Alice and the Salmon..

Cheshire Cat: Oh, by the way, if you'd really like to know, he went that way.
Alice: Who did?
Cheshire Cat: The White Rabbit.
Alice: He did?
Cheshire Cat: He did what?
Alice: Went that way.
Cheshire Cat: Who did?
Alice: The White Rabbit.
Cheshire Cat: What rabbit?
Alice: But didn't you just say - I mean - Oh, dear.
Cheshire Cat: Can you stand on your head?
Alice: Oh!

Cheshire Cat: If I were looking for a white rabbit, I'd ask the Mad Hatter.
Alice: The Mad Hatter? Oh, no no no...
Cheshire Cat: Or, you could ask the March Hare, in that direction.
Alice: Oh, thank you. I think I'll see him...
Cheshire Cat: Of course, he's mad, too.
Alice: But I don't want to go among mad people.
Cheshire Cat: Oh, you can't help that. Most everyone's mad here.

[laughs maniacally; starts to disappear]

Cheshire Cat: You may have noticed that I'm not all there myself.

(*taken from one of my all time favourite fairytales, Alice in Wonderland - specially dedicated to my 'Mad Hatter friends'.. they are a looney lovable bunch!
**the pink fish courtesy of The Toy Couple, but they were m.i.a. due to a weak gut.. as a result, you could say that they felt gutted for being late for a very important date!
*** people pictures courtesy of LL.)

Baking in salt is a traditional technique employed everywhere in the world, including in our own backyard! In Italy(Europe) and here, Asia we also have a similar tradition of roasting a whole chicken in wet clay, then breaking it and discarding the shards before eating. The covering keeps all the juices close to the meat, so it comes out moist, succulent and tender. In pretty much the same way, you see Nigel breaking off the salt shards here, and Voilà! what is revealed in the pink juicy salmon in its entire succulent splendor. My cousin has the baking perfected, down to the second - with a pink near raw center and a nicely cooked outer. Gorgeous.

As if the fish is not enough to make you go WOW.. Nigel and Co. cooked up a feast of Charsiew (BBQ roast pork), Fried Chicken Wings, Veges galore.. etc.. etc... The works. The refreshing tipple, Sangria which was not courtesy of FBB but Nigel, was downed by us dehydrated bunch of Cheshire Cats before you could say "Queen of Hearts!".

Finally a quick demonstration on how to make Pizza Dough. Easy-peasy. No sweat at all.. A great lunch filled with laughs and good company.



"Nigel! Can we have Pizza next week puh-leese... ?!"

Peak-and-Trough

Why Eat Breakfast?
Eating breakfast keeps you thin!

Eating breakfast is a great reason for waking up! hah!

But seriously folks..

Eating first thing in the morning helps to regulate blood glucose (helps control type II diabetes) and reduce cardiovascular disease. A good example of a healthy breakfast might be something simple like eggs (good source of protein and choline), mushrooms (contain anticancer properties, reduce migraine, some even have statin like activity i.e. lower blood cholesterol), brown toasted bread(fiber), an orange(vitamins), and a bowl of whole grain cereal with low fat milk.

Studies show that children who start off mornings with a good hearty breakfast stay out of trouble! Yup, that troublemaker kid is probably starving for food (as much as attention).. Also kids who eat breakfast perform better in exams too. Well, we don't have any kids yet, but considering how hyperactive I was as a tot, believe me.. I will feed my kids plenty!

Eating breakfast keeps you in a good mood, keeps you satiated for longer and improves the memory and mind power. (try playing the Memory Card Game or Scrabulous before breakfast vs. after.. see how well you score:P)

Some people skip breakfast hoping to lose weight but this has the reverse effect. As a matter of fact, skipping breakfast is strongly linked to the development of obesity.

You will end up eating more than usual at the next meal or nibble on high-calorie/sweet/overly salty snacks in between. Several studies show that people stay trim when they eat fewer, larger meals than when they eat the same number of calories in smaller, more frequent meals. So do the reverse of what you think and stay FIT and TRIM!

Lunch.

For me having a high metabolism (as well as being a crazy runner), means I can eat most anything I want without gaining weight. However, this does not mean that pigging out on red meat, burger king and french fries is good for you. Most of the time, opting for a light, low fat lunch actually keeps you alert over the sleepy afternoon period plus keeps your arteries healthy and free from cholesterol deposits. Try noodles or porridge with the least amount of food processing if you can, and see what an energy booster this is, versus that Banana Leaf meal that you had the other day! (ahem,.. i am guilty as charged.. haha)

The peak (eating the banana leaf) feels great.. but then the trough, just means you crash out and feel lousy in the end.

Yup.. everything that goes up, unfortunately, must come down. A linear approach to eating is so much better and your body will thank you for it later :)

Then comes dinner.

BBQs.. good or bad? Well, obviously the answer to that is, it depends on what you place on the BBQ grill. Red meats would obviously contain higher cholesterol levels than white meat. Charring your meat beyond recognition is worse than a light BBQing of the meat. Drenching your meat in vegetable oils is obviously worse than just using the meat's natural oils to cook itself.
Try adding extra virgin olive oil (potent antioxidant and high in monounsaturated fats i.e. effectively reduces risk of coronary heart disease) later to the meat, rather than over processing the oil with heat on the grill.

Whilst we are on the subject, Mayo Clinic (the guru of all health/medical issues if you ask moi) even has a BBQ Chicken Pizza recipe on their website (chicken breast meat and reduced fat mozarella of course !) So, there you go..

Finally, Its not just what you eat, its how you eat it. Eat as much raw foods/fruits, or food in its natural state as possible. No need to overcook or over-process everything. Everything in moderation with a generous amount of exercise thrown in and you won't go wrong. After all, God gave us life (in abundance) that we might enjoy all things.. He also have us legs and arms and a healthy heart which means to say we should be doing more than just sitting on our a** all day long! (God so clever.. he must be a woman :P ... kidding..!)

(Hmmm which reminds me of that song.. get up, get up, get busy, move it.. get up and shake your booty.. or something like that.. haha)

Well, that's my 2 cents/dua sen for the morning..
Enjoy the day.. eat well, eat right, keep fit!

BON MUNCH my friends!

*Footnote 1: shiny, happy, people of the BBQ plus the delicious BBQ meal itself shows photos courtesy of Nigel Skelchy of kampungkayell . Thank you Nigel!

**Footnote 2: Just saw Craving Joe's post on breakfast.. it must be a sign to eat healthy ya'll .. hear? lol..