Tag Archives: Rice

Monday Musings…23rd January 2023…Fitness Update…Natural Antibiotics…Echinacea, Toadzilla,Trans Fats and the problem with rice!

Welcome to Monday Musings where my muse pinpoints anything exciting or unusual I have read, seen or experienced during the last week it could be anything that piques my interest…

Natural Antibiotics that work…Echinacea

Pharmaceutical antibiotics are one of the world’s greatest inventions…however, they are often over-prescribed and people get immune to them. They are great for bacterial infections and even for treating some parasites but because of misuse and overuse people build up resistance to them…

Echinacea is known for its antibiotic properties as well as being a popular remedy for colds and flu…Echinacea is available in many forms, including tea, juice, tablet and supplements…As always make sure you consult your doctor before starting to take any supplement.

Archaeologists have found evidence that Native Americans may have used echinacea for more than 400 years to treat infections and wounds, and as a general “cure-all.” using the root, leaves, and flowers of the plant in traditional herb remedies. Its popularity waned with the discovery of synthetic antibiotics. But, there is a growing interest again in the herb because of problems with the effectiveness of specific antibiotics against some bacteria.

Echinacea is effectively used against a variety of infections such as septicemia (infections of the bloodstream), tonsillitis, streptococcus infections, and urinary tract infections…indeed some 18 plus years ago my daughter was advised by her oncologist to take echinacea as he thought it could help to keep her white cell count from going too low he explained that nothing had been proved but many of ladies were taking it and it appeared to be beneficial she took his advice and her white blood count did indeed not drop too low to stop her treatment was it the echinacea we don’t know but her oncologist stressed it would not do any harm to take it … studies are still ongoing…Several laboratory and animal studies suggest that echinacea contains active substances that boost immune function…I was impressed with him as he was obviously looking beyond traditional medicines and agreed that traditional medicine and plant medicines could work together hand in hand.

It is important to choose a high-quality echinacea supplement and to use echinacea as early as possible in the course of a cold, with multiple doses per day for the first few days. Talk to your healthcare provider for recommendations…as always there are many unscrupulous people who manufacture supplements that either have none or very little of what you would expect it is always wise to check thoroughly …the old adage of you get what you pay for still applies in many cases…

There are three species of echinacea that are commonly used for medicinal purposes: Echinacea angustifolia, Echinacea pallida, and Echinacea purpurea. Many echinacea preparations contain one, two, or even all three of these species. Different products use different parts of the echinacea plant, which is why the effectiveness of echinacea may differ from one product to another…

Today 23rd January 2023 a Virtual High-Level Event is being held by WHO (World Health Organisation)…The Fourth Progress Report on Global Trans Fat Elimination.

It will be interesting to hear what the outcome…

Rice is my favourite carb...I eat rice every day…but what is the problem with rice that no one is talking about? This is an interesting video…

Fitness update…

Today I went out for a gentle 5km walk I have learnt from my stupidity and trust me I have been cursing the fact that I am 71 years old and cannot jog/run like I used to…I hate getting old however now I have stopped berating myself for pushing myself too far too fast I have accepted I need to show restraint…hmmmm…hence a gentle walk but having never ever suffered from joint pains and back pains I know I must be sensible… it’s taken me long enough to accept the limitations of this body…and keep it twinge free…so gentle walking it is and then under the guidance of one’s son I will be doing gentle jogging… I’m getting lessons in how I should do it and not break into a run…I need to slow down (apparently)and do as I am told…

Toadzilla...

Awwww R.I. P…Toadzilla

Thank you for joining me today as always I appreciate your visit and your comments I hope to see you on Wednesday when my A-Z of World Cuisine will be back xx

Smorgasbord Blog Magazine – The Food and Cookery Column with Carol Taylor – Carol Cooks #Rice – Savoury and Sweet.

Rice…Something I eat nearly every day or 6 days out of 7 …My favourite carb and here it comes in many varieties so always a different one to try I hope you enjoy the recipes 🙂 xxxx

Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

Carol Cook’s…..Rice

Welcome I hope you enjoyed the salads last week and your sunny weather is still continuing. This week I thought we would have a change as rice is one of the staple foods here as well as noodles. Rice comes in so many different varieties here and colours … Many different types of white rice which includes Jasmine rice, Brown rice also comes in many different types and we get the glutinous rice which doesn’t as the name might suggest contain Gluten it means it is sticky rice and as is all rice in its natural form gluten free and of course not forgetting the wild rice and the black rice which is one of my favourites.

