The result of the polling "When you're eating Spaghetti, what do you add more?" is:
Grated cheese 70%
Tomato sauce 20%
Garlic powder 20%
Chilli sauce 50%
As for me, when I'm eating Spaghetti, I always add more grated cheese and tomato sauce... mm yummmm ^-^
Thanks for polling! =)
Anymore polling ideas??
I love Chicken Soup with angkak ="D
Especially when it's still hot. Having it in this cool weather is perfect!
What makes it special is not only the taste, but also the health benefits of this meal.
Actually angkak started in China a very long time ago, usually used as medicine.
In some countries angkak is known with different names, such as : beni-koji, hong qu, hung-chu, monascus, red koji, red leaven, red yeast rice, xue zhi kang, dan zhi tai. In China, zhi tai means angkak in a form of dry flour, and xue zhi means angkak that's been extracted with alcohol.
Angkak was first made in China under the Ming Dinasty. Since then, angkak was used as food and also medicine. It was said that angkak can be used as medinice for digestion and blood circulation.
Countries like Taiwan, Japan, Korea and Hongkong are producing angkak to be used as natural food coloring. Based on toxicity test, the pygmen in angkak is safe enough to be used in food. It actually can reduce the use of nitrite to fix the red color in processed meats such as sausages and ham. It also can hamper the growth of patogen bacterials in food.
Some researches have prooved that angkak is beneficial in reducing the number of fat in our body and also reducing cholesterols in our blood.
The chinese people usually pour the angkak into a boiling water and drink it as medicine. But I don't find it comfortable haha. So, its best to cook it along with the food we like. The benefits won't be lessen. Along with the chicken it can be a very healthy diet meal. If you want to reduce your fat, its best not to eat any fried food. Eat boiled food or steamed food. Here, we will boil the chicken along with dried bean curd sheets ("kembang tahu").
So with the chicken, tofu and angkak, its a great mix of healthy diet food. High in protein, reducing your cholesterol and fat.
So this is how we make the Chicken Soup with Angkak
Ingredients:
1 medium size chicken (cut it in small pieces)
1 pack of dried bean curd sheets (soak them in warm water until they are soft, cut 10cm long each)
1/2 table spoon of angkak (smashed them with a spoon =p)
1/4 tea spoon of ground pepper
1/2 table spoon of salt
2 tea spoon of salty soy sauce
1 tea spoon of sugar
1 leek (cut into thin slices)
2,5 litre of water
How to make:
Boil the chicken until the meats are soft. Add the spices : smashed angkak, ground pepper, salt, sugar and salty soy sauce. Boil them a little bit more to let the spices penetrate inside the meat. Add in the dried bean curd sheets and leek. Cook for a little more while and it's done.
Tonight my parents and I and also my nephew, Terrence, had dinner near the place where I give a private tutor. This restaurant makes a very cheap steak which you will be surprised. I should of brought a camera with me to take a picture of how the steaks look like. There are not many steaks variety, I could mention you, there are chicken mushroom, chicken blackpepper, tuna mushroom, shrimp mushroom, sirloin steak, and some few others that I don't remember. What makes these steaks are so cheap is that the meats are covered with flour and then fried. Sorry if you can't get the imagination... I should take pictures of them next time I eat there again. Well for an empty stomach, they really stuffed it with not going to make our wallet dry hehe ="p Oh about the price... they are in ranged between IDR 8,500 - IDR 14,500...!!!!
Surprised???? Haha. With American dollar, you can eat steak for about a dollar!
Tell me how much can you buy a plate of steak in your place?
You know I used to like to have snacks. I had snacks when I was reading. I had snacks when I was watching tv. I had snacks when I was playing games. I had snacks when I was chatting and gossiping. I had snacks at the classroom, behind my lecturers back haha... I love it when I had the chance to have a snack. What kind of snacks? Any kinds of chips, my favorite! I could eat 2 packs of chips in 30 minutes. Thats because I ate 3-5 chips at a time. And it got me too much weight... I guess it happens to most of us. I tried to solve the problem by eating just 1 chip at a time, eating it slower than usual.... but I seemed to always want more amount in my mouth. Maybe because the chips are thin eventhough it makes them crunchier. I thought, "Maybe I need a thicker but crunchy snacks, with smaller size..." Why did I think like that? Because a smaller and thicker one would keep my mouth busy before I take the next piece.... hmm... isn't it a good idea? ="D
A couple of days ago, my sister bought this small packed of snack. It was just exactly like I wanted.. and needed. They are crunchy, small, and thick! I found out that they are Fried Maccaronies! I don't know if you ever eat one... but my sister said, "You just knew it know?! We have these for ages!" Well... hehehe... I just thought that maccaroni is only used for pasta, but fried?!
So, I tried to look up how to make ones. Apparantly it's easy! ="p
Fried Maccaronies
Ingredients:
500gr of maccaroni
2,5 litre of water
salt as desired
1 tablespoon of butter
cooking oil
Some people say, that to put the foods or ingredients in the refrigerator is just by opening the fridge and put them inside and all is done. But you know what...those foods might probably not put in the right way. So when you think I want to make my foods long lasting, just put them in the fridge, problems solved. But pay attention to these...
1. Eggs
You should put the eggs in a special container for eggs, but with a position the pointed part faced down. Why? Because at the dull part of the egg there is a membranous cavity that is used by the embryo to breathe. If you put it right, then the eggs can last up to more than 2 weeks.
2. Cheese
Sometimes when you use cheese, there are leftovers. And if you want to put them in the fridge, better wrap them first with a plastic wrap, tightly. This will avoid the cheese gets hard by the cold air.
3. Vegetables and bananas
Before you put the vegetables in the vegetables container inside the fridge, you should wrap them first with a clean used-newspaper or just plain new paper, so that the vegetables wont get easily fade. You should do the same for bananas too. This is useful if you like to feed bananas to your lovable babies, because bananas are so easily rotten and you want to give your babies a nice fresh ones.
4. Cooked food
You may put the cooked food in the fridge, but avoid heating up the cooked food over and over, because a repeatedly heating may form carcinogen. You should be cautious, because carcinogen is one of the substance that can cause cancer. So.... just take the food sufficiently, to be heated right before you eat it.
5. Fish/Meat
Avoid freezing and unfreezing action repeatedly, because that can damage the fish/meat. To avoid this, you should wrap the fish/meat with a plastic one by one. So when you need two fishes/meat parts, just take two plastics of fish/meat so you don't have to unfreeze the whole fishes/meats.
I got this information an Indonesian forum =")
http://www.kawasaki-zx130.org/forum/index.php?topic=659.0
"It is not until your spoon breaks through its outer crust, that you find these individual molten chocolate cakes have a pudding-like center. This dessert has been described as souffle-like, cake-like, brownie-like, mousse-like, and pudding-like, and that is because it has all of these characteristics. Molten Chocolate Cakes have a rich and chocolately flavor, and a texture that is dense and moist." - Stephanie Jaworsky, from the joyofbaking.com
Molten Chocolate Cake ... nobody has ever been able to help themselves to refuse the bliss of sensation when eating it. Even the first spoon will catch your eyes with the liquid surpise that's coming out from the inside. It could taste so delicate, sweet and romantic... that's why I choose this baby as my Valentine's choice. Especially when you add vanilla ice cream topping... yuummmm..
Other thing that makes it so special is that you can make it at home in less than 20 minutes from beginning to end, how easier could that be? I got this recipe originally from joyofbaking.com, very worth to try!
