Hi! I’m Mia Estolano-Levert. The recipes you’ll find here are heavily inspired by my Philippine heritage, my new home here in Prairieville, Louisiana, the people I meet and the places I traveled.
Filipina Meets the South
I was born and raised in the Philippines and I love to eat, travel and cook. I was in the middle of an organic farming volunteer program in the US when I met Mike (now my husband). Our first date was during the Mardi Gras of 2016 and 11 months later, we were engaged. I uprooted and moved to Louisiana in 2017. I married my Southern gentleman soulmate. Read more of our story in this article.
I lived a very fast-paced life as an event organizer back in Manila. When I moved here, I knew I really wanted a slow lifestyle. And so here I am, snugly fit into the kitchen creating giant messes and making wonderful food.
What I Cook
I get my cooking inspirations from Philippine heritage, my new home here in Prairieville, Louisiana, the people I meet and the places I traveled. The recipes you’ll find here are my Filipino favorites, food my mom makes, the dishes that just speak of home.
Currently, I live in a place where there’s a scarcity, of Filipino restaurants or stores, and so I have to recreate all the dishes I crave.
My home here in Louisiana is an ample source of cooking inspiration: the Southern cuisine, new ingredients, and my mom-in-law who is a wealth of Creole and Cajun cooking information. Of course I get to learn and cook this regional American cuisine, and infuse a bit of toy own touch.
My travels enormously impacted my life. Consequently, I was exposed to different people, food cultures, ingredients, dishes and lifestyle. I will be sharing those with you as well.
I make do with the available ingredients. This is the way I cook. Sometimes, I would make something from scratch because it is the healthier version. Or do it the traditional way just to experience it. I would sometimes modify cooking methods just to make homecooked meals a better experience.
What I Blog
I would love to share with you the Filipino food culture that I know and grew up with. With my travels and recent move here, I noticed how different yet distinctively similar we are in our ways of cooking and eating.
There’s so much to learn and contribute and I would love to be a part of these food conversations. The blog will be a great channel to talk about these observations.
The plan is to share a few meaningful recipes and food conversations a month.
So, this is still a work in progress so thank you in advance for your patience while I deal with the technical requirements of a blog. If this is your first time, I suggest you read this post on navigating the site. Thank you for stopping by!
Let us connect!
You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and working my way on more YouTube videos.
Use #BeWithMia if you replicated recipe or the post inspired you. I love to hear from you.
MAY FAITH, FOOD AND LOVE FILL YOUR LIFE.
HAPPY COOKING!
MIA
If you have any topic or recipe requests or you’d like to contact me, please use the form below.