Thursday, 25 October 2012

review: Schkinny Maninny 5 Days Detox

Another randomness galore. This time I am going to review a detox program from Schkinny Maninny.

Because I am a green nazi, I opted for their Green Spring Cleanse program, costed A$310 (A$329.95 including delivery).
Well, they are not kidding when they say green. I have never eaten/drunk so much green in my life in the span of only 5 days.

Their Detox program ranges from 1 day, 3 days, or 5 days. I went full monty, suck it in (a few times every day, literally), and chose the 5 days program.
Every morning, Schkinny Maninny delivered an esky consisting of my whole day & night's meal. After the first day of getting through, I am so glad that I chose Green Spring Cleanse program, rather than their Just Juice program (where you only have juice for all your meals). The GSC gave me salad for dinner, and they were very yummy healthy hearty salad that definitely satisfied after the whole day of liquid juice & vegetable fibres.


Schkinny Maninny Esky containing full day & night meal





GSC program rundown:
Breakfast:
Schkinny Leap Frog Juice
Ingredients: Spinach, Cucumber, Apple, Kiwifruit, Parsley

Brunch:
Schkinny Leap Frog Juice (as above)

Lunch:
Schkinny Water Frog
Ingredients: Spinach, Parsley, Kiwifruit, Watermelon, Orange

Afternoon:
Schkinny Alkaliser
Ingredients: Kiwifruit, Spinach, Parlsey, Cucumber, Lemon, Celery

Dinner:
Daily Salad:
Day 1: Chickpeas, Coriander & Parsley, Onion;
Day 2: Rocket Salad, Walnut, Pear, Cucumber with Avocado dressing;
Day 3: Brown Lentils, Wild Mushroom, Cherry Tomato, Orange pieces;
Day 4: Organic Tempeh (although I'd say this is tofu, not tempeh), Red Cabbage, Grated Carrots, Raw Cashews; with Spicy Soy Sauce dressing;
Day 5: Red Kidney Beans, Cherry Tomato, Green Capsicum, Baby corn. Red Onion, Raw Corn Kernels, Coriander; with Chilli, Lemon Juice & Olive Oil dressing.

Looking at the salad ingredients (and they provide more than enough to fill you up) I definitely got the proteins that I need; however, oh Lord, how I miss munching on anything other than leaves & beans & their derivatives. (*cough*redmeat*cough*)
Schkinny Maninny provides a small tub of bird food mix seeds, for your jaws to not go fully cold turkey on chewing for daytime. I have to say though, they were not enough for me, and I still had a handful of roasted almonds (non salted) and raisins or dried cranberries every day.

That much, I could manage.

A tub of mix seeds and daily support cards


5 days program gives you some extras

I am of an average build & weight and I exercise regularly. My usual eating habit falls in the region of being health-conscious (if I do say so myself) during the weekdays, as I work a desk job and hardly do any strenuous physical activity. On the weekends though, I pig out XD. I love my meat, so the past 5 days have been quite an achievement for me. Not to mention constantly reminding myself that this thing costed me 300 bucks, so I better did it right.

The hards for me:
- Passing Cha Time or Easy Way outlet. NOOO!!! Those bubble teas with rainbow jellies and pearls kept beckoning me hither.
- Juice no 4: Schkinny Alkaliser. One word: Yuck. I never ever once managed to finish the whole bottle. The max I could muster was always half. The other juices were tasty though.
- My blasted colleagues kept bringing biscuits and munchies to be shared around. Why don't they ever do this when I'm not detoxing.
- Day 2 and 3 were the worst for me, though not in any way unbearable. I felt quite lightheaded, lazy and sleepy for those 2 days. No headache or nauseous symptoms as warned by Schkinny Maninny, thank God.
- By late of day 4 and the whole of day 5, I started imagining the seagulls and pigeons flying outside my office as roasted crispy skinned birds smothered in spicy sauce.

The extra perks during the program and by end of day 5:
- Skin clearing up. Yes, not kidding. I had a small breakout on day 2 (not sure if due to the extra almonds I ate or the toxins being flushed out of any pores & crevices), but they quickly cleared up by day 4, and my overall complexion becomes brighter (although I still felt lethargic).
- More than regular bowel movement. Not diarrhea, but you definitely won't have any trouble doing your toilet business when doing this detox.
- Weight Loss. 1 kg in one week.

Will I do this again? Definitely. But for now, I am changing my favorite color to Black. I'm getting a bit sick of greens.

My 1/2heart - in all his wisdom and smartassness - decides that it's time to celebrate my completion of the detox program and has booked a table for two at the chophouse for dinner this Saturday. I will do my best not to go all T-Rex and attack all the meat (you are not supposed to 'celebrate' and go on an eating spree after a detox program. It will do your system more harm than good).

Well, if on next Monday, you look at the newspaper and see a headline of an Asian girl who bite people off during the Sydney Zombie Walk, that is most probably me being completely overwhelmed by my inner carnivore.



Tuesday, 9 October 2012

Kitchen: Durian Pandan Chiffon Cake

I swear this blog is so random... . Haha... . On this occassion, I am going to blog briefly about my latest bake: Durian Pandan Chiffon Cake.

