I will take the torch and with it I will...

This is a video that was produced by the Turnbull School where my daughter studies. When I saw it I was so proud of these kids and their awareness and motivation to make this world a better place for everyone.
I want to add my part and say that i will take a torch and with it I will take responsibilities for my own actions no matter what. Keep it going - what will you do when the torch is in your hand?

'Exotic Tropical Fruits' category has grown to a new blog

One of my greatest passions is Exotic Tropical Fruits. I've been talking about it for quite awhile here and it has proven to be one of the most popular topics on my blog. Therefore I've decided to move to another stage of blogging and create another blog that is entirely devoted to fruits. I called it FruitsKings and there I will be talking about everything and anything related to fruits. You are welcome to visit it and give me your suggestions and comments!
See you there!

Five-month anniversary

It's five month now and this blog thing, even though working well, sometimes really gets to me... aaand I feel like this (see below)

Another exotic tropical fruit - Tangerine

Tangerines are my choice to put in a lunch box. I peel them and put them in a plastic container. It's quick and easy snack when you are hungry.
It tastes like an orange, but sweeter. One thing that I like about it is that it's segmented and small compared to other citrus fruits. It's a bite size.

They are easier to peel compared to other citrus fruits and are sometimes called “easy peelers". Tangerines are full of vitamin C and fiber and one tangerine has half the vitamin C you need for the whole day.

Remembrance Day

I would like to join all the people this day in remembrance of those who lost they lives to protect their country, no matter which side it was...

Another exotic tropical fruit - Dates

The reason why I am talking about dates today is the fact is that Christmas is approaching and date squares is my favorite treats to bake. I also like to eat dry dates just as they are. Be cautious not to overeat them though because they are very high in sugar. That means adding extra pounds!

Here's a nice dates squares recipe: 

And that's how they grow on a tree! Most people dot even know that they grow on a palm.

In anticipation to get back to skiing

Here I am at Physiotherapy. I am happy now that I am getting trained to go back to skiing. Who would believe that 7 months later after sitting on my couch with a bloodclot, two torn ligaments, damaged femur, sprained shoulder and not even being able to walk I would be training to go back to skiing!?

I am so thankful for the people who created this skiing device!

After all the exercising physiotherapists tight me down to the bed post to keep my leg bend to the max to stretch my scaring tissue. This is where my problem is right now - my ACL ligament has healed by itself and scaring tissue is really tight, so I need to stretch it to fix it.

Another exotic tropical fruit - Tamarind

 One of the most fascinating things about this fruit is its taste. It tastes very  sweet and sour and that's why it's used a lot in sweet and sour dishes, especially by the Chinese people.
The best way to enjoy the fruit is to make the fresh juice out of it, which is not easy to do, but worth it.
For myself, I buy it already made by Goya. They make really good drinks. The juice is not expensive, easy to find in any grocery store and it's a practical way to try a new fruit anyway.
In the tropics you can find this drink on the beaches a lot. Many sun worshipers appreciate the cool-crisp refreshing taste.  

Tamarind tree is humongous, but can vary in size depending on location and its age.

Home Organization: Meal Planning (Hamburger Patties)

Another thing you can cook to organize your meals better is hamburger patties. And that's what I did this weekend: I chopped finely onions and put them in a bowl, in another bowl I put 1 egg, salt and pepper, Worcestershire sauce (had to google the spelling of this one, fuf), few drops of Tabasco sauce, and mixed it all together. After, I took ground beef and added chopped onions and the mixture of sauces and spices to it mixing it all well together.

I made few small patties out of it and cooked it well.

To store it, I took a glass container and put patties in it separating them with a wax paper so it's easier to take them out after.

Home Organization: Meal Planning

As I've opened up the category of organizing myself and my life, I would like to start off from my meals. To interest you, I want to mention here that in last 3 months I've lost 2o pounds without dieting. So, are you motivated enough to read further?
One of the reasons I succeeded was I pre-cooked my meals and stored them in advance. Here, I am going to show you how I did it step by step.
First of all, I cooked the soup and blended it.

 Then what I did was I took the containers and I put the soup in them.

 Now it's time for labeling! On the labels I wrote what kind of soup is in it and the date.

And then I freeze it.

So, now I have my vegetable portion ready to eat at any time. All I have to do is to take the container out, put it in the microwave for 1 minute and then pour it in a pot and heat it up on a stove for another minute or so. You can add some milk to it, depending on the soup recipe, but do it only after you thaw it, because it's not good to add milk to the soup and then freeze it - it will spoil the soup.
The meal is ready to be served!

Another exotic tropical fruit - Lychee

The lychee fruit is a size of a big grape. When you peel off the skin, you can see the white or pinkish juicy flesh of a lychee fruit. It's very sweet and has afresh taste.
The texture of its flesh is similar to a grape. The fruit is rich with Vitamin C and Potassium.

This is the how I was introduced to lychee - someone just cracked a branch full of fruits and gave it to me. So, this was my first experience with the fruit. At that time i didn't even know how to eat the fruits, so the farmer that gave me the branch had to show me. He took the fruit, and put it in his mouth in-between his teeth and gently cracked the hard skin. As the skin broke, the white fruit came out and he told me to eat it. And it was fabulous!!!

Organizing anything and everything

 Today I want to start a new category, which is Organizing Anything and Everything. Because of my previous successful experience in organizing my life, my house, my businesses, etc. I now want to share it with others as I know myself how challenging it can be.

Another exotic tropical fruit - Persimmon

Persimmon - just looking at this picture of persimmon I am almost drooling because I know how sweet and delicious it tastes.
In wikipedia they describe it this way (and it really says it all):
The Date-plum (Diospyros lotus) is native to southwest Asia and southeast Europe. It was known to the ancient Greeks as "the fruit of the gods", or often referred to as "nature's candy" i.e. Dios pyros (lit. "the wheat of Zeus"), hence the scientific name of the genus. ItsEnglish name probably derives from Persian Khormaloo خرمالو literally "Date-Plum", referring to the taste of this fruit which is reminiscent of both plums anddates. This species is one candidate for the lotus mentioned in the Odyssey: it was so delicious that those who ate it forgot about returning home and wanted to stay and eat lotus with the lotus-eaters.^[7] The fruit is also known as 'Amlok' or 'Japani Phal' in Pakistan.

When the tree produces fruits there are almost no leaves left on the tree, it looks naked.