0 Alpha and Omega

This will probably be my last post here at FelixFletus(blogspot). I don't know why it is like that but every time I begin a new chapter of my life, I feel compelled to start a new blog. I have just exported all my Early Morning Oats posts and combined it with FelixFletus (wordpress). So FelixFletus (Wordpress) details my life (or lackthereof, really) from October 2009-August 2011, while FelixFletus (Blogger) dates from August 2011-May 2013. It's been a great and tiresome journey through the years and I seriously need to do some cleaning up before I get a more professional blog up and running. I'll stick to Early Morning Oats because I feel most attached to this name. I shouldn't be thinking about this blog business now seeing that I have an unstudied paper in about 26 hours time. So more on it tomorrow.

0 Pancake batter [1]

This happy meal actually took place yesterday morning - a beautiful start to a beautiful weekend with beautiful food and most importantly, with beautiful company - mum, sam, and granny. Such a rare chance to get three-generations to gather.

I was so enticed by the drop-dead-salivating-inducing pancakes by Ashley over at Edible Perspectives, as well as the literal food porn that accompany GingerGirl's single-serve breakfasts. I could handle it no longer. Off I went to buy a pancake/waffle mix from the ever trustworthy Bob's Red Mill. Specifically, a 10-grain mix with baking powder and buttermilk powder all mixed in. All I needed was to throw in some milk and eggs, and do some flipping action. It sounds easier than it is; I have experienced failed pancakes of all sorts: burnt, stodgy, doughy, floppy etc. But yesterday I was Determined To Master THE PANCAKE.
I can't say I'm fully over with my fear of eggs and oils. Instead of 2 eggs and 2 teaspoons of oil (for 1 cup mix), I did one real egg and one chia egg (1 tbsp chia seeds, 3 tbsp water), and nixed the oil completely. The result couldn't be any better - the batter fluffed and puffed and stretched tall and proud as it heated up in the non-stick pan (I didn't even have to coat it with oil), as if trying to test it limits of how far it could stretch. In the end, 1 cup flour mix yielded 9 souffle-like pancakes, just so I know the serving size estimation in the future
My only regret was I wolfed down the pancakes too quickly, leaving no time to analyse the improvements needed. It was too good, especially with durians, chocolate, JEM nut butter and strawberries are involved. Pillows of Heavenly Goodness.
Now, for the exact recipe

Basic pancake batter [1] (BRM's 10 grain pancake/waffle mix)

• 1 cup flour mix
• 1 tbsp chia seeds
• 3 tbsp water
• 1 egg
• 1 cup almond milk, unsweetened

1. Make the chia egg by stirring chia seeds into water. Let stand 15 min (can be prepared the night before if you're to inpatient to wait in the morning)
2. Whisk the egg and add in chia egg and almond milk
3. Create a well in the flour and mix in the wet ingredients. Do not overmix (it's okay for the batter to have some lumps).
4. Heat a small non-stick pan over low heat. Spoon batter into pan (about 1/4 scoops) and heat each side for about 1.5-2 min.
5. Cover each cooked pancake with a kitchen towel to keep moist as you cook (an agonizing wait, I know)
6. Finally, pour/sprinkle/scatter on the toppings!

The contrast of cold durian against the steaming fluffy cloud-like pancakes was out-of-the-world. Better than four-seasons anytime.
Three more days, two more exams, but hardly in a mood to study!

0 A true JEM

Drugs paper was so bad today I should have cried. Instead, I relieved my sorrow with a bout of grocery shopping (4 peaches, 10-grain BRM pancake/waffle mix) and whipping up a yummy one-bowl-buddha-bowl lunch (couscous, garlic cod, avocado, blush tomatoes, red peppers). And then random surfing of the www until now. Is this yet another year-4-graduation symptom?

I haven't posted a picture in a long while and here's my pre-exam breakfast fuel. Delicious but sadly, did nothing to help in my writing speed and memory.

