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 days are numbered

Never had I thought FYP could amount to such a tremendous amount of time, pain, blood and effort. The days are numbered, and I'm not even 10 percent through my poster and thesis :(

Ten days later and my second bowl of creamy, fluffy, eggy (white) oats, again bananafied with broiled and caramelized bananas. The twist this time was sesame/pumpkin/flax powder and passionfruit, and needless to say, the mandatory salty [and now chocolately] sunbutter. Amazeballs texture and taste! My appetite these days have been ravenous and my digestion speed may amount to a high speed train; despite the (expected) high protein content of this breakfast, it barely tided over two hours, but I decided to hold the hunger in anticipation of: Farewell lunch later with the lab members for HM and I at Star Vista!

0 Full blown

Every step I took today was a chore. At each twist of a sarcomere, each stretch of a muscle, C-fibers were relentless in sending out impulses to the CNS. Nevertheless, protocols and procedures meant that I still had to return to lab. Obviously I wasn't very productive today, with movements seemingly carried out in rewind mode. I was down with full-blown flu sympmtoms, from high fever, to chills, aching bones, dry cough and heavy chest. It's still raging.

Today's breakfast was a new creation: raw oats+chia (Rude's Health The Oatmeal)and raw buckwheat groats soaked separately overnight (oats soaked in skimmed goat's milk and buckwheat in water) in 50-50 ratio. In the morning, I rinsed the buckwheat well to get rid of the slime (lab experience tells me that you'd need a good 5-6 rinses to clean it completely). The oats were still gritty so I microwaved the mix after addition of cinnamon, vanilla extract and protein powder. Then I combined the oats and buckwheat groats, added chopped Ambrosia apple and topped with a medley of nuts, raisins and tahini. I think the 50-50 oat/buckwheat ratio strikes the perfect balance between bitterness and earthiness (buckwheat) and creaminess (oats). Lurrve Ambrosias! Tomorrow I'll probably be having oats again - best cure for viral flu

0 2012>2013

I ushered in the new year... by not ushering it in; I was in deep slumber, knocked out and unconscious. Initially I even contemplated going for watchnight service. But as I crawled into bed at 9 PM (just after dinner and newspaper reading), I knew I was a goner. What an eventful start to the new year, ha.

2012 was a year of turbulence and self-discovery. It started off with re-adapting to the intensity of NUS's curriculum, after spending a relaxing semester at KCL, which may even be considered a semi-holiday. Of course, there was much nostalgia and pining for the days of yore. Politics of Heritage was also one of the most challenging, stressful but rewarding modules I'd taken so far. Of course, the highlight was the trip to Cambodia which really opened my eyes to the less fortunate and atrocities of mankind; my previous travels were largely limited to the first world countries. Starting lab was another turning point. I'd never imagine it could get so intense, or maybe it was the nature of my project. Even before commencing the project, finding the right professor proved a challenge as a faced many rejections.

Spiritually, I think I can say I've grown a teeny weeny bit. At least I try to devote the best part of the day (mornings) to reading the Bible and learning God's word. I hope to continue this practice in 2013, as well as to do more prayer and read deeper into the Word, and not just read for reading's sake. I would love to join a small group in church, but I'm so afraid of commitments, especially when my schedule is so unpredictable. I know this is an unexcusable excuse, for nothing should override God as priority. But still...

It has also been a lot of fun on the gastronomy side. Although I still like dining out, I now much prefer home-cooked food and experimenting with ingredients. This (oops, I mean last) year many new creations were replicated or developed, from breads from scratch to curries and protein powders. The tradition of oatmeal continues unabated, but with more flourishes and toppings. I also overcame my fear of coconut in 2012; now I enjoy coconut butter in appreciable amounts, use coconut meat without second thought in smoothies and drink coconut juice with gusto. The top few dining highlights in 2012 were (in no particular order): Pollen at GBTB, Waterfall Cafe at Shangri La, Wah Lok at Carlton Hotel, Wild Honey at Scotts and the sweet potato curry from Palm Sugar (?) restaurant in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Actually I loved all the food in Cambodia. Unfortunately, I lost even more weight, and am at my lowest physical point ever, if that is even possible. :(

In 2013, I hope to gain weight (drink supplements consistently and treat it like it's medicine); grow stronger spiritually and have a deeper relationship with God, and hopefully discover God's purpose for my life; learn to live and let loose; learn to treasure friendship, family ties, and not be so insular.

