It takes at least 2-3 days to recover from 1 day of going out. Sigh.
Yesterday's sojourn took so much out of me I was knocked out till lat this afternoon. I could apply for a job as Rip Van Winkle. But the rest did me good as I woke up with only a marginally stuffy head and my nose seemed alright till after I had dinner, when it decided it wanted to apply for its role as Niagara Falls.
Bowel movements - Wonderfully improved and in fact I think the worse might be over.
Dermatitis check - Everything is still bad with the rash spreading outwards and more lesions and boils developing. 7.5/10.
The bruising has darkened on both inner elbows and my hip areas seemed to have developed bruises too.
Vision check - No lights today too but the eyes are still feeling tired and strained.
Pain check - The back seems slightly improved and the pain in the left ankle and heel have disappeared so it's not too bad today. I'll peg it at about 5.5/10.
Hydration - Feel a little dehydrated today but it might be because I spent so many hours asleep. Or it might be that the BBQ chicken from Cold Storage have some MSG in them. I always suspected so but it is not in any significant amount that might cause me severe problems beyond the thirst and an occasion slight headache.
Mystery sweet taste in mouth check - It's back and with a vengeance.
Energy level - Today's biggest problem. I am extremely tired today and barely had enough energy to make tea. I keep wanting to go back to sleep and it is taking me everything to stay awake. I need to pack my things and I can barely keep my eyes open ... sigh, it's a pathetic 3/10 today.
Tea was two BBQ chicken, bacon, avocado, lettuce and blue cheese sandwiches with an apple for dessert. Yes, it tastes as good as it sounds.
OK, I give up. I am going back to bed before I fall flat on my face.
Saturday, 12 May 2012
Friday, 11 May 2012
Status Update - 11/5/12
Yesterday was an extremely bad day with all the symptoms of the previous intensified. I pretty much spent the whole day asleep and concussed. I was so badly off I even ordered from McDonald's. Although all I ate was their fries and their new strawberry, banana smoothie, I still woke up today all swollen and thirsty. Sigh.
After copious mugs of green tea I felt sufficiently revived to do my supermarket trawl.
Bowel movements - improved considerable at 7.5/10.
Dermatitis check - It's worsened and the butterfly rash is back. Looks like 13 mg of predisnone is not working out for me. This totally sucks.
The bruising on the left inner elbow has gone back to being dark red and my right inner elbow seems to be empathetic as it is darkening to a slight bruise too. My hip area developed a terrible itch and I was hard pressed not to scratch till bright red scratch lines developed. The neck area also started itching and blistering along the neckline on the back.
Vision check - No lights today but I am still so tired so the eyes feel strained. I may have to go take a nap soon.
Pain check - The back remains a 7/20 today but due to all the walking, at the last stretch, my left ankle and calf started hurting quite badly. It was bad enough I was clutching at the rails on the roadside and a kind young lady looked concerned enough to offer to carry my shopping bag and try to hail a taxi for me to go home..
Hydration - Not too bad especially after I ate a whole starfruit for dessert after lunch.
Mystery sweet taste in mouth check - Not as obvious today but it could be because of the tart mouth syndrome from eating the starfruit.
Energy level - Was not too bad early in the morning at around 6.5/10. After grocery shopping and the hot sun (God, today the sun was so bad I was huddling under my brolly and still I suffered), it dropped to about 4/10. Extremely tired now.
Respiration check - Much improved. The stuffy nose is almost gone but the head is still a little woozy. The asthma attack stopped sometime yesterday night, thank God.
.I had 1/4 of the BBQ chicken I bought from Cold Storage for lunch, with a bowl of cheng tng and one starfruit for dessert. My stomach feels pretty good so I am hoping the stomach flu or whatever it was has run its course.
After copious mugs of green tea I felt sufficiently revived to do my supermarket trawl.
Bowel movements - improved considerable at 7.5/10.
Dermatitis check - It's worsened and the butterfly rash is back. Looks like 13 mg of predisnone is not working out for me. This totally sucks.
The bruising on the left inner elbow has gone back to being dark red and my right inner elbow seems to be empathetic as it is darkening to a slight bruise too. My hip area developed a terrible itch and I was hard pressed not to scratch till bright red scratch lines developed. The neck area also started itching and blistering along the neckline on the back.
Vision check - No lights today but I am still so tired so the eyes feel strained. I may have to go take a nap soon.
Pain check - The back remains a 7/20 today but due to all the walking, at the last stretch, my left ankle and calf started hurting quite badly. It was bad enough I was clutching at the rails on the roadside and a kind young lady looked concerned enough to offer to carry my shopping bag and try to hail a taxi for me to go home..
Hydration - Not too bad especially after I ate a whole starfruit for dessert after lunch.
Mystery sweet taste in mouth check - Not as obvious today but it could be because of the tart mouth syndrome from eating the starfruit.
Energy level - Was not too bad early in the morning at around 6.5/10. After grocery shopping and the hot sun (God, today the sun was so bad I was huddling under my brolly and still I suffered), it dropped to about 4/10. Extremely tired now.
Respiration check - Much improved. The stuffy nose is almost gone but the head is still a little woozy. The asthma attack stopped sometime yesterday night, thank God.
.I had 1/4 of the BBQ chicken I bought from Cold Storage for lunch, with a bowl of cheng tng and one starfruit for dessert. My stomach feels pretty good so I am hoping the stomach flu or whatever it was has run its course.
Supermarkets Dash Redeemed
If last week was a blinking disaster, this week was a resounding success.
I am glad I stuck to my guns this week and returned to the same two supermarkets that failed me so badly last week. At first I was going to hedge my risk by going to a Cold Storage and NTUC Fairprice much further from home but with a better location and there, better set-up and inventory.
Then I thought that this would be a survey error as I will be skewing it for better results. I was reluctant to have another week of semi-empty shopping bag and a bad taste in my mouth but I felt I should at least give those two neighbourhood supermarkets a chance. So I decided to be brave and responsible and returned to the same, lame Cold Storage as last week. My reasoning was that there is a taxi stand right outside it so I can always hop into one and zoom off to the better Cold Storage.
Fortunately for me, the supermarkets gods are on my side this week. In fact, this week is a total reversal of fortunes for me and I completed my shopping with only one hiccup, which was entirely my fault. And I did it all in about an hour, managed to come back and have my lunch and still have energy to update here. How's that for efficient?
And all done by lunch-time.
So, to re-cap, I'd managed to list out my shopping by about 10.30 this morning. Then I caught a copy of Today and saw that Carrefour and Giant had placed their ads too. Now, if I had the energy, resources and time to go to Carrefour, I would, as it looks like they have a great variety of fruits on promotion this week. However, I am plum out of energy to do any more shopping and furthermore, my haul is good enough that I do not think I even need to do any grocery shopping for the next two weeks!
Still, if I did go to Carrfour this week, I would get for the kiwis which are going for S$1.99 per punnet and the crimson, seedless grapes at S$3.95 per punnet, which were originally S$2.95 and S$5.90 respectively. Not a bad deal. But as is, I already have apples and starfruit, which are plentiful for me.
Unusually for Giant, their promotions this week had nothing to attract me.
So, armed with my list, I headed for Cold Storage first. The first thing I noticed was that there was a lot of staff. There had to be about 3-4 staff in the fresh produce area, all busy stocking the counters. There were about 2 store managers inspecting the counters. One of them I recognised as the "regular" Filipina (I think she's Filipino but I might be wrong).
Another was new to me - an Indian chap who did not seem too knowledgeable about his produce. Why do I say that? Because he was sniffing some of the organic apples priced at S$0.75 each. They did not look too fantastic to me so sniffing them is a waste of time. No one would buy them when they look so unappealing compared to the cheaper, non-organic ones further down a stand. If I had to hard sell expensive, organic, non-moving apples, I would have samples and a lady next to them to convince people that the bright red ones further down only look good but don't taste as good.
Anyway, the regular Filipina store manager was haranguing one of the staff stocking the vegetable counter. I totally get her point and agree with her but I think she could have gotten her point across to her staff better if she was less superior and empathised more. Why? The staff was older and probably not a graduate of retail marketing like our store managers. But she must have a family for whom she shops for all the time. Filipina store manager was cross because the woman had placed the vegetables still all wrapped up in their paper and polyform wrappers. She was exasperated enough to say "No one would buy the vegetables you just placed because they cannot see them. You never even rubbed the wrapping away!""
I could see this all going over the head the staff. What did she care? She probably thought, "All these uni grads type who think they know it all!"
If instead she asked her, would she buy them if she did not know what they are and she probably would not bother to unwrap them herself, right? I mean if the store doesn't, why should the customers do it for them? I think the staff would have gotten the point better and probably be less irritated by her.
Anyway, I noticed that there were at least 1-2 staff all busy stocking and arranging (there was a young man I would never invite to my house to decorate the Christmas tree as he looked like he exploded the area he was supposed to stack). This is highly unusual as there are never that many staff. I am beginning to wonder if someone actually reads this blog.
Even the deli counter had more people there than normal. And surprise, surprise, there were plenty of chicken. I resolved to come back that-a-way after I picked up all the other stuff. Other stuff being -
Cold Storage
Ben & Jerry's @S$19.85 for 2
Fresh Pork Mince @S$10.90/kg (UP: S$18.60)
Fresh Pork Spareribs @S$15.90/kg (UP: S$23.20)
Fresh boneless pork loin @S$14.90/kg (UP: S$21.40)
Starfruit @S$1.59/ packet
Beef chuck tender @S$34.90/kg (UP: S$35.90)
Oxtail @S$33.90/kg (UP: S$38.90)
Meltique ribeye/sirloin @S$6.45/packet
3-day special - BBQ chicken @S$4.99 each
Post Banana Nut Crunch @S$8.70 for 2 (UP: S$6.25 each)
Meiji milk @S$9.95 for 2
NTUC Fairprice
Benishan Mangoes @S$3.50 for 2 OR
Thai Rainbow Mangoes @S$3.24 for 4
Fresh rump steak @S$1.99/100g
Unicurd tofu square puffs @S$1.50 each
Unicurd egg tofu tube @S$1.65 for 2
Pasar corn on the cob @S$1.25 for a packet of 2 (UP: S$1.50)
3-day special - Iceberg lettuce @S$0.99 each
As I suspected, the mangoes were a right mess. The Thai Rainbow mangoes were the same ones from last week except some new stock had joined them. But the new ones were so green they could have passed for guavas. But the sad sack award goes to the Benishan mangoes. There were 20 of them. I know for sure as I counted them. It's not hard since there were only 20. And they looked truly tragic that Shakespeare could have written about them.
And it is even sadder that there is no beef in this NTUC Fairprice. This is the thing about Singapore. I once lived in Ang Mo Kio and the entire time I lived there, I never bought beef there. Why? Because they do no sell them anywhere in the estate. I had to go to town and KK to buy my beef and lamb. I once asked a store owner why and he told me it was because it was a mostly Chinese estate so no one sold beef. I can only deduce Hougang is the same since the NTUC Fairprice does not have beef. So forget about the rump steak. I can't tell you if it's a good deal because I had no sample. Shaking my head at NTUC Fairprice ...
I bought some silken tofu instead of the Unicurd ones because I reckoned I need the fridge space and it was actually a better deal at $0.10 less ... LOL.
But the vegetables were in much better condition this week. As I lurked at the iceberg lettuce stand, a staff was stocking up. And I must say the stock is plentiful and they were in good condition. Ladies, this week's winner is the S$0.99 lettuce at NTUC Fairprice. What was better was the NTUC Fairprice staff. She was a wonderful, older lady who told me to take from her cart of stock instead of what was on the counter since it's easier and they were fresh stock. Oh bless ... love her!
I also got the corn in the cob deal as they were in lovely condition too.
So, here's what I have to say about NTUC Fairprice. They might do a terrible job of their meat but they do a good job on their veggies. And whole Cold Storage might have more efficient, younger and more hip-looking staff, NTUC Fairprice seems to hire aunties with whom you can identify. They could be your mum or aunt and nag but they do know their stuff.
I was all ready to go home when I realised with horror I forgot something crucial. The BBQ chicken from Cold Storage. So I had to do a back-track and return to get that chicken! And so I did. I got the black pepper one since I'd gotten the honey one last time.
