GB – Group Buy

I have been joining a few group buy (GB) in getting mainly fruits. Besides fruits, I also managed to get vegetables, nuts, dried food (Ikan bilis, squid etc...) and BM storage bags. Most of the items would be cheaper when purchase was being made as a group. It had been a journey for us and with the purchase of Shimono blender; we had ample of fruits in the fridge for either cut fruits or smoothie consumption. JL would self-service the fruits by himself by cutting the fruits. It is good to see the kids love eating fruits.

Shimono blender

After much discussion, we bought Shimono blender and it was one of the best thing we purchase. We bought for RM 299 at Parkson One Utama. The best thing was it came with individual cup to blend smoothie. Washing was a breeze because it was small and compact. PaPa bought another cup to keep for EL since the blender came with only 4 cups. It had 3 different blades and another 2 more cups.

The blender was small and simple to use that JL also had no problem managing it. He had been busy cutting the fruits and making smoothies for the whole family. Yummy…..

El’s 1st Solid --08June13

EL was just a few days before she turned 6 months old. Since 12June13 would be on weekday, I decided to start her solid on Saturday 08June13. Her first solid was mashed avocado. It was a messy first time but it was fun seeing her trying out her first solid. She kept pushing her tongue in and out.

After few days with mashed avocado, we introduced her with mashed Japanese sweet potato, steamed mashed pear and steamed mashed pumpkin. She is getting better in her solid intake. However, BM is still her main food and solid food is just her supplement at this moment. She needs time to adjust especially her body digestion as her stool is getting harder.

We also introduced water in between feeding her solid to clean her mouth.

This weekend I am thinking to try out steamed mashed apple for her. I am still reading Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron. Once her intake increases, we will try her on millets and other grain slowly. During that time, our small thermal pot will be working hard…

A milestone with Eli…

Me—coffee detox

When friends heard I was going through coffee detox, they didn’t know there was such thing. PaPa and I are really coffee lovers.

As for me, I only love the traditional kopi o or the grinded coffee beans especially mocha. My stomach seemed to reject strong Nescafe because it would cause like gastric effect in my stomach. Nescafe is more acidic and is a processed coffee. Unlike the traditional kopi o or grinded coffee beans I had no problem and I enjoyed the taste more. It must be less sugar so that I could taste the coffee taste. I would usually limit myself 1-2 cup per day. As time passed, I realize that I got immune to it and would need stronger dosage.

Well, since my assignment hadn’t really started, I decided to go into detox process to cleanse up my system and so that I would not need to take stronger caffeine. It was very very hard and those who loved coffee would understand what I mean.

I was extremely sleepy and was not myself. My mind was almost shutting down. However towards end of the 1 week detoxing process, it was much better. Next week I would be off and maybe limit my intake till the work started…

Health food…

Yesterday, a few colleagues and I visited our colleague who was going through cancer treatment. He was one of the two colleagues who were stricken with cancer. My colleague shared to him how his brother who recovered from his stage-4 cancer. He brought him Pomegranates and ‘Tulesa’ leaves  (I am not sure how was the spelling). He recommended him to drink daily (empty stomach) blended Pomegranates and ‘Tulesa’ leaves in the morning. He also shared other tips. He did a lot of read up in the internet and shared with the whole department via email. I wonder what would be his opinion after reading all the reviews including enzyte reviews or maybe he would have the alternative natural remedy? We hope both our colleagues would get well soon..

Anyone know where to get Pomegranates? We are not doing hunting for our colleagues…

Cleansing the internal organs

After having to go through stomach bacteria, I have been exploring for ways to minimize the return of the bacteria because more than 90% of patients will get the reoccurrence of the bacteria. Besides stomach, other parts of internal body also need to go through cleansing with some suggestions to use colonetix to cleanse colon. One of my colleagues tried aloe vera and yogurt which she takes daily and it help to minimize her heart burn from getting worst. Now she is feeling much better without having to go through her 2^nd round of stomach bacteria treatment. I hope this will work on me…

