Oatmeal for Breakfast!

Ingredients:

1. 8 tablespoons of regular, organic oatmeal
2. 1 1 /2 cups of boiling water
3. 3 teaspoons of brown sugar

--------------------------------------------------------------

1. Pour 1 1/2 cups of boiling water into a bowl.

2. Then pour 8 tablespoons of oatmeal and continue to boil the mixture over high heat. (You can either use the stove or microwave). Stir continuously.

3. Boil for another 4 minutes or until the oats have fully softened.

4. Add the sugar and mix thoroughly.

5. Allow to cool before consuming.

Bon appétit!

Super Moist Chocolate Cake

My mom attended a gathering yesterday with her friends. I made a chocolate cake for them. Below is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1. 1 1/2 cups of milk
2. 100gm of butter
3. 1/4 cup of sunflower oil
4. 1/2 cup of cocoa powder
5. 1 cup of self-raising flour
6. 1 egg (beaten) - room temperature
7. 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
8. 100gm of brown sugar

-------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Heat milk, butter, oil and cocoa powder until the butter melts.

2. Set aside to cool.

3. In another bowl, add flour, baking soda, sugar and beaten egg to the cooled wet ingredients.

4. Preheat oven at 170C.

5. Beat/whisk until all ingredients are mixed well.

6. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes.

7. Remove from oven promptly once cake is done. Allow to cool.

8. Dust lightly with icing sugar.

Bon appétit!

Fair & Lovely, White & Pure (Part 3)

Back in ancient times, Cleopatra did not have hydroquinone as her skin lightening remedy. According to history, she bathed in milk and honey and was beautiful beyond words. And she was not laced with chemicals.

Many times we spent exorbitant amounts of money in order to look beautiful. And many times, the ingredients that can be used to beautify ourselves are actually in our PANTRY! And they are safe, cheap and convenient. (The skin whitening that I'm writing about is the face and neck. I think that it is a waste of time to 'whiten' your intimate parts!)

1. MILK

Milk is a popular skin lightening ingredient. It contains high levels of lactic acid. Lactic acid is capable of lightening and can brighten up the tone skin complexion because it reduces melanin. That being said, skin lightening is a process which takes time. So if you decide that you want to be as fair as Nicole Kidman by tomorrow morning, you will be sorely disappointed.

Skin lightening can be achieved in a minimum of 3 weeks. And that is entirely up to how consistent you are in applying your home-made remedy.

2. LEMON

The alpha-hydroxy acids in lemon juice is capable of lightening and brightening up the skin. Lemon juice also has mild exfoliative effects. Fresh lemon juice is capable of peeling the skin's top layer off and remove/lighten an age spot!

Lemons also contain antioxidants in the form of herperidin, coumarin and erioticin. It is also antibacterial and has antiviral properties. Lemons also naturally contain alpha-hydroxy acid substances. Many commercial skin care products use synthetic made alpha-cydroxy acids.

3. PAPAYA

Papayas contain papain, which is a natural enzyme that promotes skin renewal and cell turnover. It helps in exfoliating the skin to reveal newer cells. It also has restorative properties that help soften the skin.

4. POTATO

Potatoes contain bleaching agents!

5. ALMOND

Almonds too contain whitening properties. Almond oil can remove superficial blemishes. It also can do away with the wrinkles.

6. WATER

Drinking adequate amounts of water everyday contributes to healthy and glowing skin. Who needs that 100 dollar bleach when you have healthy, natural ingredients?

NOTE: Do experiment with care as your skin might be sensitive and might break out in an allergic reaction. 

Fair & Lovely, White & Pure (Part 2)

As I wrote in the previous post, skin whitening seems to be the latest trend. People in general have come to a point of equating fairness with beauty. If you're not fair enough, you're not pretty enough or attractive enough. It is sad that people have to expose their bodies through 'chemical processes' in order to 'look/feel' beautiful.

But this so called 'beautification process' comes at a steep price. The ingredients that are used in these whitening products contain chemicals which cause harm to our bodies. 

1. Hydroquinone

Hydroquinone has been clinically tested to be a potentially dangerous ingredient. In experiments on mice, hydroquinone caused cancer in them.

