April 2019 – HEALTH FREAK MOMMY

Aunty Nutty Homemade Walnut Milk

The health benefits of walnuts are manifold and include reduction of LDL (bad) cholesterol, prevention of inflammation, improvement in metabolism, improvement in heart health, boost bone health, weight management, and diabetes control. Walnuts also benefit brain health and act as a mood booster.

Walnuts rank second on the list of ‘antioxidant-rich’ foods, just under blackberries! The rare, powerful antioxidants such as quinone juglone, the tannin tellimagrandin, and the flavonol morin present in walnuts have remarkable free-radical scavenging power. These antioxidants also help prevent liver damage due to chemicals.

There’s so much interest in walnut that for the past 50 years, scientists and industry experts have gathered annually at the University of California, Davis, for a walnut conference discussing the latest walnut health research!

According to the USDA Nutrition Data, walnuts are a rich source of vitamin C, B vitamins (vitamin B6, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, and folate), vitamin E, as well as minerals such as calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, sodium, and zinc.

Have you ever tried homemade activated walnut milk? Last weekend I tried it and love it! It’s very refreshing and nutty, is vegan (dairy -free), gluten-free and paleo-friendly. Walnut milk is a great milk substitute for those who are lactose-intolerant and healthy beverage to beat hunger pangs.

I have never seen fresh walnut milk in the market before. Last week, I stumbled upon Aunty Nutty’s homemade walnut milk on my friend’s Facebook page. It piqued my interest right away and I messaged her immediately and got 8 bottles to try!

Information on Aunty Nutty homemade activated walnut milk
1. Only walnuts from USA are used.
2. The walnuts are activated for at least 24 hours in a controlled temperature environment to avoid nuts turning rancid.
3. Walnuts are very delicate nuts. Activation is required and crucial to neutralize enzyme inhibitors and anti-nutrients removed to activate the walnut’s full nutrient potentials.
4. No direct hand contact. Food grade gloves are worn at all times while handling and cleaning the nuts to avoid contamination.
5. Aunty Nutty processing facility and utensils used are segregated mainly for this purpose to avoid contamination.
6. Cold pressed nut milk using hydraulic press. This method protects and preserves the nutrients in the walnut as no heat is involve as how blending does.
7. Nut milk is suitable for the young and old but NOT for toddlers below the age of 2 and those with tree nut allergies.

Benefits of activating nuts

Activating nuts and seeds is the process of soaking raw nuts and seeds in salt water for a period of time that is long enough to start the nuts and seeds germinating. This process is believed to breakdown the Phytic Acid in the nuts and seeds and in turn you get what raw foodies call a “live” nut full of accessible nutrients that beforehand where bonded up in the Phytic Acid.

Activating nuts and seeds also seems to make them a lot more digestible. There are many reports of people who couldn’t eat nuts before, but who can now tolerate eating nuts and seeds that have been activated.

Aunty Nutty’s fresh activated walnut milk comes in 2 flavors: lightly sweetened with coconut nectar and unsweetened.

I love the coconut nectar flavor. It has a nutty and creamy texture (tastes a little like soy bean but NO soy is used) and the taste reminds me of Cendol! The Cendol taste comes from the extra virgin coconut oil and coconut nectar.

The one sweetened with coconut nectar has a brownish hue.

One with no coconut nectar added. It has a mild nutty taste and right level of creaminess.

As no preservative and stabilizer are used, the walnut milk is best consumed within 3 days from date of production. I drank it on the 4th day and still tasted good.

The ingredients.

Even Cass, my very very finical daughter loves the walnut milk. On the day Shereen delivered the walnut milk to me, Cass quaffed down the entire bottle herself!

If you’d like to try Aunty Nutty’s homemade walnut milk, you can get in touch with Shereen either through:
PM at Aunty Nutty
OR
Whatsapp at +60 12-921 6892

No. of times viewed = 142

Day 2 Of Water Cut

Yesterday was day 2 of the water cut. And it was the best day ever as the water came back sooner than everyone had expected! All the Klang Valley folks affected had expected the worst case scenario of a 3 to 4-day water cut but ‘syabas’ to SYABAS, the restoration works at the water treatment plant was completed on day 1 itself, at 11pm. Water supply came back to many households in the morning of day 2, including ours!

