Kacang Bogor - Bogor Peanuts

I bought some of these the other day.....
Kacang Bogor (Bogor Peanuts)
Vigna subterranea (L) Verdc.

Bogor is a city about 1 hour outside Jakarta
and for some reason it rains a lot there, thus the name "The Rainy City"

These Bogor peanuts are sold in supermarkets rarely, they're mostly sold by street vendors in carts like this

pic by Gagah from
http://bogordailyphoto.blogspot.com/2008/03/closer-look-at-kacang-bogor.html


They're round in shape
usually boiled or steamed
& they break open easily.........


revealing the purple-candy-like nuts
aren't they just gorgeous ???


mmmmmm :)

they taste kinda like peanuts....
but they're just perfect on your plate, right ? :)

Food Glorious food

A friend of mine invited me for a food test at her Restaurant.
It's got everything.... prawns, fish, vegetables, noodle, chicken, meat etc
Cooked in different traditional recipe, some are spicy, some are sweet and sour, some are soy-saucy, some are fried, some are stir-fried, some are steamed.



What do I eat ?
I eat a little bit of everything
but I fill my plates with more of the vegetables
So when I feel full, it'd be mostly vegetables (I have mostly shredded carrots, broccoli, spinach)
and I tasted a little bit of everything... it was good
:)

Yummy Aloe Vera Smoothie

This may look a bit pale, but it's bursting with flavors........
yummmyyyyyyy....... I could drink this everyday....



So I have a cantaloupe that's a bit too ripe... I know... I forgot about it
but it was soooooo very sweetttt.....

Okay....
I use :
- a very sweet Cantaloupe - around 1 cup ? I never measure anything ;p
- 2 passionfruit
- freshly squeezed lemon juice from half a lemon
- a big aloe vera

mix the cantaloupe, 2 passiofruits and half a lemon juice in a blender
add the aloe vera later

done !!!
easy....
It's sweet and sour with a crunch... perfect
those oreo like black dots are actually passion fruit seeds.... *crunch crunch*
If you prefer a smooth smoothie, you may want to strain the passionfruit seeds first.

Another Aloe Vera juice

So I made another Aloe Vera juice
yupp... that's one big aloe vera
peel and rinse to clear the yellow sap.



Blend everything first,
then lastly, add the freshly cut aloe vera chunks.
I read somewhere.... I forgot where.....that it's best not to blend aloe vera for too long in the machine, so that the polysaccharides chain doesn't get broken down too much
or something like that :)
will try to find that page.

I've always known that Aloe is good for you, but only as a hair growth "serum"
when I was a kid, I sometimes peel and use the aloe vera meat to rub on my scalp because they say it's good to promote hairgrowth.
But I never actually eaten or drunk the Aloe Vera raw.
It actually turn out pretty good.... sometimes not very tasty if I put too much of the healthy green :) but drinkable and it's sooooo good for you, lots of live enzymes :)


So here's the result, the color's not very good due to the red+brown from the watermelon+seed mixed with the greens from parsley, but it's mildly sweet.

Below is a really nice baby pink color which I just love to stare at :)
the top is frothy, blending aloe makes frothy smoothie
It's aloe + banana + strawberries
Nice :)


I just made another one of just aloe vera and melon
and it was this cool light green color.
yummyyy :)

What do people eat back then ?

I mean, way way back then.
Were they all Vegan ? Raw Vegan ?

What about winter times ?
No Vegetables around, they have to eat meat, right ?
although they do have dried seed, nuts, grains, etc

What about people who live in warm climate where there's no Winter and fruits and Vegetables are available all year long ?
Do they still eat meat ?

I suppose even if people do eat meat, the meat came from wild animals,
a. which means these animals eat natural food from the forest
b. their living conditions are well... the jungle
no stress from being crammed in small cages without sunlight
c. no pollution from their environment
d. no antibiotics, drugs, hormones to make them grow bigger and fatter and faster.

And back then, people ate the meat :
1. Without additional preservatives, artificial coloring, artificial flavors.
2. The meat wasn't frozen and then thawed and then frozen again and then.... (u get the point)....during shipping
3. People don't eat meat on a daily basis.

So in short... Back then, People ate healthier with a better meat quality, not daily.

