Allergy season is upon us - Natural way to help stuffy nose

Ah Spring. Time for new life, rain and allergies.
I am allergic to some pollen and dust. It hits me bad in the spring and fall.
I get stuffy nose and 10 years ago, there was no pill to address this.
They only had allergy pills to address runny nose, itchy eyes etc.

When they finally made pills that address stuffy nose as well, they were freaking huge and I hate pills :(
And I was so dependent on the pill it was horrible. If I miss taking it, I just suffered.
But since I hate pills, I avoided it and suffered for years.

So a couple years ago, my co-worker told me about neti pot. I looked it up, what it does sounds gross but I gave it a try and I was so happy I did.

Pills suppress the symptoms but never fixes it.
I found that the irrigation actually helps get rids of the symptoms rather then suppress it.
I found that over time, I actually didn't have to wash as much and still get by the day without really congesting.

However I still found the pot somewhat hard to use. When I'm super stuffed up, it just didn't work. The pot can be very frustrating and time consuming and it just turns me off from using it when that happens.
An other friend told me to try the squeeze bottle, but I was very skeptical about it. Finally when I had to get new pot, I decided to try the bottle and now I can say I'll never go back to the pot again.
The bottle is awesome. Maybe because you can control the water pressure and make it work even if it's super stuffed up, it's awesome.
I used it when I have a cold and for allergies to wash out bacteria and pollen/dust.

Please use boiled water and not water straight from tap. Apparently there are parasites in unboiled water that can potentially latch on to things inside your body (like your brain) when you do the wash so just to be safe, use boil water.
When i'm in maintenance mode, I don't have to wash twice a day. I can wash maybe once a day of every other day just to keep from getting a pollen and dust build up.
I'm also able to get away with half a packet of salt rather then a whole back when I'm in maintenance mode.

Yes it's a bit gross, but the relief you get is totally worth it. It's natural and actually helps solve the problem rather then just putting a band-aid on it.

Happy Spring :)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Propolis Honey for skin care!

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) is not only good for salads, but it's actually good for your skin!

I only made this discovery a few years back and I wished I made it a long time ago to help my brother's skin problem.
He has eczema and seasonally, it gets really really bad. He's tried everything when he was a kid. The Dr recommended using Aveeno or the special prescribed cream we have to get at the pharmacy and honestly, none of them really worked. We found that he has to constantly put on the cream as he's dependent on the cream and if he forgets to put it on, it will show. The cream never heals his skin, just keeps it moisturize.

A couple of years ago when I was doing more research into natural skin products and do it yourself stuff, I started looking into Olive Oil and honey.
Someone used EVOO for a face mask and she found her skin became really nice and soft after.
Another masked she liked to do as aspirin mixed with honey. I tried both and found nice results after.
So that got me thinking where else can I use those 2 items and I did some further research.

The Greeks have used it in ancient times for multiple reasons including on skin and hair.
EVOO is high in anti-oxidant and it's anti-inflammatory.

So I experimented on my dry hands in the winter. Once I noticed it actually improves the quality of my skin, I tried it on my brother.
Within a week, his skin started looking better. It wasn't as dry and he only had to apply at night.

Then we tried propolis honey. The problem with propolis honey is that it's a bit sticky and in liquid format, it has alcohol content so it can sting if your skin is broken.
Due to the fact that it's a bit sticky, we only tried experiment at night after showers and before bed time so the skin had time to absorb before going to bed.
Propolis honey is anti-inflammatory, high in anti-oxidant and anti-bacterial.

We found that when we combined the 2, honey first and then olive oil after, his skin actually healed.
He can put it on every night, and his skin actually looked normal by the end of 2-3 weeks of using honey+EVOO. That was something creams were never able to do.

I highly recommend giving it a try during the dry season.
I put it on a couple nights a week during the winter season to help prevent my skin from becoming dry.
If you're doing this as a maintenance program, usually you don't need to use the honey. The olive oil will be enough.
If your skin is in a really bad state, I find the honey helps speeds up the healing.

The most common question people ask when I tell them I use EVOO on my skin is "isn't it oily?"
Well, yes it's oil, but if you use extra virgin, I find that your skin absorbs it rather fast so you would not get it all over the place.
It's natural and absorbs nicely.

There's a lot more research now into EVOO and Propolis honey since people have turned their attention to using natural items.
So if you want to look up what specific properties are in each that helps, it's easily available now on the internet.
I just wanted to share our experience and hope it helps others.

Cheers

Dragon Fruit

 So you might have seen this in the supermarket and wondered what are they and how do you eat it.
Some find dragon fruits tasteless but I find them sweet.
They're also very easy to eat.

Because the fruits are imported from far away from where I live, I find that most of the time the fruit is a bit bland. I suppose it's one of those fruits that don't hold it's flavour as well. Once in a while, I'll get lucky and get one with more flavour and sweetness.
Hopefully just because it's picked before it's ripe doesn't make it lose too much nutritional value.

So how to choose the fruit?
Look for a fruit without spots and is not too hard and not too soft.
Unless you live in a country that grows the fruit, chances are most of them are on the harder side because they pick the fruit before it's ripe in order to ship it.
If it's squishy then it's probably bad.
I buy ones that are slightly soft to the touch and I find them sweeter.

The flesh and the seeds of the fruit is edible.
Cut the fruit into slices.
And then you can peel the skin away from the flesh to eat it :)

Fish Paste and Egg "pancakes"

I love eating fish balls, squid balls, beef balls etc, but I was never very fond of eating fish paste by just cooking it as is.
Even though fish balls is made from the paste, when the manufacturing companies make the balls, they add more things into it to make it springy rather then soft.
So if we have fish paste lying around, I would cook it with something rather then eat it on it's own.

