Homemade Grass Jelly (Suong sam )

I am so happy and excited because my plant grass jelly finally had enough leaves for me to make some fresh jelly. Yes, this grass jelly is not made from powder but from a plant. The grass jelly is also called suong sam in Vietnam . It is a vine with heart shaped leaves. The leaves are extracted with water using both hands rubbing on leaves back and forth until all the green part in the leaves are out in the water. Strain and collect the green liquid water. Then put a little of the cuttlebone powder to make into jelly. This jelly is very different than any jelly from the store. It is very refreshing, chewy, and it have a cooling effect on the body. The botanical name of this plant is called tiliacora triandra. This is such a natural and yummy dessert!!!

Benefits of Young Coconut Water for Pregnant Women

I am 35 weeks pregnant and after some research I find that drinking young coconut water is very beneficial. I start to drink the young coconut water at 34 weeks. I drink one young coconut water every day or every 2 days. It was said when drinking young coconut water to regularly -especially in the third trimester of pregnancy- the amniotic fluid will be clean and babies born will have clean skin, bushy hair and clear eyes. Young coconut water is not just good for pregnant women but for all ages.



List of benefits:

• A natural isotonic beverage with similar levels of electrolytes as the human body.
• Helps prevent dehydration and relieves exhaustion by replenishing the natural salts lost by the body.
• It is high in chlorides, potassium, and magnesium and has a moderate amount of sugar, sodium and protein.
• Potassium helps regulate blood pressure and heart function.
• Coconut water is also a good source of dietary fibre, manganese, calcium, riboflavin and Vitamin C.
• It is essentially fat free and has zero cholesterol and some studies have reported that it can have some effect on improving "good" cholesterol levels (HDL) in the body.
• Coconut water is a natural diuretic and so increases the flow of urine; this helps prevent urinary tract infections (UTI) as well as reduces the incidence of kidney stones.
• Coconut water also helps relieve constipation, improves intestinal function and promotes digestive health -– it is often recommended to people suffering from acidity and ulcers.
• Young coconut water contains lauric acid, an acid that helps fight disease. Lauric acid contained in coconut water the same as those found in breast milk and has the characteristics of antifungal, antibacterial and antiviral, so maintaining the health of mothers and infants from viruses such as herpes and HIV, protozoa, giardia lamblia and bacteria chlamydia and heliokobater.
• Coconut water can help increase the speed of digestion.
• Pregnant women drink young coconut juice as it will give their babies strength and vitality.
• Good for feeding infants suffering from intestinal disturbances. It kills intestinal worms.
• Eliminates swelling in hands and feet

Homemade Soy Milk

Nice hot soy milk is the best in this cold weather. Soy milk is also good when cold. Homemade soy milk is the best since you can taste more of the soybean and add your own sweetness. It's also cheaper to make your own.



Ingredients:

2 cups soybeans (soak 6 hrs or overnight)
5 liters water
1 cup sugar
6-8 pandan leaves (tie in knots)

Methods:

1. In a blender add in 2 cups of soaked soybeans and about 1 liter water and blend it well. Puree it for a couple minutes. (Remember not to fill the blender all the way as it will spill when blend. Do not need to use the full 1 liter water at a time. Can always add in at the end.)
2. Strain the liquid in a cheesecloth over strainer. Squeeze out the milk. (see below pics.)
3. Repeat until finish with soaked soybeans.
4. Strain the milk again before cooking.
5. Boil the the milk until slowly boiling with pandan leaves. Stir constantly to prevent burning to the bottom of pot. Also, need to keep an eye on the pot or it will boil and spill. Turn heat lower when milk become boiling. Add in sugar and stir well. Taste and add in more sugar if needed. Simmer for another couple minutes before removing from heat.
6. Strain hot soymilk again over cheesecloth before drinking. Let milk cool completely before storing in refrigerator.

Fresh Pennywort Drink (Rau Ma)

This drink was made out of the pennywort that I planted a couple months ago. So refreshing and healthy!!!

Medicinal uses: Pennywort is used for purifying the blood and curing nervous conditions and is said to be 'good for the eyes'. It is also one of the herbs used in tonics to improve the memory. Eating 2 leaves each day is said to relieve the pain of arthritis and it is sold in plant nurseries as 'the arthritis herb'.

This drink also have a cooling effect on the body and great for the skin.



Ingredients:

Fresh pennywort (use enough to fill two blender)
3 bottle of cold water (60 oz)
9 tablespoon sugar


Methods:

1. Wash the pennywort and rinse it many times to get rid of the dirt. If the pennywort is too long then cut it shorter. Use every part of it except the roots.
2. Fill the blender with pennywort and 1 1/2 bottle of water. Blend it until it's smooth.
3. Strain the drink and place the blended leaves back into blender. Now fill the rest of the pennywort in to the blender and add in another 1 1/2 bottle of water. Blend it well.
4. Strain the drink mixture. Using your hand to squeeze out the liquid from the pennywort.
5. Strain again a second time and place some of the drink into a clean blender and add in 9 tablespoon sugar. Blend it until sugar dissolved.
6. Now mix the two liquid together stir to even out the flavor.
7. Serve as it is or with some ice. Refrigerate the left over.

Note: you can add as much pennywort as you want to make the drink more concentrated.

Avocado Shake

This is a little different than the watery shake. It is creamy and best eaten with a spoon. The avocado have to be ripe but not too ripe. The avocado turns purple when ripe. Buy the green one and let it ripe...but still have to be somewhat firm. Too soft mean the avocado is too ripe. If you let the avocado overripe, you'll get roots in them...lol.



Ingredients:

1 avocado
1 tbsp condense milk
1/2 tbsp sugar
3/4 cup ice (best give it a rinse)
1 tbsp milk or water

Put everything in a blender and blend until smooth. Taste to see if you need more sugar. If you want it to be more watery, use more milk or water.