Affordable And Nutritious Recipes Na Swak Sa Budget, Swak For Kids!

The current increases in food prices contribute to the problem in accessing sufficient nutrition and healthy food choices in Filipino households. With higher prices across different commodities, homemakers now face a greater challenge in budgeting while they strive to prepare nutritious and delicious dishes to help safeguard the health of the family, especially the kids. 

“We, at Ajinomoto, understand the struggles that parents face nowadays. In our own way, we hope to extend help by sharing thoughtful recipes that take into consideration the health and budget of the family,” shares Ajinomoto Philippines Corporation (APC Group) General Manager Corporate Planning and Public Relations Roann Co. “We aim to provide solution and equip homemakers with knowledge on preparing affordable, delicious and well-balanced meals for their kids and loved ones.”

The following delicious and nutritious recipes are not only easy to prepare but also sure to fit the budget, including AJI-NO-MOTO® Umami Seasoning 11g and Aji-Ginisa® 8g which remain to be the most affordable seasonings in the market at Php 3.00 SRP. 

  

Tokwa Bites Meal

Tofu is rich in protein and calcium.  Not only it is affordable alternative but also a healthy version of meat balls. Prepare a soft and crunchy Tokwa Bites meal for lunch in 3 easy steps: mix, fry, and serve. You only need half pack (11g) A JI-NO-MOTO® Umami Seasoning to bring out its flavors. Try the recipe here at home!

Potato Egg Sandwich

You can make a healthy Potato Egg sandwich for breakfast or merienda which requires little time and ingredients. Potatoes and bread are rich in carbohydrates for energy while tomatoes are rich in vitamin C which for immunity. Season with half pack (11g) AJI-NO-MOTO® Umami Seasoning for savory deliciousness. Learn the full recipe here.

Sauteed Corned Beef with Potatoes and Veggies

Sauté, season, and serve – this easy-to-remember recipe. Beef is rich in protein while Baguia beans and sitsaro are rich in fiber beneficial for proper digestion. Season with one pack (8g) AJI-GINISA® Flavor Seasoning Mix and you’re good to go! Serve a nutritious meal today with our cooking guide here.

Chicken Lomi Meal

New way to cook lomi by adding common Malunggay vegetable which is packed with vitamins and minerals like Vitamin B and C, Iron, and Calcium.  Season with one pack (8g) AJI-GINISA® Flavor Seasoning Mix to complete its flavor! See full recipe here.

APC Group’s brand promise of Eat Well, Live Well provides Filipinos with ways to serve nutritious meals.  "We believe that eating well and living well does not have to be expensive. We hope that through our affordable products and health initiatives at Ajinomoto, we get to help parents in bringing about a well-balanced diet at home amid these challenging times," said Co.

For more delicious, nutritious and affordable recipes, visit www.cookmunitybyajinomoto.com.ph

More Flavor, Less Salt

 

Ajinomoto Philippines Corporation shares how Filipinos can take better care of their hearts and health.

Filipino cuisine uses a wide range of healthy and nutritious ingredients, however, most Pinoy dishes use generous amounts of salt, soy sauce, fish sauce, or bagoong to achieve full flavor. In addition to this, Pinoys also love salty dipping sauces or sawsawan.  Unfortunately, the flavor that brings the yum in Filipino dishes may be a key ingredient that is putting people’s hearts and health at risk.

That’s because too much salt leads to excessive sodium intake, which has been linked to many illnesses such as heart diseases, stroke, and kidney diseases. Filipinos’ average salt consumption per day is 11 grams (4,263 milligrams of sodium). This is more than the recommended 5 grams of salt (or less than 2,000 milligrams of sodium) daily by the World Health Organization (WHO).

To help address the issue, Ajinomoto Philippines Corporation (APC) Group recently launched its BawAsin or Bawasan ang Asin campaign, an effort that encourages consumers to reduce their sodium intake without sacrificing the deliciousness of their meals. 

Less Sodium, Happier Heart 

Our heart works non-stop to keep us going, so we need to take a good look at the condition of our heart and give it the attention and love it deserves. And people can start with consuming less salt in their diets. 