Ingredients
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
6 ounces (170 grams) bittersweet chocolate, cut into small pieces
3 large eggs, separated
1/3 cup (65 grams) granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 tablespoon granulated white sugar
How to make :
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Generously butter 4 - 3/4 cup (180 ml) molds, ramekins, or custard cups and dust the insides with granulated white sugar. Place the prepared molds on a baking sheet and set aside while you make the chocolate cakes.It is just so easy to make, that when you have unexpected guest coming to your house, you can make it quick, without your guests feel they are left alone. Besides, soon after they taste the baby, they will feel as if they are sitting in a famous restaurant =")
Haha, why do I use the word sexy for the chilli? Well I just thought that sexy sometimes related to hot. Furthermore, I saw this commercial about chilli sauce, they were performing a lady with a red gown laying on the bed... saying "Hottt.." and shot fire from her mouth.
Well anyway... I wanted to talk about chilli because I just had a hot experience with chilli. Or should I say, my stomach that had a heat attack 
>o<
. I had my favorite snack yesterday morning. It is called "bala-bala" here, made from fried liquid batter with egg and carrots. I used to eat that with a raw small chilli pepper. But yesterday when I bought the bala-bala there was no chilli pepper. So the owner gave me this "sambal" made from juiced curly pepper (sooooo hott). The result is, my stomach still feel uncomfortable...
What is it with chilli anyway...
From the FAQ in chilliworld.com, it is said that the heat of the chilli comes from the oil called capsaicin which is present in the chilli. It is found mostly in the seeds and the "ribs" of chilli peppers. Capsaicin acts on the same nerves - found in the tongue and the skin - that gives us a sensation of heat. It releases a chemical called "substance P" into the blood which sends signals to the brain, telling it you are eating something hot.
I also found this interesting article that might reveals why chilli is hot. But hey, give me your comment after reading this ="D
GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- Despite the popularity of spicy cuisine among Homo sapiens, the hotness in chili peppers has always been something of an evolutionary mystery.
A plant creates fruit in order to entice animals to eat and disperse its seeds, so it doesn't make sense for that fruit to be painfully hot, said University of Florida zoology professor and evolutionary ecologist Douglas Levey.
But according to new research by Levey and six colleagues from other universities, chilies have a very good reason to make themselves hot. It boils down to protection.
Based on research on wild chili plants in rural Bolivia, the scientists found that the leading cause of seed mortality is a fungus called Fusarium. The fungus invades the fruits through wounds made by insects and destroys the seeds before they can be eaten and dispersed.
Capsaicin, the chemical that makes the peppers hot, drastically slows microbial growth and protects the fruit from Fusarium. And while capsaicin deters local mammals, such as foxes and raccoons, from consuming the chilies, birds don't have the physiological machinery to detect the spicy chemical and continue to eat the peppers and disperse seeds, Levey said.
The researchers' findings will be released today in a paper published online by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Levey and his colleagues were able to arrive at these conclusions because at least three of the approximately 15 species of chilies that grow in the Bolivian wild are polymorphic for pungency, which means that some individuals of those species produce pungent fruit and others produce non-pungent fruit. This provided the researchers with natural experimental conditions under which they could compare Fusarium attack on fruits with and without capsaicin.
Upon studying various chili pepper plants, the researchers observed a clear correlation between high levels of capsaicin and low seed mortality due to fungal growth, Levey said.
And the chemical doesn't just help the plants that produce it, either. Levey said the consumption of chilies can help protect humans from the dangerous diseases that are so plentiful in tropical climates.
"The use of chili peppers as a spice has spread to nearly every culture within 20 degrees of the equator, and it tends to decline as you move toward the poles," Levey said.
The capsaicin in chilies, one of the first plants domesticated in the New World, may have been used to protect human food from microbial attack long before refrigeration or artificial preservatives were available, he said.
One question Levey and his colleagues are still pondering is why any nonhot chilies remain if capsaicin is so beneficial. Their hypothesis is that the production of the chemical comes at a steep price for chili plants.
Levey said the plants that produced hot chilies had seeds with very thin coats – a presumed consequence of sacrificing the production of lignin, a complex molecule that makes up the protective seed coat, in favor of the production of capsaicin.
