Snacks

Ever since I met up with my health conscious friend who kept nagging that I was having unhealthy fried food, I am more conscious when I visit the supermarts to shop for snacks. There is more self-restraint to reach out for my favourite chips....
Today, noticed something new under the snack section on nuts....
NATURE'S WONDERS~the healthier snack~Fruits & Nuts Fusion
(pdt of Malaysia from Tai Sun)

Compared to other brands, it is a good pack of 130g at $2.50 which has a good mixture of Cashew Nuts, Almonds, Pistachio Kernels, Roasted Grams, Golden Raisins & Sun Dried Figs.
It sure taste healthier without added salt and peanuts that other more expensive brands usually came with. Ok, C, I am very obedient, right?

Jack fruit

Another fruit in season around Jun/July. Saw the hugh pieces of Jack fruit bulbs being removed and arranged nicely by the fruit vendors for sale. It sure looked attractive and recalling a recent sampling of the fruit cooked in Sri Lankan Curry, I couldn't resist to purchase a packet though mum had expressed concern about the heatiness of the fruit which the vendor kindly advised that by washing the bulbs with lightly salted water before consumption, it can help reduce the heaty effect of the fruit. Another wonder of salt.:-)


And guess what? Was told the seed of the Jack fruit is edible too if boiled or roasted. I tried boiling it and it softened to taste much like the chestnuts.

Searching the internet for its nutritional value, was impressed that it is not only rich in dietary fiber which is good for the colon, its combination of Vitamin A & flavonoid pigment aids in antioxidant and vision functions but it is also rich in Vitamin B & C and good source of minerals such as potassium and iron. Wow...will eat more while it is in season...:P

Vegetarian Snack Time!

D visited a fair and bought this Brown Rice Biscuits (a product from Taiwan).
Tasted like those cone biscuits for ice-cream and it states "Lacto-Vegetarian" (allows dairy pdts) on the packaging and yes, it goes well with ice-cream.:-)

Ingredients:
Flour, Pearl Barley, Brown Rice, Peanuts, Sugar, Butter, Whey protein, Salt, Vitamin E.

Vegetarian Snack Time

What a cute attractive packaging!

B bought me this packet of seaweed from local supermart, a product of Thailand -
Roasted Seaweed Giant Sheet.
Extremely crispy maybe bec of its Ziploc package and individually wrapped.
1st time tasted Seaweed so crispy/crunchy and Sweet!
It is stated as 100% Vegetarian.

Ingredients on label: Seaweed 98%, Salt 0.5%, Sugar 1%, Pepper 0.5%

Vegetarian Snacktime!

Another snack from Taiwan, and just found besides at Vegetarian supply shop, it is also now easily available at Supermart too: Blueberry Yogurt Flavor Wafer. Maybe beceause of the yogurt ingredients? It has a refreshing peppermint taste and is mild sweet compared to similar products.

Ingredients stated: Wheat flour, corn starch, milk powder, sugar, glucose, corn oil, blueberry powder, flavoring (blueberry flavor, yoghurt flavor), raising agent (E503(ii), E500(ii)).

Burdock Fibrous Shredded

This had been prepared in resemblence to the meat floss in vegetarian version (no Fried food, no Preservatives, no MSG) which tasted great with porridge.:-)
A product from Taiwan with main ingredients: Burdock, Non-GMO soy protein, Olive Grape-Seed Oil, Sunflower Oil, Cane Sugar, sesame, Pea Powder, Wheat Protein, Salt & Vegetarian seasoning.

