An awesome way to kick start your day with this super easy and natural sweetness healthy bloody red smoothie which is packed with 3 superfood and quick energy enhancer

This bloody red smoothie tastes deliciously sweet with no added sugar or honey

I usually have my so-called 'Morning Drink' one or two hours prior to my regular breakfast. My 'Morning Drink' is usually juices or smoothies and they vary from day-to-day depending on my grocery list.  Smoothie is super-duper easy to prepare and you can mix and match depending on personal preference.

A glass of healthy smoothie which is made-up of beetroot, pineapple and kurma (dates)

Beetroot is one of my favorite main ingredients for smoothie. It is healthy and packed with nutrients as mentioned here

Besides, pineapple boosts immune system and packed with nutrients, vitamins and minerals. Do click at the above image for more info on benefits of pineapples.

Instead of adding sugar or honey to my smoothie, I prefer adding kurma as it's considered to be one of the best energy boosting snacks as they are power-packed with natural sugar, strengthen the bones and maintain healthy weight. Do click at the above image for more info.

With the combination of these 3 super ingredients, this is a power-packed nutrient smoothie!

Healthy Beetroot Pineapple Kurma Smoothie

Ingredients :(Please take note no exact or fixed measurement for smoothie. Just be creative and depending on your personal taste)

- 1 cup beetroot, fresh or frozen (peeled and chopped)

- 1 cup pineapples, fresh or frozen (peeled and chopped)

- 6 kurma (deseeded)

Method :

1)  Blend all the ingredients with enough water with a powerful blender and blend on high until smooth. 

2) Serve immediately.

If you prefer cold smoothie, do add some ice and/or frozen beetroot and pineapples. Just blend everything together

This healthy beetroot pineapple kurma smoothie is the perfect pick-me-up

A nutrient and fiber-packed smoothie with all the goodness of the beets, pineapples and golden kurma

A delicious smoothie with its natural sweetness with no added sugar

A perfect drink if you are feeling under the weather.

Do enjoy and cheers!

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Sorry to inform that for the time being, I have disabled comment box as I won't be able to return visit to my fellow bloggers who are kind enough to drop me a line or two. The comment box will be enabled when I am not so tied up with my work schedule. However, you may contact me by leaving your message or comment at SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL AND HEALTHY LIVING FACEBOOK. My sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused. Thanks for visiting my blog and have a nice day :) 

Happy Winter Solstice 冬至节快乐 and Tang Yuan 汤圆 (Chinese Glutinous Rice Balls) in Sweet Fragrant Osmanthus Lemongrass Pandan Sweet Soup

First of all, HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE/Dongzhi Festival (冬至节快乐) to all Chinese who are celebrating this meaningful festival.  This  year, Dongzhi Festival falls on 22nd December. Traditionally, Winter Solstice is also a time for the family to get together.  During this festival, making and eating tang yuan 汤圆 (glutinous rice balls) symbolize reunion and its sweet syrup symbolizes prosperity.  In China, Dongzhi was originally celebrated as an end-of-harvest festival.  

According to Wikipedia, Dōngzhì Festival or Winter Solstice Festival (Chinese: 冬 至; pinyin: Dōngzhì; literally: "the extreme of Winter") is one of the most important festivals celebrated by the Chinese and other East Asians during the Dongzhi solar term (winter solstice) on or around December 22 (according to East Asia time). In 2015, the festival falls on Tuesday, December 22.

The origins of this festival can be traced back to the yin and yang philosophy of balance and harmony in the cosmos. After this celebration, there will be days with longer daylight hours and therefore an increase in positive energy flowing in. The philosophical significance of this is symbolized by the I Ching hexagram fù (復, "Returning").

Traditionally, the Dongzhi Festival is also a time for the family to get together. One activity that occurs during these get-togethers (especially in the southern parts of China and in Chinese communities overseas) is the making and eating of tangyuan (湯圓) or balls of glutinous rice, which symbolize reunion. Tangyuan are made of glutinous rice flour and sometimes brightly coloured. Each family member receives at least one large tangyuan in addition to several small ones. The flour balls may be plain or stuffed. They are cooked in a sweet soup or savory broth with both the ball and the soup/broth served in one bowl. It is also often served with a mildly alcoholic unfiltered rice wine containing whole grains of glutinous rice (and often also Sweet Osmanthus flowers), called jiuniang.

