Sardine Sandwiches

Sardine sandwich - a popular sandwich in Malaysia. Hmm... but I have no idea whether it is still popular now as I have been living here for so long. This is a flavor I remembered when I was in secondary school when my friends came over to my house to teach me how to make it for a school event. These days, I made it as an appetizer for guest or tea time snack. Not only this is easy to make but very nutritious as well, as we know sardine is a good source of calcium, protein, iron and rich in omega-3 fatty acids.

Say NO to Trans Fats

I feel like I need to raise the awareness of industrial process trans fats or also known as partially hydrogenated oil. There was a buzz about the seriousness of trans fats few years ago but have you taken steps to avoid consuming food that contained trans fats?

Trans fats (trans fatty acids) are created in an industrial process that add hydrogen atoms into the liquid vegetable oil to make it more solid. Partially hydrogenated oils are widely used in commercial because it is cheaper, provide longer shelf life and produce a desirable texture. Most of the trans fats are found in fried and baked goods, such as bread, crackers, donuts, fries, etc. However, it is the most deadly fats out there, much worst than saturated fat. Eating industrial process trans fats will increase your bad cholesterol (LDL) and decrease your good cholesterol (HDL) and thus causes the increase risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, cancer, etc. It is a very BAD fat and you certainly don't want it to be in your body.

Please don't be fooled by the "zero trans fat" or "trans fat free" labels. Under the FDA regulations, if the serving of trans fat is less than 0.5 gram, it shall be declared as zero trans fat. So, if the serving contains 0.48 gram of trans fat, the manufacturer can declared it as zero trans fat in their nutrition facts label. So, even though it said zero trans fat, look under the list of ingredients, if there is partially hydrogenated oil, shortening or hydrogenated oil listed, that means it has trans fat. However, FULLY hydrogenated oil has no trans fat and is considered safe, for example peanut butter.

So, please check the nutrition facts label whenever you pick up a box of your favorite cracker, potato chips or bread and read the ingredient list. I found that most of the famous brands have partially hydrogenated oils in it. Also, don't be fooled by trans fat free shortening because it still uses partially hydrogenated oil, so avoid shortening at all cause. If you take charge of your life and stop buying the products that used partially hydrogenated oils, it will send a message to the manufacturers. Once they see their sales drop, they will ask question, seek a solution and start using fully hydrogenated oil for their products and we all will benefit.

As for fast food chains, KFC and Wendy now use trans fat free oil in frying their food. So, go support the fast food chains that listen to us and made a change (Wendy has been good at being the pioneer in change, change that is good for the consumers). But what about the restaurants? Perhaps we can ask the waiter/waitress what kind of oil was used in the kitchen and avoid ordering fried food. I haven't done this but perhaps I should start asking especially those we frequent often. I know a few chain restaurants have started to use trans fats free oil in their restaurants.

I can considered myself lucky as I am living in the United States where all the food has to be labeled with nutrition facts label and ingredients used. But what about people in Malaysia? What about the Chinese crackers like tau sar piah, hiong piah, biscuit, do they still use shortening in preparing those? Just check or ask whenever is possible.

In conclusion, Trans Fats is lethal, once you consumed it, it will remain in your body and do funny thing, so please take charge of your life today (if you haven't done so) and stop buying any products that have partially hydrogenated oil, hydrogenated oil and shortening in their ingredients list. Together as a consumer, we can make a difference, we will show them why their sales drop and make them listen to us. In fact, go check the crackers in your pantry right now, I can tell you most have partially hydrogenated oil in the ingredients list (Most well-known, well-liked brand I tell you!). So, let's us start today by making a difference, together we will win.

Baked Tilapia Fish Fillets

We are a family who prefer white fish meat. Salmon and Tuna which have the pink-hued meat are not to our liking even though they are high in Omega-3 fatty acids especially salmon. I guess we are not used to it as majority of the fishes we consumed in Asia are white meat fishes. Among all the frozen fish fillets sold here we really like the texture of Tilapia fish. It is soft and smooth and go well with steaming, baking, deep-frying, pan-frying or in soup (just add it in last), because of that it is the best frozen fish fillet to have in my freezer. Strangely enough, this fish is considered cheap in Asia but not here. I have seen the value of this fish increase over time, and it is about $4-$5/lb now. Anyway, sharing with you my easy no cleaning fish dish with you.

Chrysanthemum Tea/ Drink

Chrysanthemum drink is a herbal cooling drink, it is best to drink it if you feel heaty or you sense that a sore throat is coming. My elder girl and hubby have been complaining about a possible sore throat so I prepared this tea for them. I made mine very simple with just dried Chrysanthemum flowers and yellow rock sugar. Still my elder girl complained it was too bitter and would not touch her tea at all, but she is not someone who likes the taste of tea. My little one happily finished her cup without any complaint.



My big pot of Chrysanthemum tea! Did I put too much dried Chrysanthemum flowers? I just put in two handfuls of dried Chrysanthemum flowers and filled the pot with water and let it boil. When it boiled, I turned the heat to low and let it simmer for 25 minutes. Then, I added rock sugar to taste. Sieve and serve warm, at room temperature or cold from the refrigerator.

Edit to add: this tea is not supposed to boil for too long. Turn it off when it started to boil and let it sit, add rock sugar or honey to taste.

Tau Suan with Gula Melaka

I have some leftover Gula Melaka syrup from the Tang Yuen (glutinous rice balls) and whenever I have some leftover syrup, I will make another dessert to go with it. Gula Melaka is scarce here so throwing it away is a no no. So, having some green beans, mung beans or red beans in my pantry is just perfect for situation like this. *Sign* Don't we wish we have the luxury like our fellow bloggers in Malaysia or Singapore, then I would love to have some cut "You Tiao" (Chinese fried cruller) with my tau suan (mung beans dessert). For my tau suan recipe, click here.

I truly miss the salty ham chim peng with five spice powder, or sweet ham chim peng, the one that looks like 8 and the one with glutinous rice in the middle! When I go back, I love to visit the morning market for all these fried stuff, but then I would be attracted to the other kuih stalls, and then nasi lemak and so on. I get really greedy as I want to eat everything but I know I have to control myself because 10 pounds is the most I can gain. Our dilemma of going home, want to eat yet afraid to eat too much. (Sigh!)

Lunch Box Save Money

With the bad economy today, we have to think of more way to save money. I have been preparing lunch box for my husband years ago. It started when we were trying to save money for our first house down payment. We were pretty poor at that time and those days were pretty trying as we couldn't go out and eat. I had to cook everyday and the most that we could do for eating out was to order from the fast food chains “A Dollar" menu special. We couldn't go shopping or spend unnecessarily and it was pretty tough. But we went through it and now my husband actually prefer to bring lunch box to his office. These days I figure most of the offices have a microwave for the employees. Thus, bringing a lunch box for lunch can really save you a lot of money. In addition to that, you know what you put in your lunch box and thus it is healthier compared to eating out. Furthermore, my husband dislike the food in the cafeteria and he actually like the lunch box I prepare for him.

As for the math, let's say if you go out for lunch, it will cost you at least $8 per lunch (drink, tax and tips included), but if you bring a lunch box to work, it will save you $40 for that week. And $160 per month, that's $1,920 per year. Not a bad idea huh?

Oh forgot to add, the above is my nasi lemak lunch box, yummy right? Share with you a tips of mine, normally I cook more for dinner and pack some for his lunch box the next day before we started eating. The next day, he just take it out from the refrigerator and put it in his lunch bag and off he goes. Easy, healthy, delicious and cost saving, you should try it!