Let's look at NOW
Eating meat has become a daily habit, breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner.
plus desserts, dairy, cheese, sugar, sugar sugar
Yes, most of us make sure to eat all those junk food on a daily basis !!
All those meat and dairy and egg is filled with antibiotics, hormones, etc
What we eat is not lean meat, but unhealthy fatty meat.... yummm...;p
and the food we have at our table is filled with preservatives, artificial color and flavor, salt, salt, sugar, sugar.
then to make it worse, we fry them.
again... on a daily basis.
No wonder people are sick.

Of course you also get pesticides from vegetables, but we can still opt for organic ones, right ?

" Then, what about people who eat everything and are still very very healthy ?
Won't I be wasting life's pleasure of gluttonous food by just eating a restricted food choice ? "
Well... it's your choice.
Maybe Those people who eat everything and stay healthy are the lucky ones, maybe they only look healthy outside but who knows what their health condition is really like ?
Those people aren't you !
You are different from me & from everyone else.
and You have to take care of yourself.
Stay healthy, don't focus on staying thin.... but aim to be healthy, that's the main goal !!

So you ask yourselves "Do I have to be a Vegan too ?
I can't eat vegs everyday...."
You don't have to be a Vegan, but pay attention to what you eat.
If you drink sugary soda, fried fast food, creamy desserts on a daily basis, let's just start by cutting back on those.
Hey instead of eating candy, why not try fruits instead.... I don't think anyone hate fruits. Try figs, pomegranate, mangoes, anything.
Just don't make a dessert out of fruits by cooking it in sugar, all you get is well, sugar.
Start small.... start taking in more fresh vegetables and leaving the unhealthy ones behind and you'll find yourself wanting more fresh fruits and vegs by the day.

For me.....
First
I love vegs and fruits
I love what I eat
I love healthy Vegan meal
I never eat processed Vegan food (Vegan cheese, Vegan meat, Factory made Vegan desserts etc) just because they're not available here, so in a way I'm lucky that I won't have a chance to even get tempted by them.
I just have to fight my wanting to eat so much of the other Vegan "junk" and crispy crunchy fried food, but the aftermath is a really really bad sorethroat.

Second
Since I started being a Healthy Vegan, where I try to avoid white rice, white bread (but still allowing complex carbs such as sweet potato, and also some "junk" --> fried food and sugar)
My weight's been constant, it's ridiculous
No matter how much Vegan food I ate, or how full I got, I never gain weight during this 6 Vegan month.
And I know sometimes I can eat like crazy and being too full is not good for my digestion system either, but my weight's been constant during this time.
It's not like before when I still eat everything, I'd do portion control, eat less carb (rice,paste) eat less meat, eat less ice cream, eat less cheesecake but in the end I only end up wanting more and losing control the next day. Why ? because I feel hungry.
Now I never feel hungry, I can eat whenever I feel hungry.
I'm now feeling good in with my current weight and I don't even exercise to help me lose weight.
(I should exercise though, listen people, move your body and be healthy)

So...
The key is to love what you eat,
So if you force yourself to be a Vegan but you never enjoy your Vegan meal and you hate your Vegan food, then it's hard for you to benefit from it.
Just start by simply adding more vegs n fruits on a daily basis, and you'll see that in time you'll want more and more of fresh fruits and vegs :)
You'll eventually lose weight automatically without even trying, or maybe gain some weight if you're too thin. You'll have your ideal weight.

I've been a Vegan for 6-7 months now, but I had some meat a few days ago, I just wanted it so bad, I gave in and it was good.
So, Does that mean that I'm going to start eating meat again ?
I don't know.
Maybe I will, maybe I won't, maybe I will, rarely,
If I did, I'll definitely choose a good quality meat and preferably not fried, not overly processed with artificial everything, etc. (ok...here I'm totally repeating what I said that in the previous post ;p)
But for now, I still want to continue being a Vegan.
Even as I'm typing this, I'm drooling for some steamed broccolis & spinach mixed with some raw walnut, drizzled with a little bit of roasted sesame oil and seasoned with salt for dinner.
Yummmm............ :)

I ate meat

Confession :
2 Oct 09 - I ate 2 slices of roast duck at night
3 Oct 09 - lunch, I ate 7 slices of roast duck
6 Oct 09 - dinner with a tiny morsel of fried fish - So Good !!
9 Oct 09 - a lil bit of fried vermicelli (mixed with meat, but didn't eat the meat)
11 Oct 09 - chocolate bread
20-21 Oct 09 - Chocolate n cheese bread & Fried vermicelli again
25 Oct 09 - a tiny portion of chicken noodle without the chicken

In my defense :
I was "very good" for 2 months
(Vegan, No rice, flour, sugar, fried food)
and I was "good" for another 4 months
(Vegan, starting lil rice, flour, sugar, fried food)
During those months, I didn't want to "contaminate" my body with meat because all the effort I've made, eating meat would waste all those "clean" months, right ?