Creams which contain hydroquinone are capable of burning through layers of the skin; thus leaving behind scarring. And it is a known fact that hydroquinone is a skin irritant!

This ingredient has been banned in many countries, which include Japan, England and France. 

2. Mercury

Mercury is another ingredient used in whitening products. Small amounts of this chemical can cause damage to one's nervous system and cause kidney problems. Pregnant women who use skin lightening creams during their pregnancy can pass the mercury to their unborn child!

Mercury can also cause the treated area of the skin to become thick and discoloured. This definitely beats the purpose of using the whitening products!

*Note: Mercury is sometimes listed under other names: calomel, mercuric, mercurous or mercurio.

3. Steroids

Topical use of steroids on the skin can cause thinning of the skin, acne and poor wound healing. 

Fair & Lovely, White & Pure (Part1)

I was enjoying my nightly affair with the idiot box when suddenly, I was beyond dumbfounded when this came upon the screen.

'I care to look my best!'

'But friction from tight clothes can darken my intimate area.'

'Now, I wash that problem away naturally with the new Lactacyd White Intimate.'

'Cares better than ever!'

'The first feminine wash with marine, plant and milk extracts to safely lighten in FOUR weeks!'

'My natural way to intimate fairness confidence. My best EVER!'

'Lactacyd, what's best for us!'

WHAT????!!!!!!!!!!

That certainly knocked me out of my stupor for sure.

So our vagina is too big, too hairy and now it's not 'white' enough?!

Seriously, who the hell cares what colour are our vaginas?! It could be green, purple, orange or blue for all humanity cares. Or how dark or light it looks. Unfortunately, the walking-dead-blood-sucking-vampires of the money-making-industry has decided to cast dubious thoughts about every single female's self-worth! If your vagina ain't white, then you ain't got anything. SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH YOU! You just HAVE to look whitewashed down there. 'Cos if you ain't white down there, when you walk into a restaurant filled with guys, no one, I mean, NOT ONE guy is gonna give you a second look.

WHY?

Because all men have super-sonic eyes (just like Superman) which can zoom into your intimate area and check out whether you're worth the chase.

They have this mantra in their head all the time:

'If you're white,
You're worth the fight!
But if you're less than white down there,
Sorry chick, but that's just a nightmare!'

So if you've been detected to have a perfectly-coloured-vagina, they'll howl like wolves and give you the chase of your life.

First it was the face whitening products. Then it progressed to the armpits. And now they have moved on to the intimate areas. And not forgetting the anal bleach too.

Don't believe me? Check out the following videos.

The person who did the ad below totally has no-brains. The wife in the ad should have just fed the husband-bum-worthless-moron to the dogs. Such a worthless bum who only wants his wife when her vagina is 'enlightened'!

I like the comment at the bottom of this video. The man feels sorry for women who have to do this because of their low-self esteem. So do I.

God help us all....

The 4-in-1 Dish

Ingredients:

1. 5 large eggs (beaten)
2. 1 large carrot (peeled and cut into thin strips)
3. 12 medium sized prawns (marinate in a pinch of sea-salt and soft brown sugar)
4. 100gm of minced chicken (marinate with sea-salt)
5. Sea-salt
6. Sunflower oil

--------------------------------

1. Heat a wok on high heat.

2. Drizzle some sunflower oil into the heated wok.

3. On medium heat, stir-fry the minced chicken and carrot strips until 90% cooked.

4. Pour the beaten eggs and add a pinch of sea-salt. Continue to stir-fry.

5. Add the prawns and fry until the prawns are cooked.

6. Scoop up onto serving bowl.

7. Serve warm with hot rice.

Bon appétit!

Wind & Cloud

I am one person who is so behind movies that it actually took me 15 years later to finally watch this show. It's a Hong Kong movie called 'Storm Riders'. 

This story is about two warriors named Wind and Cloud, played by Ekin Cheng and Aaron Kwok. When they were just children, they were abducted from their respective families who were murdered by the evil Lord Conqueror, head of the Conqueror Clan. He then raised them as his own children and taught them to be the best martial artists of their times.

