All Good Things Issue 19
Member Section + How To Lower BP naturally + Chinese Salt Pepper Chips + Coconut Margaritas
Good Morning Lovely People!
Remember a few weeks ago when I said I was working on a way to give you all access to all past newsletters?? I was slowly moving and formatting the newsletters to Substack, where they shall stay (hopefully forever!). You can now access the entire archive of “All Good Things” newsletters and “Meal Prep/ Cooking - Get Your Food On Series” in one place. Existing subscribers (like you!) are already on this new system, so all you have to do is login/access or just click on the links. You will all still receive the newsletters straight to your inbox.
As you all know, I have been spending a lot of time creating all the beautiful content for the newsletters every week (free of course!). And a lot of you wanted to know how you could support my writing and my work. I now have a Members Section that you can subscribe to for a mere US$5 monthly/ US$50 annually and in return, you will get access to very exciting delicious content!
After a lot of thought and back and forth, I have decided to offer recipes I was saving for my next cookbook via the Members Section every week.
What Does Free Subscription Give You?
Weekly Cooking Newsletters
What Does Paid Subscription Give You?
Exclusive Member Recipes (Recipe Archive)
Veg Box Inspiration & Meal Prep Sessions
Full Access To Ongoing Recipe Archive.
What Kind Of Exclusive Recipes?
Recipes inspired by my visits to amazing cafes, bakeries and market stalls. Mostly Vegetarian with occasional Poultry & Seafood - think flavour packed loaded salads, amazing savoury/sweet baked things, inventive curries and noodles, insanely delicious brunches and dinners, new cooking techniques to make the most of pantry ingredients and exciting ways to get more vegetables on your plate!
Thank you for considering and always supporting my work. You guys are amazing and I look forward to learning, sharing, getting inspired and becoming better cooks with you!!
Sneh x
I bought a rower two weeks ago! It has been the highlight of my lockdown days. And I want to tell you a little bit about it. A post by Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond back in June really resonated with me. A few years ago I had a shoulder injury from constantly crouching to get the right shots, lifting heavy boards for styling and carrying a heavy camera with a heavier lens in my hand all day long (It led to a rib sprain that felt like a heart attack and an eventual partial collapse of my left hip and chronic bursitis of the shoulder). I had to give up exercising and running. And after months of visiting a chiropractor, I was getting nowhere. So I basically changed the way I worked (always used a stool to stand on when cooking/chopping because I am barely 5 ft tall, stopped lifting heavy boards and working on laptops, switched to a big MAC that I could look up at and not down). But for years, I needed a shoulder and neck rub at night because these parts would swell and get sore with work.
Enter the Concept2 RowErg (I did 2 months of extensive research and compared countless brands and models before deciding to buy this and I am SO GLAD I did!). I got it about 2 weeks ago and started rowing 5 minutes a day for the first week (as advised) and then quickly moved up to 22 minutes a day in my second week.
And you know what?
I haven’t needed a neck/shoulder massage or oiling in those 2 weeks. It’s like I have new body parts. My shoulders feel strong, really strong. I have been shooting a lot these past two weeks and I have not felt sore even once. I haven’t lifted heavy boards and I am not going to push it but I think I have become best friends with my Rower and I wanted to share this experience with anyone who has had shoulder injuries or works long hours lifting/ crouching that makes the upper body sore.
Also a quick update on the high blood pressure. After discovering that my pressure was unusually high three weeks after getting my second vaccine jab, I decided to monitor it every day (If you don’t already have a BP monitor, I highly recommend getting one. High BP has NO SYMPTOMS! Hence, it’s called the silent killer. It’s a good practice to keep an eye on it) Having never had high blood pressure all my life, I chalked it up to either the vaccine or just accumulated stress and trauma from the past 3 years of Nick falling sick. I am so happy and relieved to share that in 4 months my pressure has gone from being 145/90-95 to now consistently being 110/78-82. And these are some of the things I religiously did to bring it down naturally!