Entering month 7, I probably started to lose motivation
I was alone during my Vegan months, I enjoy my Vegan meals, but no one to share it with, except at my blog :) and nobody support my being a Vegan. oohh poor me :) but I'm a tough one :D
and I sometimes feel kinda annoyed of the limited food choice I have when eating out and feel like I'm missing out, not on the food, but on spending time together sharing food at dinner tables.
You know how sometimes the best food is the one you have to fight over with your families/friends, when there's only one thing left on the plate with 5 hungry people staring at it. :)

So I gave in and I finally ate all those things above.
I'm sorry but I honestly totally enjoyed it, No guilt, well maybe a little.
Some part of me felt like I was betraying my Vegan friends and I felt like I failed at being a Vegan but ..... it was okay.
I really really wanted to eat those food.
I'm surrounded with people who eat everything daily, so I guess after a while, just smelling them is no longer enough, (yes I do that)
I guess I missed the taste, I missed the whole eating together experience.
So I ate some of those food along with my usual Vegan food....
and It made me feel happy :)

Will I start eating meat again ?
I don't know, I hope it's not one of those "If you start, you can't stop" thing.
But even if I do, I don't think it's going to be for everyday and I definitely wouldn't want to eat a low quality fatty ones.
Okay that sounds disgusting.... I think I'll stick with Veganism for now :)
Here's an example,
After I ate that chicken noodle (without the chicken), I craved Salmon sushi and Unagi sushi, and I even planned to eat it the next day, but the next day I was at a mall and I was literally in front of the Sushi Restaurant and I didn't want sushi at all. I wanted a bowl of salad instead, and so I did and I felt good.
So there :)

Tips :
Another thing I found, sometimes eating raw salad with minimum dressing can be tough, so I allow myself to mix it with a little fried food.
The crunch and the taste totally made it easier for me to finish that big bowl of salad, and it totally made my eating experience more enjoyable.
The taste was better, although slightly "sinful", but I was much happier eating it and I enjoyed it soooo much and I think that counts for something :)

Do you need Vitamins / Supplements as a Vegan ?

Ask yourself this....
Do you happily eat a Healthy balanced Vegan diet everyday ?
If you don't, then you should....eat a Healthy Balanced Diet, happily :)

and If your lifestyle doesn't allow you to have a daily Healthy Diet, then you might want to consider adding Vitamins/Supplements.
But do your research, ask your physician, and don't overdo it.
I read somewhere that all Vitamins/Supplementations that goes inside our body are not absorbed but instead they're treated as toxins.
So honestly, I don't know.
My 88 year old grandmother eats everything all her life and has been taking lots of supplements most of her older adult life and she still has a very strong memory, although she's recently developed glaucoma and a slight knee problem.
But that's just 1 person, others might have different result.

Decide for yourself whether or not you need supplements, then consult the experts.

Let's see....
I consider myself healthier than some of my busy friends that would often eat :
breakfast : coffee and toast + jam
lunch : rice and scrambled egg + chili sauce
or even anything from a fast food restaurant
dinner : eating out in a restaurant + sinful desserts (sugar & bad fat)
or just instant noodle (msg all the way)
and if they survive without supplements, I suppose so will I.

But I don't eat a complete rainbow salad with all the good fats (avocado, raw nuts, etc) and an array of fruits on a daily basis.
Some days I eat very very healthily and very very satisfied :D
But
Sometimes I cheat and eat lots of fried food till my throat hurts, very clever right.
Sometimes I get so lazy I just eat steamed broccolis and cauli flower with olive oil and salt for lunch and dinner.
Sometimes I don't get the chance to cleanse and eat plenty of fruits.
Other than food,
Sometimes I don't even get enough sleep and I easily get stressed.