Today the new year gave an impetus to try out a new breakfast: buckwheat groats porridge. Previously I had only tried buckwheat flakes before which has a very earthy taste and definitely would benefit from some (natural) sugars. As a fail-safe strategy, I did a cream-of-banana-cinnamon-vanilla with buckwheat groats, cooked in water/soy in 1:2 ratio. The groats were much less absorbent than oatmeal, and did not get creamy at all. Although according to instructions, the groats would be cooked within 10 minutes, I doubled the cooking time as I did not want to be biting into stones for breakfast. It was topped with the usual tahini, protein nut mix and a special (last) chocolate-covered raisin. The result? Either the groats were tasteless or the banana-cinnamon-vanilla spice completely overwhelmed the expected earthy taste of buckwheat. I may reduce the cooking time to 10-15 minutes for some chew; this time it was quite soft although the groats still retained their individual shape. Overall it was not a bad experience. I am also looking forward to experimenting it in salads and savoury dishes like pesto buckwheat.

For lunch I also prepared an artichoke - a first experience. Another post will be dedicated to this!

Seeing prof for ISM arrangement tmr morning :( My last ISM. A tinge of regret that I procrastinated last sem and shifted it to this sem.

Bible verse to tide through the year (or at least the month or week)- Joshua 1:6-9

6 Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.

7 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.

8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

0 Weed potato

My sweet potato kick started with an innocuous can of sweet potato puree (Farmer's Market). It featured in breakfast and lunch two days in a row. The canned puree is more watery than if you were to self-mash a sweet potato. Nevertheless, the taste doesn't suffer; if fact it's so freakish puddingly good that I'd call it "weed" potato - addictive!

For example, this morning's breakfast: Baked sweet potato s'nog oatmeal with cherries.

--Ringing in the season with seasonal oatmeal themes!--

Words alone cannot describe how good this was. It had a texture cross between a pudding and muffin, and of course, full of sweet, sweet 'potato. I made this with Silk s'nog and it did up the festive quotient a bit! Most importantly, before baking, I stuffed dollops of Justin's classic peanut butter randomly throughout the mixture, and digging into chunks of melted PB + sweet potato oats is the best thing to wake up to.

Baked sweet potato (s'nog) oatmeal with cherries
Yield: serves one

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup oats (Rude's Health The Oatmeal - blend of steel cut and medium oatmeal)
• 1/4 tsp chia seeds
• 1/2 scoop protein powder (Lifetime Basics, neutral flavour)
• 1/4 cup sweet potato puree (Farmer's Market)
• 1/4 cup soy eggnog (Silk)
• Dashes of cinnamon
• 3 cherries, quartered
• Peanut butter

Directions

1. Mix everything except peanut butter together and let sit overnight in the fridge.
2. The next morning, preheat oven to 375. Meanwhile, stuff peanut butter dollops into oat mixture.
3. Bake for 20 mins
4. Enjoy the best breakfast, especially with the festive Christmassy ingredients. Play some Michael Buble Christmas songs if you wish. :)

0 Beet this [smoothie]!

All it takes it just a little effort [and a whole lot of noise tolerance] to whip up this chokeful-of-antioxidants smoothie. This consisted of a chunk of roasted beetroot, slices of frozen bananas, Lifetime Basic's protein powder, scoop of chocolate mole powder, chia seeds, and a dollop of Rachel's ginger greek yogurt. The result was a thick, satisfying smoothie. The earthy notes of the beets were noticeable but nicely balanced by the sweetness of the 'nanas. Chili chocolate gave it a nice warm kick to the ice cold smoothie. I like contrasts, and this smoothie embodied multifarious textures and tastes.

