During the menstruation cycle, it is common to experience fatigue and craving for rich and greasy food. The reason is because our body is giving us the signal that we need more nutrients and energy. We should however avoid greasy and spicy food during this period. The two recipes that I am sharing for this week are super simple and easy to make especially when one doesn’t feel like doing anything.
One should eat salmon which is high in Omega-3s fatty acids and can reduce the intensity of period pain, and stop your craving for greasy food. It is common to experience a dip in your iron levels during your period, particularly if your menstrual flow is heavy. This can lead to fatigue, bodily pain, and dizziness. Leafy spinach can boost your iron level and is also rich in magnesium which can lessen the fatigue symptoms. The pasta sauce is light and creamy and matches well with the delicate nutty taste of the pasta which is made of Spelt flour and spinach.
We should avoid high sugar foods but usually we will crave chocolate during this period. So, I strongly recommend this Mint Chocolate Shot that comes with natural fruit extracts to relieve your PMS symptoms. Mint can relieve menstrual cramps and nausea by balancing the hormones.
Some eat to live, others live to eat. Throughout life, different circumstances will affect our ability to eat well. Eating a variety of food is essential in life. In other words, we need to eat to live. Eating food with a wide range of nutrients such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, and healthy fats provide our bodies with the materials needed to keep our systems functioning well. One must consult a doctor if not well and eating nutritious healthy food is the least we can do in the journey of healing.
This week our theme is on remedy for sore throat or cough. Most of the ingredients in this week’s recipes are good for our throat and lungs. Some are with high anti-inflammatory and soothing effects on our throat and lungs. The recipes are good for us who are healthy too because prevention is better than cure.
Hope you find my sharing helpful.
Singapore is a blessed country with many kinds of food available for us. In this small country, one can taste all kinds of cuisine from all over the world. This week I have picked to introduce Harissa Chili relish which originated from Tunisia. Harissa is a chili sauce typically made of dried chilies, citrus, oil, garlic and a few warm spices including caraway seeds and coriander.
Combination of both of these spices in the sauce will give your dish a kick of smokiness and a little bit of tanginess. It is a very aromatic sauce for any grain dishes, casseroles, soup or any light aromatic flavor dish. Biona Organic Harissa Chili Relish is wholesome and one of the best sauces to enhance the flavor of dishes without any unhealthy ingredients.
Recently my family got me a torch burner as a gift. I decided to surprise them with their favorite East Coast Style Satays. Curated the wholesome home cooked Kebab A la Southeast Asia. Why? I want the best for my family like a balanced meal with lots of vegetables, meat and whole grain carbohydrates. It is important to choose wholesome ingredients for home cooked food. Skills can be taught, and choices can be made. Cultivate our families to eat wholesome food.
I am delighted to introduce the Organic Satay Peanut sauce for this week’s aromatic chargrilled BBQ food. You can enjoy a delicious home cooked grilled food in the convenience of your home. My two teenagers found pleasure in torching the skewers right before serving it. It is fun to involve our children in house chores.
A family that eats and has fun together, stays together.
Spices make our food flavorful, healthy and appetizing. At the same time, we don’t want any of the spices overpowering our dishes. Personally I believe the quality of spices are of paramount importance.
This week I would like to share about the importance of Cayenne Pepper. The cayenne pepper is a type of capsicum annuum. Cayenne peppers are a popular spice used in many different regional styles of cooking, and they have been used medicinally for thousands of years.
These peppers boast an impressive nutrition profile, which includes a variety of antioxidants that are beneficial for your health. Capsaicin, the active ingredient in cayenne peppers, is what gives them their medicinal properties including metabolism-boosting properties, the ability to relieve pain, aid digestive health, reducing the risk of cancer etc.
It also gives them their hot taste. In fact, how hot a cayenne pepper is depends on its capsaicin content. The more capsaicin it contains, the hotter it is. Cayenne pepper is not a chili powder substitute. It is a purer spice powder and only a small amount is needed to give heat to any recipes. This will lead to using less oil in cooking when less spice powder in the recipes compare with using curry powder or chilies powder.
