This week’s theme: Any photo
The other tall buildings are dwarfed in comparison with the world’s tallest building (under construction), Burj Dubai.
Genesis tagged me for this fun book meme.
1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open it at page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence/phrase.
4. Blog the next four sentences/phrases together with these instructions.
5. Don’t you dare dig your shelves for that very special or intellectual book.
6. Pass it forward to six friends.
I have near me, By The River Piedra I Sat Down And Wept by Paulo Coelho and quoting the book:
I think that when we look for love courageously, it reveals itself, and we wind up attracting even more love. If one person really wants us, everyone does. But if we’re alone, we become more alone. Life is strange.
Don’t you just like how these lines are beautifully written? I love this book in Coelho’s collection. There are so many inspiring lines inside that I found myself high-lighting so many of it.
I now tag Donetta, Jack’s Mommy, The Bluest Butterfly, MakiMeji, Lynn and Yen.
1. Rocket Leaves - Hands down my favorite salad leaf and I did not know anything about this until we came to Dubai. I wasted like, my whole lifetime! I’m a big salad eater and right now, no salad is ever complete without this one even if I have to wash off the sand from the locally produced rocket leaves sold in the local supermarket!
2. Cucumber - I can eat cucumber without anything so it’s just natural for this veggie to be present in my salad bowl. If we run out of salad supplies in the fridge, I’d be more than happy to dunk my cucumber in any salad dressing or in salt alone.
3. Tomatoes - Who would ever miss to put succulent ripe tomatoes in the salad mix? This is another vegetable (or fruit?) that I can munch on without anything. Funny though, as much as I love tomatoes, I can’t stomach drinking tomato juice in cans!
4. Iceberg Lettuce- We never run out of lettuce at home. We make salads, sautees and even soups with lettuce. The best part? There’s no need to use a kitchen tool, just rip the leaves and they’re ready to eat (at least that’s the way I do it). I’m good at ripping the leaves but I delegate that task to my curious little chef - - she’s good at ripping the leaves too.
5. Carrots- Thinly sliced or baby carrots tossed in. Bugs Bunny’s favorite food may not need some explanation due to its popularity and you might already know, that carrots contain the very important beta carotene which is converted into Vitamin A in the body as needed.
6. Celery- Celery, whenever we have it at home, is sliced thinly and thrown in the salad bowl. The tangy taste makes salads more tasty (in my opinion!). Not only that, celery provides an excellent source of Vitamin C and fiber. It is also a good source of folic acid, potassium and vitamins B1 and B6. Now that I am starting the nutrition blah, I have to add that celery contains phytochemical compounds known as coumarins and studies have shown that they are effective in cancer prevention and capable of enhancing the activity of certain white cells.
7. Onions- Let me make it clear: thinly tiny weeny sliced onions only since I find raw onions spicy.But little is better than nothing because onions are said to contain the antioxidant quercetin, which helps protect cells from free-radical damage. A Dutch study showed a strong correlation between eating onions and a decreased risk of stomach cancer. Go put some onions (after wiping away your tears) in your salad now!
8. Capsicum- also known as sweet peppers in red, yellow and orange is mild flavored unlike Jalapeno peppers. Chopped capsicum is tossed in my salad every single time. Among garlic and onion, we can’t run out of capsicum in our house. It is known that capsicum reduces high blood pressure, protects against some types of cancer and is useful in the treatment of chronic rhinitis. It also increases metabolism to burn a measurable number of calories at a higher rate. Trying to lose weight? You might as well include this in your diet.
9. Croutons- If we have leftover bread, I cut in into cubes, season it, saute and bake to make croutons. Since that rarely happens (bread leftover and/or my time to make them), croutons are a rarity in my salad bowl.
10. Olives- Again, this one I first tried only after our relocation to the Middle East. I swear I told myself I’d never touch olives. They look weird to me and I thought they must taste weird as well but I guess you really have to try before passing any judgment, vegetables and fruits included. To my surprise, I like it! I even now buy in supermarkets and put them in dishes I cook at home, not just on salads. Also, olives are high in monounsatureated fat, iron, Vitamin E and dietary fiber.
11. Feta Cheese - Feta cheese is a cheese of Greek origin originally made with either sheep’s or goat’s milk. It’s a little salty because it is soaked in brine to preserve its softness so I just put a small amount of crumbled cheese on top of the salad to add flavor (M likes to add feta cheese to his salad, I don’t). One interesting fact is that feta cheese made from raw milk has a natural anti-food poisoning agent and helps combat food poisoning.
12. Black Pepper - to add a little zing.
13. Italian Dressing - After tossing all the vegetables, I add my favorite dressing. Italian dressing is a vinaigrette type salad dressing consisting of olive oil, vinegar, salt, sugar, pepper, minced onions and bell peppers and other herbs.
*****
Penn State University conducted many studies with hundreds of volunteers and found the key to preventing hunger while reducing portions is to eat “high-satiety” foods. Satiety refers to how full you feel after eating a meal. Foods with high water content (such as salads and soups) can increase the volume of the food you eat so you feel full. The meal plan is called “Volumetrics” to describe the concept of high-satiety foods.
Two of the easiest ways you can apply this to your diet is by eating a first-course salad or soup before you eat your main meal. Eating a large salad or a bowl of broth as a first course satisfies your appetite so you will eat less when the entree is served.
Bon Apetit!
First, they made man-made islands, marina, port and harbor, artificial snow (ski resort), and now, would you believe, they are bent on creating artificial rain?