Food to school for JL...02 March 2011

I attended a workshop last two weeks ago and got some tips on preparing food for JL. I modify by using Red Rice with Tuna fillings. The shape turned out ok but it breaks easily. Last weekend, we went and bought sushi rice, hopefully this week it would turn well…

AL also didn’t want to be left out and requested me to do for her too. So I prepared one for AL and 3 for JL on 2nd March 2011. I still have a lot to learn in making food for JL and the challenging part was to prepare food in the morning which would last till 3+pm for his break time. For this, JL would keep in the 'Anching' Centre fridge in the morning and I would give him 2 ice blocks to put in the freezer which he would pack together in his coolant bag before going to his afternoon school.

We have been working with JL on weekend to plan his whole week meal… I am still learning and learning from everyone…

“Kids Eat Right with Naturel Bento" Workshop – 22Feb2011

Early January, I got a phone call asking if I am interested to attend “Kids Eat Right with Naturel Bento" Workshop on 22 February 2011 (Tuesday) proudly organized by Naturel. This workshop was to encourage mothers to help their children eat right even when the children are away from home. It was a just a great the right time when I was trying my best to prepare for JL healthy food to bring to his school hassle free. I immediately replied and said why not since it is free workshop. I applied my leave and got my leave approved.

Just a few days before the actual day, I found that Anggie and Ruth would be there too. It was great to know we would be meeting in this workshop. I got to know Anggie’s blogger friend Alice who brought her little princess to the workshop too. We gathered at the Curve on early morning as we need to car poll to Bayan Indah Culinary Retreat at Sg Penchala. The place was so green and calm, away from all the hustle and bustle of the city. It was a great short break which I need away from office stress.

The whole event started with a briefing from Ms Tania Lee, the Brand Manager for Naturel with a bring-home message of “The choice of a healthier lifestyle is in our hands”. Naturel cooking oil is made from 100% pure and natural ingredients.

Naturel Blend Cooking Oil is a blend of canola and sunflower seed oils. It provides a balanced ratio of Omega 3 and Omega 6 and is cholesterol-free, thus making it the healthy cooking oil in preparing our daily meals. Omega 3 and Omega 6 are Essential Fatty Acids (EFA) which cannot be produced by our bodies and could only be obtained from food. It is important for normal growth in children plus in aiding regular cardiovascular and neurogical functions. Besides being cholesterol-free, it has monounsaturates which help to reduce bad cholesterol in the body. Best of all this oil is suitable for vegetarians. Other products under the Naturel group:

• Naturel Canola Cooking Oil

• Naturel Sunflower Cooking Oil

• Naturel Pure Olive Oil

• Naturel Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil

• Naturel Reduced Salt Margarine

• Naturel Reduced Fat Spread

• Naturel Fat Spread With Extra Virgin Olive Oil

The first session was with Indra Balaratnam, the Consultant Dietitian on Healthy Eating. She taught us the practical way of being healthy for the whole family, making me feeling much better and the urge to do better. I learnt a lot of new things plus also getting confirmation on what I had learnt from my own personal reading. She gave us tips on managing the portion stress free. If I would to write all her sharing, it would be a long thesis. Overall, it was worth the time off taken to listen to this. In summary,

1. Never too late to start cultivating good healthy eating because it would be their long life skill

2. We as parents should show the examples (why not since we also should be eating healthily too)

3. The key to eating right is to practice balance, moderation and variety.

• Eat a variety of food by maintaining the portion according to the food pyramid

• Eat a variety of different colors of vegetables.

• An optimum meal serving (variety, nutrition and portion sizes) is difficult to achieve on a daily basis, however, we can look after children’s nutrition intake over a certain period (e.g. a week or a few days)

 

I am so glad that both JL and AL had no problem with vegetables and we had been talking to them about food. Both of them knew which food is healthy and which is unhealthy. We discussed with them about what to have for meals and get them involved when we go for our grocery shopping. JL would even discuss with us his whole week meal to bring to his school during his break time. I was amazed with the food that he had listed out to have for the week in school.

