Vitamin D & Sun

Sun is a good source for its vitamin D-boosting benefits.

The sunshine vitamin may protect against a host of diseases, including osteoporosis, heart disease, and cancers of the breast, prostate, and colon. What's more, sunlight has other hidden benefits—like protecting against depression, insomnia, and an overactive immune system.

When the sun's UV-B rays hit the skin, a reaction takes place that enables skin cells to manufacture vitamin D. Experts say going outside for 10 minutes in the midday sun—in shorts and a tank top with no sunscreen—will give you enough radiation to produce about 10,000 international units of the vitamin.

Basking in the warm glow of the sun makes us feel good especially the morning sun. It is especially comfortable and relaxing.

However, more concerns have been put up to the cumulative effects of sun exposure, especially the sun bet. 10am to 4pm, where the sun's ray is the strongest and will put us at higer risk of cellular damage, early wrinkling,age spots, actinic keratose and worst skin cancer.

Hence, always remember to protect yourself by applying sunscren of SPF 30 or higher when outdoors. This would help to prevent sun damage. Wear a hat, sunglasses and cover up with clothing or find shelter under the umbrella when out in the sun.

kimchi soup

Korean cuisine is one of my favourite at all time especially Kimchi soup.

A delectable, spicy traditional soup full of kimchi, tofu, veggies, and pork. My absolute favorite Korean dish of all time.

It goes extremely well with rice... hmmm...

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 teaspoon Korean sesame oil
1 cup cabbage pickle (Kimchi)
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/4 pound boneless pork, sliced thin
3 cups water
1 scallion, cut into 3-inch pieces
1 firm chinese soybean curd, cut into 9 cubes
6-8 small clams, optional but recommended

METHODS

1 Put the sesame oil in a saucepan and stir-fry the kimchi over moderate heat for 1/2 minute. Add the garlic and pork and continue to fry as the meat changes color.
2 Now add the water, bring to a boil, and cook for 10 minutes. Add the scallion, bean curd, and clams if used, and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes more.
3 Serve warm with rice.

Garlic Rice

As a family of Allium, garlic is widely recognized for its health enhancing ability. If you search through the web, you will a lot health benefits articles about garlic. It is considered as a 'wonder drug' for preventing everything from the common cold and flu to the Plague.

Garlic is staple found in countless kitchens and recipes. It brings out the aroma of a dish and definitely an ingredient not to be missed.

Needless me to say more, today I am going recommend you a simple rice bursting with the flavour and aroma of garlic. Stay tuned and see below for it recipe.

GARLIC RICE. It is a simple and nice with few ingredients to prepare.

INGREDIENTS:

225g basmati rice
40g unsalted butter
4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp salt

PREPARATION:

1. Wash the uncooked rice at least three times in plenty of cold water to remove the milling starch. Soak in cold water for 30 minutes, then drain. Never lift the lid, either during cooking or for 10 minutes afterwards.
2. Melt the butter over a low heat and fry the garlic until lightly browned.
3. Add the rice, salt and turmeric. Stir and fry the rice for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add 475ml hot water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 1 minute. Reduce the heat to very low and cover – don’t lift that lid to peek! Cook for 8-9 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let it stand undisturbed for 10-12 minutes.
5. Fork the rice through and then transfer to a serving dish.

PREP/COOK INFORMATION:
Prep time: 35 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes
Serves: 4

Scrambled Japanese Tofu

Here is a colorful, healthy and nutritious dish for all of you.
It is simple and easy to prepare.





Ingredients
1 blocks (3/4 pound:340g) tofu
2 eggs
90g chicken breast meat, cut into small pieces
2/3 cups mixed vegetables (carrot, green pea and corn)
ginger as big as thumb
1 tablespoon sesame oil
sake, sugar, salt, soy sauce

Directions

Boil mixed vegetable lightly.
Grate ginger.
Put chicken into boil, pour a little of sake and mix.
Put oil in frying pan, heat, fry (2) and (3).
When chicken thoroughly cook, add (1), fry again, put tofu with pull down.
Add 1 tablespoon sake and sugar, 1 teaspoon salt and little of soy sauce. Simmer for 1 - 2 minutes, add egg that stir with chopstick and stir lightly.

Chendol Custard

This issue of Mind your Body, Eat to live by Sylvia Tan caught my eyes.
I decided to put it up in my blog to share with the rest of you.
Hope to try it one day.


SKINNY CHENDOL CUSTARD
(For four)

2 medium whole eggs or just egg whites
200ml trim coconut milk
2 tsp sugar
Green chendol strips (available at supermarkets)
Packaged or canned red beans (available at Japanese supermarkets)
1 banana, sliced
Gula melaka syrup, made by melting a cup of palm sugar shavings, cut from a block, into a cup of water.
A new trim coconut milk product has half the fat but all the flavour. Sylvia Tan found it creamy enough to make a chendol custard.

Method
Break eggs into a large mixing bowl, add sugar and stir till sugar has melted and mixture thickens.

Do not beat as you do not want to incorporate too much air into the custard mixture or it will not turn silky. Add coconut milk and stir again.

Pour custard mixture into four ramekins and steam in a wok half filled with water over a low fire for 15 minutes or until the mixture sets.

