Orange Latern

There are so many reasons to cook at home and yet, it is alarming to note that urban dwellers are not having much of it. Studies has revealed that having home-cooked meals as a family regularly leads to healthier and happier beings, especially the kids. A close knitted family through daily get together meals would also most likely to have grown up children who are less likely to abuse alcohol, drugs and smoking in their teenage years. Having home-cooked meals on a regular basis also tends to be healthier as we naturally consume less sugar and processed foods as compared to outside food. Preservatives, MSG, sugar, salt are commonly found in most outside foods for various commercial reasons which usually result in lower energy levels and poor mental health. Having home-cooked meals five or more days a week is even associated with a longer lifespan. Communal meals not only can make us feel happier but also brings along better mental health benefits in the long term. The reason bei...

1. Save Money! Having homemade foods is usually much cheaper than eating out at a restaurant, buying takeaways from roadside stalls or hawkers and buying processed canned foods from super-marts. To do so, one needs to go into some form of preparation should you be keen to embark on this home-cooked journey; Plan several days of meals to save more by buying in larger quantity Make a grocery list and never purchase extra food when tempted by great offers Some leftovers such as rice and soup can be frozen in the fridge and reheated for future consumption, though advise to be consumed within the next 2-3 days. This is possible as most home-cooked food are without additives and MSG. 2. Save Time! Yes, you never heard it wrongly! Home cooking does save time! It might seem to most that driving to a nearby eatery, packing from hawkers, grabbing a quick meal are the usual solutions especially when you are in a hurry. In reality, it can be much faster to cook something at home, es...

Winter time is usually associated with illnesses like colds and flu. We tend to consume vitamins and other dietary supplements which we believe will protect us from these on-off illnesses. However, most of us will still end up with some form of flu and cold symptoms during the winter months. Soup consumption has been known to be a traditional remedy for such illnesses in the olden days from the European continent to the east such as China, Korea & Japan. This practice has been documented from as long back as 4000 years back, as a soothing remedy especially during time of sickness and the winter season. So, why is Soup good for you when you are sick? And its health benefits… Dating back to thousands of years of history, soup has been one of the staple diets in our meals. There’s no doubt that soup is so good for you because of its  nutritional benefits . Research has shown that the ingredients in most soup can help the body boost its immune system and also, a healthy...

There are tons of website designers out there in the market and how do you make a decision and ensure that the end design is what we want- aesthetic feel, functional, seo optimised, good content and user-friendly. Yes, there are many factors to consider and this is why many businesses complain that their website developers go missing halfway through the project. I hope this checklist will help you in your selection and you can decide if you need to out source to a few parties or just one website agency and what will be the price you must be prepared to pay! 1. Who should come out with the content or text? Many businesses forgot about this important factor and assume that this is included in the package! Take note, many website developers are good in IT software, coding and programming, they suck in copywriting! And this is the reason why many websites have unfinished text, grammatical mistakes and incomplete brand messages! If you have no time to write passages for your website ...

There are many Tingkat providers to choose from and they vary a lot in what they serve, where they deliver, and how much it will cost you. Some of them have extra administrative charges and some don’t do deliveries to condominiums. There’s a multitude of factors to consider if you are thinking about ordering a Tingkat and trying to get the most bang for your buck. With so many things to consider, what should you focus on to make your decision? The most important factor in your choice should be what’s on the menu. You may be ordering Tingkat delivery service because you don’t have time to prepare dinner or you may like the convenience. Regardless of whether you are ordering for yourself or for your family, the most important thing is that the food isn’t boring. All Tingkat services have one thing in common and that is the duration that you must stick to their service. You will have to eat whatever is delivered for consecutive weekdays for a month (at least). If you get sick of the...

When you first start working, it can be a hard transition from managing an allowance to managing a proper income in thousands. Though it may seem like you just have more money to spend, there are also a lot more things you need to pay for now as a “financially independent adult”. There are many things to learn on how to budget to make sure you have enough for loans, insurance, investment and future savings. Books and articles will tell you how to budget and fully utilize your income but one thing they don’t tell you is how to be disciplined. If you allocate a monthly budget to food expenses with the intention to save money, do you really think you will spend that little? In Behavioral Economics, there is a term called present bias that describes how people value things now more than they would later. It is a theory that captures our tendency towards immediate gratification — something we have all been guilty of one way or another and is often the thing that derails us from our...