So I decide to start supplementing again.
and I think it's always a good idea to choose a vitamin / supplements that contain a lower amount of everything so you don't take in too much.
If you need more, just take 2 tablets, or 1 and 1/2.
Remember to find a Vegetarian / Vegan formula.

Here's what I'm planning to take :
Cal, Mag, Zinc (3 in 1)
Kelp
B12 and Folic Acid
Vegans are always associated with B12 deficiency, although our B12 is stored in the liver and it might take years to show any symptom of deficiency, but I figure, since it's water soluble, it's ok to take.
There are different types of B12
Hydroxycobalamin to cyanocobalamin, and Methylcobalamin.
and Supposedly the latter is the better one.
Mine happens to be Cyanocobalamin.

I also might add Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, organic ones aren't available here.
Morinda / noni capsules, Fresh noni fruits are available here, but I can't stand the smell. :0
I might add other supplements later.

But..........
I don't really feel like taking them at all.
I think I should, but I don't really want to.
I don't know whether that's my pride telling me that I'm perfect and I can always have enough nutrients from my food and I don't need factory made supplements,
or is it my body telling me to not take supplements.
I don't know.

But I suppose I will eventually start supplementing... slowly
maybe tomorrow ?

FYI, There are other stuff that might contain B12 if you prefer that instead of supplementations, Fortified Nutritional Yeast for example, but in this article,
http://www.veganhealth.org/b12/vegansources
it says :
* Nutritional yeast often comes from bins in health food stores. If not careful, it would be easy for a store employee to order the wrong nutritional yeast out of the distributor catalogs which often list many yeasts. It would also be easy to accidentally put the wrong yeast into the Vegetarian Support Formula bin.
* B12 is light sensitive. Nutritional yeast is likely to be exposed to the light because it is often stored in clear bins or plastic bags.
* At least one vegan who thought he was getting B12 from nutritional yeast developed B12 deficiency symptoms that cleared up upon taking a B12 supplement.

So....Do your research, and Don't copy someone else's vitamin/supplement routine because we're all different.
If you want to get your B12 from raw foods, also do research :)
I'm still doing mine.

Take your of yourself :)

Can u be 100% strict healthy vegan ?

Sometimes Vegans still eat a lot of junk food, me included ;p
I find it hard to be a 100% strict Healthy Vegan, but I'm trying though :)

I said in the beginning that I choose not to eat
Refined carbs,
Refined Sugar,
Fried Food,
etc

But sometimes
(again.... similar reasons as before)
- There's no one at home and there's no food at home
so I have to eat whatever's there because I'm hungry
white rice/noodles and little portion of leftover vegs and maybe I boil some beans, but that takes a lot of time and I was hungry so I didn't.
So... white rice = refined white carbs

- I didn't have the time to prepare food
so I have to eat whatever's already prepared in the kitchen
white rice and fried tofu/tempeh and vegs from vegs dish mixed with meat
No time to boil those dried beans because I was way too hungry at that time.
So.... white rice = refined white carbs
fried tofu/tempeh = Fried Food
Vegs n Meat dish = Meat, although I didn't eat the meat, but still
or I work late at night and got so so very hungry I have to eat and so so very sleep at the same time, so I can't be bothered to wash vegs and prepare them , nor to cut some fruits, coz I know I'll get hungry again in 30 mins.
So I find rice (there's always leftover) and I make fried rice, sometimes with fresh garlic, chilli and ginger sautee together, and my recent guilty cheat is using instant fried rice paste !!!!
I seriously need to throw that little packet of dark paste out of my fridge ;p

- I just lack self control ;p
Craving attacks of refined sugar and refined carbs in the form of Traditional Vegan desserts !!! yummmmm
and craving attacks of fried tempeh and fried savoury crackers.

So... problems are :
Hunger ;p
If I get too hungry I just eat whatever available
then it's
Laziness... If I get too lazy then I just eat whatever's available
Time... If I don't have time, well... u get the picture.
and Cravings & Gluttony ;p

Luckily in the course of 6-7 months, that doesn't happen all that often.
Well... only on these past few weeks.... end of month 6 and going on month 7, I seem to be "out of control"
At least I'm making green smoothie almost on a daily basis now :)
and I'm improving..... promise !!