Back to the workshop, after an interesting talk by Indra, we had a great session with Rohani Jelani the owner of Bayan Indah. Being an experienced mother who had two grown up kids, everyone took opportunity to learn as much as we can and both her kids are eating healthy on their own. Rohani shared that how her kids find eating home-cooked food was more appealing than eating outside food. Both her kids loved bring food from home to school during break time. We had hands-on session and she shared to us simple recipes to assist us in helping the kids to eat right through a healthy and balanced meal.

Everyone was divided into 2 Groups:

Group 1

• Baked Doughnuts

• Prawn & Spring Onion Omelette with Rice Cakes

Group 2

• Rainbow cake

• Pasta bows with chicken & tofu patties

We worked in a pair. I was assigned to work with a lady from local Chinese newspaper to execute Group 1 recipes. Anggie and Ruth were paired up to prepare Group 2 Recipes. All four of us worked at the same workstations so that we can exchange view on Group 1 and Group 2 Recipes.

Initially I was nervous upon hearing the recipes which I need to prepare especially baking because I never bake before plus I did not even own an oven. It was indeed a new experience and eye opening for me. Stepping into a fully equipped kitchen was a dream for me having to be able to work on well designed kitchen including an island and built-in oven. It has always been my dream to own a kitchen with an island workspace and fully equipped yet spacious and airy.

Rohani gave tips on making nicely shaped doughnuts and making a perfect omelette with prawn filling. She shared a lot of great tips how we can modify the current recipes by changing the filling in the omelette and also in the rice cakes. The filling for the omelette and rice cakes could also be inter-change. I also get tips of how to prepare the rice cakes for JL if I need to prepare ahead but consume only at 3+pm since he was in afternoon class.

The doughnuts were soft and the omelette was nice. Of course, the interesting rice cake which caught JL’s eye when I brought back home later.

I also got the opportunity to see how Anggie and Ruth prepared the food. The cake was soft and moist. The patties were delicious and one would not even notice that there was tofu inside the patties.

The recipes were not as difficult as I thought initially. Rohani made it simple for us. So, cooking and preparing healthy food for family was not that complicated.

After cooking and preparing, we packed in Rubbermaid containers. We had our group photo session and then it was lunch time, yes healthy lunch. Rohani and her team prepared the whole range of healthy buffet lunch all using Naturel Cooking oil and Naturel Olive Oil. We were also provided with a book of recipes for the food prepared so that we could cook for our family too.

 

 

Before going home, we each got 3 goodies bags – one with 4 containers of the food we prepared, one (sponsored by Naturel with 1 bottle of Naturel Cooking Oil, 1 bottle of Naturel Olive oil, rice cake mould with recipes books and last but not least was a big bag of different sizes of Rubbermaid Containers .

It was a great workshop and I am sure everyone not only enjoy themselves but also went home with a great knowledge and understanding plus inspiration on how to prepare simple and healthy food for the family. Thanks to all the sponsors and hope for more to come…

This has also inspired everyone to be a part of “Join the Naturel Living” and embarked on a healthier, holistic lifestyle. The Join the Naturel Living (JTNL) campaign is a long-term campaign by Naturel to encourage Malaysians to live a balanced and healthy lifestyle which covers the three pillars - Eat Right, Keep Fit and Beat Stress.

From breastfeeding to cloth diapering and now more into healthy food…what would be my next learning focus? Life is a journey with continuous non-stop learning experience…

Do check out more photos (interesting scraps…) and more interesting write-up from other bloggers:

• http://eiggna.blogspot.com/2011/03/kids-eat-right-with-naturel-bento.html

• http://ruthmelodydesign.blogspot.com/2011/03/kids-eat-right-with-naturel-bento.html

• http://mylittlesprouts.blogspot.com/2011/03/glorious-treat.html

• http://www.diyanazman.com/2011/03/02/bento-making-and-portion-size-tips-at-%e2%80%9ckids-eat-right-with-naturel-bento%e2%80%9d-workshop-at-bayan-indah-culinary-retreat/

• http://onabentofrenzy.blogspot.com/2011/02/on-naturel-journey.html

• http://simpleyetdivine.blogspot.com/2011/02/kids-eat-right-with-naturel-bento.html

• http://puteri-nuur.blogspot.com/2011/03/saya-pilih-naturel-untuk-keluarga-saya.html

My 1st Experience doing Endoscope

The history I was having bad gastric, indigestion and heart burn. It got worst especially after meal. I could feel my chest being pressed in when I get the heartburn. I was taking the white liquid but it did not work well. Just before CNY, I went to the company medical centre and insisted to see the company doctor rather than the locum.

