Orange Chicken

Ingredients:

3 x boneless chicken breasts - cut into 1 inch squares
2 tbsp oil
5 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1 inch ginger finely chopped
3 spring onions finely chopped
zest of 1 orange
1/2 cup green beans cut into pieces (or sugar snap peas whole)
1 red pepper chopped up into 1 inch pieces
1 cup peeled and finely chopped cucumbers
2 drops sesame oil

For the sauce:
3/4 glass orange juice
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp soya sauce
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar (or whatever white vinegar you have)
3 tbsp mirin (if you don't have it use grape juice, sherry or even white wine)
1 tsp cornstarch mixed in 1/4 cup water
2 dried red chillies or 1 fresh jalapeno pepper

Method:

1. Heat the pan and add the oil to it. When the oil is hot add the chicken pieces and cook on HIGH until golden brown on both sides- about 3-6 minutes.


2. Add the spring onions and saute for 1 minute


3. Add the ginger, garlic, and orange zest and saute for 1 minute


4. Add the red peppers and beans and saute for 2 -3 minutes.


5. Mix all the ingredients of the sauce except the cornstarch into a glass.


6. Add the sauce mixture to the chicken and cook on HIGH until the sauce starts to bubble and boil. Allow to boil for 2-3 minutes stirring constantly.


7. Add the cornstarch mixture and stir - the sauce will start to thicken immediately.


8. When the sauce is as thick as you want it to be, add the chopped cucumbers.


9. Add the sesame oil and give it a good stir.


10. Serve immediately with rice.

Chickpea salad with Yogurt

Ingredients:
1 can chickpeas
1 tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon whole cumin
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
2 dried whole red chillies (or use 1 fresh green chili)
3 tablespoons plain yogurt
1/4 cup finely chopped herbs (basil, cilantro or mint)
salt to taste

Method:

1. Open the can and rise well the chickpeas. Allow all the water to drain out. Place in a large bowl.
2. In a small pan heat the oil. Add the mustard seeds, whole cumin and chillies and fry until the mustard seeds pop. Make sure not to burn the mixture.
3. Add spice mixture to the chickpeas and mix.
4. Add the yogurt. Mix well.
5. Add the chopped herbs and mix well.
6. Add salt to taste.
7. Can be served cold or at room temperature.

Israel's Peace

I am laughing as I write this blog. Laughing at how low humanity has become. It's the feeling that comes after you cry about the downfall of something, when things continue going down and crying seems redundant - you laugh. Today I am laughing about Israel's pathetic claims of peace.

For those of you who have been reading the news, in the past few days, Israel has blown up a hospital which housed one of only 2 neonatal units and intensive care units in Gaza, children on incubators were taken on the street and most of them did die. While I am now beyond outraged at the brutal genocide that Israel is committing, I am also deeply saddened by the international community's inability to stop it. What does this mean? It means that legitimate forms of world governance are useless. The only things that matters is who is stronger and who will persevere. While it is true that in the middle east Israel is stronger, it is also true that the the Palestinians and Lebanese have a way of persevering over this neo-Nazi country.

But this is not what I want to talk about today. I want to talk about this pathetic 'unilateral cease fire' that Israel has agreed to. Firstly, Israel UNILATERALLY COMMITTED GENOCIDE, Israel UNILATERALLY COMMITS APARTHEID and Israel UNILATERALLY MURDERS INFANTS (Oh how the Israelis must be so proud of their sons who have turned into baby killers!). And now Israel wants "unilateral cease fire". The problem with this statement is you cannot decide something unilaterally - not when you destroy a land, take away all the resources and treat the legal owners of the land as slaves. You also cannot make unilateral peace with the US because the US is not at war with you. It would be like me making a unilateral agreement with my friend in which I agree to stop killing those I was killing earlier - it has no value. On one hand, Tzipi was signing a document in Washington and at the same time, the IDF put a missile into a high rise building which was FULL of residents sleeping. What kind of cease fire is this??

Also, I want it stated here first - ISRAEL HAS LOST THE WAR IN GAZA. The unilateral cease fire is no more than a surrender notice to Hamas. Israel said at the onset of this genocide campaign that they would remove Hamas. They will never be able to succeed and they have not been successful. Hamas can only be neutralized when the need of a militant organization fades, and that is when there is real peace and statehood for the Palestinians. The Israelis committed despicable acts of war crimes, became baby kills, undertook a "cleansing" that equated to genocide and of the 1200 people that they butchered, more than 800 were women and children. You could argue that the rest were Hamas - but this would imply that every male Palestinian over the age of 15 is a militant - which if it were true, Israel would be fighting with an army as big as it's own. So likely the number of actual Hamas fighters killed are pretty low - and low enough to not really matter.

So what happens now? Israel has been unable to destroy Hamas (as it was unable to destroy Hezbollah), Israeli troops will continue to stay in Gaza and kill more kids (because even though they signed the cease fire - it doesn't actually apply to the IDF) and Hamas will grow stronger. I believe it is a fair statement to make that Israel has exponentially increased the risk for it's population and the diaspora because of the genocide it committed. If Israel hoped to achieve anything with these acts of genocide in Gaza - it has failed. It has once again proved that Israel has only the muscle but not the brain to actually protect it's own people.

Israel has also shown the world that it is capable of using weapons of mass destruction (the white phosphorous), that it does not value life or democracy and that basically it is a rogue nation that should really be on the list of AXIS OF EVIL and boycotted by all self respecting democratic states.

We, as human beings have lost our morality if we accept any more of Israel's lies, murder and ethnic cleansing. Speak up world! Speak up for Humanity!