Can you be 100% Vegan ?

I believe you can :)

But in my experience so far...
I've had silly mistakes

- Egg/Milk
Some traditional desserts/cakes that I thought don't contain egg/milk, well contains egg/milk. Nowadays people tend to add egg/milk to the traditional way of making things to make it taste better or more westernized.
So... my bad... it was my lack of knowledge of food ingredients.
Yes you can always ask, but sometimes the person selling the food doesn't even know what's in the ingredients.

- Fried Food
Yes we can make super crunchy batter just using Flour and water and Fry away, so sometimes what I thought is an egg free batter turns out to be an egg batter.

- Fried Food 2
I know I'm not supposed to eat a lot of fried food, well, actually, ideally I'm not supposed to eat Fried food at all.
But when I was on the road, travelling, I had to eat fried food, such as fried tempeh/tofu and rice, because that was the ones that are available and I ate rice because I want to keep being full for longer periods of time.
so I thought I'm still being a 100% Vegan by choosing fried Tempeh / Tofu. But..... They use the same oil to fry the tempeh and the Fried Chicken.
So....there....
Okay... I should really try to avoid all fried food altogether.
(btw, Do you realize that a lot of food available out there are fried ?)

- Vegetable dish
Vegetables dish are sometimes mixed with microscopic chicken bits that you thought was minced garlic.
Vegetable soup is sometimes cooked with chicken stock.

- Friends and Families
When we travel / go out, I sometimes "annoy" my friends and families because when they've found a good restaurant, I prefer to look for another restaurant coz they don't serve Vegan food there.
Sometimes I choose to eat beforehand or even later on and not eat while they're eating, and they're fine with it and we still have a good time.
Sometimes I get take out and eat with them.
Sometimes I bring my own food and eat with them
and Sometimes, but very very rarely I just got tired and choose to eat just the Vegetables on the mixed vegs + meat dish. yes I can order just Vegs only, but it cost the same :( and sometimes the busy chef mixed the vegs with meat/egg because that's what they're used to doing so I had to re-order and it just gets tiring after a few times so I decided just to order what's in the menu and keep quiet :(

- Too Hungry
Sometimes I just didn't have time to eat and I got really really hungry and I really really must eat to prevent dying ;p
So I have to eat whatever's there.
Bread made with milk and egg
Rice with Vegetable from Veg n Beef dish, etc
luckily it only happened 2-3 times in the course of 6 months. okay maybe a tad more ;p

- Supplements
Some of my supplements use a Non-Vegan capsules, yupp... made from Bovine Gelatine :(
Some do exist in a Vegetarian/Vegan formula, but a lot of 'em don't.
I'll just have to use what's available.

So those are my silly mistakes
I suppose you can maintain being 100% Vegan when u're at home or on the go, but I sometimes just find it difficult to do but still trying though :)

How about you ?
Do you find it difficult to stay 100% Vegan ?

Brocollis, Salad and Onion Rings

This was what I ate before dinner, for dinner ;p
Not the prettiest photo in the world, but they taste good :)

- Brocollis

- Raw local salad called Karedok
usually it's drenched in peanut sauce + a lil bit of galangal, but I wanted just the vegs.
(go search for Karedok's photos on google images)
usually consisting of : (all raw)
cabbage, string bean, cucumber, round green eggplant/apple aubergine, beansprouts, basil
I requested not to add the beansprouts.
I think they forgot my basil
and sometimes they add raw sweet potato, thus the orange-y bits :)

- Onion Rings - I guess there's egg and chicken stock and msg in the batter.
But they were really yummy and made me eat my raw salad with ease.

I had some leftover for supper ;p

Lemony smoothie

I can't believe something this dark-green and thick can taste so lemony and mildly sweet :)

- 1 ripe banana
- 4 dates
- glistening vanilla beans from 1 vanilla pod (boiled with little water and added to the juice, but I still can't detect the smell)
- 1 Organic Tomato
- 1/3 of fresh lemon juice
Two handsful of these mixed together :
- Gynura Procumbens - which taste great in salad, kinda like a mild basil.
and has a lot of beneficial healing properties..... Go look em up.
- Organic spinach
- Organic parsley
- Romaine Lettuce

No wonder I heard some clunking sound in the blender, One of the date's seed fell inside the blender.
Amazing how it didn't get crushed at all......

