A Little More Healthy

One of my most loved food is hotdog. I can even live everyday having hotdog as my viand that's why some people usually laughs at me whenever they find out what my favorite foods are. They say I have the preferences of a kid. But I know that I'm getting older, so I have to live a healthier life lol.

So last night, I tried to make a healthy food for the family. I made a fern salad.

Ferns don't bear flowers. They grow almost anywhere. I remember that when I was a child, my family sometimes goes to the mountain where my granny's land is located. A lot of ferns are growing anywhere and I thought that they are just weeds. But now I know that it is actually edible.

Yesterday, a young boy was selling veggies for a cheap price, so I asked my dad to buy a bunch of ferns.

They thought that I'm going to cook something I already tasted or eaten before. But they didn't know it's also my first time to make the dish lol. One of the good things about being the family 'chef' (Oh yes, I consider myself the chef at home!) is that they trust you with all the kitchen activities. They eat whatever you cook for them without questioning it 🤣

I had a lot of kitchen shenanigans and today I'm going to show you how to make a fern salad, the esciisc way.

First, prepare the fern.

Just get the young stems because it is still soft and cut it with your desired size. I prefer to cut it into shorter pieces for easy mixing.

Next, wash the fern with cold running water. Make sure to remove all the dirt, and remove any worms lurking there. Sometimes it's hard to see the worms because it looks like the ferns.

After washing the fern, cook it in a boiling water for about 5 minutes only. You can also steam it if that's what you prefer but it will take longer, probably 10 minutes. The purpose of doing this is to remove and bacteria in the veggie.

After five minutes, or when the fern reached your desired softness, transfer it into a clean bowl, as you can see from above photo.

Next is to prepare all the needed ingredients to make the salad. I used the following ingredients:

• 10 small ripe tomatoes

• 1 medium sized onion

• 2 teaspoon black pepper

• 1 teaspoon rock salt

• 1 small calamansi (green lemon)

Wash the tomatoes in a cold water then cut it into your desired size. For me, I prefer cutting it round shaped for the sake of food presentation.

Next, prepare the onion. Remove the roots and trim the ends. Then cut it into half and chop it finely into small pieces. Chopping it into small pieces is just optional. You can also cut it into your desired size. Well, there are two kids in the house so whenever I cook, I always cut the onions and garlic into tiny pieces so that they won't notice it when they eat. Kids tend to leave those veggies when they're eating so it's best to make it smaller that they won't even notice it's there lol.

Combine all the tomatoes and onions and mix it with the boiled fern. As you can see in the photo, I also added the black pepper and the rock salt (sorry the salt is not visible on this photo).

Add the green lemon. One small piece of calamansi is enough. Don't make it too sour. But then, if you prefer it sour, then you can always add more calamansi.

This is just optional, you can also add shreds of meat on the fern salad. I used pork meat here. It is a pork adobo which I shreded into small bits. I also added the garlic from the adobo to add a distinct flavor.

Tsadaaaan! My dinner is ready. As I've said in this article's title, I'm trying to live a little more healthier so 3/4 cup of rice is already enough to pair with this yummy and appetizing fern salad. But the pork adobo makes it hard for me to strictly follow the diet, ugh.

Good Health.

Good health is one of the keys to having a happier life.

Here are some steps to be a little more healthier.

• Eat right. When I was younger, I thought that being healthy is when you follow a strict diet. And whenever I heard the words "I'm on a diet", I understand that it also means not eating a lot or not eating at all during a specific meal time. But I was wrong. Being on a diet is eating the right foods. Eating the right foods will make a person look better. Years ago, it is so hard for me to control myself to eat carbs and it seems like I'm always hungry. I was always scolded by my dad every meal time because he says that I don't look like a lady whenever I'm eating. So every mealtime, I prefer to eat alone so that they won't notice the way I eat. But I learned the importance of self-control. Whenever I feel like I'm already full, I stop eating no matter how much I still want to eat. I also try to eat less unhealthy foods. Before, I can consume more than a liter of soda in just a day, but now, I prefer to drink more water than soda. A year ago, I have a bigger waistline and bigger arms and shoulders. But it is smaller now after I tried so hard to avoid my bad eating habits.

• Exercise more. Exercising has always been my most dreaded activity. I don't want to exercise because it makes me feel tired and after every exercise, my body hurts so much. So instead of doing vigorous and heavy workouts, I resorted to dancing Zumba and other simple exercises for kids that makes my body sweat a lot. Dancing is a fun way of removing those excess fats without undergoing any workout. I've been doing it for more than six months now. And aside from dancing, doing strenuous works also helps me. As I already mentioned in my previous blog or article, I even help my dad in the construction project at home. And since we're living in the province, we also seldom cook using firewood, I also chop firewood at times which makes me sweat a lot. It's my own form of exercise and it makes my body feel great!

• Get Enough Sleep. Getting enough sleep helps for our body to perform better. Whenever I lack sleep, I also lack the motivation to do things. It makes me feel lazy and it's even hard to focus on things. Even if you didn't do any vigorous activity, if I lack sleep, I feel tired most of the time too. But sometimes, it is just so hard to sleep on time because of the many distractions such as the internet and using of gadgets. But do your best to get at least eight hours of sleep every night and it would make a difference in you.

Let's all try to live a little more healthier and we'll surely be happier!

Thank you for reaching this point reading this article. You deserve a commendation! - @esciisc💕