Mud Buddha did not tell Lord Conqueror of the second portion of the prophecy when he prophesied that he must have two disciples named Wind and Cloud in order to rise to dominance. He told him to look for him 10 years later. 

10 years after the prophecy, Mud Buddha was nowhere to be found. Lord Conqueror searched him out and when he was told of the second portion of the prophecy, the evil lord was livid. He was bent on destroying Wind and Cloud. Mud Buddha said that Wind and Cloud would either join forces with the evil lord or together bring the end of Lord Conqueror once and for all. 

Certainly the power crazy, evil lord did not want to risk his position on being the conqueror. Thus, he devised a plan to kill them both. Of course, his plans failed. Which brings me to my point in writing this post. 

Cloud had a very unpredictable behaviour. He was moody, emotional, had trouble controlling his anger and temper, volatile and cold. Wind, on the other hand was the stable one. He was kind, gentle, emphatic to others and did not let his emotions dictate his decisions. He was the anchor to Cloud's rash behaviour. 

Towards the end of the show, they both tried to kill the evil lord individually. Of course they failed horrifically. But when they both combined their powers and strength together, they defeated the evil lord effortlessly. And their powers exceeded everyone's expectations. Even themselves. 

Aren't the calamities of life unpredictable like Cloud? Are they not volatile? But in order to be a warrior in Life, you need both Cloud AND Wind. The Wind in our life would stabilise us to handle the turbulent Cloud. The Wind in our Life would anchor the storms that Cloud would bring. 

Many times we curse our bad days or bad incidences that happen in our lives. But it is the bad incidences that make us strong. That make us rise up to be better than the average human being. That shape us. That mould us. We need Cloud to grow in life. And it is the Wind in our lives that helps us go through the Cloud. 

You need them both. You cannot have Life without going through the rough patches. You will not learn about Life if you do not go through hardship. And all hardships in Life will make you a stronger person IF you allow it to teach and strengthen you. Wind and Cloud are inseparable. They are the Yin and the Yang to our lives. Without Wind, you would not get Cloud. And without Cloud, Wind is useless. For with both Wind and Cloud, comes the Rain. 

"Thirty-nine years of my life had passed before I understood that clouds were not my enemy; that they were beautiful, and that I needed them. I suppose this, for me, marked the beginning of wisdom. Life is short.” 

― Iimani David

"There is bound to be turbulence in the clouds of confusion before one can view the friendly skies, and an illuminated landing strip.” 

― T.F. Hodge, From Within I Rise: Spiritual Triumph Over Death and Conscious Encounters with "The Divine Presence"

The Home-Made Oil-Free Congee+Carrot Cracker!

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups of brown rice
2. 1 large carrot (skin peeled and grated)
3. Sea-salt
4. 4 cups of water
*Optional - Poppy seeds

-------------------------------------------------------------

1. Wash the brown rice thoroughly.

2. Pour the washed brown rice into a large pot.

3. Peel and grate the carrot.

4. Pour the finely grated carrot into the pot.

5. Add 1/2 teaspoon of sea-salt.

6. Pour the 4 cups of water and mix the rice, carrot and sea-salt with the water thoroughly.

7. Boil for about 1 1/2 hours or until a thick congee has formed. Stir occasionally while the congee is being cooked.

8. Once the congee has thickened, set aside to cool.

9. Preheat oven at 200C.

10. Line baking trays with baking paper.

11. Using a small soup ladle, scoop a full scoop the congee onto the tray. Spread them thin and flat with the back of the ladle.

12. Bake for about 30 to 40 minutes or until they are slightly browned.

13. Repeat steps 11 to 12 until all the congee is used up.

* If you would like to have some toppings on top of the crackers, sprinkle some sesame seeds, poppy seeds or anything that you would like or are able to tolerate before you pop the trays into the oven.

Bon appétit!

The thick congee!

I sprinkled some sesame seeds for some of the rice crackers for my son and the rest with poppy seeds for myself!

