Chia seeds

Salvia hispanica, commonly known as chia, is a species of flowering plant in the mint family, Lamiaceae, native to central and southern Mexico and Guatemala. The sixteenth-century Codex Mendoza provides evidence that it was cultivated by the Aztec in pre-Columbian times and economic historians say it may have been as important as maize as a food crop.

“chia” is the ancient Mayan word for “strength.”

Sometimes I add a teaspoon of Chia Seeds to my white coffee in the morning.

https://authoritynutrition.com/11-proven-health-benefits-of-chia-seeds/ 

 
 

Doctors-refuse-let-Charlie-Gard-s-parents-home

 I don't understand the hospital why they decline to let the parents take Charlie home to die.

 I myself experienced a similar scenario. We were told Andrew would die the evening he was born. We stayed at NICU because I couldn't handle it. Andrew did not die, towards the last ten days, he was having apnea, and the first time, we all thought he had died. Through out his 55 days, the hospital had asked if we wanted to bring him home for a short stay. They would provide oxygen. I did not do it. The hospital was very respectful of our feelings.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4650642/Doctors-refuse-let-Charlie-Gard-s-parents-home.html

Thursday Challenge Rocks

http://www.spunwithtears.com/thursday.html

"HARD (week 1 of 2)" (Rock, Stone, Pavement, Steel, Glass,...)

Next Week: HARD (week 2 of 2) (Rock, Stone, Pavement, Steel, Glass,...)

Thursday Challenge is a place for photographic fun and

learning.
Gannet birds fly from Australia to nest at these rocks in Muriwai. From August to March each year you can watch the comings and goings of a busy gannet colony. It's hugely entertaining.

Each pair lays one egg and the parents take turns on the nest. The chicks hatch naked, but within a week they're covered with fluffy down. As they mature, they grow juvenile feathers and begin to exercise their wings in preparation for the one-shot jump off the cliff.

Once airborne, the young gannets leave the colony and cross the Tasman Sea to Australia. A few years later, surviving birds return to secure a nest site at the colony.

Hamilton city councillor Siggi Henry said fat people were a health risk because they could fall on you.

When I was in school, I had a close friend who was slightly overweight. She was teased for being fat, and it really affected her personality. She argued back which made it worse. She said she was teased even at work. Shortly after I saw her before I went abroad, she killed herself.



http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11884200

A Hamilton City councillor has come under fire for saying fat people are a hazard because they could fall on you.

Councillor Siggi Henry made the comment during a council debate about sugary drinks this week.

"It does affect a lot of things. I mean, you have a fat person falling on you, I think that would affect you, too," she reportedly said.

When asked about the comments after the meeting Henry said she knew "it wasn't right" as soon as she said it.

bookniture-furniture-hidden-in-a-book

I watched this on TV and thought what a great idea. Imagine folding your stool and displaying it like a book. When you have visitors, you open up your book like origami and you have a stool.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1985945130/bookniture-furniture-hidden-in-a-book

BOOK x FURNITURE = BOOKNITURE

BOOKNITURE is an extremely compact furniture. You can store it or carry it around just like a book. In just a flip, it unfolds from a book to a piece of multifunctional furniture. 

• Easy Storage
• Quick Setup
• Multifunctional
• Highly portable

Tong Kuai aka Guai aka Dang Gui aka Angelica acutiloba.

A friend said she was hitting menopause and I reckom she was too young. I remember my mum's secret.

Here's my parents Mr and Mrs John Chan Hiu Fei. My niece Jane says, "My stylo Milo "Grandma. Thanks to the little lump of Tong Kuai aka Guai aka Dang Gui aka  Angelica acutiloba. Mum used to be the Vice President of the Women's Institute of the 6th division chapter. She held cooking demos and was a cooking judge, so she knew what she was talking about.


Tong Gui  Angelica acutiloba

Gee Zai , Goji aka Wolfberry (above), garlic (below)

Chinese red dates (dried)

Ginger

and a young virgin chicken. LOL

http://youtu.be/-0KvMJCERF4

http://www.planetsweetpea.com/
When I arrived back to New Zealand, in 2006, my daughter treated me as a mum-daughter thing to watch a musical,"Menopause". I laughed as I was pre-menopausal and was dreading the big day.

One of the things they were singing about was TONG GUAI, and she didn't understand what it was. I explained to her. The audience were mainly women with a few brave men.

