Hi, my name is Emily Tai , author of book "Will Your Child Eat A Tomato?"
Websites : food4pickyeaters.com
& http://www.freewebs.com/healthylifestylecookbook
You are welcomed to share any comments/ideas, etc
at the guestbook.
4th Dec. The wonders of aloe vera.......
There is just so much benefits that u may simply want to grow it
or just buy 1 leaf when u see it at the supermkt.
But 1st let me high light that the plant should be at least 2-3 yrs old
B4 u can cut / twist a leaf from the lowest section of the plant.
( a mature plant will have all the necessary ingredients present
to help solve the problems. Click below to find out the wonders ....
http://myblogonbeauty.blogspot.com/2006/06/aloevera-wonder-herb.html
27th Nov. When eating grapefruits ( not grapes) never.....
eat it with other fruits , that is: cut a few other fruits & place
it on the plate together with grapefruits. Always eat it alone.
Reason being if someone pick other fruits to eat 1st , then
when he bite on the grapefruit, its going to be bitter & sour !!
Or if he eats the grapefruit 1st , then the other fruits is not
going to taste sweet ! Grapefruit can be very enjoyable if U
follow what I have mentioned below on 17th Oct. My family is
so used to eating it now that I can just cut into wedges for them.
22nd Nov.If U cant give up tea or coffee.......
Its tough to give up these beverages if you have been having
them over the yrs. However knowing that it dehydrates you,
will make U think twice B4 ordering it as your 1st choice or
making a cup or the 2nd cup for yourself . If U wish to continue
drinking as U can't do without ,make 1/2 a cup so as to reduce
it but still can enjoy what you want daily.Gradually U will
reduce the frequency of consumption.
If U think you want to give up totally, 1 way is not
to stock up this drink in your home or office.When U dont have it
U will make other beverages available. Replace with other
beverages such as soya bean ( available now in small sachets at some
bigger branches of supermkt, chrysanthemun tea*, longan tea* etc.
These drinks( *) packed in sachets can be quite sweet. To have the
sugar reduced U can use the dried ingredients & pour hot water over it.
& add small amt of sugar to taste. Drink more water in between .
21st Nov .Are U drinking lots of tea/coffee?
80 % of our body is water. Thus the reason that we should take
about 8 glasses of water daily. Drinking tea/coffee depletes the water
and leads to dehydration instead.(These beverages have a diuretic effect)
So cut down if U are drinking cups after cups.Take more plain water .
13th Nov....Shortening, butter or margarine?
Do U know what is best?
I ve always avoided baking anything that requires
shortening cos its unhealthy stuff . Nowadays, U can get
shortening that says " no transfat " on the label....
.... just in case U do not know. If U dont bake, shortening is
used mainly in those pastries which gives you thin crispy layered skin
eg tau sar peang & heong peang ( hokkien pronunciation), some of the
curry puff or moon cake etc.
To find out more on what is best click link below:
http://ezinearticles.com/?Shortening,-Butter-or-Margarine-what-is-Best-for-Baking-Cookies?&id=680334
12th Nov. About Banana
Some of U may not have heard this new saying...
A banana a day keeps the Dr. away. Do U know the banana skin(inside)
can also be used for warts? For more information of its benefits visit:
http://www.mrbreakfast.com/article.asp
10th Nov. About Carpets / rugs
When we are setting up a new home, we often follow what is shown
in the catalogue, that is place a rug or carpet in the living /dining area.
Actually its not practical at all cos it gets dirty easily. Besides
it creates a cosy home for the dustmites!! This is 1 of the contributing
factors why children get asthma. So beware, as it actually poses a
danger to our health.
7th Nov. About Butter...do U know what is butter made of?
A couple of yrs back, school canteens in USA replaced the full
cream fresh milk with low fat milk .... a way to combat obesity.
Butter is made from the cream of cows' milk.
5th Nov. Money saving tip...almond
Last week , I went to a supermkt. to shop. Looked at the price of almonds
= $3.20 for 100gm a pkt. Walked to the shops beside it, $1.80 per 100 gm.
I bought 200gm= $3.60. Its worth your while not to buy everything under
1 roof.
2nd Nov. About Tomato......How should it be eaten.....preferably?
As you all know (fr.my bk),tomato contains lots of good nutirents.
