Oat-hentic Wholesome Meals for a Healthy Raya Celebration

No balik kampung this year? No problem lah! For some of you, the yummy sauces are kept in the fridge and ready to be cooked anytime. For others, you're ready to take control of your kitchen and make magic. For the rest, you might have been on your phone with your moms asking for their recipes that range from lontong, lemang, rendang, kuah kacang to the array of kuih-muih, and of course, Raya biscuits. We don’t want to be a party pooper, but do you know that what you're going to be feasting on is going to stay in your body longer than you want it to? So, how can you still enjoy your Hari Raya feast and still think about staying healthy? You've got to admit it: calorie-high heart-clogging foods are just irresistibly delicious! Moreover, festivals and fitness don’t really go together, do they? Image by Myriam Zilles from Pixabay We beg to differ! You and your family can feast to your heart's content without guilt if you follow these tips. For starters, stock up your pantry with Captain Oats products! Yes, darlings! Your healthy but still yummy Hari Raya feast is possible when you cook and bake with oats—a versatile grain that is filled with beta-glucan, protein, and complex carbohydrates; the nutrients your body needs. Cook with Healthier Alternatives Since the festivities this year are confined to the home, it's the best time to cook up a feast with your family. As the self-appointed head chef, take this opportunity to jazz up classic Raya recipes with healthier alternatives. For example, you can replace santan with yogurt or evaporated milk. Otherwise, you can cut down on the amount of santan you pour into your curry. Swap fried and oily dishes for simple stir-fry meals. Instead of using peanut oil, swap it for canola oil. If you're adventurous, trade some meaty meals with vegetable dishes instead. How does tofu rendang, nasi ulam, and jackfruit curry sound like? If oats are not a staple in your family’s diet, it's time for a grand introduction. Even if your children (or hubby) do not particularly like the taste of oats, they’ll be coming back for more once they try the recipes we have here! Captain Oats Ketupat with Shrimp Sambal Recipe Ingredients for ketupat: 100g Captain Instant Rolled Oats 150g rice 5 ketupat wraps Method for ketupat: Mix rice with Captain Instant Rolled Oats. Fill up the ketupat wraps until half-full. Boil water. Drop ketupat in and cook for 1 hour. Once cooked, leave to drain. Rest for at least 1 hour before serving. To keep ketupat fresh, store it in the fridge. It can last up to four days. Ingredients for shrimp sambal: 30g dried shrimp soaked in hot water for 20 minutes 50g Captain Instant Rolled Oats (ground) 100g dried red chillies, cut to pieces, deseeded, and soaked in hot water for 20 minutes; drain before use 100g deseeded red chillies 200g peeled shallots 100g peeled garlic 5 bird's eye chillies 2 tsp salt 50g sugar Cooking oil (as needed) Method for shrimp sambal: Process or pound ingredients 1–7 until a smooth paste is formed. You can bind the ingredients with oil. Heat oil on a pan and add sambal paste. Sauté for 10 minutes until the paste turns a deep red colour. Add in grinded Captain Instant Rolled Oats, salt, and sugar. Sauté constantly for another 20 minutes. The oil should separate from the chilli paste. Serve with ketupat. Store shrimp sambal in an air-tight container and store it in the refrigerator for a maximum of 2 weeks or in the freezer for 3 months. Guilt-free Raya Snacking Raya celebration without cookies? What a sad thought! But cookies are laden with sugar, and this just spells access calories deposited in the body. Let’s crunch on some numbers, shall we? Depending on how fast a person runs, they can burn around 400 calories an hour. Now, let’s look at approximately how many calories there are in ONE cookie. Kuih Bangkit 50 calories Pineapple Tart 95 calories Dodol 111 calories London Almond 110 calories GASP! Does that mean you have to say no to all these goodies? Not exactly. Since you're not doing any home visitations this time round, choose to indulge in delicious cookies, minus the excess calories. Your taste buds will love the taste, and your body will thank you for it. You'll also be comforted to know that your family is consuming only the good stuff! When making your Hari Raya treats, opt to swap all-purpose flour for wholemeal flour or oats, cereal for muesli, and chocolate chips with dried or fresh fruits. The only indulgent ingredient would be dark chocolate, as it is laden with antioxidants. So, anybody up for a good dark chocolate cookie? Captain Oat and Date Cookies Recipe Ingredients: 100g Captain Instant Rolled Oats 100g dates, chopped 50g brown sugar 100g flour 100g extra cooking oil 1 1/2 tsp baking soda 2 tsp vanilla extract 1 tsp baking powder Method: Preheat oven to 170°C. Grind Captain Instant Rolled Oats roughly in blender and add to mixing bowl. Add flour, baking powder and baking soda to oats in the mixing bowl and mix well. In a separate bowl, mix cooking oil, brown sugar, chopped dates and vanilla essence until the sugar dissolves. Add flour into bowl and mix to get a crumb-like consistency. Mix well with a spatula or your hand to get a soft and sticky dough. Create small balls with the dough and press gently to make small circles. Create an impression