Kick That Flu!

I've been in influenza at home for the week so far and I'm terribly bored. I've had fever, cough and my voice sounds like a crow. To kick this flu I've gathered the most powerful arsenal around me.

Tea
Everyone knows it's good to hydrate (especially in Singapore where it's so hot) and just drinking water gets boring so I try to alternate with other liquids. Herbal teas taste good even cold!

Vitamin C
I take vitamin C as a supplement when in a flu but the best way body can absorb it is in its natural form - eating plenty of fruits helps to kick that flu and hydrate at the same time.

Chicken essence
This is a more "exotic" treatment lol. It's very Singaporean, and this essence is supposed to build the immune system. I take one that has ginseng root in it that's promised to energize ;) 

Chocolate
What's the point of being sick if you can't reward yourself with something for staying at home bored and eating all the medicine?? haha

P.S There are only two submissions so far for the Giveaway lucky draw so any new entry's chances of winning are at a high 30%!! ;)


X Ang Moh Chick

Immune Booster Smoothies x 2!

I came up with these recipes from the leftovers of the Chocolate Coconut Cream Cake (recipe here) and some old oranges. Both smoothies include lots of vitamin C to fight flus that are common during this cold season. Like the one we have here in Singapore... REALLY! It actually feels cold on some days when the temperature drops to somewhere close to 24°C ;) Believe it or not, yesterday my husband had to bring me a blanket while we were watching tv! :D

Blueberry Coconut Smoothie

Blueberries, coconut milk or cream (I used cream) and honey. That's all and yet so tasty! :)

Orange Banana Smoothie

1 peeled banana, 1 peeled orange, 1 tablespoon of flax seeds and honey

X Ang Moh Chick

Soothing Smoothie for a Stuborn Stomach

Happy Deepavali everyone! And I hope you all had a relaxing and spooky Halloween! 

Here is my easy and fast (the way I like my food) recipe for a Soothing Smoothie, sort of my version of the Finnish 'marjapuuro'. I'm not really one of those people who crave for something refreshing and light for the start of the day. I like heavy and warm breakfasts! However, this smoothie works well as a snack for me and it's also great for a sensitive stomach like mine. You know, one of those days that your tummy is upset, nothing tends to digest or "move", so to speak ;) This smoothie is calming and does wonders to your digestion!

What you need is:

• A handful of frozen papaya cubes
• 1 small frozen banana
• A handful of berries of your choice (I used cranberries)
• A large handful of almonds
• 1 dl of rolled oats
• 1-2 tablespoons of chia seeds
• 1/2 inche ginger
• water/milk
• honey to sweeten

First pulse the frozen papaya and banana cubes, then add in almonds and berries, ginger and liquid. Sweeten with honey. Finally pour the oats and the chia seeds to the mixture. You can either blend them or just mix by hand depending on the structure you want. I like my smoothie to be quite thick and I often spoon it as a 'porridge' :)

Papaya is known as a nature's remedy for constipation. Almonds have good fatty acids and essential vitamins. Chia seeds help the stomach work faster and ginger is great for indigestion. On top of all this the smoothie tastes yummy!

I decorated mine with blackberries and cacao nibs!

If you would like some more pleasure for your eyes, I recommend checking out my fashion blogger friend Jaslin. She has a great style and beautiful photos. She just blogged about her halloween outfit which looks very chic! You can find her blog here.

X Ang Moh Chick

Spinach Pancakes and Cranberry Jam

Yes you heard correct - pancakes can well be savoury! Spinach pancakes is a common dish at Finnish schools where the food is free from primary school all the way until university where is's government subsidised. 

Food is not only one of the most important joys of life, it's a way to gain energy for the body and the brains, share love, try something new and of course most importantly enjoy the taste of life! For me even food can look pretty and visually appealing. Presenting food in a nice way makes it taste much better ;) Moreover, food is a great way to bring back memories. I felt like having something Finnish and eating these pancakes brought me back to my school days!

These spinach pancakes are packed with iron and good carbs to give you strength for the challenges of the day. First you need to prepare the sweet&bitter cranberry jam. 

Mix 3 tablespoons of chia seeds with 1 dl of water. Place in the fridge for about 15 minutes or until the seeds have 'jellified'. Mix the jelly with a handful of grated cranberries, or alternatively use a blender. Add in honey to taste, about 2-4 tablespoons depending on how sweet you want your jam to be. Place the ready jam in the fridge to wait.

Here is what you need for the pancakes:

• 1 cup white quinoa + 2 cups water
• 1.5 cups grated pumpkin
• 3 eggs
• a large handful of spinach
• 1.5-2 cups rolled oats
• fresh or coarsed parsley, black pepper, salt to taste
• butter or oil for frying

First cook the quinoa in 2 cups of lightly salted boiling water for about 15 minutes. Set aside to cool. Pulse the pumpkin in a blender and then add rest of the ingredients. If you don't own a blender, grate the pumpkin and spinach until fine, then mix with other ingredients. The mixture should be thick enough to be shaped into patties. If it's not thick enough, add more oats.

