JUICING

Image Source: Healthy Food Team

After my son's wedding more than a year ago, headbands, fabric flowers and everything else were mere distractions.

Truth was, I was becoming somewhat unhealthy. And concerned. My lipid profile wasn't at its best because my LDL rose. I know that we only live once. I'm not a cat. I doubt that I have nine lives.

So, apart from whining to anyone who would listen I thought a little exercise wouldn't hurt aka 'would be good'. I go to a beautiful park near where I live, do 4 large laps (40 minutes) of some really brisk walking, sweat it out, look for a spot on a slope facing east which is where the view of the lake and the gorgeous hills happen to be and do a little sunbathing, just my legs and arms, for some vitamin D. I do some yoga that I can still do (thank god!), swing for happiness on one of those exercise apparatus, under the trees, then a quick zip home for breakfast of blended raw oatmeal, ground flax seeds and honey and occasionally with some fresh orange juice and bananas in it as well.

You see, I've become boring. Too boring to be an interesting cakes and cookies and yummy food blogger. That was why and when I stopped.

Then someone whispered, "Well, blog healthy food then." I heard but didn't take action because healthy food is boring.Think about it, no more cakes, cookies and butter. The idea didn't move me emotionally. I'm a woman who's driven by passion and I wasn't passionate about food without oil, coconut milk, butter, eggs, sugar and other happy ingredients.

Then came juicing because I did juice, once upon a time, until cleaning the juicer became a complete nuisance. That was 12 years ago.

However, juicing got my attention once again when I saw the Breville. Gosh, it's sleek! It's the JE98XL Juice Fountain Plus. It's sleek, I'm telling you, and easy to clean, like 1,2,3. The reviews were great. And that was what I could afford, a mid-range juicer. And I'm passionate about juicing. Well all right, I'm passionate about the juicer too.

I searched for all the reasons to revive juicing and to slip it back into my routine and for the reasons I should spend a few hundred (after conversion) on a juicer. I found tons. Of reasons I mean.

I'm a huge juicing fan now, again. And I honestly think everyone should be too.

Juicing recipes abound. Think : oranges, apples, pineapples, star fruits, rambutans, and yes...Romaine lettuce, bak choy, brocolli, spinach...all those bitter greens that I (and my children) dislike, the tastes of which could be neutralized with squirts of lemon and lime, to fight the cancers, the cholesterols, to meet your daily recommended requirements, to cleanse and give you instant nutrient absorption.

Forgive me, I don't mean to sound like a dogmatic healthier-than-thou, pontificating about the benefits of juicing, but truly the benefits are endless. It's almost a sin not to juice.

Trust me. Check out this gorgeous drooling juicing machine here and drool.

This is what it looks like...Check it out here for a detailed review or go straight to Amazon to get one if you like.

LOLA ROSE ~ HEADBANDS & OTHER GORGEOUSNESSES

These are what have been keeping me busy ~ just in case anyone was wondering ~

Headbands for little girls or big girls ~ I make and sell them at LOLA ROSE
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lola-Rose/719209288119046

They are put together from fabric flowers i handcraft myself ~ Finally i have found something I love doing OUT of the kitchen and without having to wash up after! I also have a fabric flower and brooch bridal bouquet in the making ~ I hope not to disappoint myself. Flower making is awesome....except when you burn your fingers with hot glue from the glue gun ~

I think I have found my calling....to make flowers that don't need watering. 

Have a wonderful day and do pay me a visit at LOLA ROSE ~ flower lovers, headband lovers, fabric lovers  will love this place ~ Promise.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lola-Rose/719209288119046

xxx

Zurina

NIK AND JUN'S WEDDING @ 'THE DUCHESS PLACE'

Yes, it took this long. But it was worth the wait.

Here comes our gorgeous bride ~

Nik and his beautiful Jun bride walked towards the 'pelamin' led by little Amira, the cutest flower girl on earth, accompanied by the rich, mellifluous lyrics of 'Getaran Jiwa' which enveloped the room and hushed the crowd. After the blessings were done they walked back serenaded by Nat King Cole's soft baritone with 'When I fall In Love'. 

