We all love homecooked meals. Ask any Filipino about the best adobo, menudo, or caldereta in town and it will turn into a wholesome debate how each mom’s version of these signature Pinoy dishes is always the hands-down best.  When you’re away from home living off in a school dormitory or in a rented apartment near your workplace, you always crave for that one dish that only mom can make perfectly.  Admit it, even when you try to duplicate the recipe, and no matter how much you try to make it for yourself, it never turns out right. Sometimes, even when you eat in a famous Filipino restaurant, you always feel that it still can’t match how well your mom makes it and how she always got it down pat.  Truly, it’s the delicious meals that our moms painstakingly cook for us every day that keep our families healthy and happy, because we know that each one is made with love. 

As the Kasambuhay of Filipino families, Nestlé PH has been supporting the nutrition, health, and wellness of Filipino families through their products and programs.  MAGGI is focused on enabling moms so that they can prepare and cook delicious, nutritious, and affordable meals for their families. This brought the MAGGI Sarap Sustansya Caravan to life in 2014 as it intensified its efforts to assist moms—especially those who found it challenging to prepare healthy foods on a budget—when the global health crisis happened and impacted the lives of every ordinary Filipino family. 

By launching the MAGGI Sarap Sustansya Kusinaskwela online, MAGGI has been able to reach more than 28 million Filipinos from all over the country. This nutrition and education program, which consists of 16 online modules, follows guidelines from the Department of Science and Technology – Food and Nutrition Research Institute (DOST-FNRI). 

Sharing home-cooked meals and lots of family memories 

Rose Ann Luzande was among those who took part in the MAGGI Sarap Sustansya Caravan in Malabon City. As a young wife and mother back in 2015, she admitted that she was not at all equipped with all the knowledge she needed as a homemaker, until she realized how much joy sharing a delicious and nutritious meal together would bring to her husband and son. 

“Noong nagsisimula po kami, grabe po, sobra po palang hirap magluto. Pero iyon po kasi ang nagpapasarap sa pagsasama ng pamilya. Kaya gusto kong gumaling dito. Buti na lang at may Nestlé and MAGGI to the rescue,” (When I started, cooking was really a challenge. However, I realized that cooking for my family and enjoying meals together are what make my family happy. So, I want to improve on my cooking. Good thing I have Nestle and MAGGI to the rescue), she explained.

As with everything in life, Mommy Rose Ann realized that to provide the best home-cooked meals for the family, she must keep learning. “Ganoon pala kapag nanay ka, hindi ka titigil matuto. Lalo na kung para ito sa pamilya mo,” (I guess this is what motherhood is about. You never stop learning for your family), said Mommy Rose Ann.  

She may have found the kitchen intimidating at first, but thanks to the experiences and the knowledge she has acquired from the caravan, Mommy Rose Ann has gained confidence in her cooking skills and has now perfected her sinigang and adobo recipes which her family enjoy during mealtime. 

Make it magical with fresh ingredients

For Jane Medrano, who lives in Candelaria, Quezon, delicious and nutritious meals do not have to be expensive. In fact, cooking with fresh and healthy ingredients adds a magical touch to her dishes. “Noong pandemic, gumawa ako ng maliit na taniman para walang gastos sa mga gulay na kailangan ko. Natutunan ko sa MAGGI na kahit simpleng pagkain kayang pasarapin,” (During the pandemic, I put up a small garden for the vegetables that I will need.  I learned from MAGGI that all dishes could be delicious, no matter how simple it is), she said. Mommy Jane can now prepare simple, tasty but healthy meals for her loved ones any day of the week. All she has to do is harvest okra, eggplant, and other vegetables straight from her backyard. 

To inspire home cooks to do the same, MAGGI recently announced the successful implementation of its Sarap Sustansya Garden, a vegetable garden developed with support from the Department of Agriculture (DA) National Urban and Periurban Agriculture Program (NUPAP), and in collaboration with the Bureau of Plant Industry (DA-BPI). The MAGGI Sarap Sustansya Garden, located at Nestlé’s Lipa Integrated Coffee Center (LICC), took inspiration from the top everyday dishes of Filipino families like pinakbet, sinigang, sinabawang gulay, among many others. 

As the Kasambuhay para sa Masarap na Buhay ng Pamilyang Pilipino, Nestlé Philippines, through MAGGI, strives to educate and empower home cooks and homemakers, so that they will be inspired to make every meal as delicious and as well-balanced to keep the whole family healthy, while enjoying a sacred mealtime together daily.

Rosalyn Simba, Business Executive Officer – Food and Dairy Culinary Business Unit at Nestlé Philippines said, “There’s a misconception that nutritious foods are expensive and rarely delicious. Through the MAGGI Sarap Sustansya Kusinaskwela and the MAGGI Sarap Sustansya Garden, we offer easy-to-prepare yet magical recipes for the family”.

It all boils down to this: mom has always been there since day one—from feeding you from a bottle to eventually teaching you how to properly use a fork and knife, just to make sure you don’t go hungry. From the chicken soup she feeds you when you’re sick in bed, to your favorite Filipino dish she prepares when you’ve got good news to share. Yes, she is super wo-MOM!

Thanks to the MAGGI Sarap Sustansya Kusinaskwela and the MAGGI Sarap Sustansya Garden because wherever we are and whoever we have become, at the end of the day, we always long for the homecooked meal by our best iron chefs at home – our mothers.