Life on a choo-choo train

I sat infront of my pc this morning, trying to find the motivation to write. I have been busy with setting up this new place and this week has been taken up by invitations to sayonara (farewell in japanese) parties and a birthday celebration. It doesn't help that we are travelling again in 2 weeks time (back to Australia) which means I have so much on my "To Do" list that constantly occupy my mind. I also blame my lack of blog updates on the location of our work desk in this new place. Must be the fengshui no good.

I was looking at my calendar yesterday and it suddenly dawned on me that there are only 3.5 months left in this year. Where did the past 9.5 months go? I remember being young and always wanting to grow up fast. Now in my mid thirties, life seems to be going at a scarily fast pace. The next couple of months are going to be eaten up by many activities again - 2 weeks in Oz, Halloween party in end october, Granddad's visit in november, a pal's visit in early december, Aiden's year end school function, our best friends visiting from Oz etc. And very soon it will be 2011... And I will be 35. OH.MY.GOD.

On a positive note, I really do enjoy having so much to look forward to in my life. And I'm not hard to please at all. Thinking about events like my brother-in-law's wedding (because weddings are beautiful) and seeing my 3 year old dress up for Halloween makes me smile. And I am again reminded to live life with passion. And hope.

Here's a piece of raw chocolate tart that I made sometime back. Have a very sweet weekend!

My Secret Weapon

Most children doesn't like vegetables, but my almost 3 year old boy has a fairly weird vegetable preference. He doesn't enjoy cooked vegetables. He'll eat salads like raw radish, spinach leaves, lettuce, zucchinis happily. He even eats spring onions raw but he will never eat cooked carrot, broccoli, pumpkin etc. The only time I can get him to eat these vegetables is when I make them into a patty, or hide them in the fish cakes I make. Salads is a staple in almost every meal of his so I'm not too worried about his vegetable intake.

Apart from his weird vegetable preference, he also has a very "interesting" (and beyond comprehension to me) attitude towards fruit. He doesn't like them. The only fruit that he will eat occasionally are apples and bananas. And he hates fruit that are sweet. He even spat out sweet and juicy watermelon when I managed to get him to try some once.

I have tried many ways and means to increase his consumption of vegetables and fruit and I have finally found what I call, my secret weapon - Green Smoothie!

A green smoothie is basically a non-dairy, vegan smoothie made by blending green vegetables with fruit. The most commonly used vegetables in smoothies are spinach, kale, watercress and cabbage. As for fruit, I throw in bananas, avocado, pineapples, mangoes, oranges, berries etc. I mentioned in an earlier entry that my husband and I have been incorporating more raw meals into our daily diet and green smoothie is a power-packed snack that we try to have every other day. It has been established that drinking blended fruit and vegetables is even better than eating them as all their nutrients and fibre are broken down finely and hence much better absorbed by our bodies. Aiden loves his green smoothie so much that he will actually asked for them, emphasizing specifically that they have to be "green"!

Thumbs up for the green smoothie! He prefers this to sweet watermelon juice which he gags when he drinks them. Strange I know. My son is a weirdo.

What's for dinner?

Salad with raw "scallops" and cauliflower soup.

The "scallops" are actually sliced oyster mushroom and they really resemble scallops. My husband and I eat a couple of raw dinners every week in our journey to better health. We don't consider ourselves raw foodists (who usually eat at least 70% raw food in the daily diet) but having a good amount of raw meals everyweek helps to cleanse and recharge our bodies. By raw, it means that food should not be heated above 50 deg C as cooking and overheating destroy the enzymes of all food and kill the nutrients.

The other night I made a huge mixed green salad with a simple honey and red wine vinegar dressing. I love raw mushrooms so I threw in some marinated oyster mushrooms (recipe below). Sometimes we have our dinner just like that but I wanted to add on a soup to bulk up. Raw soups are not exactly my favourite so I made some cauliflower soup to go with the salad. Yums!

Raw "Scallops" (marinated oyster mushrooms)

Marinate thickly sliced king oyster mushrooms in olive oil, apple cider vinegar and tamari for at least 2 hours.

Cauliflower Soup

Ingredients:

1 cauliflower (chopped)

1 medium brown onion (chopped)

2 garlic cloves (bruised)

3 to 4 cups vegetable stock

2 small bay leaves (or 1 large bay leaf)

Method:

- Sauteed onion and garlic until fragrant.

- Add cauliflower and sauteed for another minute.

- Add stock and bay leaves.

- Bring to a boil and let simmer until cauliflower is tender.

- Let the soup cool.

- Remove bay leaf from the soup and blend.

- Reheat the soup just before dinner.

I served my soup with a peppery heart. Told you I'm a sucker for aesthetics!