Singapore Home Maker

Here are some instructions on how to store vegetables which I have came across in a magazine.

·        To make vegetables last long in the fridge, dry the vegetables with a napkin or cloth first before placing in the fridge

·        Wrap celery in aluminium foil before placing in the fridge, it will keep for weeks

·        While storing chilies, removing the stems will keep them fresh for a longer time

·        Do not store potatoes near onions as potatoes rot quickly if stored near onions

·        Crumbled newspapers lining the vegetable compartments of a fridge will keep vegetable crisp

·        Keep green beans dry in a perforated plastic bag in the fridge and they should stay fresh for 4 to 5 days

·        To keep garden peas out of the pod looking fresh and beautifully green simply soak them over-night in a bucket of water with some ordinary baking soda mixed in

Additionally, here is a guide to how long some common vegetables can be stored in your fridge under the correct temperature.

·        Basil, sweet-corn, tomatoes – five days

·        Beans, eggplants, lettuce, peas, cucumbers – 1 week

·        Spinach – 10 days

·        Peppers – 2 weeks

·        Cauliflowers – 3 weeks

·        Radishes – 1 month

·        Onions, garlic – 4 months

·        Cabbages – 5 months

·        Potatoes – 6 months

·        Carrots – 8 months

Here’s a delicious recipe using Cinnamon from videojug, look at the video and try it out.

How To Make Cinnamon Rolls

Serves: 8

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 2 hours

Oven Temperature: 190° c  -  375° f

Step 1: You will need

·         550 g flour

·         25 g fresh yeast , or 8.5 g of dry yeast

·         70 g melted butter

·         210 ml milk

·         75 g sugar

·         2 eggs

·         1 pinch salt

·         1 Tbsp cinnamon

·         200 g brown sugar

·         85 g butter kept at room temperature

·         1 egg

·         2 Tbsp milk

·         1 Handful flour

·         1 Mixer with the hook attachment

·         1 Rolling pin

·         1 Knife

·         1 Baking tray with parchment paper

·         2 bowls (large and small)

·         1 Tea towel

·         1 brush

·         1 spoon

Step 2: Begin the dough

Start by adding the flour, the yeast, the sugar, the salt, the eggs, the milk, and the butter into the mixer. Mix the ingredients on low for 5 minutes until it becomes shiny in appearance. Add about 2 Tbsp more of flour to the bowl and turn off mixer. Now scrape the dough from the hook.

Step 3: Knead and let the dough rise

Put a little flour inside the bowl and also sprinkle some on your work table. Now knead the dough briefly. Add a little more flour to the bowl and sprinkle a little onto the dough. Return the dough to the bowl. Cover it and let it rise for about 1 hour or until it has doubled its size.

Step 4: Make the filling

While the dough is rising you can place into a bowl the brown sugar, the cinnamon, and the butter and mix with a spoon until combined. Now set it aside.

Step 5: Preheat oven to 190°C

You can now set the oven to 190 degrees Celsius.

Step 6: Roll the dough

Punch the air out of the dough. Sprinkle the work space with flour and place the dough on it. Sprinkle the dough with some flour. Now roll out the dough to a 1/2 cm thickness, making sure there is enough flour to prevent it from sticking to the table.

Step 7: Shape the rolls

You can now spread the filling on the dough. Carefully roll the dough into a log and cut it into slices of about 3 cm in thickness. Place them on the lined baking tray, leaving enough space for the rolls to rise. Allow them to rise for 15-20 minutes.

Step 8: Wash and bake

Take your egg wash and using your brush, paint each roll individually. Put the tray into the oven and let them bake for 12-15 minutes.

Step 9: Cool and serve

Remove the tray from the oven and let the rolls cool a bit. Your Cinnamon Rolls are now ready to serve. They can be eaten cold but they taste especially good warm. Try them both ways!

Cinnamon is an ordinary food with extraordinary healing powers. Being derived from the dried brown bark of the cinnamon tree, there are more than 100 varieties of it. The bark is peeled from the trees during the rainy season and then left to dry and ferment for 24 hours. After this process, the outer layer of the bark is then scrap off, just leaving the inner light-covered back which then curls as it dries. The mild flavor cinnamon stick come from the upper new growth of the tree. While the more intense ground cinnamon is made from the old growth bark on the lower part of the tree.

Cinnamon is widely used around the world as a spice due to its distinct odour and it is being principally used in cookery as a condiment and flavouring material, including drinks.