Lycopene is 1 of them.Researchers found that lycopene is locked within
the tissue cells of the tomato.Thus when cooked, more lycopene is released,
thus more can be absorbed in our body.Therefore,tomato sce. is a good source
as it contains lots of lycopene.Keep in mind lots of sugar is also added,
so go easy.
Well, cooking destroys Vit C, thus one can't benefit much of the Vit C.
found in the tomato though U benefit more lycopene.
2ndly,eating it raw, you benefit on getting the vit C but less of the lycopene.
So how should U eat this tomato to get the best out of it?
Well readers, the answer is found in the book pg.12 to 18.So are you doing it
and let your whole family enjoy all the benefits of the tomato?
A few mths.back a reader of mine called to say he has prostate cancer....
and its in the advanced stage that the Dr. cant do much for him.
Its very sad to hear that from someone U know. However, the Dr. advised
him to eat more tomatoes......and he said to me:"I am eating it everyday now..."
The moral of this real life story is obvious....PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE.
Don't LEAVE IT TOO LATE.......Start thinking healthy lifestyle from young & with
our kids who are pickyeaters.If you aint young,U can still pick up a healthy lifestyle
now.It can save U sufferings and an unbelievably huge medical bill.
1st Nov. Why food colouring is bad for children?
Recently my sis.-in law told me that her grandson ( Gerald) has adverse reaction
after eating food that contains colouring additives....(Dr told them that the child
becomes hyperactive bcos of that. Thus the family avoid giving him such food
and it works.
His favourite Asian ondeh ondeh whereby some green colouring is added to
make it darker green as pandan juice alone cant give it the desired colour.
Thus one can substitute with natural food colouring.
Eg. omit the green colouring additive & just use more pandan juice instead
of more water.
Or buy the orange type of sweet potato and add pandan juice & U get a yellow
color for the ondeh ondeh. Thats what I make for my family ,also for Gerald.
As for Tandoori chicken instead of adding red food colouring to make it look
appetising , replace it with a pce. of purplish red beetroot (chopped into
small pces.) and mix with the chicken ---- U get the colour.
Your agar agar powder comes in different colours . Orange juice can substitute
your orange color , beet root for red or add fruits to make your white agar
agar looks attractive as in Konnyaku jelly.
Visit this site below to read more on food colouring effects.
http://www.foresight-preconception.org.uk/booklet_foodadditives.htm
31st Oct Gingko nuts can have longer shelf life if....
Sometimes we can't help buying more esp when at the wholessale
shops are the gingko nuts are fresh and so much cheaper. Store
them at the freezer door for longer shelf life.This is true only if the
nuts U buy are fresh. See the color of shell ( ivory color --good)
Avoid patchy grey spots appeared on nuts.
30th Oct.2007 Organic food corfirmed to be better for health.
Just in case some of U missed this article reported in yesterday
Straits Times pg 4 ( Spore newspaper), let be just briefly
summarise here for U.The study done shows that organic
fruits & veg. contains 40% more antioxidants which scientists
believe can cut the risk of cancer & heart diseases.
So grow some veg. in the empty plot of land instead of let
wild grass grow. Doesnt sound practical at all for HDB dwellers.
U can also grow in pots and tranfer to bigger pots when the
plant grow bigger.At least u dont use pesticide. Few yrs back,
I bought a small pot of kaffir lime, Thai basil, bay leave &
curry leave and they have given me the leaves for
cooking whenever I needed some.
29th Oct. Myths of how to get pregnant.
In this modern world, many educated people still cannot accept
the fact that they have infertility problems after yrs of trying to have a baby.
Some couples rather believe in luck, fate and myths when they cant conceive.
Thus is not uncommon for some couples to get a nephew or someone's
son to sleep in the same room or on their bed for as long as .....or till they
conceive....hoping! I personally have met a couple & saw them practising this.
After I explained to them what can go wrong to the men even after having the
1st child without problems, they must have thought how silly of them to waste
so many yrs. trying out something which is absolutely a myth.
They were ignorant of what can happen and what the fertility clinic can do to
help them. Just a simple non invasive check is all that is necessary sometimes
to get you on the right path. Knowing the cause of infertility is important .
Whether the treatment is agreeable by you & spouse is another question
& can make the desicion later..
Depending on the cause , the treatment can be quite straight forward.