Cass asked me why I was in such a good mood when she came home yesterday and I told her that the water came back and your OCD mummy doesn’t need to worry about dry taps, dirty laundry and dirty toilets 😆

My plan yesterday was to go to the mall to have lunch with Sherilyn and the mil and also to get takeout for dinner. As I was driving out of the condo, the guard at the guard house greeted me and told me that the water supply had come back! We went ahead with our plan but did not get takeout for dinner.

I celebrated the return of our precious commodity with treats for the girls from Nando’s and Hogan Bakery😆

Ever since the water supply came back, each time I walk into the kitchen and bathroom, I simper in my heart looking at the counter tops lined with untouched water bottles and Tupperware containers filled with water. The huge pails filled to the brim with water in our bathrooms are untouched too. What are we going to do with so much water now?! It would take us 2-3 days to use up the surplus water. As our condo has a huge water tanker at every block, we were not even affected by the water cut. There were no dry taps. We only used water prudently, like no long showers and no heavy cooking.

24 hours ago, we were storing water like we were prepping for some kind of week long emergency situation and now, we are finding ways to utilize the water! 😅

Lunch with Sherilyn at Nando’s.

Certain items on the menu like salad, burger and juices were not available due to the water cut. At least Nando’s have the decency not to serve these items as the vegetables and fruits can’t be washed.

Cass commented that she’s had one of the best lunches ever as she gets a whole quarter chicken thigh to herself without having to share with her sisters. I redeemed this for free from Nando’s with points that I’d collected when I dined at Nando’s.

No. of times viewed = 80

Long Water Cut Preparation

I’m not new to water cuts and water rationing. If you are a Klang Valley folk, water cuts and rationing are nothing new. I was affected by the worst water rationing in the history of Klang Valley in the year 1998 (the year Commonwealth Games was hosted by KL) and yet, the OCD me survived, though the hubs (boyfriend then) had to bear with my occasional outbursts on no water days 😅 The water rationing that year lasted for more than 1 month!! In times like these, I wish I was still staying in my beautiful hometown of Ipoh, a place where water cuts and rationing are hardly ever heard of. Water is plentiful in Ipoh.

The girls have not really experienced a water cut that lasts more than 1 day. Our condo has one of the largest water ‘tangki’ compared to other condos, I was told. BUT then again, it depends on how prudent the residents are with their water usage. Our condo also has a special pump that pumps water from a tank on the basement to the 18th floor where the water ‘tangkis’ are. So if the Syabas water tanker truck driver is kind enough to drive into the basement and drop off water into the water tank, then we will not be affected by the 3-4 days water cut after all. That’s just wishful thinking. We’re quite prepared for the long cut and our water reserve in our own unit can last us for one or perhaps two days. The water is only for bathing, toilet use and for simple washing of utensils. Strictly no heavy cooking for the next few days until water supply is back!

Whatever water tumblers, cookie jars, jugs and containers that we could find in our house were all used to store water.

Tubs and containers in the master bathroom… no toilet washing for a few days until water supply resumes. Can only do dry cleaning of the bathroom. This is pretty hard for the OCD me, who must scrub bathrooms and toilet seats every single day! 🤫 🤭

I asked the mil to cook bigger portions of dishes yesterday so that we could have the same dishes for dinner today.

Braised pork ribs and ‘tau kok lup’ in glass containers are for dinner today.

Fruits are limited to easy to eat fruits. I stocked up on organic Juliet apples and yellow Kiwi. Last night I washed the apples clean and stored them in a plastic container. The girls can eat them for the next few days – no peeling of skin and no cutting are allowed.

I’ve also stocked up on disposable plastic cups. We still have some disposable paper plates left. We’ll be eating with disposables for the next few days. Our dinner for the next two days will be ordered online from restaurants located at places unaffected by the water cut. Praying hard that we will not have to resort to moving out of the condo to our friend’s house located about 30km away or check into a hotel for civilization!

