Link updated *shouting*

Block 1 and 4... as promised I have updated the links for core Q.. enjoy your reading assignments okay! have a nice weekend :)

#323 Country Cottage puffs : recipe#209

For supper on Friday, I was running out of idea on what to prepare for the family. I took out my rolled oats from the pantry and there it was a very simple recipe for me to use. Off course, if you read my previous post, I just look at the ingredients and use approximation to make this somewhat interesting puffs. The reason why they are interesting? the filling tasted like minced chicken...

Ingredients:
puff pastry

Filling : to be mix together
cream cheese -melted
1 egg
soya sauce
chicken stock powder
rolled oats


- fill the thawed puff pastry with the cream cheese filling
- bake at 200 C until golden brown

#322: Blood Pressure numbers

Remember your last trip to the clinic and your blood pressure was taken? Do you know what those numbers represent? do you know where your blood pressure lies? Do you check your blood pressure regularly? Here are the categories :

Categories for Blood Pressure Levels in Adults over 18 (in mmHg, millimeters of
mercury)

Category	Systolic (top number)	Diastolic (bottom number)
Normal	Less than 130	Less than 85
Prehypertension	130–139	85–89
High BP Stage 1	140–159	90–99
High BP Stage 2	160-179	100-109
High BP Stage 3	180-209	110-119
High BP Stage 4	>210	>120

Why are the B.P numbers important?. Firstly the top number represent the Systolic pressure, which is the maximum arterial pressure achieved and the diastole pressure is the number at the bottom which is the minimum blood pressure recorded in the aorta.

Constant high blood pressure , or hypertension or "darah tinggi" is harmful. It makes the heart work harder and causes the arteries to narrow ( saluran darah mengecil). This increases the chance of fats to get deposited in the artery lumen. Which may lead to heart attacks or heart failure. The systole number show how hard your heart is working.

The bottom number indicates the resistance of the arteries to blood flow. If the number is high, that's means that the person's arteries may have some atherosclerosis ( saluran darah mengecil).
~ Oh no!

#321: Banana Bread: recipe#208

My students are sitting for their AS exam. I am slowing down on the A2 topics to give way for their AS revision. If I have to explain how my life now to my students , I would say that everything is just like the DEPENDENT variables . I may be able to manipulate the independent variables but not the Dependent variables :) By now, students, you should know what I mean by this.

I have not done much baking nowadays...here is one that I did last week.

Ingredients:
1.5 cups mashed bananas
1/2 cup vanilla sugar
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
a pinch of salt
2 large eggs - lightly beaten
1/2 cup melted butter
1.75 cup flour

Method:
- combine all the wet ingredients together in a large bowl
- With the rubber spatula, lightly fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients just until combined the batter is thick and chunky. ( Over mixing the batter will yield tough, rubbery bread)
- Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake until the bread is golden brown in a preheated oven at 170 degrees.

#320 GOUT / SAJAHAN

My grandma is a "gout-prone" person. Whenever it strikes, she will be bed-ridden for weeks. She could hardly move and became very dependent in every little thing. Her condition had initiated me to do some research on gout~sajahan.

What is gout?

Gout is a painful condition that occurs when uric acid (normally removed in urine) is deposited as needle-like crystals in the joints and/or soft tissues. In the joints, these uric acid crystals cause cause inflammatory arthritis, which in turn leads to swelling, redness, heat, pain, and stiffness in the joints.

In many people, gout will start to affect the joints of the big toe . But many other joints and areas around the joints can be affected including the ankles, heels, knees, wrists, fingers, and elbows. White deposits of uric acid, can appear as lumps under the skin that surrounds the joints.

