Simple Veg-enabling Tips (4)

The first time I came across Avocado in my life
was when I was studying in Adelaide
some 16 years ago.

When avocado season came,
avocado was basically ubiquitious
all over the Central Market (a wet market).

That time, the only way I learnt how to eat avocado
was to eat it on its own (probably the best way)
as taught by the fruit grocers!

I didn't have problem choosing the "right" avocado then
as they were so abundant,
and the grocers were always kind enough to pick the
ripen and nice ones for me..hehe..

However, when I relocated to Singapore
after my studies in Adelaide,
choosing a nice avocado became a challege!

Many would feel the same:
often, when we cut open an avocado,
it's either not ripen enough
or over ripen to the extent of having black bruises all over
or already infected by mould...

Due to my crave for avocado,
I gradually learn a way to guarantee a perfect avocado ;)


(D) How to choose a perfect avocado?

## a perfect avocado actually cannot be chosen,
but the good news is, it can be "nutured"! (LOL)

- firstly, get a totally green and hard avocado
(prefer the Hass species, with coarse skin, as they are creamier)

- when you get home,
quickly take the avocado out of your shopping bag
and wipe off all the moisture
(usually avocado are stored in fridge in the supermarket,
hence there are always condensation.
This condesation if sieve through the pedicel 
or the interface between fruit and stalk,
mould will grow)   <= critical step

- leave the avocado in airy corner of the kitchen,
away from direct sunlight, at room temperature.
(do not put in the fridge, as the ripening will slow;
and mould may grow.) <= critical step

- wait for a few days, and observe the colour change daily.

- when the skin turns completely black
(totally black, without any green patches or green tone),
leave it in room temperature for another 2 days. <= critical step

- lightly press the upper part of the avocado,
if it's soft, then it's ready to eat. Otherwise, wait for 1 more day.

- The next day, the avocado should be ready to eat.
If you can't finish all the avocado on the ripen day,
store them in the fridge up to 5 days.
Do not squeeze, otherwise bruise will form easily.


* extra tips: avoid getting non-green and non-hard avocado from the market,
as you do not know whether the storage has been properly done
to avoid moisture that may lead to internal moulding.
Also, many buyers may have been squeezing the semi-soft ones, creating a lot of bruises.

^ suggestion: blend 1/2 avocado, with 1 cup of coconut water + coconut flesh
to make vegan coconut milk.. It's very yummy!!
-- Don't worry about the fats, as they are all good fats when consumed raw.
In fact this drink will rejuvenate your skin and balance your hormones :D


That's all for this series, hope those simple tips will improve your quality of life :)


Happy experimenting,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com


. Veg-enabling Tips
{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

Simple Veg-enabling Tips (3)

Food blending is becoming a trend nowadays,
as it's an effective way to provide wholesome nutrition
be it raw or cooked,
as blended foods are like pre-digested food
which promote more complete absorption of nutritions
including parts which are usually hard to chew
e.g. seeds, roots and the rinds of a fruit.

However, blending require some tricks too,
there are situations, even with a super blender,
the outcome can still be a bit coarse
depending what ingredients are put into the blender.


(C) How to do blend up a smooth smoothie

- chuck in all the ingredients (chopped into smaller pieces) into a blender

- pour in water gradually to submerge the ingredients just below water level

- blend with slow speed until the blending motion harmonise (ie no big hard chunkies)

- increase the speed gradually to high and blend

- add in the remainder of the water to desired volume and quickly homogenise

# note: the reason to add in less water in the beginning
is to increase the friction among the ingredients
to allow speedy grinding/blending

* extra tips: when blending small seeds,
it's important to blend along with chunkier ingredients.
If there isn't chunky ingredients, add in some ice cubes,
to increase friction for fine blending

** extra extra tips: put the juicier ingredients at the bottom
followed by less juicier ones, so as to minimise water usage
in the beginning to facilitate smoother blending.

