Dignita: The Store with A Story

In the streets of the Red Light District, where hope shatters for most women who were being trafficked and forced into prostitution for a living, lies a cafe called "Dignita", a former brothel transformed into the store with a story....

100% of profits gained from the store and cafe goes towards supporting the work of Not For Sale (NFS).

And every Tuesday and Thursday night, volunteers will come and distribute food to the prostitutes working along the Red Light District.

Curious about how the organization works, I asked them a few questions...

How does this organization helps in tackling human trafficking?

They provide food and comfort in any way they can to the women working in the Red Light District. Policemen do investigate if the women there are being trafficked or are there voluntarily. And if the police finds people who are being trafficked there, we provide training for the victims to be able to sustain themselves in the future, having to leave their old life of prostitution behind the window or glass doors.

Does it matter if the women chose to be there willingly? And how would you be able to find out who is there voluntarily rather than being trafficked there? 

It doesn't matter if the women chose to be in the Red Light District willingly or not because most of them do not choose to be here. 

The store sells pretty cool items for you to buy in support of the organization and has a small seating area for a group of 3-4 to fit and watch videos on human trafficking that often occurs behind the Red Light District

They even sell quite affordable tea & coffee ! There was no reason not to support their cause especially after watching the video again and again, which really got to me....

The soup kitchen is also part of the cafe....

And they also store their supply of basic clothes, footwear and drinks for the ladies in the store...

It was literally the light at the end of a dark tunnel,

You could even come on Tuesdays, or Thursdays-Sundays at 6PM to get free information about the Red Light District. The informative talk will give an inside look into the history of the Red Light District, The Culture and Realities of the Red Light District, Legalization of Prostitution and Life Behind the Windows which will only take 30 minutes of your time

I've even attached a link of a very interesting yet viral short clip tackling the issue of human trafficking in the Red Light District down here, 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uta5xdGJcqI

You can find the location on Google Map as 'Dignita Retail' but nevertheless, here's the address,

Oudezijds Achterburgwal 82A,

1012 Dr Amsterdam

Please do visit and support their cause :)

Also, please do share this post to inspire others !

Salmon Spinach Lasagna

Hi there ! 

A couple of my friends requested for a recipe for the Salmon Spinach Lasagna I made on Monday, and I usually just throw everything in when I cook (and God bless, it was kinda sedap and edible haha). But anyways, here's sorta a basic yet simple way I would reckon anyone would be able to bake this Salmon Spinach Lasagna ! Also, since I'm a student, I have limited amount of money, time, resources etc so this is as simple as it can get :)

Servings : 2-3 people (depending on your appetite!)

For the Lasagna

- Bake the Lasagna Sheets in boiling water for 8-10 minutes

- Be sure to stir it all the time, and pour in a little bit of olive oil

- Set aside the Lasagna Sheets in cold water 

For the Salmon

- Heat up some olive oil

- Cook about a teaspoon or two teaspoons of garlic

- Chuck the salmon in and cook it with herbs, black pepper and salt

(I used mixed herbs cause that's the only herb I have in my cupboard lols)

And set it aside !

For the Spinach + White Sauce 

- Grab as much spinach as you'd like (I used about 400 grams)

- Chop some garlic and red onions (or any onions really)

- Cook the garlic and onions, then throw in the spinach into the pan with some herbs

- Once it's cooked, set it aside to cool down and chop the spinach into smaller pieces 

Whilst waiting for the spinach to cool down, you can make your REALLY SIMPLE white sauce !

- Mix in 75ml of Double Cream and 150ml of Creme Fraiche into a mixing bowl (I used a whisk at this stage just to mix them well) 

- Beat an egg in 

- Add loads of cheese into the mixture (I used a little bit of Mozarella and loads of Cheddar)

- Add a bit of butter in (possibly a table spoon) and salt 

And you're kinda done with the white sauce ! 

Mix the spinach into the white sauce, and we're good to go ! 

Finally,

- assemble all the mixes together (it took me only about 15 minutes-20 minutes to prepare for all 3 mixtures)

- I started off with a pasta base, then the white sauce, then I threw in the salmon pieces on every base  

And you're done !

Just put it in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes at 180 degrees or 160 degrees fan oven uncovered and you should get a nice golden layer at the top

I think this recipe is really easy and can the ingredients can be substituted with other ingredients easily. And I kinda did this Lasagna based on a mix of about 5 different recipes posted online.

Anyways, hope that helps, 

Enjoooooooy ! :) 

The Lazy Cooks Buttermilk Chicken !

Hey guys ! So a couple of my friends have been asking me for recipes,
And how I cook as a student,
So, here's one of the many (hopefully) posts I'll be writing,
On how to cook when you're lazy // also student cookings !

The original recipe is a bit too sweet for me and I quite like cooking spontaneously (with love) , so here's the edited version :

Ingredients :

1) about 3 sticks of curry leaves

2) 2 Chilies ( preferably cili padi )

3) About 1/2 stick of SCS Butter

4) Slightly less than 1/2 tin of Condensed Milk

5) Oats or Corn Flour

So, its really simple. 

