How awful

It has been ages since I had breakfast in Top 10 Coffee Shop in Jalan Song. I heard from a friend that there is a new food stall so I thought I checked it out one morning.

The new food stall which more than a month old, has interesting menu and price for a coffee shop. I were at lost at what to order then.

Big Baba's Menu

In the end, I decided to have their stew pork trotter and yam to takeaway for my lunch.

For price of RM8.50, it was not much. More lean meats than those chewy trotter to my liking. It was not cooked long enough so it was not tender enough. The stew was sweet and thick although I personally prefer saltier stew than sweet.

By the way, my mum also ordered and tried its normal nasi lemak. I did not take photo of her takeaway but she commented later on too little anchovies, the peanuts were totally raw and not much "lemak" in her nasi lemak. How awful to be served with raw peanuts!! A disappointment for her. It was RM4 per pack which was not cheap at all.

Well, they need to improve on their food and waiting time. Food was not so great and quite pricey. Somemore, we waited quite long for our food to be ready. Maybe because they just open so they have not yet adjust to their service. Hopefully they improve and will get better.

This new food stall is in Top 10 coffee shop, Jalan Song, and it opens from 9am to 2pm daily except Monday.

2 recipes : Grilled mixed-herbs chicken with carrot-celery salad

I love this grilled mixed-herbs chicken because the meat is so succulent and tasty with those herbs. Again, my flip pan was so useful for this grilling and I think I have been using it to grill meats more nowadays.

Grilled Mixed-Herbs Chicken

Ingredients:

Whole chicken (butterfly in the centre) or 2 chicken thighs

Seasonings: 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1 tbsp McCormick mixed herbs, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp fennel

6 Australia red potatoes

Seasonings: 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1-2 tsp mixed herbs, 1 tbsp olive oil

Methods:

1. Marinate the chicken, preferably overnight with seasonings.

2. Just before cooking, prepare the potatoes.  Make few slices lengthwise on the potatoes. Mix the seasonings with the potatoes and leave it for few minutes.

3. Heat up flip pan.  Add in the chicken with the skin side down with the seasoning.  Arrange the potatoes around the chicken.  Close the flip pan.

4. Let it cook under medium-low heat for 15 minutes. Flip over and let it cook for another 15 minutes.

Carrot-celery salad (serves 1-2)

Ingredients:
1 carrot, sliced thinly

2 celery stalks, sliced thinly after peel off the outer green skin

Oaf leaf lettuces
1-2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
Bacon bits (optional)
Basil leaf for garnish

Methods:

1. Blanch the carrot and celery for a minute before drain.

2. In a bowl, toss in the carrot and celery.  Add in olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.

3. In a serving plate, arrange the oaf leaf lettuces on the plate.  Spoon the carrot and celery mix onto the lettuces. 
4. If you are using bacon bits, you could add some on top of the salad. Garnish with basil leaf.

Thanksgiving

I have never celebrate Thanksgiving before. It is not a tradition in my hubby's family and it is not much of a celebration in this part of the world.

Do you know it is a holiday in Canada and U.S.A on such day but both celebrating in different months? It started when few blogs that I visited for the past week were posting on Thanksgiving, its significance and holiday. And I thought that I should celebrate Thanksgiving too. After all, giving thanks for what we have and appreciate them are what we live for.

If you ask me, I have thousand lists to be thankful for, but most importantly would be thankful for having a wonderful family and stay healthy and content. And in my list, I am thankful that we are together and whole once again. The time when hubby was away for few months early this year was behind me now. 

I believe that if you don't derive a deep sense of purpose from what you do, if you don't come radiantly alive several times a day, if you don't feel deeply grateful at the tremendous good fortune that has been bestowed on you, then you are wasting your life.  And life is too short to waste. - Srikumar Rao

I always reminded my children how lucky they are, and they do not have worries or much to worry about their needs.  And they must be grateful for the blessings bestowed upon them. When it comes to food, we should be thankful for the meals on our table. No wastage and appreciate food. So when ever we dine together, hubby would say grace before we start eating.

For my first Thanksgiving, I cooked something special for my family. No, not turkey as we could not finish a whole turkey. I opted for chicken. A grilled mixed-herbs chicken with potatoes, and celery carrot salad. How is that for a Thanksgiving menu?

Will share the recipe in my next post.

Enjoy safer, healthier and tastier food

I cook at home mostly on weekdays. I enjoy cooking for the family and when they eat what I cook, I am a happy wife and mother! 

I love to experiment with ingredients, creating new recipe with different and robust flavours. To have tasty yet healthy food on the table, I would go for fresh ingredients. I go to the wet market every 3 days so I have fresh ingredients in my fridge and freezer.

Everytime I am back from the wet market, I would sort and wash them before storing them properly in my fridge and freezer. And let me share with you one great and useful product that I have in my kitchen. This wonderful product helps me to ensure the freshness and cleaner food I cook for my family.

EnviroHome Food Wash.

All my meats and seafood would be washed and soaked in EnviroHome Food Wash before being kept or used in cooking.  I wash my vegetables and fruits with EnviroHome Food Wash too. I even soak my rice with this product before I rinse and cook in the rice cooker.

You may ask, why all the hassle of washing and soaking in EnviroHome Food Wash? Well, do you know that the food that we consume nowadays may somewhere or somehow exposed to harmful contaminants such as fishes in the ocean may contain harmful mercury, or chickens and cows are injected with hormones so they could grow faster and bigger?  And not to mention the high content of pesticides, and herbicides in your vegetables and fruits that you bought from the markets. So what do you think would happen when you eat those meats, fishes or vegetables??

Fret not, now you could also enjoy your food with peace of mind and worry-free. EnviroHome Food Wash is Malaysia's no 1 food wash and this non-chemical food wash breaks down pesticides, wax, insecticides, bacteria, preservatives and bleaching agents with non toxic and 99% biodegrable formula. It helps to preserve the freshness, extend the cold storage time and enhance the taste of the food.

How to use:
Apply 1 or 2 pumps of EnviroHome Food Wash into a basin of water. Soak the vegetables, fruits, seafood or raw meats into the solution for 2 - 3 minutes.  Rinse well with flowing water if needed.

Now you can  also enjoy safer, healthier and tastier food on your table with this great product. Interested to know more? Be a fan at EnviroHome Facebook page or visit EnviroHome official website.

Baby soft skin

Bath time is the favourite play time for my youngest.  Jamie loves to stay longer in the bathroom, soaking and playing in his tub more than any other activities.

When it is his bath time, he would immediately take off his pants and waiting for me at the bathroom door to bathe him. Recently I let him try this new wonderful product from EnviroHome, called Top-to-Toe Baby Wash.  Now he loves his bath time even more! Why not?  Because EnviroHome Top-to-Toe Baby Wash loves him as it is gentle on his delicate skin.

This chemical-free body wash is suitable for those with sensitive skin. It is formulated with natural ingredients such as aloe vera extract, coconut oil, lemon extract and lavender oil to give you that smoother and softer skin after shower.  And it is not only just a body wash, it has healing properties that you could apply a small amount on wounds, cuts, diaper rashes and eczema after shower.

You may remember that Jamie used to have serious eczema when he was a baby, but thankfully his skin has healed and now I am letting him to bathe using Envirohome Top-to-Toe Baby Wash to keep his skin and hair clean, hydrated, and healthy.   It feels great to hug and touch his baby soft skin; not those rough, red rashes and patches. And I love that this baby wash has that mild fragrance which come from botanical extracts, unlike most baby products which are overwhelmingly with strong fragrance.

How to use:

For Shower:

Apply EnviroHome Body Wash onto wet sponge or palm. Gently rub or apply onto skin.  Rinse well.

For Bath:

Pour small amount of EnviroHome body Wash into a bathtub of warm water. Let your baby soak in for about 15 minutes and dry with towel after bath.

The little one enjoys his natural bath and splashing in his tub!

If your precious ones have sensitive skin, you could not go wrong with this wonderful  baby wash. It is chemical-free, bubble-free, fragrance-free and colorant-free; real gentle and delicate for your babies.

Learn more about EnviroHome Body Wash and other EnviroHome products from the official website and ＦＢFan page.

Check-up

Last month, I went for a pap smear and at the same time, get my doctor to do an over-all check-up.

The last time I did my pap smear?? After Jamie was born so it was about 2 years ago. I know, I should have done it yearly so this was overdue.

And before this check-up, I had felt some pain in my left breast so I told the doctor. I knew I should not be worried too much about it as I have lumpy breasts. However, lump is still a lump and now it suddenly triggered discomfort, I should not be taking it too lightly. Many years ago, I went for biopsy and removed 2 lumps in my breasts. Thankfully they were benign so were not cancerous lumps.

To cut my boobs story short, the doctor referred me to hospital for ultra-scan. I dread mammogram so I did not mind ultra-scan at all. Anyway, mammogram is for women aged 40 and above so I am still not eligible for that.

More than a week ago, I did the ultra-scan and consulted the specialist (who happened to be the one who consulted and operated on me last time). As expected, found few small lumps, and the specialist did not suspect anything unusual. However I need to monitor and come back for follow-up in 6 months time.

The results were all came back good. Now I can put it at the back of my mind and breathe a sigh of relief. And quickly send a prayer of gratefulness to the heavenly Father for blessing me with good health.

Pinterest

Weekend Menu #74: Cheese & tomato toast

Okay, this is a very overdue post which was left in my draft folder for quite some time. Forgot to post it. Lol.

The weather is getting cold and wet in Kuching as monsoon season is here. 

One Saturday morning, we woke up late and the sky outside was raining cats and dogs. Actually the rain has been pouring since the night before, non-stop till the next morning. Hubby was travelling that day so left me and kids at home.

Since it rained, I made us a quick breakfast fix that morning. I had some leftover white bread so before it went stale, I thought of using them up over the weekend.

This is a very simple and quick toast which I enjoy as it has my favourite ingredients, i.e. tomatoes and cheese.  Nothing could go wrong with those 2 ingredients.  They are perfect match made in heaven (or rather, earth!).  *wink wink*

Cheese & tomato toast

Ingredients:
4 white bread slices
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp chopped tomatoes, drained from can (I used this can of chopped tomatoes)

1 tbsp chopped basil lemon

1/2 tbsp chopped garlic

Grated parmesan cheese

Mozzarella cheese

Salt to taste

Methods:

1. Toast the bread slices so they can be firm to hold the filling on top when bake.

2. In a bowl, mix garlic and basil leaves with olive oil. Add salt to taste and mix well.

3. Spread the garlic and basil mixture evenly on the bread slices. Then add the chopped tomatoes on top.

4. Gently spread the parmesan cheese evenly on top.  And then the same goes with mozzarella cheese.

5. Bake for about 4 - 5 minutes in pre-heated oven till the cheese melt.

6. Serve with salad at the side!  Eat while it is warm!

Schools ended with a proud mom

Finally the school calendar for 2015 has ended and I couldn't be any happier and a proud mom.  Please bear with me as I go on talking about my kids. *wink wink*

It has been a good school year for Jan and Jay as both adjusting well in their respective schools. They met new friends, new teachers and both have learnt and developed new skills this year.

With his trademark sign and smile!

Jay had his graduation concert last Saturday afternoon in his kindergarden and I am happy to note that he has grown more confident and catching up in his learning from his teachers.

Jay's assessment tests

When he began school early this year, the teachers had problem with him as he is a slow learner but glad that the teachers took extra time to guide him after school.  I also found a good tuition centre and since then, he has improved well.  Hope he will do better and adapt well when going to primary school next year.

Jan is truly an amazing girl, and I am proud of how she is doing in school.  This term exam however, her result dropped in one subject but overall she did well. Too much fun and relax this time round, maybe. Lol.

Jan's Primary 3 report card

Teacher commented Jan is a good student; hard-working and smart. She is also very active; volunteered in few competitions in school this year and sometime she could be disheartened for not winning something but I have to remind her that it is the participation and interest that matter. Winning is not everything, I told her.  Now she just join any contests and activities for the fun and challenges!  She has at least got a trophy or certificate every year, which is a good achievement to me. :)

Consolation trophy in Maths competition

And Jan ends the year with a 3rd placing in overall Primary 3 academic achievement in her school. Well done, Jan!

With her bronze trophy

And by the way, I noticed that Jan started to have that underarm odor few weeks ago. At 9 1/2 years old, she has that stinky smell whenever I pick her up from school! She did not realised it till I could not stand it one day and get her a natural roll-on to be used in the morning. Gosh, I guess that it is  a sign of her growing up.

I am truly blessed to have wonderful kids.  Each one is different, they are special to me.

And thank you, guys for reading my post!  Hahaha!  Have a great weekend, everyone!

Deck the hall

"Deck the hall" is a popular Christmas song. It starts like this. "Deck the hall with boughs of holly, Fa la la la la la la la la"

It is that time of the year again to deck the hall with Christmas tree and décor. We did ours last weekend.

You may be wondering why so early this year? Well, no particular reason; we wanted to get it done early before the kids back to hometown. And I guess it is never too early for Christmas songs and decor, right??

Everyone notably the kids was in the full holiday mood swing! They were very determined to put up and decorate the tree with new baubles this year. Mostly done by Jan and Jay while I helped with the top part of the tree and hubby did the lighting and coloured ribbons.

With Christmas songs playing, we joyfully setting up our tree. Everyone was very into the festive mood. Jamie was helping out this year too. Better than last year when he was in destructive nature and trying to pull down the ornaments.

Look at our blue and silver themed Christmas tree standing elegantly at the corner of our living room.

New additions and baubles that we bought for the tree this year...

Now the tree is up, it is sure feel like Christmas at home!

Wish we have snow outside but alas.  No, we have rain.  Rain has kept pouring down over here lately so it is going to be another cold and wet year end. 

You can check out our last year's purplely Christmas tree.

And my prayers in this festive season go to the families and friends of victims of the atrocious attacks in Paris. Christmas would not be the same for them anymore.

On my mind

Gone back to Ice Buddy Café few days after we had lunch there.  It was impromptu; I found a nice parking spot and it was not yet 12noon so we could avoid the lunch crowd.

Once I were there, I knew what I wanted to eat. Something that has been on my mind since our last lunch.

Lo bak rice. Braised meat rice. No wonder hubby enjoyed it because they were pretty generous with the meat portion and the braised pork belly was well braised.

 

The pork belly has got to be the star of the dish.  Thick and big slices of succulent meat and fat.  There was only half of hard-boiled egg and few slices (3 to be exact) of chicken meat given. 



They did not give you any chilli sauce or dipping to go with the meats but it was okay with me. Instead I got this curry sauce.  Not much but I did pour some of the curry onto my white rice.  This stall also have curry rice.  Maybe I will keep it in mind the next round I am here.

We rarely do

Supper! We rarely do supper!

After our evening grocery haul, we were hungry and thirsty so we crossed the road to this food court for a supper. It was slightly after 8pm and the place was quite packed but there was few vacant tables around.

Hubby has been craving for this delicious fried kuaw tiaw since that day he tasted it for the first time. Lol. So without second thought, he ordered himself a plate of fried kuaw tiaw. He simply loved this.

The kids shared this yummy kolo mee as it was quite a portion and both were not that hungry.

And when my order arrived, Jamie was so excited and could not wait to dig into this grilled satay.

Jamie ate quite few sticks of this pork satay. I ordered 10 sticks (RM0.60 per stick) and a piece of ketupat (RM0.50). 

The pork satay was good. Still juicy and tender. Not dry at all. I love it!

And the peanut sauce was good too. Spicy for my tongue but I enjoyed it with the plain ketupat.

A nicer weather and our grocery haul

This is an overdue post but then again, better late than never. *wink wink*

Hubby was on leave on one Monday so he could get some errands done. After our breakfast in Lau Ya Keng, we drove around the town. 

Saw one mural which I like. Actually there are few new murals but I only took a shot of this burung kenyalang (hornbill) in one of a corner shops in Main Bazaar.

The sky was good that day as finally we were able to see the blue sky again after a week of greyish hazy sky.

We also went for our grocery shopping as we really need to get our fridge and pantry filled up.  For that, we needed to go to 2 shopping malls for our grocery haul. 

First stop was in the morning in Cold Storage for some imported stuff. Of course the happiest person was our boy.  When you say the word "kai kai, he would be the first one to step out from the house and wearing his shoes!

We bought these goodies as the kids enjoyed the pancake mix, while we needed these dressings and bacon bits for salad.

The biggest grocery haul would be from the local hypermarket, Emart the following evening. We could never walked back without our shopping cart full!