Moms and Dads
Kaye Termulo-Garcia: Serving Up Family Specials
Kaye Termulo-Garcia finds creative ways to turn mealtimes at home into memorable moments to cherish.
The Garcias lead a very active lifestyle. With four kids in school and Kaye and Carlos at the helm of thriving businesses, the impacts of the health crisis impacted the household drastically. Scheduled trips were postponed indefinitely. Plans with family and friends were migrated online, at least until it was once again safe to be among loved ones in person. Kaye Termulo-Garcia, whose passion lies in styling events thought to bring her personal flavor and flair to meals at home. And this has made all the difference in helping the family cope with the situation.
Cooking as Family Bonding
She begins, “On most Fridays, we have pizza night. No, we don’t order pizza—we make pizza dough,” Every member tops their own dough with all their favorites, making it a fun and creative experience especially for the children. “On other weekends, the kids take turns choosing a restaurant to satisfy their cravings. The rest of the week, I cook a lot of our meals, and the girls are almost always helping me out,” adds Kaye.
Although indulgence is front and center on the menu, Kaye is conscious that meals meet the recommended daily dose of nutrients. She advises, “The key to ensuring proper nutrition for the kids is menu-planning. I make our weekly menu myself. I make sure the food we serve has nutritional value. I try to be creative. It’s tough to make sure the kids want to eat what’s on the menu. I mix it up and make it interesting by offering a wide array of cuisines.”
A family that eats together, stays together
That families are rediscovering the joys of home-cooked meals and bonding around the dinner table bring Kaye indescribable joy. Food is one of her love languages, which she is now able to articulate every mealtime. “Our meals have always brought us together. When I serve my family a dish I worked hard on, I hope they feel the love I put into it. At the end of the day, with a global crisis like this one, we can only hope we all remain strong spiritually and mentally. I believe feeling loved is Step One. It starts there,” she says.
As seen on Modern Parenting: The 100 List Anniversary Print Issue available on OMG Newsstands on Lazada and Shopee. Digital copies are also available through Magzter, PressReader, Readly, and Zinio.
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