I'm the most effective procrastinator; should really get back to studying. Feel an impending doom for tomorrow's paper. Yay for being the last exam but nay for being rather unprepared. Whatever, just wanna get over and done with possibly the second last round of exams in my entire life.

0 Dysregulation

I think am self-destructive, or at least immune to stress, or maybe, have a damaged amygdala. Knowing very well that I have an assignment which deadline is imminent, exam in two freakin' weeks time, and untouched revision, yet I still am surfing the web like it's the holidays. Why can't I regulate my behaviour properly???

But I haven't been that relaxed and happy in such a long while. After church (7.30 AM service - a convert to early bird :)) I headed to Cold Storage at Takashimaya for grocery shopping. Unfortunately at just past 9 the shops were still closed. What [bad] luck. As such, it called for a detour to United Square's branch instead. But it proved a blessing in disguise because I scored a few discounted items and exotic buys. Like:

• Kashi cinnamon harvest (blame it on Amanda's influence! In fact I still have an unopened box of Dr. Oz's buckwheat flakes)
• 71% Ecuador dark chocolate block (Montezuma)
• Swiss farmer rolls (Swiss Bake) - 1/2 price!
• Pacific Almond milk (unsweetened) [couldn't bring myself to splurge on Silk's almond milk]
• Flavour Fall pluots - 1/2 price and in rather good condition still!
• Wild sockeye salmon [omegas yum!]

I think what put in a such a good mood was really today's breakfast: (last of) rolled oats (Binda Valley) cooked in unsweetened soy milk (Natura), sweetened with 1/2 mashed nana and raisins, upped with protein powder (Lifetime Life's Basic protein - the most neutral flavour thus far, compared to Sunwarrior and Vega Health Optimizer) and protein blend (real good food), spiced with cinnamon and chocolate chili and dressed with chocolate hazelnut butter (Justin's). A double whammy of chocolate would be bound to deliver a double whammy of endorphins and it sure did!

And then it was home sweet home. Managed to be a good girl and squeeze in a bit of work before spending ~2 hours (!) cooking and eating lunch, which was a ooey gooey curry & cumin bean stew (BRM whole grains and beans soup mix) with torned tortilla pieces, avocado, sardines (Boiromar), curly lettuce, cucumber, tomato, honey goat's cheese (Delamere) and beetroot relish.

A Jaffa sweetie (pomelo x grapefuruit) to end the meal. Guess what was found on Pubmed:

All applied methods showed that sweeties had higher antioxidative activity than grapefruit. Experiments on laboratory animals show that diets supplemented with sweeties, and to a lesser extent with grapefruit, increased the plasma antioxidative potential and improved the lipid metabolism, especially in the rats fed with added cholesterol.

Apparently a sweetie has more antioxidants than a grapefruit!

Lately people's been asking what I plan to do after I graduate. My PI is persuading me to consider PhD at TLL. For once, I really don't know what should my next step in life; so far it's been pretty straightforward: pri > sec > jc > uni, with the choice of school's quite [re-determined too. Pray for God's guidance in this.

0 Night fest 2012

I found this year's Night Festival slightly underwhelming. On the good side, I think there was a wider selection of more accessible (i.e. not so 'artsy') programmes such in the music genre (beat-boxing, rapping, samba, acapella). I remember lots of folksy tunes from last year's night fest, mainly by foreign artistes, which may not be highly appealing to the common man.

On the other hand, the experience of the highlight performances by Argentinian group Fuerzabruta fell short of my expectations. La Argentina was merely a dancer swinging in the air supported by a crane, looking/acting to be superbly happy while dishing out confetti and glitter as she cruised along Armenian St. The floating pool performance was marred by horrid lighting and poor sound systems. I caught only the last bit of the silver curtain one and that may be slightly better. But overall, spending a night out was still better than staying home.

