Spice up your life with this anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant Ancient Indian Golden Milk

Turmeric is widely used in Indian recipes. It is the main spice in curry and is arguably the most powerful herb at fighting and potentially reversing diseases. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Ayurvedic medicine use turmeric in the treatment of liver disease, skin problems, respiratory and gastrointestinal ailments, sprained muscles, joint pains and general wound healing. Besides, turmeric offers many health benefits since it has both anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties.

Curcumin in turmeric has the ability to modulate genetic activity and expression — both by destroying cancer cells and by promoting healthy cell function. It also promotes anti-angiogenesis, meaning it helps prevent the development of additional blood supply necessary for cancer cell growth.

Drink this delicious golden milk in the morning and before bed for 2 weeks and you will see the difference!

In fact, a number of studies have even reported that using curcumin is more advantageous than certain prescription drugs.

Health Benefits of Turmeric :-
- Anti-inflammatory drugs
- Anti-depressants (Prozac)
- Chemotherapy
- Anti-coagulants (Aspirin)
- Pain killers
- Diabetes drugs (Metformin)
- Arthritis medications
- Inflammatory bowel disease drugs
- Cholesterol drugs (Lipitor)
- Steroids

For more benefits of turmeric, please refer to here, here and here.

Now, what is golden milk? This golden milk is a combination of turmeric spice (golden color!) along with milk and/or coconut milk/oil (depending on individual's preference). One cup of this Golden Milk has the potential to provide you with a healthy dose of this "spice of life". Taking turmeric milk daily is also a great way for general body detox and it helps in blood purification and liver detox too. Blood impurities can lead to sever health problems and turmeric milk is a great way to combat it. Turmeric is said to help those with Alzheimer’s disease by slowing its progress and lowers risk of various types of cancer.

Okay, let's go to prepare this super easy healthy Golden Milk.

Ingredients :- 

- 1 cup of fresh milk/coconut milk (I used fresh milk)
- 1 tbsp of turmeric powder or one-half inch fresh turmeric thinly sliced (I used turmeric powder)
- 1 tsp of grated fresh ginger (optional)
- 4 cardamon pods - crushed or cut into pieces(optional)
- a sprinkle of black pepper

Method :
1) Heat up milk in a pot or saucepan over medium heat.

2) Add turmeric, ginger and cardamon pods.

3) Keep stirring to prevent the milk from scorching at the bottom of the pot.

4) Once small bubbles begin to form, add in black pepper.

5) Stir and mix well. Off the heat.

6) Serve warm.

Spice up your day with a cup of warm Golden Milk 

This beautiful golden drink calms and soothes inflammation.  It is also very detoxifying for the liver and gallbladder.

A cup of this awesome Golden Milk before bed aids relaxation and helps boost the immune system while sleeping

My youngest girl can prepare her own Golden Milk before she hits the hay

Cheers and spice up your life!!

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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 :) 

Bentong 文冬 (Pahang 彭亨) Trip (2016) - Part 1

The last time I visited Bentong was more than 20 years ago!!! This family trip was a last minute decision as in actual fact we wanted to book a holiday resort in Pahang for the Hari Raya week long holidays. Too bad it was fully booked. So, we decided to go for a day trip to Bentong on the first day of Hari Raya (6th July 2016).

The Bentong District 文冬 is in Pahang, Malaysia. For non-Malaysians, for your information, the hill resort of Genting Highlands, Bukit Tinggi and Cameron Highlands are also located in the state of Pahang. Bentong is located 80km northeast of Kuala Lumpur which is just across the main range, Titiwangsa Mountain. It is bordered by Selangor on the west and Negeri Sembilan on the south.

According to an old story, Bentong was previously known as Kapong. It was changed from Kapong to Bentong before World War I. In earlier times, the center of Bentong was around the market area, at the meeting point of the rivers Repas and Perting.

The most important transportation way at that time was the rivers by using perahu (small boats). The jetty was situated in front of current rest house (near current Bentong Police Station).

Bentong became a focal point when tin ore was discovered in the two main rivers, Repas and Perting. Tin developers constructed ‘ban’ to extract more ore, hence more profits. The practice became a talking matter to the people outside Bentong, who referred to it as the story of ‘ban untung’ (the Profitable Ban). ‘Ban Untung’ became more well-known than Kapong that later people began to call it Ban Untung. From the name ‘Ban Untung’ was what the name for the district of Bentong derived from.