The cake is so light, fluffy, and airy. It is a tad too moist for my liking, due to the Durian puree (I used durian puree, not essence) added to the batter. But the texture is perfect, although the bottom (or top, whichever you see it) is slightly broken because I did not wait for it to cool long enough before removing it from the pan.


Recipe:

Pan size: 25 cm in diameter (top diameter) angel cake tube pan

(A) 

  • 6 egg yolks
  • 50 gr caster sugar (sifted)
(b) 
  • 190 gr cake flour (sifted twice)
  • 2 tea spoon baking powder (sifted twice along with the cake flour)
  • pinch of salt
  • 2 tea spoon pandan paste (I use koepoe koepoe brand)
  • 2 tea spoon vanilla essence (optional, it just makes your cake that extra fragrant)
  • 180 gr durian puree 9 (I bought frozen Thai durian in packages at Asian food store, thaw it, and pureed it using an electric hand blender)

(c)
  • 140 ml combination of: coconut milk + pandan leave extract + milk
  • 90 ml corn oil
I did not have the whole 140ml of coconut milk. Instead I diluted the coconut milk with pandan leave extract & regular milk to make the end cake result less moist/wet. If you like your cake extra moist, do go ahead using 140ml of coconut milk. If you don't have pandan leave extract (I bought it in a can type at an Asian food store), you can dilute it with water. 


(d)

  • 9 egg whites
  • 100 gr caster sugar
  • 1 tea spoon cream of tartar

Method:

  • Pre heat your oven to 170 C. The oven must be well heated before baking.
  • Whisk, using a hand whisk (do not use electric whisk) to mix (a) together. Keep whisking until color is kinda pale. I found this to be around 4-5 minutes. 
  • Add (c) to the above gradually and whisk slowly until all incorporated. I usually add corn oil first, then the coconut milk mix.
  • Add pandan paste & vanilla essence, whisk slowly. Add the sifted cake flour + baking powder, add salt, whisk slowly until all are well mixed and THERE ARE NO VISIBLE LUMPS. Otherwise your cake will have ugly white lumps. The mixture will be thick at this point. Add durian puree to the mixture, whisk until fully incorporated. Set aside while you prepare the egg whites meringue below:
  • Using an electric whisk under low speed setting (I use electric hand whisk, so it is possible even if you don't have the big fancy table top electric whisk), whisk the egg whites until frothy, then add the cream of tartar. This will stabilize your egg whites longer when they reach soft/stiff peak.
Ensure your mixing bowl for the egg whites is free of water, oil, and any traces of egg yolk. To separate eggs easily, I find it easier to separate cold eggs (straight for refrigerator). Cover the mixing bowls containing the egg yolks & egg whites with cling wrap and wait until around 1 hour for the eggs to reach room temperature before you do any whisking to the eggs.
  • Change the whisk setting to high, gradually adding the caster sugar in 3/4 batches every 1 minute or so, continue to beat the egg whites until stiff peak. To reach this state, I found it takes around 4-6 minutes.
  • take 1/3 of the egg whites meringue and fold it into the yolk mixture using a plastic spatula. Do not press on the meringue while incorporating it into the yolk mixture, otherwise you will deflate it. Keep folding until there is no visible white streaks. Add the second 1/3 of the meringue into the mixture (the yolk mixture should be quite smooth now after the 1st meringue), fold until no visible white streaks. Add the last 1/3 meringue, and repeat fold.
  • Pour the batter to the pan. Smooth the top surface with spatula, and give the pan a light bang on your table surface (lift it just a tad bit and drop it. This is to release the trapped air bubble in the batter to avoid hollow tunnels in your cake once it's baked).
  • Pop the pan into the oven, and bake at 170 C for at least 20 minutes. DO NOT open the oven while it's baking. Then lower the temperature to 160 C for the next 35-40 minutes.
  • Once baked, turn the pan upside down straight away. Otherwise, the cake will sink down. I use a bottle of wine and pop it as a stand into the middle hollow tube of the pan. 
  • Let it cool for 2 hours. Smaller pans can get away with 1 hour wait.
  • Using a sharp thin knife, run it along the edges of the pan to loosen up the cake and take it off the pan.


The whole apartment smells of heavenly durian and pandan. Mmmmmm... . So far husband has gone through 1/4 of the pan all by himself. I don't expect long until I need to bake a new batch... . 

Tuesday, 28 August 2012

review: Lotree Rosa Davurica Oil Skin Care Pact & Triple Cake SPF32PA++

My secret to a long lasting make up throughout a busy day:
Primer + good BB Cream + Powder Pact

Powder pact's purpose is to set your foundation/ BB cream and give extra coverage for that matt finish. This is extremely important for my skin type, where my face gets shiny pretty easily.
I have tried a few Korean powder pacts out there: BRTC Sun Pact, Sulwhasoo's I-forget-what-its-name, Hera, to name a few.

