Herbal soup to rid pimples...

I dunno why I've been having little pimples lately - my hubby says those aren't considered pimples coz they're too small, but I hardly have pimples so it really upsets me to see those little spots on my face.

I happened to chance upon this recipe from a cookbook my mil bought and it says the soup helps to rid pimples so I thought oh well, might as well give it a try. What have I got to lose? Hehe. Anyway, the ingredients are rather similar to my ginseng root chicken soup just that the emphasis found in this soup is the Solomon's seal.

See the overwhelming presence of the Solomon's seal? :P

The clear soup after removing most of the herbs which can't be eaten and get in the way!

Solomon's seal (herbal) chicken soup

I didn't follow the recipe exactly - I just used my own estimation... :P

Ingredients:

• 3 chicken thighs (skin removed, visible fats removed) - the recipe used black chicken
• 4 large seedless red dates
• 4 dried longan (this wasn't added in the original recipe)
• 40-50g Solomon's seal (yu zhu)
• 10-15g ginseng root
• 1 slice ginger
• 1/2 tablespoon hua diao jiu
• salt to taste
• 500ml water

Method:

1. Blanch the chicken thighs. Remove and place in the bowl for double-boiling.
2. Rinse the herbs and place them in the bowl as well.
3. Add the ginger, water and the hua diao jiu (Note: the hua diao jiu was added only at the point of serving in the original recipe but since I'm still nursing, I decided to add in the wine in the early stage of cooking so that the alcohol content would have evaporated by the end of the cooking).
4. Double-boil the soup for about 1.5h to 2h. (The original recipe cooked the soup on the stove for 1.5h but I decided to double-boil instead).
5. Add salt to taste.
6. Remove herbs before serving for easy access to chicken meat and soup. :)

Alicia loved the chicken meat from the soup as it was sooo tender and sweet. She took a bit of soup too but wasn't so keen - probably due to the slight hint of bitterness caused by the ginseng root.

For toddler's consumption:

• Tear off the soft chicken meat from the chicken bones for the tot.
• Do not serve too much of the soup as ginseng root is considered to be quite 'cooling'.

Sardines!!!

Sardines are more often than not overlooked when it comes to menu planning, especially in my home as hubby isn't a great fan of sardines. He's always complaining that sardines have a 'fishy' smell and taste. Come to think of it, I think this is the first time I've cooked sardines for him since we got married! It's only because I said that I think it's good to introduce sardines to Alicia that he relented the other day. :P

Anyway, sardines are jam-packed with goodness so really, there's no reason not to eat them. And with my home-made sauce to go along with the sardines (there's a pathetic amount of sauce that comes together with the sardines so I have to make my own), the sardines aren't 'fishy' at all! :) Even hubby had to agree! :) and he finished up the sauce together with the rice...

Alicia's response?

Well, she ate one whole sardine (including the bones of course) as one of the courses of her dinner that day! *happy mummy* The last time she had sardines was when I made sandwiches for myself and that was a super long time ago!

Goodness of sardines:

• high concentration of omega-3-fatty acid (sardines are considered to be one of the best sources of omega 3’s around, surpassed by only a few other fish such as Salmon).
• a naturally good source of vitamin D
• high in calcium which can work with the vitamin D to help promote stronger bones
• contains Vitamin B12, Vitamin D, Vitamin B3, protein, tryptophan, selenium and phosphorus.
• The fish is considered to be one of the healthiest of the world’s foods, especially with its high concentration of Vitamin D which is found in few foods in such amounts.
• There are no carbohydrates in sardine, yet high in protein

(Sources: healthandnutritiontips.net and healthmad.com)

For more info, you can read this.

Sardines in tomato sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 can of sardines (I use Ayam brand)
• 1 red onion (sliced)
• 3-4 cloves garlic (minced)
• 1 chilli (cut into pieces, deseed)
• about 4 tablespoons tomato sauce (I use Maggi)
• 1 tablespoon assam (mix with a bit of water) or use lime to taste
• 100-200ml water

Method:

1. Heat oil in a wok. Add the onion and chilli and fry till fragrant. Add the garlic.
2. Add the sauce from the can of sardines (but don't place the sardines into the wok just yet).
3. Add some water (gauge for yourself, depends on how thick you want the sauce to be) and the tomato sauce.
4. Add the assam water (without the seeds of course - use a sieve).
5. Let the sauce simmer for at least 10min. (By then, the onions would have softened and the sauce would have been sweetened by the onion so there's no need for extra sugar)
6. Add the sardines and simmer for another 5min or so.
7. Dish and serve with hot fluffy rice.

This is the way I brush my teeth...

Alicia loves to brush her teeth on her own and she'd always ask for her toothbrush before her nap and before bedtime. :)

If I have time, I'd let her brush her own teeth first then I'd brush for her, with her, again. If we are short of time, I'd just brush for her and of course, she'd be very annoyed.

She's quite a copycat so she knows how to brush the upper teeth downwards and the lower teeth upwards! (though not apparent from the video.. and she usually doesn't move around so much when she's brushing her teeth... probably just trying to escape from my camera.. lol)