This "pancake" is a nice way to change the texture of the paste and adds flavour to it.

Ingredients
Half a tub of Fish Paste
3 Eggs
1/2 tsp to 1 tsp of white pepper powder (to taste)
1/8 tsp of salt



Directions
1. Use a fork and stir the fish paste to mix it up and break it loose
2. Scramble the eggs, add the white pepper and salt to it
3. Add the egg very very little at a time to the fish paste in it's container. Mix well after every addition.
You'll probably want to add about half an egg every time you add and mix or else it'll be very hard to mix.
If you find that it's not mixing very well because you poured too much egg, do a folding motion to help incorporate some of the egg and keep folding until you're at a point that you can stir to mix well.

4. Once all the Egg is incorporated, heat up your pan to medium heat.
I used my cast iron griddle and I was able to cook everything at once.
5. Oil the pan and pour the mixture like you're cooking pancakes onto the pan.
They should be able 3 bite sizes.
6. Cook them like you would pancakes, wait for 1 side to set (you can tell by the edge), then flip it over
7. They will expand when you cook, brown both sides nicely and you're done!
:)

Tip: I like using the container to mix as I find it easier, if you start with a full container and need to use a bowl, find one that is similar size to the container. If you use a big bowl it's actually harder to mix.

Rice Water

The first day of spring has just past. Meaning it's about that time to start your seedlings indoors so you can be ready when frost disappears.
I don't like gardening because of the weeds, so I try to grow things indoor.
We have various house plants around and my basil plants seemed to have survived through the winter.

I don't like using chemicals to nutrients but organic stuff is so expensive. But over time, you need to refuel your soil to help your plants grow.

We got this tip about rice water from my aunt and tried it out.
The results were pretty amazing. Our Christmas cactus that use to bloom once a year started blooming every couple of months after we started giving it rice water.

So you might be wondering what's rice water and where can I get it.
When I say rice water, i'm actually referring to the water you drain away from your rice after you wash your rice.
Typically, you would wash your rice before cooking it. When you swirl the water around when washing the rice it comes cloudy and white. And that water is usually poured down the drain.
So now instead of getting rid of all that water, I now use it to water the plants around the house.

Just be careful and check if your plant likes basic or acidic environment before you do it.

This is pretty amazing considering it's at no extra cost and we use to just pour it down the drain.

Homestyle Cream of Corn with Fish Maw Soup (魚肚)

This is a super fast soup that you can make in less then 30 mins.
It honestly only really needs the cream of corn, water and Fish Maw but at my house, we typically add a couple more items.

What is Fish Maw (魚肚)?
When I say the word in Chinese and translate it directly to English, it's "Fish Stomach". But it's not the stomach. It's actually part of the fish that allows it to float.
It has a spongy texture, sort of like tofu that you freeze and find it full of wholes after.
If I didn't tell you what Fish Maw is, you would probably think it's some sort of tofu product :)

Here's the package of Fish Maw that I usually get.

This will make enough soup for more than 10 bowls of soup.

Homestyle Cream of Corn with Fish Maw Soup (魚肚)

Makes 1 medium size pot Prep Time 10 mins cook time 15-20 mins

Ingredients

• 2 Cans of Cream of Corn
• 2 Cans of Water
• Half a package of defrosted Fish Maw (177g)
• Several Slices of Ginger
• 1/2 Tbsp of Salt
• 1 Egg (scrambled)
• 1 package of Firm or "Old" Tofu (Optional)

Direction

1. Open the 2 cans of Cream of Corn and pour it into a pot on top of the stove top.
2. Turn on the heat to high.
3. Use the Cans to measure out the 2 cans of water. Use a chopstick to stir the water in the can to get all remaining corn in the can loose. Pour it into the pot.
4. Rinse the Fish Maw under water and squeeze out all the water before cutting it to bite size pieces
5. If you are going to add Tofu, now is the time to open the package, rinse it and cut it into cubes.
6. Once the Corn mixture comes to a boil, add the Fish Maw and Tofu
7. Let the soup cook for ~5 mins or so once it comes to a boil.
8. Crack an egg and scramble it.
9. Add salt to the soup.
10. Use a ladle or chopsticks to stir the soup and pour in the egg.
11. By mixing the soup when you pour in the scramble egg, it will make 蛋花 ("Egg Flower"). The wisp of eggs add a nice look.
12. Make sure the soup is still at a boil and then turn off the heat because you're done!!

Super easy and super fast. :)
Enjoy!

Tangerines(桔) - Chinese New Year Fruit

Happy Chinese New Year!!!

Chinese New Year is a time for huge celebrations and family gatherings.
In Asia, they have a week off and many people take additional time off to travel back to their home village to celebrate with extended family.
Traditionally it's 2 weeks of celebration.

It's very festive in Asia but here in Canada, we do what we can.
Close to the time of New Year, you'll see lots of New Year stuff on sale, ranging from food to decorations.
Food is very very important and everything we eat has meaning behind it!

The meaning is derived from the way the name of the food sounds like (sometimes they even come up with special names just to be used around the celebration). And that brings us to Tangerines.

Tangerines usually go up in price around New Year for this reason. It's considered one of the "New Year" food and everyone buys it, so price goes up. Why do we eat Tangerine?

Well, there's a specific Tangerine that is called 桔. 桔 is Luck!
Luck is very very important in Chinese New Year.
So if you want luck, you must get the fruits and have them in your house to bring you luck.

There's usually another name I call the tangerines by which sounds like "Gold" in Chinese but my mom says 桔 is slightly smaller.

Either way, both the fruits work during New Years because it sounds good when you say the name.
So how can you tell if it's the right one? Usually there's special New Year packaging on the fruit so it'll be hard to miss.

I wish you all good luck for the new year.