Is your area affected by the 3-4 days water cut? It’s really tough when you have active children who sweat buckets and come home with sweat drenched clothes eh? I dread the thought of their smelly dirty laundry piling up in the house for days!!

No. of times viewed = 48

Creating Fashion Trends

Fashion trends evolve with the times and often move cyclically. Depending on your age, your parents may comment on new clothing and remember times when this clothing received praise from fashionably aware crowds. When browsing the internet or perusing stores for new clothes, the selections available often determine what you wear. Affordability factors in as well, but if you choose standard outlets, you will most likely be following fashion trends as opposed to creating them. Adolescents and young adults are often very impressionable, and this can be used to develop trends of your own.

Owning Your Style
Confident individuals often look good in pretty much anything they choose to wear. When you have an aura about yourself, even older pieces can be augmented somewhat. Streetwear brands, such as Otherlinks, have clothing lines that engage consumers due to unique approaches to fashion. Many people want to purchase this merchandise because of the celebrity attached and the way peers will view these stylish purchases. Individuals that possess unique styles are not rushing to buy the newest clothing each season.

Clothing companies pay personalities to post pictures of themselves while wearing a particular item. While these posts usually garner much attention, try creating fashion trends and make those in tune with fashion step into your world.

No. of times viewed = 23

Not That Ready Yet For The Longest Water Cut Ever!

Since Saturday, I’ve been joining panicky residents at our neighborhood in the rush to snap up pails, water containers, tubs and garbage bins for the insane 3 to 4 days scheduled water cut. In fact, almost every household in the entire Klang Valley is affected by the largest water cut in the state’s history.

On Saturday I went to 99 Speedmart in the hope of getting a few pails but all the pails were sold out. I had no choice but to buy a black garbage bin. On Sunday, I summoned the hubs to get a large round tub from NSK and large bottled mineral water when he went there to stock up on groceries for his catering business. Today he told me that he can’t spare me more than 1 large water container from his shop as he needs them too for storing water for cooking and washing in his kitchen. So I scrambled out to the shops to hunt for more pails. No luck at both the 99 Speedmart outlets at my neighborhood as all the pails, tubs and garbage bins are sold out. Even water dippers are out of stock. Thankfully there were still a few pails left at a Chinese medicine hall but another man who came before me snapped up all the larger pails. I had to settle for a dusty and scratched large pail with lid (last one there) and grabbed another two smaller pails.

My loot of containers:

These containers for water are enough to last us for just ONE day. Thankfully the water tanks at our condo are enough to sustain the residents for 1 or 2 days, depending on usage.

On the second day of the water cut, the water level at our condo water tanks will be measured and if the drop is at a critical level, there will be staggered hours of water cut and flowing taps on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th day.

In the worst case scenario, my contingency plan is to bring the girls to a hotel for some civilization until the water supply returns. Hubs is rubbing his temples now as he’s having full-house functions on the days of the water cut.

Don’t we just hate water cuts? 😭 I wager that everyone affected by this water cut will now treat every drop of water that flows out from our taps with renewed appreciation.

No. of times viewed = 29

Our Fighting Queen

Our drama / dancing / baking queen can now add another feather to her cap – the title of fighting queen! In her first MSSKL inter-school taekwondo competition yesterday, she grabbed the gold medal in the individual Poomsae event (green belt). Her first ever gold medal in an inter-school competition! Not bad at all for someone who took up taekwondo lessons just a year ago.

Oh yes, her team also clinched the gold medal in the 4 x 100m track and field event in her school sports day last Saturday. After spending the entire morning and afternoon in the hot sun in school on Saturday, she went straight to the gym to sit for her taekwondo grading exam (for blue belt). This girl seems to get an adrenaline rush with dancing, fighting and running!