*** extra extra extra tips: add in 1 tablet of GrapeSeed Extract or
Vitamin C (natural ones, as antioxidant) into smoothies
if you are packing it in a thermo flask to bring to work,
to slow down oxidation process.

^Suggestion: mix 20 soaked almonds, 1 pitted medjool with half a dragon fruit
and blend into 400mL smoothie with adequate amount of filtered water.
-- this smoothie will brighten you up!



Happy blending,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com

.Veg-enabling Tips

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

Simple Veg-enabling Tips (2)

Unlike mung bean,
cooking red beans to soft texture could be a challege for many,
despite the long hour of cooking
altho' some people tend to mask the problem by using a pressure cooker.

Here is a combo of tricks that I learnt from
the lady boss of Ci Hang Vegetarian Restaurant
as well as a relative of mine,
ensuring your red bean soup will always soft and slurpy!! ^^


(B) How to cook red bean soup to soft-creamy texture

- soak red beans in filtered water for 8-10hours
(summerging beans 1 inch below water level)
[again, this is not only to soften the beans,
but also to remove acidity and increase nutritional values]

- discard away soaking water, rinse quickly with filtered water
and drain away the water

- steam the red beans in a steamer for 15min
(1st critical stage of softening the beans)

- add water at 2 times the volume of the steamed red beans
and boil on a stove for 15min
(2nd critical stage, boiling the beans with less water in the beginning
will increase the friction among the beans, hence speeding up the softening process)

- add more water (another 1-2 times the volume of the steamed red beans),
bring to boil, then simmer for 1 hour
(option: transfer to a slow cooker to save hassle)

- add molasses sugar crystal to give it a rich flavour when ready to serve

*extra tips: add 2 tablespoons of pre-soaked lily bulb and some pandan leaves
to make the dessert creamier and more fragrant during the simmering stage.


Yummy!
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com
. Veg-enablingTips

.Veg-enabling tips

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

Simple Veg-enabling Tips (1)

From time to time,
when I teach vegetarian cooking,
some feedback from students
indicated that many a time,
it's not the lack of recipes
nor it's the lack of ingredients that
hinder them in cooking a yummy vegetarian meal for their families.

In many instances, students would complain
that their brown rice are either too hard/chewy or too soft/mushy;
their red beans are never soft,
their smoothies are never smooth,
their avocados are always bruised!!

I later found out that it's due to some subtle, yet critical tricks
which are often not mentioned/detailed in recipes,
that compromise the perfection of their dishes in the kitchen.

Hence in this series of blog postings to come,
I hope to share a few tricks
to enable one to cook confidently in the kitchen =)


(A) How to cook brown rice to al dente (or QQ) texture:

- pre-soak brown rice with filtered water for 8-10 hours,
by summerging the rice 1 inch below water level
(this is not just to soften the grains, 
but also to remove acidity and to increase nutritional value)

- pour away soaking water, do a quick rinse with filtered water,
and drained off any excess water

- measure the soaked rice grains with a 160mL measuring cup,
and count the number of cups of soaked grains

- add in the amount of filtered water equivalent to the volume of the soaked grains
and cook in an electrical rice cooker (i.e. soaked grains: water = 1: 1)  <= this is critical!

* extra tips: consider adding one or two teaspoon of dried herbs
(e.g. basil, dill, cumin) to make the rice more fragrant!


More tips to come, please tune in :D


Buon apetito!
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com


.Veg Enabling-tips

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

Understanding Life from the Ayurvedic Perspective

Bamboo House held its 5th Holistic Wellness meetup last Monday evening,
and I was very delighted to have some time to sit in
for an enriching session conducted by
Ms Vasanthi Pillay (Founder of Ayurveda Association of Singapore)

Vasanthi is a yogist and naturopath
passionate about Ayurveda which can be translated as
"Life Science" (Ayu = Life; Veda = knowledge)
-- from the ancient Indian perspective.

