Wise words Khalid, and also lovely quote thanks so much Straw.

Is it possible for us to stop attaching importance to our 'self'? When entering this realm of thought words become so clumsy...unless your'e a poet like Rumi.

You are blessed with such a nickname Khalid!

Jess: In my humble view, stopping to attach importance to our "self" is one of the most difficult things that a human being can attempt to do. Rumi was a Sufi and Sufism lays lot of emphasis on this particular aspect.

I agree Khalid... if not the most difficult thing we can attempt to do...

and yes, I also agree with you that when done to make one feel as if we are "better" (as in ego-wise), it is futile.

Just thought about this and maybe it is something we can't 'do' 'out of our own will'? Maybe only by Grace we can release our ideas about 'self'?

After too many hours sitting and working behind my computer my back is feeling it.

I found these yoga postures to help, hopefully I don't do it wrong and hurt myself, being quite clumsy...

http://www.livestrong.com/slideshow/1011155-yoga-moves-back/#slide=3

That looked scary !! I won't even try those yoga. Jess, what helped with my sore back was a rowing-machine .. if you can get a cheap used one. Walking and gardening helps with back, since I always bend down to pick branches & pull weeds. Below is the rowing machine that I tested at the store (really quiet & can listen to music), but my sister got a used one for less than $100.

http://www.amazon.com/LifeSpan-RW1000-Indoor-Rowing-Machine/dp/B000FGXKJW

I'm so glad I mentioned this, I would have hurt my back even more trying these...thank you Straw...now to search for a cheap rowing machine...and where to put it ...my little cabin home is really tiny...whenever I ordered something from out of SA, the shipping costs exceeded the asking price, so it will have to be sourced in SA...

Jess wrote: "Maybe only by Grace we can release our ideas about 'self'?".

I very firmly believe in what you have written above. That is why praying is so important. It's is only through God's blessings that we can release ideas about "self".

That brings me to the importance of prayers. They are extremely important in my view. We must pray for forgiveness, pray for our friends, relatives, country, all human beings and anyone else that comes to our mind. After all it doesn't cost us anything.

I was reading an old incident somewhere (may be it is from Bible or some other ancient scripture, not sure). It read that once a man went to Prophet Moses and requested him that O Moses, since you directly talk to God, request God to give me a son or daughter as I don't have any. Moses prayed to God but was told that there is no child in the destiny of this man. Moses informed the man of the bad news and the man, very sadly, went away. After few years Moses saw the same man with a small child. On asking he told Moses that it was his child. Moses went back and talked to God that you told me it's not in the destiny of that man to have a child.... how come he has one? God asked Moses to bring human flesh and than he will be answered his question.

Moses went out and asked people for human flesh but obviously nobody was willing to give his / her flesh. At last he saw a man in the jungle who was reputed to be a great believer in God. Moses asked him that God has asked for human flesh....will you give yours? The man just confirmed.... has God asked for it? Moses said yes. The man, without asking any further details, took out a knife, cut a piece of flesh from his thigh and gave it to Moses.

Surprised on the courage of the man, Moses went back and told God that he has brought human flesh. God told Moses that there is only one man in this world who could give his own flesh when I desire so. And now the answer to your question, God told Moses. I had destined that man not to have any children. But he went to this man (who gave his own flesh) and requested him to pray. How could I turn down the prayers of this man.... so I changed the destiny of this man and gave him a child.

If the incident written above is true than our destiny is nothing but the will of God. And that God can change our destiny if the prayers are sincere and strong....

I am not sure about the authenticity of the above incident but it really impressed me and I thought I should share it with you all. Please remember me in your prayers.... I value it a lot.

This really touched me deeply, thank you Khalid...it makes me realize how important prayers are, more than ever.... You and Straw, Samuel and Carol, everyone we meet in this forum, all are in my prayers...we need each other's prayers so much in this age of chaos and bewilderment...this forum is a place where there is sanity and respect for each other..I am so grateful for all of you being there. May God keep all of you in His hands.

Just wanted to share my experience of rose tea during the past few months.

1. Flavour and taste of every rose is different. I have found Gruss an Teplitz the best so far (out of around 10 roses tried so far) and Sharifa Asma is next.
2. Adding a bit of cinnamon adds to the flavour. Lemon and mint is also good and gives it a changed flavour. I will keep experimenting to find new flavours. Put the petals when water is boiling. Cinnamon may be added earlier. After putting the petals, do not boil for then one minute otherwise the tea will become a little bitter and flavour will be lost.
3. Very good for digestion and stomach. Works better than medicine.
4. Very good anti-depressant. One feels relieved and happy.
5. Used rose petals go back to the compost bin.