In northern China, people typically eat dumplings on Dongzhi. It is said to have originated from Zhang Zhongjing in the Han Dynasty. On one cold winter day, he saw the poor suffering from chilblains on their ears. Feeling sympathetic, he ordered his apprentices to make dumplings with lamb and other ingredients, and distribute them among the poor to keep them warm, to keep their ears from getting chilblains. Since the dumplings were shaped like ears, Zhang named the dish "qùhán jiāoěr tāng" (祛寒嬌耳湯) or dumpling soup that expels the cold. From that time on, it has been a tradition to eat dumplings on the day of Dongzhi.

Old traditions also require people with the same surname or from the same clan to gather at their ancestral temples to worship on this day. There is always a grand reunion dinner following the sacrificial ceremony.

The festive food is also a reminder that celebrators are now a year older and should behave better in the coming year. Even today, many Chinese around the world, especially the elderly, still insist that one is "a year older" right after the Dongzhi celebration instead of waiting for the lunar new year.

To Taiwanese people, the festival in winter also plays a very important role. It is also a tradition for Taiwanese to eat tangyuan on this day. They also use the festive food as an offering dish to worship the ancestors.

In an interesting twist, in accordance with ancient Taiwanese history, many people take some of the tangyuan that have been used as offerings and stick them on the back of the door or on windows and tables and chairs. These "empowered" tangyuan supposedly serve as protective talismans to keep evil spirits from coming close to children.

In addition to following some of the customs practiced in China, the people of Taiwan have their own unique custom of offering nine-layer cakes as a ceremonial sacrifice to worship their ancestors. These cakes are made using glutinous rice flour in the shape of a chicken, duck, tortoise, pig, cow, or sheep, and then steamed in different layers of a pot. These animals all signify auspiciousness in Chinese tradition.

Another interesting custom in Taiwan is that many people take invigorating tonic foods during this particular winter festival. To the Taiwanese, winter is a time when most physical activities should be limited and you should eat well to nourish your body. This practice follows the habits shown by many animals which follow the law of nature and hibernate throughout winter months to rejuvenate and to preserve life. In order to fight cold temperatures, it is necessary to eat more fatty and meaty foods during winter when your body can better absorb the rich and nutritional foods at this time due to a slower metabolic rate.

Since Dongzhi is the "Extreme of Winter", Taiwanese regard it as the best time of the year to take tonic foods. Some of the most widely popular winter tonic foods enjoyed by Taiwanese to fight cold and strengthen the body's resistance are mutton hot pot and ginger duck hot pot. Other foods like chicken, pork, and abalone are also common materials used in making tonic foods with nurturing herbs such as ginseng, deer horn, and the fungus cordyceps.

This year, I decided to make a different syrup.  Instead of the usual pandan and ginger syrup, I added lemongrass and osmanthus 桂花 as well.  Well, it tasted much much better and is also healthier, right?  As for the tang yuan, besides sweet potato, I also have green tea powder for the green color instead of the usual pandan colour too!  Hehehe...

Ingredients :
Sweet Potatoes Tang Yuan :
- 100g glutinous rice flour
- 150g orange sweet potato (steamed and mashed)
- 1tbsp cornstach
- 1/4 cup warm water

Method :

1) Mix the above ingredients and knead until a smooth dough is formed.

2) Divide the dough into several pieces and roll into small balls. I have various sizes!

3) Cook the glutinous rice balls in a pot of boiling water. Stir gently to prevent the rice balls to stick at the bottom. Please take note that when the rice balls float to surface, it is cooked.

4) Transfer the cooked tang yuan to a pot of cold water and drain.

5) Serve tang yuan in a bowl with your favorite syrup or sweet soup.

Step by step pictures of cooking the tang yuan

Sweet Soup/Syrup : to taste (no exact measurement)

- 2.5litre water
- 10 pandan leaves
- 10 lemongrass/serai (slit and crushed)
- 2 big thumbsized ginger (crushed)
- 2 bar of brown cane sugar
- some dried osmanthus

Method :
1) Put everything in a large pot and boil. I slow boiled for around half an hour as I love the fragrant of the ginger and lemongrass in the syrup. Mine is more towards like sweet soup dessert (tongsui) instead of syrup. You can adjust according to your preference.

Making tang yuan is very easy as you can 'mix and match' the ingredients to your liking

As for the sweet soup or syrup, you too can 'mix and match'' whatever that fancies you

Isn't it simply easy yet mouth-watering??

