Just for Laughs Video Clips

If you are looking for some funny videos, you can get it from here http://takeabreakclips.blogspot.com/ .

Daily Tips: How to tell your EGGs are bad or fresh ??

Fresh?? or Bad???
Have you ever wondered how long have your eggs been sitting in your refrigerator? Already one month? Two months?? Without the egg box, surely there is no way of knowing when you puchase them.

Recently, I did some online searching and found out that actually there is a simple and quick test which can let us know if the egg is still fresh or bad. All you need is just a bowl of water and your eggs.

Please find below for the steps :

1. Fill a bowl of water and slowly place the eggs into the water.
2. Monitor the eggs. If the egg is fresh, it will sink to the bottom and lay flat. Semi-fresh egg will tend to float and stand in an upright position. Lastly, the bad egg will just float at the top without sinking at all. Do not eat this kind of eggs.

By the way, I found an "eggs testing" video clip from youtube, and would like to share with you guys......The video is straight to the point...

Daily Tips : Practise warm water drinking habit....

Feeling warm??!! Drinking icy cold water??Maybe is the time to pull off this habit. Experts claimed that drinking cold water while having meal is harmful to our body and health. Cold drink with meal will solidify the fat from our food, and slow down the digestion. Moreover, this solidified fat will even block absorption of nutrients to our body....


Ps: It is difficult to change the habit.... :)

Daily Tips : About coffee.....

Recently, there has a research found that, drinking more coffee reduced the likelihood that patients would be hospitalised for irregular heart-beats. They had conducted a study of 130,054 adults and found that people who drank four cups or more of coffee daily had an 18% lower risk of suffering irregular heartbeats and other heart-rhythm conditions than non-coffee drinkers. On the other hands, it also showed that the risk of hospitalisation was 7% lower for people who drank 1-3 cups of coffee daily. However, the researcher warned that the finding does not prove a cause-and-effect relationship between reduced risk and coffee drinking or that coffee protects the heart against such irregularities.......

Healthy Steamboat buffet

Last Saturday, we had a huge feast of home made steamboat buffet. We had also invited a few of our friends to join us. Normally, steamboat meal will take a lot of time, hence it is great to spend time with family or friends while having this meal. Moreover, we do not need to have any cooking skill for steamboat. Just 3 simple steps as Dump..... Wait......and EAT.....!! Awesome ya.!!!

However, before the steamboat feast, we will need to prepare a big pot of tasty soup base first.

Below is my ultimate Steamboat's Soup base recipe:

Ingredients:

1. 2 large carrots (skin and cut into pieces)
2. 8-10 leaves of white cabbage (wash and cut into pieces)
3. 10-15 mushrooms (soaked and cut into half)
4. 1 whole chicken bones (best to remove fat and thoroughly clean it out)
5. 4-5 pieces of ginger
6. big pot of water
7. salt to taste
8. a bit of sugar

** note: carrot & white cabbage are secret weapons of the soup. They play important roles to sweeten the soup.

Steps:

1. Parboil the chicken bones inorder to remove the unpleasant smell of meat. Discard the water.
2. Fill your soup pot with water and bring it to boil.
3. Upon boiling, add in chicken bones and other ingredients excepts salt and sugar.
4. Let it boil for 8-10 minutes. Lower the heat and simmer for about 30-40 minutes. Add in salt and a bit of sugar to taste.

The soup now is ready for the simplest, delicious, yet healthy steamboat meal..!!!

On the other hands, we have also prepared our raw food as shown below:

As you can see, we have vegetables, various type of mushrooms, tofu, tofu skin, red snapper fish fillets, fresh tiger prawns, home made meat balls, noodles, chicken, cuttlefish and etc.....etc...

Now the output is.........

Processes of steamboat meal :

You will just need to pour your home made soup base into an electrical cooker. Turn on the power and increase the heat and then dump in some of the raw materials such as fish fillets, chicken, prawns, mushrooms, meat balls or fish balls. Cover it and let it come to boil. In a few minutes time,everything will be cooked and ready to eat...!!!! You can now start to scoop out the ingredients together with the soup and enjoy the meal.... Just remember not to over cook the food..... and it is best to have the garlic chili sauce .