Signs and symptoms:
high amount of uric acid in the blood
arthritis that develops in a day, producing a swollen, red and warm joint
arthritis that is in only one joint, often toe , ankle or knee

risk factors
- genetics
- hypertension
- being overweight
- exposure to lead ( in petrol)
- high purines diet
- taking aspirin etc... read more at http://www.niams.nih.gov
- drinking alcohol
-not drinking enough water ( 2 litres per day is recommended)
- not eating for a long time ( uric acid increase during starvation)

Food to avoid ( pantang)
-High protein diet
- food high in purines including anchovies ( ikan pusu), sardine, animal organs ( lungs- hati buyah), brain ( otak), liver ( hati), pancreas ( hati kura), kidneys( buah pinggang), exotic meat ( deer, ostrich, ayam hutan) , beans and nuts, shellfish, breads, oats, mushrooms, margarines, coffee, tea and junk food.

Natural remedy of Gout
- Soya Lechitin
- cherries
- vitamin E
-flax seeds oil
- apples
- bananas
- fresh lemon juice ( without sugar)

hope this helps :)

#319: Food containing Magnesium

USES: Building bones, regulation of body temperature, manufacture proteins and release energy from muscles storage. Many enzymes need magnesium for proper functioning. The enzymes themselves are important in controlling a number of body functions. Magnesium is also needed for proper functioning of nerves.

Unfortunately, we tend to lose magnesium through cooking so try to minimise the loss by using little amount of water and do not cook your food for a long time.

Sources:
Milo
Hot chocolate
Coco powder
soya products
wholemeal
bread ( coming from yeasts)
Dried Apricots
Dates
Peach
prunes
Figs
parmesan cheese
skim milk
Walnut
Almonds
Beras kampong
Yoghurt
baked potato with skin
Spinach
oats
Banana
raisins
Tuna
Tomato paste

Conditions linked to Magnesium deficiency (kekurangan makanan ber"magnesium") include:
Allergies
Asthma
Anxiety (In Brunei we call this "uri")
Attention deficit disorder - Hyperactivity
Cardiovascular diseases
muscle pain
neck pain
chest tightness
back pain
constipation
menstrual pain
insomnia
panic attack

#318 : Hiking to the road of healthiness

I am now in the process of deleting my health blog. However, there are some posts that I feel "sayang" to remove. So, I post them here instead. The following post is about my experience in June last year, while helping my hubby to supervise the PRYNSA 10, Maktab Sains team.

Hiking can be a great way to escape the monotony of the gym and get a heart-pumping workout.

There are many benefits of hiking. The most common benefits are:

• Weight loss.
• maintain healthy blood pressure
• Helps prevent osteoporosis by improving bone density.
• Relieves back pain.
• It doesn't cost much
• It is a stress buster

This holiday is a hectic one for me. There are so many events that takes place that require my attention directly or indirectly. Yesterday I had another chance to hike in the virgin forest of Andulau. It is a highland Dipterocarp forest, and again this is a forest reserve. I am very honored to be given the opportunity to go into the forest as this area is out of bound to public. Only researchers are allowed to enter and get their sampling done. We went uphill for 30 minutes, supervised the students to do their sampling for another 6 exhausting hours , and hiked back to the roadside for another 30 minutes. I was exhausted, thirsty, hungry, but I enjoyed every minute of it. I went home and cooked "kampong-style" dinner for the family, I guess the hours of running that I did these few months really boost my fitness level...

here goes... #1 The majestic forest


#2: The students are doing their sampling, tedious job for teenagers who are between 13-15 years old (Form 4 students)


#3: Mud covered shoes on a muddy hillside transect


#4 ; There I was , supporting myself on a dead tree trunk, which was about 1 metre in diameter, next to me was a medium size butress root Shorea, which is probably about 60 years old.