And here is where I know God was looking out for me. All three times I had to queue up for the cashier, I took the middling length lines. Twice, someone in front of me lost their patience and hustled to another aisle to speed things along. And each time, I lucked out with the fastest and most efficient cashiers and ended up sorted before the deserters. Ah, queue justice and aisle envy ... sometimes patience pays out.
So, this week was a good week with minimal hassles. I also got some fresh chicken chipotle sausages, salmon fillets and prawns which were not on promotion at Cold Storage and that makes enough for me for two weeks. After separating them out into serving portions for the freezer, I realised what a haul I had. I have enough serving portions for 10 meals!
I will be moving in about 3 weeks so I will probably not do much grocery shopping till then. And then it will be another adventure to explore the shops in my new neighbourhood. So long Hougang, it's been interesting.
I am glad I stuck to my guns this week and returned to the same two supermarkets that failed me so badly last week. At first I was going to hedge my risk by going to a Cold Storage and NTUC Fairprice much further from home but with a better location and there, better set-up and inventory.
Then I thought that this would be a survey error as I will be skewing it for better results. I was reluctant to have another week of semi-empty shopping bag and a bad taste in my mouth but I felt I should at least give those two neighbourhood supermarkets a chance. So I decided to be brave and responsible and returned to the same, lame Cold Storage as last week. My reasoning was that there is a taxi stand right outside it so I can always hop into one and zoom off to the better Cold Storage.
Fortunately for me, the supermarkets gods are on my side this week. In fact, this week is a total reversal of fortunes for me and I completed my shopping with only one hiccup, which was entirely my fault. And I did it all in about an hour, managed to come back and have my lunch and still have energy to update here. How's that for efficient?
And all done by lunch-time.
So, to re-cap, I'd managed to list out my shopping by about 10.30 this morning. Then I caught a copy of Today and saw that Carrefour and Giant had placed their ads too. Now, if I had the energy, resources and time to go to Carrefour, I would, as it looks like they have a great variety of fruits on promotion this week. However, I am plum out of energy to do any more shopping and furthermore, my haul is good enough that I do not think I even need to do any grocery shopping for the next two weeks!
Still, if I did go to Carrfour this week, I would get for the kiwis which are going for S$1.99 per punnet and the crimson, seedless grapes at S$3.95 per punnet, which were originally S$2.95 and S$5.90 respectively. Not a bad deal. But as is, I already have apples and starfruit, which are plentiful for me.
Unusually for Giant, their promotions this week had nothing to attract me.
So, armed with my list, I headed for Cold Storage first. The first thing I noticed was that there was a lot of staff. There had to be about 3-4 staff in the fresh produce area, all busy stocking the counters. There were about 2 store managers inspecting the counters. One of them I recognised as the "regular" Filipina (I think she's Filipino but I might be wrong).
Another was new to me - an Indian chap who did not seem too knowledgeable about his produce. Why do I say that? Because he was sniffing some of the organic apples priced at S$0.75 each. They did not look too fantastic to me so sniffing them is a waste of time. No one would buy them when they look so unappealing compared to the cheaper, non-organic ones further down a stand. If I had to hard sell expensive, organic, non-moving apples, I would have samples and a lady next to them to convince people that the bright red ones further down only look good but don't taste as good.
Anyway, the regular Filipina store manager was haranguing one of the staff stocking the vegetable counter. I totally get her point and agree with her but I think she could have gotten her point across to her staff better if she was less superior and empathised more. Why? The staff was older and probably not a graduate of retail marketing like our store managers. But she must have a family for whom she shops for all the time. Filipina store manager was cross because the woman had placed the vegetables still all wrapped up in their paper and polyform wrappers. She was exasperated enough to say "No one would buy the vegetables you just placed because they cannot see them. You never even rubbed the wrapping away!""
I could see this all going over the head the staff. What did she care? She probably thought, "All these uni grads type who think they know it all!"
If instead she asked her, would she buy them if she did not know what they are and she probably would not bother to unwrap them herself, right? I mean if the store doesn't, why should the customers do it for them? I think the staff would have gotten the point better and probably be less irritated by her.
Anyway, I noticed that there were at least 1-2 staff all busy stocking and arranging (there was a young man I would never invite to my house to decorate the Christmas tree as he looked like he exploded the area he was supposed to stack). This is highly unusual as there are never that many staff. I am beginning to wonder if someone actually reads this blog.
Even the deli counter had more people there than normal. And surprise, surprise, there were plenty of chicken. I resolved to come back that-a-way after I picked up all the other stuff. Other stuff being -
Cold Storage
Ben & Jerry's @S$19.85 for 2
Fresh Pork Mince @S$10.90/kg (UP: S$18.60)
Fresh Pork Spareribs @S$15.90/kg (UP: S$23.20)
Fresh boneless pork loin @S$14.90/kg (UP: S$21.40)
Starfruit @S$1.59/ packet
Beef chuck tender @S$34.90/kg (UP: S$35.90)
Oxtail @S$33.90/kg (UP: S$38.90)
Meltique ribeye/sirloin @S$6.45/packet
3-day special - BBQ chicken @S$4.99 each
Post Banana Nut Crunch @S$8.70 for 2 (UP: S$6.25 each)
Meiji milk @S$9.95 for 2
Let's just look at the meat. For once, the meat counters were well-stocked. Now, I've always felt that Cold Storage meats are of much higher quality than NTUC Fairprice which is why I always shop for my meat there. Both supermarkets had promotions on pork this week and I compared them. Take the pork spareribs. There was admittedly not a large number of packets available but what they had were of pretty good quality. However, the packing deferred. Cold Storage's were clean and well trimmed but NTUC Fairprice's were messy and not cleaned properly. Also, the butchers deferred in skill. Cold Storage's cuts were neat but NTUC Fairprice's were jagged and had chips of bone and gristle. But taking aside the packing, if you look at the quality of the meat itself, they probably did not differ that greatly. Also, if I am not mistaken, Cold Storage's promotion this week actually beat NTUC Fairprice's.
Another example of quality was in the boneless pork loin and minced pork. Truly, Cold Storage's were of a better colour and cut. I know supermarkets can cheat with a lot of them using fake colouring to enhance meat products nowadays but even examining the grain and "springiness" of the meat, Cold Storage seemed a better bet.
I bought the smallest packet of spareribs at Cold Storage, which may still be a little too much for me.
The beef were also well-stocked this week. There was a lot to choose from but I did not buy any as their packets were all too large for me. The only thing I did not think was such a good deal was the oxtail. If I had not bought some at Giant a couple of weeks ago, I might have thought it was but as it is, I think they are slightly over-priced despite the promotion.
I finally found the Meltique meats but they were lurking in a corner of the standing freezers with no promotion tags attached to them despite the ad. Tut tut, the only mis-step from Cold Storage this week. I could not be bothered to ask a staff about them and as I wandered off, I wondered how many customers they had lost.
I almost forgot the starfruits till I consulted my list. And dashed back to the fruits & veggies stand. And there they were. Lots of them. However, lots of them looking awfully green. I know starfruits. We had them in our garden and they do not ripen well off the vine. So I bought the ripest looking bunch that did not look crushed or were starting to brown at the edges. I love starfruit.
Then I got my biggest indulgence ... the two tubs of Ben & Jerry's. They are the most luxurious indulgence I have now but I cannot resist such a good deal!
And then I toddled off to NTUC Fairprice. If you are observant, you would have noticed I forgot something.
At NTUC Fairprice, they too, were busily stocking up! What is going on???? This is highly unusual! I am getting a little paranoid. Anyway, I remembered I was running out of eggs so I head to the aisle. I'd gotten my usual when an older lady pointed to the ones she was holding and said, "These are S$1.90". Startled, I smiled and said, "Oh really? That's good ..." with an slightly dazed air. And she pointed out that there were 12 of them, with 2 extras. Oh, I see! Well, that's a good deal and I set mine aside and took up the ones she was buying. I thanked her sweetly and looked closely at the price tag. Wait a minute ...
It seemed the eggs were on the wrong section of the counter. The price tag and the product are not in simpatico. In other words, we'd been had. For shame, NTUC Fairprice! I would not accuse them of deception but perhaps a careless mistake in stocking the wrong things under the wrong price tag. I tried to look around for the lady but she was far gone and I can only sympathise with her when she reached the cashier.
Anyway, I sorted the eggs for me and soldiered on.
Here's where it was a 60-40 success for me.
NTUC Fairprice
Benishan Mangoes @S$3.50 for 2 OR
Thai Rainbow Mangoes @S$3.24 for 4
Fresh rump steak @S$1.99/100g
Unicurd tofu square puffs @S$1.50 each
Unicurd egg tofu tube @S$1.65 for 2
Pasar corn on the cob @S$1.25 for a packet of 2 (UP: S$1.50)
3-day special - Iceberg lettuce @S$0.99 each
As I suspected, the mangoes were a right mess. The Thai Rainbow mangoes were the same ones from last week except some new stock had joined them. But the new ones were so green they could have passed for guavas. But the sad sack award goes to the Benishan mangoes. There were 20 of them. I know for sure as I counted them. It's not hard since there were only 20. And they looked truly tragic that Shakespeare could have written about them.
And it is even sadder that there is no beef in this NTUC Fairprice. This is the thing about Singapore. I once lived in Ang Mo Kio and the entire time I lived there, I never bought beef there. Why? Because they do no sell them anywhere in the estate. I had to go to town and KK to buy my beef and lamb. I once asked a store owner why and he told me it was because it was a mostly Chinese estate so no one sold beef. I can only deduce Hougang is the same since the NTUC Fairprice does not have beef. So forget about the rump steak. I can't tell you if it's a good deal because I had no sample. Shaking my head at NTUC Fairprice ...
I bought some silken tofu instead of the Unicurd ones because I reckoned I need the fridge space and it was actually a better deal at $0.10 less ... LOL.
But the vegetables were in much better condition this week. As I lurked at the iceberg lettuce stand, a staff was stocking up. And I must say the stock is plentiful and they were in good condition. Ladies, this week's winner is the S$0.99 lettuce at NTUC Fairprice. What was better was the NTUC Fairprice staff. She was a wonderful, older lady who told me to take from her cart of stock instead of what was on the counter since it's easier and they were fresh stock. Oh bless ... love her!
I also got the corn in the cob deal as they were in lovely condition too.
So, here's what I have to say about NTUC Fairprice. They might do a terrible job of their meat but they do a good job on their veggies. And whole Cold Storage might have more efficient, younger and more hip-looking staff, NTUC Fairprice seems to hire aunties with whom you can identify. They could be your mum or aunt and nag but they do know their stuff.
I was all ready to go home when I realised with horror I forgot something crucial. The BBQ chicken from Cold Storage. So I had to do a back-track and return to get that chicken! And so I did. I got the black pepper one since I'd gotten the honey one last time.
And here is where I know God was looking out for me. All three times I had to queue up for the cashier, I took the middling length lines. Twice, someone in front of me lost their patience and hustled to another aisle to speed things along. And each time, I lucked out with the fastest and most efficient cashiers and ended up sorted before the deserters. Ah, queue justice and aisle envy ... sometimes patience pays out.
I will be moving in about 3 weeks so I will probably not do much grocery shopping till then. And then it will be another adventure to explore the shops in my new neighbourhood. So long Hougang, it's been interesting.
Thursday, 10 May 2012
Supermarket Stalking
OK, I woke up early today feeling rather icky. Bad head, swollen and cramped fingers, bad stomach, stuffy head and nose and aching back and arm ... nice.
Still, the day waits for no woman. After a rather painful and slow warm-up, I managed to waddle up to the computer. And lo and surprise! Cold Storage is working! At 8.22am, they have already updated their weekly promotions AND 3-day promotions pages. This is a watershed for them. Never (since I started monitoring them) have they updated so early! NTUC Fairprice did theirs by 11am yesterday so they are still ahead of the game and earlier than usual too. Well done, both.
Wow, NTUC Fairprice and Cold Storage are really fighting the battle of who's more efficient in Internet updates. Their marketing departments must have gotten some new mandates or are under review. I pity them if their store management has not stepped up to the plates because what's the point of being timely if your store inventory and display is going to let your side down?
Still, I commend their E-Commerce departments. Good luck.
Since Giant is so behind the times, I do not know what they have in store (pun intended ... drum roll of shame), I am just gonna wing it there.
But here's the list I have already set up and I shall become my own mystery shopper today to see if they literally live up to their hype today. It's on.