Khalid: fabulous recipe. THANK YOU. Sounds yummy, I ask myself, "why do I abuse my body with sugary juice?" Saw a slide-show of how 20 fat people became thin-fitness-trainers. Some tips from them: 1) weight-loss is a life-style change, rather than a diet 2) cut down on starch and sugar 3) Reward yourself for each improvement

I GOT TO ADOPT your habit of making rose-petal-tea, when my roses start blooming. Agree with you on Gruss and Sharifa .. their scents are so yummy.

http://nypost.com/2016/03/23/forget-calorie-counting-this-is-the-real-secret-to-weight-loss/

In his new book, “The Obesity Code: Unlocking the Secrets of Weight Loss,” Dr. Jason Fung, a Toronto-based nephrologist, lays out a radical new approach to diet. One of Fung’s most important recommendations involves fasting.

"He instructs patients to skip eating for two non-consecutive 24-hour periods in a week, drinking only water, green tea, coffee and broth during those fast days.

Depriving the body of food for an extended period causes it to burn fat more efficiently, he says.

“Instead of searching for some exotic, never-seen-before diet miracle … let’s instead focus on a tried-and-true healing tradition,” writes Fung, who is chief of medicine at a Canadian hospital and a diabetes expert with a yearlong waitlist.

When we eat regularly, he says, our digestive system breaks down the food, glucose is released into the bloodstream, and the glucose is used for fuel.

Some six to 24 hours after not eating anything, however, we begin burning the excess glucose, called glycogen, stored in the liver. Once that’s gone, fat gets burned. We assume that dropping a dress size is about decreasing the amount eaten in a day, but according to Fung, that’s not the answer. If you decrease what you eat by, say, 200 calories a day, your body will compensate by burning 200 fewer calories. "

From Straw: The above is so true !! Fasting is an ancient tradition, dating back to the Old Testament of the Bible. When I was sick with flu-shot reaction, I lost 9 lbs. in 1-month, just by fasting .. I was always thirsty, so I drank lots of lemon-juice (no sugar) or chicken-broth-soup, and I spent most of my time sleeping, and rarely ate.

Straw: I am sure you would love it. Sometimes I do mix some organic honey of dwarf stingless honey bees in to it that is grown on a local tree called Beri in Urdu and Jujube in English (Ziziphus jujuba). It makes the tea very tasty.

Honey of Dwarf honey bees (Trigona iridipennis) extracted directly from the hives on a Beri (Jujube) tree is a famous medicinal honey used in traditional medicine since ages. Hard to get nowadays because it has to be extracted from the hive directly (of dwarf stingless bees only, not large size honey bees from genus Apis). But I have sources in villages who get it direct from Beri tree. It's expensive but it's worth it. And it is much less sweet than the normal commercial honey of large bees and also the honey that comes to us from USA and Australia.

I always feel much better and healthier when I use Jujube honey of dwarf bees. Oh... time for a cup of rose tea..

best regards

Above pic. is my healthy lunch of RAW salad green, using the Cobb-salad dressing recipe way up the thread. My kid's 2nd-grade teacher was a slim & happy woman in her late 50's .. she has a can sardine everyday for lunch. Tabasco is our brand of hot-red-pepper.

I tried the salad-dressing with RAW garlic added, too strong for my taste. My vote for THE BEST SALAD DRESSING is what Mom made for us 9 girls (we were all under 100 lbs.), and it's the MOST POPULAR on Pinterest, I like onion in my salad-dressing way-better than garlic.

TBS stand for normal spoon, and tsp stand for tiny spoon.

2 TBS sugar & 1/2 tsp salt & 1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper & 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar & sliced red onion & 2 TBS canola oil or mild olive oil & 1 head iceberg lettuce.

Khalid: very interesting info. on Dwarf honey bees ... agree with you that honey is better than sugar. Buckwheat honey is known to be better than cough-medicine. and Manuka honey (from Manuka bush in Australia) has this "penicillin smell" to it, pretty nasty, but it kills bacteria. Manuka honey IS VERY expensive.

When I was sick with flu-shot reaction, I used dark-buckwheat-honey daily for my cough .. didn't gain any weight .. it's a very satisfying sweet-treat.

Found this Honey Garlic Slow-cooker chicken recipe, with 155+ like on Pinterest. 8 chicken thighs, 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup ketchup (sweetened tomato), 1/3 cup honey, 3 minced cloves garlic, basil. Put chicken in slow-cooker, pour sauce on top. Cook on low heat for 4 hours, or high heat for 2 hours.

A Dutch-oven-saucepan can be used instead of slow-cooker. Take the chicken out and thicken the sauce with 2 Tablespoon of cornstarch (pre-mixed in a bit of cold water into a paste 1st). People also add ginger, sesame oil, or pineapple chunks.

Also a bouquet of roses from last summer to remind myself to eat more RAW produce with variety of colors. Deep red is Stephen Big Purple, pinks are Sonia Rykiel, yellow is Crown Princess Mag, and white is Bolero.