Sherilyn had a one-month hiatus in taekwondo in the middle of last year when we were facing some issues with her former taekwondo master. If it wasn’t for the hiatus, she would have been a blue belter by now, waiting for the red belt. I was undecided if I should let her continue with taekwondo as she was already very busy with her dance classes. But I told myself that I should practise what I preach to the girls – of never giving up in whatever that they are doing just because quitting is the easiest way out.

So I hunted high and low for another taekwondo master. When I found a gym that offers taekwondo classes, I was overjoyed but the fee is five times more than what I was currently paying!! Seeing the passion that Sherilyn had with promises from her that she will persevere until she gets her black belt, I registered her at the gym and even signed her up for kickboxing and Muay Thai classes! Crazy right? I didn’t let the hubs know as I knew that he would flip (coz of the fees!!) but he subsequently found out and obviously wasn’t too happy with my decision. But since I am the one who makes all the decisions pertaining to the the girls, all he could do was to support my decision and sometimes fetch the girls back from the gym at night, though he would sometimes say that learning too many types of martial arts is crazy, useless and waste of his money 🙄 But yesterday he’s the one who said that he’s proud of his middle child!🤩

Well done Sherilyn! Here’s to more taekwondo competitions in the near future but before you sign up for sparring, please take extra care of your legs and get them healed first.

No. of times viewed = 59

Healthy Grub

This week is another NO REST WEEK for me!! I can’t believe it! I just got to know from Alycia that she still has to go to school this Saturday to wrap up a project that she and her team mates are working on though it’s a school off-day this Saturday. Guess who’s going to be the Grab driver? It’s not the hubs as this week is another full-house week for him. And on Sunday, Alycia has to leave the house at 6:30 a.m. for a marathon! For Sunday’s marathon, I am going to tai-chi the driver’s chore to him! I need my sleep!😴

Ok to be fair, these are my responsibilities as a mother. I shouldn’t complain too much. Before I know it, the girls will blow the coop and I will be longing to be their driver again. But I really need that 3-4 extra hours over the weekend to stack some Z’s before a new crazy week starts again. I just need to blow off steam here coz I feel so sleep deprived the past one week. I’ve been waking up with a nagging headache the past two days and feeling really zombified in the morning.

Not getting enough sleep is just as bad as eating junk and it’s impacting my cholesterol level that’s quite high as I have familial hypercholesterolaemia (genetic high cholesterol). Researches have found that sleep loss leads to changes in genes that are responsible for regulating cholesterol levels and sleep deprivation may have a negative impact on cholesterol levels. I’m already not getting enough sleep, so I should eat healthily to prevent my cholesterol level from skyrocketing.

Here’s what I’ve been eating lately..

Breakfast of low-fat sugar-free yoghurt with Brazil nuts, pistachios, organic goji berries, pomelo and seasoned Korean seaweed.

Dinner of blanched organic ferns with peanut sauce from hubby’s kitchen. His Indonesian cook makes the best peanut sauce!

Dinner of organic traditional rolled oats with beef bolognese sauce, while the girls had Penne pasta.

Sunday night dinner of organic red bell pepper with peanut sauce and sauteed assortment of organic shrooms.

Cooked organic rolled oats with low-fat sugar-free yoghurt and fresh pomegranate. Sherilyn made this for breakfast.

As a result of eating clean with an intensified workout session five times a week, all my pants and skirts have been dropping off my waist! 😬

No. of times viewed = 19

Saturday, 13 April 2019

This week is another NO REST week for me. I want to bawl my eyes out. It’s enervating having to wake up when it’s still pitch black outside, knowing that it’s a damn Saturday or Sunday, but instead of under my comfy blanket, I have to force my butt out of bed to do my Grab driver duties. I usually catch up on my beauty sleep on weekends but not this week. I’ve been flipping my calendar to check when the next public holiday is and it’s not until Labour Day on 1st May. Two more weeks to go!