Steel cut oats cooked in almond milk (Natura, unsweetened) spiced with vanilla & cinnamon, on a bed of chopped strawberries, blackberries, nugget of Laughing Giraffe vanilla almond macaroon, chopped mango pieces. Baked for an additional 10 minutes to get it all hot and bubbly. Topped with my concoction of JEM cinnamon maca AB/melted raw chocolate truffles (Ultimana)/raw macadamia nut butter + more toppings of crushed almonds and dried cranberries. The shade of pink is so lovely, isn't it?

JEM nut butter definitely lives up to its name. For the cinnamon/maca version, it tastes exactly like caramel, and if you're familiar with asian cuisine, full of that gula melaka (jaggery) flavour. That's because they sweeten it with coconut palm sugar. My next haul from Raw Food Living will definitely include another of their products - likely the cardamom one. Sounds exotic!

***

Update. Was dreaming about pancakes for tomorrow's breakfast and then mum came home, with not just one box, but TWO or maybe THREE boxes of durians! New idea: durian pancake! Like Four Seasons style. My intention initially was fluffy pancakes with blackberries and strawberries but now, it's gonna be crepe style with thick chunky durian pulp! With all these going on, I can hardly focus on studying! Bad girl.

0 The Eve

What a shocker. Logged in to IVLE only to find out that CA marks had been uploaded on 17 Apr (more than 2 weeks ago?) Worst of all, I got a disheartening, horrifying, nightmarish C+ for my CA, which bloody accounts for I-don't-know-what-percentage-because-the-module-is-so-not-updated. Worst grade ever in my entire undergraduate life. To compound the problem, I can't freaking find my lecture notes now. And EXAM is on FRIDAY. Is this a sign of bad things to come? Freaking C+, gotta PULL it UP to at least B+. Oh helps.

0 Go MAD

Have you gone MAD (make a difference) today?

Anyhow, Hamm bought a crate of lovely baby alphonso mangoes back from India and Praise the Lord!, for they were surely God's nectar. Despite its greenish tinge on the outside, it boasted a deep orange flesh that could rival a setting sun. It was dribble-down-your-mouth-juicy, bursting with summery notes of honey, just purely fantastic! After an awesome Monday lunch (I love mondays!) of wholewheat red wine couscous + omelette topped with red peppers, spinach, garlic & avocado, an enjoyed an equally awesome fruitful bowl of fat strawberries, blackberries, cubed alphonsos, fresh coconut meat, all swimming in a pool of refreshing coconut water. Lovely. And to think it's 8 more days to FREEDOM.

0 Something to look forward to: Bali!

Bali!

Nusa Dua aerial view

Mt Batur morning trek + sunrise

Jatiluwih rice terraces (UNESCO)

Coffee plantations (Luwek!) - Bas Nature Bali

0 The root of unhappiness

There's always this niggling sense of dissatisfaction that plagues my soul. Unhappiness, yearning, searching... for something I can't quite fathom. And with graduation just round the corner, the feeling has become worse lately. I know the answer lies with the Lord, and prayer. But sometimes the surroundings are so dark you don't know how, when to start.

Incidentally, some of the most beautiful people I've come across in my life are the most devout Christians, like Phoebes, Charlene. I really admire their strength and love they exude.

The more I stare into my notes, the more my mind strays away from the written; yet as I start to dwell on my future, I feel guilty about not studying. I hate this. Why must there be such an awful long lull period between the end of school term and the actual exams?

The prospects of pursuing further studies borders on being schizophrenic. There are times when I feel so empowered and sure that I am and want to get an MD and specialize in neuroscience or oncology. Then there are moments where I question these motivations and tell myself I'm crazy to go and spend another 8 years of my life studying and confining myself to the lab - again. As if the last 10 months was not enough. How I just wish I would not need to work another day of my life (and to think I have not even started official work yet!) Then I still have my secret dream of setting up an oatmeal cafe [EarlyMorningOats], specializing in hot steaming steel cut oats with the most extravagant and widest selection of toppings you could ever imagine. There would also be oatmeal pancakes, oatmeal waffles and savoury oats to choose from. And a retail section of nut butters and grains and beans sold in bulk.

Some goals and plans post-exams:

Weight gain plan [with strength training incorporated]

Revive my blog

Travel [?] > need companions

Get a job

P.S. I just found out that an oatmeal bar actually exists in Greenwich Village, NY. Well, at least the idea is untapped on in Sg so there's no competitors - as yet!. Hmmm... there could even be an adjoining B&B beside my cafe... "Oatel" maybe?