Straw wrote:"Found this Honey Garlic Slow-cooker chicken recipe, with 155+ like on Pinterest. 4 chicken thighs, 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup ketchup (sweetened tomato), 1/3 cup honey, 3 minced cloves garlic, basil. Put chicken in slow-cooker, pour sauce on top. Cook on low heat for 6 hours, or high heat for 3 hours."

That's an interesting recipe Straw. On my personal taste I would take out tomato ketchup completely (I don't eat anything cooked in tomato ketchup), would reduce the amount of honey to two tea spoons and increase the amount of garlic. Would add a bit of red chilies (half tea spoon, can't live without them), couple of chunks of cinnamon and and tea spoon of turmeric to it. Slow cooking is a great idea and I always prefer that but isn't 6 hours too much?? In 6 hours slow heat cooking will dissolve the meat almost, certainly separating it from bones. Is this how it is supposed to be... I mean meat separated from bones and becoming a part of gravy? Would try it definitely. Thanks for the idea.... actually I must try it ASAP (hope wife gets convinced on cooking this... otherwise will have to do it myself. Would love to cook though.... but on a weekend).

Everyone should have Sonia Rykiel, stronger fragrance than Gruss and Sharifa combined. Even Sonia Rykiel's leaves smell like raspberry-rose. It's the pink bloom below. Dark red is Barcelona. Raspberry purple is Wise Portia. Pic. taken last September 2015.

Stronger fragrance than Gruss and Sharifa combined........ oh wow. I will have to get Sonia Rykiel now.... but it's not available here. Will have to get it from UK or Germany

Even the fall leaves have different colors, mean different nutrients. Some leaves in the fall were orange, to deep red, to purplish. See below the leaves which I got last fall, at least 30 wheel-barrow-full. We are healthier if we embrace nature & fruits/veggies with different colors, rather than white-flour, white-rice, white-sugar, and white-potato.

We got 1" snow. It will be another week before temperatures above freezing at night.

I like the picture of the leaf color. It's amazing how they will turn into soil soon. My tomatoes are a foot tall. It's so nice to see Khalid and Straw here . I like the chicken recipe. Sardines every day? Wow. That is sustainable. I hope Jess is OK. I had Long Island Blue fish for dinner . I am riding my bike everyday. I got some weeding and pruning done. Roses are waking up slow. Still another month till the soil warms up.

Sam

Hi Sam: So encouraging to hear your biking everyday, yes, we have fluffy snow here .. so pretty. Husband trashed his old treadmill to make room for the new one, except we had to cancel the purchase (too big to go through the basement), now we are without a treadmill, but I use the other machines we have: Nordic Track (got for $25 from garage sale), and the elliptical machine .. still miss our old treadmill, noisy but worked well.

Straw and Khalid and Jess I miss you.

I am avoiding going on the roses forum temporary.. I will post more in a month or so.

Soon I will have some nice pictures.

We will wait... Sam. All the best

Straw: hmmm.... just saw the pics of Tobasco sauce. Do you use Tabasco sauce regularly? That means you do have a taste for red chilies. I use it regularly when I am traveling in such places where spicy food is not available.

Khalid: You are right about too-long cooking time on the recipe, I read the comments (by those who tried that recipe), they recommended REDUCING the cooking time. Folks also recommended REDUCING THE SOYSAUCE TO MAKE IT LESS SALTY. The slow-cooker heat is VERY-LOW, but 2 hours is enough to make chicken tender.

I like your suggestion: " Would add a bit of red chilies (half tea spoon, can't live without them), couple of chunks of cinnamon and and tea spoon of turmeric to it." That's the SAME spices in the Moroccan spices that I used, and it was REALLY GOOD on chicken. Here's another recipe using molasses, but one can use DARK-honey or Maple-syrup:

Sticky-chicken with molasses :

Grate 3 T. ginger, minced 2 T. garlic, set aside. Mix in a bowl: 2 T. molasses, 2 teas. turmeric, 1/2 teaspoon Chinese 5-spice powder, a dash of salt, 2 T. soy sauce, 2 star anise, 2 T. rice-vinegar.

Trim fat off, but leave skin on 8 chicken thighs, make a slash along the bone to cook faster. Put skin down, cover, medium heat. Fry for 15 minutes in 2 T oil , turn over, fry for 5 minutes. Take cover off. Put minced garlic and ginger, fry until fragrant. Pour sauce, mix until thickens, about 5 minutes. Take star-anise out before serving with rice.

Khalid: I like your substitution of red-chili for ketchup: "8 chicken thighs, 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup ketchup (sweetened tomato), 1/3 cup honey, 3 minced cloves garlic, basil. "

The ketchup in the above recipe is more appropriate for grilling. A friend marinaded his chicken thighs in the above recipe, but he put butter, plus Worcestershire sauce, then grilled the chicken ... and it was REALLY GOOD. The butter and Worcestershire sauce gave it flavor for grilling over hot charcoal.