This phenomenon represents an interesting tradeoff between chemical and physical seed protection and demonstrates the power of natural selection, Levey said.
At higher elevations, where moisture is high and Fusarium fungus is rampant, the scientists found that 100 percent of the plants produced hot chilies. In the drier lowlands, where fungus is less of a problem, only 40 percent of the plants produced fiery fruits. The remainder spent more resources developing thick seed coats, which protect against the devastating ant populations common to lower areas.
While all of the plants look identical, telling the difference between hot and non-hot chilies is not difficult, Levey said.
"Just pop one in your mouth," he said. "You'll find out pretty quick."
The lead author of the paper is Joshua Tewksbury, of the University of Washington. In addition to Levey, co-authors are Karen Reagan, Noelle Machnicki, Tomás Carlo, and David Haak of the University of Washington; and Alejandra Lorena Calderón Peñaloza of Universidad Autonoma Gabriel Rene Moreno in Bolivia. The work was funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Geographic Society.
Readmore »»Living in a lovely country with no tea time has given me so lack of information, even less the experience of having one. But today, I had the chance to talk with a friend who lives down below the continent where they have tea time. I found myself interested in knowing more about it. What is tea time and what do we have to do on tea time. My only imagination about tea time reminds me of those old western movies back in Europe where women with full heavy clothes and men with their thin mustache sitting in a small round table talking about lifestyle or their parents in law ="p sipping tea from a tiny tea cup. So, my thought about tea time is kind of classic actually. But I was all wrong. Tea time has become a lifestyle that cannot be removed from western people, where ever they are now. But what makes me a bit wondering... do they still have tea time at work??
Readmore »»
Readmore »»
Recently, I was cleaning up my room and when I unpacked a box filled up with books, I found one of my favorite book when I was in university. It is Food and Nutrition by Anita Tull, B. Ed, M. Sc. This book had been such a great help for my grades back in class and also filled with great informations. I want to share you some for it might be helpful for you.
You would all agree that food is vital to life. The book is defining food as any solid or liquid substance which, when taken by the body, provides it with the necessary material to enable it to grow, to replace worn-out and damaged parts, and to function normally.
Our body is like a complex piece of machinery that is prone to faults and weaknesses if it is poorly maintained. This can happen if too little or too much food is eaten, or if the daily food intake is in any way unbalanced.
Those people who are fortunate enough to have a choice of food to eat, have the opportunities to choose a healthy and varied food intake, and to control their eating habits. But how that choice is made, however, depends on several different factors, that some of which may be more influential than health consideration. Those factors are : personal likes and dislikes; religious and moral beliefs, social custom and tradition; food availability and variety on sale; cost; physical needs of the body; time available to shop for and prepare food; storage, preparation, and cooking facilities; our perception of food, what our senses tell us about it; food science and technology; and advertising.
One way of ensuring that health and fitness are maintained, when food is plentiful, is to have an understanding of food and its effects on the body and to use this knowledge wisely.
Food like other substances, is composed of different chemical elements, arranged in a variety of ways to form molecules. These molecules collectively give individual foods their flavour, colour, and texture, and affect their reaction to heat and their digestion. In addition, there are molecules in food which the body uses in order to function correctly and to stay healthy. These are the nutrients.
There are many different nutrients, and each has its own function in the body. Each nutrient is vital to life, and the health of an individual will suffer if any one nutrient is in short supply. Most food contain more than one nutrient, and are therefore of use to the body in several ways. Some foods, such as sugar, contain only one nutrient, and are of limited use to the body. However, no single food provides all the nutrients required by the body in sufficient quantities. SO, a variety of foods must be eaten.
source : Food and Nutrition by Anita Tull, B. Ed, M. Sc
Oysters are a favorite among exotic foods and research now shows this shellfish to be a rich source of zinc, one of the minerals required for the production of testosterone. The taste are delicious but the shell could be such a pet peeve. Oysters have strong adductor muscles that are used to hold the shell closed. That's why it would take hard work to open the shells, and sometimes you just have to break the shells open, and eventually you will find your oysters don't look that good anymore because of the cracking shell.