We grow our own rice and currently because of all the rain the weeds are growing like mad…Once the rice is harvested we store it in our rice store and generally…

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Healthy Eating…How to lose weight and eat the foods you love…

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Welcome to my Tuesday ( Boot camp) where we have sensible conversations on what we eat and enjoy… Yes, enjoy! Let’s do this!

Just to recap on last week what have you been snacking on tell me???

Oh, and did you enjoy your pancakes ??? I did I had two with lime and a bit of sugar and they were delicious…

What did you think of last weeks post??? Which is just below in case you missed it…

https://blondieaka.wordpress.com/2018/02/13/healthy-eatinghow-to-lose-weight-and-eat-the-foods-you-love/

Did you try any of the snacks or have you got your own go-to snacks??

This week as I know so many of my readers live in colder climes I will give you the recipes for some delicious soups..all healthy, made from scratch and good for you…

This is one of my favourite Thai soups and the first time I have made it. It also brings back memories of a certain lady…Keeleigh who when she visited us could not get enough of this fabulous soup.

You may also notice that it isn’t the bright orange colour of many Tom Yum soups you see or may have had it is because a mix is used and it has colouring in it …If it is this colour it is made from scratch from fresh ingredients no preservatives and colourings.

Tom Yum soup with Prawns

Tom Yum Goon

Ingredients:

  • 2 litres of water
  • 4 stalks of lemongrass
  • 1-inch chunk of galangal
  • 10 kaffir lime leaves
  • 10 Thai chillies
  • 5 cloves of garlic
  • 500 gm Prawns
  • 300 grams of oyster mushrooms
  • 2 medium tomatoes cut into quarters.
  • 2 white onions (medium-sized) cut into large chunks.
  • 1 and a half teaspoons of sugar
  • 7 – 10 tablespoons of fish sauce (depending on your taste)
  • Juice of 5 -8 limes.
  • A handful of cilantro.

N.B Next time I will use shallots instead of white onions and I recommend using the lowest amount of limes and fish sauce and Taste! Adjust if necessary as everyone’s taste varies.

Let’s Cook!

The first thing to do is put about 2 litres of water in a large pot to boil.

Then I like to start by squeezing my limes. This is not the first step of the recipe, but it’s best to have your limes squeezed so when you need them later, you don’t need to rush to squeeze them all.

Take your stalks of lemongrass, and first tear off the outermost leaf and throw it out. Then, I like to use a rolling-pin or the handle end of a knife to lightly pound the lemongrass to release the flavours. Then just slice it diagonally into 1-inch strips or so.

Take about 1 thumb-sized chunk of the root part of galangal, and chop it into slices.

Coarsely break about 10 kaffir lime leaves – no need to cut them, just tear them – which is going to help release their flavour.

Peel about 5 cloves of garlic.

I used about 10 Thai bird chillies for this recipe, but you can use however many you’d like. First, take off the stem, and then you can either just slice them in two pieces, or give them a little pound on your cutting board like I did (just be careful of flying seeds). You can also remove the seeds if you’d still like the chilli flavour but not as much heat.

Throw the lemon grass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, garlic and chillies into the water.

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You can put the lid on just so it starts to boil which releases the herb flavours quicker.

Now prepare your prawns I remove everything except for the tail…..others put in whole prawns…personal preference.

Boil your soup with all the herbs in it for about 10 minutes.

Then add your mushrooms, which you should pre-rinse beforehand.

Cook for 4-5 minutes.

Add tomatoes and onions.

 

Cook for further  6-8 minutes.

Now add prepared prawns and cook for 2-3 mins( if overcooked the prawns will sink to the bottom of the pan. If you get any scum on the surface of soup it’s from the prawns then just skim it off the surface.

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Remove from heat and stir in fish sauce, lime juice, sugar and cilantro.

Taste and adjust if necessary.

This delicious soup is now ready to serve.

 

I hope you enjoy this soup as much as we do and remember to add the smallest amount of fish sauce and lime juice and taste and build on it, taste and build until you get the right level of salty and sour for you 🙂

Thai Rice Soup.

Thai Rice soup

 

This soup is eaten for breakfast, it is given to babies, anyone who is maybe a little unwell or just because they want a comfort food. If you use cooked rice then it will be more like a porridge and how it would be given to babies and also with less seasoning for babies.

