Dear lord, if you are listening, I pray that I can get a better paying job so that I can sponsor the renovation that my mother has always wanted.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
A request from a sinner
Dear lord, if you are listening, I pray that I can get a better paying job so that I can sponsor the renovation that my mother has always wanted.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Cooking Project - vegetable curry.
I made my very first attempt at cooking vegetable curry. Seriously, how difficult can this be, right? I went grocery shopping for some ingredients. No recipe to follow...like I said, how difficult can this be...although I did google vegetarian curry for a glance at recipes. So ok, here we go...
First off, I sauteed the curry mix (combined mixture of tumeric paste, bla bla bla), which my mom had conveniently prepared for me in a container. I added other spices ie. curry powder, cinnamon stick and star anise. I didn't have lemongrass cos I could not find it in the freaking supermarket. Added some water to boil the mixes...then added in the vegetables one by one, namely the okras, green beans, dried tofu, beancurd skin and cabbage. Added in more curry mix as I couldn't get any curry taste out of the pot. So, anyway...the end result...
The verdict?
I think this one should be labelled "cooking disaster". The vegetables were overcooked, the dish has no curry taste whatsoever although it did taste very spicy and the soup was also a little bitter (god knows why...). I have a huge pot of this in my fridge and I don't even know if I will ever finish it.
Sigh......need I say more?
Monday, January 25, 2010
Falling off the wagon a little
In a perfect world scenario, I will be staying away from processed food, trans fatty food, sugary cravings, etc etc. I will be drinking 8 glasses of water a day, consuming at least 1800 cals a day, going organic, bla bla bla.
2 months ago, I embarked on a healthy eating regimen, being mindful of the harmful ingredients in my food.....namely high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, hydrogenated oil, white flours, high sodium, monosodium glutamate, nitrate, etc etc. Grocery shopping took a lot longer these days and scanning the ingredient list of each item is not particularly fun but it is part & parcel of getting to know what is safe to eat and what is not.
As much as I have learned about healthy eating, practising it is totally different. I stayed away from white bread but I'm still eating other refined carbs (white rice, white pastas). It is very difficult to control this especially when eating out. However, I make it a point to eat brown rice/wild rice when at home, wholemeal bread and will be soon be changing to whole grain pastas too. I am very mindful of my sodium, sugar and fat intake. In fact, a lot of my veggies preparation method initially WAS blanching and with the littlest bit of salt.....until I realise that this tasteless eating is no way to live. I have since returned to stir fry.....with minimum oil and salt, of course or using olive oil.
I have also shed myself clean of fast food, sodas, junk food and processed meat. Not sure how long I can keep this up but for now, it's looking good and I hope it will stay that way. I don't think I will ever be able to stay from chocolates so I've been eating organic dark chocolates instead.
I did eat steam white bread yesterday when I was out with friends because it was the only item in the menu that was the least unhealthy. Needless to say, I did not enjoy myself and I don't think I will be returning to that cafe anytime soon. AND....my willpower crashed a little when I reached for the Kit Kat chocs while I was out grocery shopping last week. It was supposed to last me for a week but I finished the whole packet within a couple of days. Not the end of the world, of course, but it seems like what I had started out to do is slowly getting harder and harder to maintain.
Bear in mind though, that it is not the calories that I worry about. It is the ingredients in the food that I am mindful of. In a perfect world scenario, if all food are made of healthy ingredients, I will be eating like there is no tomorrow.
2 months ago, I embarked on a healthy eating regimen, being mindful of the harmful ingredients in my food.....namely high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, hydrogenated oil, white flours, high sodium, monosodium glutamate, nitrate, etc etc. Grocery shopping took a lot longer these days and scanning the ingredient list of each item is not particularly fun but it is part & parcel of getting to know what is safe to eat and what is not.
As much as I have learned about healthy eating, practising it is totally different. I stayed away from white bread but I'm still eating other refined carbs (white rice, white pastas). It is very difficult to control this especially when eating out. However, I make it a point to eat brown rice/wild rice when at home, wholemeal bread and will be soon be changing to whole grain pastas too. I am very mindful of my sodium, sugar and fat intake. In fact, a lot of my veggies preparation method initially WAS blanching and with the littlest bit of salt.....until I realise that this tasteless eating is no way to live. I have since returned to stir fry.....with minimum oil and salt, of course or using olive oil.
I have also shed myself clean of fast food, sodas, junk food and processed meat. Not sure how long I can keep this up but for now, it's looking good and I hope it will stay that way. I don't think I will ever be able to stay from chocolates so I've been eating organic dark chocolates instead.
I did eat steam white bread yesterday when I was out with friends because it was the only item in the menu that was the least unhealthy. Needless to say, I did not enjoy myself and I don't think I will be returning to that cafe anytime soon. AND....my willpower crashed a little when I reached for the Kit Kat chocs while I was out grocery shopping last week. It was supposed to last me for a week but I finished the whole packet within a couple of days. Not the end of the world, of course, but it seems like what I had started out to do is slowly getting harder and harder to maintain.
Bear in mind though, that it is not the calories that I worry about. It is the ingredients in the food that I am mindful of. In a perfect world scenario, if all food are made of healthy ingredients, I will be eating like there is no tomorrow.