1) Pour a little oil into the hot pan and a pinch of salt (to reduce the 'hot' effects of adding chili into hot oil)

2) Fry the curry leaves and cili !

3) Add butter till it melts completely ( add as much or as little as you wish)

4) Add condensed milk and let it boil ( it will combine with the butter) 

* I add my condensed milk little by little. I stop pouring in the condensed milk once the sauce looks like of the perfect ratio. But its usually slightly less than the butter as it could cause excess sweetness*

5) Add a little bit of just oats or cornflour (diluted with water) into the sauce to slightly thicken the sauce 

and there you go ! The buttermilk sauce :)

Note : Its better to fry the chicken first before adding the sauce into it. BUT , if you're lazy like me, I usually would buy frozen chicken popcorns and fry for 3 minutes only. Ill pour the sauce on it after and it still tastes as good as frying your own chicken !

The recipe doesn't have to be exact but its roughly there. I usually don't follow exact measurements. Try to estimate the condensed milk measurement by adding it in slowly once it starts boiling .

All the best ! 

Victoria Cupcakes

Hey guys :) so I got the recipe from one random website meant for kids actually. Hahahaha. But it's really amazing so here it goes ; 

Cupcakes 

100g of butter 

100g of sugar 

100g self raising flour 

1 pinch of baking powder 

Buttercream 

75g of butter 

150g icing sugar 

1 dash of milk 

- Beat the butter and sugar till light and fluffy 

- Sift the flour in the mixture 

- Cut strawberries or place blueberries in the cupcakes before filling it with batter (only half of the cupcakes container) 

- Cut more fruits on top of the cupcakes ; possibly berries ! 

It's really simple ! 

@172degrees , for about 10-15 minutes. 

Enjoy ! 

Vanilla Muffins with Chocolate Chips

I really love vanilla muffins but since I'm a chocolate lover too , I decided to take make vanilla muffins with added chocolate chips (would've used Mars bars if I had any at home) 

So here it goes ; 

1 cup castor sugar 

1 egg beaten 

2 cups flour 

2 tsp baking powder 

1 cup milk 

1/4 melted butter 

2 1/2 tsp vanilla 

To sprinkle on top of muffins before baking ; 

1 1/2 tsp sugar 

1/8 cinammon 

Bake at 190degrees, for 15-20 mins 

Fill only 2/3 of the containers only 

Do not overbeat :) 

I added chocolate chips but this vanilla muffins recipe is delicious enough to be added with other stuff like Mars bars too :) 

I extracted the recipe from food.com ,

Enjoy ! 

Churros !

Back in 2008 I went to Australia with my siblings and had the best churros experience ever @ San Churros! 

Since there's not a lot of places in KL that serves churros , I decided to try my own :) 

This recipe is extracted from allrecipes.com and by far suits my taste the best so here it goes anyways, 

All you need is ; 

1. 1 cup of water

2.  2 1/2 tablespoons white sugar 

3. 1/2 teaspoon salt 

4. 2 tablespoon vegetable oil 

5. 1 cup of flour 

6. 2 quarts of oil for frying 

7. 1/2 cup icing sugar 

8. 1 teaspoon cinammon 

- Combine 1-4 together and bring to boil 

- Once boiling , remove from heat and add flour 

- Stir until it takes the form of a ball 

- I personally would roll the flour together by hand once the mixture has cooled down , used a fork to create the stripes for better crisp 

- Used Nutella as my chocolate dip ! 

- Try to avoid frying too many at times as overcrowding might lead to the inside of the churros being undercooked 

So there you go :) 

 

Enjoy ! 

On Baked Goods ,

Guess who's gonna be baking for this Ramadhan and Raya ? Wohooooo ! 

Will be baking my chocolate chip Hershey's cookies and Nutella kiss cakes !  (which takes a lot of patience in doing so might hire a helper. Hahaha) 

Yes, that's me baking when I'm lazy but I really wanted fresh oven baked cookies. And will make sure a better presentation for raya and Ramadhan cookies ! 

Thinking of what to bake for Raya dessert table this year cause it definitely has to be better than last year's. A chocolate cake and brownies is a must ! 

My gosh, really pumped up for baking marathon after this studies marathon is over ! 

 

And pavlova is a must too ! 

Now, I need ideas for a baker's brand name. Hmmm. 

Nutella Kiss Cakes

Remember the Nutella Kiss Cakes guys ?

Because some of my friends asked for the recipe and for me to bake again (which I didn't manage to) , Here's the recipe ! 

- 125 grams room temperature butter

- 1 cup castor sugar 

- 2 eggs 

- 1 cup self raising flour 

- 1 cup cornflour 

- Icing sugar (to be dusted on top of the kiss cakes) 

8-10 minutes in the oven at 160degrees ! 

*sift the flour in*

And we didn't do it on flat trays but in trays like the ones you bake muffins in.

Pretty easy to make :) and in between both you can replace it with strawberry jam or anything that suits your flavour ! 

Have fun guys ! And enjoy this lovely (tastes like nestum a little) dessert :)