On the bright side, today I managed to convince Cass to continue with her BM tuition. Cass has just started BM tuition three weeks ago and she’s totally not happy that she’s coerced into it. If she has a choice, she would choose zero tuition. We had a very heated argument over this last week and today she’s agreed not to quit tuition. A big thank you to my mum and the tuition center lady boss for talking her out of quitting. It’s not easy dealing with this moody tween these days. She sucks out all the patience and energy from me lately. And I’ve just realized that with this girl, I can no longer use corporal punishment or threats. It used to work but not anymore. I am still experimenting with other styles of parenting and the best is still through a combo of soft parenting and tough love parenting.

Through all the articles that I’ve read on parenting difficult teens lately, I’ve come to understand that my tween and teenage daughters have little control over their bad attitude. They are not manipulating me on purpose or spending all that time in their room scheming about new ways to annoy me. I often ask them if they are all scheming to drive me to a premature death so that they get what’s written in my Will and I tell them that they won’t get a cent! 🤨 In fact, they too are victims — of all sorts of biological and psychological changes over which they have little control. They are going through a roller-coaster of adolescence, and I am on the ride with them.

Gosh, it’s super tough being a parent!! Letting my “baby” grow up is indeed a painful and difficult process.

Why do I see my friends taking it so easy parenting their super well behaved kids? Or is everything through rose tinted glasses on social media?

Do you have difficult tweens and teenage kids at home? How do you deal with these dopamine-frazzled zombies teens?

Beautiful colors of sunrise skyline taken at 7 a.m. today and it’s been another super super hot and humid day today, so bad that I showered five times again today! 😬

No. of times viewed = 16

Fearless Helper To The Rescue

Thank God for a fearless daughter, I needn’t have to go through a Fear Factor moment to remove this life reptile that got glued to a sticky paper on our floor sticky roller!

Yes, that lizard was still alive and writhing. I guess it crawled behind it and got glued on the sticky paper. I didn’t realize it and happily cleaned the floor with the roller until I felt something bumpy and when I took a closer look, Oh. My. Gawd. **SHRIEK**

I quickly jolted my fearless Drama Queen up from her sleep and didn’t care if it wasn’t time for her to get up yet. She just had to remove that lizard that’s still squirming on the sticky paper coz I just couldn’t do anything knowing that it’s still there! Sometimes I wonder where she inherited her fearless DNA from!

No. of times viewed = 37

Advanced Allergy Therapeutics 101: What to Know

For people who suffer from allergies and sensitivities, it may feel like there is no escape from it. With all of the different treatments out there, it’s easy to feel like you have tried everything. If you aren’t familiar with advanced allergy therapeutics, however, then you might end up changing your mind. There are solutions out there, it’s a matter of finding what works for you. Here’s your guide to advanced allergy therapeutics.

What Are Advanced Allergy Therapeutics?

AAT works with the relationship between reactions and the major organ systems. While an allergic reaction stems from the immune system’s reaction, the organ systems determine the symptoms that you have. For example, one allergen might give someone rashes, while another person ends up congested. To find relief from these symptoms is a good reason to buy advanced allergy therapeutics software.

Many people suffer from allergies. In fact, 50 million Americans suffer from allergies and sensitivities. During AAT treatment, the different organ systems involved with a reaction are exposed to gentle pressure. A small amount of the offending subject will be placed on the skin and the stimulation reduces the stress on the organ system.

What Are the Symptoms It Treats?

When it comes to allergies, many different symptoms might occur. In a lot of cases, people mistake their sensitivities for allergies. Fortunately, this treatment can help alleviate the symptoms of both. The types of symptoms it treats are:

Tiredness and fatigue
Headaches and migraines
Dermatological conditions
Respiratory system conditions
Digestive system conditions

Many of these symptoms clear up with the use of AAT. Even if you suffer from certain sensitivities, there are still options for you.

Most Americans suffer from allergies and sensitivities. In some cases, it might be difficult to find treatments that work. For allergy sufferers or those who have sensitivities, advanced allergy therapeutics may be the answer that they have been looking for.

No. of times viewed = 99

Cassandra’s 11th Birthday

Today is my baby girl’s 11th birthday! Time sure flies like mad!!! The day I lay on my gynae’s procedures room to have an amnio procedure carried out when Cass was around 20+ weeks in utero till today seems like just last year though we had gone through hell and beyond in the first 13 months of her life and lots of roller coaster rides the past 11 years.