Walked 10k steps every day with a fast 3km/30-minute walk included during weekdays and 5km/50-minute walk at the weekends.
Had two of these sustainably sourced/heavy-metal free fish oil tablets every day.
Increased magnesium intake with this supplement. This magnesium supplement is fabulous too.
Had Garlic Oil and Turmeric & Black pepper natural supplements every day.
Drank a lot of hibiscus tea (this helps bring down diastolic pressure).
Practiced deep diaphragmatic breathing to reduce stress.
Amplified my daily movement consciously. Just started moving a lot by incorporating the Pomodoro technique of 25-minute work blocks followed by 10-15 minutes of movement (watering the gardens, 5-minute spot jogs, 5-minute stretching or floor exercises, a quick 10-minute return walk to the Post box to post copies of my book, knee-raises while I waited for the oven to finish pre-heating etc..) The key is to get your heart pumping often throughout the day through movement so the arteries stay elastic and lucid and wide.
While I was getting the hub ready, I took a break from non-food photography. But I still managed to catch the mulberry-thief in action! Yes, the dreaded Asian Koel is back and has been keeping us up at all ungodly early morning hours by sitting on a branch just outside our bedroom window and calling out to its mate (FOR HOURS!!). The black male Koel also loves eating our mulberries. And when I was working/shooting one day, I saw the female Koel come and sit on a tree. So I cooed loudly like the male Koel and she went nuts, chirping back loudly. It was weird but cool at the same time!
The mulberries are just absolutely gorgeous and seem to be literally multiplying into hundreds overnight. My weedy garden is also lush with nasturtiums and I am loving snacking on the yellow peppery spicy and sweet flowers (they are very good for your eyes as they have the highest amount of lutein from amongst the 600 natural sources out there!)
CHINESE SALT & PEPPER CHIPS
A Vegan version of the famous Salt And Pepper Squid, this Chinese Salt And Pepper Chips made from potatoes is super crispy and absolutely delicious! Buttery, creamy potatoes coated in cornflour and wok-fried until very crispy and tossed in fragrant garlic and pepper spice mix. YUM!
What Makes Chinese Salt And Pepper Chips So Special?
Kipfler Potatoes – Also known as Fingerling Potatoes are small, thin, knobbly potatoes with a thin skin and low starch content. They are buttery and creamy when cooked, making them the ideal potato choice for this dish that mimics Salt & Pepper Squid.
Sichuan Pepper – Sichuan Pepper is also known as Szechuan Pepper or Chinese pepper. It is a beautiful pepper with lemon tones that produces a numbing, tingling sensation on the tongue when eaten. Not necessarily hot, it has a complex flavour that is known to create a numb spiciness.
Spice Mix – Crushed Sichuan pepper, white pepper, Chinese 5-spice powder and sea salt flakes create a very special spice mix that is synonymous with Salt And Pepper Squid or Tofu. I like to add whole Sichuan peppercorns to my mortar pestle along with the white pepper, Chinese 5-spice powder and sea salt flakes to grind and create a coarse, fragrant spice mix.
Dusting The Potatoes With Cornflour
One of the key aspects of crispy wok-fried dishes is the dry dusting of the main ingredient with cornflour (see pictures for reference). I must warn you that …
CLASSIC GREEK SALAD
Everyone must have a classic salad recipe that they can whip up in mere minutes. A fresh salad with loads of crunch and a palate-cleansing tart flavour. A Classic Greek Salad is that salad! Perfect in its construction of everyday salad veggies mixed with fridge staples like olives and feta cheese. A solid recipe to have on hand when you want to boost your meal with extra veggies in a matter of minutes.
A Perfect Picnic Salad
I might be partial to this delicious salad when it comes to taking the mantle of the perfect picnic and potluck salad, but my Classic Greek Salad might be winning the race. A simpler version of the aforementioned Antipasto Couscous Salad, my Greek Salad is so easy that even the kids (very little ones too!) enjoy making it ….