28th Oct About green potato & sprouting potato
Green potato & sprouted potato are toxic.
click here to read more: http://gardenguide.montana.edu/article.asp?id=295
26th About ice cream .. R you Guilty?
Last wk. I went jogging near my neighbourhood & at the end of
the session I was at the open gym. built for the community. There
I met a little "roly poly" looking girl ( 6 yrs old) who was obviously
overwt.
I talked to the girl but she was shy to answer me . I asked her if she
likes ice -cream, she smiled. Then I asked her how many times does
she take ice-cream in a wk? No answer .Her maid who was beside
her told me ---3 to 4x a week!!. So parents, are you guilty for your
child's obesity? Maybe not. But if U know what are the ingredients
that goes into making ice cream, U probably wont let your kids eat it
so frequently. Here are the lists of main ingredients & commonly used
in large amts: Heavy cream , evaporaed milk ,Sugar ,egg yolks &.
butter.So keep your children informed too of what they R actually taking.
25th Oct About Asparagus.... the woody hard section
Over the yrs I ve I read lots of recipe bks. I found this information only
in 1 of them! Thus would like to share with those who may not know.
Most of us will just cut of a section of the hard stem below... by estimation.
After cooking, U realised that U didnt cut enough of it away as some
sections are still hard.To avoid this, just take 1 stalk of asparagus at a
time & bend it It will snap at the hardpoint, discard the lower section .
24th Oct. About orange juice. Myth or true ?
Well I ve heard that some chinese parents believe that orange juice
is not good for adults /the child cos they get alot of phlegm after
eating it.I am Ch. and I have not seen any of my siblings & members
in my family having such a problem. Well I ve read that after consuming
juices, the very next morning we do have some phlegm in our throat
which after clearing it off, theres none left. And this is the normal
reaction of the body to detoxify .Once you drink juices more often,
this may not be noticeable. Even if it does,thats good.cos your body need
detoxification . However, some of you may not agree 100% with me.
Well if U are worried , I advise U not to serve 100% orange juice
but a mixture of fruits & veg. juice. Then gradually see for yourself
if its a myth or if its true.In this way, you dont deprive your family
members of the goodness found in the orange, esp the Vit. C .
FYI, I served my son the freshly squeezed juice of 1 big grapefruit
when he had the last asthmatic attack ( 8yrs old).He drank it
all at 1 go. Couple of hours later,I noticed that his wheezing
improved and I did not have to give him the ventolin & inhaler
every 4 hours on the dot! The wheezing was milder and further apart.
The next day he was better.I believe Vit C was what he needed.
Summary: Myth or true only U can test it out..as "One man's meat
is another man's poison " Do ensure your family & esp.children are taking
sufficient amt of fruits & veg. so that they stay in the pink of health.
23rd Oct About Green chilli
A green chilli has more vit c. than an orange!
If u find it hard to cook a green chilli recipe, other than the green
chilli stuffed with fish paste, U can prepare the pickled chille in just 2 steps.
( see pg 40 of the bk).and it keeps well for several weeks. It goes very
well with the wanton noodles with Bar B Q pork or any dry noodles dishes.
22nd Oct .About Soaking Veg.
Often we soak the green leafy veg after cutting them to edible lengths & soak too
long.
Do U know that this action will deplete the Vit.C from the veg? This is bcos Vit. C
is water soluble.What then is the right way to clean to ensure the veg. are clean?
1-Soak the veg. whole in a basin of water after removing any roots with soil.
Allow 5 mins so that the soil will loosen.Discard water.
2-Soak 2nd round in water and add a tsp of salt as this will ensure any worm to
drop out from the veg. leaves/ stems( esp kailan/ broccoli)--- about 2 mins.
Remnants of soil also settles down at the bottom of basin. Discard water.
3-Soak 3rd round with water for about 2 -3 mins to rinse out any saltiness as well.
Now your veg. is cleaned & U can cut them for cooking.
The whole process of cleaning your veg. should not exceed 15mins.
21st Oct About Apple Skin
Apple skin contains nutrients good for health.....but we often cut off the skin.If
U are worried about the wax, coated on most apples, just use a knife & gently
scrape the apple skin.The wax can be seen on the blade.
but the skin is still intact. Now U can safely eat the apple whole.