TONG GUAI is known as a women's herb. It is used as a helpful regulator of one's menses and also keeps a women young looking and also, eases a women in her transition to menopause.

This is no laughing matter, though my girls friends and I laugh about it. My mum told me, from the age of forty, I should brew this concoction with chicken every month after my menses .

What's the verdict? I breezed through my menopause without any debilitating hot flushes, weight gain, mood swings or any of the nasties associated with it. It arrived and it went even before I realised it. I wonder if the TONG GUAI was responsible for that.

And as the proof is in the eating. I went to a students' reunion, some thought I was one of the students, and another even made the remark that the teacher was younger than the students. LOL.

***These are the raw ingredients, the TONG GUAI is chalky colour, and the Chinese Medical hall proprietor will roast it, and shave it to thin slivers.

It is also called Angelica acutiloba – dang-gui in Chinese/Mandarin. A highly regarded herb used for female hormonal balance, blood purification, migraines & much more.

In New Zealand, they sell it in clumps. I try to grate it into powder as it is very hard to shave it. You can buy them in a fluid form or tablet in a health food store.

The bigger red things are dried red dates, the little ones are Gow TZE, they are very good for you. The other two is ginger and garlic. Some times I also add some shitaki mushroom. In the old days, the best chicken is a virgin rooster or a hen before it lays eggs.  We joked about this. How do you know? ***

Kiwis Eating Less Red Meat - Research

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kiwis Eating Less Red Meat - Research By Fleur Revell 26 June 2017 More than half of Kiwis say they are eating less meat, and a quarter expect to be mostly meat-free by 2025, as they focus on their health and budget according to the results of a new survey. It seems the days of a nightly meal of meat and two veg may soon be behind us too, with one in five of those surveyed (21%) saying they choose to have a meat-free dinner for more than half of the week. The Bean Supreme survey which investigated the eating habits of more than 1,000 New Zealanders found that one in four (24%) of those surveyed expect to be mostly meat-free within the next seven years. Health played a key role in their selection of a vegetarian meal choice with four in 10 (42%) respondents giving this reason, this was followed by cost (28%) and concerns for animal welfare or the environment 14 percent. Only two percent of those surveyed said they did not eat meat due to religious considerations. Around 14% of Kiwi women and 13% of Kiwi men do not eat red meat, with health a primary driver for males (44% vs 41% of females) and cost more relevant to women (for 30% of women vs 25% of men). The survey also found that Kiwis were more likely to reduce their meat consumption and instead, opt for vegetarian meals as they aged. According to the results, one in five (21%) 18-24 years olds (compared to half of those aged 65 or older) selected ‘health concerns’ as the main reason for choosing a meat-free meal. Millennials aged 18-24 were the most common age group to believe they would follow a diet that was mainly meat-free over the coming decade. When it came to special dietary requirements it was Aucklanders who said they were most likely to follow vegan or vegetarian nutritional plans with those in the Waikato/Bay of Plenty regions less keen on embracing this trend. Wellingtonians and Otago/Southland residents were most open to adopting a flexitarian/semi-vegetarian approach to dining - with nine in ten (88%) removing meat from their diets at least once a week. The survey also revealed that vegetarians and vegans were most frequently found to be aged 25-54, female and live in Auckland or Canterbury. While more than eight in ten (81%) Kiwis include red meat in their diet, a seventh (14%) excluded red meat with 1% of the population identifying as vegan, 2% as vegetarian and almost one in 10 (9%) saying they ate poultry or fish but not red meat. Liz O’Meara from Bean Supreme says it was interesting to see that a similar proportion of men and women chose not to eat meat but men were more likely to choose vegetarian meals for health reasons and women more likely to chose vegetarian options for their lower cost. “Kiwis’ developing interest in a ‘flexitarian’ diet has led to the introduction of more products which fit this lifestyle option. “According to new industry data, NZ sales of products made from plant based ingredients such as vegetarian burgers, sausages, tofu and falafel increased by over 20% in the last year alone,” she says.

Download Media Files Download media relating to this story using the links below:

Written on behalf of Bean Supreme by Impact PR

 

Celebrating Diversity

Tonight , Mt Albert Baptist Church celebrated our Mosaic Global Cafe Night. Our survey showed there are 24 ethnic groups worshiping here. We have Malaysian Peter and Angie Seow who led in the worship with their beautiful music and song.