0 Juiced

It must be the weather. Of late I have an indescribable craving for juices - fruit juice as well as juicy fruits. Yesterday I bought a 750ml glass bottle of Why Not? biodynamic carrot juice (imported from Germany) from RFG. Poured it over [Superfood Greens spirulina/hemp granola + chia + protein powder] this morning. It was so carroty and fresh and you could almost feel the vit A/C coursing through your veins. + a juicy October sun plum on the side, with additional snackies like homemade butter, JEM caramelly maca almond butter & some nuts. Yum.

0 Berry Banana Morning

New star ingredient: Waitrose Blueberry Coulis!

There's only one ingredient on the list, which is 100% blueberry puree. But if there's no preservatives whatsoever, I wonder how the coulis manages to be packed without going mouldy. Anyway the coulis had a bright, tangy sharp flavour, clearly just blueberry goodness without the sugar nonsense.

Paired with fresh chopped strawberries, mashed banana, and spiked with cinnamon and vanilla, my steelies could not have been more awesome. The nut butter frenzy continues with four toppings today! Chunk of Laughing Giraffe vanilla almond macaroon, Jem red maca almond butter, Woodstock Farm almond butter and my homemade peanut/almond/flax/sesame butter.

I froze the rest of the blueberry coulis into ice cubes because I know I wouldn't be able to finish the package within 2 days as recommended. Makes as awesome after dinner dessert especially with the repressive humidity + blisteringly hot weather going on now.

0 Power up!

Could breakfast get any better? This morning's version was a buffet of treats. I wonder how many ingredients you can pack into this small Le Creuset bowl of mine ;)

• 20g oat bran
• Few drops of the last of Silk soy (unsweetened)
• Water -- microwaved and it overflowed :( --
• 3/4 (60g) frozen mashed nana
• Sesame-pumpkin-flax + Garden of Life raw protein
• 11 giant blueberries
• 10g Superfood Green hemp/spirulina/coconut granola
• Heaping Fage 0% yogurt
• JEM raw maca almond butter
• Woodstock Farm almond butter
• Homemade almond/peanut/sesame/flax butter
• Hidden treasure - raw cacao nib ball

12 Awesome ingredients! And very-belly satisfied!

0 The Culmination

I'm kind of excited and happy and relieved to finally submit my thesis. After 10 months, I have learnt so much and killed so much. 3 days more but I have et to write my discussion section.

Anyhow, the more important thing is that the most massive haul of online grocery shopping has finally arrived at the doorstep! Well not exactly because I had to personally collect it from the post-office. Loving ALL the stuff. From the vanilla COCONUT macaroons to the "cheezy" kale krunch chips to the spirulina granola which I thought would be like oat bran kind porridge, but nevermind, it's darn tasty. The JEM almond butter was kind of below my expectations though. It tasted between a cross of gula melaka and kaya, a bit of almond flavour but not really there. I think I'll stick to the traditional almond butters like Woodstock or Artisana but it makes a nice drizzly topping nonetheless. Have yet to open the macadamia nut butter and raw cacao butter and cacao nibs!

Oh yes, the most awesome sammich for lunch: Gardenia bread with pesto, salmon + barely there wiggly sunny side-up egg whites, cherry tomatoes and sprinkles of KALE KRUNCH. Made complete with a whole october sun plum and a guilty indulgence of a crumble of vanilla almond macaroon.

1 Cakes of all sorts

Chocolate or durian? Chocolate or durian? Choco-.... I was split between the equally tantalizing choices of a TortaPistocchi from Checkers@Hilton and the famed durian cakes at The Deli@Goodwood Park. I reasoned that since the durian fiesta will be on for a few more months, I should get the former. In the end, logistics decided fate; the chocolate torte was only sold as whole cakes and I didn't want a whole cake although no doubt it would be awesomely chocolaty ooey gooey good. Or probably too good that it will send me right to death by chocolate. So after depositing my cheque I walked to GWP. There I faced another decision: just get a slice of cake or the promotion combo (3 cakes + 2 puffs + 1 tartlet) for $35++. My only fear was that the combo would be an overkill and will not be able to be finished in time while the durian was still fresh at its peak. But I did the math and the savings were indeed quite worthy. Anyway, if I had to choose a single cake that would be another heart-wrenching decision. In short, I went for the combo. Typical Singaporeans like variety.