For 1 week over the CNY, I was given a stronger medication which should work 100%. Unfortunately, it did not work. Just after CNY, I went to see the doctor again and he decided rather than giving me even stronger medication, he better sent me for scope to check if there were bacteria which caused this entire problem. My whole CNY, I could not eat properly because of the heart burn, I lost all my appetite.

Immediately the doctor requested GL for me and I made appointment with our panel hospital. Based on my colleague recommendation, I made appointment with a super busy Physician & Gastro. I was fortunate to be able to secure an appointment within the same week.

It was 09Feb2011, Wednesday evening when I met the specialist. He wanted to do the scope immediately that evening but unfortunately I just ate my lunch. The following day was not possible due to an important meeting which I need to attend. So the scope was schedule early in the morning on 11Feb2011, Friday. I got to fast with zero food and water from 11am onward with no heavy meal from 10pm onward.

On 11Feb2011, PaPa sent me to hospital as I need to admit to the daycare by 7am. My slot was supposed to be at 7.30am but last minute the specialist had urgent case to settle. I remember I was only push to the scope room about almost 9.30am. I did not need to change to any hospital clothes. I notice those who need to do colonoscopy need to wear a blue ‘sarung’.

Upon reaching the room, I was quite surprised that I was not required to move to a cold metal bed. I just continued sleeping on a warm mattress. I requested for totally sleep. The nurse sprayed a very bitter medication at my throat which I felt hot and bitter. Yucky… The medication was being administered, and the nurses asked me to lie on the side way. I was requested to close my eyes and try to sleep. The specialist started to put the tube and I could feel the tube going to my throat and I just slept off.

Then, the nurse woke me up at the recovery room after about 2 hours. I was given a packet of biscuits and a cup of hot milo. The nurse made my follow-up appointment and took me out to see PaPa. The counter nurse explained to us that my stomach lining was red and got bacteria which caused the entire problem. I had to take 7 days of antibiotic. I was swallowing at least 4 tablets twice a day including 2 big tablets before my meal.

My follow-up would be tomorrow evening and see how it will be….

Life and Career

Are our lives just for our jobs and career? Do we enjoy work life balance? After hearing a lot people is falling ill including cancer, it made me ponder what is our lives actually for? We got to learn to love ourselves and our loved ones. One of my friends who is stricken with 4th stage cancer advises me to omit all the negative thoughts and keep only the positive in our mind. The negative in our mind is one of the causes of all the sickness. We have to learn to forgive others because nobody is perfect. It is easy to say but not easy to be done.

To all, I am sorry if I have hurt anyone whether direct or indirect… Take care…

JL’s Snack (10-22Jan2011)

We managed to prepared snacks for JL for 3 weeks which was an achievement for us. Some of the day when PaPa was free, PaPa will buy and send to his school during break time. Just to mix around, sometimes he wanted ‘Pau’. One of the days, PaPa fried rice and sent the warm fried rice to JL. Mummy hoped we will be able to keep it as routine without much stress requiring adult acne treatment for all the pimples. These were the food JL had in school. Some might be on the wrong day because Mummy couldn’t recall which day was it…

2nd Week

•  Mon (10Jan2011) - JL wanted ‘MeatFloss’ Bun and we bought on Sunday night.
• Tues (11Jan2011) - Sandwich with Ham, Cheese and Carrot on Wholemeal bread.
• Wed (12Jan2011) – Traffic Light Pasta Salad
• Thurs (13Jan2011) – PaPa packed ‘Pau’ and sent to his school.
• Fri (14Jan2011) – PaPa fried rice and sent to his school.

 3rd Week

•  Mon (17Jan2011) – JL wanted ‘MeatFloss’ Bun again like previous Monday and we bought on Sunday night.
• Tues (18Jan2011) - Sandwich Egg and Ricotta, Chives with Salad on Wholemeal bread
• Wed (19Jan2011) – Wraps with Ricotta, Ham and Zucchini
• Fri (21Jan2011) - Salad
• Sat (22Jan2011) – We packed ‘Pau’ and sent to his school. AL was excited seeing her KorKor.

First facial of the year 2011

Mummy is trying to make time for facial once a month. Getting this lady’s time needed us to make reservation much earlier if Saturday was the option. Mummy booked this Friday 15Jan2011 slot about 2-3 months back. Tomorrow, it would be 7am slot for Mummy to go for facial and get rid of the big pimples at the forehead using acne treatment. It had been a busy last few months; Mummy would need this short little break.

Have a good weekend everyone…

JL’s snack

Mummy survived the 1st week of preparing JL’s snack for his school. Thanks to 2 books which Mummy bought since last year to get some ideas. However the challenge was to make sure the food stay fresh till 3.15pm which was his break time. Some of the food, Mummy would remind JL to put in the fridge when he arrived his ‘AnChing’ centre and put it into his Ben10 coolant bag (a Christmas gift by Aunty Ita which he loved it a lot) just before Aunty arrived to fetch him to school.

We discussed and negotiated with JL on the meals. We wanted to make sure it can be easily done (especially Mummy was not a good and creative cook) and JL would enjoy it rather than just packing for sake of packing thus wasting the food and effort. After working in many years in healthcare it jobs, somehow Mummy was trying Mummy’s best to make sure his food was as healthy as possible.

First Week (03-07Jan2011)

•  Mon – Meat floss Bun (bought from Jusco) + Small Mandarin Oranges + Cucumber
• Tues – Tuna with Wholemeal bread and Lettuce (made by PaPa) + Small Mandarin Oranges + Cucumber
• Wed – Steamed Ham with Wholemeal bread and Lettuce + Cucumber + Zucchini
• Thurs – Salad (Lettuce, Cherry Tomatoes, Avocado, Steamed Ham, Hardboiled Egg, Cucumber & Zucchini) with Mayo (packed separately)
• Fri – Fried rice with egg, ham and mixed vegetables with topping of fresh lettuce + cucumber + Zucchini.

As for this week, since it would be a full working week, we discussed with JL on Friday night on what he wanted for the whole week. That Friday night, we went to get some of the ingredients required. PaPa agreed to assist in preparation of the snack for JL. We also decided that we would make extra for PaPa and Mummy’s dinner on that day too.

For the first day, JL ate at the canteen which was super crowded.

Later, we found a nice airy place which was just behind his class and next to a nice garden. From that day onward, JL would go there to have his snack and also meeting up his kindy friends. One of his ex-kindy friends also was informed by his parents to meet JL there during breaktime. At least for a start, he had snack time partner.

Note: AL was very happy at last she was able to visit KorKor's big school on the last day (Friday 07Jan2011). After 1st week, parents were not allowed to be in school compound without the permission from security, She was very excited that she wanted to go into JL’s class.

Facial Experience to share…

Mummy stopped doing facial for many years until recently, on Mummy’s birthday, Mummy decided to try Sam Yee’s regular facial place. After 3 months, 3x of facial, Mummy was happy with this lady. She was nice and no hard selling on her product. However, best of all it was reasonable. The first 2 months facial was just a basic facial which was less than RM40 per session of about 1 ½ hour. The 3rd time was with treatment which was about RM80 only. She managed to clear almost all the visible oil seeds especially blackheads on nose.

Her centre was a simple small, cozy place and she had many regular customers. Her weekend was usually full house that Mummy usually booked for either 7am or 8am slot on Saturdays. By the time Mummy completed the facial, Mummy would be home on time when the kids woke up.

