A Bone-y Affair aka Ain't No Use Eatin' It if Ye Can't Absorb It

Oh yeah my cat loves to clean her teeth with the miswak :-)

A simple bone mineral density test about 6 months ago gave me a scare, because it said I was osteoporotic(!) While my MD friends pooh-poohed the idea due to my age and dietary intake, (plus those portable machines aren't really that well known for their accuracy either); I thought it would be a good idea to make a conscious effort to adapt a more bone-building lifestyle. So some pals who are into clean, healthy eating gave me some references and ideas, and I formulated a simple plan.

I increased intake of:

• Gouda cheese, which is said to be high in vitamin K2, an essential bone-building nutrient
• Vitamin D3 supplements at least 400 IU per day, which helps with mineral absorption
• Magnesium
• Homemade yoghurt almost daily, for both the probiotic properties (balanced gut flora helps with digestion and absorption of food) and bone-building nutrients within
• Ghee and butter, used liberally in cooking and taken raw
• Kampung chicken eggs, 2 whole eggs daily
• Tapai (fermented glutinous rice) a few times a week to help with gut flora

I really like the changes I made, because seriously fat makes food taste so much better, and it satiates away the hunger pangs. I did notice cravings for fat when I started the vitamin D3 supplement, to which I responded by having some cheese, butter or eggs. Also I noticed feeling less cranky/irritable when I get enough fat. One of my favourite quickie dishes are bullseye eggs with sauteed onions and chillies in butter and coconut oil. Mmm hmm the aroma is amazing. Also butter with stir-fried veggies not only tastes luxuriant, they are also extremely good for you. And Gouda cheese in scrambled eggs with butter and coconut oil, and fresh veg from the garden, taste so satisfyingly good. Oh, and about the vitamin D3, although I live in a land of perpetual summer, it is good to supplement because apparently even Hawaiian surfer dudes (at least I assume they are) are found to have low vitamin D status.

Mmm. Soft boiled eggs with butter is good too. Look at the deep rich colour of the yolk, indicating high nutrient content.

I also started doing some kettlebell exercises a few times a week, using a 10kg kettlebell. To be honest I am not really one for exercise (lazy!) so I prefer really, really short workouts. So some sample workouts would be:

• 20-30 kettlebell swings
• 20 wall pushups
• Tabata sprints involving jumping jacks 

Or I'd garden or take a walk instead. A few weeks ago some people organised a 3-hour Zumba workout at my husband's place of work. I thought I would be wasted during the 1st hour. To my surprise, I lasted almost the full 3 hours, but I had to cut it short and go home a bit early.

Some friends measure success by looking at their teeth and watching for more density. I became concerned that glycerine in toothpaste might block mineral absorption by teeth, not to mention the purported evils of fluoride. So I gave up both toothpaste and toothbrushes. Especially since my hubby read a book called The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg, which details the story of the development of toothpaste as a consumer product. What toothpaste makers are actually marketing is the 'cool, tingly sensation', so that people associate the minty taste with cleaned teeth. Marketing ploy alert! You can read the story of Pepsodent here, which is an excerpt from Charles Duhigg's book. Quote from the book: "Even today, almost all toothpastes contain additives with the sole job of making your mouth tingle after you brush."

Instead I am using the miswak, or kayu sugi as it is known in Malay. I challenged myself to 1 week without toothpaste, then a week became 2, and now it has been about 6 weeks. I do feel my gums getting stronger, and somehow because there is no foam from the toothpaste, I became a bit more diligent about brushing in the most awkward of corners of my mouth. So far so good. I cut off the used portion of the stick once or twice a week, so it is like getting a new toothbrush each time I do that. Plus the great thing is that it is SUNNAH. I could definitely use the free pahala :-)

Another cat photo: Chunkey looking extremely annoyed because she senses Yinkey enroaching into her sacred territory: the worktop.

Glory in the Gutter...

In a previous post I showed the beginnings of my Glorious Gutter Garden(C).

I sowed some seeds on the 28th of May and 30st of May, as laid out in the diagrams below:

Rain gutter, divided into 2 parts. The bitter gourd in bold purple text was sowed 2 days later, when I learned from Tukang Kebun about suitable companions for carrots.

Some pots I rescued from inside my cat enclosure, and turned into sowing beds. There is still a pot without any seeds in it because I can't decide what to sow. It is a wide and shallow pot. Maybe more cabbages and spring onions? The square shapes denote either polybags or square plastic pots. Again, bold purple text denotes seeds sown on 30 May.
UPDATE: the empty pot has been sown with mixed colour sunflower seeds on 2nd June. :-)

Lets see what has happened since then:

I think these are baby daikon radishes. Woo hoo!

