Tea time

I like drinking tea, especially green tea. Green tea is rich in antioxidants, it helps in fortifying the teeth, cleansing the body  amongst others. I always feel better after having a cup or two. Another thing about tea in general, is that they are better options than soft drinks or juice as they are sugar-free.

I also have mint tea. It is said to help in digestion. I think mint flavour is great.

I am not a fan of black tea, but I will gladly have it with milk, even though I will not make it at my free will. I used to like milk tea because it is in fact a very typical drink in Mauritius. Now I like it in bubble tea.

Anyway, one thing of caution is that tea does not replace water. So even if you are having one or more cups of tea, you still have maintain your level of water intake (1.5-2 litre per day).

One more thing is about caffeine. I read somewhere that normally tea will have the same amount of caffeine as coffee which makes me believe that decaf tea is a safer option (maybe).

Having said that, I usually have one to two cups of green tea with mint tea daily. It just make me feel better afterwards.

Cooking shows

I have become a real fan of cooking shows recently. I remember when I was little and had the reverse feeling. It just shows how as you grow up, taste changes and things look different. You learn to appreciate the simple things of life. Your views develop into new ones and your perception of things evolves.

I absolutely like watching these cooking shows, not only for the 'how' purpose, but mostly for the good vibes. You can see that passion before each of the host/ presenter's eyes- their love and enthusiasm for cooking and eating. This is enough to make you appreciate cooking.

The first show I really like is Masterchef. However, the show which particularly induced me into trying different things is '100% recettes' by Doctissimo by Natalie Nguyen. Her good humour in the videos really push me to try instead of only watching. Other than that I would now watch any cooking shows. At the moment, I am watching Huey's show, Good Chef/Bad Chef and Ready Steady Cook. The good thing about seeing those is to see how easy it is to cook; you do not need special powers. It is only a matter of getting started. Then everything will take care of itself. You will learn over time, improve and truly enjoy cooking.

Alright so happy cooking :)

Meefoon soup (recipe)

Sometimes after having a copious meal, you would rather like your next meal to be light and healthy, not oily but tasty. Solution is to have a soup. However, I reckon that some soup are time consuming to make and other too rich. The dish I am proposing today is this: meefoon. It's a typical Mauritian dish, easy to prepare and cook. It is basically a combination of bok choy, shiitake mushroom, carrots and chicken, and rice noodle. It's usually accompanied with a fried egg. I can say it's almost oil-free except for the fried chicken and egg. Some people like to add soy sauce to give colour to the dish. Personally I am not fond of soy sauce because it contains lot of sodium and quite salty. So I usually have to avoid or put as little as possible where I can. Simple and delicious.

Recipe
Ingredients:
500g chicken breast, sliced and cooked
Half a pack of rice noodle
2 carrots, chopped (see picture)
10 shiitake mushroom (I used dried ones- tip- put them in hot water about 5 min to soften them and then sliced them)
1 bok choy, washed and chopped roughly
Soy sauce
A small amount of preserved chinese vegetable (see link for more info)
Salt

Method:
Put some water, about 2 litres in a heavy pan. Put your carrots, bok choy in until the water boils. Then add the preserved vegetables, the mushroom, and the chicken. Add soy sauce, and salt per tasting. After which add the rice noodle. Let simmer about 10 minutes until the noodle is tender and smooth.
Here you go, simple as it looks.

Golden Gaytime

I totally fell in love with the taste after trying the golden gaytime krusher at KFC. It just tastes sweet and so delicious. It is simply mouth watering. I was unaware that it was in fact, an ice-cream flavour from Streets . I was craving to taste the ice-cream and finally, I had it today.
The taste matches the krusher (obviously). It is so sweet and I like everything about it, from the inside, to the chocolate coating and crumbles. This must be my new favourite ice-cream. I am definitely having it anytime. Have a look at the pictures- don't it look divine ;)

PS: Reading the post again, it gave me the impression of a love story haha.

Chicken broccoli & snow pea sautee

After reading and coming across so many articles taking about eating green vegetables, I felt obliged to cook some. I have not been cooking broccoli for a long time, so it was about time to rectify this mistake. Health benefits of broccoli include strengthening bones, protecting your heart, controlling blood pressure,  saving eyesight and combating cancer. I also added snow peas, which is also a super veggie.
The dish is a complete meal, vegetable, protein, fibre and carbohydrates (accompanied with rice). My advice is to try having at least one green vegetable in your meal daily. It is definitely worth it.

I come across this picture which I took after cooking a vegeterian version: