The Glorious Heavens - Part 23

'Every day is a good day to be alive,
Whether the sun is shining or not.' - Marty Robbins

Chayote Pork Bone Broth

Ingredients:

1. 1kg of pork bones
2. 2 medium sized chayote (skin peeled and sliced into half)
3. Filtered water
4. Sea-salt

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1. Fill a large pot with the pork bones and chayote.

2. Fill it up with water until all ingredients are submerged.

3. Bring the water to a boil.

4. Then allow to simmer for two hours.

5. Add sea-salt to taste.

6. Serve hot.

Bon appétit!

A Pick-Me-Up Meal!

Ingredients:

1. 200gm of brown-rice beehoon
2. 1 1/2 tablespoons of fried garlic and oil
3. 1 poached egg
4. Tamari sauce

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1. Soak the beehoon in water until softened.

2. Drain the water and set the beehoon aside.

3. Fill a saucepan with water and bring it to a boil.

4. Add the beehoon and allow to cook for about one minute.

5. Scoop up the beehoon into a bowl.

6. Add the fried garlic, the oil and the Tamari sauce and mix thoroughly.

7. Add an egg to the boiling water. Scoop it up once it is cooked.

8. Serve immediately.

Bon appétit!

Steamed Tofu with Prawns

Ingredients:

1. 1 box of tofu (about 300gm)
2. 6 medium sized prawns (seasoned with sea-salt)
3. 2 tablespoons of fried garlic and garlic oil
4. Tamari sauce

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1. Place tofu on dish.

2. Arrange the prawns on the top of the tofu.

3. Steam for about 4 minutes or until prawns are thoroughly cooked.

4. Pour the fried garlic, garlic oil and tamari sauce over the tofu and prawns.

5. Serve hot with rice.

Bon appétit!

Third Season in Malaysia!

The awful haze is back!

*picture taken from HERE

Claypot Bittergourd Chicken

Ingredients:

1. 1 medium-sized bitter gourd (washed thoroughly and cut into small chunks)
2. 1 antibiotic-free/free-range chicken (cut into 10 parts)
3. Sea-salt
4. Sunflower oil
5. 1/2 clove of garlic (outer layer removed)
6. 2 tablespoons of Tamari sauce
7. 1 1/2 cup of chicken broth

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1. Heat a clay pot on medium high.

2. Drizzle some sunflower oil once the clay pot is heated up.

3. Add the garlic and stir-fry until slightly browned and a wonderful garlic aroma wafts through the air.

4. Add the bitter gourd, chicken, chicken broth, Tamari sauce and sea-salt and bring the dish to a boil.

5. Change the heat to low-heat.

6. Simmer for about 1/2 hour to 45 minutes.

7. Serve hot with rice.

Bon appétit!

Chilli Chicken

IMPORTANT NOTE: This dish is very high in salicylates!


Ingredients:

1. 5 red chilli pepper (seeds removed)
2. 1 garlic clove (skin removed)
3. 10 shallots (skin removed)
4. 6 large old potatoes (skin peeled and cut into chunks)
5. 8 drumsticks (with skin) (seasoned with sea-salt)
6. Sea-salt
7. 2 cups of chicken broth
8. Sunflower oil

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1. Blend the red chilli pepper, garlic and shallots together until they form a paste. Set aside.

2. Heat a wok on high heat.

3. Drizzle some sunflower oil.

4. Once the oil is heated up, add the potatoes and cook until browned. Scoop up and set aside.

5. Heat a clay pot on medium heat.

6. Drizzle some sunflower oil.

7. Then add the blended paste and stir it continuously until a fragrant aroma wafts from the mixture and it has turned into a darker shade of colour.

8. Add the drumsticks, cooked potatoes and chicken broth.

9. Turn to low heat and allow to simmer for about an hour.

10. Scoop up onto serving dish and serve hot with rice.

Bon appétit!

PS: I could only take about two spoonful of this dish. This is a major GERD trigger for me. Two spoonful is better than none!

Just For Laughs (8)

The Journey in Healing the Gut (3)

It's been a an uphill battle to heal the digestive system. Reflux is a stubborn goat who does not let up and is like a spoilt-child who insists on having her way.

I am still in the ring with reflux and I have currently lost round 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and very soon will head to being knocked out.

I did try to add on a new probiotics (in order to strengthen the gut) on top of the existing one which I have been consuming for 6 1/2 years now (LACTO GG). I did not react to it (such good news).

But I woke up the next morning, with such excruciating, crippling and debilitating pain in my shoulders and neck. I know that whenever I consume sugar, I will pay HELL for it. I kept going through my food list to check whether I had sugar. I did not eat sugar at all. Not even a grain of it. I was afraid that I could have accidentally ingested it but no, I did not.

Day two came and it got worse.

Day three came and I was literally in the bowels of Hades.

And then it struck me. The NEW PROBIOTICS!

I checked the ingredients and there wasn't any sugar.

And then I saw it.

Fructooligosaccharide. It had this as a pre-biotic.

I stopped this new probiotics immediately and the pain went away in two days. I got my shoulders and neck back. The relieve was heaven-sent.

So back to square one. How shall we tackle this reflux monster?

(...to be continued...)

Recovery Process...

I was hungry 24/7 at every second. It came to a point where I was having cold sweat, severe shaking, tremors, plunging BP to the point of blacking out, blurring of vision and terrible nausea. Something was wrong with me. My calves became so swollen that they were rock hard and I had difficulty walking.

It got so bad one night that I went to the ER. 

The doctor who saw me the previous week when I was down with the bacterial infection became worried as cases like mine could lead to inflammation of the thyroid.

So I had blood tests for the thyroid and kidneys.

All blood tests came back negative.

The doctor said that I could be having post-illness syndrome. He told me to rest. But he told me to see my gastroenterologist if this continued.

I couldn't take it as the severe hunger pangs would just strike at anytime of the day. Having chicken porridge caused my BP to plunged to the point I could only lie down as the dizziness and fainting spells were horrible. I was feeling so down and desperate.

I saw Dr. Rockstar last Friday. 

Dr. Rockstar said the antibiotics had screw up my digestion. Everything became haywire and it could take up to one month for my system to return to normal. I am currently on pancreas enzymes. It's called Pancreatin. It's digestive enzymes. 

There have been 'pockets of relief' here and there. I have to eat even smaller meals and have more protein. 

The good news is I am able to take yoghurt (which my stomach couldn't digest) and also sprouted wheat bread (which was an experiment). This means that all this while I lacked the enzymes to digest certain foods.

It is certainly interesting to see how things are unfolding. I have a follow-up meeting with Dr. Rockstar next week. Let's see what he shall say then.