Tales from an Undomestic GoddessTales from an Undomestic GoddessTales from an Undomestic GoddessTales from an Undomestic GoddessTales from an Undomestic Goddess
After another week of using my new Multi-functional blender, I have learned:
that blending Kiwi fruit is not a good idea unless you use it in small quantities or you enjoy having your saliva forced out of your salivary glands through the process of osmosis. The blending of the kiwi fruit seeds makes the mixture so tangy that even as I write this, the memory of the taste of it on my tongue is already increasing my salivary flow.
that it is a good idea to watch the video instructions on how to make bread before bumbling into the activity head first.
Other than that, it has been another enjoyable week with my new blender and I’m really digging the whole “whole foods living” concept. It brings back memories of living with my parents when they would buy fruits from the market by the boxes and we would end up eating five serves of fruits a day.
Prior to dinner, I usually cut fruits for the family and I recall my MIL asking me once why I cut so much because we wouldn’t be able to finish it. I remembered feeling that the quantity was a tad on the low side because back in my parents’ house, we would all eat one mango each and here we were struggling to finish one mango between four people. Okay, okay, so I could have eaten that whole mango all on my own…
The great thing about the blender is that it makes it a lot easier to consume more fruits when you drink it and the benefit of using a blender over a juicer is that a lot of the pulp gets wasted when you juice the fruits. Also, try juicing a banana or strawberries…
Since starting to incorporate the whole foods living concept into my diet, I’ve learned a few things with regards to fruit nutrition that I thought would be useful to mention:
the green part of the strawberry is actually very nutritious and should be blended in with the rest of the fruit. Ordinarily, we don’t eat it because it probably tastes funny. When you’re blending strawberries with such a powerful blender, you really don’t notice the leavy part.
the white part of the orange just under the peel is also apparently very nutritious and it is recommended you include it when blending your oranges. We normally don’t eat this part either because it’s bitter.
the seeds in grapes are full of anti-oxidants and this is the reason why people take grape-seed extract supplements. Ordinarily, if you were to eat the seeds, you would get no little to no nutritional value from it because you can’t digest them. With a powerful blender, it vitamises the seeds to a digestible form.
After raving non-stop about the virtues of having a commercial strength blender and about all the things I’m going to make when we get one, the hubby decided to spoil me by getting me the Vita-Mix from the local distributor. Now we don’t have to wait until we go to Australia to get the Power-Mill Blender.
For someone who doesn’t normally get excited about the idea of being in the kitchen, I have to confess that I lit up like a lightbulb on Christmas when I saw what was waiting for me on the dining table after we got home from a night out. I wasted no time breaking open the seal and blending my first smoothie, hot soup and chocolate frappe. I think I would have spent the entire day making stuff if my son hadn’t demanded that I get out of the kitchen and play with him for a bit.
The local distributor for the Vita-Mix were really great. They also gave us a copy of local flavour recipes they had created themselves. You can contact them at:
Address: 6, Jalan 13/4 Petaling Jaya
Mobile: 012-3838947
After finally discovering that I can purchase the Power Mill Blender from Australia online and deciding that I was going to get one, I find out that I can’t get it after all. At least - not yet. Malaysia charges tax on the import of electrical goods into the country - even if it is intended for domestic use only. And it’s not some minor amount either! You also need an import license.
Since my last post on this topic, I’ve discovered you can purchase the Power Mill Blender online from anywhere in the world - fantastic! It gets better - you pay the same price as you would if you were living in Australia - $590 - unlike the Vita-Mix which costs more every where else on Earth if you don’t live in the States (such a bummer). That certainly confirmed which blender I’m going to buy.
Before whipping out the credit card and making the purchase, I thought I should at least speak to the hubby about buying a rather pricey kitchen item. I had initially expected the hubby to reply something along the lines of, “590 Aussie dollars for a blender? Are you nuts?!”
To put this into perspective, you have got to realise that the top of the line blenders in this country retail at about the same price in ringgit. That means it’s about a third of the price of the Power Mill Blender. Unfortunately, even the best blender I could find here can’t come anywhere near what the Power Mill Blender can do.