As a working middle income family with kids living in a cosmopolitan city such as Singapore, you are faced with daily challenges such as sending your kids to schools on time, commuting to work in crowded public transport, rushing for a quick bite among the lunch crowd, work challenges faced in workplace, getting knock off on time to pick up the kids, and finally, rushing home to get dinner ready. Yes, this is the lifestyle of the average working class living in Singapore. With this much of activities in a full day, it really kind of drains your energy by the time you are settled down on the bed. Where’s the work-life balance we are talking here? It is no surprise that the younger generations are getting married late, and not to say having kids while they are still fighting for a career. It is however a totally different story altogether for those born in the 70s & 80s like myself. We are faced with the mentioned challenges on a daily basis. Topics will always hover a...

A bowl of piping hot soup is the essence of a good meals for everyone. It is also a nutrition powerhouse, packed with vitamins , proteins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants. For the Chinese, double boiled soup is a must have for almost every meal and this is as important as rice in our diet. That is the same for Korean, they love kimchi soup and the ginseng chicken soup. Actually Chinese soup has alot more varieties than any other culture in the world and the method of cooking soup is almost same for anywhere- throwing all the ingredients in the slow cooker or a pressure cooker. Soup is easy to prepare. After putting all the ingredients in the slow cooker in the morning, a steaming pot of soup will be waiting for the entire family in the evening. And the options for soup of the day are limitless! Soup has medicinal value, have you heard of cooling soup ? Yes, ingredients such as old cucumber and winter melon have cooling effect on the body. So having the right soup for the ri...

We are all growing old and with declining birth rates and the loss of the kampung, Singapore’s ageing population problem is an issue that must be tackled as a country. It is not something to leave to government agencies; it is something we must all do our part to prepare for. In the study “Supporting Singaporeans’ Aspirations in Aged Care”, 998 respondents were surveyed to find out what concerns they had about growing older. Some concerns identified were not being able to care for themselves or carry out their daily living, being financially prepared for old age and worries about being able to live independently and comfortably. There was a clear preference for ‘ageing in place’ or the ability to live in one’s home safely, independently and comfortable, regardless of age, income or ability level with 78% saying that they preferred to stay in their own home. This survey may help explain why your elderly parents or grandparents are stubborn about living on their own. The elder...

From my earlier article of Chinese customary wedding proceedings in Singapore, you would have guessed how ‘busy’ is this life mile stone of mine in my early 30s. Busy! Now, besides wedding invites all year round, you would also have house warming and baby shower celebrations ‘invites from those earlier wedding invites! House warmings are those occasions where a newly wed couple had obtained keys to their public flats after a waiting period of maybe 3-5 years, done some splendid renovations at a cost from anywhere between $30K to beyond $100K, and woolah they are ready to invite family members and friends over to grace their home sweet home. One thing I find most irritating about house warmings is the living space for such big group of gatherings as most are done in public flats which is really not catered for big groups of 10 and above. And you would usually have 20-30 pax coming at about the same timing. The joy of going for such occasions is catching up with old friends and t...

Wholesale Food suppliers Singapore are those who act as sales agents between manufacturers and F&B owners, or in certain cases, individual customers. Generally, a wholesale food distributor operates out of a warehouse or food storage facility. There is a vast array of food products distributed each day by wholesale suppliers, and these include dairy and meat products, vegetables and fruit, seafood, frozen goods, and confectionery. Wholesale Food Distributors who specialize in certain items can also be found in today's marketplace. Food wholesalers usually deal in grocery products, while systems distributors typically specialize in items such as spices, seasonings, coffee and tea. There are also specialty wholesalers who focus on the distribution of dairy products or poultry. A. Clientele base  As previously mentioned, wholesale food supplier generally operate from a warehouse and do not usually conduct business with walk in customers, as displays of their products a...