"Best smoothie ever!!" recipe :)

I just made the BEST smoothie ever!!

Very simple!

1. Put the following items in a blender:
- some frozen dark cherries
- some almond milk (unsweetened) or rice milk. I like rice milk better :)
- 1 scoop of protein powder
- 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseeds
- 1 tablespoonful of unsweetened cocoa powder (optional, but is DELISH with it!!)

2. Blend them all together! :)

I use this protein powder. It is VERY good.

http://www.kenkobifactory.com/standard-vitamins-soy-protein-powder-21-oz/

Ummm... yummy!!!!

Enjoy the smoothie! :)

Tomoko

PS: My online store, Kenkobi Factory, has many more high quality vitamins and supplements on top of the protein powder I just introduced. Go visit and check it out! www.KenkobiFactory.com.

Anti-aging - a truly workable way!

How to not age or how to stay look young is a girls' forever theme (or guys', too, I guess?). There are so many products being sold to prevent one from aging, it is astonishing! Botox, plastic surgery, "magic" pills, you name it!

Here is my viewpoint on aging:

First of all, it is not a bad thing! It gives sort of a "flavor" to one's feature, or gives some idea as to what kind of life the person has been and is having. If you are always smiling or laughing, and get wrinkles because of that, they give you sort of a "natural happy look" and that's perfectly okay! I think it is very attractive.

Of course, if someone is angry all the time and that gives them the frowning wrinkles, that is not good! But that can be remedied easily by starting smiling more :)

Your spiritual condition/ state of mind affects a lot as to how young/ how old you look. I personally think this factor is more important than anything else. It affects much more than the actual time/ years passed. When someone is very happy and doing well in life, the person tends to look a lot younger!

And, to add to that, if you are eating right, getting proper nutrition and being healthy, you are more lively, energetic and look definitely younger.

Let's live a happy life and stay young!

With love,
Tomoko :)

PS: Antioxidant is known for anti-aging and vitamin E is an excellent supplement for it. You can get it at my online store! www.KenkobiFactory.com.

How to make great coffee - my way! :)

I admit shamelessly that I'm a coffee lover. I looove having a good cup of coffee in the morning. In fact, sometimes I go to bed at night just so that I can have my coffee the next morning! ;)

I usually have only one cup a day, though, but it has to be made VERY good and strong! :)

It seems that the dark roast is very popular nowadays - maybe since Starbucks became popular, I don't know. I like the light or the medium roast being made super strong using the French press.

So today, I wanted to share how to make good coffee, and believe me, I make GOOD coffee! :) Ready?

1. Grind some coffee beans. The amount depends on how strong you want your coffee to be. I use 4-5 scoops, but as I said, I like mine to be super strong. It may be way too strong for some "beginners," so start smaller amount and "work it up." ;)
2. Put the coffee in the French press container.
3. Boil hot water. Make sure to make more hot water than what you are going to drink. You'll know why soon at the step #6.
4. When the water is boiled (like REALLY boiled with it actually bubbling), pour it into the French press container (you only pour the amount you drink) and gently stir it.
5. Put the presser on top. You leave the "lid" at the level where the hot water is (See the photo below. Just like that). In other words, you don't press down the lid to the bottom, yet.
6. Pour the rest of the hot water into your coffee cup to warm it up. This is so that your coffee doesn't get cold by pouring it into a cold cup. This is a VERY important step, to me anyway, as I like my coffee to be served extra hot! :)
7. Wait for 4 minutes.
8. Press down the stuff (I don't know what it's called, really, but you know what I mean).
9. Pour out the hot water from your coffee cup and empty it (don't forget!), and pour your coffee.

And it is ready! :)

I like mine to be black. Once in a while, I put cinnamon. But you can put anything you would like and enjoy your coffee!

Actually, my online store has some great organic coffee beans. Check it out:

http://www.kenkobifactory.com/foods/

Have a GREAT morning! :)

How to make jelly - the plant-based way!

I'm not a vegan or vegetarian. I do eat meat and fish, and I love them. I think everyone's body's different and while some people do great with plant-based foods/protein only, my body doesn't do well, if I eliminate animal protein completely. I feel lethargic, lack of energy and experience water retention.

However, I'm trying to have as much plant-based products as possible, since I feel they are cleaner foods (whether it is correct or not. I just FEEL that way).

Today, I wanted to show you this product called "kanten" - a hardening agent (In English, it is called "agar" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agar). I use this when I make jelly. It is very commonly used in Japan (and I believe in the rest of the Asian countries, too).

OK, here are the photos:

 

I always use kanten instead of gelatin, simply because I just can't handle the idea of gelatin - derived from the collagen inside animal's skin and bones! Ugh....

There are several brands, but make sure to get a powdered one. It's a lot easier to use than solid ones. You can get it at any Japanese Supermarket, such as Mitsuwa or Nijiya here in the US, or at any Asian market, I believe. You can also get it here:

http://www.marukaiestore.com/p-5521-yamashin-rakuraku-kanten-4gx2p-028oz.aspx

(Just to let you know, my online store, http://www.KenkobiFactory.com, is not related to this store at all. This is an online Japanese supermarket which I personally found very convenient)

Let me know how you like it. I would love to get your feedback! :)

Gluten-free veggie pizza recipe

Oh wow - I got so many positive feedback on my last post - mashed cauliflower recipe! Thank you! :)

You know, I used to never cook. I was eating out over 95% of the time. I was always busy, but more than anything else, my cooking skill was SO bad that even I couldn't eat the stuff I made myself - true story!! So I just went out and ate. It was a lot faster and easier, and the foods were better... I THOUGHT. I've learned how restaurant foods are not so good sometimes - we never know what's in there!

So I started learning how to cook. I make everything from the scratch nowadays. It's been just this couple of years that I really cook stuff myself, but I'm getting better. :) And all my recipes are VERY easy to do. :) :)

So I thought I'd share another recipe. This one is "Veggie pancake." It's like Japanese okonomi-yaki, if you know what it is (If you don't know what it is, you can see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okonomiyaki). It's gluten-free, though, for those of you who are on gluten-free diet. :)

OK, here it is:

1. Get a bag of "broccoli slaw." You can get this at most of the stores in the US
2. Stir fry it with salt and pepper
3. Beat eggs
4. Pour eggs onto the stir fried broccoli
5. Fry it both sides, just like you make your pancakes

That's it. Easy, right?

I like to add coconut oil on the top. Or you can also put salsa (here in this photo below, you see I put salsa on the side). But these are optional.

Let me know how you like it. :)

Mashed cauliflower recipe - delicious! :)

See the photo below (sorry - this is not the greatest photo)? Do you know what this "mashed-potato-looking thing" is? It's mashed cauliflower!!

Here is how to make it:

1. Cut up cauliflower and boil it in hot water for about 4 minutes (I like it to be not too soft. If you like it very soft or very creamy, you can boil it longer).
2. Drain the cauliflower.
3. Put it in a blender.
4. Take it out from the blender and put it in a bowl or a plate
5. Taste it however you like it - salt, pepper, butter, garlic, etc.

It is super easy and delicious!!! Try it! :)