Vasanthi pointed out in the beginning of the lecture,
Ayurveda is the science of how to live well
starting as early from the conception in mother's womb
to the end journey of a person.

Ayurveda covers not only the dietetic segment of one's life,
but also lifestyle, environment, seasons/climate, mind and soul.
A truly holistic life science.

A few important remarks that I picked up in the lecture:

1. Before healing our body, we should first understand our soul and mind.
It's not possible to heal properly without knowing who we ourselves are.

2. Like the Yin-Yang and the 5-Element theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine,
Ayurveda also segregates all universal elements into 5 groups
namely,
Space+Air      (with Vata function);
Fire                (with Pitta function);
Earth+Water (with Kapha function)

3. The way we live should pacify (or harmonise) with the 3 functions
by keeping  Vata/Pitta/Kapha in balance
through what we eat, the timing we eat, the lifestyle we lead, the region we live in etc,
in regards of our own body types and personality.

- This is why without knowing our own body type/personality, it's difficult to eat right and live right.

In a macro sense,
knowing our own body type/personality can be interpreted as
the pursuance of awareness.

If we would like to solve a problem (be it health, social, financial or environmental)
it's natural that we should first be aware of
the situation, our positioning, the system and the big picture,
before taking any action.


During the meetup,
Vasanthi also introduced to participants
a very tasty herbal drink
which pacifies all 3 Vata/Pitta/Kapha
(ie suitable for all body types in general):


Pegaga - Red Date Beverage

*benefits: good for memory, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral/bacterial

Ingredients:

Pegaga ...................... 100g (ground/blended without water into paste)
Dried Red Dates ....... 500g (or to taste)
Water ........................ 2L

Methods:

- boil red dates in water till the volume reduce by half, mix in pegaga paste, stir and boil for another 5 min. Sieve and serve immediately.


Hope you enjoy both food for thought and gut =)


With metta,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com


. Ayurveda-Pegaga

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

Exotic Wellness Tea Culture in KL (3)

Just one last wellness tea recipe here :D

This is by far the most simple wellness tea,
yet the most enlightening one though.

I had it at Green Talk which is my favourite health food eatery,
near my mum's place in KL.

The ingredients are extremely common,
but again, I have to praise these organic eateries
for their creativity for the sophisticated mix-and-match!!

Wellness Tea Recipe 3:
**Rose Bud Genmai Tea**
(by Green Talk)

Ingredients:
. Rose buds ............................................................ 1 bag
. Genmai (germinated brown rice) ........................ 1 bag

Methods:
1. mix all both ingredients in a tea pot and pour in hot water
2. serve warm


I like this tea very much despite its simplicity
because I perceive there is some intelligence behind the mix and match.

Many people would have tried rose bud tea before, I guess;
but I think some may also agree that
rose bud tea on its own is very light, very "surface" in its taste and fragrance.

This "improved formula" of rose bud tea,
gives the floral tea some "substantiation" and "solid-ness" in the taste,
filling in the "hollowness" of the usual rose bud tea,
giving it an "umami" booster ^.^

To me this tea is enlightening
in term of guiding me in creating more unique wellness teas.. hahaha.. :D


Let's toast to wellness!
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com


.
{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

Exotic Wellness Tea Culture in KL (2)

Chrysanthemum Fenugreek Tea
@ The Origin

Another very exotic tea that I have ever tried
was encountered at The Origin.

It's a very simple blend of floral tea with some common herbs,
but I didn't know it would taste so good with such combination.

Very soothing to go with a hearty organic meal...

Wellness Tea Recipe 2:
**Chrysanthemum Fenugreek Tea**
(by The Origin)

Ingredients:
. Chrysanthemum ............................ 1/4 cup
. Fenugreek seeds ............................ 1/4 cup
. Chinese Liquorice ......................... 4 slices
. Wolfberries ................................... 1 tsp

Methods:
. Mix a ingredients and pour in hot water and wait for 5 min.
. Serve warm.