Place the mixture in the fridge for 30 minutes. Heat the oil or butter in a large pan, adding enough so that the patties will not stick to the pan. Form the mixture into pancakes in your hands and fry about 4 pancakes at a time. Fry for about 3 minutes per side.

Enjoy with your homemade cranberry jam!

Sidenote: After happily eating my pancakes I noticed that my quinoa package is full of tiny tiny Singapore ants running around. Lovely. Should have named the post 'Spinach Pancakes with an Anty Crunch'. 

X Ang Moh Chick

Spice up your Life with Salsa of a Silly Day!

I looove sauces and spicy salsas with - everything! I use salsa and guacamole as a dip, as a sauce with meat, fish or fries and on top of bread. Basically I believe that you can add these anywhere - just like olive oil! ;)

What you need for the Salsa of a Silly Day is:

• 1 capsican
• 3 ripe large tomatoes
• 1 ripe avocado
• 3 very small limes or half of a normal size one
• fresh coriander
• 1 tablespoon of tahini
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 50 grams of full fat cheese such as parmesan or pecorino-romano (sheep's milk cheese), or nutritional yeast for vegans
• pinch of sugar
• splash of vinegar
• spices (black pepper, paprika, oregano, cayenne papper, tarragon, parsley)

Blend all ingredients and place in the fridge for half an hour. Enjoy with everything!

My favourite guacamole that I use daily on everything from bread to wraps is a very easy and fast mixture of avocado, tahini, olive oil, cayanne pepper, paprika spice and nutritional yeast. As I'm allergic to cow's milk I also cannot take normal butter so this works as a great replacement! And it's packet with fats that are so good for you!

X Ang Moh Chick (with a bowl of guacamole in the fridge)

Easy, Fast, Delicious & Healthy Dessert - Perfect!

As I promised, I'm going to share a recipe for a tasty and healthy dessert that is very fast and easy to make, perfect for hot weather and after a heavier meal! My husband who rarely likes any other ice cream other than chocolate, loved this sorbet and he would have wanted to eat all of it!

So what you need is only:

• Dragon fruits (I used 2)
• 1 Lemon
• 1 Coconut
• Something to sweeten such as coconut sugar or honey

Cut the dragon fruits in half, drink the coconut juice (the best part of the preparation!!) and wash the lemon properly. Save the empty shells of the fruits! Spoon the dragon fruit and the coconut flesh into a blender, add in the skin and the flesh of the lemon (disregard the bitter white part under the yellow skin), and the sweetener. Blend! Pour the ready sorbet into the shells (the recipe fills at least one coconut and 4 halves of dragon fruit shells) and place them in the freezer. Mix every half an hour (and taste, you know, to make sure it's still delicious ;) until the sorbet is done.

The trick of this dessert is that it actually looks like frozen dragon fruit when served to the table. But it tastes SOOO much better!! For a creamier finish I think adding coconut milk or cream would work perfect!

As I was a bit unsure if my husband would like this sorbet, I also prepared a banana-chocolate ice cream by blending bananas and cacao powder (I used 3 bananas and about 5 tablespoons of cacao powder). The ice cream is quite sweet as it is but you can add some sweetness to it according to your own taste. What I like to do is add up some olive oil for a creamier ice cream. Trust me it will not taste through! But if you are worried you can add coconut oil instead. Decorate with cacao nibs or chocolate chips, or both like I did.

The end result looks like this:

Yummy I feel like making a second batch!! Enjoy! :)

X Ang Moh Chick

Best Places in Singapore - Part VI: China Town

Best Places of Singapore continues! Many countries have a China Town of their own (waiting to have one in Finland though ;)...) and naturally Singapore has one too. China town is great for cheap clothes, porcelain, decoration, pens... U name it! And all things Chinese that you can think of really. There are both high quality interior design shops and low-end cheapie stuff. China Town is usually very packed so be prepared for that..

One thing to warn about China Town is that it is V E R Y  H O T there. Not even a breeze of air! So besides all the shopping, you might wanna pay a calming visit to the Buddha Tooth Temple. The temple is an interesting experience if you have never been to one, it's such a different world from a Western point of view.

China Town is naturally also a heaven for those who love Chinese food or want to buy Chinese snacks as a souvenir! Bird's nest in a jelly anyone?! As Buddhists do not eat meat, China Town has lots of purely vegetarian restaurants to choose from.

TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) is also big especially among the older generation in Singapore and lots of food shops sell different spices, herbs and dried fruit/food used to cure varying diseases or symptoms. There's something fascinating about the yin&yang thinking (I will write more about this in a different post) and some of the principles do actually make sense ;)  One thing that you can try is the "health tea" that is sold in different flavors. Some taste really bitter and some sweeter so do ask before you buy :D

I even found Angry Birds chopsticks - did you know the game comes from Finland?! haha!

Dress: H&M  Shoes: Pretty Ballerinas  Necklaces: Finland

X Ang Moh Chick