Mom’s love and Gardenia make a pocket full of fun, filling treats for kids

We know that Mom stands for “Master Of Making-things-work-out.” And the cliché of the tired moms doing all of these chores, cooking, and taking care of the kids has evolved into an empowered woman who could still do everything in house but still manages to work with their chosen career paths, whether they go to the office or work from home. Busy as she is juggling various roles, from taking care of the household to also providing whatever the whole family needs, she is best known for her foremost role: to be a loving, caring, giving mother.

But being a “M-O-M” is no easy feat, and sometimes, moms do need some help in order to make things work out with not just paying the bills, helping out in bringing some food on the table, or sending their kids to school. Most importantly, moms are expected to be there for their children, in taking care of them and witnessing the milestones that their children achieve— showing much of their love for their kids. When kids are attending school or having some fun times with their playmates, they could only feel their mom’s love most of the time with the “baon” she prepares for them.

Moms could whip up some meals that her kids will definitely love because of how very well she knows her children, but when she is pressed with the time needed to prepare she would definitely find a great ally in Gardenia-- a soft, freshly-baked bread that is great-tasting and nutritious. Helping hardworking moms everywhere to show their kids a pocket full of fun and a mother’s love, the country’s leading bread maker now introduces its newest product that kids will surely enjoy --the Gardenia Pocket Sandwich.

Made with two slices of soft and luscious white bread, Pocket Sandwich has no edges and is perfectly sealed, making it a convenient snack for the kids and not messy to eat. Because it is made by Gardenia, it is guaranteed safe because these sandwiches are produced in a clean and sanitized environment. Now, moms need not worry about sandwich preparations every morning and can now have more time for their kids. Gardenia pocket sandwich is easy to carry around in their lunch boxes or bags, so kids could bring them to school and enjoy the energizing “baon” during breaktime or in-between playtimes.

The sandwich is baked fresh every day so kids can enjoy chocolate and peanut butter sandwiches anytime and anywhere. While kids are at school or around the neighborhood playing with their friends, any mom would know that their kids need all the energy and nutrition from what they eat. Any mother knows that a growing child who eats all the right healthy food could enjoy more from their childhood, and grow up strong and fit.

Which is why both Gardenia Pocket Sandwich variants are high in iron, which contributes to normal formation of red blood cells and hemoglobin; high in Vitamin B1 that helps release energy from proteins, fats and carbohydrates; and has vitamin A, which is essential for the function of the eyes. Gardenia understands the plight of any mom who wants only the best for their kids. And they hope that with these new Pocket Sandwiches, Gardenia can ease off some of the work load from the busy life of a mom.

For only Php 15.00 (SRP), kids can now enjoy the newest Gardenia Pocket Sandwich, available in leading supermarkets and convenience stores near you. For more information and pocket full of fun, like Gardenia on Facebook at GSnack Treats or visit www.gardenia.com.ph.  

Gardenia brings you a Healthy Bento Recipe

Packing a well-balanced snack – whether it’s for you or for your little one – is essential for setting healthy eating habits. And while trying to come up with something different yet easy-to-create snack, Gardenia brings you its very own ‘Master Mind’ Bento recipe!

The healthy bento recipe ingredients are packed with vitamins and minerals like B vitamins and Iron which aid in memory enhancement and helps prevents age-related decline in mental health, thus labelled as ‘Master Mind Bento Recipe’.

Here are two recipes – Gardenia Oriental Tuna Salad Sandwich (main dish) and Gardenia Strawberry & Blueberry Fruity Cream Cheese Tart (dessert)—to try out that will satisfy your cravings and aid for a healthy mind.

