[gardening][vege] Mustard Green for Lunch

Harvested these beautiful mustard green and made stir-fry sawi for lunch yesterday.
Tasted better when it's from your own garden :-)

[gardening][vege] Spinach Malabar Red / Bayam Malabar

Of late, I am into gardening (again).

This morning, sowed 5 of these seeds. Did not use germination tray, just buried them directly in the pot they will grow in.

Meantime, just pray that they will sprout out in few days, grow as they should and end up in a plate later on.

Spinach Malabar Red, its scientific name is Basella Rubra, known in Bahasa Melayu as Bayam Malabar. Seeds from shopee, seller wellgrowseeds.

[Ramblings] Finally I Left

Assalamualaikum.
Peace Be Upon You.

So many things happened since the last post.
Between my last post and now,
I finally gathered enough courage and left the corporate world.

[Seeds & Soil] Bendi - Week 7

Assalamualaikum
Peace Be Upon You

(re)Found a new hobby.
It excites me to see them sprout then grow.
Some died, some thrive.

These bendi plants were sowed on 2 December 2017.
I sowed 6 seeds, all sprouted on 3rd day, then I decided to keep only three coz I have space issues.

Yesterday I found buds coming out from two of the three plants already.
Still a long way before they eventually land on my plate (pray that they will!).

Seeds were given by a friend.
Thank you!

[Books] 1/2018 - The Travelling Cat Chronicles

Assalamualaikum.
Peace Be Upon You.

It's Friday already.
Time really flies.

I am trying to read more this year.
Like, a book a week.
But failing big time at that.
It's coming to 3rd week of January and I am at page 50 of the very first book.

[Food & Recipe] Angelhair Aglio Olio

STEP 1
[1]  1 packet angelhair pasta
[2]  1 chicken cube
[3]  4 tbsp cooking oil
[4]  1 tsp coarse salt

- In a pot, add water with chicken cube, cooking oil and salt.
- Bring to a boil.
- Add angelhair and leave to boil until half cooked.
- Take 2 cups of the water, set aside.
- Strain angelhair, set aside.

STEP 2
[5]  Chicken strips - cut into medium-sized bits
[6]  Prawn - leave the tail intact, cut the back and devein
[7]  Squid - cut into rings

- Properly strain and dab (with kitchen towel) the chicken, prawn and squid.
- Heat oil in a work until really hot.
- Fry the chicken, prawn and squid on high heat until the have that brown hues. Fry in small batches.
- Set aside

STEP 3
[8]   6 garlics - I prefer to slice mine, or
                              you can mince the garlic, or
                              'lempang je dengan cleaver sampai penyek'
[9]   Parsley flakes
[10] Chili flakes
[11] 2 cups of pasta water (from Step 1)

- Heat oil in a wok.
- Fry the garlic until they brown on the edges.
- Sprinkle generous amount of parsley and chilli flakes and fry for about 30 seconds.
- Add a cup of pasta water.
- Add angelhair and stir and mix evenly. Use a thong, that would be easier to deal with it :-)
- Add chicken, prawn and squid.
- Add more pasta water if needed.
- Sprinkle some salt to taste (not too much as the angelhair was boiled with salt earlier on).
- Just after turning off the flame, sprinkle some more parsley and chili flakes, you'll get a more 'fresher' look.

Serve & Enjoy!

p/s  I didn't add vege coz the kekanaks don't really eat vege. Instead, I halved cherry tomatoes and served those in their individual bowls. 

[Thoughts] [Ramblings] Moving On...

Things were a bit tensed last year.
Emotionally drained.
In the end I didn't know how I should feel about many things.

'OMG! You're having a mid-life crisis', one friend commented.
'Everyone goes and finds his/her own happiness', another added.
'Find the green button', a friend puts it.

Then I started sowing seeds.
And saw them sprouted and grew.
Some died prematurely.
Some still thrives albeit ungracefully.
But they live on.

Such is life.
We tried.
We thrived.
We failed.
But we must move on.

[Food & Recipe] Pineapple Cake

Assalamualaikum.

Peace Be Upon You.

My first cake for 2018.

Of course my first-bake-of-the-year has to be everyone's favorite - Pineapple Cake.

Original recipe calls for margarine but I made do with the butter. 

Too lazy to go out beli majerin. 

Ingredients

[1]  250 gm - butter

[2]  200 gm - castor sugar

[3]  3 - eggs

[4]  220 gm - self raising flour

[5]  1 can - pineapple (cube) - drain. 