Ever notice that grilled chicken-thighs are bloody near the bone? One trick is to cut a deep slash along the bone BEFORE COOKING, so it cooks better.

Straw wrote:" Sticky-chicken with molasses :

Grate 3 T. ginger, minced 2 T. garlic, set aside. Mix in a bowl: 2 T. molasses, 2 teas. turmeric, 1/2 teaspoon Chinese 5-spice powder, a dash of salt, 2 T. soy sauce, 2 star anise.

Trim fat off, but leave skin on 8 chicken thighs, make a slash along the bone to cook faster. Put skin down, cover, medium heat. Fry for 15 minutes in 2 T oil , turn over, fry for 5 minutes. Take cover off. Put minced garlic and ginger, fry until fragrant. Pour sauce, mix until thickens, about 5 minutes. Take star-anise out before serving with rice."

That looks to be another nice recipe. I would like to try this too. But again, entirely on the basis of personal taste preference, I would like to take out molasses. It wont' be sticky anymore but I think it will be good. What is Chinese 5 spice powder?

About slow cooking....

I do it very often with the game meat. You know game meat is much harder than the meat of domesticated animals / birds. I steam roast wild ducks and other water fowl and it takes me about 1.5 hours of slow cooking and the hard meat of game birds is cooked very tender.... but that is in the pressure cooker. With meat of poultry chicken, it shouldn't take long.

The heat is kept to the minimum and enough liquid is kept to ensure that it doesn't dry out. I usually keep a layer of onions and potatoes at the base and place the marinated meat over it. This way the meat doesn't stick with the bottom of the cooker and the spices in the marination go down into the onion / potato layer, giving them the same falvour as the meat and the marination. Slow heat produces steam which stays inside the pressure cooker. Once enough pressure is built, the lid allows just the right amount of steam to escape. You can try this style of cooking with so many other types of meat and even veges. With veges time is much less.

One more principle that I follow in cooking..... use of too many different types of spices and ingredients make it difficult to acquire a good flavour and taste at the end. Lesser the better. So I use few spices and few ingredients. Quality of ingredients and cooking time / style makes lot of difference in the final product in my view.

Khalid: Thanks for the great tip of onions & potato at the bottom, and meat on top. One can skip the Chinese-5-spice powder and use cinnamon and fennel. Chinese-5-spice powder is composed of Star anise Cloves Cinnamon pepper Fennel seeds.

I forgot to put an acid, like rice-vinegar to balance out the molasses (or honey) in the sticky-chicken. What makes chicken taste good is "sweet & sour" element, so an acid like Ketchup is balanced with honey, or an acid like rice-vinegar is balanced with sweet molasses (or dark honey).

The combo of ginger & turmeric & garlic & star anise is enough to make the dish fragrant, without Chinese-5-spice powder. I notice in Indian food, the acid-element is often lemon-juice or yogurt, while American food, the acid is ketchup or tomato. Sweet & sour is what make meat tasty, and the spices in "sticky-chicken" really make the whole house fragrant. Star-anise is what made that dish special, and star-anise is used in the famous Vietnamese beef-noodle soup, or pho. Google "Vietnamese Pho" and you'll see recipe like below. The soup actually was better when I made it with fewer spices, just star-anise, onion, ginger, and fresh cilantro. The below soup can be made "vegetarian" or with chicken, it's the spices-combo that's special:

Vietnamese Pho - 2 lbs beef marrow bones, 2 ½ lbs beef brisket, 1 piece of ginger, 2 yellow onion, 4 whole star anise, 3 whole cloves, 1 cinnamon stick, 1 Tbs. coriander seeds, 1 tea whole back peppercorns, 3 quarts water, 2 teas sugar, 2 teas salt & black pepper. Boil bones for 15 minutes. Place in pre-heat slow cooker. Broil onion & ginger ... Toast spices 1st .. put all in BIG mesh-ball. Slow-cook for 4 hours. Put rare steak on top & fresh lemon & basil & beansprout & green onions & cilantro.

Below is a pic. from the internet of "pho" with white-rice-noodle. I use brown-rice-noodle (from Trader's Joe), and it's even better:

The above chart is from Google News, from the below link:

http://www.vox.com/2016/3/25/11305614/soda-juice-energy-drink-consumption-nutrition

It's shocking to see that 100% orange juice has 10 teaspoon of sugar, or 170 calories, compared to cola soda of 10 teaspoon of sugar, and 150 calories. The best bet is SUGAR-FREE water or tea.

