Home Made Chicken Soup

We usually have soup for dinner at least once a week. Soup is good to replenish the fluids and re-energize the body. If boiled with chicken or pork, the essence will be infused into the soup and you get all the goodness, sometimes even better than eating the meat on its own. That's because the sweetness of the meat is all contained in the soup.

I boiled this soup with dried longans, wolfberries, red dates and chinese herbs called 'yuk chuk'. A good soup is boiled for at least 3 hours. If you are short for time, try to boil for 2 hours at the minimum. Do you know that soups boiled with charcoal fire tastes better than those boiled with gas fire?

Another tip to stay healthy........try to remove all the skin from the chicken for boiling soups. Fats from chicken or any meat are bad for cholesterol and unhealthy for the heart.

Anyway, here's my recipe.

Ingredients
Half a chicken, de-skinned
10 dried longans
20 red dates
1 small bowl of wolfberries
1 small bowl of chinese herbs or 'yuk chuk'

Instructions
1. Put a medium pot of water to boil over high flame.
2. Place the chicken into the pot. Remove the residue and excess oil from the pot.
3. Pour in longans, red dates, wolfberries and chinese herbs.
4. Reduce to low flame and boil for 3 hours. Add some water after 2 hours of boiling.

What's the Malibu Pilates Chair?

Today I thot I'd post about my review of the Malibu Pilates Chair. As you know, I'm a fitness buff as well and I write about health and fitness issues on top of my love of cooking and food.

Just finished another site on Pilates......my all time favorite exercise. This time I focused on Malibu Pilates Chair, a very popular equipment used by Pilates practitioners. The best part is it can be used at home or in the studio.

Read in detail about this great machine which does wonders to shape your body. I appreciate any comments you may have. Just drop me a mail at the comments section below. See ya!
http://www.squidoo.com/reviewofmalibupilateschair.

Blanched Spinach and Lettuce

As you know by now, I'm into healthy eating and only occasionally deep fry my dishes, particularly fish as hubby loves his fish deep fried. I prefer steamed fish or pan fried. But I must say one thing though....., the crispy bones of deep fried fish can be very addictive! lol......

When it comes to vegetables, you should bear in mind never to overcook them or else all the vitamins and minerals will be lost. There's nothing healthier than a quick blanch and then add the necessary seasoning. That way, the veges maintain their crunch. Try this recipe and let me know if you like it!:-)

Sometimes I cook a combination of vegetables just to get the variety and the taste of different texture of vegetables in the mouth can be very appetizing.

Spinach is loaded with calcium, folic acid, vitamins and iron. We are all too familiar with "Popeye the Sailor Man" and how empowering spinach is! Haha.....well, it's true!

Lettuce, on the other hand, is high in beta-carotene, fiber, vitamin C, potassium and folic acid.

Ingredients
1 bunch of spinach, washed and cut
1 small lettuce, washed and peeled
5 shallots, fried till crispy
1 tsp oyster sauce
1 tbs soya sauce

Instructions
Put a pot of water to boil. Blanch the spinach and lettuce briefly for 3 seconds and remove, draining out the water. Mix the shallots, oyster sauce and soya sauce together in a small bowl. Pour sauce mixture over the vegetables. Serve.

Pilates Ball review

I thought I'd post this about my Squidoo site. Just published a site on Pilates Ball review. I'm an active Pilates follower and it's really a great exercise for women and men of all ages. Nothing rigorous so you don't hurt your body unnecessarily. Check it out for more information at http://www.squidoo.com/pilatesballreview

Deep Fried Fish

How's your weekend? I went to watch MJ's This Is It yesterday. I'm a huge fan. The movie was great. He hasn't lost his magic after all these years. It shows that genius-es never fade. Please go watch it if you haven't yet. Cheapest concert ticket at RM9.

Hubby is a fish lover and he enjoys fried fish, can eat the whole thing, leaving only the head behind! Yep, he eats the bones too. And I've become like that as well. If you fry the fish really well, the bones actually taste yummy cos it's so crispy. Try it and tell me if you agree, yah?

Having said that, the smaller the fish the better cos the whole fish can be dipped into the oil. A bigger fish would need more oil to make it crispy and crunchy. Me being so health conscious don't really like to eat too oily food.

Ingredients
Small white pomfret, cleaned and wiped dry with towel
1 tsp salt

Instructions
Rub the salt over the fish and set aside for 10 mins. Heat enough oil in non-stick pan to cover the fish. Heat oil over high flame for 3 mins. Then reduce to medium heat.

Pour fish (3 at a time, depending on the size of your pan) into the pan. Let it fry for 5 mins. Turn over and leave for same amount of time. When golden brown and crispy, scoop up. Repeat process until all the fish are fried. Serve.