I was preparing myself to explain to the hubby that the Power Mill Blender is a multi-functional kitchen device because it is like a mixer, a blender, a juicer, a smoothie maker, an ice cream maker, a soup maker all rolled into one. So instead of buying one kitchen device, it’s almost like buying several but it all comes in one nice neat package.
It turns out that convincing the hubby about the virtues of the Power Mill Blender was the least of his concerns. What surprised him was the fact that I even wanted a blender. He thought I was taking the Mickey out of him when I told him I wanted the blender. When I asked him why, his reply was, “You’re hardly the most domestic person I know.”
Well, that is exactly why the Power Mill Blender is just the sort of device someone like me would love. Any kitchen device that allows me to prepare soup in minutes has got to be good. I’m the sort of person who loves my microwave - push a button and watch the magic. Dinner is an activity that should take no more than 30 minutes to prepare.
On the flip side, I’ve also been getting more conscious about the decline in my diet. Always rather health conscious in the past, I’ve take a long spiral down into the depths of the likes of KFC and Mc D’s. I’ve been interested in new ways to improve my diet without having to take extra pains to do so and blending whole foods into drinkable liquids was something that looked pretty good to me. What really sold me on the blender was it’s ability to make ice cream, hot soup and bread.
I couldn’t find any videos of the Power Mill Blender in action, but here are a couple showing the Vita-Mix preparing ice cream, green smoothies, and nut butters. From what I understand, the Power Mill Blender can do everything that the Vita-Mix can - at a fraction of the price (if you live outside of the States).
Make ice cream:
Peanut Butter:
Green Smoothie:
If you want to see what else it can do, click this link. And if you’re wondering exactly what this blender can do, check this out.
And the hubby wonders why I can’t wait to get my hands on one…
After learning about the Vita-Mix from some friends of my parents, I’ve become rather interested in this “whole foods” concept of nutrition. Especially since my son is so selective with food, making it rather difficult for me to find novel ways to get him to eat a variety of nutritious foods, my curiosity was piqued. Despite the rather absorbitent price tag of US$550 for the bread-making package, I was still keen to order this multi-functional blender until I discovered that I can’t order online it from where I live. Dang!
However, there is a local distributor retailing the older model but it’s going to cost me RM3000 - versus the approximately RM1870 (based on today’s exchange rate) for the newest US Vita-Mix model. Double dang!
So I decided to look around for alternatives because I’m sure Vita-Mix can’t be the only multi-functional blender than can make hot soups, bread and ice cream, in addition to other things. And it isn’t. Here are a couple of other multi-functional blenders that achieve the same results - or so it seems.
From the description on their website, the Power Mill looks like it can perform all the functions a Vita-Mix promises, although with a slightly heftier price tag. Available at $590, although I’m not sure whether you’ll get the cookbooks and the additional “dry container” that comes with the Vita-Mix (although it doesn’t look like it from the looks of the website), it’s still looking a lot more attractive than the local Vita-Mix model available here.
I’m not sure if I can purchase the Power Mill from where I live (my country isn’t even listed as an option to select on their website), nor do I know of any local sources retailing this product. On the up side, the Power Mill is an Australian product so I might be able to get it when we visit my parents for Christmas.
Post Update: As clarified by Power Mill Blender, they do ship internationally and the price remains fixed.
This is the second option and it comes with a much more affordable price tag of $299.99. The only thing is that I don’t know if this blender can make ice cream or bread. I don’t think it can make hot soup, either.
Looks like the Vita-Mix is still the best bet at this point - at least if I want to make hot soups, bread and ice cream with my blender.
I first heard about it from some friends of my parents. They had one and they used it to blend us a very refreshing jug of orange juice.
Why I like it
What I liked about it was that you can use it to blend whole-fruit juices. In other words, you can throw in your whole orange - skin, seeds and all - and it will blend it into an easily consumable liquid.