         Blend half of the cubes with 6 tbsp juice. 

         Cut the other half of cubes into small pieces.

- Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. 

- Slowly add egg one by one. 

- Fold in the flour. 

- Fold in blended pineapple. 

- Pour in the cake pan. 

- Sprinkle small pieces of pineapple cubes on top. 

- Bake 170d (no fan) for 40 minutes. 

If you are a sweet-tooth, you may want to add up some more sugar.. perhaps to 220-240 grams. I lessened the sugar to suit our taste. 

[Ramadhan 1438H] Tidak Kan Sama

Assalamualaikum.
Peace Be Upon You.

Salam 3 Ramadhan.

Alhamdulillah dipertemukan sekali lagi dengan bulan Ramadhan.

Tahun ke-3 berpuasa tanpa ayahanda.
Tahun ke-6 tanpa ayahanda mertua.
Tahun ke-2 tanpa bonda mertua.

Of course, perasaan itu tidak kan sama :-(
Apapun, ingati yang telah pergi.
Raikan yang masih ada.

Moga Ramadhan kita sempurna.

[Ramadan] [Menu] Ramadan 2017 Countdown

Assalamualaikum.
Peace Be Upon You.

7 more days to Ramadhan.

Some of kaum ibu sure have lots of things months before Ramadhan itself especially baju raya. I know some tailors dah tak ambik tempahan months before Aidilfitri. Then when Ramadhan comes, to ensure meals for sahur and berbuka in order, then dekat-dekat nak raya fikir pasal kuih raya pulak :-), and then deal with packing things up balik kampong and unpack semula lepas habis beraya di kampong.

And of course not to forget terawikh, tadarus and the likes.

As for my small family, weekend ni baru nak hantar tempah baju for the boys and abahnya. Good luck to us. Moga berjaya. One of my boys memang tak boleh pakai baju readymade. Especially now with the current trend seluarnya kaki kecik dan kurus. As for myself and Kakak, we'll just head for shopping complex and get us some blouses and skirts. It's important for me that those can be worn to the office without getting weird stares. So, nothing too fancy.

Kids will be starting two weeks mid-year leave on 1st Ramadhan itself, I think that is a blessing. Hoping for lesser traffic congestion during those two weeks. Kids got to stay home, lesser time in the sun going to and coming back from school, perhaps with no homework.
 

And as usual, I'll have my weekly menu ready. Senang nak plan beli barang-barang, can prepare ahead, balik rumah boleh terus letak kuali or periuk atas dapur.

My line-ups for 1st week..

Main dishes. Yes, we do not eat rice for lunch and dinner every day, hence we will have kuetiaw and bihun and buttermilk chicken sandwich on some days. I also have make-ahead concoction like sambal tumis and sambal lontih. Even now I have them ready in the fridge and proven to be a huge time-saver.

Some people argue we mothers spend too much time preparing meals for the family. The time should and better be spent reciting Quran, performing solat sunat and whatnots. My humble opinion says, preparing meals for the family is also an ibadah. Of course, we need not to over-do it.

Ramadhan is a month that I got the chance to spend more time with my family, mealtimes included. Otherwise on other months we rely on take-aways, eat-outs maybe half of out mealtimes.

Apapun, Selamat Menyambut Ramadhan. Moga amal ibadah kita dapat dipertingkatkan.

 

[Books] All The Light We Cannot See

Assalamualaikum.
Peace Be Upon You

2/2017
Tittle - All The Light We Cannot See
Author - Anthony Doerr
Pages - 531 (inclusive of acknowledgments)

I like how the author brings the characters back and forth, brings the time back and forth. I was so anxious as to when the main characters shall 'meet'. They eventually did on page 411 (the whole book is 520+ pages).

 

Hauntingly rich details, more like seeing a painting rather than words by words. I couldn't put this down and took so long to finish not because of anything else other than trying to absorb myself in beautiful sentences.

 

Having finished this book, I am afraid to start a new one. Afraid that it will be too pale in comparison with this one.

Quotes from the book..

So how, children, does the brain,
which lives without a spark of light,
built for us a world full of light?

You know the greatest lesson of history?
It’s that the history is whatever the victors say it is.
That’s the lesson.
Whoever wins, that’s who decides the history

See obstacles as opportunity.
See obstacles as inspiration.