Newbie to Green Smoothie

I've recently started making green smoothie with my modest glass blender.
I've never mixed fruits and greens on a blender before, I've always thought of a smoothie as strictly fruits only concoction.
and Nope... I don't have the super powerful blender like Blendtec or Vita-mix, because the Blendtec/Vita-mix that are available here are the commercial ones which cost US$628-661, which is around US$200 more expensive than the home consumer one.
Normal blender cost around US$50 and that's a good brand.
So I'm not planning to get Blendtec / Vita-mix just yet, although they remain in my wishlist.

I can't use my normal blender to smoothly blend carrots though, last time I did that, it almost broke my blender, almost.... *phew*
I still use my centrifugal juicer for carrots, beets, etc
Although I'm gonna try to take the carrot pulp from my juicer and put it in my blender to see if it can be blended out smoothly to drink.

So.....
The smoothies turn out great !!!!!
Advantages :
They're easy and fast to make.
They make me drink my raw greens easily (I get all the fibres)
They make me drink my ground flax seed easily (I don't really enjoy ground flax on my salad)
The blender is way easier to clean and wash than my juicer.
and most of all
They taste like desserts !!!!!!! Yuuummmmmmmmmmm !!!!
I'm spoiled with smoothies, it makes me "lazy" to chew my vegs now. :)


This one is my green smoothie in a 0.5 litre glass.
(I made too much, it made me a bit too full, but so good though)
I put in :
- a handful of romaine lettuce & green spinach
- half a cucumber
- 1 banana,
- 3 dates,
- vanilla beans from half a vanilla pod (can't seem to smell the vanilla),
- half a spoonful of ground flax seed (ground it first using the dry spice blender)
- coconut water
- did I put mango in ? I can't seem to remember ;)

I prefer not to use water in my smoothie, just coz I don't want to bland the taste.
Last time I used watermelon and I squeezed the water out of the watermelon into the blender, yes with my barehand, I am that strong ;p
or I'd squeeze in lemon juice. and any other fruit that's water-y.

and I don't add ice cubes in my blender, if I find my ready-to-drink smoothie not cold enough, I simply add some ice cubes and stir and drink.

Since my blender is a normal modest blender,
it doesn't really blend brocollis that well,
Last time I added brocollis, okra, ground flax, raw almond and banana and watermelon.
But there was too much greens than the sweet fruits, so it turned out quite yucky and brittle-y
But I gulped the whole thing anyway ;p
Oh well, I'm still experimenting

I'd like to try Chia, Hemp, super green food powder, etc, but they're just not available here. Shipping them would be costly and I don't know whether the shipping condition & duration will make the products go bad or not.

Anyway.....
Here's what I do, for now :
- I "chew" my smoothie (I don't use straw to drink my smoothie)
I don't use a straw to drink my smoothie, because I'm worried that I'll be "drinking" the smoothie all too fast without "chewing" it first.
I mean, with smoothies, it's not really chewing, but since when you eat normal food, you need to properly chew the food so they mix well with the saliva where enzymes interact and it's beneficial for healthy digestion, so I figure I need to "chew" my smoothie instead of drinking it right away.
Yes you can also sip slowly with your straw and "chew" before drinking your smoothie.
But since I don't have a glass straw, I use my spoon to "chew" and drink my smoothie :)
It's fun, it's like melted ice cream with each spoonful.


- I use straw for :
My regular carrot & beet juice.
I also sometimes drink warm lemon water.
(it was every morning last year, it's good for your health)
Lemon, especially, is very alkaline inside our body but it can be very acidic to your teeth enamel and it's better that it doesn't stay in contact with your teeth for long periods of time.

And for that reason, I used to use a plastic straw (bubble tea straw) to drink my lemon water / juice and since I don't want to throw the straw out after every use, I wash it with soap water and a tiny brush that goes inside the straw.
But I haven't been using it lately, well because it's plastic.
Now I just drink it from the glass.
I may have to eventually purchase a glass straw, but I'm still afraid they'll arrive broken since they have to be shipped from overseas. Oh I'll figure something out :)

Here comes the Question no. 1 :
I read that raw foodist may have bad teeth because the enzymes from the raw greens/fruits may harm the teeth's enamel or something like that.
Notice when you're cutting up some types of vegs, they have a sticky sap thingy ? and cooking the vegs will eliminate this sap.
Maybe the enzyme in the veg's sap is causing the teeth to go "bad".
Also the sugar from the fruits and dried fruits.
Some people say it's better to use a straw when drinking juice/smoothie so the juice doesn't really get in that much contact with the teeth.