We have a juicer at home and one of the reasons why I hate using it is because I find it rather tedious to have to cut and peel the fruits because juicing them. It is also a real mess to clean up and a bit of a waste to throw out the pulp of the fruit - which can actually be quite considerable. The juicer is also not very suitable for dryish fruits, like bananas and avocados.
Cleaning
Cleaning the Vita-Mix is easy. All you have to do is add water into the container and turn on the switch as if you are blending more juice. What could be easier than that!
What can it do
Aside from juices, you can make soups, ice cream, dips, pureed food for baby, and bread. For a blender, this machine is pretty versatile.
Price
I was pretty keen to get one after hearing about it, but now that I’ve been actively blending smoothies for breakfast, I have a justifiable reason for getting it. Unlike the juicer that went into storage after I got tired of cleaning it, I’m pretty sure I’ll make good use of this.
The only stumbling block is that the Vita-Mix costs many times more than regular blender. How much? Try US$450. Yeah and that’s just the basic model.
I guess I’m going to have to think about it a little harder before I decide to get it…
In Chinese culture, filial piety is very important. One of the duties that demonstrates filial piety is the taking the responsibility of looking after the elderly in their old age. Although the Chinese tradition is for the sons to look after the elderly, in this modern day, it is equally applicable to both sons and daughters to assume the responsibility of looking after the elderly.
Raised in a Western society, there were a lot of Chinese traditions that I was never made aware of. However, this Chinese tradition was not one of them. From an early age, my parents inculcated the importance of filial piety and the need to look after the elderly in their old age.
When hubby and I got married, we had originally decided we wanted to live on our own, however the hubby made it clear that my in laws would eventually move in and live with us as they grew older. Having been raised to that expectation, I have never had an issue with this. In fact, had he not believed in this practice, I would have assumed that responsibility because it was what I had been taught since young.
What I never expected was to be living with my in laws during the early part of our marriage - even if it was intended to be a temporary measure. Even more unexpected was that I would be living in the house of my in laws, rather than they living in our house.
What’s the difference, you ask? Well, when you live in someone else’s house (even one that you call home), there are certain expectations that you need to follow just because this house belongs to them. That means that there are a lot of things you cannot do because you need to be mindful of the person who runs the house (at least, that’s how it should be if you respect that person’s feelings). When you own the house, you have greater liberty to do as you please.
This minor adjustment is something I could live with since it is, after all, just a temporary measure. What I found most challenging was learning to understand the way my in laws tick because they are very different people to my parents. When you stay in close quarters with others, there is always a greater tendency to inadvertantly rub sandpaper on raw skin. Learning how to live together takes time and effort.
For instance, when I was a kid, my Dad had a pretty explosive temper. Now that he’s older, he seems to have mellowed out somewhat - either that or distance has made his temper seem cooler. What I discovered while I was growing up was that giving my Dad a wide berth when he was mad was often the best thing to do. My Dad appreciated the time to cool off on his own and I developed a similar preference of wanting to be left alone when I was mad at something that wasn’t in reference to anyone in particular.
So on days when my MIL lost her temper, I tended to stay away from her - to give her the time to cool down without being underfoot. Little did I realise was that with my MIL, this is exactly what you should not do. It took me a while to discover this, but I’m glad I did, because at least now I know how to help her better.
Even though living with my in laws is a very different experience to living with my own parents, there are a number of practices that my MIL has that I like. For instance, I like how they always wait (whenever possible) for everyone to get home first before having dinner so we can all sit down together for a meal on a regular basis. In my house, we only ate together if everyone happened to be home at the same time. Sometimes, we didn’t eat together because someone would be busy doing something else around the house, or another person wasn’t hungry yet. What I like about eating together is that it encourages bonding for strong family ties.
Although we had a number of teething periods when we first moved in, I find they grow less and less as we spend more time together and learn to live together. If I felt intimidated by the idea of living with my in laws in their house initially, I can honestly say that I do enjoy living here now. That said, I still look forward to the time when we will move into our own house because I want a place of my own to furnish as I please. My TY bears are still waiting for a proper home outside of a plastic box, Gavin still needs a dedicated play area that he can freely mess up and be responsible for, and I want an area where I can set up my ergonomic computer desk and chair. I also want my own kitchen because I’ve always felt more comfortable cooking in my own space - knowing exactly what I have stock of and what utensils and equipment I have available. Cooking in someone else’s kitchen just isn’t the same.