The Glorious Heavens - Part 18

“I let my head fall back, and I gazed into the Eternal Blue Sky. It was morning. Some of the sky was yellow, some the softest blue. One small cloud scuttled along. Strange how everything below can be such death and chaos and pain while above the sky is peace, sweet blue gentleness. I heard a shaman say once, the Ancestors want our souls to be like the blue sky.” 
― Shannon Hale, Book of a Thousand Days

Fire in the sky!

Surreal looking clouds!

'Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books.' - John Lubbock

The Snapping Turtle

It has been a downhill journey all the way where the hormones are concerned. Pre-menopasue has been reigning and it has further tightened its vice-like grip on this body and suffocating its host. The inability to sleep and the ever-present-rumbling-lava-spewing-volcanic-like-temper has been eating up the warrior to no ends.

Solitary long walks were taken as a measure to relax the mind and emotions. It also served as an outlet to let off steam and to curb the faster-than-lighting-short-fuse.

Sad to say, it was temporary. A few hours after the walk, the persistent irritation that never ceases to gnaw at the insides of the warrior would begin.

And then there were the other two ever present companions - The Insomnia and The Migraine of Hades. The warrior would just drop off to sleep before the head even touched the edges of the pillow. Sometime later, The Sudden Jerk would wake her up. Thinking that it was already 6am, the warrior looked at the clock. To her dismay, it was only 11.30pm! Or worse, 10pm. The wake-up-at-every-hour would begin and by the time the warrior really fell back to sleep, it would really be 6am! And then there were the could-not-sleep-a-wink-until-morning episodes. 

And so this vicious cycle repeats itself every month. It has made its mark and dug its roots deep into warrior's body and soul. 

The Migraine would strike at any time it fancies. Warrior only had migraines if the wrong food were consumed or exposed to smells that were prohibited. Headaches NEVER existed. But now, The Migraine came like a thief in the night, terrorising the warrior. It was a despised visitor who knew no boundaries, no sense of time and left the warrior writhing in pain. 

There were so many times that warrior wanted to end it all. A samurai sword would be effective. Even a pistol would do. Life was getting to be too tedious. Too burdensome. It was getting to the point that it was just not worth the fight. It felt like being continuously sinking and drowning in a never-ending-quicksand. 

Whilst figuring out how to overcome this truly pain-in-the-ass syndrome, warrior had adopted a new name - The Snapping Turtle. 

The Metamorphosis of the Swallowtail Butterfly

I have three different citrus trees growing in my container garden. An orange tree, a lemon tree and a lime tree. These three attract the swallowtail butterfly to the garden. And they come to lay their eggs on the trees. I have caught the Orange Dog caterpillar which morphs into the great Swallowtail butterfly. Here are some of the pictures of the metamorphosis.

1. Egg

2. Caterpillar

The four pictures shows how an orange dog caterpillar wards of its enemies. The two forked-snake-tounge that is extended when under threat is called osmeterium which expels a very FOUL smell to deter its enemies. Believe me when I say FOUL! The osmeterium retreats back into the caterpillar's head when it no longer feels threatened.

3. Chrysalis

4. Butterfly

This butterfly was in the midst of laying eggs on my lemon tree. You can see the tiny egg that was deposited on the leaf in the picture below.

Fried Bitter Gourd, Eggs & Minced Chicken Dish

Ingredients:

1. 1 bitter gourd (de-seed and sliced into thin slices)
2. 500gm of minced chicken (marinate with sea-salt)
3. 4 large eggs (beaten)
4. Sea-salt
5. Sunflower oil

------------------------------------------------------------

1. Heat a wok/frying pan on high heat.

2. Pour about 3 tablespoons of sunflower oil onto the wok/frying pan.

3. On medium heat, stir fry the chicken until 90% cooked.

4. With the back of the spatula, break the minced chicken into fine pieces.

5. Add the bitter gourd and beaten eggs.

6. Season with sea-salt.

7. Keep frying and stirring until the eggs are cooked and the bitter gourds have softened.

8. Once done, scoop up on serving dish.

9. Serve warm with rice.

Bon appétit!

By Progressing, We Have Regressed

Take a look around you. I mean, REALLY take a look around.

