content is lower. Just like any usual yogurt, it may or may not have the live active cultures. When present, frozen yogurt is regarded as healthier than ice cream. The active cultures aide the digestion of food specifically for the lactose intolerant people thereby making the nutrients readily available for absorption without the discomfort. The nearest store to our place that houses this particular food item is White Hat. So that was where we went and sampled.

White Hat’s Italian Frozen Yogurt comes with great claims; "authentic, all natural, 98% fat-free, definitely guilt free and with live active yogurt cultures". Pretty good product attributes for a dessert item. With a selling proposition of being "so gooood, you can’t get it off your head"! How can you resist from giving it a try? With 21+ toppings to choose from like healthy citrus fruits, tempting sweet goodies such as cookies, chocolates and cheesecake, creating your own yogurt is made more exciting. Priced at Php 85 for a regular size (yogurt only) and Php 115 for the bigger size, this is relatively expensive compared to any ready to eat yogurt you can find in the market shelves. However, making a direct comparison may not be fair considering the "premium" tag attached to the product features of the frozen yogurt. But then again, the price sensitive segment might still have a thought about it. With that, it maybe more of an indulgence rather than a habitual type of food.

Taste wise, it has a distinch sourish after taste typical of yogurt, smooth and creamy mouthfeel even without much fat, milky and light at the same time. I had strawberry-kiwi toppings for my regular size. For this particular combination, I was overwhelmed with the overall sourness. The fruits added more of this note on top of the characteristic sourness that the frozen yogurt already had. That's why, my son's preference was more acceptable. He had strawberry-choco drops. The dark and sweet taste of the choco drops balanced the sour back note of the yogurt. Actually, I find the taste combinations quite tricky and ironic. To maximize the health claims of the frozen yogurt, one (like myself) would prefer fruits and nuts toppings over the sweet and fatty alternatives (e.g. cookies, chocolate, cheesecake etc). On the contrary, some fruits have inherent sourness that might prevent a good balance of taste as opposed to the other options. At any rate, it all depends on preference and taste liking. But still, I would encourage White Hat to create more healthy and tasty choices of toppings to push the acceptability and premium profile of the frozen yogurt further. More so, the maturity index of the fruits being used must be properly looked into.Other things notable about White Hat are image and packaging. The name itself simply states the product expectation. Talking about the presentation, it's visually appealing and innovative. The "customer picture taking" promo is also a catchy marketing tool. Overall, White Hat's Italian Frozen Yogurt is a gem among the many food finds at the SM Mall of Asia. Repeat trials or more frequent consumption of it will depend on the general liking, location and price.