Gardenia Oriental Tuna Salad Sandwich

Ingredients:

Gardenia Classic White Bread

1 can tuna solid in water (drained)

¼ cup oriental dressing

2 pcs sliced tomato

8 pcs. Lettuce leaves

Procedure:

1.      Combine tuna and oriental dressing in a bowl. Mix well.

2.      Prepare a slice of Gardenia Classic White Bread and top it with lettuce leaves, tuna mixture, and tomato.

3.      Cover with another slice of bread.

4.      Serve 4 sandwiches and enjoy!

Did you know that tuna is rich in Omega 3 fatty acids that help keep your brain healthy? This makes your Gardenia Oriental Tuna Salad Sandwich even healthier, especially, paired with Gardenia White Bread that contains essential vitamins such as Vitamin A, B1, B2, B3, C and minerals like Calcium, Iodine, Iron and Folate.

Gardenia Strawberry & Blueberry Fruity Cream Cheese Tart

Ingredients:

Gardenia Strawberry and Blueberry Loaf

¼ cup fruit cocktail

2 tbsp sugar

25g gelatin

1 bar cream cheese

½ cup all-purpose cream

 Procedure:

1.      Get 6 slices of Gardenia Strawberry and Blueberry loaf and trim the sides.

2.      Flatten the Gardenia Strawberry and Blueberry slices and form it into cups on a muffin tin

3.      Chill for 30 minutes.

4.      Prepare the gelatin and let it cool for two minutes.

5.      Combine cream cheese, all-purpose cream and sugar until it becomes smooth.

6.      Set aside 4 tbsp of gelatin and add the remaining into the cream cheese mixture.

7.      Mix the 4 tbsp of gelatin into the fruit cocktail. Mix well.

8.      Scoop out the cream cheese mixture and place it on the chilled breads then top it with fruit cocktail mixture.

9.      Chill for at least 30 minutes.

10.  Serve 6 tarts and share with your friends!

Did you know that fruits like berries are rich source of Anthocyanins and antioxidants that help prevent age-related concern in mental condition?

Gardenia Oriental Tuna Salad Sandwich  and Gardenia Strawberry & Blueberry Fruity Cream Cheese Tart are made nutritious not only because of the nutrients of the bread but also with the vitamins and minerals the ingredients has which aids in enhancing the memory.

 For more Gardenia Healthy Bento recipe, just visit www.gardenia.com.ph or www.facebook.com/gardeniaph.

Perk-up Your Holidays with Yummy Gardenia Treats!

This is the time of the year when the ordinary becomes extraordinary, and the everyday gets transformed to something magical.

You see it in homes already dressed up in glittering and bright lights, or in the warm feeling that wafts in the air during family reunions, or perhaps on how we uplift our character and mindset to become better persons.

Indeed, the holiday season is a time to look with fresh eyes on all that surrounds us in our daily lives.

Take the dinner table as an example. While we love to pile it up with all things special for this season like delectable hams or exquisite cheeses, it will not be complete without our bread to brighten up our dining experience and make it even more extraordinary and exciting.

And if you’re one of the millions of households that chooses only the best in breads for your dining table on a day-to-day basis, then Gardenia will continue to remain part of your festive table.

While Gardenia has already proven to be healthylicious with or without palaman, the season calls for turning the bread you love to eat every day into remarkable holiday treats.

All you need are imagination, delight and bags of your favorite Gardenia bread to make the happy, festive change! 

Why not go delightfully retro with Gardenia Chocolate Fondue? Along with cubed apples, bananas and white marshmallows, pick up bags of Gardenia Double Delights Ube & Cheese Loaf and Choco & Mocha Loaf, along with Gardenia High Fiber Wheat Raisin Loaf. Cube the assorted breads and watch adults and kids have fun as they dunk them in a bowl of melted chocolate!

Ingredients:
2 slices         Gardenia Double Delights Ube &Cheese Loaf, cubed
2 slices        Gardenia Double Delights Choco & Mocha Loaf, cubed
2 slices        Gardenia High Fiber Wheat Raisin Loaf, cubed
1 cup         Melted chocolate
1 piece        red apple, cubed
1 piece        green apple, cubed
1 piece        banana, cubed
1 30g pack    white marshmallows

How to do it? Simply serve all the ingredients using a fondue set.