NTUC Fairprice
Benishan Mangoes @S$3.50 for 2 OR
Thai Rainbow Mangoes @S$3.24 for 4
Fresh rump steak @S$1.99/100g
Unicurd tofu square puffs @S$1.50 each
Unicurd egg tofu tube @S$1.65 for 2
Pasar corn on the cob @S$1.25 for a packet of 2 (UP: S$1.50)
3-day special - Iceberg lettuce @S$0.99 each
Cold Storage
Ben & Jerry's @S$19.85 for 2
Fresh Pork Mince @S$10.90/kg (UP: S$18.60)
Fresh Pork Spareribs @S$15.90/kg (UP: S$23.20)
Fresh boneless pork loin @S$14.90/kg (UP: S$21.40)
Starfruit @S$1.59/ packet
Beef chuck tender @S$34.90/kg (UP: S$35.90)
Oxtail @S$33.90/kg (UP: S$38.90)
Meltique ribeye/sirloin @S$6.45/packet
3-day special - BBQ chicken @S$4.99 each
Post Banana Nut Crunch @S$8.70 for 2 (UP: S$6.25 each)
Meiji milk @S$9.95 for 2
There is no way I am buying all these but I just took note of what I think are good deals. Notice that Cold Storage always seems to do rather good promotions for meat but they seem to cater only to large families with their 2of anything deals. That's all well and good but for a half-crippled, single person like me, there is no way I can lug two of anything home and what more food storage? It will take me forever to finish them and in this humid environment (which seems to be getting worse), you have to be ruthless about discarding stuff before they go stale.
Which leads me to the big chain marketing tactic here. It's very common in America where they encourage bulk purchase. The offers are cheap for bulk. So lots of people buy them on that penny wise, pound foolish principle. Never has that saying been so justified. almost half or more of that bulk purchase is discarded because they go stale. So essentially, you paid for half of what you purchase. Think about it.
Let's take the last two items on my Cold Storage list. I put them there for people with large families and larder or fridge space. I know of no one who has enough space in their fridge for 2 2 litre Meiji bottles of milk. Well, a few but they would still grumble. And you will get sick of all the banana nut crunch cereal you will have to eat for a month. However, they are good deals. But let's say I buy the Meiji milk. I will not be able to finish it in a month before the expiry date. I promise you. Which means I will probably discard 3/4 of a bottle. Which means I actually paid about S$7.50 for 1 1/4 bottle of milk. Way more than the usual S$6.25 per bottle.
Does that even make sense?
OK, I have to give poor Sheng Siong a mention since they seem to work so hard and get no press from me. This month they seem to have some rather exciting promotions. I say seem since I never check them out so it's unfair to state if their promotions live up to their hype. They are just too far away and inconvenient for me to visit and truly, they never seem to have anything I need enough to venture forth.
But if you love barramundi and have missed it, they have them this month.
Sheng Siong
Live barramundi @S$1.09/100g (UP: S$1.86)
Pomfret @S$6.90 for 2 (UP: 19.80 for 2)
Shinmeiji mushrooms @S$0.65 each
They seem to have very good promotions for fish but I can only say I have been to a Sheng Siong once a long time ago when they have whole salmon on unbelievable offer and those fish looked sick. I mean sick in a bad way. No one bought them in the end and I remember I ended up at Carrefour for their blue light special on salmon. I just happened to be there at the right time willy nilly and scored superb salmon. Happy day.
Anyway, I am now going to make my intrepid way to the supermarkets armed with my shopping bag and a notebook. I am half dead but my fridge is looking scarily sparse (because of last week's fiasco) so this is a mission of some import. If it sucks like last week, I am actually gonna have to write to them and scold them. LOL.
Will update when I crawl my way back.
Still, the day waits for no woman. After a rather painful and slow warm-up, I managed to waddle up to the computer. And lo and surprise! Cold Storage is working! At 8.22am, they have already updated their weekly promotions AND 3-day promotions pages. This is a watershed for them. Never (since I started monitoring them) have they updated so early! NTUC Fairprice did theirs by 11am yesterday so they are still ahead of the game and earlier than usual too. Well done, both.
Wow, NTUC Fairprice and Cold Storage are really fighting the battle of who's more efficient in Internet updates. Their marketing departments must have gotten some new mandates or are under review. I pity them if their store management has not stepped up to the plates because what's the point of being timely if your store inventory and display is going to let your side down?
Still, I commend their E-Commerce departments. Good luck.
Since Giant is so behind the times, I do not know what they have in store (pun intended ... drum roll of shame), I am just gonna wing it there.
But here's the list I have already set up and I shall become my own mystery shopper today to see if they literally live up to their hype today. It's on.
NTUC Fairprice
Benishan Mangoes @S$3.50 for 2 OR
Thai Rainbow Mangoes @S$3.24 for 4
Fresh rump steak @S$1.99/100g
Unicurd tofu square puffs @S$1.50 each
Unicurd egg tofu tube @S$1.65 for 2
Pasar corn on the cob @S$1.25 for a packet of 2 (UP: S$1.50)
3-day special - Iceberg lettuce @S$0.99 each
Cold Storage
Ben & Jerry's @S$19.85 for 2
Fresh Pork Mince @S$10.90/kg (UP: S$18.60)
Fresh Pork Spareribs @S$15.90/kg (UP: S$23.20)
Fresh boneless pork loin @S$14.90/kg (UP: S$21.40)
Starfruit @S$1.59/ packet
Beef chuck tender @S$34.90/kg (UP: S$35.90)
Oxtail @S$33.90/kg (UP: S$38.90)
Meltique ribeye/sirloin @S$6.45/packet
3-day special - BBQ chicken @S$4.99 each
Post Banana Nut Crunch @S$8.70 for 2 (UP: S$6.25 each)
Meiji milk @S$9.95 for 2
There is no way I am buying all these but I just took note of what I think are good deals. Notice that Cold Storage always seems to do rather good promotions for meat but they seem to cater only to large families with their 2of anything deals. That's all well and good but for a half-crippled, single person like me, there is no way I can lug two of anything home and what more food storage? It will take me forever to finish them and in this humid environment (which seems to be getting worse), you have to be ruthless about discarding stuff before they go stale.
Which leads me to the big chain marketing tactic here. It's very common in America where they encourage bulk purchase. The offers are cheap for bulk. So lots of people buy them on that penny wise, pound foolish principle. Never has that saying been so justified. almost half or more of that bulk purchase is discarded because they go stale. So essentially, you paid for half of what you purchase. Think about it.
Let's take the last two items on my Cold Storage list. I put them there for people with large families and larder or fridge space. I know of no one who has enough space in their fridge for 2 2 litre Meiji bottles of milk. Well, a few but they would still grumble. And you will get sick of all the banana nut crunch cereal you will have to eat for a month. However, they are good deals. But let's say I buy the Meiji milk. I will not be able to finish it in a month before the expiry date. I promise you. Which means I will probably discard 3/4 of a bottle. Which means I actually paid about S$7.50 for 1 1/4 bottle of milk. Way more than the usual S$6.25 per bottle.
Does that even make sense?
OK, I have to give poor Sheng Siong a mention since they seem to work so hard and get no press from me. This month they seem to have some rather exciting promotions. I say seem since I never check them out so it's unfair to state if their promotions live up to their hype. They are just too far away and inconvenient for me to visit and truly, they never seem to have anything I need enough to venture forth.
But if you love barramundi and have missed it, they have them this month.
Sheng Siong
Live barramundi @S$1.09/100g (UP: S$1.86)
Pomfret @S$6.90 for 2 (UP: 19.80 for 2)
Shinmeiji mushrooms @S$0.65 each
They seem to have very good promotions for fish but I can only say I have been to a Sheng Siong once a long time ago when they have whole salmon on unbelievable offer and those fish looked sick. I mean sick in a bad way. No one bought them in the end and I remember I ended up at Carrefour for their blue light special on salmon. I just happened to be there at the right time willy nilly and scored superb salmon. Happy day.
Anyway, I am now going to make my intrepid way to the supermarkets armed with my shopping bag and a notebook. I am half dead but my fridge is looking scarily sparse (because of last week's fiasco) so this is a mission of some import. If it sucks like last week, I am actually gonna have to write to them and scold them. LOL.
Will update when I crawl my way back.
Wednesday, 9 May 2012
Summer Pasta Means Loads of Veggies
My mother might have many faults but one of the things she did right was to teach me I need a balanced diet. Which means I must have at least one vegetable in a meal.
It's become ingrained in me to have veggies in a meal such that when I don't, I keep having a sneaky suspicion that I am unwell.
In my crisper lurked the remnants of veggies. A few stalks of asparagus. Half a capsicum. A couple stalks of young corn. Half an onion. I knew that if I did not use them up by these two days, it was off to the bin for them so despite feeling like death warmed over, I forced myself to make tea.
I guess I was lucky that it was such a rainy day that McDonald's was unable to deliver due to overwhelming orders. Yes, I was feeling so horrid I was going to order from them. And yes I know their food is MSG laden but I was desperate and already sick ... and I was just going to order their chips, cinnamon bread dessert and an apple pie. They are the least MSG-dangerous grounds of desperation.
So God looked out for me and when I was told to call back in an hour, I decided that I should listen to the cosmos and go fix myself a fast and easy tea.
So I got chopping on the veggies, set the capellini a cooking and in about 20 minutes, tea was ready and I was 3/4 dead instead of half dead.
I was too knackered to even eat after all that effort! The irony. But I forced myself and just eating it took almost an hour as I literally dragged each forkful into my mouth. If not for the fact I had to take my medicine since it was so late, I would have skipped dinner and gone back to bed.
Still, the pasta was fabulous and again, I thank the Italians for this wonderful invention.
Roast Honey Glazed Chicken & Vegetables Capellini
1 1/2 cup of shredded honey-glazed roast chicken meat - this was from the whole roast chicken I had purchased from Cold Storage before; one chicken gave me about 5 meals ... I kid you not
1/4 red capsicum, seeded and chopped coarsely
2 young, chopped into small disks
5 stalks young asparagus, cut into 1 cm pieces
2 white mushrooms, sliced
1/2 small onion, sliced thinly
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Water
Oil
Salt
Non-MSG chicken stock granules
Balsamic vinegar
Black pepper
A fistful of capellini - I just happen to like capellini but you can use any type of pasta you like
1. Set a big pot of water to boil with a healthy toss of salt. I probably had about 1 1/2 litre of water and threw in about 3/4 tbsp of salt. That's a lot for me since I do not take much salt. A packet can last me almost a year!
2. At the same time, heat a large pan and once hot, add oil
3. When things are bubbling and heating, add, add the pasta to the water and the garlic and onions to the pan.
4. Stir the pasta to help things along and cover. Saute your onion and garlic till fragrant and transparent, then add the chicken stock granules to taste with the young corn. Continue to saute briskly for about 1-2 mins.
5. Throw in the rest of the veggies and saute well.
6. When your asparagus start to look really vibrantly green, which should be quite soon, add your chicken and saute briskly,
7. Your pasta should be cooked now, or maybe not depending on your pasta, if you are using capellini. Remove from heat, drain and rinse your pasta with hot water. I use hot water because I read somewhere that your pasta is less likely to stick together than if you use cold. Seems to have worked so far. Anyway, save a little of your pasta water just in case. Set your pasta to the side.
8. Now add balsamic vinegar and pepper. I probably used about 1 1/2 tsp of vinegar and about 6 dashes of pepper.
9. Add your pasta now and toss well. If your pasta gets too dry, add some of the pasta water. Taste now before plating and adjust seasoning if needed.
And there you have it. Pasta in about 20 mins. And I mean from the moment you take out your veggies to chop them. Of course I had the foresight to have shredded and stored my chicken beforehand so that saved me a lot of time. Always, always prep your chicken leftovers so you can have easy and fast solutions for dinner.
Tea ended late. Well, late for me since I usually have tea by 5 or 6pm so I can take my medicine and go to bed early. I had a large cup of milo for supper and was too tired and full to even attempt to have a cheesecupcake.
Waking up half to midnight for a loo run again, I checked the websites and was impressed by NTUC Fairprice's update to their weekly promotions. They are getting more and more organised and timely! If only their stocks and store management was as impressive. I jotted down my list and will wait till tomorrow noon to see if Cold Storage will be as timely too.