I often wish that Cass was still a toddler. We all enjoyed Cass thoroughly from the time after her surgeries when she was 14 months old right until she went to primary school. She was the sweetest, most accommodating, cutest little girl that could melt any heart, especially mine, in an instance.

Fast forward to the year she turned 9. With all the raging hormones swimming inside of her, the little angel who would tug at my heartstrings changed into a very challenging tween. Everyday is a battle with her. Every. single. day. On some good days, we could both go to bed without any fight. She would sit by my bedside and give me massages on my hands and legs with her soft gentle hands. We would talk and joke like best friends. We would trade secrets, she would console me, and me console her. But the next day, the battle starts again and from friends, we turn into enemies. We’re just “frenemies”. We both know it.

At the moment I am still battling some issues with Cass. The issues may seem big, yet small, depending on how other people view them. For some carefree parents, these are not major issues. But I’m a helicopter mom and to me, these issues, if not rectified, would balloon up in time to come into something so big and serious that it would be hard to fix. My hubs, the carefree, slap-happy dad and man that he is has always asked me to relax and don’t force the kids to do anything that they don’t like, though what I am forcing them is good for them. We both have different parenting ways.

I shall not dwell into the battles that Cass and I are facing now here. Besides these battles, this year is the year that I will have to bring Cass back to see the nephrologists at HKL. It’s time that the doctors review her medical condition and perhaps do some invasive diagnostic tests. Again, I have to let go on this. I shall talk about this in detail next time. Today’s post is on my baby girl’s birthday!

After a very serious and heated argument between the both of us late last week, I’ve realized something:

1. Every child is different. Cass is different from her sisters and she’s different from her other classmates whom I sometimes wish she could emulate. And it is almost impossible for me to mould her into the person whom I wish her to be.

2. Some children are easier to ‘shape’ while others are harder. Cass happens to fall in the latter group.

3. I have to let go on expectations. If I don’t, both Cass and I will be unhappy. And this will affect Cass and I emotionally, deeply. Our relationship will turn from sour to rotten. And this is already starting to happen. I realized since that fateful night that I have to change / let go so that Cass can change too. What’s important now is for Cass to be happy, to grow up happy and be a mentally and physically healthy child.

Anyway, back to Cass’ birthday today!

Right now, I am contemplating whether to cook spaghetti bolognese (Cass’ favorite dish) or order KFC (another of her favorite unhealthy fast food). This morning, I was given 16 articles to write by my ‘online boss’ and the deadline reads “ASAP”. On one hand, I want only the healthiest and most wholesome meal to go into the stomachs of my babies but on the other hand, I do not have the time to go shopping for the ingredients to cook spaghetti bolognese tonight.

After discussing with the cook of the house, we both unanimously agreed to choose KFC 😅 as KFC is more a kids’ party food.

And after tonight, no more KFC for the next one year. It’s detox time! Just kidding. Probably no KFC for the next 3 months or longer.

Sorry, no pix for today. I’ve to go back to my writing now or I’ll surely stoke the wrath of my online boss. I promised to submit 7 or 8 articles by today and the remaining by tomorrow. And I am only stuck at article #2 now!! 😱

No. of times viewed = 58

Maintaining My Ideal Weight

Now that I’ve managed to shed off for good the 1.5 kg of stubborn fat gained after the birth of my third daughter 11 years ago, I am trying hard to maintain that weight.. which fluctuates between 44 kg – 44.8 kg. Standing at 158cm, my weight had been stagnant at 46+ kg for over 10 years. It’s not easy to maintain my weight at my ideal number and it involves a LOT of hard work and sacrifices. As we age, our metabolic rate slows down. It gets sluggish when we don’t exercise or are sedentary. It’s important to keep ourselves active all day long to keep the metabolic rate going. I’ve recently increased my strength training duration and variety every morning five times a week. I spend 15-20 minutes on strength training and lower abdomen exercises and 30 minutes on brisk walking / jogging. As I keep doing it, I find that my stamina gets better and I burn energy faster throughout the day. I can feel it as I get hungry faster. I am also trying to cut out bread from my diet and this is not easy as bread has been my staple since the beginning of time!

