Wacko!!! There is no turning back!

Oh ho very good! Very successful people! I am upset and don't want to be a vegetarian now. I don't want to be because 95% of the people around me are against me/don't understand me/hate me. How i sincerely wish time will turn back and I did not do the IP project for vegetarian society of singapore which lead me to read Eating Animals which led me to Veganism which lead me to this big headache/upset. Too bad I know what is going on now and I cannot turn back time and if anyone force me to eat an animal's corpse i'll just vomit and die.(maybe not but i'll run away to hide in a hole...) The point s i cannot don't want to be a vegan/vegetarian because i CAN'T!!!!! I have to do it!!! I cannot eat with so much cruelty and hack-care about the earth! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Why can people do it???? I don't get it either! Oh gosh angst teenage girl! Oh but i'm 20 already! So i have to be matured and nice to people who love destroying their health and the world! :D

Today i taught 15 kids that we should love sharks and protect them:) I spent time researching and found a fantastic guide online to educate kids on protecting sea creatures! I felt for a little while i was doing something meaningful in the world. The kids kinda got what i was teaching them. I feel that it is so possible to change the way people live if they are educated at a young age.

What you should all know about sharks:
-they have been around for 400 million years
-they are the protectors of our oceans! (they keep the food chain balance:)
-There are only less than 100 sharks attack in a year with very few fatal cases
-Human are the reason they are facing extinction
-Human kill them by the 100 millions
-Sharks fins have zero benefits(yeah! Stop Stop Stop crazy people!)
-Many many sharks are left to die after their fins get cut off...

Is it worth for such an amazing species of animal o die just for your STUPID SHARK FIN SOUP??? Gosh humans are really selfish huh... During lessons today what most of the first stuff the kids know about sharks....shark fin soup! gosh:( Why can humans do it anyway. Be cruel, cause animals to be extinct and grow fat-_-" Even after my lesson there is still one kid who said that he wants to kill sharks and drink shark fin soup.(Well it is no coincidence that he is overweight, no offense but you are what you eat) Even though all the up and downs i still face today as a vegan wannabe I felt that at least i made a small difference in the kids life today. They learnt that sharks are not evil, not made to kill humans and humans are the one killing them. I thought they won't get it, but i could tell a few of them got it. I was so touched when this girl went out and told her mum/maid(sorry not clear which) that she learnt that we should not kill sharks! Sweet:) (heart melts!) My dearest friend if you still intend to serve shark fin on you wedding, then just don't invite me k? I don't want to fight with you or hold a 'parang' against your chest to warn you against it! (not joking!)

The sharks are made of reused materials!(newspaper, old art paper, cupboard etc)

Singapore is so backward in terms of environmental awareness, it is simply amazing. We are such a developed and fast pace country yet shark consumption is legal?!! gosh! I know how some non-singaporeans may feel, ridiculous right?! I love my country, my friends and relatives, but shark fin soup?! *faint faint* too cruel!!!!!!!

hmmm maybe i should try to be less passionate or enthusiastic about things i believe in?! I need to sound less wacky right~ But this is my blog, not yours!

VeganMoFo-Eugene's Style

Just a VeganMofo by my dearest Eugene! I'm secretly so proud of eu darling! These are his first few attempts so far at salad making! His not a full fledge vegan yet but give this guy some credits! From our crazy quarrel days over animal consumption (and secret eating of Big Macs! EWWW!) to eating fresh fruits and salads everyday and making them all on his own in his university dorm. I think he has made vast improvements since i came back! Last last week he didn't even know he had to wash his vegetables before cutting! So blur but so cute! Haha. He made such big improvement in his diet and i'm really really happy! He is probably the healthiest NTU student now! He only eats fresh fruits and veggies and nuts and oats! I want to eat like him too! Salad everyday~~ But i still have my sisters to think about and of course organic salad greens are not that cheap for a family of 6:(

Well i'm going to start work soon in a few months time! The only perk of starting work is more money to buy organic veggies, save up for a food processor and dehydrator! Yay!

VeganMoFo- I miss you!

I am busy and stress up lately. I have a tendency of avoiding things when things get out of hand. I also think that being in India has successfully trained me to keep things to myself. When too much stuff goes on i just push them back...

Forget it! I shall not talk about the stressful stuff! Food!!! I think my friends think that i hate food but i think they are totally wrong, a person who knows how to appreciate food will love wholesome veggies and fruits because they are the purest form of good food from God! If He wanted you to eat cup noodles, He would have just created a cup noodles tree instead of an apple tree right??? I seriously find it really crazy that my friends eat so so little fresh veggies and fruits! It is really weird how little veggies singaporeans eat! ok one day i shall food stalk one of my friends to prove this point!

Happy Birthday Daddy! not vegan cake:(
i have no idea what is wrong with the vegetarian bakery, no eggs but dairy cream?!

I love these desserts!
Sesame paste! Red bean paste! Almond paste!

New and improved version of ja jueng mian!

Some hot chilli paste and tomatoes are essential to make it not that salty!
Personally a taste that goes well with my taste butt!

Super good sandwich duo!

Marinated tempeh and apple salsa with alfafa aprout!

Avocado pesto spread and mushroom with leeks with sprouts!

I think i have developed a habit of creative food fridays, because i tend to explore more on fridays! I love the pesto spread and i didn't know tempeh tasted o good when marinated!!! I'll try to type the recipes here when i have more time~~

So not Bar Chor Mee~~

I haven't got to post for a while because schoolwork is getting intensive and I haven't tried cooking anything new. I don't know why I am just so tired lately, maybe I somehow overworked myself? Well, I really pray for more strength each day! I need to get back to my wake up early routine! A really simple recipe today, didn't intend for it to turn out looking a little like the Singapore's 'Bar Chor Mee' (Minced meat noodle, yucks!) But this noodle taste good and is easy to cook:)

Minced tofu mushroom dry noodle
serves 4

The mushroom stir fry:
2 cups of Shitake mushroom(cut small)
1 cup of different mushroom of your choice( I use this)
1/2 a small onion(diced)
2 piece of garlic(cut really small)
2 small block of firm tofu(cut into small rectangles)
1 tablespoon of mushroom vegetarian 'oyster' sauce
1 table spoon of teriyaki sauce
1/2 table spoon of korean soy bean paste
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
a dash of pepper

A lot of green leafy veg of your choice( I use Cai Xin Zai)
4 portion of mushroom noodle( any chinese style noodle of your choice)

Boil hot water and cook you noodle and veggie separately, leave them a side.

Add a little olive oil and stir fry the garlic and onion until onion turn transparent then add in the tofu until they turn a little brown. It is ok that they become a little scrambled, this make them look like bar chor(minced meat, but i hate bar chor mee by the way! yuck!)

Add in the mushrooms and the rest of the seasoning and cook until the mushroom are thoroughly cooked. You may want to add a little water to make it the mushroom sauce more watery~

Serve the mushroom tofu sauce over the noodle and with the veggie. Oh and maybe a vegetarian dumpling too! And some malay style sambal chilli!

That is all for today! I really need to do my work!

Vegetable farm and CACTUS steamboat!

Today is a public holiday and thank God for the amazing weather! Our family planned to go for a morning hike at Machritchie Reservoir and head down to the Choa chu kang farms, but it started pouring really heavily in the morning! We were quite upset and I prayed that it was all in God's hand and asked Him to bring us through. Thank God even though we couldn't go for our hike but when we reached the farm area the sun came out! The weather was amazing! Thank God for His grace!!!

I love going to the vegetable farms in Singapore! These are the few rare ones left in Singapore and they produce amazing vegetables! Our first stop was FireFlies farm which produce and import organic vegetables and they sell out really fast despite being at such a remote of Singapore. Their sweet potatoes are so big and cheap! :D

My mum picking out the best veg!

Sweet potatoes, mini pumpkins and turnips(jicama?)!!!!

The guy is harvesting Dou Miao~

Beautiful weather at the farm:)

Our next stop is the mushroom and cactus farm! We bought lots of mushrooms, Aloe Vera and a cactus which we used for our steamboat tonight! Eh i forgot to take note of the name of the farm~

The farm also grow wheatgrass and the guy is harvesting them at an amazing speed!

Growing black fungus!

A overall view of the farm, lots of cactus all around~

Next stop- Bollywood Vegetable farm and Poison Ivy restaurant! It was as amazing place! Their organic bananas are small in size but taste amazing! I want to grow banana trees too! They are fantastic! We had a healthy meal at Poison Ivy , the bistro at the farm. Most of the veggies are directly from the farm and no msg! It tasted light just like out typical home cooked food and I definitely prefer it better than Singapore typical zhi char.

Love the hand-painted signs!

Banana trees!!!!!!!

Brown rice to go with the dishes~

Sweet potato leafs stir-fry with garlic~

Vegetable Curry~

Sou sauce tofu with mushroom~

Super good veggie tempura!

Fig tea~ Good for the hot day!

Well of course the day didn't just end this way~ It ended with the best steamboat i ever had! Cactus soup base steamboat! Whoo~~~ Well my mum is the amazing cook who made this happen! She is really fantastic! I will definitely try to get the proper recipe to post it up here. But it is a vegan cactus soup and there were turnip and lots of chinese herbs in it! Everything in the steamboat were fresh products from the farm trip!

All chinese love steamboats! They are great for family gathering and there is no fix way of planning a steamboat meal. But sadly typical steamboat we get at restaurants now are always full of frozen meat(yuck!) and processed food! So as my theory of the best food comes from home prepared food is proven true once again today! For the amount of organic veggie and tofu that went into our steamboat, we would probably have to pay a sky high price at vegetarian restaurants. But I bet you will never get cactus soup anywhere! 

 Green Wheat grass noodle to go with the steamboat~

 Cactus soup in steamboat pot, mushrooms, tomatoes, leafy veg, tofu and vegetarian dumplings!

All the fantastic mushrooms bubbling in the pot!

Yummy!!!

The cactus cooked! Taste kinda like winter melon~

Whoa a supper long post! But today was such a great day i definitely have to share it here for VeganMofo! Oh forgot to add i finally bought a red organic capsicum today!!! So precious! and expensive! I'll probably use it for a salad tomorrow~~

Rojak Rojak!