Too much of fluoride can actually cause stains!!!

Nowadays, we brush our teeth at least twice a day. We know that fluoride is good for our teeth, but did you know that too much of it can actually cause stains? Recently, I read an article from a local newspaper, it stated that, excessive amounts of fluoride during tooth formation (in childhood) can lead to areas of chalky white spots on your enamel.

So do take note ya... :)

Garlic Chili Sauce

This sauce is easy to made and best to eat with steamed chicken or fried fishes. With the combination of garlic and chili , the sauce has its own unique fragrant and taste.

For your information, garlic is claimed to help prevent heart disease (including atherosclerosis, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure) and cancer.

Please find below for the ingredients:

1. garlic (chopped)
2. chili (preferred chili padi, and remove the seeds)
3. 2-3 spoons of light soya sauce

Method:

1. Mix all the ingredients together.

Lotus Root Chicken Soup

This is my simple version of lotus root soup. Lotus root soup would be better if I cook with peanuts, dried cuttlefish or dried scallops. However, the one above here surely did not disappoint me. The red dates that included into the soup, have help to sweeten the soup. The end result was a very very light, refreshing and pleasing soup that I could not resist to stop drinking.....yummyyy..!!! :)

Please find below for my recipe :

Ingredients

1. 2 pieces of chickens (preferred drumsticks and discard the skin)
2. 15 red dates
3. 450 grams of lotus root (wash and clean them of any mud and dirt, skin them. Slice not more than 5 mm thick. Soak in the water to prevent them from turning black.)
4. 3 bowls of water (soup)
5. 500 ml of water
6. Salt to taste

Steps

1. Parboil the chickens with the 500ml water. About 3-4 minutes later, remove the chicken and discard the water. This is to remove the unpleasant smell of the meat.
2. Add in 3 bowls of water in a pot. Bring the water to boil. Upon boiling, add in chickens, red dates and lotus root.
3. Continue to boil for about 10-15 minutes. Lower the heat and simmer for about 1-2 hours.
4. Salt to taste before serving.

About black bean

What are black beans??!!

The scientific name for black beans is Phaselous vulgaris. This kidney-shape bean is about the size of a pea, which may up to 1/2-inch long. They are also commonly referred to as turtle beans, probably in reference to their dark, shinny shell-like appearance. Black bean are very high in fiber, folate, protein, antioxidants, and vitamin B, along with numerous other vitamins and minerals. These beans date back at least 7,000 years, when they were a staple food in the diets of Central and South Americans. They were first domesticated over 7,000 years ago in the region of South America called Peru.

Growing and Harvest

Black beans grow readily in warm weather, the best at temperatures between 65 - 75 degrees F. They require up to 120 days to reach maturity and dry. The beans are left on the plants to dry. They are harvested by machine and the plants themselves left as green manure. In agriculture, a green manure is a type of cover crop grown primarily to add nutrients and organic matter to the soil.

Health Benefits

Black beans are a very good source of cholesterol-lowering fiber. In addition to lowering cholesterol, black beans' high fiber content prevents blood sugar levels from rising too rapidly after a meal, making these beans an especially good choice for individuals with diabetes, insulin resistance or hypoglycemia.

Best way to take black beans :

1. Make it as a drink
2. Black bean soup (click here for the recipe)

Black Bean Soup

Black bean soup is one of my favourite soups. The color of the soup may not illustrate the taste of the soup but I can raise my both hands with 100% guarantee that the soup is super duper yummyyyy..!!!!! You should have a try..!!!

Black bean also known as black turtle bean due to their shinny dark shell appearance. Black bean soup is highly nutritious as black beans are well known to be packed with all sorts of vitamins and minerals. Black bean is good for preventing cancer, heart disease and slowing the aging process.

In fact that, this soup does not require many ingredients due to its natural sweetness from black beans.