Cool. Chill ramekins, covered with cling film, in the fridge.

When ready to serve, drizzle a spoonful of gula melaka syrup over the custard, top with a dollop of red beans, a spoonful of chendol strips and a few slices of banana. Serve immediately.

Coffee,Caffeine & cellulite

I stumbled upon an article about in a magazine and decided to share it here. I believe ladies out there will be glad to know about it.

A cup of coffee has the power to fight fat and even make you more agreeable. What do I mean by it? Read on, you will find your answer.

Coffee makes us more agreeable
It would be great if our boss will grant us a big rise if we bring to him a starbucks every day. However, it is not our point here... I am sorry...

New studies done by Australian researchers from the University of Queensland show moderate intake of coffee before hearing an argument makes you more likely to agree with it, provided that the argument is convincing.

Caffeine, for a brief time, will increase your ability to concentrate and take in new information. When voluntary subjects were given a persuasive argument on a controversial topic after having coffee, they were more likely to agree with it than they were before they had the drink.

With this, it is probably a good idea to invite a customer out to a coffee during a sale pitch after all. Hahaha...

Coffee and Cellulite


About 80% of the women face problems with cellulite irregardless of age, races or weight.

What is cellulite?

Cellulite is the expression used to describe pockets of fat which are trapped and cause dimpling in the skin. This dimpling is irregular and patchy and has been identified with orange peel.

Underneath the dermis and epidermis are three specific layers of fat. Cellulite tends to develop in the subcutaneous fat layers. This layer of fat is unique in its structure compared to the other layers because its fatty parts are structured into specific chambers by strands of linked tissue around it.

Your body can easily retain toxins and fats if you do not drink a lot of fluids. However, water is the most effective for keeping your body hydrated. The connection between cellulite and coffee is that drinking to much coffee can result in many toxins and fats being stored in your body. Most women's bodies store excess fats on the hips, thighs and butt. Most of the fat is underneath the skin - hence the cellulite.

The good new here is Cellulite can be treated with coffee grind.
All you need is a cheap hand lotion and caffeinated coffee. You have to grind the coffee into dust and mix the coffee grind with the hand lotion. As a result you will have a cream. Rub it into you cellulite areas and leave it for a minute. Rinse it off in the shower. Do this everyday and you will see those areas get smoother and firmer. It is very important that you do not use decaffeinated coffee because it is the caffeine that reduces the cellulite.

Coffee grind cellulite technique is certainly one of the popular ways to effectively get rid of cellulite in the comfort of your home. Did I mention that it is cheap too?


The link between cellulite and coffee grounds is that coffee can increase blood flow on the parts of the body affected by cellulite. Rubbing the coffee grounds increase circulation and facilitates the breakdown of the fats underneath your skin, which eliminates the cellulite.

With this post, I hope I have contribute my part.

Mango Salad

Last sunday, my aunt gave us some green mangoes and asked to wrap it with paper and wait for it to get ripe. However, instead of waiting, I decided to give this Thai Green Mango Salad a shot as I really has a weak spot for Thai food esp. Tom Yam Soup, Mango & Papaya Salad. I find them to be tasty and healthy as it contain less calories and fat as compared to some of their curry dishes.

This green mango salad is really a great appetiser with its tastebud-awakening flavors and mix of textures. I am sure you will like it.

Here is the recipes:


PART A
1. 2 medium sized unripe mango - shredded thinly.
For better mouthfeel, use a sharp knife to slice thinly (about 2 - 3mm thick) and then cut into thin strips.
2. Half a lemon grass - cut the lemon grass length wise and slice really thinly.
3. 3-4 stalks of coriander leaves, only use the leaves.
4. 3 - 4 chili padi (small fiery hot chilies)
(For those who can'take spicy food, 1 chilli padi would be sufficient, otherwise replace the padi and replaced with a small young ginger, slice thinly)
5. 2 tbsp roasted crushed peanuts
6. 3 tbsp roasted whole cashew nuts
(Almonds or pistachios can also be used instead)


PART B
1. 4 shallots, thinly sliced
2. 3 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
3. 1 tbsp of fish sauce / 2- 3 tbsp of soya sauce
4. 2 tsp of organic cane sugar
5. 1 tsp of sea salt
6. 2 tbsp of cooking oil (groundnut oil is the best)
7. Juice of 2 kalamansi lime (limau kasturi)
8. Dried shrimps (1 tbsp) - soaked before using.

1. Prepare all the ingredients in PART A and mix together (except for roasted peanuts, cashew nuts and coriander leaves) in a big bowl.
2. Heat the cooking oil in pan before adding the shallots and garlic. Fry till golden, add the dried shrimps and fry for another 1 minute. Add the rest of the PART B ingrediets (mix them in a bowl first before adding to the wok) and heat for about 1 minute. Turn off the fire and dish out the sauce, mix into the big bowl with all the PART A ingredients.
3. Stir the salad evenly, and transfer to a plate.
4. Garnish with coriander leaves . If you like peanuts, sprinkle with roasted crushed peanuts and whole roasted cashew nuts.

How do you like it? Is it a simple and nice dish that required little time?