Don’t you want to be alive before you die?

Science, is made up by mistakes,
but they are mistakes which is useful to make,
because they lead little by little to the truth.

Open your eyes and see what you can with them before they close forever

When I lost my sight, Werner, people said I was brave.
When my father left, people said I was brave.
But it is not bravery, I have no choice.
I wake up and live my life.
Don’t you do the same?

Some grief can never be put right

Beautiful.
Recommended.

[Ulasan Percuma] Inner MumuScarves

Assalamualaikum.
Peace Be Upon You.

These, are worth mentioning.

Inner show cap.

Dulu-dulu kita panggil serkup.
Dulu-dulu takde macam-macam jenis dan rupa.
Warna pun mostly putih atau hitam.  

Knitted kinda serkup.

Now, macam-macam warna, rupa, bentuk, kejadian.
One can easily be spoilt for choices.

IMHO, inner mumuscarves ni the best so far.
May be a tad bit mahal but worth the money spent.
Kainnya soft, tak panas.
Yang paling penting, tak menyepit dan mengkelepet telinga.
Opening tu besar, ngam-ngam dengan kepala akak.
And the length sufficient to accommodate those with sanggoi besaq.

Sehelai RM29.90
 

[Bekal] [Makcik Kantin] BOTD Week 4 & Week 5 (Jan & Feb)

Assalamualaikum.
Peace Be Upon You.

Week 4 2017 saw only three days of school (hip hip hurray!).
And Week 5 also had 3 days of school (hip hip hurray!).
Me and my husband enjoyed an extra day since our office address is in KL (hip hip hurray!)

Domino's Pizza tu leftover from dinner the night before.
Got some cruchy apples at AEON Big, sprinkled generously with serbuk asam masin (something I need to reduce/avoid)

I chopped some prawns then sautéed until fully cooked.
Then added to beaten eggs along with a bit of fresh milk and salt.

Sans sayur for the kids because of two reasons
(1) Ah Boy doesn't like greens
(2) To ensure the food won't go bad too quickly

I had mine with generous helping of sliced tomatoes and lettuce.

Ayamas' English Breakfast's sausage is our favourite. It's flavourful. It's meaty and remain soft.
I also made scrambled eggs.
I put slices of bread, the kids can choose what they want for filling.
 

 

My kids absolutely love Buttermilk Chicken Fritters. I cut chicken breasts into small strips and marinade with buttermilk. Buttermilk can be very expensive so I made mine using milk and vinegar.

 

Pan fried the beef salami and arranged them on slices of bread. Topped with cheese slice and toasted.

 

That was the line-up for the past two weeks whenever school in session. Simple, easy peasy. It just needs a bit of effort getting up early. Some can be done beforehand the night before. That can save some of your morning time.

 

 

[HealthCheck] Blood Goes Upstairs

Assalamualaikum.
Peace Be Upon You.

Cuti CNY balik kampong. Balik kampong memang sinonim la dengan makan, makan dan makan. Balik KL, blood pressure spike.

Doktor tanya ada rasa stress tak masa ambik bacaan BP?
Eh takde lah, masa tu baru balik gelak-gelak kat rumah kawan. Akak happy je.
Panjang lebar Doktor bgtau possible cause and effect.
Apa tindakan kawalan.
Yang teramat penting (dah teramat payah) ialah disiplin makan dan bersenam.
Ubat boleh makan tapi kalau tak jaga makan dan bersenam, tak guna juga.
Katanya 70% kawalan dari diri sendiri (jaga pemakanan dan bersenam) dan cuma 30% kawalan dari ubat.

Malam ni kena puasa.
Esok buat blood test.
Nak tengok sugar and cholesterol level.

Sementara tu, jeling-jeling je udang dengan sotong dalam freezer tu..
Alahai...

[Bekal] [makcik kantin] BOTD W3 - January

Assalamualaikum.
Peace be Upon You.

3rd week of school is making its closure today.

Asked some friends, how is Ah Boi coping at school. I pondered a while and thought about an incident that made me drove to the school there and then.

 

Coping. .... was my answer.
And other people are also trying to cope with him

 

Anyway, here's my BOTD line-up for the week trois 2017. Nothing much except they were made and filled with loads of love.

Monday

Sushi rolls were from dinner the night before.
Kept them refrigerated and told the boys to gobble them down as soon as they have settled down at taska.
And filling for tuna mayo sandwich if from the balance that I used for sushi.