Please find below for my recipe :


Ingredients

1. 120 grams of black bean (rinsed and soaked in the water before cooking)
2. 10 red dates (removed the seeds)
3. 250 grams of pork spare ribs
4. 2 1/2 bowls of water (soup)
5. 500 ml of water
6. salt to taste

Steps

1. Bring the 500 ml water to boil. Add in the pork spare ribs. About 3-4 minutes later, removed the ribs and discard the water. This is to remove the unpleasant smell of the meat.
2. Add in 2 1/2 bowls of water and bring to boil. Add in all the ingredients. Let it boil for 10 minutes.
3. Lower the heat, and simmer the soup for another 60-70 minutes. The soup will taste better if simmering for a longer period.
4. Lastly, season with a bit of salt.

ABC Soup

I always have and will always love to this ABC soup. I grew up drinking of this soup. ABC soup is simple and easy to cook, yet full of nutritious and delicious.!!! Until now, I am still wonder why they named this soup as ABC ??? Maybe, it is as easy as ABC to prepare this soup??!! or it stands for all the vitamins from the vegetables?? No matter what, I am just love it so much. Moreover, this soup is famous among children too.





Ingredients

1. 250 grams pork ribs
2. 2 large tomatoes (cut quater)
3. 2 onions (peeled & cut into half)
4. 2 large potatoes (peeled & cut into pieces)
5. 1 large carrot (peeled & cut into pieces)
6. 2 bowls of water (soup)
7. 400 ml water

Sessoning

1. pepper (smashed)
2. salt to taste

Steps

1. Bring 400 ml water to boil. Add in the 250 grams pork ribs. About 4-5 minutes later, remove the pork ribs and discard the water. This is to remove the unpleasant smell from the meat.
2. Clean the pot and add in 2 bowls of water. Bring it to boil. Add in pork ribs. Let it cook for 5-10 minutes.
3. Add in pepper, tomatoes, onions, potatoes and carrots. Continue to cook for about 10 minutes.
4. Lower the heat, simmer for another 40 - 60 minutes or until all the ingredients become soft and smell good.
5. Add in salt to taste and cook for another 5 minutes.

Steamed Chicken (aka Pak Zham Kai)

This finger-lickin dish is one of my favourites. Yet, it is simple and very very very easy to cook. You can even cook it together with your rice by using the rice cooker. Once the rice is ready, the chicken will be ready at the same time ..."kill two birds with one stone" ..!!! hehe...

Moreover, the natural assence that came out from the chicken, have lots of nutritional value and delicious. The main one is it acts as tonic and rejuvenate our body. It is also known for mental alertness.

Please find below for my recipe :

Ingredients

1. 1 piece of chicken (preferred drumstick)
2. fried garlic oil
3. salt to taste

Steps

1. Remove and discard the skin from chicken.
2. Bring 400 ml water to boil in a pot and add in the chicken.
3. About 3-4 minutes later, remove the chicken and discard the water. This is to remove the unpleasant smell.
4. Marinate the chicken with salt
5. Put the chicken in an aluminium plate and put it on top of your rice in the rice cooker. (I would prefer to cook in this way, as I need not to monitor it.)

Note : There is no need to watch the rice cooker since it has the automatic timer that click when the rice is ready.

When there is a "Click" sound, it means your rice and chicken are ready..!!!! Just add in some fried garlic oil to the chicken to enhance the fragrant....It is nicer to enjoy while it is still hot...

Meat Balls Mushroom Soup

Prepared on 21 Feb 2010 - Dinner.. :)

Ingredients

1. 4-5 mushrooms (cut into half)
2. 100 grams of minced pork (marinate with sesame oil, light soya sauce & white pepper powder)
3. dried scallops
4. 1 handfull of ikan bilis
5. 1 egg
6. 8 meat balls
7. 3-4 leaves of chye sim (vegetable)
8. salt & sugar to taste
9. 1 litre water
   

Steps

Bring water to boil and add in the ikan bilis & dried scallops. About 5 minutes later, lower the heat and boil for another 10-15 minutes.