20th Oct ---About Honey
Most of us like to melt honey with warm/hot water B4 drinking.This actually
destroys the antibacterial properties it contains. Honey can be taken as it is :
that is scoop some with a dry teasp.
and put it in your mouth....enjoy & swallow.Otherwise, U can mix it with
cooled water & drink.
19th Oct 2007 Today news :. A compamy is recalling their yoghurt.
As always, homemade dishes/ food is always safer & alot more healthier.
This is bcos U control the ingredients to be added (esp. sugar or oil ).
Besides, do U know that the good bacteria in
yoghurt dwindles the longer the yoghurt stays on the shelves? So checking
the expiry date B4 buying is very important.If the expiry date is less than
10 days away, avoid.
Thus do not keep it too long in the fridge or the benefits of yoghurt is lost.
Best is prepare it yourself....is the freshest & healthier bcos U can choose
to use low fat milk instead of full crm. milk. Thus the taste is slightly different
fr. those sold in the shops. It takes only 5 minutes to prepare homemade
yoghurt.Just mix
2 items together, no cooking / fire is required.
.Even your child can do it. Even a diabetic can consume it.(the recipe can be
found in the book). If U want to buy yoghurt, get fr. shops which has a high
turnover.And the good thing about yoghurt , that every female ( esp if U are 40 and
above) must know its all written down to help U stay well.
If U /kids like the homemade yoghurt to be sweeter, just
drizzle some honey on top when serving.
18th Oct Skin of red grapes
Some of us peel off the skin of grapes B4 eating. . reason abit hard to swallow perhaps.
However if U know that the red grapes skin contain resvatrol & is used to make wine,
will U bear with it & swallow ? Similarly the grape seeds contain lots of antioxidant,
chew it & swallow . If this is difficult to do, find out how U can consume it in the bk.
Grapeseeds are sold in the form of tablets too & it doesnt come cheap. So why waste
naturally borne nutrients that are found in the seed ? Note: while some fruit seeds
are edible & have health benefits ,apple seeds are not. A man whom I talked to
said that he ate the apple seeds as well cos he was too lazy to spit it out.
17th Oct. 2007 Myths about grapefruits (not grapes)
I realized that most of us hardly/seldom consume grapefruit despite all the
goodness/benefits it contains Reason : Its sour.
Well, its true to a certain extent,but if U know why is good to eat more,how to choose
one ,when to serve it, how to serve it, grapefruits will never taste sour to U again. ..
u will love it & will always buy some home whenever U go to the
supermkt. (find out more in the book).
Most of us didnt get to eat them when we were younger. This is cos we dont
have them imported here in Spore until some yrs back. Our parents didnt get
a chance to see them,let alone get to buy them.We tend to follow our parents
footsteps and dont buy them.
Choose grapefruits with red flesh as they are much sweeter , contains more l
ycopene & other good nutrients . Comes with a tinge of sourness
which U have to tolerate as it contains lots of vit. C. Pls note that majority of
fruits are plucked when they aint fully ripe. How to know if the flesh will be
red ,U go by names, read more in the bk.
They get to ripen more while been exported.Thus if the fruits still look very fresh
to U (pedicle still look green & firm), just leave it at room temp.for 1-2 days
to ripen B4 storing in the fridge to chill.
Normally, I store them in the fridge when I bring them home & consume them
within 7 to 10 days.
It allows them to slowly ripen too .This will make them taste sweeter and allow
us to eat other fruits.I normally cut a grapefruit into half horizontally.
Then use a pair of kitchen scissors to go straight down
to cut off the centre hard core. This will open up all the joints of membranes of
the segments converged at the centre.
Use a sharp knife to cut around the flesh B4 the white pith,
section the segments with the knife to loosen the flesh fr. sticking together,
use a teaspoon to sprinkle a few grains of fine sugar on top.
Place the half grapefruit on a plate .Serve with the tsp. ( Make sure the fruit is
chilled B4 cutting /serving as it taste alot sweeter /better).If there alot of flesh
sticking to the pith after u have consumed the grapefruit , dont worry U are
not going to waste anything.
Use the tsp. to scrape down the juice into the "cup" itself as there is plenty
more juice to scoop up & drink. Use your palm to cover the "cup" when
U are doing this "scrapping with the tsp.so the the juice dont splash onto
your face. I show my kids how to do it once & they love grapefruit so
much that they will never refuse when its served.