So before dinner I excitedly cut a slice of the pandan coconut durian cake (mum's choice) so that by after dinner, it would be just thawed and ready for indulgence. And indulgence it really was! Thick and creamy pure D24 durian sandwiched between two delightfully fragrant, pandan-infused pandan sponge cake. Phew! Actually I didn't really care much for the pandan, but I'm sure it's presence did highlight and bring out the durianness of the durian, if that makes any sense. The coconut flakes may appeal to some, but not me. I'm planning on having one of the puffs for breakfast tmr. Woo hoo! To thaw in fridge overnight.

0 1000 words a day

What a major load off the back! Poster session is finally over and done with. While one examiner asked plenty of questions, the other was barely listening and did not appear very much interested. Anyway, I'm so glad and happy it's over. Now I just have to write ~1000 words a day to the final thesis submission on 11 Apr. Okay, ideally I should write for one week and revise for another week so that makes it 2000 words a day.

Power breakfast to start the day: 33g oat bran (necessary for the time-being instead of steel cutters due to time constraints in the morning), 25g frozen nana, 11 blueberries, 1 strawberry, innards of one durian cream puff, chia seeds, sesame/flax/pumpkinseed powder, homemade almond/sesame/peanut butter, 2 raisins and topped with more sunflower and pumpkin seeds. Needless to say, the treasure in this bowl was the dollop of D24 durian cream strategically hidden in the centre of the bowl.

Let's get the ball rolling towards the goal of 2000 words a day! >>>

Nearly a year's worth of hard work summarized into 36x40 inches. In less than 48 hours time.

Within the hour's wait for printing, I spawned an ingenuous idea to hop over to Kith cafe for dinner. Torned between the choice of pasta or sandwich, I choose the latter - Grilled eggplant sandwich with spinach, brie, white truffle oil on multigrain bread. While I enjoyed the sandwich at that moment, on hindsight I now think it was a seriously overpriced and underwhelming sandwich. giant steaks of eggplant had so much potential; unfortunately it was undergrilled and tough. One of my two slices of bread was beyond toasted and thus dry. They could be more generous with the spinach and tomato slices too, although they were generous with chunks of creamy brie. This is the reason why I seldom eat out. Maybe I should have stuck with the king prawn linguine and be less angsty about the less than worthy meal.

0 Strawbnana eggy oatmeal partaaay

Cream of whipped eggy strawbnana-on-a-hot-date Scottish Mayan oatmeal-quinoa-amaranth blend with sunbutter, and extra crunch fom sunflower and pepita seeds. If you understood that, you would understand the partaay that went on during this morn's breakky.

0 Turning Japanese

Woo hoo! Admist the business, I still managed to get in a lip-smacking meal. Tamari dumplings (steamed) from Real Food Grocer, plump with no less than 10 ingredients including carrots, mushrooms, bean curd, French beans and chestnuts. The crunchiness of the filling contrasted nicely against the silky smooth skin (for once, no thick, clumpy dumpling skins!), and each mouthful was a joy of savouriness. I'm so glad they opened an outlet at Novena. 4 dumplings downed, I continued with a California salmon roll from Cold Storage, and another tobiko gunkan sushi (the rice was compressed till almost cake form), home-double-boiled herbal black chicken soup, one giant Driscoli strawbby and half a Fuyu persimmon. Gosh, I feel like a piggy after typing all these, but my tumms is filled and happy!

My japalang nut butter (mainly peanut, almonds, flax, sesame) is getting better by the day, as it releases its oils. It has a really strong flaxy flavour that paired well with the sesame-pumpkin-flax powder (double flax power!). I had this with Earnest's Mayan blend this morning, and a plum on the side.