According to The Origin, this wellness tea is good for eye and kidney!


More exotic tea to come =)


Cheers,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com



.
{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

Exotic Wellness Tea Culture in KL (1)

Signature fruit tea
@ Chef Lim Organic Kitchen

My recent visits to many organic outlets in KL/Klang Valley
gave me some delighting surprises.

I haven't noticed since when has this exotic wellness tea culture started,
but certainly, it seems whichever organic eateries I go nowadays ,
they tend to have a unique blend of tea to impress their customers!

What is more heartening is that these organic outlets are happy to share their
recipes :D

Here some of my favourite wellness tea and their secrets :)


Wellness Tea Recipe 1:
** Fruit Tea **
(by Chef Lim Organic Kitchen)

Ingredients:
. Your favourite fruits* (diced) ...................... half a pot
. Lemon slices ................................................ 2 slices
. Black Tea ..................................................... 1 bag
. Sweetener ... ................................................. to taste

Methods:
1. Mix all ingredients (except sweetener) together in a tea pot, pour in hot water and wait for 3 minutes.
2. Take out tea bag immediately (to avoid over-powering by black tea).
3. Add in sweetener (e.g. brown rice syrup, agave nectar, oligo, raw sugar).
4. Serve warm.

* some suggestions of fruit mix: green and red apples, pineapples, passion fruits, pear and orange


More wellness recipes to come! Tune in ^*^


Yummy,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com


.
{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

An Invigorating Health Retreat @ Aenon

Aenon Health Care Centre @ Tampin

I just cam back from a very rejuvenating detox camp
@ Aenon Health Care (Tampin, Malaysia).

It's especially invigorating
to be at this reknown healing centre
after longing for 10years,
and to find out it's more than
I initially thought, just a healing place.

This visit to Aenon
didn't only detox my body,
but also detoxed my soul
for I saw
the hardwork
behind the construction and maintenance of the sophisticated physical premise,
the loving kindness
underlying the healing and educating services,
and
the wisdom
steering the advancement of spiritual wellbeing.

The first day we arrived at Aenon,
we were received warmly by a young and dynamic team
(volunteers, trainees and staff)
and
when we checked in to their hotel standard guest rooms
I was very touched
to see specific guest names were tagged on each door.

Guest rooms tagged
with guest names
for personalised service

Soon after checking in during the late afternoon,
it was some basic health check,
followed by a doctor consultation session.
That was a rare opportunity
to talk to GP (Dr Lee) who is a vegan
and knew my need for holistic healing regime.

The rest of the 1st day we took things easy
while settling down and
attended an orientation session
by the centre manager, Mr David
in the early evening.

At 9.30pm, all guests were asked to go to bed.
-- Healthy lifestyle!

The next day,
when we woke up at 6am,
the first thing was to take our mid-stream urine
and submit to the clinic
where young and friendly staff
took our blood samples for full blood screening.

Before we went for a morning hill walk,
we first started our detox regime by
drinking individually-customised "concoctions"
ranging from lime juice, psyllium husk, 4-in-1 molasses drink* and more.

Where we did our morning walk,
there wasn't just beautiful scenerary,


Dawn @ Aenon front yard

but also
fresh air, golden sun and some good companies :D

Morning greeting from
Scrabby,
a 2-month old baby =)

The daily routine after morning walk
was drinking 500mL apple guave juice as breakfast
followed by Christian song singing and Pastor's sharing**
and health lecture by Dr Lee and cooking class.

Yeah, interesting indeed,
attending cooking class during fasting!
-- this is truly the first of its kind
where one can see but can not eat in a cooking class!! hahaha..
- a bit torturing, but still it wasn't too bad
for we can still ask for hands-on experience..hehehe



Making of veg fish from
tofu and ground oat!

When come lunch time,
we are served carrot-based vegetable juices
followed by afternoon health lecture
and a myriad of healing therapies
scheduled differently on each day
from infra-red sauna, steam batch, salt glow scrub,
full body mssage to hot food bath!
- all done professionally by young and friendly volunteers and staff :)

In the evening, it was apple and guave juice again,
followed by health documentary, singing session or health seminars.

