REDUCE CARBON FOOTPRINT! DONATE YOUR BOOKS!

Donate your unwanted books and reduce carbon footprint, yours and others at the same time.

You can help others reduce their carbon footprint because they can borrow, rent or buy second hand books instead of getting new books printed on virgin paper. You reduce your carbon footprint by not throwing them in the rubbish bin. Lots of energy is used when we throw stuff into the rubbish bin. Someone has to pay the municipal council to hire the garbage truck to come over to collect your trash. Petrol is used. Money is wasted. And while we are at it, electronic news are a good way to go, or share your newspapers instead of each and everyone buying the same thing at the office :-). It's good for the environment, it's good for us.

Have a great day.

Jasmin
Come join my "Eat Raw Food Today" facebook group

SAVE MONEY WHILE COOKING PASTA

I used to boil pasta for about 20 minutes or more for my babies until it's really soft because small kids can hardly chew noodles without molars, you see.

Then, my sister-in-law taught me an excellent trick that shaves off my cooking time AND save me money because I use less gas (electricity if you use electric burner).

First, boil some water. Once the water is boiling, just add the pasta into the boiling water and let the water bubble up. Turn off the gas and just go about doing whatever you need to do like housework or just play with the internet like what I'm doing now.

In about 20 minutes, you will have soft pasta. Really.

Then, just reboil the pasta to cook it. Drain the water, and add the sauce.

It's THAT simple.

Save the environment, save some money!

Jasmin
Come join my "Eat Raw Food Today" facebook group

SUN GLASSES CAN CAUSE SUNBURN!

Guess what happens when you are wearing sunglasses? Much less sunlight reaches the optic nerve, much less warning is sent to the pituitary gland, much less melanin s produced - and much more sunburn results. If you're reading this on the beach with your Ray-Bans on, do your skin a favor - take them off.

Survival Of the Sickest
A Medical Maverick Discovers Why We Need Disease
Dr. Sharon Moalem

BEAUTIFUL RAW FRUIT BIRTHDAY CAKE

Who says we can't have a great tasting birthday cake made of fruits :-)

After all, there's jelly birthday cakes, there's birthday cupcakes, the sky is the limit, and it's all limited within our imagination.

I sometimes worry about cakes being served at parties.

You see, my first kid gets really hyper on sugar, and my second child is allergic to eggs, which is an important ingredient in a traditional cake.

So, when I saw a blog on a fruity birthday cake, boy, was I estatic. My kids loveeee fruits. They are fruit bats. They rather eat fruit than rice, bread or pasta!

Check out this blog http://livingfruity.blogspot.com/2009/02/party-pictures.html and see how they celebrate a birthday with clean, healthy raw food.

Jasmin
Come join my "Eat Raw Food Today" facebook group

GOING NUTS OVER PEANUTS

My dad's fav peanuts

My dad loves peanuts. Everyday, he would sit in his black leather chair, watching tv, and he would occasionally reach into a bag of unshelled peanuts, cracking them between his fingers and popping the nuts into his mouth. My 3 year old son loves to watch grandad do that. And when he was old enough, my dad let him join in for some fun. It's kinda cute seeing grandad and grandson sitting together, heads bowed, fully concentrating on cracking them peanuts.

My mother-in-law has reminded me a couple of times that my sons have to have their peanut soup once they reach 12 years old. It's an old tradition which my mum-in-law believes in. Apparently, this soup will help boys grow tall and strong because the Chinese believe that eating peanuts help stimulate growth.

But hey, why wait till they are 12? Why not just drown my kids with peanut soup and peanut butter as soon as they are old enough to eat peanuts assuming they are not allergic to these legumes :-)

CHINESE CHICKEN PEANUT SOUP

Ingredients:
1 piece of chicken breast meat
10 Chinese wolfberries (kei chi)
100g large peanuts with skin
1 piece dried scallop (bought from a Chinese medicine shop)
Salt to taste (and a pinch of sugar ... that's the secret ingredient those ladies won't tell you)

Method:

1. In a large soup pot, add 2 litres of cold water. Add everything except salt and sugar to taste and bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.
2. Let soup simmer for at least 1 hour. Don't let the soup boil over high heat. Let the ingredients sit nicely in the hot tub. Season the soup with salt and sugar to taste only before you are ready to serve.

Could not be an easier dish to do.

Besides being a growth serum of sorts, this soup is good for people who are not feeling well because the Chinese believe any chicken soup helps strengthen the body. Chicken soup for the soul? Meanwhile, people are pushing wolfberries like they are the next cancer killing pill. Anyhow, ok. Anything that's good for the body is good for me.