Happy Winter Solstice 冬至节快乐 to all my dear readers 

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Sorry to inform that for the time being, I have disabled comment box as I won't be able to return visit to my fellow bloggers who are kind enough to drop me a line or two. The comment box will be enabled when I am not so tied up with my work schedule. However, you may contact me by leaving your message or comment at SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL AND HEALTHY LIVING FACEBOOK. My sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused. Thanks for visiting my blog and have a nice day :)

How To Combine 3 Simple Ingredients To Make an Easy Peasy Yet Super Healthy and Nutritious Dessert or Tong Sui 糖水

Sweet potatoes flesh are not always in orange colour.  You can find spectacular purple-flesh potato, which is also known as Okinawan potatoes. Like orange sweet potatoes, purple sweet potatoes are low in carbohydrates and fat.  They are an excellent source of fiber and vitamin A, which boost our immunity and help preserve our eyesight. They are also rich in complex carbohydrates and fibre.

Purple Sweet Potatoes are found to improve blood sugar regulation. Eating purple sweet potatoes also help lower blood pressure. But what makes them truly stand apart from their orange counterparts is the fact that purple sweet potatoes have high contents of anthocyanin which may have anti-inflammatory properties. Furthermore, anthocyanins have been epidemiologically associated with a reduced cancer risk and cardiovascular disease.

Sweet potatoes can be steamed or boiled, or in anyway you like.  I usually use orange or purple sweet potatoes for breads, buns, desserts or just steamed it. They are delicious!!

Red Beans is one of the richest foods in antioxidants. It provides half your daily requirement of fiber, source of iron and thiamine (vitamin B1) which stimulates attention and memory.

Ginger is known for its medicinal properties. Modern scientific research has revealed that ginger possesses numerous therapeutic properties including antioxidant effects, an ability to inhibit the formation of inflammatory compounds, and direct anti-inflammatory effects.

Just combine the above 3 ingredients into a delectable and nutritious dessert for your breakfast. I cooked this dessert in a slow cooker. Just switch it on to Auto before you go to bed. The next morning, you will have hot dessert for breakfast!

So, starting your day with a bowl of this simple 3-superfood dessert will definitely cheer you up and get you through the day!! Something different for your family instead of the usual Milo, milk, bread,cake, etc, right?

Sweet Purple Potatoes Dessert with Red Beans and Taiwan Ginger Cube (姜母茶)

Ingredients : 

(Please take note that, the measurement for this simple dessert is quite flexible.  You may adjust it to your taste)

- 2 medium sized purple sweet potatoes (peeled and cubed)

- 1/2 cup of red beans (washed)

- 1 cube of Taiwan Brown Sugar Ginger Cube

- 1500ml water 

- 8 tbsp brown sugar

- few blades of pandan leaves (washed and knotted)

Method :

1)  Put everything into the slow cooker except the pandan leaves.

2)  Turn it to Auto before you go to bed. (If you want to have it for breakfast.  Otherwise, you may prepare it anytime you like).

3)  Alternatively, you can cook it over the gas stove.

4)  Add the pandan leaves few minutes before serving.

That day, I had it with a slice of radish cake. In case you are interested, do kiv for this radish cake recipe....

Other similar recipes you might be interested :

Have a great weekend and cheers!

To receive new updates, do LIKE SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL AND HEALTHY LIVING FACEBOOK. 

Sorry to inform that for the time being, I have disabled comment box as I won't be able to return visit to my fellow bloggers who are kind enough to drop me a line or two. The comment box will be enabled when I am not so tied up with my work schedule. However, you may contact me by leaving your message or comment at SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL AND HEALTHY LIVING FACEBOOK. My sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused. Thanks for visiting my blog and have a nice day :)

Old-Time Favorite Iced Red Bean Popsicles - The Picnic Game 2014 (3)

The current hazy, hot and humid weather is so unbearable. And isn't it a perfect time for cold and refreshing desserts? So, I decided to make an old-time favorite ice popsicle which mum used to make for us when we were kids. This ice popsicle is extremely simple and easy peasy to prepare.

I am going on a picnic and I am bringing..... 