Straw: Very good research as always. You always dig out new things from the internet and save so much of our time... God bless you

I would also suggest a different angle to look at the same thing... In my view its hard to compare a natural product with an artificial product in terms of its effects. They are products in two different zones... one is natural about which we are still trying to learn and still discovering its effects so it's an ongoing process. Other is artificial... man made and we have far better knowledge about it since we created it. I might be wrong here but in my view this is a big difference.

Say for example, a 100% orange juice may contain 10 tea spoons of sugar and a cola also contains the same. However, 100% natural orange juice contains so many other minerals and ingredients which an artificial product doesn't. Then the effect of those so many minerals and their combinations, which are entirely natural, are yet not fully known to us. There are so many effects of natural products that we are discovering now that were not known to us say in 60s though even at that time we knew the chemical composition of these natural products. There are many questions that come to my mind...

1. Will consuming 100% natural orange juice have the same affect on a person's health as eating oranges where one also consumes quite a bit of sold matter.
2. Is there a natural balance that exists with the combination of juice (the liquid part) and the eatable solid part of an orange? (this question originates in my mind from a general belief that everything in nature exists in "balance" and if that balance is disturbed, full potential of that thing can't be accrued and at times, it might become dangerous as well).
3. If there is such a balance that exists... than is weather (in which a certain fruit or vegetable naturally exists and is consumed in bulk) also part of that balance? This implies that taking clue from nature, we should preferably consume a particular fruit / vegetable in bulk (ie, in routine) in the season in which it naturally exists. Is there any truth in that old traditional belief that consuming the fruits / vegetables of the season IN THAT SEASON is very good for health.

I feel we need to learn a lot more about the effects of natural products.... the combinations of various chemicals in these natural products that have different affects in different forms, different seasons and different areas.

I apologize if I have de-tracked the whole discussion here. I guess we can get back to recipes.... I discussed the above recipe with my wife but she hasn't shown much interest as she is preparing for the dinner on which she has invited a few friends. Is not even willing to make the kitchen available to me.... how helpless I feel. Will go back to my roses....

best regards

The Biggest Loser TV is successful a few months with calorie-restriction and brutal exercises, but 80% of contestant gain back ALL the weight, despite losing more than 100 lbs. per person. But weight-loss is changing life's habits, rather than reaching a goal. I agree with what Alexander Heyne wrote below:

http://modernhealthmonk.com/the-biggest-loser-diet-plan-or-biggest-idiot/

" But if you invest into changing your habits, rather than relying on willpower, and if you find ways to enjoy the process and take it slow, you will inevitably reach your destination."

1) Focus on eating the right food, and when you do, the right amount will take care of itself. Depending on where your current body weight is, just shifting to the right types of foods will naturally result in the right number of calories.

2) Ignore exercise (if you hate it) until you’ve built good food habits.

3) Set goals but ignore them – focus on progress." Alexander Heyne

http://modernhealthmonk.com/the-biggest-loser-diet-plan-or-biggest-idiot/

From Straw: Did I exercise the month that I lost 9 lbs. from flu-shot reaction? Zero exercise, but I was selective about what I ate: I cut out sugar completely, since that's bad for my immune system. Plus I took magnesium oxide with vitamin-C rich fresh-lemon-juice so I could sleep better (tap-water across the nation is high in calcium but low in magnesium). I gave my body the sleep and nutrients it needed, and the weight came off easily.

The problem with obesity is calorie-rich, but nutrients-empty. By reversing that into nutrients-rich, but little-calorie, the weight comes off easily. Like the time I picked fresh apples in Michigan, and lost 5 lbs. a week just by eating at least 4 apples a day. Below is an internet-pic of fruits low-in-sugar:

Biggest loser professinoal trainers echo the above: change into healthy food 1st, then a healthy body follows. Here's an excerpt from below link:

http://www.examiner.com/article/biggest-loser-trainers-share-their-best-weight-loss-workout-and-diet-tips

"Dolvett Quince said weight loss begins in the kitchen, meaning your diet plays the most important role when it comes to losing weight.

"Master the kitchen first," Quince told E! "Eat more vegetables on your plate and make sure they're green. You'll increase your fiber intake, which acts as a flushing system so that you're not retaining as much. Lean protein is key in everything you do."

Bob Harper, who has been a trainer on "The Biggest Loser" since 2004, agreed, saying diet trumps exercise for weight loss, Celebrity Health reported. Like other fitness experts, Harper said you can't out-exercise a bad diet, and suggested staying away from sugar, planning your meals ahead of time, and making sure you combine protein, healthy carbs and fats into your meals.

"The average person is eating 22 teaspoons of sugar a day," said Harper. "You have to be really careful!" ... Bob said you should approach food as medicine if you're serious about weight loss and good health. You're either going to pay now at the grocery store or later with healthcare costs." Bob Harper.