So in the long term, I don't know Whether it's better to "chew" the smoothie and let it interact with saliva for better food absorption and digestion or Whether to use a straw and swallow straight away so you have a better teeth ?

But I suppose your teeth won't be not any worse than the typical American diet of sugary cakes, desserts, etc, right ?
I think you're safe as long as you eat more greens than sugary fruits, and not overeat on acid fruits, dried fruits and dehydrated stuff.
And if you rinse your mouth, floss and brush your teeth and you'll be fine.

Feel free to share your thoughts and experiences :)

I also find these articles that kinda calms me down on the whole bad teeth thing :
The Raw Divas Blog titled "The Raw Food Diet isn't bad for your teeth"
http://therawdivas.com/blog/?p=156
Frederic Patenaude Blog titled "Why Raw-Foodists Have Problems With Their Teeth How to avoid dental decay, gum disease and erosion for good."
http://www.fredericpatenaude.com/dentalhealth.html

-------------------------------

Question no.2 :
I read in a book somewhere that it's better to juice not more than 3 types of fruits for better absorption in our body.
I suppose it applies to smoothies as well.
But we all tend to put like 7 (sometimes even more) ingredients into the blender.
I read a lot of health improvement in people who drink a mix of a lot of vegs+fruit smoothies and it's been proven great for our health so far

So Do the "Don't juice more than 3 types of fruit" really apply ?
What do you think ????
I suppose mixing vegetables is fine.
For example, salad consist of so many different types of vegs and the rainbow combination is good for us.

I think if it works, it works, it's that simple.
If blending 10 ingredients keep you healthy, then I suppose it's good for you, and you can always only mix 3 types of fruits/vegs when your running short on fruits n vegs :)

What I'm not sure is mixing the vegetables and the fruits, Are there any rules for that ?

I seem to keep on answering my own questions, except for the last one though :)

Woww..... this has been a long post :)
Thanx for reading :D

Grapes

When I buy grapes, and when I'm not lazy, I always pull them off their stems and rinse them under running water, sometimes soak them for a bit in salt water, then rinse them again with drinking water and drain.

So these are the grapes ready to be eaten and stored in the fridge.
mostly eaten before they even get to the fridge.
But they taste better cold.
They are even better frozen. :D


I'm now wishing for organic grapes :)

Lunch with beans

There are times when I don't know what to eat and there's so little stuff in the fridge, but out of that stuff, I sometimes amaze myself haoehoaheoae.....
I know I'm supposed to eat more raw vegs, but just look at them.......
Aren't they great ?
okay... enough gloating ;p



It's lightly steamed carrot from one carrot left in my fridge
and boiled kidney beans from dried kidney beans in the cupboard
and lightly sautee Water Convolvulus / kangkung which was the last greens in the fridge.
Now I have an empty fridge and a happy tummy.

It kinda look like a super bright bird's nest, doesn't it ?
No ? mmm... it's just me then.

Enjoy :)

it tastes great too :)

Chrysanthemum Tea

I like drinking Chrysanthemum Tea
I love the floral aroma.

It has some health benefits to it.
It's known to have a cooling properties to our body and it's believed to aid in the prevention of sorethroat and fever, even to aid digestion.


I got my flowers dried in a package and I just move it into a container and put it in the fridge.
I then take just a little amount (they do expand) to put in my glass and then I add boiling water to it.
Sometimes I swirl the first tiny bit of boiling water and throw the water out, just to rinse the flower.
and then fill my glass and wait till it's not too hot
and sip.... mmmmmmm..... and I'd just relax :)
I also like to eat the flower petals ;p
but that's just me.

I notice that my tea turns greenish after a while.
I suppose that's it's oxidating ?


and another thing is, Chrysanthemum can also be used for pesticide.
Whattt ??????
hohoho calm down...
I suppose you have to extract a large amount phyrethrins extracted to produce a lethal pesticide, besides chrysanthemum tea has been a popular drinks in Asian countries.

