Recommended nutrient intakes

I got curious about this issue because I watched a Facebook reel which said most Americans are consuming more than the recommended daily intake of protein, and that excess protein can actually harm cardiovascular health -- it contributes to build-up of plaque in arteries, which can lead to heart attacks and strokes. 

According to the US Department of Agriculture, every 100g of cooked skinless chicken thigh contains 24.6g of protein, and 100g of eggs contains 12.6g of protein. Fun fact, about 60-65% of the egg's weight comes from the egg white and a 2023 study found that "protein content in the egg white is 10.9% w/w and 15.9% w/w in the egg yolk" ("w/w" meaning "weight on weight, a measurement used in chemistry)... so there is slightly more protein in the yolk, but not by much. 

One chicken thigh varies in weight depending on size, of course. I was in the supermarket today and chicken thighs were sold in packs of two, which ranged from 296g per pack to 432g per pack. So one thigh is about 150g to maybe 215g depending on size. I usually have one thigh with lunch every day (in addition to vegetables and a bit of rice). So that would be at least 36.9g of protein at the lower estimate of weight.

Based on my research, it seems that Grade A or large eggs in Malaysia are about 60-70g each depending on supplier. So if you eat 2 eggs a day, you're getting between 15.12g to 17.64g of protein, if my calculations are correct. Let's go with the lower number, to be conservative. So one chicken thigh + 2 eggs = at least 52g of protein a day.

General protein intake recommendations are at least 0.8g of protein daily per kg of body weight to prevent deficiency. I definitely weigh more than 41.6kg. Hmmm. The Mayo Clinic adds that people over 40 or 50 need more protein to prevent losing muscle mass, also known as sarcopenia, which tends to come with aging (I assume this applies to sedentary and non-athletic people; the article didn't specify). They recommend 1-1.2 g of protein per kg.

Nutrient intake is tricky because it is measured by the weight of the food, which makes sense from a scientific viewpoint, but when we buy food we generally think of bunches or pieces (biji!), not weight. The World Health Organisation recommends consuming 400g of fruits and vegetables daily, but what does 400g even look like? One pack of shiitake mushrooms from Jaya or Village Grocer is 150g and one pack of baby spinach leaves is 100g, I know that much. I definitely cannot eat a whole pack of mushrooms and baby spinach leaves in a day. How could anyone possibly reach the 400g requirement? 

I also don't know how many grams four slices of papaya or quarter of a dragon fruit are -- things that I quite often eat. Working in the dark here. 

Air-fried chicken drumsticks recipe

Discovered an absolutely delish way to airfry chicken drumsticks (or thighs). 

Marinade with 

• Onion powder

• Garlic powder

• Salt

• White pepper

• Oregano 

• Mayonnaise (apparently it makes the chicken stay juicy and tender)

• Optional: Nutmeg powder (I used it because I had it) 

Airfry 10 mins, flip drumsticks airfry another 10 mins. 

I did not BELIEVE they could be so delicious from something so simple. Not crispy but sooooooo yummy. I later tried this with chicken thighs too, as I prefer thighs to drumsticks. Still worked a charm -- pic as evidence 🤣 (I know it is not a great pic... I couldn't be bothered with plating beautifully cos I was eating the thigh by itself, with no other accompanying dishes 😂) 

AI slop is permeating the Internet and nobody is noticing

I started reading on Wattpad sometime last year, drawn to GroveltoHeA's stories. But recently I've noticed that so many of the Wattpad stories (by other authors) are starting to have the same staccato cadence of writing: with just one or two sentences per paragraph, as if a paragraph cannot hold a full thought. 

It's like these authors are all writing the same way. There's no variety, no distinctive way of recognizing one author's style from another. It's giving AI, and it's very disappointing. I mean, I don't know for sure if they are using AI or not, but it doesn't make sense for everyone to be writing the same way all of a sudden.

I also see this in a lot of shared Facebook posts -- the human interest stories. But what is scary is that no one seems to be noticing. I saw people in my reading groups commenting, "Oh, this was a good story" but could you not see that the writing was so stilted and canned? 

What this is telling me is that people can't tell good writing from bad. And the people that can tell are slowly being "trained" not to notice, because guess what? When you read the same type of thing often enough, it becomes normal and your brain stops telling you that hey, this piece of writing isn't up to the usual standards, because the "usual standards" have slipped down. 

And, AI is just going to continue spotting out more of the same, because AI is trained on stuff posted on the internet, so AI will scrape Wattpad and then be all like, "Yes, this confirms the pattern! This is desirable!" and then we are all screwed. 