I had a nice [tropical] start to Sunday with durian-coconut protein peppy kernels (mix of oats, wheat, barley, rye, millet, sesame). Featuring mao shan wang durian (flesh of 2 seeds), Artisana cacao bliss, Bob's peppy kernels and Vega Complete Health Optimizer, topped with coconut flakes. The texture was lovely - creamy from the durian and protein powder, yet slightly crunchy from the mixed grains. But it barely tide me over. I felt hungry again 1.5 hours later, a (happy) problem of late. Despite excessive consumption of durians (11 seeds so far) and what-not over the past few days, my stomach is becoming a bottomless pit. But I don't know where all those calories go; clearly not onto my body.

I read that puffed grains is quite toxic due to the protein extrusion caused by the high heat and pressure of puffing. And I just bought a box of Kashi's 7-whole grain puffs.

0 Tofuel: tofu fuel

I was so bowled over by the divine experience of the tofu pudding that I just had to make it again. This time, the base was the same (Morinu firm tofu, 3/4 frozen nana, chocolate mole powder), but I changed the source of protein. Specifically, this morning's one features Vega Complete Health Optimizer (natural flavor) which explains the bile-like, greenish appearance of the pudding. But looks are deceiving; this was one delicious, thick creamy pudding, with a block of chili cherry Chocolove to boot!

The Vega protein powder is derived from a mix of plant sources. Hemp is at the top of the ingredient list, which presumably contributed to the grassy smell/taste of the powder. There's also pea and brown rice protein in there. Compared to Sunwarrior, Vega has a more assertive presence. I quite like the grassy taste of it (something like Amazing Grass powder but less vile) but if you don't, Vega's definitely not for you. Both Vega and Sunwarrior have similar dissolvability. No problems with texture for both brands. The serving scoop provided was humongous (like the size of 3 tbsp?). The recommended serving is 2 (humongous) scoops, which gives 220 kcal and 26g protein, but I only used 1/2 scoop (=1/4 serving) for the tofu pudding, which was satisfying enough.

Apart from the tofu pudding, breakfast featured a tofu (beancurd) tart from Le Cafe. Talk about tofu fuel! It's similar to egg tart in appearance, but much lighter on the tastebuds. Imagine firm tau huay encased in a buttery digestive biscuit-like crust. It's not sweet, and that's what I like about it. If you noticed, there's an absence of oatmeal in today's breakfast. I unwillingly admit that over the years of nearly-daily oatmeal breakfasts, perhaps my tastebuds have become a little bored and jaded. Maybe it's not so much that I love oatmeal but the comfort the "safety" brings. Time to listen to inner cravings and honour the mind & body.

Lunch was also fueled by tofu - Amy's Indian wrap featuring spinach and tofu. I think "Indian" is a misnomer because its non-spicy at all and I wouldn't associate the taste of the wrap with Indian cuisine (e.g. no curry flavour). Nevertheless, the spinach was creamy and the blocks of tofu provided textural variations. Frozen fast food can be so good.

Amid all these, I was rushing to complete my 3-pg essay on pain/hyperalgesia, which I had spent is disproportionate amount of time for 15 marks. That's always the case isn't it? Don't know why I have to be so perfectionist and precise with my wordings. I left house in a hurry at 4.05pm, hoping to make it to school by 5pm (deadline). It must be through the hand of God that Mum's car miraculously appeared as I was running to the MRT station. She drove me to school and back!

The past few days have been relatively relaxed, mostly just completing confocal for lab because I've finished the dissection (except for lethal NICD crosses). Also lectures were canceled either due to tutorial/SDL or for no reason at all. In fact come to think of it, I only attended a grand total of one tutorial this week i.e. 2 h of school for the entire week! It's back to the grind starting next week, with CA on 8 sep, sadly.

Next week will be when I will turn 22 (sobs). I will be fulfilling my dreams of going to Gardens by the Bay and dining at Pollen!

0 Chocolate mole banana tofu soft serve

After months (years) from procrastination, I finally took out the food processor from the depths of the kitchen cupboards. Dusting off the layer of fine dust that had settled from under-usage, I set to create the much anticipated banana tofu soft serve.