When I bake at home, I choose to differ from what is available in the marketplace. One of the key ingredients that I don’t use in my baking/cooking is refined sugar. So I like to create recipes with other much healthier options like 100% Maple Syrup to sweeten my home baked food, especially dessert.
Maple syrup helps protect against cancer, protect skin health and supplies important vitamins and minerals. The Peach Gum dessert is an Asian style dessert with a hint of Maple Apple fragrance. The Apricot Upside Down Coconut Crossover is my creation when I set out to bake a healthier, nutritious and yummy upside down apricot cake. These 2 desserts are very low calories, Gluten free, Diary free and Keto. A cup of fragrant healthier tea matches well with these desserts.
Life is beautiful when we are given the opportunity to make a brave choice. A choice to surrender the things that have been great, in exchange for greater.
I always have bags/boxes of pasta in my pantry due to my limited time during the weekends, despite that I like to make pasta from scratch. Wholesome pasta sauce with authentic Italian taste is always one of my pantry’s selections. Personally I prefer a vegetarian diet but my husband and children like meat so I included both options in my recipes. Fresh varieties of multi color vegetables and fruits should be in our grocery staples daily too. Pairing the food well will make our meals healthy and pleasurable. It is important to serve bitter herbs and acidic food with lamb. For adults, a glass of red wine will go well with the lamb’s meal. I have chosen the Pomegranate and Elderflower drink for my children as pairing for the Grilled Anchovies lamb Arrabbiata pasta.
Homemade Vegan burgers are very easy to make and much more economical. Black beans, lentils and chickpeas are a few legumes that should be in our diet because they are high in protein and fiber which also lowers high blood pressure, managing diabetes, healthy digestion and preventing cancer. This recipe combination yields a darker color that better replicates the “traditional” burgers. The chickpea flour is the key ingredient to create a firm plant-based burger texture. It absorbs liquid from other ingredients and makes for a burger that holds together when eating. Smoky Chipotle mix gives the burgers a sense of meat with this meatless burger. Natural herbs and spices are important to make our food healthy and tasty.
My children like quinoa very much if I use it to thicken soup. It gives the soup texture and nutty taste. Definitely a better choice to make the soup creamy and healthy. I used the Flageolet beans here because it is high in potassium and tumeric coconut milk combination makes this soup well balanced and fragrant.
Luchito Garlic & Guajillo mix is a good wholesome quality spice. It blended in well with the seafood without overpowering the fresh taste of seafood. The Cucina Jalapeños give this quinoa dish a kick with the right amount of heat.
Today’s cake is gluten free and dairy free if not using the Maple Cream Cheese Topping. My children are not fans of cakes in general but both like this Quinoa Carrot Dates cake. Quinoa flour is definitely a better choice for its higher protein content and contains all nine essential amino acids. Is important to choose the right ingredients in our home cooked food since we put in so much effort in cooking.
I have chosen Tempeh, Sauerkraut and Miso for this Fermented food theme. Tempeh promotes bone health and it also helps to relieve hot flashes from menopause. Sauerkraut provides probiotics and vitamin K2, which may help you strengthen your immune system, improve your digestion, reduce your risk of certain diseases, and even lose weight. Miso reduces the risk of inflammatory bowel disease and has a very alkalizing effect on the body and strengthens the immune system to combat infection. It helps preserve skin beauty through its content of linoleic acid, an essential fatty acid that helps skin stay soft and free of pigment.
I choose to make sauerkraut salad to retain the maximum benefits of sauerkraut. It is good to include raw food in our diet. The refreshing and tangy salad will balance up the grilled spicy chicken. Grilling is one method of cooking which gives us a smoky meat taste and yet retains the juiciness of meat. Children or young people will like the taste of this tempeh because the sweet fragrant maple syrup blends well with the miso. Maple is a very good alternative to sugar which also may help protect against cancer. Maple contains high antioxidants and treats pigmentation.