On the 4th day we got back our
blood analysis report
and had another doctor consulation session.

Very seldom, I felt so being pampered in a health centre --
what's more,
the team at Aenon gave us a sense of home
and never failed to shower us with a lot of friendly smiles :)

It was worth the 10 years wait
and
Aenon is a place where
health goers truly should consider visiting
be it for
the juice detox regime,
the tranquil and friendly place for recharging,
holistic health education
or the preofessional alternative healing therapies.

Very grateful that I ever had the chance be with
the good souls
and the good healing place =D



puzzle solving, book reading
and chit chatting
during juice time!

Well regards,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com



* 4-in-1 molasses drink was a advanced formula for blood building and cleansing, comprising of molasses, wheat grass powder, lime juice and aloe vera.

** Aenon is a Christian centre
.

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

Organic Blossoms in Kuala Lumpur



Macrobiotics class @ KL Veg Tour

In the past few months
I have been putting effort into establishing

the existence of The Veg School in Kuala Lumpur.

And hence have made many trips there,

visiting many organic/veg outlets,

in attempt to familiarise myself with organic/veg landscape 

in Kuala Lumpur.

For the past 12 years, 

when I visit my mum Kuala Lumpur every month,

I routinely check out new organic places anyway.

But to my surprise, 

during the intensive reccee trips

with the help of Jennee (my TVS associate in KL),

in the past 6 months,

I noticed a drastic surge in organic outlets in Kuala Lumpur!

It's very encouraging to see the rise in organic awareness

in my home town

and 

it's also very inspiring to see these organic outlets (groceries & eateries)

manifesting a myriad of healthy cuisines,

with originality and creativity!

Some of my new findings of organic outlets

which is not yet listed in Cielo Sereno Health Food Shop listing

are:

Purelife Organic (Veg)

NO 7, Jalan Satu, 

Taman Desa Billion, Off Jalan Reko, 

43000 Kajang, Selangor.

Tel: +603 8733 6109; +603 8733 6189

The Origin (Veg)

No 8, Jalan 1/67B, 

Off Jalan Mengkudu, Ampang, 

55000 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel/Fax: +603-42535388

URL: http://originvegcafe.com/Home.php

Green Green Organic Kitchen (pro-Veg)

40-4, Jalan Metro Pudu,

Fraser Business Park, Off Jalan Loke Yew,

55100 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: +603 9221 0133

URL: http://www.facebook.com/GreenGreenOrganicKitchen

Haven Cafe (pro-Veg)

12, Jalan Ampang Hilir,

55000 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: +603 4252 3100

URL: http://www.havenkl.com/

Earth Food (pro-Veg)

289, Jalan Ampang Hilir,

55000 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: +603 4251 5551

URL: http://www.earthfood.com.my/

Excited? 

-- I will be organising a 3D2N Organic Veg Gourmet Tour to KL in May 3th-5th.

Block your calendar now and pre-register @ kee_yew -at- yahoo.com / +65 91175756  :D

Well wishes,

Kee Yew

pureland2012-at-gmail.com  

 .

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

How to perpetuate the effort of vegetarian movement

Vegetarian awareness in Singapore is definitely on the rise.

Yesterday I received a call from The Strait Times
surveying the trend of vegetarian outlets in Singapore
asking a lot of questions about the demand of vegetarian fodd
and the owners' intentions of setting up vegetarian outlets in Singapore.

Meanwhile, as published on
TodayOnline/Voices,
we also see that vegetarians are getting
more vocal and defensive about their aspirations
http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC120102-0000051/Its-not-our-parents-vegetarianism-any-more
http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC120109-0000119/Youre-an-animal-lover

And, looking at the feedback column following both online articles
it's thrilling to see the endless debates between
pro-veg and anti-veg sentiments.

