I Want A Walking Pedometer For Christmas

One of my Christmas wishes is to get a walking pedometer to track my daily steps. I don't get out of the house much. I am a stay at home mum with 2 young kids. However, a walking pedometer may just encourage me to climb up and down the stairs of my home a little bit more. Somehow, if I know I'm being tracked, I will be more conscious.

Being more conscious of my daily activities may just push me to make more effort to go the extra mile. Not that I'm walking miles. However, I do need some form of discipline where exercise is concerned. I spend far too much time being sedentary. I spend far too much time in front of the computer for all of my online activities as many people do these days.

To my spouse, if you are reading this, you can check out these pedometers for walking if you don't know what to buy me for Christmas this year. Big Hint!

On another note, father is having a low heart rate. His doctor says that he does not require a heart pacemaker for now because it is his electrical pulse which is low. I am not sure what all of that means but we have a heart rate monitor to monitor him at home. Sigh. I guess that should remind us not to take our health for granted when we are young. Pin It

Breast Cancer Awareness Month 2012

My mom died of cancer, not of the breast but cancer nevertheless. While my aunt is a breast cancer survivor. She was diagnosed with breast cancer Stage 3 and had mastectomy of both breasts. That was 19 years ago. That would mean that I am in the high risk group and should then be breast cancer aware. 

However, I was not. I was afraid. I didn't bother to check because I was afraid. I went for yearly check-ups but I did not do any self checks because of this fear. Now, I am painfully aware as my own sister has just been diagnosed with breast cancer. She goes for yearly check-ups too and just had a mammogram 6 months ago. Even then...sigh.

She discovered the cancer herself quite by accident because she felt a lump on her breast. She went for a check up soon after and had a lumpectomy within 2 weeks. Now, she is faced with the decision on whether to have chemotherapy. It was a good thing she discovered the cancer at its very early stage. That shows how important breast self examination is and how important it is to take immediate action. This not only saves your life but it also makes it easier to manage. Early detection and diagnosis may make the difference between whether you need a lumpectomy or a mastectomy. It may mean whether you need chemotherapy or radiation treatment and medication.

I also find this local Malaysian magazine a good read. It is the October issue of Health & Beauty. This month being the breast cancer awareness month, has lots of articles on breast cancer. There is also a booklet by Pantai Hospital which is very useful to read. I read both booklet and magazine from cover to cover so that I will understand what sister is going through. It is also good knowledge for me, as I am at high risk, having an aunt and now a sister (a direct relative) who has breast cancer.

So, don't be afraid. Do your monthly breast self examination, ladies. You won't know you have cancer at the early stages. If not for the self discovery of the lump, sister is in the pink of health. At the early stages, it is a silent decease. I hate how this has turned her life topsy turvy. To be faced with decisions on whether to do lumpectomy surgery, chemotherapy etc when you are feeling well as if nothing is wrong with you is very tough indeed.

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My First Time Drinking Wheat Grass Juice

Recently my husband bought 4 packets of wheatgrass from an organic store. We had been juicing celeries, broccoli and other greens for some time now and we found that it has improved our family health. 

Since it is my first time drinking wheat grass juice, I didn't know how much wheat grass to use. I decided to use two packets.

I didn't know how much juice the two packets would yield. I had read that if you are drinking wheat grass for the first time, you should go slow by taking a shot of 1 ounce of juice at first.

Our two packets of wheat grass was one big bowl after washing. We used our regular juicer to make the wheat grass. I didn't want to use my blender as I would have to sieve it afterwards. However, it did make my juicer rattle and shake! I removed some of the wheat grass that was stuck around the edges and then it was okay after that. Phew! I thought that I had damaged my juicer.

At last, our shot of wheat grass was ready. It came up to more than I had expected. Each cup had over 2 ounces of juice in them. The two packets of wheat grass or one big bowl yielded about 4-5 ounces of wheat grass juice.

I remembered that I was supposed to start slow by drinking 1 ounce first since it was my first time drinking the wheat grass juice but I didn't want to throw the extra away. This is expensive grass!

So I drank my 2 ounces of wheat grass and within 5 minutes I was burping. In 10 minutes I felt bloated and slightly uncomfortable. Within half and hour I felt nausea and threw up. I drank green juice but vomitted black material. Grouse! That was my trial and error first time drinking wheat grass juice. Next time, I'll try one packet instead of two. I'm very brave to think of trying again after throwing up don't you think but then, there are two more packets of expensive wheat grass in my fridge....

Oh, I almost forgot to mention. I didn't vomit because it tasted or smelt bad. In fact, it tasted rather sweet. The vomitting was an involuntary action completely.

Updated:

I've taken the wheatgrass juice two more times after this. In 1oz shots and sipped slowly without problems. I used my regular juicer to make the juice but since the wheatgrass is very thin, it keeps on getting stuck at the sites causing my juicer to jam, make a loud vibrating noise and dance around (it literally jumped around my kitchen counter). Since then, I've tried to add celery to the juice to push the wheatgrass down the juicer which worked a little better. I'm still hunting for a Manual Wheatgrass Juicer at the moment.