From other story, according to Pak Zek (Budayawan Dato’ Haji Zakaria bin Hitam), the name Bentong originated from ‘Bapong’ (meaning float). Bentong was once used as a fort by Dato’ Bahaman. The British army sent over the Gurkhas mercenary to defeat Dato’ Bahaman to take over the area. However, a number of the Gurkhas were killed after they were ambushed by Dato’ Bahaman’s men. Their bodies were thrown into the river and floated in the water. Following the incident, the site was known as Bapong, and later known as Bentong. The exact date of the name change was on 31 August 1957.

For more info on Bentong, please refer to wikipedia.

From Gombak toll, it took less than an hour to reach our destination. It was still early (before 7am) when we arrived at Bentong town. Our first venue was Pasar Besar Bentong (Bentong Market) for breakfast. It's a popular tourist destination for local delicacies. Too bad, most of the popular restaurants and stalls were closed on that day as it was a public holiday. We had planned to have our breakfast at a popular kopitian (local restaurant), Yuen Kee Kopitiam at Jalan Pasar (Market Street) but it was closed on Wednesday! This kopitiam is famous for its wantan mee (egg noodles). So, we settled for another kopitiam, LY Corner. My goodness! The shop was so packed with early birds and we had to wait for about 25 minutes to be seated. Ok, I need to cut short my long winded explanation. Just enjoy the pictures :-

Bentong Town : A small quaint town turned into tourist attraction!

Pasar Besar Bentong is located between Jalan Ah Peng and Jalan Chui Yin.

We had our breakfast here.  This is just opposite the Bentong market.

Wantan mee (egg noodles) for breakfast

Big colorful patio umbrellas lining the market street

Local Delicacies

There are many stalls selling moringa seeds. It's a craze now!

 

When at Bentong market, you should try to look out for Bentong ginger, Tofu Bok (豆腐卜) & stamped Tofu (海記豆付).   Kaya Puffs being sold by Mokie Home-Baked Pastry is located at the back portion of the market (facing Jalan Chui Yin). 

It started to rain and we hurried to our cars and adjourned to our next destination, Air Terjun Chamang (Chamang Waterfall).

To be continued.....................

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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 :) 

No sauce is needed for this pan-fried aromatic and flavorful lamb shoulder chops with extra garlic and mixed dried herbs as the meat itself is flavorful enough to tempt you

This year Father's Day, I decided to cook hubby's favorite pan grilled lamb shoulder chops!  This is such an easy peasy recipe and even my children can do it too.  Eating at home doesn't mean you need to sacrifice anything.  I get to really experience with different types of herbs and spices as well as our desired doneness.  I personally prefer rare and medium-rare but am a bit concern of some harmful bacteria that may still be present in the internal portions of the meat.  So most of the time I have it medium-rare and well done.   Still, many people (I am one of them!) prefer lamb cooked rare but this is up to individual's preference, but just be more caution of what we are eating.

Marinating the meat with mixed dried herbs and extra garlic, the meat is flavorful enough on its own and no sauce is required.  You may serve it with your favorite sauce if you like.  It's up to individual's preference.

Pan-Fried Aromatic and Flavorful Lamb Shoulder Chops with extra garlic and mixed dried herbs
Ingredients :
- 6 lamb shoulder chops
- 1tbsp olive oil
- Garlic powder

Marinade : (to taste)
- 1/2 freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2tbsp dried rosemary
- 2 tbsp dried thyme
- 1tbsp dried basil
- 3 bulbs garlic, roughly chopped (I like the taste of the well-seasoned and grilled chopped garlic)
- 2tsp seasalt
- some freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Side Dishes (Optional) : Individual's preference
- potatoes (cut into your desired sizes)
- tomatoes (cut into your desired sizes)

Method :
1) Mix all the above marinade and rub on both sides of the chops until evenly coated.  Seal the chops in a ziploc bag and marinate for at least 4 hours and up to 12 in the refrigerator.

2) Take out the marinated chops and sprinkle some garlic powder on both sides of the chops. 

3)  Heat 2 tablespoon of olive oil in a non-stick pan and pan fry the chops over medium high heat.  Cook to your desired doneness.

4) Meanwhile, if you still have enough space in the pan, go ahead and add in the tomatoes. (My main purpose of cooking the tomatoes together with the chops is to mix it together with the seasonings. It's very flavorful. This is optional)

5) Otherwise, just grilled the tomatoes and potatoes separately.

6) Serve the lamb shoulder chops with tomatoes and potatoes.

A delicious warming treat for the family

The meat is flavorful enough on its own with the extra garlic and mixed dried herbs and so, no sauce is required.

Here's wishing all my Muslim readers, #SALAM AIDILFITRI. MAAF ZAHIR BATIN#

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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 :)