Or you can get into the amazing festive indulgence mode using any of Gardenia’s amazing loaves like Gardenia Black Forest, that decadent, succulently soft and moist chocolate bread heaping with rich chocolate filling and luscious cherries, or Gardenia’s Amazing Dates and Walnuts, the soft, juicy and freshly baked bread layered with a delectable mix of fruit and nut. If not, indulge on Gardenia's Butterscotch Loaf with its smooth-tasting caramel goodness with rich and flavorful butterscotch chips found in each slice.

Speaking of butterscotch treats, try the special Gardenia Butterscotch Loaf and tweak it a bit to become a rich teatime snack or a true morning indulgence.  In a loaf pan, simply layer the trimmed bread slices with sliced kiwi, almond and nut chocolate, cream and honey and then chill to make the awesomely delicious Gardenia Butterscotch Kiwi Cake.

 
Ingredients:
8 slices Gardenia Butterscotch Loaf, edges trimmed
3 pieces kiwi fruit, peeled and sliced
2 bars (30g) almond and nut chocolate, chopped
1 240ml pack all-purpose cream, chilled
3 tbsp. Honey
How to do it: Combine all-purpose cream and honey in a small bowl then mix until well blended. Spread the mixture at the bottom of a loaf pan then top it with 2 slices of Gardenia Butterscotch Loaf, cream mixture and the kiwi slices. Repeat the procedure until the pan is filled. Chill the cake at least an hour before serving.

Indeed, Gardenia remains the best of breads whether you eat it every day or transform it into scrumptious morsels fit for the season of turning the ordinary into the extraordinary and the everyday into something magical.

The Gardenia Flavored Loaves are available nationwide at leading supermarkets and convenience stores.

Happy World Bread Day!

More than 30,000 years ago since it was first made, bread has become a global food staple enjoyed by millions of people regardless of nationality, religion, political belief, or socio-economic status.

For several generations, bread was, is, and will always be, a vital part of humans’ physical (nutritional) and emotional sustenance, and this fact encouraged bread lovers all over the world to celebrate this via the “World Bread Day,” a global and significant event every October 16 that espouses the philosophy of “sharing” and “breaking” of bread as a meaningful and symbolic humanitarian act.

And the Philippines is not left behind in the celebration of World Bread Day, thanks to Gardenia Bakeries Philippines, Inc. (GBPI), the company that makes the popular Gardenia bread known for its good taste, freshness, softness, oven-baked aroma and nutritive value. Today, Gardenia celebrates a fun-filled “Happy Bread Day” Fair and gathers Filipino families, friends and just about any bread lover, here at the Eastwood City Mall Open Park in Libis, Quezon City to commemorate this momentous event.

Now on its second year after its initial staging at the GBPI plant in Laguna where it showcased its steadfast commitment to provide nutrition to needy Filipinos and its vision of helping enrich people’s lives, the Gardenia “Happy Bread Day” Fair will be held outside the confines of its world-class facility. This full festive treat will be packed with fully enjoyable activities all throughout the day, designed for the entire family or companies of friends in this day of bonding and celebration.

The day starts with the “Gardenia Taste-Surround 3D (Delightful, Delicious, Delectable) Experience,” which will run for the entire duration of the “Happy Bread Day” Fair. Bread lovers will definitely love the various “bread corners” put up especially by Gardenia for the enjoyment of bread fair visitors. The “Sweet Corner” provides people, particularly kids, the time to indulge in sweet treats using Gardenia breads while the “Healthy Corner” is for the health-conscious ones who love enjoying Gardenia bread “lean and mean.”

On the other hand, enjoy Gardenia at its savory best via the “Savory Corner” and lastly, discover how you can enjoy Gardenia with your favorite beverage at the “Beverage Corner” for a thirst-quenching treat.

Simultaneously, various games and tricks will be held every hour for the enjoyment of kids and the kids-at-heart, or even adults and their friends for the whole day for a totally exciting experience.