Cinnamon has an excellent source of manganese, dietary fiber, iron and calcium. It has a plethora of health benefits which includes the powder to control blood sugar levels in diabetics. It is also one of the spices with the most anti-ageing, disease-fighting anti-oxidants. It contains polyphenols, which acts as antioxidants that protect cells against free radical damage, reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and ward against cancer. The scent of cinnamon also helps with alertness. As for the oil of cinnamon, it is also known to soothe overall bodily and muscle function whilst containing anti-microbial and stimulant properties.

Cinnamon should be stored in a sealed container in a dry, cool and dark place. It should avoid exposure to moisture and humidity. Cinnamon should smell of sweet spice and if it has no more odour, chances are its old and should be discarded. Pre-ground store-bought cinnamon will stay fresh for 6 months and cinnamon sticks will last for one year. Aim for 1/2 to 1 1/2 teaspoons per day.

Here is one home remedy using cinnamon. To relieve anxiety, drink a cup of hot milk mixed with honey and a dash of cinnamon.

How To Kill Bacteria On Your Toothbrush

Do you know that the toothbrush that you are using daily to brush your teeth can be a breeding ground for BACTERIA? And by putting the family’s toothbrushes together in a container, you or your family members could be spreading colds much more easily?

Simply follow the easy steps in the video to naturally keep you or your family’s toothbrushes clean and bacteria free!

How To Make Yourself Beautiful With Food

Want a younger and glowing looking skin? Then watch this video, you will get tips from the expert, Sophie Mitchell Claudia Schiffer’s former personal chef, who will tell you which are the best foods to use to improve your skin and make it glow. This video teaches you how to make different types of masks to counter different face problems like puffiness, swelling of eyes, tired skin and retaining moisturizer. Happy watching!

Below are some more simple ways to glowing skin which I seen written in a beauty magazine:-

Detox cocktail - Prepare 2 green apples, 2 celery sticks, 1/2 cucumber, 1/2 carrot, 1/4 peeled lemon and a few mint leaves. Blend all the ingredients together with some water. The combined benefits of all these ingredients aid in detoxifying your system and a clear internal system comes with clear and bright skin.

Healthy Beet Juice - Juice 125g beetroot, 125g watercress, 125g red onion, 250g carrots and 1 garlic clove together. Before drinking, add ice cubes and serve. This drink is low in calories and at the same time also packed with iron, vitamin C and beta carotene which helps to bring out a radiant complexion and sparkling eyes.

The Watermelon Trick - Rub your face with the rind of a watermelon. The pulp of the fruit is a good exfoliant and the fruit is rich in vitamin A, B and C. The fruit contains a lot of water which helps to hydrates the skin and the gentle massaging action stimulates the lymphatic drainage for glowing skin.

I am not a fan of peaches, but somehow I could not resist buying this peach when I saw them in the supermarket fruits section 2 days ago. And I really do not regret buying it because one bit into the peach…oh my…its YUMMI, DELICIOUS and at the time JUICY. The next day, I went to buy another 5 boxes and now my fridge is full of this donut peaches. More informations about this donut peach is written below:-

The donut peach is a variety of white flesh peach that originated in Asia, first cultivated in China econs ago. This peach is a descendant of the Peento variety and other names include the Saucer peach, Saturn peach, Chinese peach, Flat peach and Peento peach.

This peach is called the Donut peach because of its flat shape and sunken centre which is shaped like a doughnut and it is only available in the summer.

This unique white flesh fruit is short and squat about 3 ½ inches in diameter and ½ inch in height, with a beautiful fuzzy outer skin of pale yellow tinged with hints of red that covers a white inner flesh which is tender, juicy and sweet tasting, similar to a nectarine.

As this peach is a member of the freestone variety, it is perfect for eating out-of-hand. And also due to its low acid to sugar ratio, it is an excellent choice for adding into salads, crepes, deserts and other dishes requiring fruit. This peach can also even be made into individual’s tartlets.

When buying this donut peach, look for peach with outer skin that are not too green and are beginning to show the yellow red colouring. As for storage of this peach, put into the refrigerator for no more than 3-5 days.

Both my kids like to eat corn very much, so usually I will buy corn on cob during the weekends to boil or steam for them. I came across this recipe of mixing corn on cob with butter and soy sauce by chance on a magazine. So I decided to try it out. The butter and soya sauce really blend well and the corn turned out quite juicy and tasty. Even my son who does not like the taste of butter was really enjoying the corn.