Ajinomoto’s new BawAsin section on its official website contains fewer sodium hacks as well as more than 100 fewer sodium recipes to help Filipinos in their pursuit of keeping a healthy and hearty diet. One of the main tips suggested is to substitute 1 teaspoon of salt with the combination of ½ teaspoon of salt and ½ tablespoon of MSG. This simple step allows for reducing sodium content by up to 40% while maintaining the flavor. 

“Many people remain apprehensive of reducing their salt intake because of the notion and misconception that less salt results in bland-tasting or less flavorful food. This is far from the truth,” said APC Science Communication Specialist Beatrice Menorca, RND. “Based on a study entitled ‘Determining acceptability of a less sodium recipe with umami seasoning’ participants of the study preferred the less sodium recipes over regular recipes. This only proves that it is possible to cook delicious food with less sodium. It’s quite easy too, as there are healthier alternatives to make food rich in flavor without adding too much salt,” Menorca said.

APC Group’s BawAsin or Bawasan ang Asin campaign was also launched in a Webinar Series that was held in partnership with the Nutritionist-Dietitians Association of the Philippines. APC Group and NDAP’s Webinar Series enjoined nutrition experts and students to help spread the word about the importance of taking care of health, through healthy and nutritious food.

The first webinar entitled, ‘Invest in your health be better in 2022’, discussed how people can invest in improving their immune system by consuming healthy and nutritious food. Another webinar entitled ‘More flavor, less salt: Delicious salt reduction’ covered the effects of excessive salt intake on people’s health and how Filipinos can make food delicious with lesser salt intake.

The BawAsin or Bawasan ang Asin campaign is a reflection of the brand’s “Eat Well, Live Well” promise, which aims to help families improve their health by providing ways how to prepare healthy and delicious meals. These initiatives are in line with the company's ultimate goal of extending the life expectancy of 1 billion people.

“It’s amazing how one simple step—reducing sodium intake—can bring about so many benefits for the heart and our overall health. We must do every little thing that would help us live a healthier lifestyle while making sure we have delicious meals every single time,” said Roann Co, APC General Manager of Marketing and Public Relations. 

For more information about the BawAsin campaign, visit ajinomoto.com.ph.

The Ajinomoto Group is a global company with specialties in the business of food and amino acids, guided by our leading-edge bioscience and fine chemical technologies.

Based on the corporate message “Eat Well, Live Well.”, we have been scientifically pursuing the possibilities of amino acids in supporting the healthy lives of people all around the world. We aim for future growth and continuous contribution to greater wellness by creating value through sustainable and innovative solutions for communities and society.

The Ajinomoto Group has offices in 35 countries and regions and sells products in more than 130 countries and regions. In fiscal 2018, sales were 1.1274 trillion yen (10.1 billion U.S. dollars). To learn more, visit www.ajinomoto.com.

EGGciting recipes below P100 for a week

 

 

Eggs are one of the food stamples that are incredibly inexpensive and yet are flexible enough to go with lots of different meals and foods.

There are a number of reasons why people love eggs – it’s easy to cook, versatile, and one of the cheapest and convenient protein sources. Filipinos have especially stocked up on this pantry staple amid the height of lockdowns due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Based on the consumption survey conducted in 2015 by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (FNRI-DOST), chicken eggs ranked seventh on the “Top 30 Commonly Consumed Food Items” in the Philippines, proving that it is an indispensable ingredient in a household. While eggs are often seen as an accompaniment to our breakfast silog meals, it has many other uses from making quick meals, a thickener and binding agent, to adding flavor.

Eggs are packed with nutrients that children need for healthy growth and development. It contains vitamins and minerals and all nine essential amino acids that the human body cannot produce on its own, making it an ingredient that can be easily added to other food to enhance its nutritional value. It’s no wonder that it is a favorite of Filipinos as it’s not only nutritious but an inexpensive source of nutrients and easy to prepare especially for busy parents.

But just because eggs are an obvious choice in making healthy and delicious egg-cellent meals, it doesn’t mean that you should be limited with the usual boiled, fried, or poached. Skip the same-old ways of cooking eggs and try introducing more variety into your child’s diet. Ajinomoto Philippines Corporation has prepared a “7-Day Egg Challenge” for you that will help you learn new ways to cook eggs for your kids. You’d be surprised that even picky eaters would love the way we added other ingredients like veggies to enrich the color, texture, and nutrients of the dishes. Best of all, all are under a hundred pesos for a family-size meal!