A - Angel Food Cake

B - Basil Leaves in Caramelized Prawns
C - Chicken Piccata
D - Darned Easy Potato Salad
E - Eccles Cakes filled with Leeks, Spinach and Blue Cheese
F - Fourth of July Picnic S'more Tartlets
G - Gluten-free & Eggless Chocolate Steamed Cake
H - Ham Cheesy Patties
I - Italian Frittata with Vegetables
J - Jelly Roll
K - Kahlua Zucchini Chocolate Chunk Bread
L - Lemon lavender Cupcakes
M - Meringue Roulade with Raspberries
N - Nutella Rice Pudding
O - Old-Time Favorite Iced Red Bean Popsicles
P - Pickles
Q - Quinoa Blueberry Mango Salad
R - Raspberry and Fig Cobbler
S - Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
T - Two-Ingredient Ice Cream Bread
U - Uninvited Smashed Potatoes
V - Vegan Mango Salsa
W - Watermelon Salad
X - X'mas Coconut Wreath Cake
Y - Yellow Squash Crustless Quiche
Z - Zucchini Cake-Double Chocolate

Ingredients :
- 1 cup red beans (washed)
- 10 cups water
- 6 pandan leaves (washed and knotted)
- 5 tbsp sugar (to taste)
- a pinch of salt
- 1 cup coconut milk (to taste)

Method :
1) Combine red beans, pandan leaves and water in a pot and boil until red beans become soft. (I took about 2 hours to really soften the red beans).

2) When the red beans is almost ready, add sugar and salt. Let it cook over low heat until sugar dissolved.

3) Turn off the heat. Add coconut milk. Stir to mix well.

4) Let it cool before transferring the dessert to your preferred containers or moulds.

5) Freeze at least 6 hours before serving.

Freeze it in your favorite moulds

Have a nice day and do enjoy :)

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Refreshing Water Chestnut Barley Dessert

Water Chestnuts have slightly sweet flavor and crunchy texture. It's also a hallmark of Asian cuisine and popular ingredient in the Chinese cuisine. Water chestnuts are known to posses a remarkable nutritional composition, which makes them an excellent food source. The best part is that they are free of any cholesterol and are almost fat-free. They are also gluten-free. They stay crunchy even after they’re cooked or canned.

Nutritional & Health Benefits of Eating Water Chestnuts

1) Water chestnuts are just the perfect choice of food for those who want to lead a healthy life as half a cup of water chestnuts contains only 0.1 g fat.

2) It is an excellent source of potassium. Half a cup of water chestnuts contains 350 to 360 mg of potassium.

3) Water chestnuts are known to have cooling properties and as such, they are just perfect to beat the summer heat. They are also known to have numerous curative and supplementary properties. 

4) Drinking water chestnut juice can help alleviate the problem of nausea and bad appetite in kids.

5) Water chestnuts are also known to contain detoxifying properties and are considered to be good for people suffering from jaundice.

6) Water chestnut powder helps to relieve cough. Grind water chestnuts to make powder and consume this powder with water twice a day. This dosage will bring quick relief in cough.

7) Most Chinese believe that water chestnuts are also good in treating conditions like measles. Boiling them in water makes the best drink for the measles patients, which can be given from the third day till the ninth day of the cycle. Know what? It's very refreshing and yummy too!

Selection & Storage Tips
- When selecting water chestnuts, look for the ones that are firm and have unwrinkled skin. Also, check that there are no soft spots. 

- Fresh and unpeeled water chestnuts can be kept for two weeks, in a plastic bag, inside the refrigerator.
Peel off the skin and cut off the top of water chestnuts, before you start cooking them.

Serving Tips
1) If you can get fresh water chestnuts, they must be peeled and rinsed well. Whether you use them raw, boiled or from a can, sliced water chestnuts work well in soups and any type of salad, including egg, tuna or chicken salad. They’re classically used in stir-fried dishes, where they can be mixed with any type of meat or vegetables. Add some flavor by marinating them in low-sodium soy sauce, ginger and garlic, then make a lettuce wrap with water chestnuts, carrots, mushrooms, chicken and cashews.

2) When make into dessert, it's very refreshing and cooling especially during summer and it's very effective in cooling a 'heaty' body.

As the current weather over here (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) is rather hot and humid, having a bowl of water chestnuts with barley acts as a 'coolant' to our body.

Ingredients : (to taste)

- 1 cup of barley (washed)
- 15 pcs of water chestnuts (peeled and diced)
- 1 cup of candied winter melon (diced)
- few cubes of sugar cane candy (to taste)
- 1 block of honey grass jelly/chin chow (cubed)
- some pandan leaves
- water (enough to boil 1 cup of barley)

Method :
1) Boil water and barley together.

2) When the barley is almost cooked or soft, add chopped water chestnuts and continue to boil at low medium heat.

3) Add screw pines (pandan leaves), candied winter melon and sugar cane candy. Continue cooking until the barley is fully soft and cooked.

4) Serve it warm with some grass jelly.

Refreshing and rejuvenating dessert

One bowl is not enough....

This simple dessert is simply slurpylicious....

Most kids love this....

Have a fabulous week ahead :)

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