But drink at your own risk ;p
As a matter a fact, I'm making myself a chrysanthemum Tea right now.
mmmmmmm........ :)

Coconut

mmmmm coconutttt.....

I'm so lucky there's a street vendor selling coconuts near my home.
I don't usually eat it like this...because I get "exhausted" of scraping the tender coconut meat inside :p
I'd buy 3 or 4 coconuts and pour all the coconut water into a container, scrap the inside and dunk everything into that container and put it in the fridge.
And when I want to have some coconuts, I'd just pour them into a big bowl ;)
They're usually all gone in 2 days because everyone in the house keeps on coming back to get some more.

Coconuts are very good for you, they're a natural isotonic which means it gives a rapid rehydration when you're dehydrated.
more info here :
http://www.living-foods.com/articles/coconutwater.html

Traditional Desserts - Kolak Pisang & Biji Salak

This is also one of my favorite Traditional Indonesian Desserts
and yes it's Vegan :)



Kolak pisang is Banana Kolak (top right, in the bowl)
I honestly don't know what kolak/kolek means ;p
It's banana pieces boiled in rich palm sugar & water bath. (pandan leaves included of course)
You can also use fresh ripe banana if you prefer it raw :)
and then when you want to eat it, you just add the coconut milk to it (this is like adding fresh cream to your dairy dessert)
The banana used here is Pisang Gepok
It has a subtle sour-y taste to it. It's just perfect.
It's creamy and sweet and soup-y and it's just heaven.



The other one is Biji salak. (in the blue mug)
Salak is snake fruit (Salacca zalacca)
and biji salak is Salak's pit/seed.
It's probably called biji salak because it ressembles the round shape of salak's pit.
It's made with grated sweet potato mixed with sago flour.
shaped into little ball shapes or rolled into a long cylinder-y shape and cut into small pieces.
then boiled for a short while... just until they float.
then chuck everything into the palm sugar + water mixture
and add a lil bit of coconut milk to serve.
I prefer to make this myself because the ones they sell has more sago flour to sweet potato ratio so it's more chewy with a tiny hint of sweet potato taste.

You can eat the Biji Salak warm or cold.
But I prefer to eat the Kolak Pisang warm and sometimes I add raw ginger juice / boiled ginger water to the mix to add warmth to it ;)
mmmmmmmmm.............. yum yummmmmmmmm.............
You can even mix the two together, like I did :)
mmmmmmm.........yuummmmmmmmmm

Fried Tempeh - My Favorite Fried Food

besides kerupuk / crackers and banana fritters and everything else fried :D

I love Fried tempeh....
yes.. it's fried... :(
but they're just so good.... :)

I always thought that you just cut tempeh and fry them
but nooooo..........
you have to season them first.


This is salt + garlic + coriander seed + a little bit of water
and just crush everything using "ulekan"
It's the traditional Indonesian spice masher before the spice-blender era.
and is still widely used today because it gives more aroma and texture to the result.
kinda like a peston mortar, but you crush the spices by a twisting hand movement....
I'll post a video of it soon :)

then you dip the tempeh slices and leave them there for a while....
then deep fry it.
Done !!
yummm


Another favorite of mine is thin sliced tempeh, coated in batter and deep fried into a crispy crunchy tempeh.
oooohhh... this is even better.


Yup... everything tend to stick together

the result ......
mmmmmmmmm :)


Enjoy your tempe /tempeh :D
yes... eating too much of fried tempe will tickle my throat a bit, so I always eat my fried tempe with salad and lots of vegetables and I don't eat them 3 days in a row.... next time. ;p

Late nite supper today

This is potato.... pan fried.... with just a little olive oil , with garlic and large chilli.
I always take the chili seed out so it's not too hot.



Done....

with Raw napa cabbage, they're crunchy and nice :)

I don't really eat potato.
But these days I'm always so hungry at night.
I should really start sleeping early.

Late night supper 24 july 09

This is sautee rice ( with olive oil, garlic, ginger, large chilli, salt )
plus Raw napa cabbage and Raw string beans.



It's warm, with a hint of spicyness from the large chilli and garlic.... yum.
I don't really eat rice... but this was good ;)
besides, there's more vegetables than the rice ;D