Can you believe this is really good looking reusable sandwich bag was once an old shirt, a piece of scrap cloth and a clean Ziplock bag?
How cute. I love it when old stuff are brought back to live as a new and so reusable item.
So gorgeous, you’d want to bring it to work Every. Single. Day.
The bag just folds up and snaps shut with a piece of velcro
The inside of the bag is a gallon size Ziploc bag (cut apart)
It’s a breeze to make, doesn’t take much time at all. Best thing is, you can just drop it in the washing machine, and then hang it up to dry in time for the next use.
Apparently, there’s a new strain of rice that does not need to be cooked at all. Super duper crazy stuff for all you lazy cooks out there! Downside is, you gotta wait for the agri scientists in India to sell it to ya! This soft rice is called the Agihoni Bora rice.
Apparently, it just requires a long soak (45 minutes), and that’s it!
Can you imagine? Finally, we are able to eat raw rice that has not lost all the great enzymes that might have been destroyed during the cooking process. Also, it’s definitely environmentally safer because we don’t have to use any fuel to cook it. It’s a boon to the poor who can’t afford to buy fuel, that is if the Indian farmers decide to price the rice grains within the reach of the poor.
Image taken from http:/macrocosm-magbook.blogspot.com/2010/02/rice-grains-that-need-no-cooking.html
In the old days, restaurants used to buy blocks of ice from ice vendors who would make ice probably from tap water. And once the blocks of ice is made, they would wrap the ice in saw dust before transporting them over to the restaurants in motorbikes and bicycles. Once the guys get the ice blocks, the would bring out the ice picks and hack away to make smaller pieces of ice to put into drinks.
Thankfully, that’s all in the past. Today, vendors are very professional. Their crew members run around all over town carrying clean ice cubes in large clear plastic bags stored in refrigerated vehicles. These guys bring in ice, once a day, twice a day, or even more, based on the quantity and frequency required.We may take things for granted, but they really provide an important service to the community. By offering clean ice to street vendors, for example, they are really reducing the level of food poisoning in the community. Think about it. I would cringe if I saw restaurant workers breaking up ice in kitchen sinks, and who knows, even at floor level if someone allowed them, at the back of the kitchen. It’s unsanitary, and you know, in the old days, nobody would have bat an eyelid because it was pretty much the norm.
Anyways, I’m just reminiscing, for it’s nice to look back and remember how it was done in the old days.
Some of the Atlas Edible Ice crew members. Atlas is one of the biggest ice manufacturers in Malaysia.
That’s one of the vehicles that carry ice, shown in the background.
Video of the Taman Universiti Sathya Sai Baba Centre celebrating pongal in 2007.
Two days ago, Tamil Indians all over celebrated the start of the Thai Pongal festival. The Thai Pongal is a harvest festival event which coincides with the festival Makara Sankranthi celebrated in various other parts of India. Pongal in Tamil means “boiling over or spill over.” The act of boiling over of milk in the clay pot is considered to denote future wishes for the family.
Traditionally Thai Ponggal is celebrated at harvest time, it’s a celebration of the prosperity associated with the harvest by thanking the sun god, rain and the farm animals that have helped in the harvest. In villages, new clothes are worn and people owning cows find this festival more important.
The saying “Thai Pirandhal Vazhi Pirakkum” (தை பிறந்தால் வழி பிறக்கும்) meaning “the birth of the month of Thai will pave the way for new opportunities” is often quoted regarding the Ponggal festival.
The Ponggal festival is at least 1000 years old although some believe that the festival is older. As per epigraphic evidence, it used to be celebrated as Puthiyeedu during Medieval Chola empire days. It is thought that Puthiyeedu meant the first harvest of the year. Tamils refer to Pongal as “Tamizhar Thirunal” (meaning “the festival of Tamils”).
The moment the rice boils over and bubbles out of the vessel, the tradition is to shout of “Ponggalo Ponggal!” and blowing the sangu (a conch), a custom practiced during the Ponggal festival to announce it was going to be a year blessed with good tidings. For Tamils, it is considered a good sign to watch it boil over, …since it means that good luck and prosperity is forthcoming.