Veganized-Healthier-Version-Rojak!

Oh this post was due yesterday, but I was too busy and by the end of the day I got too tired and fell straight asleep~ But I made this Rojak last night! Rojak is a mix of veggies, fruits and you tiao ( Chinese oil stick! eww!) and is a very Singapore dish. My whole family love this dish but sadly they have to put some kind of animal product in and in this case- shrimp paste! (arg!) But thankfully Singapore also has a lot of vegetarian food company who have vegetarian-ized lots of pastes and sauces. My mum bought this Vegetarian Rojak paste which contains sugar, chilli, vegetarian belacan, sesame seed and salt. So this paste tastes sweet and spicy~ This is my version of Rojak and basically i think it is quite a flexible 'South East Asia salad'!

Vegan Rojak!

serves 2

Toast 2 slices of vegan bread (this act as the you tiao! but healthier!)

1 small apple

2 small cucumber

1/2 a big Asian pear

1/2 pineapple( I didn't add this because my sisters ate them all up before i could use them but you must add it!!! pineapple is a must have in Rojak!)

A handful of cherry tomatoes

A handful of roasted peanuts/ 2 tablespoon of peanut powder

A handful of corn( i use raw corn)

2 tablespoon of Rojak sauce( 1 for each bowl)

Cut everything into bite size, spoon the Rojak sauce into each bowl, mix it up and top off with peanut powder! Remember to mix mix mix!

I'm glad to be participating in MoFo, even though my recipes may not be fantastic like some blogs that i read. But it is so inspiring and i learnt so much from various blogs! It is very difficult to be a vegan in Singapore, a lot of peope don't even know what a vegan is!! They know vegetarianism due to religious reason but the vegetarian food in Singapore do have quite a bad name of being oily and unhealthy(too much fried faux meat!). I'm glad to at least know that there are so many vegans around the world who believe that their diet and lifestyle can make an impact on this earth! 

Oh my comfort food!

Thick rice noodle fried 'fish' soup:)

Yippee VeganMofo day 2!

As a Singaporean, my taste bud is pretty much as mixed up as my country! Singapore is made up of Chinese, Malays, Indian and a lot of foreigners and I'm really proud of how we manage to live harmoniously is such a diverse culture:) Today I share a comfort food my younger sister- thick bee hoon(rice noodle) soup! Oh it is just so good! We can eat this 3 days in a row and still want to eat it again! There is no particular way to cook it but as long as it is a rich soup base and lots of veggie it will taste good:)

Thick Rice Noodle 'Fried Fish' Soup

serves 2 or 3

80 cents/ $1 worth of rice noodle

( I bought it from the wet market, it is really up to how big your appetite is!)

1 bag of organic Xiao Bai Cai

(Or any form of leafy veg, sometimes i use broccoli!)

3 puny organic carrots

2 small firm tofu

1 short part of a ginger(sliced)

A small small handful of kelp

A few pieces of Thai style Veat( Toast them till crispy in the oven)

1 tablespoon of Korean fermented black bean paste

1 tablespoon of vegetarian Pes Me Udang

1 teaspoon of vegetarian powdered soup stock

1 teaspoon of olive oil

-Use hot water to wash the thick rice noodle and leave it aside

-Stir fry the ginger in the olive oil for around 2 min then add in the black bean paste and continue to stir fry and then add 2 and 1/2 cups of water. Add in the Pes Me Udang, vegetarian soup stock, tofu and carrot and wait for it to boil.

-After it has boiled, add in the Xiao Bai Cai and kelp then wait for the Xiao bai cai to turn quite soft and off the fire.

-Divide the rice noodle between the bowls and spoon the soup in and top off with the 'fried fish'

Paste use for Penang Laksa

Korean black bean paste, so far i only found it in Korean shops, NTUC haven't had this one yet

This may not be the healthiest recipe but I'm a student and often I'm rushing for time and I'm quite broke too. So this is comfort food at it's best! If I ever get the chance to improvise and make it healthier and make my own soup stock I definitely will! But for now this noodle soup is here to stay!

Despite my unhappiness and stress lately, God gave me a great encouragement in the form of my dearest Eugene:) He is so cute:) We had many arguments when it come to the issue of vegetarianism( I'm slowly helping him to become a vegan too!) and it was tough on us when i was in India and through skype he will deliver me the bad news of him consuming meat! But thank God! After all our ups and downs and a NTUC grocery shopping trip, he has stepped up to his game and improve a lot in terms of his diet and basic uncook culinary skills:)

Eugene's first attempt at vegetarian lunch box! Quite good for an amateur yea?! So pretty!

When he sent me this photo through MMS today I was so touched by how much he has changed and how he is working so hard to change. I know deep down it is not easy for him to stop eating meat and he is doing this partially for me too:) His gesture meant so so much to me! At least the one dearest to me is changing! It gives me hope that maybe love and persistence to help my friends and family in their diet will one day pay back too! Thank God for His little encouragement! Thank EU (Eugene!)