Oh Wow! A Liebster!

Henry's Mom Blogs just turned a month old! Yey! And even with only 10 posts, this blog has been given a Liebster Blog Award. Thank you to Happy Mommy Adventures for the nomination. I'm flattered that you have thought of me. I learned about it while browsing the Smart Parenting Forum. 

Now, what's a Liebster Blog Award you ask? The Liebster Blog award is given to up and coming bloggers with less than 200 followers.  Liebster is German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome.

According to Coffee with Kim, the rules of the award are as follows:

1. Each person must list 11 things about themselves.
2. Recipient of the award must answer the 11 questions of the person who tagged you.
3. Come up with 11 questions that you want 11 persons, whom you will nominate, to answer.
4. Link the blogs you nominated in your post.
5. Go to their page and inform them about the award.
6. Absolutely NO tags back. Remember only to tag bloggers with less than 200 follow.

11 things about Henry's Mom:

1. I'm a 3rd year medical student. From a family of doctors, really there is no other path that I would like to follow but theirs. 

2. I'm the only child of my mom and the 1st-born of my dad. 

3. I hate ice cream flavors with nuts. Rocky road is a no-no for me. 

4. I have an online business.

5. I got married when I was 20.

6. Became a mother at 21.

7. A kid at heart, sometimes I still dream of becoming a Disney Princess. 

8. I really believe that Tito Sotto should apologize.

9. Egypt is my dream destination. I wanna see those pyramids!

10. My lola is my hero. 

11.  AND LASTLY, I JUST RECEIVED A LIEBSTER BLOG AWARD! YIPEE!  *Happy dance*

Here are my answers to Happy Mommy Adventures 11 questions:

• What's your go-to/comfort food? If there's one type of food that would make me close my eyes and savor every bite, it would be Persian Food. Whenever I'm stressed or hungry or when my hubby asks me where I want to eat, I always say I want a Kebab. So sometimes he would drive me all the way to QC for some Mister Kabab or we go to Arya in Greenhills or The Kebab Factory in Megamall.

• Any weird habits? I don;t know if you call it weird but I crack my fingers. 

• How do you balance your time between work/school and blogging/writing? Blogging is something that I want to do and not something that I have to do. That is why I only blog when an idea comes into mind. 

• Your favorite place? Batangas City. It's where I grew up. Even if I am based in Manila now, I still consider it my home. 

• How do you de-stress? I sleep. Sometimes all you need is a little rest.
• What's the best advice anyone has ever given you? To study hard. It's the key to success. 
• What's the best advice you could or have given anyone? If you think it's a bad idea then it probably is. 
• Who's your favorite author and why? I've haven't really done much reading since I entered college so I would have to say, Judy Blume.  :P
• How has writing changed/improved your perspective in life? I'm not really a writer so I would have to say that blogging in general really just gave me an outlet to reach out to other people. 
• One "New Year's Resolution" thing that you always list down but never get to commit to. Diet!
• What's your definition of "Passion". What is your passion? Passion is something that you want to do and will never get tired of doing. At the age of 26, I am still on the road to finding out what my passion would be. I'm still in the look out for something that I can be passionate about. 

And here are my 11 questions:

1. What made you start a blog?
2. How many hours a day do you spend online?
3. What's on the top of your Christmas wishlist?
4. Do you still believe in Santa Claus?
5. Which do you think came first, the chicken or the egg?
6. Your favorite movie of all time is....
7. Who's your childhood hero?
8.  Would you change your religion for the one you love? (A beauty pageant question)
9.  What's your most guilty pleasure?
10. If you could be a celebrity for a day, who would you be?
11. What's one thing you can't live without?

Now for the nominees... Drum roll please...

Cym of Ceemee's Cazzopoeia

Terry of QC Mommy

Katie of Moore from Katie

Tet of Tet's Little Finds

The Promding Chamimay

Michelle of Stage Mom and More
January of Nails & Kolours

Thanks again Happy Mommy Adventures! I had fun answering your questions. 

Eat Right & Feel Good During Pregnancy

Today, I welcome, a guest blogger, Katie Moore of Moore from Katie whos hares with us tips on how to eat right and feel good during pregnancy. 

