Actress and single mom Donita Rose knows too well how difficult it is to plan for her child’s every day meal.
Juggling acting stints, hosting jobs and her YouTube cooking channel “Dash of Donita,” the 43-year-old surely has a lot on her plate.
Add to that her return to prime time as host of “Heart Mate Kitchen Season 2,” a cooking capsule co-produced by GMA 7 and Jolly Heart Mate Canola Oil, one can imagine how Rose has little time left to tend to her own kitchen.
Even so, this multi-slashie and professional chef — she has obtained a culinary degree at the Academy for International Culinary Arts and worked at the four-star Japanese restaurant Kumi in Mandalay Bay — makes sure she uses her kitchen skills to whip up not just delicious but nutritious meals for her son.
“The thing that you should really strive for is to have well-ba¬lanced meals,” Rose began when asked for tips how to prepare meals for kids.
“You want to have carbs, for energy, protein to keep them full, and of course veggies, which have the micronutrients,” she continued.
As kids tend to tire of dishes when they are served on a daily basis, Rose added she makes sure her now 14-year-old son’s meal plan has variety.
“I try to make sure that every day is something different for my son. So within a week, I make sure na meron siyang chicken, fish, pork, beef and all with the addition of veggies.”
Real kitchen problems
Besides these tips, Rose’s audience can also look forward to family dishes that she personally conceptualized for Heart Mate Kitchen.
Airing until October during commercial gaps of “Unang Hirit” and “Wowowin” during weekdays and in “Sarap Diva” and “Kapuso Movie Festival” during weekends, Rose will try to solve real kitchen problems with the help of GMA celebrities.
There’s an episode where Camille Prats turns to Rose for slumber party meal ideas for the former’s own son, Nate; and Zoren Legazpi asking for family-frinedly dishes for his twins Mavy and Casey.
The cooking capsule will also feature out-of-town “baon” food with Mikael Daez, post-work-out meals with Rocco Nacino, dish-to-impress with Jason Abalos, heart-healthy breakfast with Julie Anne San Jose and a movie dinner meal with Yasmien Kurdi.
“All the recipes, which I finished writing in one and a half days, we are offering on the show, pinag isipan ng mabuti. I was so proud when taped because everything turned out really well and I know our audience will be able to take away lots of ideas from our episodes,” Rose finally promised.
(C. Alpad, TMT)
