Annakate turns 4 weeks old yesterday and she is definitely growing stronger. As for myself, I am counting down for my confinement period to end gloriously.
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Many people have asked me what I have been eating lately. My typical answer would be ginger, sesame oil, chicken, herbal soup, black fungus, red dates and brown rice. I think it is very silly of me to mention the ingredients and not the name of the cooked food after being put together. Kindly forgive me for the silly answers.
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The truth is, I have been eating well. And I mean it, VERY well. I have an invigilator on my Skype twice a day, watching over me, asking what I am eating. Who would that be? She is none other than my mom. (Mom, I love you!) She is not being able to fly over to the US to assist me with the confinement, but she has been helpful in guiding me on what to eat and what not to eat.
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Oh yes, I have never eaten so much ginger or sesame oil in my life in such a short period of time. It is a ginger madness in the kitchen. Nevertheless, I really don’t mind eating ginger daily because I love ginger and it has so many health benefits. Some of the best benefits you can reap from eating ginger will be eliminating intestinal gas and aiding digestion, thus promoting weight loss. I definitely want to lose my remaining 18 pounds. Yup, I am still stuck there with the remaining 18 pounds. I guess it will take some time for me to shrink my hips and fit into those pre-preggo jeans again.
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I made Ginger Chicken Wine yesterday as I have to consume the entire bottle of DOM Benedictine Liquor by day 40. It’s actually quite easy to make this dish.
Ingredients for this dish to serve 4 pax:
4 chicken breasts (diced)
6 pieces of black fungus (soak it for 45 minutes before cooking, and slice them up)
1 large ginger (sliced)
2 tbsp of soy sauce
1 1/2 cup of water
3 cups of DOM liquor
1/2 cup of Rice Wine
4 tbsp of sesame oil
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Cooking Instructions:
1. Firstly, heat up the pan with sesame oil at medium heat and fry the black fungus for a good 60 seconds.
2. Add in the diced chicken and stir-fry for about 2 minutes before adding the ginger at medium high heat.
3. Keep stir-frying for about a minute or two.
4. Once the meat is about 90% cooked, add in water and let it simmer at medium heat for about 3 minutes.
5. Add DOM liquor, rice wine and soy sauce.
6. Let it simmer with the lid closed at low heat for 10 minutes.
7. It will be ready to be served with other dishes.
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As I am still observing my confinement, there is a list of restricted vegetables that I can only consume such as Chinese Broccoli (Kai Lan), Choy Sum, and spinach. I usually would just boil the vegetables for about 5 minutes. Then I will coat the vegetables with sesame oil, soy sauce, white pepper powder, fried garlic, and fried shallots.
As for the herbal soup, get a crockpot or a slowcooker of about 3 Quart size. Then dunk in 8 pieces of red dates, 3 pieces of Codonopsis root (Dong Sum), 8 pieces of American ginseng slices (Fa Kei Sum), 5 pieces of black dates, 2 pieces of dried longan, 1.5 tablespoon of Wolfberries (Gei Ji), 3 pieces of Astragalus root (Pak Kei), and 3-4 bowls of water. You may also add in 1-2 chicken breasts to sweeten the soup. I usually do this in the morning so that I can drink the soup for lunch and dinner.
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The picture above shows a typical confinement meal that I have been eating for the past 4 weeks. And I will be continuing such diet until Day 40 before I say hello to cold milk, tomatoes, cucumbers, fresh salads, and many more food that I am missing so much right now.
Happy Confinement to Me and to those who are observing them right now! Image may be NSFW.
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