Then, I came across Lotree and their Rosa Davurica line, a very pretty looking cosmetic line with rose scented powder pacts.
My first dab on Lotree was a purchase of Rosa Davurica Two Way Cake; which gives adequate coverage and shine control, but then I sorta upgraded to their Triple Cake. And I never looked back.... .... ... until of course, my curiosity got the better of me and I ended up buying their Triple Balance Oil Skin Care Pact. GMarket Shop HERE.

Lotree Rosa Davurica Triple Balance Oil Skin Care Pact

The box looks pretty as usual, there is no difference in outer packaging and the pact case. It is pretty, it is purple :D. The shop always gives some freebies that changes every once in a while. On this occasion, I received an eyebrow pencil, mascara, and some face lotion.
However, to a bit of my disappointment, I canNOT use this Oil Pact as a substitute to the Triple Cake Pact.

Lotree Rosa Davurica Triple Cake. Received freebies: face lotion & primer, and pink eyeshadow.

Lotree Rosa Davurica Triple Cake with SPF32PA++. GMarket Shop HERE

The Oil Pact does not set into the skin like the Triple Cake Pact does. It provides decent coverage (as good as Triple Cake Pact), but in a few hours, it kind of melt off your face. Not a pretty look where your face looks blotchy.
What I found out though, it provides REALLY good shine control if used after the Triple Cake Pact. It easily add a few hours of shine control compared to using the Triple Cake alone.

However, I don't really use the sponge applicator that comes with the Oil Pact. Instead, I just use my big kabuki brush to lightly cover my face with the powder. Works a charm, and looks very natural.

On a side note, if you just want adequate coverage, go for the Triple Cake. It has SPF32 and it holds pretty well on its own.

The Triple Cake Pact though, apart from its usual purple applicator, also comes with a white sponge applicator that is of the usual kind you use to apply liquid foundations. I tried using the Triple Cake Pact wet, but I still much prefer it as a setting powder.

Boxes' comparison. Bottom shows Triple Cake box with the white sponge applicator



Wednesday, 22 August 2012

NomNom: Dan's House, Sydney CBD

*Update March 2014

We went to Dan's again last weekend, and noticed that this place is now under different owner/management? The menu is now under 'New Shanghai something or rather (couldn't recall the full name)'. We went there especially for the duck, however there is no duck on the new glossy menu. We asked the waitress, and she simply said the duck chef is not in.

What!

We did end up ordering some new dishes from the menu, but all of them are forgettable, bland, and definitely not worth the price.

Not going to go back again.

*update over

Went to a relatively new tacky trendy Chinese restaurant in Sydney, Dan's House over the weekend to try their acclaimed Peking Duck. After all, it has been more than 6 months since we gorged ourselves to Peking Duck and Goose feast (during our holiday in Hong Kong last December), and it was time to put more duck in us.

Dan's House is located in George Street, Sydney CBD, hardly a block away from World Square. You have to board the lift to reach the dining area (the upper floor is for VIP/private function, and the bottom floor is for regular dining).
Enetring the premise, I could see that Dan's House tries so hard to present themselves as funky and trendy restaurant, but woe is me, I am not a fan of the much blingness and all the gold details.


Interior of Dan's House dining area

But nevertheless, it's all about the food right?

Deep Fried Tofu with Thousand Year Eggs

Deep Fried Tofu with Thousand Year Eggs: This tofu dish is a bit similar - appearance and texture wise - to the one served at Chef's Gallery's (egg tofu). No complain with the taste, but the thousand year eggs - contained in bits and pieces in the tofu mix - does not really add weight or taste to the dish. It is quite light and enjoyable for an entree though.

Green Tea Noodle with Duck Meat

Green Tea Noodle with Duck Meat: Again, texture and consistency of the noodle itself is nice. (Well, for the price, I expect it to be nice!), however the taste overall is quite bland.

Duck Soup


Peking Duck - half

We ordered their house specialty - Peking Duck. Since there were only the two of us, we ordered half of the duck, which costed around A$39. Luckily, the portion is generous, as the way they present it is similar to Hong Kong/ China - where the cuts actually include the skin and the meat (in some chinese restaurants, they only serve the skin to be eaten with the pancake roll, where the meat was taken away to be made into sang choy bow or noodle dish).
This dish came with duck soup, which was hearty and thick, and nice to have in winter. The duck is juicy and the skin is crispy with only a thin layer of fats underneath. With this set, they also provide the standard pancake rolls (nothing to shout about), thinly sliced cucumbers & spring onions, and their peking duck sauce.

It is a very nice dish, if you are not thinking about the bill that would come afterwards.


Dan's House
710 George Street, Haymarket, NSW 2000





Wednesday, 25 July 2012

It's that time of the year again...

... when I need to put my cooking hat on and creativity level to the max. Erm, maybe not to the max, since I cheated on presentation aspect by purchasing some uberly cute disposable lunch containers for my project.

Anyways, what kind of project? It's my 1/2heart's birthday. Let's just say he's 30 something year old man who still look and *sometimes* act like a kid (well, who would blame him. I do too). I did not feel like baking cakes, so I made him a lunch bento box instead.

And wow, what would I do without GMarket where I could find all these incredible shops selling awesomely cutesy bento box' peripherals.

All disposable containers, stickers, and utensils bought from the following shops: One, Two, and Three