Jennifer Widerstrom advised against going on fad diets and making exercise a part of your daily schedule. Widerstrom said you should work out to feel good, not just to look good. Below is an internet pic. of protein-rich vegetables & great for salad:

Really like what Biggest Loser runner-up Sonya Jones said, "Diet is everything when it comes to weight maintenance and weight loss, says Jones. “Although your favorite boot camp class can help you build muscle and improve your cardiovascular health, it cannot undo a bad diet. In fact, you can undo two hours in the gym with one bad snack or meal. If you’re trying to maintain your weight loss, recognize that it’s a daily battle, but always remember that you’re worth the battle! No piece of food will ever compare to how well you feel when you’re healthy,” adds Jones.

http://www.eatthis.com/keep-weight-off-biggest-loser

Khalid: very good questions you raise on orange juice vs. cola vs. orange as a whole fruit. I agree that fruit-juice has more vitamins than cola soda. I didn't see your post until now. Orange juice has B-vitamins (folate), plus vitamin C. Whole orange has calcium (in the fiber) vs. zero calcium in the juice.

One gain more weight with 100% juice .. I was 110 lbs. in my 20's, guzzling orange juice ... my sister is older & same height, she eats 3 oranges per day , zero juice, and she's always under 90 lbs. (40 kg), even in her 60's.

I love hot-chili sauce but most of them have preservative (potassium sorbate or sodium benzoate) ... these chemicals give me rash. So I use Tabasco sauce (zero chemicals, but with vinegar) ... Hot-chili sauce has vitamin C, which helps to prevent cold.

I made the "sticky chicken" last night with molasses, turmeric, star-anise, soy sauce, and ginger & garlic, plus rice vinegar.

I would cut the soy sauce by 1 tablespoon (too salty), use 2 Tbs. honey instead of molasses, plus 2 Tbs. of acid (lemon juice or vinegar), Keep it 2 Tbs. ginger & 2 Tbs. garlic, and 1/2 tablespoon turmeric (if fresh turmeric then 1 tablespoon), plus 4 star-anise, plus hot chili sauce. Very fragrant chicken ... I like it better than Barbecue chicken (sweetened tomato sauce).

Straw wrote: "But weight-loss is changing life's habits, rather than reaching a goal."

Couldn't agree more with this. I have always believed in this and this point has been a source of argument between me and my wife since almost two decades now (both are still holding on to respective point of views). For me it is the life style and personal habits of a person that keep weight under control in the long run. For her, it the method told by her favourite anchor person on her favourite morning show, using only those ingredients that he / she recommends (produced or manufactured by a specific company, of course), eating only those things that are recommended and stop eating rest of the things in this world. In my view it's absurd. It's going against the nature. The key word for me here is BALANCE. And balance lies in healthy living habits and doing and eating everything, but with balance. Neither eating too much nor eating too less, eating the fruits and vegetables of the season (organic preferably), avoid taking fried things in excess, avoid use of oils as much as possible and consume meat with natural fat. Getting up early in the morning, daily exercise and eating only on meals timings (not frequently and as and when one feels hungry). Consume more baked, BBQ, grilled and steam roasted food and curries that do not contain lot of oil and have balanced quantity of spices in it. Take lot of herbal teas (my rose tea is doing great for me). Avoid taking medicines on small little problems.... try to fight out routine diseases with use of appropriate food and living habits.

Well these are personal views and subject to disagreement (I haven't been able to fully convince my wife on this yet. She doesn't logically disagree but doesn't follow). However, I have tried to follow these things to the best of my abilities. I am not always following them 100%, like I am casual about my exercise since past few months and similar things happen in eating as well) but try to do them and fully believe in this I should be doing this, whenever I get an opportunity.

best regards

Khalid: well said on being healthy as giving what one body needs, rather than what people say on TV. Agree with you on cutting out excess oil, which is 100% calories & fat. When I went down under 100 lb, or 45 kg, that's when I used a soy-sauce bottle, and fill that with oil .. so the most I could sprinkle was 1 small spoon of oil, rather than 1/4 cup in cooking.

Tip: SAVE YOUR SOYSAUCE BOTTLE to fill with cooking oil.

THANK YOU, Khalid, for tip of old rose/damask being yummy in tea. It's a sweet scent.

Straw wrote: The problem with obesity is calorie-rich, but nutrients-empty. By reversing that into nutrients-rich, but little-calorie, the weight comes off easily.

