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Thursday, March 31, 2016

Eat Sunshine: Steamed Green Tea Cupcakes


  


I have this strange love for anything matcha. I’m not sure if I just like the colour green, the bitter taste, the health benefits or a combination of all the above. When I stumbled across steamed green tea cupcakes from justonecookbook.com, I just had to give it a try. I didn't even know steamed cake was even a thing. It didn’t come out exactly the way I had imagined but it was still good and I think I will try making them again. The steaming part was a bit foreign to me so I don’t think I steamed them quite right but I think that if I were to try again, they should come out a bit better and fluffier. If you want a dessert that’s not too sweet and like the taste of matcha, I suggest you give these a try. If you’re craving for something a bit sweeter, you could add some chocolate chips and/or have it with chocolate frosting. I also made a youtube video for this and used Final Cut Pro for the first time! I'm slowly teaching myself how to edit and finding it fun so stay tuned for more videos in the future!

 Recipe: (Makes 4 steamed cakes)
1 large egg
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 Tbsp. honey
 3 Tbsp plain regular yogurt
1½ Tbsp. sugar
½ cup (60 g) all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. Matcha (Green tea powder matcha) Recipe from justonecookbook.com

Monday, March 28, 2016

Why I Don’t Drink Anymore (Even though I didn’t really drink much anyways)


I’ve never been much of a drinker as my body never allowed me to do this (Asian genes) but I did occasionally go out and drink with my friends. The main reason why I never really drank was because I would get the “Asian Glow” and just felt embarrassed of how I looked. I would look really drunk with my red face even when I wasn’t. I also never felt that good when drinking and always became super uncomfortably warm. Unfortunately, about 50% of Asians suffer from the “Asian Glow” when drinking. Because of this glow, I often reverted to just drinking in dim lit places like pubs and clubs. Clubs were more fun to drink at as I got to let loose and dance the night away. Actually, I think that’s why I often felt pressured to drink at clubs …it was just really hard to dance sober around a bunch of drunks.

Last year, I just decided to quit drinking for good for health reasons and realized that my body clearly rejects this substance.
After not having any alcohol for about a year, I had some with a couple friends a couple of weeks ago and boy did it hit me right away! Due to those Asian genes, my glow quickened to my face and my body too! My stomach felt itchy and my body broke into a huge skin rash. I truly have an allergic reaction to drinking and created an infographic to show the difference between those who experience the “Asian Glow” and those who do not. This allergic reaction reminded me that drinking just isn’t for me. The pros did not outweigh the cons I experienced when drinking.
From my experience, I’m going to tell you some things that happen when you tell people you don’t drink anymore and the effects of not drinking.
1)     People will think something is wrong with you and think you are weird, lame or boring. You may also start to feel this way due to what social norms are (Drinking is associated with partying which is associated with fun). So many of our social gatherings are centered on drinking and/or food. These are people who don’t really know you and you shouldn’t care what they think anyways. This took me awhile to learn, but now I don’t care what people think anymore.
2)     People will express frustration and try to get you to drink again by encouraging you to have “just one drink”. Being sober can make other people feel uncomfortable and make them hard to relate to you.
3)     People may stop inviting you to social gatherings and friendships may grow fewer but deeper (depending on the type of crowds you hung out with before).
4)     You don’t feel like binge eating or ill at night or crap the next morning. You’ll feel lighter, refreshed and more productive the next day without that hangover and extra calories.
5)     You’ll save some of that extra money usually spent on drinks for other things.
6)     You’ll realize that there are so many other things and activities to do with friends other than going out for drinks.