For full recipes and for more information about Ajinomoto and its products, visit www.ajinomoto.com.ph and facebook.com/CookmunitybyAjinomotoPH. 

Don’t forget to snap a photo of your eggciting dish and share it with us using the hashtag #AjinomotoEggcitingRecipe.

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The Ajinomoto Group is a global company with specialties in the business of food and amino acids, guided by our leading-edge bioscience and fine chemical technologies.

Based on the corporate message “Eat Well, Live Well.”, we have been scientifically pursuing the possibilities of amino acids in supporting the healthy lives of people all around the world. We aim for future growth and continuous contribution to greater wellness by creating value through sustainable and innovative solutions for communities and society.

The Ajinomoto Group has offices in 35 countries and regions and sells products in more than 130 countries and regions. In fiscal 2018, sales were 1.1274 trillion yen (10.1 billion U.S. dollars). To learn more, visit www.ajinomoto.com.

Kid-friendly Recipes, Rich in Protein and Calcium for National Nutrition Month

The National Nutrition Council (NNC) sets the theme “Batang Pinoy, Sana Tall. Iwas Stunting, Sana All” for this year’s nutrition month. Ajinomoto Philippines Corporation (APC) joins the nation in celebrating the National Nutrition Month this July to bring to light the ill effects of stunting and how to prevent a child’s healthy growth from being stunted. 

According to the 8th National Nutrition Survey by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI), 3 out of 10 Filipino Children (5 and below) are stunted. Stunting or “pagkabansot” in our native tongue is a manifestation of long term occurrence of malnutrition. It is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) “as impaired growth and development that children experience from poor nutrition, repeated infection, and inadequate psychosocial stimulation”. 

How Stunting is Stunted

Growth failure can start from the womb and progress after birth. The effects of stunting, if not immediately and properly addressed, can be permanent and irreversible. There is a window of opportunity to reverse or prevent stunting through effective interventions for children 5 years old and below. Unfortunately, there is no cure to stunting, so prevention is critical for young children to have healthy growth and development.  

It is imperative for parents to track their child’s growth. The National Nutrition Council provided a simplified and more understandable Child Growth Standard Table based on WHO’s Child Growth Standards (WHO-CGS) 2004 and WHO’s Reference Data, 2006. These information can be access through https://www.ajinomoto.com.ph/blog/how-to-track-child-growth/. 

Importance of Proper Nutrition to avoid Stunting

Women of child-bearing age and expectant mothers must have adequate nutrition to prepare their bodies to a healthy pregnancy and give birth to a well-nourished baby. It is also highly important that breastfeeding mothers get adequate nutrition in order to supply the needs of their babies throughout the 6 months exclusive breastfeeding journey. Exclusive breastfeeding from 0-6 months is recommended for babies to gain optimum nutrients perfect for their age. To prevent your child from having growth failure, it is important to address poor diet, inadequate calorie intake, poor quality of meal intake, and insufficient supply of macro nutrients like protein and micro nutrients like calcium specific for growth and development. 

The Culinary Nutrition Team of Ajinomoto puts together a treat for kids to enjoy and for homemakers to conveniently prepare and serve. Try to make these 4 calcium-rich recipes using 4 ingredients done in 4 easy steps made with AJI SAVOR™ on Rice Topping Mix and 4 protein-rich recipes using 4 ingredients done in 4 easy steps made with Prottie® Soymilk Drink Mix. 

AJI SAVOR™ Rice Topping Mix Chicken/Beef is available in leading supermarkets. Prottie® Soymilk Drink Mix is available on LazMart, an online store on LazMall. For more healthy and delicious recipes, visit http://www.ajinomoto.com.ph and https://www.facebook.com/CookmunitybyAjinomotoPH/.  

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The Ajinomoto Group is a global company with specialties in the business of food and amino acids, guided by our leading-edge bioscience and fine chemical technologies. 

Based on the corporate message “Eat Well, Live Well.”, we have been scientifically pursuing the possibilities of amino acids in supporting the healthy lives of people all around the world. We aim for future growth and continuous contribution to greater wellness by creating value through sustainable and innovative solutions for communities and society. 

The Ajinomoto Group has offices in 35 countries and regions, and sells products in more than 130 countries and regions. In fiscal 2018, sales were 1.1274 trillion yen (10.1 billion U.S. dollars). To learn more, visit www.ajinomoto.com.