When it comes to home furniture, I’m glad to say that both hubby and I are in agreement with one thing - modern furniture. As much as I enjoy looking at homes decorated with fancy old-style furnishings, for the practicalities of home living, I still think modern minimalistic is the way to go. I put comfort and practical above fancy and pretty, any day. I like my home to have simple, clean furniture that are useful, comfortable and look good together.
For instance, in the living room, I would want a Leather Sofa with a high back. There is nothing more uncomfortable than a sofa that only supports your back halfway.
And in the study, I would want a Corner Computer Desk with lots of closed storage space. I’m not a very neat person so I like to have cabinets and drawers that can hide away all my junk. There is nothing more untidy than a stack of papers lying around. Or worse, those glass cabinets that reveal the mess that’s hiding inside. Having drawers and cabinets are also great because it keeps the dust off everything - which makes it a lot easier when cleaning.
When I first got pregnant, I had a terrible craving for 100Plus. I didn’t know why, but I noticed that when I drank it, the nausea subsided somewhat. After that, I would keep one of those 1.5L bottles at my side just in case a particularly nasty wave of nausea hit.
I didn’t know if it was the fizziness, the sourish tang or just an odd quirk that worked just for me, but it worked, so I kept the habit even when I got sick with food poisoning and felt nauseous.
It was only after visiting the doctor after developing a case of food poisoning, who then recommended I take 100Plus for the nausea that I realise why it worked. According to the doctor, it is the electrolytes in 100Plus that helps to reduce the nausea.
So there you have it: taking 100Plus for nausea is not just a young wife’s tale, but a medical fact.
Since sending my maid home, we have been living with just the help of my MIL’s maid. Being quite a capable maid, she still manages to get most of the chores completed, although I now handle more of the cleaning of the baby’s stuff. I am glad to say that emotions in the household have greatly improved.
Recently, my MIL’s maid went back to Indonesia for a month long break, leaving us without any domestic help. At the time that we were contemplating sending my maid back, my MIL had mentioned this period was coming up. She had asked whether I thought we could manage the household without help and I readily agreed. That was before I realised that my idea of clean and my MIL’s idea of clean belonged to two opposite ends of a spectrum.
Now that we have been spoilt with a maid to clean up after us, it takes a bit of getting used to not having one. My MIL who likes her floors cleaned on a daily basis and the laundry done every day lives to a standard of cleanliness that makes me appear like I live in a pig’s sty. Not only does she clean everything more frequently than I normally do, she also adds more tasks to each cleaning process compared to what I do.
For instance, she pre-soaks all the laundry before it goes into the machine whereas I used to just soak everything in the machine and then set the machine to wash. She would hand washes certain clothings whereas my motto is everything that can go into the machine will be washed by the machine. She likes to wash her porch, whereas I’ve often been quite partial to the windswept look - the hubby used to wash our porch back in our old house.
In all honesty, I don’t think I’m that filthy a person. When I clean, I usually make sure I do a pretty good job of it. In fact, I often felt that my bathroom stayed clean a lot longer than the one washed by my maid, although I suspect it is due to the fact that my maid would give my bathroom a cursory wipe down rather than a proper clean. Since she would do it on almost as daily basis, I accepted it without complaint.
About the only thing that has degraded in quality since the maid went on leave is the folding of the laundry. I honestly don’t know how the maid does it, but when she folds the clothes, they look the way they appear in a store. Try as I might, my folded clothes never look that good. The floors are another thing to go. Since I never wash my floors on a daily basis, they tend to get a little bit dusty after a few days without cleaning. Admitedly I’ve been a lot better about it compared to when we were living in our previous house. At least I now clean once every two to three days, as opposed to once a week…
Yes, that’s the thing about having domestic help - it’s too easy to get comfortable with them around.
What is RSS? How do I subscribe via RSS?
Entries (RSS)