I noticed this situation many years back,
and was indeed very puzzled
why even with the hard solid facts and figures
general public are still "not convinced" to go a little less meat...

I later got some guidance/inspirations from teachers
that the vegetarian movement
has to go beyond just raising awareness,
and evolve into imparting proper education on vegetarianism.
-- This so as to perpetuate/sustain the effort of vegetarian movement
done so far in Singapore.

From what I have been experiencing,
proper veg education isn't that straight forward
like running a weekend Veg Roadshow
or putting a few veg lines on FB.

That is at most drawing public attention/awareness,
and merely suggesting to the public about
how they may go via a plant-based diet
to improve their health, protect animal welfare and conserve the environment.

Vegetarian community has to take one step up
to adopt a more holistic educational approach
via a "planned" step-wise nurturing process:

The followings are some suggestive steps that fellow vegetarians may adopt
to better convince/influence family and friends to go less meat more veg :)

Step 1. befriending with non-veg
            -- greet them with smile and kind words always, to establish a good first image :P

Step 2. building rapport/bonding with non-veg
            -- by participating in their lives
               e.g. go non-veg restaurant with them (but order veg option) and do sports with non-veg

Step 3. establishing moderate and trustworthy image of a veg
            -- interact with non-veg by good will, without prejudice,
               shower them with compassion and always willing to add value in non-veg's lives.
               This is a critical bridging step for subsequent "information transmission"

Step 4. gradual information feeding to non-veg
            -- subtly and casually pass on information on plant-based diet (with positive vibes)
                e.g. the anti-aging benefits of phytonutrients

Step 5. engaging non-veg in *omnivore-friendly* veg events/activities
            -- that is to receive non-veg friends in veg events with sincerity and
                absolutely avoid anti non-veg sentiment during conversations.
                This is so that non-veg would feel welcome and won't feel out of place.

Step 6. confer proper education about vegetarianism
            via good books, videos, lectures and workshops 
            -- these educational info has to be fact/science based, absolutely no emotional remarks
                and most importantly with moderate views.
                Otherwise, non-veg tends tp think veg are just a bunch of extremist.
 
Step 7. lend non-veg friends unconditional support/love
            when they decide to try out a vegetarian regime
           -- when non-veg step out of their comfort zone to try out a new diet,
               support and love are essentials to give them a sense of security and
               to gather courage to move on.

As one can see from above,
promoting vegetarianism is not going to be
simply opening our mouth and argue by the facts and figures
(and stirring up heated, meaningless debate sometimes).

Vegetarian education movement takes
a great deal of energy,
a lot of patience to nurture,
a very deep compassion to educate the non-veg public

Only by a holistic approach to educate,
then only vegetarianism will continue bloom harmoniously in Singapore.



Well regards,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

When wholesome grains spell trouble?

A good friend of mine, Violet,
recently drew my attention to some 'troubling' issues
about the consumption of whole grains.

According to an article she read,
improper consumption of whole grains
may cause problems like:
- indigestion/mal-digestion 
  (due to high fibre and enzyme inhibitors)
- minerals mal-absoprtion 
  (due to high fibre and phytates)
- intoxication 
  (due to rancidity)

It's very true!

Although whole grains is more nutritious and healthier
than refined grains,
it's important to learn the proper ways to consume whole grains
to avoid some unnecessary "side-effects".

To circumvent/solve the problems above, one may consider
doing the followings:

(A) Storage
> store at cool and dry place.

~ whole grains contains a lot of good fats
   (which white refined grains do not have
   after polishing away the brain and germ layers).
   But these good fats easily go rancid if stored under heat, direct sunlight
   and high humidity.
   Hence it's important to ensure the proper storage of these grains
   in dark, dehumified container away from heated spot of the kitchen.
   This will also prevent the growth of microscopic mould on the grains
   which is very toxic to our liver.