Lunch was whipped up in a jiffy. Wheat noodles, teriyaki mackerel, lettuce and rocket, cherry tomatoes, and mashed avocado, tossed all together in a little of the leftover pasta water, topped with broad bean paste and some random seaweed shreds from a long time ago. So umami. A whole Washington Red apple on the side

I most probably bombed my sodium intake today with the Japanese theme. To more low sodium meals the next few days.

First of four presentations tomorrow - systematic reviews for Drugs & Clinical Trials module. And I havent even prepared my script. Which I shall do so NOW

0 New [oatmeal] idea!

Rooibois infused oatmeal base ft. (beyond-juicy) Red Anjou. The rooibois tea (TWG) will be steeped in soymilk overnight for a stronger flavour (may it not be too bitter), and then cooked in oatmeal as per usual. Toppings will be dates, nuts and SUNBUTTER!

0 Q_Q

Once you start, you can't stop. Slurp slurp. Ccrrrunch! Chewwww.... Repeat. Sluuuurp!....

What the heck am I referring to? It's the original black/white (or more formally known as soy bean/grass jelly) mix with multiple funful toppings (peanuts, red beans, pinto beans and QQ yam balls from BeansTalk (did they infringe the copy right law of BreadTalk?). And all for $2 only! Quite proud yet shocked at myself dor finishing the tub. I had portioned out only about 1/3 of it, topped upon Earnest Eats Mayan blend (15g) and a Rude Health Spelt Oaty biscuit smothered in Maranatha's sunbutter. But it's too slurpilicous to stop! I'm not sure but it could be by far the heaviest breakfast in a while. The switch up (and venturing into the unknown territory) feels so good. Shoulda have taken a pic of the dessert tub.

0 Cracked

Oh dear, today marked the death of my dear red Le Creuset stoneware baking dish. This goes to show that money does not necessarily buy quality; it did not even last two years. I bought this on the cheap at Bicester Village near Oxford during SEP. Initially I thought of fixing it with epoxy glue, but then reconsidered it after reading about toxic fumes. So now I'll happily use this as an exuse to buy yet another piece of Le Creuset. After extensive browsing on the net (at the expense of studying for tomorrow's early morning MechBio CA), I have finally decided on a 9" Le Creuset skillet in Carribean (I would love to see it in cobalt though). Hopefully Sg stocks it or I will have to order online. Also hopefully there will be discounts with Mother's day coming up though I wouldn't want to wait that long before my purchase.

0 Every second matters now

Oh my, I hate seeing the calendar page flip from "Feb" to "Mar;" later at 12pm (1 hr to go), the church bells are going to chime in their mocking tone, chiding my procrastination and perfectionism which results in me doing things so slowly just for the sake of precision, which ultimately, nobody would really care (except me).

Farewell lunch turned out to be at Itacho Sushi, which was a life-changing event, really. The blow-torched soy sauce salmon sushi was orgasmic, the fatty omega-3 oils literally oozing from the skin and melting into fishy goodness on the tongue. Salmon nigiris topped with lobster salad, chawanmushis, crabmeat beancurd, tamago were all equally good, and not too expensive. This has sparked a new found craving for sushi and I'm so going to have to check out the "shiok sushi" from Koh's Grill and Sushi Bar at Wisma's Food Republic - in 3 months time? And to learn to make sushi. It's amazing, rekindling the passion and love of something that I'm never experienced since... the discovery of oatmeal (which of course I'm still passionate about)

Speaking about oatmeals, this morning's creation was rather novel - 1/2 portion BRM's oatmeal cooked in Pacific soy milk and Garden of Life RAW protein powder, with a Rude Health Spelt Oaty biscuit crumbled in, a slice of Larabar Cappuccino melted in, Sunbutter, topped with a sprinking of nuts & seeds. Superb mix of creaminess and crumblyness from the biscuit (which surprisingly didn't disintegrate in the heat). A Red Delicious that was so red it could be the Snow White poison apple on the side. Garden of Life RAW protein powder has that malty, slightly chalky taste similar to Sunwarrior, which may be disagreeable to some as I found initially. However, I've even grown to like it now! So far, Lifetime Basics has the most neutral of "neutral flavours" out there in the market; you relaly can't detect the powder taste at all when mixed into oats.