What do you see?

Let me tell you what is seen by many.

Progress. Development. Advanced technology.

It would seem that we are living in the best of times!

But sadly, it is not so.

Malaysia is now at first place in the South East Asia! Why? Simply because we have the fattest people in this region. Don't believe me? Click on this link.

We are a nation so encumbered with our smart phones, tablets and all-sorts-of-gadgets that we forget to get up to pee, what more leave home! I mean, who would want to leave home when you have the app called 1000 most beautiful pictures in the world. And then there's the app called Relax where at a press of a button, you get to hear sounds of nature. Which are actually supposed to help you to, well,  R.E.L.A.X.

So not only our souls and minds relax, even our bums and guts relax to the point they triple in size. And then there's the just-a-phone-call-away-take-away-food-outlets. Just dial a number and you have food delivered to you right at your doorstep.

So with state-of-art-technologies, we have come to a point that we now only exercise..... our..... FINGERS! We swipe, tap, click like a pro. We write like chicken scratchings. We cannot spell without the stupid ever-helpful-auto-corrector. We eat with our phones glued to our hands and not notice the dead fly in our food until it has been crunched to a paste and swallowed. And yes, not forgetting incidences where the phone actually fell into a bowl of curry beehoon soup! (Yes, I am talking about YOU!) And I must not forget the toilet too!

We walk with the phone. We shit, pee, sleep, talk and yes, there are some who have sex with the phone switched on (they all have cameras and video cameras now!). We even navigate the roads with our phones. And we all Facebook ever so busily. (By the way, isn't it odd for the people who live with each other to be Facebooking on each others walls about the disappearance of the chicken eggs in the fridge? You mean you can't open your mouth to ask? Does this mean together with the tripling of our guts and bums sizes, our vocal chords will soon evolve and one day cease to function as a voice box but as an organ as useless as the appendix??)

I think the movie Wall-E depicts this scenario the best. In one of the scenes, humans in the state of extremely advance technology, no longer get up to walk or even roll over. Heck, they don't even know what the hell 'WALK' is. They all sit on fully-automated-electronic buoys. Humans don't think. They do not need to think! All they do is have their eyes glued to their screen. Conversing with each other. With the screen. They NEVER speak with each other. They all have food and soft drinks delivered to them. And they are all extremely OBESE!

This movie is about a dystopia in the distant future. Which is like 700 years in the future. And that is VERY distant. The scary thing is that we are experiencing the tip of the iceberg TODAY!

Now, take a look around you again. What do you see?

Just like Haley Joel Osment's answer in the movie Sixth Sense to Bruce Willis' question, 'What do you see?'

'I see dead people walking around like regular people.'

10 Toxic Hotspots In The Home

Click on LINK.

Fried Eggs with French Beans

Ingredients:

1. 500gm of french beans (cut into tiny pieces)
2. 6 large eggs
3. Sunflower oil
4. Sea-salt
5. Soft brown sugar

------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Break all the eggs in a large bowl.

2. Add about 1 tablespoon of sunflower oil, a dash of sea-salt and brown sugar to the eggs.

3. Beat the eggs.

4. Add the cut french beans to the beaten eggs.

5. Heat a wok on high heat.

6. Once the wok is hot, pour the eggs and stir fry on medium heat until slightly browned and the aroma of eggs and french beans fill the air.

7. Scoop onto serving dish.

8. Serve hot with warm rice.

Bon appétit!

Container Garden - An Insect's World Update!

I have been busy burying compost in the pots these past few weeks. And I sowed some okra seeds. 2 seeds have sprouted. I hope the heavy downpour today did not kill them.

The black & red squash bug!

Rain droplets on Periwinkle flowers!

Orange Dog Butterfly!

We had a family of 3 blue-breasted quails who came to sunbathe in the garden!

Dragonfly!

A closeup picture of a chrysalis which belongs to the orange dog butterfly!

The 3Bs Pancakes!