Had been looking for it for a long time since last tried it in India/Sri Lanka last Dec and I happen to discover this vegetarian shop : Ko's Vegetarian Pte Ltd while exploring the Xin Ming/Shunfu estate. In there, I found my other favourite snacks such as the Vegetarian Buckwheat Seaweed Cookies . :-)



It's a comparative neat air-conditioned shop which is a great contrast to other shops in an old HDB estate (Blk23, Sin Ming Rd, #01-33) that caught my attention. Half of it is an area selling instant vegetarian supplies & snacks while the other half is a Buddhist bookshop promoting mainly Dharma books of Venerable Master Yin Shun & Venerable Master Tai Xu as well as a small section of Dharma book free distribution section. I was told the shop may be only one of the 2 in Singapore that you could find works of the 2 Great Masters. Opening hours generally 10am-6pm daily , rest alternate Sunday, manned by Venerable De Zhen from PKFT who is ever friendly to introduce one to good books.

Great to discover another interesting shop amidst my foodhunt mission. :-)

Vegetarian Snack Time!

Visited Tian Yuan at #02-23 Fortune Centre to top up my stock & the lady boss recommended this new snack: Vegetarian Buckwheat Seaweed Cookies.
Inside has many individual packs, much like crispy rice crackers & each with crispy seaweed sheet.
Quite Good snack as it gives you a filling sensation easily.:-) And price is quite reasonable.

It's another product of Taiwan with ingredients stated as follows:
Millet, brown rice, malt, bitter buckwheat, peas, black seasame, seaweed tablets, natural non-hydrogenated vegetable oils (no trans-fat)

Sugar Apricot

Wow, another fruit in season! This mini peach like fruit recommended by the fruit vendor is actually Sugar Apricot. It's actually a 2 in 1 fruit as you just need to wash & eat the fruit without peeling of skin & the unappealing seed inside which is inedible contains Almond that you need to smash the seed with the help of an hammer to get it. It's real interesting & fun for the 1st timers deriving their own almonds instead of off-shelf purchase. :-)

Apricot is known to be rich in natural sugar, calcium and vitamins, beneficial in treatment of constipation & aid digestion process if consumed before a meal.

Vegetarian Snack Time!

Vegetarian Supplies just at the small shop beside left of Toa Payoh MRT entrance!

I was amazed when I pass by the little shop on left side of Toa Payoh MRT station, before the escalator to HDB Hub. I had noticed it started selling a small variety of Vegetarian pastries months ago and now even Vegetarian Supplies! Though it is not a full pledged vegetarian shop, impressive enough. It now has bread & pastries from Yes Natural & Su Ya (the vegetarian bakeries), vegetarian tidbits, dry supplies like instant noodles, chilli sauce, etc. & frozen products (though not well arranged in the freezer) as well!

Must support it & hopefully it can survive well.
Ya, ya, that's the glutton me having a soft spot for tidbits:P,
I bought the HAW YUANG Seaweed cracker which is a product of Taiwan that boasts of using Japan Sea salt & technology to process the crackers.
Well, worth the price, as it is crispy without the fishy seaweed smell that some other brands had.:-)

Ingredients; Flour, Starch, Veg oil, Rice, Soy Sauce, Salt, seaweed, Sesame
Imported by Friendly Vegetarian Food Supplier

Vegetarian Snack Time!!

New tidbits produced in Indonesia discovered at a Vegetarian outlet visited.
Mini Conz - Mini Corn Sticks that came in 3 flavours: Roasted Corn, Chocolate & Cheese. On one munch, one may thought it does contain MSG but its Package had specifically indicated as no MSG added. Personally I prefer the Roasted Corn flavour.
On its package, it had indicated as Suitable for Vegetarians with ingredients of :
Corn, Vegetable Oil, Sugar, Corn Powder, Milk Powder, Salt, Roasted Corn Flavour, Permitted Food Colouring, Tartrazine CI 19140 (E102).

Burdock Mock Meat Floss

In the recent tour to India and Sri Lanka, in order to avoid possibilities of being unused to the local Indian food, we usually enjoyed some additional side-dishes shared by our tour-mates. Amongst the list are the Pickled Cai-Xin, Olive vegetables, Belajan chilli and quite a number of own-made vegetarian delicacies such as above, a delicacy of mushroom stalk fried with ginger (must recall the recipe given by the vegetarian auntie:P) which finished within one round of sharing.

