Finally, I got a little bit of time to spare to write something up. Things have been quite hectic here that both K and I had to shuffle our activities around. It’s hard to maintain a healthy lifestyle (eat clean, exercise regularly, getting enough 7-8 hour sleep everyday) when you have to take care an ill person. My brother’s condition is still the same although he isn’t coughing as much as before, but he’s still pretty weak. He went to a specialist yesterday and had to wait until the whole blood tests and the x ray come out to really know what exactly he’s having. We’ll see. On another note, we also have to kind of prepare his meal a little differently from our regular meals.

Not to mention we had to keep monitoring his body temperatures and wrote it down. It’s been fluctuating around 98.6°F – 100.4°F (37°C – 38°C). Normal body temperature should be 96.8° F (36° C).

We even bought these low sugar non carbonated Gatorade drinks for him for the electrolyte source.

Good thing is he doesn’t have any nausea anymore and can actually eat regular meal.

I had been shuffling my workout hour from morning to evening, depending on the situation.

Despite all these ruckus, I still managed to try making “Averie’s Spicy Doritos Cheezy Dip”. I didn’t have hemp seeds nor cashews or other kinds of nuts so I used roasted flaxseeds instead.

The result? It surely has that cheesy taste and a bit of spicy. I didn’t put too much chili powder. It’s quite aromatic probably due to the roasted flaxseeds.

And I also finally made Kale chips using some of the “Spicy Doritos Cheezy Dip”

I made this Asian root soup (not sure what you call that “root” in English, it looks like a big yucca to me) on Saturday.

It was very easy to cook this root. Just peel off the skin, cut them about ½” thick, boiled in high heat and reduce to medium, half covered for about 40 minutes to an hour. I added a bit of dried scallops and a bit of salt to enhance the taste. The root itself has its own sweet taste, so the dried scallops could be omitted if you’re vegetarian/vegan.

Originally it was for my brother but my aunt mentioned it might not be good for him to have this as yet. I ended up having this for almost every single meal…Trust me, the soup is still there in the fridge and I’ve been having this for the past 3-4 days!! ARgh! Speaking of which, Ameena and Lynn are also writing about a fear of wasting food! I’m totally agree with them! I really hate to throw away food, unless it’s SPOILED. *SIGH* That means I have to endure another days finishing this soup.

Yesterday, I was having a mad morning rush. After finished with my morning workout, I had to get the congee to him so he could have a little meal in early morning, plus recording his body temperature.  I ate my bowl of oats super duper quick – like under a minute? I felt quite frustrated and even vented out a bit while walked out from the door. I admit it wasn’t a nice scene to watch, good thing nobody was around. I was even shouted out loud that “I can’t do this anymore! This is too crazy! I have my life too!”

I don’t usually shout out my frustration and anger that way, but when the time I was having too much pressure and stressed out, I could lose it. It’s bad, I know. I should be calmer.
After reading Averie’s post regarding full moon, I was thinking it might have some affect on me? But it was happening yesterday morning though…hmm…..But I also had a bit of hard time sleeping last night, which hasn’t happened to me for quite a while ever since I started exercise regularly.

I didn’t workout in the morning today. Went to bed a bit late after skyping with my mom, talked to her about stuff. She knew that K and I and even my aunt been busy taking care of my brother and she even thanking me for those. She even mentioned how my brother told her and my dad he felt really bad for troubling us because of his illness. I felt a bit of guilt inside hearing all of these. To be super honest, I WASN’T that THRILLED doing all of these. Those statements made me feel embarrassed on how I reacted to the situation. I know I’m still ended up doing whatever my aunts told me to do: cooked some good food for him, cleaned up after him, taking his body temperature, bought Chinese herbs and cook it, washed all of his clothing, bed sheets, blankets etc. And I even cleaned up his room! I WOULD NEVER DO this on regular basis. It angered me enough that he’s a super messy person and yet living under my roof. Don’t know what happened, originally I was only going to clean the upstairs rooms and vacuumed, but ended up starting with his room first. Oh well…I guess deep down inside I do want him to get better – so I can have my life back.. Heh! But seriously I couldn’t manage doing all of these if K is not around. I’m greatly thankful for his support in this tough time.

Anyway, I still could enjoy sometime with my girlfriends on Sunday. We went out for lunch at this Korean restaurant.


It was only 4 of us, ALL GIRLS. NO kids, no husbands, no boyfriends. Such a joy! We haven’t done this small gathering for quite a while as everyone is busy with her own thing. I like small gathering like this. I am a person who prefer a small group rather than a big one. Sadly I couldn’t join them for the mall though…had to go back home and taking care the ill brother. Such an “unintended mummy duty” haha!

Last but not least, here are bunch of food pictures in no particular order.

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