Now, quite a few ladies like to boil chicken feet (minus the claws) instead of breast meat because they believe chicken feet has lots of collagen, and that's good for the skin. Frankly, I don't mind chicken feet soup. It's those dried sheep placenta that I can't imagine eating or putting on any part of my body.

Some recipe books will instruct the reader to quickly parboil the chicken and pork in some hot water before plunging them into the stock soup. The reason is to remove any blood and scum for better presentation. If the meat is washed thoroughly beforehand, I believe there's no need to do that. The scum is actually protein, and it's good ok for consumption. Stop me if I'm wrong :-)

Oh yes. How to drink the soup? My granny use to serve them in individual delicate China bowls during meals. I'm too lazy. I just scoop them into a mug and drink them as I watch tv. My granny used to love Cantonese serials. Never fails. In every episode, every time someone walks through the door, the tv mum will quickly run out of the kitchen with a bowl of steaming hot soup for them to drink as a show of love and concern. "Lay ... yum thong lah" She would say. "Come ... drink some soup please"

Jasmin
Come join my "Eat Raw Food Today" facebook group

EATING PEANUTS MAKE ME PRETTY

I just bought this Chinese book on fruits and vegetables, and boy, it's chock full of information.

Says here,

Peanuts is nicknamed as "Long-Life Fruit" because it is highly nutritious. It contains fat, protein, phosphorus, calcium, iron, vitamin A and B.

Peanut is also considered to have anti-aging functions. It is indeed a nourishing yet inexpensive food.

From the book of "Cook Easy! Eat Healthy! Fruits and Vegetables.
Author To Siu Pang



The book is directly translated from Chinese, so, it's a little hard to read, but isn't this interesting?

I am assuming that they are talking about good old fresh peanuts, and not those beer nuts or any peanuts heavily sweeten with sugar and salt and oil.

Jasmin
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Garbage enzymes used to clean market

By OH ING YEEN Wednesday March 11, 2009
http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2009/3/11/central/3437086&sec=central

THE Petaling Jaya Section 17 Community and Hawkers Association has come up with an afford­able yet effective way to clean the market.

Tan Yew Leong, who heads the association’s hygiene committee, said they started using the garbage enzymes two months ago.

“We saw it in the newspapers and decided to try it. It costs about RM1,000 and the jet spray, which is used to spray the market with the enzyme, costs about RM600.

Tried and tested: Lim(right) Tan with the eco-friendly garbage enzyme.

“All you need is a bin, water, brown sugar/molasses as well as vegetable and fruit scraps, which we get free of charge from the hawkers. The mix is then kept in a bin for three months to ferment.

“Only one litre of enzyme is needed to clean the entire stretch of the market. As a result, there are less flies and no odour. It also reduces litter as the leftover vegetables and fruits are used to make the enzyme.

“I hope that hawkers in other areas could try using the enzyme. We are willing to share the knowledge,” said Tan, who is passionate about recycling.

Association chairman Lim Keh Seng said there was good response from the hawkers.

“Residents can also get the enzyme from us and we will teach them how to make it. Hence, we can educate people about recycling and environment preservation at the same time.”

He added that two workers were hired to clean the market from 7am to 2pm at RM1,000 each per month.

Both of them also use the enzyme at home as it also doubles up as a natural household cleaner. It can be used as an organic fertiliser, dish wash and shampoo.

To make your own garbage enzyme, the ratio is 1kg of brown sugar and 3kg of vegetables and fruit scraps to 10 litres of water.

For details, call Tan at 013-333 0202 or browse the Internet for more information.

ps

If you want to read my previous posts on garbage enzymes, just go to this links.
a) http://eatrawfoodtoday.blogspot.com/2008/09/using-garbage-to-clean-your-plates-yes.html
b) http://eatrawfoodtoday.blogspot.com/2008/09/more-on-garbage-enzyme.html
c) http://eatrawfoodtoday.blogspot.com/2008/10/garbage-enzyme-photos-recycling-your.html
d) http://eatrawfoodtoday.blogspot.com/2008/12/garbage-enzyme-cleans-my-world.html

McDonalds Used To Serve Sugar Cane Juice

Did you know, at one time, McDonald's offered fresh sugar cane juice on the menu, but they have stopped this product, and it's such a pity.

Anyone old enough to remember this?

If you must know, this was one of the reasons why I got a part time job as a McDonald's cashier when I was studying at Inti College, despite the fact they pay peanuts .... because this job came with free meals, including my favorite sugar cane juice.

I wish they serve fresh juice on it's menu. Pasteurized orange juice just don't cut it.