Another recommendable instant product is this Burdock Fragrant Fibrous Shredded brought by our Malaysian tour-mates. It is also a product of Taiwan and I believe should be available in Spore too. How good is it? It received quite a good comment from those non-vegetarians too.

Along the journey, on the coach, we also shared our own favourite tibits like the ginger slices, Ba Xian Guo, lemon slices, of different varieties from different countries (now I know what's good other than my HK Plum Ginger or HouBao which they also like:-) ) and it is great to exchange pointers where we could get them. It is also like a cultural exchange on food for the trip. :-)

Instant Veggie Buns

Wow, went to supermart recently & a peep at the frozen instant food section saw many variety of buns. Was surprised to find this famous Abalone brand selling other products and included vegetarian mini-buns & mantous!

The yellowish squarish buns are their Wholemeal Pumpkin Mini Mantous and shown in the lower picture are their Mushrooom Mini buns. Their texture are quite nice, as good as those bought from stalls. And it is easy to prepare, just have to steam them, a good alternate consideration for breakfast. :-)

Organically Grown Raisins - Jumbo Size

Not much of a raisin lover, however, I fell in love with it when my colleague gave me a box of the Sunview "Organically Grown Raisins " (Jumbo size!) . It is much juicer & tastier & not too sweet as compared to the traditional raisins.

It can be found under the Organic section of most supermarts.

They have the minibox pack version that made it easier for you to travel with & share with friends. For most who really love it, they even have the hugh tin versions! And they have 3 versions: Red, Black and Green grapes. Try them and find out which version you like better!!!

A quick search on benefits of raisins showed that raisins help with eyesight, oral hygiene and they act as antioxidants. A healthy snack...

Tips: try get them (tin) at wet Market fruit stalls (cheapest I get is $7per tin but costed at least $2 more at supermarts)

Pickled Cucumber

A more healthier snack is fresh vegetables.

I found this at Daiso, the $2 supermart:

Japanese Seasoning for pickled cucumber in mustard :

It comes in 3 small packets in the bigger package on topmost picture.

Ingredients: mustard, glucose, salt, soy sauce, (soybean, wheat, salt, water), vinegar, kelp, turmeric, seasoning, Vit C, alnm, xtanthan, gum, enzyme

According to the drawings on the label, just pour the small packet into a bag of sliced cucumber (The Japanese type of cucumber is more recommended as it is more crunchy), tie it up and let it marinate by itself.

To better marinate it, I mixed it with some water , just about 2 tablespoon (Not too much water is to be mixed as the cucumber itself will release its own water content after sometime) and sealed it in those lunchboxes and put it into the fridge. After 2-3 hrs later, I have my lightly pickled cucumber.

It is quite a success as my mum loves it. It kind of tasted like wasabi sauce but much lighter than wasabi. A refreshing taste. :-)

Vegetarian Snack Time!!!!

Was recommended this German organic chocolate brand and love it!

Organic Dark Mint from VIVANI~ The Art of Chocolate

Its mint is really refreshing and dark chocolate smooth but not too bitter...

Ingredients:

Dark chocolate: cocoa mass, raw cane sugar, cocoa butter, butterfat.
Peppermint filling: raw cane sugar, wheat glucose syrup, peppermint oil.

Cocoa solids: 68% minimum.
And note *May contain traces of almonds & hazelnuts. (not peanuts as some other brands :-))

Organic milk chocolate with whole hazelnuts, see the nuts in the picture? The hazelnuts are Really fresh & crunchy though the milk chocolate tastes normal in comparison.

Ingredients: raw cane sugar, hazelnuts(26%), cocoa butter, whole milk poweder, cocoa mass, cream powder, skimmed milk powder, bourbon vanilla.