Two Asian Stories

The world has always been pro males. The Asian women fare it worst. Women were sold as slaves, women were made to marry men they don’t know, some of these matches were made even when the girls were babies. Girls were molested, raped, impregnated and had their babies aborted or given away, beaten. The modern day insecure women subject themselves to get their breasts bigger or smaller.

In story one, two girls born in the 1920s. One “upstairs” as the rich pampered missy. The other “downstairs”, born to be the slave aka mui zai of the rich girl. Fate and victims of tradition brought them to Borneo, World War II aka Japanese War and finally to New Zealand.

In story two, a girl born in the 1960s, ran into trouble with the Communists, and teenage pregnancy. She ran to the big city of Singapore. Crisis after crisis plague her. Her whole world shattered and she committed suicide. She ended up in a mental institution.

cover:  出入平安 chūrù  Pingann Peace to all who enter and to those who leave

My latest book, published 2017.

Oppressed women

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4595990/Two-brothers-kept-mother-sister-slaves.html?ito=social-facebook

Shocking, more shocking and fiction than my fiction Book, Cry of Oppressed Women. When I wrote this book, some friends asked if I am overboard with the oppression. Time and again, oppression takes place. "This is the street in Bradford where Faisal Hussein, 25, and Arbaaz Ahmed, 19, kept their mother and sister as slaves "  and I am not stereotyping .



Shocking, more shocking and fiction than my fiction Book, Cry of Oppressed Women.

Bethals

My husband's favourite place. Climbing 6 stories high, up 3 steps, slip down 2.

Bethal beach of New Zealand.

a different kind of oppression

http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/201846444/primary-school-excludes-girl-with-period

Can't believe this kind of oppression. A 10-year-old girl was sent home from her primary school because it did not have a sanitary disposal unit for her to use, a public health sociologist says.

I wrote a book entitled "Cry of the Oppressed Women.

Mum and the pig

I think of my parents and grand parents. I think of how the pig had played such an important part in the Chans and Kongs. Last year, I spent time in Sibu, sharing a bed with mum's sister, my aunty Ngui /Kong. I learned something interesting from my Aunty Ngui-Kong. My grandmother kong aka bodai reared pigs during the war. Just before my mother went to her match making session, she played with the newly born piglets, and the sow bit her heel. That heel was very painful and mum walked with a limp.

The Kongs explained that Mum was gardening and while digging with a changko, she hurt herself. When she wore her wedding gown, she still had a limp and the Chans said she was a cripple.
On the other side of the coin, it was the pig that attracted my Ah Tai, mum's grandmother to the Chans. The first time, Ah Tai landed at the Chan's jetty she exclaimed,"Wah, during the war, you have pork." Ah Kung was washing his pickle jar where he had kept his pickled pork.
It was a source of contention leading to a family feud. I wrote this n my From China to Borneo to Beyond and World War 2 in Borneo.

Friday Floral : Cotoneaster

 Cotoneaster /kəˈtoʊniːˈæstər/[2] is a genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, native to the Palaearctic region (temperate Asia, Europe, north Africa), with a strong concentration of diversity in the genus in the mountains of southwestern China and the Himalayas.[3] They are related to hawthorns C. simonsii is listed on the New Zealand National Pest Plant Accord preventing its sale and distribution because of its invasiveness.(Crataegus), firethorns (Pyracantha), photinias (Photinia) and rowans (Sorbus).

http://floralfridayfoto.blogspot.co.nz/

service with a smile

Top In Town Food City

@topintownfoodcity  583 Sandringham Road.

http://www.grabgrocery.co.nz

There are some products that you can't get in bulk or not at the supermarket. I use a lot of baking soda for cleaning, and psyllium husk turmeric as health products. I even found a Thai tamarind.

The store is packed with products, is very busy so the items are fresh. So glad to be served by Gaurang Desai. He was very friendly, whilst busy, he had time to talk to be about the free food in the Paradise restaurant.

Save the world: Don't waste

 

Paradise, Sandringham, Auckland

 591 Sandringham Rd Sandringham 1025 ·

 

The first thing that struck me as  I entered this restaurant in Sandringham  was the sign which says." Free food for people in need." I was told they don't throw away excess food, but packed them nicely for people to take away. They also included some apples.

If only more restaurateurs would do this.