I had a very low carb breakfast yesterday, consisting of pistachios, black skin groundnuts, a quarter of avocado, one hard-boiled egg with organic shoyu and a small handful of Simply Fit 7-cheese crackers from Melaleuca.

I believe anyone can loose weight and stick to their ideal weight. All you need is a little time and dedication for exercise several times a week, a will power to turn your head away from high carb foods, REDUCE your food portion and you’ll see magic on the scale! 💃🏽

No. of times viewed = 69

Tips For Getting Your Children To Eat Healthy

Finding a way to encourage your children to eat healthy foods couldn’t be more important, with more young people than ever before suffering from childhood obesity. We all want our kids to be healthy and happy, so teaching them how to eat the right diet from a young age is vital. Here are some top tips to help you to persuade your little ones to not only eat healthy foods but also to enjoy them.

Don’t Restrict Foods
If you ban certain types of food from your home, this could backfire. Restriction of foods could end up in your child developing an eating disorder later in their life. Instead, talk about nutritious, healthy options and encourage your little ones to choose vegetables and fruits instead of junk food.

Buy Healthy Snacks
Children always want to eat snacks, but they don’t need to be unhealthy ones. Put some fruit in a fruit bowl on your countertop and stock plenty of healthy treats like low fat yogurts, dried fruits and nuts rather than candy bars and cookies. When you child chooses a healthy option, make sure to praise them for making the right choice to reinforce their action.

10 Healthy Snacks for People with Diabetes

Replace Standard Foods With Healthier Options
All kids love to eat fries and potato chips, but you can offer them similar foods but prepared in healthier ways. Oven baked fries are healthier than deep fried ones, and oven baked tortilla chips are a much better choice than standard potato chips. You could even switch to sweet potato or carrot fries and vegetable chips for an even healthier choice.

Eat As A Family
Families who sit down and eat dinner as a family around the table together every night have been shown to have a better diet and are more likely to make healthier food choices later in life. If you don’t already do this in your house, it could be time to start introducing family meals. Prepare just one meal and serve it to everyone. This saves you the hassle of preparing separate food for the kids and adults in the family and introduces little ones to adult foods at an earlier age.

Avoid Buffet-Style Service
If you prepare the family’s plates in your kitchen you can choose how much food to put on each plate. If you offer up the food for self-service, children can simply pile food onto their plates. When they see the amount that you put on there, they can learn how to recognize a healthy portion size. Using small plates can help to make small portions look bigger.

Give Children Control
Children often feel happier about eating foods that they’ve had some hand in choosing or preparing. Let your children work in the kitchen with you while you make meals. Let them handle the fruit and vegetables and chop them up under supervision so they feel as if they have some control over the meals that they eat.

Be Creative
Many children simply hate the idea of vegetables and won’t even taste them to find out whether they like them or not. You might need to get creative, in that case, about how you sneak vegetables into their diet. A vegetable steamer is a great way to prepare vegetables for the whole family since this method of cooking retains all the vitamins and minerals that are good for your health. However, if this fails to work, you can puree vegetables into pasta sauces – your children won’t know they’re eating healthy foods!

Making Changes
When you’re transitioning your child onto a healthier way of eating, the changes will need to be gradual. It isn’t easy to persuade children to try healthy foods rather than sugary or fatty options, however if you start at a young age they are more likely to adopt positive eating habits which will stay with them for life.

No. of times viewed = 38

Returning A Parcel To Lazada – Super Troublesome!

Two weeks ago, the mil asked me to order a board game called Rummikub from Lazada. She had played this board game in Hong Kong and has fallen in love with it. I did a search and found out that Rummikub is available at Lazada but it’s shipped from China. I ordered it anyway as the mil was raving about how fun this board game can get and she looks forward to playing it with her 3 grand daughters.

