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 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 All the good eats in a [klutz] day

Breakfast - banana cinnamon oat-muffin-bagel porridge topped with Justin's chocolate almond butter, a chunk of Theo & Philo green mango and sea salt dark chocolate and cocoa mole hot chocolate sauce made with Delamere's skimmed goat's milk, and a scattering of pomegranate seeds. Lunch - Italian salad leaves, roasted vine-ripened cherry tomatoes and uber-ripe mushy avocado slices, purple potatoes & carrots roasted in avocado oil, seasoned with black pepper, cumin, paprika and dill, two whites-one-yolk creamy scrambled eggs, crumbled goats cheese, and half an Ambrosia apple afterwards. Dinner - lup cheong, shitake shroom and scallion soy sauce fried rice, sea bass, slow cooker chicken wolfberry herbal soup with si shen powder, papaya slices.

On the other hand, something was wrong with me today. 1. Spilled gooey egg whites all over the kitchen counter when I cracked the egg (NOT fun cleaning up). 2. Splashed egg mixture onto stove top when stirring the eggs in the non-stick pan. 3. Prepared my secondary antibody mixture wrongly three times before I got it correct. 4. This included fixing the dissected brains in the secondary antibody mix instead of fixing buffer! 5. Almost incubated the in situ brain samples with a secondary antibody mix with mouse Cy3 (red is Tyramide Cy3!) 6. spilled rice all over the floor when scooping rice for dinner.

I believe He was trying to impart a message about having quiet quality time today. The topic in Our Daily Bread today was "Time Out," a reminder to take time out and pray in the midst of hard work. Incidentally Luke 10 (I'm still through Luke 10) also talks about Jesus' teaching on Prayer.

So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

0 On a yogurt roll

Unexpected surprises evoke the most pleasure. Pulling off the cover of Rachel's ginger greek yogurt revealed a thick, creamy, off-yellow pudding-like yogurt that tastes as sublime as it looked, or even better yet. This yogurt is laced with bits of crystallized ginger which makes for an interesting warm flavour and texture. The ginger wasn't as kick-ass as I would have liked, but the highlight, as I stress again, is the gloriously thick and creamy mouthfeel that the non-fat Fage 0% cannot give. The power of fat, cream and sugar is manifest. I felt so indulgent, digging into the pot. But it sure did make for a good post-lunch dessert, and because it was so rich, I was easily satisfied with two (heaping) tablespoons.

Yogurt was featured in this morn's breakfast too as part of a yogurt mess: Last of Fage 0% + 1/3 crumbled [commercial] muffin + buckwheat flakes + coconut shreds + R2E2 (or KP) mango - the best, non-fibrous, super creamy and smooth mango I'd had ever!! It's a mango from Australia.

For mum's birthday yesterday, I did a handmade card and whipped up some orange zesty french toast using the slightly stale rye sourdough baguette she bought from Bread Society. The french toast wasn't sweet at all (likely attributed to the small amount - 1 tsp - of brown sugar in the egg mix), but with the zesty orange flavour, seared caramelized bananas and yellow nectarine slices, there wasn't and shouldn't be much need for sugar in the first place. My only regret was that I wolfed down my share too fast that I did not have time to analyze the areas for improvements. And also I got serious bloatedness after that and its effects is still manifest till today (slightly).

The family's going out for a Chinese lunch/dinner tomorrow as a continuation of the big 55 celebration. Venue's not confirmed, but I'm game for anything :)

After my final paper next Wednesday, I cannot wait to (i)watch Life of Pi; (ii)watch Rise of the Guardians; (iii)Christmas-related activities; (iv)bake/cook; (v)FYP-related stuff. Yesterday the PI reminded me of the PhD application deadline, indirectly insinuating that I should apply. I guess he's hoping I stay on to continue on the research; I, on the other hand, am not too keen of another four years of studying. At least I should be glad I have an offer to stay on.