That is so well put Straw!

this is another thread with so much wonderful info that I've been missing out on...wow I love this....I am still reading but I am so grateful to have all this info to inspire me to live a healthy life, the same kind of life I wish for my cats and my roses.... :-)

I appreciate what you wrote Khalid: 'The key word for me here is BALANCE. And balance lies in healthy living habits and doing and eating everything, but with balance. Neither eating too much nor eating too less, eating the fruits and vegetables of the season (organic preferably), avoid taking fried things in excess, avoid use of oils as much as possible and consume meat with natural fat. Getting up early in the morning, daily exercise and eating only on meals timings (not frequently and as and when one feels hungry). Consume more baked, BBQ, grilled and steam roasted food and curries that do not contain lot of oil and have balanced quantity of spices in it. Take lot of herbal teas (my rose tea is doing great for me). Avoid taking medicines on small little problems.... try to fight out routine diseases with use of appropriate food and living habits.'

No piece of food will ever compare to how well you feel when you’re healthy,”

....I am putting this up against my fridge... :-)))

not only are you and Khalid talking a lot of sense about living healthy, but both of you are living, healthy examples and an inspiration to me! thank you!

I can't get the Sonia Rykiel rose here...triple sigh........................

Bob said you should approach food as medicine if you're serious about weight loss and good health. You're either going to pay now at the grocery store or later with healthcare costs." Bob Harper.

another stunning quote! thanks Straw!

Straw said: Khalid: well said on being healthy as giving what one body needs, rather than what people say on TV.

I couldn't agree more! :-)))... (out of preference, stubbornness and rebelliousness, I don't own a TV)

now, after reading all of this info and all the de-li-ci-ous recipes... I became soooooooooo hungry and grabbed a bowl of milk with bran cereal and raisins...that surely helped...but these recipes will have to be tried, although I am not a great cook at all...I don't even have all the pots I need and not even an oven...that has to change :-))

I missed all of you so much and this was such a royal treat!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was wondering why Samuel is so scarce and was really glad to find him here!

Jess: Khalid is so right about "avoid taking fried things in excess, avoid use of oils as much as possible and consume meat with natural fat ...not frequently and as and when one feels hungry. Consume more baked, BBQ, grilled and steam roasted food and curries that do not contain lot of oil and have balanced quantity of spices in it. Take lot of herbal teas (my rose tea is doing great for me)." Khalid.

Proof: I was 119 after flu-shot reaction, kept that for 1 month, then I had oily peanut-butter sandwich before bed & guzzled sugarly juice .... shot up to 121 in a few days (ran out pickled veggies).

So I cut out greasy peanut-butter, eat bran-cereal & more apples & veggies and got back to 119 today with lots of walking. I made a batch of pickled red-cabbage last night. Plus go back to zero-sugar drink ... just tea or fresh-lemon like Khalid suggested. The weight reflects what one eats. See below you-tube of The Biggest Loser show, where Bob Harper is the white guy in the middle, Jen is the fitness-trainer on the left, and Dolvette Quince is the black-fitness-trainer on the right. Those 3 helped folks to lose 100 lbs. PER person .. I agree with what Dolvette Quince wrote:

"Dolvett Quince said weight loss begins in the kitchen, meaning your diet plays the most important role when it comes to losing weight.

"Master the kitchen first," Quince told E! "Eat more vegetables on your plate and make sure they're green. You'll increase your fiber intake, which acts as a flushing system so that you're not retaining as much. Lean protein is key in everything you do."

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=biggest+loser+season+17&qpvt=biggest+loser+season+17&view=detail&mid=BCD76A2FD862AF669315BCD76A2FD862AF669315&FORM=VRDGAR

no more peanut butter for me... and I'm planning on changing from milk to soy milk.

Also, my neighbors are excellent veggie growers, and I am giving them a few packets of seed to grow and will purchase the veggies from them, that way I will get a lot of veggies, at last...and Heirlooms... :-))))

I won't be able to watch the video although I wish I could... airtime data bundles and $ - it's so expensive over here, and so slow....

Straw when will it be safe for me to start walking again? Should I wait until there is no more pain?

If you check Physical Therapy website .. walking is known to help with back pain. Back pain is caused when the body is immobilized in a "lock" position, such as wrong posture while sleeping, or too much sitting down, putting stress on the spine. Walking helps to "unlock" the twisted nerve, and restore the body to natural position.

With walking, the stress is on the feet .. so if you have good-cushion shoes, that will absorb the stress. With sitting, the stress is on the spine. With lying down, the stress is equally distributed if you have a memory-foam mattress that conforms to the body. But on an UNEVEN pillow or firm mattress .. the stress is on what's in contact with the mattress.

I switched from memory-foam mattress to FIRM brand-new mattress and it's really hard on my back. I made the switch since our weather is getting warm, but next winter I switch back to memory-foam (retains body-heat too well). I slept in a wrong position on my FIRM new mattress, back was in pain.

Last night I switched pillow, from regular-foam pillow to feather-pillow, and that HELPED to alleviate the stress on my spine. There was a discussion in Kitchen Table forum on what's the best pillow, and lots of people voted for feather pillow. Why? Feather pillow conforms to the neck, provides equal support to the entire head, thus relieving the stress on the spinal cord.