Increase the heat, bring the water to boil again. Use spoon to scoop the minced meat into the water. Then add in the meat balls and mushrooms . Once the meat changes its color and starts to float, add in Chye Sim and egg. Stir the soup and add in salt & sugar accordingly.

Seafood Soup

Prepared on 20th Feb 2010 @ 2pm...

This seafood food soup is combination of prawns, squid and fishes. It has the sweetness of all the seafoods....niceeeeEe...and easy to prepare.

Ingredients

1. 300 grams of squids (tear away the squid's skin)
2. 120 grams of tiger prawns (about 4 prawns)
3. 150 grams of red snapper fillet
4. Chye Sim (vegetable)
5. 1 tea spoons of salt
6. 1 tea spoons of sugar
7. dried scallops
8. 4 slices of ginger
9. 900 ml of water
10. fried garlic oil (optional)
    

Steps

Cut the squid and red snapper fillet into pieces. Peel off the prawn's shell and remove the prawn's head by twisting it off. Clean the prawn's vein by cutting its back just enough to expose the vein and then remove the vein off. Rinse the prawn with water.

Boil 900 ml water in pot. Add in dried scallops, gingers and prawns' heads into the boiling water. Leave them for about 10-15 minutes. Reduce the heat and then add in squids, prawns and snapper and lastly the Chye Sim. Add in salt and sugar for the taste.

Finally, the soup is ready and add in some fried garlic oil to make it taste better....

Revitalising Bee Hoon Tonic Soup

Prepared on 19th Feb 2010...

This tonic soup is easy to prepare and its taste sweet and not bitter. This is due to the ingredients used, especially the longan. The purpose of this soup is to revitalise well-being, hence it is suitable for those who has to work late and feeling tired.

The herbs contains of Radix Codonopsis, Rhizoma Dioscoreae, Lycii , Longan , Astragali and Poria.

Please find below for lazyman's recipe :

Ingredients

1. 1 pack of revitalising tonic herbs (from Eu Yan Sang about $5.40)
2. 2 pieces of chicken wings
3. 1/2 pack of bee hoon (Rice vermicelli)
4. 1.2 litre of water (soup)
5. 400 ml of water to boil the chicken
6. 500 ml of water to cook the bee hoon
7. salt to taste (1-2 tea spoons)
8. meat balls (optional)
   

Steps

Boil the 400ml water in a pot. Add the chicken wings to the boiling water. About 5-6 minutes later, removed the chicken wings and discard the water. This is to remove the unpleasant smell.

Clean the pot and place soup ingredients and chicken wings into the pot. Add 1.2 litre water and bring to boil. Continue to simmer over low heat for at least 1.5 hours. The longer the taste better....

On the other hands, soak the bee hoon (rice vermicelli) in water for about 5 minutes and then drain it and put aside. Use another pot to boil the 500 ml water. Add the bee hoon into the boiling water and stir it for about 5-10 minutes. Drain it and leave aside.

When the soup is ready, just add in the bee hoon and it is ready to serve...

Sweet Corn soup

Prepared on 18 Feb 2010....first try..!! :P

Below is my recipe for Sweet Corn Soup (served for 2 person):


Ingredients

1. 200 grams of pork ribs
2. 2 sweet corns (cut into pieces)
3. 8 to 9 of red dates (smash the red dates to taste better)
4. 1 litre water (soup)
5. 500 ml water to boil the pork ribs
6. 1 tea spoon of salt
7. 1/2 tea spoon of sugar

Steps:

Boil the 500ml water in a pot. Add the pork ribs into the boiling water. About 5-6 minutes later, remove the pork ribs and discard the water. This is to remove the smelly taste of the porks.

Clean the pot and add in the 1 litre water and the bring it to boil. Add the pork ribs and other ingredients into the boiling water. About 20 minutes later, reduce the heat to low for another 1-2 hours.

Yeah...that's all and is ready to serve with rice... :)

Coming soOOoon....

Simple guy with the simple cooking guides....