If you want a bit more of a substantial soup then add a few prawns and if you are vegetarian just omit the meat and maybe add some pak choi or white cabbage shredded., some tomato…Play with the flavours.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup minced chicken or pork

3 cloves of minced garlic

1 and a half tbsp oil

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp soy sauce

1 and 1/2 cup of fresh chicken broth

1 cup of steamed rice

1 egg

1 tbsp finely Julienned fresh ginger

1 spring onion finely sliced

1 tbsp coriander chopped

Pinch of white pepper.

Let’s cook!

Heat the oil and add the minced ginger and cook until ginger is golden remove half and set to one side for garnish.

Add the chicken or pork and season with salt and the soy sauce then pour in your chicken broth and the rice. Cook for 3-5 minutes depending on whether you want a soup or more of a porridge.

Turn up the heat and crack the egg in the middle of the rice either sir to combine through the rice or let the egg poach.

Pour into your bowl and top with the garlic, spring onions and ginger sprinkle with a dash of white pepper.

Enjoy!

Two lovely soups ..No calorie counting…I don’t do that… we all have a good idea of what our food contains and whether or not we could eat bowls of it or not…Don’t we???

I eat fairly small portions but if I am still hungry I would have a little more obviously with these soups you don’t eat bread…

I generally never ever feel bloated I eat enough..enough to satisfy my appetite…I don’t count calories..I am old enough to know what is calorie laden and I am not on a diet… It is a lifestyle for me and easy to maintain because …I had my pancakes ..did I not on Shrove Tuesday… I enjoyed them…

That was my treat and no guilt…BUT… I was extra careful the next day and also walked a few extra km.

What I am really saying is MODERATION AND COMMON SENSE…Cheat every day…Who is the loser…It isn’t me…

I do hope this is helping you along with your feeling healthier and eating healthier path… If you have any questions or foods you love and need recipes for ..Ask me…I don’t bite and enjoy my food and my sundowners… But also lose weight or maintain it as now I seem to lose in little bursts…If I feel it needs a kick-start then I up my walking or cut my snacks not that I eat many anyway or will have a soup day.

Until next time eat well but eat sensibly xxx

 

 

Fish Friday….Thai Squid Salad.

 

Another authentic Thai recipe…

Squid Salad

I used to hate squid with a passion…..the only squid I had ever tasted was those squid rings in batter..fried to death and tasting like a rubber tyre…that is until my son bought his Thai girlfriend home and she introduced me to this amazing salad with the softest squid I have ever tasted. Doesn’t that just look amazing?

Ingredients:

  • 400 gm(14 oz) baby squid.
  • 5 Spring Onions. (sliced)
  • 5 sm shallots.( thinly sliced)
  • 20 cherry tomatoes. ( halved)
  • half sm cucumber sliced and quartered.
  • Coriander big bunch or again to taste…I like lots…(chop)
  • Mint. ( optional)
  • 1-3 birds Eye Chillies chopped( seeds optional)
  • 2 tbsp Fish Sauce.
  • Half lime,  juice.
  • Palm Sugar ( up to 2 tbsp ) again optional I don’t use it but depends on personal preference.

Let’s Cook!

Clean the squid. Getting all membrane off and remember to pull out the plastic quill.

Cut head/parrots beak off leaving the  tentacles(the best bit)

Slice squid into 3/4 to inch slices.

Heat a small amount of water in a pan and add squid,  cook until opaque less than a minute, Drain on kitchen paper and combine with other ingredients.

Again TASTE and check to season. You cannot taste too much. It is just getting those delicious Thai flavours of sweet, sour, spicy and salty just right for you..it took me a while so just keep tasting…

Squid Salad

I just love Thai food one because of the taste and also because of the ease of preparation. It takes longer to chop ingredients than to cook the dish the majority of the time. And as long as you remember to TASTE, taste and adjust seasoning to your personal taste and as you know by now I love chillies, fish sauce, coriander and mint in abundance.

Enjoy!

Serve with Sticky/ Steamed Rice or noodles.

Just in case you missed any of the previous weeks Fish Friday posts they are below:

British Fish and Chips 

Sea Bass with Lime, Ginger and Fennel

Prawns with Asparagus

Thank you for reading I do hope you have enjoyed the recipes and if you try them please let me know what you think…

 

Fish Friday…. Sea Bass with Lime, ginger and fennel…

Wow, where does the time go it’s Friday…Fish Friday I just don’t know where the time goes it just flies by…

I hope you enjoyed the recipe last week I just love fish and would be quite happy to eat fish six days out of seven….