#5 A hike back to the main road..., exhausting but enjoyable.... :)

#317 Tagged

As usual, throughout the week I was wishing for less work and more free time. I guess I can only dream about it... for the time being. I tried new recipes, butI have no time to type it here , just some pictures for sharing.
I was tagged by Faye, one of my ex-student, now doing law degree at the University of Keele. Faye no worries... i think I can handle this ehmmm.... here goes,

Questions:

1. What disappoints you the most?
- Injustice.

2. Where will you go if someone sponsors you a tour ticket?
- Europe and Middle east

3. What's your favorite thing to do?
- Trying new recipes

4. Do you think money can buy happiness?
-Yes, to some extent

5. If you can have one dream to come true, what would it be?
- Having a cottage in a ranch

6. Do you believe you can survive without money?
- Nope

7. What are you afraid to lose the most?
- I am afraid to say it

8. If you win $1 million, what would you do?
- Settling our house loan, reserve some for kids' education, resign from my current job and do home-based business, bring my dad to mecca and sponsor a charity institution.

9. What is the most embarassing thing that happened to you recently?
- none that I can think of.

10. List out 3 good points of the person who tagged you?
-1) confident
-2) happy go-lucky
-3) reliable

11. What makes you happy?
- My hubby and children

12. What type of person do you hate the most?
-back stabbers

13. What is your ambition?
- To be happy till the end of my life

14. If you could have a superpower, what would it be?
- Able to do stuffs in the speed of light... so I can spend more time relaxing...

15. What do you think is the most important thing in your life?
-My family

16. What do you do when you're alone?
- Thinking and reflecting

17. If you have a chance, which part of your character would you like to change?
-I am too reliable, people always depend on me, I think I want to change that...

18. What music have you been listening to recently?
- David Archuleta, When you believe.

19. What is your least favourite animal?
-Rats.

20. Who is your soul mate?
My hubby

Instructions: Remove 1 question from above, and add in your personal question, make it a total of 20 questions, then tag 8 people in your list, list them out at the end of this post. Notify them in their chat box that he/she has been tagged.

So I am in turn will tag the following people...
1) Adidarwish
2) Ciliqueen
3) Hasrin
4) Lin
5) hannah
6) Sly
7) Phui Mung

Happy weekend everybody!

#316: white sauce baked potato : recipe #207

There is a huge restructuring of the senior management team in my school as two of our 'strong' bosses are promoted to various institutions. Our DP2 now is working at the Director office, whereas our Senior master administration is promoted to Deputy Principal and is transferred to another school. So, our senior Mistress academic is now promoted to Deputy Principal academic. To Hjh Noridah, Gilbert and Hjh Hashimahwati, Congratulations!

I sometimes wish that days would be slower... so that I can relax more.. but as usual, time flies so fast and whether I like it or not, my kids at school will be sitting for their June AS exam, starting mid May. There are many who are still not mentally ready. So, to my upper sixth block 1 and 4 students... "accelerate" your revisions.

At a different note, I made this last week. It's so easy to make.

Ingredients:
3 medium potatoes, sliced, boiled in water and seasoned with salt
grated cheddar cheese

white sauce:
butter
flour
milk
oregano
chicken stock powder to taste

steps:
-In a pan, heat butter and add the flour, stir
-Add milk and let the mixture thickens .
-add oregano and chicken stock powder.
-add potato slices.
- transfer mixture into a ceramic dish which has been sprayed with olive oil.
- sprinkle with cheddar cheese .
- bake for 10 minutes. Enjoy

#315: Taco with minced beef filling : recipe #206

Alhamdullilah, my love has come back from Penang. For one month, I had to do everything. Teacher, mom, dad, amah, driver, cook, cleaner etc.... and that was very tiring. On top of that I have to endure the feeling of loneliness especially after the children were sleeping. To all the single mom out there, I salute you.

The family is now very much into Mexican or non-rice food. So, I have in my fridge ready-made tortillas, pita bread, puff pastry, French bread... just in-case. Taco was one of the menu we had for breakfast few mornings ago and I liked it very much. Here's the recipe.

Ingredients:
4 Ready-made Taco shells- available at Supa Save

Filling:
250g ground beef - marinated with seasoning for at least 10 minutes
1/2 green capsicum-diced
2 plum tomatoes.
1 garlic
1 Spanish onion~ sliced thinly
olive oil

seasoning:
paprika
garlic
tomato sauce
salt
pepper
taco seasoning
1 tsp lemon juice

steps:
1.Bake Taco Shell at 180 C until the shells are crispy.
2. Heat oil in wok, add garlic and onion, stir till combine and the onion slices are soft.
3. Add seasoned ground beef , capsicum and tomatoes. keep stirring until the beef is cooked.
4. adjust seasoning and dish up.

assembling:
Fill in the shell with the filling just before you serve them. Serve warm.

#314: Dinner with left-over chicken

I usually "recycle" my left-over chicken. I cooked a large amount in the morning and keep some for dinner. Sometimes , the chicken became part of noodles, nasi goreng or sandwiches. But, this one is always my favourite.

I had cooked butter chicken Indian style the other day, where bite-size boneless chicken pieces were cooked with tomatoes, coriander and spices. So, in the evening, to the left over chicken, I added sauteed diced capsicum and thinly sliced onion. To the mixture I added burrito seasoning. I then transferred the mixture and cheddar cheese onto tortillas and this became the filling. I rolled the tortillas, baked them for about 10 minutes and there you are , a sumptuous dinner...

#313 Green mango Salad: recipe#205

My Hubby loves to eat raw green Mango. He usually eat them with "cacah belacan"~ shrimp paste with chili and soy sauce. On Saturday last week, I bought a kilo of these for him thinking that the course in Penang was cancelled. Some how at 6.00 p.m. that Saturday he received a call to collect his tickets at the ministry. Some of the mangoes are still in my fruit compartment in the fridge, so today I decided to make green mango salad. I ate this alone because my kids do not like the taste of raw mango. At times like this, how I wish my hubby is here to enjoy the salad with me.

At a different note, Raw green mango salad is of Indo-china origin @ Thailand or Vietnamese. It's a very simple recipe....and since the mango are in season do try this at home.

Ingredients: serves 1
-1 raw green mango- Peel mangoes, then cut away chunks of fruit from pits then, cut into thin strips. I "chancang" the mango in my hand :)
- 1/2 carrot-grated
- 1 sprig-coriander leaves-chopped
- 1 shallot-sliced
- 1 garlic-chopped
- 1 medium fresh chili-sliced~ you might want to add Thai bird's eye chili for extra zing
- spring onion -sliced

seasoning:
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- Fish sauce
- brown sugar


Steps:
-Place carrot, mango, coriander, spring onion, garlic, fresh chili and shallots into a large bowl.
- Add the seasoning 5-10 minutes before serving.

note: you can also sprinkle chopped toasted peanut on your salad

#312: Banana Puff : recipe#204

Darwish loves banana, so I decided instead to making banana muffins for him, I'll make some banana puffs instead since I have some puff pastry in my fridge. This is a very simple recipe, a matter of assembling the ingredients. A recipe that you can try with your children in the kitchen.

Ingredients:
Puff pastry

filling:
Banana-sliced
Damerera sugar
cinnamon powder
dessicated coconut

Steps:
-cut your pastry to the intended shape and size.
-arrange the banana slices on top of each pastry slices
-sprinkle sugar, cinnamon and dessicated coconut on top of the banana
-seal the pastry, and prick on top of the pastry with fork to release steam accumulated during baking.
-Bake at 220 C until the pastry turns golden brown ~ about 8-10 minutes.

#311 : Dadah Tahai : recipe #203

Tahai is a dried, previously smoked White Tamban or sardines. This dish is a traditional Bruneian dish which usually accompany Ambuyat feasts. I bought a large packet of Tahai which skins were already removed, so I used some to make this. Most of the left-over Tahai were used to make "sambal Tahai". I usually cooked this dish because of the soup. We don't usually ate the fish, we gave it to our cat instead.