In the past, when I slept on bumpy old-worn out pillow, my neck was in severe pain. So I bought a cheap feather pillow, that was so-so .. the feather was too big, so it didn't mush down. Then I bought a more expensive feather (down feather), it can fluff up, yet compress to perfect smoothness, zero bump that supports my entire neck, thus help in relieving stress on my spine.

Jess: if you google "biggest loser before and after", click on images, and it'll show pictures of people transformed by the trainers Bob Harper, Jennifer Widerstrom, and Dolvette Quince, they did that in 5 months .... some lost more than 100 lbs per person.

Five months of focusing on one's health is worth it to add years to one's life, save money on medications, plus slash the risk of diabetes, high cholesterol and blood pressure .. and save money on grocery bills.

Biggest losers before and after pics.

W-O-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This was such an inspiration to see...... I feel inspired! I feel I need to do this! Straw you are like a angel bringing good ideas to all of us...

I'm going to start walking tomorrow morning....that's final....no more cupcakes ever!

they did this in 5 months????????????????????

Jess: Yes, those people did that in 20 weeks (5 months), with lots of running & weight lifting, boxing, plus a high-fiber diet: lots of RAW veggies & fruits, lean fish & poultry, and low-fat. The dietician who designed Biggest Loser diet recommended at least 7 RAW fruits & veggies per day and 3 proteins.

Always good to try new foods: I tried RAW Brussel sprouts (sliced thin) in salad and I'm addicted to it now. I tried FRESH turmeric yesterday (so yummy with chicken) and it was great in suppressing my appetite, didn't feel hungry for hours afterwards.

I researched on turmeric since my Mom has diabetes, and even my skinny sisters are pre-diabetic. My blood-sugar is fine, but I need to bring down my triglycerides & cholesterol levels .. will have that tested end of this year.

See excerpt from below link: "The published Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry confirmed that Turmeric could benefit diabetes. Turmeric, an ancient spice, can alter the pathological states of type 2 diabetes linked to heart disease, a dangerous complication of diabetes.

In a new study on the reduction of formation of fatty deposits in the arteries, which is a risk for patients with type 2 diabetes it was found that curcuminoid extract can prevent this. Over a series of six months the study revealed the involvement of turmeric extract, curcumin does stop the fatty deposits forming on the inner surfaces of the arteries obstructing the blood flow."

Avery July 31, 2015 at 9:15 pm

I’ve bee using Turmeric powder for 8+ years. I keep it in a salt shaker and whenever, whatever I cook, from oatmeal to fish, vegetable, I put in about 3-4 shakes of Tumeric along w/a shake or two of Black or White Pepper, except of course in sweet foods, like Oatmeal, cookies, etc.

Another great herb is “Fenugreek,” also from India and great for stabilizing blood sugar. Check w/your Doctors.

RG February 18, 2015 at 8:42 am

I was paying close to $500 per month on Diabetic Medicans. Since starting a Turmeric, I have stopped doctor prescribed Diabetic meds. What a savings!

Dr Sheldon March 8, 2014 at 3:01 pm

Transmax-resveratrol, an extract of purple grape skins, is a much more effective dietary alternatives to treat Type 2 Diabetes than Tumeric (curcumin). It, like Tumeric, can be used with drugs such as Metformin. In two recently published human clinical trials done by respected medical schools it was shown that transmax had the effect of reducing blood glucose, improving insulin sensitivity, lowering blood pressure and LDL cholesterol, and even lowering body weight."

*** From Straw: the 2 studies of resveratrol & diabetes are found in the below link. My grand-mother drank wine daily, she lived up to 98 year old. But I'm allergic to the sulfites in wine, and any purple-figment produce would do: be it red cabbage, red onion, red beets, or blueberries.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/8/prweb9794089.htm

http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/turmeric-extract-100-effective-preventing-type-2-diabetes-ada-journal-study-finds

"A remarkable human clinical study published in the journal Diabetes Care,
the journal of the American Diabetes Association, revealed that turmeric
extract was 100% successful at preventing prediabetic patients from becoming
diabetic over the course of a 9-month intervention.[1]

Performed by Thailand researchers, the study's primary object was to assess
the efficacy of curcumin, the primary polyphenol in turmeric which gives the
spice its golden hue, in delaying the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus
(T2DM) in a prediabetic population.

The study design was a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial
including 240 subjects who met the American Diabetic Association's criteria for
prediabetes. All subjects were randomly assigned to receive either 250 mg of
curcuminoid or placebo capsules for 9 months."

http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/35/11/2121.full

I've been looking at your roses again now Straw.... they are so beautiful... I adore Versigny....Steven Big Purple, Sonia Rykiel - none of them available over here..

I hope the snow stops now so that your roses can start growing fast and bloom again....