Fresh raw healthy juice with some burger on a bun?

Is it possible?

Jasmin
Come join my "Eat Raw Food Today" facebook group

More on sugar cane

•  What would you bring to a pot luck party?

•  More raw food at the night markets

In Bali they have a day when the airport closes. The roads close. Nothing is open.

Says Roger Hamilton

In Bali they have a day in Spring called "Nyepi" when EVERYTHING stops. Zero energy consumption. The airport closes. The roads close (They have patrols all over the island to stop anyone who drives). This is the end of the old year when they go back to zero. (Of course the next day there's a big party).

Zero consumption. No one cries. No one dies. Actually, it's quite nice.

I sat next to Stephen Roach, Chairman of Morgan Stanley, at an environmental panel. I commented "We're in a cold aircon room in our suits talking about saving energy by using energy. If we were serious, we'd go outside in the sun, take off our jackets and have a zero carbon conversation".

http://xlrogerhamilton.blogspot.com/2008/12/lee-kuan-yew-drops-bombshell-at-cgi.html

Trying to eat fresher tasting food

I just came back from Gold Coast Australia. It was a hectic and tiring 1 week holiday.

While I was there, my mum and I noticed that the vegetables we used to make baby food like the cauliflower and the broccoli were very tasty. It tasted fresh, and it tasted sweeter than what we have back in Malaysia. (we stayed in a nice 3 bedroom apartment near the beach that came with a great kitchen you see).

During our trip, we kept discussing and wondering why the vegetables we bought tasted fabulous, and then I realise, that's because these vegetables are probably farm fresh, or at least fresher than ours. We get a lot of our vegetables flown in from China and India, yes carrots, onions and stuff. Probably only perishable leafy vegetables are brought in from the Malaysian highlands like Cameron Highlands.

So what does it say about the food we put on the table? I am pretty sure, fresh is always best, though clearly not the most convenient.

There is this movement called the 100 Mile Diet, that I think is pretty amazing. http://100milediet.org/

Read about some of their interesting quests to try to eat everything local, within a 100 mile radius http://100milediet.org/category/thanksgiving-stories

Jasmin
Come join my "Eat Raw Food Today" facebook group

ps can you believe I finally tried cooked beetroot, in a steak sandwich? Nice. I've never, never had cooked beetroot before, not even when I lived in Kansas for 5 years. I've had freshly juiced beetroot mixed into my fruit juice, and I have to say, I don't like fresh juiced beetroot. Yuck!

WHY EAT RAW CHILLI PEPPERS

1. High in fiber
2. Gets your metabolism burning up to 5% more calories compared to when you don't eat any chilis, so it's really great for those who want to lose weight and not exercise much.
3. Rich in Vitamin A and C. By weight, green bell peppers have twice as much vitamin C as citrus fruit while red peppers have three times as much. Chili peppers contain 357% more Vitamin C than an orange.
4. Has good amounts of folic acid, potassium and Vitamin E
5. As a topical relieving rub, it's great for sports aches and pains, and to relieve arthritis pain.



6. Kills parasites in your intestines (read about it at http://eatrawfoodtoday.blogspot.com/2008/09/killing-parasites-with-chilli-peppers.html)

In Asia, we regularly have the mild big red chillies that are high in beta carotene, and the more adventurous ones like my parents love the tiny explosive chili padi or red eye chillies or Thai chillies. These chili peppers are all great eaten raw.

However, if you like pickled chillies like the green jalapenos stuffed into burritos and all those yummy Mexican dishes, or the green chillies soaked in a small plate of soy sauce which is served with Cantonese fried noodles filled with yummy eggy sauce, you might want to try making your own, rather than buying them off the shelf because those are generally not raw. It's really easy to make, and it's a great way to make use of extra chillies you have in the house which would otherwise go to waste.

Pickled chili peppers
===============

1. Cut the chillies in small round pieces. Remove the seeds if you can't take the heat.
2. Put the chili peppers into a sterilized glass jar (maybe a recycled jam jar or those grape jelly jars with a metal lid or a glass lid rather than a plastic lid which the color may come out)
3. Add some rice vinegar (don't put in white vinegar, not healthy) into the jar until it covers the chili peppers. Rice vinegar is the best in my book because it is mild in flavour.
4.Add sugar and salt to taste
5.Ready by the next day

I make a batch of those if I have a bumper crop of chillies and we can't eat them fresh fast enough. I have tons of raw chillies dried as well, and they are useful if I don't have the fresh ones on hand.

If you don't like them spicy, just eat mild chili peppers. They are really good for your health.

Jasmin
Come join my "Eat Raw Food Today" facebook group