Ingredients:

1. 300gm of organic all-purpose flour (sieved twice)
2. 100gm of organic buckwheat flour (sieved twice)
3. 6 large bananas (mashed)
4. 50gm of barley flour (sieved twice)
5. 2 3/4 cups of barley water
6. Sunflower oil
7. 1 teaspoon of sea-salt
8. 1 teaspoon of brown sugar
9. 4 eggs (beaten)

---------------------------------------------------------

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients above.

2. Whisk the mixture with an electric whisk until all the ingredients are mixed thoroughly and the mixture is smooth. (*Add more barley water if mixture is too dry.)

3. Heat the frying pan.

4. Pour a ladle of the mixture into the pan.

5. Once the bottom side of the pancake is browned, flip it over and cook the other side until it is browned too.

6. Repeat steps 4 to 5 until the mixture is all used up.

7. Serve warm.

Bon appétit!

Banana, buckwheat & barley pancakes!

Home-Made Cabbage+Chicken Nuggets!

Ingredients:

1. 500gm of minced chicken
2. 1 very small cabbage (washed and shredded into very small pieces)
3. 2 tablespoons of organic all-purpose flour
4. Sea-salt
5. Sunflower oil
-------------------------------------------------------------

1. In a large bowl, pour the minced chicken, shredded cabbage, organic all-purpose flour, *sea-salt and *sunflower oil.

*according to your taste

2. Mix all the ingredients thoroughly until it forms a paste.

3. Form nugget shapes from the paste and set aside.

4. Heat a frying pan/wok.

5. Once it is hot, pour some sunflower oil into it.

6. Stir-fry in batches. Once one side is cooked and slightly browned, turn the nuggets to the other side and continue frying.

7. Serve with warm rice.

Bon appétit!

Chumbawamba!

Things have been FAR from rosy.

The cough which I had for almost a month in December is BACK! With vengeance.

The cause?

Joel's school which has been going through extensive painting and renovation.

The first week of school was a breeze for me, because I was at home as hubby was on leave!

Then the second week came and then today being the third week and I am down.

I feel as though the insides of my chest is filled with spiders spinning and weaving webs. And it's getting tighter to breathe and I want to scratch my lungs out!!!!! And the COUGH!

Last Monday was bad. On the way home in the car, the migraine developed. Then not long once we were home, I had a severe diarrhoea and burning sensation in my mouth. By the next morning, I woke up with ulcers in my mouth.

Joel started sneezing non-stop by last Thursday and by Sunday, a full-blown cough.

So Joel has been on MC since Monday and I am in a f*cked up mood. Pre-menopause is in full swing with insomnia too. And the ulcers have multiplied.... Lovely!

I feel like those water pumps in several districts of Malaysia which had a major breakdown. Even the back-up pumps have broken down. And MY BACK-UP generators are certainly having a major breakdown too at this point of time.

Yes, I have been knocked down and before I get up again, I would just want to lie down on the floor, curl up and sleep.

Home-Made Brown Rice Crackers

Ingredients:

1. 3 cups of brown rice
2. 1/2 teaspoon of sea-salt
3. Filtered water
4. Sunflower oil
-----------------------------------------------------

1. Wash the uncooked brown rice thoroughly.

2. Add approximately 1+ cup of filtered water. (The cooked rice should not be too hard. It should be on the soft and mushy side).

3. Boil for approximately 25 minutes on high heat for the first 10 minutes and then medium heat on the remaining amount of time. Add time if the rice is too watery.

4. Once the rice has cooled down, blend it into a mashy paste.

5. Then add the sea-salt and sunflower oil.

6. Line a baking tray with baking paper.

7. Preheat the oven at 200C.

8. Scoop tablespoons of the paste and spread them thin with the back of the spoon.

9. Bake for 40 minutes or until slightly browned.

10. Turn them over and continue baking for about another 10 minutes. This is to ensure the middle part is thoroughly baked too. If not the whole piece will turn soft and mushy and cannot be kept for long.

11. Repeat step 8 to 10 for the rest of the paste.

12. You can keep them in air-tight containers for about 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

Bon appétit!

The cooked rice!

The rice paste!

The not-yet-baked rice crackers.

Home-made brown rice crackers with no flavourings, colourings, additives or preservatives! Truly yummy to the tummy.