Yesterday’s rain was induced, man-made, artificial, fake! I knew something wasn’t right! The articles can be found in Gulf News titled, Cloud seeding experiment has thundering success (with photos) and Cloud seeding tests continue.
I’m back to work. I know that sounded like I had a vacation but I only took a day off which most was spent pulling all my hair out with my little bloggy problem.
I still can’t login from my home PC - that’s two PC’s (mine and M’s). I asked helpfuls from the US, Germany, Philippines and Japan (we are talking about a global support system here people!) whom I really trust tried to login in my behalf and they were successful.
So what’s wrong in my end, then?
I still don’t know. I am blogging from my office right now which I really don’t want to do to wake up the sleeping internet moderator but I had to try. One internet access can’t hurt, can it?
Thanks to S for all the emails of support!
*****
My bloggy dilemma aside, it actually RAINED this morning on my way to work!! Now, we all know that rains in the desert means a little celebration! I can’t believe it, the roads were actually wet. It’s almost summer and we are having rain - the car wiper performed its function after 4 months of slumber!
The pitter-patter in teeny weeny drops stopped after 5 minutes. I won’t be surprised if we won’t be having cloudy skies and rain in another 6 months or so.
The last time it rained in Dubai was last January.
Hee-how, Windows Live Writer rocks! I can actually see my test post reflected in my blog seconds after I hit publish.
What happened is, today is a self-declared holiday. There’s not much work to do in the office since it’s still holiday in Japan so thought it would be better if I use this chance to stay at home and blog help my mother with the chores, and most especially to be with my daughter. Since Pristine is at school and won’t be home until 12:00 noon, I tried to login to my wordpress blog (I couldn’t help but blog while waiting for the laundry to finish!). I entered my username, then password and hit the Login button. Poof! The data I entered just disappeared and I am stucked outside of my blog wall. I could not get in. What the heck!?
I tried like, a bazillion times and nothing happened. I cleared the cache files, deleted the temporary internet files and restarted my system. Nothing.
Can someone tell me what is happening here? I am with Bluehost (my server) and they told me they can login without any problems from their side.
Did I write anything offensive in my previous post that deserved internet censorship? Am I blocked?
So this post is written via Windows Live Writer. I’ve never used live writer before so I don’t know if this post goes through or not so I’ll make this short and sweet.
I am home now. I did go out to go to work and accompanied my mom to the clinic in my office building for her regular check up regarding her hypertension. Since it’s too hot to let her get a cab or a bus, I decided to drive her home - and we all know what happens when you walk right through that front door and on to the bedroom to get a quick hair fix. The whole atmosphere told me it’s time I get a special day off. Just this once. When was the last time I was off from my usual work schedule anyway?
The average retail price of gasoline in Japan hit its record all time high of 170 yen/liter (US$1.6) according to our direct and reliable news source: my in-laws! My FIL called me last weekend to ask about our life here in Dubai and the brought up gasoline question. Price of petrol here in the UAE is at 6.4 dirhams per gallon, equivalent will be around 50 yen/liter (US$0.47).
Japan’s petrol price is 3.5 times more expensive!
FIL wailed in shock and after picking up his jaw off the floor, said if we could send some petrol for Father’s day.
What three kitchen items do you use the most often?
A cling wrap, pot holder and chori bashi (long chopsticks for cooking)
What kitchen gadget do you wish you had?
My onion mincer/dicer. Don’t you just feel great when you can dice or mince onions without looking like you just saw a tragic movie in your kitchen? I left mine in Japan.
What kitchen gadget do you never use/wish you hadn’t spent money on?
A coffee maker - to think we rarely drink coffee! We bought it, IN CASE we actually have guests coming over.
What is your favorite cookbook
My o-bento cookbook and a cookbook with traditional Japanese recipes - which I all left in my in-laws house in Japan. I will bring it here when I go on vacation in summer.
Who is your cooking inspiration?
My teacher in high school. My mom is not a big cook when I was younger. On my third year in high school, we were taught to bake and cook and there I discovered my love for cooking. I looked up to my teacher for everything, kitchen wise.
What are the three most important items on your spice rack?
Paprika powder, basil and black pepper
What are three recipes you use all the time?
Can you share a cooking/baking secret?
To get excess fat from any dish, particularly stews, put the cooked dish in the fridge overnight (good for leftovers). The next morning, when the fat appears on top as a white soft substance, place a cling wrap and lightly pat the wrap on the floating fat. When you lift the cling wrap, the fat sticks to it and voila, you have just taken extra calories off your food.
What is your greatest cleaning secret
No secrets. I use commercial stuff for cleaning.
What is your favorite thing to clean
The closet. I love to go through piles of clothes and this may sound crazy but I love to sort out clothes that Pristine has outgrown.
What is your least favorite thing to clean?
The windows (in summer) because that would mean being outside in the hellish hot weather wiping off dust and sand although you know they’ll be back right after you’ve finished.
Would you like to share some housekeeping ideas? Grab the meme and let me know so I can visit!
13 DOG BREEDS I LIKE
1. Labrador Retriever
2. Golden Retriever
3. Akita
4. Shiba Inu
5. Bernese Mountain Dog
6. Siberian Husky
7. Border Collie
8. Australian Shepherd
9. Dalmatian
10. St. Bernard
11. Canaan Dog
12. Beagle
13. Cocker Spaniel
Do you have any favorite?
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