U can just tell they enyoyed it very much when u see the cup is scrapped
completely of its juice.Well, hope U too can overcome this myth about
grapefruits after reading this information..... & get to enjoy just 1 more
type of fruits , it makes alot of difference to your family's health , esp.
the kids too.
When your kids are bigger (say >10yrs old )
you may just cut the grapefruits into wedges and sugar may not be needed.
16th Oct 2007 -Prevention of dementia .
Today's news mentioned that we should be more engaged with activities that
can stimulate the mind /brain so that we can reduce the incidence of getting
dementia at an early age. Mahjong games,shopping, etc are good it seems
for prevention.
However to those people who don't play such games I believe blogging is
good as it makes your brain think of what to write , how to phrase your message
and check your grammer/dictionary as well. We' ve a tendency to lose touch
with the English language/vocabulary after we leave school. Thus your
confidence to speak can be affected. I realised that by writing a book
& publishing it helps people to stay
sane /have a healthy mind too. Just look at some of the old authors around
who even win the Nobel prize. I guess they are the living proof .
********************************************************************
Today (15th Oct 2007) Topic---Why & how to get your kids to consume
more veg. & fruits instantly.
I decided to start this blog on healthy living & healthy food
for parents with picky eaters.( I have been there B4 ).
This is because many parents are facing this problem --most children hate to eat
vegetables and are not able to overcome this problem for years.
I've watched TV programmes in which people are asked to help the parents
with the picky children and found that is not easy to follow.Thus I really want
to help U if U are facing this problem daily with your kids..
Firstly, U may ask :
1-Why this title for the healthy recipe book?
Ans: To make parents pause for a minute & think about what their kids will
not eat and what they actually like all the time.? Overall are their meals balanced?
Start recalling & calculate the amt. of veg & fruits consumed in a week.
Do you think its adequate to maintain a healthy Immune System?
2- My children dislikes quite a few types of veg.and eat a small amt of fruits,
so what if he doesnt like tomatoes, U may ask?
Well, its nothing to worry if the kids eat a balanced meal almost daily but
the trouble with picky eaters is that they seem to like meat /fish only
for all meals. & discard what U wanted them to consume.Thus they tend to
fall sick easily.
3-My kids doesnt eat tomato,carrots etc, how can I get them to eat these
healthy food ,uncooked is even better? Well the book will help you .....
easily to overcome picky eaters problem..
This is bcos I did solve this picky eaters' problem with my 2 kids thus
sharing the information by writing and publishing is the best way to
help parents all over the world.
Do drop in with your enquiries,comments, thoughts and lets share our "stories"
under the guest book.
Last week a chef asked this question. How come some food need to be cooked
for a long time & yet when U go to a restaurant U are served within 15 minutes.
The answer is: cook it in large amts. and place in smaller tupperwares & freeze
them.
Cooking time is reduced drastically Eg. if you cook Pork ribs with soya beans and
the variuos types of veg. added as in recipe on pg 26 of this book ,donot discard
the excess soup in the pot.Just strain the soup to get the clear liquid into a tupperware
and store in the freezer for later use as a stock required for some dishes .This recipe
can be substituted with chicken & you get chicken stock to freeze too if there is
excess. Use the stock within a month.
Most of us like rotiprata. Similarly, my favourite recipe website given to those who
purchase a copy of the book will get the recipe on how to prepare the lovely dhall
curry, blend it , place in very light tranparent plastic 4-5 containers that are clean &
freeze them .You can give some of the dhall curry to relatives /siblings.Is cheap &
good The day U wish to pan fry those ready made rotiprata(fr. supermkt), all U
have to do is to remove 1 plastic container fr. the freezer & place it in the lower
compartments in the fridge the nite B4 to allow it to soften.next morning just
heat up the gravy & turn off the heat once it boils. Isn"t that convenient
whenever U want to have rotiprata for b'fast?
TIPS As rotiprata takes time to pan fry over
the lowest fire, using 2 frying pan to fry 2 pces at a time will cut short your
cooking time by half. Alternatively, if you have a a non stick wok , U can also fry
1 pce till almost done then place it at the side of the wok to let it continue to cook ,
take a 2nd pce and fry till almost done & repeat with the 3rd pce & so on........