This morning was a good lesson why you should never procrastinate - you'd end up missing up lots of good things in life!

I can't believe how such a simple no fuss recipe (if you can even call it a recipe) can yield such amazing wondrous results in less than a minute (or five if you consider washing up.) Thick, utterly smooth and completely flexible, tofu soft serves are definitely going to make more appearances (and so put my food processor to good use too!)

Chocolate mole banana tofu soft serve (serves one)

Ingredients

• 1/2 frozen banana, sliced
• 1/4 package firm tofu (I used Moringaga; silken would work too but probably would yield a slightly less thick texture)
• 1 tbsp chocolate mole powder (or 1 tbsp cocoa powder)
• 1 scoop protein powder (optional; I used Sunwarrior natural)

Directions

1. Place all ingredients in a food processor, blend.
2. Serve immediately or chill/freeze if you want a more ice-cream-style dessert

Recently, I'e been enjoying lots of fancy nut butter products too, including PB&Co cinnamon raisin swirl (so-so; good for a bit of indulgence); Woodstock farm creamy almond butter; Artisana cacao bliss (will please coconut fans, 2nd order from iHerb!); and Arrowhead Mills crunchy peanut butter (PB will always be my first love). From iHerb I also got Vega complete optimizer (natural) which was 60% off! So happy with the great deal! Shipment was faster this time round, taking about 2.5 weeks. I also got Chocolove chocolate with cherries and chilis. Chocolate mole is my new favorite flavour. The Mexicans have nailed it right!

Finally, last weekend I bought Nancy's kefir (beverage made from fermenting kefir grains in milk) and Kashi's seven whole grain puffs. Kefir's not cheap but the tangyness and benefits of it is far superior than any yogurt drink; can't be beat. Off to complete my to-be-due-soon essay!

0 Priorities refresher

What do you live for? What makes you tick? What rocks your boat?

Life is short; we all have some passion that gives our lives purpose, so as to make the best out of our temporary existence on earth. Sometimes we are guilty of chasing after material goods, wealth, experiences, certificates, medals, epicurean delights and other worldly pleasures. Personally I need to remind myself to eat to live and not vice versa. As the Bible reminds us,

Serving two masters
No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

Matthew 6:24

Putting God first
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Matthew 6:33; Luke 12:31

The antidote to greed and coveteousness, as the Pastor delivered in his message today, is to live a simple lifestyle. Eat simply, dress modestly (as in having a timeless wardrobe and not chasing after the latest fashion trends), and donate the extra time and money for good causes.

A somewhat simple breakfast for a simple lifestyle this morning: D24 cashew coconut steelies, which was in every way a tropical paradise. In case you're interested, it's steel cut oatmeal simmered for 25 min in water/soymilk (3.5:1 ratio), then D24 durian puree and Sunwarrior protein powder stirred in two minutes before serving. Finally, cashew coconut butter was drizzled on top, the heat causing it to melt instantly into milky nutty puddles.

I shall take this chance to review Sunwarrior protein powder which I had purchased online from iHerb. It has a mild, slightly malty taste which I really like. In fact it's the best tasting protein powder I ever had! Many plus points for taste. However, it doesn't dissolve as easily as soy/whey/egg protein powder. It will eventually after much vigorous stirring, and yield a rich creamy texture. No griity bits like soy protein! If you're seeking fluffiness in your protein powders, stick to egg white; Sunwarrior brown rice protein merely thickens but does not give much volume. I've been enjoying Sunwarrior daily in my oatmeals. Overall this is really one of the best protein powders and it's name lives up to the many raving reviews.

5 Gifts and thanks

Thank you for the wonderful time at Venus Transit, the opportunity to meet new people, make new friends and learn new information about the wondrous world. Above all, praise to the glorious magical universe of His divine design, His creation.

We helped to set up those ground sheets. No joke considering the humid weather of late. On a side note, isn't UTown so pretty?

Thank you for the watching over the safe delivery of the iHerb order.

