I am an drama queen

I really thought I had tooth decay... I went to the dentist in town last Thursday, He told me loose wisdom teeth caused my mouth ache! I really convinced it was.....  I even gave up cakes! anyway, I had 2weeks till my dentist appointment , during the 2weeks, I was telling everyone(possibly, not EVERYONE...), how i HAD to give up refined sugar products...and not sure how I was guanna survive without cakes, etc. I did give up cakes. I still haven't had a piece. yes, I am gaging for a nice piece of cake. A few weeks ago @ work(old peeps house) I baked really nice lemon and almond cakes. Today, I've baked lovely rustic loaves of cakes with honey, banana, walnuts and oats(and half whole meal and half white flour). I didn't taste them. But i met up with Karen for a cuppa, and gave her slice. She demolished it real quick. So, that means...the cake was bomb!       This is what i baked a few weeks back:

  I also blushed plenty lemon syrup on top. Cake should be very lemony and moist. No-one round here makes cakes like this. Anyway, i got no regret( that's what I'd like to believe) giving up. i just need to find some other alternatives for now........So, when i got home today i baked gluten, dairy and sugar-free cookies. They turned up lot nicer than what i expected.  I made gluten free cookies before but  i wasn't quite sure how they would turn up using different flour mix. I made my own gluten free flour mix with; hemp,quinoa and handful of polenta (for crunchiness). Instead of using honey, I used organic Marple syrup. Add some dried fruits, finely chopped pecan nuts, mixed all together and baked them. First batch I made I left them in oven too long. But second batch was just right. Crunchy on out side and slightly moist inside. Cakes or cookies are best when they are moist in middle. (apart from some cookies/biscuits) 

They don't look particularly appetising, the hemp flour makes this colour. Taste nutty though. Also, hemp and quinoa are excellent source of protein. i used coconut oil. even more healthier! this is fact, my favo book says; refined vegetable oil promotes weight gain by supplying more nutritionally void calories, and lowering metabolic rate. but coconut oil/butter does the exact opposite. It is also the most stable of any known oil/butter(up to 170 degree). He also says, this fat stimulate your metabolism, help you loose weight. By using coconut oil/butter in cooking/baking therefore much healthier option. What I don't get  is that people who try to loose weight, they don't even take this fat or very good extra virgin olive oil, hemp oil, or avocado oil...etc. oh, by the way, apparently, most fat contain 9 calories per gram, but coconut oil contains 6.8 calories per gram. hooray!for calorie counters! 

having a break

i just finished gardening, and now I'm having a break with mug of oolong tea, little bowl of macadamia nuts, and energy balls i just made this morning. this energy balls, i made in past before. but i added carob and tahini. but this time, i omitted that and i added more nuts, seeds and cranberry. which turned up tasting much nicer. but i did a bit naughty things. i made another batch which i added alcohol free vanilla essence, carob powder, and hazel nuts, then coated with desiccated coconuts. this is actually really lovely. very moooooorish. i can't wait to share these with Marcus and Karen. they like this sort of thing... i meant to make this for a while, but i had been really lazy. thing is; me and Marcus eat lots of these energy bars(naked bars it's called....), although some shops do offer on these, it gets quite pricey. so, i decided make my own. these don't need to be in de-hydrater. they are fridge cake. at moment, I'm digging my recipe books for healthier treats for me to make.

this is how i had my treats today. and i like to present foods a bit japanesey sometimes. i got some japanesey things in my cupboard, so i would like to use them. why not??? at the end of the day, I'm Japanese! so be Japanese!! be mental-oriental! ( thanks Kiri, my kiwi friend in London gave me the name and i love)

My lively babies

I love looking after my plants and sprouts. i do talk to them. and feel like they respond.... for example, sprouts in my sprouters on the window cell in the kitchen.... when i look after and connect with them, they seem grow quicker and really neat. also they look happy, just like my plants in my little garden downstairs! so, this is how they look.  and then when they are nicely sprouted, they look like this;

       In japan (and Korea) , we eat lots of bean sprouts anyway. so it was really easy for me to get into having sprouted seeds and beans in my diet. this is mixture of mung beans and puy lentils. one of my favo conbination. i also do; alfalfa, rocket, mustard seeds, azuki beans, radish etc. radish and mustard seeds taste peppery and give nice kick to salad when all mixed in them. i always wonder because they are so lively and have good energy, that keeps me regular?????? and being active???  when i make my salad, it looks so lively and full of energy, i can feel they are alive(fresh i mean). and sometimes, i want to smile to my salad because they are so pretty and have vivrant colours! now, it get a bit carzy, when i listen to my body, my body loves foods like that. lively raw foods, seaweed salad, sprouts etc..almost as if i could feel excitement from every cell in my body. when i used to eat junk foods( that was another things i used to love, i wanted to be a junk food critic when i was younger), more like my head wanted me to eat junks. funny how it changed....maybe getting old?????????