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Gourmet Coffee

I have a friend who is selling reishi (Ganoderma Lucidum) also known as Ling Zhi in Chinese. She has been telling me how good it would be for my sensitive nose problem as well as the many other health benefits of Reishi. Therefore, it is very interesting for me to discover Organo Gold Healthy Coffee.

Organo Gold Health Coffee is a Gourmet Coffee that has added Organic Ganoderma Spore Powder. Organic Coffee, also know as King of Coffee is more than just coffee as it uses only 100% Certified Organic Ganoderma Lucidum by US, China, Japan and European Union.

I haven't tried the reishi that my friend is selling but Organic Coffee seems like an interesting Coffee Blend to try especially for Coffee lovers. I must recommend it to my sister who is a coffee lover. She must have her coffee a few times daily. For such a heavy coffee drinker, I think she should try a premium coffee and a healthy Organic one seems worth trying especially one with Organic Ganorderma Spore Powder which is said to be 17 times greater in strength.

I just love the smell of coffee. It brightens up my day. I can smell coffee now, even as I write. That is the beauty of coffee. Healthy Coffee would be even better. All this writing about coffee, well, I'm off now to go and make a cup of coffee for myself. Do you love coffee too?


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Homegrown Spring Onion Omelette

Spring Onion Flowers

My Spring Onion Flowers have continued to bloom. They look so pretty. I can't believe they came from my plain red shallots. I wonder what will happen next. I am watching them closely.

I used these shallots to plant  my own spring onions

I used these shallots or small red onions to grow my own spring onions. They take about 2-3 weeks to grow mature enough for harvesting.

Spring Onion Omelette

I used  my homegrown spring onions to cook spring onion omelette. They are very delicious.

My recipe for spring onion omelette:

• 4 eggs
• spring onion
• carrot cut into strips

How to cook the spring onion omelette:

• Add oil into pan
• Pour in the 4 beaten eggs
• When the egg looks almost cook but still runny, add in the spring onions and carrots
• Flip over when the egg looks golden brown
• Cook till the other side is golden brown

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Growing Your Own Spring Onions

Growing your own spring onions is really fun and easy. All you have to do is cut off the tops of your shallots, then push it into the soil with the cut part exposed and then watch it grow, like magic! It is easy, clean and economical. A bunch of spring onions can cost quite a lot at the supermarket, especially the organically grown one.

My shallots took about a week to grow to this height and is ready for harvesting. Yay!

Harvested Spring Onions for garnishing in soups or adding to stir fries. Yum. Yum. You can still see the shallots, now with roots at the bottom.

My Spring Onions, all cleaned up and ready for cooking.

Those that I didn't harvest continued to grow into nice, pretty flowers to my surprise. I wonder what will happen next?

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Chicken Pox Care - How To Reduce Itchiness And Diet Restrictions

When I when to see the doctor for Chicken Pox, I asked the doctor whether there was any diet restrictions for Chicken Pox, he said "None, however you may follow the believes of your race." Then he gave me some calamine lotion and pills to reduce itchiness and that was that.

I am Malaysian Chinese and as a Chinese we have many diet restrictions for all sorts of ailments. These are usually brought down by word of mouth from generation to generation. However, since my mom died when I was 10, I never learned any of these diet control methods from her and the secrets were not passed on to me. I am clueless on such things, so I had to ask around some friends and relatives including asking in a Facebook Mom's Group.

Here are the answers I got from them:

To reduce itchiness from Chicken Pox

1. Use neem leaves to slowly caress or rub on body to reduce itchiness
2. Bathe with warm salt water and apply salt to the pox to have less itchiness
3. Calamine lotion although some say Calamine cream is better than the lotion and heals faster
4. Collect neem leaves, wash them and pound them with some water to get a paste. When bathing, put the neem paste on the spots and leave them there for a while. Neem has a natural anti viral/fungal properties. Then rinse off the neem. You can read more about the benefits of neem leaves here.

Diet Restrictions for Chicken Pox 

1. Drink lots of cooling herbal drinks and other cooling drinks especially coconut water to cool your body down
2. Avoid dark soya sauce as it will leave black marks on  your body
3. Avoid chinese chives as you may get chicken pox again if consumed
4. Take lots of easy to digest food including lots of liquids, soups and smoothies especially if there are painful ulcers in the mouth
5. Take lots of Multivitamins and Salmon Omega3 and water
6. Take lots of Vitamin C and Wheatgrass powder and  anything that can boost the immune system
7. Avoid eggs, chicken or prawns and certain kinds of fish that are considered "poisonous" or "bisa" (in Malay)

Did I follow these? All I can say is I lost all my appetite and didn't feel like eating anything so it was not a problem for me to avoid eggs, chicken or prawns etc because I didn't feel like eating at all! I drank lots of water and cooling coconut water because my lips were dry and cracked and I was thirsty all the time. 

I bathed twice a day because it so happens its the hot season here and sweating makes me more uncomfortable and itchy. After the bath, I would apply calamine lotion which was soothing.

If you are reading this, which part of the world are you from? Do you have any diet restrictions for Chicken Pox? 

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