If you want the oysters still look fresh with a nice and clean skin when you serve them, why don't you try it this way : Soak the oysters in cold water for about an hour, and then put them in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. After that, get the oysters from the refrigerator and hit the shell slowly with a spoon or knife, and the shell will open easily. ="D
Happy trying!
Botanically, broccoli belongs to the cruciferous family, which includes kale, cabbage, cauliflower and brussel sprouts.
For years, our parents have been right: "Eating your broccoli is a good idea". This hearty, tasty vegetable is rich in dozens of nutrients. In fact, it packs the most nutritional punch of any vegetables. Broccoli's noteworthy nutrients include vitamin C, vitamin A (mostly as beta-carotene), folic acid, calcium, and fiber. While the calcium content of one serving doesn't equal that of a glass of milk, broccoli is an important calcium source for those who don't consume dairy products. Calcium does more than build strong bones. Research shows that this mineral may play a role in the control of high blood pressure and it may work to prevent colon cancer.
The health benefits of broccoli are so great that it is one of those foods that should be a regular addition to your menu. Even more, health organizations have singled out cruciferous vegetables as must-have foods, recommending we eat them several times a week. Why? They are linked to lower rates of cancer. Like all cruciferous vegetables, broccoli naturally contains two important phytochemicals -- indoles and isothiocyanates. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore isolated from broccoli an isothiocyanate, called sulforaphane, that increases the activity of a group of enzymes in our bodies that squelch cancer-causing agents.
Broccoli is a fiber find. Not only is it a rich source, but half of its fiber is insoluble and half is soluble, helping to meet your needs for both types of fiber. But the story doesn't end with broccoli's rich array of nutrients. Broccoli provides a health bonus in the form of protective substances that may shield you from disease. The health benefits of broccoli have been linked to preventing and controlling the following medical concerns: Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, calcium deficiencies, constipation, stomach and colon cancer, malignant tumors, lung cancer, heart disease, arthritis, and even the aging process and weight reduction. ="D
When preparing the vegetable, it is important to remember that overcooking broccoli equals a reduction in vital nutrients (especially when boiling in water). To savor every last drop of vitamins and healthy components, you should try steaming, microwaving, or preparing broccoli in a tasty stir-fry.
To make a fresh stir-fried broccoli, all you need is 2 cloves of garlic for 1 medium broccoli, a bit of salt and sugar, and some oyster sauce (it depends on your desire). Slice the broccoli into small pieces. When you are having trouble cleansing the broccoli, you can soak the broccoli just for a moment in a salted water. Its enough to kill most of the microorganisms. Fry the garlic in cooking oil until it has changed a bit yellow. Put in the broccoli, add the spices : salt, sugar, and 1 teaspoon of oyster sauce. Add 2 table spoon of water, cook the broccoli until the water has gone. And you will get the tasty-fresh crunchy healthy broccoli.
Dear faithful blogger friends,
There have been some problems with my computer and the internet connections days before, so there is a lag in the updates of this blog.
It's a great pleasure for me to be able to give you some good informations about food or recipe or cooking tips that hopefully beneficial for you. Next time in the future I'll go to some great places to eat to give you good information about where to have great meals or snack. I know I am not a great cook, but just like some other normal human, I like to eat. And it is always great if you can cook the food you like yourself with your own taste. It's just like when I eat mealballs soup at some places, it's always feels like there's something missing. If it is not salty enough, or sweet enough, or perhaps the noodles are too soft, or sometimes the meatballs are too tough. And then when I went home, I cook my own kind of meatballs soup, and it would just taste like heaven.
If you find this blog interesting or maybe you have some things on your mind about this blog that I need to change, please don't hesitate and please feel free to give some comments =") I am also in the middle of improving my self to be a good cook... at least for my future husband.
So.... happy commenting! ^_^
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