Organic Restaurant Review: Simple Life, Sunway Pyramid, Bandar Sunway

Finding an organic restaurant around the Klang Valley, Malaysia is not as difficult as it used to be when one town might have only one or two about 15 years ago. And back then, healthy vegetarian food used to taste terrible, bland or just too green. Nowadays, there is so much competition, and with more and more ingenious ideas on how to make organic vegetarian food interesting and tasty, organic restaurants are popping out of nowhere. (And that's why I can't find a blog that focuses on this, so I decided to start one - hope you like it!) I guess, everyone just wants to be healthy and yet be able to enjoy their favourite local delights without having to feel guilty afterwards!

I was walking around Sunway Pyramid looking for paper materials to make some decorations for my friend's baby shower when I found myself hungry and still wanted to eat healthy. Simple Life is located just beside the Marakkesh part of the shopping mall. Look for further details at their website. 

The setting is really relaxed and comfortable. 

To start the meal, my mom and I shared the rojak. The selection of vegetables and fruits really complemented each other - cucumbers, sengkuang, pineapples, apples, unripe mangoes and tomatoes. The rojak sauce was not too overpowering and is very easy to eat. To top it off was the most delicious pickled papayas I have ever tasted - sweet and sour!

As the main, again we shared, the tomyam fried rice served with savoury crackers (like prawn crackers, just made without the prawns) and a small side of salad.

In the fried rice, brown rice was used along with some barley and (I think) some other legumes. This is also found in their regular bowl of rice. It's excellent that Simple Life chose to up the fibre content. This is really good for you - more variety of vitamins and minerals! Quite a lot of vegetables were found, but I only wished that the rice was cooked a little spicier. I really love strong Thai flavours!

To finish off the meal, mom and I each had a bowl of tong shui, or dessert. To make this dessert, dried longans, white fungus, red dates and sea bird nest are cooked slowly under slow fire. It was a tad bit undercooked that day, but I have tasted this twice and it has always been really good. 

I have also tried other dishes prior to this visit and they have been satisfactory.

Simple Life can be found at:

Sunway Pyramid Outlet

LLG 2-126A, Blue Atrium

Tel: 03-5611 8596 

Melaka Outlet

150 & 150-A, Jalan Merdeka,

Taman Melaka Raya,

75000 Melaka.

Tel : 06-281 9211

SSTwo Mall Outlet

LG55, SSTwo Mall,

No. 40, Jalan SS2/72,

47300 Petaling Jaya,

Selangor.

Tel : 03-7960 4353

Mont Kiara Outlet

 11-G, Jalan Solaris 4,

Solaris Mont Kiara,

50480 Kuala Lumpur,

Wilayah Persekutuan.

Tel : 03-6203 0528

Bangsar South Outlet

GF 13, No. 5, Jalan Kerinchi,

592000 Bangsar South, 

Kuala Lumpur.

Tel : 03-22422621

Organic Beauty Review: Avalon Organics Cellular Renewing Wrinkle Defense CoQ10 Enzyme Skin Care Perfecting Facial Toner

If you're just like me, approaching your 30s or simply have some concerns about aging skin; add to that a preference for organic products, then Avalon Organics' CoQ10 Enzyme Skin Care range could be a perfect match to what you are looking for. I picked up the Perfecting Facial Toner a while ago at the local BMS Organics store at Empire Shopping Gallery, Subang Jaya. I've seen the Avalon Organics brand for many years now, first time in Australia more than 10 years ago, and I remembered that I could easily find it some 8 years ago. It's really an established brand, then one of the few organic beauty and body care brands around. 

Ingredients

Things I know:

Organic Lavender extract, Organic Chamomile extract, Organic White Tea (Camellia) extract, Organic Arnica Montana flower extract, Ubiquinone (CoQ10), Vitamin E, Organic Aloe Vera, Organic Willow Bark, Panthenol (pro vitamin B5), citric acid, Organic Bergamot fruit oil and other essential oils.

I really like the variety of aromatherapy oils and extracts used in this toner. Lavender and Chamomile calms skin, while Camellia and Aloe Vera hydrates skin. Vitamin E and pro vitamin B5 are really powerful antioxidants and strengtheners for skin. And of course, ubiquinone or better known as Co-enzyme Q10 is a powerful anti-aging compound especially effective for the heart, vitality as well as the skin!

Things I'm not so sure about:

Polysorbate 20, vegetable glycerin, ethylhexyglycerin, phenoxyethanol, sodium PCA, Allantoin

Polysorbate 20 is a non-toxic emulsifier (binds oils and water). It should be here as there is a lot of essential oils used in this toner.
Vegetable glycerin is used in place of alcohol to extract botanicals from plants. It's also non-toxic and it's probably used to extract from all the aromatherapy plants. It's also better than alcohol as it dries the skin.
Ethylhexyglycerin is a natural preservative used as an alternative to parabens. Excellent, we all know parabens are so bad for our bodies, simply because parabens can mimic the hormone estrogen, which is known to play a role in the process of breast cancers development.
Phenoxyethanol kills bacteria (when used with other compounds), and is less toxic than sodium azide and doesn't react with copper and lead. This is good, a less toxic bactericide is used - harm what's bad and not us!
Sodium PCA is naturally occurring on our skin and is used here as a moisturiser in the toner
Allantoin is non-toxic and is also used as a moisturiser and smoothens skin.


