Amateur Cook and Caregiver for Mom.
Back in May 2022, my mom accidentally fell in the middle of the night and broke her hip. It was one of the scariest times for our family as she had to quickly go into surgery. Unfortunately, she didn’t heal properly so she had to go through another surgery in August 2022 to fix it. It was really an ordeal for her to go through 2 surgeries back to back at the age of 87!!
As she recovered during rehabilitation, she was losing a lot of weight because she didn’t like the food at the rehab facility. She wanted Filipino food! I could do takeout but it was a bit of a drive to the nearest Filipino restaurant that I know here in Fort Lauderdale. So I decided to learn how to cook Pinoy dishes by getting help from “Chef Google” for Filipino recipes and started my mission to make delicious dishes for her. I am a very good baker because that is my profession but my cooking skills are limited to frying bacon and eggs!!
I started cooking with my Instant Pot which I already had but rarely used. It was easy because it was a “set it and forget it” kind of cooking. As time went on I ventured to other types of cooking methods. Each new recipe took a few tries until I got the hang of it.
She was released from rehab after a couple of months and is now at home. I am currently taking care of her full time and oddly have found the joy of cooking. I must say that I’ve gotten better. I realized that unlike baking where you have to be precise with the ingredients and measurements, in cooking you can adjust, delete and modify ingredients according to your liking. For example, I have to mainly adjust or substitute the salt in recipes to control my mom’s blood pressure. She also doesn’t like spicy foods so I eliminated any spice ingredients in a recipe.
I decided to start this blog because I get recipe requests whenever I posted my food pictures on Facebook. I also want to document my cooking journey as I help my mom through her road to recovery. I added a section for caregiving tips where I discuss nutrition tips, product reviews, daily living experiences and other practical tips. There is also a section where I share some stories about my mom’s family.
I hope you enjoy this collection of recipes, tips and stories.