After last week's dismal disappointment, I am going to be more stringent with my list and evaluation.
On that note, I was also impressed with Sheng Siong. They updated their 4-day promotions for 10 May and I just wonder that a seemingly small player compared to the the other two is so spunky and efficient. They have what seems to be rather good promotions too but as usual it is really nothing I desire and I am not compelled to make a special trip since they are so inconveniently located for me.
Anyway, it's off to the loo and bed again for me. It's day 9 and the loo and I are now inseparable.
It's become ingrained in me to have veggies in a meal such that when I don't, I keep having a sneaky suspicion that I am unwell.
In my crisper lurked the remnants of veggies. A few stalks of asparagus. Half a capsicum. A couple stalks of young corn. Half an onion. I knew that if I did not use them up by these two days, it was off to the bin for them so despite feeling like death warmed over, I forced myself to make tea.
I guess I was lucky that it was such a rainy day that McDonald's was unable to deliver due to overwhelming orders. Yes, I was feeling so horrid I was going to order from them. And yes I know their food is MSG laden but I was desperate and already sick ... and I was just going to order their chips, cinnamon bread dessert and an apple pie. They are the least MSG-dangerous grounds of desperation.
So God looked out for me and when I was told to call back in an hour, I decided that I should listen to the cosmos and go fix myself a fast and easy tea.
So I got chopping on the veggies, set the capellini a cooking and in about 20 minutes, tea was ready and I was 3/4 dead instead of half dead.
I was too knackered to even eat after all that effort! The irony. But I forced myself and just eating it took almost an hour as I literally dragged each forkful into my mouth. If not for the fact I had to take my medicine since it was so late, I would have skipped dinner and gone back to bed.
Still, the pasta was fabulous and again, I thank the Italians for this wonderful invention.
Roast Honey Glazed Chicken & Vegetables Capellini
1 1/2 cup of shredded honey-glazed roast chicken meat - this was from the whole roast chicken I had purchased from Cold Storage before; one chicken gave me about 5 meals ... I kid you not
1/4 red capsicum, seeded and chopped coarsely
2 young, chopped into small disks
5 stalks young asparagus, cut into 1 cm pieces
2 white mushrooms, sliced
1/2 small onion, sliced thinly
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Water
Oil
Salt
Non-MSG chicken stock granules
Balsamic vinegar
Black pepper
A fistful of capellini - I just happen to like capellini but you can use any type of pasta you like
1. Set a big pot of water to boil with a healthy toss of salt. I probably had about 1 1/2 litre of water and threw in about 3/4 tbsp of salt. That's a lot for me since I do not take much salt. A packet can last me almost a year!
2. At the same time, heat a large pan and once hot, add oil
3. When things are bubbling and heating, add, add the pasta to the water and the garlic and onions to the pan.
4. Stir the pasta to help things along and cover. Saute your onion and garlic till fragrant and transparent, then add the chicken stock granules to taste with the young corn. Continue to saute briskly for about 1-2 mins.
5. Throw in the rest of the veggies and saute well.
6. When your asparagus start to look really vibrantly green, which should be quite soon, add your chicken and saute briskly,
7. Your pasta should be cooked now, or maybe not depending on your pasta, if you are using capellini. Remove from heat, drain and rinse your pasta with hot water. I use hot water because I read somewhere that your pasta is less likely to stick together than if you use cold. Seems to have worked so far. Anyway, save a little of your pasta water just in case. Set your pasta to the side.
8. Now add balsamic vinegar and pepper. I probably used about 1 1/2 tsp of vinegar and about 6 dashes of pepper.
And there you have it. Pasta in about 20 mins. And I mean from the moment you take out your veggies to chop them. Of course I had the foresight to have shredded and stored my chicken beforehand so that saved me a lot of time. Always, always prep your chicken leftovers so you can have easy and fast solutions for dinner.
Tea ended late. Well, late for me since I usually have tea by 5 or 6pm so I can take my medicine and go to bed early. I had a large cup of milo for supper and was too tired and full to even attempt to have a cheesecupcake.
Waking up half to midnight for a loo run again, I checked the websites and was impressed by NTUC Fairprice's update to their weekly promotions. They are getting more and more organised and timely! If only their stocks and store management was as impressive. I jotted down my list and will wait till tomorrow noon to see if Cold Storage will be as timely too.
After last week's dismal disappointment, I am going to be more stringent with my list and evaluation.
On that note, I was also impressed with Sheng Siong. They updated their 4-day promotions for 10 May and I just wonder that a seemingly small player compared to the the other two is so spunky and efficient. They have what seems to be rather good promotions too but as usual it is really nothing I desire and I am not compelled to make a special trip since they are so inconveniently located for me.
Anyway, it's off to the loo and bed again for me. It's day 9 and the loo and I are now inseparable.
Status Update - 9/5/12
You know I started this blog so I could make the process of medical monitoring could be less tedious and painful but it is still a chore. Especially when you are curled up in pain and still have to drag yourself in front of the computer so you do not lose a day's record.
Today was one of those days. How the hell does one catch cold if one has not left the house? I woke up with the sniffles and curled up in pain from the stomach attack. The latter is actually improving but still gives me enough grief that I am extremely tired.
Yesterday's dumplings probably did have come MSG in them as I did experience some nausea and stomach spasms later in the night but not enough to prove decisively if it was MSG or just the remnants of my stomach attack. So once I feel a little better I am gonna try them again to test out the theory.
Bowel movements - slight improvement at 6/10. O noticed the time lapse between severe stomach spasms and the loo had increased from every 2 hours to 3-5 hours.
Dermatitis check - The lesions remain the same but I noticed an increase in the rash. The lesser dosage of 12 mg of predisnone is not working well for me. I think it might be too soon to lower it so much.
The bruising on my inner arm is still there and seems o have darkened.
No response from my dr as yet. Sigh.
Vision check - The swirling lights were rather bad this morning but lessened as the day passed.
Pain check - unchanged at 7/10. Stomach spasms still plaguing me and with a stuffy nose and head, things were a biy woozy today.
Hydration - Not too good as I fell asleep for such a long time I think I became de-hydrated and spent almost the whole day with a dry mouth.
Mystery sweet taste in mouth check - still there.
Energy level - Very low. Was so tired that I slept almost the entire day away. Barely managed to eke out enough energy to make tea. Will peg it at 4/10 today.
Respiration check - I think last night's breathing problems were a sign that I was catching a cold. This morning I had a running nose, stuffy head and aching bones. Drank a large mug of hot green tea and went to bed and woke up at 5pm! Bloody disaster! It was a pathetic 4/10 today.
So, for the dr, my tea was roast chicken and vegetable (capsicum, asparagus, young corn) capellini, followed by a large mug of milo before bed. Again.
Tuesday, 8 May 2012
Lifestyle Change?
I've gone through more lifestyle changes in the past decade than most people have in a lifetime. And yet the changes keep coming. This year has been very eye-opening and I am still reeling from the experience.
This was brought home to me today as I washed up after dinner. My housemate came home early and asked if I was cooking something with vinegar since it was redolent in the air. I was startled as I have gotten so used to the smell of apple cider vinegar that I do not notice it anymore and forgot that, to others, the smell may be a bit over-powering.
You see, I use it in everything. Ever since I have gotten so easily ill, I have used it in lieu of harsh chemicals and to "disinfect" everything. After I wash my plates and cutlery, I give them a rinse in vinegar solution before a final rinse.
I use it to rinse out my hair after conditioning. I have found less hair fall than before since I started using it.
I make a vinegar solution spray to wipe down my countertops after I clean them with soap just to make sure they are really, really clean. I add it to the final rinse of floors.
Strangely enough, I seldom use it for cooking. I tend to use balsamic vinegar instead.
The smell of apple cider vinegar has started to smell good to me. I like it but it may be a psychological effect. I feel secure when I smell it, knowing (truthfully or delusionally is yet to be determined) I have made things as clean as possible so I do not get sick.
I never used to be so obsessive. In fact, I am quite a lazy person. I avoid cleaning if I can. I hate housework but I have had to be careful because of my health. Just the slightest thing and I end up suffering for days and weeks. It's made a Lysol convert out of me.
As I cleaned up after dinner, on the sink counter was my dishwashing liquid detergent, my spray bottle of vinegar solution, and my medicated liquid hand soap. My housemate took one look and giggled that I was really clean. I was startled as I did not think of myself as particularly anal.
OK, so I'm anal. I rather be that than sick.
I also noticed my liquid handsoap container. I just refilled it last week, using one of my favourite, used Urban Decay bottles to hold some medicated liquid handsoap I'd bought from Daiso. The slightly iridescent, white fluid is rather pretty through the clear plastic bottle. But what was surprisingly that nearly 1/5 of it was gone. The soap, that is. In just one week? I'd used up 1/5 of the soap in a week? Sure, Id been in the loo more times in a day than I have in a week but even then ... 1/5 in a week?
Wow.
I am going to give myself a think here. Am I becoming too neurotic? Is this affecting my life to the extent I will be one of those people who spray Lysol in your path before you speak to them? Don't scoff, I had a colleague like that. She sprayed all door knobs and handles with Lysol before she touched them and used wet wipes every time after she touched something. I used to think she was insane. Now I wonder if I am turning into her!
I want to be well but I also want to be normal! Or as normal as I can be with this damn illness. I have recently been looking into clean eating as a concept. I find it both logical and redundant. Logical because the preparation of food should focus on letting the food ingredients shine in their own merit but redundant because ... I've been doing that for years and now they splash a fancy concept name on it???
Pfffttt.
Still, it's better than the raw food concept which I think is a little extreme and sometimes unwise. But that's just my opinion since it does not and cannot work for me. My stomach and health is too nebulous to survive the raw food indulgence. And it is indulgent as it costs 200x as much to indulge in a raw food lifestyle. I know because a friend's girlfriend is a practitioner and started a business from it. I was astounded when I realised the prices and scornful when I connected the dots. Principles in this case = marketing opportunity in the FMCG mould.
The raw food and clean eating concepts obviously originated from the West although many of the concepts can also be derived from Asian food principles. So trying to sell that to Asians is a hard sell, I think. Only the least practical and grounded Asian would go for it, I think.
Still, I liked the Clean Eating magazine I came across. Unlike many of its new food concept brethren, it was not preachy or pretentious, had great tips and was practical. It also seem targeted at the normal home-maker rather than Cosmopolitan sipping IT-girl wannabe. However, it was no Woman' Weekly such that you feel like you pilfered your mum's subscriptions. I liked it enough to look up their website and bookmark it.
I am still not sure of the whole concept as it seems like it's trying to sell coals to Newscastle where I am concerned, and also because I do like the slow-cook concept too. In fact, I like any culinary concept as long as it makes sense and tastes good.
I might try out some of the recipes even though (as with most Western-based, new age food concept) there is an over-reliance on bean-based products. Firstly, I am not overly fond of beans except for cassoulet and the occasional Irish brekkie (but then, it's more the black pudding I crave). Secondly, I cannot eat legumes because of my lupus. Although the studies suggest but cannot conclude concisely, I can tell you for certain, where I am concerned, that legumes make me hurt. If I eat too many beans-based products, I ache and hurt so badly, it can literally lay me low for days. I have learnt to eat them with much caution and moderation. I've developed such a phobia of them that I have even avoided drinking my beloved soy milk and eating soya bean curd which used to make my daily staples. My eyes tear even now at the loss.
Sigh.
When I was looking through the Clean Eating website I noticed they have a call for recipe testers. Normally I would love to volunteer for something like that but now, with my limited financial resources and my problems with so many food ingredients, I would make a poor tester indeed. Still, I wonder why a magazine like that would not have specialist recipes that cater to the single person with medical limitations. Surely if your mandate is to promote better health and natural remedies, such a section would make sense?
Oh well.
Maybe I am just a small clog in nobody's wheel. Not everyone would be interested in the same things as I am since they live normal lives. I just have weird problems, I guess. Still, I am gonna start trying to see if clean eating has any effect on me. And how different it has been from what I have been doing so far.
So ... another lifestyle decision? We shall see ...
This was brought home to me today as I washed up after dinner. My housemate came home early and asked if I was cooking something with vinegar since it was redolent in the air. I was startled as I have gotten so used to the smell of apple cider vinegar that I do not notice it anymore and forgot that, to others, the smell may be a bit over-powering.
