Category: Cooking

Cooking, Gardening

Gardening: Bok choy

green scientist

Bok choy is similar to Chinese (napa) cabbage. This can be good vegetables for wanton noodle and winter hot pot. Just like Chinese cabbage, bok choy can grow in water and soil.

For small doses, because bok choy contains glucosinolates, it helps prevent cancer. However, big doses of bok choy can be toxic.

Let’s start growing bok choy.

  1. Cut one inch from the bottom

img_5503

2. Put them in water

img_5505

3. Change water every day

4. After a week, transplant into soil

5. Keep growing

 

Cooking

Cooking: Benefits from Apple Cider Vinegar

green scientist

I introduced cheap energy drink with Apple Cider Vinegar before (link). I would like to share the benefits about Apple Cider Vinegar by this cheap solution.

img_5375

  1. Whitening your teeth
    • Apple Cider Vinegar is known to remove stains and whiten your teeth. This effect starts showing up after several weeks of drinking the same cheap energy drink introduced in this link.
  2. Help lower high blood pressure
  3. Digest food well
    • Drink about 20 mins before your meal
    • Feel good every morning after drink at night
  4. Get energized
    • Works better with honey in this case
  5. Good to understand what you are drinking with just three items (Water, Apple Cider Vinegar, and Honey) without a lot of overhead
    • This is the simplest solution that I found over years 🙂

First, you might not like the taste of vinegar. After you adjust amount of honey, you will feel comfortable with drinking it twice a day.

One caution is strong pH in Apple Cider Vinegar can hurt your gums. So, I would recommend to use straw most of time 🙂

Cooking, Gardening

Gardening: Grow Green Onion Part 2

green scientist

I love to watch green onions grow everyday. I am always amazed how strong they are and they can add unique taste to cooking.

img_5353

Here are the steps for growing green onions forever! No need to buy more from grocery stores any more and they are organic at home 🙂

  1. Get a planter and organic soil

img_5347

2. Fill soil into the planter

img_5348

3. Place green onions that already have their roots grown under water for about one week. Please check Part 1 instruction here about growing green onions under water.

img_5352

4. Separate green onions about 2 inches. Finish planting

img_5354

5. Pour water every morning. For cooking, keep cutting the green side from the top and leave 2 inches from the bottom for them to keep growing 🙂

Cooking, Gardening

Gardening: Grow Green Onion Part 1

green scientist

I love watching vegetables grow gradually every day. One easy and strong vegetable is green onion. Here are how I grow green onions.

  1. Cut and leave 3 cm (about 1 inch) short from the root
  2. Place the cut green onions into water and leave them for a couple of days
  3. Change water every day till you see the green onion and roots grow
  4. You can keep growing this way under water. They only last till they run out of nutrient from the roots
  5. Or you can use a planter after you grow roots 🙂

The picture below is after two days. Note that the dark green portion is grown after the green onions were cut for the first time.

img_5346

Cooking

Cooking: Cheap Food Processor

green scientist

I learned that doing prep-work over weekends is very efficient for busy weekday cooking. A cheap food chopper (recommend Brieftons QuickPull Food Chopper in the picture below instead of expensive food processors) is very helpful for cutting vegetables into small pieces. I cut onions into small pieces and don’t need to cry anymore.

  1. Cut vegetables into big pieces first
  2. Place the big pieces of vegetables inside the chopper
  3. close the lid
  4. Pull the string a few times – The more times you pull, the smaller pieces they will be.
  5. Get small pieces out of the chopper and ready for cooking or store them in the ziplog 🙂

One cabinet is a little difficult to clean the blades, but recommend to soak them in water and dry them.

Cooking

Cooking: Preparation

green scientist

I feel that big overhead for cooking after work is preparation. So, I usually do all prep-work during weekends. For example, I buy cheap ziplock bags at a doller shop and cut veggies and store them in a refrigerator or freezer. This saves a lot of efforts on cooking during weekdays and save time and $$$. Here are the steps.

  1. Get cheap ziplock bags
  2. Cut vegetables, fish and meat
  3. Organize them for one meal in ziplock bags
  4. Store them in refrigerator or freezer
  5. Cook during weekdays without too much overhead 🙂