I'm Running Out of Ways to Cook Chicken

Seriously. I have no idea how does the mums doing it. Kudos to all the mum  of well-fed children in the world. I now understand the occasional temptation of calling fish sticks dinner.

Trying to come up with different sets of menu to please people everyday is hard. Cooking for a person who is undergoing chemo and stem cell transplant are pretty challenging.

The thing is... I gotta at least try to keep it healthy. The holy trinity of good food: greens, protein and complex carbs (he is losing weight way too quickly) have to somehow be intertwined within an exciting menu.

Oh and not to mention that the hospital will sanitize your food by blasting them off in a microwave for 5 minutes. Have you seen microwaved meat? Just like the witch from Snow White - shriveled, dry and pure evil.

There are a couple of things that I learned to be very helpful. Yes, I am not a mum (yet) but you know, I found this out along the journey so I thought I'll share it. This is what I have learned so far in feeding someone who is on a mend.

1. Always have options of plain food. Saltines are your best friends. Good nuts like almonds and pistachios are plain enough for bitter mouth but give them the good fat and protein.

2. Eggs are protein that can be easily hid in stir-fry. Instead of thickening soup with cornstarch, throw an egg in. Voila.

3. Know that one or two bites is still ok. In a sense, don't panic if they refuse to it. They are attached to a saline bag. Yes. Food is good but when your tummy tends to expel its content, food can be pretty traumatizing.

4. When your food is in the drain (mostly because their palate's are off or stupid nausea) know that it's not personal. It's not that your food is not good. It's just...vomit happens, okay?

5. If your hospital does have an all-hot food policy (to avoid infection) do NOT put any sugary food/nuts/stuff in the microwave. Burnt smell in your microwave is not fun.

6. When they are out of the hospital, have splurge/cheat day. Seriously. YOLO.

7. Seeds are great for hiding and adding that extra protein here and there. Sprinkle it over ice cream. They won't know (kidding)

8. Blueberry and mangoes cover all sins... I mean...greens. Seriously. They won't taste the spinach in the smoothie if you put that extra dose of blueberry in it. Promise.

9. Frozen banana whizzed with cocoa is a great ice cream replacement. Just saying.

10. If you still want to sneak in fruits and your hospital have an all-hot-food policy, stewed  fruits are great. Just make sure they don't have added preservatives and sugar in it.


That's all I learn so far. Just take it easy. 

Auds xx

Battle Scars

There are a few things that I always ashamed of admitting in my whole entire life:

I can't eat apples (I hate the squeaky crunch when you bite it...eerghhhh). I can munch a scorpion but not apples.
I never got the chance to learn how to bike
I am a Chinese who speaks fluent English and zero Mandarin.

I did not put "can't" on my second point because I believe that I can totally ride a bike...my dad just brutally robbed my chance of learning when I was a kid. I think he saw the adrenaline-junkie side of me and decided he is keeping me safe by ensuring I will never be able to dirt bike. Or ride a Harley. Ever.

The thing is, when we got to Chi-land, electric bike is the ONLY way to travel. So I got my chance to learn. The funny thing is, now everyone suddenly take an enormous concern of my safety. Yes, China is NOT the safest place to ride anything-not even your own two legs. But I did it anyway. My dad got two electric bike and I manage to fall three times in two days. My legs are all blue and bruised. I once have a piece of skin/meat dangling from my left toe. My knees are scraped repeatedly. It hurt to walk for a week or so. The worst part was that my legs looks horrible.

Some of my dad's friends who were helping us here laugh at me-half snorting, half admiring the facts that I just don't care- because every single time they see me I have a new scar/scrapes/bruises.

The truth? I do care.

I wore maxi dresses and leggings for days. I bought cute band-aids (Disney collection, as always). I hate looking at my legs because they're ugly.

It's funny because as my ugly-looking legs are sapping my attentions, my bike-riding skill increased rapidly. But I seriously don't care.. I just want my pretty legs back.

It's funny how we focused so much on our battle scars that we forgot what we have won. How we focused so much on a little dent on across our eyebrow that we got when we snowboard/hang-glide/doing some adrenaline-junkie activities. I have friends who hides their surgery scars or old wounds from the dark days.

The thing is, I think we gave our battle scars way too much attention. Battle scars are not trophies; they are proof that we have either won a war or we are bold enough to walk into one.

I think battle scars are often misuse in two extremes: over-glorified or hidden in shame. People over-glorified their scars when they use them as an excuse for a leeway or convincing themselves that they deserve something better just because they went through a battle. People hid their scars because they were ashamed and feel like the whole world are judging or pitied them - mostly because they are usually get thrown into battlefield out of their will.

Battle scars need to be put as it is. They are leftover marks of what we have been through; and everyONE has been through something. The truth is, you are constantly in battle; just different devils and different hells. The scars are just there. Stop licking it. Move on and learn your lesson from each battles.

I'm rambling. Stopping now.

xx