Mummy is getting not any younger, so better pamper own self a bit once a month...it is not too expensive right?

Cancer...more cancer news…

How would you feel within less than 1 month, you 2 persons whom you know are suffering with cancer?

This year itself, a few of mummies’ friends (including a lovely+brave mummy and a cheerful colleague) and mummies’ friends’ friends/relatives who suffered with cancer and some already went to be with God. Life is sooo precious.

Last Sunday, we visited KongKong’s elder brother who just got one lung being removed due to cancer. He couldn’t do chemotherapy and had to take expensive medication, maybe due to his old age. It was such sad news because Mummy’s Ah Pek was a nice and patient uncle.

Last week, one of Mummy’s colleagues was admitted for full check-up which ended up having his liver shown to be had spots. While endoscope was being done, he complained pain at his neck and the doctor found his lymph node was swollen. A biopsy was done on his swollen lymph node because a biopsy couldn’t be done on his liver which would cause massive bleeding. This afternoon, during lunch time, we got the news that we didn’t want to hear. His lab test had shown CA Positive.

This colleague had been working and supporting Mummy on this project. Even though the project Mummy had to do alone but he was always there to follow Mummy to a meeting and give his input to assist. He even sms Mummy last Friday when he was in hospital to inform Mummy that he couldn’t make it to yesterday meeting with Mummy.

The whole department was down that even Mummy’s team head who was in overseas for audit assignment was also sad to hear. Mummy’s team head did call Mummy on Friday night to wish Mummy the best for the Saturday exam plus breaking up the news about this colleague whom he knew Mummy was working closely together. Some of the department colleagues had visited him last Thursday and Friday. Some were on the way to visit him today. We were trying to keep to a few small groups to visit him and motivate him. Mummy would either visit him tomorrow or next week when the team head back from his overseas assignment.

Gastric after many years…

It had been long time since Mummy last got a gastric. The worst was during student time when Mummy was rushing for assignments deadline without proper meal time and sleepless nights.

Last Monday when Mummy was in Denpasar (Bali) airport doing validation, we ended up taking lunch at 3pm. After lunch, Mummy started to have bad gastric attack which Mummy was hunting for gastric pills.

Language was a problem to explain what was a gastric to the staffs working in a shop. There was no pharmacy around which made it worst. In pain, Mummy went through the whole shelves of medication in the shop identifying the medications from headache pills, colon cleansing pills, fever, stomachache pills etc...

At last Mummy found the gastric pills and just bought it because the liquid one was not available. The liquid would take effect faster than pills but what choice Mummy had. Thank goodness, it worked that Mummy could continue to work till night.

Unfit…

Mummy would be one of the worst in term of fitness. Imagine hardly or even zero exercise except walking around the office buildings for meeting plus running around the apartment. It was so unlike Mummy when Mummy was a student because Mummy was very fit that even cycling up a slope in the university area was just a piece of cake. Now, the Mummy’s muscle was so stiff as if that it needed symbiotropin. This would be bad in long term.

Go natural…

A lot of people are moving to natural product not only in food but also medication. Even oxyelite pro reviews are also promoting their natural fat burner in the product. Whether this product is effective or not, it will be hard to judge because different people’s body acts differently on different product. How about going 100% purely natural like eating fresh fruits and vegetables? This will be a much better option, right?

Getting old…

Getting old would be the next scary part to women especially besides weight issue. Mummy could not help admiring some people who had such glowing and youthful face as compared to their age. Please click here to learn more about one of the alternative remedy on anti aging.  Besides that, enough of rest and good diet also helped as anti aging. On top of that, always be happy and cheerful plus keep positive… Agree?

Joint pain

Joint pain especially osteoarthritis is so common now regardless old or young.  Most people opt for high dosage of pain killers to suppress the pain. It can be very painful and also causing deformation on the joints. Besides taking oral drugs, some people will also use external treatment like taking msm lotion with combination with the oral medications. Most acute pain patient find this combination is able to reduce the pain.