Cocoa solids: 32% min

Milk siolids: 18%
*May contain traces of almonds & wheat.

You can get them in most organic shops, price wise, slightly more expensive than general brands in supermarket (organic mah...) but well, pamper yourself once in a while....:P

Vegetarian Snack Time!!!!

Must try!!!!

I got this Crispy Cereal Cracker from Kg Senang's stall during Vesak @ kmspks.

The actual cracker looks per picture, it comes in 7 mini packs with thin piece of crispy cracker and be careful, it is fragile....

In good form of 1 whole piece, while eating it, you really feel being pampered and blessed with such a delicacy.

On top of the wheat cracker, one can find:

Sesame seeds, Soybean, Pumpkin seeds, Cashew nuts, Mung bean seeds, Pearl barley, Brown rice.

Nutritious & delightfully tasty, a touching sensation arouse when you put it in your mouth...too sentimental???:PP

Nutri Mate is a product from Thailand, imported by The Sukha House Pte Ltd.

Vegetarian Snack Time!!!

Hmm, these moon shaped biscuits which I also got from Yes Natural's stall at Vesak@Orchard may not look appetising but its taste is superb, very fragrant, filling & rich that when I offered to non-vegetarian colleagues, they all asked where they could get them.:-)
Each box comes in 2 small packets but if you eat a packet by yourself (which you couldn't stop after 1 piece :P), you could easily have overfilling sensation after finishing alone...so do try to stop yourself or share with friends...

Biscuits - Red Yeast (Vegan) flavour
Yes Natural's Yue Liang Biscuits (Happy Moon) in shapes of moon crest
Ingredients stated on label: unbleached flour, butter, Pumpkin Seeds, Sunflower seeds, non-GMO Soy Beans, sugar, Sesame , rice (No pesticides, no chemical, fertilisers), wheat gems, oats bran, red yeast, salt, sodium-bicabonate

Taiwan mfgr: Tsan Yu Yen Food, Ltd.
Agt: Yes Natural Trading PL

Perhaps the Taiwanese needs to improve in their English translation as the word, "butter" referred in Chinese version is not what we literally known as butter in English which is not considered as vegetarian...

Vegetarian Snack Time!!

I think Yes Natural is a new participant to this year's food fair at Vesak@Orchard. Glad to find it promoting what's been proclaimed as healthy snacks there.

The Organic Brown Rice Rings, come in both cheese & chocolate flavour. The rings tasted very much those cheesy corn snacks/morning cereal. I chose its chocolate flavour which is actually covered with a layer of cocoa coating.

Do keep it in air-tight containers if you couldn't finish to preserve its crispiness.

Vegetarian Snack Time!

Another healthy snack that you could often see in vegetarian shops.

Oven baked Brown Rice crackers

Ingredients: Brown Rice, Sesame, Cane Sugar

Pdt of Malaysia
180gms at $3.50

Vegetarian Snack Time!

SNACK TIME!
Into my new job with lots of overtime expected, I decided to stock up some snacks. While exploring the area around my new workplace, I found this shop: The Organic Paradise Pte Ltd, well hidden from the busy human traffic and according to the owner, they had been there for more than 10 years.

I decided to try the Organic Sunflower Seed Biscuits 90gm at $2.80.
It comes in small pieces, similar to those Pumpkin seed cookies with maltose found in small packets. This pack tasted quite crunchy, and its maltose has a slight sesame & ginger-like fragrance that I found myself addicted and finishing the pack fast.:P
Sigh, i can forsee myself putting on weight in just a week's time. :-(

According to the label, it is Certified organic (raw material) by : BSC Oko-Garamite of Germany.
Ingredients:Organic Sunflower Seed, sesame seed, organic apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, maltose, Himalaya crystal rock sugar

Sounds quite healthy? :-)

It also comes in several flavour, including black sesame, pumpkin and brown rice...
Personally, I prefer the brown rice version...:-)