Listen to Your Body

Collapse in bed and slept like dead for hours.
Wonder if someone slipped a big sleeping pill in my food.
I swear I didn't sleep out of laziness, I was just so energy-less that I literally collapsed on my bed.
Tried to figure out the reason for my fatigue these 2 days, because I don't want it to get in the way with my work.
Busy? Sure yes, everybody is.
Stress? Not that much, I love what I'm doing, my biggest stressor at the moment is perhaps not work.
Sleep deprivation? Sure I don't get 12 hours of sleep, but I'm still fine with half of it.
Loss of iron and other nutrients after period? Could be, but I didn't go for a check-up.

The most likely cause would be my vitamin B deficiency/
I just stopped my vitamin B tablets for 2 days and symptoms of vitamin B deficiency start to reappear already.
Fatigue, depressed moods, sugar cravings, lack of concentration: all check.
Guess it's time to take vitamins again.

I don't wanna say 'your body is your sacred temple'.
But don't take it for granted.
Our bodies do speak to us and give us signs, just that most of the time we either do not catch these signs or just neglect them.
As I always say: love life as hard as you possibly can.
The first thing to do: love yourself first, both physically and psychologically.
To eat right, exercise, get enough rest and release stress are big lessons that I'm learning. (like everyone else)
Not easy because I sort of lack determination in dieting and workouts, but still, at least I acknowledge the fact that I have much room for improvement.

Time to take my specially-for-women-all-vitamins-in-1 big tablet.
And hopefully do some catching up with my work progress.
Ok, enough about me and my body for today.
Listen to your body, treat him/her right.
Last but not least, I wish you good health.

I'm gonna wake up fresh and energetic tomorrow.
Tomorrow's gonna be a productive day. : )

Love,
N

Avocado Pancake & Homemade Seasoning Salt

Spent some quality time with my family today.
My mum and I made some homemade seasoning salt.
For the sake of our family's health (cutting the sodium consumption) and the fun of doing it.
Making homemade seasoning salt is actually a great fun thing to do;
putting things in the blender, (the few-thousands-worth-multi-functions-&-high-power blender is one of my mum's toys in the kitchen, I said I'd never invest so much in a blender, but now I kinda fall in love with it too)
making noise,
doing the packaging with pretty jars or tins or glasses,
writing sweet notes so we can give these pretty jars of salt to family and friends.

Made different flavors of homemade seasoning salt.
Basically we are cutting the amount of salt we use (at least cutting 50%), by mixing in different seasonings or spices or herbs to compensate for the saltiness and giving it more flavor.
We use sea salt but of course regular salt will do equally fine.
My mum and I rarely follow recipes, and we are inventing our own, so feel free to mix everything.
Just remember: less salt, more other flavorful-but-less-sodium stuffs. And no artificial flavors or additives!
I'm feeling illiterate now, I don't know the English for some specific ingredients! I'll try explain it and with the aid of photos. Sorry if I'm making you confused.

1) Japanese style:
    -seaweed: not the ones we use to make sushi, but the thick type of seaweed. Buy those from Japan or South Korea. Check for the nutrition label to make sure you get the ones with least sodium or additives.
    -Katsuobushi: just Japanese sliced dried fish, those 'flakes' they sprinkle on Japanese dishes.



2) Chinese style
   -dried shrimps or dried fish: pretty common Chinese food. Again, opt for naturally sun-dried ones or ones with less (or most preferably no) additives. We usually wash them first and clean the guts out, then sun-dry them again.
   -dried mushroom
   -make sure everything is completely dry, cut them into smaller pieces before blending
   -dried seafood is already salty, so you can cut the salt even more and use less of the the final product while you cook

3) Western style
  -Pick any of your favorite herbs: you can buy the dried ones or if you plant your own herbs, like my family, chop some off and leave them to dry completely.
  -any common herbs will do: rosemary, basil, lemongrass, oregano, dill, paprika, bay leaves, etc etc. The combination is endless.

The final product is not pure white, but don't worry it tastes fantastic.
Store them into sterilized glass jars or tin bottles, give them a pretty label.
It's also great gifts! Just make pretty labels, tie a ribbon or just a string and attach a sweet note.
You can make scrubbing salt the same way, just add lavender or other things to rock salt or sugar, instead of the fine ones, and add some natural essential oil or olive oil.
Voila!

You can make so many different types of seasoning salts that suits your taste.
It makes cooking easier and your diet more healthy. And it's very simple to make.
You can even mix salt and pepper and a bit of lemon (or grapefruit!) zest. That's probably the easiest one.
Just be creative and experiment.

Told you I'm gonna make breakfast for my family, right?
Thought I could be the earliest one to wake up and make breakfast, but I couldn't.
So I gave it a twist and served breakfast in the afternoon, more like tea.
Made pancakes (except the first two, all pancakes look pretty round and good ), chopped some avocado on top, sprinkled a bit of brown sugar on avocado.
It's quite nice.
The richness & creaminess of avocado makes it a great substitute for butter.
No butter and no syrup. Think I've found a healthy pancake recipe.

Enjoy Cooking & Bon Appetit!

Love,
N