The Gardenia “Happy Bread Day” Fair will culminate with a “Happy Bread Day Show” hosted by popular actress, host and dancer, Ms. Regine Tolentino, plus performances by the RT Studio Dancers and Tuloy sa Don Bosco Choir. There will also be a special cooking demo featuring Chef Rosebud Benitez, former host of the well-loved cooking show “Quickfire,” together with actor and host Drew Arellano.

With its continuous commitment to expand its corporate social responsibility efforts, Gardenia’s Happy Bread Day Fair will be beneficial to the needy sectors. Today, every loaf of Gardenia bread bought during the event will help improve lives of Gardenia’s countless beneficiaries.

“We made sure that ‘Happy Bread Day’ Fair will not just be an enjoyable bread experience, but memorable as well as it aims to help the less-privileged kids. This has been our responsibility, our commitment to build a stronger nation through nutrition and health,” explains Simplicio Umali Jr., President and General Manager of Gardenia.

To this day, bread—in whatever form and manner it is served—continues to be an important part of people’s lives primarily because of its flexibility, the convenience it offers and the essential nourishment it provides to individuals and families in every part of the world.

And today, Gardenia made Filipinos’ bread experience even more meaningful with “Happy Bread Day.”

For more about Gardenia Bakeries Philippines, Inc. and Happy Bread Day, visit www.gardenia.com.ph.

What's your Dieter's Quotient?

Much has been said and done about dieting and yet not all diets have turned out to be neither totally effective nor healthily beneficial to some dieters.  That being the case, is there something we should know? Or better yet, why not ask yourself how much do you know? Take this easy quiz to find out!

What’s Your “D.Q”? (Dieter’s Quotient)

                                                                                           True      False

A)         Fad diets are effective for  losing

 weight fast and permanently.

B)          Carbs are fattening.

C)         Delicious foods should be avoided

when dieting.

D)     Skipping meals makes you lose weight.

What you don’t know can make you gain or regain pounds.  If you answered “True” to most or all of the above, there’s a lot you need to know that will perhaps make you re-think the way you diet.  Check out these facts:

Fact # 1:  Fad diets are not really that effective.

 Sure, fad diets can make you lose weight fast, but when you slip out of their required routine, they make you gain back all that weight you’ve lost in no time! It is more advisable to eat in moderate amounts even as frequent as every 2-3 hours because that is easier to sustain. Doing this may help trigger your metabolism.

 Fact # 2: Carbohydrates aren’t necessarily fattening.

It’s eating too much of the wrong kind of carbs that makes you gain weight. You need carbohydrates--- good carbohydrates such as those rich in fiber that will not only help sustain your energy throughout the day but also help you feel full in between meals.   Moreover, fiber can improve digestive health as well as lower your blood cholesterol and blood sugar levels. So eat healthy breads instead!

Fact # 3: Skipping meals can make you gain weight.

Studies show that skipping meals regularly slows down your metabolism, making your body store the food that you eat on your next meal as fat! What’s more, whenever you starve or deprive yourself of a meal, you tend to compensate by gorging out next time.

Fact # 3:  You can enjoy  delicious food even when you’re dieting.

Healthy dieting doesn’t mean going for the bland and tasteless. If you look around, tasty, mouth-watering healthful choices abound. It’s a matter of knowing how to differentiate between the good and the bad.

Looking for a sensible way to delicious and healthy dieting? Look no further with Gardenia High Fiber Wheat Raisin Loaf.  It’s deliciously packed with flavorful plump juicy California raisins that contain anti-oxidants that may help protect your body against diseases. A slice a day may help in proper weight management,  while providing 9 grams of fiber per serving to meet 29% of your daily fiber needs.

Another bread that is a great diet eats and a healthy source is Gardenia Slim N’ Fit Wheaten Bread. It’s the only bread in supermarkets that contains L-Carnitine, a nutrient that may help you burn calories when combined with proper diet and exercise.

Whichever way you choose to diet, do it right and eat right! Go for healthylicious breads like Gardenia Slim N’ Fit Wheaten Bread and High Fiber Wheat Raisin Loaf to help you achieve a good figure and fit body!