anyway, i usually sprinkle them on my salad or make like salsa with sprouts among other ingredients.

 another thing i did the other night for my healthy dinner was; steam fried buk choi with some tamari, finish with lemon zest and juice and serve, mixed sprouts on top as garnish. this mixed sprouts is; mung beans, puy lentiles, alfalfa and mustard seeds. just mix in small bowl with finly sliced banana shallots. yummy. 

photo abouve is alfalfa and mustard seeds. i have 2 set of sprouters, i do try maintain to grow all the time. they are great. economical, taste good and healthy. they been saving my money too. when i started to grow them, i couldn't quite get hung of it, they used to go off and stinky... now i can grow without going off too often. i tend to swap trays round as well to air them. i love watching them grow. i got some this feeling towards them.... funny. i do have that with my plants downstairs too.  so, that makes; i nurture them with love, they become happy sprouts, then i eat them in my salad, that makes my body and mind happy!!! so....all gooood then. they have super proteins among with hemp. oh, i do sprouts hemp seeds too. they are nutty and yummy. i've been experimenting with some new seeds/beans too. some don't seem to sprouts well... like spilit lentils... i was told they didn't, but i wanted to do it. i wonder what kind of rice sprouts??? i read on some book and raw peeps said rice can be sprouted.... o.k, my next experiment is .....rice!!!

i'm clean from cake today

this photo is me and my lemon meringue pie from THE patisserie in Polensa in Majorca last October. oh! the pie was divine. THE best meringue pie I've ever eaten! i had 2 of them during my stay and i ate 2 cakes a day. it was that yummy! i was very happy.... since then, i, kind of , had kept roughly 2 cakes a day.    Now, I've got toothache.... ha ha ha, i wonder why...! my last wisdom teeth has been decaying and gum's got infected. i just feel i can't have cakes anymore. i think that's why i now have toothache. they are my downfalls; cakes, decaf soya caramel mocchiatto, caramel short bread, brownies...etc. you name it.  that's why all of my teeth apart from front ones got fillings in them. anyway, i felt this was the good opportunity for me to give up refined cane sugar all together.  Marcus and Karen want to give it up too, that's nice. i don't have do it on my own! i haven't had a cake today. and y'day. i feel a little bit like....a hole in my life. bit like when i gave up all naughty things i used to do when i was in London... so, i now seriously been thinking about getting de-hydrater somehow. not sure how...I've been in tight budget again this month. but I'm going to sainsbury's tomorrow to get some ingredients to make raw energy bars and cakes(more like gooody gooooody rocky road)...i think that's the way to go for me.    buuuuut, i Will eat cakes from my favo patisseries in Soho and Polensa. they are the best and I'm going to keep it special treat for me!!! o.k., my budget pasta this evening was similar to last one, diced tomato, sliced shallot, soya beans, soya wieners, and side dish of broccoli and asparagus with tamari and lemon juice. yes, I'm Japanese, I'm not going to give up my soy sauce(tamari). i love it. i can't imagine life without it.   by the way, i got big bowl of tomatoes for £1 from market so as broccoli. 2bunches of asparagus for £2! bargain. unfortunately, they are not organic. Go 100% organic is the expensive business, so i do where i can and when i can. that's all i can do!  

         this is my dinner (mains) this eve.it doesn't look good because i sprinkled some sea weed. but tasted yummy  and side dish is.....

i do sometimes add tahini to the soy and lemon dressing. in japan, we usually use sesame paste but different taste and flavour from western one. i suppose Japanese sesame paste contains sugar/honey to make it sweet, but very nice flavour. often sesame seeds are lightly toasted before make into paste. also, i feel sesame seeds we get here and over there are different kinds. Japanese ones are lot more plumpy looking and hard shells. light brown colour too. this sesame and soy dressing ( mixture of tamari, lemon/lime juice, tahini paste, and good sesame oil) is also good with tofu salad. tofu here haven't got lot of flavour, so they can take quite strong dressing. add chili is also the way to go! oh, by the way, i didn't really cook broccoli and asparagus. i eat as raw as i can. i very lightly branched the veg so that they looked pretty in colour. they should still be very very crunchy.  By the way I've just found out about tooth decay, my favo book says; certain kinds of steptococcus bacteria that thrives on sugar colonize the mouth and create acids that eat away at tooth enamel and so cause decay. he also says; Pure sugar is not the only culprit in tooth decay; starchy foods like potato chips, because they are broken down into sugars by enzymes in saliva, can be just as harmful.     thank god, i don't eat crisps anymore!!!