You see, I use it in everything. Ever since I have gotten so easily ill, I have used it in lieu of harsh chemicals and to "disinfect" everything. After I wash my plates and cutlery, I give them a rinse in vinegar solution before a final rinse.
I use it to rinse out my hair after conditioning. I have found less hair fall than before since I started using it.
I make a vinegar solution spray to wipe down my countertops after I clean them with soap just to make sure they are really, really clean. I add it to the final rinse of floors.
Strangely enough, I seldom use it for cooking. I tend to use balsamic vinegar instead.
The smell of apple cider vinegar has started to smell good to me. I like it but it may be a psychological effect. I feel secure when I smell it, knowing (truthfully or delusionally is yet to be determined) I have made things as clean as possible so I do not get sick.
I never used to be so obsessive. In fact, I am quite a lazy person. I avoid cleaning if I can. I hate housework but I have had to be careful because of my health. Just the slightest thing and I end up suffering for days and weeks. It's made a Lysol convert out of me.
As I cleaned up after dinner, on the sink counter was my dishwashing liquid detergent, my spray bottle of vinegar solution, and my medicated liquid hand soap. My housemate took one look and giggled that I was really clean. I was startled as I did not think of myself as particularly anal.
OK, so I'm anal. I rather be that than sick.
I also noticed my liquid handsoap container. I just refilled it last week, using one of my favourite, used Urban Decay bottles to hold some medicated liquid handsoap I'd bought from Daiso. The slightly iridescent, white fluid is rather pretty through the clear plastic bottle. But what was surprisingly that nearly 1/5 of it was gone. The soap, that is. In just one week? I'd used up 1/5 of the soap in a week? Sure, Id been in the loo more times in a day than I have in a week but even then ... 1/5 in a week?
Wow.
I am going to give myself a think here. Am I becoming too neurotic? Is this affecting my life to the extent I will be one of those people who spray Lysol in your path before you speak to them? Don't scoff, I had a colleague like that. She sprayed all door knobs and handles with Lysol before she touched them and used wet wipes every time after she touched something. I used to think she was insane. Now I wonder if I am turning into her!
I want to be well but I also want to be normal! Or as normal as I can be with this damn illness. I have recently been looking into clean eating as a concept. I find it both logical and redundant. Logical because the preparation of food should focus on letting the food ingredients shine in their own merit but redundant because ... I've been doing that for years and now they splash a fancy concept name on it???
Pfffttt.
Still, it's better than the raw food concept which I think is a little extreme and sometimes unwise. But that's just my opinion since it does not and cannot work for me. My stomach and health is too nebulous to survive the raw food indulgence. And it is indulgent as it costs 200x as much to indulge in a raw food lifestyle. I know because a friend's girlfriend is a practitioner and started a business from it. I was astounded when I realised the prices and scornful when I connected the dots. Principles in this case = marketing opportunity in the FMCG mould.
The raw food and clean eating concepts obviously originated from the West although many of the concepts can also be derived from Asian food principles. So trying to sell that to Asians is a hard sell, I think. Only the least practical and grounded Asian would go for it, I think.
Still, I liked the Clean Eating magazine I came across. Unlike many of its new food concept brethren, it was not preachy or pretentious, had great tips and was practical. It also seem targeted at the normal home-maker rather than Cosmopolitan sipping IT-girl wannabe. However, it was no Woman' Weekly such that you feel like you pilfered your mum's subscriptions. I liked it enough to look up their website and bookmark it.
I am still not sure of the whole concept as it seems like it's trying to sell coals to Newscastle where I am concerned, and also because I do like the slow-cook concept too. In fact, I like any culinary concept as long as it makes sense and tastes good.
I might try out some of the recipes even though (as with most Western-based, new age food concept) there is an over-reliance on bean-based products. Firstly, I am not overly fond of beans except for cassoulet and the occasional Irish brekkie (but then, it's more the black pudding I crave). Secondly, I cannot eat legumes because of my lupus. Although the studies suggest but cannot conclude concisely, I can tell you for certain, where I am concerned, that legumes make me hurt. If I eat too many beans-based products, I ache and hurt so badly, it can literally lay me low for days. I have learnt to eat them with much caution and moderation. I've developed such a phobia of them that I have even avoided drinking my beloved soy milk and eating soya bean curd which used to make my daily staples. My eyes tear even now at the loss.
Sigh.
When I was looking through the Clean Eating website I noticed they have a call for recipe testers. Normally I would love to volunteer for something like that but now, with my limited financial resources and my problems with so many food ingredients, I would make a poor tester indeed. Still, I wonder why a magazine like that would not have specialist recipes that cater to the single person with medical limitations. Surely if your mandate is to promote better health and natural remedies, such a section would make sense?
Oh well.
Maybe I am just a small clog in nobody's wheel. Not everyone would be interested in the same things as I am since they live normal lives. I just have weird problems, I guess. Still, I am gonna start trying to see if clean eating has any effect on me. And how different it has been from what I have been doing so far.
So ... another lifestyle decision? We shall see ...
Soup's Up
OK, I am now starting to record everything I eat for the next week as according to my dr's instructions.
Today was sliced beef, watercress and mung bean vermicelli soup, leek dumplings and rice for tea. It was quite fabulous even if I do say so myself. I am just a little worried about the dumplings as they were a made in Taiwan frozen food I bought from NTUC Fairprice. The Taiwanese like their MSG too. However, I checked the ingredients list which seems to be all fairly innocent and natural ingredients with no mention of MSG. Then again, many manufacturers omit that info so we will see what happens to me tonight. So far, there is no tell-tale sign of unreasonable thirst, swelling, stomach spasms, migraine or nausea so I am thinking it may be safe. It was quite tasty even if it is no Crystal Jade standard.
Anyway, the soup was ridiculously easy to make and the dumpling even easier. Heh, since I did not make them! I kill myself ...
Sliced Beef, Watercress and Mung Bean Vermicelli Soup
About 4 - 5 thin sliced beef (like the sukiyaki beef slices you can get at the supermarket)
1 1/2 cup of watercress, torn coarsely
2 rolls of mung bean vermicelli (I prefer the Japanese ones to Chinese ones because they seem to have better texture and shape)
1/2 onion, sliced thinly
1 clove of garlic, peeled, topped and crushed
Miso paste
Non-MSG beef stock cube
Oil
White pepper
Water
Carcass of roast chicken (I kept the carcass of the roast chicken I had bought before just for the purpose of making stock but if you don't have any, just use more beef stock)
1. Heat the oil and once hot, saute the garlic and onions till transparent and fragrant.
2. Add water and bring to the boil
3. Throw in the chicken carcass if using. If not, add the beef stock cube and bring to the boil before lowering the heat and simmering for about 20-30 mins.
4. Remove the chicken carcass and discard. Season the soup with miso paste and beef stock cubes to taste. My roast chicken carcass was from a honey-glazed roast chicken so it was plenty sweet but if yours isn't, you could add some mirin to sweeten it. Or not. It's really to the individual taste.
5. Bring back to the boil and add the watercress and vermicelli. Cover and cook for another 8 mins or so till it comes to the boil again.
6. Season with pepper to taste and turn up the heat
7. Place the beef slices on top, trying not to over-lap and cover.
8. Turn off the fire but keep it covered for about 10 mins.
9. Stir the beef slices into the rest of the soup and serve piping hot
This is a really satisfying meal on its own if you add a lot of vermicelli but you could also have it with rice. I had a small bowl of rice to go with it as well as the dumplings. Frankly, I should not have bothered. Rice was total over-kill.
I seem to have a problem calling the leek dumplings ... dumplings. In my head I keep calling them gyoza. So forgive me if I lapse.
I love gyoza but have only made them from scratch once. And that was in Germany because ... well, you could not find them anywhere. It was not a fantastic success being barely delicious, just a step up from mediocre.
Here in Singapore, there really is no need to make your own since they are everywhere. But finding non-MSG ones has become a challenge I have not fulfilled. I think. The Taiwanese ones I just bought may be the ones but we will see what happens to me after consuming them today.
I used to steam all my dumplings and I never fried them since I dislike oil-laden food. However, ever since a girlfriend taught me the proper way to cook gyoza, I have never done it any other way. For those who were like me before, here's how:
1. Take out your frozen gyoza. You do not even need to thaw them!
2. Heat a pan with oil
3. Lay your dumplings in a single layer without them touching each other if possible. They tend to stick to each other and if they are poorly made, the skin will tear when you try to tear them apart.
4. Pour 1/2 cup of water into the pan and cover
5. Cook undisturbed (you can give it gentle shake to make sure they are not sticking to the pan but use a non-stick pan so you have less problems!) until the water dries up and the bottoms are nicely golden brown
And you're done! You can even make your own sauce to go out it. I did not have any Chinese brown vinegar so I just used balsamic vinegar with non-MSG soy sauce and a few drops of sesame oil. I julienned some ginger and threw them it.
I ate well today and am still feeling fairly good even hours after I ate. We will see if I suffer any effects from MSG later tonight.
In the meantime, I might have a cheesecupcake and green tea before I call it a night.
Today was sliced beef, watercress and mung bean vermicelli soup, leek dumplings and rice for tea. It was quite fabulous even if I do say so myself. I am just a little worried about the dumplings as they were a made in Taiwan frozen food I bought from NTUC Fairprice. The Taiwanese like their MSG too. However, I checked the ingredients list which seems to be all fairly innocent and natural ingredients with no mention of MSG. Then again, many manufacturers omit that info so we will see what happens to me tonight. So far, there is no tell-tale sign of unreasonable thirst, swelling, stomach spasms, migraine or nausea so I am thinking it may be safe. It was quite tasty even if it is no Crystal Jade standard.
Anyway, the soup was ridiculously easy to make and the dumpling even easier. Heh, since I did not make them! I kill myself ...
Sliced Beef, Watercress and Mung Bean Vermicelli Soup
About 4 - 5 thin sliced beef (like the sukiyaki beef slices you can get at the supermarket)
1 1/2 cup of watercress, torn coarsely
2 rolls of mung bean vermicelli (I prefer the Japanese ones to Chinese ones because they seem to have better texture and shape)
1/2 onion, sliced thinly
1 clove of garlic, peeled, topped and crushed
Miso paste
Non-MSG beef stock cube
Oil
White pepper
Water
1. Heat the oil and once hot, saute the garlic and onions till transparent and fragrant.
2. Add water and bring to the boil
4. Remove the chicken carcass and discard. Season the soup with miso paste and beef stock cubes to taste. My roast chicken carcass was from a honey-glazed roast chicken so it was plenty sweet but if yours isn't, you could add some mirin to sweeten it. Or not. It's really to the individual taste.
5. Bring back to the boil and add the watercress and vermicelli. Cover and cook for another 8 mins or so till it comes to the boil again.
6. Season with pepper to taste and turn up the heat
7. Place the beef slices on top, trying not to over-lap and cover.
8. Turn off the fire but keep it covered for about 10 mins.
9. Stir the beef slices into the rest of the soup and serve piping hot
I seem to have a problem calling the leek dumplings ... dumplings. In my head I keep calling them gyoza. So forgive me if I lapse.
I love gyoza but have only made them from scratch once. And that was in Germany because ... well, you could not find them anywhere. It was not a fantastic success being barely delicious, just a step up from mediocre.
Here in Singapore, there really is no need to make your own since they are everywhere. But finding non-MSG ones has become a challenge I have not fulfilled. I think. The Taiwanese ones I just bought may be the ones but we will see what happens to me after consuming them today.
I used to steam all my dumplings and I never fried them since I dislike oil-laden food. However, ever since a girlfriend taught me the proper way to cook gyoza, I have never done it any other way. For those who were like me before, here's how:
1. Take out your frozen gyoza. You do not even need to thaw them!
2. Heat a pan with oil
3. Lay your dumplings in a single layer without them touching each other if possible. They tend to stick to each other and if they are poorly made, the skin will tear when you try to tear them apart.
4. Pour 1/2 cup of water into the pan and cover
I ate well today and am still feeling fairly good even hours after I ate. We will see if I suffer any effects from MSG later tonight.
In the meantime, I might have a cheesecupcake and green tea before I call it a night.
Status Update - 8/5/12
Today, the stomach problems seem to be lessening. At least I do not have to go every hour or so. Now it's only every time I eat something.
But it worried me enough to email my doctor and now I have to record everything I eat and my weight. The last is a little hard to do since I do not own a weighing machine. But I do know I have lost weight this past week even though I might have made up some of it just today!
Bowel movements - not as disastrous at 7/10.
Dermatitis check - More lesions and rashes appeared on my face, neck and ears again. They seem to be getting worse but it could be because I started the lesser dosage of predisnone last Wednesday. It is a bit unbearable though as I am waking up in the middle of the night scratching as well as rushing to go to the loo now.
Additionally a dark, angry red bruise appeared on my inner elbow two days ago. At first I thought I had not scrubbed properly in the shower and went it with vigour. It remained and then I started getting worried. I asked my dr about it and she says it does appear in patients taking prolonged dosages of steroids due to "unrecognised trauma". What the hell does that mean? I like my dr as she seems like a nice person but she really likes to hear herself speak in medical terms to impress herself. It certainly does not impress her patients as we just think she's talking out of her arse and she has total disconnect with us! Just speak English, goddamit!
I sent her an email back to ask what exactly is "unrecognised trauma". We'll see what she comes back with. This is my main problem with her. We have basic communications problems. I speak human. She speaks "I paid a lot of money to utter rubbish to impress myself".
Vision check - The swirling lights seems less today and this could be because the migraines eased a bit the last two days.
Pain check - 7/10. The stomach still the crux of the pain but my neck. back and left arm have started acting up a bit today. Sigh,when one stops, the others have to compensate.
Hydration - Getting a little better since I seem to be able to drink water and tea without having to go to the loo for ages.
Mystery sweet taste in mouth check - still there. Darn, I forgot to ask the dr about it. Oh well, next time.
Energy level - Slightly better too now that I am getting a bit more sleep without having to wake up constantly. So it's about 5/10. I'm still quite tired and the thought to having to go out scares me. In case I cannot find a loo in time and my eyes and head still feel so heavy.
Respiration check - Not sure what is going on as it's not asthma but been feeling a little hard of breath these two nights. Not enough to worry me but enough to irritate. So I am going to burn me some eucalyptus and peppermint oils tonight so I can sleep better.
But it worried me enough to email my doctor and now I have to record everything I eat and my weight. The last is a little hard to do since I do not own a weighing machine. But I do know I have lost weight this past week even though I might have made up some of it just today!
Bowel movements - not as disastrous at 7/10.
Dermatitis check - More lesions and rashes appeared on my face, neck and ears again. They seem to be getting worse but it could be because I started the lesser dosage of predisnone last Wednesday. It is a bit unbearable though as I am waking up in the middle of the night scratching as well as rushing to go to the loo now.
Additionally a dark, angry red bruise appeared on my inner elbow two days ago. At first I thought I had not scrubbed properly in the shower and went it with vigour. It remained and then I started getting worried. I asked my dr about it and she says it does appear in patients taking prolonged dosages of steroids due to "unrecognised trauma". What the hell does that mean? I like my dr as she seems like a nice person but she really likes to hear herself speak in medical terms to impress herself. It certainly does not impress her patients as we just think she's talking out of her arse and she has total disconnect with us! Just speak English, goddamit!
I sent her an email back to ask what exactly is "unrecognised trauma". We'll see what she comes back with. This is my main problem with her. We have basic communications problems. I speak human. She speaks "I paid a lot of money to utter rubbish to impress myself".
Vision check - The swirling lights seems less today and this could be because the migraines eased a bit the last two days.
Pain check - 7/10. The stomach still the crux of the pain but my neck. back and left arm have started acting up a bit today. Sigh,when one stops, the others have to compensate.
Hydration - Getting a little better since I seem to be able to drink water and tea without having to go to the loo for ages.
Mystery sweet taste in mouth check - still there. Darn, I forgot to ask the dr about it. Oh well, next time.
Energy level - Slightly better too now that I am getting a bit more sleep without having to wake up constantly. So it's about 5/10. I'm still quite tired and the thought to having to go out scares me. In case I cannot find a loo in time and my eyes and head still feel so heavy.
Respiration check - Not sure what is going on as it's not asthma but been feeling a little hard of breath these two nights. Not enough to worry me but enough to irritate. So I am going to burn me some eucalyptus and peppermint oils tonight so I can sleep better.
Monday, 7 May 2012
Hallyu Doing?
I grew up knowing next to nothing about Korea. Till the return of a prodigal uncle who came home bearing gifts. For some strange reason, he gave me a Korean doll. You know the ones. The Asian barbie dressed in hanbok you find in every Korean DFS.
I was mesmerised. Not only because I never got dolls (since my family disapproved of any toys without educational basis) but also because the costume was so ... gaudy! Of course I loved it!
I am not sure what happened to the doll as, as expected, it was taken away from me the moment my uncle left the house but I remember my uncle humming a snatch of Arirang for me. It was such a catchy tune that I probably drove everyone up the wall humming it non-stop for the next few days.
And that was the extent of my Korean education till I was in my late teens.
Korean BBQ was the trend then and all my friends kept going to the Korean BBQ joints like it was going out of fashion. Now, even then I knew what crap food was and the quality of the food at these early places was certainly suspect. Needless to say I was not a fan and studiously tried to avoid all Korean food, thinking it was quite horrible indeed.
Then I came to Singapore after the millennium and met my first Korean friend. She was a tall, ravishing woman who was completely foreign to me. Somehow we became friends and she was the one who introduced me to real Korean food. And Korean drama. And soju.
I was hooked. On the food and drama. Strangely, I never quite developed a taste for soju though I drank it enough with her!
Nowadays I seem to watch more Korean dramas than anything else. I am a little hapless as to how that happened since I do not speak Korean but if I compare the different types of dramas I used to watch to food ... well ...
Korean drama would be a stew. Thick, moorish with surprising spurts of light piquancy, sudden bursts of sweetness and an underlying bitterness. It is not subtle but rich and evocative, stirring faint memories of childhood cravings and redolent of self-indulgence. It is unapologetic and genuine and strangely addictive. I once likened Korean dramas to Russian literature lite. It is not to everyone;s taste but it is quite unforgettable and has a bitter melancholy and overlying pessimism even as it strives for brave stoicism.
Japanese drama would be a consomme. Light but full of flavour. Subtle yet slightly pretentious with the propensity to take itself too seriously even when it is trying to lighten its note. It;s simplicity and confidence can be sublime but there is also the over-reliance on formulaic success. It is a sophistry of taste and sight but one can become jaded with prolonged exposure to the lack of variation.
Thai drama is a rojak. It is brash, assertive, bursting with exuberance and unabashed enthusiasm. It can be over-powering so one should take it in moderation before the senses become numb and one loses one's senses entirely.
Taiwanese drama is like chok or porridge. It is made up of lots of things borrowed from lots of places. It tries to bring its own spin to the porridge but because the base is so fluid, it never really seems substantial enough to make a memorable meal. The seasonings are coarse for the fullest flavour at the fastest speed. Because of the desire to get the most out of the humble dish, it often suffers from too many cooks (or concepts) spoiling the porridge. There is the tendency to over-do and subtlety is not a word that they can spell. Perhaps with time, they would learn to slow-cook the porridge so it can fulfill its potential. But first they would have to learn how to be original.
Hong Kong drama is like yu sang. What is originally a flavourful and simple ingredient gets tossed willy nilly with so many things that the fish is literally tossed out of palate. The dish is loud, overly-gilded and mired in so much marketing muck that eating it does not justify the cost. Which is a pity because they tend to use high-quality and delicious fish only to throw it amidst rubbish.
Notice I made no mention of Western films? That's because they are in a completely different category ad discussing them will lead into a never-ending blog.
Perhaps it is my current state of mind, prompted by my physical limitations which arouse the pathos that align well with Korean drama. So lately I have been following The King to Heart, Rooftop Prince, Queen InHyun's Man, Hero and Standby. The only non-Korean drama I am following is Papa was Idol. It is certainly an eclectic mix and I have a feeling I will be dripping Rooftop Prince and Standby very soon.
Still it beats what's on telly which is full of the First XI every time I turn on the telly. I like the idea of a local league that is not a disgrace every time they cross the causeway but this is ridiculous!
I find the Hallyu wave a interesting phenomenon and wonder if it was a concerted and strategic plan right from get-go or a smart and opportunistic tactic after the fact.
Still I might comment from time to time on my hallyu immersion but at now I have to go watch Hero.
I was mesmerised. Not only because I never got dolls (since my family disapproved of any toys without educational basis) but also because the costume was so ... gaudy! Of course I loved it!
I am not sure what happened to the doll as, as expected, it was taken away from me the moment my uncle left the house but I remember my uncle humming a snatch of Arirang for me. It was such a catchy tune that I probably drove everyone up the wall humming it non-stop for the next few days.
And that was the extent of my Korean education till I was in my late teens.
Korean BBQ was the trend then and all my friends kept going to the Korean BBQ joints like it was going out of fashion. Now, even then I knew what crap food was and the quality of the food at these early places was certainly suspect. Needless to say I was not a fan and studiously tried to avoid all Korean food, thinking it was quite horrible indeed.
Then I came to Singapore after the millennium and met my first Korean friend. She was a tall, ravishing woman who was completely foreign to me. Somehow we became friends and she was the one who introduced me to real Korean food. And Korean drama. And soju.
I was hooked. On the food and drama. Strangely, I never quite developed a taste for soju though I drank it enough with her!
Nowadays I seem to watch more Korean dramas than anything else. I am a little hapless as to how that happened since I do not speak Korean but if I compare the different types of dramas I used to watch to food ... well ...
Korean drama would be a stew. Thick, moorish with surprising spurts of light piquancy, sudden bursts of sweetness and an underlying bitterness. It is not subtle but rich and evocative, stirring faint memories of childhood cravings and redolent of self-indulgence. It is unapologetic and genuine and strangely addictive. I once likened Korean dramas to Russian literature lite. It is not to everyone;s taste but it is quite unforgettable and has a bitter melancholy and overlying pessimism even as it strives for brave stoicism.
Japanese drama would be a consomme. Light but full of flavour. Subtle yet slightly pretentious with the propensity to take itself too seriously even when it is trying to lighten its note. It;s simplicity and confidence can be sublime but there is also the over-reliance on formulaic success. It is a sophistry of taste and sight but one can become jaded with prolonged exposure to the lack of variation.
Thai drama is a rojak. It is brash, assertive, bursting with exuberance and unabashed enthusiasm. It can be over-powering so one should take it in moderation before the senses become numb and one loses one's senses entirely.
Taiwanese drama is like chok or porridge. It is made up of lots of things borrowed from lots of places. It tries to bring its own spin to the porridge but because the base is so fluid, it never really seems substantial enough to make a memorable meal. The seasonings are coarse for the fullest flavour at the fastest speed. Because of the desire to get the most out of the humble dish, it often suffers from too many cooks (or concepts) spoiling the porridge. There is the tendency to over-do and subtlety is not a word that they can spell. Perhaps with time, they would learn to slow-cook the porridge so it can fulfill its potential. But first they would have to learn how to be original.
Hong Kong drama is like yu sang. What is originally a flavourful and simple ingredient gets tossed willy nilly with so many things that the fish is literally tossed out of palate. The dish is loud, overly-gilded and mired in so much marketing muck that eating it does not justify the cost. Which is a pity because they tend to use high-quality and delicious fish only to throw it amidst rubbish.
Notice I made no mention of Western films? That's because they are in a completely different category ad discussing them will lead into a never-ending blog.
Perhaps it is my current state of mind, prompted by my physical limitations which arouse the pathos that align well with Korean drama. So lately I have been following The King to Heart, Rooftop Prince, Queen InHyun's Man, Hero and Standby. The only non-Korean drama I am following is Papa was Idol. It is certainly an eclectic mix and I have a feeling I will be dripping Rooftop Prince and Standby very soon.
Still it beats what's on telly which is full of the First XI every time I turn on the telly. I like the idea of a local league that is not a disgrace every time they cross the causeway but this is ridiculous!
I find the Hallyu wave a interesting phenomenon and wonder if it was a concerted and strategic plan right from get-go or a smart and opportunistic tactic after the fact.
Still I might comment from time to time on my hallyu immersion but at now I have to go watch Hero.
Strawberry Fields
I am still recovering from the very, very bad stomach attack so the status update remains unchanged. I have been subsisting on fish porridge over the weekend and all I can say is that thank God I had the foresight to buy the kuning.