I was beginning to wonder if my order of SunWarrior protein powder and Nuttzo seven nut butter, made without tracking (save $), was ever going to make it to my address. Given that this is my first online purchase, I was all the more worried. But it finally did arrive, two-three weeks later, and with freebies inside to boot! So freakin' excited to try out the stuff in tomorrow's breakfast. Even Batman's excited too! Stay tuned for the review.

Thank you for blessing the world with wondrous fruits and foods.

If Eve was tempted by the apple, durian would be my forbidden fruit. Baked Mao Shan durian steel cutters with Cashew Coconut Dream was a tropical paradise and provided good fuel for lab work later. It's NOT a weird combination; tastes just like a warm version of durian chendol :D

For my first lab session, I learnt how to distinguish between male and female flies, and virgin from old flies. Post-lunch I did CNS dissection of third instar larvae. I must have gruesomely killed about 50 would-be flies today alone, in the name of Science. Every time I close my eyes now I see abdomen stripes, guts and bug eyes staring back at me, demanding for their souls back.

2 iHeart iHerb

I'm so excited! I just made my first online purchase through iHerb for Sunwarrior classic protein powder (natural) and Nuttzo seven nut and seed butter (original). Thanks to a discount code provided by wildchildurbancity, I got $10 off my first purchase. Best yet, the international shipping fee is so darn cheap! Only $4 for purchases more than $40.00 and less than 4 lbs. Being the ever budget conscious me, I made sure I maximized my transaction by ordering the most I could under 4 lbs. So that's why I chose Nuttzo nut butter even though there were so many unbelievably cheap Artisana nut butters I would have bought. Once the total weight exceeds 4 lbs, you have to ship by DHL/UPS which fees escalate tremendously.

I'm no stranger to protein powders. One of the most frequent complaints regarding protein powders is the texture: gritty, sandy, chalky to downright nasty, I've experienced them all. I find soy protein (Bob's Red Mill) the worst, whey protein (Beneprotein, Propass) slightly better but they do not settle well. The best yet is egg white protein (Peter D'Adamo Protein Blend Powder O) which turns out fluffy when microwaved (imagine scrambled egg whites) and gives great body and volume to oatmeals. Then there's meal replacements: Amazing Grass meal (nasty), Spirutein (better in taste but full of sugars) and Ensure/Ensure Plus (the best yet).

Since my current Protein O is about to finish, it was a good time to look out for new brands to try. Sunwarrior has received pretty rave online reviews so I'm putting my bet on it through iHerb. Their classic protein powder is a raw, vegan rice protein made from sprouted whole grain brown rice, including the germ, endosperm, and bran. One scoop provides 17g protein in a complete amino acid profile. Interestingly, their other product, the Sunwarrior Blend that is made from various proteins, include cranberry protein. Sure I've heard of rice protein, pea protein and hemp protein, but cranberry? Isn't that a fruit? From their website, it appears that the cranberry seed contains 25% protein in addition to lots of fiber. Exotic stuff.

As for Nuttzo, I was introduced to it by KathEats. I have not seen it in Singapore so it makes sense to purchase that online. I'm always game for nut butters.

Now, to do some advertising. Check out iHerb for some really good offers (including up to 40% discounts!). International delivery is unbelievably cheap and quick. If you're a first time buyer at iHerb, don't forget to quote YAF589 before you check out to enjoy $5 off your bill!

0 201....2

With a well-worn and weary heart, Hello 2012.

Smashing start to the New Year with a classic favorite oatmeal combination:
Banana steel cut oats

3 tbsp steel cut oats, soaked overnight in 1 cup boiling water. Bring to boil this morning, simmered gently for 20 mins over the stove till thick, 3/4 large ripe banana, coarsely chopped, 1/4 cup of soy milk, scoop of Protein Blend Type O, spiced up with cinnamon, nutmeg and Uganda vanilla extract, topped with Earth Balance creamy roasted AB, a scatter of raisins and Mini Magoos ginger granola.

Perfect, just pure perfection.

01/01 is just but another date on the revolving caldendar; nothing special.

Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson