New Year Resolutions - Not

First off, A Blessed and Merry Christmas to one and all!

Gigantic Christmas wreath hanging on our wall

Can't believe it's been more than a month since I blogged and that in a few days' time, the year will be over! This year has just zoomed past in a jiffy. Some updates.

Had a family wedding in November.

It was a lovely setting (and oh! look! what a lovely couple! ha ha)

Doesn't look like much but I had actually spent a few nights making purple felt flowers to adorn this old BCBG Maxazria dress. Though it doesn't show up on a computer screen, it's a lovely long-sleeved purple velvet dress. It looked too hot to wear on a nice, Sunny afternoon but it was quite comfy actually. Most importantly, it was a straight cut so it hung ok around my belly and thighs! I didn't want to blow moolah on a new dress I'd hardly wear so I just decided to handmake some flowers (I love cloth flowers!) and sewed them onto the bottom part of the dress and I also made a matching one to adorn my hair. As a T-shirt and jeans person, this is one of those dresses I'd have hanging in my closet forever. Would I have preferred to turn up in T-shirt and jeans? You betcha!

Then we had to run around buying stuff for my son as he was spending nearly a month in Canada with his grandmother and some other relatives.

Sending John off at Changi Airport
(Did you notice the nice, new National Geographic camera bag he's carrying? His advanced Christmas present from us. The boy is an avid photographer and aspires to be a professional photographer. We're more than happy to support this dream of his)

Just before his trip, hubs and I managed to squeeze in a roadtrip up north (as usual). As usual, we had a wonderful time together, just he and I. Then we came back, attended our Godson's Confirmation and then, nothing. Yep, nothingness. Suddenly, the house was quiet. Having only one kid around is very different from having two. There wasn't anything planned for us already. So given how we can hardly sit still doing nothing, we booked a last minute trip to.........

 Chatuchak Weekend Market (Dec 2011)

BANGKOK!!! Where else???

Excuse the patheticness of having to snap my own pic in Chatuchak. We'd all split up to go shop on our own. As soon as our plane touched down, we'd headed to the hotel to dump our bags and head out to Chatuchak. No flooding in sight.

Had my fill of Thai fried worms. Unfortunately, hubs so stingy, only bought a few packets for me. I had told him I was ready to pack a whole container of them home. He told me we could always go back to the hawker stall to buy more the next day. Hmmmph! Couldn't find her stall in subsequent nights!

Oh well, absence makes the heart grow fonder. Meanwhile, I've got my cousin's hand delivered Australian biltong to keep me happy (Thanks, Carrie!).

So, it's unlikely I'll be blogging again before the end of this year. So I may as well do my traditional 'summary'. I look back and think what a horrible year it's been for me and yet, what a beautiful and wonderful year it's been too. I've learnt to be strong against humans and weak against God. I've emerged a more empowered woman (no, I don't want you to hear me roar) not in the sense of woman's rights but I've learnt to fight for what I think God wants for me. I've also learnt to relax and be cool about a lot more things. If my being so doesn't make you happy, then I'm sorry. I'm done trying to please everyone.

To the one person who has made my life a living nightmare since you stepped into my life, I hope you sleep well at night. It's not that I haven't known all along what you'd been doing. But I closed my eyes to the annoyances because I love my family and because God says to forgive. I won't let you take them away, no matter how cunning you may think you are. I felt sorry for you, even right up to the very last day. I let you torment me and step all over me with your tantrums, lies, incessant rudeness and gossip. I will not be taken for a ride any more. I pray that you won't stir up trouble for another family. But more importantly, I pray that you will finally be back in your home soil with your own family. Meawhile, keep your hands off my family, they're not yours. Good riddance to bad rubbish. God says to forgive, but it doesn't mean I have to see you or have you in my life anymore so stay away.

God has stood by me through it all. Over and over again. He doesn't let me down. He whispers in my ear and he moves in my heart. My only resolution for 2012 is that I learn to trust God more (I've given up on the losing weight resolution - yep - totally scratched it out). Truly, God has shown me, that with Him, nothing is impossible.

Happy New Year!

It's that time of the year again!

Can't believe I haven't blogged since October! I've been so busy. Might tell you about it another time. Just another one of my 'projects' I've been working on. Wonder if I'll see it through. Most nights, I get back from work too tired to do anything else.

Well, hear ye, hear ye! If it isn't that time of the year again....where crazy hot Singapore becomes wet and rainy and you start seeing Christmas lights twinkling in the streets and malls! My favourite time of the year! No snow for me brrrr....thank you. This cool weather is just nice! Dig out the pashminas, I say!

Well, I could see dear hubs could hardly contain himself. Deepavali and Hari Raya Haji were barely over before he threw open the storeroom door and dragged out our multitude of Christmas decor. Yep! We're all dolled up and good to go!

Okay, that's a pathetically skinny, synthetic Christmas tree. We'll have to wait a bit longer if we wish to have a fresh tree that can 'make it' through Christmas (we had both last year) so hubs usually puts up the fakey first, followed by the real one closer to Christmas. He'll usually just place the fakey one outside the apartment (which he has also decorated).

And here's half a pic of our newly painted altar (in burnt orange - below). Mike and I did that up over the Hari Raya long weekend. Well, actually, it only took about 2 hours to paint and dry and paint and dry....

and in the bottom corner, is our mini grotto with twinkly blue lights!

Working Mother's Cantonese Minced Pork Chook/Choke (Congee)

I remember, as a toddler, our very young helper (babysitter) who hailed from Malaysia, feeding me scoops of porridge. Hidden in the bowl of porridge, would be bits and pieces of minced meat. A few drops of soya sauce was all that was needed to make it really tasty. Even then, I recall her having to keep calling my name with a coaxing, 'Aaaaaahhhhmmmmm', trying tiredly to get my attention away from Atom Ant playing on the black and white TV (yes, I'm that ancient).
In the following years, the only other time I ate porridge was when I was sick. Yep. Sick food. Together with Fish Ball Mee Tai Mak. Why? Probably easier on one's tummy when one is down and out.

Anyhow, I've always loved Choke or what others refer to as 'Chook'. Porridge, Congee, Choke, Chook. Whatever. I prefer to call it 'Choke'. It's just rice grains boiled down to a smooth mash. I've never been able to get the consistency right UNTIL I decided to stop second guessing how to do it and just ask the Choke man at the market what type of rice he used. He told me in mandarain, 'ZHEN ZHU MI'. He could not tell me what that meant in English but I understood it to literally mean, Pearl Rice. He also said the secret was in the broth. It wasn't plain water he was boiling the rice grains in.

Not being very efficient in the Chinese language, I went to a Chinese speaking provision store and asked for just that, 'Zhen Zhu Mi' and he asked me if I wanted it BIG or SMALL. I was like, 'Er....hah? Got two sizes? I'm er...cooking porridge' (I thought he meant large or small grain - what an idiot I am sometimes!). He calmly repeated his question. Sheepishly realised he was just asking if I wanted a big pack or small pack. Being the 'kiasu' Singaporean that I am, I did a quick mental calculation and decided to get the big pack as it was more worthwhile (and now, I'm like stuck with a huge pack of short grain rice that doesn't taste very nice when cooked as our usual rice - too mushy for my taste)

Anyway, I soaked the grains overnight in water, then cooked with plenty of pork stock. It was like 3 cups of rice and 10 cups of liquid (or more). It took nearly an hour to boil it down to a smooth consistency over the stove so I wouldn't actually recommend cooking this Choke on a working week night. Too much time slaving over the stove. But the results were worth it. (Tip: Don't keep stirring the porridge whilst cooking, it will burn)

Minced Pork Chook/Choke (Congee) with liver and egg

Trying to be like a professional choke seller, I reboiled individual portions and stirred in an egg with the portion. That way, only when each family member was ready to eat, would the egg be added to that portion. Slightly more work and washing but well worth it. Added some soya sauce, pepper and a small dash of sesame oil (which I LOVE)!

And though it wasn't necessary, I also whipped up fried egg with chinchalok (small dried prawns) and tarng chai (a small pickled veg):

Eggs fried with chinchalok and tarng chai

(Excuse my 'chow tar' / burnt eggs - I can't for the life of me, fry decent eggs)

Also opened a small can of Chilli Pork Cubes (above) and a can of pickled veg (below).

Didn't take pics but I also cut open some Century Eggs. All went well. Even my husband, who doesn't fancy porridge much, said it was delicious. Must have done something right! Ha!





Working Mother's Fried Bee Hoon

I can't remember if I've blogged about this dish before. Didn't do much cooking the past few weeks because I've returned home so tired from work. Not that work was sooooo exhausting. I don't know why, I've just been feeling more tired than usual.

As we attended our church's 9 day Novena, I didn't cook much. Hubs took over by dishing out simple meals (mixed with dishes bought from the nearby food court's 'chai perng' stalls). Anyway, I realised I had some more food pics not yet loaded (or have I? I can't recall. I feel like have brain-fog or something).

I don't know how to cook small portions. Perhaps the smallest portion of anything I've cooked is plain Maggi Mee. Here's some bee hoon (Fried Vermicelli) I tried frying (to feed an army).

May not look like much, but this blue 'China' plate is huge! I took the pics with the glasses and small bowls around the plate so you could see that it was big. We usually only take it out during parties and though we didn't throw a party on that work week night, I still needed to take it out from hibernation to contain the mountain of bee hoon I had fried. Actually, I find cooking a one-dish meal on a work week night to be more troublesome than cooking several simple Chinese dishes. Can whip up several simple meals faster than it took to prepare the ingredients for this Fried Bee Hoon.

For this bee hoon dish, I prepared and fried all the ingredients separately before throwing them in with the bee hoon. Realised it wasn't easy frying eggs thinly. Takes some practice! My kids complained about the sliced chilli on the bee hoon (and of course the fried shallots too). Sigh. Can't dress up my dishes. The family prefers them plain.

Fried Bee Hoon

Self-rating: Probably 5/10. Family said it tasted nice but I think I've a long way more to go.

Mmmmm.....I love fried bee hoon with red cut chillies and soya sauce. Simple yet divine! Comfort food!

SVDP's Novena 2011 - I Am Who I Am

Our church's 9 day Novena leading to the Feast Day of St Vincent de Paul started last night. It was a mad rush from work and school for us but because our very own Charismatic Prayer Group was leading the Praise and Worship segment, I wanted to make sure that our family could be there to support them. I haven't been around for their meetings this year and a part of me misses that big time but the other part of me is relishing the time I have for my family. I miss being around my Charismatic 'kakis' and it was so nice to be enveloped in their warms hugs!!! I love them and what they do for others!!! It can be a thankless (from humans) job but yet, it can be the most rewarding (from God) job. As a certain Arnie S. says, "I'll be back" but I just don't know when and how.

The theme for our Novena this year is 'I Am Who I Am'.
Father William Goh spoke about origin and end last night and he hit the nail on the head when he said we should be looking after our own 'backyard'. He sort of said that if we commit too much to doing too much of other stuff (including running around doing plenty of church work) and yet can't look after our own family members, then something is very wrong. I feel that because I had stretched myself helping the Charismatic Prayer Group last year, if I had continued this year, I would not have had the time to look after my family properly. I also wanted to have more time to be with my husband. I feel guilty that I took a step back when I knew that the group was short of manpower but I also knew what I had to do for my family.

Despite the fact that my kids aren't toddlers anymore, they've still got needs and I'd like them to remember their parents as having been there for them in tiny ways. Perhaps just to make them a snack while they are mugging in their room (or pretending to mug), or just making their favourite green jello (for no apparent reason except to get a sugar overload!). I may not be a great cook but I'm certain they'll remember I tried.

God willing, I'm going to try to attend all 9 days. The last time we attended all 9 days, He worked a miracle with my son's PSLE results!!! My daughter is desperately seeking a miracle for her JC1 Promos this year. Ha ha. I'm not saying just the fact that you appear for mass all 9 days, something BIG is going to happen. That's like some occult or superstitious approach. Instead, one has got to really be sincere and call upon the Lord for blessings and to be moved by the Spirit.

Since LISS, I have carried with me, an intrinsic belief that NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH THE LORD. I'm not kidding. I know many people (including people in church) wear this sentence on their lips and yet one can tell that they doubt. I do not. I don't delude myself for a second that ALL THINGS MUST GO MY WAY (oh no, I don't) but I definitely believe that with the Lord, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE.

It's not easy but it's somewhat like a child's innocent and naive belief in Santa Claus. Nike says, 'Just do it'. I say, 'Just believe it'. Call upon the Lord and He will be there for you, even when you think He isn't. Believe in the Lord and He will work His miracles, even if you don't understand how the cookie crumbles. Are you in trouble? Are you depressed? Are you suicidal? Do you think there is no way out? Do you feel no one loves you? Call upon, Jesus. He will lift you. I guarantee it. Although I have no doubt He can, his methods may not mean ressurrecting your dead relative or lover (because that's what a human hopes for). But He will let the light shine upon you again in a way He thinks is best for you.

Trust me. I've been through so much this year. Things have happened. I've been put to the test in my newfound (since 2009) spiritual journey with the Lord. Yet my spirit is not defeated. In fact, I feel lifted and I rejoice and I weep with joy because the Lord had shown me that He's been there with me ALL THE WAY. He has been speaking to me and I'm so grateful. It's like the new order of the mass says, I'm not worthy to have Him 'under my roof'. Yet He does not forsake me. I cannot escape Him even if I wanted to.

My God is ALMIGHTY and My God loves me. Does your God love you?

PCOS Update - 13 September 2011

My monthly flow hasn't been giving me any problems since my last check up at KKH. Though not regulated like clockwork, it appears every month. This is very amazing for me as a Catholic. I know now that it wasn't just my gut instinct which told me to stop taking the hospital prescribed birth control pills. It felt so wrong even when a priest had assured me that I should not feel guilty because it was for medical reasons.

I am not advocating that medical intervention be ignored. That would be reckless. The above is pertaining to my case and for this particular issue alone. It must be seen in perspective to my journey with God since LISS (Life in the Spirit Seminar) 2009 and my being baptised in the spirit. I've had wonderful conversations with God and my healing of irregular menses is just one of the small miracles He has brought into my life because I had allowed Him into my life.



I had been praying for healing of my PCOS issues and at one point, I had felt it deep inside of me that God had already healed me of my irregular / absent menses. I felt that if I had continued to take the birth control pills just in case I wasn't healed, I would be doubting God. I knew I had to let go and let Him take control and believe wholeheartedly that He had healed me and He did. I am healed. I haven't missed any since. Alleluia!

As for my insulin resistance...I haven't had a sugar test done since the last one some months back. My eating patterns haven't changed much and the good news is I haven't put on weight this year yet. Well, I'm still over weight but I have been ding-donging between dropping some and putting on some. So the weight loss and gain kind of balances itself out. I have noticed something though. When I do not eat rice (or too much carbohydrates) for dinner, I feel so much lighter the morning after. But being a 'rice' person, it's really hard not to eat rice for dinner. Especially when there's sambal belachan lying around. Shiok!

Overall, I'm feeling fine. I'm feeling more energetic than ever and just not as lethargic as before. Maybe it's due to the fact that I no longer have a Foreign Domestic Worker and I've to do the housework myself or maybe that I'm super duper elated that I no longer have to face her tai-tai tantrums. Yes. Most likely. 

Hair 7 Sept 2011

So....this is my hair on a good day.

When I tell you I have natural limp waves in my hair, I am not kidding. They make a sort of S shape wave so depending on how the hair stylist cuts it, it becomes nice or worse. I wash my hair every day and it doesn't matter if I blow it dry or not. I wake up every morning, not knowing how it's going to look like.

It wasn't so layered 2 weekends ago before my last disastrous cut. I went in for a trim to my ends but judging from the picture, you can tell that the ends weren't even neatened properly. He did complain that my hair curled a lot. Instead, the idiot of a hairstylist gave me layers which I specifically said I didn't want.

Sigh, actually, the waves in my hair look best when I cut my hair really, really short. Some people would die to have such natural waves. It took me a whole year to grow it out to this length. I might just be crazy enough to cut it all off again.

But wait. Unless I were crazy or rich enough to have a botoxed-till-slim face, I don't think I'd really go for it. Or would I? (I mean the cut, not the botox, silly!)

GOM

Mike: This is the new way to relax (runs and jumps on our gigantic L-shaped sofa and lies face up).
Me: (laughing) This is the new way to relax (I jump on top of Mike and lie on top of him facing upwards).
Mike: O....M....G!!!
Me: (laughing uncontrollably) L.....O......L!!!
Mike: G.......O.......M!!!
Kids and I: Huh???? What's G.O.M?
Mike: (pushing me off) GET OFF ME!!!

Ha ha ha....kids and I break out into laughter. Some weekend silliness for you.

Hair Cut

I have a great feeling of dissatisfaction when it comes to hair salons in Singapore. Those I like, have not stood the test of time. Really. All the hair stylists to whom I would have returned, have closed down. Jinx.

Anyhow, hubs doesn't have such a problem. He goes where it is cheapest. He's not bothered because he has to cut and dye his (white) hair every month anyway. Doesn't matter if the dye is 'branded' or not. But for me, if I want to keep my hair long, I'd have to be careful what I put on or do to my hair, isn't it? Besides, I have a natural wave to my hair. It isn't straight. My hair is fine but I have alot of it. You might not believe me, until you actually work with my hair. That's what a few hair stylists have told me. They didn't think I had so much hair until they actually set out to highlight, dye or blow dry it. Then they know, it takes forever.

Well, hubs told me that Snip Avenue was having a promotion on hair dyeing. Although I had such bad experiences with them that I'd told myself I was staying away from their chain of outlets for good, I followed him to make enquiries. Turns out, there isn't any REAL offer at all (for the likes of us). The prices are still the same for normal length hair. To them, short hair is a men's short cut. Medium is a lady's short cut. Long is anywhere after that. Yep. That's their intepretation. I've asked often enough. Even with very short hair, I've been told it was considered under 'long' hair charges.

This is one of the posters they have up on their glass panels facing the public walkway:

This 'ching-chong' chain of outlets believe themselves to be Americans, spelling colour as color. Ok, whatever. Anyway, I scanned the poster for any asterisk * (you know, the usual '* terms and conditions apply' crap that is in so fine a print that no one can notice anything) but couldn't find it. It says, '$7.80 Color + Wash + Blow). It does not say, when you come into the actual Snip Avenue shop, I will then tell you the truth (in mandarin); that it is only for 'very, very short men's hair. Those type where the hair is near the scalp and only for black colour dye'. Pissed, Michael and I walked out. No wait - VERY PISSED, Michael and I walked out. Suckers we may be for a deal, too good to be true - but you're misleading people, Snip Avenue!!! Anyway, thank goodness it didn't work out there cos I saw that the next available hair stylist was the same young Malaysian lady who had burnt my hair rebonding it. It is thanks to her that I had to cut it all off last year. How lucky can one get?

Not counting last Sunday, I had not cut my hair since slightly before Chinese New Year (early February 2011). I know, I was walking around with unkempt hair for 6 months because I was trying to grow out my (chic but short) hair. I knew that if I went for even a 'trim' any time in between, it'd be cut shorter than I really wanted and I'd have to grow it out all over again.

Well, I finally entered a salon last Sunday but only because my daughter had asked for her fringe to be cut. I didn't think the mandarin speaking stylist was very skillful but there I was sitting waiting for her and wondering if I'd have the time to enter a salon again. Although I was starting to like the way my hair was growing out (it was fairytaling beautifully at the ends), it needed a trim. A TRIM. That's what I said. In mandarin - because FIND ME A REASONABLY PRICED HAIRSTYLIST THAT SPEAKS GOOD ENGLISH IN SINGAPORE WHO DOESN'T PUSH THE SALES OF TREATMENTS PLEASE!!! Why must nearly ALL the hair stylists I speak to, hail from Malaysia or China and only speak mandarin???

I said TRIM. TRIM - yes. In mandarin. I KNOW I got it right. I explained clearly that I was trying to grow my hair long again and I only needed him to neaten it with a trim to the ENDS. But no. Oh no. He had to do what he had to do. Which is lop of like 3cm worth of hair. That bloody fool. Did he know how slowly hair grows??? We get like 1cm worth of hair growth in a month if we're lucky.

And you know what? (look, I don't care that one shouldn't start sentences with 'and', I'm in a pissed mood right now). I told him I didn't want it layered. No layers. No 'stepped' look. He asked me why he couldn't cut it short for me. I said I liked my current length because it allowed me to tie it up. I wanted a BOB. A level BOB at the ends. Just trim my ends a little cos they were uneven. But sigh. No. Nope. He couldn't do that. He lopped off my hair then proceeded to use those sickening thinning shears (with the teeth) which I loathe. I always feel that only lazy hairstylists use those thinning shears when they should be weilding their scissors and using their skills to produce the layers.

I had even pointed out ONE PARTICULAR portion of my top hair near my fringer which I had told him specifically to NOT touch because I was trying to grow it out. But of course, he cut if off. Mind you. I was paying a full professional price for this cut and wash. But did he listen? No. Did he wash my hair at the sink? Yes. And, while I thought it strange at that time, he had asked me, whilst washing my hair at the sink, if my scalp itched. I said, 'No'. I only realised that later, he was trying to bug me into buying his 'ampoule' for a discounted price of S$10 ('Ampoule' being the most difficult word in the English dictionary these chinese speaking cutters know). I declined and I think he wasn't too happy about that. He told me it was good for sensitive scalps, like if I felt it was itchy etc (didn't I say mine didn't itch???). Then, after he blow dried my hair, he advised me to add serum to my hair. I told him I didn't like anything on my hair. He then emphasised that my hair was REALLY, REALLY dry. Really? My hair may not be super silky soft because I do bottle colour it myself once every 6 months but it doesn't have split ends or anything like that. It's not wonderful but it's not as terrible as he made it out to be either. Oh and yes, he said he wasn't sure if I could tie up my hair anymore. He sucked big time.

I usually ask the hairstylist for his name and card if his service is good but I didn't bother this time. He told me, in that row of shophouses (in Toa Payoh Central) alone, there were 10 hair salons. I'd say, good luck, bucko. I know, I won't be a returning customer. The sign outside their salon says 'Japanese cut'. What was so Japanese about not listening to the needs of your customer?

Anyhow, one saving grace is my hair is still touching my shoulders. It's actually messier now because his cutting of layers has allowed my waves to go mad. And I do not have wonderful springy curls I see on Malays and Indians. I have limp waves. They are neither here nor there.
There are pockets of 'thinness' I'd rather not have but what's one to do? Hair stylists do not listen. Yes, I'm convinced they do not listen. Maybe it's because just like I don't like people to tell me what to paint and how to paint my shoes, they like to do their own thing when it comes to other people's hair. But wise up. My shoes aren't alive but I am. I'm the customer who has to live with the curls and whirls of my own hair. I know my own hair, therefore when I tell you to do or not to do something with my hair, you jolly well listen. Just as well, I didn't even bother to look at the salon's name.

So there.....I'm not going to another hair salon for another 6 months.

(Afterthought - Mike wasn't too bothered about my hair cut. He knows I'm very fussy about my hair and that joked that he should go take up a hairdressing course to be my hairdresser. He knows I'm never happy with whichever hair salon I go to. I used to have my regular salons to go to. I was willing to travel really far to visit the salon but as I said, they have either closed down or the stylists went away. But if hubs thinks I'm alone, he's wrong. Where I work, there are a whole bunch of ladies who have shared with me their hair woes. We often laugh about it in loo. They too have not found a single satisfactory hair stylist. Ha ha).

No Flea Market participation this SAT 27 Aug 2011

We won't be participating in any Flea Market this SAT 27 Aug 2011.

It's the Presidential Elections!
REMEMBER!!! YOU ARE VOTING FOR THE HEAD OF STATE!!!
A REPRESENTATION OF OUR NATION!!!
HE MUST SPEAK GOOD ENGLISH AT THE VERY LEAST!!! (You know full well why I say this)

BTW, I do have more food pics but was just so busy this week that I had no time to post them. Will do so next week! C'ya!

Sausages and Mash / Cook a pot of curry

Saturday, 20 Aug 2011
Kids had no school or tuition last Saturday morning so we had a good rest and slept in. Woke up late morning to start cooking lunch. I was cooking Sausages and Mashed Potatoes and spent a good hour making the sauce from scratch. Had to ditch the first attempt. Wasn't happy with the taste. I was trying to achieve the KFC sauce taste and well both kids eventually told me individually, 'Mmmmm, mum, your sauce is nice!' That's a great achievement! Also realised that to whip up the mashed potatoes to a correct consistency wasn't as easy as one might think it to be.

Sausages and Mashed Potatoes

Mike had bought a small slab of roasted pork so everyone had a bite of that. I also sauteed some baby tomatoes and french beans. My daughter actually asked me why I had to go add those in????!!!! Sheesh, as expected, neither kid touched the veg. Oh yes, fried some commercially packed Ayam Balls but they turned out horrible (from a reputable brand - but so blah in taste).
I also did my black sauce meat and boiled eggs (and whipped up some chilli with plum sauce for sweet chilli to go with) which turned out quite tasty but I'd totally forgotten to take pics of it. Come to think of it, I hadn't even taken pics of my Nasi Lemak. I know, the black sauce pork didn't exactly go with Nasi Lemak but I had already defrosted my pork slabs in the 'lower bin' for a day and didn't want the pork to go bad. Sometimes, ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

Sunday 21 Aug 2011
I had agreed on Facebook to cook a pot of curry on 21 Aug 2011 but really, after a week of feasting on my Assam Fish Curry, I neither felt like cooking or eating curry on Sunday. Besides, I had slaved a few hours cooking Nasi Lemak for the sake of my son. Here's a taste of the craziness as a mother:

(I'm cooking in the kitchen and son is still zzzzzzzzzzzz)
Hubs: I just went into the room and your boy asked me if 'Mummy was cooking'. I said, 'Yes' and he asked excitedly if it was Nasi Lemak!
Me: Wah! How did he know?

(son comes trotting to the kitchen)
Son: Are you cooking Nasi Lemak? Tell me it's Nasi Lemak!
Me: Yah
Son: Yay!

(we're all sitting at the table eating)
Me: How did you know I was cooking Nasi Lemak?
Son: It's all we ever eat, what!

(Me, fuming........I only cook it because it's ALL he ever eats!)

Very tiredly, after washing up after our Nasi Lemak lunch, I decided to cook a pot of 'unglam' Nonya Chicken Curry. Well, it was a very weak rendition of Nonya Curry but my curry pot was just a symbolic stand. No frills. Just chicken and quartered potatoes.

(my symbolic pot of Nonya Chicken Curry)

We had left over Nasi Lemak for dinner and this pot of curry chicken. I didn't have any commercial Nonya curry paste at home so I tried my best to use normal curry powder and from there, try to achieve the 'lemak' taste. Didn't taste too bad but my guys weren't the least interested in it. They were more interested in the left over Nasi Lemak. Well, at least I did cook my pot of curry!

Working Mother's Left Overs (Ikan Bilis Fried Rice and Assam Fish Curry)

I ate alone last night, washed up the dishes, walked the dog, switched on the TV to hear the Presidential Election candidates talk and promptly fell asleep on the couch halfway through Dr. Tan Cheng Bock's speech. Woke up hours later when I heard Mike talking to the kids (he had just come home) at the dining table.

So what does a Working Mother cook when she's only cooking for herself and her two kids who have told her they aren't very hungry?

Well. I had left over rice and a medium sized bowl of my Assam Fish Curry.

I decided to chop up my remaining brinjal (huge one) and soak them. Added green chillies and some tomatoe wedges and sauteed them with the brinjals and onions till they turned soft. Then I added in my left over Assam Fish Curry and threw in some sliced cabbage. As there wasn't much gravy left over from the day before, I added some broth.

Left Over Assam Fish Curry (Yikes!)

So this might look disgusting to some (looks like something you'd see in a dustbin, huh?) but it was delicious. It was heavenly sitting at the dinner table all by myself, digging through this pot (was too lazy for presentation so didn't even scoop it out into a bowl) and slurping and fishing out bones (from my mouth). I'm so proud of myself that I didn't choke on any Selar bones! They were scary. Selar fish and their fine, pokey bones are definitely not meant for curry but what the heck, it was fun! This ain't no Michelin star restaurant. It's Working Mother's Kitchen and so, no rules, right? Well, there are rules but none for ME - hey, my home, my rules!

I had also plucked together some ham, green peas & corn, eggs and ikan bilis and made Fried Rice (for later, when the kids might be hungry). To go with some otah (otak) I had bought earlier.

Ikan Bilis Fried Rice

Just in case the kids would eat it, I didn't make it too spicy. I did add alot of pepper and some chilli flakes in oil but just a dash. For my own sake, I had my cut chilli padi in soya sauce. Don't wish to self-rate lah. It was ok. Not fantastic but palatable.

And guess what, because no one really ate much (except myself) last night, they're gonna be eating left over Ikan Bilis Fried Rice with fish otah (otak) tonight because it's a Friday night AND I want to PARTY!!! *laughs wickedly*

Flea Market - Changi Village 20 Aug 2011 (SAT)

We'll be at the Changi Village Flea Market this Sat 20 Aug 2011
5pm - 11pm

Can't decide to sell old stuff or new stuff....hmmmmm.....

Working Mother's Assam Fish Curry / Pork Rib Corn and Lotus Soup

Yesterday's dinner took me a tad longer to prepare. Often when Pork Ribs (Bak Kut) is are involved, I have to spend more time boiling it to tenderness.

Bak Kut with Corn and Lotus Roots Soup

Daughter was disappointed that it wasn't Bak Kut Teh that I was boiling but then, although she and her Daddy like Bak Kut Teh, the boy doesn't fancy it. He doesn't like the 'herby' taste. Hubs doesn't understand why I would pay more for Pork Bones when one can eat just the meat but I'm always reminding him that it's the bones which give the soup flavour. So as with chicken, I have to always buy the pork with bones and the pork sans bones. Is there any other cooking mother out there who is going mad like me?

Self-rating: 6/10

Then because I couldn't control my urge to eat Assam Fish Curry, I just had to cook it up. But then, this is a Working Mother's version. No fancy fish. I just dumped 4 Selar in and also a packet of Fish meat chunks. I loooooove brinjals so I cut up 2 whole ones. My big pot was being used to boil the Bak Kut so I had to cook my curry in my pan. It wasn't quite big enough to contain all the brinjals! Once the Bak Kut was cooked, I washed up my big pot and transferred the curry over. Then I dumped in left over Yong Tau Foo pieces (since the pot was big enough to take it all in now). 

In the pic below, you see my finished Assam Fish Curry in a Corningware pot which I usually use to serve but not cook in. Although you are able to use Corningware 'from the freezer, to the oven, to the table', I just don't feel it's authentic to be cooking curry in one. Prefer a metal pot.

Assam Fish Curry (with a motherload of brinjals and left over Yong Tau Foo)

So you must be wondering 'What type of Assam Fish Curry is this?'. Well, I used Selar because I HAD Selar in my fridge. Didn't want to go buy any special type of fish. My 4 whole Selar are hidden somewhere below the mountain of Fish chunks, brinjals and left over Yong Tau Foo pieces. Hee hee. This is reality. Who cooks beautifully everyday for the family? This isn't a show. This is a Working Mother who refuses to see food go to waste! We eat left overs all the time. In fact, left overs sometimes taste better.

Oh yes and by the way, I'd gotten all my fish cleaned, veg cut up, curry paste ready and pan heated when I realised I didn't have coconut milk! Sheesh. Spied my can of sweetened creamer and hurriedly improvised - made a mixture out of it (no stomach ache, can you believe it?). The dish tasted a tad sweet but I loved it. It was yummmmmmy!!!! (even if I say so myself!) 

Self-rating: 5/10

Gloating moment: Daughter's boyfriend said my dishes tasted good! I told hubs and he laughed (mean old man) and said guy was sucking up to me. I told hubs he's a clever young man then! But I don't believe for a second he was trying to curry favour. From the short time I've known him, I think he doesn't do stuff like that. He's a nice young man. Well, darn! The food must have really tasted good! *pats own back*



Working Mother's Steamed Pork Ribs / Sio Pek Chye

Was dreaming of eating assam fish curry the whole day at work. Made a mad dash to the supermarket to buy some brinjals (just in case I really wanted to cook the fish curry) and some canned porridge condiments before rushing home to cook dinner yesterday. At lunch, I had walked past a Chinese Medical Hall with packets of food seasoning (what's medical halls and cooking spices got to do with each other???) hanging outside their shop. I purchased Seah's seasoning for Steamed Pork Ribs for S$2 (This is not an ad endorsement. I get paid nothing - but it might give ideas to any working people out there who need to cook food in a hurry like me). Since I had already defrosted some pork ribs overnight thinking to stew or oven bake them, the seasoning would come in handy. I went home and  just rubbed the seasoning all over. Put it IN a big but shallow bowl ON a metal rack IN a pot of water OVER the stove and steamed (prepositions for you)! Cut some chilli and served! Voila!

Steamed Pork Ribs

Hubs was initially quite sceptical when I had told him I was steaming this dish. He kept asking me if I shouldn't fry it instead. In the end, he agreed it turned out delicious but because it involved the steaming of pork ribs, it took a tad longer to get dinner ready. Fortunately, both kids had fallen asleep (after returning home from school) and hubs was busy watching TV whilst I was cooking. I could afford to slave over the stove longer than usual. I didn't add anything else to this dish except for the cut chilli. The gravy you see in the pic was formed naturally through the steaming process. Had a nice peppery taste. Not too salty not too sweet. Pretty tasty seasoning.

Hubs agreed it was delicious. The meat was cooked and not tough but hubs felt the meat should have 'fallen off the bones' and it did not. He probably got that idea from eating canned stewed pork ribs. They DO fall off the bones. One wonders how many days THOSE have been stewed and if the stew is ever changed (or just reused, over and over - BAH! Dun wanna think about it. Just eat it! The canned stuff I mean!)
I did agree and think that it would have been nicer if my steamed pork ribs had beens softer but I would have required a much longer steaming time.

I'm glad hubs comments and criticizes my cooking. It's a learning process for me and if he fakes it and tells me everything is wonderful all the time, I might never learn! He did eat plenty of the pork ribs and that's proof of the pudding. However, later that night, as he was dozing off, he told me he was having a stomach ache. I understood what he was trying to say, glared at him for a moment than asked him what he had eaten for lunch. Hah!

Also boiled some Sio Pek Chye (Siau Bai Cai) and made some seasoning with oyster sauce and hot water.

Sio Pek Chye

I got to eat all the Sio Pek Chye by myself. Hubs only took a bite to taste my cooking. He isn't a big fan of most types of veg.

As for kids....sigh. Son wasted my time slaving over the Steamed Pork Ribs. He took one bite and said he didn't like the taste and that he was eating left over corned beef instead. As I predicted, he made instant noodles later that night. I pretty much just left him alone when he said he wasn't eating the ribs. You could say both guys are easy to please, yet the most difficult to please. If father and son could have their way, their menu would be limited to bread and butter, spam, corned beef, fried eggs, otak, sweet and sour pork, chicken rice or nasi lemak everyday of their lives. Daddy repeatedly tells me he is easy to please with just bread and butter but he doesn't eat a multitude of stuff, so to me, he's super fussy. Son likes pasta and  japanese but dad dislikes both. What am I supposed to do? Pander to their needs? Son needs to learn that Mummy isn't going to cater to his limited eating repertoire and if he's going to go hungy, he's going to go hungry. (Anyway, he likes it cos he's losing his baby fat). Daddy on the other hand - he has a choice to eat the meaty dishes his wife cooks up, go hungry or take over the cooking.

Daughter wasn't feeling well so I'd made a bowl of instant porridge for her instead. Tried to make it as 'not' bland as possible. She played around with the pickled veg but refused to touch the peanuts.

Instant porridge with pickled veg and sweet peanuts

Tonight! Ah, tonight, I'm gonna cook assam fish curry with loads of brinjals. For the fussy eaters whom I know will not be touching my fish curry, I'll be cooking pork rib soup with corn and....and....I dunno....as usual, will just go with the flow...

Working Mother's Suay Kow - Finally!

The Saturday before National Day, I woke up feeling like cooking a big breakfast for the family - which I did; sausages, baked beans, french toast and all (forgot to take pics, sorry). Then right after the last person (Saturday mornings are for catching up on sleep) had finished with breakfast and I'd washed up the pots and pans, I realised it was already time to start cooking lunch!

Decided to finally make Suay Kow (Dumplings). I had already pre-seasoned my minced meat (one packet pork, one packet chicken) a couple of days ago and just had to have them wrapped in store-bought skins.
From past experience, I find it much easier to make them and dunk them immediately in a pot of boiling water, as opposed to making a whole stash ready before starting to dunk them.

Here's a plate of dumplings drained with water drained. Hastily cut chilli and parsley garnish was for the benefit of my hubby who had advised me to spice up my food pics!

Meanwhile, for the soup, I had another pot of pork stock boiling. Also rolled up some meat balls and threw them in to cook.

It may look like a small dish but believe you me, a few Suay Kow will go a long way! Add some cut chilli to soya sauce (light or dark) and sluuuuurp!
Self-rating: 7/10 (Yeah, baby!!!)

Unfortunately, in the days that followed this, I totally forgot to take pics of my Chicken Curry and Nasi Lemak dishes! When a working mother's in a rush to cook up meals within half and hour, taking pics is the last thing on her mind! Darn! Am especially pissed with myself about forgetting to take pics of the Nasi Lemak! Well, there's always next time.

Road Trip

Didn't blog for slightly over a week cos hubs and I had taken a road trip.

Sunset along the Malaysian North-South Highway



Set off much later than anticipated and was still on the road at dusk. Beautiful sunset! Hubs agreed that the sunset was picturesque. I was frantically trying to capture the moment and I was so touched that he told me to hold off snapping while he slowed his car for me to take the pics!

Can't blog too long today. It's off to church for Mass later this evening for our Blessed Mother's Day of Assumption!

Flea Market - Changi Village 6 August 2011

We'll be at the Changi Village Flea Market this Sat, 6 Aug 2011
5-11pm

C'ya!

Working Mother's Comfort Food - Stewed Pork Ribs/ Black Eggs/ Tomato Pork

Hubby went out yesterday evening. Came home later that night and asked me, 'So, what did you cook for dinner, tonight?'
No need for explanations. I told him, 'Look at the pics in my phone!'
He'd know eventually if he reads my blog. But he does not. He does not read ANY blogs for that matter. Social media is a waste of time to him (and I'm trying to change his mind about this). He knows I've been taking pics of my dishes so he burst out laughing. At least he was interested in the pics to actually look in my phone. Then he held on to it and hogged it the whole night playing some bubble bursting game....sigh.
Side track note: He said I was snoring loudly after he had only 'died' 3 times at the game.

So what DID I cook yesterday evening? Mid-morning yesterday, daughter texted me from school to cook 'that very nice chicken thingy in a can'. First thought was instant curry chicken (but surely it had tasted horrible?). We exchanged some text messages back and forth before I could figure out that she meant Narcissus brand's Stewed Pork Ribs! Alamak, I had to chide her, 'Pork, lah, girl, not chicken!'.

Hubs wasn't eating with us so we had:

Narcissus brand's Stewed Pork Ribs

Totally oily, fatty, unhealthy and so, so yummilicious (Son won't agree though. He doesn't like it at all). Then because only daughter would eat that and son wouldn't, had to think of an alternative meat dish.
Self-rating: Not applicable (It's idiot proof to cook this, unless one doesn't know how to open a can or turn on the stove).

Tomato Sauce Pork

I cut up some pork chunks, potatoes and onions and fried them in tomato sauce. Decided to use Heinz Del Monte tomato sauce (in a plastic bottle that was very shiok to squeeze) instead of tomato paste and felt that it was too salty (or sourish) for my liking. Paste would have tasted better.
Cooked this for the benefit of my son and he tells me he's full cos he made cup noodles just before I had returned home from work! Hmmmph!!! He only poked around his black egg and tried a bit of the tomato pork. Then he reminds me he dislikes anything in tomato sauce (except maybe spaghetti).

Self-rating: 3/10 (Pork was soft and succulent as I had defrosted for a day in my 'lower bin' but the tomato sauce wasn't to my liking.

Also fried what we call Mike's Black Eggs:

 'Black' Eggs (Eggs in Dark Sauce)

Mike taught me to fry this when we were first dating (hmmm....that would be eons ago). When my cooking skills were limited to cooking rice, frying eggs and instant maggi mee. It's something my mother-in-law used to cook for him. Eggs beaten with dark sauce, pepper and salt! That single bull's eye in the pic is for moi.

No self-rating lah. Shy even to self-rate frying eggs.

Finished cooking all the above in a jiffy.

The cheek of Hubs. He was going through my pics last night on my phone and ahem, actually reading the last 2 posts on my blog and advising me to add abit of garnishing here and there to my dishes so they look better online. Alamak! It's not called Working Mother's No Frills dishes for no reason. I have to cook fast and furious everyday and then still remember to snap pics with my phone.

Oh yes....take a look at the half-eaten Sago with Gula Melaka I had whipped up. Forgot to take pics until eaten halfway. Hee hee, that's happening alot these days:

Sago with Gula Melaka and coconut milk

I had poured the cooked Sago into small bowls to set overnight in the fridge, then cupped them out onto a plate the next day. Boiled Gula Melaka and poured it and some coconut milk over the sago. Made 4 small bowls but 2 bowls was still too much for the 3 of us (Son refused to even try and gets upset if I 'force' him to - so I didn't. Daughter was flabberghasted at this 'new' dish but tasted it and did eat quite a bit. But she found it too sweet for her liking. She asked for her usual 'Green Jelly' instead. That's jello which I make nearly every week).

Self-rating: 2/10 (Sago too sticky and somewhat uncooked in the centre. Gula Melaka too sweet and the brand of coconut milk I used wasn't my usual brand and it didn't taste very nice. Overall, one would be able to taste what this dessert is supposed to taste like but am not happy with the results).

So there you have it - our comfort food.

Fast to cook, good to eat (wait, isn't that from Maggi Mee's ad from eons ago?)



Working Mother's Hainanese Chicken Rice

Tuesday evening :
Daughter: 'What are you cooking for dinner tomorrow, Mum? A------- is coming over' (That's her boyfriend).
Working Mother: 'I dunno. What you want to eat? Chicken rice?'
Daughter: 'Yes! OK, chicken rice!'

Late Tuesday night :
Barges into our room. Double confirmation.
Daughter: 'So, chicken rice, ah?'

Both in unison
Husband: 'OK! Chicken rice' / Working Mother: 'Or sui kow?'
Daughter: 'Chicken rice!'

Husband looks at me: 'Just say Chicken Rice, lah. She wants Chicken Rice, just say OK, lor.'
Working Mother: 'Ok, ok....(sigh)'

Wednesday morning triple confirmation.
Texted message from Daughter:
'So what are you cooking tonight for dinner, Mum?'

Working Mother's No Frills Hainanese Chicken Rice

We eat a lot of chicken at home. Fillet for hubs and the kids. Boney chicken for me. So to prepare a chicken dish, I always have to have both types of cuts at home. To sidetrack a bit, I'm finding it harder and harder to find chicken fillet at the supermarkets and when I can find them, they're usually thawed from frozen fillet but charged like fresh chicken fillet. What a rip off.

Anyway, decided to cook two types of chicken. One, cut up fillet into bits, dip in flour and fry. Not exactly Hainanese Chicken Rice but hey, anything to keep my family happy.

Fillet bits seasoned and fried by Hubby

Actually, the first thing I always do is to cook the rice. I would have had enough soup and oily bits from my chicken parts to do the rice from scratch. But when you have hungry teens in the wings waiting, store bought chicken rice sauce goes a long way. Have tried a few brands and Loy Chng Kee's (forgot the brand but I think it has Kee in it) works best for me. Costs more than the packet ones too. Dumped the whole bottle in although I think the instructions said 4 tbsp for 4 container scoops of rice. I was cooking 5 scoops of rice and by the time I had scooped out my 4th tbsp of sauce, I noticed not much left in the bottle - so just dumped all of its contents into the rice pot, added water, a few cloves of garlic (unpeeled) and stirred thoroughly.

While the rice was cooking, I got the chicken boiling. Chucked some breast meat (with bones) and wingsticks (not chicken wings but little drummettes - Alamak, how to spell drummette?) which I always refer to as small drumsticks, into a pot. Brought it to a furious boil for about 10 minutes, then turned off the stove, covered the pot and let it sit for half an hour in the hot soup.

Meanwhile, I had the fillet bits seasoned and deep fried by hubby (yes, he's getting the hang of cooking - in fact, he fries better than me). 

The boiled chicken was cooked just nice. Not too hard, not too soft and cooked! No pink flesh! That is a big deal to me, considering I worry alot about undercooking chicken all the time. I drained them and dunked them in cold water. Cut up the breast pieces into half, then drizzled a mix of soya sauce and sesame oil over them. Sliced some lettuce into the soup and served.

Voila!

Self-rating: 6/10
Chicken turned out nice. Not too hard, not too soft but definitely have not reached the level of chicken succulence which I can find at some chicken rice stores!
Rice at bottom of pot turned out a bit burnt. Not sure why. Maybe I hadn't stirred the sauce enough. Fortunately, I had cooked 5 scoops of rice so there was plenty on the top to eat.
Wah piang, plenty of cleaning up after that. Would have been much cheaper and easier to go buy chicken rice. But that would have lacked the love hubs and I put into preparing this dish to feed our family.
(Hubby said above pic of white chicken looks like 'sotong' to him. What the heck!?)



Working Mother's Chicken and Chips

Tuesday afternoon 2 August 2011.
Called hubby to ask him help me buy wanton skins. Told him I had already seasoned my minced meat and thought of making 'Sui Kow' for dinner that night (those gigantic wantons filled with minced meat and sometimes filled with prawns or veg). He says 'Sui Kow' in soup sounds good.

What does the guy do? Oh, he buys the skins for me alright. But I get home from work and see him frying crinkle cut chips. Slightly irritated, I ask him, 'Chips and 'Sui Kow'? You KNOW I'm cooking Sui Kow!'. He continues frying and says he just felt like eating chips. He munches on some as he fries.
I couldn't make myself pass any sarcastic comments because I myself had had this weird urge to eat chips earlier that afternoon (and had in fact ordered Fish and Chips for lunch)!

So, Working Mother (also known as Mrs Fixit - although I'm too lazy to fix much nowadays) had to do a quick mental assessment of what I had already defrosted and seasoned in what I call my fridge's 'bottom bin' and do a quick menu change. Decided to season chicken fillet in store bought flour/crumbs to match hubby's chips. The result:

Chicken and Chips

Self-rating:  7/10
(Not too bad lah cos the kids and hubs actually made individual effort to come tell me the chicken was delicious and I had managed to not burn the chicken and yet have it turn out a nice crisp brown!)

BTW, that miserable piece of lettuce (which I placed on each individual's plate) was my pathetic attempt at having them take a erm....balanced meal. Most definitely did NOT work. Neither one of them (that is, daughter, son or hubs ate the lettuce). Son actually asked me if I was trying to sneekily slip a piece of veg onto his plate to try to trick him into eating veg. I, their human vacuum cleaner, therefore, ended up dunking all their lettuce in Nando's sauce and eating it all up. I give up.

Flea Market - Saturday 30 July 2011

We'll be at the Changi Village Flea Market this Sat 30 July 2011.
5-11pm. C'ya.

BTW, how d'ya like this pair of shoes? My kid's pal commissioned me to do up her Vans with one of my existing designs:

I enjoyed doing the shoes because it offered me a larger canvas to paint but wouldn't have touched it with a pole if it hadn't been for a friend of my daughter's because (if you're reading it), it was filthy and STANK big time! (LOL. Had to literally wear a mask those few hours doing it!). Hope you like it, owner!

Working Mother's Mixed Chow - Batang Steak / Sliced Pork / Kangkong

So after Monday night's Laksa, Tuesday night was a no-go in terms of cooking. Both kids were eating out after staying back late in school and I was too tired from unpacking stuff over at my new office so hubs and I decided to walk over to a nearby Bak Kut Teh restaurant to have what else....Bak Kut Teh (Pork Rib Soup), Ter Kah (Pig's Trotters) and Mei Cai (a salted veg condiment). Deeeelicious!

Got home on Wednesday evening to find that hubs had already fried eggs and corned beef (for his own benefit, I might add).

In addition, I cooked:

Batang Steak with chilli and onions

Batang (fish) steak, pan seared with a motherload of onions and cut chilli and a dash of lemon : )
Mmmmm....yummy, even if I do say so myself. I'd rate it a 7/10 (I know what you are thinking. The gall of this woman, rating her own cooking. FYI, who cares? This is my blog and I'm the one who cooked it and ate it. I'm the one who knows if or not I had food poisoning after the dish. I can rate my own cooking if I wish to, thank you! HAHA)

And......

Pork and sliced potatoes soaked in HP sauce. Tasted pretty good. Self-rating 5/10.

Then, though I knew we already had enough, I took a look at my refridgerator's bunch of wilting Kangkong and knew I had to cook it that night or junk it.

Also, I thought that my daughter might appreciate coming home to a dish of Chilli Kangkong since it's one of her favourites. It looks a bit too watery. I still can't quite get it right (just like zhi-char restaurants) but this time round, the taste was nearly there. Why is it so watery when I cook it at home? I don't even add water. Is it because I actually wash my kangkong and restaurants don't???!!! Of course, I had to make do with whatever bottled chilli I could find at home and well, it's a working mother's no frills Chilli Kangkong. What else does anyone expect? : )

Working Mother's No-Frills Laksa

I'm not a good cook but you can't fault me for trying. I actually enjoy cooking. Having to work in the day, I usually have to rush home to cook dinner. It's usually a mad rush, giving myself only half an hour from the time I step foot back home, to the time I serve the dinner. I do find it therapeutic though, even if it's usually 10pm before I wipe and place the last dinner plate back onto the kitchen shelves!

Here's Monday night's No-Frills Laksa cooked by yours truly.

No frills because no 'hum' (cockles), no laksa sambal, no laksa leaves, no shelled prawns (used frozen peeled prawns) and didn't even have the time to pluck the bean sprout tails. Ha ha. We're still alive today, no? And NO STOMACH UPSET. ha ha ha ha.....

Just 2 packets of A1 Laksa mix (Prima is better in my humble opinion), some coconut milk, lots of tah-pok, yong-tauhu mix and tah dah. No frills. Finished in half and hour.

I'd rate it a 3/10. Blah. A bit on the diluted side. Ooops.
(You don't see the yong tahu cos this is a 'posed' photo. I'd totally forgotten to take a pic of my actual servings and only thought to do so when I was washing up. By then, I'd already run out of yong tahu so just plonked whatever I had left and took a pic. Not too bad looking, even if I do say so myself. LOL).

Wondering what to cook tonight, though.....sigh.

So tired

Haven't decided if we should set up stall in Changi this Saturday or not.

I've to attend my daughter's Parents-Teachers session at her JC on Sat and I am feeling physically tired. Wouldn't mind just staying home to watch a senseless movie and cooking up a more elaborate dinner. My day job office is relocating and there are tonnes and tonnes of stuff to pack and throw out. It's not been easy, doing that whilst the business (day job) is still running. The past week especially has been so tiring. I go home ready to drop but have to prepare dinner and deal with the ironing (school uniforms). Can't wait for the National Day break to come......hee hee....will be going off for a short break with my man again. I luuuuurve short breaks! Sorry, nothing to do with not being patriotic. Just about being able to find a few days off in a row to take a break from work and the usual mad schedule of things.

Cooking. Hmmm....that's been on my mind alot lately. I enjoy cooking so it's not a very big deal to do so (but ironing is something else altogether)! I find it fulfilling as a wife and mother to be able to feed my family. As I write this, I'm thinking, I should take pics of the meals I prepare. Given that I've not been cooking 'full-time' very long (does it count if I've been watching cooking shows since my pregnancies umpteen years ago?), what I whip up is dependent on what I buy at the supermarket (yes, no wet markets for me, thank you), what dishes I can think off and largely what the fussy pots will eat.

It's tough when one doesn't eat any chicken with bones, one eats chicken with bones. One likes soup. The other doesn't. One loves kangkong. The other doesn't. One likes eggs seasoned with black sauce. The other fancies bullseyes. One can eat western all year round. The other fancies Chinese. You get the drift. Sigh.

I really should start taking pics of my dishes. Why didn't I think of that before?

Anyway, back to the topic of this Saturday's stall at Changi. If we're there, we're there. If we're not, we're not. Feel free to give us a call to check with us.

Flea Market - Changi Village - Sat 16 July 2011

We'll be at the Changi Village Flea Market this Saturday 16 July 2011.
5-11pm.

New home decor stock has arrived! C'ya.

Free Delivery

Mike and I are in a good mood so we're offering FREE DELIVERY for every pair of Cartoon Lagoon hand painted shoes you order.

That's right, S$29 includes FREE DELIVERY to a local address within Singapore Mainland.

Delivery lead times are about 1 to 2 weeks and unit price excludes any embellishments to shoes straps.