Tuesday

Made savoury bread pudding.
Replaced sugar with salt and chicken cube.
Added loads of bits of chicken and beef salami.
Topped with a bit of cheese slice.

Husband made fried rice for dinner the night before and there was some left.
So, into bekal it was.

Wednesday

Obviously my bento-mood depleted tremendously on Wednesday :-)
Baked frozen pizza and reheated grilled chicken (that I ordered for dinner the night before....)

Thursday

Paratha Sosej ala mumia. I had meant them beautifully wrapped in criss-cross kinda way. But having three students asking this that from left and right surely affected my mood in some way or another. Maka terhasillah sosej dalam bungkusan roti paratha ala-ala mumia.

I brought nasi and chicken currey to work.
Chicken curry was a frozen leftover.
Whenever I make curry, I double the portions so I can keep some for later use, you know, on those lazy nights

 

Friday

Don't ask.
Ran out of fruits.
Ran out of mood.

[Bekal] [makcik-kantin] BOTD W2 2017 - January

Assalamualaikum.

Peace Be Upon You.

 

When school-term is in session, my Makcik Kantin duty resumes.

 

Bekal breakfast ke taska is a must. I have tried to convince Ah Boy tak payah bawak bekal pegi sekolah. I thought he might agree coz maybe macam tak cool dah sekolah menengah bawak bekal,.. kot? Plus takut the food spoil coz dia sesi petang and I prepared whatever bekal sebelah pagi before pegi kerja.. But my darling Ah Boy insisted.

 

Anyway, 2nd week of school almost ends today. I prepare bekal everyday but only managed to bekal-fie the past two days only. Excuse my forgetfulness. Be warned that mine are a far cry from those bento berhias like other moms do. Very simple and basic.

 

And here's my Thursday and Friday BOTD - Bekal of The Day.

The simple humble egg toast or fondly known as roti telur.
The twist - chicken salami and cheese slice.
I added a bit of condensed milk alongside salt in the egg mixture.
While still hot, place a slice of cheese and you watch it slowly melts,, such a therapeutic sight :-D

These I prepared from frozen pizza and nuggets. I always have these (and the likes) in my freezer for those days of mental block tak tau nak masak apa.

I will be back with my Makcik Kantin ramblings and BOTD next Friday. InsyaAllah.
Till then, have a nice weekends. Spend the time wisely with your family.

[Ramblings] [Love of My Life] Happy New Year 2017!

Assalamualaikum.
Peace be Upon You.

Already 12 days into 2017. Happy New Year 2017!

Budak Benyek is already in Year 3 and he is so excited because koko unit beruniform starts from Year 3. He's been aiming to join Pengakap for the longest time but the teachers will decide who joins what. I hope he will get what he's been wanting. I told him, if he gets other unit, then tell the teacher that Pengakap is his dream since kindy days. He told me that would be a lie. The actual fact is that, starting in Year 1.

 

Good job Ummi. The first month of 2017 and you taught your son to lie :P

 

He also got himself a new wheels (Le Run!) on the very first day of 2017. Still clumsy at coordinating his feet movement and the brakes and the handle but he's getting there. We got training wheels fixed, not too cool for a 9-yo huh?  

 

Meanwhile, Ah Boy now in Form 1 already. How time really flies! So far, Alhamdulillah he's okay with school. Not to say too motivated but he has lesser grievances and whines and the likes (so far!) as compared to his primary days. I still need to be there when he does his homework. I am so happy he and his best-est friend are in the same class. At least they have each other in the big school. And I, and the boy's mother have 2 pairs of spying eyes.

 

My eldest now in Form 4. I applied for MRSM, she went to UPKK. I also applied for SBP and yet... the results are still unknown, I already have my doubts. Would she be okay? Or rather, would I be okay? She's doing pure science now .. and coping .. bit by bit. We told her pure science is not easy, but it is not impossible. One has to work hard, work smart and be consistent (which I was not!)

 

Now that I am back working, I have lesser time with them so whatever time we have, insyaAllah we use it wisely. I am trying to keep some of the thing intact like when I was on long leave. I make sure they have food from home for breakfast (sometimes it's reheat-leftover kinda things, ops!) Taska and for dinner, it's almost homecooked ones most days, albeit the much simpler things I manage to lay on the table.