                                      ~ The young and the not so young ~

                                 ~ The 'pelamin' or dias ~

~ The brass stand holds a potpourri of sweet rose petals, scented, golden grains of rice, fine strings of fragrant pandan leaves and a vessel for sprinkles of rose water ~ 

                                                              ~ The 'Bersanding' ceremony ~

                                                  ~And so they were blessed ~
                                      ~The Bride's Parents ~

                                          ~ The Groom's parents ~

~And of course.... details are everything ~

Yes, I made the guest book and the signage that you see ~

 ~ Gilded some edges with gold...paint ~

                          ~ used an old earring for the bookmark ~

And on the inside ~  I scalloped and distressed the edges of every page ~ what can I say ...I was happily obsessed ~

As if that wasn't enough I drew lines ~ and stamped vintage-y pictures on every alternate page ~ love the kitty ~

Pretty paper cones my daughter Natalia and her lovely friend Sha made for cupping the appetizers ~ laced them with paper lace and filled them with crunchy seaweed crackers ~ I think the guests enjoyed it...many asked for the recipe ~ 

I sewed linen and lace pouches, added pearls.....fake....hand-stitched aqua roses from organza and made tags ~ then I strung them with pearly blue and white ribbons for prettiness ~

.... and filled them with mints and a pretty rose embellished note that said .." These favour bags were handcrafted with love. Coffee was used to colour them a light brown. Lace was added for delight. Each rose tenderly hand-stitched. But, like love & marriage, perfection is not to be expected. It adds to the charm. " Enjoy &.....

Love heart cards I created to accent the the trays of bridal gifts ....I added the words 'cherish', 'honour', 'respect' and je t'aime' ..

I cut, folded and created scripted brown paper bags with ribbon-y handles, wrapped those special gifts for the main table in pretty floral paper, embellished them with strips of vintage book paper, aqua ribbons and a mini bouquet of flowers.... 

   ~  Fluffy lacey flowers I made to accent the brown gift bags ~

                                               ~ Then I told myself to ~

The hour before ~

The hour after ~

 Love black and whites ~

The usherettes for the evening...my dearest sister in pink, her daughter in red and my daughter's friend ~ 

Our daughter, second from right, and her pretty friends ~ even more usherettes for the evening ~

Me was busy ~ upstairs & downstairs ~

Nik making his speech for the night ~ And the wedding cake that I made...I loved how it turned out...the top tier is covered in a fondant "manuscript" and the bottom tier was decorated to give a fabric and lace effect. ..The vintage theme....

Cutting the wedding cake...that I made.:)

Cutting yet another cake specially made for the lovebirds at the main table ~ :)

~This was what Jun was cutting...and that was why Nik was beaming ~ a chocolate cake piled high with maltesers ~ 

Forgive me for drumming this in ....but yes I made that too.

~ The bestman ...our middle son, Zad ~

Below is the dessert table spread with cakes that yours truly baked, transported and set up...with the help of a dear friend and my dearest sister and her family ~

We served a range of cakes..carrot cake, brownie bottom cheese cake, a dobos torte, apple cake, a fruit tart and many more plus a variety of Malay cakes....In short it was a hit...swiped clean by the end of the evening :) 

                                                          ~ A Dobos Torte ~

A family shot ~ yours truly in white next to my aunt in black ~  My mother in lavender, husband in white standing next to husband of my aunt. 

My husband and his brothers (such serious men all) and their lovely, lively wives ~

With my sister and her lovely girly family ~ our youngest son, Rab, is in the centre between his lovely cousins ~

What they did upstairs before going down to join the guests ~ Little Amira, our flower girl has quite a personality and was adorable :)

                                                 "She did it!"

Nik and Jun with Nik's cousins, my brother's sons, and their wives and little baby Naira~

                                                   With my sweet  nieces 

With lovely sister & parents of our flower girl, first, second and third from left, Amira, and a dose of some good friends ~

My son the groom ~ what's going through his mind?

" Hmmm....do my socks match? "

                                                                   ~  "I'll ask Jun. " ~

                           " Yesssss... It does! woooo hoooo!! "

Best friends. Man and wife. May Allah bless them with good health, long life, happiness, murah rezeki and with beautiful and healthy children.

                          ~ And so I said to myself that...

              ~Love is created when good memories are made ~

xxx

Zurina