And these, might be the purple cabbage or purple kohlrabi, not sure which.

C'mon tell me this looks like pot marigold? Yes? That looks like the seed, right?

I honestly am not sure what these are. These are sprouting in other spots too along the rain gutter.

Sorry for the poor quality pic. From the prickly shape of the seeds, I believe these are rainbow chards. They have been washed further right down the gutter by the heavy rains which hit my area almost every night lately.

Yellow pear cherry tomato seedlings, they are tiny, can you spot them? The bigger plant on top is a holy basil I placed there in the pot as a ready companion for the tomato plants.

Sweet red cherry tomatoes, insha Allah. :-)

I am quite excited by these seedlings. Thank you to TukangKebun at Kebun Bahagia Bersama from whom I obtained most of the seeds, and En Iskandar at TanamSendiri.com for the chrysanthemum, forget-me-not, mixed colour sunflower, bitter gourd and Siamese hot chilli seeds. :-)

Reading List

Little 40-day banana plant. Looks a bit better after I fed it some composted goat manure.

Companion Planting:
https://permaculturepower.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/5549980086_d2340229ac_o.jpg
Cute lil graphic on companion plants and how they are beneficial.

http://www.ghorganics.com/page2.html
A more extensive list, arranged in alphabetical order.

http://www.gardenguides.com/410-good-amp-bad-companions-vegetables.html
A convenient table showing garden plants' best buddies and mortal enemies.

Prewashing Fabrics before Sewing:

http://www.coletterie.com/tutorials-tips-tricks/the-prewash
I have had cotton items that I sent to be sewn, and they shrunk after I've worn them once. What a sad waste of fabric. A previous tailor would actually prewash the fabric for you if it needs it. I think I'd rather do it myself now.

Eating & Wellness:

http://wellnessmama.com/4981/10-uses-for-chia-seeds/
I've always wondered what the big deal is about chia seeds. I am still undecided on whether to give them a try, but this is good info nonetheless. Perhaps as a thickener?


http://divinehealthfromtheinsideout.com/2012/05/factors-that-deplete-minerals-from-the-body/
I've read how modern agricultural practices deplete nutrients and minerals in our body, so I was curious to know if other modern practices do the same. This list is indeed extensive: excess sugar, coffee, vegetarian/vegan diet, various medications, birth control, etc.  

http://mothering.com/health/balancing-biochemistry-an-interview-with-stephanie-cave?page=0%2C0
I haven't finished reading this whole article, but it certainly looks promising. Dr. Stephanie Cave is a doctor focused on medicine-nutritional therapy and in this article discusses sources of toxicity.

http://www.naturalnews.com/035973_mosquito_repellents_clothing_summer.html

Kitchen Tips & Tricks

http://sherylcanter.com/wordpress/2010/01/a-science-based-technique-for-seasoning-cast-iron/

Great minds think alike.. Repurposing Rain Gutters as Veggie Beds

This will be a quick one, as I am inspired by a discussion with some friends on successful veggie planting in a recycled rain gutter.

When we installed a perspex awning over our front porch, we had to have a portion of our rain gutter removed. I had the half-baked idea then of digging a hole to bury the spout for water drainage, filling the space with soil and planting veggies in it. Except I never got around to doing it.

So a few weeks ago I hit upon the idea of sticking the gutter into existing rain drains that run around the house (all kitchen/bathroom waste water goes straight into the septic tank, so our rain drains that run around the perimeter of the house are fairly clean and unclogged because only rain water runs through them).

As fate would have it, just as I hauled a heavy sack of soil out of my car, the sky darkened and drops of moisture pattered the ground. I knew I had to work fast. I dragged the rain gutter in to the drain, stuffed the spout with some rags and propped up the other end with an unused pot so excess water could drain out the spout via gravity.

The pics explain it so much better than I can:

The rain gutter nestled in the drain by a patch of daikon radish, sayur putih (Chinese lettuce methinks?) and sayur raja (I have no idea what this is called in English)

This end is propped up with a pot with rocky clumps of soil. I prolly need to use something else in the future should I want to use the pot.

Spout/hole at the other end stuffed with rags.

After this, the next step is to add soil, compost etc. and leave to mature for a few days before transplanting. It seems that the simple drainage system is working.

I should really start sowing seeds but I've been so busy lately with a cat illness. My poor Yoruichi...

Sowing the Seeds of Love..

Terung pipit in full bloom.

Update: all my cucumber plants did not survive, neither did my French beans :-( The main reason being was that I was travelling too much, so my plants were left to fend for themselves. Out of guilt before a 4-day trip I fertilised my plants with a coffee-smelling fertiliser that I thought was organic. (I thought it is okay to be a bit heavy-handed with organic fertilisers, because they don't harm your plants much). Yeah right. Too much fertiliser + lack of water (I suspect it was very hot while I was away) = dried-up plants. Sigh.