using a fork and repeat with the remaining dough. Arrange the flattened dough onto a lined baking tray and bake for 10 – 12 minutes at 160°C in the preheated oven. Once baked, let it cool completely and store them in an airtight container. Less Sugary Drinks and More Water H2O is what our body needs most when we are thirsty, not sugary drinks like soda and juice. When we consume these high-sugar drinks, dehydration increases. That's not all, the excess sugar that's not worked off will turn to fat and be stored in different parts of the body. Eh, takpe lah, ye! Therefore, it's encouraged that you don’t even buy sugary drinks (then the kids won’t curi-curi minum, too). However, we understand that it's a celebration, and honestly, what's a celebration without some yummy drinks to cool off? Here’s an idea: Get your fambam to go on a H20 challenge, where they drink water for most of the day, and when dinner arrives, you make them a special Raya-inspired healthy sweet drink. A reward system that almost always works in the family. Dragon Fruit Oats Smoothie Recipe Ingredients: 300g Captain Instant Rolled Oats 200ml fresh milk 200g whipping cream 100g brown sugar 1tsp lemon juice A pinch of salt 100g ice cubes Dragon fruit (as much as you wish) Method: Blend all the ingredients together in the blender. You can add fresh fruits (optional) in the smoothie and serve. Control Food Portions Image by Sharon Ang from Pixabay Our plate size influences our eating habits more than we'd give them credit for. It has been said that 'your eyes are bigger than your stomach'. It’s the expression of taking more food than you can eat. During festivities, most of us have the habit of stuffing ourselves with more than what we need. To curb that, swap your big plates for smaller ones. When you are placing rice and dishes on your plate, you are relying on its size to estimate how much you can eat. When you use a smaller plate, you are significantly reducing your portions. Picture this: On a bigger plate, you can fit two pieces of chicken rendang. With a smaller plate, you can fit one. It's easier to stop at one when you only have one on your plate. When dining on a bigger plate, it does not make sense to only have one chicken rendang when your plate has two. Looks like plate sizes hold the key to calorie control! JOM Exercise! Image from Noor Photography from Self.com Most of us might have lost some weight during the fasting month, and we're proud of our slimmer and leaner bodies. If you're one of them, don’t let loose during this season! For those who did not lose any weight, time beraya is not a reason to deposit the extra kilograms, too! During this feasting season, balance it out with exercise. The best way to kick start your fitness is to do it BEFORE you start feasting. Schedule your 30-minute cardio exercise in the morning, before the children are awake and before prepping for breakfast. Completing your exercise routine in the morning before breakfast also has a higher 24-hour fat burn rate as compared to exercising any other time. It's because you start your metabolism on a high, and it keeps on running throughout the day. You can incorporate exercise time with your family, too. This can be done later in the afternoon or evening. Getting active means that we can take a break from berborak sambil makan. All you have to do is pick an exercise to do as a family; you can try this 20-minute super fun at-home brisk walking workout by Leslie Sansone or this 10-minute family cardio workout by POPSUGAR Fitness. Stay Energised! Image from @aemanzach Staying within the four walls of your home during the festive season can be very demotivating. However, it doesn't have to be this way. You and your family are not advised to go out, but that doesn't mean it can't be memorable. Even though our Raya celebration is different from the years before (and will probably be for the years ahead), don’t let the energy drop be a buzzkill for your family and others. Focus on the possibilities and opportunities of enjoying this season in your home. Even when the family conducts video calls with friends and family members, strive to bring the energy that induces happiness to the people you communicate to! Stay energised by feeding your body with nutrients that give you stamina continuously. This energy can be derived from oats. Did you know that Captain Oats has a lower glycemic index (GI) compared to rice and brown rice? Wait, what does low GI mean? Having a low glycemic index means that Captain Oats can be more slowly digested, absorbed, and metabolised. Instead of having a sugar spike, energy is released slowly so you feel energised for a longer period. It'll also take longer for you to get hungry. Join the Ramadhan Cook and Win Contest with Captain Oats! With your Captain Oats, we want to challenge you to recreate delicious, healthy meals. Use any of the products from Captain Instant Oatmeal, Captain Quick Cooking Oatmeal, Eazy-Go flavoured Oatmeal to Captain Instant Rolled Oats, to cook up your healthy treats. Then, share your meals on your Facebook or Instagram account and tag us at @captainoats1965 (Instagram) or @CaptainOats (Facebook) to stand a chance to win Habib Jewel vouchers or duit Raya via TNG e-wallet! Have a happy and healthy Raya at home this year with Captain Oats!

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