Anyway, today, I felt I had to be a little less useless. Firstly, because I feel useless, and secondly because there is a box of strawberries that I just know is rotting away in my crisper. I had to do something about them today or it's S$3.95 down the drain. Especially since they were rather nice strawberries too. Why is it the Korean ones always taste so much sweeter than their American counterparts?
I took out a tub of cream cheese to thaw to room temperature and took a slow shampoo and shower in the hopes to garnering enough energy to bake some strawberries cheesecupcakes.
I promise I will include some photos tomorrow but I am just too knackered today.
Let's start talking about the crust first. I usually use mini Oreos to make my crusts but I had eaten the last one and was too tired and lazy to make a cookie crust. Instead, I use some spiced, candied walnuts I had made before.
OK, they sound a lit more fabulous than they are. I got the recipe off the Internet and I really should have known better. Anytime some Western recipe involving the words "spice", they tend to result in bland, luck-luster disappointments. I really do not know why I keep giving them a benefit of the doubt. These were caramelised in honey, nutmeg and cumin but were sad imitations of the fantastic candied walnuts the Chinese produce. I am going to have to tweak and re-do this again to my satisfaction.
I had saved these candied walnuts for snacks but they were so pathetic I had shoved them to the darkest depths of the fridge so I felt it was time to unearth them and make them useful.
Strawberries Cheesecupcakes with a Candied Walnut Bottom (I made only 6 - just enough for me)
100g cream cheese, softened
4 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 small egg, beaten
4 tbsp sour cream (if you don't have this, mix a tsp of vinegar to the 4 tbsp milk and leave to thicken for about 10-15 mins)
Pinch of salt
About 6-7 small strawberries, hulled and sliced
About 1 cup of candied walnuts (or 6 mini Oreos)
1.Preheat your oven to 180 deg Celsius.
2. Cream your cheese with sugar, then add the vanilla and mix well. It is way easier to cream your cheese (why does that sound kinda wrong?) if you have thawed it to room temperature
3. Drizzle the egg in and mix well with each addition
4. Add the sour cream & salt and mix well
5. I use silicon muffin cups but if you aren't, you might want to try paper muffin cup liners so you can show off the strawberries "field" and the walnut/Oreo base. Line the bottom of each muffin cup with enough candied walnuts to cover. If using mini Oreos, just plonk one in.
6. Line some of the strawberry slices around the sides of the muffin cups. I placed 5 each but it's really up to your taste and sense of aesthetics.
7. Spoon the batter into the cups. If you are using candied walnuts, you do not need to worry but if you are using the mini Oreos, you might want to weight them down after drowning them. I use a chopstick and poke it to death in the middle till the Oreo decides to play dead and stay down instead of floating to the middle.
8. Bring some hot water to boil
9. Place your muffin tray in the middle rack of your oven and pour the boiling hot water into a tray before the rack up to an inch's height
10. Bake for about 10 mins before rotating it around and baking for another 12-15 mins.
11. Let it cook completely before refrigerating it to set for about 4 hours.
This is one of my fail-safe recipes and I make it all the time because it is so easy and lends itself well to variations. It's also super yummy.
You can use strawberry flavoured Oreos for your base and I tend to use the blueberry flavoured ones when I make my blueberry cheesecupcakes. Walnuts go wonderfully as base and the smoky bitterness complements and highlights the smooth, salty, sweetness of the cream cheese.
I like making the cheesecupcakes as they are in small portions so I do not feel sick if I eat them and they store easily. Again, they are great for portion control for those on weight watch.
OK, who am I kidding? I just like them because they are so small and cute.
Anyway, today, I felt I had to be a little less useless. Firstly, because I feel useless, and secondly because there is a box of strawberries that I just know is rotting away in my crisper. I had to do something about them today or it's S$3.95 down the drain. Especially since they were rather nice strawberries too. Why is it the Korean ones always taste so much sweeter than their American counterparts? I took out a tub of cream cheese to thaw to room temperature and took a slow shampoo and shower in the hopes to garnering enough energy to bake some strawberries cheesecupcakes.
I promise I will include some photos tomorrow but I am just too knackered today.
Let's start talking about the crust first. I usually use mini Oreos to make my crusts but I had eaten the last one and was too tired and lazy to make a cookie crust. Instead, I use some spiced, candied walnuts I had made before.
OK, they sound a lit more fabulous than they are. I got the recipe off the Internet and I really should have known better. Anytime some Western recipe involving the words "spice", they tend to result in bland, luck-luster disappointments. I really do not know why I keep giving them a benefit of the doubt. These were caramelised in honey, nutmeg and cumin but were sad imitations of the fantastic candied walnuts the Chinese produce. I am going to have to tweak and re-do this again to my satisfaction.
I had saved these candied walnuts for snacks but they were so pathetic I had shoved them to the darkest depths of the fridge so I felt it was time to unearth them and make them useful.
Strawberries Cheesecupcakes with a Candied Walnut Bottom (I made only 6 - just enough for me)
100g cream cheese, softened
4 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 small egg, beaten
4 tbsp sour cream (if you don't have this, mix a tsp of vinegar to the 4 tbsp milk and leave to thicken for about 10-15 mins)
Pinch of salt
About 6-7 small strawberries, hulled and sliced
About 1 cup of candied walnuts (or 6 mini Oreos)
1.Preheat your oven to 180 deg Celsius.
2. Cream your cheese with sugar, then add the vanilla and mix well. It is way easier to cream your cheese (why does that sound kinda wrong?) if you have thawed it to room temperature
3. Drizzle the egg in and mix well with each addition
4. Add the sour cream & salt and mix well
5. I use silicon muffin cups but if you aren't, you might want to try paper muffin cup liners so you can show off the strawberries "field" and the walnut/Oreo base. Line the bottom of each muffin cup with enough candied walnuts to cover. If using mini Oreos, just plonk one in.
6. Line some of the strawberry slices around the sides of the muffin cups. I placed 5 each but it's really up to your taste and sense of aesthetics.
7. Spoon the batter into the cups. If you are using candied walnuts, you do not need to worry but if you are using the mini Oreos, you might want to weight them down after drowning them. I use a chopstick and poke it to death in the middle till the Oreo decides to play dead and stay down instead of floating to the middle.
8. Bring some hot water to boil
9. Place your muffin tray in the middle rack of your oven and pour the boiling hot water into a tray before the rack up to an inch's height
10. Bake for about 10 mins before rotating it around and baking for another 12-15 mins.
11. Let it cook completely before refrigerating it to set for about 4 hours.
This is one of my fail-safe recipes and I make it all the time because it is so easy and lends itself well to variations. It's also super yummy.
You can use strawberry flavoured Oreos for your base and I tend to use the blueberry flavoured ones when I make my blueberry cheesecupcakes. Walnuts go wonderfully as base and the smoky bitterness complements and highlights the smooth, salty, sweetness of the cream cheese.
I like making the cheesecupcakes as they are in small portions so I do not feel sick if I eat them and they store easily. Again, they are great for portion control for those on weight watch.
OK, who am I kidding? I just like them because they are so small and cute.
Friday, 4 May 2012
Fish Porridge Hot
It's time to put back in a little more nutrition, which was lost in the last 4 days. I've had a terrible time doing my supermarket run today but thankfully, managed to score some kuning fish and nice watercress.
I'm not sure why watercress do not fare well In Singapore but they seem to wilt and rot in very short time so I find I usually have to finish them within the day or so after purchase.
Anyway, I love kuning fish. My mother used to steam them for me or make fish porridge out of them and I adore the sweet, mild taste of these tiny little fishies. In fact, I much preferred it to the pomfrets and mackerals she used to cook for me. Luckily for me, they are plentiful and really cheap. I bought a packet of 11 little fishies for just S$2.07 today!
I picked 7 and stored 4 in the freezer for a day when I feel like eating some steamed fish. After poaching them gently and picking the tender flesh out, I had about a cup and half of yummy fish for my porridge.
I also had some leftover chye sim which I knew had to be used up today or it's binning for them come tomorrow.
Fish Porridge for Sickies
1 cup of kuning flesh (save the poaching liquid)
2 cups of chye sim, torn into small bite size pieces
1 cup of watercress, torn into small bite-size pieces
2 cloves of garlic, sliced
1/3 onion, chopped
1-inch piece of ginger, julienned
1 1/2 cup short-grain rice like calrose, rinsed
Water
Non-MSG chicken stock granules
White pepper
Oil
1. Heat your claypot and add your oil. Once the oil is hot, add the onion and garlic and saute till fragrant and onion is transparent.
2. Add the poaching liquid from your fish, add the ginger and bring to the boil.
3. Add your rice and stir and bring to the boil.
4. Lower the heat and cook till rice is plump. I like my porridge a little sticky so I cook it for a longer time. Keep adding water according to how you like your porridge but remember to ensure that it comes to a boil or simmer after each addition.
5. Add the vegetable and bring to the boil.
6. Add the fish and stir to combine.
7. Season with the chicken stock granules and pepper to taste.
It's a really simple porridge but it's perfect for the days when you feel icky.
I'm not sure why watercress do not fare well In Singapore but they seem to wilt and rot in very short time so I find I usually have to finish them within the day or so after purchase.
Anyway, I love kuning fish. My mother used to steam them for me or make fish porridge out of them and I adore the sweet, mild taste of these tiny little fishies. In fact, I much preferred it to the pomfrets and mackerals she used to cook for me. Luckily for me, they are plentiful and really cheap. I bought a packet of 11 little fishies for just S$2.07 today!
Fish Porridge for Sickies
1 cup of kuning flesh (save the poaching liquid)
2 cups of chye sim, torn into small bite size pieces
1 cup of watercress, torn into small bite-size pieces
2 cloves of garlic, sliced
1/3 onion, chopped
1-inch piece of ginger, julienned
1 1/2 cup short-grain rice like calrose, rinsed
Water
Non-MSG chicken stock granules
White pepper
Oil
2. Add the poaching liquid from your fish, add the ginger and bring to the boil.
3. Add your rice and stir and bring to the boil.
4. Lower the heat and cook till rice is plump. I like my porridge a little sticky so I cook it for a longer time. Keep adding water according to how you like your porridge but remember to ensure that it comes to a boil or simmer after each addition.
5. Add the vegetable and bring to the boil.
6. Add the fish and stir to combine.
7. Season with the chicken stock granules and pepper to taste.
It's a really simple porridge but it's perfect for the days when you feel icky.
Supermarket Dashed
I can feel my nutrition value dip dangerously low this week with the problems with The Stomach. Yes, it deserves capitalisation with its superior beat-down this week.
Firstly, I have to make a comment that having neighbourhood supermarkets is a brilliant thing but they really need to get their acts together if they are part of large franchise like NTUC Fairprice or Cold Storage. Especially when they have promotions or press ads and then cannot deliver.
Let's take for example this week's fiasco. And I say this because it took so much out of me to do the marketing this week and I had planned well ahead. And found myself having less than 15% success rate in getting all the things I wanted which were on promotion or advertised. This is a truly bad thing and only mitigated by my foresight to purchase some items not on my list ahead of time. Pauper's intuition is not to be under-estimated, for which I am truly grateful to God.
Here is my list culled from today's updates of promotions from NTUC Fairprice's and Cold Storage's websites. I have to commend them both for being so timely this and Cold Storage really stepped up their 3-day promotion update by having it up before noon today.
NTUC Fairprice
Meiji milk @S$$4.95 for the 2l bottle (UP @S$5.25)
NZ Organic Royal Gala apples @S$4.20/1kg packet OR
South Africa Royal Gala apples@S$2.35/1kg packet
Thai Rainbow mangoes @S$3.35 for 4x
Avocadoes @S$2.94 for 3x
Minced Pork @S$0.99/100g
Cold Storage
Minced Beef @S$2.99/100g (UP@S$3.59/100g)
Cold Storage Meltique Ribeye or Sirloin @S$6.95/packet (UP @S$11.90)
Prime Laksa @S$5.15 per box (UP @S$5.20)
Pork Spare Ribs @S$1.59/100g (UP @S$2.32)
Bulk Shoulder Ham @S$4.99/pack (UP @S$6.30)
BBQ Smoked Duck @S$13.99 (UP @S$25.90)
Of course, this is the list of items I think are a good deal and I do not anticipate getting all of them! However, I usually expect to purchase at least 50-70% of the items I list as I am already quite selective.