Ingredients:-

2 corns on cob

4 tablespoons of unsalted butter - soften

4-6 teaspoons of soya sauce

Method:-

·   Preheat the oven to 180 deg.

·   First unhusk and de-silk the corn on cob. Then wash and place each corn  on cob on a large piece of aluminium foil.

·   For each corn on cob, smear about 2 tablespoons of the unsalted butter all over the corn so that the butter goes into all the corn crevices.

·   Wrap the corn in the aluminium foil and twist one end of the foil tightly together. Then use the other open end to pour in about 2-3 teaspoons of soya sauce and twist the end together.

·   Roll the wrapped corn around a bit to distribute the soya sauce.

·   Then bake the corns for about 15 minutes, turn over and continue to bake for another 15 minutes and serve.

This is what my family ate tonight. My 2 kids like the fried-rice so much that both of them ask me to cook this dish for them again. This fried-rice is full of veggies goodness and it is a good way to encourage kids to eat more veggies.

Ingredients:-

1 packet of snow pea – wash and cut into half

1 packet of baby corn – wash and cut

1 packet of White Bunashimeji mushroom - wash

3 tablespoons of oyster sauce

3 tablespoons of light soya sauce

3 bowls over left rice

2 cloves of garlic and 2 small onions – diced

Olive oil – small amount

Method:-

·   Place the rice in a large bowl and use your fingers to break up any lumps. Set aside.

·   Pour a small amount of olive oil into a wok and place the wok over medium heat. When the oil is hot but not smoking, add in the diced garlic and onions; they should sizzle and stir for about 15 seconds.

·   Then put in the baby corn and quick stir for 1-2 seconds, follow by the green pea pod and quick stir for 1-2 seconds, lastly add the White Bunashimeji mushroom and quick stir for 1-2 seconds.

·   Then pour in oyster sauce and light soya sauce, mix well and dish up in a bowl, put aside for later use.

·   Next pour the rice into the wok and stir for 5 minutes. Then put in the mixed vegetables that was dish up and set aside earlier into the wok. Stir constantly until all the ingredients are well mixed and heated through. Serve the fried rice immediately topped with xo-sauce.

Wild white fungus, also widely known as White jelly fungus (Tremella fuciformis Berk).

Wild white fungus is also commonly called the white fungus, Plant of Tremellaceae. Its seed is pure white to milky white in colour as the tremellose substance is translucent, soft and springy. Found in clutters from a few to sometimes more than 10, it can be likened to the shape of chrysanthemum or peony. It becomes hard and crispy when air-dried, retaining in a whitish-beige colour.

Grown on board-leave wither trees during summer and autumn, Wild white fungus could be eaten and used in traditional medication. Wild white fungus is an important health products as it contains 17 types of amino acids, acidicheteroglucan and other substances which are very beneficial to a healthy body.

Below are 2 recipes to try:-

Wild White Fungus Soup

Ingredients:-

20g red dates

50g dried Logan

30g wild white fungus

30g gingeo/Lotus seeds

Seasoning:-

Rock sugar

Method:-

• Soak the wild white fungus into the water until it is softened. Rinse and drain dry.
• Place the soaked wild white fungus together with the rinsed remaining ingredients into the doubled boiler and add in 3 bowls of water. Cover and double boil over a low heat for approximately 1 ½ hours, add in some rock sugar before serving. This soup taste better when serve cold.

Double Boiled Pear with Wild White Fungus Soup

Ingredients:-

1 (80g) pear, peeled and cut into pieces

30g wild white fungus

2 fresh ginger slices

30g vegetarian ham

4 Chinese mushrooms, soaked

3 bowls (750ml) water

Seasoning:-

Salt to taste

Method:-

• Soak the wild white fungus into the water until it is softened. Rinse and drain dry before cutting into small pieces.
• Place the soaked wild white fungus together with the rinsed remaining ingredients into the doubled boiler and add in 3 bowls of water. Cover and double boil over a low heat for approximately 1 ½ hours. Remove from heat. Season with salt, serve hot.

• Always use microwave-safe cookware and stay away from metal or reflective containers.

• When taking out the cookware always use a cloth or oven mittens.

• Never use the microwave oven if the door is faulty or does not close securely.

• Do not operate the microwave oven while it is empty as it may start a fire.

• Never try to taste or eat food as soon as it comes out of the microwave oven, as the food is still cooking and increasing in temperature.