De-tox Drink: 3 ingredients, 10 minutes cooking & RM4.50 only!

When I was a kid, I used to be playing on the grass.

That was the childhood like in the 70s & 80s.

I always got bad itchiness on my skin right after, especially on my legs.

I guess I must have gotten insect bites from there.

So, my mom would make me this herbal drink.

She said, it helps to "cleanse" the blood.

I didn't think so much about it.

Back then, there was no way to google.

But recently, I did a bit of googling.

Some people actually make this herbal drink for their adolescent teenage kids at home to get rid of severe acne.

I never had acne, so I never thought of this drink could be consumed for that matter.

Anyway, here's the secret herbal drink to get your blood "cleanse".

Ingredients:
1. Rehmannia glutinosa

2. Rhizoma Smilacis Glabrae

3. Brown Sugar 2pcs

*RM3 for Rehmannia glutinosa & Rhizoma Smilacis Glabrae

1. Soak Rehmannia glutinosa & Rhizoma Smilacis Glabrae in the water to get rid of dirt.
2. Drain the water.

1. Fill the pot with 1 - 1.5 litre of water.
2. Put Rehmannia glutinosa & Rhizoma Smilacis Glabrae in the pot & bring it to boiling.

1. If you filled the pot with 1 litre of water, you can now add 1.5 pcs of Brown Sugar to the mixture. If you like it sweeter, you can always put 2 pcs. I filled the pot with 1.5 litre of water. So, I'm adding 2 pcs to the mixture. I don't like it too sweet.

2. Keep the mixture boiling til the Brown Sugar is dissolved.

Then, switch off the induction cooker. You can have it hot, or cooling it down & store the drink in the fridge for later. I personally prefer a cold herbal drink.

Consume this drink just like the way how you consume water. To be stored in the fridge for freshness & finish it up within 1-2 days.

If you have severe acne problem, you probably can have this drink like once a week.

Let's see if that helps.

As I said before, I never had acne problem. So, I'm not sure the effectiveness on acne.

I consume this drink when I have insect bites with irritating itchiness that wouldn't go away in days.

So, enjoy!

Neutrogena Rainbath: Pamper Yourself In The Shower

Due to excessive exercise, I always thought that, anti-bacteria shower gel was good for me.

So, I was happily using Dettol Anti-Bacteria Shower Gel for years. Whenever there's value-for-money twin-pack sold at Tesco/Watson/Guardian, I would buy half dozen of them & keep them in storage.

No doubt, the nice fragrance & non-stinky formula could really keep me fresh all day long.

But, there's one downside.
Occasionally, it gave me dry skin, particularly at the sensitive areas.
Of course, it's still not a big deal as the easy fix is to apply some lotion.

It was until 3 years ago, when I found Netrogena Rainbath at Watson.
Actually, I get to know this product for more than a decade.
It's quite common in the US, but it's not easily available at all stores/pharmacies in Penang.

To be honest, the reason why I bought it in the first place is because I really fancy of its BIG name.

But, that fancy part is soon to be over.
I was hit by cold-hard-reality!

This product is simply AMAZING.

The light aromatic fragrance gives you an uplifting soul-awakening sensation in the shower.
Its non-sticky texture is easy to wash off.
The bubbling foam caresses your skin in perfection & you should be caution to use it sparingly or else you'll get yourself in a foam party.

Mostly importantly, you leave the shower feeling moisturise & smooth!

It's a bit pricey. It cost you RM55-57 for 946ml.
But, it could easily last you 6 months or more.

Hello People! It's merely RM0.10/shower!

P/S: Highly recommend to use it with loofah

Food In 10 Minutes: Stir Fried Thin-Sliced Australia Beef

Most people do not like to cook at home due to the mis-conception that, "it has too much work involved".

I'm gonna show you, how to stir-fried Australia Beef in 10 minutes.

The ingredients that you need:

1. Preferably Grapeseed Oil. You can forget about your grape seed supplement if you have grapeseed oil in your daily diet.

2. Australia Cream Gold Onion (half or one whole piece if you like it more). It's quite expensive (~RM7.50 for 2pcs), but it's really worth the price.

3. Japanese Sauce (as shown in the photo) & thin-sliced Australia beef that you can get it at Jusco (if you're lucky).

4. Pour the Japanese sauce to marinate the beef & make sure the sauce is spread evenly. Add scallion that's chopped in one inch length. You can decide how much scallion that you'd like to have in there.

5. Heat the pan to 140-160°C. Follow steps 1, 2 & 4. 

Firstly, pour small amount of grapeseed oil into the pan. (as shown in step 1)

Add in the chopped Australia Cream Gold Onion & stir fried for 10-20 seconds. (as shown in step 2)

Lastly, pour in the beef-scallion mixture & stir fried for another 20-25 seconds. (as shown in step 4)

It's important to note that, you don't overly stir fried the beef. The heat remain in the beef will further "cook" the meat even when it is off the pan. So, if you wait til the beef is fully cooked, it simply means one thing: you're having over cooked beef!

Serve the dish on a plate. You can add a bit more Japanese sauce if you want. Feel free to sprinkle sesame seed on top to garnish it.

Enjoy!

In Relationship: Me & Coffee

The best way to start the day is to have a cup of rich aromatic hot coffee that has your signature in it.

There couldn't be more unique unless you make it your own.

Coffee is the only drug that I could afford. The bright side is, the substance abuse doesn't take you to jail. Instead, it gives you a few anti-oxidant points that makes you look younger.

Well, younger is arguable. But, it's undeniably boost up the the spirit, physically & mentally.

Years ago, I didn't like coffee as much as I do right now. Back then, the coffee that I made, it tasted sour.

If you face the same problem like I did, you might want to review the steps on how you make your coffee.

Just follow these simple steps:

1. Boil the water (make it hot, not warm)

2. Scoop a spoonful of Nescáfe Gold (recommended as 2g but I like it stronger)

3. Pour 180-200ml of hot water & stir the mixture

There, you have your Americano.

If you like it sweeter:

4. Add small amount of sugar into the mixture (I personally do not like it too sweet)

If you would like to have some milk in it:

5. Just pour a bit of milk into the mixture according to your liking. If you need a fancy coffee, warm the milk, whisk it til you get air integrated & it become foamy. Then pour it in your coffee. Warm milk will make the foam stay longer as it's about the same temperature as your coffee.

The key is, you need to get it done in order.

If you find your coffee is not strong enough, it's a big NO NO to add more coffee powder afterwards.

It changes ... no, it spoils the taste!

Enjoy!

Microwave: How To Cook Rice

Due to space constraint in the kitchen, it's unsightly to have too many appliances sitting on the table top.

For that reason, you can easily guess that, I don't own a rice cooker!

So, how do I cook rice?

MICROWAVE, of course!!

It's such a life-saving invention. I can cook rice, bake cake, grill poultry, heat-up food in just a few simple steps. It even comes with 20 pre-programmed function for the dummy!

What can you ask for more?

To get your rice beautifully cooked, just follow these simple steps:
1. Scoop one cup of rice, that's the serving for 2
2. Rinse the rice thoroughly once (I'm using SUMO Calrose Rice)
3. For one cup of rice, you need equally one cup of water. Aged rice might need a bit more
4. Put the glassware in the microwave, close the door
5. Set the timer to 17 minutes

Rice is beautifully cooked after 17 minutes.

P/S: I bought the microwave 4 years ago & it maintain the same price til this day. I'm just so damn proud of it!