Getting Old

Something has been happening with me and I finally put my finger on it - I am in a mid life crisis. For those of you who know me and start to laugh - I'm serious this time! Sometime in the next 10 days I will turn 37. hmm. 37! What kind of age is that? You are neither celebrating 40 (which is now the new 20) or moaning about turning 30 (which is now a very hip age to be)- you are there in the middle - limbo- just falling apart and going grey.

Ever since I turned 30, my body has slowly been falling apart. At age 31 you start to feel your joints, at age 32 your knees, 33 started back problems, at 34 I fell in love so the problems seem to not bother me. At age 35 with a new born baby- along with extreme sleep deprivation, my body started to rebel. And now, at 37 it's already telling me- Hasta la vista Baby - nice knowing you.

There are so many things I would like to accomplish. I feel most unaccomplished - I mean, at age 37 Napolean was well on his way to being King of France. Having said that, I do not wish to be King (or Queen, Princess or Royal Consort) of France or any other country. But it does keep things in perspective about how much you can accomplish by age 37. But on the other hand, I have accomplished a lot more than I thought I would have - I mean, I actually managed to find a nice guy and convinced him to marry a ranting-political activist-plus part time artist-plus part time chef-plus compulsive planner (a feat I often find unbelievable at times), and I am even more surprised that I have a child who at age 2 is still pretty normal given that I had no exposure or interest in actually taking care of children before mine was born.

But the sands of time are showing. I have wrinkles on my face, my hair is grey and added to my list of ailments is tendinitis. The one thing I wish I had and really miss are spectacles. I had them from the time I was 16 and all of a sudden when I was 35 and pregnant they said I don't need them anymore. While it was liberating at first, soon I started to miss them, and now I am downright lonely without those wonderful things that rest on your nose and make you look ever so sexy.

I guess I could always fix my hair and get rid of my ponytail, buy a pair of fake glasses and invest in some anti-wrinkle cream (Emy had one which seems to be working well). But then I would be all fake - which is exactly what women suffering from a mid life crisis become!

A sad ending

I heard some news today that seems to have really shaken me. It's a story of courage, of faith, love and pure grit and yet even though there is a lot of success, in the end it looses.

This is a story of a young woman called Jane. She had just given birth to a little boy and while breastfeeding found a lump on her breast. Sadly, this turned out to be breast cancer. They removed the lump and did a mastectomy. Presumably she got the all clear because she ran the Toronto marathon and spent Christmas in the Dominican. Unfortunately, Mrs H just emailed to say she had passed away - of a brain tumor. How can someone so determined to lead a normal life and be there for her children not make it? What happened to those divine creatures that were supposed to be there for those who really tried? Why didn't she get a second chance?

I do not know this young lady. Have never met her. Yet for some reason her life seems to resound with me. Maybe it's the way she also never seems to quit or maybe it's because she was also just trying to get on with her life like all the rest of us. Nonetheless it feels wrong.

Over the past hour I have questioned how it is even possible that a cancer patient who is being checked continuously for relapses would not be checked for a brain tumour? On the other hand, even if she had known she had a tumour - what can they do?

It just seems like a completely wrong ending to life that had so much to offer this world.

Terrorism

I would like to define what I call a terrorist - A terrorist is anyone who for an ideological reason kills innocent people.

Here is a list of some organisations I call "terrorist organisations"
1. The Israeli Defense Force and it's activities since inception.
2. The Indian Army with it's activities in Kashmir.
3. Al-Qaida and all its activites (I equate them with the IDF).
4. The US Army with their activities in Iraq.
5. Militant wings of Hamas, Hezbollah and all the other Islamic organisations that seem to think killing civilians furthers their ideology.
6. Stern Gang and Irgun
7. The militant wing of IRA and all it's activities in Ireland and London
8. Babar Khalsa and Khalistan groups
9. The Order
10. Suicide bombers all over the world

Boycott Made in Israel and my New Years resolution

My New Years resolution this year is quite simple -stay stress free. For all those who have been following my life, last year was a very challenging one. This one I hope to keep fairly uneventful and full of fond memories.

Part of keeping my life stress free is to remove any items which constantly cause me to question my ethics. This is where the Boycott Israel comes in. I have always found Israel's use of brutality and it's flagrant disregard for not only International Law but also disregard for judgements by Israel's own Supreme Court extremely unpalatable. Married to a Jew (Not a practicing one, but one that has been nonetheless brainwashed into believing that the IDF is a legitimate body and the pitiful Jewish excuse to their nazi like behaviour which is "all Palestinians are terrorists") has made it a bit difficult to avoid getting "Made in Israel" goods in the house. However, every time I tasted those jams and juices (which I have to admit are tasty) it felt like I was perpetuating the mindless murder of more innocent civilians at the hands of the most organise terrorist organisation there is - the IDF.

I don't know what other goods Israel produces other than jams, cookies and juices (and of course illegal nuclear bombs and other items to perform genocide), but I am going to save myself from going through this moral dilemma every time I want to enjoy my toast.

I have seen and heard enough of Israel and it's apartheid policies. Indiscriminate killings of innocent Palestinian children has got to stop. Israel needs to understand that there are real repercussions when they kill civilians who simply want to live their lives. And as for my beloved brainwashed husband who believes "All Palestinians are terrorists" - I would like him and the rest of his brainwashed fascist Israeli supporters to explain to me how a child of 2 years is a terrorist.

I ask all people to join me in boycotting all goods "Made in Israel" - boycotting South Africa forced them to stop their inhuman policies towards blacks and maybe together we can make a difference and bring rights to the people of Palestine and liberation from the brutal occupiers.