Fast forward 10 days later. The parcel was delivered to us yesterday. When the mil unboxed it, she found out that the four display panels for the number cubes were mal-manufactured. The two stands for the panel cannot be secured tightly onto the holes and the ledge supposedly for the number cubes is so narrow that I can even blow the cubes off the ledge. The printing of the word ‘Rummikub’ is upside down on the four panels. The mil was so disappointed with the purchase.

So what’s next then?

I spent the entire afternoon yesterday chatting online with Lazada customer service to find out about the procedures for returning the product. Each time I needed to ask a question, I had to wait on queue for at least 15-20 minutes, by which time, I would have gotten busy with work (and forgotten that I was on queue as there’s no notification to prompt me, other than stare at the computer) or not in front of my desktop computer anymore. Thus, I wasted my entire afternoon, just to find out how to send the parcel back to Lazada to get a refund. I am not a noob shopper at Lazada; I’ve been shopping at this online platform for several years now but it’s my first time returning an item to them.

In summary, all I can say is that if you are a first timer trying to send a defective item back to Lazada, it would take you hours to find out. Once you know the steps to follow, it takes some time to get about with it. If you are too busy or have no patience with the procedures, my advice is to discard the item and don’t feel sorry for yourself for being unlucky to have received a defective item.

First, you will need to print a Return Label at the Lazada website. This took me some time to figure out where the link was to have the label printed. Printing the item was a tad tricky too. I tried printing several times in different methods before I figured that I had to download the form, save it on my desktop and print it out. Paper, ink and more time wasted = money wasted.

Second, you will need to box up / wrap up your item and insert the Return Label on the parcel.

Third, from the Lazada website, you will have to choose how to send the item back to them with postage charged back to Lazada. Choosing a ‘Near You’ location (aka Return Hub) was the most convenient for me but as I had no experience on how to get about doing it, I had to call the appointed Lazada courier agent at my neighborhood to ask for instructions.

Fourth, download a NearU app onto your mobile phone. Why the heck the need to download this useless app on my phone?!

Fifth, key in a bar code number that’s printed on the Return Label into the NearU app on your phone. I omitted this step as the Lazada customer service staff wasn’t sure what to do and the agent / Lazada courier agent at my neighborhood (which is a pharmacy) didn’t inform me as well. This caused me two wasted trips to the pharmacy this morning. More money and time wasted! The first time when I went, the pharmacy wasn’t opened yet. The second time when I went, I was told that I had to print out another form, which contains a QR code, and attach it to the parcel! WTF!!

GAWD! Lazada must have made the return procedures super troublesome to deter shoppers from returning defective items to them! That’s not very smart. Coz some impatient shoppers will only switch online shopping platforms!

As of typing this post, I still haven’t gotten around with printing the QR code, that’s sent from my phone to my email.

See the ‘mahfan-ness’?? I hate anything that’s time consuming and troublesome.

Tomorrow, I will have to make a third trip to the pharmacy / Lazada courier agent to drop off the parcel, after which, another email will be sent to me for parcel tracking purpose.

Hopefully the defective item reaches Lazada by next week. I can’t wait to get my refund! Mind you, refund is via crediting of the amount into my Lazada Wallet, which means that I will have to use the money to buy other stuff from Lazada.

Is this going to deter me from shopping online at Lazada? Probably not. I just have to be extra careful and make sure I choose a product from a seller with lots of positive reviews and 5 star ratings.

If you do not have a printer at home, then forget about returning your item to Lazada. It would be too tedious and costly to get the two forms printed just to send an item back to Lazada, unless you can get someone to print for you.

Cheap and thin plastic stands that won’t lodge tightly onto the panel. When the stands are attached to the panel, the panel is almost 90 degrees upright, thus the cubes will fall off with just a cough or sneeze that you make!

There’s no way the number cubes can stand on this panel! Note that the words are printed upside down as the panel has to propped up the other way.

This is how the actual panel should look like.

No. of times viewed = 89