 

We also try to keep school revisions in check everyday. I miss the days when we have books and papers and pens and pencils scattered on the table when Ah Boi and Kakak were to sit for UPSR and PT3 respectively, last year. No big exams this year (phew!), but one can always be consistent right.

 

I hope I can cope.

Istiqomah.

It's tiring sometimes,

But it's love and it gives me such satisfaction.

 

 

 

[Love of My Life] Kakak

 

Assalamualaikum.
Peace Be Upon You.

 

 

Sembilanbelas haribulan Duabelas, Duaribu Enambelas.

Keputusan PT3 diumumkan.

Alhamdulillah.

Usai mengmbil segala dokumen berkaitan, ambil buku teks untuk Tingkatan 4, kami makan tengahari.

Saya tanya Kakak mahu apa untuk PT3.

Matanya berkelip-kelip. Macam keliru.

Tapi Kakak tak dapat 10As pun?

Kami begitulah.

Raikan apa jua.

Sudah usaha, kan?

Sebanyak mana Allah nak bagi, cuba terima dengan hati terbuka.

Dia kata dia tak tau nak apa.

Dia memang begitu, tak banyak mahunya, tak banyak kerenahnya.

Sederhana dan ringkas.

Apapun,

Tahniah dari Ummi dan Abah.
Terus dan terus majukan diri.

Sayang Ummi dan Abah tak dikira dengan berapa A yang Kakak dapat.
Perjalanan hidup Kakak masih jauh.
Doa Ummi dan Abah, semoga semuanya dipermudahkan Allah buat Kakak.

[Food & Recipe] Tom Yam Ayam

Assalamualaikum.
Peace be upon you.

Tom Yam.

Jarang sangat jumpa orang tak suka makan Tom Yam. My son, Ah Boy is one. The rest of the household would impatiently wait for mealtime kalau buat Yom Yam.

Tom Yam is pretty easy to make. Likewise Kari and Kurma. If you know how to do it, you would tell that to others who don't. But for those who don't, things may seem complicated. Exactly like I felt during my pre Tom Yam, pre Kari, pre Kurma days. If I, yang terkial-kial kat dapur ni can do this, InsyaAllah, so can you.

 

My version would always be Tom Yam Ayam. My other half thinks sotong and udang are much better be on their own, in other kind of cooking. Layan kan aje lah.

 

So, jom I share how I do my Tom Yam Ayam

 

[1]  1 ekor ayam - asingkan bahagian with too much meat, like breast. I normally reserve the meaty parts for deep frying.

[2]  1 1/2 yellow onion - cut into wedges
[3]  4-5 small green chillies - smash
[4]  2-3 stalks lemon grass - smash
[5]  3-4 pieces kaffir lime leaves - tear in half
[6]  3-4 tbsp Tom Yam paste - I use Tai Pee brand
[7]  1 chicken cube - I use Maggi brand

[8]  1 carrot - cut into wedges
[9]  1 packet oyster mushroom - cut into small pieces

[10]  1 1/2 tomatoes - cut into 4 or 6
[11]  2-3 bunch coriander leaves - discard the roots
[12]  1-2 lime - take the juice
[13]  2-3 tbsp fish sauce

Salt and sugar to taste

- Put [1] to [7] in a pot. Pour enough water to submerge everything. Bring to a boil under medium heat.

- When the chicken almost cooked through, add carrot and mushroom. Add salt and sugar. Do not add too much salt as the fish sauce will add some saltiness as well. Cook until carrot is soft.

- Add lime juice and fish sauce. Leave to boil for another 1 or 2 minutes.

- Turn off heat. Add in tomatoes and coriander leaves.

- Leave for about 5 minutes.

- Serve and enjoy!

[L0ve of My Life]

 

Assalamualaikum.
Peace be upon you.

 

Throwback.

Khamis

17 November 2016

 

Keputusan UPSR 2016 diumumkan.

Terungkailah debaran dan tanda tanya selama beberapa bulan ini, sejak selesai peperiksaan UPSR September lepas.

 

Alhamdulillah.
Alhamdulillah.
Alhamdulillah.
Syukur.

 

Sederhana di mata orang lain mungkin.
Hebat di mata kami.

 

Syukran Ya Allah!

 

Bagi anak-anak yang kecewa.
Menangislah.
Cry if you must.
When you're done,

Get up.

Stand up.

And walk on with pride.
There's too many wonderful things waiting for you.
Sometimes we need to fall to know how best we can get up, stand up and walk on.