This is all very depressing to me. Writing is supposed to be a creative endeavour. Like all forms of art, it's about self-expression, giving form to your thoughts and feelings and ideas. You express yourself in a way that is unique to you. The way you write, your voice, is personal. The idea that a piece of writing produced by AI can be just as good is antithetical to the whole point and reason for writing. 

When breakfast looks super presentable hehe

Very proud of this breakfast, so must post! Hahaha. I took a bite of it before I realised that, hey it looks quite impressive & Instagrammable, should take photo 🤣

Had time this morning due to the Hari Raya Aidilfitri holiday, so I put this together. Poached egg, avocado, and "herbs & spices" cream cheese spread on buttered sourdough bread. 

I used a shortcut for poaching the eggs: Fill a medium-sized bowl halfway with water, crack a raw egg into the water. Microwave for 1 min 20 secs (timing depends on your microwave and how done you want your yolk to be; it took a bit of experimentation to discover the perfect timing for mine). Scoop out the egg and serve. 

This Arla brand is the cream cheese spread I used. I like the tanginess and that it doesn't just taste like cheese, if that makes sense? It doesn't taste sweet, more savory. 

Loved the breakfast, 10/10 would do again. If only all mornings could be this leisurely! 

I'm in my cooking era

Today, I: 

• Googled whether baby spinach leaves are safe to eat raw... while eating them raw (with buttered sourdough bread and garlic & herb cream cheese spread)

• Spent some time reading up on the difference between poached eggs and coddled eggs

• Watched videos about how to make poached eggs

• Tried making a poached egg in the microwave (fill a medium-sized bowl with water up to halfway, crack an egg into it, microwave for about 1 minute 20 secs... I tried 2 mins first and it was way overcooked, then did another for 1 min 10 secs and it was slightly undercooked) 

• Watched videos on how to make miso soup 

• Watched a video by a Japanese chef (speaking English) on how to identify if store-bought miso paste contains dashi pre-mixed into it, or is sweetened

• Watched videos showing how to cook Japanese curry in the Instant Pot using store-bought cubes of roux (I have a Philips pressure cooker, not the Instant Pot, but I'm pretty sure the pressure cooking function works the same way on both)

• Asked a friend whether the extra virgin olive oil I'd bought was suitable to be used for cooking food in the air fryer 

• Looked at various brands of hand blenders on Shopee because I want to make pumpkin soup and don't want to have to wash a whole blender (I do have a bullet blender, which I've never used 🙈)

• Put off the decision about buying the hand blender cos it's not urgent and I literally just bought a mini 1.6L Cornell multicooker and the Ninja Crispi air fryer like three weeks ago. How many gadgets does one need, anyway? (All of them!!!!)

• Did NOT cube and airfry the butternut squash that I had planned to cube and airfry, because I didn't feel hungry so I skipped dinner 

Tried & tested: Cooking frozen salmon in the microwave

I got the idea for this when I bought this prepacked salmon, complete with herbs and cherry tomatoes and butter and all. It's frozen -- all you need to do is pop it into the microwave for 4 or 5 mins and viola! It's ready to eat. 

After I tried it, I thought: I'm sure I could make my own. If salmon can be microwaved without thawing first, I can buy my own salmon slices, marinade them, then freeze them... and when I want to eat them, I can just take one out and microwave it, and it should work the same way. 

Well, I'm happy to announce that it did work the same way 😂

Microwaved frozen salmon

Marinade salmon fillet with salt/light soy sauce, pepper, and a dash of Worcestershire sauce. Chuck into freezer. 

When you need a quick meal, take salmon out of freezer, rub rosemary powder and dill flakes onto the frozen fillet, and place in a microwave-safe dish. No need to defrost!!

Place a cube from of a stick of garlic & herb butter on top of the salmon fillet. Pop in the microwave on medium heat for 2 minutes. 

Turn over and microwave on medium heat for another 1.5 mins (depends on the thickness of the fillet). 

Yes, there is such a thing as too much cheese

I made quiche again yesterday and this time I discovered that you can definitely have too much cheese in a dish, something which I did not believe before 🤣 So it is overly salty and the cheese taste is overwhelming. Oh well... still edible, as Em says, but this will teach me not to be greedy lol. 

I don't actually measure out my ingredients except for the 6 large eggs. I go by packs -- one pack of mushrooms, one-and-a-half packs of baby spinach leaves -- I put in nearly two packs of cheese, so now I know one pack should be sufficient. 

And I forgot to layer the container with baking paper first because I was so focused on putting down my layers of ingredients. Luckily it's glass and therefore should be easy to wash. If metal, once any melted cheese gets stuck to it in the baking process, that would be a pain and a half.