Benefits:
Tones skin, reactivates skin cells, calms skin, moisturises skin


Personal experience:
I was quite happy with the toner as it lifts off most of the residual make-up and dirt from my skin. The only thing is that it leaves a tingly feeling on my skin that I am not so keen on, but good on you if you do. I absolutely love that Avalon Organics have selected the best ingredients out there that is non-toxic or is naturally occurring on our own skin. I also really enjoy the smell from the lavender and bergamot!

Priced very reasonably, you can find Avalon Organics at BMS Organics. This toner cost much less than RM100! Sorry, I can't remember how much I bought it for...

Molasses - Why is it good for you? (And how to eat it too)

First, let's start off with the boring scientific stuff that lets you know why sticky, sweet, gooey Molasses is so good for you. I always keep it handy in all of our cooking at home and it's excellent when making desserts (including my favourite sweet potato soup, we use molasses instead of gula melaka). Always choose organic, even when it is a power food as harmful chemicals are sometimes used in the making process. Then later, we'll show you why and how you should eat it!

Facts about molasses:

• Most are made from young sugar cane. Some are made from sugar beet.
• There are three grades:
• First molasses - Mild or Barbados
• Second molasses - Dark
• Blackstrap - this you should take! High in calcium, magnesium, potassium and IRON. Excellent for the ladies
• The process of making it is just by boiling the sugar cane juice until concentrated. 
• Second molasses has less sugar and a little bit bitter, because some of the sugar content has been removed from the mixture. It is also good for you - vitamins and minerals.
• Blackstrap molasses has the lowest calorie as most of the sucrose (sugar) content has been removed. It's used as a health supplement and is a power food - one tablespoon provides up to 20% of your daily mineral needs! It's fragrant but not so sweet.

If you've ever tasted it, it might remind you of caramel. Caramel is also made from boiling sugar at high temperatures for some time, and it's pretty much the same way they make molasses. The point is.... Molasses taste so good! If you love caramel, then you would probably like this.

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Okay now for the interesting part:
How and Why you should eat Molasses!

Molasses in cookies 

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Marble Molasses Cake 

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Molasses Spice Cookies 

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Apple Molasses

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Molasses Squares

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If you're not vegetarian...

Bourbon Molasses Chicken

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Molasses Bacon Shrimp

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And my favourite way to use molasses....

Dark Roasted Organic Coffee

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Now go find your favourite way to add this wonderful ingredient to your everyday cooking!

Organic Market @ La Boqueria, Barcelona, Spain

The Spanish sun is undeniably the best in the region, and amid all the economic hustle and bustle, Barcelona still instills much organic creativity. I was travelling from Barcelona to the southern areas of Spain - Valencia, Granada, Seville - and the north again until we ended up in Madrid. But in Barcelona, from the Sagrada to Zara, every inch of the city never ceases to amaze me! And if you are a tourist, you will surely find yourself on a long stretch of souvenir filled road that ends up to the Monument of Christopher Columbus -- La Ramblas. The La Boqueria has been around since the early 1200s (first records of the public market) and you can easily find it at the entrance of La Rambla. 

What's inside La Boqueria?

Inside the public market, you can find a huge variety of foods, from fresh seasonal fruits to jamon ham to seafood caught from the Mediterranean sea. Also, there are a few tapas-style eateries that are normally jam packed during their lunch time (around 1 to 2 pm) and since I have not been accustomed to how they get a seat, I gave up and went to a cafe at a corner just before the exit from the market. It was really good! It's called Petit and they serve very fresh seafood, a good white wine and the lady boss is superbly friendly and helpful. It has a bright blue facade with fresh seafood displayed on a bed of ice.

Ah, diamond in the dust.... for vegetarians!

But what if you are vegetarian and prefers organic food? Well, it was certainly difficult to find a restaurant around the main area in Barcelona that serves organic food. I was quite surprised to see an organic vegetarian take out at the end of the market, with loads of wraps, pitas and even hot food. Organic Market @ La Boqueria has a tag line "Organic is Orgasmic" and yes, its food looked really inviting. Unfortunately I was with a group of meat eating lovers, I did not get to try anything orgasmic :) 

If you're vegetarian and don't really know what else to eat, I'd suggest you just grab a fruit bowl from any of the fruit shops. They are super fresh, plump and sweet and will only cost you a few euros. 

For more information, you can visit La Boqueria's official website here.


La Boqueria is located at: 
Rambla, 91 Mercat de la Boqueria
(Edifici Direcció, 2a planta)08001 Barcelona