On My Cooking List This Week
A great picnic Potato Asiago & Caramelized Onion Galette
Hetty’s Chilli Crisp With Oats
Spanish Almond Tart With Blood Orange
Australian distillery Four Pillars Gin has just revealed their Christmas Gin for 2021 featuring a stunning label created by Cairns-based artist Andrea Huelin. With hints of cinnamon, Muscat and plum pudding notes, I buy their limited edition Christmas gin every year and it is absolutely delicious!
Jimmy Rees is back again at his hilarious best with this clip on Social Media People.
Inspired to garden this Spring? Have a look at my friend Fiona’s Driveway Veggie Patch where she converted a narrow concrete driveway on the side of her house into a thriving veggie patch. Very inspiring!
Also check out Garden With Connie (from Melbourne Based Connie & Luna) and Urban Veggie Patch from Coastal, NSW that follow the mantra that anyone can grow their own food!
We are almost towards the end of watching Only Murders In The Building and the show has grown on me. Immensely! It is quite brilliant actually, right from the oddball casting of comedy veterans Steve Martin and Martin Short with the uber young, sassy and mouthy Selena Gomez. It is a rich visual feast, an amalgamation of the old and new, a Hardy Boys-style murder-mystery being investigated via a more modern concept, a true-crime podcast. Steve Martin and Martin Short (true boomers!) trying to navigate the constantly changing young-people trends and lingo absolutely crack me up!
Also started watching the new season of YOU. A huge fan of the cult-hit novels, I feel the show is even better with a brilliant casting of Penn Badgley as the well-read, eloquent, empathetic serial killer Joe Goldberg.
It is amazing how we need to be reminded of small things to do for our physical and mental health. There aren't hard to do, but because we are bogged down by so much stuff (both tangible and conceptual) that we often forget to do them. When I find a piece of information that is profound and valuable, I file it in one place so I can access it whenever I need to. I also have a daily Manifesto, a mantra that I repeat to myself. It could be as simple as remembering to drink water throughout the day or to have a hot shower. But by telling myself that and being mindful of it, I remember to do it and it becomes a slow, steady, daily habit. This in turn has started making really positive changes in my physical and mental health.
Food For Thought »
" Laughter can stimulate and increase the immune-boosting response of your body in addition to increasing and improving blood flow by 20%. A good hearty laugh causes the inner lining of your blood vessels to dilate by releasing nitric oxide, a chemical compound that helps reduce inflammation and prevent plaque from forming in your arteries. In fact, laughing may be just as effective at reducing inflammation as engaging in aerobic exercise or taking cholesterol-lowering drugs. Laughing often and regularly is great for your heart and essential for keeping your stress levels down by releasing endorphins and reducing blood pressure.
(my family ends the day by watching 20-40 minutes of comedy sitcoms/reruns every night. Religiously! There is nothing better than hanging out together, laughing and chatting just before going to bed. Some of our faves are Friends, Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, How I Met Your Mother, Ted Lasso, Superstore, Frasier, Schitt’s Creek)
COCONUT MARGARITA / Serves 1
60ml (2oz) tequila
15ml (0.5oz) triple sec
15ml (0.5oz) Malibu rum
15ml (0.5oz) lime juice
60ml (2 oz) canned light coconut milk
lime wedge, lime zest - to serve
salt to rim
**
Add tequila, triple sec, rum, lime juice and coconut milk and half a cup of ice to a cocktail shaker. Shake vigorously for a few seconds.
Run a lime wedge around the rim of a small 250ml tumbler. Press the rim in a shallow bowl of salt. Fill the tumbler carefully with half a cup of ice. Strain the cocktail over the ice in the tumbler.
Garnish with a lime wedge and top with grated lime zest.
Enjoy!
**
notes - If you like your margaritas a tad sweeter, add 1/2-1 teaspoon maple syrup.
I have limited copies of my cookbook Tasty Express - a labour of love filled with over 100 of our family's most tried and tested and exciting 30-minute recipes inspired by street foods of the world. Mostly Vegetarian recipes that go from breakfast to quick dinners in a heartbeat. They make great gifts for you or a friend!
