Rice cooker meal by Cherry Doromal: Fettuccini in light pesto with cream dory and mixed veggies

I heard a lot of stories from friends who have been having a hard time adjusting from being career women to being full-time homemakers.  Actually, being a mom should be a blissful career.

If only you could adjust, you may also work around the clock, earn as much as you want and enjoy the nice things you were doing when you were still single.

I understand that in the Philippines, we are used to having domestic help doing the laundry, cooking our meals, cleaning our rooms and maintaining our homes. With our busy lifestyle nowadays, however, this routine is no longer worthwhile.  First of all, it is a lot of work training your household helper who will eventually leave at her own whim. Secondly, in our case, with long stories to tell, I just don’t feel comfortable anymore having a stranger living with us especially on critical years of raising my kids.

Over the last ten years of my marriage, I can confidently say how I mastered the art of being a housewife as well as mom to my two kids through hands on experience ,24/7. Believing that these lavish experiences may be equally helpful even to single ladies or bachelors, I am sharing some tips with you:

1. Eggs-perience.

Issue #1:  My younger boy Zecheriah is such as picky eater.  His favorite? Egg! But the thing is we cannot give him egg alone all the time as his nutrition will suffer.

Tip:  Be very creative. For instance, I cook rolled scrambled eggs or omelettes with spinach or green veggies in it.  Another option is that I incorporate boiled chicken eggs or quail eggs on dishes like mixed veggies (chopsuey), burritos, tacos,adobo, stews, menudo,afritada,etc. Along the way, I slyly introduce to my kid new flavors with egg as the main attraction.

Issue #2:  It takes time to cook fried eggs; also, “I’m afraid of oil spurt or burns”.

Tip:  An easier way to cook your egg is to place it in a flat microwavable dish, add about a teaspoon of water, beat it and cook for 1.5 minutes. Just leave it and do your stuff while cooking.  Note: Add salt and oil or butter if you want.

2. Microwave and Rice Cooker Cuisine

I can’t imagine myself running my home without microwave and rice cooker. For brevity, microwave cuts down my cooking time and adds a lot of convenience on my cookery. Name it! Champorado (chocolate porridge), longganiza (sausages), hotdogs, sweet pork , vegetables, instant noodles, hot water for coffee or tea , hotpot , reheating breads etc.  As to the aspect of whether microwave removes  the nutrients on food or  whether it is a cause of cancer, that remains debatable.

Thanks to the wonders of rice cooker where I can cook my favorite pasta, sinigang , adobo, tinola ,etc.  In general, the trick is that you use rice cooker as a multi-purpose boiler/steamer. Moreover, don't forget to present your food well, it adds to the flavor. Most important of all, cook with love!

More tips to follow soon.