(B) Preparation
> soak, germinate/sprout the grains prior to consumption.
~ all whole graisns/seeds contain enzyme inhibitors, phytates
   and other toxins that causes digestive and absorption problems.
   This is part of the plan of nature,
   to protect the seeds so that
   they do not anyhow get gobbled up by animals
   to ensure their survival.
   But we human could use a bit of intellect
   to render these seeds suitable for consumption,
   by soaking to remove phytates
   by germinating/sprouting to degrade away enzyme inhibitors and other toxins.
   Therefore, in order reap the wholesome benefits of whole grains,
   we have to invest some effort. -- But it's very worth it!

(C) Consumption
> improve digestibility/absoprtion and minimise acidity by:
     i. adding more water content (e.g. congee, plant milk, soup) 
     ii. low heat treatment (e.g. light toasting prior to making buckwheat tea) 
     iii. grinding into powder (e.g. brown rice powder)
     iv. fermentation (e.g. miso, rejuvelac) 
     v. complement with fresh juices (for alkalising purpose)
~ all the approaches above not only will help mitigate digestibility and absoption issue,
   but will also introduce more variety of dishes!


(D) Combination
> consume various types of grains but consume 1 type of grain at one time
~ each type of grain are 'made different,
   hence they have different nutritional profiles,
   having their own 'strength' and 'weakness'.
   Eating a variety of grains will help compensate
   each other's imperfections and synergise their strengths.
   However, if we eat different grains blindly in one meal,
   that may cause indigestion,
   as different grains may need different enzymes to digest in our gut.
   Therefore, it's advisable to eat each different types of grains separately
   for maximum digestibility.

Hope this posting will help clear the worries about the "side-effects" of whole grains
as well as offer some ideas on how to make small improvement in their daily diet =)


Bon apetit!
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}

Advancing Vegetarianism in 2012

2011 was proven to be a hectic year,
as I took a few steps further
to advance my soul searching,
via physically reforms in my career and lifestyle
just like I did in 2010...

Some of LHW readers may have known that
I quit my full time job end of July 2011,
to better prepare for the commencement of
The Veg School in Oct 2011.

Like many others, I took long considerations
and had multiple consultation sessions with my family
before taking the plunge,
as it's expected that for substantial period of time
I will be short of stable income.

With permissions and support from my family,
I officially went full time into vegetarian education
as a new career cf. as a part time hobby in the past 10 years.

It has been five exciting months since the career switch.
and so far,
I am enjoying this new life! :D

During this very short period of time,
with the help of many boddhisatvas,
The Veg School successfully conducted
two workshops,
helping general public to understand the basics of healthy plant based diet,
and the importance of going organic for better health and environment.

At the same time,
some extraordinary learning opportunities came along,
when Nutrihub invited myself to help out on their marketing,
and two boddhisatvas offered very sincere incentives to convince me
to start up a vegan tea house at Kovan.

Everything happened just so quickly in the second half of 2011.

While I am indulging in my hectic (but spiritually-rewarding) new life,
2012 has now sneaked in!

Actually, I didn't quite realised it's 2012,
until my students were asking for
my new Vegetarian Wellness timetable for 2012 :P

In this new year 2012,
as seen in the timetable link above,
The Veg School will continue
to educate the public on vegetarian wellness,
serving even a larger audience
including the Mandarin speaking crowd (from April onwards)
and the residents in Kuala Lumpur (in May)!!

On my personal capacity,
I am also organising more outdoor workshops/tours/camps
to make it more lively and invigourating to learn vegetarian wellness,
including a Detox Workshop cum Retreat at Bornoe Highlands Resort (Apr)
and a 6D5N Healthy Lifestyle Transformation Camp at Aenon Farm (June).

Hope all the new vegetarian wellness programs lined up for 2012
will entice more people to learn more about vegetarian wellness
and to lead healthier lifestyle via compassionate and environmental diet.

Here, I wishes everybody
Good Health, Wisdom and Inner Peace
in 2012!


With metta,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com





{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}