Here's how it went down.
I went to NTUC Fairprice first as I usually find that they have more varieties of green vegetables at a more reasonable price than Cold Storage. The latter has better meats and diary and a lot of other stuff I can never find in NTUC Fairprice so I usually go there last because I always pick up little surprises or luxuries there.
So going according to the list at NTUC, the results were -
Meiji milk as usual was plentiful and in all the flavours you may want. I still have 1/3 bottle of milk left so I will pick up another bottle later in the week before the promotion is over next Thursday.
I compared the NZ organic apples versus the South African. OK, I know organic is the trend and the price certainly seems to reflect it but the organic apples looked so beat up and even felt a little squidgy so I felt fully justified in purchasing the cheaper South African counterparts. I hope they live up to the taste test.
At the mangoes counter, I gave an older lady a smile as she picked gingerly among them. Honestly, they were the saddest looking lot of mangoes I had seen in a while. They were either greener than an 18-year-old at his first day of NS or wrinkly and spotted like his grandfather. And there were so few of them that the counter was only 1/3 full. The lady and I gave each other commiserating smiles and we both concluded that they were definitely not worth the look, what more the buy. For shame, NTUC Fairprice. What do you think you are? Sheng Shiong?
I felt so let down that I did not hold much more hope for the avocadoes. Surprisingly, they were plentiful and in good shape! Usually, NTUC Fairprice's avocadoes are of the picked unripe and will take 500 years to mature into gooey mess variety. This time around, they were nicely green with a few just ripe enough to eat today or tomorrow. I promptly picked 1 for today and two to make it through the week.
And here is where they truly messed up. I think majority of NTUC Fairprice's customers are Chinese. At least I get that impression as they always seem to have a lot of pork in store. Since I am not much of a pork eater, I never give much notice to their stock. But today, I thought I would purchase some minced pork since it was a good promotion and I could make what we call half & half meatballs. Half pork and half beef.
Except, NTUC Fairprice had 2 packets of minced pork on their counter. Two! Liang ge! Duo! What? And they looked so anaemic and dry that I did not even bother to pick them up. Truly ... for shame, NTUC Fairprice.
Instead, I purchase some kuning fish and watercress to make some fish porridge this weekend.
And hustled over to Cold Storage where I thought I would have a better time of it.
Wrong.
I think NTUC Fairprice and Cold Storage shared the same merchandising executive this week. Their deli counter featured some roast chicken and ribs. And where the sign for the BBQ Smoked Duck on promotion was ... was a large, shiny aluminium foil of ... nothing. No ducks. And this was at 2pm. 2 hours after they updated their website. I asked the deli man where they were and he sheepishly informed me that they had just started a new batch to cook. You do know how long ducks take to roast, don't you? This is extremely poor store management.
Over at the meat counter, they had two large packets of pork spare ribs. They were so large that it would take two weeks for me to finish and trust me, I cannot eat pork more than once a week before I throw up. And in another corner, lurked two pathetic packets of minced beef. Again, I did not pick them up as I had given up in disgust. I was so peeved that I forgot to look out their Meltique beef and Prima Laksa. I was starting to think it might be a no-meat weekend for me.
I was so annoyed that I bought nothing from Cold Storage and walked out empty-handed for the first time in a long time.
My point is that if you run a promotion, and especially a 3-day promotion that starts today, you better make sure you have enough stock for it not be taken as false advertising.
This week's supermarket run was a right failure. And the greatest shame goes to Cold Storage.
Firstly, I have to make a comment that having neighbourhood supermarkets is a brilliant thing but they really need to get their acts together if they are part of large franchise like NTUC Fairprice or Cold Storage. Especially when they have promotions or press ads and then cannot deliver.
Let's take for example this week's fiasco. And I say this because it took so much out of me to do the marketing this week and I had planned well ahead. And found myself having less than 15% success rate in getting all the things I wanted which were on promotion or advertised. This is a truly bad thing and only mitigated by my foresight to purchase some items not on my list ahead of time. Pauper's intuition is not to be under-estimated, for which I am truly grateful to God.
Here is my list culled from today's updates of promotions from NTUC Fairprice's and Cold Storage's websites. I have to commend them both for being so timely this and Cold Storage really stepped up their 3-day promotion update by having it up before noon today.
NTUC Fairprice
Meiji milk @S$$4.95 for the 2l bottle (UP @S$5.25)
NZ Organic Royal Gala apples @S$4.20/1kg packet OR
South Africa Royal Gala apples@S$2.35/1kg packet
Thai Rainbow mangoes @S$3.35 for 4x
Avocadoes @S$2.94 for 3x
Minced Pork @S$0.99/100g
Cold Storage
Minced Beef @S$2.99/100g (UP@S$3.59/100g)
Cold Storage Meltique Ribeye or Sirloin @S$6.95/packet (UP @S$11.90)
Prime Laksa @S$5.15 per box (UP @S$5.20)
Pork Spare Ribs @S$1.59/100g (UP @S$2.32)
Bulk Shoulder Ham @S$4.99/pack (UP @S$6.30)
BBQ Smoked Duck @S$13.99 (UP @S$25.90)
Of course, this is the list of items I think are a good deal and I do not anticipate getting all of them! However, I usually expect to purchase at least 50-70% of the items I list as I am already quite selective.
Here's how it went down.
I went to NTUC Fairprice first as I usually find that they have more varieties of green vegetables at a more reasonable price than Cold Storage. The latter has better meats and diary and a lot of other stuff I can never find in NTUC Fairprice so I usually go there last because I always pick up little surprises or luxuries there.
So going according to the list at NTUC, the results were -
Meiji milk as usual was plentiful and in all the flavours you may want. I still have 1/3 bottle of milk left so I will pick up another bottle later in the week before the promotion is over next Thursday.
I compared the NZ organic apples versus the South African. OK, I know organic is the trend and the price certainly seems to reflect it but the organic apples looked so beat up and even felt a little squidgy so I felt fully justified in purchasing the cheaper South African counterparts. I hope they live up to the taste test.
At the mangoes counter, I gave an older lady a smile as she picked gingerly among them. Honestly, they were the saddest looking lot of mangoes I had seen in a while. They were either greener than an 18-year-old at his first day of NS or wrinkly and spotted like his grandfather. And there were so few of them that the counter was only 1/3 full. The lady and I gave each other commiserating smiles and we both concluded that they were definitely not worth the look, what more the buy. For shame, NTUC Fairprice. What do you think you are? Sheng Shiong?
I felt so let down that I did not hold much more hope for the avocadoes. Surprisingly, they were plentiful and in good shape! Usually, NTUC Fairprice's avocadoes are of the picked unripe and will take 500 years to mature into gooey mess variety. This time around, they were nicely green with a few just ripe enough to eat today or tomorrow. I promptly picked 1 for today and two to make it through the week.
And here is where they truly messed up. I think majority of NTUC Fairprice's customers are Chinese. At least I get that impression as they always seem to have a lot of pork in store. Since I am not much of a pork eater, I never give much notice to their stock. But today, I thought I would purchase some minced pork since it was a good promotion and I could make what we call half & half meatballs. Half pork and half beef.
Except, NTUC Fairprice had 2 packets of minced pork on their counter. Two! Liang ge! Duo! What? And they looked so anaemic and dry that I did not even bother to pick them up. Truly ... for shame, NTUC Fairprice.
Instead, I purchase some kuning fish and watercress to make some fish porridge this weekend.
And hustled over to Cold Storage where I thought I would have a better time of it.
Wrong.
I think NTUC Fairprice and Cold Storage shared the same merchandising executive this week. Their deli counter featured some roast chicken and ribs. And where the sign for the BBQ Smoked Duck on promotion was ... was a large, shiny aluminium foil of ... nothing. No ducks. And this was at 2pm. 2 hours after they updated their website. I asked the deli man where they were and he sheepishly informed me that they had just started a new batch to cook. You do know how long ducks take to roast, don't you? This is extremely poor store management.
Over at the meat counter, they had two large packets of pork spare ribs. They were so large that it would take two weeks for me to finish and trust me, I cannot eat pork more than once a week before I throw up. And in another corner, lurked two pathetic packets of minced beef. Again, I did not pick them up as I had given up in disgust. I was so peeved that I forgot to look out their Meltique beef and Prima Laksa. I was starting to think it might be a no-meat weekend for me.
I was so annoyed that I bought nothing from Cold Storage and walked out empty-handed for the first time in a long time.
My point is that if you run a promotion, and especially a 3-day promotion that starts today, you better make sure you have enough stock for it not be taken as false advertising.
This week's supermarket run was a right failure. And the greatest shame goes to Cold Storage.
Status Update - 4/5/12
The last couple of days have been hellish. The stomach has not ceased in its revolution for world domination. I really have no idea what caused this latest brouhaha but I'm paying for it. Have not been able to literally stomach anything much without prolonged and non-stop visits to the loo.
It's still on-going and I can tell I am losing weight. Which is good because I was starting to bloat, but bad because I know I am not retaining much nutrition nor hydration.
Bowel movements - still disastrous at 9/10.
Dermatitis check - Unchanged although I started develop an uncontrollable itch around the hips and bum during the night, which disappeared in the morning. So I will give it a 3/10.
Vision check - The swirling lights have increased even during the day.
Pain check - 9/10. Besides the stomach, the back has been acting up severely and the heels of both feet hurt when I walk. Am also developing a numb, constant migraine think I think is due to the exhaustion from waking up all the time to go to the loo.
Hydration - Still bad for the same reason.
Mystery sweet taste in mouth check - still there but less severe than yesterday.
Energy level - What energy? I did my weekly grocery shopping but had to cut it short when I started flagging after 45 mins. Could barely walk home and had to take two painkillers immediately upon return.
I am almost afraid to eat but I need to do so to take my arsenal of meds.
Tuesday, 1 May 2012
Status Update - 1/5/12
It's not a good day. I think either my cereal or my milk was suspect. I had a small bowl of cereal for supper yesterday and ended with terrible diarrhea all night, right into the morning.
I am still feeling the effects right now and have just eaten some of my leftover pizza, which I have heated up zealously. I wonder if it will stay down as even drinking water has made me a prisoner in the loo.
I do not know if it is the MSG intolerance or lupus that has made my stomach so incredibly sensitive. If there is anything even slightly suspect, I end up paying the prize.
Bowel movements - disastrous on a scale of 9/10.
Dermatitis check - Well, I am pale faced today only because of the stomach but otherwise not much difference from yesterday. The neck is a little irritated though.
Vision check - Seeing stars because the pain in the stomach is so severe. Strangely enough, no migraine even though the swirling lights are having a field day. No complaining though ... I'll take any little blessing.
Pain check - 9/10 because of the stomach. But all that cramping and visiting of the loo has irritated my back so it has decided to be literally a pain in the back. Left ankle is a little weak today and left fore arm is more sore than yesterday.
Hydration - Bad because although I tried to hydrate, every time I took a drink if water I ended up in the loo.
Mystery sweet taste in mouth check - it's back. What the hell is going on?
Energy level - Really low today as I am tired and in pain. It's probably about 3/10 right now.
I am going to rest now and hopefully tomorrow would be a better day.
I am still feeling the effects right now and have just eaten some of my leftover pizza, which I have heated up zealously. I wonder if it will stay down as even drinking water has made me a prisoner in the loo.
I do not know if it is the MSG intolerance or lupus that has made my stomach so incredibly sensitive. If there is anything even slightly suspect, I end up paying the prize.
Bowel movements - disastrous on a scale of 9/10.
Dermatitis check - Well, I am pale faced today only because of the stomach but otherwise not much difference from yesterday. The neck is a little irritated though.
Vision check - Seeing stars because the pain in the stomach is so severe. Strangely enough, no migraine even though the swirling lights are having a field day. No complaining though ... I'll take any little blessing.
Pain check - 9/10 because of the stomach. But all that cramping and visiting of the loo has irritated my back so it has decided to be literally a pain in the back. Left ankle is a little weak today and left fore arm is more sore than yesterday.
Hydration - Bad because although I tried to hydrate, every time I took a drink if water I ended up in the loo.
Mystery sweet taste in mouth check - it's back. What the hell is going on?
Energy level - Really low today as I am tired and in pain. It's probably about 3/10 right now.
I am going to rest now and hopefully tomorrow would be a better day.
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