Eating right and exercising regularly are things all women should do on a regular basis. However, many of us look at eating right and exercising as something we want to do to look good and stay fit. When we get pregnant, some of us don’t think we have to exercise or eat right because it’s a time in our lives when we get to get fat without being unhappy and when we can eat whatever we want because we get a free pass for the next nine months. For me, this wasn’t the case. During my pregnancy I had plenty of cravings, but I didn’t give into temptation and instead used pregnancy as the perfect catalyst to jump into the best lifestyle I could manage—a healthy one! 

Feeling Great
I learned during my healthy transition that I feel more energized, happier, less tired, and better when I eat right. I decided that I would take that with me into my pregnancy because I didn’t want to give up feeling good at a time my body was working extra hard to keep my baby healthy. As a result, I spent my entire pregnancy feeling as good as I do when I wasn’t pregnant. I hardly felt sick, I slept well at night, I didn’t experience many mood swings, and I was full of energy. I felt better than ever, and I credit it to a healthy lifestyle change. 

Balancing Cravings
There are healthy ways to manage cravings. When I wanted something sweet, I ate chocolate covered strawberries. When I wanted something salty, I ate chicken sausage, red, green, and yellow bell pepper, onions, and pasta. When I felt like I needed more energy, I ate fruit. Whole grains and protein are also good to eat when you are expecting. Since the thought of milk makes me sick to my stomach on a regular basis, I had to figure out another way to get the extra calcium I needed to make my daughter healthy. I ate yogurt. I filled it with fruit sometimes. Other times I sautéed broccoli and spinach, both very high in calcium. All the alternatives I came up with were healthy, made me feel good, and made my baby healthy. 

Exercising ALOT

Furthermore, I exercised. I took plenty of naps and rested when I felt the need throughout, but I found that I slept better, longer, and deeper on the evenings I walked for a half hour with my husband. When I woke up in the morning I found that prenatal yoga gave me energy and calmed me. I was happier, healthier, and fitter. Additionally, all that exercise prepared my body for labor, which meant that I was more comfortable, labor was shorter, delivery was easy, and I felt good sooner. I also lost my baby weight very fast after both pregnancies. 

Before changing your diet and health routines too drastically, be sure to speak to your doctor. Pregnancy is a delicate time in your body so making too many changes too fast can be harmful to your health. Your doctor should help you figure out the best course of action to take. Your doctor can also educate you on other aspects of your pregnancy like preparing for labor, educating you on birthing styles, and educating you on delivery and post-delivery methods, like pain management medications and cord blood banking. With so much information on ways to improve your health, you can expect an easier labor and a smooth transition into motherhood.

{Pin This!}

Katie Moore has written and submitted this article. Katie is an active blogger who discusses the topics of, motherhood, children, fitness, health and all other things Mommy. She enjoys writing, blogging, and meeting new people! To connect with Katie contact her via her blog, Moore From Katie or her twitter, @moorekm26.

The Red Pancit

UPDATED PHOTO: This is the Pancit Tikyano we had last Sunday. (03/31/2013)

Hi! How was your long weekend? Did you go anywhere? Aside from being stuck in the hospital for 5 days, I was excited to go home to Batangas City for Undas (All Soul's Day). Most especially, I was excited to come home to the great food that awaits me.

Whenever I come home to the province, there is always this one food that I look forward to - the RED pancit, or more popularly known as Pancit Tikyano or Letty's Pancit. It can only be found in Batangas City and has been a local favorite for as long as I can remember.

The pancit is delicious by itself but most of us Batangueños would eat it with rice. Even before all those instant ulam noodles, the Pancit Tikyano already existed. This red stir-fried noodles is topped with carrots, cabbage, pork, CHICHARON, etc. Just looking at the picture above makes my mouth water already. 

Remember how they say to eat pancit for long life? Well, my lolo and lola ate this pancit almost everyday and they lived until the ages of 92 and 93 respectively. I guess it must be true. 

I would definitely recommend it to anyone that would visit Batangas City. It's a must! The Pancit Tikyano can only be found at Letty's Restaurant in M.H. del Pilar St., Batangas City. It's near the Church of the Immaculate Concepcion.

I hope you had a great long weekend as well.