Sunday Lunch

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My relationship to raw food started about a year ago after I saw this guy on TV, who runs a raw kitchen/ cafe in Fremantle. He was showing how to make a dehydrated bread and zucchini pasta, etc.
I thought it would be one of those fad diet thing, but found out after a fair bit of research and studying nutrition, raw food actually provides good nutrients and vitamins to your body.
Of course, certain foods I believe are better to be cooked to be absorbed into your digestion system, for example carrots and tomatoes.
I’m not on a strict raw diet, but perhaps 50:50?! depending on how I feel. Sometimes I feel like a refreshing raw salad, but sometimes crave for a nice warm hearty soup.
What I’m trying to say is…it is all about a balanced diet šŸ™‚ Do whatever works for you and do not judge other people. I like the way I eat and hope other people don’t frown on me or anything.

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I try to cook a variety of food during the week, but sometimes run out of idea or just don’t want to think about menu!Weekend is like that at times. I don’t feel like cooking much (being lazy >.<). So normally my fridge cleaning project starts haha:)
I made some Asian inspired salad for light lunch.
We had a soft boiled egg sitting on mixed salad and slices of firm tofu (rice noodles for Daniel). I also drizzled soy sauce, sesame oil and sesame seeds on top.
It’s crunchy, refreshing, light and nutritious, and surprisingly very filling.
This salad is actually a left-over from last night. I grated a half zucchini, one carrot, spring onions and mint leaves. I had it with a small bowl of mixed grains for my dinner.
See how lazy I get on the weekend? Just make a big batch of salads and have it with either noodles or rice or fish or chicken or….whatever you feel like!

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Grilled Halloumi Cheese on Ratatouille

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I like all sorts of cheese but halloumi is one of my favorites when I cook vegetarian dishes.

Halloumi cheese is a semi-hard brined cheese made from a goat’s and sheep’s milk. Because it has a high melting point, it is perfect for frying or grilling.

I don’t normally put any oil in the frying pan or grill because it releases natural oil itself and gets beautifully caramelised outside.

Its unique flavour and texture is hard to describe if you haven’t had one. It’s salty and crispy outside but soft inside.

Ratatouille also, stewed vegetables, is a beautiful vegetarian dish I often cook. I chop up all the vegetables I have in the fridge such as onions, eggplant, zucchini and carrots.

Add some passata sauce, season and cook them until they are all tender. Garnish with some herbs ( I used mint last night ).

A good thing about stewing veggies like that and making a big batch of it is that you can have it as breakfast or lunch next day.

You can crack a couple of eggs on top of ratatouille and cook in the oven until eggs are slightly set but still runny inside. It would be a yummy but super easy breakfast:)

P

 

Power balls

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My morning routine is getting up early (well..3am all this week..damn insomnia!), going for a morning walk for an hour and having a shower.

My breakfast is mostly smoothie or tea with a couple of home-made muffins. I did try some oat porridge and muesli before, but not a big fan of it.

I have the best concentration after my breakfast, so try to get some studying and reading done.

It has been almost a month since Daniel and I started studying for French getting ready for our holiday next year.

We go to the class every Thursday night together though I find myself I have to try a lot harder to catch up with other students.

I am certainly enjoying learning new language although it is very challenging in terms of pronunciation and grammar (masculine and feminine >.<).

Taking all these into my brain requires so much energy than doing anything else.

I always have some snacks handy in the fridge.Ā  I made a few of these raw gluten-free power balls this morning.

Simply blend a small banana, natural protein power, black chia seeds, cacao powder, cinnamon powder, ginger powder, goji berries, LSA and one chai tea bag.

Ingredients can change depending on what I have in the cupboard or my mood (?). It helps me to cut down my cravings on sweets and last until lunch time.

It is heaps better than those sweets or snacks from the packet for sure šŸ™‚

 

Green salad

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It is a hot day here today. I didn’t feel like cooking or anything for lunch, being lazy in this heat >.<

So I made up this green salad with honeydew (melon), brussel sprouts and mint.

You can have some yogurt dressing or citrus dressing on top, though I just liked it by itself.

Sweet from melon, bitter taste from brussel sprouts and refreshing minty taste.

As well as the taste, this salad is so good for you.

Raw brussel sprouts have a cholesterol-lowering benefits and has a great quantity of glucosinolate which is well known for the cancer protection and detox.

These little guys also have so many vitamin antioxidants therefore it is good for inflammation-related conditions and digestive system as well.

Vegetables are so good for you and are a pack of vital nutrients. cannot stress enough šŸ™‚

I should have listened to my mum when I was little. Eat your GREENS!!

 

NYC2

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Times square…our accommodation was only a few minutes away from Time square so we were walking pass this mad streets every day lol

More food photos from now on :p

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Best bagel I’ve ever had in my life! floppy bagel and thick cream cheese. Yum:pĀ  Argo tea was a good coffee replacement for me. I wish we had Argo in Australia:(

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I had to try this famous banana pudding from Magnolia cafe. Banana and custard..what could get wrong???

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Daniel’s snack..Grey’s papayas.

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There was this mini cupcake shop nearby our accommodation so we had to try it! It was all gone in ten seconds >.<

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We were just waking pass the flatiron building to get to “Eataly”, awesome Italian food market place. There was a food festival on.

stalls with a different kinds of food, wine stating, delicious chocolate, etc. I loved that atmosphere everyone is so cheerful and relaxed in the middle of the day.

We had a Korean Kimchi taco and red wine. There wasn’t much Kimchi in there though.

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Ah this restaurant called “Prime and Beyond” is owned by Korean-American. I just purely searched a food ranking app on my phone to decide what to have for lunch.

Luckily it lived up to my expectation. We shared crab cakes for entree which had so much crab meat in side and flavoursome with Asian soy dressing.

I had a steak salad and Daniel a wet aged steak, which was so filling and juicy. Dessert..well we didn’t need after all that food though wanted to try their salted caramel cheese cake.

Two thumbs up for this place! We would love to go back there if we happen to go to NY again.

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Lastly divine crape cake from Lady M, which was in the plaza hotel. I tried to make one myself at home though just not the same.

Looking through all photos..we ate so much! but seriously we just picked and chose to go these random places and turned out to be so impressive.

I love NYC šŸ™‚