So today, seeing the weather is somewhat cloudy, I will direct sow some seeds into the ground.

• Roselle - in a pot, 5 seeds
• French beans - by the fence, 2 seeds, by cat enclosure, 2 seeds
• Spring onion - in existing spring onion pot
• Chives - on kailan bed
• Coriander - in existing coriander pot
• Loofah - in DIY pot made from soil bag

Didn't take any pictures today as I was a bit rushed for time. But here is a picture taken 2 months ago, when my chillis were still healthy and blooming. I did not eat any of these lovely chillis as I wanted to save them for seed. Then disaster struck: the leaves started to wilt, then the fruit, then the whole tree. The source of the disease is from another chilli plant I foolishly bought, thinking all the while parts of it looked a little bit wilted due to the hot weather.

Juicy purple chillies. Alas, thou art not mine to keep!

Good thing is that I still have a couple of these plants which survived the wilt. I hope this means the survivors have become immune to the disease.

Live long and prosper! Insha Allah.

Sunshine and Rain but No Rainbows. Oh well. It was a Great Day Nonetheless.

My French beans seem to be sprouting! I sowed them on Wednesday.

These French bean shoots are a gorgeous aubergine colour. I wonder if the plant will retain this colouring?

Cucumber plants from seeds bought at my local supermarket. I filled an old container with cheap soil from a nursery mixed with potted soil with copra. Previous attempts at sowing cucumber seeds resulted in complete failure (well, I just tossed the seeds and sort of watered them, not very regularly, so no wonder then!) -so I wasn't very hopeful this would work out. I did stick them in vertically rather than just dumping them on the soil. Alhamdulillah many of them grew. Now I think they look a bit elongated from being in the shade too much. I might move it to a sunnier spot out of the rain, because this box has no holes. I can't bear to ruin a box by making holes in them.

Must... find.. more.. light....

These tomato plants in the adjacent box are from when we made tomato sauce to go with our meatzza. I let the seeds dry out/ferment in the kitchen for a week before tossing them in this box. I ought to plant them out soon before they become too entangled.

Me thinks it's getting a bit too crowded in here..

Some hopefuls:

• bell pepper (saved in the kitchen), 
• Genovese basil (supermarket seed), 
• Hawaiian salad (supermarket seed),
• okra (wet market)
• Chinese cabbage (tanamsendiri.com)
• coriander (tanamsendiri.com)
• white radish (tanamsendiri.com)
• loofah plant (tanamsendiri.com)

They are under a roof, but do get some sunlight.

And what I learnt: do not re-pot plants in the morning, else your plants might wilt a bit.

In other news, my spring onions seem to be doing well. :-)

Watermelon + Bad, Brown Rice = Bad, Beet Kvass = Good

Blue rice in Nasi Kerabu. No, I don't think they use brown rice.

For the past 2-3 months I have been buying brown rice to mix in with our Ponni low-carb rice, as a little experiment to see whether we/I could tolerate brown rice. Although brown rice is definitely not Paleo nor Primal, the recent debate on safe starches had me pondering my way of eating: what if I can actually tolerate brown rice, and what if I have been missing out on its purported health benefits all this while? I am aware of the anti-nutrients in unprocessed grains, so I made sure to soak the brown rice at least 30 minutes prior to cooking. What I usually do is have a small tupperware of brown rice soaking in my fridge so I'll be able to cook rice in a jiffy.

Then a couple of weeks ago I came down with a bad case of diarrhea due to watermelon. I had avoided this fruit for years because it makes me throw up. Well, this time having a pre-dawn meal of homemade watermelon juice caused gastric pains an hour before breaking fast. After iftar things headed steadily south, literally. About 2 weeks before that I had stopped taking my daily yoghurt because I was bored of it. Instead I turned to tapai a few days a week, whereas I used to eat yoghurt daily.

So my gut flora weren't what they used to be, and possibly my eating brown rice was slowly eroding my gut flora. Why do I say this? Yesterday for the first time in weeks I had white rice, without any brown rice mixed in. And afterwards I was struck by how great my stomach felt. I hadn't realised I was having flatulence all this while. This is really weird for me because I normally pay close attention to my gut (literally). Just to test things further, tonight I had brown rice again. Not long after dinner, the symptoms reappeared: bloating, stomach distension.  I had a sip of my newly-prepared beet kvass, it tasted like salty beetroot. About half an hour later I burped out most of the gas, and my bloating reduced considerably.

I feel so much better now.

So no more brown rice for me I guess. It will make great bird seed.