This recipe was just sort of made up ..we had a friend staying with us from England and decided to steam some fish the Thai way but it was too big for our steamer so instead we baked it in the oven covered with foil and just removed the foil 5–10 minutes from the end of cooking and it was very nice.

Sea Bass with Lime, Ginger and Fennel.

Fish with Lime and fennel

Ingredients:

  • 2  Sea bass/ Bream or Carp – whole, scaled and gutted
  • Bunch fennel fronds or you can use while fennel sliced we just stuffed the cavity with the fennel fronds.
  • 3 Shallots – peeled and halved (for fish cavity)
  • 1  Bulb Garlic – unpeeled, halved (for fish cavity)
  • Thumb of Ginger – Sliced finely (for fish cavity)
  •  Lemon or Lime, (remove the skin because the skin makes it bitter) this was a tip I picked up after we had made ours… from my  Thai daughter in law…. Always something to learn about cooking…

For the Sauce:

  • Dark & Light Soy Sauce 
  • Splash of coconut oil  or a splash of Chilli Oil 
  • Sugar
  • Lime
  • Fresh Chilli 

Garnish (optional)

  • Few sprigs Coriander chopped
  • Spring Onions – sliced longways 

Let’s Cook!

Preheat the oven to 180 C

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Place the fish on a baking tray.

Prepare the vegetables and stuff inside the fish and around the tray. Make some diagonal cuts across the fish and push in a slice of lime… Drizzle with some olive oil and cover with foil.
Bake for 40 mins, then remove the foil and turn up to 250 C for a further  5-10 mins till skin is golden brown and crispy.
Rest for 5 minutes.

Fish with lime and fennel (2)

In a pan add a splash of oil and sweat the spring onions being careful not to burn them.  Pour in about 50/50, ( 75 ml altogether) of a mix of dark soy sauce and light soy sauce then add about a tbsp of sugar ( I add slightly less) and a tbsp lime juice.

Taste for the balance of sweet, sour and salty. If it is too sweet, add more sour, if it is too salty add more sweet, if it is too sour add more sugar. I prefer mine on the salty, sour side rather than sweet but it really is a personal preference

Add fresh chillies of course I do…lol

Then pour all over the tray of baked fish. 
Garnish with coriander and/or strips of fresh spring onions.
Serve with steamed rice.

Enjoy!

This is a very simple fish dish to make and it virtually cooks itself but experiment because if I don’t have fennel I stuff the fish cavity with coriander, Thai Basil, spring onions, really whatever I have in the garden or the fridge…

Just in case you missed previous weeks then here they are… 

Prawns and Asparagus

Thai Prawn cakes

Thank you have a lovely weekend x

Spicy red curry, Pork,Rice and coconut balls.

These spicy rice balls are a lovely way to use up any leftover cooked rice and are quite delicious. They are one of the first things I was taught to cook by my daughter in law more years ago than I care to remember. Whenever we have a party or anything they are one of the first things to be eaten, adults and kids alike they love them.

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 We had these last night and we did have a couple left over….. guess what I have just had with some ginger and chilli, lime juice squeezed over it and wrapped in a white cabbage leaf… all the Thai flavours and textures..so yummy!

 

Ingredients:

500 gms cold cooked rice.

250 gms minced pork.

150 gm coconut flesh. I have a funny little gadget that I bought long ago and I scrape the flesh out of a fresh coconut…

1-3 tbsp red curry paste.

2-3 tbsp fish sauce

1 tsp sugar.

2 eggs beaten.

Method:

Mix all ingredients together it will be slightly sticky. With wet hands shape into medium sized balls about 3-4 cm.

Heat oil until hot but not smoking as the outside will cook before the inside and cook rice balls 15-20 minutes until brown and cooked through.

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These balls are best eaten with a piece of white cabbage, some diced ginger and chilli put ball or part of it on cabbage and wrap around, squeeze some lime juice over it and eat, it is a crunchy fusion of Thai flavours, so yummy.

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If you are a vegetarian then omit the pork and you still have tasty rice balls….In fact, a lot of the balls you buy on the markets do not have Pork. If you don’t use pork then adjust your cooking time.

If you are not sure of the level of spice then form a small ball having used the lower level of paste and fish sauce, fry a tester.Then if you need to ..Add more chilli paste.

Enjoy!