Quoted from Mr. Sivakumar Varatharaju, the first ethnic Indian to become the speaker of a Malaysian legislative body.
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Jasmin says,
The cooking of milk in the claypot with a variety of ingredients is an important part of the Pongal tradition. The end result is the yummiest (eggless) rice dessert ever. Here an easy recipe which can be recreated at home over the stove.
Ingredients :
Rice – 1 cup
Fresh milk – 3 cups
Jaggery (A traditional Indian sweetener) or Brown sugar – 1/2 cup (I don’t like it so sweet but you can adjust to taste)
Cashew nuts – 1/4 cup
Raisins – 2 tbsp
1 Cardamom pod – pound the cardamom pod to get the seeds. Pound the seeds to powder using a mortar and pestle
Ghee (clarified butter) or butter if you can’t find ghee – 4 tbsp
A spash of Rose water (you can get this from an Indian or Middle Eastern grocery store or you can omit if you don’t have it)
Method :
1. Wash the rice.
2. Boil the milk, add rice.
3. Add sugar and stir for few minutes until sugar is dissolved. Add cardamoms powder, stir for few minutes.
4. Meanwhile, heat the ghee in a frying pan, add the cashew nuts and raisins. Fry till fragrant.
5. Pour into the rice mixture. Add little rose water to the rice and stir gently. Keep simmer in low flame.
6. When the rice mixture looks like it’s almost dry, turn off the fire and close the lid for another 5 mins. The secret to this dish is that the dish is not sticky but shiny looking.
7. Serve hot.
My 2nd son Ethan, always putting things into his mouth
Hubby and I have been planning to bring our two kids on a holiday in March, and because my 2nd child is allergic to eggs and seafood, meals for him can be a bit of a problem. Eating out can be really unsafe for him because if he eats food that is tainted with eggs or seafood, he could wind up in the hospital. So how do a kid, allergic to so many things eat while his traveling?
Ethan, eating some pears on his own
One of the things he can eat is raw food like fruits, or smoothies from juice shops at shopping centers. Luckily, little Ethan loves bananas so that’s an easy snack to carry around. I have been doing some checking on the internet on ways to prepare meals in the hotel room for my little one as well. Sandwiches is an easy one to prepare. I’m even considering bringing along a mini slow cooker, just so Ethan can have some hot food. Lots of pre planning here as you can see. Actually, the slow cooker idea came from my sister-in-law. She actually carried one with her when she traveled to Hong Kong. You can read about it in her blog.
Today though, I came across a downright outrageous video of a British comedian cooking a proper meal for himself in a hotel room no less. He’s made a tortellini pasta with spinach, rocket and crème fraîche that he cooks in the room’s electric tea kettle, and he made bread rolls which he used an iron to cook with. Genius I tell you. Though, I’m not sure about what the next hotel occupant will think of the taste of his tea when he uses the kettle.
Ever since I found out that my 2nd son was highly allergic to lots of stuff, we have literally stopped eating out much.
The bonus is of course, we now eat healthier food, no artificial flavorings, no artificial coloring, no preservatives and no additives if I can help it. More importantly, we saved tons of money, which pleases the cheapskate part of me to no end.
Recently, I have been very inspired by a Singaporean mum, Angela, who creates beautiful Bento (lunch box) meals for her son to bring to school. She says, although it looks complicated and looks like it took a lot of effort to make the meals, it actually didn’t take that long a time at all.
Here’s what she says “it didn’t take a lot of time cos I try to make use of what I have on hand. When I didn’t have much stuff, then it would be really simple, like PBJ sandwich. But I tried to work on the presentation, like cutting the PBJ sandwich into dino shapes. Also, have fruits like grapes and cherries on hand makes it easy to add colour and contrast.”
If you are thinking of bringing a packed meal from home to school, office or whatever, I hope Angela’s photos will inspire you to do it tomorrow.