Ingredients:
5-10 Tahai-skin removed
1 garlic - sliced
3 shallots - sliced
1 fresh chili- sliced
lemon grass
5- 10 dried asam -preferably asam aur-aur, if you use asam keping use 1-2 pcs only.
salt to taste
water

Steps:
Add all ingredients in a pot and boil them.
once boiled, simmer for another 5 minutes
adjust seasoning and serve warm

#310 Bruschetta with Tomato and Basil : recipe #202

Italian bruschetta (pronounced "brusketta") is one of the easiest appetizer recipe that you can prepare. I had this for dinner last night while the kids are eating garlic-cheese bread as their supper. You can also go to Thani's blog to see his version of Bruschetta.

makes 4 slices:

• 3 ripe plum tomatoes : parboiled, skins removed and chopped,
  
• 1 clove garlic- to be rubbed onto the bread slices
  
• extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar~ I used raspberry flavoured
  
• Basil leaves, fresh is better, but I used dry because I don't have fresh ones.
  
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

• 1 baguette French bread or similar Italian bread

1 Preheat oven to 225 degrees celsius

2 In a bowl, put tomatoes, vinegar, basil , salt and ground black pepper,

3 Slice the baguette on a diagonal about 1/2 inch thick slices. Rub garlic to one side of the bread slice. Coat one side of each slice with olive oil using a pastry brush. Toast for 5-6 minutes, until the bread just begins to turn golden brown.

Alternatively, you can toast the bread without coating it in olive oil first. Toast on a griddle for 1 minute on each side. Take a sharp knife and score each slice 3 times. Rub some garlic in the slices and drizzle half a teaspoon of olive oil on each slice. This is the more traditional method of making bruschetta.

4 To serve: Either place the tomato topping in a bowl separately with a spoon for people to serve themselves over the bread, or place some topping on each slice of bread and serve. If you top each slice with the tomatoes, do it right before serving or the bread may get soggy.

Verdict: I love "sour" food, so I definitely will make this again.

#309 Asian style grilled Salmon: recipe #201

I bought frozen salmon slices from BMC shop last Friday, and managed to prepare this for Saturday lunch a day before hubby went off to Penang. It was very easy to prepare. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients;
3 medium size salmon slices
olive oil for grilling and basting

marinade:
1/2 tsp Thailand green curry paste
1 tsp ginger paste
1/2 tsp dry basil leaves
1 tsp Thailand sweet chili sauce
1 sprig coriander- make into paste
2 tsp lemon juice
salt to taste
olive oil for grilling and basting.

steps:
1. Combine salmon with the marinade and keep aside for at least half an hour or overnight in the fridge.
2. Place Salmon slices in a baking pan/grill pan greased with olive oil.
3. Grill salmon until both sides are browned.
4. Dish up and serve with rice or mashed potatoes.

#309 : MEIOSIS ANIMATION

I am now starting to teach Core O . One of the earliest sub-topics is meiosis. Actually I promised my students that I would try to find a good animation for the process. Reading from textbook tend to be boring because this is a process which occurs at a cellular level and is very abstract. So to my students, pleas watch, understand and enjoy. Btw, I still haven't received my final time-table yet, so wait and see....

p/s : To hubby, I miss you very much

#308 LOK KAWI WILDLIFE PARK ; KK Trip

One of our itinerary in KK apart from shopping was to visit the Lok Kawi wildlife park. This wildlife sanctuary housed some of the most exotic flora and fauna of Borneo and the world. The journey to Lok Kawi was about 30 minutes drive from KK. Since the place is quite remote, we chartered the Hotel's van to take us there. The park opens at 9.30 a.m and the entrance fee for non-Malaysian is RM$20 for adults and RM$10 for children up to 18 yrs of age.

We started our tour by going to the Birds section then to the mammals and end up at the animal show where we were entertained by the "stars' of Lok Kawi park including a female Orang Utan named Marsya and a male Orang Utan named Maughwi. We did not visit the botany garden as the children were already exhausted by the time we reached the Zebra cages. We definitely will come to visit the park again, Insyaallah.

#307 The views from above; KK Trip

#306 A Special Birthday dedication